Officer Sato thought back on Jiangxia's "next" and "next" habit of smacking down criminals one after another. On the surface, he seemed like a law-abiding citizen, someone who'd politely cooperate with the law. But deep down... not quite the typical detective archetype.
In other words, even if she told him the truth, Jiangxia probably wouldn't go tattling to Inspector Megure.
So Sato asked again about the "request" Jiangxia had made to the Detective Boys earlier.
Jiangxia already knew why Sato Miwako was stuck here. But he still listened seriously and nodded, indicating he was willing to help.
Sato Miwako let out a sigh of relief.
But then Jiangxia suddenly said, "You too. Come with us."
Sato flinched.
She figured Jiangxia hadn't noticed her little... predicament. Gritting her teeth, she raised her wrist a little and admitted, "When I handcuffed the guy earlier, I wasn't paying attention. Accidentally... locked myself to him."
Jiangxia blinked. Then his expression shifted to one of awkward sympathy.
"Ah," he said. "Thing is... this building's scheduled for demolition by explosion tomorrow morning. I came today to see it one last time before it goes. But if you stay here and someone triggers the explosives by accident..."
"Blasting demolition?!" Sato's face turned pale.
She'd assumed the worst outcome of today's mess was losing her job—not that she was standing on a landmine buffet.
If Jiangxia hadn't happened to drop by, and if Takagi didn't manage to catch the perp before morning...
Sato's mind spiraled into disaster scenarios. Her pupils dilated. She even considered pulling out her phone to write a farewell note.
But then she noticed Jiangxia raising a hand and motioning down. "Squat a bit."
"Huh?" Sato reflexively obeyed, crouching next to the toilet.
Jiangxia eyed the two people handcuffed together in the stall, then gestured again, like someone guiding a truck: "Lower. A little more."
Sato shifted her hand downward. Since she was handcuffed to the suspect, the suspect's arm moved too—revealing a thick pipe.
Jiangxia twisted and wham! kicked it hard.
If he'd had enough shikigami, he could've whipped up some puppet clay, made a dummy key behind Sato's back, and popped the cuffs in style.
But alas—short on ghosts today.
So it was back to caveman methods.
Fortunately, the pipe didn't put up much of a fight.
Sato stared at the broken pipe, then at the handcuffs now sliding freely off the jagged end. She was stunned. Why hadn't she thought of that...?
…
With bombs downstairs and a demolition clock ticking, it wasn't wise to linger.
Jiangxia stepped aside, giving Sato and the suspect room to exit the stall. The three of them left the building together.
They hadn't gone far when sirens erupted down the block—dozens of police cars flooding the street.
Sato and Takagi had gone MIA during prisoner transport. Naturally, this left way too much room for people's imaginations to run wild.
And with Officer Sato being the police flower, beloved by many… the second people suspected she might be in trouble, a dozen cop fantasies activated at once. "Hero saves beauty!" "Mysterious criminal's lair!" "Dangling over acid pits!"—take your pick.
As for Takagi? Mmm… assumed dead. After all, a kidnapper only needs one hostage. Any more and it's just luggage.
But despite the drama, Officer Sato was still sticking to her principle: "do not get caught by your coworkers."
So the trio ducked into a back alley as police cars zoomed past.
Jiangxia squinted at the distant red-blue lights. "So, what now? You're really not going back to the station?"
Officer Sato shook her head. "I can't. If Mr. Higashida is actually innocent, he might miss his flight because of all this."
But hiding in an alley forever clearly wasn't going to work.
She looked at a clothing store across the street. A lightbulb went off.
Turning to Jiangxia, she said, "Can you get us some disguise clothes? Hats or jackets or something? These uniforms are way too obvious."
She took out her wallet to give him cash—but one of her hands was still handcuffed to the suspect, making things awkward.
After a beat, she just handed the entire wallet to Jiangxia.
At this point, he was the only one in their trio not being actively hunted by the cops. The other two would be nabbed the second they stepped out.
Jiangxia nodded and accepted the wallet… but inwardly, he wasn't sold on Sato's plan.
And honestly, he couldn't make sense of anything she'd done today.
From Jiangxia's perspective, even if Sato and Takagi had to write some painfully long self-criticisms back at HQ, they could still send other officers to the scene, dig up evidence, and clear things up quickly. Worst case, just throw some testimonials around and boom—case closed.
After some thought, Jiangxia could only conclude: Officer Sato had simply done too many embarrassing things today. Her pride wouldn't let her face the others.
But eventually, the entire Police Department would find out anyway.
Letting the situation drag on would just waste police resources and double the black history.
So Jiangxia looked down at the wallet in his hand. Then he looked up at the crowd of cops gathered nearby.
And casually strolled out of the alley toward the clothing store.
…
Inspector Shiratori—one of Sato's many would-be suitors—had been the first to shout, "It must be a kidnapping!" and had already imagined several full-color scenarios without evidence.
He was standing with Inspector Megure and a few underlings, analyzing possible hideouts, when Jiangxia casually passed by.
Shiratori glanced sideways and froze.
There was something... familiar about that wallet in Jiangxia's hand.
He stared.
Then blinked.
And suddenly exclaimed, "Why do you have Officer Sato's wallet?!"
At the mention of "Sato," the rest of the cops immediately snapped to attention. Like flipping a switch, they followed Shiratori's gaze and surrounded the "suspicious figure" in perfect coordination.
They were just about to bark questions when someone paused.
"…Wait. Jiangxia?"
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 9/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*
Glossary:
Police Flower – A trope term for the most beautiful female officer in a department