1-21 Beido Town, near TR Beido Station on the Toto Loop Line.
There was movement outside Apartment 2907 before anyone even had the chance to knock.
Hiro opened the door first.
This was Ritsu's apartment. After Ritsu's death, Hiro had moved in. It wasn't because he couldn't bear to let such a nice apartment sit vacant.
Rather... he kept hoping that one day, its owner would return.
Just as before, nothing inside had been changed. The refrigerator remained in the same place. The sofa still faced the same direction.
Even the baseball glove Ritsu had used during his high school baseball club days was still there.
Everything... was exactly as it had been.
Nothing had changed.
"Is everything you told us over the phone true?"
At Wataru's question, Hiro nodded and handed over the cipher letter.
"Yes. The writing style is identical to the one from three years ago."
He paused before adding,
"But there's one thing I can't understand, why was Onizawa dragged into this case as well?"
After thinking for a moment, Kenji rested his chin in his hand.
"If it's the same bomber as before, then his target is the MPD. Onizawa is practically the face of the department now. He has plenty of fans among the public."
"So it makes sense that the bomber would choose him as a target."
"But I don't believe Onizawa would be kidnapped so easily."
Hiro voiced his own conclusion.
"His counter-surveillance skills and situational awareness are both excellent. There has to be another reason behind this."
At first, he'd suspected that Akemi had been threatened. However, according to Kazami's investigation, she had neither been kidnapped nor coerced.
After reading through the cipher letter in his hand, Jinpei frowned.
"Shouldn't we stop wasting time on that? Finding where the bombs have been planted comes first."
With that, he turned and headed for the door. A few steps later, he realized no one had followed him. Confused, he looked back.
"Hey! Don't tell me you still haven't cracked the cipher?"
Kenji waved a hand dismissively.
"Bomb disposal is your specialty. I'll investigate the site of last night's explosion instead. Class Rep, coming with me?"
Wataru shook his head.
"I'd better go with Jinpei. Someone has to keep this idiot under control."
Seeing Kenji glance his way, Hiro smiled and shook his head.
"I'll stay here and coordinate with the MPD. I think... You can handle it on your own, right?"
"Tch... Must be nice."
Kenji crossed his hands behind his head and grinned.
"You guys always get to work in pairs."
As though recalling something, he smiled nostalgically.
"I really miss the old days. It was rare for all of us to work a case together."
"Then give it two hundred percent."
Wataru laughed heartily as he encouraged him.
"Otherwise, that idiot who treated Calpis like his girlfriend will be looking down on us."
Jinpei rolled his eyes.
"He wouldn't look down on us. If anyone would, it'd be that blond jerk."
"Enough talking. Bombs aren't going to wait for us."
Hiro watched the three of them disappear into the elevator before taking out his own phone to contact Kazami.
However, the name displayed on the screen made him freeze.
'Zero? Why was he calling at a time like this? Could it really just be a coincidence?'
...
Bang!
On the seventeenth kick charge, the iron door finally gave way. Ritsu rubbed his aching feet as he stepped inside.
Rei had assumed Onizawa would untie him immediately. Instead, the detective simply stood there quietly, staring at him.
"What are you standing there for? Untie me."
Ritsu deliberately circled around him once before stopping.
His brows furrowed.
"Can I trust you?"
He asked that question for a reason.
Rei was intelligent.
The two of them had supposedly never met before, and under circumstances like these, being suspicious was the natural response.
That kind of caution fit Onizawa's personality perfectly.
"Of course. If you think I'm working with the kidnappers, there's nothing I can do about that."
"Fine. I'll trust you."
Ritsu reached down and untied the ropes binding Rei's body. After removing the restraints around his ankles, he said,
"Check whether your phone's still on you. The best thing we can do right now is call for help."
Rei searched himself and found his phone. Not only was it still there, it even had signal.
That only deepened his confusion.
The culprit had gone through all the trouble of kidnapping both him and Onizawa. Yet they hadn't confiscated their communication devices, nor had they installed a signal jammer.
'What exactly are they trying to accomplish?'
"Your phone's dead? Then why didn't you use mine to call someone?"
"Oh."
Ritsu answered casually.
"I'm not really in the habit of saving people's phone numbers."
"I need a minute to remember one."
Rei stood up, pretending to stretch as he walked outside the room. At the moment, there was only one person he could contact.
Hiro.
The one person he trusted completely.
Ritsu had already guessed who Rei intended to call.
Meanwhile, he was considering how to leave on his own. He absolutely had to return to his apartment and replace his contact lenses.
Otherwise, his identity would be exposed.
And besides...
Who exactly was the man with the same face as him?
Stepping outside, Rei noticed that Ritsu hadn't followed. He couldn't help praising him inwardly.
'As expected of the genius detective. He really knows when to read the room.'
The call connected.
As expected, the other side remained silent, waiting for him to speak first. This was the agreement between him and Hiro.
Whenever possible, they would address each other by their Organization codenames during phone calls.
And every conversation would begin only after Rei spoke first.
"Hiro. It's me. I've run into a bit of trouble."
The moment Hiro heard those words, his thoughts immediately jumped to the case currently in front of him.
He frowned.
"Does this have something to do with the terrorist attack on February 1st?"
Rei smiled.
'Hiro really is sharp.'
His expression quickly turned serious.
"Yeah. I'm with Onizawa right now. We're trapped inside a building. Can you locate us through my phone?"
"I don't think we'll be getting out anytime soon. The main entrance is impossible to open with just the two of us."
Beyond the staircase stood an enormous stone door nearly ten feet high, even thicker than the iron door they'd already broken through.
It had obviously been purpose-built. There was no way two grown men could force it open. The kidnapper had clearly taken that into account.
Which was why the interior security wasn't particularly elaborate.
"Did you say Onizawa is with you?"
Hiro asked.
"Did you tell him who you really are?"
"I just made up the alias 'ShinichiWada.' He—"
Before Rei could finish, Hiro pinched the bridge of his nose with a helpless smile.
"Bourbon... You could've at least come up with a believable fake name. Something ordinary like Naoki Sato or Shota Watanabe would've been far more convincing."
Glancing back once more and confirming that Onizawa still hadn't come out, Rei lowered his voice.
"He probably realized it was a fake name. So he doesn't trust me completely."
"If he trusted you that easily," Hiro replied with a chuckle,
"I'd start questioning whether he really solved all those cases himself."
Walking into the study, Hiro opened his laptop and quickly sent a message to Kazami before continuing,
"I've already asked Kazami to trace your phone. As soon as the Technical Division sends me your location, we'll head there immediately."
"Until then, neither of you make any reckless moves."
"Understood."
After a brief pause, Rei asked,
"Do you think Onizawa can be trusted?"
Hiro remained silent for a long moment before answering,
"Not completely. His name is still on that list. He hasn't been cleared of suspicion."
"...I understand."