"There's a basement beneath Akihiro Kano's house!"
Kōtarō Amon took out the layout he was holding and showed it to everyone.
"Good. Get ready. Tomorrow, I'll assemble a team, and Akira Mado and Kōtarō Amon from Ward 20 will come with me."
Seidou Takizawa pointed at himself from the side. "What about me?"
"Sorry, someone needs to stay behind to watch Ward 20." Yukinori Shinohara gave him an apologetic smile.
Meanwhile, Huiqi was still discussing what to do about the laboratory base with Akihiro Kano. There was far too much evidence here, and every piece of it was damning.
Akihiro Kano's suggestion was to leave it alone.
Seeing his attitude, Huiqi said nothing more. Presumably, Akihiro Kano had already made his own preparations.
That afternoon...
Akira Mado finally followed her instincts and went to Ward 17. Yet nothing along the way suggested that anyone had died. Even as she approached Huiqi's house, she saw no black-and-white mourning decorations.
Didn't someone die...? But... there's nothing for a funeral.
Five minutes later.
Arriving at the entrance to Huiqi's house, Akira Mado pushed the gate open with both hands. The neat, tidy yard left her puzzled.
She began to wonder whether Huiqi had gone to the countryside to handle things. But neither she nor her father had ever heard of him having relatives there.
Still puzzled, Akira Mado hesitated several times before finally picking the lock on Huiqi's door, repeatedly telling herself, I'm just here to return his phone. There's nothing wrong with this. Losing a phone is a serious matter.
Once inside Huiqi's house, Akira Mado quickly noticed something was wrong. Dust had already settled on the floor. There were footprints, but they did not look like Huiqi's. They seemed a little too large.
As Akira Mado walked through the house, the