Chapter Forty-Nine: Young People

Page 1 of 3

“Biker gang… I knew it…” Shiraishi thought to himself. Just as expected—nothing but a bunch of young punks!

“Also… Chief, I suspect that Ayano Ujigen may have deliberately orchestrated the kidnapping. The bikers probably don’t know her true identity, though.” Kuroki spoke hesitantly.

“What?” Shiraishi was startled.

Kanzaki, standing nearby, immediately reminded Kuroki that they shouldn’t make such a definite claim without evidence, and so on.

“We just went to the Ujigen residence and discovered that her father had been disabled in an industrial accident. The compensation he received was inadequate, leaving the family in dire financial straits. That’s why she started working to support the family at only seventeen. I noticed the words ‘Suzuki Heavy Industries’ on his work-uniform photograph. It should be a company under the Suzuki conglomerate.”

Kuroki stated his theory.

If that was the case, Ayano Ujigen had every reason to seek revenge against the Suzuki family!

However…

This kind of revenge was clearly rather foolish. The odds of disguising herself as Sonoko Suzuki without being discovered were far too low.

Still, considering that she was only seventeen, it was hardly unusual for someone that age to do something impulsive and ill-considered.

The bikers couldn’t all be complete idiots, so… they must have genuinely believed that the girl beside them was the “Suzuki heiress.”

The surname Suzuki was so common that it would be difficult to associate it with the Suzuki conglomerate. Most likely, Ayano had revealed her identity herself and cooperated with them in arranging the kidnapping.

Probably…

The bikers thought that the Suzuki heiress wanted to take the opportunity to extort some spending money from her family.

“I understand. Send me all the photographs… Then come to Beika Aquarium as well. The kidnappers and Ayano Ujigen should both be here.” As he spoke, Shiraishi entered the aquarium.

“We’ve reached the west entrance! This kid Kanzaki actually heard the sound of waves during the call.” Kuroki made a point of praising his new partner.

Though, in Kuroki’s opinion, the new partner was rather “talkative.”

“Fine. Ask the aquarium staff for the surveillance footage and have them search for the location. I’ll go inside and look myself,” Shiraishi said decisively.

There were quite a few people here today.

After all, it was Sports Day, which was effectively a holiday. Many people had brought their children to see the marine life, while plenty of young couples enjoyed dating in such dark, secluded places.

“I can hear children… and dolphins…” Shiraishi muttered to himself. He then found a staff member and asked, “Excuse me. Where are the dolphins?”

“The dolphins… um… There are dolphins in the pool by the underwater tunnel, and also in the dolphin performance hall.” After seeing Shiraishi’s build, the employee was startled. For a moment, he even had the absurd impression that this man might be planning to hunt dolphins.

Shiraishi glanced at the aquarium map. The performance hall and the underwater tunnel were in completely different directions.

“The performance hall is unlikely… It should be very noisy there… Wait, no. There should be a lot of people in the underwater tunnel too!” Shiraishi was puzzled.

Even if the hostage had been cooperating with the kidnapping, there was no way they would make a phone call in a place crowded with visitors.

“Inspector Kunikida, please send me the processed background audio.” Shiraishi contacted Kunikida, intending to judge it for himself.

Kunikida was not very familiar with Shiraishi’s methods. He was confused, and somewhat displeased, by the superintendent personally coming to the front line. Nevertheless, he immediately sent over the requested material.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

“Eee-eee-eee—”

“Splash, splash—”

Shiraishi: …

After listening, Shiraishi immediately said, “That’s not right! Those aren’t the sounds of children playing and dolphins. They’re… the calls of an orca!”

Once again, Shiraishi was left speechless by the forensic team’s standards. They had done a fine job removing the noise and amplifying the background sounds, but…

Couldn’t they have been more thorough when comparing the sound patterns?

It sounded like a dolphin, so they decided it was a dolphin? A provisional report like that was understandable, but hadn’t they even bothered to verify it afterward?

“Wait… There’s also the sound of moving water… They’re at the feeding pool!” As he spoke, Shiraishi immediately ran toward the whale-shark pool above the underwater tunnel.

The areas of the aquarium open to visitors were separated by walls of glass. Naturally, however, the upper portions were open, providing access for oxygenation and feeding.

Those openings were strictly off-limits to visitors.

Shiraishi, however, deliberately searched for the staff passage.

“Sir! You can’t go through here—”

“Police! Is the feeding opening for the underwater tunnel this way?”

“Um… yes…”

“Lead the way!”

…

At the same time, above the whale-shark viewing area of the underwater tunnel, at the feeding pool…

Since it was not open to the public, the place looked crude and unfinished. Steel bars were exposed everywhere, and the broad surface of the water was crossed only by a disorderly network of narrow walkways.

Yet the area was quite “lively” at the moment.

One of the biker-gang kidnappers was an aquarium employee, which was why they had hidden themselves there.

By then, Tomoko had also followed the instructions in the messages and found her way over.

“You! Let that girl go!” Tomoko shouted at the kidnappers from across the water.

“As expected of the head of the Suzuki family. You really did come…” The kidnapper suddenly frowned. “Wait. What did you call your daughter?”

Something seemed strange.

Tomoko froze, then hurriedly corrected herself. “So—Sonoko! Sonoko, are you all right?”

Tomoko could now see the kidnapped girl. She did indeed appear to be about the same age as Sonoko. One of the kidnappers had an arm locked around her neck, and although she seemed to be trying to say something, no words could come out.

The reason Tomoko had come here…

Was also because Shiraishi had provoked her. That irritating brat had nearly outright called the Suzuki family people who “had no regard for anyone else” and “heartless capitalists” when they had argued earlier.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

That was what had made her stubborn streak flare up.

“Mmph, mmph, mmph—”

The kidnapped girl appeared frantic.

“That’s enough. Let her go. It’s only three hundred million yen. Take it!” Tomoko said, waving her hand grandly.

“Now that’s more like it! Then we’ll trade—the money for the girl!” The masked biker spoke as he dragged Ayano along the walkway toward the center of the pool.

Seeing this, Tomoko picked up the bag they had prepared and stepped onto the walkway as well.

If Tomoko had known the ages of the masked youths before her, she certainly would not have acted so rashly.

In her eyes, no matter how fierce or ruthless these criminals might be, they surely wouldn’t dare harm her under the circumstances. That was why she remained so composed.

But…

A bunch of youngsters barely in their twenties—or not even twenty yet—had no idea how to read the situation!

Ah!

Just then, the kidnapper holding the hostage suddenly cried out in pain. “Damn you—”

“Mrs. Tomoko, run! They’re going to kill you!” Taking advantage of the moment, Ayano bit him and hurriedly shouted a warning.

At first, Ayano had indeed naively intended to use this laughably flawed kidnapping to “take revenge” on the Suzuki family.

But halfway through, she had discovered that these punks actually intended to kill the person who brought the ransom—and that they expected Ayano to cooperate with them. A confrontation had broken out. More precisely, one had “arisen,” because before it could truly begin, she had immediately been pinned down.

Only then did she realize how childish her earlier plan had been.

She also understood that since Tomoko Suzuki had seen her, she must have recognized that Ayano was not her daughter. Even so, Tomoko still wanted to save her.

So Ayano hurriedly warned her.

“You… just die!” The kidnapper had originally intended to silence Tomoko and then force the “Suzuki heiress” to help them lie. Now, furious, he kicked the “Suzuki heiress” into the pool.

At the same time, just as Tomoko was about to shout for him to stop, a diver swam up and snatched the money bag she had been dragging along the ground.

Tomoko was pulled down with it and fell into the water.

“Hold her under!” the kidnapper leader shouted at the diver, still unwilling to take any chances.

“It’s too late… I haven’t fed anything into this pool today!”

“Don’t move! Police!”

Just as Tomoko Suzuki struggled on the surface and Ayano Ujigen began to sink, Shiraishi kicked open the locked door.

Page 3 of 3