Ghost Detectives in the Detective World

Page 49

"Be content, Mr. Mori. At least you've saved your life," Matsuda said with a smile. "Besides, there's an old Chinese saying, 'A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.' Perhaps your luck is about to change?"

"Really?" Kogoro Mouri sat up abruptly. "I'm going to buy racehorses right now!"

……

At midday at the dock, Matsuda and Megure huddled together in a small van.

The latter would occasionally peek cautiously out the window through the curtains.

"Inspector," Matsuda said, leaning back in his chair, half asleep, "the appointed time is almost here."

Chapter 59 It’s you!

"Matsuda, it's almost time set by the kidnappers, you should at least be serious!" Megure said, looking displeased.

"Don't worry, Inspector, I'm definitely more serious than you see,"

Matsuda yawned and looked up out the window.

The entire dock has been taken over by the detectives of the First Division. Almost all the dockworkers loading and unloading cargo outside are police officers in disguise.

In addition to these, Matsuda also added an extra insurance policy.

Not far away, beneath a container, Cheng Shi stood intently, carefully observing the people and vehicles passing by.

Holding a ghost umbrella, she was not afraid of the midday sun.

With such meticulous arrangements, it would be truly unbelievable if the kidnappers still managed to escape!

As the appointed time drew near, Takei, whose daughter had been kidnapped, slowly drove his Mercedes into the dock.

As they passed the van, Megure rolled down the window and nodded to Takei, indicating that everything was arranged.

Takei then parked the Mercedes at the location requested by the kidnappers and began to wait.

Time passed slowly, and soon the time set by the kidnappers arrived.

On the dock, everyone was on edge.

Just then, Wu Ju's phone rang.

Matsuda picked up the earpiece from which the call was being eavesdropped on and heard the kidnapper's somewhat awkward voice, which must have been altered.

After the kidnappers and Takei confirmed that the money had been brought, a van drove in from outside the dock and stopped next to Takei's Mercedes.

"Naoko!" Takei called out his daughter's name.

"Give me the money!" the kidnapper ordered over the phone.

Wu Ju got out of the car, carrying a leather suitcase full of money, and gradually approached the kidnappers' van.

At that moment, the kidnapper suddenly said something through Wu Ju's phone.

"Wait a minute, aren't there some police officers over there?"

"Transaction canceled!"

The kidnappers' van then started and quickly fled the scene.

"Come on!"

Megure, leading a large number of officers who had been lying in ambush, began the pursuit.

But what happened next was completely unexpected.

At a sharp right bend, the kidnappers' van did not slow down at all, and crashed through the protective netting, plunging headlong into the river.

When Megure, Matsuda, and other officers arrived, the kidnappers' van had already sunk completely into the river.

"Contact the rescue team immediately! We must get the van out!" Inspector Megure shouted, his face dark. "Damn it, those bastard kidnappers, they even brought Naoko with them..."

"Inspector, we cannot yet confirm whether Ms. Naoko is in that car."

Matsuda also stood by the river, waiting for news.

He felt that there was something strange about this kidnapping case from beginning to end.

Soon, news arrived from Matsuda and the others.

It was Narumi. She floated up from the river and whispered a few words in Matsuda's ear.

"What? Is it her?"

Matsuda's eyes widened instantly. Just now, after the kidnappers' van drove into the dock, Narumi used the ghost to get into the car.

"what happened?"

Megure couldn't see Narumi, but he noticed Matsuda's sudden look of surprise and immediately asked hopefully,

"Matsuda, do you know something?"

"It's too early to say, Inspector,"

Matsuda flashed a bright smile.

"In short, please rest assured, I will definitely bring Miss Naoko back."

"Yes, I believe you, Matsuda!"

Megure nodded, moved, and then he saw Matsuda turn and walk away.

"Brother Matsuda, where are you going?"

"Leave here, or you'll get yelled at!"

Matsuda waved his hand.

Getting scolded? Inspector Megure was taken aback.

The next moment, he understood what Matsuda meant.

"Damn it, I trusted you cops so much! And now look what happened! Give me back my Naoko!"

Mr. Takei grabbed Megure by the collar and roared loudly.

That brat, did he know this would happen, so he ran away beforehand?

Megure gave a bitter smile to himself. He could mentally criticize Matsuda, but faced with the furious Takei before him, he couldn't utter a single word or offer the slightest resistance.

Because this time, it was indeed these police officers who messed things up.

……

On the other side, Matsuda borrowed Sato's red Mazda and parked it near Takei's house.

"Actually, if I had left with her earlier, I might already know where Naoko is," Narumi said with some self-reproach.

"It's alright. You made the right decision to stay and let me know."

Matsuda said with a smile,

"You are now in ghost form, so it's inconvenient for you to show your face, that's one reason."

"Secondly, the fact that the kidnapper is that woman suggests there are other hidden details in this kidnapping case. If you suddenly show up, it might scare them."

"What do you mean by being scared? Am I that scary right now?"

Chengshi snorted in dissatisfaction, puffed out her cheeks, and turned to look out the window.

The man and the ghost waited until sunset before they saw a woman's figure emerge from the Wu family's house.

"Officer Matsuda, it's her!" Narumi exclaimed hurriedly.

"Yeah, I saw it too."

Matsuda watched as the woman got into her car not far away, then started Sato's Mazda and followed.

……

Soon after, the woman's car arrived at the outskirts of an abandoned factory.

The woman got off the bus and went into the factory.

Narumi was worried that Naoko might be in danger, so before Matsuda could stop the car, she used her ghost form to pass through the windshield and followed the woman.

Helpless, Matsuda parked his car and hurriedly chased after them.

The woman seemed extremely familiar with the abandoned factory. After navigating several corners, she arrived at a room with a sign that read "Duty Room".

"It seems you're not leaving today."

The woman spoke in a high-pitched, rough voice,

“Your father called the police, and he still tried to deceive us by disguising discarded newspapers as money.”

"Officer Matsuda, Miss Naoko is in that room!"

Narumi poked her head out from the wall and whispered to Matsuda.

"Hmm, don't make any rash moves yet,"

Matsuda leaned against the corner, listening quietly to the woman talking.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you disappointed in your father?"

The woman waited for a while but didn't hear a reply from inside the house. Suddenly, her expression became anxious.

She raised her hand and took out a key from the pocket inside her collar, seemingly intending to open the door.

But just as the key was about to be inserted, the woman froze.

Because the girl inside replied, and what she said was something no woman could ever have imagined.