Ghost Detectives in the Detective World

Page 141

Matsuda was slightly calmer than Megure simply because he was no longer in charge of the First Division.

Even if this incident fails, he won't be the one to take responsibility.

……

Matsuda has done all he could; now all he can do is wait.

Megure mobilized his team and assigned tasks to each individual. The entire First Investigation Division sprang into action.

Everyone was focused on the documents, data, images, and the ever-changing crowds.

Matsuda, on the other hand, was assigned by Megure to liaise with the Ministry of Transportation.

Because the Ministry of Transportation sent Inspector Yumi Miyamoto, who led a large number of patrol officers to fully cooperate with the First Investigation Division.

"Yumi, don't forget your job, you must fully cooperate..."

Matsuda leaned back in his chair, put his feet on the table, and looked at the girl next to him with a grin.

He was now sitting in Yumi's seat, while Yumi herself, with puffed-up cheeks, angrily brought a cup of coffee to Matsuda's side.

"I'm cooperating with you right now, aren't I, Inspector Matsuda!"

Yumi gritted her teeth and slammed the coffee cup down on the table with a "bang."

"Your coffee!"

"Why are you so angry..." Matsuda chuckled. "I was dragged out of bed by Inspector Megure before I was even fully awake this morning. All I want now is a cup of coffee that you made yourself. Is that too much to ask?"

“A cup of coffee is certainly not excessive…” Yumi snorted angrily, “but before that, I had already massaged the shoulders and legs of a certain inspector and peeled several apples!”

The two of them were joking and laughing, which immediately aroused the jealousy of several male patrol officers from the Ministry of Transportation who were lusting after Yu Mei.

Matsuda was already used to the envious gazes of these losers.

In addition, he came to the Ministry of Transport on official business, so he was naturally not worried about being retaliated against by this group of single people.

After grumbling for a bit, Yumi obediently stood behind Matsuda and started massaging his shoulders.

The entire Metropolitan Police Department was fully aware of the seriousness of the missing Octogen.

Everyone, from top to bottom, pinned their hopes for solving the case on Detective Matsuda.

Yumi was no exception. Matsuda, who had intended to take a short nap during Yumi's massage,

But before he could close his eyes, Yumi woke him up.

"Matsuda! A small truck just passed by. Could it be the one you're looking for?"

Upon hearing Yumi's words, Matsuda quickly opened his eyes and gestured to the young female police officer next to him to move the video feed forward.

"Hmm, this one is also a suspect."

As Matsuda nodded, the young female police officer beside him quickly grabbed a pen.

The camera recorded the truck's model, color, and license plate number.

Matsuda then sent this information via email to Shiratori, who was in charge of the investigation, so that he could arrange for people to verify it one by one.

These tasks are simple, but they are quite tedious and boring to do.

Matsuda had been staring at the black-and-white screen on the monitor for hours.

This is a camera at the nearest intersection to the Japanese gunpowder depot.

After calculating vehicle speed and traffic flow, it would take at least twenty minutes to get from the gunpowder depot to this camera.

Based on this time estimate, if we shift the time forward by twenty minutes, we will check all the cars coming from and going towards the powder depot.

Without the support of the patrol officers brought by Yumi, Matsuda didn't know how long it would have taken to complete such a huge workload.

However, even just watching from the sidelines is incredibly boring.

If it weren't for the pretty girl Yumi beside him, who could tease him from time to time, Matsuda probably wouldn't have lasted even half an hour.

After staring at the screen for a while, Matsuda couldn't help but reach into his pocket, wanting to take out a cigarette to relieve the boredom of work.

He had just touched the cigarette when he glanced at the other patrol officers working diligently beside him.

Most of the colleagues that Yumi brought to help were young girls.

Looking at their earnest faces as they worked, Matsuda hesitated for a moment, then took out his empty hand again.

Yumi was standing right next to Matsuda, so she naturally noticed his little actions.

After seeing that Matsuda had nothing in his pocket, he took his hand out of his pocket.

Yumi couldn't help but smile knowingly.

She knew, of course, that Matsuda wanted a cigarette. After sitting in front of the monitor for hours, the only things that could relieve the boredom were coffee and cigarettes.

Matsuda has done this action six times in the past few hours.

This guy usually seems indifferent to everything, but he's actually very meticulous when it comes to these little things.

Thinking of this, Yumi prepared to replace Matsuda.

She will keep an eye on things so that Matsuda can go out for a walk and relax.

Before she could even speak, Matsuda's phone rang first.

Mu Mu Police Department?

Is this a bad news that they're calling at this time?

Matsuda nervously pressed the call button.

"Hello, is this Matsuda-kun?"

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded weary.

Although this was only the first day of the large-scale search, the mobilization of a large number of personnel and the pressure accumulated from the worries about the case had left him exhausted.

"It's me, Inspector. What's the matter?"

As soon as Matsuda heard the voice, he knew it couldn't be anything good.

“Matsuda, you should be with the Ministry of Transportation right now, right?” Megure said. “Put aside what you’re doing and go to Beikaichicho. I’ll have Sato take over your work there.”

"Beihu Town?" Matsuda asked in surprise. "What clues have been found there?"

“It has nothing to do with the theft of Octogen. Go over there and find the head of the arson investigation team, Inspector Megure,” he instructed. “He has something to ask you.”

Um, what does the arson investigation team want with me?

Matsuda asked curiously, "Inspector, what's the matter? If it's not important, I won't go. I'm busy here."

“Didn’t a hospital director get murdered a couple of days ago?” Inspector Megure explained, “It was Dr. Kurokawa. The Kurokawa residence we visited suddenly caught fire today. Inspector Yumina, who arrived at the scene, suspects arson. So he wants us to provide information on that murder case.”

"The Kurokawa family was burned down?" Matsuda sighed. "And now they're adding to the chaos."

Despite his complaints, after hanging up the phone, Matsuda immediately got up and headed to Beikaichicho.

……

When Matsuda arrived at Kurokawa's residence in Beika Town, it was already past four in the morning.

Looking at the luxurious mansion he had visited just two days ago now reduced to dark ruins, Matsuda felt a mix of emotions.

Chapter 175 There are just too many people named Sato!

After showing his police ID to the officers guarding the door, Matsuda stepped into the ashes-filled house.

It's already this late, and I still don't know what Inspector Gong Chang wants to know.

Matsuda wandered aimlessly around the scene, casually observing the surroundings.

In fact, the fact that most of the Kurokawa residence has survived is largely thanks to the fact that it is not like the typical Japanese houses, which are all made of wood.

Otherwise, after such a huge fire, there would probably be nothing left but ashes.

"Who are you? This place is off-limits."

When Matsuda came out of the back door, he was immediately questioned by a voice full of hostility.

"I?"

Matsuda turned his head and saw a middle-aged policeman.

"If it weren't for your Inspector Yukicho contacting me, I wouldn't be here at a fire scene in the middle of the night!" Matsuda said irritably.

"I am Yumio." The policeman glanced at Matsuda. "You're the Matsuda detective who's been making headlines lately? You sound pretty unhappy, kid!"

"Uncle, should I be happy? Do you know what time it is? It's 4:30 in the morning!" Matsuda said weakly. "I still have a ton of work to do!"

"Kid, it's not just you guys who've been busy lately," Inspector Gong Chang said sternly. "Do you know how many arson cases this is? This is the fourth!"

"Four incidents? Are they a series of arson attacks?" Matsuda frowned.

"The modus operandi is similar, so the murderer is probably the same person."

Seeing Matsuda become serious, Inspector Yumina's expression softened slightly.

"The reason I seconded you here is to see if it's related to the case of the homeowner's murder."

“Since it’s a series of arson cases, then that possibility is probably not high.” Matsuda thought for a moment. “The only people in this house who are connected to that case right now should be Mrs. Kurokawa and her son. It’s very simple to find out the truth.”

"Moreover, since their house was burned down, they must have nowhere to live now, which is a good opportunity to take them under control and investigate them slowly."

"That's not wrong,"

Inspector Gong Chang nodded in agreement.

He went to instruct his men to make arrangements for Mrs. Kurokawa and his son.

Matsuda yawned, unable to resist his drowsiness any longer.

He walked out of the Kurokawa residence, got into the police car he had driven, and fell asleep.

Matsuda originally thought that after Inspector Yukicho finished instructing his subordinates, he would come back and wake him up if he wanted to ask anything else.

Unexpectedly, he slept straight through until dawn.

If it weren't for the large crowd of curious onlookers whispering around the Kurokawa residence, disturbing Matsuda...

He'll probably sleep until noon.