Police station reception room.
After coming down from the hotel, the police brought Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and the others here.
Ikishima Midari and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sat on one side of the reception room's coffee table, while her father and the Sanjikan of the Metropolitan Police Department sat on the other side.
The police captain who was previously the team leader was now the lowest in rank; he didn't sit down, only stood awkwardly to the side.
Ikishima Midari's father stared at Ikishima Midari, his face very grim, but he still maintained a gentle tone: "...Xiao Wang, you were kidnapped yesterday. Such a big thing happened, why didn't you tell me? Don't you know, if I didn't have a good friend in the Metropolitan Police Department and they contacted me, I wouldn't even know you almost died!"
"Don't you know how worried I was when I couldn't reach you? After you were safe, couldn't you have just let me know you were okay?"
Ikishima Midari crossed her arms and pouted: "Nothing happened to me, so why tell you? Didn't you always say your work was very important and not to disturb you unless it was something big?"
"Work is not as important as you are! Your safety is the top priority!"
This was a shooting case, a type of case that only happens ten times a year, and his daughter actually encountered it, and he was unaware... He was both shocked and scared. If Ikishima Midari had really been in trouble, he would have nowhere to regret it.
Ikishima Midari said in an indifferent tone: "So what if I told you? Could you have made the kidnappers let me go? I even told that big guy your name, and it didn't work at all. He was determined to kill us, and even giving him money was useless. Your identity as a politician was useless in front of the kidnappers."
"Xiao Wang..."
The man seemed to want to say something harsh, but in the end, he didn't. He let out a long sigh and shifted his gaze to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, his eyes instantly sharpening.
"Are you Ayanokoji Kiyotaka? Are you Xiao Wang's boyfriend?"
"It's Ayanokoji Kiyotaka." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka corrected: "The person you're talking about is my older brother."
"Alright... Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, how long have you been with my daughter?"
"We just got together yesterday." Ikishima Midari answered for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"Last night...!" The man's eyes widened, and he looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka with a displeased expression: "My daughter was kidnapped all because of you, and you even have the nerve to take advantage of the situation and confirm your relationship with her?"
In the father's eyes, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was just a lucky guy who won his daughter's heart by relying on the bridge effect. He disliked Ayanokoji Kiyotaka no matter how he looked at him.
Although the other party was Ikishima Midari's father, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "We already had mutual feelings for each other. It was only after the kidnapping happened yesterday that we confirmed our feelings and got together. I'm not taking advantage of the situation."
"You certainly can speak high-sounding words." The man snorted coldly: "Do you know who you've provoked? If something happened to my daughter, can you protect her safety?"
Seeing the man's grim expression, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka realized something was wrong.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem with this case?"
The captain spoke at this time.
"...Some unexpected situations have occurred. Before I inform you of the case's progress, can you first recount what you experienced?"
"Are you going to take my statement?"
Sanjikan spoke: "Kiyotaka, you don't need to be too detailed, just give a general account of the kidnapping."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at him, and he smiled slightly: "Your father and I have been good friends for many years. He contacted me and asked me to take charge of this matter, ensuring that the culprits who kidnapped his son are caught."
As he spoke, he took out his phone and showed his call history.
At three o'clock in the morning, he had talked with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's father for about an hour.
"He's very busy today and can't come to see you. He asked me to handle everything. If you don't believe me, I can call him now." He said with a smile.
"No need, I believe you."
The identity of this Sanjikan could not be faked with the police station as a guarantor. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not doubt his identity, nor was there any need to doubt his identity.
Sanjikan must have heard the specific details from his father. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, as Sanjikan instructed, briefly explained the kidnapping and the gun exploding at the end, omitting his conversation with the professor.
"You really are lucky. You can encounter a one-in-ten-thousand chance, and the gun actually exploded..." When he heard Ayanokoji Kiyotaka recount this, Sanjikan couldn't help but exclaim.
Anyone who heard this would have to exclaim how incredibly lucky one must be to survive a gunshot at point-blank range.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka chuckled.
If he were truly lucky, he wouldn't have been kidnapped as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
There was no recorder in the room, and the captain also served this role.
He held a notebook in his hand, recording Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's words while saying: "He said the same thing yesterday, but none of us believed such a thing could happen. But according to our investigation of the scene last night, there seems to be only one possibility—he was telling the truth."
"This is already a fact. What do I have to lie about?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said frankly.
"Hmm... What you said is consistent with what we investigated last night, but I still have some questions for you."
The captain looked up and asked Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, his eyes suddenly sharp: "When we investigated yesterday, we found that besides bloodstains, there was also red wine on the culprit's body. Your clothes yesterday also had red wine... Why is that?"
Based on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's answer, he would consider whether to treat Ayanokoji Kiyotaka as a suspect depending on the situation.
"That bottle of red wine was in the van. I saw that the kidnapper was still alive after he turned into a fireball, so I wasn't at ease. I smashed his head with the red wine bottle and then gave him a few more punches..."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said without changing his expression: "I admit I concealed some things, but this should count as legitimate self-defense, right?"
"The other party was an armed gangster. Even if you killed him on the spot, it would be considered normal self-defense." The captain nodded and continued to take notes: "Hmm, we examined the wound on his head, but it doesn't look like the wound caused by the window breaker left at the scene. If that's the case, it makes sense..."
"Also, we examined the ropes, and one of them showed signs of being cut by a sharp object. What sharp object did you use, and where did you get it?" He continued to press.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was about to answer when Sanjikan spoke.
"Alright, stop asking. He is a victim of kidnapping. It doesn't matter how he escaped danger. More importantly, you should tell us the current progress of the case."
Under the kind gaze of the Metropolitan Police Department leader, the captain could only close his notebook and report the current situation.
"After rescuing the victim last night, we immediately surrounded the kidnappers' hideout according to the address he provided. The entire process took less than ten minutes. However, the kidnappers seemed to have known we would find them and had already left before we arrived, setting a fire that burned everything inside that unfinished building to ashes."
"After we put out the fire, we immediately began searching, but we didn't find much valuable in the ruins. Presumably, the other party must have taken all the important documents with them, and those that couldn't be taken were burned."
"We are already looking for traces of the culprits through surveillance footage, but so far, we haven't had any success."
"...I see."
Although a bit disappointed, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was not surprised.
Professor and his group had always been very cautious. After learning that the police were dispatched, they worried that the police would find them, and ruthlessly burning down the research institute was not a particularly unexpected move.
This kind of determination to make a warrior's sacrifice is quite admirable.
"Actually, it's not just that." The captain observed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression, choosing his words carefully: "The kidnapper who was sent to the hospital for treatment... he suddenly died early this morning."
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