Though he had plenty of complaints, they were already here. Since there was nothing else to do, Vodka picked up the Binoculars again and boredly swept his view back and forth.
Suddenly, a moving shadow caught his attention.
"!" Startled, he whispered to Calvados beside him, "There's someone in the mountains!"
Calvados froze for a moment, then pulled his gaze away from the café and turned his scope in the direction Vodka indicated.
Sure enough, a figure wrapped in a coat was strolling casually along a dark green path trampled through by countless footsteps.
Before long, the person stopped and sat down on a Rattan Swing ahead.
More than a Swing, it resembled a rocking lounge chair. A canopy covered the top, and from there, one could overlook the farmland below the mountain.
Blocked by the Sunshade, Calvados could no longer see the person's face. But comparing it carefully with what he had seen on the road earlier...
His expression darkened slightly. "It's Chizo Ogura."
Why wasn't this silencing target in the café? Why had he slipped outside alone?
Vodka heard the question in his voice and rubbed his chin. "Maybe he's avoiding customers. That guy has recently caught the attention of those Tokyo police, so he's jumpy as a startled bird—while he was hiding out in the mountains, a whole crowd of customers suddenly came rumbling in. Of course he wouldn't want to stay indoors."
—Using a criminal's fear to drive them into a designated area and complete the stage positioning. This is one of Uzo's tricks too. Make a note of it.
Beside him, Calvados had no idea his colleague was secretly taking notes in his mind. Learning that the target had run out alone, he sneered, delighted as though a skewer of meat had jumped onto the