Chapter 204 - Truth and Reality 127 {155 Solo} (367-369 Yoshimura's Anger)
"I see. By the way, when you decided to use that fake account you originally had, didn't you think about the risk of it being traced, leading to danger, or getting caught (by the police)? Especially regarding Sada, it was almost certain he'd actually been killed, right? Didn't you think it was dangerous?"
Nishida asked again. Certainly, looking at the result, due to the history between the Hokumo Bank management and Oshima, Oshima's pressure happened not to reach them, but depending on the situation, there could have been a risk of the blackmailer being identified.
"That might be so, but wouldn't any other way of handing it over be similar? If it involved the police, since Isaka was involved in the incident, I thought he wouldn't report it in the first place. And if he did report it, wouldn't it be over at that point either way? So I just thought having it transferred to a fake account was better."
"Well, certainly every method has its pros and cons..."
Nishida was strangely convinced, but—
"However, if it had ended there, it would be one thing, but continuing to demand it after that is unacceptable. Even if the amount was lowered from an early stage..."
He offered a belated, meaningless reproach.
"To be honest, I can't make excuses for that... It was so easy to withdraw the money that the grudge of 'it's Isaka's fault my daughter and I had a hard life' just kept bubbling up... A strange greed came out... Besides, with that money, I could keep serving customers cheaply like always, right?"
"Anyway, as an atonement for that, you later started donating about half of the monthly transfer to charities?"
Nishida looked away from the Boss and spoke as if he couldn't bear it, but continued.
"And then, even after Isaka died, you demanded it from his son, Masamitsu?"
"Yeah. There was talk of the father handing over the company and the son taking over, so after collecting enough including consolation money, I thought it might be wrong to make the son bear the responsibility, but once you've stained your hands with evil, you get completely used to it... I wrote a letter to the son too, instructing him to 'continue taking responsibility for your old man.' I told him to transfer 150,000 every month just like before... Even when Daikichi himself died, I told him to keep going."
When the Boss mentioned that much, he made a gesture as if hesitating to continue. However, he looked directly at Nishida and Yoshimura alternately.
"Looking back now, it must be the work of a demon, but I had this strange feeling that maybe that amount of money would be forgiven... Then a few years passed, and finally you two were investigating, Sada's body was found, and when it was reported a bit that Motohashi killed him, I finally thought about it... Maybe because he was dead, Isaka Daikichi's real name didn't come out, but there were reports hinting at his involvement. I thought I might be found out because of that investigation... But even if I stopped making him transfer money then, it wouldn't erase what I'd already done. I felt sorry for everyone, but if I got caught, so be it..."
At the end, the Boss scratched his head awkwardly. Then—
"But my desire to help people who've had underprivileged lives since they were kids, just like me, wasn't a lie... Well, if you call that an excuse, then that's all it is..."
He managed to weave the words while looking down, adding his thoughts.
"We didn't want you to serve us good things cheaply to the point of justifying that, Boss! I think it wasn't just us, but the other regulars too. I mean, if you think about our feelings, having to treat you as a criminal, I wanted you to stop at that point... Then the statute of limitations would have already passed, and now we would only have to blame you on moral grounds..."
What Yoshimura tried to convey in a detached tone could only be described as his true feelings given this outcome, but it was also true that the customers had taken advantage of Yusen's reasonable prices, even if they didn't know.
"That might be so, but seeing everyone's happy faces made me glad."
The moment the Boss said that, Yoshimura suddenly flew into a rage.
"What are you talking about! Even if you maintain low prices with money extorted from someone, it's not happy at all! I'm sure the underprivileged people the Boss donated to would feel the same! Are you really thinking about the meaning of what you've done, using that as an excuse?"
Nishida, who was beside him, was startled for a moment, but—
"Yoshimura, calm down."
He tried to restrain him with a low, groaning voice. However, Yoshimura argued back.
"Nishida-san! The Boss doesn't understand! The true viciousness of what he did! Because he's shifting the responsibility to the Isaka side somewhere and has the excuse of 'for the sake of others,' he's not trying to completely accept it as his own crime. That's what's frustrating to me! Especially since I know the Boss's original character!" (T/N: speaks without honorific, signaling provocation/intimacy)
Perhaps because he was quite excited, he didn't even seem to notice that he called him "Nishida-san" instead of his usual title, "Assistant Section Chief," but what Yoshimura was saying was undoubtedly a sound argument. Yoshimura basically had a side that seemed light on the surface, but Nishida occasionally felt that he had an unexpectedly strong sense of justice at his core.
At the end of '95, when Criminal Investigation Director Otomo of the Kitami Area Headquarters informed them that their involvement in the series of investigations was completely closed, it was Yoshimura who was even more fuming than Nishida. He had been in a bad mood, disappointed in Nishida for not objecting.
And the other day, when talking with Takeshita, who had returned to Sapporo from Osaka, Yoshimura had strongly restrained Nishida and Takeshita when they were creating an atmosphere that suggested there were "unavoidable parts" even for Motohashi and Higashidate, who had rushed into murder based on inner-circle logic.
Because he was that kind of person, Yoshimura probably couldn't forgive the Boss's words and actions, which weren't exactly unrepentant but were slightly justifying. However, Yoshimura was finally about to start telling the truth that struck the core of what the Boss should recognize. It was something Nishida had been unable to say, even though he knew it.
"...Boss. It's true that Isaka Daikichi suffered through his military service in Okinawa at the end of the Great War, and after the war ended, including becoming desperate, he might have once snatched away even the gold dust that was the share of you and Houjou. However, he immediately regretted betraying his comrades, and with the excuse that 'he probably couldn't hand it over,' he didn't cash in your share of the gold dust he took. On top of that, regarding Houjou's share, which was supposed to have been snatched by the other one, Kuwano, he compensated for it out of his own pocket and entrusted each to his son, Masamitsu... Masamitsu still keeps them now, so he can hand them over at any time... Furthermore, when Isaka changed his name from Tasuke to Daikichi, he took that 'Kichi' character from your father's name, Shigeyoshi, out of regret for once trying to snatch it for himself. He apparently had that much attachment to it."
Told an unexpected truth by Yoshimura—
"Hey, is that true?"
The Boss asked the two of them, clearly flustered. Since one of the foundations for justifying his misdeeds had collapsed, it was undoubtedly a major miscalculation for the Boss, who was originally almost too good-natured.
Furthermore, Nishida added—
"What Yoshimura said is true. Certainly, Isaka Daikichi was selfish and had a cold-blooded side that could even kill people, but his feelings for his comrades were apparently quite strong, despite how he looked. His son Masamitsu also kept them without touching them, following his father's instructions, and I've confirmed the actual items during the investigation. Also, this hasn't been made public yet, but that Kuwano Kinya is the Oshima Kaiji who's causing a stir 'now.' Because of all that, there were various things between Isaka and Oshima, so even after Oshima went into politics, Isaka was able to use him to improve his company's performance. Oshima also had financial backup from Isaka as an outward supporter, and they were in an inseparable relationship."
The Boss was left speechless, his mouth half-open. Naturally, the true identity of Oshima Kaiji is actually Onodera Michitoshi, but since there was no time for detailed explanations here, he just conveyed it as is for the time being.
"No way, such a thing..."
He lowered his face again, and to the words he finally managed to utter, Yoshimura said—
"We also thought all along that Isaka and Kuwano had snatched the gold dust that belonged to you and Houjou, who were Mende's sons, though they couldn't have known it at the time. But in reality, it was different... And according to Masamitsu and Oshima, who had heard stories from Daikichi, your father, Mende, was apparently well-liked by his work colleagues. There was even talk that he was quite handsome. Above all, your father regretted leaving you and your mother behind... He once came to see how your mother was doing in secret, and he even knew the child born then was a boy. He told Daikichi and the others that he couldn't face her, so he went back without meeting her. That's exactly why Daikichi also wished to somehow deliver the gold dust to Mende's beloved son—that is, you, Boss."
He said that and let out a long sigh.
"To think I was extorting money from the Isaka family without knowing any of that... I've done something terrible..."
The Boss spoke his regret while keeping his gaze on the low table, not even meeting the eyes of the two. It seemed that at this point, he had finally begun to seriously think about the viciousness of his actions.
However, Yoshimura began to speak as if to deliver a further blow.
"Boss. That's still about Isaka being a murderer of Sada, and regardless of what you think now, it might reduce your sense of guilt a little. But you see, what I really want you to regret and be deeply conscious of as a crime is something else entirely..."
Whether he failed to grasp the meaning of this statement, the Boss slowly raised his face and stared at Yoshimura. Yoshimura also kept his gaze fixed on the Boss, and although he almost closed his mouth, he began to speak as if he had made up his mind.
"I wonder if you remember, Boss? Seven years ago, when we first dug up the body in Ikutahara and the murder case was discovered. The victim was a college student named Yoneda, and because it was a single-mother household, you sympathized with him, overlapping it with your own circumstances. It was after the Section Chief Assistant and I returned here from Osaka and Kurashiki, where Yoneda's family home was, for the investigation. Then, you told us to deliver all the bills for what we ate and drank at Yusen to Yoneda's mother as a condolence gift. At that time, I was so happy for your consideration, I was even moved..."
Just as Nishida had feared in a sense, it was clear that Yoshimura was daring to directly convey what would be the most shocking thing for the Boss. However, Nishida continued to listen in silence this time, thinking that Yoshimura probably had a strong desire for the Boss to understand the meaning of what he had done. It was something Nishida almost couldn't do now, but that was probably closer to indecisiveness rather than kindness, and conversely, Yoshimura must have made that resolution precisely because he was close to the Boss.
"Going back to the story for a moment, immediately after you first sent the letter pretending to be Sada and Isaka received it, Isaka was apparently quite surprised, just as you thought. He had ordered the murder of Sada in league with Oshima, but since he hadn't killed him himself, he hadn't seen Sada die directly... So, he apparently ordered his subordinate, a guy named Shinoda who was at the murder scene with that Motohashi who killed Sada and was cooperating, to confirm if Sada was really dead. For Shinoda, it was a hassle because he had seen it with his own eyes and was certain... And Shinoda went to confirm Sada's body, which had been buried near that Jomon Tunnel, after five years. And at that time..."
Yoshimura suddenly became choked up, and since even his painful breathing could be heard, Nishida checked on him and noticed that the usually cheerful Yoshimura was clearly welling up with tears. Nishida was also quite taken aback by this first-time sight of Yoshimura, who was, to put it poorly, almost flippantly cheerful. Needless to say, it seemed to Nishida that the Boss also sensed from that appearance that something very serious was about to be told—no, perhaps he had already half-guessed what had happened.
"...At that time, by chance, Yoneda, who had come to that place to take photos as a railway hobbyist, encountered Shinoda while he was digging up Sada's body... Um... It seems the truth is... he was murdered... to silence him. ...Regarding this, we had assumed it as of seven years ago, but in the interrogation of Masamitsu, Masamitsu testified that he heard from Daikichi that such a thing actually happened. Since Shinoda had already died of illness as of '95, it had only been a guess until now, but now... it's almost certain... as a fact. ...Since Shinoda is already dead, the case has officially become a cold case, and there's nothing that can be done now, but..."
At the shocking fact told by Yoshimura, the Boss literally held his head in his hands. That was only natural. The Boss, who had sympathized with the misfortune that befell a mother and child in the same position as himself, had actually triggered unnecessary misfortune due to his own actions, even if it was unintentional. It's natural that the more good-natured a person is at heart, the greater the shock. (Author's Note: Foreshadowing to be mentioned later).
"Ironically, Masamitsu testifies that the reason why Daikichi, who had been high-spirited for his age until then, became completely weak in both body and mind was that in addition to being threatened by you, he had also involved a completely unrelated college student. Even that Daikichi, hearing from Shinoda that an innocent young man had been sacrificed, thought he had done something terrible... So, in the end, you threatened the Isaka family, who hadn't particularly done anything bad to you, took their money, shortened Daikichi's life, and furthermore, caused the innocent Yoneda to be killed as a result! On top of that, no matter how much you sympathize with Yoneda's mother or donate to the underprivileged, what kind of meaning is there! It's nothing but the height of hypocrisy!"
By the time he said that much, Yoshimura's face was already crumpled with tears, strongly "protesting" against the Boss's "betrayal."
The Boss, who was facing him, also seemed to have deeply recognized the sinfulness of his actions, sobbing with his head bowed low. Nishida, unable to find words to say to the two, let the time pass, which felt much longer than usual.
However, in the midst of that, Yoshimura began to speak as if to deal a finishing blow.
"And that's not all, Boss... What you did didn't just cause trouble for others! It turned out badly for you yourself too... After Shinoda murdered Yoneda, Sada's body... it had already turned into bleached bones, but because of the commotion about Sada being alive, Shinoda thought there might be someone who had caught on to Sada's murder, so he tried to hide it in a safer place. And as for that place, he thought the place where the remains of the Tako-beya laborers were interred would be hard to discover, and he tried to mix the remains there—Sada's remains, that is. However, your father was also interred there as an unidentified body, in the same place as the victims, but properly separated from them."
Yoshimura said that much and searched for the Boss's level of understanding with his eyes, but he seemed to judge it was no problem and continued further.
"As for how that happened... It's a story from Showa 52 (1977), but it started when the bodies of three people—Senzaki, who was mentioned in the letters from your father and Sada's older brother, and Takamura, who was retaliated against by Isaka and the others after killing your father—were accidentally discovered near the Jomon Tunnel during the collection of remains of Tako-beya laborers by JNR employees at the time. The temple that had taken them in as neglected souls also held memorial services for the victims of the Tako-beya, so they were placed together for convenience."
When he said this, Yoshimura checked the Boss's understanding again, but he seemed to judge it was fine and continued.
"Moreover, Shinoda was among the group that discovered them. Then, because Shinoda mixed Sada's remains and the remains of the Tako-beya laborers originally placed there, including the remains of the three people placed separately, what could have been identified as your father's remains can no longer be distinguished at all... What I want to say is that your misdeeds have come back to haunt you perfectly!"
At Yoshimura's revelation, Nishida, beside him, grimaced despite knowing it would come to this, thinking, "You didn't have to say that much right here."
As for the Boss, he was already so dejected he seemed about to fade away, so Nishida couldn't clearly judge if this "finishing blow" from Yoshimura had a major impact, but there was no doubt the shock was great. Normally, it would be fine to ask Nishida for confirmation if that story was true, but there wasn't even that.
Nishida, for the time being, tried to calm the two down.
"Yoshimura is a bit upset and saying these things, but it's precisely because he knows you're a good person at heart that he's being so harsh. Even though various misunderstandings and misfortunes were involved, Yoshimura just wants you to admit the fact that a small lapse in judgment led to an unexpectedly large tragedy. ...I know it's hard for you too. But I think the one who's suffering the most is undoubtedly Yoneda's mother. To be honest, it's hard for us too, as we never expected such an outcome. Anyway, I can only say that I want you to repent deeply, for now."
He conveyed it quite softly.
Even after those words were spoken, the Boss remained deeply hunched over, repeatedly sniffing as tears ran down his nose.
※※※※※※※ Postscript on Foreshadowing
Revised Version: Light and Shadow 27 (From the Yusen visit near the middle)
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5921df/48/
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