The boy soldier next to the famous detective

Seeing Jonah so happily announcing his 'championship' to him, Curaçao smiled gently and earnestly agreed with Jonah's achievement.

Curaçao found it quite novel to see Jonah display such a childlike side, and even considered discussing with Rumi Wakasa the possibility of having a pillow fight next time they went out together.

After all, Jonah seemed to enjoy having fun.

"Is everyone in the safe house?"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Jonah looked at the street scene outside the car window and casually asked the other members of the team questions.

"Yes, one of the three people we've been keeping an eye on suddenly logged into Tokyo's underground intelligence network this afternoon and offered a reward for a report on his political rival's actions over the past month."

"Dave felt this was a good opportunity to make contact with the target, so he accepted the mission. In the next period of time, we will be carrying out operations on this mission."

After briefly recounting what had happened that afternoon, Curaçao drove smoothly to the vicinity of the safe house and took Jonah inside.

"Jonathan, Curaçao, you're back. Perfect timing. We've almost finished preparing the plan. It's not a very difficult task, just a few more trips and a bit more time. We should be able to get it done in about five days."

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Dave tapped the action plan on the table, his tone somewhat excited.

"This is truly an opportunity that has fallen from the sky. I didn't expect that someone would actually be able to sit still."

"Dave, given his status, is it right for him to have access to underground intelligence networks?"

"No problem. People who can climb to that position are not exactly clean. Besides using their own networks, they are also very familiar with these shady intelligence channels."

Nodding, Jonah wasn't too worried since Dave and the others had confirmed that the target's actions were going smoothly.

After assigning tasks, everyone decided to act immediately and investigate the marked locations, then return to the safe house the next night to gather intelligence.

Jonathan.

Just as Jonah finished recording useful information about a commissioned mission, Hondo Eisuke, who was summarizing information in the car, suddenly changed his expression and called out to Jonah over the communication channel.

"What's wrong?"

"The target who placed the commission is dead, just half an hour ago."

"Dead?"

He blinked; the news was indeed somewhat sudden, even Jonah found it unbelievable.

Jonah quickly returned to the car and asked Hondou Eisuke, who was looking at him with a serious expression.

"Cause of death?"

"The current assessment is that it was a sudden illness, and the target's physical condition was not very good. Dave is trying to hack into the archives of the hospital where the target was located. Curaçao has already rushed over and wants to get a first-hand death report."

"Dave said our operation was canceled, and if the targets were already dead, then the commission was meaningless."

"Okay, let's go back."

"it is good."

Setting the computer aside, Hondo Eisuke started the car and drove towards the safe house. Jonah called Dave, and after learning that they hadn't gotten any valuable information yet, he didn't ask any more questions.

By the time the two arrived at the safe house, the smoke alarm was already on.

Dave, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, stared intently at the screen, trying to figure out the cause of his target's death through various means.

Hondo Eisuke turned on the ventilation system in the room. Although he had gotten used to the smell of smoke when working with Dave, the concentration in the room was still a bit too high today.

"Damn it, how could this guy suddenly die? It doesn't make any sense!"

Upon hearing the door open, Dave glanced at Hondo Eisuke and Jonah who entered the room, but did not greet them immediately. He continued searching online for the true cause of his target's death.

"Could it be that he wanted to hire someone to investigate his political rivals, but he was discovered, and this is now retaliation from his political rivals?"

Moving closer to Dave, Hondo Eisuke shared the possibilities he had considered on the return journey.

"I thought so too, but no matter how we investigated, we couldn't find out how that political enemy killed the target."

Dave slammed his hand on the table, his tone extremely agitated.

"The office lobby has all the security footage, security wasn't compromised, and nothing toxic was found in the locked offices, yet he suddenly died. And Curaçao has received the latest medical report, which states there's absolutely nothing wrong! Absolutely nothing wrong!"

"Dave, don't worry."

Seeing Dave's emotions fluctuating wildly due to the sudden accident, Jonah suddenly spoke up, interrupting Dave's further venting of his dissatisfaction.

"...Sorry, Jonathan, I did get a little rushed."

Upon hearing Jonah's voice, Dave paused for a moment, then stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. He took a deep breath, picked up the bottle of mineral water beside him, and gulped down a large mouthful before finally sprinkling the rest directly on his face.

Dave patted his face a couple of times to wipe away the water droplets, and his expression improved slightly.

"Since we can't find anything out from the intelligence, let's just go to the scene."

Seeing that Dave had calmed down, Jonah glanced at the various police photos of the scene on the screen and said calmly.

"Let's go and investigate ourselves to see what exactly happened."

"...Okay, although there are some risks, breaking through the security cordon to reach the target's office shouldn't be too difficult."

Upon hearing Jonah's words, Dave pondered for a moment and nodded emphatically.

After learning about the plan, Curaçao and Rumi Wakasa did not return to the safe house. Instead, they went directly to the outside of the General Affairs Bureau's office building and searched the surrounding area, but found nothing suspicious.

Dave had been monitoring the surveillance footage inside the General Services building and confirmed that no one had entered the target's office after the police left and cordoned off the area.

At 11 p.m., in the dead of night, Jonah and Curaçao, the most agile members of the small operation, dressed in full innocence, sneaked into the General Affairs Bureau building, bypassing the night watchmen, and arrived at the target's office.

Jonah lifted the seal and entered the office, turning on his small flashlight. He and Curaçao began a thorough investigation of the scene.

Because this case is taken very seriously, the scene was preserved intact, except that the target's body was not there. Every piece of evidence suspected of being problematic was marked with its location.

"Curaçao, the hospital didn't detect any toxicity in the target's body, right?"

"Jonathan, are you suspicious of the medication? The target does indeed take three medications twice a day. The medications are kept in a pillbox he carries with him, and he only carries the amount for the day. The remaining medications have been tested, and no toxicity was detected."

"I remember Dave mentioned in his intelligence report about the target that the target had obsessive-compulsive disorder, right?"