Zi Yang drove Kanan to the Yoyogihachiman Community Center. They found out the previous night through surveillance cameras that a Toyota Corolla was driven to a normal-looking house after the mall shooting. The driver also gave an envelope to the house owner named Alex Witzshop before leaving without the car. They suspected that he knew something about the driver. Furthermore, when he was interviewed by Zi Yang a day ago, he admitted to only buying the car.
The funny thing was that the same car arrived in front of Alex's house on the night of the bank robbery. He was, yet again, given another envelope by a driver. That meant that he had lied to Zi Yang, and he had to be hiding something. There was more to this man than meets the eye.
Once the police inspectors reached the community center, they walked to the entrance, where they saw a woman at the counter currently sorting papers out. They went to her and pressed the table bell. The woman looked up and quickly placed her papers at one side.
"May I help you, sir?" She queried.
Zi Yang showed his police pass, "I am Inspector Zi Yang, and this is Inspector Kanan Matsuura." Zi Yang motioned to Kanan as she nodded her head in agreeance. "I am currently looking for a man named Alex Witzshop. He works at the counter here, right? Where is he now?"
"He went to the toilet, and told me to take over for a while." She then pointed towards the toilet. The inspectors thanked her and went to their left.
"You think he knows we're here?" Kanan asked Zi Yang.
"He might." He replied, "If he did all these shady shit, he might be scared of the police and probably run away while he had the chance. Yet again, he's got the guts to lie to me."
They then saw a man standing outside of the restrooms. Kanan pointed at him, and Zi Yang nodded his head. As they were about to approach the man, they heard him speaking on the phone frantically, peaking their interest.
"...I know. I will definitely keep my mouth shut, and not tell the police a single thing." He spoke, "I will deny everything, and they'll never know anything."
"Oh, really, Alex Witzshop?" Zi Yang questioned, "Then we should have a nice talk right now, and we'll see if you still want to deny anything."
Alex immediately dropped his phone and slowly turned around as his body was shaking rapidly. He caught a glimpse of the police duo before gulping his saliva down his throat. With no hesitation, he took this chance to run away. Kanan and Zi Yang quickly chased after him.
Alex constantly looked back to see if he had lost sight of the officers. Unfortunately, they were pretty fast. He made a few left and right turns to try and get rid of them. After a while, he stopped at a corner to catch his breath. He glanced behind himself quickly but saw no one. He heaved a sigh of relief as he leaned against the wall. He was safe from the police.
Or so he thought. Kanan appeared a few meters away from him just mere seconds later. Quick to find anything to use, Alex grabbed a hold of the broken down dustbin before throwing it at her, but she was fast enough to dodge.
Already feeling fatigued from trying to run, Alex brought his fists up ready to fight. He threw a lazy punch at her face, but Kanan managed to grab his right fist. With his fist in her grasp, she tightened her grip, ripping it towards her and kneeing his chin. As she was about to break his fingers, he used his left hand and struck her stomach as hard as possible. This made her stumble back and let go of him, letting him regain control over his body. He shook his head and slapped his face lightly to wake himself up, all the sweat droplets from his forehead slowly falling down in the process.
With her quick instincts, Kanan took out her gun and aimed it at his leg. However, he was quick to grab the barrel of the gun and pushed it down before striking her on the face, at the same time snatching the gun away. He pointed the gun at her and sneered. As he pulled the trigger, no bullets came out. Kanan, grinning, took this chance to boot him right in the groin. He dropped the gun and grabbed his crotch as he groaned in pain.
"Gun's empty, dumbass." Kanan smirked, proud that she had thought of that idea before this fight. Alex, enraged in fury, saw an empty glass bottle nearby and picked it up. He charged towards her and tried to hit her with it, but she dodged the attacks as she moved backwards. She looked behind her to get a better idea of her area and saw a wall. She realized she shouldn't continue moving backwards, or else she'd get hit.
To try and disarm him to prevent him from hurting her, Kanan rushed in on him, pushing his right hand to the wall and chopping his wrist with the side of her palm, attempting to make him lose grip of the bottle. She used her other hand to squish his right arm tightly. He quickly passed the glass bottle from one hand to the other and swung the bottle at her head.
Lucky for her, she had fast reflexes, and ducked her head as the weapon hit the wall, breaking the bottom part of it. Despite that, she accidentally let go of his wrists by instinct as she didn't want to get hit. Because of that, he was able to slice her arms twice with the glass bottle, making her scream in pain. Seeing that she was open for an attack, he smiled contemptuously and did a roundhouse kick to her face. She fell down to the ground with his final attacks.
He held the broken bottle up high and was about to strike her head with it when someone held his arm. He looked up and saw Zi Yang's fists flying onto his face. The force of Zi Yang's strength sent Alex stumbling on his feet backwards.
Alex tried to hit the police inspector with the bottle, but the latter swiftly dodged to the left and kicked his chest. Zi Yang darted his eyes around his surroundings for a weapon to try and fight the suspect. To his luck, he saw a bamboo pole on the floor, broken in half and ready to be broken down even more. He took up one of the parts and went into a fighting stance. Alex shook his head side-to-side, getting himself ready, before charging forward.
Zi Yang however countered him easily by poking him on the stomach with the bamboo pole multiple times before pushing him back with it. Clearly in a bit of pain by the expressions on his face, Alex coughed and threw the bottle away. He took the other half of the pole and started breathing in and out heavily. He then started going one-on-one with the police inspector. Both of them managed to block each other's attacks, with their poles constantly going against each other and them going back and forth for a few seconds.
Just as Alex was about to strike Zi Yang on the head, the latter swiftly aimed his pole at Alex's right axilla. He poked it with force before pushing him back once more with the pole, causing Alex to drop his pole and paralyzing his right arm. Afterwards, Zi Yang kicked the back of his thighs and legs, which made him fall down onto the floor completely. He groaned in pain as he glared at the police inspector.
Zi Yang threw his pole aside, "Alex Witzshop, you're arrested for lying to the police. If you cooperate now, we won't have to fight again. I'll bring you back to the station, and you'll tell me everything you know about the cases. There perhaps might be a light sentence for you."
Alex smirked, "That's a good fight, Mr Huang. I won't give in yet, though." He quickly got up and was about to boot Zi Yang on the face with his left leg. Zi Yang was fast enough to grab his left leg, kicked the side of his right leg, and flipped him over. He landed on the floor on his chest with a very loud thud.
Kanan was watching at the side as she was recovering from her injuries, shocked, stunned, and amazed by her partner's fighting skills. Zi Yang took out the handcuffs and cuffed Alex. The latter didn't bother to struggle or resist anymore. He was out of energy and in immense pain.
In the police interrogation room, the police inspectors sat down in front of Alex, whose hands were handcuffed to the bench's handles.
Zi Yang leaned towards him, "You'd better tell us everything you know about the bank robbery and mall shooting cases. And tell us the truth, not the lies."
"Why should I?" Alex grumbled, "You don't have any evidence to prove I'm guilty. Please set me free right now. You bet that once you release me, I'll get my lawyer to sue you two for slander and the injuries inflicted on me."
"Hmm, that sounds interesting." Kanan took out a laptop and played the surveillance clips, "These clips here showed that the Corolla was driven to your house on the same day both of those incidents happened, and the packages were given to you."
"And the phone call you made earlier too." Zi Yang added, "Something about not telling the police a single thing. That ain't a coincidence, am I right?"
"I wasn't even in the clip." Alex retorted, "You got the wrong person. That's a person that looked like me, but it wasn't. Now you let me go, so that I can show the world how you two are the worst police officers in the world."
"You..." Zi Yang slammed the table and glared at him. Zi Yang was about to punch him, but Kanan held her partner back. Alex gave a cheeky grin.
"I'm glad you stopped him from hitting me." Alex said, "Or not he's gonna get a charge."
"You really don't want to confess to all these?" Kanan smiled, "You don't want to tell the truth? Fine. Zi Yang, stay here and look after him. I'm going to get the police to seize his house. That way, you can't get a lawyer anymore. You break the law, you pay the price."
"What the fuck?" Alex stared at her, "That's definitely not possible. You can't just take my assets away from me! That's not what the police officer is allowed to do!"
"Try me, Mr Witzshop." She went to him and stared at him eye to eye as she talked in a menacing tone, "Try me. That house was technically used for illegal stuff, and the money ain't clean either. The surveillance footage showed it all. Have fun sitting here." She then went to the door. As she was about to open it, Alex slammed the table to get her attention. She turned her head to look at him.
"Wait! I'll tell the truth right now!" He exclaimed, "I promise! Just don't take my house and money away! I need them when I get out of jail! I swear I won't lie! Just please give me a lighter sentence." She nodded her head and sat back down on her seat.
"You know, you assisted in two crimes, lied to the police once, and even resisted arrest." Zi Yang told him, "Your jail sentence isn't looking very bright. Unless you want to be sentenced to life imprisonment, you'd better open your mouth now."
Alex sighed before he started speaking, "I was speaking to a guy earlier in the community center. His name is Menemis, and he works for this woman with ruby-coloured hair. I was in need of money. I've been gambling a lot, and lost a bunch of cash. I need to recoup my losses, so I turned to them."
"How did you meet this Menemis guy?" Kanan questioned.
"I went to the car dealer one day." Alex replied, "I was planning to sell my current car. A 2009 Honda Civic. That's where I met him. He was asking people to buy the Corollas, and he would sponsor the money. He even wanted to pay me for changing the number plate afterwards. I needed that money real quick. I sold my car, bought that car, and had a custom number plate under his instructions."
"And then?" Kanan probed.
"He would call me every time he needed the car, saying that his female boss wants to use it for an event." He continued, "I just allowed him to take the car, and he would drive to my house at night to pay me for it. I always wondered why I was paid so much for that. I really didn't know it was used for their crimes! I swear on my fuckin' life! I was kept in the dark about it!"
"What about the other four cases?" Zi Yang asked.
"I don't know any others." Alex responded, "I only knew Menemis came to me twice. Also, he called me earlier on in the community center. His female boss wanted to use the car again for settling some business at the Tusas Bank at seven in the night two days later."
"Alright. Thank you for cooperating with us, Alex Witzshop." Zi Yang uttered, "I appreciate you. You'll have a lighter sentence."
"Before you go," Alex looked at Kanan, "Is it true that the police can seize my property? I didn't see it happen to others at all. Is this a new rule or something?"
"Precisely, Alex." Kanan gave a cheeky smile. It was at this moment that both males in the room realized what she meant. Alex became furious and hurled vulgarities as the two police inspectors left the room.
"You really got the brains, Kanan." Zi Yang said to her.
"And you got the brawn." She patted his shoulder, "Your martial arts really impressed me just now. You managed to take that guy down easily. I really admire your skills."
"You are really clever too. Not even I could think of something like that." He then looked at her right wrists, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. I just need some time for the wounds to heal." She replied, "It might be painful, but it's nothing new. I want to learn how to fight like you so that I can apprehend criminals quickly. Could you teach me sometime, please?"
"Wait 'til you recover first." He said, "Remember, we got to take down people two days later. Recovering from your wounds is more important than anything now." He then walked away. Kanan looked at him for a while before following him.
At night, Umi was in her room, looking at the articles that reported on the murders cases that happened the past week. She read them again as she thought about what Eli had said earlier.
To be honest, she thought the blonde woman was absolutely spot on. The police didn't solve the six killings at all. She didn't solve it either, no matter how hard she and Kotori had tried to find anything.
Umi knew that Eli always had this hardworking, firm, and righteous personality. Eli had always been vocal on how she wanted to help people since both of them were in high school, and she honored her word. To see her come out with a plan like this was no surprise.
Umi wished she could also be as open as Eli on seeking justice for the victims too, but she was very shy. In fact, only Kotori knew about this outspoken side of hers.
Umi was sick and tired of seeing the police force fail again and again. She truly wanted to help the people who lost their families due to these heinous crimes. Maybe she should trust Eli. Perhaps she might find something no one else could. They might really be able to bring the culprits to justice, for all she knows. She looked at a photo of her and Kotori.
Possibly...