Chapter 5: A split-up and foster cousins

After the meeting with the chief of police, the gang decided to split up.

William, Shinichi and Ran agreed to go to the coroners office, where the body of the victim is being examined by the coroner, while Mystery Inc. and Elizabeth stays at police headquarters for the examination of the bullet.

The trio heading for the coroner's office, with a written order from the chief of police, took the Mystery Machine with William behind the wheel.

(Mystery Inc. and Elizabeth)

After the split-up, the gang were directed to Lieutenant Jonathan Tucker, who's in charge of the homicide unit of MCD and was briefed on the case by the chief. The lieutenant nodded and lead the gang to the Science and Forensics Division lab.

Over at the lab of the Science and Forensics Division, the group met with the technicians, who agreed to have the bullet examined.

"I still can't believe Stone will not call in the detectives for this." Fred says as they watched the technicians getting down to work.

"Yeah." Velma agreed. "I'm sure that even when you've got an accident, you still need the detectives to make the call."

"Like, especially for suspicious-looking deaths." Shaggy added. "And poor Pops has got to be careful when he deals with him."

"You said it, Shag." Daphne nodded. "No wonder my parents has been trying to use their influence in fighting hard to have this city cleaned up."

"I do hope your father figures out a way to have disciplinary action taken against Stone without getting a blowback, Shag." Elizabeth said.

"I hope so, too." Shaggy nodded. "Like, he's been trying hard to clean up the department ever since he was transferred to Coolsville as a lieutenant, but you've got those dirty cops and politics standing in his way."

"Indeed there has." Tucker nodded. "Your father worked really hard to get up the ladder, Norville. First, during his time as the detective commander of the East Coolsville Division as a lieutenant, his efforts were complicated by then-Chief of Police Gillian Hill and later following his promotion to captain and transfer to MCD, you've got then-Commander Milo Graham of Internal Affairs standing in his way. Then, as commander and later deputy chief, he's got Deputy Chief Rupert Gosnell, Commander of the Office of Strategic Management, standing in his way for reform and has continued to do so after he was passed over for promotion to chief in favour of your father last year."

"Jeepers." Daphne remarked. "I guess it's really tough to clean up house in the police department."

"Indeed it is." Tucker nodded.

It was then that the technicians informed them that the bullet has finished going through ballistics.

"Any results?" Elizabeth asked as they entered the workshop.

"Well, I can give you the type of gun that the bullet was fired from." The technician said before giving them the gun model. "However, whoever the killer was was smart enough to be wearing gloves while loading the gun, because the machine couldn't pick up any fingerprints from the bullet, and you know that to load the gun, you've got to press down hard on the bullet."

"Indeed you do." Elizabeth nodded. "And the sweat from your fingers is left behind on the casting, thus leaving behind your fingerprints on the casting."

"So what do we do?" Shaggy asked. "No fingerprints, we've got no one to pinpoint the murder to."

"Well, our next step will be to identify the victim and retrace his steps prior to his untimely demise on the metro train." Elizabeth replied.

"Oh, yes." Fred remembered. "We don't even know the victim's identity at all!"

"One important step in murder investigations is to know your victim." Elizabeth said as they followed the lieutenant to the squad room of MCD.

(William, Shinichi and Ran)

Meanwhile, the Japanese-speaking trio were a few blocks away from the Coolsville County Coroner's Office with William driving behind the wheel.

"你看起來對這個地方很熟悉，威廉。" (You look like you know this place, William.) Shinichi commented. "你之前有來過骷史城嗎?" (You've been to Coolsville before?)

"是的。" (Yes.) William nodded. "五月的時候，我和珮玲的學校管絃樂團有來骷史城演奏。" (Me and Elizabeth's school orchestra have been to Coolsville in May to perform in a concert.)

"我了解。" (I see.) Ran nodded understandingly as William pulled the Mystery Machine into a parking spot at the coroner's office.

Soon, the trio arrived at the morgue and are greeted by the coroner, who proceeds to do an autopsy on the body of the victim.

The autopsy took quite some time, but eventually, the coroner was able to prove that the victim was indeed shot and was dead before he was crushed in the derailment.

In addition, the coroner indicated some odd wounds around the bullet hole as if the victim was stabbed by various small needles while he was being shot.

At the mention of the wounds, William remembered a period drama television series following the exploits of a Victorian-era Toronto police detective that featured a similar crime scene where a man was shot while on the streetcar but witnesses didn't hear a gunshot.

"Those needles must be part of the muffler that muffled the gunshot noise." He thought to himself before sharing his thoughts with Shinichi, who nodded understandingly.

Eventually, after getting the evidence they needed from the autopsy, the sleuths were on their way back to police headquarters.

During the drive, Shinichi decided to ask William something.

"威廉，我有一個問題想問你一下。" (William, I've got a question I wanted to ask you.) Shinichi said. "是一個我對你好奇的一件事。" (It's something that I'm curious about you.)

William nodded before saying. "是甚麼事?" (What is it?)

"我們在地鐵站介紹自己的時候，伊莉莎白有提到你跟你的寄養父母一起住。" (When we introduced each other at the metro station, Elizabeth mentioned that you live with your foster parents.) Shinichi said. "我很好奇您的親生父母是怎麼了。" (I'm curious about what has happened to your biological parents.)

William was silent when Shinichi asked him the personal question and didn't speak for a moment.

Seeing the situation, Ran quickly said, "新一，你剛才不應該問威廉這種..." (Shinichi, you shouldn't have asked William this sort of...)

"沒關係，蘭。" (It's okay, Ran.) William quickly said. "沒關係。" (It's okay.)

Ran and Shinichi both looked at William as he collected his thoughts.

After taking a breath as they stopped at a red light, William finally said, "我十歲的時候，我的親生父母在一場火災中不幸喪生。我有一個雙胞胎姊姊在那場火災中也是喪生了，但是她的遺體並沒被尋獲，所以目前她的下落不明。" (When I was ten, my parents perished in a fire. I've got an older twin sister who also perished in that same fire, but her body was never found, so it's still a mystery on her status.)

Both Shinichi and Ran gasped when William told them the news.

"威廉，我聽到這消息感到遺憾。" (William, I'm so sorry to hear about it.) Shinichi said as he placed his hand on William's shoulder. "你一定很震驚的!" (You must be devastated!)

"的確如此。" (Indeed I was.) William nodded as the light turned green. "一件值得注意的事是那場火災是人為縱火導致的。" (One thing worth noting is that the fire was caused by arson.)

"人為縱火?" (Arson?) Ran asked.

"警方有沒有抓到兇手?" (Did the police caught the culprit?) Shinichi added.

William nodded. "有，但那是在火災發生後六年，也就是去年的事。而且那個案主要是由我和珮玲解的。" (Yes, but that was six years after the fire, which is last year. Besides, Lizzy and I were mainly the ones that solved the case.)

He then proceeded to do a short but brief resume on the case, as well as mentioning that his foster parents are Jonathan and Sandra Kudo. However, at the mention of the names, Shinichi become excited.

"等等，你說的工藤資紀是我住在加拿大的叔父!" (Wait, the Jonathan Kudo you mentioned is my uncle that is living in Canada!) Shinichi said excitedly.

William raised his eyebrows in surprise. "所以照你這麼說，你是我的寄養堂哥!" (So based on what you're saying, you're my foster cousin!)

Shinichi nodded as he patted William's back. "我沒有想到兩個著名的青年名偵探會有關係的。" (I've never thought that two famous teenage detectives could be related to each other.)

"說不定報紙上會說我成為一位名偵探是受到我的寄養堂哥的影響。" (I suppose that the press will comment that I became a famous detective under the influence of my foster cousin.) William joked.

Both Shinichi and Ran laughed as the Mystery Machine approaches police headquarters.

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