Chapter 112 - Name and Reality 35 {63 Alone} (146–147: An Eyewitness Account from an Unexpected Place)
In '95, during the interrogation by Nishida and the others at the Osaka Detention House, Motohashi had testified that after killing Sada Minoru near the Jomon Tunnel, he returned to the inn where he was staying in Kitami and left Kitami early in the afternoon. From the impression Nishida and Takeshita had gained from Motohashi's confession of the Sada murder at the time, it seemed he was using a technique where he "basically doesn't tell lies in the confession, but either doesn't say the parts that are truly inconvenient or glosses over them well." While enjoying the back-and-forth with the detectives, he seemed to maintain his integrity as a yakuza by not saying things that shouldn't be said.
Considering this point, it was highly likely that at least the parts he clearly confessed were exactly as he said. Of course, even if he had done something else, there was a high possibility he hadn't spoken about it.
And this story from the reporter named Naruo perfectly matched the date and time Motohashi left Kitami immediately after the murder. Furthermore, as far as he could tell from hearing Naruo's testimony secondhand from Igarashi, the reason Motohashi hadn't stated his detailed actions between the murder and leaving Kitami during the hearing was perfectly natural if the person he was meeting was Secretary Nakagawa.
After all, if he had met with Oshima Kaiji's secretary, he couldn't very well say so himself. It would mean selling out his true client. In other words, during the interrogation, Motohashi told the truth about leaving Kitami immediately after the murder, while omitting the "important event" that occurred in the short time in between.
And there was one more very important thing. It was the point Takeshita had been fixated on: that Motohashi might have clearly distinguished between the "instructor" and the "client."
In the investigation seven years ago, the conclusion had ultimately been that Isaka Daikichi was the mastermind behind the murder of Sada Minoru, and Oshima had "cooperated" with Isaka by using his connections between his faction, the Hakozaki Faction, and the Aoi-ikka to "request" the dispatch of the hitman Motohashi to Kitami.
However, after interrogating Motohashi directly, Takeshita had perceived that the man might be clearly distinguishing between the "client" and the "instructor" throughout. He thought that by never using the word "client" and only calling Isaka the "instructor," Motohashi had succeeded in giving the police the misunderstanding that Isaka himself was the "client," thereby avoiding having to confess the name of the true client at all without even being suspected.
Moreover, Isaka Daikichi, whom he named as the instructor, was already dead, making him perfect for taking the responsibility. Even if his son Masamitsu knew the truth, there were almost zero benefits for the Isaka Group he managed to gain by destroying the relationship with Oshima Kaiji, and it was only natural to choose practical profit over Daikichi's honor (though, even if dead, the fact that he was a murderer wouldn't change to begin with).
In short, considering Motohashi's personality and cunning, he had let the police side mistakenly believe that Isaka Daikichi, who gave direct instructions at the time of the murder, was the client himself, thereby skillfully camouflaging the existence of the true client behind the scenes. That was the logic.
Takeshita's reasoning was that by doing so, he had firmly protected his pride as a yakuza by not revealing the name of the original murder client while still confessing to the police without telling lies. Regarding the latter, it was a matter of course "professionally," but regarding the former, Takeshita had speculated at the time that it was a kind of rule for Motohashi to enjoy the game in his own way.
In addition, Motohashi had testified that he left Kitami without reporting the results of the murder to the "instructor," Isaka, at all. He had also said he left that to his accomplices in the execution, Kitagawa and Shinoda.
However, Nishida turned his thoughts to the fact that Motohashi had never said a single word in his confession at the time about "not reporting to the client." If he had reported the murder to Secretary Nakagawa, the henchman of the true client, it would perfectly fall under "not telling lies, but not saying inconvenient things or glossing them over." Based on these premises, he organized the eyewitness account by Naruo at Kitami Station that Igarashi had spoken of this time.
Doing so, including Takeshita's thoughts, it seemed only reasonable to think that Motohashi had properly reported the success of the Sada murder to Nakagawa, the henchman of the true client Oshima—that is, the local chief secretary—at Kitami Station. And it wasn't strange to think the two had also taken actions that could be interpreted as receiving the success fee directly from Nakagawa at that time (the paper bag containing 10,000-yen bills that Naruo witnessed Motohashi taking out of the Boston bag).
However, if that were the case, the question became why the two were conducting a transaction or exchange in "public view" on the platform of Kitami Station. Here, Nishida thought about what kind of meaning that action had, and after reasoning, a few reasons came to mind if there "were" any.
One was simply that there was no time. If priority was given to leaving Kitami as early as possible, it would be a time-saver to talk on the platform with Motohashi while he waited for the train. This included the possibility that the two's schedules simply didn't align anywhere else. However, this couldn't be called a proactive reason.
The second was that meeting on a station platform was a benefit in itself. While in public view and a place that catches the eye, at the same time, because there are so many people, the tendency is for the degree of attention to actually be lower. Furthermore, people waiting on a platform for an express to Sapporo wouldn't likely prick up their ears to listen to others' conversations.
And in the case of a station platform, especially in Hokkaido, a somewhat special reason could be considered. Basically, except for central Hokkaido around Sapporo, diesel cars were the mainstream of railway vehicles, and if that type of train was entering another platform or waiting for departure, a considerable roar would echo through the station premises. The fact that one couldn't properly hear others' conversations was something Nishida himself, a resident of Hokkaido, had often experienced. That was actually mentioned in Naruo's story as well.
Unfortunately, while there was a part where the intended "benefit" became a "disadvantage" when Nakagawa was spotted by his acquaintance Naruo, there was no doubt that the station noise "drowned out" what the two were talking about, making it impossible to grasp even from a relatively close distance. If the person in sunglasses was Motohashi, the content of the conversation must have been quite bad, so if it had entered his ears, he would naturally have it in his memory. Of course, it would be a different story if they were glossing over the conversation with code words or something throughout, but regardless, it's safe to see it as a fact that there was a noise issue.
As expected, at least one of the benefits likely worked. And because it was in public view, even if spotted by an acquaintance, it should be conversely difficult to even imagine that "a transaction or conversation regarding a misdeed took place in such a place." In fact, it could be said that until the current arrest of Nakagawa and the information provided to Naruo by Igarashi, Naruo himself had indeed fallen into that trap.
Thinking this far, based on the date and time as well as the situation, he became more strongly convinced that the man facing Nakagawa must have been Motohashi. Then Nishida took the call off hold.
"Sorry to keep you waiting... Since it's an old story, I'd like to make a judgment after properly hearing the story from the person named Naruo... So, I'd definitely like to conduct a voluntary hearing... I need to ask about Mr. Naruo's convenience for us to dispatch investigators, so Mr. Naruo's phone number..."
Before Nishida could finish his sentence,
"That's perfectly fine, so I'll talk to him from here and have him call you, Nishida-san. You two can decide the rest. However, judging those facts should be something you can do more scientifically, right?"
Being told something unexpected by Igarashi, Nishida tilted his head.
"Even if you say scientifically..."
"Huh? I said it earlier, didn't I? The story about Nakagawa wiping the wet ticket when the juice spilled. And that both of them touched the 10,000-yen bill..."
"My apologies!!"
Nishida felt a kind of deep emotion at Igarashi's remark. Indeed, regarding the two pieces of "evidence" that would prove the circumstances at the time, if his story was true, there was a high possibility that the fingerprints of Nakagawa and Motohashi were on the 10,000-yen bill, and Nakagawa's fingerprints were on the stained ticket. Moreover, even for bills touched by many people, if the condition was brand new or close to it, there was a high possibility that not many people had touched it. And Igarashi likely told this story knowing that the police had the fingerprint information for the two.
Naturally, if Motohashi's fingerprints couldn't be detected from the 10,000-yen bill, it wouldn't be possible to prove whether the other party was Motohashi, and it would be completely meaningless. But if they could be detected, it would undoubtedly show that Nakagawa had met with Motohashi immediately after he murdered Sada Minoru at that time.
Needless to say, it might be nearly impossible to charge him with a crime just for "meeting," but if the exchange of money or the like could be proven (though this would be difficult unless it was Nakagawa's own confession, since Naruo didn't see it directly either), depending on the case, it might be possible to indict Nakagawa for aiding and abetting murder, somehow making it within the 15-year statute of limitations. At the very least, if Naruo's testimony and diary were combined with the "physical evidence," it would be fully possible to establish that the two had met directly immediately after the incident.
Considering Nakagawa's career as a secretary, the thought that he might have been involved in the Sada Minoru case as well had been in the very back of Nishida's mind, but now, thanks to Naruo and Igarashi, the possibility of that taking shape was gradually coming into view.
After finishing the coordination of necessary matters with Igarashi and thanking him before hanging up, Nishida immediately called Kosaka, who had been involved in the investigation 15 years ago when Sada went missing. He thought he'd check just in case whether it was possible for a newspaper reporter who was in Kitami at the time not to know about the disappearance of Sada Minoru in real-time.
In response, Kosaka said,
"At that stage, no information should have leaked to the media at all. We didn't even know if it was a case, and besides, if the president of the Isaka Group was involved and then Oshima in Tokyo applied pressure, we [the police] had no choice but to be cautious."
Then he asked,
"By the way, from what I'm hearing, it seems things have finally started to move in a big way, but do you have a chance of winning in the end?"
He checked in a low, hesitant voice. He likely had a true desire to hear the core details, but considering the situation of his junior detective, he must have used such a vague way of speaking.
"I don't know. How far we can go... However, on the anniversary of Kitamura's death this year, I want to be able to give a 'completely' good report. The biggest problem is Sada (the case). In a sense, only by solving that can it be a truly complete report..."
Nishida's words also became indecisive, caught between his desire to be definitive and reality.
"I'm not in a position to say this and that, but at the very least, please make sure to see the hospital shooting case through to the end. I think there are various walls you have to overcome, but I'm counting on you!"
It wasn't a strong tone, but Nishida felt that Kosaka's feelings were strongly contained in those final words, "I'm counting on you."
Friday, August 9th. This day was the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (T/N: Author's Note—Many people misunderstand this, but 'anniversary' [kinenbi] doesn't necessarily mean a happy day, so just in case), and the request for a 10-day extension of detention for the three—Nakagawa, Sakamoto, and Itagaki—from August 12th onward was granted.
Regarding Isaka, he had previously thought an extension was quite doubtful, but ironically, perhaps because the courts were at the beck and call of the police, a full 10-day extension of detention on suspicion of forging private documents with a seal was granted on the grounds that the interrogation of those involved with the heavy machinery company, the victim side, was insufficient. Nishida was a bit surprised by this, but he was naturally happy that it became advantageous for the investigation. The advisor, Lawyer Matsuda, countered Isaka's detention extension with a quasi-appeal, but that was also dismissed.
And the bullets found at the Isaka Group's material storage site matched the striations of some of the bullets used in the construction company shooting, making it almost certain that Sakamoto and Itagaki had been practicing shooting there. It was obvious that the interrogation of the two would become even more rigorous based on that.
Saturday, August 10th. Since Nishida, the deputy chief officer of the case and the practical person in charge of the field investigation, couldn't leave Kitami to go directly to Tokyo for the hearing, Yoshimura, who understood the series of incidents well, and Mayuzumi as his partner headed to Tokyo from the morning.
The purpose was to conduct a factual hearing with Naruo and receive the 10,000-yen bill and the ticket, which were pieces of evidence. They also took copies of the diary where the facts were recorded for the time being. They told him that depending on the progress of the case, they might receive the originals.
Then, the two who returned on an evening flight gave a brief report and immediately requested the forensics lab to verify the two pieces of physical evidence.
"Good work today, truly. How was it? It was hot over there, wasn't it?"
The two were thanked by Nishida, but Mayuzumi spoke fluently despite the content of his remarks.
"Man, Kitami is hot when it's hot, but today it's especially damn cold, isn't it (T/N: Author's Note—It seems that on this day in Kitami, despite it being midsummer, the maximum temperature didn't reach 17 degrees, and the minimum temperature was recorded in the 13-degree range)? When we arrived over there, it was over 30 degrees and humid, so it was exhausting... And now that we're back here, we're freezing. We have to make sure we don't catch a cold."
It might have been different if the hearing hadn't gone well, but in a sense, he seemed to be within the range of a pleasant exhaustion.
"Judging from this copy of the diary, it seems the story of the reporter named Naruo is true."
As Nishida scrutinized the materials the two had brought, he voiced his impression, and Yoshimura also sounded confident.
"There's no mistake! I was shown other parts as well, and it's a very detailed diary with high credibility. Next is the fingerprints. The reserved seat ticket for the Okhotsk No. 4 from Kitami to Sapporo on September 26th indeed had a stain, and there was also the warping of the paper from when moisture adhered to it. I think the coffee adhesion is exactly as testified, no mistake."
"I see. It's a bit weak to prove Nakagawa's involvement in the murder case, but at least the proof of the direction that the two met immediately after the incident at the time seems possible if fingerprints can be collected. I'd like to use that to shake Nakagawa up, but..."
He had already decided as a policy to interrogate Nakagawa on this point after confirming the physical evidence, and at this point, he hadn't told Nakagawa this story yet.
"How will that go... Won't it be tough to break Nakagawa with just that? It would be great if we could clearly prove that the 8 million success fee mentioned in Motohashi's statement was exchanged on that Kitami Station platform. The flow of funds around there hasn't come up for Oshima or Nakagawa, has it?"
As Yoshimura confirmed, after obtaining Naruo's testimony, they immediately washed the flow of money around Nakagawa as much as possible for now, but it wasn't clear that such money had moved publicly at the time.
Needless to say, the 15-year wall of time acted as a considerable hindrance in reality. To begin with, if it's a major Member of Parliament of the Minyu Party and his confidant, they should be able to prepare about 8 million in money that doesn't appear on the surface immediately. Even if they had washed it 15 years ago, it wouldn't have been likely to come out.
"Yeah."
Nishida gave a short reply, but in the end, it sounded to those listening like a roar of longing that exceeded Yoshimura's desire.
"It seems better to give up on that. The story is becoming quite clear, but I want direct evidence strong enough to shut the opponent up for good!"
Sunday, August 11th, the final day of the initial detention. In the afternoon, the long-awaited good news arrived from forensics: fingerprints of Nakagawa were detected from the ticket, and fingerprints of Motohashi and Nakagawa were detected from the 10,000-yen bill.
Naruo's testimony could now be proven physically as well. Naturally, the investigation headquarters immediately questioned Nakagawa on this point during the interrogation. Perhaps he never thought that a story from 15 years ago would be exposed now; although he remained silent, for the first time since this arrest, Nakagawa showed a truly shaken appearance.
Since the date and time they met could be proven not only by testimony but also by the reserved seat ticket, excuses like Naruo's memory being wrong or a discrepancy in the date and time due to a diary entry error couldn't be used. While it wasn't impossible to deny that the person he met was Motohashi with some sophistry (in other words, an escape saying they didn't touch the 10,000-yen bill at the same time), it was practically impossible given that the testimony had a great deal of truth to it. Although he managed to remain silent, Nishida felt a sense of having landed a considerable body blow.