Chapter 15: Akemi Miyano, You Don’t Really Want To Either…

“Brother Mori, is Sumitomo Shoichi the murderer?” Inspector Megure asked.

“No! It’s not him!”

Inspector Megure was taken aback. Could it be that even someone with such prominent features as you would bow to the powerful elite?

“The real culprit is actually Mr. Takeda’s son, Kazuo Takeda.”

“That’s impossible!” Kazuo Takeda shouted loudly. “How could I possibly kill my own father?”

“Oh? Is that so?” Kogoro Mori said in a low voice. “According to Mrs. Takeda, you invested all your money in hoarding copper mines. Recently, copper prices plummeted from $2,800 per ton to just over a thousand. You must have suffered a total loss.

“If I’m not mistaken, you must have taken out quite a few loans from the bank, right?”

Shoichi wiped his mouth and raised his hand. “Cough, just about a million dollars, and that’s with Sumitomo Bank. The transactions were handled before I resigned.”

Shoichi’s reputation as a timely benefactor was no empty boast. He had a fondness for lending money to others.

“It’s all your fault!”

Hearing Shoichi’s voice, Kazuo seemed to collapse emotionally.

With a hoarse voice, he roared at Shoichi, “If it weren’t for your Sumitomo family maliciously manipulating copper prices, how could I have gone bankrupt!”

Shoichi frowned and took out a tissue to wipe the saliva that had splattered on his clothes.

“Copper prices have long been out of the normal range. Any sane person would have stopped by now. You can’t blame others for your own uncontrollable greed.”

Besides, I wasn’t the one inflating copper prices.

“Look on the bright side. You lost only a million dollars, while Sumitomo Corporation lost billions. Does that make you feel any better?” Shoichi smiled and flicked the tissue onto Kazuo’s face.

Speak properly; why keep spitting all the time?

Taking the tissue handed over by Akemi Miyano, Shoichi wiped himself again.

Then he secretly felt annoyed at his secretary’s incompetence. How could the boss be left to wipe his own mess? She should have helped out.

“You deserve to die! If not for you, I would never have dared to kill my father to inherit his estate!” Kazuo Takeda raved.

Conan, hiding behind Kogoro Mori, was stunned.

I haven’t even finished deducing yet, and this guy just confessed?

“No! I didn’t kill my father. I am not a murderer!”

Reason momentarily returned to Kazuo’s mind. He immediately retracted his confession, stubbornly denying he killed Taro Takeda.

But young Conan, eager for glory, detailed Kazuo’s murder method. When Takagi presented the ironclad evidence, Kazuo collapsed to the ground like a dead dog.

Shoichi said to the coroner, “By the way, what did your autopsy report say? I didn’t catch it clearly earlier.”

“The first shot was fatal, causing Taro Takeda’s death. The subsequent shots were merely acts of torture, extremely malicious in nature,” the coroner said meticulously.

Inspector Megure’s mouth twitched.

Your flip-flopping is a bit too much, isn’t it?

“Wrap it up.” Megure sighed helplessly.

Let the judge decide the penalty.

It’s already impressive that he found the real killer.

…

Shoichi left the villa without any anger from being suspected.

Why would he be suspected?

Because the person he wanted to kill was dead, and that was a good thing.

“Akemi, transfer Kazuo Takeda’s debts at Sumitomo Bank to me,” Shoichi told Akemi Miyano.

“I won’t,” Akemi said frankly.

Shoichi waved his hand. “It’s fine. The bank staff will teach you.”

Akemi was speechless.

The bank staff will teach me how to transfer their money to you?

Shoichi continued, “As the heir of Taro Takeda, Kazuo has the right to inherit his company shares.

“Help me acquire his company.”

“I won’t,” Akemi said.

“You can learn!” Shoichi smiled.

“Taro Takeda is dead, and Kazuo, the heir, is imprisoned. The company will surely be in chaos. They just got a new project.

“If they can’t complete it on time, they won’t get paid, and without payment, they can’t pay the employees.

“Think of those poor employees.

“Akemi Miyano, you don’t want them to lose their jobs, do you?”

Akemi gritted her teeth.

Shoichi patted her shoulder, but she dodged.

“For their sake, Miss Miyano, please work hard to learn how to acquire a company,” Shoichi said.

“All right,” Akemi said through gritted teeth.

“I look forward to you becoming a qualified secretary.”

Shoichi tried to pat her shoulder again but was dodged once more.

Akemi glared at him.

The tasks you’re assigning aren’t even what a secretary should handle.

…

Akemi Miyano was a quick learner.

Under professional guidance, she transferred Kazuo Takeda’s debts and soon completed the acquisition of Takeda Construction Company.

The acquisition process caused no ripples.

With the chairman dead, the minor shareholders panicked, and someone stepping in to take over was a blessing.

However, there were some minor incidents.

Though it was a perfectly normal business transaction, unreliable rumors spread everywhere.

They said Shoichi Sumitomo used his financial clout to forcibly seize the company.

That he shot Taro Takeda in front of the police and then fabricated a story claiming Taro died of poisoning.

When that excuse was proved ridiculous, he framed Kazuo Takeda and eliminated all traces.

He even threatened that anyone who opposed him would meet the same fate.

Many believed these rumors, and even a shabby newspaper reported on it.

Shoichi sighed and handed the paper to Ai. “What do you think?”

Ai glanced over it.

I think you’re an evil villain who deserves all sorts of punishment.

“You’re a good person; they’re all slandering you,” Ai said in her sweet voice that even disgusted herself.

Shoichi nodded and placed his hand on Ai’s fluffy hair.

“Take your dirty hand away!”

Ai shouted inside but chose to endure for now, gathering strength to confront Shoichi later.

One day soon, she wouldn’t have to endure anymore.

“You like playing games, right? I specially bought you a game outfit today,” Shoichi said to Ai.

“A game outfit?” Ai looked at him in surprise.

What game outfit?

Shoichi pulled out a yellow garment from his backpack.

Unfolding it, it was a dragon robe.

“You like playing ‘Jing Ke Assassin of the King,’ right? Last night you played Jing Ke. Tonight, it’s my turn to be Jing Ke and assassinate you, the King of Qin.”