Detective's Intuition

"Lately life has been a bit too peaceful..."

In Tokyo, at the Metropolitan Police Department, Juzo Megure sat leisurely in his office chair, gazing out at the scenery with a touch of melancholy.

For some reason, he'd noticed a significant decrease in murder cases recently, and Beika Town seemed to have returned to its former peace.

While fewer murder cases were certainly a good thing, the sudden quiet left him feeling somewhat unsettled.

"Ring ring!"

At that moment, a phone call abruptly broke his thoughts.

He answered the phone, and before he could say anything, Fujino's voice came through, "Is this Inspector Megure?"

"Brother Fujino?"

Juzo Megure exclaimed in surprise.

Could there be another murder case?

With that thought, he asked, "Brother, why are you calling me... did you run into a murder case?"

"No murder case... but I did find an International Robbery Group."

"International Robbery Group?"

Juzo Megure frowned upon hearing this. "Could it be the same Italian Robbery Group that stole the Maple Leaf Gold Coins and fled to Japan?"

"It's probably that so-called Italian Robbery Group."

As he spoke, Fujino glanced at three men hidden in a corner and described, "One Japanese, two foreigners. It should be them, right?"

"That's right! It's them!"

Juzo Megure suddenly stood up from his office chair. "Brother Fujino, where are you right now?!"

"Outside the xxx Bank near Tokyo Tower."

"Brother, don't act rashly. We're on our way..."

After hanging up, a glint flashed in Juzo Megure's eyes.

As expected of Brother Fujino!

He managed to easily locate an international gang wanted by the police...

Another case closed!

This time, instead of acting rashly, Fujino called for backup: Inspector Megure.

While he was confident in his swordsmanship, even able to easily take down three strong men with his added buffs, his opponents had guns!

He might be reckless, but he wasn't stupid.

Going up against armed men with just a wooden stick would likely get him riddled with bullets before he even got close.

Soon, Juzo Megure arrived at the scene, accompanied by over a dozen elites from the Third Division.

However, since they were in plainclothes, those officers hid in a nearby TV broadcast van to avoid arousing suspicion from the criminals.

Only Sato Miwako and Fujino remained to monitor the suspects' movements.

"Are those the escaped members of the Italian Robbery Group? They don't look like it."

Sato Miwako sat by the entrance of a coffee shop, glancing sideways at a few burly men not far away, muttering to herself.

Not far off, three burly men in white suits were sneakily tailing a few elementary school students.

They looked like human traffickers, not international master thieves at all.

However, Sato Miwako had seen their photos before coming; those three were indeed the wanted criminals from the international group.

"Why didn't you go up and subdue them with a surprise attack this time?"

Turning around, Sato Miwako chuckled and teased Fujino, "I remember you're quite brave, Fujino-kun."

Fujino looked at Sato Miwako speechlessly.

Sato Miwako was wearing a crop top and jeans, looking like a flirty young girl, not at all like a police officer.

This was perhaps the highest level of plainclothes disguise...

Shaking off his thoughts, Fujino couldn't help but retort, "I am brave, but I'm not stupid. I know when to act... Besides, they have guns. I don't want to end up as a sieve."

"I didn't expect you to be so level-headed."

Sato Miwako chuckled, covering her mouth. "But speaking of which, how did you find them, Fujino-kun? We police have been looking for them for days without any useful leads."

Hearing this, Fujino stretched and took a sip of the coffee in front of him. "Will you believe me if I say it was a detective's intuition?"

"Intuition... while a bit unreliable, it does work..."

Sato Miwako blinked in surprise, then chuckled. "But you wouldn't be this cautious on intuition alone, would you?"

Fujino scratched the back of his head. "Actually, it's because of the treasure map that elementary school student is holding."

"A treasure map?"

Sato Miwako sounded somewhat surprised.

"That's right, a treasure map... Just about forty minutes ago, those elementary school kids came to me, wanting my help to decipher the code on it."

After a pause, Fujino continued, "I couldn't see it very clearly, nor did I remember everything on the treasure map, but I'm sure the code on it was an Italian cipher."

"Combined with this morning's news, I suspect that treasure map should be the map showing Cabagne's hiding place for the Maple Leaf Gold Coins."

"But why would he draw the Maple Leaf Gold Coins on such a crude map?"

Sato Miwako tapped her chin. "I recall they were part of the same group, weren't they?"

Fujino placed his coffee cup on the table and asked Sato Miwako, "If I'm not mistaken, you only found Cabagne because you received an anonymous tip, right?"

"While I don't know the specifics, the fact that someone reported him is true." Sato Miwako nodded in surprise. "But Fujino-kun, how could you know..."

"A year ago, Cabagne instructed his subordinates to steal the Maple Leaf Gold Coins, but when it was done, Cabagne took all the Maple Leaf Gold Coins for himself."

After a pause, Fujino continued his deduction. "Recently, Cabagne's subordinates found out his whereabouts and found that treasure map in his room... To be safe, they didn't kill Cabagne. Instead, they reported him to the authorities... intending to decipher the code on the treasure map and take all those Maple Leaf Gold Coins."

"So that's how it is."

Sato Miwako nodded, suddenly enlightened.

But then, a hint of confusion appeared on her face. "However, even if the treasure map fell into the hands of those kids, they shouldn't have followed... They should have dealt with it directly and taken the treasure map back, right?"

"In theory, yes."

Fujino chuckled lightly. "But what if even those guys don't know how to decipher the treasure map?"

"Are they planning to rely on those elementary school kids to find the whereabouts of the Maple Leaf Gold Coins?"

"Precisely!"