Chapter 196 - Name and Reality 119 {147 Solo} (349–350 Closing in on the Isaka Family Blackmailer 3: Re-examining the Investigation Memos)
"You're right. That part does feel strange..."
Yoshimura agreed with Nishida and seemed to be thinking while driving, but suddenly,
"Ah!"
He let out a loud shout, causing Nishida to jump in the passenger seat.
"Don't scare me like that! Did you remember something!?" Nishida tried to press him, his voice tinged with a bit of anger.
"After Sada went missing, there was no progress in the police investigation partly due to pressure from the Oshima side. Then, new letters and bonds from Toru were found, and the Sada family distributed posters of Sada in Engaru and Ikutahara themselves... that was at the end of the year, four years after the incident, right? The old man at Shinoyama said he contacted them after seeing that. If so, that would be the end of '91. Even if there's still a time lag, doesn't that explain at least four years and a bit out of the five? That the Boss himself hadn't grasped that Sada had gone missing until then."
While Yoshimura's reasoning didn't perfectly explain the entire time lag, it had a specificity that could explain the majority of it (Foreshadowing: see below).
"I see. Regardless of how we view the remaining year or so, it's not an impossible story that he didn't know Sada was missing until then, but grasped it for the first time through that poster. Besides, even if the other party had gone missing, it would be unnatural to immediately blackmail Isaka as if he had been murdered. Yes, Yoshimura, your reasoning might indeed be interesting."
Nishida was once again helped by Yoshimura's reasoning, and to be honest, it was good enough to make him feel a bit of jealousy, but he was also happy to feel his subordinate's growth.
"I'm glad you say that, but honestly, if the Boss really was the blackmailer, I don't know what to do... My head is still in a mess... They say 'truth is stranger than fiction,' but this is too much, no matter how you look at it..."
After saying that, Yoshimura let out a deep sigh.
Yoshimura's relationship with the Boss was deeper than Nishida's, and it was certain that he couldn't—and didn't want to—believe that the Boss bore a great responsibility, even if unintentional, for the murder of the young Yoneda. Of course, Nishida was in the same position.
"Truly... The moment I saw that surveillance camera image, I thought it looked like him, but I never imagined..."
Nishida said as he looked out at the passing scenery, and the conversation that had briefly become active died down again.
By the time the car entered Bihoro Town, this time Yoshimura spoke first.
"Even so, isn't this case just too ironic..."
"Ironic?"
"Yeah... Just think about it... In Yoneda's house, the father had died, and it was a household of just a mother and her only son, right? In the sense that there was no father, it's the exact same situation as the Boss's home. In fact, when we all had a banquet at Yusen after returning from the investigation in Osaka, the Boss heard the general story from us and entrusted us with the entire day's sales, saying, 'Give this as a condolence gift to the mother of that victim, Yoneda.' The Boss felt sympathy for him... And yet, in reality, his own actions had resulted in driving that mother and son into such a situation..."
Yoshimura had spoken that far, but he involuntarily tapped the steering wheel lightly with his right hand. If Nishida hadn't been watching, he might have hit it harder.
"I see. That did happen... It really is an ironic story, then. Umu..."
Nishida couldn't help but groan. Since they hadn't told the Boss—an outsider—the full details about Shinoda likely murdering the young Yoneda at the time, naturally his thoughts hadn't reached that far.
"But, while the story of us finding Sada's remains wasn't reported that heavily, at the very least, Motohashi spilling the beans in Osaka about the Sada murder—which no one had even dreamed was Motohashi's crime—became quite a sensation in the news. I wonder what the Boss thought about that?"
Nishida asked Yoshimura, taking the opportunity to think about the discovery of Sada's remains and the public revelation shortly after that Motohashi was the one who killed Sada.
"Who knows. It's likely because of the blackmail issue, but he kept quiet to us the whole time even after Sada's remains were found... Thinking about that, it feels very hollow now, after thinking we were on close terms..."
Yoshimura's dejection was so great that it was more fitting to say he was in mourning rather than just lamenting.
"But even so, he did cooperate with the investigation in some parts. If it hadn't been for the Boss's information about the JR driver's sighting of the hitodama (T/N: spirit flame) or the information from the Kitami Tonden Times article, we wouldn't have found the young Yoneda's remains, and by extension, we wouldn't have found Sada's remains either."
"Now that you mention it, that's true... In that case, he must not have thought at the time that such information would lead to the discovery of Sada's remains or the revelation of the murder..."
At his subordinate's dismissive tone, Nishida said,
"But you know, after Sada's remains were found and then there was the fuss over Motohashi's confession, reports were clearly being made that would let someone like the Boss know it was Isaka Daikichi, with phrases like 'at the request of a now-deceased construction business owner in Kitami.' I don't think he was in a state of mind where he thought the fire would absolutely never spread to him, the one who was blackmailing Isaka. Of course, it wasn't a level of story that would be exposed immediately, and even if us actually uncovering it was just a result of chance... Even so, he was quite calm, even in his conversations with us... He didn't do much in the way of prying into the status of the investigation. While it may be a fact that the Boss's initial information was provided precisely because he didn't think it would lead to Sada's murder being exposed, even after various things came to light, he didn't seem to be in a panic..."
Nishida was somewhat skeptical.
"Hmm... Well, the truth is that human psychology is just hard to understand... Ah! I don't want to think about anything!"
Yoshimura was on the verge of snapping, but since he was driving, he seemed to be barely holding it together. Nishida didn't dare soothe him and simply said,
"Before we go back to the (Regional) Headquarters, stop by my official residence (apartment)."
"Did you forget something?"
He asked with a blunt, social-grace sort of tone.
"I have the notebooks where I wrote various things about the investigation at the time, so I want to check them point by point and think about how it came to this," Nishida replied.
"No matter how or what, in the end, we have no choice but to build a case for blackmail, right?"
His tone was still somewhat aggressive.
"Well, I suppose that's how it will be..." Nishida replied calmly. There was no doubt that Yoshimura's question forced Nishida to face a heavy reality in the near future.
"Normally, we'd bring him in as a person of interest just based on the surveillance camera images and then arrest him from there, but I can't help but wonder why that Boss would do such a thing. Whether it's an arrest or questioning as a person of interest, before we actually make a move, I want us to think of the reason as much as possible."
Hearing Nishida's thoughts, Yoshimura said,
"I understand how you feel, Team Leader. But when I think about whether doing that will change anything... In the first place, isn't that something we should just ask him when we question him?"
He didn't hide his doubt about how much meaning there was in that action.
Foreshadowing Below
The distribution of posters was triggered by the Sada family's discovery of the letters and bonds from Toru in the safe four years later.
Nishida and Yoshimura confirmed this during their first visit to the Sada family.
Revised Version Light and Shadow 7 (Near the very end) https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5921df/28/
Stopping by his apartment, Nishida brought a paper bag full of his notebooks into the Regional Headquarters and began to read through his investigation diary memos from '95 with singular focus. What he had thought and considered at the time gradually resurfaced; sometimes his initial reasoning had been spot on, and other times it was completely off the mark, leaving him with complex emotions. He also reconfirmed that Takeshita's reasoning had been quite accurate. However, as he turned the pages and his memories became vivid, there were many moments where he was lost in deep emotion, realizing anew how far they had come, even if they had been blessed with much luck.
And just as Yoshimura said, there was indeed a description of how Nishida, Takeshita, and Yoshimura—after returning to Engaru from business trips to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kurashiki—had eaten and drunk at Yusen with other colleagues and coincidentally met Takamiya, the JR driver who had given important testimony in the early investigation and had been a great help, and treated him to a meal. It also mentioned the story of the Boss ultimately entrusting the sales to Nishida and the others to give to Yoneda's mother as a condolence gift.
Even so, the story of how Takamiya, after testifying to Nishida and the others, had coincidentally witnessed a real hitodama for the first time in a long while while driving near the Jomon Tunnel, had completely slipped from Nishida's memory. He was surprised anew to realize that the ghost story generated by Kitagawa's nighttime actions might have brought about a real supernatural phenomenon as a case of "truth born from a lie." (Foreshadowing up to here: see below)
Also, on November 11th, the day Kitamura was shot and killed at Kitami Kyoritsu Hospital, he naturally didn't have the mental leeway to keep a diary, and the fact that an entire day was missing reminded him of the strong shock he felt at the time. That was the day they were supposed to enjoy karaoke with their colleagues from the Engaru Station Criminal Investigation Division, including Kitamura, but first there was a phone call from Kitamura canceling due to the questioning of former Prefectural Assemblyman Matsushima, and then the situation changed completely with the emergency report of the sudden incident.
Nishida stayed at the Kitami Regional Headquarters until late at night, but he still couldn't finish reading everything. Even after returning to his apartment and taking a shower, he spared time from sleep to devote himself to "reviewing." However, he didn't obtain any results beyond what he had discussed with Yoshimura on the way back from Abashiri.
The next day, October 17th, Nishida remained in Kitami, checking the interrogation status of the suspects in custody while looking back at his notebooks, but he gained nothing and had ended up in a dead end.
Needless to say, even if he could grasp the exact circumstances of what the Boss talked about with Sada Minoru, what information he gained from it, and why he blackmailed Isaka Daikichi after learning of his disappearance (assuming the reasoning so far was correct), the content and weight of the crime the Boss committed wouldn't change significantly, even if there were some elements of extenuating circumstances.
However, if he knew the situation, there was a high possibility he could learn the further circumstances of why Sada blackmailed Isaka. In addition, a strong desire to know the clear reason why that kind-hearted, cheerful Boss had done something so outrageous drove Nishida to such actions. Yoshimura must have felt the same or even more strongly, and he was checking the investigation diaries after Nishida finished reading them, but he too failed to grasp anything new. With irritation mounting on both sides, Nishida decided to take Yoshimura to the staff cafeteria during a break to try and change the mood.
"In the end, the two of them, Sada Minoru and the Boss, likely had their first contact during Obon in '87. At that time, Sada became convinced that the bonds and letters left by his brother Toru were credible, while the Boss potentially learned that Sada had something going on with Isaka. And then, four years later at the end of '91, the Boss, learning that Sada had gone missing, suspected Isaka's involvement and looked into various things, and as a result, finally resorted to blackmail... Beyond that, we're still unable to read anything..."
To Yoshimura, who broached the subject that way, Nishida confessed that he was also in a state of almost waving the white flag.
"I'm sorry to say, but it's certain that I don't understand a thing beyond your initial reasoning, Yoshimura."
With a look as if he had chewed on a bitter bug, Yoshimura said,
"So, regarding what comes after this, we'll have to build a case regardless. This much money... probably nearly 20 million yen in total has moved... Even if Masamitsu doesn't press charges, since blackmail isn't a crime prosecutable only upon complaint, we have to move..."
He spoke with great difficulty. Considering Yoshimura's feelings, it was only natural that he was agonizing.
"You're right. We have no choice but to build a case..."
Nishida repeated the same kind of thing they had discussed in the car from Abashiri.
"The problem on top of that is whether we arrest him from our side or urge him to turn himself in. In reality, since we've already grasped the facts of the crime and who the suspect is, even if it's logical that turning himself in wouldn't technically count as jishu (T/N: voluntary surrender before being identified), well, that should be allowed within the scope of discretion, right?"
At the gesture of sounding Nishida out, Nishida nodded reluctantly.
"Well, if it's just urging him to turn himself in, I suppose that's an option..."
Foreshadowing Below
Revised Version Light and Shadow 27 (Near the middle)
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5921df/48/