Chapter 136 The mystery of the disappearance of the ransom!

On a small screen.

Through the scattered sunlight shining in, one can see the messy scene in the tattoo parlor.

There was a wooden table near the entrance, with a thick glass panel on top of it, and a loudspeaker on the glass panel.

Further in, there are four or five dedicated tattoo chairs, which are scattered in different places in a twisted manner, and there are a few books piled up on top.

On the tile floor, various tattoo gadgets and glass bottles filled with unknown liquids were rolling around.

……

Although the dust could not be clearly seen in the images transmitted by the camera, one could tell from the layout that this place had been abandoned for a long time.

Mrs. Fujimori followed the instructions on the phone and walked around the clutter to a small compartment on the side.

The space in the small compartment is not big, but it looks much tidier. There is not much mess. There is only a very large blue trash can against the wall.

Mrs. Fujimori opened the lid and laboriously placed the bags of money inside one by one.

"What does it mean?"

Yamashita frowned when he saw this scene on the screen, very puzzled: "If the ransom is placed in a closed space, how can the kidnappers take it away?"

Conan was also confused.

In such a deserted tattoo shop, no matter who enters or leaves, they will be extremely conspicuous, which is completely contrary to the purpose that the kidnappers want to hide.

"Generally speaking, most kidnapping cases require the family members to leave the ransom on a high-speed train. This is both safe and secretive."

Hattori also put aside his distracting thoughts and began to think: "Why would the kidnappers do such an unreasonable thing?!"

"...Maybe they want to use the sewers?"

Saotsu stroked his chin and said, "In this case, if we want to get the ransom without attracting attention, going through the sewers is undoubtedly the best option."

He explained in detail: "Use a trash can to hide a sewer entrance, and then make the bottom of the trash can detachable. In this way, you can take the ransom without anyone noticing and quickly escape when the police's attention is distracted!"

"That makes sense!" Yamashita was shocked and punched his palm: "Okay! I'll have someone search the sewer now!"

He took out his cell phone and contacted other police officers who were on standby nearby.

【Will it be that simple? 】

Conan stared at the trash can, his mind in turmoil.

If the kidnappers only wanted to use the sewer, why did they choose this place?

Wouldn't it be better on the street?
In this case, the first thing the police thought of was that the kidnappers might use the garbage trucks that clean up the garbage every day to collect the ransom, or through a sanitation worker, or an ordinary person who has been near the garbage bin...

The more people there are, the more suspects there are.

The more possibilities there are, the less likely you are to think of the sewer first.

Even if you are worried about being caught by someone throwing garbage when you are moving, you can avoid this by using eavesdropping devices or the like.

If there is really no other choice, choosing a remote street is much better than this completely closed shop!
but……

Although there were many doubts, Conan did not say them out. After all, he couldn't think of a better reason at the moment.

And at this time——

"Wait a minute! What is Mrs. Fujimori doing?"

Officer Yamashita's exclamation interrupted Conan's thoughts.

He looked up quickly.

On the screen, Mrs. Fuji put the two big bags into the trash can, and then reached out and opened the top bag a little!

She reached into her bag.

Because of the angle and light, the specific contents of the bag could not be seen clearly. One could only see Mrs. Fujimori taking out stacks of banknotes!
After taking about half the thickness of her palm, she stopped and zipped the bag back together.

Then, he closed the lid of the trash can and walked out, carefully closing the door of the compartment.

Then she picked up the speaker on the table and walked to the door of the tattoo shop.

Then...

[I got the money! I got the money! ]

【Anyone who sees it gets a share! Anyone who sees it gets a share! 】

[I got the money! I got the money! ]

【Anyone who sees it gets a share! Anyone who sees it gets a share! 】

……

The recorded audio in the speaker was turned on and repeated loudly nearby!

Many people gathered from their homes out of curiosity, but more were ragged homeless people sleeping on the garbage dump.

Mrs. Fujimori waved the money in her hand at them vigorously, then turned around and threw all the ten thousand yuan bills into the shop behind her.

Ordinary people might be suspicious when faced with this scene, but the homeless people didn't care!
After seeing some people rushing in, the herd mentality took effect, and more and more people poured into the tattoo shop, frantically grabbing the colorful banknotes on the ground!
……

The people in the car couldn't hear the sound from the horn, but just by looking at the picture, they could analyze what happened!
"I see. Are you trying to use money to attract people and conceal your identity?"

Officer Yamashita suddenly hit his palm and suddenly realized what was going on.

"This is impossible!"

Hattori objected angrily: "No matter how well you cover it up, the bag containing money is still too conspicuous and will be discovered at a glance!"

Uh, that makes sense.

Shan Xia frowned, thought for a moment and said, "Then why don't we just leave the bag there and take the money?"

"This is not realistic either." Hattori then denied.

He pointed at the figures on the screen and said, "You've seen what these people look like... If anyone dares to take the money out of the trash can, the others will never let him leave. They will rush over and take away all the money!"

Saotsu tried to explain: "...Unless, these people are all in the same group."

But then he shook his head: "No, the possibility is too low!"

He stared at the footage captured by the surveillance camera, his brows furrowed - this superfluous action was really hard for him to understand!
"Ah, love!" Mr. Fujimori suddenly exclaimed.

Several people were stunned, only to find that a dark hand in the screen suddenly reached out to Mrs. Fujimori's chest!
It's unclear what happened afterwards.

Because, during the shaking, the picture on the display went completely black!

Yamashita was shocked and didn't bother to hide anymore. He drove the car towards the tattoo shop in a hurry!
Fortunately, the two places were not far apart, and they reached their destination in less than five minutes.

"like!"

Mr. Fujimori rushed out calling his wife's name without waiting for the car to stop.

Yamashita was caught off guard and quickly unbuckled his seat belt and rushed down: "Wait! Be careful, Mr. Fujimori!"

The tattoo shop was crowded with people.

Just when Mr. Fujimori's face changed drastically and he wanted to rush in, a pair of hands suddenly hugged him from the left.

"Husband!" Mrs. Fujimori's voice trembled and she sounded like crying.

Mr. Fujimori turned his head and saw his wife beside him. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly checked her carefully, then hugged her tightly in his arms.

"That's great, that's great... I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Ah."

Mrs. Fujimori's eyes were red with emotion in her husband's arms. She explained: "Just now, a homeless man seemed to think that my necklace was valuable and snatched it away."

It turned out to be the case.

Yamashita nodded and said comfortingly: "It's okay, as long as the person is okay."

As he spoke, his eyes jumped to the chaotic scene in front of him and hesitantly asked: "What should we do? Should we intervene?"

"Intervene."

Saotsu suggested, "We have already come out of the shadows. If the kidnappers are nearby they will definitely see us. There is no point in continuing to hide."

Yamashita subconsciously looked at Hattori, and when he saw that he did not object, he took out his police ID and shouted, "Don't move! Police!"

Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to him. Instead, the people picking up the money moved even faster.

Shanxia felt a little embarrassed and shouted again, but there was no change in the result.

Soon, it seemed that all the money on the ground had been snatched away, and the crowd rushed out.

"Don't go! Stop!"

Yamashita stretched out his arms to stop him, but was pushed to the ground.

Hattori tried to push forward, but it was of no use either.

They could only watch helplessly as they all left.

Yamashita pounded the floor angrily: "Damn it! If I hadn't asked others to find the sewer before..."

Saotsu frowned and walked into the tattoo shop.

The already messy decoration is now even more unsightly, bottles and jars are trampled and crushed, and the air is filled with pungent smells.

He avoided the unknown liquid and reached out to push open the door of the compartment.

Conan and Hattori thought of the same thing and followed Saotori.

The blue trash can lid was opened——

In the large hole, two large black bags were still quietly stacked there, bulging and full of things.

???

The one who rushed over looked at the mountain and said, "Strange, we came too quickly, so the kidnappers didn't have time to take it away?"

Hattori didn't answer.

He squinted into the trash can, paused, and suddenly reached out to pull the strap of the big bag!
Yamashita was shocked and was about to stop him, but he saw Saotome actually cooperating with him to help him!
"wrong!"

As soon as he started to use it, Saotsu's face changed: "Why did the weight become so much heavier?!"

He gathered his strength to put the bag on the ground and opened the zipper impatiently.

The original banknotes in the bag were gone, and instead, they were filled with old newspapers!
!!!

Saotsu and Hattori looked at each other, quickly stood up, and pulled out the other big bag.

However, the contents were exactly the same! All of them were tattered papers!

The pupils of the people who saw this scene shrank, and their faces were full of disbelief!
Yamashita even asked in shock, expressing everyone's thoughts: "Money...where's the money?!"

No one can answer.

Saotsu tipped the trash can over, knocked on its bottom, then squatted on the ground to carefully study the floor, and finally confirmed with reluctance that there was nothing wrong with either.

Conan frowned, thinking about the key.

"From the time the lady put the money in the trash can to the time we arrived here, it was no more than ten minutes... How did the kidnappers transfer the ransom in such a short time?"

Are all the people who picked up the money really accomplices? !

Everyone was puzzled.

But Mrs. Fujimori, who was out of tune with them, seemed relieved.

She looked at the officer at the foot of the mountain and asked expectantly, "Mr. Officer, if the kidnappers get the ransom, does that mean my son can come back?"

Yamashita was speechless for a moment, but looking at the poor woman's expression, he nodded: "Generally speaking, that's right."

"That's good!" Mrs. Fujimori patted her chest.

Hattori looked at her and asked, "Madam, did you see anyone enter this compartment just now?"

"This..." Mrs. Fujimori raised her head and thought carefully, her expression a little hesitant: "Probably... no."

As soon as she finished speaking, she immediately made up for it: "However, there were too many people at the time, and I was squeezed outside, so I'm not sure if I saw it wrong or not."

Yamashita also joined the discussion: "No matter what, one thing is certain - the ransom money disappeared during this period! No matter what method was used, it must be related to the previous group of people!"

As he spoke, his smug expression collapsed again: "But there are so many people, I don't know if I can find them all."

Saot looked at the man standing nearby: "If Mr. Fujimori doesn't care about the money being taken away, I have an idea."

Mr. Fujimori was stunned, then smiled bitterly: "Of course I don't care... After all, 100 million yen has been paid, so how much do they take away?"

"This will be easy to handle."

Saotsu said loudly, "They all gathered here through the loudspeaker. People who live near the tattoo shop must have come."

"You mean, starting from here and looking for people from house to house?"

Yamashita was a little embarrassed: "...But, there were so many people before, I didn't remember every face."

"Just remember one."

Saotsu explained, "As long as you can find someone you identify, you can force him to return the found property according to the law, and offer to give the found money to him if he can identify the other person."

He rubbed his fingers together and snapped them: "This way, as long as we put in some effort, we can definitely find the person."

"good idea!"

Conan and Hattori had to admit that this was indeed a good method.

Yamashita's eyes lit up: "I'll do it now!"

He said this and turned to leave.

But a voice suddenly stopped him!

"and many more!"

It was Mrs. Fujimori who spoke!

She glanced at everyone present, her face grim: "Mr. Yamashita, and several detectives... May I ask, what exactly do you want to do?!"

Yamashita was stunned when he heard this: "This... Madam, of course you are going to catch the kidnappers."

"But I just hope my son can come back safely!" Mrs. Fujimori raised her voice unconsciously.

She said angrily, "Listen, Mr. Officer! I don't care who the kidnapper is, or whether the 100 million yen can be found! As long as my son is alive, these things are not important to me!"

"Since the kidnapper has received the ransom, the initiative is in his hands. If you continue to search for him like this..."

Mrs. Fujimori paused and asked sternly: "For the sake of performance, do you not care about my son's life or death?!"

"Of course... not!" Officer Yamashita waved his hands repeatedly.

He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

After all, judging from a mother's request, their actions would indeed anger the kidnappers and be extremely detrimental to the hostages.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

And this time.

Saotsu took a deep breath and spoke first, "I want to apologize to you, ma'am."

He bowed slightly and said, "I didn't consider your son's consideration and made this suggestion hastily."

Mrs. Fujimori was stunned.

She didn't expect to be apologized so formally, and was at a loss for a moment: "... No, where..."

She shook her head, but her favorability towards the young man skyrocketed.

Saot smiled apologetically again, then turned to Yamashita and said, "Mrs. Fujimori is right. Even if we want to investigate, we have to wait until Ganta comes back... As for now, let's go back to the Fujimori residence and wait for news."

In view of the family members' opinions, everyone had to return first.

Officer Yamashita walked in front, followed closely by Mr. Fujimori with his arm around his wife, Saotsu followed behind with his hands in his pockets, and Hattori and Conan followed side by side at the end.

After he had created enough distance between himself and the person in front of him, his abdomen suddenly said in a deep voice, "Something is wrong, isn't it, Kudo?"

"what!"

Conan nodded and stared solemnly at the figures in front of him.

"Indeed... it's very suspicious!"

(End of this chapter)