As she spoke, Jodie's eyes suddenly lit up, and a new theory struck her. "Maybe—maybe this is how Uzo escaped! He first used some method to vanish right before your eyes, then hid somewhere nearby. After that, he used a murder case to draw in the police, forcing you to hide from them. That would create a gap in the encirclement, letting him slip away!"
Holding one hand to his earpiece, Akai Shuichi surveyed the area around the spot where Uzo had vanished while listening to Jodie describe the situation at the mouth of the alley.
Though he felt that his colleague was probably wrong, strictly speaking, he could not completely rule out that possibility.
...Still, no matter what, the police not turning their attention to this alley was good news.
It gave them more time to search for Uzo—and even if they could not find him, they could better study the place where he had disappeared.
Mistakes were not frightening. What was frightening was not understanding why one had made them. If they could see through Uzo's disappearance method this time, then their odds of catching him next time would increase by a few more points.
The other FBI agents, traumatized by the prospect of being "invited to the Police Station for tea," also breathed sighs of relief upon hearing Jodie's words. "Maybe the people in this alley didn't really hear the gunshots, didn't realize they were gunshots, or were sleeping too deeply to hear them, so they couldn't be bothered to get involved."
"No matter what, this is a good opportunity. Come on, everyone! The sooner we work overtime, the sooner we get off work!"
The FBI agents encouraged one another and threw themselves enthusiastically into the operation to catch Uzo.
Elsewhere.
Inside an Apartment Building near