“Finally wrestled it out’f th’ ol’ man. Th’ report only says that they found me somewhere in Tokyo, not Nagoya… some blocks away there was a fire ta an abandoned cafe…
Can’ help but wonder’f maybe I was involved with that? Ain’ sure… Th’ doc said I didn’ have any burns or nothin’ when I came in… but why Tokyo of all places…?”
It took a couple of phone calls, but Hakuba was able to procure the police report that in turn gave him the information he was after. That is, the location of the hospital in which Hattori Heiji and been admitted. The fire raised questions, but the foreign detective decided to wait and gather more evidence before coming to any sort of theory – at least for the time being.
He checked in at the nurse’s station, then approached the door in question, crocus bunch in hand. Not wanting to disturb a potentially sleeping Osakan, Hakuba quietly opened the door wide enough to poke his head in, careful to keep his expression neutral, but on the docile side.
“Ah, Hattori-san…?"
