As she spoke, Yoshida Ayumi's eyes lit up. "I get it! Mr. Fukuchi said he'd been wandering around outside because he wanted to check whether the car had been fixed.
"But if he was really worried that it hadn't been repaired properly, he should've tested it somewhere more open, not driven it around recklessly on Commercial Street!"
Officer Takagi suddenly understood. "Exactly. Especially since he said he wasn't a good driver—he definitely shouldn't have been test-driving on Commercial Street in the rain.
"Come to think of it, similar incidents have happened four times already, yet we never noticed any repeatedly appearing suspicious vehicle in the surveillance footage. Now it seems that's because the killer was a mechanic who could drive a different car out every day!"
The blond man, who had been listening intently, froze. He looked at the curly-haired middle-aged man beside him—the man he had yelled at earlier—and his calves gave two barely noticeable tremors.
Jiang Xia patted him. Once the man jolted back to his senses, Jiang Xia withdrew his hand. "Move your car. It's time to inspect that car's keyhole."
"Huh? Oh, okay." The arrogant blond seemed to revert into an ordinary college student, even the nose ring on his nostril drooping. He jogged back to his car and hurriedly drove it away. Then he did not get out, instead clutching the steering wheel with one foot poised over the gas pedal, craning his neck to watch outside in a guarded posture that suggested he was ready to floor it and flee from the Rainy Night Slasher at any moment.
The Forensics Department officers were infected by his jumpiness and grew tense as well. They first checked the distance between Jiang Xia and the curly-haired middle-aged man, confirming that this Detective who loved knocking people out