On the street in the early morning, a small truck was driving quickly.
The driver in the seat, wearing a hat pulled low, drove steadily and low-key throughout the journey. But even at such a late hour, the police in Beika Town were still working overtime, patrolling.
Soon, the man encountered a police officer stopping the road ahead for inspection.
When the officer blew the whistle and gestured to stop, the driver gritted his teeth and slammed on the accelerator.
¡Boom!
The engine's roar startled the police officer, who instinctively dodged to the side.
By the time he and his companions registered what happened, they saw only the red taillights of the truck rapidly disappearing. He was suddenly startled and immediately reported the situation.
The heart of the man driving the pickup truck pounded. He was a little panicked now, especially when he soon heard the blare of police sirens coming from nearby streets, making him even more terrified.
"Damn it!!"
His face beneath his hat looked somewhat bewildered.
The man was, in fact, a little confused about the current situation.
He vaguely remembered jumping off an overpass and seemingly escaping the police, but his subsequent memories suddenly became unclear.
He didn't know how much time had passed after that.
It was like he'd just woken from a nap and suddenly found himself driving this car, with no idea where he was going... But the news about the Tokyo Tower bombing case and the wanted notice for the bomber, reported on the car radio, terrified him.
"I have to find a place to hide first!"
He was thinking anxiously, but soon he noticed a police car with flashing red and blue lights to the left at the upcoming intersection.
He hurriedly turned the steering wheel to the right.
However, as he turned, he saw another police car driving directly towards him. He gritted his teeth and stepped on the accelerator, trying to force his way through. Yet, the police car coming from the opposite direction seemed to read his thoughts and drove straight over, blocking his path with its body.
"Oh, shit!!!"
Seeing that he couldn't shake them, he simply and decisively rammed the truck into a wall. When the truck hit the wall and screeched to a halt, the man decisively unbuckled his seatbelt, threw open the door, got out, and sprinted away.
"Stop!!"
"Don't run!"
The man hurriedly ran into an alley, and the police who caught up quickly jumped out of their cars and gave chase.
The poorly connected streetlights in the alley flickered on and off.
The panicked man gasped heavily, and the sound of his running footsteps startled a wild cat perched on a wall, causing it to suddenly stand up and dart to the side, accidentally knocking over a wine bottle that had been placed there for some reason.
The wine bottle fell with a clang and landed right in front of the man's feet.
When he accidentally stepped on it and slipped, the streetlamp next to him suddenly "popped," and the bulb's glass shattered and fell with a small spark, which directly ignited the liquor on his trouser legs.
A ball of fire suddenly rose from the bottom of his trousers.
"Stop!!!"
The police behind him continued their pursuit, but the man dared not stop, running for his life without even bothering about the flames on his trousers. It wasn't until he ran out of the alley and onto the street, passing by a car that had been forced to stop nearby due to a damaged, leaking fuel tank—the almost extinguished flame suddenly ignited again the moment it touched the gasoline on the ground.
The police who finally caught up could only watch as the man writhed in the flames, screaming in pain. And there seemed to be no fire extinguisher around.
Hayashi Yoshiki's "Test"
Hayashi Yoshiki received a message from Odagiri Toshiro early the next morning.
"The bomber is dead."
As he said this, Hayashi Yoshiki entered the task force's meeting room. Relevant information and available surveillance footage had been retrieved.
"Based on the DNA information and facial features left behind, we confirmed his identity."
"According to the police officers who were chasing him at the time, the other party's trouser legs caught fire due to a series of coincidences while he was running in the alley."
"In this accident, we also investigated the situation of the car parked in the alley."
"According to the owner's own statement and the surveillance footage we retrieved from the surrounding streets, we confirmed that the vehicle did accidentally break its fuel tank while driving, so it had to temporarily stop on the side of the road."
"When the flames were extinguished, the suspect had already suffered severe burns. The chasing police officers contacted the hospital immediately. When the ambulance arrived and was about to take him to the hospital for treatment, he was involved in a car accident on the way, causing him to suffer serious injuries and eventually die."
When the summary information was reported, the conference room fell into silence for a long time. This happens every time...
It's an accident that cannot be explained by common sense and is not caused by human beings.
A group of police officers from the task force looked at each other; some were relieved, while others felt numb.
They were glad about the death of a heartless criminal, but also felt helpless about the methods used by the murderer who committed accidental murders one after another.
How could we possibly catch a guy like this...?
Even the advisors were silent at this point. Finally, Hayashi Yoshiki spoke:
"Leaving no room for doubt. This is the quality of the murderer we are pursuing."
Hayashi Yoshiki said this and smiled with relief
"But no matter what, I am very happy that the bomber died. Everyone here may not be able to say it out loud due to their status, but I will say it. At least we don't have to worry about when a horrific explosion will occur in Tokyo."
"...The consultant is right."
"At least in this case, there is a positive effect."
There were scattered responses in the conference room. Everyone was reluctant to say too much due to their status, but the atmosphere was visibly brighter.
Odagiri Toshiro crossed his arms and looked at the smiling young man next to him. He said nothing, but just looked at the police officers below and said, "Anyone else?"
"..." Silence.
"That's all for today's search report. The meeting is adjourned."
Many people left the meeting room directly. Hayashi Yoshiki and Odagiri Toshiro both went directly to the latter's office.
"Counselor, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"
"I was the one who put the explosives criminal's information online."
Hayashi Yoshiki looked at Odagiri Toshiro and spoke suddenly.
What—?!
Odagiri Toshiro looked at him in astonishment.
Hayashi Yoshiki's expression was extremely serious, even a little solemn: "But I only uploaded it for less than two seconds and deleted it immediately."
"...What's going on?"
"Minister Odagiri, do you remember? No matter how we block new information on the Internet, even if we delete the posts immediately, we can't stop the murderer who took advantage of accidental killings from obtaining intelligence."
"..."
"There are two possibilities. One is that there is a traitor in the task force, and the other is that the murderer's actions on the Internet are much faster than we can imagine."
Hayashi Yoshiki looked at him solemnly.
"That's what I want to test. Anyway, if the perverted bomber is not caught, it will only cause greater danger. Rather than regretting it when more serious consequences occur, I would rather take on this sin... This can also bring us closer to the murderer."