Chapter 342: Men in Black

"Tsk tsk~ I didn't expect the police in Tokyo to be this capable."

On the weekend, Hattori Heiji quietly watched the news reports on TV in his temporary rental apartment.

He was analyzing the clues provided by the bomber on TV about the explosion that occurred the day before. He had drawn some conclusions, but when he tried to call the police after piecing things together, the line was busy and he couldn't get through.

By the time he finally got through, the police were advising residents to stay home and not go out.

Hattori Heiji realized at that moment that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had already been informed and had likely retrieved the bomb.

His reaction hadn't been slow, but he had assumed the bomb between the train tracks had already been handled.

"Officer Sato... really is an impressive person."

Hattori Heiji shook his head slightly and turned off the TV.

Most of the coverage on the news was still about yesterday's explosion.

The bombs planted on the Todou Loop Line and at the Municipal Building had not been detonated. The most severe damage was caused by the sudden explosion in Shinjuku.

Thankfully, the situation at the Todou Loop Line and the Municipal Building was under control.

"Well then, this becomes Kudo's case."

He made a trip to Tropical Land, specifically to the roller coaster attraction.

Due to a murder that happened two months ago, the surveillance footage from the roller coaster ride had been preserved.

Through a mix of social connections and a bit of cash, Hattori Heiji managed to obtain a copy of the footage.

The rental apartment had both a TV and a VCR, which made reviewing the tape easier.

The video quality wasn't great, but it was still possible to make out the people in the footage.

"Yeah, that's Kudo, and that woman I met yesterday is there too. But that's not the key point. The key is, who caused Kudo's death..."

Suddenly, Hattori Heiji's eyes narrowed, and he froze the screen with the remote. His gaze locked onto two people seated in the last row of the roller coaster.

Both of them were wearing black suits and black hats. Their bodies were tightly wrapped, obscuring any clear identification.

Hattori Heiji noticed that out of everyone on the roller coaster that day, only those two individuals stood out as particularly suspicious.

"I remember, the victim sat behind Kudo and the woman, right in front of these two men in black."

He fast-forwarded the footage and soon reached the gruesome scene that followed the end of the roller coaster ride. This time, his attention was completely focused on the two men in black at the back.

"Just as I thought, there's definitely something off about those two."

The headless corpse had thrown the entire area into chaos. Screams erupted, and the guests waiting in line behind the ride had already descended into panic, but those two men at the back remained completely unmoved.

The image was a little blurry, and it was hard to make out their faces, but Hattori Heiji already suspected that Kudo's death might be connected to those two.

He kept watching the tape closely.

This time, he ignored all other details and focused solely on Kudo and the two men in black.

He noticed that Kudo turned to glance at them several times during his deduction.

"Kudo also noticed they were unusual."

Hattori Heiji was now almost certain that those two might have had something to do with Kudo's death.

As a detective himself, he couldn't help but focus more on people like that.

Kudo had been a detective, and Hattori Heiji felt compelled to follow the same trail.

Unfortunately, this was likely the limit of what he could investigate for now.

With his current resources and connections, getting more clues would be difficult. Plus, surveillance footage at amusement parks wasn't kept for long.

Hattori Heiji took a deep breath and immediately called his father.

"Old man, I think I found some clues. On the roller coaster surveillance from Tropical Land, there were two men in black. Their faces aren't very clear, but one of them is tall and thin with long silver hair. The other one's a bit chubbier and wearing sunglasses, so I couldn't see his face."

"The victim died in front of them, and even when blood gushed from the decapitated body, they didn't panic at all. They stayed calm the whole time."

"Also, I noticed that during the deduction process, Kudo kept glancing at those two several times."

On the other end of the line, Hattori Heizo's expression turned serious as he listened to his son's report.

"You've done well. But unfortunately, surveillance footage from large amusement parks usually isn't kept for long. You're probably already at the limit of what you can get."

"I figured as much."

"It's impressive you managed to get this far in such a short time."

"…Well, I'd love to say I figured it all out myself, but honestly, I just gathered information and negotiated with the staff at the roller coaster. Actually, it was a kid who pointed me toward Tropical Land and the roller coaster."

A kid…? Hattori Heizo had some doubts stirring in his mind.

"The person who knows this must be related to Kudo Shinichi's death. If you're curious about the kid, I'll give you one more week. Use that time to make contact with the child. After a week, come back with the video tape."

"Got it. Ah, and I'm running low on pocket money. Old man, lend me some of your stash."

"…"

Hattori Heizo's face twitched a few times before he hung up the phone without another word.

He set the phone aside, and his expression darkened.

"I didn't expect I'd end up facing that organization…"

As the head of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, Hattori Heizo naturally knew about the Crow Organization.

It was a vile group, deeply entangled with complicated internal networks.

The police had very little control over it for now. All they knew was that the organization was made up of extremely dangerous individuals.

However, Hattori Heizo had no idea why the organization was formed in the first place or what its ultimate goal was.

No—maybe someone did know, but even he, as the head of a police headquarters, was still in the dark.

(To be continued.)