Ke Xue: I picked up a bottle of sherry at the beginning.

The busy police officers and the silently falling rain surrounded the two of them, and they suddenly had a strange feeling of being isolated from the world.

"It's obvious that Inspector Hyoto is trying to exclude you and me from the Queen's Hotel case."

"I can see that. Do you think there's something wrong with that?"

"From the very beginning, you had no search warrant in the Queen's Hotel case, yet you're putting pressure on me uninvited. Isn't that strange?"

"Since you know I don't have the authority, why are you following me?"

"Whether you have the authority or not, I will obey your orders."

"Well said, you are worthy of being my servant!"

Just as Shiraizumi was about to retort, someone called out his name. A middle-aged man, wearing a well-washed, well-worn coat, greeted me. He was Inspector Konosuba, a veteran of the Ginza precinct. He simply asked us to visit the precinct later. Neither of us objected, and the middle-aged man left, allowing Shiraizumi to continue his previous conversation.

. 0 .......

"You've been eyeing the West Pacific oil development for a long time, right? You knew there must be some hidden secrets within the company. And while you were investigating, the murder at the Queen's Hotel happened..."

"I suspect that the purpose of establishing the West Pacific Oil Development Corporation was to absorb up to 100 billion yen in secret funds."

"Wasn't the West Pacific Petroleum Development Company originally established to absorb illegal funds?"

The Petroleum Development Corporation is a special corporation, an organization established by government officials using public tax dollars, solely for the "public interest." However, trillions of yen in tax dollars have been spent, and detailed expenditures are kept secret. Furthermore, officials leave one special corporation and immediately join another, each receiving retirement benefits exceeding tens of millions of yen. This has sparked widespread public outrage after media reports. However, government officials seem unable to understand the public's anger, as evidenced by the fact that the same pattern has been repeated hundreds of times over decades, with no change.

The only difference is that now the role has changed to oil development in the Western Pacific.

"You've known for a long time that there's some connection between the Ministry of Finance's Mita branch and the West Pacific Oil Development, but you just haven't found the right moment to unravel it. It just so happened that the Queen's Hotel incident occurred at that moment."

"In short, you already knew what I reported this afternoon."

"Yeah."

Ryoko nodded reluctantly, like a high school girl whose mother found her test paper full of red marks.

Suddenly, Ryoko clasped her hands together in front of Shiraizumi Masaru.

"Feel sorry!"

"Well, it's you who's apologizing to me that's causing me trouble... The point is, you just need to explain the whole story to me... At least that way I can be mentally prepared when that Inspector Hyoto shows up to interfere."

"Honestly, I didn't expect the situation to progress so quickly in just one or two days. I thought there would be a gap of two or three days."

Ryoko confirmed Shiraizumi's question.

"But Quan Yi, I absolutely have no intention of hiding anything from you. I swear, I just can't find the opportunity to explain it to you clearly."

"Then you should know clearly."

"Clear what?"

"Someone really wants to get rid of you. If you continue this provocative behavior, the consequences will be disastrous!"

After hearing what Baiquanyi said, Ryoko replied as usual: "Get rid of me? If you have the guts, try it. I will restart their lives!"

Perspective

This afternoon, when Muromachi Yukiko was telling Shiraizumi Masu about Inspector Hyodo, she said, "Ryoko isn't a good police officer, but Inspector Hyodo isn't a good person either!"

Qin Xuan relayed this sentence to Liangzi, but Liangzi's reaction was a little strange.

"I don't care what Yukiko says about me. I think she still remembers the days when she was the Discipline Officer in high school."

"How do you know that Inspector Muromachi was once the head of the Discipline Section?"

"You can guess it! And she's probably one of those people who volunteered and thinks she's doing public service. Ah—I hate people like that the most!"

"You're overreacting..."

"I'm not saying anything, but I can guess a person's past experiences just by looking at their current appearance. It's pretty accurate. Just bring anyone to me, and I can describe that person's past in just five minutes."

Ryoko described herself as if she were a psychic with the ability to see into the past.

"Then tell me about me."

"You are an exception."

Ryoko can't see through Shiraizumi Masu, which is one of the reasons why Shiraizumi Masu attracts her.

"Okay." Shiraizumi Masu shrugged. "Let's take this opportunity to ask Inspector Muromachi for help."

"What—No, absolutely not!"

"But she seems to have clues that we don't."

"This is annoying... I don't want to work with a woman like that."

"That just shows you're too narrow-minded. I'm not asking you to be on friendly terms with the other person. Ryoko, you're the head of the Criminal Division. The overall situation is more important!"

Ryoko was silent for three seconds before she exhaled a cloud of white mist.

"Well, it's really unpleasant to be taught a lesson by a subordinate like you!"

"Next is tomorrow's schedule. We have to go to the Ginza Precinct. Inspector Konuma wants to ask us for details about tonight's incident."

"Aren't you going to the Glass Tavern for the oyster bake?"

"I think we can probably get some noodles at the Ginza branch."

"I don't care! We're having oyster grilled dishes tonight. Inspector Konuma shouldn't have left the scene yet. Tell him to come to the Glass Bistro to talk to us if he has anything to say!"

"Uh...as you wish."

In the evening, Ryoko and Shiraizumi shared an umbrella. After finding Inspector Onuma, Shiraizumi conveyed Ryoko's words.

Inspector Konuma looked helpless, and then he had no choice but to agree.

Afterwards, Ryoko and Qin Xuan walked towards the location of the "Glass Restaurant" in the rain and arrived at their destination in less than five minutes. The restaurant provided plastic umbrella covers for customers to use on rainy days, so that the umbrella that stabbed the winged man's eye could be put into a bag to protect the important evidence.

After they sat down at the table for four at the end, Ryoko announced, "This meal will be paid for by the Ginza branch."

"Why bother with the Ginza branch?"

"Don't worry. The Ginza branch rigs their accounting every year and sets up a 10 million yen event budget. This is just to cover the cost of a full meal for two. It shouldn't be a big deal."

After hearing what Liangzi said, Qin Xuan felt that he was too honest as the manager of the Investigation Division.

Shiraizumi ordered beef rice bowl and cabbage rolls, and Ryoko ordered the same, and also asked for two glasses of dark beer, and asked Shiraizumi to drink with her.

Almost at the same time as the after-dinner coffee was served, Inspector Konosuba walked into the restaurant and said to the waiter, "Boil some water."

Inspector Onuma had a zombie-like look on his face and sat down in the empty seat.

Ryoko crossed her long, beautiful legs, turned her head slightly to the side, and let Shiraizumi Masu give further explanations to Inspector Onuma.

Shiraizumi Masu briefly recounted the incident and asked about the five men who attacked Ryoko and me.

Inspector Konuma added, "They've been very tight-lipped and haven't revealed a single word. However, three of them have criminal records. Once their fingerprints are entered into the computer and compared, the case will be immediately clear."

Then, Inspector Konuma explained the backgrounds of three of them.

A man attacked the mayor of M Town, who was opposing the construction of an industrial waste treatment plant, with a wooden sword. He was seriously injured and needed three months of treatment to recover.

A female city council member who opposed plans to set up a ticket office for a boat race was reportedly severely burned after gasoline was poured on her home.

A securities company employee who announced his departure from stock market hooligans was severely injured by a samurai sword and had to rely on a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

"These three are notorious thugs and professional gangsters. Have they been released from prison?"

"They've all served their sentences and are out of prison. In today's society, if you kill someone, you'll get seven or eight years at most. I think the murder-for-hire industry will become very popular in the future."

Inspector Konuma sounded very unhappy.

"As for the other two people with no criminal records, it's obvious that birds of a feather flock together. The fact that they were able to send out five people at once shows that the organization behind this is quite large. Inspector Bai, do you have any idea of ​​this?"

Yes, there is, but I don't know if it is convenient to say it out loud. When tracing the clues, we may run into unexpected places. If the clues extend all the way to high-level units in Japanese politics, it will be very troublesome and even the Metropolitan Police Department may not be able to cover it.

By then, it will be the job of the Special Investigation Division.

However, when the Special Investigation Division steps in, things will become very troublesome, and the consequences will be unpredictable.

When Shiraizumi Yoshi was still not answering, Ryoko interrupted with a bright 5.5 from the side.

"I have a few suspected targets, but I can't disclose them publicly. I'll explain them later when I have the chance. Right now is not the time."

"……Yeah?"

After hearing the expected answer, Inspector Konuma couldn't help but express regret.

"Then I won't bother you anymore. There's nothing we can do to help you."

"No."

Ryoko's expression and tone clearly said "It's none of your business".

Shiraizumi Masu saw that Inspector Onuma's zombie face was about to turn into a real zombie, so he tried to smooth things over by saying, "I'm so sorry, but we can't help you at all."

"Ah, no, you're too polite."

Inspector Konuma sighed for the umpteenth time.

Ryoko and Yukiko's collaboration

After one night, it was still cloudy and rainy the next day. This was the third day since the incident.

In the Criminal Department's counselor's office, Inspector Oka called out to Shiraizumi Masu.

"You work hard every day."

"No, it's not bad."

Inspector Maruoka was about fifty years old. If all went well, he would be able to retire in two years. Now he just prayed for a peaceful life each day, drinking brown rice tea and reading the newspaper.

"Quan Yi, are you there? Come over here right now!"

I stood up and greeted Inspector Maruoka.

"Then I'm going to work."

"Well, good luck to you."

After accepting the solemn-sounding blessing, Shiraizumi Mashi walked into Ryoko's office.

Ryoko first told Shiraizumi Yoshi that she had secretly sent the winged man's body tissue, which was listed as physical evidence, for forensic examination.

Then, Ryoko handed nearly fifty documents to Bai Quanyi. They were the information that Jia Qi sent to her through the Internet, and she printed them all out.

"I see……"

After reading it once, Bai Quanyi nodded.

It was obvious that West Pacific Petroleum Development was not a legitimate company. With fifteen executives and nine general staff, it was impossible to handle the company's full operations. Furthermore, ten of the executives were external hires, all retired officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

If each full-time manager receives an annual salary of 50 million yen and is provided with a personal office, secretary, and private car, the total amount is not too surprising. So how exactly does this company manage the huge sum of 100 billion yen every year?

"They paid 40 companies, including survey fees, investigation fees, research fees, and so on. However, these were all phantom companies that did not actually exist. This is the most ridiculous thing."

Ryoko pointed to a name: "Psycho-Energy Engineering Research Institute." What a strange name. It was located in a luxury apartment in Sanbancho, Chiyoda Ward. Every year, 300 million yen in consulting fees were deposited into the account, and the director's name was even listed on the account.

"Hundred Eyes Ghost Can."

Ryoko read it out for me.

"The clues connecting the Mita branch, the West Pacific oil development, and that Hyoto guy."

“…Who is he?”

"Doctor of Medicine, and also Doctor of Science."

"so smart."

"...The mystic who bears the above title cannot be called a cult leader, as he hasn't established a religious corporation. However, the 900 patron members of the Institute of Psycho-Energy Engineering are all prominent figures in finance, politics, and government. This man frequently gives lectures and seminars at the Ministry of Finance building for influential figures in the political, financial, and government circles."

"That way you can earn speaking fees, right?"

"This is still a small case."

"Could it be that someone like Hyakume Kichan is using magician-like abilities to control politicians and government officials, with some overtly malicious intent?"

"Look, look, this is a photo of Hyakume Kichan."

Ryoko handed a book to Shiraizumi Masaru, the title of which was "Computer Equations to Predict the Past and Present."

Bai Quanyi opened the cover with a dull look, and saw a color photo occupying the entire back cover. The thin and long face was not in proportion to the beard under the nose.

“How many years ago did this person start his activities?”

"This matter started ten years ago, when one person was in charge."