Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 564 Escape

July 28, Friday, night.

Downstairs at the Mihana apartment building, in a plainclothes police car, Gen and Yamada were munching on red bean bread...

"Why is it red bean bread? Wasn't it a late-night snack left by the young lady?" Yamada couldn't help but complain.

The previous shift's supervisors were Haiya and Miss Kobe. When they changed shifts, they said they'd prepared a late-night snack for them. Yamada initially thought it would be some fancy bento box, but…

"I guess the young lady thinks that this is what you should eat when you're in prison." Yuan probably thought it was due to a stereotype.

"Whose bakery is this? It's not as good as the ones from the convenience store," Yamada said disdainfully.

"I think... it must have been made by her family's chef." Yuan guessed that Yamada couldn't stomach fine grains.

"By the way, how's your ex-girlfriend doing?" Yuan asked with some concern—after all, Yamada's girlfriend was someone he met at a blind date with Narcissistic.

He and Narcissistic were both in relationships back then, and Narcissistic... has now received his girlfriend's wedding invitation!

"I told you, Chio is fine!" Yamada said indignantly. "Don't be so suspicious!"

Yuan pursed his lips and had no choice but to change the subject...

As Gen looked at the still-lit room upstairs, he muttered to himself, "Is this Yabe Kunihito an active-duty officer in the Self-Defense Forces? Don't they live in the barracks?"

"It seems like you can go home as soon as you get married," Yamada said while chewing on his bread.

"Married? This guy's a bachelor, isn't he?" Yuan asked with a strange expression.

“If you have a certain level of status, you should be able to live out even if you're single,” Yamada said matter-of-factly.

"You know that very well?" Yuan turned to look at him.

Seeing this, Yamada said embarrassedly, "I was originally thinking... if I didn't pass the police officer exam, I would try joining the Self-Defense Forces."

Yuan curled his lip upon hearing this.

"What's with that expression? What's your Plan B?" Yamada was unwilling to be the only one whose secrets were exposed.

"Me? I originally wanted to try being a male escort," Yuan said calmly.

Yamada:……

"I feel like you'd be better suited to treat that as Plan A!" Yamada retorted.

Just as the two were chatting, they suddenly heard...

Clang—Crack—

From Kunihito Yabe's room upstairs, a muffled thud came from the window, followed by a shattering window and scattered noises coming out!
"Oh no!" Yamada exclaimed, stuffing the last bite of bread into his mouth before rushing off the bus.

but……

"Wait." Yuan stopped him.

Immediately, several men in suits passed by plainclothes police cars and quickly ran into the apartment.

"Huh? Who are those people...?" Yamada was taken aback when he saw this.

“They must be the ‘public security’ people the director was referring to,” Yuan said calmly, as if he had already discovered them.

"Eh? Then we need to hurry even more..." Yamada became even more anxious—the police are involved? Then we need to be even faster than the police!
“What’s the use of running faster? I’ve looked at the apartment building before… Look at the external staircase there, the fire escape leads here. If I were the assassin, and the police blocked this side, I would definitely run down from here, and most likely jump down. Then we can wait for them to come to us!” Yuan said confidently.

Upon hearing this, Yamada realized what was happening and waited there with Gen.

but……

Waiting and waiting, but no one showed up...

"Was the assassin apprehended by the police on the spot?" Yamada wondered.

"That's fine too." Yuan seemed to take it in stride.

Just then, the door to the external staircase on the fifth floor opened, and Gen and Yamada immediately became alert.

but……

"Hmm? You two are from the Mikasa Police Station, right? Is anyone coming down?" the other party immediately asked Gen and Yamada.

"Someone's coming down?" Yamada was puzzled.

“We didn’t see anyone else,” Yuan officially replied.

"No? How could that be!" the other person said irritably.

But then his partner whispered to him, "Alright, they're that Mika's men... I heard he even investigated the internal investigation."

"Tch... Damn it!"

This guy looked unwilling, but in Gen and Yamada's eyes, it was just impotent rage.

Afterwards, because the attack occurred in Beika Town, Genya immediately reported it to the police station, and a police car from the Beika Police Station arrived at the scene immediately.

An ambulance also arrived – fortunately, although Yabe Kunihito was attacked, he was a strong young man and managed to fight back against the murderer… which is why there was a noise coming from the room and the window was broken.

Fortunately, someone arrived quickly and scared the criminal away. Yabe had already cut one arm with a knife, and the wound was very deep. He was taken away by an ambulance.

at the same time……

Kazami also arrived at the scene and said to Haiya, the head of the criminal investigation department, who had also arrived, "Inspector Haiya, the killer is likely still in the apartment. We need your assistance in the search."

"Of course... this is also for the safety of the apartment residents." Ashiya looked at the Mihana Apartment building and said somewhat somberly.

If it were just a regular case, it would be really difficult to search so many people.

However, considering that the killer is likely a professional hitman, then it becomes necessary...

It's not just about solving the case; if we don't find this guy, the safety of the apartment's residents can't be guaranteed.

With the cooperation of the Public Security Bureau, the Mihua Police Station quickly obtained the necessary permits and called in a large number of patrol officers and criminal investigators to work overtime...

Meanwhile, Narcissist and Amagi went to the hospital to protect and observe Yabe Kunihito!
Kunihito Yabe's wound was serious, but fortunately it was on his arm, not in a fatal location. Although it required more than twenty stitches, it did not affect his consciousness.

Narcissistic, Amagi, and the police detectives who went with him also learned what the perpetrator looked like from him.

……

Looking at the portraits sent back by Narcissus and Amagi, Ashiya breathed a sigh of relief—the features were quite obvious…a foreigner!

This way, it will be less likely for someone to take advantage of the situation.

However, after one night, the residents of Mihua Apartment were filled with complaints from the disturbance.

Although the sign read "A professional assassin is lurking in the apartment," people weren't too opposed, but the problem was...

Overnight, they only found one suspicious person who was not a resident, but he was not a foreigner, but rather... a "yellow-haired" person in another symbolic sense.

I left it to my husband, who was coming home from his night shift, to take care of in the morning...

Aside from this "family dispute," the Mika Police Station found nothing. "You really didn't see anyone run out the outside stairs? You were watching the whole time, weren't you?" the detective from the Public Security Bureau questioned Origin and Yamada.

“Of course,” Yuan replied calmly.

Ash Valley then added, "The conflict had already begun; how could we possibly have missed it?"

"But……"

"Alright." Kazami stopped his subordinate from continuing—passing the buck with the detectives from the Beika Police Station wasn't helping the case.

However, it is true that apart from the entrances and exits of the Yuan and Yamada areas, all other entrances and exits are monitored, and the timing of the police rushing into the apartment does not meet the requirements.

"The surveillance footage didn't capture when the perpetrator went in either?" Yuan asked, puzzled.

Ash Valley answered directly, "No, at least not in the last 24 hours."

Mihua Apartment has copied the surveillance footage for the Mihua Police Station and the Public Security Bureau...

Needless to say, the Mihana Police Station alone is not to be trifled with, let alone the dangerous police officers like the "Public Security Bureau"!
However, not only did they fail to find out how the prisoner got into the apartment, they also failed to discover how he got out.

“Yes, it seems they were already lying in ambush in the apartment, or even at the Yabe’s house,” Kazami nodded and added, “Of course, that is, if you two are not mistaken.”

“We were keeping an eye on that guy’s room, and the outer staircase was always in our sight. We didn’t notice anything unusual at the time,” Yuan explained.

……

Another murder almost occurred, but the killer was still not caught.

"Didn't find anything? Could it be like Kid, leaving behind some kind of charade and then performing a magic trick?" Shiraishi frowned after hearing the report.

I didn't expect to hear bad news as soon as I arrived at the police station after working overtime.

"Yeah, the Mika Apartment is cooperating to the limit, but we haven't found any foreigners." Zongfang's tone was somewhat doubtful at this point: "Shouldn't... be true?"

"However, there is also good news: Yabe Hitokuni has seen the true face of the culprit," Munakata said helplessly.

This is indeed good news. Not only can the printing press print wanted posters, but if a suspect is actually found, Yabe can come forward to identify him!

Unfortunately, the Mikasa Police Station found nothing at the Mikasa Apartments...

"Are Gen and Yamada still under surveillance?" Shiraishi asked.

"No, I sent Detective Kogure and Detective Amagi to the hospital," Zongfang said, shaking his head.

After all, Gen and Yamada had already worked through the night, and it would be difficult for them to maintain their energy levels for further tracking.

When Shiraishi heard Detective Kogure's name, he paused for a moment before realizing it meant "narcissism."

"By the way, Detective Kogure just reported that Yabe doesn't trust anyone, not even the hospital. After the basic treatment was completed, he forcibly signed the contract and was discharged..."

There are quite a few people who need to be tracked and protected in this case, but in Beika Town, only Yabe Jinkun remains.

The "internal transfer" team notified the seven people to "be careful" as soon as they received the list.

However, they did not take it to heart, and even showed great resistance to "cooperation" and "protection" because they were unwilling to admit that they had leaked information to Mao's spies - indeed, the "internal transfer" also tempted them to admit to colluding with spies.

However, now that the incident has occurred, they naturally insist that they have not leaked any secrets.

Besides Yabe, there are three other people still alive, but none of them are in Beika Town.

This also makes Yabe the "safest" target.

After all, the other three were only accompanied by "public security" officers, while Yabe was being watched by detectives from the Beika Police Station!

However, Yabe clearly didn't trust the police...

Not long after, Narcissistic and Amagi saw that Yabe had just returned from the hospital and left the apartment with a small suitcase and his arm in a sling.

The fact that they brought suitcases made Narcissism and Amagi even more concerned.

After Yabe left, they immediately followed him. In addition to the two of them, there were also four police officers on duty that day.

Both sides pretended not to know the other was there, and each kept their eyes fixed on Yabe...

However, something still went wrong!

Yabe was clearly prepared, as he took the subway with his suitcase first.

However, after Yabe discovered that the person who was following him had also boarded the subway, he waited until the doors were about to close and then left the subway without warning!

By the time the "public security officers" who were following him also realized this, the subway doors had already closed, and they couldn't get off. Frustrated, they looked at Yabe, who was still on the platform.

but……

Immediately, the police officers' expressions turned strange. Yabe also noticed something was wrong and looked behind him, only to see "Narcissist" and Amagi standing right behind him...

"You..." Yabe realized at this point that there was no escape.

"Mr. Yabe, where are you going?" the narcissist asked directly.

Yabe hesitated for a long time but still didn't say anything.

However, at this point, "Narcissist" and Amaki openly took him back to the police station for processing.

Of course, at this point he cannot be considered a defendant; theoretically, he is merely cooperating with the investigation...

At this time, Shiraishi also received news from the Public Security Bureau that not only Yabe, but the other three had also used their own methods to shake off the pursuers!
What they had in common was that they clearly knew they were being followed, and they made the same choices, seemingly going somewhere.

In the end, it was Shiraishi who personally spoke with him, and it was this only Yabe who hadn't disappeared that provided an important clue!

Yabe then admitted, "I received a call from Amano, the head of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, who told me... that he had prepared a safe place for me, and I guess the others are the same."

"Oh? Didn't you ever think about asking the police for help?" Shiraishi asked matter-of-factly.

Yabe shook his head and said, "Chief Amano said... you only want to use our lives to turn the criminal into a 'caught red-handed' or 'criminal in the act,' so..."

Amano's judgment wasn't entirely wrong; Shiraishi guessed that the police probably really thought that way.

However, this is clearly not the case for the Mikasa Police Station!

"So... you know the address of the safe house?" Shiraishi asked directly.

This guy who was transferred internally actually wants to get rid of me? Shiraishi certainly won't stand idly by...

After a moment of silence, Yabe nodded and then told Shiraishi the address of the "safe house".

This is what makes "safe houses" unreliable; once people know about them, it's easy for the news to spread...

Then Shiraishi personally drove Yabe to the outside of the safe house—a solitary villa in the wilderness, surrounded by a fence, with no neighbors in sight.

If we disregard information leaks, this place does indeed seem very safe.

Seeing Shiraishi leading the group over, Amano had no choice but to come out and greet them...

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Dongdong: Today is October 15th, Global Handwashing Day. Happy handwashing everyone! Please vote for me! Please vote for me! Please vote for me!
(End of this chapter)