Special Investigation Department

August 19, evening. A Tokyo FBI safehouse.

"Of course not. We assessed the situation at the scene, and afterward maintained surveillance in plainclothes—" (This is English.)

"No, no, no. Of course, we followed the director's orders without the slightest deviation—" (This is English.)

"The murder has nothing to do with Miss Ellie. The director can rest assured—" (This is English.)

"We were also acting for the sake of the mission, so we tried not to expose ourselves as much as possible—What? How could we do that? Wait, Commissioner, you must explain this to the director again—Hello? Hello?" (This is English.)

"#￥@!" (This is an English swear word.)

Watching the normally calm and steady James curse into the phone in anger, Jodie asked worriedly, "How did it go, James? Is the Hoover Building still refusing to let this go?"

Hoover Building, the location of the FBI headquarters, was what FBI agents commonly called their headquarters, just as local police officers called the Metropolitan Police Department the "Main Branch."

During the day, because the circumstances were unusual and that bastard Shiraishi Kuro was nearby, the three of them had hidden their identities and—

Instead of going directly to Ellie, they had conducted a "plainclothes sweep" from the audience seats.

As a result, Ellie Square had immediately fanned the flames by complaining to the new director as soon as the concert ended. The new director had flown into a rage, and the fact that "a murder had occurred at the concert venue" had given him an even better excuse to make a fuss.

Although the FBI agents at the scene had explained that the case had nothing to do with the concert or Ellie herself, still—

"We have to return to the United States for a while," James said helplessly.

"What? Why?" Jodie