I am in Mihua, and the ladies all like me

"It's very cold."

Ikeba Shizuka nodded affirmatively.

"To be honest, my hometown is Hokkaido. The temperature in Tokyo was still over 10 degrees Celsius a few days ago, but it has already started snowing in my hometown."

Oh, it’s Hokkaido... But why was it snowing in Hokkaido the other day? Wasn’t it because of the howling typhoon, heavy rain and lightning?

Serabelle thought.

Chapter 306: Hattori Shizuka is observing

It can be seen that Inspector Megure has been very busy these past two days.

From a little after two o'clock until five o'clock, a full two and a half hours, Ikenami Shizuka abided by what she had said before and always acted with Serabelle.

The two people's movement route was not long, they just moved from the cafe on the second floor of the commercial plaza to the Italian restaurant on the third floor.

buzz~

In an Italian restaurant, Serabelle, who was concentrating on eating black pepper pasta with a knife and fork in her hand, suddenly felt the phone in her pocket vibrate.

With half a mouthful of pasta in his mouth, he took out his cell phone and saw that it was Inspector Megure calling.

Connect?

"Wai? Um? (Hello? Inspector Megure?)"

"Ah, brother Sera, it's me..."

The voice of Inspector Megure came from the other end of the line, sounding a little more tired than it was more than two hours ago.

But he stopped talking as soon as he said that, and became more confused.

"Brother Sera, why do you sound so strange? Are you eating?"

"……um, yes."

After swallowing the remaining food in her mouth with force, Serabelle regained her usual clear articulation.

"It's five o'clock, almost time for dinner. I'll probably have to go out for a commission in the evening, so I might as well eat early."

"Well, that's great. I've been busy since I had dinner until now, and I didn't even take a lunch break. I can only rest for a while now that everyone else has gone to the cafeteria to have dinner. Maybe I'll have to work all night again tonight..."

Inspector Megure's tone was filled with a sense of despair.

"So busy?" Serabelle took another sip of pasta. "Are there any big cases recently?"

"I guess so. The main thing is... Look at my brain. I was originally sending information to you, brother Sera, but it went off the track."

As if he suddenly realized something, Inspector Megure, who had been complaining about the intensity of his work just a second ago, changed the subject when he was about to mention something related to the case.

Inspector Megure cleared his throat.

"It's like this. According to the data retrieved from the Metropolitan Police Department system, your 'missing friend', Sera, lives in Saitama Prefecture. The specific address is..."

Inspector Megure provided the address information of Shibata Shiro in great detail, almost accurate to the exact street, building and number.

The so-called disappearance of a friend is just an excuse. In essence, it is still an abuse of power for personal gain in order to carry out a commission.

However, Inspector Megure was willing to help. After all, after being helped by Serabel to solve so many cases, although his position was still inspector, it was limited by his status as a non-professional team. On the contrary, his salary was increased a lot, and in terms of income, he was almost half a step into the middle class.

"Thank you, Chief. If you need any help, feel free to contact me."

After Inspector Megure told her all the relevant information, Serabell said a few simple polite words and hung up the phone.

He put away his phone and looked up. Just as he was about to speak, he found that Ikenami Shizuka, who was sitting opposite him, had finished her meal and was elegantly wiping the corners of her mouth with a napkin.

Seeing Serabelle looking at her, the beautiful woman neatly folded the used napkin, put it back on the table and smiled.

"Is there any news yet?"

"Yes, I have got the address now."

Serabelle picked up the plate and scooped up a large roll of pasta with her fork, waving it in her hand.

"Wait until I finish my noodles, then we'll set off. I'll drive."

……

Saitama Prefecture is not far from Tokyo, only about 20 kilometers away. Normally, it takes about half an hour to drive there.

However, Inspector Megure's news came a little late. It was just after five o'clock, which was the peak time for Japanese workers to get off work. In addition, the Japanese have a quirk that they must never go home immediately after get off work. They must linger in places like izakayas for a while before going back, otherwise it is considered a sign of incompetence.

The result was that when Serabelle and Shizuka Ikenami drove out of the underground parking lot of the commercial plaza in the city center, the streets in the entire center of Tokyo were already full of vehicles.

Private cars are crowded together, with a few buses standing out in the middle. When you turn on the navigation, you can see that the whole road is red.

In the end, it took the two of them almost an hour to finally get out of Tokyo.

It was already a little after seven in the evening when we arrived in Saitama Prefecture and found the address information sent by Inspector Megure.

The sun set and night fell. Under the starry sky without a trace of afterglow, a black Audi stopped in front of a very ordinary apartment building.

Serabelle turned off the engine and pulled the handbrake, then pulled out her cane from under the driver's seat and put it on, pushed open the door, got out, and took out her cell phone to check.

"Let me see. Mr. Shibata should live on the fourth floor... Anyway, let's go up now."

"Ah."

Ikeba Shizuka nodded gently.

So the two of them went upstairs together and soon arrived at the fourth floor of the apartment building.

Shibata Shiro's home is in the innermost room on the fourth floor, and the name of the owner is clearly written on the door.

Serabelle decisively raised her hand and pressed the doorbell.

ding dong~

The sound insulation of the door was not very good. The moment the doorbell rang, a clear ring tone was heard from behind the door, echoing throughout the entire floor.

But after ten seconds, there was still no response from inside the door.

Serabelle rang the doorbell twice more, but still no one came to open the door.

Could it be that he went out...

Serabelle sighed inwardly, this was the worst possible situation.

After dinner, some people go out for a walk near home, but some people go out to play mahjong with friends, and no one knows what time they will be back in the early morning.

How long will we have to wait if we keep waiting?

Just as Serabelle was hesitating whether to say come back tomorrow, footsteps were suddenly heard at the stairs behind her.

When I turned around, I saw a middle-aged man wearing slippers, who was quite fat and bald.

He shouldn't be Shibata Shiro...

Serabelle made a quick judgment in her mind after just one glance, because Shibata Shiro in the photo not only had thick hair, but also a long and square face. Although he was already a teenager, decades of social abuse would not have led him to such a level of depravity.

As expected, the other party spoke curiously the moment he saw the two people at the door.

"Eh? Who are you two? Do you want to talk to Shibata?"

"Yes, but he doesn't seem to be at home now..."

Serabelle answered truthfully.

But the middle-aged man waved his hands in disdain after hearing this: "Impossible, my name is Yoshikawa Takezo, I live on the third floor downstairs, we play mahjong at this time every day, he must be at home at this time."

As he spoke, Yoshikawa walked past Serabelle and Ikenami Shizuka and came to the door, then he touched the door handle and pressed it gently.

The door opened.

"See, I told you that you were really at home."

Yoshikawa shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and walked into the house, shouting as he walked.

"Hey~ Shibata~ Someone's looking for you outside."

Serabelle and Ikenami Shizuka looked at each other, nodded slightly, and opened the door to go in and take a look.

But before they could even step through the door, a stern female voice suddenly came from the stairs behind them.

"Who are you? What do you want to do in my house?!"

Chapter 307 Body search can solve % of the problems

Being caught red-handed just as they were about to enter someone else's house was, in a way, a good thing for Serabelle and Shizuka Hattori.

After all, they were originally looking for the real owner of this family.

But with good news comes bad news.

The good news is that the owner of this house finally showed up.

The bad news is that it was the hostess who came.

When Serabelle looked in the direction of the voice, she saw a middle-aged woman in sportswear appearing at the back stairs. Her facial features were fairly regular, and she had a long black hair covered with a topless sun hat. She was carrying a large bag on her back, which contained a full set of golf clubs.

It looked like he had just come back from playing golf.

Serabelle took the initiative to negotiate: "I'm sorry, we actually have something to do with Mr. Shibata. Are you Mr. Shibata's wife?"

Perhaps it was the charm effect on the older man that was activated automatically, or perhaps it was because the boy in front of her spoke well and was polite, leaning on a cane in a very stylish manner and didn't look like a burglar, the middle-aged woman stared at him carefully for two seconds before suddenly feeling relieved.

"Nothing, I'm Shibata Kyoko, Shibata Shiro's wife. I just overreacted and thought there was... a thief trying to steal something."

"How can it be."

Serabelle shrugged.

"We rang the doorbell a while ago, but no one came out to open the door. We thought no one was home, so we were going to leave and come back later. But then we happened to meet a neighbor named Yoshikawa Takezo who lives downstairs from your house. He said that Mr. Shibata must be home at this time, so he opened the door and wanted to take us in."

"Yoshikawa?"

Hearing this name, Kyoko Shibata's gaze instantly shifted from Serabelle in front of her to the open doorway in front of her. A look of resentment flashed across her face, but was quickly hidden.

"Ah, he is indeed our neighbor downstairs. He often plays mahjong with my husband. They get along pretty well..."

As she spoke, she walked towards the door of her house and waved to Serabel and Ikenami Shizuka.

"Okay, then you guys come in too. My husband should be at home now, so you can talk to him face to face if you have anything to say."

"Then it's better to be respectful than to obey."

Although the scene was not very pleasant when they first met, after finding out that they were not bad people, Kyoko Shibata's attitude was still quite good. She even prepared shoe covers for Serabel and Ikenami Shizuka when they entered the door.

Serabelle put them on, but Ikenami Shizuka couldn't put on shoe covers because she was wearing wooden clogs, so she just walked on the ground in her socks.

When the three of them entered the house and came to the living room, Yoshikawa Takezo, who had entered earlier, just walked around and came out with a look of confusion on his face.

"That's weird. Why can't I find Shibata anywhere? I've searched the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and study, but I can't find him."

"Didn't you find it? Did he go out temporarily?"

Kyoko Shibata was stunned.

Yoshikawa Takezo immediately shook his head firmly: "No way, no way. We are good friends and we play mahjong on time every day. If he needs to do something unexpected, he will definitely send us a message."

"Wait, let me go to the bedroom and check. Could this guy have accidentally fallen asleep while lying on the bed out of boredom?"

After saying that, he walked towards the bedroom.

At the same time, Ikeha Shizuka, who was standing in the middle of the living room looking around, let out a soft "hmm" and then walked into the kitchen.

It is called a kitchen, but in fact it can also be considered a restaurant. The Shibata family followed the more traditional face-saving decoration style of the last century. The living room is spacious and bright, occupying the largest area and the best lighting, while the restaurant is squeezed into the small kitchen.

Serabelle subconsciously glanced into the kitchen and saw Ikenami Shizuka standing beside the dining table, frowning slightly at it.

Anything worth noting?

He went over to take a look and saw that what was placed on the table was a half-eaten breakfast, a very classic Japanese meal, with a small bowl of rice, a plate of fish, and a bowl of miso soup, with sauces and other things on the side.

As for calling it breakfast, it was because there was a morning newspaper next to it, and the rice in the bowl had turned slightly yellow and hard due to being exposed to the air for a long time.

"It's such a pity to eat such delicious Guji..."

Ikebo Jinghua suddenly sighed with a tone of disappointment.

Serabelle slowly typed a question mark: "Juci?"