Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Only by following the vine

There is no doubt that Toshimitsu Aoki (20 years old) and Mitsuko Yokoo (19 years old) were killed as hostages by criminals calling themselves "Blue Lions".But despite this, for the sake of prudence, the police conducted an investigation into the friendship between the two.Both Aoki and Mitsuko left their parents to live in an apartment in Tokyo.Although the two of them can't be called outstanding students, they can't be called bad students either.The relationship between the two of them is very clear, and friends of Aoki and Mitsuko know it too.The living expenses sent by their parents are at the average level among students, and the two have neither borrowed from anyone nor found any enemies.

The next day, March 25, the morning paper reported the news of the two being killed.Since the police strictly blocked the news about the "Blue Lion" making threatening phone calls to the Prime Minister's residence, this matter was not mentioned in the report. Yabe put the newspaper into the pocket of the windbreaker and came to the residence of the Prime Minister. The prime minister's mansion was built for a long time, and it is not very convenient to live in. Most of the prime ministers of the past lived in their own private mansions.However, the current prime minister is different, living in the prime minister's residence.

Secretary Watanabe welcomed Yabe at the prime minister's residence.Watanabe is very young, 35 years old, a top student in T University.His goal is to be a politician.For such people, Yabe is quite troublesome. "The 'Blue Lion' phone hasn't hung up yet, has it?" "No." Secretary Watanabe stared at Yabe with wide-open eyes behind his deep spectacle lenses and said: "Any clues about the criminal?" "Not yet. Is the Prime Minister there?" "There was a cabinet meeting at 2 o'clock this afternoon and he went to the prime minister's residence."

"Didn't the Prime Minister read this morning's newspaper?" "He goes through all the papers every day at breakfast." "Didn't he say something about the Shinjuku murder?" "No, just saying the Prime Minister cannot give in to unwarranted intimidation." "yes?" Yabe finished speaking and walked into the study.If the prime minister's prestige alone can solve the case, that's fine. Yabe was greeted nervously by the two detectives and two technical officials who had lived in the study since the first day.The last three calls had been made at 2:00 pm as if by appointment, so at this time today the detectives and technical officials had to be present.

The maid brought tea and biscuits.Yabe only drank black tea without sugar.He doesn't want cookies either.So he lit a cigarette, trying to calm down his emotions, and looked up at the vast Cao Kun outside the window. The lawn has revealed clusters of green shoots. "This case is terrible!" Yabe felt that although he had been in the police industry for 16 years, it was the first time he encountered such a case. Although it was a ridiculous case, he could not take it lightly.He felt helpless in the face of this situation. 2:00 p.m. sharp. As soon as Yabe moved his eyes to the phone on the table, the phone rang sharply.

"Take it!" Yabe said to Secretary Watanabe. The secretary picked up the microphone, the recorder spun up, and the voice echoed through the microphone across the room. Secretary: "Hello." A man's voice: "It's me, 'Blue Lion'. I feel very sad now. Because of necessity, I had to kill the two hostages. This responsibility should be fully borne by the Prime Minister, because he rejected our request." Secretary: "Even the prime minister has things beyond his power. You should be clear about it. How can the prime minister use 500 billion yen in the national budget at will?"

Man: "We have already made a concession and only demanded payment of 50 billion yen in political donations from the business community to the Conservative Party. Isn't that also possible?" Secretary: "Are you going too far?" Man: "During the election, didn't you just ask the financial circles for tens of billions of yen in aid? But for the safety of 120 million Japanese citizens, shouldn't you ask the financial circles for help?" Secretary: "It's impossible to make demands of the financial world as Conservative Party chief executive."

Man: "It seems that this can be used as the Prime Minister's answer." Secretary: "This is my personal opinion. However, even if the Prime Minister was present, he would have given the same answer." Man: "The Japanese Prime Minister's indifference to the safety of his citizens is truly chilling. Our request has been rejected again, and sadly the next batch of hostages will have to be killed." Secretary: "Wait, you!" Man: "The hostages continue to die. The prime minister and the government will be strongly condemned by the society on two points. The first point has been mentioned just now, and they are indifferent to the lives of Japanese citizens. The second point is that despite the annual defense The budget exceeds 500 billion yen, but the safety of the people cannot be ensured."

Secretary: "Hey, hey, listen up, let's talk!" Man: "If you don't sincerely accept our request, it will be futile to continue talking." Secretary: "Hey, hello, hello, hello!" "Hang up." Secretary Watanabe wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "Didn't the reverse investigation of the phone come out?" "Such a short period of time is too reluctant." The professional technical officer shook his head. "What's going on here?" Secretary Watanabe looked at Yabe with dissatisfaction and said. "It's useless to do anything in this state." Yabe replied honestly.

"So, just stand by and wait for new victims to appear? Can the police turn a blind eye?" "People are killed, we will not turn a blind eye." Yabe also replied seriously.When it comes to heartache, Yabe is more heartbroken than anyone else. "However, think about it! The number of hostages of criminals exceeds 100 million people. It is impossible to protect 100 million people with 200,000 police officers nationwide. And if the criminal's accomplices are all over the country, the next murder may happen in Hokkaido What straits, it may also be in Kyushu. The criminal can kill the people he likes to kill at the time and place he likes. It is impossible for us to take any precautions against this. If the police are present or there are witnesses by chance, That is of course another matter. However, the incident last night has clearly shown us that criminals are not so stupid!"

"So, is there no other way? For example, if the criminal is expected to call at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the police can monitor the public telephone booth at this time. If it is an open-air public telephone, there are indeed too many public telephones, but the number of telephone booths Not too much!" After listening to Watanabe's opinion, Yabe smiled and said: "Of course. Order all the police in Tokyo to monitor the nearby public phone booths and investigate all people who call at 2 pm. It seems that there are not many public phone booths, but only There are 9,234 public phone booths in the 23 wards of Tokyo!" "Isn't it possible to catch criminals?" "It would be great if it could be caught, but it's too much." "why?" "Maybe someone does call from a payphone at this time. We can arrest this guy, but he's not committing a crime." "Hijacking should be a very serious crime." "Mr. Watanabe, hijacking 120 million Japanese nationals is easy for criminals. Prosecutors cannot prosecute for hijacking. Criminals are very smart in this point. As the criminals said, the current state is the same as the hijacking case, But it did not constitute the crime of hijacking. This is where his cleverness lies. However, since two people have died, it constitutes the crime of homicide. In this way, the cunning criminal will no longer enter the public phone booth indifferently. He will use Personal calls or calls from far away places. Now whether in Sapporo or Fukuoka, you can make direct calls.” "So, is there no other way?" "We will do our best. The only hope now is that the criminal does not appear to be a mass murderer, so he will not kill in large numbers." A regular cabinet meeting is taking place at the prime minister's residence. During the chat time after the regular meeting ended, the Prime Minister told the cabinet ministers about the wonderful threatening phone call. "It may not be easy to understand just by listening to me. The tape of the call is here. I would like you to listen to it." All the cabinet members listened to the recording with puzzled expressions.The Prime Minister said: "Well, what do you guys think?" "It's downright ridiculous." It was the Minister of Civil Engineering and Construction who roared in a rough voice. "That guy must be a radical. We must not be merciful to such people. We must arrest them and send them to prison. For them, this is the best medicine." "In my opinion, threatening a defense budget of 500 billion yen as a ransom, and falsely claiming 'Blue Lion' or 'Olympic Action', doesn't it make us a bunch of fools?" The disappointed expression was the Deputy Prime Minister Dazang Ihara.As the candidate for the next prime minister, Ihara feels very good about himself as the prime minister. "Isn't it strange that such a trivial matter has caused the opponent to be overwhelmed!" There was a distinctly critical tone in his tone of voice.Ihara believes that this incident has easily pushed his rival, the prime minister, into a disadvantageous position.The current prime minister is quite popular among the people because of his common people's character, but he is a minority in the party, so there are not many people who are critical of him.So now if the prime minister made a decisive mistake, then the next prime minister's chair would undoubtedly be handed over to Ihara. "However, Ihara-kun," the Prime Minister cast his thin eyes hidden behind his glasses at Ihara, "because the other party claims to kill the hostages, this matter is life-threatening! We must treat it with caution." "Minister of Justice," the Minister of Civil Engineering and Construction still shouted loudly, "is this hijacking? The criminal gave a detailed legal explanation for this, but—" The Minister of Justice and Tajima thought about it for a while and said angrily, "This, how can this be called hijacking!" "However, Minister of Justice," interjected in a steady and calm voice was Mochizuki Foreign Affairs Minister who is an intellectual who represents the dovish faction in the current cabinet, "No matter how legal it is, I am afraid that these 100 million hostages cannot be protected. Bar!" "Indeed. This incident is unheard of. I can't help but be angry. I really want to kill this criminal!" "What kind of countermeasures are the police taking?" Ihara looked at Ozawa, the chairman of the Public Security Committee, and asked. Ozawa is the youngest (3 in his 50s, nonetheless) of these cabinets, and the newest minister of state to join the ranks.He said categorically: "After we received the report of the police chief on this case, we decided to arrest the criminal quickly." "What I want to hear is the coping strategy of the police!" "We mobilized forty or fifty criminal police officers and formulated a policy for arresting criminals—" "However, didn't a couple of men and women were killed by the 'Blue Lions' in Shinjuku last night?" Ihara said, looking at Ozawa with ulterior motives. The chairman of the public security committee belonged to the Prime Minister's faction, so Ihara's words were naturally full of acrimony. "That couple—" Ozawa said while wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, "is not necessarily the victim of this incident. I am not defending the police. However, as the Minister of Justice said, this This incident is unprecedented, and it is impossible to protect 100 million people one by one. Moreover, if this incident is made public, it will easily cause social unrest, because no one can predict who will be attacked next time kill." "However, there is no countermeasure for this. Once the hostages are killed one after another, they will be discovered by journalists with a keen sense of smell. If the criminals are not caught before being sniffed by the journalists, then we will be attacked. Criticism and condemnation. The public is so ignorant now that when something unfortunate happens, they think everything is the responsibility of the government.” "This incident may not be completely unfavorable to us." It was Kimura, the chief of the Defense Agency, who spoke.Although he is a dovish politician, he often said some hawkish words after he took office as the chief of the Defense Agency. Maybe he was originally hawkish, or because he saw the mighty chariots, The majestic cannon, so it suddenly fell to the hawks. "Why? Kimura-kun." The prime minister looked at the chief of the Defense Agency encouragingly. "The Japanese are often criticized by foreigners: national security is bought." "We know that. It was also mentioned in the speech to Congress by the Under Secretary of Defense of the United States a fortnight ago that Japan must strive to improve its self-defense capabilities. But what has that to do with this abominable incident?" " "Now we are talking about the affairs of the Japanese nation, and the Japanese people are the same. Our society today is peaceful and safe compared with other countries. However, many citizens cannot understand that this is because of our government's continuous efforts, and foreign forces. The result of the power of the guards and the power of the police. If this incident increases the factors of instability, then they will understand that this peace is hard-won and what should be relied on to protect ourselves. In this way, No one will object to increasing the strength of the Self-Defense Forces anymore, and the governor of the reformist party will not act like a fool to oppose increasing the police. Therefore, I say that even if this incident is disclosed to the public, there is a positive side.” Kimura The chief of the Defense Agency said confidently.He always repeatedly emphasized the strengthening of armaments, saying that when American dignitaries visit Japan, they always ridicule Japan for having too little defense budget. "On the contrary, this will only cause anxiety!" The Minister of Self-Government, Kasuya, raised an objection bluntly.The position of Minister of Self-government is not good, and it is rare for matters under the jurisdiction of the autonomous province to become unsolved cabinet issues. In addition, Kasuya himself is a small and unobtrusive person. "When this incident is made public and causes social unrest, no matter how sophisticated weapons the Self-Defense Forces are equipped with and tens of thousands of policemen, they will not be able to protect the hostages. Wouldn't it cause public outcry, saying that the military equipment and the police are too incompetent? ?” "Never. The Japanese people are very wise." Kimura seemed to have completely forgotten what he said just now about the ignorance of the Japanese. Deputy Prime Minister Ihara Michi: "In short, it was a rash move for the prime minister to answer the phone." The Prime Minister was about to retort when the secretary came in and handed him a note.The Prime Minister straightened his black-rimmed glasses a little and read the note. "Just now the criminals called the mansion again, claiming that if they don't agree to the request, they will kill the hostages again." The next day, 47 detectives gathered in the special investigation headquarters of the Shinjuku Police Station.The convening of 47 people was completely accidental, but it reminded Yabe of the 47 Warriors. He thought it was a very auspicious number.Yabe first told the 47 people what happened, and then let them listen to the tape. "We must firmly remember the criminal's voice and engrave it in our minds." Yabe looked around the 47 people and said. "If the search is made public and the tapes are played on radio and television stations, it would be great to get the help of the citizens. However, I am worried that it will cause social unrest, so I can't do this. Therefore, let everyone be familiar with this voice. It's about finding the criminal." Then, Yabe divided the whole staff into three classes. "The first class of 15, continue to check the guests of the Shinjuku West Exit bar 'Etlands'. You have to remember that the man sitting at table 18 before the dead couple was a man with a beard on his chin. Although we It's not clear if this man put the potassium cyanate in the sugar bowl, but even if he's not the criminal we're looking for, if we find him, it's possible to follow the trail to find the person who sat in that position before him. Must catch This line. It is also possible to spot suspicious persons from other seated guests and bar staff." The detectives from the first shift went out together. "Next is the second squad. Your squad assists the police to track down the radicals. Judging from calling the prime minister's mansion and asking for defense funds, this may also be a new action plan adopted by the radicals. You can ask the police for the radicals List, and unilaterally search underground organizations in the city, maybe we can find some clues from this.” The 15 members of the second class left the room together.Yabe called the last 17 people around him. "There is still a lot of work for you to do. For example, when the criminals called at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the police from the police station monitored all the public telephone booths in the capital. It was found that a total of 57 people had called from the public telephone booths during this time. There are 21 men. The addresses of these 21 people are all here, and 10 of you can go and investigate these people.” Yabe handed the copied address to 10 policemen. In the end there were 7 people left. "You stay here as mobile personnel for emergencies because the criminal said in the 2pm call that if the request is not complied with, the new hostages will be killed. Should any killings occur in connection with this incident, I hope you will Immediately rush to the scene." Yabe's face turned pale. There are as many as 120 million hostages, among whom infants or schoolchildren may not be killed.And because both the Self-Defense Forces and the police carry weapons or live in groups, the probability of them being killed is also very small.However, even if these people are excluded, there are still 50 million people, and it is impossible to protect them.This made Yabe feel uneasy and very heavy.When, where, and who to kill is completely determined by the criminal's will, Yabe is very anxious about this.Criminals can certainly be protected if their goal is to assassinate government dignitaries. "Director." A detective said to Yabe. "What's up?" "The criminal used the plural pronoun 'we', so does the director think the criminal is alone, or does he have accomplices?" "This is a difficult question to answer," Yabe said frankly.He couldn't continue talking, so he cast his eyes out of the window. Dusk has begun to cover the city, and the street lamps are being turned on one by one.Cars are still shuttling on the street, and young couples and people with their families are hurrying on the sidewalk. Today is the 26th, although it is Saturday.There must be an all-night movie in Kabuki Street Kaikuma, and the Turkish baths and bars must be lively all night.If there is a criminal among these motley crowds, then maybe someone else will be killed for no reason (for the criminal, his reason is killing the hostages).No, maybe someone has already become a victim. Yabe turned around and said to the seven people: "To be honest, I don't know. The four calls were made by the same person, so it can be considered that the criminal is one person. He called himself 'we' probably to confuse us. However, judging from his self-proclaimed 'Blue Lions', it can also be considered that they are a certain number of accomplices." "If he has accomplices, then his accomplices are not only in Tokyo, but should be scattered all over Japan, so the next batch of victims cannot be limited to Tokyo." "That's what I'm most worried about right now." Yabe nodded.In Yabe's mind, images of Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, the market in Sapporo, Jozankei Hot Springs, and the island at the southern tip of Kyushu can't help appearing. They may kill the next batch of hostages in the north and south. The detectives came to the "Etrunz" bar in the super-squatter building at the west exit of Shinjuku.The boss said to the detectives: "The man has come." Detective Tangi said "Huh?", and couldn't help looking around the store together with Inoue, who was traveling with him. The boss whispered: "The man sitting in the seat where the murder took place is the man who sat in the seat before the dead couple. No, the one by the window has long hair, a beard on the chin, and a thick brown sweater. man." "Surely it's him?" "It must be him!" "Okay, let's go and have a look." Gu Mu urged Inoue to say. Probably because the newspaper disclosed the case in this bar, the number of customers was half that of the past. The two approached the table from both sides. Gu Mu let the man look at the certificate and said to him: "Come with me." For a moment, the man showed a very puzzled expression on his face. He stood up and sat down again, saying: "I didn't do anything!" "I know. I have something to ask you." "Can't I ask here?" "That case is very complicated, you'd better go with us to the police station." Gu Mu strengthened his tone. The eyes of the customers in the store naturally focused on this side. "Okay!" The man said disobediently, and picked up a cowhide backpack from the chair, "I just started drinking coffee, and you will pay for the coffee, right?" Gu Mu smiled bitterly: "I will pay!" The two brought the man back to the search headquarters.Yabe decided to ask in person.It's not that he doesn't trust his subordinates, but he just feels that if he has nothing to do, he will be more restless. In an interrogation room with iron windows, Yabe meets the man. "Can you tell me your name first?" Yabe smiled kindly and persuaded the man to smoke.The man picked up a flue: "What's wrong, I'm in a bad mood." "why?" "Your attitude is too kind." "We're the Democratic Police. So, what's your name?" "Yaki Ryohei, 26 years old, hopes to become an operetta, but no one has discovered my talent." "Did you know that a young couple died in that bar the day before yesterday?" "Well, I read it in the paper." "Those two died sitting at the table you were sitting at. They asked for coffee, and they drank it with sugar from the sugar bowl. Potassium cyanate was mixed in the sugar." "What a frightful world! Isn't it, detective?" "Hey!" Yabe yelled sharply, looking Tiger at his opponent, "Shut up your nonsense. Say what you know!" The young man's face turned pale, and he looked at Yabe with timid eyes and said, "I don't know anything." "Okay! Two people are dead, they were murdered, and you are the most important suspect. You hate my kindness, and you look like a criminal. Killing two people will take him fifteen or sixteen years at least , even so, you laugh at me. You did a pretty good job!" Under Yabe's domineering momentum, Yagi Ryohei shrank into a ball.He was tall, with a handsome beard, but cautious. "It's not me." Yagi said with a sob. "Can you prove it? Hmm!" "I didn't put potassium cyanate in the sugar, really." "Well, you still can't prove it. Wasn't it you who sat at that table before those two? You put the potassium cyanate in the sugar bowl and the next thing they died. Anyone would think so .” "No, how could I do such a thing! I don't know them at all!" "You can kill anyone, because you enjoy killing people." "This--" "Then why didn't you die? Didn't you ask for coffee too?" "Yes, but I drank it without sugar. I drank too much with my friends the day before yesterday, and it took two days to get drunk, so I drank it without sugar. If I didn't get drunk for two days, I might go to coffee If you add sugar to it, then I will die too." Yagi's face was pale, as if he felt afraid only now. "Then, remember your memories!" "Remember what?" "The person who sat at that table before you. Can you recall who sat at that table?" "It's two female college students." "Didn't you lie?" "If I am a murderer, I will definitely die." "What about the other tables?" "Three or four are empty." "Then why not sit somewhere else?" "I like the seat by the window, so I waited for that table to be vacant. So I watched the two girls." "What are they drinking?" "One drank Coke and one drank milk. There was no sugar, so they were also very lucky." While Yagi was talking, Tangi walked in and whispered to Yabe: "There are 200 grams of marijuana in his backpack, and 26,000 yen in cash." "Humph!" Yabe said, "Stop for me for a while," and walked out of the interrogation room. Back to the room where the headquarters was searched, the head of the headquarters, Matsuzaki, asked Yabe: "What's the matter? Is the man with the beard a criminal?" "No. He's just selling drugs to his accomplices for pocket money. He can't do anything like kidnap all the Japanese and demand ransom from the Prime Minister." "It's a pity that this guy was almost regarded as one of the criminals by us." "He recalled two young girls sitting at that table before him. The guy was using that table for a drug deal and waiting for it to be empty. We could make a montage of those two girls." "You think those two girls, in collusion with the criminal, put the potassium cyanate in the sugar bowl?" "It can be reasoned that way, which is of course very good. But I'm afraid not, because I heard that what they want is Coke and milk." "Why not?" "Putting potassium sulfonate powder into the sugar bowl itself is a very simple action, just put it in and stir it! However, in that bar, the slightest unnatural action will attract attention. It is easy for people to pay attention to others Accidental action." "Indeed, it means that there is no need to use granulated sugar for Coke and milk, so if you play with the sugar bowl, it will look weird to people." "Yes, so it can be assumed that the criminal asked for coffee or black tea, and put potassium cyanate into the sugar bowl when taking sugar from the sugar bowl." "So why did you do the montage of those two girls?" "I want to follow the vine and chase it down. If it is possible, if the two girls remember the person who used the table before them, they can find that guy. Although it is troublesome, there is no other way at this stage." There's no other way, that's the only way to do it." "Okay, let's try it." Matsuzaki immediately called the scientific research department. After 30 minutes, the scientific research department brought all the tools used to make the montage to the search headquarters.The equipment was put into the empty interrogation room, and then Yagi Ryohei was allowed to enter the room.Since the discovery of his marijuana, he seemed more honest, and he listened to the technical officer's applause resignedly. Thirty or forty minutes later, a montage of two young women was created. "He cooperated well." The technical officer said to Yabe while wiping his sweat. "The reason he cooperates well is because we found out about his marijuana and he wants to please you." "That guy worked hard." Both photos are lovely. "Like those two girls you've seen?" Yabe asked.Yagi blinked and said: "Like, like those two girls I saw." Yabe nodded, and asked Tangi and Inoue to take the photo to the "Etlands" bar again.If they were regulars there, the barkeeper and waiters might remember their features. "I assisted you in making an 8-hour montage, so the marijuana thing can be avoided? You won't be arrested for carrying these things in the United States." "What did you say?" Yabe glared at Yagi sternly. "In other words, I assisted the police" "Remember well, you are a murder suspect! If that montage is done well, it can remove the suspicion of you, that is to say, it is doing a montage for yourself. How about it, you can forget about it if you help the police Is it about marijuana?" "Understood!" Seeing that there was no more singing, Yagi whispered again: "It's better to be prosecuted for possessing marijuana than being charged as a murderer." "It's carrying marijuana for sale!" The relationship between the criminal police and the public security police is not so harmonious. The public security that pursues political cases has a financial advantage. They are different from those criminal police who wear crumpled windbreakers. They wear brand-new uniforms made in London, because they are absolutely unwilling to let Man sees himself as a criminal policeman.Of course, they would also wear school uniforms or sportswear or overalls to sneak among radical students.Some people compare criminal police to the army, and public security to the navy.The criminal policemen smell of mud all over their bodies, while the public security policemen are very particular about their chic style. Of course, the two sides sometimes compete with each other.However, in today's case, they had to seek cooperation.It was almost 7:00 pm when Yabe got the first report from the second team.The leader of the second shift is Matsuda, who said on the phone: "The police unexpectedly gave us assistance." "So, what is the opinion of the police? Do you think it was done by radicals?" "This can be said to be 7 to 3." "What's the reason?" "The biggest goal of the radicals now is to recapture the cadres in custody. They have devised a bizarre plan to kidnap all the Japanese, and they should first demand the release of those cadres. Even if they ask for money, they should also demand the release of the cadres. " "Indeed, what about the remaining 3 points?" "From the point of view of asking for a defense budget of 500 billion yen, it looks like radicals. The National Defense Agency is also one of the targets of the radicals, because they often throw flame bottles at the Self-Defense Forces." "Then the police have accurately grasped the current activities of the radicals?" "There are dozens of militants active now, all of them are operating underground, and it seems that the public security has not yet grasped their whereabouts." "The handsome police officers are nothing more than that!" Yabe said sarcastically. "So, we got the cooperation of the police, they want to take this opportunity to catch these people, let them see our kung fu!" Matsuda laughed. "Okay, let's do it!" The investigation into the 21 men who called at a public phone booth in Tokyo at 2 pm yesterday is also proceeding smoothly.As of 8pm, nine people had been identified as unrelated to the case because they made phone calls at that time with specific targets.The investigation of these 21 people will probably be over by noon tomorrow. Director Matsuzaki drank his tea, looked out of the window, and said to Yabe, "It's getting dark." Yabe pushed open the aluminum window hard, and the cold air of the night rushed in along with the sound of cars, footsteps of pedestrians, and the noise of people. The sky around Kabuki Street was as bright as if it were on fire. "It's the first time in my life that I feel so terrified of the night." Yabe whispered, looking at the distant night sky. "You feel horrible?" "Well, at this hour, somewhere in the night, a criminal is about to kill an innocent person. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps." "The man calling himself 'Blue Lion' is really going to kill new hostages?" "It will definitely be killed." "However, I don't understand that no matter how crazy the criminals are, they can neither get the state budget nor the political donations from the financial world to the Conservative Party, yet" "yes!" "Nevertheless, you said that the criminal was not a murderer." "Yes. So I really want to find out what the criminals, or the criminals, are thinking now."