BWDC:SDDK Chapter 90: Country Bumpkin, Don't You Know the Heroic Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Protects Beika Town!
In the end, Saruhashi Masaru was arrested.
However, given the special circumstances of his case, it was estimated that many human rights lawyers would be willing to defend him to bolster their own reputations. Furthermore, with the support of Tsukigami Ryotaro, there was a high probability he would be released on bail very soon.
Watching Saruhashi Masaru board the police car with Takagi Wataru to head toward the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Ren Ichimonji stood at the entrance of the apartment building.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of irony. This was a rare case in Beika Town where a "good person" actually managed a counter-kill. You didn't see those every day.
Still, the style of this case feels a bit unique, Ren thought.
He returned his coffee cup to his storage belt and rubbed his chin, pondering why he had that nagging feeling of familiarity.
Behind him, the famous ninja novelist—who, at sixty-three, looked as healthy as a man in his late seventies or eighties—spoke up.
"Young man, did you say earlier that you were Batman?"
Tsukigami Ryotaro walked up to Ren's side. Together, they watched the police car carrying Saruhashi and Takagi disappear at the end of the street.
"Truly, I didn't expect things to develop to this point," Tsukigami remarked. "However, your appearance has given me a fresh spark of creative inspiration."
Ren turned to look at the old master, curious about what kind of inspiration he meant.
Tsukigami smiled and said, "Perhaps I can create something by linking Batman with the concept of a ninja. I plan to use this theme to reach out to an old friend and try to produce a ninja-style Batman animation... It just so happens I don't think many people are interested in an adaptation of my new book, The Mysterious Centipede Ninja."
"By the way, I'll give you this copy of my newly released book as a gift, Mr. Batman."
He pulled a beautifully packaged book from his coat. The title read: The Latest Masterpiece from Famous Ninja Master Tsukigami Ryotaro — The Mysterious Centipede Ninja.
Ren didn't stand on ceremony. Since it was a gift, he took it. He glanced at the promotional tagline at the bottom of the cover and his eyebrows twitched.
Tagline: A Reversal, followed by another Reversal!
I knew this case looked familiar, Ren realized. It shared some striking similarities with the "Turnabout Samurai" chapter from Ace Attorney.
Curious, he asked, "Master Tsukigami, you're actually familiar with Batman?"
Tsukigami gave Ren a strange look. As he turned to walk away, he left behind a single sentence: "Of course. I was young once, too."
Batman had been a superhero active in comics since 1939. Writers in Japan, regardless of their generation, had all been exposed to Batman comics to some degree. Every generation had its own Batman.
"Is that so? Well then..." Ren shook his head, choosing not to say more.
On the apartment stairs behind them, Mouri Kogoro finally descended with Inspector Megure. They seemed to be discussing the events involving Teiji Moriya from the previous night.
Speaking of which, as the instigator of that incident, Ren didn't actually know how the local authorities had handled the aftermath.
Seeing Mouri Kogoro and Inspector Megure approach, he deliberately asked, "Inspector Megure, Uncle Mouri. You two were up there going over the records for so long; you must know everything about last night's bombing incident, right?"
"I wasn't paying attention to it yesterday and only heard about it this morning. Could you explain the situation to me?"
Mouri Kogoro and Inspector Megure: "..."
Do you think we'd believe your nonsense? We stayed up all night, and you're telling us you didn't? You really didn't?
However, after scrutinizing Ren's face, the two men fell into a silent gloom. This young man was quite handsome, enough to rival Takuya Kimura... but that wasn't the point.
The point was that Ren's face was completely free of dark circles. He looked refreshed and full of energy.
This guy really seems to have slept through the night without staying up late!
Truly a man who just wants to live a quiet life, Mouri Kogoro sighed. People like them stayed up worrying that "the big one" was coming, and while "the big one" never arrived, they ended up with permanent bags under their eyes. It was exhausting.
Mouri Kogoro aside—since he had only seen fragments of the live broadcast on TV Tokyo and knew limited details—the official response was best heard from Inspector Megure.
However, mentioning last night's events made Megure's face darken as he began to vent his frustrations.
"Brother Ren, you have no idea. Last night, Teiji Moriya suddenly called me by name. He openly told me he stole the explosives from the warehouse and that he was going to blow up the Beika City Building. It scared me so much I made four or five calls in the middle of the night to wake up Superintendent Odagiri."
"Then, Superintendent Odagiri reported it up to Superintendent General Hakuba. We were fully armed and spent quite a while preparing before rushing to the warehouse. Just as we had the place surrounded and the professional bomb disposal squad was ready to move in with the riot police..."
"The Public Security Bureau suddenly showed up and took over the scene! Can you believe how annoying that is?"
It was common knowledge that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Public Security Bureau (Secret Police) never got along. But there was no helping it; Public Security had higher authority.
When Public Security spoke, let alone an Inspector like him, even Superintendent Matsumoto or Senior Superintendent Odagiri had to step aside. Consequently, Inspector Megure and the main force spent half the night standing outside in a perimeter, basically acting as security guards for Public Security.
They only went back in the later half of the night—not because the case was solved, but because Public Security had finally taken Teiji Moriya away for interrogation.
"But if you ask me, that Teiji Moriya is just a country bumpkin who doesn't know the heights of the heavens," Megure boasted toward the end, trying to save face for the Metropolitan Police. "He clearly doesn't know that Beika Town is protected by our heroic Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department! Even if he hadn't surrendered, his bombing plan would never have succeeded!"
Hearing this, Ren understood the situation. Inspector Megure had no idea how the case was being finalized. To find that out, one would have to ask Public Security.
Speaking of which...
Is Furuya Rei, using the alias Amuro Tooru, in Tokyo during this period? Ren rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"Batman! Batman! Batman!"
Inside an interrogation room at the Tokyo Regional Headquarters of the Public Security Bureau, the officer in charge leaned back in his chair, speechless.
Has this Teiji Moriya been scared out of his mind? Why does he just say 'Batman' no matter what we ask?
How were they supposed to interrogate him? Use "memory recovery techniques" (enhanced interrogation)? It wasn't impossible. However, Moriya was a public figure with an unstable mental state. If they used those techniques and he went to the press afterward, it would blow up in Public Security's face.
"Go report to the undercover investigator. We can't get anything out of him," the officer sighed, waving his hand.
Furuya Rei, who had been observing the interrogation, stood up immediately. He looked at Teiji Moriya's state, thoughtfully stroking his chin.
It seemed he had realized something.
End of Chapter
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium