Don't Make Me Take the Fall

Jiang Xia returned to his original body, took out his phone, and tentatively sent Kinoshita Yoko a message: [Thanks.]

She was probably busy. A few hours later, she replied: [As long as you like them ^^]

Jiang Xia: "..." So she really had sent them. Judging by the number of albums, he probably would not need to line up to buy any for quite a while.

She even included little toys with the ghosts. Miss Yoko really was a good person...

Jiang Xia rested at home for a day.

The next day, the blond guys brought over some newly caught cats and dogs. They were all pets that the Clients had lost.

Jiang Xia split the Commission Fee among them, then carried the cats and dogs to the Detective Agency.

Then he made himself a cup of tea. As he waited for the clients to come collect their pets, he secretly gave someone else's cat a few good pets.

For now, commissions involving Murder Cases were still very hard to come by. The most popular jobs really were tailing Mistresses and catching cats and dogs.

Nearly a week passed like that.

At last, Jiang Xia received a commission of a different sort.

The Client was an elegant woman in a Kimono. At first glance, she looked like the wife of a wealthy family, but judging from the commission itself, that did not seem to be the case.

"I hope you can keep an eye on an antique piece of Pottery—it was collateral I gave a creditor when I took out a private loan half a year ago."

The woman in the Kimono sighed sorrowfully. "There is still one month until the repayment deadline, and in about a week, I should have saved enough to pay off the debt.

"But I am afraid that before then, the Pottery I mortgaged will be sold by the creditor as 'interest.' Mr. Maru, the creditor, is a wealthy man, but he is always far too... sigh, in any case, there have been quite a few precedents like this."

As she spoke, the woman in the Kimono discreetly assessed Jiang Xia.

Even though the boy had gained some fame, he was still only a High School Detective. It would not be easy for him to contend with a Local Bully, so she did not make any overly difficult demands.

"Stopping him from selling the Pottery is probably unrealistic... I only hope you can keep watch over it and inform me in advance if Mr. Maru intends to sell it. If it is too late, then at least find out where the Pottery was sold."

Jiang Xia nodded thoughtfully.

It sounded like a somewhat boring commission.

However, after seeing the photo of the Pottery the Client had brought out, the creditor's address, and especially the name and Avatar printed on Mr. Maru's Business Card...

"Please rest assured." Jiang Xia gave her a dependable smile. "I will do everything I can to complete your commission."

The client left, relieved.

Jiang Xia was also pleased as he stroked the creditor's Business Card she had left behind.

Looking at the photo of the balding middle-aged man named "Maruden Jirou" on the card, he thought, At last, a commission with ghosts.

By then, it was already evening, and the Detective Agency was about to close.

After receiving the commission, Jiang Xia waited in the shop a while longer and returned the last Cat of the day to the Client who had come to collect it.

Then he hung the Appointment Book outside the door, locked up, and left.

Before heading home, he planned to first check out Maruden Jirou's house.

A few minutes later.

At a bustling intersection in Beido Town.

Vodka gripped the Steering Wheel, feeling somewhat troubled as he worked overtime.

The organization had not been very peaceful in recent years.

Five years ago, the FBI's Ace agent, Akai Shuichi, had infiltrated their organization as an Undercover Agent. His infiltration had been remarkably successful, and he had nearly captured Gin.

Fortunately, the organization had a reliable Second-in-Command, while Akai Shuichi had a useless teammate. With both sides working together, Akai Shuichi not only failed his plan, but also exposed his identity as an Undercover Agent and could only flee in haste.

The opportunity for Akai Shuichi to infiltrate the organization had arisen because he had gotten himself a girlfriend within it—Sherry's older sister, Miyano Akemi.

Thus, after Akai Shuichi's identity was exposed and he left the organization two years ago, the Miyano Sisters' situation became difficult.

The organization had always wanted to punish Miyano Akemi, the Peripheral Member who had brought the FBI into the fold, but they were wary of her genius younger sister, Sherry.

In the end, they came up with an idea—they ordered Miyano Akemi to rob Ten Billion Yen in Cash and deceived her by saying that if she succeeded, they would let her and her sister leave the organization. If she failed, they would kill her.

...Of course, that was what they said. But in truth, whether she succeeded or failed, the organization believed that Miyano Akemi had to die.

When Miyano Akemi heard the organization's proposal that they would let them go if she successfully robbed a bank, she could not resist the temptation. She had long wanted to leave the organization, shed her identity as a member of the Black Organization, find Akai Shuichi, and be with him again.

Before this, she had not made a move because she could not bear to leave her sister behind, and because she did not know where Akai Shuichi was.

Now, she had decided to firmly seize this "opportunity" the organization had given her.

The organization had originally believed this would be an impossible task for Miyano Akemi. Once she failed, they could kill the woman as a matter of course.

Who knew they had underestimated Miyano Akemi's abilities? After a round of planning over the past few days, she had actually succeeded in robbing Ten Billion Yen.

Vodka was now driving to the place where they had agreed to exchange "the money for Sherry."

Vodka stopped at the intersection, looked at the red light ahead, and sighed. "I never thought she would really get the money. Doesn't that mean we have no excuse to execute her?"

Gin gave a grim laugh. "If there's no excuse, then just kill her. She's nothing but trash..."

Halfway through, he suddenly stared at something outside the window, his gaze narrowing as he vaguely caught sight of a familiar figure. "Who is that?"

"What?" Vodka froze and looked where Gin had indicated.

However, this was near the city center, and it was rush hour. The crowds were dense. Vodka stared for a long time but still could not make out which person Brother Gin was pointing at.

After thinking for a moment, he took out a pair of Binoculars and raised them to his eyes. Even if he still could not find the person, at least he could prove that he had tried...

Beside him, Gin focused for a moment before reminding him, "Diagonally across the intersection. Second row from the left in the motor vehicle lanes. Black Motorcycle with silver markings."

"Oh, right." Vodka peered hard in that direction and finally found the target.

After watching for a while, he felt that the Motorcycle rider wearing a Helmet did seem somewhat familiar... Was that Jiang Xia?

Before he could get a closer look, the Binoculars vanished from his face as Gin took them away.

Gin held the Binoculars and looked for several seconds, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

A moment later, the red light ended.

As the car began moving again, Gin suddenly gave a cold laugh and murmured thoughtfully, "No wonder Miyano Akemi's operation went so smoothly. Not only did she get the money, but in just a few days, she found the accomplice who had fled with the money in a city of tens of millions, and recovered the stolen Cash..."

"..." Vodka took a while to react before gradually understanding what his boss meant. He said in shock, "You mean Jiang Xia was secretly helping her!?"

Jiang Xia was indeed very skilled at finding people. That had already been proven countless times before, but...

Vodka thought of Sherry and the pile of health supplements she had never managed to give away. "But doesn't he rarely interact with the Miyano Sisters?"

Gin snorted. "Feelings can be faked."

Even one-sided goodwill could maintain a connection. Especially for someone Jiang Xia's age... Gin felt that it would be hard for him to genuinely hate two beautiful women who had always shown him kindness.

Previously, Gin had not thought much about it.

But now, having suddenly encountered Jiang Xia... Gin, who had experienced countless Undercover Agents and countless betrayals, immediately had a bout of paranoia. He gradually began to grow suspicious.

—This intersection was very close to enjyu City Hotel, where Miyano Akemi was staying.

And judging by Jiang Xia's direction, he was heading straight there.

Gin: "..." At this hour, appearing in this place, and someone connected to the Miyano Sisters...

On top of that, Miyano Akemi's "extraordinary performance" over the past few days was entirely within Jiang Xia's area of expertise.

If Jiang Xia had been helping her... then everything made sense.

With a point of entry, Gin looked at Jiang Xia again and immediately felt that...

Suspicious. In short, extremely suspicious.

After pondering for a moment, Gin took out his phone.