The Enemy Within

"Etc!"

Fujino suddenly spoke up, stopping Takagi was about to leave, "Inspector Megure, I think it's better not to let Officer Takagi go looking for people."

"Don't worry, Fujino- kun. Although Takagi seems a bit unreliable, he should be pretty good... I think!"

Sato Miwako instinctively wanted to say a few words in Takagi.

But as she spoke, she remembered Takagi's record and hesitated for a moment.

"Well, I'd better notify the police officers in charge of maintaining order nearby first."

Juzo Megure also glanced at Takagi along with Sato, then turned back to think seriously and said, "If we find anyone nearby wearing gloves with the same characteristics, have them report it immediately."

Takagi, standing to the side. "..."

He was speechless for a moment, then looked at Sato and Megure with a pitiful expression.

Why do you all seem to think I'm unreliable?

No, what's with this skeptical tone?

"Ahem!"

Sensing the resentful gazes, both Megure and Sato coughed lightly, turned their heads away, and whistled, acting as if nothing had happened.

That's not what I meant.

Fujino pinched the bridge of his nose, glanced at the innocent Takagi who had been dragged into this, and explained, "I think that sending Takagi would definitely not lead to the other party, or even..."

"I see."

Juzo Megure nodded understandingly. "It is indeed a bit of a stretch to send Takagi."

Takagi: I feel even more wronged.

Fujino: "..."

What I'm saying is, let's wait until the other person finishes speaking before we respond, okay?

The child's self-esteem has been completely destroyed!

However, it seems that Takagi's unreliable image has indeed become deeply ingrained in people's minds...

"I don't mean that Takagi is unreliable."

Fujino sighed and rubbed his temples. "I think if we send police to search, it's very likely to arouse their suspicion, and it might even expose the fact that we already know his identity."

"I see..."

Juzo Megure realized, "But Fujino, aren't you being a bit too cautious? Wouldn't it have been better to have the investigating police disguise themselves and spread out their investigations?"

"It's no use, even if we investigate, we can't find the other party."

Fujino shook his head and voiced his conjecture. "Hachimaki Ichiro has been planning this series of cases for a long time. He must have mentally rehearsed the process countless times. He must have thought of everything we can think of. It's impossible for him to just hide in the crowd like that."

"I know that too."

Megure scratched his head, somewhat helplessly. "But there's no better way now. It's precisely because that guy's methods are so meticulous that we can't find any clues..."

As he spoke, he sighed, "If it weren't for you finding that guy's features, Fujino, we would still be in a passive position right now."

"Actually, we can also think about it from a different perspective."

Fujino changed the subject, saying, "Inspector Megure, do you remember the first case?"

"The first case?"

Juzo Megure recalled, "The first case happened at the outdoor stadium, the bomb was planted under the body..."

"That's right, he planted the bomb under the body to lure the police into a trap."

Fujino reasoned, "In the second case, he didn't choose to plant the bomb under the body, but instead placed it under a nearby police car, and also left his cell phone at the crime scene... The purpose of doing this was to avoid arousing the police's suspicion."

"If it's buried under the body again, we'll find it immediately, and his plan will fall through."

Sato Miwako picked up the thread. "However, he was still too confident, even revealing the location of the bomb. In the end, Fujino- kun found it, causing his plan to completely fail..."

"Officer Sato is right, but not entirely."

Fujino suddenly changed the subject and said in a deep voice, "I think he didn't fail, but rather succeeded."

"It worked?"

"Whatever the outcome, he succeeded."

Fujino looked directly at Sato Miwako and asked, "Officer Sato, the scene should have been cordoned off when the second case occurred, right?"

"That's right."

Sato Miwako nodded and replied, "No one other than police officers is allowed to approach the crime scene."

"If that's the case, how exactly was the bomb placed inside the cordon?"

Fujino pondered and reasoned, "Analyzing these two cases, the first one is fine, but the second one is very problematic. The bomb was even planted in the back of a police car, and a phone number was even left at the scene, yet no one noticed... Don't you find that strange?"

"You mean...?"

Sato Miwako was taken aback upon hearing this, and a bad feeling arose in her heart.

"Even if the police officers at the scene didn't have exceptional observation skills, since someone had crossed the police line, they would have left some impression. However, the police officers at the scene didn't find anything strange."

"I think the only possible reason for this situation is that the enemy is inside us."

Fujino glanced at the three people in front of him. "In a sense, whether or not Hachimaki Ichiro's second attack succeeds, it will not fail in the end. If it succeeds in killing two policemen, it will prove the incompetence of the police. Conversely, even if the location of the bomb is discovered, his provocative act will successfully anger the police."

He paused, then continued, "At the scene of the third murder, just as the other party had predicted, nearby patrol officers were all called in to maintain order and search for the bomb."

"In that case, haven't we all fallen into his trap?" Takagi asked in surprise.

Sato Miwako calmly tapped her chin and analyzed, "With so many police officers at the scene, even if there are unfamiliar colleagues, no one would suspect anything. If that guy takes advantage of that, he could probably hide among the police very easily..."

"Yes, that way we can better conceal our identities."

Fujino nodded in agreement, then lowered his eyes to think, "If it were a policeman, even if he wore gloves, it wouldn't arouse suspicion. That guy probably already had his identity exposed in his plan."

"That guy is really awful..."

After listening to Fujino's analysis, Juzo Megure's expression turned somewhat grim.

He murdered people, planted bombs, attacked police officers, and then pretended to be a police officer himself.

Isn't this just making a fool of them?

"Inspector Megure!"

Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

Fujino turned around and saw the chubby Chiba walking over. Juzo Megure, "Inspector Megure, the area around the body has been searched. There's no bomb. The Forensic Science Division team has gone to examine the body. Inspector, do you want to go take a look?"

"Okay, I understand."

Juzo Megure lowered his head and pinched the space between his eyebrows.

He was just about to ask Fujino for his opinion.

But then they discovered that Fujino was staring at something, and his aura suddenly increased significantly.