Chapter 139 Contact
"Hinata Jito, what do you mean?!"

Officer Yamashita really wanted to punch two big holes in the table.

His eyes widened. “I’ve already made it very clear, and I don’t want to repeat it again… As long as you explain everything clearly, we are willing to sign a contract with you and advance the cost of your mother’s surgery.”

Is this cheating? Probably not.

At least Officer Yamashita has decided that if Mr. Fujimori really tampered with the contract, he will be responsible for paying the hospital fees!
Unfortunately, in the face of this heartfelt assurance, Hinata Jito remained indifferent.

Only when his mouth was dry did he let out a somewhat cold smile: "It sounds good, but you asked a kidnapper like me to sign a contract. Who knows if you will fulfill it? Don't they always say on TV that political rights will be deprived for life?"

Yamashita was not dissatisfied with the lack of trust, but instead became more energetic - no matter what, as long as he spoke, it was fine!
So he immediately explained to the other party: "Don't worry, contracts are civil rights, and the law will not prohibit this!"

"The so-called deprivation of political rights means depriving prisoners of their right to vote and be elected, or their right to freedom of speech, publication, assembly, etc. The contracts they signed are still legally binding!"

Hinata felt a little tempted when he heard that, but before Yamashita could strike while the iron was hot, the desire quickly disappeared and his face became dull again.

Yamashita was exhausted both physically and mentally by his sudden change of attitude, but there was nothing he could do but to keep going.

……

"It looks like things aren't going well."

Saotsu stared at the large expanse of glass. “If he still has this expression after hearing Officer Yamashita mention his mother, it would explain a lot.”

The Fujimoris looked over in confusion.

To be honest, both of them are high-level intellectuals.

Even if my wife is a full-time housewife, it was only after she graduated from university. Not to mention Mr. Fujimori, the young and promising president.

But today, they just felt that they were ordinary and couldn't understand what these detectives were talking about.

Conan raised his head and explained: "From the current situation, it is very likely that Hinata Jito has an accomplice! And he is holding on now just to buy time for his accomplice to deal with the ransom."

He said as he looked at Saotsu: "You think so too, right?"

Saotsu nodded, "Ever since the police said they didn't find the ransom money in his house, and they haven't found Maruta yet, I've had this idea. But I wasn't sure at the time, so I didn't mention it."

He looked at the Fujimori couple, whose faces suddenly changed when they heard that there was an accomplice, and smiled and comforted them: "Don't worry, this is actually a good thing for you."

"...Good news?" The two were dumbfounded.

"Yeah." Saotsu pointed into the interrogation room.

"Judging from Hyuga Jito's performance, he has great trust in his accomplices."

"If he is right, his accomplices will definitely use the ransom money to pay for the surgery."

"So, as long as we keep a close eye on his mother in the hospital, it will be very easy to catch his accomplices."

But Mrs. Fujimori was still worried: "What if he is wrong?"

"That's even easier!" Saotsugu spread his hands, "As long as we tell him the truth, Hinata Jito will definitely expose his accomplices."

After thinking about it and realizing that this was indeed the case, Fujimori and the other man put their minds at ease again.

But what Sao didn't tell them was that all this was possible only on the basis that the kidnappers didn't kill the hostages. After all, he couldn't guarantee where the two missing bullets would be used.

And this time.

A police officer who heard this scratched his head and said, "If that's the case, then his accomplice is doomed, isn't he?"

He showed off his opinion with some pleasure: "Suppose the accomplice is really willing to help Hinata Jito pay for the surgery."

"But if he goes, he will be caught. When the ransom is recovered, he will be arrested as well."

"If he doesn't go, Hyuga Jito will not let him off easily. If he is identified, he will be dead as well."

He said, looking forward to the three detectives' approval.

But for a moment, there was no response.

"Uh... is there something wrong?"

Noticing that the atmosphere was taking a turn for the worse, Hattori was about to speak to offer some way out, but Saotsugu beat him to it.

"You are right in principle, but solving a case is never a matter of results. Even if his accomplices are caught, it is impossible for them to completely obey our wishes."

He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the still confused police officer: "Sir, let me ask you a question... If I give you 5000 million and let you go to jail for ten years, are you willing to accept it?"

The police officer shook his head firmly and refused: "How can I give up the bottom line I have always insisted on just for 5000 million!"

"Ok ok." Saotsu waved his hands helplessly: "I believe in your justice, sir, but please put these aside and just look at it from the perspective of an ordinary citizen."

"..." The police officer hesitated for a moment and still refused: "Ten years is too long. I still find it difficult to accept."

"What about five years?"

"Neither."

"What if you were suddenly fired from the police force and lost your income... don't be angry, it's just a hypothetical."

"...I should... agree to this, right?"

He was a little uncertain, and immediately retorted: "But your question is meaningless. How can a kidnapper be sentenced to only five or ten years?"

Saotsu spread his hands and asked a question that sounded crazy: "But does an accomplice of a kidnapper necessarily also become the kidnapper?"

"…What do you mean?" the police officer was puzzled.

"Look, the one who kidnapped Ganta was Hyuga Jito, and the one who exchanged the ransom in the car was also Hyuga Jito. Although he used a voice changer when he called, it's also very likely that it was him."

"If it weren't for the ransom issue in the end, we might not have known that he had an accomplice in the whole kidnapping case."

"This leaves a lot of room for quibbling."

Saotsu put himself in the situation: "If I were his accomplice, after paying the hospital fee, I would go directly to the police station to turn myself in."

"And I didn't know what Hinata Jito had done. I just accepted his commission and helped him deal with a sum of money."

"It was not until later that I heard from his colleagues that the police came to inquire about the matter. I realized something was wrong, so I immediately went to the police station to see what was going on."

The police officer was a little angry: "How could anyone believe such a sophistry?!"

"But you have no evidence."

Saotsu's expression was as if he was stating a truth that he deeply believed in: "Legally, facts also need to be supported by evidence."

"When the facts exist but the evidence is insufficient, the outcome depends on the level of the lawyers and prosecutors."

"But no matter what, his accomplice can only be labeled an accomplice at best. It's hard to say how many years he will be sentenced to."

Conan frowned and looked at him secretly.

Saotsu's thoughts always made him see a familiar shadow.

But before the thought in my mind could take shape, I was interrupted by a sudden voice -

The police officer looked very young, and perhaps because he had little experience, he was a little bit unconvinced and shouted, "But if he is convicted as an accomplice, he must return the money he got! How can it be the same question as what you asked?!"

Saotsu shook his head. “It’s going to be very difficult to get the ransom back.”

He reached out and rubbed the back of his neck, which was a little stiff.

"Some people always think that once the kidnappers are caught, they can get everything back. But in fact, compared with the hostages, the probability of recovering the ransom in a kidnapping case is even smaller." "If nothing else, the standard for closing a kidnapping case can also be seen - as long as the hostages are recovered and the kidnappers are arrested, the case can be filed. There is no hard and fast requirement for the ransom."

The police officer was stunned, but didn't say anything else.

He came from the system and had heard about these things, but he just lost control of his emotions and did not think it through.

Mr. Fujimori, who was standing by, was curious: "Why can't the ransom be recovered? Is it because they spend it all before being arrested?"

He didn't understand: "That's a full 100 million yen. It will take a long time to spend it all. At least I can get some of it back, right?"

Saotsu was a little surprised: "Mr. Fujimori should not have been the president for long, right?"

"Ah, yes...but what's wrong with this?" He scratched his cheek in confusion.

"If Mr. Fujimori continues doing this for a few more years, he won't be curious about this kind of thing."

Saotsu laughed teasingly, but it sounded uncomfortable.

He looked at Mr. Fujimori who was feeling a little uncomfortable and said, "When you receive bribes or come into contact with some hidden benefits in the future, you will understand that there are too many ways to deal with money like this in this world."

"If nothing else, even if you want to take the right path, there are Swiss banks to choose from!"

"As long as you deposit the money, let alone committing a crime, even if there is a world war and you are brought to the International Military Tribunal, the police will not be able to withdraw the money."

Mr. Fujimori looked embarrassed. He felt that everyone present was staring at him, and he felt very uneasy.

He stammered, "...I, I won't..."

Saotsu, on the other hand, comforted him: "Don't be embarrassed. All crows are black. You are in a high position. What's wrong with considering your future?"

Everyone else was confused when they heard this. They had no idea whether he was defending his employer or smearing him.
Saotsu didn't care what they were thinking, and after a pause he continued, "If that accomplice is able to open an account in a Swiss bank, you won't get a single cent of the 100 million yen back."

“Even if the law requires the ransom to be paid, it will turn from a criminal case into a civil lawsuit, and it is too easy to delay it.”

"And after being released from prison, there is still a way out of the country."

Mrs. Fujimori looked into the interrogation room and asked unwillingly, "What if Hinata Jito identifies him? Can it be used as evidence?"

"Of course." Saotsu nodded, but then poured cold water on him: "But it will probably be very difficult."

He also looked behind the glass: "Although I don't know what disease his mother has, I think she will definitely need a lot of help in the future."

"As long as his accomplice pays the fee honestly and uses the excuse of helping to take care of his mother, it is unlikely that Ri Xiangji will betray him."

The atmosphere was a little dull for a while.

After listening to all the analysis, the police officer walked forward and knocked on the one-way glass with his fingers.

In the interrogation room, Yamashita heard the noise and walked out with a frown.

"police officer!"

The police officer went forward and told him what had happened outside.

Yamashita's brows relaxed a little.

If it is true as Saotsu said, his accomplices will fall into the trap themselves, then it can be considered a good thing.

However, what Hattori said before always cast a shadow on his heart, preventing him from completely settling down.

Yamashita had a lot of thoughts in his mind.

But before he could sort out his thoughts, another troublesome matter came to him!

——It was the police officer who had just brought the gun in for inspection.

"Officer Yamashita, the test results are out."

He took out the paper report with a solemn expression.

"Although only traces of Hinata Jito were found on the surface of the gun, we detected fingerprints of another person on the side of the magazine and on the bullets loaded inside it," he read out.

This is obviously a good thing!

But Yamashita could only rub his brows and give an order without hope: "Send it to the database for comparison to see if we have included it?"

"I've checked it, officer!"

The police officer was quite capable: "However, the owner of those fingerprints... is a dead person!"

It actually exists in the database?!

Yamashita was very surprised.

As for the death, it actually doesn’t have much impact. As long as there are clues, we can eventually find the cause!

He quickly said, "Give me his information... You should have printed it out, right?!"

The police officer in front of him took out a page from the report in his hand.

Yamashita took it immediately.

But when his eyes swept across the photo above, his excited expression froze instantly and his face changed in an instant.

Without waiting for Hattori and Conan to ask curiously.

The police officer who delivered the report began to introduce: "These fingerprint samples were just recorded this morning... and their owner is the male corpse found floating in the river this morning."

This morning?!
Hattori suddenly thought of the photo of the floating corpse he saw on his phone this morning, and suddenly realized, "I see, this gun was picked up by Mr. Hinata from the river!"

Conan knew more than him and knew that in addition to the gun, the corpse was most likely carrying another vital item!

But he didn't have time to ask Officer Yamashita whether he had found more strange things in Hinata Jito's house.

Yamashita had already called his boss with a serious expression.

He knew how much the police attached to the body. Now that this situation had occurred, the higher-ups needed to come up with ideas on what to do.

Fortunately-

Although there are some dirty tricks among the public security and police, as it is related to yesterday's terrorist attack, no one has the time to resort to such xenophobic tactics.

So the police, who had been searching on the river for a day, got the news.

"Officer Yamashita, right?"

The senior public security official I met in the morning called and said, "I have heard the details. Is anyone still at Hinata Jito's house?"

Hearing this much more polite tone, Yamashita also replied seriously: "There is another group of forensic personnel there, is there anything you need us to do?"

"Please tell them that from now on, don't open anything closed, and don't touch anything that seems weird or wrong!"

Yamashita's curiosity was aroused once again.

"I want to ask, what are you guys looking for with all this trouble? Could it be that this group of people stole something from Osaka Castle yesterday?"

The senior public security officials were silent for a moment, then, remembering the possible existence of undercover agents in the police force, ended the conversation in a cold tone.

"Sorry, no comment!"

(End of this chapter)