When Ueno Hirayama's fingerprints were detected on the ticket stub, the whole situation had already sprinted off in an unpredictable direction.
Because the Special Assault Team (SAT) was being mobilized.
After all, one of the main responsibilities of the SAT was to deal with terrorists, and they couldn't simply ignore the fact that the mastermind was Ueno Hirayama, a terrorist.
As for why the situation was being led towards an unpredictable state, it had to do with the operating style of the SAT.
In the SAT's criminal investigations, the word "political" must also be added. Criminal investigations with these two words were never simple.
In simple terms, because they were endowed with great power, the personnel of the SAT had a very flexible approach. Many things that the Metropolitan Police Department's investigators couldn't do, they could.
To put it in a nutshell, they didn't care about the process and what actions were taken, or whether principles were violated. As long as the results were achieved, that was enough.
As a country that claimed to never compromise with terrorists, it was not difficult to imagine what kind of orders the SAT would receive from above and how they would act.
When it rose to the national level, individual sacrifices were measured by the "death toll."
However, this was not what Senichi wanted to see, so he wanted to "outsmart" the situation before the SAT took action, rather than waiting for them to gather their forces and launch a "forceful attack."
That's why Senichi didn't initially investigate the mastermind Ueno Hirayama. He focused on the owner of the fingerprint on the button.
That's right, they initially thought the fingerprint on the button belonged to Ueno Hirayama, but after conducting investigations and gathering evidence, they discovered that it belonged to a completely different person.
And the owner of the fingerprint was suspected to be Ueno's accomplice.
Heiwa Seiji, male, 29 years old, was arrested three years ago for assault and charged with intentional injury. He received a suspended sentence.
After retrieving the information, the photo that caught their attention was of a man with a gloomy complexion and long hair. Additionally, the noteworthy detail in the information was that he was left-handed.
Although they didn't know why he would be involved with Ueno Hirayama, who was always a loner, based on the current situation, it could be confirmed that they were partners.
Ueno Hirayama was likely the mastermind behind the entire plan and had made preparations, including purchasing opera tickets.
On the other hand, Heiwa Seiji acted as the executor on the day of the kidnapping, following Ueno Hirayama's plan.
Although finding out the owners of the two fingerprints brought some bad news, it also let them know who their opponents were, so they wouldn't be caught off guard.
Furthermore, although Ueno Hirayama's whereabouts were unknown, Heiwa Seiji, as an ordinary person, should have a place of residence.
Having a residence meant that there might be intelligence left inside, which was why Senichi focused the investigation on him.
Riding in Sato Miwako car, Senichi sped along the nighttime streets, sparks flying as he arrived at the apartment building where Heiwa Seiji resided.
If he hadn't become accustomed to it, he would have definitely had to slow down when getting out of the car. City street racing was not something an ordinary person could withstand.
"Coming here at such a late hour, I apologize for the trouble."
After showing their identification to the apartment manager, Senichi and Sato briefly explained the situation, and the manager quickly led them upstairs.
"It's no problem. It's not easy for you to be working so late."
Hearing Senichi's gratitude, the apartment manager waved his hand and led the two of them to the innermost room on the second floor. He then used a spare key to open the door.
"This is Heiwa Seiji's room. Please come in."
After expressing their thanks once again, they entered the apartment.
Turning on the lights at the entrance, they saw a typical bachelor's apartment.
Miscellaneous items were piled up at the entrance, magazines were strewn on the tatami mat in the living room, and coats and sweaters hung around.
After passing through the living room, the innermost room was the bedroom, where an iron-framed single bed was placed. The surrounding walls were somewhat dirty.
After surveying the room's environment, Senichi's attention was drawn to the only photo pinned to the wall on the other side of the small desk.
The photo appeared to have been taken in a park, with a Western-style pavilion with a triangular roof at the center.
And behind the photo, there was a sentence written—
Seeing this, Sato Miwako flipped the photo back to the front and examined it, then curiously said, "Strange, there's no blue sky or white clouds in this photo."
"Perhaps only he knows what it means," Senichi said as he opened the drawer under the desk. Under a stack of magazines, he found a district notice from the Mika area.
These notices were issued by the local government and contained information about local education, social security, and the government's policy trends. Usually, people in the area would pay some attention to this kind of news.
But Senichi noticed that this was a district notice from four months ago, and he didn't know why the person kept this outdated notice's cover.
Yes, only the cover, as the content inside was missing.
After picking up the cover, a black notebook was revealed.
Setting the district notice aside, Senichi opened the notebook and examined it. He found that it only contained a few lines of unclear meaning, resembling records of itineraries.
[September 2nd, 9 a.m., Mika N]
[October 7th, 8 p.m., Ryokudai N]
[December 4th, 9 a.m., egaD Building, 2 p.m., Meieki N]
"Are these recent itineraries for Heiwa Seiji?" Sato Miwako frowned as she looked at the contents of the notebook.
"It's unlikely," Senichi shook his head. "If it were his own itinerary, he would have written it in a calendar or schedule."
Saying that, Senichi picked up a calendar where Heiwa Seiji had recorded his plans.
"So, are you saying that these are records of Heiwa Seiji investigating someone's movements?" Sato Miwako looked at the notebook upon hearing this. "Unfortunately, we don't know who the target of his investigation is."
"In any case, it might be useful. Let's take note of it for now," Senichi took out a notebook for recording statements and copied the contents of the notebook.
After a thorough search that yielded information that may or may not be clues, Senichi and Satou Miyako returned to the Metropolitan Police Department.
And this time, they began a long night of intense work.
There was no other way—there was an overwhelming amount of information on Ueno Hirayama, and they needed a considerable amount of time to organize the information and understand their opponent.
Fortunately, after working hard throughout the night, they did not come away empty-handed.
After Senichi investigated the recent movements of Ueno Hirayama and Heiwa Seiji, they could basically confirm that there was a connection between the two.
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