Chapter 125 - Name and Reality 48 {76 Solo} (172-174 The Unexpected Question from the Higashi Nippon Shinbun Reporter)
As a result, it became a Q&A session in a landslide fashion, so Koyabu announced to the press corps that they would accept one question per company. Each reporter began to ask questions again, and Yasumura and the Kitami Station side responded to them matter-of-factly.
"I'm Namikoshi from the Tozai Shinbun, please let me ask a question!"
And finally, the questioning from the Tozai Shinbun, which was thick with the Minyu Party, began. Nishida listened intently, thinking that he might be able to tell the current stance of the Tozai Shinbun by what kind of questions this reporter asked.
"As a general theory, I believe there are many cases where the arrest of a hospitalized suspect does not usually happen? What about that?"
Since he suddenly struck at the core, Nishida unintentionally let out an "Oh!"
"Uh. Regarding whether the suspect is hospitalized or not, I would like to avoid commenting. However, as a general theory, if a formal medical certificate is submitted, I think the execution of an arrest warrant would be difficult."
"According to our information, there is a story that a medical certificate has already been issued for the person being considered?"
He pushed further.
"I repeat, I am not talking about specific details."
Yasumura responded calmly even to Namikoshi's persistent questions.
For the time being, from the content of these questions, it was clear that the Tozai Shinbun also recognized the possibility of Oshima's arrest. Of course, even if their stance was pro-ruling party, since the current center of the Minyu Party is not the Umeda Faction to which Oshima belongs, but the non-mainstream Shitetsu-kai, it wouldn't be strange for things to flow this way. However, since he didn't even know if this reporter who asked the questions was following instructions from the Tokyo headquarters or not, he also reconsidered that it might be premature to take it as the stance of the entire Tozai Shinbun. Nishida himself was wavering in his thoughts.
In any case, it's safe to say that even the reporter from the Tozai Shinbun judged that Oshima's "future" was dark. Conversely, in the sense of the field like Nishida and the others, they didn't think they could actually corner Oshima yet, so there might have been a difference in recognition on that point.
In terms of the investigation, when indicting a person of power like Oshima, it would be overwhelmingly advantageous to have the testimony of Nakagawa, who would have had direct instructions from Oshima. At the same time, the crucial testimony from Nakagawa had not been obtained. An arrest in the Kitami Kyoritsu Hospital shooting case at this point was not absolutely impossible, but it was obvious that it would be better to have Nakagawa's testimony for this as well.
"I'm Masaki from the Higashi Nippon Shinbun. I'll ask a question."
While that was happening, a reporter from the left-leaning, commonly known as "Tojitsu Shinbun," raised his hand and began questioning.
"The arrests of the three—Nakagawa, Sakamoto, and Itagaki—this time are regarding the triple murder case at Kitami Kyoritsu Hospital. Among them, it seems there's talk that both suspects Sakamoto and Itagaki have already started confessing. Regarding suspect Nakagawa, there was this incident today, but at the same time, the president of the Isaka Group has also been arrested, right? Does this have any connection with the arrests of the aforementioned three, or not?"
Regarding Isaka's arrest, various things were being said in the streets, but the police had never once shown a clear attitude. The Higashi Nippon Shinbun likely wanted to confirm that. And while information that Sakamoto and Itagaki had broken had somehow leaked to them, it seemed information that Isaka had broken had not yet reached them. The fact that Nishida had directly interrogated him also seemed to have an effect.
"Regarding that matter, it's under investigation, so no comment."
Yasumura answered like that, but in terms of nuance, more reporters would likely take it as an affirmation.
"Uh, anyone else?"
As Koyabu took charge, questions from each company began again.
"Excuse me! May I ask one more..."
To Masaki, the Higashi Nippon Shinbun reporter who raised his hand again and started off like that, Koyabu irritably restrained him.
"As explained beforehand, please limit it to one opportunity per company!"
However, Yasumura, who was next to him, restrained that in turn.
"Since we have time, as a special case. Please keep it brief if possible."
He permitted it.
"Then, I'll take you up on that. This is a story from 15 years ago, but you know there was the murder case of Sada Minoru in '87, right? To be precise, the incident came to light in '95..."
At the sudden turn of the conversation, it looked to Nishida as if Koyabu, who was facing the conference, slightly widened his eyes. There was no particular change in Yasumura's expression, but Masaki continued regardless.
"Regarding that, I think the fact that Death Row Inmate Motohashi, whose sentence was finalized in '95, newly confessed to the murder and caused a great stir is particularly memorable. And at that time, regarding the currently arrested Isaka Masamitsu-shi, there was a story that he was questioned by the police because Motohashi was requested to commit the murder by Isaka Daikichi-shi, who was already deceased at the time and was his father. Bringing the story back to the present, does the arrest of the son, Masamitsu-shi, this time have any connection with that incident, or does it not?"
Hearing this, Nishida and Yoshimura unintentionally looked at each other at the question that suddenly struck the core. Regarding the hospital shooting case, it's not strange to see some connection given the simultaneity with the arrests of other suspects. But the Sada Minoru murder case was considered completely resolved on the surface with Motohashi's sentence in '95, and they thought the media naturally shared that recognition. Moreover, regarding this matter, it had been treated as top secret even within the investigation team until recently. That had come out as a question from the mouth of a single reporter from the Higashi Nippon Shinbun out of the blue.
Of course, the question itself was not that specific on the surface, but it was a way of questioning that clearly seemed to grasp the aim of their investigation. At this question, unlike before, Yasumura's face also stiffened for a moment, perhaps with some surprise showing. Whether they knew it was top secret, other investigators, though few knew as much detail as Nishida and the others, began to stir again. While confirming that situation, the two concentrated on the television screen again to listen to Yasumura's statement at the press conference. After what seemed like a short but deep thought, Yasumura briefly said,
"I cannot answer at this time."
Nishida thought that by adding "at this time," this was a more proactive "evasion" than the previous "evasions" with an affirmative nuance. Yasumura might have been consciously giving a de facto "seal of approval" by making them strongly conscious of a tacit recognition of this matter, meaning it was okay for it to become public.
"Headquarters Chief Yasumura also stepped into it, but more than anything, that reporter also suddenly pushed in, didn't he?"
Yoshimura, who had been listening silently to the exchange, spoke to Nishida like that, so he replied,
"Yeah... It certainly was a surprise. I hope our information isn't leaking!?"
While saying so, he lightly looked around.
"If information about this matter is leaking to the media, it feels a bit unpleasant. Of course, politics, the police (T/N: original reads 'uchira' — us/our side), and even the media, it seems the influence of Oshima and the Umeda Faction is being eliminated. So it might not take the form of interference, but it could mean our aim is being found out by the Oshima side."
Yoshimura had a slightly clouded expression, but that said, as he said, they were no longer at a stage where the investigation would be hindered just because it was found out. It could also be said it was too late to worry about it now. In the first place, if the content of Nakagawa's interrogation was mostly leaking through meetings with his lawyer, the feeling of "it's too late now" couldn't be denied.
Besides, there is still plenty of time until the statute of limitations for the Sada murder case, but the fact that Oshima fled to the hospital was also with such intention—that is, Oshima had the thought that he wanted to somehow escape the Sada case, which he knew the hand of investigation was approaching. Nishida and the others had already considered this. The fact that Yasumura finally implicitly admitted it must have been because he was also prepared for that.
"Ah, but I wonder?"
"Hmm? Did something happen?"
Nishida immediately reacted to Yoshimura's behavior as if he had thought of something.
"Looking at the way that reporter asked the questions, at first glance, the last question seems like he just forgot to ask it at first. But is it really a story at a level where you'd forget to ask? For that, I think he dropped a pretty powerful bomb."
In other words, Yoshimura likely felt a great deal of incongruity that the Tojitsu reporter didn't ask such a probing question at the stage of the first Q&A.
"The first question was also quite important, so maybe his attention was taken by that?"
He answered like that as a superior, but he himself also felt a somewhat unsatisfying sensation triggered by his subordinate's doubt.
The subsequent Q&A ended without any major turmoil, and the press conference finished safely. But after it was over, the Kitami District Headquarters was in an uproar. As expected, since the movements of the Prefectural Police Headquarters and the National Police Agency had not yet been transmitted, regardless of that, within the Kitami District Headquarters, the argument that he "spilled too much" was strong.
The friction between Yasumura and the other leaders within the District Headquarters seemed to have increased considerably, and rumors about that situation were starting to spread in whispers even within the investigation headquarters.
However, there was absolutely no word from the Prefectural Police Headquarters that anything had happened, even though very little time had passed. At this point, Nishida was starting to interpret that the conference was indeed as expected from the perspective of the "higher-ups." If there were a problem, some kind of action should have come from them immediately.
Of course, it means that Yasumura's words and actions were based on his having read through that. However, even if Yasumura rode that established line, there must have been a reason for Yasumura himself to ride it completely. Not to supplement the pursuit of the earlier indigestion, but Nishida felt like confirming that properly.
Nishida, who met Yasumura again in the District Headquarters Chief's office, threw out a doubt from the start. To be honest, considering Yasumura's feelings about being dealt with twice in one day, he felt it wouldn't be surprising to be treated coldly. But fortunately, Yasumura didn't create such an atmosphere.
"You stepped quite far into it at the conference, Headquarters Chief. Did you have the confidence that the higher-ups wouldn't say anything?"
The wording was polite, but it was with the momentum of a detective pursuing a suspect.
"To be honest, I had the thought that it would be okay to some extent, but whether they really won't say anything is a gamble after all. It seems I've won that gamble for now..."
While chuckling, he confessed his honest state of mind.
"Even so, isn't it a bit too far... It was enough to make me, who was listening, break into a cold sweat."
Toward Nishida, who added a question mark while observing his superior's state,
"It would be one thing if it were the others, but it won't do if Section Chief Assistant Nishida is like that."
The young elite laughed like that, but immediately returned to a serious expression. And,
"If I do that much, it should have become at least a bit of pressure on the 'opponent.' As I said earlier, I think we've already crossed the watershed of whether to reveal our hand or not,"
he told Nishida.
"That may be so. Even so, for my part, there's no change in the fact that I was surprised to hear it."
Nishida had a playful air, but added as if he had remembered.
"Come to think of it, the Higashi Nippon Shinbun reporter suddenly mentioned Isaka, and I was surprised by that too."
When he said that,
"Ah, that matter..."
Saying so, Yasumura stood up smoothly. Then, he walked over to Nishida, who was facing him across the desk, and urged him to sit on the sofa of the reception set. Immediately after that,
"To be honest, that question was a setup."
He spoke out abruptly.
"Eh?"
Nishida, who had become like he was possessed by a fox at Yasumura's unexpected answer, was about to sit on the sofa but remained standing still.
"Does that mean that you prepared that reporter's question in advance, Headquarters Chief?"
"Exactly. I had told him in advance to ask that kind of question. Since he didn't show any sign of asking at first, I was breaking into a cold sweat on this side. But since it wasn't a question in his own words but a setup (T/N: original reads 'yarase' — faked/staged), he might not have been very keen on it."
Hearing that, Nishida finally sat on the sofa and stared intently at Yasumura.
"It's troubling to be stared at that much. Was something wrong?"
Since he replied as if he were uncomfortable,
"No, it's just that I didn't think for a moment that you were the type to use such tricks, Headquarters Chief, so it was a bit unexpected..."
he tried to make an excuse.
"Hahahaha! Tricks, is it... I think you mean you didn't think I would do 'dirty work,' but..."
It was Yasumura, laughing loudly as if he had seen through Nishida's true intention.
"Well, it's not far off, but..."
Nishida had no choice but to chuckle as well. But in the first place, the choice of the word 'trick' itself had a strong negative connotation, so it was natural that it was found out. However, hearing this exposure, it could be said it was natural that the reporter had asked such a probing question.
"A classmate of mine from university is in the social affairs department of Higashi Nippon, so I contacted him in a hurry and had him instruct the reporter who questioned today on the content of the question, and had him ask it."
"I see. Being a classmate from Todai (T/N: University of Tokyo), he must be in an influential position."
"No, it's not necessarily like that... Anyway, I wanted to loudly declare that we are also closing in on that side, while taking advantage of the administration's intentions."
"Now that's a nasty personality."
Nishida's statement was made to look like a kind of humor (T/N: original reads 'kaigyak' — banter/jest) in the conversation. But internally, it included the fact that his image of the elite Yasumura as a "saintly gentleman" had changed, for better or worse. However, if he thought about it carefully, the courage he showed when they clashed over the search of Oshima's office would have been impossible for a simple, "thin-lined" idealist.
In any case, including the fact that the situation surrounding the investigation had changed, this whole flow was likely what showed Yasumura's spirit and resolve to pursue them even by thoroughly utilizing everything.