A Book Can't Be Judged By The Cover Chapter 113: Two Cases

"And why are you still keeping high school student Sasajim Haji in for questioning?" The chief of police called out as soon as Nakanishi stood up for a salute.

"Sir it is standard procedure to..." Nakanishi got into his textbook mode, reciting the fact that it was standard procedure to hold everyone involved for questioning.

The chief of police’s aura changed as he looked down on Nakanishi. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have thought that the chief of police was going to hit him on the head. There was visible anger in the chief of police’s expression, but he maintained his composure.

"Don’t lecture about standard procedures! Send these students ho imdiately!" The chief of police voiced out, his one arm outstretched towards the entrance while pointing his index finger. He maintained his eye contact with Nakanishi as if implying that what he did was utterly inexcusable.

"I... I’m sorry sir!" Nakanishi apologetically said, bowing his head and causing his police cap to fall on his desk. The only reason why he kept Haji in for questioning was that he presumably brought down three n all by himself— or so that’s what the eyewitness reports said. To him, that kind of outco was strange, and he wanted to interrogate Haji about it.

While keeping Haji in for questioning was a standard procedure since he was involved in the incident, keeping him in for too long was not. It was clear why the chief of police was mad.

"Thank you so much for your cooperation." Nakanishi then bowed towards Haji, his classmates, and Akamine-sensei, giving them the signal to finally go. "And sorry for the inconvenience."

In return, Haji bowed toward the policeman before he turned around. He didn’t find anything wrong when it ca to the policeman’s treatnt so he couldn’t understand why the chief of police raised his voice like that. Nevertheless, it was clear that the policeman Nakanishi ssed up and the chief of police was furious about it, whatever it was.

With his nerves getting the better of him, Nakanishi watched as Haji and his gang exited the police station. He already knew what ca next as soon as all of them got out, and he didn’t want to think about it. He ssed up, that much was for certain. And it all boils down to how angry the chief of police was. For sure, he was about to get chewed out by none other than the chief of police himself.

In complete silence, Nakanishi returned to his seat. He bit his lips and held his breath, in hopes that in doing so, the chief of police would forget about what transpired a couple of seconds ago. It was an almost impossible wish, but Nakanishi held on to that sliver of hope since he was rather new to the job.

Nakanishi was too nervous that he didn’t even notice the chief of police standing nacingly beside him. "Nakanishi, co to my office." The chief of police muttered, jerking his thumb towards his office before walking towards it.

"Eek~ yes, sir," Nakanishi muttered as he sheepishly followed the chief of police.

The chief of police’s room was a standard four-by-four ter room with a desk and a shelf. It was a simple room, and yet Nakanishi felt so sort of pressure bearing down on him.

"Take a seat."

After clearing his throat, the chief of police clasped his hand. "You’re new to this job, right?"

Without missing a beat, Nakanishi furiously nodded his head in response to the question.

"Then you should know that there are unwritten rules here, practices, and such shouldn’t be disobeyed or we’ll suffer the consequences."

"Sir, if this is about that young kid, Sasajima Haji, I have a valid reason for that. I deeply apologize for overstepping my boundaries, sir, it will not happen again." Nakanishi had no idea what he was talking about but he voiced out everything in his mind as soon as he found the chance to speak. He was fairly certain that the longer he stayed in the chief of police’s office, the less inclined he’d be able to talk. That’s why he took his chance, and to his relief, he was confident that he sohow got his point across despite his sentences not relating to each other at all.

"That’s exactly why. Just listen and don’t interrupt," The chief of police heaved a sigh. "As I’ve ntioned, we here have unwritten rules and practices. One such rule is to never speak about two things. There are many complicated and sensitive cases in our country but in the past year, there are two cases that we shouldn’t talk about, nor should we involve ourselves in them."

A gulp ca from Nakanishi’s thought as he intently listened to what was coming. "Two cases?" Nakanishi confird.

"That’s right." It seed like the chief of police was enjoying the build-up since he paused for a couple of seconds before clearing his throat for a second ti. "These two cases are naly..."

"Naly?"

"..."

"..."

"... the Basilio Case, and the Sasajima Incident." Upon saying that, the chief of police relaxed on his seat, eyeing Nakanishi.

It didn’t take long before Nakanishi pieced two and two together. In shock, he cupped his hands and gasped at the chief of police. "You an to tell — ?!"

"Shh! I told you! We don’t talk about it!" The chief of police snapped. "But yes... that’s how it is... and that’s why we don’t talk about it."

.....

The day went by without another incident happening, but that didn’t stop Akamine-sensei from monitoring gumi and her group. Sothing about Haji made him a trouble magnet and Akamine-sensei didn’t want to risk taking her eyes off of them. Fortunately, the teacher who took over her class seed fine with it, and she sowhat enjoyed the group’s company as they strayed from the usual Tokyo tour route.

"Phew, that went all right," Akamine-sensei heaved a sigh of relief before grabbing Haji by the shoulder. Right now, they were on their way back to the et-up point before they return to the Aoi Umi Dormitory. "Listen here, Haji, don’t you go causing trouble for tomorrow."

"Hai~ sensei..." Haji sighed in response. He was also unsure in himself whether he’d attract trouble or not the next day.