Chapter 50 Following the Map

Date rushed home and saw his neighbor, Shimazu Rina, comforting Akira as soon as he entered.

He had heard the cat's pitiful screams from the stairwell. Now, seeing the blood on the cat's paws and the empty stroller, his heart sank even further.

"It wasn't stealing, it was outright robbery."

Ida deduced this conclusion using her remaining rationality.

“Officer Ida, Natalie is in the bedroom,” Rina whispered.

Ida thanked him and hurried off to visit his wife.

Natalie lay in bed with a bruise on her forehead.

She had her eyes open as if she were awake, but she seemed completely unaware of her surroundings, so much so that it took Ida several calls for her to respond.

The moment their eyes met, her eyes, which had been dry from crying, filled with tears again.

Natalie's chapped lips moved, but she only managed a muffled whimper before collapsing into Ida's arms and sobbing uncontrollably.

Ida hugged her tenderly and comforted her softly, "Don't worry, Xiaoyang will be alright, we will definitely find him! Trust me, okay? Tomorrow, or at the latest the day after! He'll be home. Then you can push him in his stroller and take him out to sunbathe, sing him songs, tell him stories, and teach him to talk, just like before. Right? Xiaoyang can't say 'daddy' or 'mommy' yet, you need to teach him quickly."

"I'm sorry, I didn't protect the child well..." Natalie said, sobbing uncontrollably.

“This isn’t your fault!” Ida looked earnestly into his wife’s eyes. “I promise you, I will bring the children home by the day after tomorrow at the latest.”

Shortly after Ida returned, the doorbell rang.

Rina hesitated for a moment before opening the door to help, only to be startled by what she saw:

Four large men stood at the door, each with a strange and unusual appearance.

The person is very tall and has long hair.

A blonde mixed-race person with dark skin.

There was also a curly-haired man wearing sunglasses and using a cane.

The last short-haired man was the most normal-looking among them.

"Excuse me, is this Officer Date's house?" Hagiwara asked politely.

Rina nodded and asked, "Yes, may I ask who you are?"

“We are Officer Ida’s colleagues. We learned that something had happened to his family and wanted to visit him.”

“Oh, it’s a police officer. Please come in! I’m Rina Shimazu, Officer Date’s neighbor. Officer Date and Natalie are in the bedroom. Should I call them?”

Hagiwara glanced around the room and immediately understood what had happened, saying, "No need, let's wait for Date to come out on his own."

Not long ago, the class president left the cat cafe, and Hagiwara and Matsuda followed right after him.

Seeing this, Takagi felt he couldn't just stand by and do nothing, but unfortunately he didn't have a car, and Hagiwara had already driven off too fast and disappeared from sight.

So Amuro generously offered to drive Takagi home.

"It's really too much of a burden for Mr. Amuro to take time off work and make this trip," Takagi said after getting into the car.

"No need to be so polite. After all, I am Mr. Mori's top disciple, and he always taught me to be helpful to others. I am also concerned about Officer Date's family situation!"

Now, several people are seated in Ida's living room.

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy and a little awkward.

Apart from the cat's meows, everyone looked at each other in silence, because they really didn't know what to say.

As bystanders, it's impossible to truly empathize, and therefore we have no right to speak freely.

Amuro broke the silence by saying, "I'll take care of the cat!"

Rina gratefully handed Xiaoliang to the other person.

Amuro really knows how to soothe cats; Ryo became much more obedient when he was in his arms.

Annoyed by the oppressive atmosphere, Matsuda asked, "Did you see the prisoner's face?"

"Huh?" Rina was a little confused by the sudden question.

Hagiwara frowned and gestured to his childhood friend, indicating that she should go and take care of the cat with Amuro.

Matsuda then went to find the blond-haired man in a bad mood.

Hagiwara handed Rina a glass of water and asked in as gentle a tone as possible, "Was Ms. Rina there at the time?"

“No, I wasn’t there. I went to check because I heard some strange noises, and by the time I got there, it was already…” Rina lowered her head silently.

So Natalie was alone with the child and the cat at that time?

“Yes, Natalie told me that a man suddenly rushed out and pointed a gun at her…”

"A gun?!" all four of them exclaimed in surprise.

Rina nodded nervously, still shaken, and said, "This is what Natalie told me: the man ordered her not to move or make a sound, and then a woman took Yangsheng away. Then the cat rushed up and scratched people, the man dropped his gun, and Natalie tried to grab the child back, but the man knocked her unconscious. When I ran over, the two of them had already run away with the child..."

Takagi quickly made a note in his small notebook and asked, "Is that gun real?"

"I don't know, they took the guns with them too."

"Is the bloodstains on the cat's paws also from that man?" Amuro suddenly asked.

I think so.

Hagiwara seemed thoughtful, then asked, "Do you know that man and woman?"

“Natalie told me she had seen that woman once that morning, and I was there too. I thought the woman was a bit strange then, but I never imagined she would do something to a child.”

"What kind of woman is she? Is there anything special about her appearance, clothing, speech, or behavior?"

"She was a pretty young woman, probably in her late twenties or early twenties! She had a slight Kansai accent and was wearing a wool hat. The snow had mostly melted today, so Natalie was out for a walk in the park with her child when we ran into each other. Then the woman came over and started chatting, praising how cute the child was and trying to hold her. But Natalie refused, and the woman kept pestering her for a while, but in the end she left without getting a hold of the child."

Did you see that man at the time?

"I didn't notice that. We parted ways at noon, and I hadn't gone far when I heard a cat meowing. I felt something was wrong, so I went to check. I never expected something like this to happen..."

Where did the crime occur?

“It’s in the neighborhood. The path is rather secluded, and not many people usually walk on it. But because the plum blossoms have recently bloomed, Natalie likes to walk along it.”

"This was a pre-planned attack specifically targeting her!"

“Thank you, Ms. Rina,” Hagiwara said.

"You're welcome," Rina said. "I hope we find the child soon! I'll take my leave now."

A short while later, Ida came out of the bedroom.

He glanced at the four people in the room, his expression complicated, and said with difficulty, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come all this way."

"What are you saying? Yangsheng's matter is your matter, but we can't just sit idly by!" Hagiwara stepped forward and patted the other person on the back, saying, "Cheer up, the child is waiting for you to save him!"

"Date, do you remember who you offended?" Matsuda asked bluntly, surprising Takagi.

Ida sighed, head bowed, "Every prisoner I've handled is a suspect, isn't he?"

"What if we add the condition that they have guns?"

"We had no clue what to do; we had never encountered a case of illegal gun possession before."

Takagi raised his hand and asked, "Wait, why must it be Date-senpai who offended someone?"

"Because the perpetrator's target was too clear. There are so many babies in the park, why would the perpetrator target only this one? He even went so far as to have an accomplice threaten him with a gun?"

"Ah, I see..." Takagi suddenly realized, then suddenly thought of something else, "There's blood from the criminal on the cat's paws. If the criminal has a criminal record, we can compare it with the information in the criminal database!"

"That's exactly right."

“Beyond those, Matsuda and I discovered another important clue!” Amuro said. “There’s a footprint on the stroller, presumably left by the perpetrator in a panic. The footprint is quite clear, suggesting the perpetrator was wearing work boots, and their feet were wet, indicating they walked in the snow. I checked the roads near the park and found a parking lot with unmelted snow. Checking the security footage might help us find the perpetrator’s car.”

Without further ado, the group quickly determined their division of labor.

Date takes Takagi to have the bloodstain DNA tested, while the other three search for the culprit's whereabouts.

Amuro and his team went to the parking lot to retrieve the surveillance video and quickly identified a suspect vehicle that matched their description:

The video shows a man and a woman carrying a baby driving away.

It was a silver Chevrolet, and the license plate number was clearly captured in the photo.

“With the license plate number, it’ll be easy to find!” Hagiwara said excitedly.

"I hope the prisoner didn't change vehicles along the way," Amuro said.

However, they didn't know whether the prisoner had changed vehicles or not, but they didn't find their target by following the license plate number.

The owner of the license plate was a middle-aged man who had a perfect alibi at work when the incident occurred.

"Damn it! They actually used counterfeit license plates!" Matsuda cursed angrily, stomping his cane heavily on the ground.

“If that’s the case, then the only clue we have is the car model. If we conduct a traffic stop, it might panic the criminal and put the child in danger. Let’s try to identify the target first!” Amuro said.

"That woman speaks with a Kansai accent. Could she be planning to take the child back to her hometown and resell him?" Hagiwara suggested.

"It's possible. We can start by checking the main roads from Tokyo to Kansai for any suspicious vehicles."

However, this is easier said than done.

Silver Chevrolets were everywhere, and they watched the surveillance footage until dark without making any progress.

The Date forces, however, achieved considerable success.

After comparison, the criminal's name was identified as Ken Maruyama, 27 years old.

This person has been a petty hoodlum since childhood, a habitual thief and robber. His most recent illegal act was being detained for spreading rumors during the bombing.

Furthermore, Date discovered that Maruyama had been imprisoned for a year three years prior for robbery.

His accomplice was named Haru Sanada, 24 years old, from Osaka.

“It seems the culprits are most likely these two,” Ida said.

Strangely, however, Date had never had any connection with either of them.

Just when everyone was at a loss and didn't know where to find the culprit, Jingguang provided an important clue: the suspect had appeared!

"Jing, how did you find the criminal?" Zero asked curiously as he returned to his car.

"Of course we adopted Zero's proposal and relied on the power of our fans!" Jing Guang said with a smile. "I posted a missing person notice on my alternate account and then reposted it on my main account. Many people were very helpful, and my inbox was flooded with messages."

"Wow, that's impressive. It must have been difficult for Jing to process so much information. But the criminal might also see the missing person poster, right?"

“Don’t worry, I didn’t write down the information in great detail. I didn’t include things like the car model or the gun he was carrying. I even deliberately made a mistake. I said the person was wearing ordinary leather shoes. Because I think most people change their clothes only on their upper body, and very few people would change their shoes. If this clue hadn’t been made public, the criminal would have had even less reason to change.”

"As expected of Jing, so how did you find the culprit?"

"A convenience store cashier provided the tip. She said a man came in to buy baby formula and gauze. Because the man seemed to have an arm injury, and he was wearing a mask and seemed rather irritable, she paid closer attention. The man was wearing work boots, and she saw a silver Chevrolet parked outside. The sighting was about half an hour ago, so I think the perpetrator probably hadn't had time to change the license plate yet?"

"Where is that convenience store? I'm coming right now!"

However, Zero received a completely unexpected answer: "Nagano."