Cop Craft – Dragnet Mirage Reloaded

Mr. Maybell was looking straight at Cami with a bewildered expression. She shared the same feelings as him, and her expression was a mix of numbness and stress.

「Mr. Maybell. he was with you until around dinner, right?」 「Yes… he definitely was with us. But, I never thought…」 「Do you have any idea of where he went?」 「No idea. This is the first time anything like this has happened…」

Ms. Maybell muttered as she was clinging closely to her husband

「But we did find this note taped to the wall over his desk」 「Did he leave it?」

It was torn off a notebook. Some unfamiliar characters were scribbled along the paper rashly. It was a language and writing that did not come from earth. Cami couldn’t read it

「That cheeky bastard. There’s no way we can read this at all. I wonder what it says…」 「This is a dialect of Farbani」

Muttered Jamie quietly, who had been listening intently to the entire conversation. Among the Special Vice Squad, she was the most well versed when it came to languages.

「What does it say?」 「Seems to be easy to read」

Answered Jamie

「”This is for Norune”. That’s all」

~o~O~o~

After showing the picture of the note that Jamie and Cami had sent over to Tilarna, she groaned and raised her voice

「Nyath…!」

She brashly returned the portable device to Matoba, and kicked the car’s dashboard. The Volkswagen that was parked on a random road in the San Juan neighborhood swung from side to side, and a homeless man that was gathering several empty cans on the side of the road got startled at the noise.

Why did he do something so stupid? Four people died, and there’s no way to bring them back. What happened? Why Mendoza? Where did he go? She was feeling completely lost.

「If only I had called out to him and stopped him when we passed by each other after the elevator…」 Tilarna was biting her own lips fiercely with regret and frustration. Matoba was looking at the screen of his terminal and reading some incoming information.

「Nobody would’ve expected that boy to do something like that. Letting him pass us by was the normal thing to do back then」 「But-」 「Before getting pent up with frustration, take a deep breath and use your head. We still have a lot of stuff we don’t know. It would be odd if it was Nyath who killed Mendoza and the other guys」 「That’s true… We can’t say anything with just this note. However, it is true that he was at the site of the explosion」 「Seems like it」

Matoba kept using his terminal.

「He was caught on several cameras in different neighborhoods and streets on his way from North Zalze to Corinthos. From 7:31 to 8:15. He had dinner with both his parents and then immediately snuck out of his house, and headed to Mendoza’s apartment. The route he took complies with that」 「What happened afterwards? Did no other cameras catch him?」 「None. There’s only so many cameras we can check right away, and there’s much less surveillance at night. And if on top of that he changed his clothes, then he would be almost impossible to identify」 「Have the patrols not found him either?」 「So far, yeah」

Information about Nyath’s physical appearance was already given to patrol cars all over the city. They weren’t given an emergency warning or anything, but officers were told to keep it in mind and to detain him if they ran into him. They were told to keep an eye on any young people that they saw walking around that also looked like him, and to ask him to identify himself if they had the time.

Some patrolling officers were given instructions to look around 24 hour restaurants and fast food joints, main motels and similar, but so far they had found absolutely nothing.

「He’s supposed to be an average high schooler, right? Is it even possible for him to escape from the police and hide like this?」 「Although it’s hard, I wouldn’t say that it’s impossible. He could very well be hiding inside any civilian’s garage, and be found in the morning at best. Besides, Nyath is a Semani」

Tilarna was bothered by his partner’s way of speaking.

「So what if he’s a Semani? What does that have to do with it?」 「Don’t get offended, I’m not being a racist or anything. He’s just like you so I was saying that maybe he could use magic or all other sorts of stuff」 「If you’re referring to Mildi, then there’s no way. It’s not something that peasants can simply pick up as they please. Only the most talented kids of nobles and aristocrats will keep learning it from a very young age and will only be able to use it after years of practice. Since Nyath came to earth when he was five or six, I find it hard to believe that he would be able to even use Mildi at all」 「Huh, is it really that hard?」 「Well, yes, I would say that it is difficult. It’s kind of like how it is with you guys and musical instruments. Natural talent won’t really get you more than some noise. And people who specialize on both Mildi and swordsmanship like myself are pretty rare」 「So now you’re boasting, huh?」 「I’m not saying it that way!」

She was predicting that he would come out and say something like that, and in the end he did. Even though she was just trying to explain it simply and briefly. What an annoying guy.

「Hmph…」

Matoba ignored Tilarna’s objections, and instead took his hand to his chin and started thinking deeply. That gesture, no matter how often she would see it, she just couldn’t get used to that bizarre motion that earthlings did when they were thinking.

「Thinking about it, you’d get to the conclusion that there was someone making preparations and stuff for Nyath」

Matoba turned on the engine and started the car quickly. It seemed as if he had thought of something. Tilarna asked a question as she tightened up the muscles in her body as she still wasn’t used to his reckless driving.

「Kei, what do you mean?」 「That he had a partner in crime. Preparing an explosion like that is too technical for a high schooler」 「Didn’t you say that it was a simple crime?」 「Where did he find out about Norune’s death in the first place? Wouldn’t it be logical that the guy who told him was also his collaborator?」 「Ah…」

Tilarna had also been wondering about that herself.

「Well it’s not like it was completely confidential or anything」 「Exactly. It could’ve been Norune’s family, a collaborator of the police or an infiltrate, the school principal, among many other candidates. Even with a confidentiality restriction, there will always be at least thirty people who find out about stuff. But on the other hand, that means that the route will always be restricted to one of those people」

As Tilarna heard that, she understood where Matoba was headed.

「So Norune’s family?」 「Well, it wasn’t impossible for Nyath to meet up with Moda Norbam, Norune’s father. And it would make the most sense that it was him who told Nyath about it」 「Well he could’ve heard it from basically any other-」 「Yeah, there are thousands of possibilities, but for now let’s check up with Norbam」

Norbam was a well known name among the Semani civil rights movement. And it wasn’t particularly odd that he would at least have heard of a drug dealer as deep into the business as Mendoza was.

How Mendoza managed to arrange his meetings and dealings with Norune within the school, and a lot of other issues were still a complete mystery, but it was probably better to go and visit Norbam directly, instead of going aimlessly around town looking for Nyath.

「Kei. If you’re right about everything with your theory, then that would mean that Nyath and Norune’s father conspirated together to kill Mendoza」

As Matoba turned the steering wheel, he sighed and nodded at the same time.

「He didn’t look like that kind of father… maybe I’m just getting old and useless」 「Those men that fooled around and used his daughter as a plaything would obviously be a target for her father, there’s nothing strange about that.」 「That’s how it will be normally. But, it’s strange, you know… even now, Norbam gives me a sense of innocence. He’s not that kind of guy, and I think he just has a lot of stuff going on」

Even though he was the one that had turned a suspicious eye towards Moda Norbam in the first place, Matoba didn’t actually want to believe in that scenario. It was an unusual attitude for Matoba.

Tilarna looked at her wristwatch. It was 3:16 in the morning.

That watch. Not even twelve hours ago had Nyath looked down on her wealth and indifference because of it. “You probably wouldn’t get it even in a million years” is what he had said.

Did Nyath know about Norune’s death by that moment already? Tilarna didn’t think so. If he had known about it, he wouldn’t have just stormed off like that. He would have been more upset, and he wouldn’t have been gossipping with Tilarna all along before that.

「Kei…」 「What?」 「Do you think… maybe Nyath liked Norune?」 「Well obviously he liked her, that was why they were friends. He even went out to get revenge for her and everything」 「Not that kind of “like”… compared to the kind of relationship I had with him, it would be… uh…」 「Ah」

Matoba nodded, looking like he had just understood something

「Well, he was a teenage boy after all. It’s obvious he would feel all sorts of vague and confusing things for girls. I think he probably liked Norune, but maybe he was also interested in you after you just showed up. He didn’t even have to realize it himself either. It was probably something like that」

Even after hearing that, her uneasy feelings were still not cleared up.

「I don’t really get it」 「Look…」

After hesitating for a bit, Matoba looked like he had made up his mind, and said

「Since it was just a kid that had caught your attention during your infiltration, I had mostly been poking fun at you for it so far… but now that it’s come to this I’ll tell you something. Don’t develop any feelings for Nyath.」

His voice was rough. It felt like he had just poured a bag full of ice on her during her slumber.

「Depending on how things unfold from now, you may have to end up attacking him. No, you may actually have to end him. In any case, any personal feelings for him will end up getting in the way」 「No. There’s no way that I…」 「For instance, say Nyath points a gun at me, what would you do? Would you attack me without holding back?」 「No way. There’s no way that I would ever attack you!!」

The strength behind her words of denial even took her by surprise. Matoba looked somewhat surprised as well. Even though he was driving, he still had his eyes wide open, and he was looking straight at Tilarna.

「That’s uh… because it’s my work. I would never… recklessly attack my partner. Besides, that would make Kuroi sad for sure」 「Well, thanks for that」 「Look to the front, please. It’s dangerous.」 「Uh, yeah」

Matoba corrected the course of the car, as it had been slowly moving towards the center of the road.

「In any case… what’s true is that we don’t know if things will get to that point. I don’t usually mess up, but it will only get in the way if you’re so unstable. Okay?」 「Okay」 「So do you think you could cut him?」

Tilarna’s eyes were watering up with tears. But she replied in a high pitched voice

「I think I could do it. Probably. If it’s just cutting off a hand or something…」 「Hey」 「I get it. I’ll cut his head off then」 「No, listen. It’s not like I’m not telling you to go around cutting him all over」 「You’re not?! I hate your attitude」 「I’m not. Ah, man… it always turns out like this whenever I try to be a serious cop for once and tell you something. What’s up with you and your insane ramblings?」 「Rakebye 」 「Ah, I don’t care about it anymore」

He pressed on the accelerator.

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