Chapter 26 3. Jewel Thief

After the lively and noisy fireworks display, the crowded crowd dispersed one by one like an ebb tide. At this time, the two countries seemed a little lonely, and there was still drizzle in the sky. In Chidori’s rental houseboat located in Asakusa Kuramae, the clerk counted the number of boats and said: "Boss, no matter how I count, one boat is missing. It's raining so hard, will anyone still be rowing?" "Yes! Could it be that someone escaped by rowing a boat? How many boats are missing?" "This... ah! It's number eighteen." "What kind of guests are on board No. 18?"

"I don't quite remember... so many guests tonight..." At this time, the female shop assistant next to him suddenly interjected: "Ah! I remember that the guest of No. 18 was wearing a peaked cap, a pair of black-rimmed glasses, a short-sleeved cardigan shirt, golf pants, and a pipe dangling from his mouth." "Are you sure that guest belongs to the eighteenth?" "Yes. He was the only one among the guests tonight, so I remember it very well, and I asked him, 'Are you alone?'" "Amben, use the megaphone to call and see!" Abe's clerk immediately picked up the loudspeaker and shouted:

"Is the 18th here? You have exceeded the charter time, please row the boat back as soon as possible." He shouted to the middle of the river for a long time, but no one answered. At this time, the rain became heavier and heavier. Boat No. 18, which has not yet been returned, is now tied precariously to the bank of the Komagata River. Half an hour before the Qiandao rental boat house discovered that the No. 18 ship was approaching, a man wearing black-framed glasses waved and stopped a taxi that was passing by the dark banks of the Ryogoku River. This man was wearing a peaked cap and black-rimmed glasses, with a teenager under his arm.

"Guest, what happened to that man?" The taxi driver opened the door of the back seat for him and asked curiously. "He was knocked down by the fireworks crowd... Oh! There are too many people." "Have you been knocked unconscious? Hahaha! This kind of thing happens often." "To Ginza." The man wearing black-framed glasses said this briefly after carrying the fainted boy into the car. The boy next to him was sitting limp all over, he was the beautiful boy who jumped off the boat just now. "By the way, I heard that there will be a wonderful performance on the river tonight!"

"What show?" "It's just that the prisoners who were being escorted pushed the criminal police and jumped into the river to escape, jumping from one ship to another with great skill. Is there such a thing?" "Ah! Really? No wonder the river is so noisy tonight." The man squinted at the beautiful boy beside him, and continued: "Are you sure the prisoner got away?" "Well, that's what I heard." "What crime did that man commit?" "I'm not sure about this. Some say it's a murderer, while others say it's a jewel thief."

"The jewel thief?" In an instant, a strange light flashed in the eyes of the man wearing black-rimmed glasses. "Yes, someone said so." "Do you know the prisoner's age?" "Hmm... I'm not sure about that. Some people say it's about forty years old; some say it's older, and some say it's just a child." "That's right! I don't know what's going on at this time. But it's impossible for the jewel thief to be a child, he must be quite old!" "That's right! If it's a murder, it might be done by teenagers. Recently..."

"However, if it is a murderer, the police will definitely wear handcuffs during the escort." The driver added another sentence. "Is he in handcuffs?" the man wearing black-rimmed glasses said in a panic. "I've never heard of it, but if you're wearing handcuffs, there's no way one ship can jump over another!" "Then it should be the jewel thief!" A pair of eyes behind the man's glasses shone with a sharp light.