Unexpected Gain

In the night, a huge figure nimbly vaulted out a window of Beika Police Station, carefully using every possible obstruction along the way to avoid the two "ambushing" reporters...

Despite his size, Shiraishi's Counter-Surveillance skills spoke for themselves. Following someone might have been a little difficult for him, but avoiding being followed was much easier!

Just then, Shiraishi noticed a little figure in the alley beside him. She seemed to be waiting for him too...

Much smarter than those two reporters! Rather than waiting at the easily noticeable police station entrance, she had chosen a small alley along a route he had to take.

After confirming who she was, Shiraishi curiously vaulted into the alley and approached her from behind.

Mononobe Gina was hiding near the police station, looking as though she were impatiently waiting for something, when...

A shadow suddenly fell over her from behind, blocking out both the moonlight and the streetlamps!

Sensing the change in light, Gina instantly stiffened all over and shakily turned her head...

The moment she saw the gigantic Shiraishi, Gina nearly screamed and hurriedly covered her own mouth. She had been waiting for him, but... a massive creature standing seven and a half feet tall and weighing three hundred pounds suddenly appearing behind her still gave her little heart quite a fright.

"What are you doing here?" Shiraishi recognized her as well—the thief he had saved not long ago. She was probably still underage, no wonder she had been released so quickly.

"I... none of your business!" Gina stubbornly replied.

"Oh. Stay safe." Shiraishi shrugged, looking as though he was genuinely about to leave.

Shiraishi could tell that she had been waiting for him, so he was in no hurry.

But just then...

"Hey!" Seeing him walk away, Gina hurriedly called after his back.

"Hmm?" Shiraishi slightly turned his head to look at her.

Though her face was full of indignation, Gina still said, "It looks like... you're in trouble, right?"

"It's not really trouble. No need to worry." Shiraishi answered calmly.

"Huh? Worry? What am I worried about? I... I'm warning you..." Gina hurriedly said.

"Warning me?" Shiraishi looked at her suspiciously.

"I'm warning you... On September 3rd, I went to that apartment building in Third Block. A little after six in the evening, officers had put up a cordon there... That should have been where this case happened, right?" Gina said quietly.

Shiraishi immediately took notice and quickly turned to verify it with her. "You were nearby that day? Did you see anything?"

Gina curled her lip, but she still said, "That day... I had something to do, so I went there. I prefer taking side streets, so I entered through the alley behind the apartment building. There was a car parked there that normally wasn't around.

"That alley is very narrow, barely wider than a car. With that car parked there, the passage was incredibly tight. I had to turn sideways just to squeeze past it... Nobody would normally park like that, right?"

Gina had cursed up a storm at the time, so the memory had stuck with her. It was only after watching the news today that she suddenly realized the car from that day was very likely suspicious—after all, parked like that, even the driver would have had trouble getting out!

The only reason it had been parked there was probably the same reason Gina had insisted on passing through there—there were no cameras!

As for exactly what "something to do" Gina had been up to, and why she knew it was a car that "normally wasn't around," Shiraishi politely chose not to ask...

She had probably been scouting the place out beforehand!

And when she had been preparing to leave that day, she discovered that officers had sealed off the scene. Naturally, that had startled her, so she remembered it.

"That car..."

Grrrr...

Just as Shiraishi was about to ask something else, he heard Gina's stomach growling. He immediately realized that the lead she had provided was important, and this was not a suitable place for a long conversation, so...

"Wait a moment..." Seeing this, Shiraishi called Fuji—he had previously looked through the police station directory and saved everyone's numbers.

"Patrol Officer Fuji, it's me... You haven't gone too far yet, right? Could you come over to East Alley for a moment? There's something I need to discuss... Consider it a little overtime. I'll treat you to a late-night meal."

Shiraishi called Fujisato Seiko over...

After all, late at night, it would not have been appropriate for Shiraishi to invite a girl who would not even turn eighteen until next month to dinner alone. He had to avoid any suspicion!

And among the female officers, Fujisato Seiko had just been at the station and was surely still nearby, not yet far away, so Shiraishi called her over.

When Fujisato Seiko first got the call, she was a little confused about who it was—after all, she did not know the chief's phone number!

"Eh? Isn't she that..." Fuji recognized Gina at a glance.

"This is Miss Mononobe Gina. On September 3rd, she was near the crime scene and saw something... Let's talk while we eat." Shiraishi explained.

After hearing Shiraishi's words, Fujisato Seiko immediately understood why. Seeing how carefully Shiraishi was avoiding suspicion, Gina merely curled her lip.

A little after ten that night, Shiraishi found a small nearby restaurant that stayed open all night and generously said, "Order whatever you want!" Then he specifically added to Gina, "But you can't order alcohol."

"I wasn't planning to drink!"

"So, you arrived at the apartment building where the crime took place at three in the afternoon, and you noticed a car you'd 'never seen around before' parked somewhere it shouldn't have been?" After hearing Shiraishi's description, Fujisato Seiko rolled her eyes at Gina as well.

Clearly, she had also gotten why Gina knew the car "normally wasn't around"!

At the moment, Gina and Fujisato Seiko sat facing each other, while Shiraishi had added a chair on the outside. After all... in a little restaurant like this, he could not fit into the normal seats!

The owner was even watching the chair he was sitting on with concern...

"What color was the car? What did it look like?" Fujisato Seiko wanted to confirm the model.

Though Shiraishi had not actually intended to make her work overtime and had only wanted to avoid suspicion by finding an officer who did not seem intimidating to sit there as a third party, Fujisato Seiko naturally began helping with the investigation...

Gina directly said, "A red Tesla Model S."

Fujisato Seiko: ...

Fujisato Seiko had forgotten that Gina had "professional expertise." She knew far more about car models than Fuji did!

"Um... do you remember the license plate number?" Even Fujisato Seiko felt that she was asking too much—how could Gina possibly remember that?

Sure enough, Gina replied as though it were only natural, "Why would I remember that? I don't do low-skill jobs like smashing car windows to steal bags!"

Fujisato Seiko: ...

Did she have to put it so bluntly? What kind of skills did she have, and why was she so proud of them?

"Chief, I'll have someone check the nearby surveillance footage. There should be footage of that car passing through," Fuji asked Shiraishi for instructions.

Not only were there no cameras in that alley, but there were usually no people there either. It was nowhere near as conspicuous as the main entrance—otherwise, Gina would not have shown up there. But the car could not have appeared out of thin air. They should be able to find it on the cameras along the surrounding roads.

As long as they could confirm its license plate number, it would be easy to investigate!

Shiraishi glanced at his watch, then said, "At this hour already... Let's wait until tomorrow..."

"It's fine. Gen and Yamada should be nearby!" Fuji said dutifully on their behalf.

Then Fujisato Seiko muttered, "But we still can't be sure it really has anything to do with the case... If it was three o'clock, that was already half an hour after the estimated time-of-death window."

Moreover, Shiraishi understood that if the owner of this car had really committed the crime, it would completely contradict the previous investigation results!

Whether Tsubokura's alibi was real or fake had become even more baffling.

"Since we have a new lead, of course we should look into it. Let's treat it as a new direction for the investigation." Shiraishi made his decision.

Dongdong: Tomorrow is Monday. Extra chapters for the rankings push—three updates in a row at midnight! Please vote, follow, and support! (Don't vote now; save your monthly votes for tomorrow.)