A Cop's Eyes Read Free Page A

greater evil.
    As Shinichi wondered, the man’s slim back began to look ominous and intimidating.
    â€œIt seems that you quit your job yesterday,” Natsume said after taking a sip of coffee.
    Shinichi mentally clicked his tongue as he faced the man.
    Of course Natsume—that’s to say, the police, had been duly investigating him. How was this a genuine thank you? Apart from using a cafe rather than a gloomy interrogation room, they were grilling him all right.
    â€œHave you decided on your next job,” Natsume asked.
    â€œI’m looking right now. And you, detective work seems to leave you with plenty of spare time. A murder close by, and you play at an arcade and chat at a coffee shop.”
    â€œOn duty at that. You see, I was able to confirm a few things.”
    â€œThat a ‘person of interest’ is sitting in front of you, for one? Investigations can’t be too hard when someone who has killed lives right nearby, yeah? It’s always like this. I try to live honestly, but my record gets in the way. Everyone looks at me through a tinted lens.”
    In response to Shinichi’s bluntness, Natsume patiently gazed into his eyes. Shinichi hated that look.
    â€œCome on,” the detective said, “not everyone in the world looks at you weird.”
    â€œDunno about that,” Shinichi threw out. “The fact is, whenever there’s a case, police flock to me. It’s true that I quit my job yesterday. You probably looked into it already, so hell, I didn’t quit, I was dismissed. For no reason. Just like you saw and felt, we don’t have extra money lying around. I bet you can come up with a storyline where I wanted money and snuck into the Yokoses’ as a burglar.”
    â€œI’m sorry, but that’s not the storyline I’m thinking of,” Natsume said, his chin on his hand, pensive.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œThere’s zero evidence that anything of monetary value was stolen from Mr. Yokose’s residence. The perp seems to have gone through the living-room cabinet and closets, but the wallet in Mr. Yokose’s pants was left behind, and no bankbooks or cards seem to be missing. True, maybe there was some expensive itemthat neither we nor Mai are aware of.”
    â€œWeren’t there fingerprints or something?”
    â€œNope.”
    Shinichi was disappointed. If there were any fingerprints, he’d be in the clear.
    â€œMr. Yokose must have come home when the burglar was going through the living room. Looks like the perp found a nearby video camera and lay in wait by the door. Striking Mr. Yokose’s head with it as soon as he entered, the perp then took off. Mr. Yokose was found collapsed by the door, with a bloodstained video camera close by. It wasn’t your usual small one for families, but a heftier model for pros.”
    Shinichi recalled Haruna saying that Mai’s had a large television and an expensive-looking video camera.
    â€œAre you allowed to blabber to someone like me about this?”
    â€œYou’re right.” Natsume grinned wryly. “Keep this conversation between us.”
    Natsume discussing operational secrets so readily almost made Shinichi worry about the safety of his neighborhood. The man was fairly unimpressive as a detective.
    â€œWhen did you change jobs?” Shinichi tried asking.
    â€œI quit being a judiciary technical officer ten years ago, and when I was thirty, I took the police employment exam. After graduating from the academy I served at police boxes for nearly six years, but recently, I transferred to my current section.”
    Why had Natsume gone as far as to abandon his juvie job to join the police force? Even Shinichi could imagine that taking up an entirely different line of work at thirty posed considerable difficulties.
    â€œWhy did you become a cop?”
    â€œI wonder … Maybe it was those police dramas.”
    Shinichi immediately