"What important discovery?"
Asai Youki looked at his daughter with a calm face.
"Sobody just reported that they spotted the fugitive Takeda Ichiro near a public phone booth in Shinjuku," Asai Ayumi said excitedly.
"What!" Asai Youki, previously composed, suddenly rose from his chair, "Did you send soone to check it out?"
Though the Changxin Bank robbery had occurred four months ago, its impact was imnse. Although there seed to be no dia coverage, any tiny piece of related news could instantly revive national attention.
Originally, all police officers had given up hope of capturing Takeda Ichiro since with seven billion yen, one could live lavishly abroad for quite a long ti, possibly even start anew and lead a normal life.
But Asai Youki had never dread that, just four months later, he would hear that Takeda Ichiro had appeared in Tokyo. In his excitent, he also felt so fear, afraid that it might be a false alert.
"Before I ca to report to you, I had already dispatched soone," Asai Ayumi knew what her father was worried about and added, "The informant was very certain, asserting that it was definitely Takeda Ichiro."
"Notify imdiately if there is news," Asai Youki was about to continue when he changed his instruction, "No, don’t leave; stay here and wait with ."
anwhile, at Fujimoto Ryosuke’s ho.
"Inspector Takahashi..." Aoyama Xiu Xin began to speak slowly after leaving Takahashi Tomoyuki hanging for a while.
"No no no, Mr. Aoyama, just call Takahashi, Takahashi," Takahashi Tomoyuki said, his face eager to please as he waved his hands to interrupt Aoyama Xiu Xin.
"Slap!" Aoyama Xiu Xin frowned, raised his hand, and slapped him, "Idiot! Did I allow you to speak?"
"Ouch!" Takahashi Tomoyuki felt a burning pain on his face but dared not even grunt, instead quickly bowing his head to admit his mistake.
Aoyama Xiu Xin withdrew his hand, shook it off, and said with a cold snort, "Tell , do you know that Sato Rich borrowed a large sum of money from loan sharks?"
"Huh?" Takahashi Tomoyuki looked up in surprise, then quickly lowered his head and swallowed before saying, "I don’t know; Sato Police Chief wouldn’t tell those private, confidential matters."
"Does Sato have a gambling habit?"
"No, at least I have never seen it." Takahashi Tomoyuki shook his head vigorously and added, "Sato Police Chief leads a simple life. Apart from necessary socializing, he neither gambles nor engages in prostitution and always goes ho on ti after work, responsible for his family."
"Are you here to sing his praises?" Aoyama Xiu Xin’s face twitched several tis before he kicked out.
"Clang!" Takahashi Tomoyuki fell backward, knocking over a chair, but he quickly got up and knelt back in position, "No, sir, I wouldn’t dare. He’s corrupt, he twists the law for his own benefit, he is stingy, and he’s rotten to the core."
"Do you have evidence of him doing these things?" Fujimoto Ryosuke’s eyes lit up as he asked eagerly.
"No... I don’t," Takahashi Tomoyuki’s face contorted into an uglier expression than crying as he cautiously said, "He’s very careful. He mostly uses phone calls and hints, having others and do things for him. He never gets involved himself. We’re his moat; even if sothing happens, nothing leads back to him."
"Useless!" Fujimoto Ryosuke cursed.
"Sir!" Takahashi Tomoyuki didn’t dare to retort.
"Based on the information I have, Sato started borrowing a lot of money about six months ago. Since you’re his confidant, think about what he could be doing that involves burning through so much cash," Aoyama Xiu Xin said coldly.
"This... this..." Takahashi Tomoyuki truly couldn’t think of anything at first, sweating with the effort of recollection until his eyes suddenly brightened with excitent, "Stock trading! Sato Police Chief especially loves trading stocks! He even recomnded stocks to , but I didn’t understand so I didn’t buy. However, he hasn’t recomnded any stocks in the last year, so he must have lost money."
Aoyama Xiu Xin imdiately felt this made sense.
In the previous years when the economy was booming, the Japanese stock market was also thriving, and many people liked to invest in so stocks—it was like letting money generate more money by putting it in the stock market.
But in the past two years as the economy declined, the stock market also dwindled. Sato, an old stock investor, likely had lost even his last di. Stock trading could be addicting, particularly for veterans, resembling old gamblers; they never think about cutting losses in ti, always focusing on recouping their losses.
It seed the money Sato borrowed had all been funneled into the stock market, but where did he get the money to repay his debts?
Aoyama Xiu Xin didn’t believe it was because he made a profit from a particular stock. If that were the case, he would have definitely continued recomnding stocks to Takahashi and others.
"Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~"
"Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~"
The sudden ringing of phones interrupted Aoyama Xiu Xin’s thoughts, one from the handset on the desk and another from the bedroom.
"It’s... mine." Takahashi weakly raised his hand.
Aoyama Xiu Xin first signaled him with his eyes to answer the call, then he also picked up his own, "Hello."
"Mr. Aoyama, please co to the police station imdiately."
"Understood!"
He hung up the phone at the sa ti Takahashi Tomoyuki also ca out of the bedroom with his phone, saying to Aoyama Xiu Xin, "They’ve asked to imdiately return to the police station for a eting."
"When Sato asks about , you know what to say, right?" Aoyama Xiu Xin stood up as he spoke.
Takahashi Tomoyuki nodded repeatedly, "Understood."
Aoyama Xiu Xin smiled faintly and turned to leave.
"When you leave, make sure to close the door properly," Fujimoto Ryosuke threw out a line and followed Aoyama Xiu Xin.
"Of course!" Takahashi Tomoyuki loudly responded, bowing ninety degrees as he called out, "Please go slowly, gentlen."
"Bang!"
Hearing the sound of the door closing, Takahashi Tomoyuki sat down on the floor, hands covering his face, and began to sob quietly. Anger, humiliation, regret, and other emotions surged in his mind, leaving him no place to vent.
If it hadn’t been for his eagerness to fulfill the tasks given by Sato Rich, if he hadn’t been overconfident, if he hadn’t acted recklessly under the influence of alcohol, how could he have ended up in this predicant?
The thought of being controlled by two re Patrol Chiefs, Aoyama Xiu Xin and Fujimoto Ryosuke, filled him with extre humiliation. Yet for the mont, he had no other choices.
His only option was to comply with their demands to stabilize them, then slowly find a way to turn the situation around.
"Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~"
At that mont, his phone rang again.
"Moshi moshi." He answered casually.
"Takahashi, how’s it going at Shinjuku Police Station? Things need to be handled quickly," Sato Rich’s steady and deep voice ca through the phone.
"Hi!" Takahashi Tomoyuki responded, then said, "Don’t worry, Police Chief, I’ve already started dealing with Aoyama Xiu Xin, and currently... everything is going smoothly."
"Good, I knew you wouldn’t disappoint ," Sato Rich praised with relief, then changed the topic and asked, "By the way, I just heard your station discovered Takeda Ichiro’s whereabouts?"
"That... I’m not very clear on that yet, but the station just called for to co back for a eting imdiately."
"If it’s confird to indeed be Takeda, let know. That fellow originally escaped from my custody, and I’ve always been very interested in him."
"Hi!"
.........
After arriving at the station, Aoyama Xiu Xin went straight to Asai Ayumi’s office, pushed the door open, and asked, "What happened?"
"Takeda Ichiro is back," Asai Ayumi said from behind her desk, her expression grave.
"What?" Xiu Xin perked up and quickly asked, "How did you find him?"
Asai Ayumi silently passed him a photo.
Taking a look at the photo, Xiu Xin saw Takeda Ichiro standing in a public phone booth, wearing a baseball cap and smiling. With one hand holding the phone receiver, his other hand was making a gun gesture at the surveillance cara.
"It was this guy who called in to report himself. He’s taunting us," said Asai Ayumi, her chest heaving slightly in anger, gritting her teeth.
Aoyama Xiu Xin didn’t feel any emotional turmoil but couldn’t comprehend Takeda Ichiro’s actions. "Why would he do this? He shouldn’t have even co back."
Taking the risk to return to Tokyo was one thing, but to deliberately expose himself and provoke the police? What was he trying to achieve?
One might be out of luck, but one should not act recklessly.
"I don’t know," Asai Ayumi shook her head and slowly exhaled, "He’s a madman. His actions are unpredictable."
She then added with determined eyes, "But now that he’s back, we must catch him to erase the disgrace he caused the police four months ago!"
"Knock knock knock!" A voice ca in, "Inspector, it’s ti for the eting."
"Got it," Asai Ayumi replied and then stood up, "I’ll go to the eting first. Do as you wish."
"Don’t I need to go?" Aoyama Xiu Xin asked.
Asai Ayumi stopped, silenced for a mont, then looked at him and replied, "Your rank is too low."
Aoyama Xiu Xin felt a thousand torrential curses raging in his mind.
Turning around with a slight smirk, Asai Ayumi’s mood brightened significantly as she slamd the door on her way out.
When Asai Ayumi returned from the eting, she was not surprised to see Xiu Xin sitting in her chair. She relayed the eting details, "My father has decided to report the news to the Police Headquarters and has requested our station to lead the arrest effort."
The gravity of the cris committed by Takeda Ichiro was imnse. If Shinjuku Police Station concealed the news for the sake of achievent and he escaped again, they would be held responsible
"Will Police Headquarters agree? The Investigation Division might take over the case," Xiu Xin said.
Asai Ayumi shrugged with a mix of pride and arrogance, emphasizing her family’s background, "Our Asakai family has so influence in the Japanese police circles. Since we discovered Takeda, Sato won’t affront my father."
"My brother is truly aweso," Xiu Xin remarked.
Asai Ayumi looked bewildered, "Hmm?"
I’m complinting my dad, what does your brother have to do with it?
Xiu Xin, smiling, explained, "Don’t you also call ’father’? So isn’t your father then my brother?"
"Ah! Idiot! Despicable guy!" Asai Ayumi’s face turned red with a mix of embarrassnt and rage. She bent down to grab a teacup from the table, prepared to throw it at him.
Unperturbed, Xiu Xin said, "If you dare to throw it, next ti you’ll call ’grandfather,’ and then your father will have to drop another generation in my view."
After speaking, he even stood up and bowed sincerely, "For your father’s sake, please reconsider, Inspector."
Asai Ayumi, chest heaving, gave Xiu Xin a glaring look but set the teacup back in its place.
"Co here," Xiu Xin beckoned with a finger.
Asai Ayumi pursed her lips and obediently walked over.
Because he was concerned about a potential action taking place soon, and there wouldn’t be enough ti, Xiu Xin didn’t intend to delve deeply in a conversation with Asai Ayumi, only engaging in verbal communication.
anwhile, unlocking a bit of a new trick on the side.
Asai Ayumi, being trained in karate from a young age, had quite the skill with her legs, giving Xiu Xin a taste of what true skill behind flashy showmanship felt like, leading to contentnt.
Simultaneously, at Police Headquarters, Sato Rich hurried to et the Police Director General imdiately upon receiving certain news of Takeda Ichiro’s return to Tokyo, seeking the primary jurisdiction of the case.
"Director General, Takeda Ichiro was originally under my custody before escaping. Please give a chance to rectify this regret by capturing him myself. I beg of you," Sato Rich said, bowing earnestly.
"Sato," Renping Kuniaki responded with a calm deanor, "I understand your sentints, but since Shinjuku Police Station discovered him and reported the incident first, excluding them isn’t appropriate, is it?"
"But..."
Renping Kuniaki interrupted him, "I know you’re anxious, but don’t rush. Here’s what we’ll do: both the Investigation Division and Shinjuku Police Station will share responsibility for capturing Takeda. You’ll both allocate personnel to set up the Investigation Headquarters, with Asai as the Chief and you as the Deputy Director."
A common trait of leaders through ages and cultures is their mastery of the art of compromise.
"Hi!" Realizing this was the best possible outco, Sato Rich could only bow resignedly in agreent.
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