Chapter 133 - Name and Reality 56 {84 Solo} (197-199 Oshima's Arrest and Escort to the Detention Center)
"Even if you are arresting me, could you allow me to make some preparations? I should like you to wait about thirty minutes."
At Oshima's words, which were even more prickly than his tone suggested, Arita looked at his watch and said,
"There is the matter of the flight, but thirty minutes is not a problem. Please, feel free."
It was currently just before 11:40 AM. Even if they left the hospital after 12:00, they calculated they would make the scheduled flight without issue. At that moment, the secretary said, not so much as a reminder but as a demand,
"Handcuffs are unnecessary for Sensei. You understand that, of course?"
"We have been instructed as such, so do not worry," Arita replied politely, which seemed to satisfy the secretary for the time being.
"May we accompany him?"
The secretary who appeared to be in the highest position asked, but Arita, sounding somewhat exasperated though maintaining a polite tone to the end, said,
"In the sense of accompanying us, unfortunately, that is impossible. We cannot stop you from following us to Sapporo on your own, however."
After finishing his preparations, Oshima was escorted by the detectives, as well as the secretaries and Morozumi, through staff corridors and elevators to the underground parking lot to avoid public view. At this time, Yoshimura timed it right and sent a short email saying "departing soon," fulfilling his final contact with Igarashi. The die was cast; now he had to leave it to them.
The secretary, watching Oshima being placed in the minivan and sandwiched between Yoshimura and Kusaka, spoke to his boss.
"I will come to Sapporo later."
"Umu. Make sure to ask them to dispatch Tsukada-bengoshi! There is nothing to worry about."
Oshima gave his instructions calmly.
Yoshimura remembered that the law firm of a lawyer named Hayashida, who had replaced the withdrawn Matsuda to defend the secretary Nakagawa in Kitami, was called the Tsukada Law Office, and he thought the name Oshima mentioned was likely that of the representative.
"Well, we're heading out now," Yoshimura announced professionally and quietly closed the door. The secretary remained bowed as he saw the group off. Yoshimura felt somewhat conflicted at the sight of such loyal behavior, which wouldn't be an exaggeration to call that of a servant. On the other hand, Oshima sat next to him with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Yoshimura thought that if he was going to be this calm, "he should have just waited with dignity at home instead of rushing to the hospital," but then again, choosing to flee if one can is, unfortunately, a valid choice. In the end, even a major politician is human. Perhaps he was slightly better for not flailing after being cornered.
As the car started moving, Yoshimura asked Oshima,
"Shall we open the window to let in some fresh air?"
He had an objective in mind, of course, and Oshima nodded silently.
Leading the way were the black Crowns carrying Arita and Hoshino, followed by the Estima carrying Oshima. They emerged from the staff back exit of the underground parking lot, moving from the darkness into the light. He had heard there would be a photographer right in front of the exit, but Yoshimura couldn't confirm it from the back seat. However, the moment the Crowns slowly turned right onto the road and the Estima reached the front of the exit, he saw the area in front of his eyes flash once, then twice. He heard the driver from Yotsuya Station click his tongue and mutter,
"Huh? Have we been found out?"
Kusaka also just said, "Huh?" and glanced at Yoshimura, but Yoshimura didn't even turn his face toward Kusaka and said innocently,
"As expected of the press. They're quick to catch on."
Oshima didn't react particularly, but perhaps he didn't notice since his eyes were closed. Those flashes were undoubtedly the work of the photographer Igarashi had arranged. Had he been aiming from somewhere like the bushes on the sidewalk without being conspicuous?
Yoshimura hadn't known beforehand which way the driver from Yotsuya Station would turn the wheel, but since he was sitting on the left side of the rear, he knew that whichever way they turned, the open window would be on the sidewalk side. Just in case, the rear seats had smoke-tinted glass and couldn't be seen through properly, but he had opened the window in advance just enough so that the photographer could capture Oshima's face if they were on the sidewalk side. And the driver, naturally, turned right just like the Crowns.
"Now, the problem is from here. Make sure you get the shot."
Almost at the same moment he muttered this in his heart, a figure that looked like a photographer passed by along with a momentary, dazzling light. This time, both Oshima and Kusaka seemed to notice, and Kusaka in particular watched the receding photographer through the rear window for a while. Then he turned back and silently observed Yoshimura. It seemed he had realized that opening that window had been intentional. However, without saying anything in particular, he looked straight ahead again. Yoshimura thought he might say something later, but for now, he was simply and purely happy that Nishida's plan had succeeded. Oshima had opened his eyes and glanced to the side the moment the flash went off, but after that, he said nothing and closed his eyes again.
In less than an hour, the car was pulled up to the staff entrance at Haneda, and surrounded by guarding police officers, they entered the VIP waiting area through the staff passage. The television was showing a special program on North Korea, and Oshima sat on a sofa, staring at it. He was clearly interested. After lunch, the afternoon meeting was scheduled to start after 2:00 PM. At this point, it hadn't been made clear what results had been achieved.
"This isn't looking very promising..."
Oshima voiced his impression as if talking to himself, but Yoshimura didn't understand the meaning. However, he would later realize it was a comment born from years of political experience—that if there were any pleasing results, they would have leaked out beforehand. And at almost the same time, he received an email from Igarashi: "Filming completed successfully. Thanks." The text was brief, but for Yoshimura right now, it was enough.
Around that time, Nishida and the others, having confirmed that Oshima had been safely escorted to Haneda, began preparing to head to the Kotoni Detention Center. Nishida and the others were also watching the TV, and perhaps because they had a bit of leeway, they were starting to worry about how the abduction-related issues would turn out. Gojou asked Nishida,
"Is it going well?"
Nishida only replied, "No, it seems no information has come in specifically."
"Will it be right around the time Oshima arrives here? When the details become clear. But this isn't a situation where we should be focusing on that..."
Gojou said this as if to convince himself, took out his cell phone, and likely began contacting the staff at the Kotoni Detention Center.
Nishida felt the stage for intercepting Oshima approaching moment by moment, but he also recognized the real hurdle ahead: how to get Oshima to confess to his involvement in the murder of Sada Minoru. Although no interrogation was planned for today, it was drawing near as a practical difficulty. That said, he reminded himself to first consider the indictment for the Kyoritsu Hospital shooting murder, which had a good chance of being proven even without a confession, and he stood up and stretched his back.
*
The four members of the Hokkaido Police team, including Yoshimura and Kusaka, along with Hoshino from the NPA, safely boarded the flight from Haneda after 2:00 PM and arrived at New Chitose shortly after 3:30 PM. Some passengers noticed Oshima was on board, but since he wasn't handcuffed and Yoshimura and the others surrounding him might have looked like secretaries, there was no particular sense of a stir assuming an arrest and escort.
That said, since the fact that Oshima was hospitalized and the suspicions of his involvement in a crime were relatively well-known to the public, some people might have caught on. They waited until all the other passengers had disembarked, then instead of going through the arrival gate where other passengers were, they went through the staff passage and boarded the waiting Hokkaido Police van. Maebashi, the Councilor from the Hokkaido Police, was in the lead car, and Hoshino joined him there.
By then, Nishida had already arrived at the Kotoni Detention Center behind JR Kotoni Station. He went to a nearby convenience store and picked up the evening edition of the Doho. There, he confirmed a front-page photo of an old man who looked like Oshima sandwiched between investigators who looked like Yoshimura and Kusaka. In another photo, Oshima's profile could be clearly seen beyond Yoshimura's profile.
"That Yoshimura, he went and opened the window. It's too blatant."
Nishida gave a wry smile, but he also felt that at this stage, the one who acted first won. On the page, timewise, it was already after the arrest, and the fact of the arrest being buried by the North Korea issue as the administration intended hadn't been overturned, yet only the Hokkaido Shinpo had it on the front page. The person who leaked it would be narrowed down, but it wouldn't become a major problem. He was certain it would be overlooked, just like Yasumura's rampage, since the other side also had skeletons in their closet.
He threw the newspaper into the convenience store trash can and returned to the detention center. Then, Mayuzumi informed him that a contact had come in saying the "party" was currently traveling near Kitahiroshima on the Do-O Expressway. They would be facing Oshima in less than thirty minutes. Nishida felt his tension rising sharply. Strangely, despite approaching the culmination of this seven-year investigation, he had felt a sense of everyday life along with the tension until today. He thought it might be because he had commuted from home for the first time in a while, but he didn't think that was the fundamental reason. However, thinking about it now, it might have been a kind of defense mechanism—Nishida might have been unconsciously suppressing his over-involvement. And now, those floodgates had opened...
A short while later, Gojou barged into the room where Nishida and the others were waiting.
"Hey! Oshima's arrest is on the front page of the Doho! Who leaked it!? It seems a small number of press people have already gathered outside. They must have seen this!"
He shouted, but he looked more like he was thinking "they got us" than being truly angry.
"Oh boy, I wonder if we'll be suspected?"
Baba, the Section 1 Head, spoke in a tone that said "this has become troublesome," but he didn't look seriously distressed. Nishida also knew that the "higher-ups" of the Hokkaido Police didn't recognize this as a major problem at this stage, but he felt a little relieved, to be honest.
At that moment, a contact came in saying Oshima's group had exited the Shinkawa Interchange. They would be here in about five minutes. At the same time, Senior Staff Todoroki, who was watching the TV, said,
"Ah, it seems certain there were survivors among the abductees. The Chief Cabinet Secretary said so."
"Well, if there weren't any, North Korea wouldn't have invited Takamatsu for negotiations," Team Leader Omine said, sounding exasperated as if he were stating the obvious. At that point, they likely didn't dream that in less than an hour, the result would be something the Japanese side couldn't easily accept.
Immediately after, a "late" news flash that Oshima had been arrested ran across the screen as a ticker. This time, Todoroki barked, "Too late!" but it couldn't be helped since they hadn't leaked it. Igarashi from the Doho had also kept his promise and remained completely silent to anyone outside his own company. And as Nishida finished hearing that, he headed toward the entrance alone ahead of the others.
Soon, the other investigators also came out to the front of the entrance and waited for Oshima to arrive. Police officers stood near the entrance gate of the detention center to prevent the press from interfering with the arrival of the escort vehicle. And shortly after, a black lead car and a dark blue escort vehicle entered in succession, and flashes went off continuously, bursting in Nishida's eyes.
"Well then, shall we welcome him?"
Saying this, Gojou went out the entrance, and Nishida and the others followed. First, Maebashi and Hoshino got out of the black car and bowed to Gojou, who was in a higher position, then stood in front of the door of the van that had done the escorting, just as Gojou did. As if timed perfectly, the door of the escort vehicle slid open, and Yoshimura appeared first, followed immediately by the figure of Oshima entering their field of vision.
"Thank you for coming all this way. I am Gojou, the Criminal Investigation Director of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters."
To Gojou's greeting while he was still in the car, Oshima said with a sharp gaze,
"You're quite transparent, aren't you?"
As Yoshimura had seen at the hospital, he stood up and tried to get out of the car more briskly than expected. Seeing this, Yoshimura hurriedly tried to take his hand, but Oshima lightly brushed him off as if to say "I don't need your help" and got out of the car himself. His legs and back seemed quite sturdy. After confirming the commotion of the press outside through the escort vehicle, he looked around the detention center side and said in a commanding tone,
"It's restless here, so guide me quickly. I want to see the results of the negotiations with North Korea, so let me watch the television."
It was not the attitude of someone who had been arrested and brought in on suspicion of murder, but as a politician, he was clearly concerned about the normalization negotiations.
"Then, for the time being, please enter the waiting room."
Gojou said this and led Oshima inside the entrance. Normally, they would have him change immediately, perform a body check, and throw him into the detention center. However, precisely because of who he was, they had been told beforehand to handle him politely and carefully, though Nishida still felt a sense of resentment.
Nishida gave a light signal to Yoshimura and Kusaka to say "good job," then he and the others followed behind Oshima. Like Yoshimura, he felt that Oshima was a tall person for his age. Nishida wasn't tall for a detective, so Oshima might even be taller than him.
Meanwhile, the escort team, after confirming the hand-off, was instructed by Baba to take a break and detached from the formation surrounding Oshima. Yoshimura hadn't been told anything by Nishida, but he confirmed the page of a staff member reading the evening edition of the Doho and realized his plan had succeeded. Kusaka, who was watching him, whispered in his ear from behind,
"Was this your and the Assistant Section Chief's doing...?"
His tone wasn't particularly accusatory. Yoshimura neither confirmed nor denied it, but at that point, it was as good as an admission.
They had Oshima sit on a sofa in the waiting room, but the other detention center staff and investigators not involved in this case didn't seem particularly surprised. They had already been informed that Oshima would be brought here. And as they all watched the TV together, a news flash came in after 5:00 PM. The words "Information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 4 survivors, 6 dead" caused a collective stir.
"Oh boy, the survivors are much fewer than expected..."
The words of a person who seemed to be a veteran investigator whom he didn't know well spoke for everyone there. Before they knew it, Yoshimura and the others, having finished their break, were behind Nishida.
"Can they really satisfy the public with this...? It seems like it'll only increase resentment instead."
Yoshimura muttered, and his assessment was likely not wrong.
"Even for the Takamatsu administration, which is highly popular, it might be quite difficult to proceed with things as they are. You'll run into serious trouble if you trust North Korea at face value."
Oshima voiced his impression in a low voice. His comment was likely based on the fact that the Minyu Party, especially the mainstream factions like the old Hakozaki Faction that had been at the heart of the administration, had taken a "policy of appeasement" but all had failed. The people around him felt the weight of that statement. And immediately after, he said to Gojou,
"I understand the situation, so you don't need to let me watch the TV anymore. I want to rest soon, so hurry up and throw me in the slammer! I am a sick man, after all!"
"Then, I am sorry, but please change your clothes... Before that, you will undergo a physical examination. Is that acceptable?"
When Gojou confirmed this politely, Oshima said,
"Yeah, I know. And I hear you even look up the backside?"
"Regarding that, the current method is to have you keep your underwear on and raise each leg alternately," he replied.
"Ho! Japanese criminal justice procedures have become quite decent, haven't they?"
Oshima laughed out loud, though it might have been a bluff. However, for a generation that had experienced conscription examinations, it might not actually be a big deal. This was assuming he hadn't become completely accustomed to his current status and treatment...
"Then, I will guide you."
Oshima left, led by Gojou. Since no interrogation was to be held today, it was merely a "face-to-face" for Nishida, but his heart was already racing toward tomorrow.
Meanwhile, on the special programs related to North Korea, the families of the abductees were speaking of their regrets. There was no doubt that the families who were told their loved ones were alive were in a state where they couldn't be purely happy when they thought of the families who were told their loved ones were dead. The magnitude of the wall called "time" was evident here as well, not just in the Sada Minoru case.
Afterward, the news programs on each station were in a state of considerable chaos, with the arrest of Oshima on suspicion of murder added to the North Korea-related news. Nishida, feeling things had settled for now, contacted Igarashi. Igarashi didn't reply with a direct phone call, but afterward, like Yoshimura, a thank-you email came to Nishida. He must have been busy himself and wanted to settle it with an email. Or perhaps he was being considerate of the police's situation... But from tomorrow, it would be Nishida's turn to be busy. At 8:00 PM, he received permission from Gojou to return home in preparation for tomorrow, and both Nishida and Yoshimura left the detention center.