The Tokyo Police Journey Begins with the Ability to See Evil Thoughts

Chapter 61

Upon seeing the handcuffs, Yuki Oda's face immediately turned pale.

His previous arrogance vanished instantly, and his eyes began to dart away.

"I...I didn't..."

Her voice weakened, and she no longer dared to shout like before, "I really don't know anything... She stole the necklace, I didn't frame her..."

"I'm not talking about that; I'm asking her where she went."

Kamiya Gen's tone was calm, yet it carried an oppressive chill.

"I don't know, I really don't know... I don't know where Miyazawa went..."

She shrank back, all her arrogance vanished, leaving only fear.

Kamiya Gen looked at her coldly, already pretty sure of what was going on.

It seems this girl really doesn't know anything about Miyazawa. So, who should she ask?

Should we arrest this small group of them and interrogate them one by one?

After a long silence, he removed the handcuffs and asked, "Who in your little group knows where Miyazawa is?"

"Everyone...you probably don't know, but you can try contacting Nozaki. Even if someone knows about Miyazawa's situation, it should be her."

"You should go now. If I find out you're hiding something, you know what the consequences will be."

"Okay, okay."

Yuki Oda felt as if she had been granted a pardon and quickly left the office without even looking back.

The office fell silent again.

"I feel like she probably knows something about the situation, but she's just too afraid to say it," Takeuchi Takayuki said.

"It's okay, let's go first, we'll see if we need to come back later."

The two said a brief greeting to their teacher and then left Shibuya Minami High School.

Once inside the police car, Takeuchi Takayuki looked at Kamiya Gen:

"Where to go next? Nozaki has already dropped out of school and moved, and the school doesn't have his contact information anymore."

"There is a chance for you."

Kamiya Gen spoke up, "When Nozaki was taken in last time, Ohno Satoshi should have gotten her home phone number."

Takeuchi Takayuki nodded immediately: "I'll contact him now."

He took out his phone and dialed the number on the other side.

After a brief explanation of the situation, they quickly retrieved the records from that time and read out a string of numbers.

Takeuchi Takayuki noted it down and immediately called back.

The phone rang several times before being answered, and a middle-aged woman's voice came from the other end.

Takeuchi Takayuki identified himself, explained his purpose, and inquired about Nozaki's whereabouts.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, then the tone became complicated and helpless:

"Officer... that child hasn't been home for a long time. She moved out after dropping out of school. She occasionally calls back, but she never says where she is. If you ask too many questions, she just hangs up... We don't know where she is now."

Takeuchi Takayuki was stunned for a moment, and wanted to ask more, but the other end of the line hurriedly said, "There's really no way," and hung up the phone.

He put down his phone, looked at Kamiya Gen, and shook his head: "Nozaki isn't going home, and her family doesn't know where she is."

Kamiya Gen leaned back in the passenger seat and said, "We'll have to go there first. Do you have an address?"

"Yes, it's not far from here, Kagura-cho 23..."

"You drive, Inspector Takeuchi." Kamiya Genji fastened his seatbelt.

By this time, the sky had darkened, and the streets were bathed in a dim yellow light from the streetlights.

The traffic wasn't too congested, and on both sides were rows of ordinary residential areas, with low-rise buildings next to each other and family cars parked downstairs—a typical scene in Tokyo.

After driving for a few minutes, the car entered an old-style apartment area.

"The Nozaki family lives on the third floor over there."

Takayuki Takeuchi parked the car and pointed to a building, saying...

Following the direction he was pointing, Kamiya Gen looked up and saw that the building was not tall, only four or five stories high, with light gray exterior walls and some slightly yellowed areas. At first glance, it looked like a place where ordinary working-class people lived.

Just as the two were about to get out of the car, Kamiya Gen's walkie-talkie rang.

"Inspector Kamiya... Kamiya-kun? Where are you right now?"

Muheyou's voice came through the walkie-talkie, her tone tinged with confusion.

Kamiya Gen reached for the walkie-talkie and pressed the connect button:

"This is Kamiya. I'm out taking care of some business. What's up?"

"I went to the hospital to see you, but you weren't in your ward, and the nurses didn't know where you were either."

Muheyou softened her voice slightly.

Takayuki Takeuchi sat in the driver's seat, not saying a word, and tidied up the documents in his hands.

"Something urgent came up at the last minute," Kamiya Gen asked.

"Is there something urgent? Are your wounds alright?"

"It's alright, it won't affect our operations."

Kamiya Gen replied calmly, "Give my regards to your aunt. I'll contact you once I've finished dealing with things here."

After saying this, he put away the walkie-talkie and got out of the car with Takeuchi Takayuki.

"Is this the one from the Muhe Police Department?"

"Yes, her mother came to Shibuya and seems to be spending time with her family."

Kamiya Gen replied, and the two went up the stairs, found the corresponding room number, and then knocked on the door.

Not long after, the door was opened a crack, and a middle-aged woman with a tired expression peeked out; it was Nozaki's mother.

She saw two police officers outside the door, her eyes narrowed at first, then a hint of helplessness appeared on her face.

"Excuse me... is there anything I can help you with?"

Takeuchi Takayuki presented his identification, speaking in as gentle a tone as possible:

"We're from the police station, here to ask you about Nozaki-kun's situation."

Nozaki's mother's expression changed slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she opened the door completely and let the two of them into the house.

The room was small and simply furnished, with a faint smell of cleaning agents in the air. The living room contained a simple sofa and TV cabinet, and was kept clean and tidy.

"Please have a seat."

She brought over two cups of tea, her voice low, "I know you've come because of that child."

Kamiya Gen got straight to the point and said:

"Where is Nozaki now? We need to contact her."

The woman lowered her eyes, remained silent for a few seconds, and then gently shook her head.

"I really don't know... After she was taken away by the police and dropped out of school, she rarely went home. When asked where she went or who she was with, she wouldn't say."

Did she mention Miyazawa Yuzuki?

Takayuki Takeuchi pressed further, "Are the two of you very close?"

Upon hearing the name, the woman's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

"...Miyazawa, I know, he's a friend of hers from school."

—Can that be considered friendship?

Thinking this, Kamiya Gen looked into the other person's eyes and asked:

When was the last time she contacted you? Did she mention where she was going or who she was meeting?

The woman shook her head repeatedly: "The last time they contacted me was four or five days ago. They used a public phone and didn't say anything else, just asked if I had any money..."

As the woman spoke, her voice gradually lowered, and she slumped over her shoulders, as if something heavy was pressing down on her, making it hard for her to breathe.

"It's all my fault... Our family has always been poor, and her father's health is poor; he needs to take medication all year round. I was only focused on working to earn money and couldn't take care of her. It's all my fault that my child has turned out like this; I failed to raise her properly..."

When she said these words, she gave the impression of complete self-blame and helplessness.

"Whatever mistake she made, it's my fault. I didn't take good care of her... Officers, please, don't make things too difficult for the child..."

Kamiya Gen listened quietly, his face expressionless, his gaze sweeping lightly across the room.

The overly tidy desk, the windowsill without a single extra item, the woman's overly reserved demeanor... everything exuded a barely maintained facade of respectability.

He felt no sympathy and offered no words of comfort.

Nozaki has already reached the point of drug addiction, so it's impossible to simply gloss over it with a "my family is poor and I don't have time to manage it."

There must be something wrong with the family education; that's obvious.

His gaze fell imperceptibly on Nozaki's mother's hands and the tip of her nose, then lightly swept over the corner of the wall and under the table.

No needle marks were found, there was no abnormal weight loss or confusion, and the odor was normal.

There are no signs yet that this woman herself is also addicted to drugs.

Kamiya Gen, maintaining his calm tone, pressed on with the question:

"Besides asking for money, did she mention who she was with or where they were?"

The woman shook her head vigorously, tears finally falling, yet she continued to take the blame upon herself:

"No... She won't say anything. It's all my fault, all my fault... If I had cared about her more earlier, she wouldn't be like this now..."

Kamiya Gen couldn't really have a conversation with this kind of person, so he had Takeuchi Takayuki talk to her instead.

He then went to the bedroom, saying he wanted to see Nozaki's bedridden father.

The bedroom was very small and dimly lit, with only a low-wattage table lamp on, its warm yellow light barely illuminating a corner of the room.

The air was filled with a faint smell of medicine, and a lingering sense of unease permeated the atmosphere.

An old single bed occupied most of the bedroom space, and lying on the bed was a pale-faced, thin man, who was Nozaki's father.

He was covered with a thick quilt, his eyes were closed, his chest was rising and falling rhythmically, and a thin IV tube was inserted into his arm, connected to a simple IV bag at the head of the bed, where the medicine was slowly dripping.

The small cabinet by the bed was filled with various medicine bottles and boxes, some empty and some half-empty, piled together in a mess.

There was a porcelain cup for holding warm water next to it, and several old clothes that had been washed until they were faded were folded at the foot of the bed. There was a small storage cabinet in the corner of the wall, with the cabinet door slightly loose and open, through which you could see the folded bedding inside.

Kamiya Gen walked in quietly, his gaze slowly sweeping across the entire bedroom before finally stopping beside the man.

"Officer... I heard your conversation. It's... cough cough! It was Nozaki who made a mistake, right?" The man opened his eyes and looked at Kamiya Gen.

"I'm not sure if it was her who did it. Did you know about your daughter being taken away to be handed over to the barbarians a few days ago?" Kamiya Gen asked.

"I know, but I don't know why..."

"I was there at the time, and I found a lot of... illegal drugs on your daughter," Kamiya Gen said.

Upon hearing this, the man's pupils dilated slightly, and he remained speechless for a long time.

He instinctively tried to sit up, but the exertion triggered an even more violent cough, his face turned bright red, and his breathing became more rapid.

"W-What did you say?"

He finally regained his composure, his voice trembling with disbelief, his eyes filled with panic and incredulity. "Impossible... How could that child touch something like that? Officer, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"I'm not mistaken," Kamiya Gen said calmly. "And quite a lot of it. He probably doesn't just use it himself, he also sells it."

His hands gripped the edges of the quilt tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. "How could she... It's all my fault, I'm useless, bedridden and unable to help, making her suffer with us, that's why she went astray..."

The man muttered to himself, his voice choked with emotion, his eyes slightly red, his tone filled with self-reproach.

Kamiya Gen watched him quietly, without interrupting or showing any emotion.

Outside the door, the faint sound of Nozaki's mother crying could be heard, mixed with Takeuchi Takayuki's comforting voice.

Kamiya Gen frowned, knowing that he probably wouldn't find any useful clues from this family.

……

Meanwhile, at the Shibuya Hitsuri Shrine.

Muheyou was climbing the mountain path with her mother, who rarely walked such paths and was exhausted and out of breath.

"Your health is so much worse than it was a few years ago. Back then, you could run several kilometers with me, but now you're like this just climbing a mountain path," Muheyou said, supporting her mother.

"That was several years ago..."

Kiha Mikiko stopped and waved to the surroundings. Immediately, a bodyguard came forward with a bamboo stool and put it down.

As she sat down to rest, she continued, "Why don't we go down the mountain? We don't necessarily have to come to this shrine. Aren't there other shrines? Let's find one we can drive up to..."

"But I've heard that Shibuya is a really magical place, and we've already climbed this far."

Muheyou responded by twisting her waist.

"Do as you please..." Mikiko sighed.

At that moment, someone handed over a cell phone, saying that a call had come in.

"Is it a business call? And at this hour... why is it a public phone?" Muheyou asked, leaning closer to look at the caller ID on the screen.

"I don't know."

Kimihiko took the phone and pressed the answer button.

A voice came from the other end of the phone that surprised both the mother and daughter.

Especially Muheyou, whose brows immediately furrowed.

—What, is it Kamiya-kun calling?

"Let me pick it up."

Muheyou leaned closer to the phone and asked, "How did Kamiya-kun get my mother's contact information? Why are you calling?"

"There are some things I need Auntie's help with," Kamiya Gen said on the other end of the line.

"You can contact me if you have any problems. Aren't our walkie-talkies on the same channel?"

"Alright, alright, let me talk to Kamiya-kun."

Kihara Mikiko interrupted, avoiding her daughter, and got up to go elsewhere with her phone.

Only Muheyou, staring wide-eyed, remained rooted to the spot, completely bewildered by the situation.

Why... does Kamiya-kun have his mother's contact information when I haven't even introduced them to each other yet?

She sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put her finger on what the problem was.

In short, quite some time later.

Kihara Mikiko returned, handed the phone to the bodyguard, gave him a few instructions, and then said to her daughter:

"Let's keep climbing, we've rested enough."