The person on the other end of the call froze for a moment. "Squatting in the bushes in broad daylight? Was it a child or an adult?"
Kidnapper: "Of course it was an adult. If it had been a child, I would've grabbed them too."
His accomplice pondered for a moment. "I hear that hospital's Psychiatric Department is quite famous. Could you have run into one of their patients?"
The kidnapper said irritably, "Who cares what department they're from? Find a way to deal with that person. Otherwise, once we get the ransom, don't blame me for not giving you a cut."
Accomplice: "All right, it's not like I said I wouldn't help. What did that person look like? I'll go take a look as soon as I'm done with what I'm doing—until then, hide that little brat properly. He's pretty smart, so don't let him get away."
At the mention of this, the kidnapper's mood improved slightly. "Don't worry. He's just a six- or seven-year-old little runt. How smart can he be? I took him away with one drugged handkerchief, easy as pie—anyway, the signal out in the suburbs is terrible. Nothing but static. Let's talk later. I'll message you when I get there."
The two did not talk for long before hanging up.
Elsewhere, Vodka, who had been eavesdropping from afar: "..."
He did not want to hear such murderous content either... but during the collision earlier, his Listening Device had unfortunately rolled over to the kidnapper.
—After what happened last time, he no longer dared to scatter Listening Devices around outside. But they were far too useful to throw all of them away, so Vodka had kept two on him. Who would have thought one would come in handy this time?
"Back then, I was the one