Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 222 - 143: Partners in Crime

Chapter 222: Chapter 143: Partners in Crime

"Don’t know them, who is this? Have you seen them?" Ishii Takamasa shook his head like a rattle.

"Never met." Sazaki Gen followed, shaking his head.

The young leaders thought, isn’t this just lying through their teeth? After that strong woman barged into the office last time, Mr. Sazaki had a private talk with this guy in the cubicle...

As the saying goes, it’s best not to reveal what you already know. Everyone gazed at their noses and then at their hearts, pretending they hadn’t heard anything.

Minamoto Tamako’s ahoge radar detected the lie, drooping down like a cobra. She squinted her eyes and used her Super Cold Reading Skill to scrutinize the expressions of the Inakawa Association uncle back and forth.

Nowadays, Officer Tamako is not who she used to be. She’s a full-fledged criminal police officer, not someone who can be ordered around or dismissed like a patrol police. They should at least politely call her "officer."

Ishii Takamasa felt a bit uneasy under her gaze, and his macho air ready to hit someone was reluctantly held back.

"Uh, Officer Minamoto, if there’s nothing else..."

Before he could finish, Minamoto Tamako interrupted, "How do you know my name?"

Ishii Takamasa glanced back at Sazaki Gen, who immediately slapped his forehead and said, "I saw your name in the murder case report, and Ashu also mentioned you to us..."

"Ashu? Which Ashu?"

"Zhao Chunshu, the uncle who runs the Chinese restaurant, do you remember Officer Minamoto?"

"Oh! I see." Minamoto Tamako thought it would be more reliable to ask a familiar person for help, so she persisted, "Is Uncle Zhao in? I can ask him for help."

"He’s..."

Sazaki Gen looked up and glanced at Ishii Takamasa, who took over and replied, "He went back to Hokkaido."

"For real? When did he leave?" Minamoto Tamako squinted her eyes again, her ahoge radar swaying.

"He’s been gone for a while, I guess?" Ishii Takamasa casually lied, "After the Sugamo riot, he thought this place wasn’t suitable for opening a restaurant, so he closed shop and flew back to Hokkaido to develop..."

"Oh~!" Minamoto Tamako elongated her tone, pouting, obviously not believing it.

Watanabe Shun, although unaware of the situation, sensed something unusual in Minamoto Tamako’s tone. He immediately stepped forward, getting so close to Ishii Takamasa that he almost touched his forehead, looking like a delinquent starting a fight, "Stop underestimating people! Do you think we’re stupid? Who would believe that nonsense? Cooperate with the investigation honestly! Otherwise..."

He got stuck there. Without a supervisor recently, Watanabe Shun had completely forgotten the day-to-day law enforcement rules, and his rhetoric had been flushed down the toilet with the alcohol. At that moment, he really didn’t know what the ’otherwise’ would be.

Minamoto Tamako tugged at Watanabe Shun’s back, giving him a look. He didn’t understand, so Minamoto Tamako had to clarify, "In that case, we won’t disturb you any further."

"Hmm?"

Watanabe Shun thought to himself, could I have misunderstood? Could it be that these yakuza aren’t lying? Doesn’t matter, even if it was his mistake, he had to make a stylish exit.

He took a step back, pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then shifted them towards everyone else’s, meaning ’I’ll be watching you closely.’

Under the watchful eyes of his fellow henchmen, Watanabe Shun flicked his pompadour, hands in pockets, and left with Minamoto Tamako to press the elevator down. Ishii Takamasa and Sazaki Gen looked at each other, neither saying a word.

The elevator doors slowly closed, and Watanabe Shun scratched his head, pressing the button for the first floor. His rebellious demeanor from moments ago now seemed foolishly innocent: "Did we perhaps mess up the direction of the investigation? These yakuza don’t seem to have any problems."

"They’re lying!" Minamoto Tamako said with certainty.

"Huh? Why do you say that?" Watanabe Shun was completely oblivious.

"That bespectacled four-eyes..." Minamoto Tamako began, realizing it was quite impolite, possibly an infection from Senior Watanabe. She quickly corrected herself, saying, "That cultured gentleman with gold-rimmed glasses, we’ve met before, and he also gave Mr. Fu Jian a business card."

"Eh—really now?" Watanabe Shun was quite surprised.

"You’ve seen him too," Minamoto Tamako said instinctively.

"When was this?" Watanabe Shun looked puzzled, thinking why he had no memory of it at all.

"It was when we were meeting someone at the airport, and you got beaten up by a group of yakuza..."

Minamoto Tamako realized the moment she said it that Watanabe Shun had been knocked out by then, making it a complete black history. Feeling it wasn’t appropriate to reveal, she quickly changed the topic:

"Moreover, later when Senior Kazama and Mr. Fu Jian came looking for you, they also entered the Inakawa Association branch. It’s written in the ’Underground Bar Brawl Case’ dossier that Sazaki Gen, an Inakawa Association cadre, recommended Officer Fushimi Roku to investigate the murder case..."

Watanabe Shun suddenly understood, unable to help but praise, "That’s amazing, I never thought of that!"

Hearing this, Minamoto Tamako felt a sense of delight inside. This is the vibe when Officer Tamako investigates! With just a clever thought, she could easily spot the criminal’s flaws, while her stupid assistant looked puzzled, asking like a fool: ’Why? I don’t get it! What in the world is going on?’...

Then, Officer Tamako would showcase her skills, narrating the perfect reasoning process, leaving the stupid assistant stunned, "Superb! What a brilliant deduction, truly amazing!"

That’s right, that’s the feeling needed!

After being around Mr. Fu Jian for a long time, Minamoto Tamako almost forgot that she initially hired him as a partner to have someone echo her ideas!

She crossed her arms, her nose almost pointing to the sky, continuing to boast, "And that’s not even the whole story! After the Sugamo riot, the people involved in the case had movement restrictions and couldn’t fly or take the Shinkansen. The restrictions were just lifted recently, so how could Uncle Zhao have flown out of Tokyo more than a month ago?"

"Wow! That makes so much sense!" Watanabe Shun looked annoyed, adjusted his pompadour, and said, "I knew about that too, why didn’t I connect the dots? As a junior, you’re doing a great job, catching up to me as your senior in no time!"

"Not at all, not at all!" Minamoto Tamako couldn’t stop smiling.

"Yes, yes!" Watanabe Shun nodded repeatedly.

"No, no way!"

"Really, really! You’re incredibly smart!"

Watanabe Shun showered Minamoto Tamako with praises, making her beam with happiness.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, the two of them headed to the parking lot, with Watanabe Shun taking on the driving.

Minamoto Tamako proposed tailing those yakuza. Judging by their demeanor, they were definitely up to something criminal.

She had already pieced the clues together in her mind, from the Heavenly Punishment massacre to the Sugamo riot, and the recent anonymous tapes... All signs indicated that the Inakawa Association was closely tied to the true culprits of ’Heavenly Punishment.’

Moreover, there might be another mysterious force behind it, possibly the Aum Truth Sect. Minamoto Tamako had looked through related reports; the Aum Truth Sect initially had a terrible reputation, having incidents like [At-home Apostle Death Case] and [Male Believer Murder Case]... She thought the ’we’ mentioned in the tapes could very likely be the Aum Truth Sect.

Mr. Fu Jian had been pursuing Heavenly Punishment. They initially agreed that he would handle the black market contacts, delving into the link with Zhao Chunshu to uncover the identity of the letter sender and the true criminal of Heavenly Punishment... Maybe he found something out, which is why he joined the cult, secretly searching for evidence.

Although the above conclusions are based on speculative reasoning, Minamoto Tamako thought they held a high degree of credibility.

She was already adept at using the ’Fushimi’s Investigative Method,’ which is ’speculate a probable suspect and search for evidence within that scope.’ If new evidence arises, adjust the speculative direction promptly, continuously refining the reasoning process until forming a complete evidence chain, leading to a truth that’s infinitely close to the facts.

Besides, after calming down, she believed Mr. Fu Jian wouldn’t join a cult for ascetic practice without cause, leading to the conclusion that there’s something fishy involved...

The reason is simple, because Mr. Fu Jian is a lazybones who indulges in a luxurious lifestyle.