Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner Chapter 172 - 94 Eastern Green Train Murder Case

Minamoto Tamako wanted to say a few more words, but the disheartened middle-aged man’s aura scread ’I’m already so miserable’ and ’If you scold again, I’ll just die’, making her too embarrassed to speak up, feeling that if she criticized them, it would make her look like an unreasonable villain.

"Well, alright then... Be careful next ti, and don’t do such things again, it’s really bad, you know?" Tamako said.

"Got it, got it." Chicken Crown Head nodded repeatedly like a pecking chicken.

The disheartened man dragged him away, grinning obsequiously and saying the officer’s teaching was right, and then pulled him off.

Tamako leaned against her suitcase, looking around, feeling a bit strange.

When she finally squeezed her suitcase onto the rack and sat next to Taira Sakurako, the strange feeling reached its peak.

"Mr. Fushimi..."

She leaned forward, lowered her voice: "Why does it feel like everyone in the carriage is sneaking glances at us?"

"You’re overthinking it, aren’t you? Being so cute, how could people not look?" Fushimi Roku didn’t even raise his head, unfolding the newspaper he had casually bought from a kiosk before getting on the train: "Learn from more, as a handso guy, you have to be prepared to be stared at."

"Ah! Haha, what’s so cute about , just average, even if you flatter , I won’t be happy!" Tamako was a bit flushed, smiling broadly, and before she finished enjoying it, she locked eyes with the girl.

Tamako imdiately restrained her smile; it was okay to say such things privately, but if others heard, it would seem too narcissistic. She even felt embarrassed for Mr. Fushimi.

"Thank you just now," the girl sat back in her seat, saying sowhat nervously: "I’m... I’m Yougetsu Tsubaki, you can call Little You or Little Tsubaki."

"Ah, it was my duty, I... I’m Minamoto Tamako, a police officer... that’s my partner, his na is Fushimi Roku, and that’s his sister, nad Taira Sakurako..."

Tamako was also a bit nervous, speaking to relieve pressure, and before she knew it, she had introduced everyone. Yougetsu Tsubaki looked surprised, her eyes filled with admiration as she said: "Wow! You’re amazing! To be a detective at such a young age!"

Hearing this, Tamako’s heart felt a mix of emotions, both happy and embarrassed. Fushimi Roku snickered next to her, making her even more upset inside.

Tch! It’s just criminal police, what’s the big deal? She too could beco one soday!

Despite her dissatisfaction, the truth remained that Tamako was currently just a junior patrol officer, with nothing to argue over.

She didn’t have the face to pretend to be a detective and was too embarrassed to explain she was a patrol officer — ever since Mr. Fushimi beca a detective first, she had a small competitive and vain streak, so she consciously changed the subject, wanting to maintain this pleasant misunderstanding: "Little You, where are you planning to go?"

Hmm, the other seed around seventeen or eighteen years old, she was older than Yougetsu Tsubaki, so calling her Little You was reasonable.

"I’m planning to go back to the countryside to visit my grandmother; her legs aren’t convenient, and winter must be hard to bear..." After Yougetsu Tsubaki finished speaking, she took out two oranges from her pocket, offering them to Tamako and Fushimi Roku: "Would you like to try the tangerines grown by my family? They’re very sweet."

"Thank you!"

Tamako, unable to resist sweet things, accepted the orange with both hands respectfully; Fushimi Roku waved it off, indicating refusal, so she simply gave both oranges to Tamako.

They chatted about countryside life; Tamako peeled an orange, tasted a segnt, and found it sweet and juicy with a slight tang, better than the special ones from grocery stores!

"Mr. Fushimi, why don’t you give it a try?"

She split it in half and gave it to Fushimi Roku. Seeing nothing happened to her after eating, he finally accepted the orange, intending to eat it after a while. Seeing this, Tamako mocked the proud fool inwardly, clearly wanting to eat the orange but too proud to show interest... Hmph, that’s why she’s so understanding!

She popped another orange segnt in her mouth, enjoying it with eyes narrowed.

Outside, the steam whistle sounded, murmuring, as the conductor rang the bell on the platform, announcents began, enveloping them in an age-crossing ambiance.

The train rumbled as the carriage gently swayed, slowly accelerating towards the suburbs.

In no ti, city skyscrapers beca scattered low houses, passing by three parked snowplows on the roadside.

Riding from jiro Station to Shizuoka Prefecture takes about two to three hours, assuming no delays. If snow blocks the railway, they would have to wait for workers to clear it before proceeding.

They were lucky, with smooth passage, as more than an hour later, the train successfully entered a mountain tunnel lined with avalanche warning lines connected by circuits.

As tunnel lights flashed past, Yougetsu Tsubaki uneasily said: "Sothing feels really strange today."

Tamako’s ahoge perked up imdiately; she held the oranges, leaning forward stealthily like a hamster: "Why do you say that?"

Yougetsu Tsubaki explained: "Because I often take this train back and forth; usually fellow travelers are middle-aged n and won, or elderly grandpas and grandmas, and during tourist season, there’d be so tour groups..."

Upon hearing this, Tamako’s detective soul burned fiercely, her mind conjuring up Agatha’s classic novel, wondering if a classic drama akin to ’Murder on the Orient Express’ would unfold on this train bound for the snowy land?

"It does indeed feel a bit off," she turned to ask: "Mr. Fushimi, what do you think?"

"I’m watching seated." Fushimi Roku flippantly turned the newspaper page.

"Don’t you find it odd?" Tamako said, turning around to kneel on the seat, clutching the seatback, glancing secretly around before continuing: "The atmosphere in the carriage feels quite tense!"

Yougetsu Tsubaki nodded in agreent: "Yeah, it’s not a silent car, so why’s no one speaking? It used to be very lively."

"It feels like sothing big is about to happen," Tamako sat back in her seat, chewing on an orange, face serious: "I sll a case brewing."

"Sll what?" Yougetsu Tsubaki sniffed around: "I didn’t sll anything strange."

"Uh, ah, nothing, nothing."

Tamako suddenly felt very awkward, even though such lines are cool in criminal dramas, she felt a strange sense of secondhand embarrassnt saying them herself.

She thought for a mont, feeling it must be due to the lack of contrast!

Usually, when the protagonist says such lines, there’d be a foolish sidekick popping up, seriously agreeing and saying: ’Yeah, the storm is coming, the wind carries a disturbing scent’ — then the scene shifts, the protagonist’s premonition cos true, a major crisis arises, and the plot reaches its climax...

As Tamako was lost in her thoughts, she heard a clang, the carriage shook violently, nearly tossing her out of her seat. She hurriedly grabbed the handrail to sit back, bewildered: "What happened? Did we hit a deer?"

"The train is accelerating," Fushimi Roku finally lowered the newspaper.

As soon as he finished speaking, a glass shattering explosion ca from the front carriage. Through the window, Tamako saw a man in a dark green suit fling horizontally, wailing as he scraped past the window and landed heavily on the ground, tumbling like a ragdoll for a dozen rolls before coming to a stop.