Afterward, Takagi conveyed the testimonies of the eyewitnesses one by one to Senichi.
First was the convenience store clerk, who, as the victim, couldn't have missed the incident. However, the perpetrator at that time was wearing a helmet, suddenly brandished a knife, and took out a note that said "Give me the money." Consequently, the clerk only knew about the helmet and the style of the discarded coat.
It can be said that the only eyewitness who directly faced the criminal did not provide any useful clues.
In the process of Takagi's visits to find witnesses, a high school girl mentioned that she saw the criminal's figure through the transparent glass of the store while she was buying clothes.
At that time, she could clearly see him in the crowd, so the high school girl estimated his height to be around 180 centimeters.
Among the three suspects, only Hiroshi Zama's height met the criteria. However, the girl then claimed that she saw the clothes under his lifted coat, which were green.
A contradiction arose because Zama's clothing was a similar shade of blue.
Although Takagi repeatedly confirmed with her, the girl insisted that she saw green, not blue.
Another witness was the owner of a coffee shop. At that time, he was preparing to move the lunch specials to the entrance, so he happened to see the criminal pass by.
He couldn't determine whether it was a man or a woman due to the helmet, but he was very sure that the height of the perpetrator was 170 centimeters. Additionally, he observed that the clothing under the coat was black.
Another contradiction emerged as the only person around 170 centimeters was Yasuo Kamieda, but he was wearing a green casual outfit, quite different from black.
Adding to the confusion was the testimony of an elderly man who was knocked down by the robber. He stated that the robber was a woman wearing a blue garment. The testimonies of all three witnesses described the same person but with completely different characteristics.
Moreover, the witnesses were all helpful bystanders, and they did not seem to be lying.
"This is the situation..." Takagi looked at the three people in the police car and sighed, "In this situation, we probably need to bring these three individuals back to the criminal investigation department for questioning."
But if that happened, they wouldn't make it in time for Sato Miwako. Thinking about this, Takagi's vision darkened.
"Don't worry, let's first ask them about their movements," Senichi patted Takagi's shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't panic; I can drive to the Criminal Investigation Department in three minutes from here."
"Um..." Takagi smiled, feeling a slight sense of relief.
Later, when questioned, each of the three explained the reason for their presence in the restroom.
Yasuo Kamieda was a teacher at a cram school and had gone to the nearby bookstore to buy materials, leading him to use that restroom.
Hiroshi Zama was a member of a band, and on his way home after practice, he urgently needed to use the restroom, prompting him to run to the nearby one.
As for the only woman, Eiko Koshimizu, she was an office worker and wasn't feeling well on her way.
After these questions, Koshimizu glanced at her watch and impatiently said, "It's been quite a while. Can't we leave now?"
"Yeah, that's right. We've said everything we can... Can't we go back?" Yasuo Kamieda added.
"Huh?" Takagi noticed the two inward-facing watches on Koshimizu's wrist and couldn't help but be curious. "Why are you wearing two watches?"
"My boyfriend is not in Japan right now, so one of the watches shows their local time. Otherwise, calling at night due to the time difference would be troublesome," Koshimizu explained in response to Takagi's curiosity.
"Hmm... Speaking of that, our middle school teacher once forced us to wear two watches," Hiroshi Zama commented. However, Yasuo Kamieda on the side laughed and this led to dissatisfaction from Hiroshi Zama, who stared at him angrily and exclaimed, "Hey! What's so funny, you!?"
"Oh... no, you misunderstood..." Hiroshi Zama's sudden outburst startled Yasuo Kamieda, who quickly waved his hands in explanation. "I just heard what you said and thought our situations were the opposite, so I laughed...
During classes at the cram school, to ensure students were attentive and not waiting for the class to end, I would ask them to take off their watches during class to avoid distractions."
"By the way, Mr. Zama, you mentioned the band earlier..." Takagi turned to Hiroshi Zama and asked, "What kind of band is it?"
"It's a visual performance band that my high school buddy and I formed together," Hiroshi Zama explained with a somewhat mischievous smile. "Our band performs dressed as girls, and I'll let you in on a secret—it's quite popular.
Many fans even call to support us."
Senichi and the others, observing his towering height of 1.8 meters and rugged face, couldn't help but twitch their mouths when they thought about how he would looked when cross-dressed.
Bro, your cross-dressing is a bit too over the top!!
However, considering the information leaked during the conversation among the three, Senichi had essentially cracked this not-too-difficult case.
At Senichi's current level, if he couldn't solve a case of this basic difficulty by himself, he might as well retire and become a wealthy retiree.
Facing the urgency and the intent of the three to leave, Senichi smiled and gestured for them to be quiet. "I've more or less understood the situation of the case. Now, I just need to verify one last thing to find the culprit."
"One last thing?"
Upon hearing Senichi's words, the three looked at each other, and Takagi, who was nearby, perked up. "Verify what!? I'll go right away!!"
Watching Takagi hastily leave after the instructions, the three exchanged glances with various thoughts in their minds, and then silently waited.
Meanwhile, Takagi had already reached the coffee shop owner. Without even giving the owner a chance to catch his breath, Takagi grabbed him and headed towards the door.
"Hey hey... Detective, what's going on? Why are you dragging me out?" Knowing Takagi's identity, the bespectacled owner, despite being dragged to the door in a hurry, didn't resist too much.
"Please... cooperate." Takagi took a deep breath and, holding the coffee shop owner, stood in the sunlight at the door.
After a while, the owner's glasses suddenly turned black, transforming into sunglasses!
"As expected! Your glasses are photochromic lenses!" Takagi, looking at the owner with dissatisfaction, said, "So, you saw the robber in black because you were wearing sunglasses!?"
"Ah... I forgot..." The coffee shop owner scratched his head with a sheepish smile. "These lenses that change color immediately when exposed to ultraviolet light are quite popular... I was just following the trend... I accidentally forgot...
But the height of the robber is definitely 170 centimeters!!"
However, Takagi didn't have time to carefully listen to the owner's last words. Having obtained the answer he wanted, he disappeared in a flash, leaving no trace in the owner's line of sight in the blink of an eye.
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