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"Please leave."
What a familiar rejection... Klein rubbed his nose, unsurprised. He had received the same response last time, but that had also shown him that Maria was actually very considerate of others. If he explained properly, she should agree. With such serious kidnappings taking place in the East Borough, exposing them sooner would surely help.
Klein mulled this over, but the enthusiastic reporter Mike was less patient. "Why?" he asked.
"Ma'am, don't you care about the people who've been kidnapped?"
"Of course I care," Maria said flatly. "Precisely because I care, I don't want reporters like you, who know nothing, casually investigating and publishing these things. You can't even imagine what inhuman things they'd do to distance themselves from this."
Klein felt he had found an opening. "Ma'am, if you're willing to explain these matters to us, I believe that once we understand what's at stake, we won't publish any news carelessly."
"No comment."
Maria was extremely tight-lipped, unwilling to reveal any inside information. She finished her coffee, wrapped her sandwich in brown wrapping paper she had taken herself, then pushed the door open without looking back and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
"That lady is far too unreasonable." Watching her leave, Mike couldn't help complaining to Klein. "Why suppress the news instead of asking for help when she's in trouble? What exactly is she worried about?"
Klein felt little dislike for her. On the contrary, he had a very favorable impression of her because she had helped him before despite seeing through his identity.
Faced with Mike's questions, he smiled and said without much concern, "Perhaps Miss Maria has her own solution. After all, she's directly involved, someone connected to the matter. And this is the East Borough. Its tangled circumstances really aren't something two outsiders like