Chapter 135 - Name and Reality 58 {86 Solo} (203-205 Nishida Finally Interrogates Oshima)
Thursday, September 19th. For those like Nishida and Yoshimura who had homes or family residences in Sapporo, commuting directly from there was permitted starting today. Thus, Nishida headed straight to the Sapporo Detention Branch from his home in the Fushimi district. Upon arrival, he first placed a phone call to the investigation headquarters in Kitami.
The interrogation was scheduled for two sessions: from 10:00 AM to noon, and from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, totaling four hours. Arriving before 9:00 AM gave Nishida plenty of time, but he was also preoccupied with the fact that today was the deadline for requesting detention extensions for four individuals in Kitami, including Isaka and Nakagawa.
"How is Oshima?"
Onga-teameader was actually the one to bring it up first.
"He talks, but as expected, he seems like quite a handful," Nishida admitted honestly.
"I see. I suppose even a Diet member thinks it's a disgrace to resort to the right to remain silent."
"That might be part of it."
Nishida played along with the other man's lead before moving to the main topic.
"By the way, is Nakagawa still the same?"
"Well... at this point, it's just a matter of mutual endurance, isn't it? It's not like we can just beat it out of him, after all..."
Onga didn't seem to expect him to crack easily.
"I see... That aside, shouldn't we at least send Higashidate from Kitami to the Sapporo Detention Branch? The interrogation on this end is completely finished."
Onga made the suggestion based on the premise that there were no detention centers near Kitami.
"The problem is, we need to cross-reference his statements with Nakagawa, Isaka, Sakamoto, and Itagaki, so I think it's better to keep him in Kitami."
Although Nishida expressed a negative view, he also felt that if it was just about Nakagawa's relationship with Oshima, keeping them together in Sapporo might be more convenient for cross-referencing their statements.
During the morning interrogation, Oshima actively engaged in small talk but remained adamant on the core issues, insisting that Nakagawa's crimes were independent of his own. If taken at face value, he was pinning everything on his subordinate secretary to escape alone, but seeing Nakagawa's thorough resistance, Nishida felt that the truth was more likely a joint effort between the two.
To begin with, when the opponent is a prominent sitting Diet member and elderly to boot, the interrogators cannot exactly raise their voices, which served as a significant constraint. Furthermore, the short interrogation hours made things difficult. There was also a meeting with his defense lawyer just after noon, and the afternoon interrogation ended as a mere anti-climax.
On the other hand, in the evening, Igarashi called to offer a proper, albeit belated, thank you. It seemed he had been quite busy since then. He apologized deeply for the delay in contacting him (though Nishida didn't take offense). To Takeshita, he seemed like a rather foul-mouthed senior, but to Nishida, that impression was non-existent based on their interactions so far. They ended the call by wishing each other luck in their future endeavors.
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"It's really frustrating."
After finishing the interrogation and returning to the Prefectural Police Headquarters, Kusaka gave the meeting room wall a light thud with his fist.
"He's certainly got guts. He's not the kind of opponent who goes down easily."
Nishida's response wasn't so much a consolation as it was a reminder that this was to be expected. Criminal Investigation Director Gojo, who had been with them since the detention branch, laughed.
"When I was seconded to the Fukushima Prefectural Police, I interrogated someone at the prefectural assemblyman level, and even at that level, they're quite the slippery characters. It can't be helped."
That said, Nishida wasn't in a position to feel so relaxed. His personal investment in the investigation was different from Gojo's...
"Regarding the hospital shooting, even if we can build a case to the point where we can barely prosecute by closing in from the outside with objective evidence and testimony, the problem is what to do about the Sada murder. I just can't think of a good plan."
Nishida slumped into his chair, not just from fatigue, but because the lack of a clear path forward led to such listless movements.
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Thursday, September 26th. More than a week had passed since the start of Oshima's detention. In the interrogation room, Nishida sat with Yoshimura, waiting for Oshima in place of Kusaka. It wasn't that Kusaka had been replaced for failing to produce results. Nishida had specifically wanted to interrogate him on this day, September 26th, and had told Kusaka from the start, "Unless something major happens, let me handle this day."
In the meantime, once the North Korea abduction issue had settled down, the media reports were shifting toward the topic of Oshima's arrest. However, Oshima's arrest was strictly related to the Kitami Kyoritsu Hospital shooting incident; no media outlet reported that Oshima was involved in the Sada Minoru case. To be precise, some might have had a hunch, but perhaps lacking conviction, it didn't surface. Even if it had, it would have likely come from people close to Nishida's team—namely Igarashi or Takagaki—and they wouldn't have made it public.
Furthermore, Hoshino, the Support Room Chief from the National Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Bureau who had been dispatched to Sapporo as an overseer, had already returned to Tokyo. Honestly, Nishida thought he would intervene more, but he left almost everything to the local Hokkaido personnel. He had been there at a level where it wouldn't have felt out of place if he had just come for a vacation, which left Nishida and the others somewhat underwhelmed.
Returning to today's interrogation, it went without saying that fifteen years ago on this day was the day Sada Minoru was murdered by Motohashi, Kitagawa, Shinoda, and the others. It was also the day when Secretary Nakagawa was believed to have received some kind of report from Motohashi at Kitami Station when Motohashi was fleeing Kitami. Normally, if nothing had happened, this would have been the day the statute of limitations expired. However, due to the suspension of the statute from Motohashi's indictment to the finalization of his sentence, a factual extension of about three months (Author's Note: In terms of legal interpretation, it's not an extension, but rather those days are excluded from the statute of limitations) was still allowed.
For Nishida, it was a significant date, and he had requested the swap with Kusaka in advance because he had wanted to gauge Oshima's state of mind on this nominal expiration date and see if it had any effect.
Upon entering the interrogation room, Oshima immediately noticed the different interrogator. Just before sitting down after having his waist rope removed, he spoke up.
"What happened to the young one? Today it seems to be the slightly veteran detective I met the other day."
"It's been a while since we met when you first arrived... I am Nishida, the superior of Yoshimura here. I've taken over today because I specifically wanted to ask you a few things."
He almost instinctively said "moushimasu" (T/N: humble form of 'to be called'), but stopped himself mid-sentence, deciding there was no need to be that humble.
"Well, do as you like. No matter who my opponent is, I will only assert my innocence."
Nishida didn't even look directly at Oshima as he blustered, instead dropping his gaze to the investigation documents on the desk.
"Mr. Tadokoro, until now, we've been interrogating you about the Kitami Kyoritsu Hospital murder case, but today, I'd like to talk about something a bit different. That's why Assistant Section Chief Nishida is participating in today's interrogation."
Yoshimura's statement sounded the opening gong for the interrogation.
"A different story?"
"Do you have any memory of the name Motohashi Yukio?"
Nishida first brought up Motohashi's name.
"Motohashi... let me see."
This time, Nishida watched Oshima's demeanor intently to test his reaction, but no particular agitation was visible. However, he did find Oshima's choice of words a bit transparent.
"He's a heinous criminal who killed a total of six people over four years. He was executed five years ago, in October '97."
"Ah, I remember now! That Motohashi... yes, yes."
Oshima nodded several times and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"So you remember. He was a former yakuza member also known as a hitman. After his death sentence was finalized in court, he eventually confessed to every single one of his crimes. He was a truly monstrous individual."
Nishida spoke more slowly than usual. It wasn't out of consideration for Oshima's age making it hard to hear; it was a conscious effort to keep himself calm.
"I see. He certainly was called a hitman, now that you mention it. It was a terrible case."
"Furthermore, at that time, he also confessed to a murder that had remained a missing person case and hadn't been brought to light. Both I and Yoshimura here were deeply involved in the investigation of that case."
"Oh? Deeply?"
Oshima spoke in a feigned tone.
"Yes. Since you basically don't return to your hometown much, Mr. Tadokoro, it's understandable if you aren't very aware of it, but we were following a case where an elderly man named Sada Minoru went missing in Kitami, assuming it was likely a crime... Then, eight years later in '95, we fortunately discovered the body. However, we were at a loss, not knowing clearly who had killed Sada."
Oshima didn't say anything or react to that story, so Nishida continued.
"However, seven years ago in October '95, that Motohashi suddenly confessed to Sada's murder. Initially, there was talk that he decided to reveal everything because his death sentence was finalized, but it seems there were people moving behind the scenes. Those would be the people around you, right? The Umeda Faction—or was it the Hakozaki Faction back then? I'm talking about the lawyer who is a relative of that Diet member, and the newspaper journalist close to you all."
Here, Nishida glanced at Oshima and suddenly struck at the core to gauge his reaction. However, no particular response could be observed. It was disappointing, but he couldn't let it bother him, so he continued.
"Through the movements of those people, we came to be convinced during the investigation at the time that Motohashi ended up confessing to his involvement in Sada Minoru's murder, even though the facts were still mostly unknown. To be more precise, even before Motohashi's death sentence was finalized... since it was impossible to overturn that High Court ruling anyway, they seem to have been moving for 'insurance' purposes, partly because the investigation had been progressing quietly before that."
"What are you trying to say?"
At this point, although Oshima's expression remained cheerful, Nishida sensed an unmistakable thorn in his voice. It seemed he couldn't completely hide his reaction after all.
"Well, it doesn't matter, does it? You just have to sit there and listen to what we have to say."
Yoshimura also spoke up as if sensing something, trying to smooth over the atmosphere. Then,
"In the end, Motohashi confessed the details of the involvement of his accomplices—well, I'm sure you know that included your supporter, Isaka Daikichi—who were already dead, but he took everything else to his grave. As for the murder of Sada Minoru, it remained unclear beyond that. We thought that the Kyoritsu Hospital shooting incident, which led to your arrest and which we've been focusing on, was originally caused by that Sada murder, but that also ended up becoming vague... I still remember being overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness."
Yoshimura listed the facts while hiding his resentment. Glancing at him, Nishida added,
"And then last year, we were able to identify the people involved in the shooting incident... Though they were already dead, the investigation started moving again from there. And finally, we were able to arrest you. No matter what you say, we will definitely prosecute you for the hospital shooting incident and make you pay for your crimes in court; that much is certain. Furthermore, it goes without saying that we will thoroughly pursue the Sada matter as well."
Nishida delivered a "soft" challenge.
To be honest, since the shooting incident also required a two-stage proof—Nakagawa's strong involvement in the incident and the strong relationship between Nakagawa and Oshima—he perhaps shouldn't have spoken so boldly, but it couldn't be helped that he wanted to say it.
"I understand perfectly that what you want to do is string me up, but everything else is too abstract and makes no sense at all. Is this the level of the Japanese police lately?"
Oshima accepted Nishida's letter of challenge softly, only to toss it back with words that made light of it. However, it wasn't as if Oshima thought he was absolutely safe regarding the Kyoritsu Hospital incident. He must be switching his mind to how to get through the prosecution or the trial through pressure. Even so, Nishida wouldn't back down on things within the scope of police authority.
"However, the most significant part of this series of arrests for the shooting incident was being able to hear various things from Isaka Masamitsu, Daikichi's son. There were many interesting stories, including your close relationship with Isaka Daikichi—no, he was originally Isaka Tasuke—and your relationship with him."
Nishida did not miss the momentary wavering in Oshima's eyes. While he might have a certain level of trust in Nakagawa, his relationship with Masamitsu, Daikichi's son, had weakened in various ways, so Oshima must find him untrustworthy. At the same time, there was a possibility that Oshima himself didn't perfectly grasp "how much" Masamitsu knew about the things Oshima didn't want known. As long as there were uncertain factors in a double sense, no matter how much he bluffed, a reaction was bound to show somewhere. And Nishida surmised that it had just shown now.