"I... I'm back..."
Breathing heavily, Takagi, maintaining the sprinting speed of a hundred meters back and forth, ran back to the police car. Gasping for breath, he said, "It... it's the same as you said, Detective Senichi..."
"Really? When I was chasing the suspect earlier, I caught a glimpse of the coffee shop owner wearing glasses, and I had this guess," Senichi smiled and said, "Earlier, Ayako also gave me a pair of similar glasses. When I heard the testimony about seeing black clothes, I wondered if it might be like this."
"Just with a glance, you remembered it so clearly..." Although Takagi already knew Senichi's abilities, he couldn't help but feel a sense of shock.
Compared to the already accustomed Takagi, the three people in the car couldn't help but be horrified when they heard Senichi's words.
"Detective, does that mean you know who the culprit is?" Hiroshi Zama couldn't help but speak, "If you know, then let's wrap it up quickly. I'm still waiting to go home!"
"Yeah, Detective, I'm waiting to go to work," Eiko Koshimizu added.
"Don't be in a hurry. Let's address the issue in the next testimony."
Senichi looked at Takagi and asked, "The girl you met, Detective Takagi, who saw the height of the robber through the transparent window of a store? Specifically, which store was it?"
"Well... it's probably around a hundred meters from the coffee shop," Takagi thought for a moment and replied.
"That girl said she saw the robber being conspicuous in the crowded crowd, right?" Senichi smiled and said, "But it seems like you forgot that there's a sidewalk on the opposite side of the road?
That place has a subway exit, and the foot traffic is extremely high. In the situation where we were chasing, if you wanted to cross such a crowded crowd, using the sidewalk would obviously be the best choice."
"Yeah!"
Takagi slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "That girl saw the robber from the clothing store because the suspect was standing on the sidewalk, which is a higher location. That's why, when she saw the robber in the crowded crowd, she misunderstood his height to be 180 centimeters."
"Exactly, just like solving a decryption game. You have to first unlock the puzzle to get the right clues. After collecting all the correct 'clue fragments,' only then can you obtain the final accurate answer," Senichi nodded.
"So, you're saying the culprit is around 170 centimeters? Now, after excluding Mr. Zama, we can't distinguish between the remaining two..."
Takagi, looking at the other two besides Hiroshi Zama, felt a headache. "The elderly man said the person who knocked him down was a woman, but the color of the clothes doesn't match... Could there be another mistake?"
"Exactly, although the testimony of this elderly man is the most crucial one, it also has misunderstandings."
"Misunderstanding? Isn't it a mistake?"
Senichi snapped his fingers at the remark. "But you seem to have forgotten, the person is an elderly man!"
"Ah! Right!" Takagi slapped his left palm with his right hand, suddenly enlightened. "The older generation might very well say 'green' as 'blue'!"
TN: older generation use the same word "aoi" to refer to both colors
"Yes, that's it. Combining all this information, the culprit is quite evident."
Senichi turned around from the driver's seat, grabbed Yasuo Kamieda's wrist, and, looking at the inward-facing watch on his hand, smiled at the flustered Yasuo Kamieda. "You're the robber, Mr. Kamieda. 170 centimeters tall, wearing green clothes—these are all characteristics pointing to you!
And the reason the elderly man, who you knocked down, mistook you for a woman is because of your habit of wearing the watch inward, making the old man think you're a woman.
After all, the robber wore a helmet, and no facial features were visible!"
The reason for this habit was, of course, to prevent students from being distracted during class. It was precisely due to this professional habit that the elderly man mistakenly thought the robber was a woman.
"Fantastic! We've finally caught the culprit!" Takagi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "There's still plenty of time now, more than enough..."
"Now that it's solved, we'll be on our way."
Upon hearing this, Eiko Koshimizu sighed with relief, immediately opened the car door, and prepared to get out. However, just as she had stepped out of the car door and hadn't even stabilized herself, a tremendous force directly pushed her out.
"Ah!!"
Eiko Koshimizu was pushed to the ground by the force on her back. Taking advantage of her unguarded moment, Yasuo Kamieda jumped down from the police car, ready to escape.
"How could I be caught here?!" Despite not being tall and appearing not particularly robust, Yasuo Kamieda was fast. He darted out of the police car in the blink of an eye, covering several meters in an instant.
"Oh no!" Takagi's face changed abruptly as he saw the fleeing figure. He thought he would be the hero after solving the case, but with Yasuo Kamieda running again, he feared he might not have enough time.
"Don't worry; he won't get away."
Just as Takagi was getting increasingly anxious, Senichi's reassuring words reached his ears. In the next moment, he saw Senichi spring out like a cheetah, his 1.8-meter-long legs quickly catching up to Yasuo Kamieda. Senichi effortlessly subdued him, pressing him to the ground.
Senichi pulled out handcuffs and restrained Yasuo Kamieda. Looking towards Takagi, Senichi shouted, "What are you still standing there for? Go!"
"Oh... oh!" Takagi snapped out of his daze, hurriedly ran towards the intersection. "Detective Senichi, I'll leave it to you from here! I'll never forget your kindness!"
Watching Takagi quickly flag down a taxi and leave, Senichi smiled and walked back towards the police car, still holding Yasuo Kamieda.
As for whether Takagi would succeed, Senichi wasn't worried. After all, the two were already a couple in the anime. With Senichi's involvement and frequent collaboration on investigations, they had long developed mutual feelings, and their relationship had deepened considerably.
This blind date would surely make Sato Miwako realize Takagi's feelings for her.
Leading Yasuo Kamieda, Senichi returned to the police station to take his statement.
As for the reason for the robbery, Yasuo Kamieda urgently needed money to get rid of a woman who was persistently bothering him.
Senichi was quite speechless about risking so much for such a matter.
After the statement was recorded last night, the sun had already set. Senichi had no idea how things were progressing on Takagi's end.
However, according to information from a bystander at the scene, just before the deadline, Takagi had stylishly arrived at the scene.
Only at this point did Takagi learn about the bet between the two.
Later, as agreed, Shiratori retreated. In the room where only two people remained, a subtle atmosphere emerged. Eventually, Takagi gathered the courage to ask Sato Miwako why she was willing to believe in him and why she took such a significant bet.
After that, the two shy individuals remained silent. Despite the awkward atmosphere, the group of onlookers outside couldn't help but feel satisfied.
Well, it created a joyful atmosphere, unintentionally leading to the appearance of a "auntie's smile." ~Everyone understood~
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