"Ma Yi, don't be stunned, hurry up and get a glass of water for the guest."
Apartment on the third floor.
Aragaki Detective Agency.
Aragaki Mai, who came back with a strange mixed-race girl, endured the situation and decided to save some face for her father in front of outsiders. She muttered twice and turned around to pour water.
On the sofa opposite the coffee table.
The petite Shikame Ryoka's sitting posture was a bit restrained, with only half of her butt touching the sofa. Her eyes drifted to Higashinohara who was sitting in the corner from time to time - she had just met downstairs and was led upstairs by the extremely enthusiastic Aragaki Satoru.
Until now, I haven't had time to ask why Higashinohara is here.
When Aragaki Mai came over with tea, she quickly stood up and took it with both hands to thank her. The latter said a few polite words, then turned around and glared at her father, Aragaki Satoru, behind her.
However, thinking that I had something to ask for today, I sat aside to make room.
Aragaki Satoru was unusually serious and did not look down upon him at all because of his age.
The principal is the principal.
Of course, you have to pay money first.
After a brief exchange of polite greetings, he asked straight to the point:
"May I ask what your entrustment is? Aragaki Agency will definitely provide you with the most satisfactory service that other private detective agencies cannot enjoy at the lowest price in the industry."
Shikame Ryoka seemed uncomfortable with others being so enthusiastic towards her, and turned slightly.
To be honest, Higashinohara doesn't adapt well either. If he encounters someone who is inexplicably enthusiastic towards him on the street, he will definitely hold his wallet tightly before speaking.
But when she really wanted to say something, Shikame Ryoka had a helpless look on her face, her eyes were slightly red, she sniffed, lowered her head and said:
"My mother... passed away the day before yesterday."
Aragaki Satoru was stunned, and immediately said with relief, "Ah? In this case... please forgive me, your mother may also want to see you happy."
Higashinohara glanced at Shikame Ryoka.
He remembered hearing someone in class say that she was from a single-parent family, and her mother's death must have been a huge blow to her, but at this time, Shikame Ryoka looked much stronger than expected.
Aragaki Satoru didn't rush and waited quietly.
Shikume Ryoka sniffed and suddenly stood up from the sofa. Her bright eyes were full of determination and she bowed sharply to Aragaki Satoru.
"My mother...my mother was killed by someone. Please believe me."
Seeing that she was a little excited, Aragaki Satoru quickly reassured her, "I believe it! Of course I believe that the purpose of our detectives' existence is to search for clues and find out the truth, and not let a bad person go. But can you tell me more in detail?
?”
It's been two days since this happened.
Shikame Ryoka looked at Aragaki Satoru, who had a sincere face, and then at Higashinohara, who was sitting quietly not far away. She felt relieved inexplicably, lowered her head and began to talk.
"Saturday is my birthday. My mother got up very early and went to the market to buy ingredients to make my favorite sukiyaki. About seven o'clock, I suddenly received a call from my mother. She was in front of the guardrail next to the tram road.
Called me...and...then..."
"What happened then?" Aragaki Satoru asked.
"The police and the mother ignored the guardrail and walked to the middle of the tracks..."
Shikame Ryoka's voice became lower and lower, and then she suddenly shook her head vigorously, "Impossible! My mother couldn't have committed suicide!"
"You said...your mother was talking to your cell phone at that time?" Aragaki Satoru asked with a frown.
"Yeah." Shikame Ryoka nodded.
"Did you talk about anything?"
"I was woken up by the phone and I was still a little confused. I only remember that my mother's voice sounded a little happy, as if she said she saw someone familiar, and then...then I heard the sound of the tram."
This is undoubtedly a tragedy.
After listening to Shikame Ryoka's words, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Aragaki Satoru paused and continued to ask, "This happened the day before yesterday. Did you provide this information to the police?"
"I told you so, but the police said that suicide cannot be ruled out. They also said that in the surveillance video, my mother ignored the guardrail, looked ahead, walked to the middle of the track with a smile, and then... the tram came.
"
"They also inferred that my mother might have had too much trouble raising me by herself, and the pressure of living in New Tokyo was too great, so she chose to commit suicide... But it was obviously not like that. I obviously worked very hard... hard
Become the mother’s support.”
Shikame Ryoka lowered her head as she spoke, and tears as big as peas rolled down again.
Upon seeing this, Mai Aragaki quickly took a tissue and whispered a few words of relief.
However, Higashinohara probably guessed why the Metropolitan Police Department is inclined to commit suicide, because Wano Country has discovered more than 3,000 rail suicide cases in just the 15 subway lines in the New Tokyo metropolitan area in the past ten years.
There are an average of more than 300 cases every year, which is nothing new. From the police's point of view, classifying it as suicide naturally saves a lot of trouble in subsequent investigations.
This is rather tricky.
Aragaki Satoru also fell into deep thought.
Judging only from the information provided by Shikame Ryoka, he was not sure whether this was really a suicide case. After all, no matter how famous the detective made his unique analysis, it would eventually fall on the facts.
Distorting the truth just to make money.
In the following time, Aragaki Satoru asked a few more questions in a gentle and careful voice.
Finally, he said that after entrusting Aragaki Detective Agency, he would definitely find out the truth of the matter, and then bid farewell to Shikame Ryoka.
Before leaving, Shikame Ryoka glanced at Higashinohara who was sitting in the corner of the room. Higashinohara didn't explain why he was here, but just smiled and nodded to let her go home without worries.
After Shikame Ryoka left the office, Aragaki Satoru was silent. Mai Aragaki, who had been listening for a long time, came up and asked, "I think this case is very suspicious. Do you think it was a homicide?"
"That will have to wait until I watch the video."
Aragaki rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, "Looks like I'm going to trouble A-Tuo again."
Higashinohara's eyes twitched slightly as he thought of the grim-faced young man Morita Taku. This guy must have troubled people more than five, six, seven or eight times a year, right?
After Aragaki Satoru finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something. His eyes drifted towards the girl with short silver hair and pointed ears who had been sitting on the seat next to the door since she entered the office. At this time, her eyes were staring at the corner without blinking.
Higashinohara in the movie—could he have fallen in love with this guy?
It's impossible. The handsomeness of this boy Dong Ye is indeed a bit like my style back then.
Aragaki Satoru turned to look at Aragaki Mai, and whispered towards the door, "Why did you bring a Celestial being to my father's office? Is there any business entrustment? Tsk tsk... Celestial Being's entrustment is not
It’s so cool.”
"She's mixed race."
After finishing speaking, Aragaki Mai glared at Aragaki Satoru angrily, "Don't you often complain that I don't come to the detective agency to help with the shortage of manpower after graduation? Well...she is the new employee I introduced to you."
"New staff?" Aragaki Satoru was stunned.
Charlie V. Prudence, who was sitting on a chair at the door, seemed to hear someone calling her. The pointed ears on her head suddenly moved. She suddenly stood up and bowed deeply to Aragaki Satoru.
He recited fluently without squinting:
"Hello boss! My name is Charlie. I come from Okinawa Prefecture. My specialty is running and fighting. I am cheerful, hard-working, optimistic, good at communication, and dare to face challenges..."
"Wait a minute!"
Aragaki Satoru interrupted Charlie's induction introduction, turned to look at his daughter, rubbed his forehead and said, "I remember! Isn't she the Tmall female thief who was wanted last week?"
"That was a misunderstanding, Charlie-chan is also a victim."
Mai Aragaki explained aloud, "The manager of the jewelry club that was stolen was a pervert who illegally banned women. He has been arrested now, and later Charlie was kidnapped and imprisoned in the basement of the villa. It's really too bad
How pitiful."
"Villa basement?"
Aragaki Satoru suddenly became interested, "Is it the villa in the port area that exploded and caught fire last night as mentioned in the news this morning? I saw a reporter filmed the Metropolitan Police Department secretly escorting a group of people this morning.
Missing young man comes home."
"Don't ask if you shouldn't know!"
Mai Aragaki did not answer the question, and continued with a puffed mouth, "Anyway, that's what happened. Charlie has been acquitted now, but she has no money to return to her hometown for the time being. She wants to find a job with enough food in New Tokyo. You
Don’t you often tell me that the office is short of people? Don’t say I didn’t remind you, Xia Li is still a third-level psychic ability user!”
"Ability user?" Aragaki Satoru's eyes suddenly lit up slightly, and he asked with some uncertainty, "Do you just need to eat enough?"
"Don't try to get it wrong!"
Mai Aragaki definitely knows her father best. After hearing this, she immediately raised her eyebrows and said, "Of course, wages must be paid. By the way, Charlie has no place to live now, and accommodation must be provided."
How do you turn the elbows of this little cotton-padded jacket outward?
Is it okay to get married in the future?
At this time, Higashinohara, who had not spoken much, heard that the conversation between the two included the fire at the Odaiba villa in Minato City last night, and the missing people in New Tokyo in recent times.
He considered it in his mind before asking, "Senior Mai, is there a little girl who looks like five or six years old among the missing persons at Odaiba Villa last night?"
Aragaki Mai was stunned for a moment when she heard it. Next to her, Aragaki Satoru added, "A little girl is missing from our apartment building. We already called the police last week but to no avail. His father packed up his things and moved away yesterday. The little girl and
I have a good relationship with Higashikata-kun..."
After listening to Aragaki Satoru's explanation, Aragaki Mai looked at Higashinohara with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, Junior Higashino, this is a confidential matter for the time being. There are rules in the team, so I can't reveal too much yet, but I will help you keep an eye on it if there is any news."
Higashinohara just wanted to know how the people at the Metropolitan Police Department would handle Nishimaru Miria's body and where to bury it so that he could pay homage during the holidays. Hearing this, he nodded and said it was okay.
Aragaki Satoru smacked his lips twice and said thoughtfully, "Are you still keeping it a secret? It must be a case involving Tianren, right? Tsk tsk... Those guys from the Metropolitan Police Department are really tolerant!
Could it be that he is a turtle? Hahaha..."
Aragaki Mai suddenly felt that she was being scolded all at once, and she was so angry that she shouted loudly, "What does this have to do with us? We are only responsible for arresting people, and they are obviously the ministers from the prosecutor's office and the cabinet, and the Celestial Being members of the World Government.
Complicity.”
"Really? I don't believe it."
Aragaki Satoru curled his lips, "The Metropolitan Police Department is not as spotless as you think, silly daughter. Haha, if you really want to bring those heavenly beings to justice, there are many ways."
After hearing this, Mai Aragaki couldn't help but said angrily, "How? Then tell me...can we bypass the prosecutor's office and the World Government to convict the gods?"
"Of course not."
Aragaki Satoru shook his head and said nothing, but seeing that Aragaki Mai's expression was not right, he immediately stopped talking and pointed at the computer with a smile, "There is no need to bypass it, but you can use our strength. It's not like this is true once in the history of Wano Country.
I have never handled a case involving a deity."
"How can I borrow power...Oh, you mean..."
As soon as Aragaki Mai's words came out, people had some reaction - of course her unreliable father was not talking about the power of computers, but the pressure of public opinion from netizens behind countless computers.
"Then...is that possible?"
Aragaki Mai said hesitantly.
"It's different now."
Aragaki Satoru suddenly said with a vicissitude in his tone, "The real world aristocrats in history, the Nine Celestial Families, have now retreated behind the scenes. Even if those human traffickers are Celestial Beings, how much background can they have? Even if the top brass of Wano Country want to please,
World government, but for the sake of your position, you have to weigh the pros and cons and take into account the thoughts of the majority of the people."