Chapter 196: Clues (2 IN 1)

With such a judgment, it wasn't just a wild guess.

After all, Senichi had spent the entire night studying Ueno Hirayama's background and past.

Senichi has built an impression profile for him based on his experiences and past actions in his mind.

Calm, rational, experienced in wars, excellent military knowledge, and sound judgment in the big picture.

A person like him, if he really wanted to get the ransom, wouldn't spread videos on the internet without any benefit. He knew it would only strengthen the resolve of the other side to eliminate him. If this was his plan, he would have discreetly negotiated.

But now, the video had been uploaded and widely known, with even TV stations reporting on it, completely ruining any chance of negotiation.

Moreover, the location for the exchange was set, and even if they requested a helicopter, it was not a wise move. Criminals usually notified you last minute and changed routes during the exchange to shake off any pursuers as quickly as possible after getting the ransom.

And now, knowing that they had forced the other side to eliminate them and still choosing a location and preparing for the exchange?

If a helicopter comes, they might not even have the chance to ride it.

As Senichi formed this judgment and the thought "this series of masterminds is not Ueno Hirayama" crossed his mind, he suddenly realized that the actions of the criminals were like a clown. It was laughable and amusing, but within the comedy lay a dark malice.

This reminded him of DC's iconic villain, "The Joker." Although not as crazy, their mindset was somewhat similar.

After sharing his thoughts and judgments with the two, Takagi said gravely, "If Ueno Hirayama is just a decoy for the mastermind... then the real target of the criminal..."

"It's 20 billion yen in cash!" Senichi said slowly. "However, the terror is not about demanding this ransom but has another target in mind."

Upon hearing this, Sato Miwako looked at Senichi sharply and said seriously, "I remember when we were investigating the Heiwa Seiji's home, there was a schedule written in a notebook, right?"

"So, you're saying Heiwa Seiji was investigating someone's whereabouts? And that person could provide 20 billion yen in cash!?"

"It's not out of the realm of possibility," Senichi said, neither confirming nor denying.

Although they were initially skeptical of Senichi's theory, when they combined it with the evidence they had collected, both Takagi and Sato Miwako had to admit that there was indeed a possibility.

If there were doubts, they needed to investigate further.

If there was a profession that was most thorough in digging into things, the criminal investigation profession would be one of the top contenders.

Just as Senichi was about to allocate tasks, he received a call from Uncle Toshiro.

"Moshi moshi? Uncle Toshiro, did you find anything?" Senichi got straight to the point after answering the call.

"We've completed the investigation on the information the criminal left behind during the unexpected encounter while escaping," Uncle Toshiro replied, "There isn't much information left. Firstly, according to the bullet analysis, the criminal used a .40 caliber handgun."

"Huh?" Now, Senichi felt something was off.

He distinctly remembered discussing the case of a murdered police detective with Conan at Agasa's home before, and he recalled that the criminal in that case also used a .40 caliber handgun.

The fact that these two unrelated cases had the same data immediately gave Senichi a different idea.

"Uncle Toshiro, I recall the case where a detective was assassinated some time ago. Did the criminal also use this caliber handgun? Can you compare the ballistic traces of the bullets in both cases?"

"Are you suspecting that Ueno Hirayama was involved in that case as well?" Uncle Toshiro was surprised at the other end of the call.

"Just a suspicion, no concrete evidence yet. So, I'd appreciate it if you could look into it," Senichi thanked him.

"That's no problem. Comparing evidence is our job, and the purpose is always to confirm the truth," Uncle Toshiro replied, unfazed.

Later, Uncle Toshiro informed Senichi about another piece of evidence they found inside the escaping criminal's car.

They found a photo of a fishing boat parked at the dock.

Though they weren't sure if it would be helpful, Uncle Toshiro enlarged the photo, preparing for Senichi to look at it when he returned to see if there were any discoveries.

"I got it. I'll come back to you after I finish my investigation here," Senichi said before hanging up the phone. Then, he looked at Sato Miwako and said, "Next, we'll split up. I'd like you to investigate more about Heiwa Seiji's past. Takagi and I will go and inquire about his previous work at the mobile coffee stand."

"No problem. I'll go now!" Sato Miwako replied briskly, stepping on the accelerator. With the roar of the engine, her red car disappeared into the traffic.

...

"Heijin resigned about a month ago, I believe," in the park, in front of the mobile coffee stand.

As the waiter prepared coffee for Senichi and Takagi, he said, "I only had a few conversations with him when I took over the shift, so I don't know much about him."

"How long did Heijin work here?" Takagi asked.

"Oh... He had quite a bit of experience... He's been working here regularly. The company was planning to promote him to manage a nearby store," the waiter said, recalling, "I think it's been around six or seven years."

"That long..." Senichi thought, glancing around the surroundings and observing the place where Heiwa Seiji had worked for six or seven years.

It was just a simple park surrounded by tall buildings, with the most noticeable one being the top floor of a building entirely made of glass, marked with the "ASP" logo, reflecting the sky and looking very beautiful.

"Your coffee is ready."

"Ah, thank you."

Taking the coffee, Senichi turned and handed it to Takagi beside him. As he was about to take his own coffee, he happened to glance at the sticky note on the wall inside the small booth.

[MegaD, 7 coffee with milk]

The way it was recorded was exactly the same as the format Heiwa Seiji used in his notebook!

"Sorry, what does this 'MegaD' mean?" Senichi immediately asked, pointing at the sticky note on the wall.

"Oh, we often have regular customers here," the waiter replied with a smile. "MegaD is the abbreviation for a nearby eyeglass discount chain store. They often come back to buy coffee before we close."

This information immediately lifted the spirits of Senichi and Takagi.

Because this practically proved that Heiwa Seiji was indeed investigating someone's movements!

And that person might be his real target!

With this favorable piece of information, Takagi immediately went to MegaD to conduct relevant inquiries and investigations.

Senichi had originally planned to go together, but he received a call from Sato Miwako midway, which changed his plans, and he went to investigate separately from Takagi.

After Sato Miwako's investigation in the Life Safety Division, it was discovered that Heiwa Seiji's father was a drifter.

Before Heiwa Seiji went to elementary school, his father disappeared due to a large debt and became a drifter, dying in the park seven years ago.

Because Heiwa Seiji's father wanted his family to know about his death, he had information about his relatives in his belongings.

However, Heiwa Seiji's mother had remarried, so when identifying the body, only Heiwa Seiji went to confirm.

Since then, Heiwa Seiji knew that his father occasionally appeared in the park where he worked.

Upon learning this, Senichi immediately thought of the photo he had seen in the other's home, and the scene depicted seemed to be from somewhere in the park.

With the information gathered by Sato Miwako's investigation, it led him to think that the location in the photo might be where Heiwa Seiji's father once lived.

Otherwise, that photo wouldn't be the only one at his home.

Perhaps it was because it was a place where his father had lived before, that's why Heiwa Seiji cherished it so much and took it as a keepsake.

After some inquiries and searching, Senichi indeed found the triangular-roofed open-air building near the park on the other side as seen in the photo.

Outside the building, he visited many tables, and many drifters lined up inside to collect food and then sat down to eat.

As Senichi's figure appeared here, a young girl wearing a beige coat quickly ran over.

"Excuse me, are you here to check the usage permit?"

"No, no, I'm not here to inspect," Senichi looked at the girl who was about to show her identification curiously, "How did you know I'm a criminal investigator?"

Upon hearing this, the young girl smiled and said, "No one comes to this place during holidays like Christmas, especially someone in a suit standing around nearby. Except for a criminal investigator, I don't think anyone else would want to linger here."

That made sense, after all, this building was full of drifters, and ordinary people wouldn't spend much time here.

However, it seemed the girl was used to encountering inspections like this, or else she wouldn't handle it so adeptly.

"I see. But I'm here for something else," Senichi nodded in understanding and then asked, "Could you tell me when the relief activities started here?"

"It was about five years ago," the girl replied with pride but also some disappointment. "However, this place will be developed into a commercial street soon, and the park will be demolished. The places where homeless people can rest have been decreasing."

"Is that so? You've worked hard." Thinking of what he saw at Heiwa Seiji's place, Senichi nodded thoughtfully.

After expressing his gratitude, Senichi walked on the sidewalk, looking at the rundown huts around and the homeless people sitting on the ground, then looked to the other side of the park at the tall building, feeling a strong contrast.

"Both are human beings, but they lead completely different lives." Senichi sighed, silently pondering.

However, pondering wouldn't change anything, and Senichi quickly cheered himself up, calling Takagi to prepare to meet up with him.

After finding Takagi, his investigation had also yielded results.

After asking the eyeglass store owner, they learned that around 7 p.m. on November 4th, MegaD only had one woman and another young man who came to buy contact lenses.

This information matched the intel left by Detective Heiji Hattori, regarding the young man.

This further led him to believe that Heiwa Seiji's target was this unknown young man.

There were two reasons for this.

As a military man, Ueno Hirayama's eyesight was 1.5, so it was impossible for him to visit an eyeglass store. This ruled out the possibility of Heiwa Seiji tracking Ueno Hirayama and contacting him.

The more important point was that Senichi didn't see the young man mentioned by Detective Heiji Hattori in the hostage video.

He intentionally hid him and didn't capture him in the video.

The saying "things that are unusual must have demons" meant that the more someone hid, the more likely they were the real target.

Fortunately, the eyeglass store had records of the young man's information, registering basic details about customers, which allowed Takagi to obtain the name and address of this young man named Ito Ryosuke.

"Well then, let's visit the Ito family next." Senichi directly confirmed their next target.

Though their visit encountered some setbacks, they eventually found a related person about Ito Ryosuke - his wife, who was in the hospital about to give birth.

After asking about Ryosuke's whereabouts, they received the expected answer.

Starting from last night, they hadn't been able to reach him by phone or get a response to their emails. When they called the company where Ryosuke worked at night, they were told that he wasn't assigned to work last night.

After comforting Mrs. Ito, who felt guilty, they drove to the company address they obtained from the inquiries.

"We really didn't do any cleaning work last night."

After explaining their purpose, the manager in charge furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, and then led them to a whiteboard displaying work schedules. "You see, we indeed had no work last night."

Seeing the words "NC" written in blue pen below a name, Senichi and Takagi both froze.

"Senichi, the 'NC' in Heiwa Seiji's notebook should refer to this, right?" Takagi pointed at the whiteboard with an excited expression.

"Yes, night cleaning, the so-called 'NC' is the abbreviation for nighttime cleaning," Senichi nodded and said, "It seems that the person Heiwa Seiji was investigating is indeed Ito Ryosuke."

All the times and locations were where Ryosuke had worked for night cleaning.

"But why would Heiwa Seiji investigate Ito Ryosuke?" Takagi frowned in confusion. "Looking at it, Ryosuke is just an ordinary employee, he couldn't possibly have that much money, right?"

"That... Maybe I know why." The manager, who had been listening to their conversation, couldn't help but speak up. "Actually..."

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