Tokyo: I'm really not a killer

Rin Shinomiya instinctively reached for the car door, but Hara Masao slapped her hand away: "What are you doing? Get in the trunk! Do you want to get me arrested too?"

Shinomiya Rin was taken aback, instinctively doubting Hara Masaki's character: "You...you wouldn't be trying to trick me into getting in the car, then take me to the police station to curry favor, would you...?"

Yuan Zhensheng's eyes widened, his face showing a hurt expression after being wronged, and he said, "This is really disheartening. Now I'm starting to believe you really are a robber."

"It wasn't me! I've been framed!" Shinomiya Rin cried out angrily, her voice trembling with tears.

"If you don't believe me, how can I believe you?" Yuan Zhensheng retorted.

He shook his head and sighed, rolling up the car window on his own: "I risked everything to save you because you shielded me from the frying pan before, but my kindness was completely wasted... Sigh, it's really unpleasant to be wronged."

Hearing this, Shinomiya Rin also felt uneasy.

She hastily wiped away her tears, pouting as she apologized, "I...I didn't mean to, I just..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when the car window was already rolled up.

The slight guilt that Shinomiya Rin had just felt vanished, and she was immediately filled with anger. Just as she was about to bang on the window to complain, she heard the sound of police sirens behind her. Startled, she quickly crawled into the trunk and pulled the trunk lid shut.

Yuan Zhensheng stepped on the gas, and the patrol car sped away from its original location, merging into the traffic on the street.

He had driven less than two blocks when he was stopped at an intersection by two police cars with flashing red and blue lights.

Several plainclothes detectives casually got out of the car and surrounded it in a fan shape. One of them was Yamamoto Koji, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He bent down and peered into the car, his gaze sweeping over the passenger seat and the back seat.

"Patrolman, what are you doing here? This isn't your search area, is it?"

Yuan Zhensheng seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, yet also carried a hint of anxiety:

"When I was registering for a visit on the outskirts of Akasaka Minami-cho just now, I heard on the walkie-talkie that Inspector Shinomiya had appeared near the Koban and was on the run."

"I thought she was my partner after all, although... sigh, I still wanted to try to find her and see if I could persuade her to turn herself in, or at least find out what happened. So I drove in the possible direction and just got here a short while ago."

The other detectives weren't familiar with Yuan Zhensheng and didn't have much of a relationship with him. They routinely asked, "Did you see any suspicious persons?"

"No, I haven't seen it along the way." Hara Masaki shook his head, his tone certain. "There wasn't much traffic, and not many pedestrians either. If Shinomiya Rin had run past, I should have noticed her."

The interior of the patrol car was completely visible, leaving no room for anyone to hide.

He rested his arm on the car window, took a drag of his cigarette, seemingly lost in thought, and after a moment casually asked:

"Patrolman, you've been partners with her for quite some time. Knowing her as you do, where would she go?"

Yamamoto Koji was just asking casually; his old habit had kicked in again—he wanted to slack off.

With so many colleagues watching him and a report that the suspect had appeared, he couldn't just slack off openly, so he could only casually stop an acquaintance for a chat.

Hara Masaki immediately saw through his thoughts and said, "It's possible it's hidden in Daikichi Izakaya."

Daikichi Izakaya is the place where Yamamoto Koji drank with him last time.

This is probably the telepathic connection between wage thieves; they don't even need eye contact, just a few words and they instantly understand each other.

Yamamoto Koji cleared his throat. "In that case, come with me to search the izakaya." He turned to his colleagues and instructed, "I'll leave this place to you."

"Thank you for making the trip," the colleague said, nodding.

Yamamoto Koji got into the passenger seat of the patrol car, fastened his seatbelt, and patted the door; Hara Masaki lightly stepped on the gas and drove towards the izakaya.

Halfway there, Yamamoto Koji blew a smoke ring and said, "Let's confirm for now, we're thinking about the same thing, aren't we?"

"It should be," Yuan Zhensheng said.

"What is it?" Yamamoto Koji asked.

He wasn't very familiar with Hara Masaki, and he couldn't afford to slack off, so he needed Hara Masaki to bring up the idea of ​​going to an izakaya for drinks.

However, Hara Masaki did not take the bait: "Go search the izakaya."

"Are you really going?" Yamamoto Koji scratched his head, wondering if he had misunderstood.

"Otherwise what?" Yuan Zhensheng asked innocently.

"Alright, let's go then."

Yamamoto Koji was silent for a moment. Just then, the patrol car turned around, and the trunk made a thumping sound. He asked again, "What's in your trunk? I hope it won't break?"

Yuan Zhensheng gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and explained in a relaxed tone, "Oh, that. Our director asked me to bring back a box of tape. We've run out of the ones in the office; it's nothing important."

Rin Shinomiya, who was in the trunk, was in a panic.

When she was stopped earlier, she was so scared that she almost jumped out of the car and ran away, but she didn't expect that Yuan Zhensheng would get away with it; now, after hearing Yamamoto's question, she was even more frightened that she dared not breathe and was covered in cold sweat.

The patrol car stopped near the izakaya, and Hara Masaki and Yamamoto Koji got out one after the other.

The latter originally thought it would be a routine search, but Yuan Zhensheng suggested not to alert the enemy.

"If we search the izakaya, wouldn't that scare the suspect away? Why not wait for him to walk into our trap and keep watch here for a while?" Hara Masaki said.

"Okay, good idea." Yamamoto Koji found a seat and sat down.

The madam immediately came forward to greet him. Yamamoto Koji was about to refuse when he heard Hara Masaki say in a serious tone:

"Coming to an izakaya without drinking would be too conspicuous, wouldn't it? We need to blend into the crowd while on surveillance, otherwise the suspect will immediately know we're police. To make our disguise more convincing, let's have a drink."

Yamamoto Koji looked at him meaningfully: "You make a good point. We have no choice but to drink it now."

Tsk tsk tsk, so young, yet he has such a knack for slacking off. This kid is just as shrewd as I am.

"Yes, I had to drink it for work," Yuan Zhensheng said with a sigh.

The two ordered a cup of sake and some yakitori, eating and drinking while chatting and joking, laughing heartily when they were in high spirits.

Midway through the journey, the police station paged him, so Yamamoto Koji went to a roadside phone booth to make a call, saying that he had discovered a location suspected of being frequented by the suspect and was currently keeping watch with the original patrol officers, thus giving the special investigation team a perfunctory answer.

It's worth mentioning that after Yoshioka Akio returned to work, he investigated cases with such fervor that Yamamoto Koji couldn't stop him. He felt guilty about advising his junior to rest, which is why the two weren't together today.

It wasn't until nightfall that Yamamoto Koji and Hara Masao emerged from the izakaya, both tipsy.

"Unfortunately, the suspect is too cunning; it seems he won't be coming today," Yuan Zhensheng said.

"Hiccup, that's true." Yamamoto Koji nodded.

The two parted ways at the door. Yamamoto Koji planned to go back to his apartment to wash up and get rid of the smell of alcohol before reporting back to the police station.

Gensei bought a train ticket back to Koban, but instead of boarding, he changed his face, returned to the parking lot, drove off in a patrol car, and took Shinomiya Rin to the ground floor of his safe house.

He parked the car in the apartment's underground parking lot, tossed an eye mask into the trunk, and gave the order:

"Blindfold me, and I'll take you to your lodgings."