Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 988 Complex Human Nature

"I think these songs are pretty good. Sato, what do you think?" Takagi Shigeru winked at Sato Miwako.

By asking this, he was actually asking Sato in a disguised way whether he thought this person was suspicious and whether it was necessary to continue investigating.

"...It's indeed written with great flavor. I think I can try to recommend it to the company." Sato Miwako nodded with a smile, and took Conan, who was introduced as her younger brother, in her hand.

This means that they think he is quite suspicious, so they want to apply for a search warrant and notify Kogoro Mori and his group downstairs.

"Okay, that's fine then. Do you need me to add a contact number?" Takagi Shigeru walked over with a smile and took out his cell phone, blocking Sato Miwako from secretly taking out her cell phone to take a photo.

Rokuda Takuji's gaze was still on Emoto Masashi's loosened hand, his expression dazed. When Takagi Shigeru mentioned it, he responded as if sleepwalking, took out his cell phone and added the other party's number.

"Okay, let's go." Seeing that a few people seemed to be ready to let him go, Masashi Emoto also breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and prepared to leave.

"Um, Emoto..."

Seeing him walking towards the door, Rokuda Takuji stood up and couldn't help but shout.

Masashi Emoto stopped and turned around, his expression showing helplessness but also some insight.

A few meters apart, the two people looked at each other silently.

"What's wrong, Liutian, what's the matter again?"

"...No, well, be careful on the road, be safe."

"it is good……"

Conan looked at the expressions of the two people and couldn't help but pull at Sato Miwako's sleeve.

This was clearly a sign of something happening. Perhaps Masashi Emoto had already seen something, or perhaps their words of wanting to help him out of his predicament had deeply touched Rokuda Takuji - regardless of whether he was a criminal or not.

Miwako Sato grabbed Conan's wrist to show that she understood. Seeing that Rokuda Takuji really didn't intend to say anything else, she left with a few people.

"I've already said it, Rokuda is definitely not a bad person..." Masashi Emoto rubbed his neck and said with a casual smile, "When we started the band, most people just joined in the fun and thought it was trendy, but Rokuda was the only one who really loved it... Sometimes I envy this pure state."

Miwako Sato and Wataru Takagi exchanged glances and swallowed the words that were about to come out of their mouths.

Although Liu Tian is a very suspicious person, they have not found any substantial evidence after all. The victim's family members do not seem to be willing to cooperate at present. Speaking out the next action plan now may only have a counterproductive effect.

It would be better to appease him temporarily, and consider the situation after meeting up with Maori Kogoro and others...

"You and him seem to be on good terms, it seems." Takagi Shigeru looked at the stairs ahead and racked his brains to euphemistically say, "Didn't you say that you don't contact him that much?"

"Ah, after becoming an adult there are indeed not so many. There is nothing we can do about it. Everyone has their own job..."

"Then why did you bring us here like this today? If he finds out that it's all fake, won't he be angry?"

"No, how should I put it, Liu Tian has worked hard for so many years, he should be, uh, used to it, right?"

"That sounds a bit excessive..."

The two people started talking, and Sato Miwako took two steps back and took out her cell phone to send a text message to the people from the Investigation Section 1 depending on the situation.

If you want to thoroughly search the other party's residence to find out whether there are hostages hiding there, or whether the hostages have been moved to other places, you still need a search warrant to conduct a more thorough search...

The four people walked out of the corridor of the apartment with different thoughts and went down the stairs, but saw the four people who were left waiting in a semicircle, surrounding the exit of the stairs.

"You guys, this is..." Seeing them ready to go, Gao Mushi was stunned, "What's going on?"

"Don't you want to explain this, Mr. Emoto?" Kogoro Mouri shook the envelope in his hand.

The other irrelevant letters had been skillfully restored by Kogoro Mori and Karasawa and stuffed back into the mailbox, except for the one with the sender marked as Masashi Emoto, which was taken out separately.

From the opened envelope, it can be clearly seen that these are three hard printed materials, exactly the same as those scattered on the desk in Rokuda Takuji's studio just now.

"Lottery?" Miwako Sato frowned.

"And it's a lottery ticket that has won the first prize." Tang Ze showed the search page on his mobile phone. "There is a time limit for redeeming the prize. If we don't redeem it quickly, there will always be more trouble. What's more, Mr. Rokuda's financial situation does not look optimistic. 1000 million yen is definitely life-saving money..."

Conan's eyes widened, and he almost immediately realized what was happening.

I'm afraid that the letter that Kogoro Mori is holding in his hand now is the origin of the whole case.

This should be the lottery tickets that Rokuda Takuji mentioned just now, which were sent to Masashi Emoto at the end of the year.

Rokuda Takuji, who was so concerned about the lottery situation, must have known the lottery numbers for the first prize. After finding out that the lottery ticket he gave to his friend was the first prize, he must have quickly fallen into a complicated struggle.

Masashi Emoto is a very considerate friend, and theoretically the things he has given away do not belong to him at all.

But for him who was in financial difficulty, this was a fortune that he could not ignore.

It was difficult for him to ask Masashi Emoto directly for it back, as doing so would likely expose the fact that he had won the lottery. Even though he knew that Masashi Emoto had never been interested in such things, he was still concerned about the possibility of human nature;
But if he just gave up and treated it as if nothing could be done, or if he was more open-minded and really regarded it as a gift, it would be difficult for him to do so.

Therefore, he came up with a plan, which was to disguise his appearance and contact his cousin who was currently living in Masashi Emoto's house, in order to find out the situation in their family, especially where the letter was placed, in order to get the lottery ticket back silently.

However, what he did not expect was that Masashi Emoto was a better friend with more loyalty than he thought.

Masashi Emoto knew his living situation, so he chose to send the lottery ticket back to him intact without even looking at it, making it clear that he hoped he could take good care of himself. It was Rokuda Takuji who did not clean the mailbox, resulting in this priceless letter being stuffed alone in the mailbox without him noticing it.

In this way, taking advantage of the time when no one else was at the social gathering house, Rokuda Takuji ran to their house and asked Kota to open the door, but he couldn't find the lottery tickets. He mistakenly thought that Emoto Masashi had already exchanged them. In a state of emotional collapse, he kidnapped Kota and threatened the Emoto family to give him money...

"So, it was this guy who did it." Takagi Wataru suddenly realized, "He found out that the lottery ticket he gave to Mr. Emoto won the prize, so he tried to take it back, but couldn't find it, so he..." "Is that the reason? How abominable." Sato Miwako hammered the railing of the stairs, "Child kidnapping is a very serious crime!"

Not to mention that Masashi Emoto is such an open-minded friend. It is really shameful to judge him by one's own standards.

"So, why didn't he just call you and ask you?" Conan raised his head and looked at Masashi Emoto in confusion, "As long as he takes the initiative to ask you, then all this won't be a problem, right?"

Masashi Emoto looked at the lottery tickets and pressed his forehead. It was obvious that he didn't know how to answer this question for a moment.

"Then let's go find him now." Sato Miwako grabbed the lottery tickets, "It seems that Kota must be at his house, so just..."

"No, wait!" Masashi Emoto raised his hand with his head down to stop Miwako Sato. "Rokuda just thinks that he is doing too badly and cannot ask us for help. He is even deliberately distancing himself from his former classmates and friends... He is not a bad person by nature. As long as he sees that everything is a misunderstanding, he will soon come to his senses. I believe he will not hurt Kota, so can you wait a little longer..."

"Even if he saw the lottery ticket and really released Kota as you said, kidnapping is still a very serious act." Sato Miwako said coldly, "What's the difference? The police have already intervened in the investigation. This matter..."

“There are indeed some differences.”

"What...?" Unexpectedly hearing the rebuttal, Sato Miwako turned around in a daze and looked at the person who spoke.

Tang Ze looked at her expression and advised, "Currently committing a crime and stopping the crime are completely different concepts in terms of sentencing. I can understand Mr. Emoto's thoughts. If his friend chooses to admit his mistake or stop committing the crime after seeing the lottery ticket, and if Kota really has not suffered any substantial harm, it is possible that he will not be prosecuted or be acquitted in the end."

"You've also studied this..." Maori Kogoro turned his head and looked at Tang Ze twice, and agreed with him. "Yes, he is right. Subjective intent is a very important standard in law and will directly affect the outcome of the case. Of course, arresting him is what the police should do, and the rest are the steps for subsequent litigation."

"Ah, I did research it. After all, I was a criminal in the act." Tang Ze blinked and said lightly, "I didn't have a lawyer to communicate with me about this, so I could only research it myself."

Sato Miwako, who was still angry and wanted to retort, suddenly lost her momentum when she heard him say that.

"Trial is a serious matter." Meeting her gaze, Tang Ze put on a gentle smile and spoke earnestly, "Committing a crime is a very bad choice, but I think that sometimes people should be allowed to repent. If Mr. Emoto insists..."

...Well, if it was Tang Ze, it is understandable that he sincerely hopes to give the prisoner a chance.

Facing this unfortunate child who was seriously harmed by the judicial system, it was really difficult for Sato Miwako to say anything harsh, so when Emoto Masashi tried to pull the envelope back from her hand, Sato Miwako did not stop him.

"...20 minutes." In response to Masashi Emoto's thanks, she replied stiffly, "If Rokuda Takuji really comes down to check the mailbox, you can wait for 20 minutes. But if he doesn't make any move within 20 minutes, don't blame me for being inhumane. You should consider your brother's safety more. His current condition is unknown."

"Of course! I believe Rokuda just took the wrong path for a moment... Of course, I fully understand your thoughts. His behavior was indeed extreme, and it was the right choice for you to arrest him according to the law..." Masashi Emoto said this as he quickly stuffed the envelope back into the mailbox.

Sato Miwako curled her lips, and when Takagi Wataru pulled her clothes, she turned her head and said nothing more.

The group of people who reached a consensus quickly left the position in front of the apartment building and moved to another hidden intersection, continuing to observe the apartment.

"Officer Sato, you are still so kind." Takagi Shigeru looked at Sato Miwako, who seemed unhappy, and said in her ear with a smile.

"Stop talking nonsense." Sato Miwako glared at Takagi Wataru and looked at the entrance of the apartment building illuminated by street lights in the night. "I'm not someone who is easy to talk to. I just..."

"I was trying to gain sympathy on purpose, so Officer Sato couldn't bear it, right?" Tang Ze, who was standing behind the two of them, took over the conversation. "Thank you, Officer Sato. This is indeed a bit against the rules, I understand."

"No, you're just... forget it." Sato Miwako instinctively refuted Tang Ze's self-deprecating statement. She turned her head and saw Tang Ze's face, and patted her forehead in frustration, "The police are just ordinary people. It's human nature for Jiang Ben not to want to expand the damage."

She just suddenly remembered that the criminal was actually her old friend, her father, who died under the wheels of a car while trying to save his life.

The law is merciless, but if possible, it is not a bad thing if more people can repent and confess from the bottom of their hearts...

As if sensing her depressed mood, Takagi Shigeru said nothing, patted her shoulder, and then stood in the darkness as well, continuing to observe the apartment building.

Less than two minutes later, a man came down the stairs outside the apartment building illuminated by street lights. He walked hurriedly and his figure showed that he was in a hurry.

It was obvious that the conversation that took place in the apartment earlier had shaken Rokuda Takuji more than it seemed. Almost as soon as they left, this man came down from the stairs.

I couldn't hear any movement from the other side from more than ten meters away, but I could clearly see that Liu Tian almost pounced on the mailbox, opened one of the boxes, and hurriedly looked for something.

The mailbox that they had rummaged through was still as messy as before, but the lottery tickets that were hastily stuffed in were placed much shallower than before. After just half a minute, Rokuda stopped moving.

He stood there stiffly for a minute or two before he suddenly raised his head and rushed upstairs.

Masashi Emoto let out a breath and turned his back.

Seeing such a scene with his own eyes also made him feel very uncomfortable.

"This guy has never had good luck. He had a good chance of success, and we were all optimistic about him, but he always lacked opportunities. He either caught a cold during the interview or just missed the job opening. He gradually became more and more depressed and was unwilling to talk to us about anything." As if to explain or simply to confide, Masashi Emoto couldn't help but say, "It's rare for him to have good luck once, but he encountered something like this... This is really..."

"That's not why he did this." Hondou Eisuke, who had been watching silently, suddenly spoke up, "Kidnapping a friend's brother for extortion is a serious betrayal. Not to mention that you had no intention of taking possession of the lottery ticket and the prize money, this is even more of a betrayal of your trust."

"No, that can't be said. People are very complicated." Tang Ze shook his head. "The prize money for the first prize is far more than 100 million yen. He also knows deep down that what he did was not very decent."

"That doesn't take away the fact that he's doing evil."

"Of course, I have no objection to your idea."

"Huh, sometimes I think the way you talk is quite irritating, Tang Ze-kun."

"Huh? Will it?"

The other people listened to the argument between the two high school students, smiled at each other, and their expressions relaxed.

The group just stood there quietly in the darkness, looking at the apartment building silently, waiting.

They waited until Sato Miwako could no longer hold back and wanted to leave her hiding place to go up and see what was going on, and finally they saw the figure they had been waiting for.

The figure of a little child appeared on the stairs, looking back every few steps, and walked down from the apartment building.

(End of this chapter)