Chapter 101 - True Name and Reality 24 {Combined 42/43} (92-96, 97-98: New Developments in the Shiun Association Building Explosion)
"No, that guy was only involved in leaving the group, right? Then it's fine, isn't it?"
I questioned him persistently, but at the same time, I was curious if that person might be among those killed in this explosion.
"Hey, hey! You guys are investigating the 'group' anyway, right? If so, he's probably already caused plenty of trouble for the senior brother who took care of him!"
With this statement, Nishida realized something important. As for the investigation policy, he had judged that investigating the Sunpu Group in an incomplete situation would cause the Aoi-ikka to move toward a cover-up, so he had kept the information of Higashidate's arrest top secret. He intended not to move until he could be firmly convinced of the involvement of the upper organization through Higashidate's interrogation. However, Higashidate seemed to be under the mistaken impression that the investigation had already reached the Sunpu Group. Nishida decided to try talking for a while based on the other party's "misconception." He might show his tail.
"Well, that's true, but the senior brother has nothing to do with the incident, so there's no need for you to worry."
"Even so, if I go out of my way to give a name, those police guys will probably do persistent interrogations and stuff!"
"That won't change much whether you say it or not."
As Nishida said this, he began to feel a sense of incongruity in Higashidate's demeanor itself. He seemed to be reacting quite sensitively to the mention of the senior brother. And thinking back to just before, his expression seemed to cloud over for a moment right after the senior brother was mentioned. The fact that he spoke of it might have immediately shown on his face as a "mistake." And he began to think that perhaps that senior brother had given Higashidate some instructions for the incident. Furthermore, could it be that Higashidate was told by that senior brother that Kagami had died after he left the group? When he thought that, Nishida became more concerned about what was happening to the executives of the Sunpu Group now than the interrogation itself. To what extent did they die in the explosion? Were there any executives who weren't caught in it? He was even more concerned about the life or death of the senior brother Higashidate was reacting to. He immediately asked Koyabu for permission and decided to hand over the interrogation to other investigators.
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"What's wrong? Changing shifts before much time has even passed..."
Yoshimura, who changed shifts with him, grumbled as they returned to the Kitami Regional HQ building, but Nishida didn't answer a word. However, he must have realized that it was an action based on something Nishida was thinking; he didn't raise any more questions and followed silently a little behind Nishida.
Returning to Section 1, Nishida contacted the mobile phone of Sudo, the Team Leader of Organized Crime at the National Police Agency.
"Was it only one executive of the Sunpu Group who was unconscious from the explosion? Are there any executives who weren't at the scene and weren't caught in it?"
"About that... It seems all the executives from both groups were gathered at the Shiun Association office at the time. It looks like there was an important meeting. Since the missing were effectively counted as dead, in the end, everyone died except for the one who's unconscious."
Sudo answered Nishida's question matter-of-factly.
"Hey, hey... This means even if we break Higashidate and find out the senior brother's name, at the very least, the unconscious guy needs to be that brother, and on top of that, if he doesn't fully regain consciousness, we won't be able to trace it from there..."
Nishida couldn't hide his disappointment.
"The unconscious guy seems to have hit his head quite hard, so even if he recovers, he won't be at a level where we can hear his story..."
Though hesitant, Sudo essentially delivered a death sentence to Nishida.
"But, I don't know if it was an important meeting or what, but why were they all gathered at this timing!"
Suppressing his feelings of frustration once again, he threw the question at Sudo.
"Assistant Section Chief Nishida... About that matter, the details haven't been firmly confirmed yet, so I want you to understand it only as a rumor..."
As he said this, Sudo's voice became a whisper even over the phone.
"According to what we heard from members of the Shiun Association and the Sunpu Group, the meeting was apparently to make some important decision regarding North Korea. A Shiun Association member who was seriously injured and was at the scene as an attendant also testified that there was an unprecedented sense of tension among all the attendees. It seems he was sent out of the room and didn't hear the contents of the talk, but they were apparently arguing quite a bit. But if that's the case, it matches the reason I mentioned before for why the Security Bureau showed up."
"Regarding North Korea? Regarding meth for their 'business'?"
"I don't know that, but if it's about meth, there are stories that this kind of thing hasn't happened before, and it seems to contradict the information that the Security Bureau's involvement is related to the Prime Minister's Official Residence. If so, isn't it a more high-level matter? As I thought, the theory that it's diplomatic relations is strong."
"Diplomatic relations, huh. It still doesn't sit right with me."
Nishida stated his honest impression, and Sudo also said,
"Well, since I don't really understand it myself, it's no wonder you don't, Nishida-san, I'm sorry to say."
He didn't feel much malice in being treated as an "outsider" in that statement, but it didn't change the fact that he wasn't satisfied.
However, since the probability of it being an accident was high, he thought there was no point in thinking about it too much and tried to confirm,
"Anyway, it's fine to call it an accident, right? Then it just means the timing was unusually bad..."
"Ah, I'm sorry, I forgot the most important thing! It seems the situation is becoming suspicious regarding that too..."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
At the unexpected bad news, he unintentionally raised his voice.
"As a result of a detailed investigation, there's talk that the gas pipes might have been intentionally severed!"
"Hey, hey, why didn't you say that first!?"
Hearing that, Nishida literally held his head, feeling that things were heading toward the worst-case scenario. The anxiety that there might have been an intention to obstruct the investigation of the shooting incident rapidly reared its head. If that were the case, that intention would have been a complete success. Because it seemed that searching for something about Higashidate's senior brother would become meaningless.
"Is the Aoi-ikka involved after all? In this explosion too."
To Nishida's lament,
"As the story becomes clear, such a deduction can't exactly be called a mere suspicion... By the way, how is Higashidate?"
He was asked in return.
"Building a case against Higashidate himself is at a level where there's no problem. Higashidate himself hasn't confessed anything, but the physical evidence is all there. However, building a case against Higashidate is just the entrance for us..."
"You mean the passage from that entrance to the exit has disappeared."
It was a straight metaphor in Sudo's own way, but it was exactly right.
After finishing the conversation with Sudo, Nishida looked at Yoshimura, who was in his seat, sitting with both hands behind his head, wearing an indescribable expression. He must have guessed the situation from Nishida's conversation. Noticing the gaze, he only muttered,
"Is it no good..."
"It seems the path beyond Higashidate has been cut off with malicious intent."
It was a roundabout way of saying it, but it was perfectly clear to Yoshimura.
"You were saying something about the Aoi-ikka. Is this the end... I guess the quest for vengeance for Kitamura-san has also collapsed halfway."
Saying so, he leaned back powerlessly. Nishida also sat slowly in his seat like an old man,
"It wasn't just Higashidate who was checkmated. I'm pathetic, even to myself,"
he said with a hollow laugh.
"Truly. We thought we were cornering them, but we were the ones being cornered... We're certainly like clowns. But those Aoi-ikka guys don't choose their means... What on earth happened?"
"It seems someone tampered with the gas pipes."
"What a mess. So the gas explosion was..."
Yoshimura was left speechless.
After that, the two remained staring into space for a while without even making eye contact. The unrelated detectives in the same room also glanced at the two who had become like corpses, but sensing the extraordinary atmosphere, they didn't dare ask what had happened and continued their work.
That day, even at the investigation meeting after the interrogation, the level of depression in Nishida and Yoshimura was so intense that they were even reprimanded by Koyabu to "pull yourselves together." For Koyabu, as long as a case could be built against Higashidate for the time being, the "appearance" would be maintained, so there was probably no need to be as disappointed as the two, but it couldn't be helped since the weight of "what lies beyond" was different for them.
In any case, the investigation headquarters decided to keep the matter of the gas explosion hidden from Higashidate for now. Of course, even if it were left like this, Higashidate probably wouldn't say anything himself, but if he knew that the "source" had vanished from this world, he might further solidify his will not to speak about the incident.
Even if Higashidate's involvement in the murder could be proven with physical evidence, if the means to derive the background of the incident from anyone other than Higashidate were lost, there was a normal risk that staying silent would become a benefit for someone other than Higashidate.
That benefit probably wouldn't be "returned" to Higashidate himself or his sworn brothers who were likely dead or unconscious, but some kind of "repayment" might come to surrounding individuals.
That said, although he didn't know who the senior brother was, if everyone including the unconscious executive was dead or not in a normal state, if there was such a benefit, Nishida and Yoshimura could only say it was highly likely to be directly linked to the Aoi-ikka. And the hearing regarding the senior brother that Higashidate was somehow concerned about, which Nishida had initially thought of, had to be shelved because all the Sunpu executives had died in the explosion, and if they questioned him, there was a strong probability they would inevitably have to talk about the gas explosion incident they wanted to keep hidden.
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Saturday, June 29th. Entrusting the interrogation of Higashidate to his subordinates again, Nishida monitored the situation, but he had to admit, though he didn't want to, that the response to this investigation was somewhat lost. An investigation where the future could no longer be seen—no, an investigation where the future could be seen in a different sense—was in a way nothing but cruel. While vaguely thinking that he would eventually have to apologize at the grave for ending the mourning for Kitamura with an incomplete conclusion, he also began to think about how he should report to Kosaka.
Confirming on the news he saw at lunch that it was already being treated as a murder case rather than a gas explosion, Yoshimura, who was naturally faster to recover than Nishida, seeing his superior still lost in thought, said,
"Pull yourself together! Let's switch gears already, switch, switch! Nothing will change no matter how much you worry!"
He was at the point of being encouraged.
"Even if you say that..."
"Isn't there any other approach? An approach to reach the Aoi-ikka or 'that guy',"
he asked as if complaining. By "that guy," he surely meant Oshima Kaiji.
"If there were, I wouldn't be feeling like this!"
When Nishida responded somewhat irritably,
"Ah, if you have that much energy, I guess you're okay,"
he replied. To be honest, it was a level of joking from Yoshimura that would usually earn him a flick on the head, but he didn't even have the energy to get that angry. However, suddenly, the situation began to move violently from an unexpected direction.
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After 6 PM that day, while monitoring the interrogation, a sudden phone call came from Sudo. Surprisingly, regarding the Shiun Association office explosion, two men named Tamayama and Kimihara had turned themselves in at the Shinjuku Station around 4:30 PM. The two haven't mentioned anything, but they have been confirmed as punks with a relationship to the "Tomoe-kai," a secondary organization of the Aoi-ikka, and are currently being interrogated to see if they were actually involved in the crime.
Even though they are punks, they are people in a position recognized almost as associate members, and from the perspective of Organized Crime, it is suggested that this crime might have been a kind of "warning."
"What does that mean?"
Nishida, who understood to some extent, asked the reason for confirmation.
"In other words, the fact that punks from the Aoi-ikka lineage went out of their way to turn themselves in is to declare to the yakuza world, 'These guys defied the Aoi-ikka, so they were taken out by hitmen.' This gives it the meaning of intimidation. Although we don't clearly know the reason for this crime yet, since an intention to kill off both the Shiun Association and the Sunpu Group, which are close organizations, can be felt, it's logical to think they did something like conspiring together to oppose the Aoi-ikka... If the purpose was merely to silence them for the incident you, Assistant Section Chief Nishida, are chasing, this kind of turning themselves in would be hard to imagine. Well, it's also unusual to turn oneself in so easily for a case where the death penalty is certain."
Sudo answered.
"But, what on earth could be so significant that they need to go that far for a warning?"
Nishida showed a reaction of disbelief, but
"But you see, looking at the objective facts, that's the easiest to understand, so it can't be helped,"
Sudo replied as if troubled. Nishida couldn't trouble him any further and asked,
"I don't really understand, but does that mean it's different from silencing them because Shiun and Sunpu are involved in our case, after all?"
Due to yesterday's concern about "silencing," Nishida had interpreted it somewhat in his own favor, but
"I can't say for sure, but as I said earlier, at the very least, silencing probably isn't the only purpose. And since Higashidate, who could be called the perpetrator, has already been secured by the police, it might be weak as a silencing move..."
he partially agreed. However, regarding the silencing theory, he felt Sudo was quite skeptical in his own way.
"Hmm, the silencing theory is weak, huh... However, if there was also a silencing purpose, and if the information that Higashidate was arrested just hasn't reached Aoi, there might be suspicious movements involving Aoi at Higashidate's shop or home in Sendai as a move to 'erase' him, or there might have been. It might be better to check with Sendai. Well, if a relationship had been built where Higashidate directly curried favor with Aoi, bypassing Sunpu, then there might be no need to do such a thing..."
Nishida was considering the possibility that Higashidate would choose to stay silent for the sake of the Aoi-ikka, but if silencing was also involved in the explosion incident, he also had to keep in mind a completely different thought: that the Aoi-ikka might not leave Higashidate alone.
"It might be better to check that just in case. But I wonder? Basically, since they (the perpetrators of the explosion) turned themselves in, I think the purpose was a warning, but what if we were to force a silencing line... Even if the information that Higashidate was busted had leaked from somewhere, which I don't want to think about, wouldn't it have little to do with the effect of silencing? To put it extremely, from the Aoi-ikka's perspective, if the instruction route from the Aoi-ikka to both the Shiun Association and the Sunpu Group can no longer be traced, that's enough. A bottom-feeder like Higashidate might be an ignorable existence. No matter how you think about it, the transmission of orders and instructions would be through the executive route of the Aoi-ikka and the Sunpu Group, and I think a hitman like Higashidate didn't have direct involvement with the Aoi-ikka. Therefore, killing only the executives of the Shiun Association and the Sunpu Group pinpoint seems to make sense as silencing in a way. I'm saying something different from what I said earlier, though. The possibility that it served both as a warning and silencing might not be zero."
Having heard a concerning thought from Sudo at the end, Nishida remained in a fuzzy mood even after hanging up. He was told that Sudo would contact him immediately if anything else happened, but he didn't want to keep this feeling of anxiety for long.
After that, returning to Section 1 and checking the 7 PM news, there was indeed a report about the perpetrators turning themselves in. Nishida immediately checked the situation with the Sendai Chuo Station, but he didn't hear any stories of abnormalities at Higashidate's shop or home.
And before 10 PM, after Higashidate's interrogation ended, Sudo contacted him again, saying that both Tamayama and Kimihara testified that they damaged the gas pipes on the same floor and the floor below, filled the office floor and the vacant room on the floor below with gas, and then threw a timed ignition device into the room on the floor below to ignite it, first destroying the ceiling of the floor below—that is, the floor of the Shiun Association—and simultaneously igniting the gas filled near the office. Tamayama apparently used to be engaged in gas pipe inspection work for a short period at Kanto Gas, a subsidiary of the city gas company. It appears he used that skill in a bad way. All of this matched the facts discovered in the Shinjuku Station investigation, and at the very least, it was certain that they either knew the situation at the time of the crime or had been told about it.
In other words, even if it was a "scapegoat" surrender, the person who made them take the fall was definitely involved in the crime. Of course, including the fact that they had a history of working for a gas-related company, the probability that they themselves were the perpetrators was significantly higher...
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Even after returning home, Nishida was concerned about the gas explosion—no, the incident—and the fact that Higashidate's interrogation was at a standstill was pushed to the very back of his mind at this time. Was it a "warning" unrelated to Nishida's case, or was it "silencing" for the case, or did it serve both...
However, the objective situation at the moment was that the main purpose was likely a "warning." On the other hand, he still couldn't discard the possibility of silencing.
"This is trouble."
It could be said that all of Nishida's hesitation was concentrated in this single muttered word.
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June 30th, the night the World Cup final between Japan and South Korea was to be held. Nishida was calling Takagaki during a break in the investigation. After thinking and thinking all night long, it was the result of seeking information in a desperate hope that Takagaki, who seemed to have connections in both the underworld and political reporting, might know something.
"Are you in the middle of writing? If so, I'm sorry to bother you while you're busy. Um..."
"It's about the Shiun Association incident, right?"
Takagaki, as if he had half-anticipated this action from Nishida, hit the core from the start.
"How did you know?"
"Well, there's been a rapid development since yesterday. There was a massacre at the Shiun Association that the late Kagami belonged to, and hitmen seen to have ties to the Aoi-ikka were involved. It's no wonder you'd call me to try and grasp something. Anyway, high-level internal information from the National Police Agency wouldn't reach you guys in Hokkaido, would it? Since it seems to be a case where even the Security Bureau is moving... I can understand that it's become a secret case."
Hearing Takagaki laugh loudly like that, he didn't feel mocked but rather relieved that he might grasp something. However, judging from his tone, it was also certain that he hadn't grasped the fact that Higashidate, who was in the Sunpu Group, had been secured here. It was proof that the information control Nishida had laid out was working well up to Takagaki's level...
"Have you grasped anything?"
"I didn't go as far as a conviction, but after information came to me that the explosion might not be an accident but an incident, I was looking into it a bit, and there were various things before that too."
Nishida jumped at the suggestive way of speaking without a second thought.
"What is it!?"
"Well, don't be so hasty. The story is a bit complicated, so let me explain in order. Also, I was having a smoke, so let me finish it."
Takagaki told Nishida that and seemed to puff leisurely on his cigarette for about a minute. Then, suddenly,
"Do you know that the Eda-gumi is the backer for Prime Minister Takamatsu Sotaro?"
he began to speak.
"Eh? No, I've never heard of that?"
He couldn't immediately imagine a relationship between Takamatsu, who advocated for reform forces, and the Eda-gumi, a criminal organization that boasted power throughout the Kanto region.
"What, you didn't know?"
Takagaki said in a way that suggested his expectations were off. Then,
"Setting that aside, even the grandfather of that family was a member of parliament, but they say that grandfather had tattoos on his back, so far from having a backer, the punchline is that the entity itself was a yakuza..."
He continued to say as if talking to himself, then,
"Well, if you don't know, it can't be helped. That's fine. Such a guy is now supported by the foolish masses, his administration's foundation is stabilizing, and he's been moving to achieve one big diplomatic project for a while now."
He felt the sharp tongue typical of the hardcore anti-authority, anti-Minyu Party Takagaki in calling Takamatsu's supporters "foolish masses," but this was no time to be concerned about that. He continued to listen.
"A diplomatic project?"
"Yeah, a diplomatic project. You know that Japan and North Korea don't have diplomatic relations, right?"
"Yes."
At this point, it was confirmed that Sudo's story and Takagaki's story were intertwined.
"After the suspicious ship sinking incident last year, the Japanese government, led by Takamatsu, has actually been moving behind the scenes toward diplomatic normalization negotiations between Japan and North Korea around this autumn."
With further mention, while confirming Sudo's vague rumors, more detailed information was added, and Nishida unintentionally said,
"No, no, is that really true!? Even after what happened?"
Needless to say, "what happened" meant the "battle" between the suspicious ship and the Coast Guard at the end of the previous year.
"No mistake! Information has been trickling in since a few months ago from reporters close to the ruling party and reporters assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It seems they're doing various preliminary negotiations, including the handover of people who were apparently abducted to North Korea. Of course, they are 'also' conducting negotiations through regular diplomats..."
"'Also' regular negotiations?"
"Ho, you're quick to notice. Did you show a glimpse of being a capable detective there?"
After Takagaki praised Nishida, including some sarcasm, for pointing it out immediately, he said,
"Naturally, as insurance, they were also moving to build relationships through the back-of-the-back routes in parallel."
"Wait a minute! Were those two organizations, which have deep ties with North Korea, used or intended to be used as that back route?"
"Hey, hey! Not bad, Nishida-san! That's right! Since both have strong connections with the North Korean regime and military, the story is that the Official Residence tried to use them as a back route. 'Clean' diplomatic routes are one way of preliminary negotiations, but 'dirty' routes can naturally become important routes too. They must have been exploring all directions. Moreover, since large amounts of money from meth have been directly involved in the back route until now, it might be stronger than the front route, rather."
Takagaki praised Nishida's intuition again, but here Nishida tried asking a question.
"By the way, North Korean spy ships, including the one that sank, seem to be involved in meth smuggling, but since the Shiun Association and the Sunpu Group were also dealing with North Korea, weren't they involved in the suspicious ship incident?"
"According to the information I have, there seem to be quite a few organizations among the yakuza that deal meth with North Korea, and it seems neither Shiun nor Sunpu was related to that suspicious ship. That ship seems to have involved the Towa-gumi, according to information a reporter colleague heard from Public Safety sources. But well, in the end, both Shiun and Sunpu are doing smuggling by ship, so the difference is just whether it's come to light or not, and it's practically meaningless."
"Is it only that much of a difference? Even if they weren't related to the incident, if they're involved in other smuggling, at the very least, the government shouldn't be able to let it slide, right?"
Nishida was appalled, but
"The logic of politicians is that diplomacy isn't about clean things. That's the logic you police use too, right? It's a case of 'you're one to talk.' I'll say it, though,"
Takagaki laughed loudly, dismissing it easily regardless of what he himself thought. On the other hand, a further question arose in Nishida.
"But setting that aside, what kind of contact was the Official Residence side making with those two organizations? Since they are secondary organizations of the Aoi-ikka, was it the Hakozaki Faction—ah, now that Hakozaki has retired and died, it's the Umeda Faction... Did they act as a bridge?"
"Hahaha, it seems you haven't read that far yet."
Takagaki gave a slightly happy, suggestive laugh.
"The fact seems to be that the Umeda Faction wasn't told anything about this in advance. Of course, neither was the Aoi-ikka main body. It seems the Eda-gumi, Takamatsu's backer, bypassed them and acted as a bridge between the Official Residence and Shiun/Sunpu all at once."
"No, that doesn't make sense... The Eda-gumi is a major force in Kanto and is an organization originally in conflict with the Aoi-ikka, which is based in Kansai, right? That conflict relationship naturally means the two organizations under the Aoi umbrella would ignore it..."
Nishida tried to argue frankly.
"In fact, the tops are in a conflict relationship. However, since both Shiun and Sunpu are groups based in Tokyo, there are apparently quite a few guys among the subordinate organizations of the Kanto-based Eda-gumi who are essentially like sworn brothers. So, there were plenty of connections between Eda and Shiun/Sunpu. And the fact that the Eda-gumi side didn't have connections with North Korea seems to have become a reason to rely on them."
"Is that how it is..."
Nishida was surprised by the relationship, which was more complex than he imagined, but things were gradually becoming visible. (Author's Note: This story about the conflict between national yakuza organizations is a mix of fact and fiction, so I won't dare say which parts are true, but naturally, the facts may differ from the model entities. In particular, the relationship between Eda and Aoi is originally one of a certain degree of friendship in the model. Also, it was quite interesting to find out from the split of the Yama-◯-gumi a while ago that subordinate groups maintained relationships not only within their designated yakuza organization but also with other organizations. In writing this part, I thought it was a quite far-fetched setting and was worried about the reality, but luckily that was resolved after I came up with the idea.)
"Well, those things ultimately come down to the issues between individual yakuza. And the story is that a considerable amount of money went to Shiun and Sunpu through Eda, and after taking a cut, it went to North Korea. Using the all-powerful budget called the Cabinet Secret Service Fund! However, as expected, there were some among the executives of Shiun and Sunpu who thought they should show loyalty to Aoi, and they were arguing a bit. In the end, the majority opinion within the Aoi organization was to favor Eda because they weren't being treated well..."
Takagaki sounded like he wanted to say more, but he didn't mention anything further.
"And the Aoi-ikka, as a result of losing patience with Shiun and Sunpu for trying to proceed with talks with the Eda-gumi and Takamatsu on their own without going through them, led to this 'conclusion' (sanction), is that it!?"
"Yeah, that's probably the biggest cause of this explosion incident! No, it's more accurate to say that's what I and those around me think... Though it's probably right. Going out of their way to have hitmen turn themselves in is also to show the warning and the power balance within the yakuza industry. With this, you can understand the background of this incident to some extent, right? And the Official Residence, which was the source working on both organizations, probably scrambled to grasp the facts right after the incident, bringing in the Security Bureau. At that time, they probably didn't know if it was an accident or an incident, and if it was an incident, who did it. Well, of course, their purpose wasn't an investigation to catch the culprit, but they were worried about the negotiations with North Korea and the leak of information about the scandal that yakuza were involved. It's already certain that the Aoi-ikka had found out. In the first place, at the point where the story has reached even me, there's no point in worrying. Well, as for the media, they're mostly just people who will stay silent about most things if the government asks, so they probably don't care..."
Takagaki spoke about the "warning" that Sudo also mentioned, but at the same time, he intertwined the reason why the Security Bureau, which is close to the administration, showed up.
"But if that's the case, won't the Aoi-ikka make this matter public?"
"In my opinion, I think it'll end cleanly with this warning. North Korean meth is a gold mine for yakuza. Rather, after this, the Aoi-ikka must be thinking about how to take over those interests."
"Eh? Even so, from North Korea's perspective, it's like one route was destroyed by Aoi, right? Will they deal with them?"
"Nishida-san... From the perspective of North Korea, which is strapped for cash, as long as they buy the meth, they don't care which group or which faction it is! In fact, there have been many routes to distribute to other organizations until now. Aoi understands that too. If they offer a higher amount than before, it'll be settled. Therefore, as long as the internal yakuza settlement is made, there's no need to make the story any bigger. And the Official Residence also knows that Aoi is involved, and I think they've already gained that conviction. Rather, didn't they feel relieved? Those guys don't move by reason or morality. They move for money, so they're safe in that regard. That's how it is; both politics and yakuza in this world. There's no justice or honor; neither of them had it from the start. Well, the media isn't in a position to talk either..."
Takagaki said as if spitting it out, and at the end, his tone became like a lament. Considering the reason Takagaki himself quit the Tozai Shinbun, Nishida could understand that feeling in his own way.
"I see... I understand the background well. However, even so, was it necessary to have a 'warning' of this scale? Since the number of people who died is no joke, the hitmen will surely get the death penalty, and doesn't it seem a bit excessive? Or did they not think this many would die... No, since they blew up even the floor below, that can't be it..."
He frankly stated his impression that the balance between the degree of betrayal and the handling of it was somehow quite poor. Of course, it also included his long-standing suspicion of "silencing" regarding the Kyoritsu Hospital shooting incident.
"Hmm, now that you mention it, it is flashy for just being involved with a rival organization... However, if there were other purposes, the story would be different..."
Hearing Takagaki's reaction, Nishida thought he was probably thinking the same thing as Sudo and tried asking boldly,
"What about silencing in addition to the warning?"
"Hoho, so that's how you see it... That's right... The purpose of silencing might not be entirely impossible. And that would mean the purpose is to cut off the flow of instructions from the Aoi-ikka to the Shiun Association for Kagami, who was involved in the shooting incident at your place, right? The meaning of such a large explosion is not just a warning, but a silencing aimed at sending all the executives who knew about or might have been involved in the incident to the other world... If so, it's a pretty good script. Yeah, if you, who are involved in the investigation, were thinking that way, it probably isn't such a far-fetched idea."
He laughed.
However, Nishida felt more confident in his deduction than Takagaki did. Sunpu, who was said to be caught up in it this time, had also dispatched a perpetrator named Higashidate to Kitami. It's truly a clean sweep of both organizations, and two birds with one stone: a warning and silencing the murder instruction transmission route. This is information Takagaki doesn't know yet. Although there was the problem of Higashidate's existence, his previous hesitation about the silencing purpose had considerably vanished.
At the same time, he also recalled an unpleasant thought. The fact that the Aoi-ikka caused this at a timing not long after Higashidate's arrest more strongly suggested that Aoi might have grasped that information after all. No, it would be more accurate to say that the thought resurfaced rather than being newly recalled.
If they tried to destroy the "middle part" of the instruction and command system before anything could be said, it would mean there's a traitor inside the police who leaked to the Aoi-ikka or its surroundings. Even if the flow of the story has become visible, it's a double-edged sword.
Of course, it's common for some investigation information to leak, but if what Nishida wanted to keep hidden most had leaked to the Aoi-ikka, it could be a major obstacle in future investigations. The more he became convinced of the silencing purpose in addition to the warning, the more Nishida would be tormented by new worries. In addition to that, above all, the fact that the path beyond Higashidate was blocked remained unchanged.
After hanging up, Nishida felt that while one eye's vision had cleared, the other was filled with a feeling of being covered in deep fog. And with the interrogation of Higashidate that day remaining at a standstill, he was in a state of listening to the information that Brazil had defeated Germany in the World Cup final with a vacant mind.
Incidentally, not many days later, it was discovered through the police investigation that both of the two who turned themselves in were infected with HIV due to sharing needles for meth. It seems it was the early stage of onset. In a way, they could be said to have been sacrifices truly suitable for hitmen.