Chapter 161
Usuha Izuki crouched in front of the seat, studying the bomb below.
Hagiwara Kenji asked: "How is it? Can you defuse it?"
"I can defuse it. I have a Swiss Army knife on me."
The Swiss Army knife was compact and convenient, with commonly used tools like scissors, screwdrivers, and tweezers that could be pulled out from the folding compartments. With his accident-prone constitution, carrying this thing was really useful—it often came in handy.
Hagiwara Kenji breathed a sigh of relief: "Right, you always carry that. Then it's fine. Since you're up there... hm?"
His words suddenly stopped.
Because he'd been worried while taking the call earlier, Hagiwara Kenji couldn't help pacing around the office, and before he knew it, he'd walked to the window.
But the binoculars were in Ibuki Ai's hands, so he couldn't see where Usuha Izuki was when he looked up. His gaze could only wander outside the window, and he happened to see someone cross the police line.
Outside the police line were either reporters or onlookers, while inside there were only a few scattered police maintaining order, so someone suddenly entering was very conspicuous.
Especially since that person was riding a bicycle and hadn't locked it—just kicked down the stand and walked over.
Hagiwara Kenji himself had exceptional observation skills and excellent deductive abilities. After working as a detective for several years and encountering so many cases, he'd developed his own intuition about criminals.
This intuition was actually various details pieced together by the subconscious, so sometimes the conscious mind hadn't reacted, but intuition had already sensed something was wrong.
At this moment, Hagiwara Kenji felt something very subtle, even interrupting his conversation with Usuha Izuki to turn and ask: "Who is this person? Why was he let in?"
Officer Shima glanced over and actually recognized him: "It's Lin Kungfu, a bomb expert from the neighboring Tenshin University. Previously when we needed bomb disposal but the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team's expert wasn't available, we commissioned him to come... probably the same situation this time."
The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team didn't consist entirely of bomb disposal experts—those were truly elite, very few in number, and troublesome to train. So just like how Inspector Megure established long-term cooperation with Kudo Yusaku, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team also cooperated with researchers from certain bomb research labs. When they were short-staffed, they would outsource depending on the situation.
Actually, with Hagiwara Kenji here, there was no need to call another bomb expert from outside. Though he'd left the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team two years ago, because Tokyo had quite a few bombing cases and he felt there was demand, Hagiwara Kenji had consciously asked Matsuda Jinpei to give him supplementary lessons, allowing him to access advanced theoretical knowledge and maintain his hands-on skills by dismantling models.
Generally speaking, with Hagiwara Kenji and Samukawa Shinryu present, there was no need to call any bomb expert—at most they might encounter situations requiring relocation and detonation, where ordinary members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team could come assist.
But the amusement park manager had acted too quickly. As soon as the ticket booth exploded, he called police again. The operator didn't know there had been a previous incident here or who Criminal Investigation Division One had dispatched, so naturally they had to call the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.
Hagiwara Kenji asked: "Is Tenshin University far from here?"
"Not far—you can see he rode his bicycle here. The building behind the Ferris wheel is... hm?"
Officer Shima, who had once been an elite in Criminal Investigation Division One, gradually sensed something was wrong as he spoke, staring at the bicycle the bomb expert had parked and falling into thought.
Seeing Officer Shima's reaction, Hagiwara Kenji knew he wasn't alone: "I have some thoughts."
Officer Shima: "...What a coincidence, so do I."
The two exchanged glances and began communicating quietly.
"Should we test him?"
"Let's try. We don't need to worry about Shinryu anyway."
"Alright, I'll instruct the others."
After brief communication, Hagiwara Kenji finally picked up his phone again: "Shinryu, did you hear that?"
Though Usuha Izuki wasn't at the scene, based on the sounds coming through the phone, he still guessed the current situation: "You saw someone suspicious?"
"Right, a bomb expert borrowed from the neighboring university. He came by bicycle and doesn't have a bike chain for locking."
Knowledgeable about bombs, close by, could ride a bicycle over in the middle of the night, no bike chain... this matched very highly with the criminal profile they'd deduced from the traces at the murder scene they'd just seen.
But since he was an acquaintance of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who came to help, it wouldn't be appropriate for them to interrogate him right away. In such situations, they needed to use some skill and probe indirectly.
So Hagiwara Kenji turned his head toward the door, staring at the approaching person while quickly discussing with Usuha Izuki in a low voice: "Shinryu, cooperate with me and pretend to be an ordinary person, how about it?"
Usuha Izuki: "..........."
Hagiwara Kenji belatedly realized: "Do you know how to act like an ordinary person?"
Usuha Izuki said decisively: "No one understands what an ordinary person is better than me."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...?"
That statement sounded somehow strange... but since the other person always said weird things, he was too lazy to investigate further. If worst came to worst, he'd help cover.
While Hagiwara Kenji discussed the plan with Usuha Izuki, Officer Shima quickly called over Ibuki Ai and explained the situation.
"Oh—the bomb expert coming soon is the suspect, we need to test him while hiding that Samukawa is a police officer who can defuse bombs, right? No problem!" Ibuki Ai immediately agreed, then expressed confusion. "But isn't it a bit strange for the suspect to appear here so openly?"
"...He probably doesn't know that all the bomb experts from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team are busy today and they need to ask for his help."
Officer Shima was very grateful for this coincidence. Otherwise, they really would have no clue about the culprit's identity. After all, there were no surveillance cameras installed in this area—they could only set a trap when the money was delivered. Being able to have a suspect an hour early was really good luck.
Soon, bomb expert Professor Lin from Tenshin University entered and asked: "Can you contact the person inside?"
Officer Shima immediately said: "Yes, we informed them of the contact method through broadcast and had the person in the gondola with the bomb call Officer Hagiwara. But the internet is slow and the signal is poor, so we can't send photos—we can only rely on descriptions."
Professor Lin looked in the direction Officer Shima pointed toward Hagiwara Kenji, just in time to see him on the phone.
"Can you see the bomb?" Hagiwara Kenji asked as if flustered. "Do you see its wires?"
Usuha Izuki cooperated by asking: "What are wires?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Wires are things that can conduct electrical current... electric cables! Do you understand now?"
There was no need to act to this extent!
Professor Lin listened to the seemingly frantic communication and felt slightly relieved.
Good, since he was an ordinary person who didn't even know what wires were, there was no problem... Sigh, what bad luck that they called him to help today of all days.
Though Professor Lin had installed the bomb himself, he didn't want to be caught, so of course he had to act. Based on Hagiwara Kenji's fragmented relay, he said seriously:
"It should be a timed bomb. Generally speaking, it's best to cool it with liquid nitrogen first, but we don't have that option now—we can only force the defusal."
Hagiwara Kenji asked: "Can't we turn the Ferris wheel to bring it to ground level for you to defuse?"
"...We can't. There's risk—it's best not to make any other big movements."
Professor Lin, having made the bomb himself, naturally knew the situation—actually, even turning it down for defusal wouldn't pose much risk. He'd just used rhetoric to make the person in charge think stopping would cause trouble, deliberately keeping that gondola suspended in the air.
This way, even if bomb experts came, since making mistakes would cause explosions, everyone generally tended toward caution. Since the criminal had said it was best to stop the Ferris wheel, they wouldn't consider turning the gondola down again, but could only guess the bomb's structure based on descriptions, thus buying enough time.
He even suggested: "It's a bit dangerous for ordinary people—why not just give up."
"But when the time comes, the bomb will still explode, right?" Hagiwara Kenji frowned. "And there's less than an hour left now. The criminal still hasn't told us how to deliver the money—I feel very uneasy..."
Professor Lin: "..."
Of course! He was right here! Under the police's noses, how could he call to inform them of the money drop location!
He began changing the subject: "Anyway, since we're defusing the bomb, first ask what tools are available, then describe what the bomb looks like... Time is tight, please hurry."
Stop talking about these irrelevant things!
So Usuha Izuki began describing the bomb he saw in a layman's tone while multitasking, his hands working to defuse the bomb with crackling sounds.
The sound of cutting wires was quite obvious to Hagiwara Kenji's ears, so he didn't dare put it on speaker and could only relay himself: "Mm, next to the red wire, there are also two wires side by side... Next to this—do you mean left side or right side? North side? Which side is north?"
The observers were all getting annoyed listening, but Professor Lin didn't care.
Because he had the complete design diagram in his mind, those blood pressure-raising descriptions didn't affect him at all. He easily began drawing based on the conversation's progress.
While talking on the phone, Hagiwara Kenji walked over with paper and pen and glanced at it, getting a clear picture in his mind.
He said admiringly: "With that kind of description, you really managed to draw it!"
"Bomb structures are all pretty similar."
"Eh? Really? But from that description, many parts seemed to have other possibilities..."
Professor Lin paused, fortunately this bomb wasn't his design: "...Because from the description, I felt it was like the bomb in the 1989 New York Columbus Avenue Building case, so I instinctively drew it."
"Hm? I know that bomb, but from his description it would be really hard to associate it with that... especially here, here, and here—all questionable. I was thinking of asking him to confirm again, but I didn't expect you to draw it directly."
Professor Lin finally realized a problem: "...You understand bombs?"
Officer Shima coughed: "Hagiwara Kenji, former bomb disposal expert from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team."
Professor Lin: "................"
What the hell! There was already an expert here, so why call him!
He thought the people here didn't understand, so he'd relaxed his guard, thinking he could easily fool them...
When Usuha Izuki saw the bomb, he actually knew how to describe it so Hagiwara Kenji would immediately have a concept of it, but Hagiwara Kenji deliberately didn't let him speak clearly and insisted he describe it like a layman... Now when the other party mentioned that bomb from that case, Usuha Izuki knew only the culprit would directly associate it with that.
A normal bomb disposal expert, after hearing his description, should be as confused about many details as Hagiwara Kenji was.
Hagiwara Kenji heard the person on the phone say something, paused, then turned to give an instruction: "Lower the Ferris wheel."
Professor Lin was startled: "The bomb isn't defused yet!"
"It's fine. With this structure, breaking the balance won't cause an explosion. The claim that stopping the Ferris wheel otherwise would cause an explosion was just the criminal's lie." Hagiwara Kenji smiled. "Please trouble yourself to come with us too. Once the Ferris wheel comes down, you can defuse the bomb directly."
Professor Lin: "..........."
Though he felt speechless, compared to exposing himself directly, this wasn't unacceptable. Defuse it then—he'd just consider this attempt a failure.
So Professor Lin followed the group to stand under the Ferris wheel, waiting for the target gondola to descend.
As that gondola gradually approached the ground, Professor Lin could finally make out the person inside more clearly, and couldn't help becoming somewhat restless.
Through the glass, it was still a bit blurry, but just that silhouette somehow reminded him of Hades from Greek mythology.
That gloomy yet dangerous aura—just one glance made one feel as if falling into an icy abyss of terror...
What kind of person was inside there...
Professor Lin began having wild thoughts.
He'd heard that yakuza liked to sit in high places before transactions to overlook the surrounding situation, ensuring transaction safety and avoiding being ambushed... Could he have accidentally disrupted a yakuza transaction...
It was fine—that person didn't know he was the one who planted the bomb... Professor Lin began comforting himself again.
Soon, the dark-haired, red-eyed young man emerged from the gondola and walked over with a cold expression.
He wore a black trench coat, a color that further emphasized his dangerous aura, adding more oppressive presence than when seen through glass.
Even more eerie, he abruptly stopped in front of Professor Lin and asked out of nowhere: "Is that thing inside yours?"
Professor Lin, stared at closely by those red eyes, had his mind go blank for an instant and instinctively replied: "...I didn't install that bomb!"
"Huh? He didn't mention bombs—why was your first reaction about bombs?" Hagiwara Kenji asked with a smile.
"Besides bombs, what else could it be..." Professor Lin, after all, was committing his first crime and hadn't anticipated this situation. With such a terrifying person nearby, his mind was a bit chaotic. "Stop talking about this—time's almost up. Let me go defuse the bomb first..."
"Oh, that's no longer necessary."
Hagiwara Kenji said lightly: "This person already finished defusing it."
Professor Lin: "...???"
Officer Shima cooperated with the introduction: "This is Officer Samukawa, whom even FBI bomb experts frequently consult."
There was no helping it—though Hagiwara Kenji and the others hadn't planned to mention it, when people specially flew from America to meet Samukawa Shinryu, and it happened multiple times, somehow word leaked out...
Professor Lin was dumbfounded: "But, but if that's the case, why was the description so amateurish earlier... was it an act?"
You people are sick! For such a simple bomb! You already had two bomb experts! Why did you call me over!
And acting like amateurs! The acting was too realistic! Are you actors?!