My Boss, A Clear And Perfect Beauty Who's An Elite Police Bureaucrat, Turns Out To Be My Sweet And Doting Childhood Friend Who Loves Me Dearly At Home. - Chapter 49

Kidnapping – Once Again

With the broadcast, an emergency deployment was ordered across Tokyo. A cash transport vehicle carrying several hundred million yen had been stolen, and it was a major incident.

Shinichi, along with the officers of the Oshiage Police Station, would be mobilized.

The situation was changing by the minute. It seemed that the suspects were armed. There was a high possibility that they had already abandoned the initial cash transport vehicle and switched to a passenger car.

The 1968 incident involving the theft of 300 million yen was a case where the perpetrators evaded arrest due to an overemphasis on the cash transport vehicle.

This time, thorough checkpoints would be conducted to screen suspicious vehicles. Shinichi also had to head to a checkpoint immediately.

As Shinichi was about to leave the room, Kana called out to him with a worried voice, “Please be careful.”

Shinichi shrugged and smiled.

“It’s okay. There’s not a high chance of actually encountering the suspects.”

“But still…”

“I’ll come back safely, so don’t worry.”

“…Yes!”

Kana nodded and smiled back at him. Whenever there was a slightly dangerous incident, Kana would worry like this.

It’s important to apprehend criminals, but it’s all for nothing if the detectives themselves die in the line of duty.

For the sake of fulfilling his duties, and for Kana’s sake, Shinichi had no intention of falling into danger.

(And Maho too… she must be worried about me.)

What was Maho doing now? As the supervisor of the First Investigative Division at the headquarters, she might be directing the investigation.

Shinichi and his section chief rode in a patrol car to the checkpoint location. They got off at Umaya Bridge, which spans the Sumida River and connects Oshiage with Asakusa.

It was quite a large bridge, and a crucial point for traffic.

The section chief yawned and looked around.

“It’s worrisome to have such a big incident on a Monday morning.”

“Well, incidents don’t care about weekends…”

While saying such things, Shinichi and the section chief stopped suspicious cars and carried out checkpoints.

Nothing unusual.

Even though it was a major incident for the public, it was supposed to be just another part of the routine for Shinichi and his team.

When one of the cars they had stopped drove away, the section chief’s radio received a transmission. The information that came through was unbelievable.

Police Superintendent Akinaga Maho had been abducted by the suspects.

Shinichi was speechless, and the section chief looked up at the sky.

“How could… something like that…”

Shinichi stuttered. The section chief shrugged.

“Normally, a supervisor like her wouldn’t show up on the front lines. But it’s a serious incident, so she might have gone to the site for inspection and got kidnapped by the suspects then…”

The details were unclear, but it was a fact that Maho had been kidnapped. They were dealing with suspects who had stolen several hundred million yen and were unpredictable.

Shinichi remembered the time when Rikako was kidnapped.

If anything happened to Maho…

Shinichi became restless.

(But… what can I do?)

Shinichi was just an ordinary detective.

Now, as before, Shinichi couldn’t do anything for Maho.

As Shinichi showed signs of panic, the section chief said, “We’ve been instructed to move to a checkpoint at another location.”

Shinichi hurriedly climbed into the driver’s seat. However, his mind was elsewhere.

While they were doing this, Maho might be in danger.

(If I had known it would come to this…)

Shinichi thought he had conveyed his intention to live with Maho. Surely, Maho would have been pleased.

If it was going to lead to regret, he should have granted Maho’s wish.

If the worst happened, Shinichi would never be able to exchange words with Maho again.

(No, it’s not certain yet that something has happened to Maho.)

He told himself to calm down. The section chief in the passenger seat spoke to him.

“By any chance, are you acquainted with Supervisor Akinaga, Harabashi-kun?”

“Why do you think so?”

“Would you believe it if I said it’s a detective’s intuition?”

The section chief said jokingly. Perhaps he was concerned about Shinichi’s unusual behavior and asked in a light-hearted manner.

“The section chief isn’t the type to rely on intuition, right?”

Shinichi blurted out. The section chief was known as a rational and capable detective, quite the rationalist.

After saying it, Shinichi wondered if it was rude, but the section chief didn’t seem to mind.

“Well, yes. When I first met Supervisor Akinaga and when she came to our police station, your behavior, Harabashi-kun, was not normal. That’s why I was curious.”

And now, Shinichi was flustered. It must have shown on his face.

While driving the patrol car, Shinichi naturally ended up telling the section chief that Maho was his childhood friend. It was supposed to be a secret, but given the circumstances, and knowing that the section chief was tight-lipped, there was little worry about it leaking to others.

The section chief listened silently as Shinichi talked about the incident when Rikako was kidnapped, including the part where the Aichi Prefectural Police investigators let the perpetrator escape.

After Shinichi finished talking, the section chief murmured, “It’s not your fault.”

“But if I hadn’t run away at that time…”

“There’s not much a civilian boy could do. Reality doesn’t go like a hero’s story. You know that as a police officer, right?”

“That’s… true, but…”

“The primary evil is the criminal, and the next in line are the prefectural police investigators who let the criminal escape. Those who should bear responsibility should have a sense of guilt, but you are not one of them.”

The section chief declared.

“Thank you…”

“Of course, I understand there are feelings that can’t be rationalized. If you feel guilty, there’s only one thing you can do. As a police officer, perform the duty in front of you correctly. That’s why you became a police officer, isn’t it?”

Yes. Shinichi became a detective because of a detective he met during a bicycle theft incident, but also because of the impact of Rikako’s case.

“Yes… you’re right.”

“The suspects intend to use Supervisor Akinaga as a hostage, so they won’t harm her right away. She’ll surely come back safely. What we can do now is to perform the checkpoint in front of us.”

The section chief said in a gentle tone.

Depending on the efforts of the policemen, including Shinichi, deployed throughout the city, the suspects would be found. And if that happened, the chances of Maho returning would increase.

Now was not the time to panic. Shinichi nodded at the section chief’s words.