Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

The cops were letting everyone go in the line, but after inspecting them. They tried to review the footage, but it was all corrupted beyond repair. Of course, it was done by Rudy to avoid unnecessary trouble.

The cops had already caught the robbers, but the ones in the van had escaped with the van as soon as the police cars parked near the bank after the alarm went off.

Maria was currently being questioned by the cops as she had immobilized the robbers, but the cops were already aware that Maria was a Mafia. Her father had connections everywhere, and that was why Maria didn't need any documents to open a bank account.

Rudy quietly stood beside Maria and listened to her testimony.

"Excuse, Sir. You can't be here. Please stand in the line like the others and leave." the officer said.

"He is with me."

"Oh…"

"I am here to inform you of something." Rudy pointed his gaze at the guard in the corner and said, "I saw that guard talking with the leader of the robbers. And it didn't seem like a conversation a criminal and guard should have. It looked more like they were discussing something."

"We will get it checked."

Two officers went to the guard to interrogate him. But he noticed it and grabbed the nearby female staff. He placed the gun on her head and said, "If you come near me, I will shoot her down!"

The officers took out their guns and surrounded the guards from all sides.

"Put the gun down. You are surrounded everywhere. If you cooperate with us, you will be safe," the chief warned.

"Shut up! Don't come near me!"

"You are simply making things worse. You just need to put the gun down and let go of that girl. We just want to talk to you."

"Now, now, officer." Rudy walked between the officers to the guard and clapped his hands.

"Hey, what are you doing!" The chief yelled loudly. "Get back! It's dangerous!"

"I think you have got the wrong person at gunpoint," Rudy said with a smile on his face.

"What?! but you were the one who—"

"Officer. Please listen to me." Rudy furrowed his brows and said, "I did say the guard had something to do with the robbery. But what if he was acting on someone's order? Why would the guard reveal himself like that? That's honestly stupid."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I am saying that the mastermind behind this robbery is someone else, and that person is currently present here," Rudy asserted nonchalantly.

"What makes you say that? Do you have any credible—"

"Ask the guard." Rudy walked to the guard and placed his hand around his shoulders like a friend would. "Say, how about you reveal the name of that person?"

"I-I don't know what you are talking about!" the guard shrugged his shoulders and backed some steps from Rudy. "Stay away from me, or I will shoot this girl!"

"Oho! What a serious threat. Why don't you go ahead and shoot her?"

"I will really shoot her!" he yelled as he moved his thumb to the trigger.

"Go ahead."

"Hey! Hey!" the chief yelled furiously at Rudy and said, "Are you out of your damn mind! You are risking someone's life to prove your suspicion?!"

"Officer. That gun has no ammo," Rudy stated.

"What?!" The chief explained. "How do you know that?!"

"Because that's not even a real gun. And not only that, but this female staff is also acting. She purposely got herself caught."

"What?! Why are you making things up! You have no proof!" the guard yelled, but nervousness was visible on his face.

Rudy grabbed the gun from the guard's hand and shot pointed it at the chief before pressing the trigger over six times.

"See? It's empty. Now, time for thee miss actor to confirm." Rudy moved to the female staff and asked, "How about 'you' confess everything. You don't seem to be the type of girl who would carelessly risk your life for some stupid gig."

"..." The woman stayed quiet at first, but after noticing the stares from everyone, she sighed and said, "I cannot tell you the name, or my life will be in danger. But you were right, we were ordered to do this, and that person is present here."

"Nice. See?" Rudy turned to the guard and said, "It wasn't that hard. You just had to confess everything. You might not have taken part in the robbery, but you were aware of it."

"What about you?" Rudy asked the woman. "Were you aware of this?"

She shook her head and muttered, "I was told after the robbers entered."

"But how did you know the mastermind is present here?" the chief asked Rudy.

"It's simple, honestly. It was this woman, who had pressed the alarm, am I right?" He said while turning to the girl. You wouldn't have done that if you were into this together."

"Why did you ruin everything! Everything was going so far. If you had just let everything happen as it was, none of your life would have been in danger!" the guard yelled while glancing back and forth at the officers and Rudy. "Now, whatever happens, you are to blame."

He said while pointing his finger at Rudy.

"Oi Oi. Why am I to blame? I just did what a respective citizen would do to save his fellow humans. How could you blame someone who just unraveled everything by simple and obvious clues, which, unfortunately, the cops couldn't notice," Rudy commented.

"What do you mean by everyone's life is in danger?" the chief asked the guard. "You two are defenseless, and the third person can't do anything. We will find that person eventually."

"There are bombs planted all over this building! He will press the switch and blow everything up!"

"What?!" the officers exclaimed while the people around started chattering loudly.

"He? Hmm~" Rudy hummed in amusement and said, "So that person is a male. That narrows down the list of suspects. Actually, there can be only one person who can pull this off, and that is…"

===

Any guesses on the mastermind?