The Cunning Hares quartet also froze in place, their expressions completely shattered as they stared at their car, now reduced to half.
Nicole: "...My car!!! It took me so long to bargain for it!"
Billy: "It's become a convertible..."
Nekomata: "...Meow!!!"
Hoshimi Miyabi slowly sheathed her sword, her movements unhurried, as if she had just done something trivial.
"Now, can we talk properly? About your eight tons of goods." Tsukishiro Yanagi pushed up her glasses and stepped out from beside Hoshimi Miyabi.
Immediately after, several armored vehicles with blaring sirens arrived one after another, surrounding the members of the Cunning Hares.
Nekomiya Mana was terrified, trembling as she reached into her pockets.
"What are you doing?! Put your hands where I can see them!"
Toshiro Odagiri arrived at the scene personally with the armored vehicles, and seeing Mata's movement, he sternly shouted.
Just as he thought Mata was about to pull out a weapon to resist.
Nekomiya Mana tremblingly pulled out two cans of cola from her pocket.
One red can, one blue can.
"I'll give them all to you, don't arrest me, I only took these two cans of cola from the barbecue shop nya, I promise there are no more."
Nekomiya Mana held the two cans of cola in both hands, her eyes as innocent as could be.
As she was speaking, the next second, a can of Fanta fell out of her pocket.
The atmosphere instantly became awkward... In the interrogation room of the Beika Police Station.
The four members of the Cunning Hares were held in separate rooms and were undergoing surprise interrogations.
The standards for this interrogation were particularly high, Toshiro Odagiri, the head of the Criminal Investigations Department, personally presided over it, leading the interrogation of Nicole, the leader of the Cunning Hares, while Inspector Megure's rank was only sufficient to assist with taking notes.
Toshiro Odagiri's face was so dark it looked like it could drip water. In front of Nicole, he tore open a cardboard express box.
Inside were:
A bag of seemingly ordinary, even somewhat crumbly, cheap tea leaves.
A bag of white crystals that looked identical to rock sugar.
A folded lab report.
"Bang!"
Toshiro Odagiri slammed the bag of white crystals onto the table, making a dull thud.
"Ms. Nicole! Do you recognize this? Don't tell me something like you don't know anything, this is what our police intercepted from the logistics company, your express delivery from this morning!"
Nicole sat in the interrogation chair, handcuffed, but her face showed no fear, only a hint of impatience:
"Yes, I recognize it. It's indeed our goods. Rock sugar, right? What's wrong? Officer, you've arrested the wrong people, haven't you? We're just honest small business owners."
"Rock sugar?"
Toshiro Odagiri's lips curled into a sarcastic sneer. He took a printed sheet from Inspector Megure's hand and unfolded it in front of Nicole.
"Then what about this? 8,000 yen per gram?! You tell me, what kind of rock sugar can sell for 8,000 yen per gram?! What kind of international joke is this?!"
The paper was a printout of Nicole's chat history with a buyer, where the Cunning Hares's conversation with the seller indeed mentioned rock sugar at 8,000 yen per gram.
Nicole blinked, a "why are you making such a fuss" expression on her face, and even crossed her legs.
"Oh, officer, doing business requires strategy, you know. Rock sugar itself isn't valuable, but this is a 'health and wellness set' we sell with high-end tea! Don't you understand brand premium? Don't you understand bundled sales? That tea is our carefully selected cheap... uh, high-end product, selling for 8,000 yen per gram is very reasonable! The buyers even think it's a great deal! If people insist on buying it, I can't just not sell it, can I?"
"That's sophistry!"
Toshiro Odagiri slammed the table in anger, making Inspector Megure's hand tremble and his pen almost drop to the floor.
He looked at the bag of crumbly high-end tea leaves and felt his blood pressure surge again.
"Nicole-san! I advise you not to hold onto any Luck mentality! Your stronghold has been thoroughly searched by us. Those mountains of goods are currently being tested by the Forensics Department, who are working overtime! The evidence is overwhelming, it's only a matter of time! If you confess now, you can still hope for leniency!"
He leaned forward slightly, employing the interrogation techniques he used during his time on the front lines.
"Your companions, Anby, Billy, and Nekomiya Mana, are all being interrogated in the next rooms. The police have already told them that whoever confesses first will receive a significant reduction in their sentence! Voluntarily confessing to criminal acts, especially revealing your upstream and downstream connections, sources of funding, and transportation channels, constitutes a major meritorious service! This can drastically shorten your prison term! But for those who stubbornly resist and try to muddle through..."
He deliberately paused, emphasizing his words,
"Awaiting them will be the severe punishment of the law! The maximum penalty! Think carefully for yourself!"
Toshiro Odagiri was very confident in his strategy.
This interrogation technique is called the prisoner's dilemma; under the immense psychological pressure of interrogation, no one can withstand such division and disintegration.
For their own benefit, criminal suspects will always rush to confess, fearing that their companions will confess first, leaving them with no confession and a heavier sentence.
He waited to see the moment Nicole's psychological defense would collapse.
However, Nicole merely shrugged indifferently, even letting out a small yawn.
"Officer, I've said all I have to say. We're just running legitimate small businesses. You can investigate for as long as you like. No matter how you twist it, all we sell is rock sugar. If you don't believe me, look at our chat records with the buyer! We stated very clearly that what we sell is rock sugar. And in the express package, we even included a lab report for the rock sugar. There's absolutely no issue of deceiving buyers."
At this, Nicole raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Oh, and officer, when you illegally arrested us today, you damaged my new Rolls-Royce. Remember to compensate me at its full value."
Toshiro Odagiri's face instantly turned ashen.
He abruptly stood up, his chair clattering to the floor.
"Hmph! Stubborn and unrepentant! I'd like to see how you'll talk tough when the appraisal report comes out!"
He turned away in a huff and slammed the door, leaving Inspector Megure to continue taking notes with a helpless expression.
In the corridor, Toshiro Odagiri saw Takagi exiting another interrogation room and immediately asked in a low voice:
"Takagi! How is it? Have any of the other accomplices from the Cunning Hares spoken up?!"
Takagi shook his head:
"Reporting, Chief... No. Anby-san and Billy-san both insist they only sold rock sugar. as for Nekomiya Mana-san... um... she's still fixated on those two cans of cola, saying that if we take the cola, we can't arrest her."
Takagi's voice grew softer and softer.
"Useless! A bunch of useless people! Can't even find a breakthrough!"
Toshiro Odagiri roared in anger,
"Stubborn, are they? Good! I'll see how long they can stay stubborn! Once the final report from the Forensics Department comes out and the ironclad evidence is thrown in their faces, I'd like to see how they'll try to argue! Eight tons of drugs! Enough to put them behind bars for life!"
He waved his hand irritably, signaling Takagi to continue monitoring.
Just then, Conan also walked out of the adjacent interrogation room.
He had just cooperated with the police, describing in detail how he had accidentally discovered the drug den.
Toshiro Odagiri saw Conan, forced down the anger in his heart, squeezed out a smile, walked over, and heavily patted Conan's shoulder.
"Kid, your name is Conan, right? You did a great job this time. To solve such a monumental case, you've rendered outstanding service! Eight tons of drugs! Do you know what that means? You've saved countless families! You're a hero to all of Japan! The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department will apply for the highest level of commendation and reward for you! Good job, kid!"
Toshiro Odagiri praised him without reservation.
Conan scratched his head, feeling quite embarrassed.