Chapter 21: Sato Kicks Down the Door
"Is that really so?"
Looking at Asai Narumi's bulging chest, Fujino's lips curled into an amused smile.
"Ah! How annoying!"
Suddenly, Asai Narumi let out a scream.
Fujino: "?"
However, in an instant, the scream turned playful, followed by a light laugh in a male voice. "Just kidding."
"So, I've been found out, huh?" He sighed, admiringly said, "As expected of Detective Fujino, you discovered the truth on your first day on the island and even exposed me... You really surprised me."
After his admiring comments, he turned to Fujino with a touch of curiosity. "How did you figure out I was a man?"
Asai Narumi was deeply puzzled about his male identity being exposed. After all, he had been the village doctor on this island for two years. In those two years, no one had discovered he was a man, and some even had inappropriate intentions towards him...
"A detective's intuition..."
Fujino replied flatly.
Hearing this, Asai Narumi was filled with black lines, clearly not believing Fujino's answer.
"I was just joking too."
Fujino chuckled and explained, "Actually, it was because of the envelope you gave me."
"That envelope is the only one sold on the island, with a pink heart design, which was too obvious."
"That was my oversight."
Asai Narumi nodded in agreement but still felt something was off. "But just from the envelope, you couldn't have confirmed my identity, right? After all, I'm not the only one who bought that envelope on the island."
"Like you said, just the envelope alone wasn't enough to identify you."
Fujino leaned lazily against the wall, adjusting his posture. "After arriving on the island, I went to the police to learn about the fire twelve years ago."
"From them, I found the only surviving relic of Keiji Asou, a stack of sheet music."
"That stack of sheet music was very strange, so I tried to decode it. And I actually deciphered a bit. It was a suicide note left by Keiji Asou twelve years ago, detailing the crimes of the drug trafficking group... At the end of the note, there was a sentence: 'To my son, Narumi Asou.'"
Saying this, Fujino took out his phone and showed the sheet music on the screen to Asai Narumi. "Asai Narumi, Narumi Asou, Asai should be the surname of the family that adopted you. So, if I'm not mistaken, you are the son of Keiji Asou, who survived because you were receiving treatment in Tokyo twelve years ago."
"I see."
Asai Narumi stared at the sheet music on Fujino's phone, falling into a daze.
"Thank you, Detective Fujino."
After a moment, he wiped the tears from his eyes. "If it weren't for you, I might never have known that my father left such a note..."
"A client's business is my business."
Fujino waved his hand. "After all, you are a client who gave me a commission fee of 500,000 yen."
"Actually..."
Just as he began to speak, his phone rang.
Looking at the caller ID, it was labeled "Megure Juzo."
"Fujino-kun! Where are you now?"
Upon answering, Megure Juzo's urgent voice came from the other end.
"I'm at the village clinic on Tsukikage Island..."
Hearing Fujino's hoarse voice, Megure Juzo was stunned.
He remembered Fujino's voice wasn't like this... Could he have been tortured by the drug gang? This is bad! Fujino-kun is in danger!
Thinking this, Megure Juzo hurriedly called out on the radio: "Everyone, move out immediately! The hostage is in the village clinic!"
"Who's nearby? Is it Sato?"
"What?! You want to force entry first?"
"Be careful!"
"Fujino-kun, we are coming to rescue you, hold on!"
"Huh?"
Listening to the commotion on the other end, Fujino was stunned.
Then he understood what force entry and rescue meant. Suddenly, the clinic door was kicked open by a female officer in a suit holding a revolver. She pointed the gun at Asai Narumi, her eyes filled with fierce determination, and shouted, "You, over there, hands up! Don't move!"
Asai Narumi, who had never experienced such a scene, obediently stood up and raised his hands.
"Sato Miwako?"
Fujino was surprised to see the female officer who had kicked in the door.
"Are you Tohji Fujino?"
Sato Miwako noticed Fujino lying on the bed.
Thin frame, dead-fish-like black eyes, and that lazy demeanor. It had to be the Fujino Megure had mentioned!
...
This time, the police had mobilized at least three departments, nearly a hundred officers, including riot police with firearms.
From Sato Miwako, Fujino learned that the police had mobilized such a large force because Megure Juzo thought Fujino had been captured and tortured by the drug gang.
Realizing he might have caused an unnecessary misunderstanding, Fujino felt a bit speechless.
Things had escalated quite a bit...
"Fujino-kun, weren't you captured by the drug gang?"
Megure Juzo looked at Fujino lying on the bed with an IV drip, asking in confusion.
The fierce-looking detectives and Sato Miwako formed a sharp contrast around him.
Fujino glanced around, feeling a bit cold on his back.
Then he hurriedly explained, "No... Last night, after investigating the island's criminal group, I staked out the transaction site and filmed all the drug evidence. I also caught a drug dealer red-handed. Now, that guy is knocked out and tied up in the village community center."
"The drug dealer has already been caught by you?!"
Megure Juzo looked at Fujino in disbelief.
Impossible, absolutely impossible! He might believe it if it was Kudou who caught two drug lords bare-handed. But this thin, frail Fujino, who was still on an IV drip... emmm...
"It wasn't solved head-on."
Fujino thought for a moment, then continued, "I knocked them out from behind while they weren't paying attention."
"That's still impressive!"
At this moment, Sato Miwako, the only female detective present, praised him.
Honestly, seeing Fujino's frail frame made her heart tighten a bit.
She believed Fujino's story about the sneak attack. He successfully knocked them out, but if he hadn't, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Facing two drug dealers bare-handed required immense courage!