Tokyo: I'm really not a killer

Akio Yoshio's shouts echoed down the corridor.

Yamamoto Koji abandoned the police officers who were putting out the fire and rushed upstairs.

He rushed up to the third floor, only to find Akio Yoshioka standing outside the iron gate of the detention area, his face deathly pale. He was pointing at the open door and the empty detention cells, rambling incoherently:

"Boss! The prisoner... he's gone! I... I was only gone for a little while, and they said there was a fire downstairs..."

"Shut up!" Yamamoto Koji interrupted him sharply, shoving him aside and rushing into the detention area.

The doors to the detention cells on both sides of the short corridor were open, but the innermost cell, where Hideaki Shiraishi was held, was empty. The grilles on the ventilation ducts had been removed, and the dark opening of the ducts looked like a mocking mouth.

"Damn it!" Yamamoto Koji kicked the iron door hard, the sound of metal clanging echoing in the corridor.

He immediately turned around and yelled at the other officers who rushed over after hearing the commotion, "Seal off the building! All exits! Hurry! They haven't gone far!"

Downstairs, the chief of staff and Prosecutor Hiroki Kurokawa also came up.

The commissioner looked at the chaotic scene: the open iron gate, the empty detention cells, the removed ventilation grilles, and the dusty maintenance worker's uniform and tools in the trash can. His face was so ugly it looked like it was about to drip water.

Prosecutor Hiroki Kurokawa stood at the doorway, not immediately going in. He glanced around, his face grim, and said:

"waste."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the suddenly quiet corridor.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

Hiroki Kurokawa slowly walked into the detention area, his leather shoes making a clear sound on the floor. He walked to the empty cell, glanced inside, then looked up at the ventilation duct, before turning to the chief, his tone eerily calm:

"Is this how you manage detention at the Metropolitan Police Department? On the very day the prosecutor arrived and was about to formally indict, someone was rescued through a ventilation duct right under your noses?"

Cold sweat beaded on the chief's forehead. He opened his mouth, as if to explain, "Prosecutor Kurokawa, this...this was an accident, we..."

"An accident?" Hiroki Kurokawa interrupted him, his voice suddenly rising. "The smoke bomb was an accident? The strange smell at the main entrance was an accident? The on-duty police officer leaving his post was an accident? The ventilation duct grille being removed was an accident? And this uniform the prisoner changed into—" He pointed to the uniform in the trash can, "—was also an accident that fell from the sky?!"

With each word he spoke, the chief's face paled further. The surrounding officers all lowered their heads, not daring to utter a sound.

"I've handled so many cases, I've seen stupid ones, but I've never seen anything this stupid!"

Hiroki Kurokawa's voice echoed down the corridor, laced with undisguised sarcasm and anger: "A whole set of feints and diversions has managed to fool your entire police station!"

He abruptly turned to Yamamoto Koji: "Inspector Yamamoto! You were in charge of this case. You interrogated the suspects, you wrote the report, and you swore that the evidence was irrefutable and the murderer was caught! And now? Where is the murderer? He's gone from your hands! Is this the level of your First Investigation Division?!"

Yamamoto Koji's face was also grim, but unlike the chief prosecutor, he didn't panic. He simply said in a low voice, "It was my oversight, Prosecutor Kurokawa. I will immediately organize a manhunt..."

"Chase them?" Hiroki Kurokawa sneered. "Where are you going to chase them? They're long gone! You don't even know how they got in, how many of them there were, or which direction they ran! Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

He took a deep breath, seemingly trying to suppress his anger, but the chill in his eyes intensified.

"This Hideaki Shiraishi's testimony was full of holes, his motives were far-fetched, and the chain of evidence was barely cobbled together. I was thinking that since you police insisted and he had confessed, I would just file a lawsuit. But now, look what's happened, he's run away! He's run away!"

He pointed at the chief's nose: "What am I supposed to tell the prosecutor's office? What am I supposed to tell my superiors? A report based on a fugitive's confession? What a joke!"

The chief prosecutor, humiliated by the reprimand, could only bow repeatedly, saying, "I'm so sorry, Prosecutor Kurokawa! We will do everything in our power to apprehend the criminal and bring him to justice as soon as possible! Please give us a little more time..."

Hiroki Kurokawa glanced at the chaotic scene and the trembling police officers, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "I will report this matter truthfully to the prosecutor's office and my superiors. As for you..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was already quite clear.

He turned and strode out of the detention area, the sound of his leather shoes echoing heavily in the corridor, and his assistant hurriedly followed.

The chief chased after him a few steps: "Prosecutor Kurokawa! Prosecutor Kurokawa! Please give us another chance..."

Without turning his head, Hiroki Kurokawa went straight downstairs.

The director stood frozen in place, his face alternating between red and white.

He turned around and looked at the mess and his dejected subordinates, especially the ashen-faced Akio Yoshioka and the silent, smoking Koji Yamamoto. He wanted to curse, but felt that cursing would be pointless.

In the end, he just waved his hand helplessly: "What are you all standing there for? Search! Dig three feet into the ground and find him! Check the surveillance footage! Check the entry and exit records! Question everyone on duty today! Now!"

The officers snapped out of their daze and hurriedly sprang into action.

Yamamoto Koji threw the cigarette butt on the ground, crushed it with his foot, and said to Yoshioka Akio, "Go and find out where that repairman's uniform came from. Also, find out why that blind woman on the first floor came today, who notified her, and when she arrived. Don't miss any details."

"Yes, yes!" Yoshioka Akio hurriedly replied, then stumbled away.

……

At this moment, Hara Masaki was fleeing with a still-shaken Shiraishi Hideaki.

They rushed into the passageway and pressed the button for the freight elevator. The elevator was going up, coming from the first floor.

"Quick! Take the stairs!" Yuan Zhensheng made a quick decision, pushing open the fire escape door next to him. There was no one in the stairwell for the time being.

They had just run down one floor when they heard a flurry of footsteps and shouts coming from upstairs.

The police station's emergency response mechanism has been activated, and all exits will definitely be blocked.

Instead of continuing downstairs, Hara Masaki and Shiraishi Hideaki turned and went up to the third floor.

The third floor is the office area. Because of the commotion earlier, many police officers had run out to check the situation or participate in the search, so there weren't many people in the offices.

They quickly passed through several offices and came to a window at the other end of the corridor.

Outside this window is a relatively quiet little courtyard on the side of the police station building, usually used for storing miscellaneous items. Below is a side alley of the police station, separated from the main entrance and the main street by a building.

This is one of the backup evacuation points in the original plan, which is extremely risky, but it seems to be the only option at the moment.

The window had railings. Yuan Zhensheng took out the hydraulic shears he had prepared—which he had hidden in his office beforehand when he scouted the area—and quickly cut several key support bars of the railings, creating a gap that someone could crawl through.

"Jump down! Turn right into the alley and keep running!" he growled at Hideaki Shiraishi.

Looking at the height of the third floor, Hideaki Shiraishi's legs felt a little weak.

"Jump! Otherwise, you'll die!" Yuan Zhensheng shoved him.

Hideaki Shiraishi gritted his teeth, climbed onto the windowsill, closed his eyes, and jumped. Fortunately, there were stacks of cardboard boxes below to cushion the fall, so he was dazed but not seriously injured. He scrambled to the right end of the alley as instructed.