"How did you know she was looking for someone?" Just as the middle-aged woman intended to approach, the two men in suits behind her were reluctantly trying to dissuade her. Suddenly, they heard Nanahara Takeshi's call and turned to look, their gaze filled with caution.
Nanahara Takeshi tapped his forehead and smiled, "I sensed it."
The two men in suits exchanged glances, half-convinced and half-doubtful, but their determination to dissuade weakened a bit. As for the middle-aged woman who had felt utterly helpless, the sight of Nanahara Takeshi's "brand" had her ready to grasp at straws, and now her confidence surged as she quickly approached and said, "That's right, I'm looking for someone."
Nanahara Takeshi's gaze quickly swept over the middle-aged woman's designer handbag, the platinum wedding ring on her finger, the name-brand watch on her wrist, and the custom-tailored coat. His smile grew even wider, "I need to clarify one thing first; the price for finding someone is a bit steep. It's charged based on the duration of the search, starting at fifty thousand yen. Of course, you don't need to worry about wasting money; if I can't find them, I won't take a single..."
The middle-aged woman didn't let him finish and cut him off, "As long as the person can be found, money is not an issue!"
Good, I like people who are straightforward!
Nanahara Takeshi's enthusiasm immediately doubled. He gestured the obstructing Kiyomi Liuli aside once more and pointed at a chair, "Please have a seat, have a seat. Please tell me about the situation in detail."
The middle-aged woman really was anxious; as soon as she sat down, she spilled everything like bamboo tubes spilling beans:
Her name was Takamatsu Taiko, a director and senior executive of a livestock automation equipment manufacturing company (a family business). She was currently supervising the development of an automated silage processing equipment for a ranch and a racetrack. But, at this critical moment of research and development, her chief engineer, Yamashita Tasuku, had disappeared.
He had been absent from work since yesterday, and today he was still nowhere to be seen. No one answered his phone, and there was no response when people went to knock on his door. It was driving her crazy. In her field, a chief engineer had to be proficient in various automation equipment, integrated circuits, and programming, as well as understand livestock, and know all aspects of ranches, racetracks, and farms — a real polymath with significant value. It was impossible to find someone to replace him in the short term, and even if she could, it would definitely cause the development to fall behind schedule, potentially leading to a breach of contract.
She was really desperate, having had no choice but to pull strings and seek help, but to no avail.
At this point, Kiyomi Liuli couldn't help but interject, "Shouldn't this matter be reported to the police?"
Nanahara Takeshi looked at her disapprovingly and scolded, "Don't be nosy; wouldn't Mrs. Takamatsu have thought of something so simple? The two gentlemen behind her are police officers!"
After saying this, he smiled at the two men in suits, while the two detectives looked at him in amazement, puzzled as to how he'd figured out their identities.
Mrs. Takamatsu also glanced back at the two detectives, and then, turning back with dissatisfaction, said, "They didn't find him and are preparing to have the Police Boxes join the search. There's no telling when they can find him."
If going to the police were effective, she wouldn't be here, ready to try any desperate remedy she found on the streets. Part of her was also trying to irritate these two incompetent detectives — such a waste, completely useless in a critical situation. The money the company donated to the Traffic Police Association every year might as well have been thrown to dogs.
The two detectives' faces showed a hint of embarrassment. They had checked the Yamashita family's home and found no issues. There were no signs of a struggle, no bloodstains, and the doors and windows were intact. They only found piles of design drawings and plans, which suggested that Yamashita was likely working at home, and he might have just snapped from the pressure and chosen to escape from everything.
This rationale might seem a bit absurd, but in Japan, it is not an uncommon occurrence.
In Japan, there are plenty of homeless people on the streets, mostly bankrupt, lazy, or criminal individuals, but there are also a few like Yamashita Tasuku, who become homeless seemingly out of the blue after being crushed by long hours of intense work.
They had indeed seen cases like this before; a person disappears, their family and friends become frantic, desperately pleading with the police to find them. Then, after the police put considerable effort into the search, they would find the guy comfortably warming himself by a fire barrel by some secluded river, a truly speechless situation.
If Mrs. Takamatsu hadn't gone over their chief's head, and the chief hadn't given them a stern order to find the missing person as soon as possible, they would have washed their hands of it and gone back already, instead of accompanying her to consult a spiritual medium.
Using a spiritual medium to find someone, is this some kind of joke?
This isn't a television drama!
Nanahara Takeshi didn't care whether the two detectives felt embarrassed or not. After thinking for a moment, he said to Mrs. Takamatsu, "Since the situation is like this... Mrs. Takamatsu and Yamashita are not blood-related, nor do you have any of his personal belongings. I need to visit Yamashita's place of residence to have a look."
"No problem." Seeing Nanahara Takeshi speaking with such seriousness, Mrs. Takamatsu felt hope rising again. She stood up and, along with two very speechless detectives, led the way—they were on their way to the parking lot, and returning halfway wasn't too far, as it was just in the apartment building on the other side of the park.
Nanahara Takeshi also didn't care about his little stall; the tables and chairs were all bought from a recycling station and weren't worth much. What mattered more was fleecing the fat sheep. But after walking a few steps, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he spotted Kiyomi Liuli actually following them.
He fell a step behind and asked curiously, "Why are you following us?"
Kiyomi Liuli's eyes flickered, and she stammered with her eyebrows drooping and cheeks slightly flushed, "I... I was thinking there might be something I could help with. After all, when someone goes missing, the more people searching the better, right?"
Nanahara waved his hand as if shooing a fly and bluntly said, "You won't be any help. Go home now, your mother is waiting for you to eat."
Kiyomi Liuli was furious, feeling belittled, but her curiosity was killing her. If they didn't let her follow to see what was actually happening, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight—she was a genius detective girl who had read hundreds of mystery novels and comics. This was a proper case involving the police, even if it was just a missing person's case. How could she miss the chance to visit the "scene of the incident"?
Circumstances were stronger than the person. Although angry, she didn't dare lash out at Nanahara. Instead, she pouted quietly, "You haven't settled the score with me for deceiving me before. I'm afraid you'll run off, so I must follow you!"
Nanahara, now with no good way to handle her, couldn't start a quarrel or kick her all the way back home in front of the fat sheep; it would lower his own standards and destroy his image of a "wise man." So, he said in a low voice, "Then don't make trouble for me."
As long as she could be involved in the case, that was all that mattered to Kiyomi Liuli. She immediately nodded vigorously and promised quietly, "Don't worry, I'll just follow and watch, and I won't cause any trouble."
Nanahara ignored her and quickly took a few steps forward to catch up with Mrs. Takamatsu, hoping to build rapport and subtly gather more information, while Kiyomi Liuli excitedly followed behind, her face flushing with excitement.
Just looking? How could that be? Who actually finds the person is yet to be determined!
This could very well be the debut of "Famous Detective Miss Liuli" in high school!