Two Weeks Later
Mitsuko had brought Yuji and the Night Raider into a briefing room which was where Toshio and Mitsuko used to be briefed about the various escapades that Cats Eye were about to get up to. The room had changed slightly in design as it looked like it had a fresh coat of paint as well as all of the wire tapping and spy devices that Cats Eye had implemented there in the past had been removed.
"What's the assignment," said Night Raider bluntly
"We know that the Cranaff Syndicate have operatives all over Japan and we also know the ringleader is running operations from either New York or Miami, we did receive some intel from Detectives Crockett and Tubbs from the Metro-Dade Police Department in Miami in terms of they believe that the Cranaff Syndicate is bartering Heinz works to various art syndicates and cartels and thus have created a criminal network going from Miami to Paris to Tokyo," said Mitsuko
"So what are we going to do, we can't send multiple agents to various countries, we don't have the resources, plus it would piss off Special Branch and their egotistical head Himuro," said Mitsuko
The Night Raider remembered Himuro and he came close to killing both Cats Eye and the old Chief back in the day, it actually didn't surprise the Raider at all that Himuro would be given a promotion afterwards.
"So what are we going to do if we can't take down the network at its head," said Yuji
"We are going to intercept the network instead, we know the Cranaff Syndicate tend to use either air or sea when it comes to delivering art or money, so we are going undercover and infiltrate the Syndicate at Tokyo Bay whom we believe are expecting a package to arrive in the next few hours," said Mitsuko
"So how do you expect us to go undercover in Tokyo Bay," said Night Raider
"You two will be disguised as cargo workers which will make you less suspicious to the Syndicate, I will try and hijack the communication system in order to keep in contact with both of you during the assignment," said Mitsuko
"Do we have any more information on the Syndicate member that disappeared from our holding cells recently," said Night Raider
"We are trying to figure it out, but the amount of evidence that we can gather is very limited, whoever caused the Syndicate members disappearance must of planned it to a precise detail," said Mitsuko
"It's seems suspicious, considering we would of known if the Syndicate broke into the station," said Yuji
"Not necessarily, there could be inside operatives inside this station which is why every operation will be tracked and every suspect logged, this station will not be infiltrated like it was back when Chief was in charge," said Mitsuko
Later in Tokyo Bay
The Night Raider and Yuji were both in cargo worker disguises, despite the disguise, the Raider still had his usual cigarette in his mouth and gloomy expression on his face.
"You know the plan, don't you," said Night Raider bluntly
"We pretend to do work and then we go in guns a blazing when everyone is in the same area," said Yuji
"We have to strategise that part better, if we expose ourselves to all of them at once, we will be cannon fodder, we need to split them into two groups, seize the contraband and hold them off until reinforcements arrive," said Night Raider
"Good idea," said Yuji as both of them pretended to work for a while.
A little while later
The Cranaff Syndicate associate had arrived on a boat whom were awaiting them were a low level Syndicate that was known to the local police the main representative of the Cranaff Syndicate was holding a large briefcase as well as a pistol.
"I hear your Syndicate has some high value art pieces of interest," said the low level representative
"We do, but what can you offer us, we don't sell this stuff for free," said the Cranaff Representative
"We've got this briefcase full of cash and armour," said the low level representative
The Cranaff Representative inspects the briefcase that the low level Syndicate was offering and it looked alluring, there was money in both cash and gold as well as various armour and weapons
"Before we can agree to this deal, we have word from the boss himself to check to see if you know anything on the suspected disappearance on many Heinz artefacts," said the Cranaff Representative
"No, but I have heard that some of our associates assigned with looking after specific artefacts have disappeared and the jewels disappear with them without a trace," said the low level representative
"We've had the same with one of our representatives here, this time he disappeared in police custody," said the Cranaff Representative
"There's someone else after the Heinz jewels, but who," said the low level representative
"It can't be Cats Eye, they were apprehended and locked up years ago," said the Cranaff Representative
Suddenly a old Cats Eye card was thrown which managed to disarm everyone there.
"That can't be possible," said the Cranaff Representative surprised
Yuji appeared out of nowhere and started taking down the low level syndicate members, while the Night Raider looked to take the Cranaff Representative.
"You must be the Night Raider, we've heard so much about you," said the Cranaff Representative
"How much," said Night Raider
"We know about your past encounters with many Syndicate colleagues," said the Cranaff Representative
"And ridding them off the streets in the name of order, I believe with regards to the Syndicate, you're the next domino to fall," said Night Raider
"Maybe you're the next to fall, I'm not letting you stop this deal from going through," said the Cranaff Representative
"I'll try and stop you, but be warned, you will be risking your life if you dare try to defy my authority," said Night Raider
The Cranaff Representative attempted to grab his gun, but the Night Raider used an old Cats Eye card that he stored in his pocket to disarm him before he kicked the Cranaff Representative in the stomach and elbowed him in the head to knock him out.
"You're nicked," said Night Raider
"Raider, all of the other syndicate members have either detained or neutralised," said Yuji
"Good work, make sure the rest of the site is clear," said Night Raider
Later in the Interview Room
"What were you trading with back in the Bay," said Yuji
"Why should I tell you, I'm pretty sure trading art isn't illegal," said the Cranaff Representative
"There wasn't just art in there and we know that the Cranaff Syndicate have a large scale international smuggling network," said Yuji
"We trade art and that's all we trade, all this smuggling talk is very unfounded," lied the Cranaff Representative
"The evidence points otherwise, why were there weapons and armour in the trade when you say you only trade art," said Yuji
"We need to protect ourselves, there is many people who want these valuable art pieces, especially after the capture of Cats Eye," said the Cranaff Representative
"Yet there have been many reports of your group trading multiple sorts of weapons and other nefarious goods in a sort of barter system," said Yuji
Meanwhile outside the meeting room
"How is Yuji handling the interrogation," said Mitsuko
"He's doing fine, but he's not asking the more crucial questions that could lead us directly to the Syndicate's head," said Night Raider
"I do think you need to cut him more slack, from what I've seen, Yuji is a competent police officer who'll get better with time," said Mitsuko
"He'll make the same mistakes that I did when I was in his position," said Night Raider
"You're still stuck in the past, move forward with your life and you'll find happiness again," said Mitsuko
"I don't think I can move on from the Cats Eye case yet, it broke my heart when I found out Hitomi was the main Cats Eye all along," said Night Raider
"I admit it must of been hard for you when you found out about Hitomi's confession of being Cats Eye," said Mitsuko
"It changed me, all of my mistakes that led to Cats Eye becoming as prominent as they were and I vowed to myself to never let my personal life interfere with my work as a detective ever again," said Night Raider
"But you've got to cut yourself some slack, Cats Eye were some of the deceptive thieves that we ever had dealt with, you can't just blame yourself for their prominence," said Mitsuko
"Tell me Mitsuko, do you know what it felt like when I found out Cats Eye were the Kisugis," said Night Raider
"You were suffering from a broken heart and now you've taken up this 'Night Raider' alias in order to hide those emotions of heartbreak and try to push ahead and forget that Cats Eye ever existed, that your love for Hitomi never existed and to start afresh again as a feared and respected detective," said Mitsuko
"You've just summed it up perfectly, that's very clever of you, Plain Jane," said Night Raider
"But I must warn you, all this 'Night Raider' stuff is just a mask, you need to face your emotions and your past in order to fully move on and open your heart, it may be wounded, but it can still love again, give it some time," said Mitsuko
Yuji exited the room and said "He's not said much, but he had given us a location on where Cranaff himself is attending a meeting,"
"Where," said Night Raider
"Bonn, West Germany," said Yuji
"It's unlikely we can get many agents down there without informing Special Branch though," said Mitsuko
"Me and Yuji will go," said Night Raider
"Are you sure, I could get in trouble with Special Branch for sending agents abroad," said Mitsuko
"Do it, if we need to shut down this Syndicate, we need every bit of help that we can get," said Night Raider
"Very well, I will get the flight sorted for two days time, I recommend you use this time to plan and rest, do not tell any other branch as they may take away our funding for this mission," said Mitsuko
Yuji saluted before walking away.
"Toshio, your shift is over, you can go home," said Mitsuko
"I'm willing to work overtime," said Night Raider
"I'm not allowing it, go home, you need to rest before the mission in two days," said Mitsuko
"Fine!" said Night Raider
The Night Raider left the room and headed out of the police station, Mitsuko feeling concerned decided to follow the Night Raider in a disguise.
"Where could he be going," said Mitsuko quietly
The Night Raider kept walking down the block until he reached a bar that was a few blocks down from the station.
Mitsuko who was in disguise slowly entered the bar and sat at one of the booths sitting away from the bar so that Mitsuko could hear the Night Raider, but the Night Raider couldn't see her.
"What would you like to drink," said the barman
"My usual, Whiskey," said Night Raider
"Very well, was it a eventful day at the station," said the barman
"Not really, just the same old stuff that we have to deal with every day," said Night Raider
"I'm sure it was an exciting day, catching criminals and living life in the fast lane," said the barman as he makes the Night Raider's drink.
"It was exciting at first, but it all turns into one massive routine, over and over again until the police pension comes in," said Night Raider
"I thought considering how action packed being cop is, that it would be enjoyable," said the barman
"It was enjoyable, once," said the Night Raider as he swallows his drink whole in around 2 gulps.
"You're still reeling from the Cats Eye case, aren't you," said the barman
"What if I am, is that any concern to you," said Night Raider bluntly
"No, but you do frequent here often and generally talkabout either the Cats Eye case or how much you miss Hitomi," said the barman
"Its one of the only things that ever crosses my mind these days except for when sports are on," said Night Raider
"Do you have any hobbies," said the barman
"Only Detective work, Watching Sports and Pachinko," said Night Raider
"Do you miss Hitomi, now that she is in prison for a long time for her deeds as Cats Eye," said the barman
The Night Raider went silent for a bit before breaking down into tears. At that moment the Night Raider mask briefly dissipated which left a heartbroken Toshio Utsumi underneath it wallowing at a nearby bar.
"I do miss her everyday, despite putting all my focus on my work, she is always on my mind, I can't shake off the memories we had," said Toshio as tears began flowing through his eyes.
Mitsuko was listening in and was saddened to hear the sort of mental pain that Toshio was in, he had tried to move on through work and distractions, but the anguish of her being locked up for 20 long years and not being able to see her (Hitomi was considered a massive escape risk, so she was banned from having any visitors) made it impossible for Toshio to truly move on with his life.
Mitsuko (who was in an disguise) approached the bar where Toshio was and asked for a drink.
"May I have a bottle of sake," said Mitsuko
"Coming right up, also a little request, can you cheer up my friend over there, he's not in a good way," said the barman
"I'll give it my best," said Mitsuko
Mitsuko went closer to Toshio who had finished a round of weeping and was sniffling all over the place.
"Toshio, are you okay," said Mitsuko
Toshio looked at her and nodded to indicate that he wasn't okay.
"You loved Hitomi, didn't you," said Mitsuko
"More than the world," said Toshio
"I see, how long did you two know each other," said Mitsuko
"We had been together for many years stemming back to when we were both in high school, as for when we got engaged, it was when I was a detective and on the Cats Eye case, but I'm sure you know that, Plain Jane," said Toshio seeing through Mitsuko's disguise.
"How can you see through the disguise," said Mitsuko
"Because your facial features make it a dead giveaway and your sunglasses are the type used by people who need to wear glasses," said Toshio
Mitsuko took off her disguise and threw it aside.
"Look I don't know what it's like to be in the situation that you are in, but I can try," said Mitsuko as she gave Toshio an hug.
After breaking the hug, Mitsuko had an idea.
"I have someone we can interrogate with regards to the Cranaff case," said Mitsuko
"Who's that," said Toshio
"Follow me," said Mitsuko as they both left the bar.
Mitsuko and Toshio both headed towards where the maximum security prison was as Mitsuko believed that one of its prisoners may be really helpful in the Cranaff case.
As they managed to get past the guard, they headed to the reception.
"Is a Rui Kisugi able to speak, we are both detectives in the local police department, we believe that she could provide us with key intel," said Mitsuko
'So this is where Rui is being held' thought Toshio
"This is where she is indeed, the meeting room is on the left, we'll go fetch her," said the receptionist
Mitsuko and Toshio entered the meeting room which had a telephone, two chairs and a giant smashproof glass wall.
After sitting down, a flurry of guards entered the room escorting Rui to the other side of the glass wall, she looked less grandiose ever since she had been imprisoned as she didn't wear makeup or lipstick anymore which gave her a slightly older appearance, but her long black hair and beauty had remained mostly unchanged.
"After everything that we've all been through, we meet again," said Mitsuko
"It's been a long time, I see you brought Toshio with you," said Rui
"I had to, your case nearly ended his law enforcement career and saw his lover locked up for a long time" said Mitsuko
"I'm sorry for what happened to Hitomi, Toshio, its my fault that her and Ai were involved in the whole Cats Eye fiasco," said Rui
"Yet you used her to do your dirty work and for what to find a father who's probably long dead," said Toshio with a tinge of anger in his voice
"We all wanted to find our father, me and Hitomi both, while she was the main Cats Eye, we all played our part when it came to retrieving the Heinz works," said Rui
"You could of done it legally, appeals, posters, anything, but instead you chose to become thieves and ended up destroying people's livelihoods because you thought you had a god given right to your fathers art," said Toshio
"It was not that simple, Father was hunted by various criminals and went into hiding, if he did reveal himself that way, we would all of been hunted down," said Rui
"Why didn't you consider the police then, we have the resources in this country to hunt any criminal down, you could of turned to us or you could called Interpol if it's a more serious case," said Toshio
"Because we were all worried that Dad would be spotted by the wrong people and would be killed, Cats Eye had to use the methods that we did to subversly send a message to Heinz," said Rui
"By stealing, trespassing onto private property and cause undue distress upon art collectors and their guests and all for what, Heinz is still untracable and you and Hitomi are now classed as hardened criminals with Ai still classed as missing following her testimony," said Toshio
"You're right in your feelings towards us and if you never want to see me again, then I understand, but I want you to listen to what I have to say, I have a feeling that Ai had been influenced with regards to not only getting ue caught, but also her testimony that got her off almost scot free," said Rui
"Who do you think influenced Ai," said Mitsuko
"I'm not sure, it couldn't of been for money as we had a large amount of personal funds that was used in admittedly on our Cats Eye operations..." said Rui before being suddently interrupted.
"Then what would motivate her then!" said Toshio angrily which caused Mitsuko to glare at him.
"Possbily she had enough of living a double life and fufilling our dreams and someone or something took advanatge and offered her an way out of that life in favour of a new purpose," said Rui
"Do you have any suggestions on where Ai could be," said Mitsuko
"I've heard from a prisoner who is an ex-spy that she could of been influenced by an political faction or country," said Rui
"What makes you think that," said Toshio
"Michael Heinz was persecuted due to having anti-fascist beliefs during WW2, I believe with the DDR viewing Heinz as some sort of revolutionary hero, it would make sense for them to snoop around the Cats Eye and seeing as Ai had the most to lose, it wouldnt surprise me if they were involved," said Rui
"So your suggesting Ai could be in the DDR," said Mitsuko
"Its a possibility, but don't just go off my word, but that's the most likely place she is," said Rui
"We can go there after sorting the Cranaff case in Bonn," said Toshio as he exited the room.
"If it's revenge Toshio is after, then I recommend that he be careful, Ai could have some very powerful compariots who'll make it very difficult for her to be defeated," said Rui to Mitsuko
"Don't you worry, he's got me to help him in case he falls into trouble," said Mitsuko before leaving the room.
Later
Rui was in her cell as she had just been escorted from the visitors room back to her cell as she sat in a fairly lonely cell as the guards believed that as the Leader of Cats Eye, she was not be trusted with an cellmate to avoid any precisly planned escape attempts .
Suddently Rui noticed two guards that she hadn't seen before approach her cell.
"Rui Kisugi, isn't that correct," said one of the guards
"Yeah," said Rui
"How do you feel escaping this prison and going under a new alias and identity," said the guard
"Whats the catch," said Rui
"You'll have to work with us," said one of the guards
"As a prison guard," said Rui
"No, we actually knocked out all of the guards, we are actually the West German BND and we need your help regarding a case," said one of the guards
Rui mulled it over before agreeing to it.