<Today’s temperature is 1ºC. Attire index B, snowfall is expected in all areas during the afternoon>
Birmingham was a prominent industrial city in England; the MR ads covering the streets top to bottom advertised cars, drones, and industrial goods. Among them, the road running along the Birmingham Canal was lined with office buildings for agricultural corporations.
“Investigator Hieda,” Gardener said, a sour look on his face. “We were supposed to spend the day writing the report on our investigation of Lloyd’s villa. So why are we…?”
“Bigga’s handling that for us. Besides, Investigator Smith himself asked me to look into this,” Echika fibbed nonchalantly. The fact that she was so used to this by now scared her a little. “We need to look into Robin Flutter’s pollinators…and since you’re the CEO’s son, I need your help.”
From the parking lot, they took a look at Robin Flutter’s main offices, a modern high-rise building that had windows of different sizes arranged in a stylized manner. The thoroughfare at its side had large trucks running through it. They were driving quite slowly, impeded by the carts parked at the side of the road.
“I’ll help, of course. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t going to. But I don’t know…”
It was only yesterday that Echika, inspired by seeing the bee at Lloyd’s villa, had hypothesized that agricultural pollinators had been used to kill the investors. Even after sleeping on it, Gardener didn’t seem convinced by her theory. Maybe he just didn’t want to consider the possibility of his father’s company’s products being abused for crime.
Echika was prepared for the possibility that she was off the mark, off course. But at this point, this seemed like the most practical way the crime could have been carried out—and honestly, she had no other ideas as to how it could have been done.
“Even if the hollow units were used to carry a virus,” Gardener said, “they couldn’t penetrate the skin the way a syringe can. The honeybee model, or rather, the pollinators, just don’t have that kind of function.”
“I know that, of course. It’s just…”
“If we can see the schematics, it could help us with the investigation.”
Harold, who was walking half a step behind them, softly spoke up. The Amicus had on a thick Chester coat and was carrying himself like his presence was a given.
“Well, my dad is a busy man, so I don’t know how long he’ll have for us, without an appointment.”
“That’s where you come in, Investigator Gardener. We’re counting on you,” Harold said with a perfect smile.
Echika couldn’t tell what Gardener was thinking, but he sighed in resignation.
She, too, felt the urge to sigh. Harold had linked up with them that morning. Just as Echika and Gardener were leaving the London branch, he’d suddenly showed up with Investigator Lin, who was dispatched to London on business. Apparently, Chief Smith had Harold scheduled for maintenance at Novae Robotics Inc. that evening, and Harold decided to spend his free time until then helping them investigate.
In all honesty, Echika hadn’t put her feelings in order yet. For the time being, she just tried to write it off as having a formidable ally on her side.
When they reached the entrance of the Robin Flutter building, they were greeted by a receptionist Amicus. While Gardener told it their business, Echika and Harold stood side by side. The silence hanging between them was hard to bear. In search of a distraction, Echika glanced at the footage running on a screen built into the wall. Information about the company’s changes over the years and their products scrolled by, but none of it registered in her mind.
“Investigator, I understand what you’re trying to say,” Harold whispered. “We did contact Chief Totoki. She said she would link up with us and take command of things.”
That was surprising. Totoki had always insisted on doing things by the book, so Echika never expected her to join forces in their unauthorized investigation. But then again, she had been personally interfered with by the Alliance. Maybe she hated the idea of having to just accept the false charges and watch as the Alliance took over the bureau.
“I’m going to walk out on the bureau, too. When are you doing it?”
“Chief Smith already ordered me to go back to Saint Petersburg once my maintenance is finished.”
“But instead of doing that, you’re meeting up with Chief Totoki and the rest.” Echika had trouble gauging how much distance she should maintain from him. “Um… So what made you come here? I mean, I’m not saying your help isn’t appreciated, but…”
“I have high hopes for your agricultural pollinator theory,” Harold said in a businesslike manner. “It’s a promising lead that supports my current theory. I think I might be able to help.”
Echika couldn’t tell if these were his true feelings, but regardless, if Harold was about to quit the bureau soon, every second and minute she had left with him was precious. She wanted this to be good work, for both of them, and nothing could be better than if this would actually lead to them identifying how the crime was committed.
“My dad just stepped out.” Gardener had returned. “We’ll have to go check the schematics ourselves. I got us permission to view the company’s confidential documents, so we can go into the study.”
“Can we do this without your father’s explicit permission?” Echika asked.
“I sent him a message. We’re not doing anything wrong, so we’ll be fine.”
Gardener led them inside and up to the CEO’s study. There was a biometric device at the entrance, but he was able to get through it and ushered Echika and Harold inside. The study was rather small for a such a large enterprise, and its interior design was quite plain. Beside the dimmed glass window was a sturdy desk. There was a PC and multiple tablets placed on it, and everything looked neat and orderly. A half-transparent chest was built into the wall, and Echika could see USBs stored neatly inside it.