"Goshi Miyahara, he was questioned by Inspector Megure regarding the shooting at Shoenji Temple."
Miwako did not go to the address Ren had given her.
Inspector Megure's side had not yet dispatched officers, so she still had enough time to investigate the kidnappers' information.
And because of the time warning, Miwako easily found the archive of that shooting case, as well as investigative reports on some nearby individuals.
After he shot and killed his companion, he had his accomplice take away his clothes and shoes stained with gunpowder residue. He called the Police to draw them over, and then, due to insufficient evidence, the deceased was defined as having fired accidentally during a gun struggle in a state of mental confusion, while the killer was defined as having acted in legitimate self-defense.
As for the two big stars kidnapped this time, they were truly unlucky.
After understanding the situation to some extent, Miwako realized how unlucky those two were.
It was only because they casually went to Shoenji Temple before the New Year and, by coincidence, got an inspiration and very coincidentally recorded that inspiration along with the two early gunshots from that time.
One shot was for killing, and the second shot was for disguise.
At the time, the handgun at the scene was checked and found to have fired only once, so the other gun and shell casing at the scene should have been taken away by his accomplice.
Indeed, the proactive call to the Police back then was to narrow the scope. If the deceased was deemed mentally deranged and committed the crime with a gun, and the person involved fired accidentally while struggling for the gun in self-defense, then investigating only the scene would be enough to file and close the case.
If it had been labeled as the deceased committing suicide at Shoenji Temple, then many aspects of the deceased's life would have had to be investigated, which would have implicated Goshi Miyahara himself. That is why he used mental derangement and accidental discharge during a struggle as an excuse, and had the prosecutor confirm his self-defense.
Once such a case is closed, no one conducts repetitive investigations.
Cold cases may be reopened after a time, but closed cases do not prompt the Police to do so.
Goshi Miyahara likely took advantage of this.
Miwako admitted the other party was quite smart, but she also had to admit their luck was rather poor.
Those two celebrities were unlucky to have recorded the sounds from that time. Goshi Miyahara was unlucky to have had his voice recorded then.
After a brief moment of reflection, Miwako needed to decide how to act.
If it had been before, encountering such a problem would still have required other team members to act together.
But now, it would be better for her to act alone.
Even though she was only a Sequence 9 Arbiter, with her close-quarters combat skills and her extraordinary ability to make others submit, facing several criminals did not pose much pressure.
There was also the benefit of acting alone without having to consider troublesome teammates.
She was not unaware that there were half-baked detectives in Investigation Division One, and if those half-baked detectives made mistakes during the operation, it would still be her responsibility.
"Chiba, Takagi, we're going out."
Megure Juzo, who had just been in his seat, immediately got up after receiving the alarm, called his two subordinates and some others, and began to move.
Hearing Inspector Megure's voice, Miwako waited for him to leave with his people before quietly getting up and following.
As a newly promoted Police Inspector, she still did not have a fixed team. Of course, Miwako emphasized that she still acted within Inspector Megure's team, but she would also act independently sometimes.
Especially when she had special intelligence.
Arriving at the underground parking lot, Miwako got into her red Mazda and drove directly out of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, heading for the crucial warehouse district.
A 30-minute drive brought her to the vicinity of the specific location.
She did not drive straight in, but found an empty spot on the roadside nearby and parked.
"This area is more sparsely populated than I imagined."
The closer she got to the key address, the fewer people there were. It was not surprising the other side would choose such a place as their base. The farther from crowds, the easier it is to deal with troublesome matters.
Of course, she could continue to get closer, but if she did, whether the kidnappers' car would drive in was another matter.
Miwako waited in her car for a while. After only twenty minutes, a sedan with opaque film on both the front and rear windows drove into the deserted alley.
"They're here."
After more than twenty minutes, only one car had driven into this deserted area, so it was clear this car was the target she had been waiting for.
Miwako quickly got out and walked through the alley like an ordinary pedestrian, glancing inside.
She saw that a black sedan in the depths of the alley had not yet stopped, but was driving farther in.
Without hesitation, she looked at one side of the street, lightly leaped, grabbed the top of the wall, and flipped directly to the inner side.
It was a deserted large warehouse.
Inside, almost no sound could be heard, and not a single light was on.
As expected of a place chosen as a criminal stronghold, this was indeed a deserted area.
Miwako complained inwardly as she walked along the edge of the wall, moving deeper into the alley.
Because this was a zone of continuous warehouses, and abandoned ones at that, she heard almost no other sounds as she walked. Not even homeless people came here often.
"Hey, superstar, hurry up and get down."
Through a wall, Miwako heard this voice.
Then a series of footsteps followed.
"What exactly do you want to do with us?"
It was clearly a female voice, likely the kidnapped Takayama Minami.
"Heh. You're not qualified to know, hurry up."
Another man's voice sounded almost right against the wall, and Miwako was certain he was behind the wall she was facing.
"Minami, stop talking…"
"Ugh…"
They were the fish, and the criminals were the knives. Miwako shook her head slightly. Resisting kidnappers like this was useless and might even get them taught a lesson.
She listened carefully. Three sets of footsteps began to move away, and she even heard the sound of walking up an iron staircase.
When the footsteps gradually quieted down, the man leaning against the wall started to walk back.
Miwako simply listened to the footsteps and quietly followed him.
(To be continued.)