Confinement King

Chapter 359: Critical Lover – (2)

「Inomoto-senpai, thank you for your hard work」

When I came back to my office from the interrogation room, there is another person I knew well sitting at my desk besides Kutaragi.

It’s my junior colleague, Ryoko Terashima.

「Terashima… don’t come here so easily! We haven’t even found Nakamura yet. Stay in hiding」

「That said… I heard from Kutaragi that the hit-and-run case is related to the victim of mass disappearance of the track and field club… so I was wondering if there’s a connection」

「Kutaragi, you’re spouting off investigative information again!」

I glared at him, but Kutaragi smiled without any sign of regret.

「It’s okay, it’s not like I’m leaking information to other departments or outside the office, it’s just that Terashima insisted that she wants all the information regarding the disappearance of the track and field club members」

「Yes, I asked Kutaragi-kun to do it」

I shrugged my shoulders with a sigh.

「It’s great that you’re so passionate about your work, but you have to realize that you’re in a protected position, Terashima」

「Yes, I’m sorry… So, how was the hit-and-run case?」

「I don’t know what to say, but the suspect is in a state of confusion. He claims that he was attacked by a woman in a full-body rubber suit like Miss M and a dog-eared maid…」

「Miss M in a full-body rubber suit? How can there be such a thing? I think he should have a psychological evaluation」

「I guess so…」

Terashima looked as if to say it’s absurd, but that would be a normal reaction.

「Well, Nishida admitted to the hit-and-run. He accidentally bumped the steering wheel and ran away because he got scared. It’s just a coincidence that the victim is related to the case」

「Accidental steering? …Is that so?」

Terashima seemed somewhat unconvinced, but she didn’t ask any further questions about this matter.

「Well, since you’re here. I’ll tell you about the other case… an eyewitness testimony of Hikaru Teruya has appeared」

「Eh!?」

Terashima’s eyes widened.

「It seems she’s still working with Junichi Kasuya, but whether Anna Teruya is with her or not is unknown」

「T-That means she hasn’t been seen since she disappeared from the TV station, right? Where was that? Tokyo?」

「No, Okinawa」

「Okinawa? You got out of there and went there?」

「Well, I don’t think so…」

Kutaragi took over the conversation.

「Because it’s related to the devil」

「Anyway, the Okinawa Prefectural Police is working on it, so we’re waiting to hear from them. As for you…」

「Me… that means you still have something?」

「Do you remember? The murder of the receptionist, Kutaragi caught the tail of the person he thought was responsible for the staging of the contract killing」

Terashima turns to Kutaragi with a surprised look on her face.

Kutaragi then puffed his chest with a very annoyed and smug expression.

「It was quite a challenge, though. I tracked down the overseas server used as a stepping stone and filed a request for disclosure. And it turns out that the person in question is accessing the site from an Internet cafe in the city」

「And?」

「The name of the person using the computer at that time was a fake. No security cameras. But the clerk somehow remembered the customer’s name」

「That was a long time ago. How can you trust them?」

「I don’t know… Well, he said he remembered her because she was his type. A petite young girl with her hair in a twin knot… Of course, it’s impossible to identify her from this alone, so I’m gathering relevant information now…」