Detective Conan: Is Miss Haibara planning to assault a police officer again today?

It had only been ten minutes since he arrived.

It can only be said that the best bargaining chip to threaten the police is always human lives.

However, the police could not simply retreat obediently. Instead, they immediately dispersed to lie in ambush on all the surrounding roads, and after discovering and confirming the escape route of the criminals, they would pursue and arrest them along the way.

During the pursuit, maintaining pressure without actually making a move is a common tactic.

The more pressure is applied, the more nervous the prisoner becomes. When nervous, they are bound to make mistakes, and the energy they expend cannot be recovered in a short time.

Furthermore, the safety of the hostages is better guaranteed under such circumstances.

Because the hostages are the only trump card the criminals have, whether they play it or it fails, the police will shout "complete madness".

If the police don't kill the person, they might still choose to capture them alive; if they do kill someone, they will most likely only consider leaving the body intact.

Anyone who's ever robbed a bank knows that when it comes to robbing a bank, you either have to be quick, accurate, and ruthless, avoiding any contact with the police at all, or you have to be absolutely vicious and fight your way out.

After retreating for about a kilometer, Higashino Ning ambushed someone in a roadside shop and asked questions through an earpiece.

"Inspector, didn't the prisoner request a car?"

"No requests. There's only one robber left in the bank now. Speaking of the other robber, I think I only saw a blurry figure of him at the beginning."

“I have deployed people on all roads, big and small, and we are just waiting for them to come out.”

"Ah."

The exchange ended briefly.

Higashino Ning frowned and began to think.

"Don't take the car. The other robber hasn't been seen for a long time. Could there be some other hidden passage inside the bank?"

"This is probably another case of a bank insider committing a crime... Finding and taking control of all the staff in such a short time is something that no one but an insider could do."

There are many ideas, but they need to be verified.

The outcome of the case can only be awaited now.

If the prisoner does not choose to escape in the direction he is in, then the subsequent pursuit will really have little to do with him.

Higashino Ning still hoped that the criminal would come to him, after all, this was another major case.

He had previously thought that major cases were rare and difficult to encounter.

As it turns out... well, since he transmigrated, he has handled a total of three cases, two of which were major ones.

It's no wonder it's called the vice city of Beika; even a clown would only be considered a second-rate criminal here.

The wait wasn't long.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Instead of charging at Higashino Ning, the prisoner chose the secondary main road behind the bank.

Higashino Ning followed along in his car, but he didn't even see what the other car looked like until the prisoner was announced to have escaped.

...

It's about four o'clock in the afternoon.

Metropolitan Police Department.

Higashino Ning sat at the second-to-last seat on the right side of the round table of memories, next to Shiratori Ninzaburo, and opposite Takagi Wataru.

Inspector Megure calmly analyzed the case from above.

There's not much to say about this. We haven't even compiled the results of our interviews with many witnesses yet. Right now, we're just trying to get the attention of all the key officers and see if any clever little devil can come up with a good idea.

Ultimately, it was because these two prisoners acted too quickly. Before the helicopter could even arrive, they had already escaped far away, specifically seeking out all sorts of treacherous paths.

These days, street surveillance cameras aren't widely available, so it's quite normal to lose track of someone.

"Brother Dongye, why don't you say a few words?"

At that moment, Inspector Megure suddenly handed the baton to Higashino Ning.

With everyone's eyes on him, he couldn't very well offend Inspector Megure in public, so he had no choice but to stand up.

"Okay, then I'll briefly share a few points based on what I've seen and heard."

"The speed of this operation must have been supported by a meticulous plan. Perhaps we can retrieve the surveillance footage from the bank lobby to investigate those customers who have appeared multiple times recently."

"If no suspicious persons can be found, then my other hypothesis is more likely to be true."

Megure Juzo, having long been trained by Kogoro Mouri to be an excellent straight man, asked, "What speculation?"

Higashino Ning said seriously, "It was an inside job."

He looked at Inspector Megure and said, "Because you said, Inspector, that another prisoner hasn't shown up most of the time, as if he's deliberately hiding himself. I think maybe he's an employee of this bank and doesn't want to be recognized by his colleagues."

"Considering that the 200 million yuan in cash stolen is enough for them to make a quick getaway and never return, I think that if that person really is a bank employee, then he probably holds a high position in the bank, and is likely in management."

As if suddenly remembering something, Higashino Ning quickly added, "There is another clue that supports my belief that it was an inside job."

"That's when the public reports the crime."

"The fact that the first people to report the incident were not bank staff, but members of the public, means that the staff were likely apprehended immediately."

"The person who can do this is unlikely to be an ordinary person. If it is an insider who has planned it in advance, then it is entirely possible to achieve this."

"I'm done."

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Higashino Ning sat back down in his chair.

Megure nodded. “What Higashino said makes sense. Takagi, later you should arrange for someone to retrieve the bank’s surveillance records from the past two months and examine them carefully.”

"Brother Chiba, go and interview all the bank staff to see if there is anyone acting suspiciously."

"As for Shiratori, I'll leave the reporters and public opinion to you. I'll personally report on the case to Sergeant Matsumoto later."

"Everyone, get to work! Don't let your guard down these next few days. We must recover those two prisoners and the stolen money as quickly as possible. Meeting adjourned!"

The attendees immediately stood up and shouted, "Yes, sir!!"

As they walked out of the conference room, Higashino Ning grabbed Takagi Wataru, "Wataru, when you're checking the surveillance footage, remember to keep an eye out for that robber who didn't show up today."

"In addition, we should also take a good look at the footage of the initial hostage-taking, as it is not impossible that the hostages were accomplices."

Takagi Wataru hesitated for a moment and nodded. "Oh... I see. But what was that strange way you addressed me just now?"

The sudden use of reduplicated terms left Takagi Wataru completely bewildered; he didn't understand it at first.

Higashino Ning shook his head. "Don't worry about such trivial things. Okay, go to work. I'll tell Officer Sato that you're working hard."

Takagi Wataru immediately tensed up, "Don't say anything like that! It would be terrible if Officer Sato thought I was showing off my work ethic!"

He looked around and lowered his voice, "You can't be too flamboyant when pursuing a girl. You don't understand. I'm leaving now. We can have dinner together after this is all sorted out."

Watching Takagi Wataru's departing figure, Higashino Ning fell into deep thought.

No way, you newbie in love, how dare you lecture me? Do you even know how many girls I've promised them happiness and how many girls I've deceived?

Okay, not a single one.

Am I too flamboyant?

I don't think so...

Chapter 41 Higashino: I desperately want to improve.

At the end of the meeting, Inspector Megure did not assign Higashino Ning a specific task; in other words, he made him a free agent, to go wherever he was needed.

Before the time travel, Dongye Ning might only be called a backup plan, a brick used to patch up one problem by robbing another.

But now, you have to call Higashino Ning the noble free man.

The former has little value, while the latter has great value.

But in the end, having nothing to do is just having nothing to do.

Higashino Ning himself didn't want to be idle; catching the criminal sooner meant getting the reward sooner.

Adoption cards and hidden skills are all good things; he's really looking forward to this random reward.

After thinking it over, Dongye Ning decided to go see his sister-in-law and learn about the actual situation from the hostage.

When Higashino Ning arrived, Megure Midori had just finished taking notes.

Time only brought her maturity; it took nothing away from her naivety.

In layman's terms: Madam, you still have your charm.

Megure Midori wasn't very familiar with Higashino Ning before, she only had a vague impression of him.

But since Inspector Megure has been talking about this a lot lately, she has started to pay attention to this "rising star" who has only begun to show his talent after three years.

After a brief greeting, Higashino Ning took the completed transcript from his colleague and led Megure Green to sit down and chat in the corridor.

Megure Midori wasn't the first hostage; she volunteered to become a hostage later on.

According to her, the other robber also barely showed up; she never actually saw him.

Incidentally, the robbers didn't take any hostages with them when they fled, which shows they were quite confident in their escape.

After reading the transcript, Higashino Ning did not find anything particularly noteworthy or suspicious. After all, the story from Megure Midorima's perspective was just about actively requesting a hostage exchange and then being held hostage until the end.

"Officer Higashino is really different now than before."

After finishing their business, Mumu Lü couldn't help but smile and sigh, "You have the air of a mature police officer now."

Faced with such praise, Higashino Ning naturally returned a friendly smile. He reorganized his notes, saying, "Staying in a place like this will inevitably turn you into a mature adult sooner or later."

"The setbacks of the past have made me lose my way and made me unable to find the true meaning and responsibility of this profession for a long time. Fortunately, it is not too late to wake up now."

The above is pure nonsense; only 20% of it is insightful, while the remaining 80% is just "pillow talk" in preparation.

Generally speaking, it's much easier to win over your boss's wife than to win over your boss.

Higashino is too eager to improve.

Perhaps it was because he didn't have a clear purpose, or perhaps it was because his tone of voice carried a youthful melancholy.

Megure Midori looked at Higashino Ning with eyes full of admiration.