Yukina set Linda down and got some bandages out of her shoulder bag, which she promptly used to cover up Hinata’s scrapes. They had cute cherry patterns on them. It was a little embarrassing, but Hinata was more relieved that his knee was taken care of.
“Th-thanks…”
She giggled and said he was welcome, then petted Chris on the head. “So you came to get help because your owner was hurt? Good dog, Chris!”
“Huh?”
“That’s right. He was barking and barking, trying to get my attention. What a smart doggy!”
Oh, Chris was trying to help me… Hinata felt his chest grow hot. He hugged Chris again. Thank you, Chris. Sorry for being a weak owner and getting hurt from such a little fall.
Hinata scooped up Chris’s red leash, got to his feet, and looked his dog in the eyes. Chris wagged his fluffy tail, as though saying he was glad Hinata was all right.
“Well, we should start back home. I’m starving,” said Yukina. In the distance they could hear the sound of a police car siren. “Hmm? What could be going on this early in the morning?”
She shaded her eyes with a hand, looking toward the station. Hinata did the same thing—the sun was bright this morning.
The siren was getting closer. Eventually, once the sound was so loud it almost hurt, a police car appeared and stopped near the station. Its lights bounced off the buildings in the area, even brighter than the sun. They could hear the car doors opening and slamming.
Linda barked with fright, and Yukina scooped her up. “There, there, it’s all right. What could be going on? Did something happen at the station?”
Chris wasn’t frightened, though. Maybe his time as a police dog had gotten him used to the sound of sirens.
Speaking of which, the four of them could hear another siren in the distance, and this time it wasn’t alone. Now there was an ambulance, too. Soon the entire shopping district was full of wailing sirens. People started poking their heads out of doors and exclaiming over the fuss.
“Oh no! I’ll go check it out!” Yukina said, rushing off toward the station with Linda in her arms.
Hinata’s heart was racing, and he could feel his knees shaking. “M-maybe we should go home, Chris…”
But Chris looked back at Hinata and barked once, as if to say, “Something’s afoot! Shouldn’t we go see?”
Hinata swallowed and glanced at the police cars again.
Wait a second… Isn’t that Sakura Jewelry they’re in front of? Is Miss Sakurako all right? And what about Latte the Chihuahua? The poor little thing’s always terrified and barking…
“A-all right, we’ll go see, but just for a moment,” he murmured, gripping the leash. Maybe with Chris they’d be fine.
By the time they started running down the street, Hinata had forgotten all about the pain in his knee.
The scene outside Sakura Jewelry was quite chaotic.
There were three police cars, an ambulance, and even a so-called unmarked car with police lights on top, all parked out front. Police officers were hurrying in and out of the jewelry store and trying to maintain order among the people who had come to watch.
Hinata was stunned. How could something like this happen right in his own neighborhood? What could be the matter?
Yukina was already there, stretching up on her tiptoes to see over the crowd. Hinata walked up to her and tapped her on the back.
“Oh! Hinata,” she said, spinning around, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “There was a break-in at Sakura Jewelry. Someone said the glass was broken.”
A break-in?! A shiver ran down Hinata’s spine at the thought. Chris barked.
“Oh, Chris! If only you’d been there to help. Latte isn’t much of a guard dog—not that Linda would be, either. There’s only so much a Chihuahua can do,” Yukina said with a sigh.
Hinata fretted. “…Is everything okay?”
“I’m not sure. I wonder how Miss Sakurako’s doing. There’s an ambulance here, after all…”
She rose up on her tiptoes again to look at the vehicle. Hinata tried to lean around the person in front of him to see.
“Waaah!”
Hinata yelped as someone clapped him on the shoulder from behind. He spun around and saw that it was Yuusuke.
“Dad!”
“Take Chris back home right now, Hinata. It’s dangerous here, and you shouldn’t be getting in the way of a police investigation.”
Suzune was behind him. They both had jackets on, but it was clear they’d simply tossed them over their indoor clothes and rushed outside.
“B-but Miss Sakurako and Latte…”
“Yes, I know. Let the police take care of Miss Sakurako. We’ll ask about Latte,” said Suzune. She slipped through the bystanders and spoke to an officer handling the crowd. “Excuse me, I’m a veterinarian just down the street…”
Yuusuke patted Hinata on the shoulder again. “Go on—wait for us back home. We’ll let you know what we find out.”
Hinata obeyed, pulling Chris’s leash in the direction of home. The whole thing was starting to scare him, so he was glad his parents had come.
But Chris seemed curious about the scene and kept turning around to look as they walked away.
“I hear a helicopter. I bet they’re filming an aerial shot for the news,” Yuusuke murmured, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the living room. Latte shivered between his legs. “The media were there reporting on the incident. Oh, I hope Miss Sakurako’s all right…”
The owner of Sakura Jewelry had been taken to the hospital in an ambulance, so for the moment, Hinata’s parents had decided to keep Latte at the clinic. Because Latte hated the doctor, it was Yuusuke’s job to watch over the Chihuahua.
Suzune examined Latte’s medical file on the computer. “She was quite shocked about the robbery. And she’s not young anymore, of course. It’s better for someone to be watching over her in the hospital right now. I think Latte’s fine, aside from the fright. There’s no record of any major illnesses in here…”
“I wonder if the shop was badly damaged during the break-in.”
“Well, we can’t exactly ask Miss Sakurako, can we? I doubt we’ll know how much was lost until her son can confirm it. It might be a small shop, but they do sell jewelry. It’s not like stealing apples from the supermarket.”
“I know,” Yuusuke said. “I’ve heard of jewel heists, but I’ve never heard of an apple heist.”
While his parents didn’t seem all that concerned, Hinata was balled up on the couch, hugging his knees. “Yukina said the glass window was broken.”
Even Chris seemed to be listening in. The dog’s ears twitched every now and then.
“Yes,” Suzune replied. “It happened late at night, before dawn. Sakurako noticed it when she got up in the morning. They’d even deactivated her security system. Seems like the work of professionals.”
“Professionals? At what?”
“Stealing. There’s a group of thieves that have been swiping jewelry all over the place.”
Hinata’s eyes went wide, and he stared at Chris, who looked back at him with concern.
“Is our home safe…?” he murmured. His bandaged knee felt like it was going to start hurting again.
“We don’t have any jewelry here,” Suzune said with a laugh. “And if they’re smart, they won’t keep targeting the same area. The police are on the hunt for them now.”
That made Hinata feel a little better, at least.
After lunch, Hinata took Chris back outside. They had barely done any walking in the morning, and he felt bad about it, but mostly he was concerned about the day’s big event. There were still police cars and officers near the station. Suzune said it was safe now, but he wasn’t brave enough to wander closer to the scene of the crime.