Murder?

The kidnapping could now be confirmed!

Unlike before, this time the kidnappers had made a ransom call to Sato under police surveillance.

Before this, quite a few officers had suspected that Sato had taken the "two hundred million" himself—

Now, that suspicion had been dispelled!

It now seemed more likely that the kidnappers had taken it—

As for the surveillance results, they matched what Sato had described earlier. The kidnappers' voices had been altered with voice changers.

"What do we do? Rin must be in great danger right now. They're definitely going to kill Rin!" Given how easily Sato became anxious, no one knew how he had ever gotten by in a violent organization.

"Mr. Sato, please calm down. No one kills over money," Officer Kobe comforted him, though not very convincingly.

Murder for financial gain was a major category of intentional homicide!

If other kidnapping victims' families heard an officer say that, they would definitely be cursing by now.

But the person Sato was least likely to blame was Officer Kobe—

"Officer Kobe, you really... can lend me two hundred million? If I pay a hundred thousand a month, I might... never finish repaying it in my lifetime..." Sato said, grabbing at his hair in frustration and hating his own uselessness.

"No, if it's a hundred thousand a month, then it's not a matter of 'might,'" Yamada quietly remarked. What did he mean, might?

Did he think he could live another hundred and sixty years?

"Don't worry. We'll protect the ransom money. This doesn't count as lending it to you; it's simply part of solving the case. Even if it really gets lost, you won't need to repay it," Officer Kobe said magnanimously.

Sato looked up at Officer Kobe in shock. "Officer Kobe, you aren't joking with me, are