Detective Yamamoto and the Stolen Figure Part 1

THURSDAY

In defiance of the usual order of things, the knock at the door of Detective Yamamoto's office was produced not by a client, but by a visitor. When Satoshi opened the door, he initially expected someone roughly at head level with him. When he looked down, he saw who had knocked on the door.

It was a woman, but that by itself was not remarkable. Based on her uniform, Satoshi could tell with reasonable certainty that she worked as police officer. For a cop, she wasn't particularly impressive. She stood significantly shorter than Satoshi, who wasn't especially tall himself. She had dark blue hair, pin straight, that came down to her shoulders. She might have been cute, in a diminutive sort of way, and Satoshi conceded that she sort of was, but she wore an intense scowl on her face that made her seem harsh and stern. Satoshi instantly divined that whoever this woman was, she looked like the sort of person to have a chip on her shoulder, and if he wanted to avoid a hassle, he had better tread carefully around her.

"Good morning miss," said Satoshi, while smiling what he intended to be a good-natured, welcoming smile. The officer did not respond favorably.

"Where's Hanako?" demanded the woman.

"Hanako?" asked Satoshi, genuinely perplexed.

"Hanako Yamamoto," replied the cop. "She calls herself a detective."

"Ah, you're looking for the detective. I'm her assistant. Right this way, please." Satoshi stepped aside in the doorway so that the officer could enter. With ill grace, the officer entered, then waited for Satoshi to lead the way, tapping her foot impatiently. It began to dawn on Satoshi that interacting with this woman for any longer than necessary would be more trouble that it was worth. Satoshi led the officer to Detective Yamamoto's office.

"Detective," said Satoshi, knocking gently on the door jamb. "You have a visitor."

Detective Yamamoto, who had been lounging at her desk, engrossed in her can of beer and a comic book, wearing little more than an oversized undershirt, looked up. A look of bemusement crossed her face and she squinted in the direction of the doorway.

"What can I help you with?" the detective asked.

"You can help both me and the public by staying away from the First Iwa Bank robbery that just happened, Hanako." At the use of her given name, Detective Yamamoto frowned slightly.

"Do I know you?" she asked the officer. This question seemed to visibly affect the officer, as though the lack of recognition on Yamamoto's part constituted a personal insult.

"I shouldn't be surprised you don't remember," said the officer. "I'm Hitomi Ishioka!"

Detective Yamamoto perked up. "Hitomi Ishioka! I've haven't seen you in ages, you haven't grown at all." The officer bristled. Satoshi couldn't help but notice the officer's short statue and slight figure, and how this may have factored into her short temper. Nevertheless, he resolved not to jump into the middle of whatever was about to happen.

"And you haven't changed either, you unobservant dolt! Anyways, I'm a police officer now, and you're just a freelance detective, so I'm telling you to stay away from the bank robbery by order of the police chief!" She turned on her heel in a huff and left the agency. Distantly, Satoshi could hear the front door being slammed shut.

"Friend of yours?" Satoshi asked casually. Detective Yamamoto shrugged.

"Friend is a stretch. We both went to the same school years ago and had the same career goals. Ultimately, she became a police officer."

"So what's the deal? She sure seems easy to set off."

"She's always been like that. It's what makes her so fun to be around." Satoshi wasn't sure what to make of this, so he kept his mouth shut. Detective Yamamoto stood up from behind her desk and started making her way out of the room.

"Where are you going? We don't have a case yet," Satoshi said. Detective Yamamoto turned and gave Satoshi a cunning grin.

"I need to get cleaned up; we're gonna check out that bank robbery." It seemed to Satoshi that directly disobeying a police officer who didn't seem to have a particularly rosy disposition at the best of times was not an advisable course of action, but the detective seemed more familiar with her than he was.

~~~

When Satoshi and Detective Yamamoto arrived at the bank, it was clear that it was the site of significant upheaval. One of the large plate glass windows in the front of the bank had shattered, and a fair amount of blood mingled with the shards as though someone had gotten cut by the broken glass. Inside the bank, a crowd of patrons and employees were rounded up by law enforcement. Other people in uniform walked around the entirety of the bank, taking photographs, cordoning off various areas with lengths of tape, and talking to the various witnesses.

The yellow tape, which was an especially eye-catching shade, also had the words 'Crime Scene – Do No Enter' written on it many times. However, neither the clear written instruction nor the bright color was sufficient to dissuade Detective Yamamoto, who merely ducked under the tape as though the tape was only something other people had to be concerned about. With some trepidation, Satoshi followed her.

Now inside the bank, Satoshi got a better view of who had been caught up in the robbery. Many people now inside were bank employees, both tellers and more senior employees, but there were more than a few patrons. One such person, an elderly woman, appeared to be particularly distraught. Detective Yamamoto, whether seeing this as a good opportunity or seeking to comfort the old woman, approached her and began to offer reassurances.

She's being surprisingly tactful, Satoshi thought. He would have assumed the detective would have said something uncouth by now, but the detective instead told the poor woman that everything would work out. The old lady didn't seem too reassured.

"Do you think you can get my figurine back?" the woman said between soft sobs.

"Your figurine?" echoed the detective. This seemed to pique her interest, and if Satoshi was honest, this got his attention too, as this seemed to have all the hallmarks of the type of case that Detective Yamamoto excelled at.

"Yes," the woman nodded. "My figurine. It was a gift from my mother and it's very important to me. I always carry it with me. "

"I understand ma'am," said the detective. "But why would someone steal it? Does it have value other than sentimental value?"

"I suppose so," said the woman uncertainly. "It's quite old, and there aren't many of its kind."

Satoshi recognized the look in Detective Yamamoto's eye. She had latched onto what could very well be a clue.

"I see, I see. Could you describe the figurine in more detail?"

The woman described it. The figurine was made of porcelain and painted. It resembled a young boy wearing traditional clothing. In one hand he held a fishing pole. Detective Yamamoto listened so intently to the woman's description that she failed to notice a familiar figure approaching her from out of the periphery. Satoshi had only begun to try and capture the detective's attention by waving at her when the diminutive form of Officer Ishioka rounded on the detective.

"Hey!" she bellowed. "I thought I warned you to stay away!"

"Oh, hi Hitomi! Fancy running into you here," replied the detective with exaggerated civility. This only seemed to aggravate the officer further. Satoshi feared for a moment that this act might lead to a more drawn out verbal conflict, with the increasing risk a shouting match being mirrored by the increasing redness of Hitomi's face.

"That's officer to you," snarled Hitomi, seemingly regaining her composure. She pointed towards the door sharply. "Get out!" Detective Yamamoto raised her hands in a conciliatory fashion.

"As you wish, officer. You're the one with the badge." Detective Yamamoto turned to the old lady. "Sorry for the interruption ma'am. My assistant and I will do what we can."

"Thank you, young lady," croaked the old woman as she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. With that, Detective Yamamoto departed and Satoshi followed closely behind her, stopping only to look over his shoulder at Officer Ishioka, who scowled back.

~~~

"That was a mess," said Satoshi as he and the detective walked back into the detective agency. When he had woken up this morning, he hadn't expected to get on the wrong side of the law, and he wasn't particularly happy for it to have happened.

"Yes, but I think we've got a leg up on the cops," said the detective. "Which was the goal." Satoshi gave the detective a questioning look.

"How do you figure that?"

"Remember that little figure the old woman was talking about?"

Satoshi nodded.

"It's not just a trinket. I know a little bit about those types of figures, and it's quite rare, much more so than the woman thought."

"So?"

"So, I'd bet the thief might not know this. If he were to try and fence it, say online, we could narrow down pretty quickly who the thief is." Satoshi clapped his hands together as things clicked into place.

"So we could pass on this information to Officer Ishioka then." Detective Yamamoto snorted.

"No, we can catch the thief ourselves," the detective said smugly. Satoshi wasn't too sure about this approach. After all, this was no mere run of the mill thief. The culprit they were after had committed an armed robbery.

"If you say so," said Satoshi, but he was even less sure than he sounded.

"It'll be worth it," reassured the detective. "Even if only to see Hitomi have a fit."

Satoshi decided it might be prudent to change the subject. "So what's the deal with the figurine?" The detective turned to face him and smiled.
"I'm glad you asked. Based on the woman's description, it's an old handmade porcelain figure. If I'm right, it's one of a set, and there are only so many surviving sets today."

"So it's rare?"

"Very. I imagine a collector would pay a pretty penny for it, and if our robber doesn't know its worth, he'll likely try to sell it for far below market rates." Given the way the detective talked excitedly about what was for all intents and purposes a boring trinket, Satoshi somehow got it into his mind that this would be an exciting search for the culprit. In reality, Detective Yamamoto directed him to monitor various online auction websites on the off chance that a listing would pop up. The prospect of finding what they were looking for excited Satoshi, but as he was soon to discover, Detective Yamamoto had not exaggerated; there were no listings anywhere that he could find.

Oh well, thought Satoshi. It makes sense that the robber wouldn't sell it right away.

The thought comforted him, but it became substantially less so as time stretched on. It was the only lead they had, after all, and if it wasn't yielding anything then Satoshi and the detective were stuck.

SATURDAY

On the third day of religiously monitoring all the online auction sites he could think of, Satoshi, for it was him doing the bulk of the work, found something.

"Detective!" called Satoshi. A brief spark of excitement entered his voice, as it seemed as though the previous few days of fruitless browsing had finally drawn to a close. Detective Yamamoto looked up lazily from her can of beer.

"What?" she asked. It seemed as though the lack of progress up until now had made her just as weary. Satoshi motioned for her to walk over. She did so after stretching and groaning. He gestured proudly to listing he had pulled up on his screen. Detective Yamamoto's eyes darted back and forth as she read over the text on Satoshi's computer.

"Good work, assistant," said the detective. "This looks promising." She leaned over Satoshi and began typing at his computer, making an offer to the seller. The thief wasn't asking for a price in line with the trinket's true value, but it was definitely more than either Satoshi or the detective would be willing to drop on it. Of course, looking on the bright side, seeing as how this seller might be the thief, actually paying for the trinket was something they could potentially avoid. To the delight of the detective, the seller responded almost immediately to her offer and favorably so to boot.

"Glad to hear you're interested," read the message.

"It's not everyday you find something like this," replied the detective. "I would like to purchase it as soon as possible. Could I pick it up from you?"

"Sure. What's your availability like?"

"I can make any time work."

"Wonderful. How about this Saturday?"

"Works for me."

 The seller gave Detective Yamamoto the address of the meeting place, and it was one that Satoshi and the detective recognized as being out of the way. Naturally, this gave Satoshi pause. It didn't strike him as a good idea to go visit an armed robber out in the middle of nowhere with intentions of foiling his escape from the law. However, this didn't seem to have occurred to Detective Yamamoto, and at any rate, she seemed to be too determined to one-up Officer Ishioka to care about anything else.