Chapter 120 - Name and Reality 43 {71 Solo} (162–163 Masamitsu's Testimony on Kitagawa's 1995 Actions and the Hospital Shooting 1)
"With someone as powerful as your old man, and with Oshima as his backer, wouldn't he have been able to find the true owner of that dummy account? Even if banks are strict about information leaks, with Oshima-level political power, it seems like they could have managed something."
When Yoshimura raised this doubt again,
"That dummy account was a standard savings account at the Abashiri branch of Hokumo Bank, so that was fundamentally impossible,"
Masamitsu denied it flatly.
"Why?"
To the duo's question,
"Hokumo Bank and the Isaka Group... or rather, Oshima, are like cats and dogs. Originally, the founding family of Hokumo was apparently a supporter of Kaito, but because Oshima is the way he is, they supposedly cut ties with him a few years after he was first elected. The founding family has been stubborn for generations—they're the quintessential bank management types—so there's no way they'd listen to what Oshima says, and it's impossible they'd cooperate in various ways. Even after management shifted from the founding family to Bank of Japan OBs, that (corporate) culture doesn't seem to have changed."
He explained it in easy-to-understand terms. They knew that Hokumo Bank's management was traditionally "solid" to the point of not even dancing to the tune of the bubble economy, but it made even more sense if there was such a historical background.
"You had told Oshima about this series of letter disturbances by then, right?"
To this question from Nishida,
"Apparently, he had talked to him before the money was demanded, but I heard he was treated quite coldly at that time. Regarding the payment of money, he was supposedly brushed off with, 'If it bothers you, pay it yourself.' In the first place, the Oshima side at the time seemed to think that if it had specifically leaked to the outside that Sada had been murdered, there was no way it would just now come to light after five years. I heard that later from the secretary, Nakagawa. My old man was getting weak in various ways by then, so it seems he couldn't talk back, and at the time, I had my hands full with Isaka family matters, so I didn't demand that much from Oshima. Regarding the true name on the account, he apparently showed an attitude of trying to investigate for the time being, but as I just said, it was like we already knew the conclusion before even looking into it."
He replied.
"Did you tell Oshima about Shinoda murdering the unrelated Yoneda?"
This time Yoshimura questioned him in Nishida's stead,
"I haven't heard about that from Shinoda, my old man, or Oshima, so I don't think it was mentioned,"
He answered matter-of-factly.
"I understand that part. ...By the way, Assistant Section Chief!"
Since Yoshimura suddenly threw the conversation to Nishida here, Nishida couldn't help but do a double-take at Yoshimura beside him.
"Back in '95, Kurano-san apparently disliked the intervention of the tax office or National Tax Agency and didn't contact them, but I wonder if he didn't tell the Hokumo Bank side about the dummy account either?"
"I've heard clearly about that, but he probably didn't tell the bank either... The reason he didn't tell the tax office was that Kurano-san must have felt favorably toward the fact that further donations were being made to charities from that dummy account—pardon my phrasing. If that's the case, from Kurano-san's perspective, telling the bank would have meant 'obstructing a good deed.'"
To Nishida, who answered thus,
"I see..."
He uttered. On the other hand,
"Then, did Kurano-san conversely find out it was a dummy account based on information from the bank?"
He continued. Nishida was at a loss for an answer for a moment, but,
"That's impossible! I was transferring money into that account until about two years ago. If the bank had known, the account would have been frozen immediately back then, right? No matter how you look at it."
Masamitsu cut in.
"You were transferring money until two years ago!?"
Thinking normally, if the bank side had grasped that it was a dummy account, it was certainly decided that the account would be frozen at that point. But more than that, the two were greatly surprised by the story that the provision via transfers had continued until just a few years ago.
"About 150,000 a month... Though even that eventually ended when the bank contacted me saying the other party's account had been frozen or something, and I couldn't transfer anymore. Naturally, even though I say it ended, it might be more accurate to say I thought so because there was absolutely no contact after that, even though I expected the other party to say something. Since then, there's been truly no word. Also, just to be sure, I'll tell you that even after it became my generation, I've already disposed of the letters demanding money. For us, given the content of the threats, there's no benefit in keeping them. I suppose it's a shame for you police..."
He spoke the details nonchalantly.
"Even if the letters can't be helped. The account existed until recently and was finally frozen, right? What on earth does that mean?"
Nishida was confused and didn't understand the logic, but,
"I don't know the details. However, the bank said something with the nuance that it was a dummy account, so wouldn't that be the first time the bank side found out too?"
He was told in return.
"Even seven years ago during the police investigation, the police didn't notify the bank that it was a dummy account, yet several years later, this time the bank found out it was a dummy account directly? If that's the case, I feel like it wouldn't be strange at all if they'd noticed before the police..."
Nishida honestly didn't understand the meaning.
"Some kind of check on the bank's side probably worked after that,"
Yoshimura followed up like that, but to Nishida, it seemed like there was too much of a time lag for that. Of course, there was no point in speculating here about the reason the bank recognized it as a dummy account, but it was a point that didn't sit right.
And one more thing, Nishida grasped that his initial assumption had been overturned in a good way. The fact that he had been transferring until two years ago meant that the intimidation—no, to be precise, the act of extortion—had been continuous until quite recently. This fact meant that the party who likely sent the letter that caused young Yoneda's death could be punished for the crime of extortion regardless of the statute of limitations, although it wasn't punishment for direct complicity in murder. The statute of limitations for extortion is seven years. It falls well within the limit.
"You transferred the money as a result of the other party's extortionate behavior, strictly speaking?"
When Nishida confirmed just in case, Masamitsu nodded slightly,
"Well, even if you call it extortion, after the first few times, the amount was less than 200,000, so I didn't really have the image of being threatened. Conversely, it's also because it was settled with that much that I just paid the money appropriately and left it vague."
He answered.
"Specifically about the early stages?"
To Nishida's further question,
"First 2 million, then 2 million again a month later. Next was 1 million, I think... I don't remember the amounts clearly, but I think there were transfer demands of about that much. However, after that, 200,000 was demanded a few times, and finally, the other party lowered the price to 150,000 per month. To be honest, I thought I'd have to think of some response if they did 1 million every time, but no matter how bad the recession was, with our economic power at the time, if it was under 200,000 a month, we had plenty of leeway, so it stopped being necessary to even care one by one. I don't know why they lowered the requested amount either. We didn't say anything, but the other party did it unilaterally... For that reason, it had no more meaning than a mere habit. Even when the police investigated various things seven years ago, nothing was pointed out, so it stayed that way."
He answered.
Considering the Isaka family's wealth, it was certainly not such a painful expense at the time. As a reason for sluggishly complying since the first demand, it wasn't that incomprehensible. During the '95 investigation involving Motohashi's sudden confession, the police had settled for the perception that the dummy account was merely a destination for some of the Isaka family's hidden funds from tax evasion, and that it was used quite a bit for transferring donations for the sake of social contribution, and they took no action. And after that, it must be that Masamitsu didn't stop the remittances for fear of something being found out. The blackmailer either had a decent sense of the market rate for money, or perhaps they simply weren't as greedy as expected.
"Going back to the topic, you said the bank apparently noticed it was a dummy account later, but where did the information come from when the police (we) saw through it as a dummy account seven years ago?"
When Nishida was asked again by Yoshimura,
"I don't have a memory of Kurano-san saying anything specific at the time, but just as we found Hojo Masato's younger brother, it's probably because the police (we) have our own ledgers of addresses and names. The account information itself should have been provided when Hokumo Bank was queried, so didn't you cross-reference it with that? The direction of the story is the same as my old man using a detective agency to investigate."
He explained.
"Ah, there was that method!"
Yoshimura raised his voice as if convinced from the bottom of his heart.
"Notice that much yourself... Don't keep rehashing the story in the first place."
Since Nishida was in the middle of interrogating Masamitsu, a consciousness of not wanting to show internal discord worked, so he couldn't scold him much, but normally he would have given him a hard nudge.
"What are you doing fighting amongst yourselves..."
As expected, it became a development where the suspect side was worried about them, but,
"Never mind us, let me talk about Kitagawa now,"
Nishida moved on to the next topic as if halfway covering it up.
"I heard earlier that you knew he had been moving around since around May of '95, neglecting his work, but we've confirmed that Kitagawa responded when the police came to the Isaka Group for questioning regarding another murder case—specifically, the case of the person Shinoda murdered. Was that to scout our situation? I don't know if you've grasped that or not."
"As expected, I don't have a clear memory of that story..."
While tilting his head, no specific answer came from Masamitsu. However, even if that were the case, Nishida had the conviction that he wasn't wrong in that direction, judging from the way he had responded to Kosaka and Takeshita.
"However, I do have a memory of him saying that while searching for the watch and the body, he discovered the corpse of a completely unrelated human and ran away,"
Masamitsu began to speak as if suddenly remembering. This corpse is undoubtedly Yoshimi Tadayuki, who took the camera. It seems he had confided in Masamitsu about this as well. It appears Kitagawa had spoken about the series of events to Masamitsu quite honestly.
"To think he talked about even that. Then, what about the camera Kitagawa took?"
Yoshimura questioned him again, but,
"Regarding that, I don't have a memory of him saying anything. He probably didn't even mention it,"
He was flatly denied. Since Yoshimura seemed disappointed or as if no more questions were coming out, Nishida took back the right to question and,
"After that, Kitagawa was caught by us; what did you think? Did you think that the stories up until then might be found out?"
He asked.
"Honestly, I was feeling bad, but I thought I'd try to do something by assigning a legal advisor. Ah! Just to be sure, Matsuda (the lawyer) doesn't know the details about this matter. Don't misunderstand that much,"
He emphasized that, and,
"However, since Kitagawa ended up like that in the end, it's also a fact that I was relieved. As I said earlier, the bereaved family didn't seem to know the details either, including the one kept in the safe, so aside from the person who blackmailed us, this should have made things much easier, but..."
He added with a regretful expression. Considering his current situation, it was no wonder he expressed it that way.
"I have something I want to ask regarding that matter too. During the interrogation, Kitagawa, who initially hadn't claimed an alibi in America, finally claimed it after suspicion of the Yoneda murder was cast. We thought at the time that he was taking such incomprehensible actions because he feared that if he claimed it immediately, the conversation would lead to why he knew the place where the body was buried, or why he was searching for an unrelated body, and would extend to his relationship with Shinoda and even the murder of Sada. However, after an interview with Lawyer Matsuda, he started claiming an alibi. You say he doesn't know the details, but how much did Lawyer Matsuda know about the series of incidents?"
Nishida now questions the relationship with Lawyer Matsuda. How much Lawyer Matsuda knew is an important issue. It is necessary to grasp it firmly.
"That is... I, having heard the situation from Matsuda, told him that since Kitagawa was apparently in America for work at that time, murder was absolutely impossible. We didn't think as far as what intention Kitagawa had in staying silent when he wasn't here in Kitami at the time. Also, Matsuda is a lawyer, even if he's our advisor (ally). If I told him too many details, there's a possibility Matsuda himself wouldn't be able to bear it, so I only told him the bare minimum. Of course, I won't deny the possibility that he felt something suspicious. He wouldn't be that much of a fool."
Masamitsu said it boldly, but it's true that even for a legal advisor, leaving someone involved in a heinous crime alone becomes a major risk as a member of the legal profession. Since there was a possibility of being betrayed by Matsuda depending on the case, this judgment would be appropriate, and Nishida and the others had considered such a possibility at the time.
Even so, since Lawyer Matsuda was already in a "conflict of interest" situation with the defense of other suspects in the Itagaki case, there was talk of him being replaced as the defense counsel, but if Isaka Masamitsu has also fallen, that should become an issue here as well.
"By the way, regarding the relationship with Secretary Nakagawa, who hasn't confessed yet, what will happen to the lawyer in charge? Itagaki and you have admitted it, but..."
When asked by Nishida,
"Originally, I had him doing it as the legal advisor for the Isaka Group, so the relationship is stronger on our side, but I don't know what will happen. Well, the Oshima side probably has their own legal advisors around Tokyo, so I don't think they need Matsuda's defense... It depends on Matsuda's motivation. I'll decide after seeing that."
He spoke vaguely. Needless to say, Matsuda would also be in a terrible state of being torn apart. Whether to cut Oshima or cut Isaka. The safest way would be to run away from both, but Nishida had no business thinking that far for him.
"Then this time, I'll listen to the story about the hospital shooting incident and the shooting at the construction company before that! Itagaki has already spilled his guts, saying he was instructed by you. So be honest here too!"
Nishida pulled himself together and decided to proceed with the conversation.
"I'll tell you properly even without being told... Regarding that, it must have started when Nakagawa said to me, I think around the summer of '95... 'Is there anyone who can fire a handgun at a troublesome company (bunch) as a threat?' Since I didn't know the meaning of 'troublesome company,' I naturally confirmed with Nakagawa, and he said it was a construction contractor that was under Oshima's influence but wasn't making much of a donation... At that time, there was talk that it would be fine for a few years due to the Great Hanshin Earthquake and economic stimulus measures, but apparently, because the public works budget framework was definitely going to decrease in the not-too-distant future, a few years later, due to decreasing tax revenue, it was necessary to cut some off. However, since they couldn't be cut off overtly, he was talking about having the purpose of causing a fight between the yakuza who were the backers of those companies. As someone in the same industry, I didn't want to actively participate, but Nakagawa said something bordering on a threat like, 'Your place's performance will drop too if you say such soft things,' so I had no choice but to say, 'Then I'll have the yakuza under my command do it,' but he said that would be a problem."
To this answer,
"Can I have a moment? You said there was a purpose of aiming for that internal discord, but on our side, we saw it as you trying to use that scheme of internal discord to make it look like the 'result' of that when murdering Matsushima Kotaro; was that purpose not there at first?"
Nishida confirmed based on their own assessment from seven years ago.
"At least in the early days when the talk was brought to me, it didn't feel like that from my perspective... However, just before the shooting at the hospital was actually carried out, as you say, the talk of killing Matsushima also came out, and I should have been told by Nakagawa to use the original scheme of internal discord."
If what Masamitsu says is true, it must mean that the plot when Takagaki received the fake interview request from Weekly "FREE" and wrote the article was to have him write exactly what the Oshima side had actually been plotting for some time, before the murder of Matsushima was planned. Of course, by the time the weekly magazine was sold, there is a full possibility that they were eager to use Takagaki's article as an alibi-making device in the sense of a camouflage operation for the murder of Matsushima, although it was an inaccurate expression. And it is also important that Secretary Nakagawa was involved in that as well.
"Regarding those instructions, did Nakagawa say or hint that the boss, Oshima himself, was involved?"
"He didn't say that directly... Even so, no matter how much Nakagawa is in charge of the local area, there's no way Nakagawa is making important decisions on his own regarding construction contractors under Oshima's influence. At the very least, there must have been Oshima's tacit approval."
Masamitsu asserted so to Nishida's question, but the presence or absence of instructions from such a person with absolute power and their subordinates is a pattern that becomes quite a problem in court. The impression Masamitsu held was understood to some extent beforehand, but the fact that a clear answer with a basis didn't come out was a painful point for the investigation side.
"According to Itagaki's story, he said he used handguns properly so that the striations—which are like the fingerprints of a handgun—wouldn't match, making it look as if a conflict between different people was occurring; whose idea was that?"
"Wasn't that instructed by Nakagawa? I feel like I heard it from Nakagawa at the planning stage too. However, I don't remember it clearly."
"Nakagawa instructed that far..."
Nishida nodded while being impressed in a bad way by the answer to his own question.
"And one more thing. I think the yakuza under your command is probably the Souryuu-kai, but did Nakagawa say anything specific about the reason why using them would be bad?"
When Nishida added the question,
"I think what Nakagawa said was a simple one like, 'If the local yakuza do it, it'll be easy for the police to find out after all.' Certainly, come to think of it, if the story was that the local Souryuu-kai was doing it, there are many people with ties in various directions, not just our place, and far from there being a risk of causing internal discord, the sparks might end up falling on us. I was convinced of that immediately too. Then, he even said, 'Can't we manage something with your employees instead?' However, among the employees, I couldn't really find anyone who would shoot a handgun right away, so in the end, I consulted with an executive of the Souryuu-kai who is particularly close to me. Then, I was introduced to Sakamoto and Itagaki, who were employees of a subsidiary and were former delinquents. 'If it's these guys, they're tight-lipped, and it'll be fine if you, the president, properly guarantee their status.' The Souryuu-kai executive also guaranteed, 'We'll do the training.' However, I was asked to let them practice shooting at our materials storage yard."
He explained in detail.
Certainly, at the time, the police were mainly investigating the local yakuza, so this intention of Nakagawa's... of course, even if the possibility of it being Nakagawa's sole idea without Oshima is low, that aim had hit the mark. Also, the testimony matched the fact that bullets were discovered from the Isaka Group's materials storage yard.
"Itagaki is talking; isn't that executive Yamazato of the Souryuu-kai?"
When Nishida pressed him based on the investigation so far,
"I have a family too, you know..."
It was a truly non-committal way of speaking. Even if they are subordinate yakuza, as long as they are a bunch who are fussy about betrayal, it's natural for Masamitsu to become anxious.
"That guy has already been arrested because Itagaki confessed, and as for your family, I'll put a guard on them if necessary, so you don't have to worry,"
When Nishida told him that to ease his anxiety,
"But me being in this state is causing much more trouble for my family..."
He muttered miserably. Neither Nishida nor Yoshimura could find words to say to that. It was because it was exactly as he said. The two waited for Masamitsu's movement in silence.
"...Understood. It's Yamazato, no mistake."
Masamitsu spoke after lightly slapping both his thighs as if to psych himself up once before giving the name.
"Good! I understand that point well. Now, the story jumped all at once, so I want to organize it again, but I want to hear in detail about the process of how the story that initially aimed for internal discord among construction contractors changed to be used as a camouflage for the reason for Matsushima's murder. You said you found out about the talk of killing Matsushima just before the shooting incident, but do you have a memory of specifically when?"
Nishida questioned to grasp the story in one more level of detail.
"Probably... I think such a talk came out before actually causing the shooting incident at the company in mid-October. I had heard through rumors that he had already been given a prognosis for lung cancer, so I didn't understand the significance of doing such a thing, but it was like there was a possibility of it being exposed before then... At that time, I remember being quite bewildered when Nakagawa proposed using Sakamoto and Itagaki, who were originally intended to be used for the company shooting, for the murder of Matsushima as well. As expected, I wanted to be excused from being directly involved in a murder just like my old man. Even so, since I cooperated indirectly, if you say it's the same in the end, that's exactly right..."
At this time, Masamitsu's way of speaking at the end was like he was somehow squeezing it out.
And with this answer, an unexpected fact had also come to light. He said that initially, there was a plan to use Sakamoto and Itagaki for the murder of Matsushima. This was a story that even Nishida and the other investigators hadn't assumed at all.
"In the end, the two didn't participate in the murder and stopped at just lending their strength; what was the reason?"
Yoshimura confirmed as if following up.
"I hated it too, but before that, the two refused. They said that would be a problem, as expected. And Nakagawa... probably the Oshima side too, must have felt quite anxious about having amateurs do it, as expected. It's certain that in the end, it became a talk of 'asking a professional who won't be found out and has no ties to Kitami (this side).'"
Masamitsu's statement was very ironic considering that Higashidate and Kagami—who were professional yakuza but amateurs when it came to killing—or rather, to be precise, Ohara, were originally supposed to play that role, but they became the final perpetrators. Also, since this fact hadn't been heard from the two, Sakamoto and Itagaki, yet, it was also valuable testimony.
However, he speculated that the background to that was probably the intention of the requested side—that is, the Aoi-ikka side—that they were "even harder to be found out than the pros among pros," and the Oshima and Nakagawa side also respected that. As a result, it must have led to the use of Oshima's office, which was close to the crime scene and where shooting training could be done. However, this was also a story that would end as mere speculation unless there was testimony from Nakagawa. And there was the reality that the possibility of obtaining Nakagawa's testimony was exceptionally low at the moment.