After dinner, Ichiro Takayanagi received an email from Inspector Megure outlining the operation plan. To his surprise, the entire operation would take place right here in his home—though the police would set up the scene in advance and wait for the Italian robbery gang members to arrive.
Once he finished reading, Ichiro sent a reply, along with his request to have a policewoman escort Reika and Kaoru Tohsaka to Teitan High School.
The reply came back as an "OK," and Ichiro nodded in satisfaction.
After that, a certain phone in the house rang—one connected to special channels. Ichiro's brows furrowed.
"Hello, this is the Takayanagi residence. May I ask what this is about?"
"Mr. Takayanagi, I have a batch of gold I'd like to exchange. Would you be interested?" The man's voice on the other end was hoarse, cutting straight to the point.
"Of course I'm interested. But… is your merchandise clean?" Ichiro asked back—exactly the kind of cautious reaction he should have.
Hearing that, the caller seemed relieved. Clearly, Ichiro didn't "know" about the Italian gold coins, so the man assumed the Tokyo Metropolitan Police were simply trying to keep the matter to themselves.
"I heard from a friend that you're the kind who only asks for the price, not the source."
"If it's not clean, I'll lower the price. I'm not taking on excessive risk," Ichiro explained.
"Don't worry. As long as you can hold onto these gold coins for a while, their future value will be beyond imagination," the man said, tempting him further.
"Tell me the specific value, and we can trade right here at my home."
"Fine, I trust you. But I want cash—cash that can't easily be traced. This batch of gold coins is currently valued at six hundred million yen."
"No problem. I have to go to the bank tomorrow anyway. I can have them withdraw six hundred million in random bills and bring it back. Then we'll do the trade here, one-on-one." Six hundred million yen didn't faze Ichiro in the least—after all, it wasn't his money that would be paying for it.
"Alright. Tomorrow morning, then, at your place," the man said, and hung up.
Ichiro set the phone back down, then informed Megure of the call before going off to bathe and sleep.
Meanwhile, even though Reika and Kaoru Tohsaka had each chosen their own room, tonight the mother and daughter were still together.
"Mom, was that woman in the car this afternoon the one who left the note?" Kaoru asked.
She asked because her mother had smelled cigarette smoke in the house and seen the note, which indicated the person was female.
"Probably not. Kaoru, don't dwell on that. Tomorrow at Teitan High, make sure you do your best. You promised your Ichiro-oniisan you'd study hard."
"But Mom, right now it's just the two of us in this house. If someone else comes in, they might take away Ichiro-oniisan's affection for us," Kaoru explained.
"Silly girl, Ichiro-oniisan isn't someone we can control. We just need to do our part well."
"In that case, I'll go to his room now. This is my responsibility."
"I didn't mean that kind of thing."
"Then let's go together. I don't think he'd refuse us," Kaoru said, leaving Reika momentarily speechless. She'd said something similar back at the family estate that morning, and now she wanted to act on it at night?
Reika refused, saying, "Not tonight. Tomorrow your Ichiro-oniisan has business with the police. Let him rest."
"Fine. Then I'll go tomorrow night," Kaoru said, disappointed.
Her first experience had been so good that she was already craving it again. If it were just her and Ichiro at home, she wouldn't hesitate.
"Sleep," Reika said, pulling Kaoru into her arms. Holding her daughter reminded her she was still her little girl.
From beginning to end, Reika had never outright rejected Kaoru's proposal. She was only postponing it for Ichiro's sake. When the timing was right, she would certainly let Kaoru follow through.
(End of Chapter)
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