8-Chome, 18 Beido Town was a high-end residential district. As expected, the residents here were either wealthy or powerful.
Ritsu pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the black pepper sauce from the corner of his mouth, then carefully sorted the trash from the paper bag before tossing it into the garbage bin.
The nameplate on the gate read "Suzuno" in gold-plated lettering, radiating the unmistakable aura of a nouveau riche household.
Hamabe stood awkwardly in front of the villa entrance. Turning toward the two detectives, she asked hesitantly, "Um… could I just stay in the car and not come out?"
Ritsu also had no desire to turn this into a social scandal. If things were handled poorly, Mrs. Suzuno, who was currently pregnant, could become emotionally distressed enough to miscarry.
"You two stay in the car. I'll handle this myself."
Straightening the wrinkles in his suit, Ritsu rang the doorbell. Once the call connected, he politely said, "Good afternoon, Suzuno-san. I'm Inspector Onizawa Takashi from the Metropolitan Police Department. We're investigating a criminal case and hope you can cooperate with the police."
When Yosuke heard the word "police," his first thought was that it was some kind of scam. He was just about to curse them out and send them away when he heard the mention of a criminal case connected to him.
His imagination instantly ran wild. Could something have happened to one of the hostesses at the nightclub he frequented?
"Inspector Onizawa, please wait a moment! I'll open the door right away!"
Yosuke hurried into the kitchen and poured a cup of warm water before rushing upstairs two steps at a time. His wife was currently watching a movie in their home theater room.
Smiling gently, he handed her the cup. "Honey, drink some water."
"Thank you, dear~"
"Honey, a friend needs me for something. Is it okay if I head out for about half an hour?"
"You don't have to report every little thing to me. Go ahead."
"Okay, honey!"
After closing the door behind him, Yosuke hurried downstairs. Only after wiping away the cold sweat forming on his forehead did he finally open the gate.
Seeing Ritsu standing outside the iron gate, he forced a smile and stepped forward to greet him.
"Inspector Onizawa, is there something I can help you with?"
Ritsu clearly noticed Yosuke's gaze probing behind him. And when he realized Ritsu had come alone, the subtle sigh of relief on his face didn't escape notice.
'Heh. So this guy really thought the case involved Hamabe.'
"Suzuno-san, I'd like you to provide your dashcam footage to the police. There's important evidence we need from it."
"The dashcam?!"
Yosuke's face instantly turned ugly. His naturally dark complexion even flushed slightly red, like a pig liver that wasn't quite fresh anymore.
Rubbing the tip of his nose, he paused before forcing out an answer.
"I'm really sorry, Inspector Onizawa, but my dashcam just happened to break a few days ago, so I probably can't help you."
Pathetic lying skills.
Ritsu stepped closer, shrinking the distance between them and using his height to pressure Yosuke. Smiling pleasantly, he removed his glasses and slowly wiped the lenses clean.
"Suzuno-san, did you major in acting back in college? Your performance is so good it'd be a real loss to the entertainment industry if you didn't become an actor."
The smile on Yosuke's face froze. He wasn't an idiot. Naturally, he understood exactly what Ritsu meant.
Putting his glasses back on, Ritsu fixed his crimson eyes directly onto the panicked man before him. With a single sentence, he struck straight at Yosuke's weak point.
In a hoarse voice, he asked, "If you enjoy fooling around in your car so much, why install a dashcam in the first place?"
He casually patted Yosuke's shoulder as he smiled.
"What? You like recording it so you can replay it later and enjoy the memories?"
Yosuke knew there was no way he could keep hiding it anymore.
Lowering his head in frustration, he pleaded, "Inspector Onizawa, could you not tell my wife about this? She's pregnant right now and can't handle emotional stress."
"So you do remember you have a wife? I was beginning to think you'd forgotten."
"I…"
Yosuke opened his mouth as if wanting to explain himself, only to realize there was nothing meaningful he could say. In the end, he silently pulled out his car keys, removed the dashcam, and handed it over with both hands.
"Inspector Onizawa… did something happen to her?"
Ritsu accepted the dashcam. Upon hearing that question, his gaze turned cold.
"You should worry more about your wife. The dashcam will be kept as evidence and won't be returned."
"Yes, and please—"
"The police aren't so bored that we'd interfere in your private affairs. Goodbye."
Ritsu had no interest in wasting more words on him.
The moment Yosuke referred to "her," Ritsu understood that Hamabe was merely one of the women featured in the dashcam footage.
Apparently, this idiot didn't even know which woman had actually gotten into trouble.
Seeing that Ritsu looked to be in a bad mood, Hayasaka wisely chose not to ask questions. Instead, she turned toward Hamabe in the back seat, who sat there with her head lowered, and asked,
"Where's your home? We'll take you back."
"6-Chome, 15 Setagaya Town. Sorry for the trouble."
After dropping Hamabe off at her apartment, the two returned to the Metropolitan Police Department and found an empty room to examine the dashcam footage.
To be honest, the contents were practically comparable to an adult film.
Fortunately, the dashcam recorded the road ahead rather than the inside of the car. Once they muted the audio, they could at least watch the footage in peace.
Hayasaka furrowed her brows and forced herself to focus. Finally, after more than twenty minutes, she spotted a silver BMW parked at the entrance of the alley in footage recorded on July 7th.
"Onizawa! Found it!"
The license plate had not been concealed.
Shinjuku 36 Mi 92-50.
"Tell the tech department to identify the owner of that vehicle. Quickly."
"Yes, sir!"
Through the tech department's investigation, they quickly identified the BMW owner.
Keisuke Nakano. Male. Twenty-five years old. Unemployed.
Born in Koto Ward, Tokyo. Currently residing in Room 302, 49 Beika 3-Chome.
The moment he saw the address, Ritsu finally understood why Morino and Sakura had followed the suspect away without suspicion.
Nakano owned two properties under his name. One of them had been rented to the two female Toto University students. Living right next door naturally allowed him to learn their daily routines.
"The place where Morino and Sakura disappeared was probably their residence. If we mark the disappearance locations of the first two victims as well, we can determine Nakano's activity range."
Ritsu took out a red marker and began drawing lines across the map. It became clear that Nakano operated primarily between Beika 3-Chome and 4-Chome. From this, they could infer that the remaining two victims had also disappeared somewhere within that area.
"Nakano has transportation, which makes it easy for him to lure victims into his car. And this BMW isn't cheap either. Driving an imported luxury car lowers people's guard, they subconsciously assume a wealthy man wouldn't be interested in targeting them."
Hayasaka frowned. "Inspector, should we apply for an arrest warrant now and go apprehend Nakano at his residence?"
"He's probably not home," Ritsu deduced. "Based on the timing of his crimes, he's likely planning to strike again tonight. Right now, he's probably outside searching for his next target."
"Then I'll notify the nearby police stations—"
"No need to alarm him. Have the tech department track his phone's GPS location. With a little hacking, they should be able to get his precise location."
"Understood!"
After watching Hayasaka leave, the smile on Ritsu's face gradually disappeared as well.
He took the elevator down from the Metropolitan Police Department and flagged down a taxi outside.
"Please take me to 49 Beika 3-Chome."
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bonus chap every 20 PS
read ahead on my pa reon @Siamus404