Tokyo: I'm really not a killer

The door to the detention area opened, and two people came out.

One was a strange man in a suit, and the other was Yamamoto Koji.

The two walked and talked.

"...The statements are basically finalized, although some details still don't match up, but the general outline is clear," Yamamoto Koji said. "Prosecutor Kurokawa should be fine, right?"

"The chain of evidence is complete, and the suspect has confessed to the main parts." The other person was Prosecutor Kurokawa's assistant. "The chief and prosecutors are reviewing the case file, and they'll be able to make a decision soon. By the way, the chief said he wants you to come over too; there are some details that need to be confirmed."

"Now?" Yamamoto Koji frowned. "I still have a bit..."

"The chief of staff and the prosecutors are waiting," the assistant said firmly.

Yamamoto Koji clicked his tongue, turned around, and shouted into the detention area, "Yoshioka! I'm going up there, keep an eye on things!"

A mumbled reply came from inside.

The two walked toward the stairs, passing right by the corner where Yuan Zhensheng was hiding.

Yuan Zhensheng held his breath and shrank into the shadows. Part of the trolley was sticking out, but fortunately, both of them were focused on their conversation and didn't notice.

Once their footsteps faded into the distance, Yuan Zhensheng immediately took action.

He couldn't go through the main entrance of the detention area; Yoshioka Akio was inside. He returned to the equipment room door, this time without hesitation, took a small wire from the bottom of the trolley, aimed it at the keyhole of the door lock, and poked it back and forth a few times.

With a soft click, the door unlocked.

The security level of this door is clearly not as high as that of the main entrance to the detention area.

Yuan Zhensheng slipped inside and gently closed the door behind him.

Inside were various pipes, electrical boxes, and machines, emitting a low hum. The air was murky and dusty. He quickly scanned the area and found the entrance to a ventilation duct leading deeper inside; the fence was secured with screws.

He took out a screwdriver and quickly removed the fence. The pipe was dark and barely wide enough for one person to crawl through.

Yuan Zhensheng turned on his small flashlight and crawled inside.

The pipes were a complex maze. Relying on his memory of the architectural plans and previous surveys, he climbed in the general direction.

The pipe wasn't quiet; he could faintly hear voices and phone ringing below. He carefully avoided areas where sensors or alarms might be detected.

After climbing for about two or three minutes, he came to a fork in the road. The pipe on the left was slightly larger and seemed to lead to the core of the building; the pipe on the right was smaller and extended to the side. According to his calculations, the detention cells in the detention area should be on the west side…

He chose the right side. After climbing for a while, he saw a faint light and heard voices ahead.

He turned off his flashlight, slowly moved to the fence at the pipe opening, and looked down.

Below is a small room, like a duty room or a temporary rest room.

Akio Yoshioka was sitting in a chair, yawning, with a notebook in front of him. At the other end of the room was an iron door with a small window; that was the last door leading to the detention cell area.

With Akio Yoshioka here, things are not going well.

Yuan Zhensheng checked the time; there were less than four minutes left before the smoke grenade exploded.

He needed Akio Yoshioka to leave the room, even if only for a short while.

Yuan Zhensheng gently pulled a small speaker out of his pocket—a modified electronic device that could simulate the vibration sound of a mobile phone, but with a more muffled sound, similar to some kind of machine malfunction or a distant rumbling.

He made some adjustments, used transparent tape to attach the device to the inside of the pipe, and set it to start after a few seconds.

Then, he held his breath and waited.

Akio Yoshio yawned again, rubbed his eyes, and seemed a little bored.

"Buzz...buzz...bang!"

A dull tremor came from somewhere in the ceiling; it wasn't loud, but it was clear enough.

Akio Yoshioka was startled and looked up: "What's that sound?" He stood up, walked to the side of the room, and listened intently.

The sound seemed to have stopped.

Just then, an even louder commotion came from downstairs, with someone faintly shouting, "Fire?" "Smoke!"—The smoke bombs and firecrackers in the storage room had detonated on time!

The police station's fire alarm did not sound immediately. Yuan Zhensheng deliberately controlled the amount of smoke so that it did not reach the standard for automatically triggering the building's alarm, but it was enough to cause local panic. However, the commotion had already spread.

When Yoshioka Akio heard the shouts from downstairs, his expression changed.

He glanced at the iron gate behind him and hesitated. Guarding this place was his duty, but what if a fire really broke out?

And that strange vibration just now sounded like an explosion...

He picked up the walkie-talkie on the table: "What's going on? Is there a fire?"

The walkie-talkie was noisy: "I don't know! Smoke is coming from the storage room on the second floor! We're checking it out! There might be a fire!"

Akio Yoshio cursed, saying the fire was an emergency.

He glanced at the iron gate again, thinking that Shiraishi Hideaki, who was locked inside, couldn't escape anyway. The gate was locked, and there were several checkpoints outside. He decided to go and check the situation first, in case the fire spread, which would be troublesome.

He walked quickly to the door, opened it, glanced out into the hallway, and then went out, closing the door behind him—but not locking it, probably thinking he'd be back soon.

opportunity!

Yuan Zhensheng acted immediately. He forcefully pushed open the ventilation duct's grille, jumped down, landed lightly, and quickly walked to the iron gate.

This door requires a key or an access card for internal personnel.

Next to Yoshioka Akio's notebook was his access card.

Yuan Zhensheng picked up the card and swiped it on the sensor.

With a beep, the green light turned on, and the lock cylinder of the iron gate made a soft click.

He turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Inside was a short corridor with two detention cells on each side, and a gate at the end of the corridor, which was currently open.

Hara Masaki quickly scanned the small windows on the detention cell doors. The first cell was empty, and the second cell contained a person huddled inside, none other than Shiraishi Hideaki, who looked haggard and had bruises on his face.

Hideaki Shiraishi looked up in alarm when he heard the noise.

Yuan Zhensheng didn't waste any time speaking. He took out the wire again and pried open the lock in a few quick movements.

Hideaki Shiraishi shrank back in fright: "Who...who are you?"

Before her birth, Genjin had her face changed, and now she looks like a stranger.

He lowered his voice and said quickly, "Shut up if you want to live, and come with me. I'm here to save you."

"Help...help me?" Hideaki Shiraishi was stunned, but his survival instinct made him nod.

Yuan Zhensheng tossed him a spare cleaning uniform he'd brought in from a trolley: "Hurry up and change!"

Downstairs, several police officers had gathered at the entrance of the smoke-filled storage room. The chief of police and Prosecutor Kurokawa were also alerted and came out of their offices to check the situation.

Yamamoto Koji was directing people to put out the fire, which was actually just smoke and firecracker debris, while yelling, "What's going on?! Who put this here?!"

At the main entrance, the strange smell had not completely dissipated, and the guards were still searching for the source of the odor with suspicion.

Komi Yui had been calmed down and was resting on a chair in the lobby, but she tilted her head slightly, seemingly listening intently to the sounds coming from upstairs.

On the third floor, Yoshioka Akio didn't see any obvious fire or smoke in the corridor and, worried about his post, turned back. He pushed open the door to the break room and immediately saw the ventilation duct's open grille and the empty room, while the iron door inside... was ajar!

"Oh no!" Yoshioka Akio exclaimed in alarm. He rushed over and pushed open the iron gate, only to find that the door to Shiraishi Hideaki's detention cell was open and empty!

"The prisoner has escaped!!!" he shouted.