Some battered figures quietly surfaced in Sato Miwako's mind—criminals they had barely managed to save from beneath Jiang Xia's baton.
This time, surely it wouldn't be happening for the Nth time, would it?
But unlike before, there was a superintendent at the crime scene today. If he disapproved of Jiang Xia's actions and insisted on making an issue of it...
"Sato?" Seeing his capable officer spacing out and breaking into a cold sweat, Superintendent Matsumoto narrowed his small eyes, becoming even more suspicious.
He walked over, about to question her. Just then, a voice cut in.
Officer Takagi ran back and reported loudly, "Inspector! There was no one in the security room. I asked the suspect's coworkers, but they don't know where Sada-kane Yoshio went either.
"Also, according to Sada-kane Yoshio's coworkers, he did have a son who died young. Someone saw him drunkenly holding his son's photo and muttering things like, 'That damned hit-and-run driver.'"
For a moment, Inspector Megure didn't know whether to relax or grow even more alarmed. "Then the motive is obvious. He should be the killer. But where did he go? Don't tell me he's already gone home."
Officer Takagi scratched his head. "Sada-kane Yoshio's car is still in the parking lot. He didn't drive it away, and according to his coworkers, his home is some distance from here.
"I think since his car is still here, he probably hasn't left either. Maybe he just went to the restroom. So I left a few people at the security room. The moment he comes back, we'll arrest him!"
Inspector Megure's expression, however, turned grim. "It would be good if he really just went to the restroom. But since he specifically changed the corpse's shoes, that means he knows the progress of our investigation. If he feels