An empty room, a cup of tea.

In this room of less than ten square meters, there was only a table and two chairs, and the only window was firmly obscured by shutters, and only a faint ray of sunlight peeked through the gap. The red-haired girl sat in the corner a little lonely, looking at the white mist rising from the teacup, and her face was a little pale.

Twenty minutes ago, she was looking through the suspect's information in the VIP room of Shibuya AT Plaza, but twenty minutes later, she had to sit in the room used to interrogate the suspect and wait for the Metropolitan Police Department to adjudicate her minor, who was suspected of "hiding evidence".

She clenched her left fist and felt a pang of weakness.

The investigation, which had been very smooth, was disrupted - just as she, Nioh and Yagyu were about to disguise themselves as salespeople at the counter and go to the suspect's house for "routine maintenance of valuables", the two police officers who had written her down that day stopped them from further action. As for the reason, it is ridiculous to say that the stack of documents containing exhibits that she forgot in the ward after sneaking out of the hospital happened to be seen by two police officers who came to learn about the case again, and found the plastic bag with "Exhibit 1" written on it in the documents. And she happened to have a good habit of "annotating" with another piece of paper when sorting out the information, so the two police officers learned about this sky-high heel shoe for the first time.

Although the Metropolitan Police Department does not have a person who can see the provenance of the evidence at a glance like Nioh Mirai, it did not take much time to investigate this luxury item that caused a stir a while ago. After learning about the information, the search lesson immediately rushed to Shibuya AT Plaza, and just caught the three people who were about to enter the elevator with the note on the list of suspects - because Nao was uncomfortable before and took off his disguise, red hair, green eyes, such obvious signs are simply unforgettable, including the two police officers, of course.

She didn't deliberately fail to hand over the evidence to the police, but after delineating the scope of the suspect, the sudden excitement made her hot-headed and couldn't wait to act. I think Matsuda Jinpei knew that the police would come the next day, so he prepared the evidence and materials overnight and put them there and asked the nurse to keep an eye on her and not let her sneak away. What she didn't expect was that among the friends who came to visit her, there would be people who had already prepared their disguise items......

Nao smiled bitterly and shook his head, he would forget important information in the ward, he was really careless. Not only was it impossible to conduct further investigations, but Nioh and Yagyu were also affected...... Fortunately, Yue and the Trail did not know about this matter, otherwise her sin would have been even greater.

But this qiē is not the most important thing, what matters is if they really investigate and lock up the suspect with themselves...... Will they be able to arrest the culprits in peace?

"Keeping you waiting. As he pondered, the door to the room was pushed open. A woman with sleek short hair walked in and sat in the seat across from Nao. She looked at Nao who was shrunk in the corner, sighed with a slight headache, and showed a rather helpless expression, "Really, you have such an important clue, and you actually went to investigate yourself instead of contacting the police first...... You're just a few middle school students, don't forget that the target of the prisoners is minors! If the prisoners find out, the consequences may be ......."

“…… I'm sorry. Nao opened her mouth and bowed her head guiltily. She had just calmed down for a while, and had deduced the whole incident in her mind a few times, and she had figured out what the three of them might face when they went to investigate. What the police officer said was not unreasonable, no matter how good the tacit understanding between the three of them was, and how good her Saotome Nao was, what if the prisoner had a gun? Speaking of which, if Nao was to face the gun-wielding murderer herself, she would not be so timid; but even if she could protect herself, would she be able to keep the other two from being harmed at gunpoint? The thought that her recklessness might put Nioh and Yagyu in danger, Nao was terrified for a while.

"How are they?" Nao looked up, and couldn't help but show a little pleading between his eyebrows, "They don't know about that evidence, I just asked them to help investigate, they won't have anything to do, right?"

"Oh, you said the two boys who were with you! I've had them take home. The female officer smiled, "As for you, you can go back after making the transcript later." ”

"Huh?" Nao was a little surprised, "Didn't the officer in the hat just say that I was hiding the evidence and that's why he brought me to this interrogation room alone?"

"How can you be the ones who 'brought important evidence'. The policewoman laughed heartily, "Don't look at Officer Twilight, he's a disgusting and kind old man, but he can't especially look at people who ignore the police arrangements and investigate the case privately." And you are a minor, and you are not deliberately hiding evidence, of course, you don't have to worry about being charged, and bringing you to this interrogation room is just a little punishment!"

Hearing that the two of them were fine, Nao's hanging heart finally fell, but he frowned because of the content of the other party's words.

"Ignoring the police arrangement?" she glanced at the policewoman's ID pinned to her chest and snorted disdainfully, "The forensic department didn't find that evidence when they investigated the scene, we waited for the police to evacuate before we went in, and there is no question of ignoring or not ignoring, Officer Sato?"

"Of course, it was indeed our negligence not to find this, and thank you very much for discovering such an important clue. Sato's face instantly became stern, "After that, our police will continue to investigate, and we will definitely arrest that 'choking man'." If there is any further information about the suspect, please tell me. ”

"You mean, I can't continue to investigate this case?" "The more Nao listened, the more wrong it became, and her slender eyes gradually narrowed, "Even if the most seriously injured victim is my sister, and I am the only first witness to see the characteristics of the prisoner?"

"That's right, it's better not to continue investigating. "Sato is not losing, "Consecutive assaults on minors and attempted murder are likely to be extremely dangerous psychopaths, and we can't let a single middle school student be in danger." ”

"What about participating in the investigation?" Nao picked the corners of his mouth, "You investigate, I'll watch." I believe that with the police around, the prisoner will not be given the opportunity to attack a 'middle school student'? I remember the social studies class in elementary school, and there was also a class to observe the police handling cases. ”

"In that case......"

"No!" Sato was interrupted by a man who walked quickly into the room before he could finish his sentence. His thick eyebrows, a finger's width wide, almost raised, and his eyes stared sharply into Nao's eyes, as if he wanted to use his momentum to make her retreat. But Nao is not an ordinary middle school student who is easily intimidated by the director of teaching. She just looked back at the past without timidity with a shallow displeasure in her eyes, and let him lose the momentum and subconsciously pressed the hat on the top with her thick palm, "Ahem...... This is the duty of our police, and there is no need to involve inexperienced ordinary citizens. ”

"'Innocent' 'ordinary' citizens?" Hearing this, Nao smiled and blurted out an authentic Okinawan dialect, "Then you mean, as long as you have some experience in solving crimes?"

"Case-solving experience?" Twilight and Sato glanced at each other, both seeing doubts and speculations in each other's eyes. Officer Twilight coughed and gave Sato a look, while Sato looked up and down at Nao, who was dressed in casual clothes, and said with some hesitation, "Well...... If you have ever had experience helping the police solve a crime, such as a private detective or something, it is not without precedent for participating in the case. ”

"Then it's easy to do. Nao closed his eyes slightly, and a streamer smeared under his eyes, "You should have heard about the school festival murder case in Kanagawa Prefecture a while ago, right?"

"You said it was the ...... that the college student killed with alkaloids" Twilight thought back to the news report a while ago, and suddenly came back to her senses and looked at the girl in front of her in disbelief, "You mean...... The red-haired, Okinawan dialect ......"

"No, it's down. Nao bared out a mouthful of white teeth and smiled openly, "Saotome Nao, a private detective, just yesterday accepted the commission of the victim Saotome Natsu to investigate the 'chokehold' incident. I'm sorry, but it's a few minutes before the alarm. ”

**

Just after four o'clock, a white Mazda RX-7FD drove into the residential area of Yonkacho 2-chome and stopped in front of a magnificent villa. The window slowly rolled down, and a girl with short black hair poked her head out, looked at the door number of the villa, and nodded to the driver beside her.

"Nakagawa family, yes here. ”

"Be careful, don't be noticed. ”

The woman with short black hair in the cab turned off the car and told as she opened the door. The girl in the black wig smiled and shook her hand and got out of the car with her. And these two are Saotome Nao and Miwako Sato, who had a brief argument in the Metropolitan Police Department.

Sato rang the electric bell at the door of the villa, and the beauty and ability on his face remained the same, but it added a sense of wisdom and rigor. Nao looked at her side face, and couldn't help but feel a little more good at this police officer who was meticulous in performing his official duties. It didn't take long for the owner's response to come from the electric bell, and after Sato identified himself, the door of the villa was finally open to the two. Strange to say, Nao didn't feel too nervous when he came to investigate the suspect for the first time, but he was a little more excited and eager to try it while he was calm. Sato saw her shining eyes with his peripheral vision, and a hint of smile and nostalgia flashed in his eyes.

It was a middle-aged aunt who came out to greet her, and she should be dressed as a housekeeper in this mansion. She skillfully led the two of them to the parlor, served two cups of tea, and then withdrew. Nao didn't touch the tea on the table, just sat there and quietly observed the house.

According to the information used by the mall for return visits and gifts from large customers, the owner of this house is a well-known collector named Kunzi Nakagawa, 28 years old, single. is a director by profession, but he has made very few films. But how can a director who is not famous buy a villa that is very expensive at first glance?

Just when Nao was secretly puzzled, the target of this investigation also walked down from the second floor.

Beauty—— This was Nao's first impression when she saw this Miss Kunzi Nakagawa. She is different from the beautiful Nioh Miku, and she exudes a mature and bewitching temperament all over her body. She wore a slip dress with a thin cape draped over her shoulders. The eyelashes are as fine as a canopy, and the eyelids are covered with a faint light brown eyeshadow. Although her lips were a little pale, they added to her beauty. She twisted her waist and walked slowly down the stairs, but she didn't feel a trace of pretentiousness.

"It's Miss Kunzi Nakagawa. Sato showed her a police badge branded with cherry blossoms, and the words he said made the corners of Nao's mouth curl on the side, "We are from the Metropolitan Police Department, and there is a case that I would like you to cooperate with in the investigation." ”

"Okay, but quicker. Kunzi Nakagawa walked to the table and sat down, took out a cigarette from the iron box on the table and put it to his lips, and smiled softly at Sato, "I'm going to meet an investor in a while, but I can't make people wait for a long time." ”

"If you answer truthfully, it will be fast. Sato took back his documents and took out a photo with a nonchalant expression, "According to our investigation, you bought this pair of 'Broadway Dreams' a few days ago, and there are targets we need to investigate among the buyers of these shoes." So, can you give us a look at it in action?"

"What, these shoes. Nakagawa Kunzi spit out a smoke ring, and there was arrogance in his expression that he couldn't hide, "There are so many items in my collection, I really can't remember what each one looks like." Otherwise, you will go to my collection and see for yourself?"

"Collection......" Nao raised her face, "Are all collectibles high heels?"

"Of course," Nakagawa leaned forward with a smile, stretched out a slender finger and tapped Nao's cheek, "Beautiful makeup, delicate nails, and noble high heels, these three things are indispensable for a woman, Xiao Nu Child!" After speaking, he stood up without waiting for Nao to react, and raised his voice, "Obasan, take these two police officers to my collection room to have a look, remember not to touch them casually!" After speaking, he stopped paying attention to Nao and the others, and went upstairs with a twist.

"Tsk," Nao rubbed the back of her hand against her cheek in disgust, "so much estrogen overflowing!"

Sato, whose face was tense, snorted and laughed when he heard this, "Are you really only thirteen years old? But - that's a good point. ”

"Thanks for the compliment. Naopi bared her teeth with a smile.

The two of them, led by the housewife's aunt, quickly found the extravagant high heels, but disappointed that there were no signs of damage or repair on them. It is clear that this little-known but wealthy collector does not qualify as a prisoner. Although it was prudent to ask her about her alibi from five to six p.m. on Saturday, the two were caught up in a phone call and temporarily abandoned the investigation.

The call was from Officer Twilight. The content is simple, just one sentence -

"Another attack has happened, go to Yonehana Town 2-chome!"

Nao and Sato looked at each other in shock. Isn't the 2-chome of Rice Flower Town where they are now?!