(`)
Officer Shiratori's mind filled with theories about hauntings, parallel dimensions, and the lingering resentment of dead detectives. His expression turned grave. "Unless what?"
Inspector Megure scratched his head. "Unless the person I saw back then wasn't Jiang Xia, but Jiang Xia's older brother? Hahaha, these two brothers really are identical. Not only do they look alike, they both love hanging around Crime Scenes!"
He tried hard to lighten the mood, but the atmosphere beneath the ferris wheel still inevitably grew heavy.
With a sigh, Inspector Megure suddenly felt that something was missing.
At the same time, his two subordinates belatedly realized something was wrong. Sato Miwako looked around, her heart sinking. "Where's Jiang Xia? Didn't he come with us?"
Inspector Megure turned around and looked. Sure enough, the reassuring figure was nowhere to be seen. "Where did he run off to at a critical time like this... But Brother Jiang Xia is only a student, not a police officer. Sigh, it would've been great if he'd graduated earlier and joined us."
After saying that, he froze for a moment. Why did that wish sound so familiar, as though he said it all the time?
Officer Shiratori was more practical. He checked his watch, then frowned up at the towering ferris wheel. "There are only a little over six minutes until the predicted explosion—I asked the staff just now, and there isn't enough time to bring Matsuda's Elevator Car back down to the ground..."
He did not know whether he should say it, but as he watched that Elevator Car gradually disappear into the sky, he could not shake the ominous feeling in his heart.
A few minutes earlier, inside ferris wheel car No. 72.
Matsuda Jinpei had already put away his usual careless demeanor. His face, revealed after