Chapter 28 - Light and Shadow 7 (41–44: Visiting the Bereaved Family of Sada Minoru)
Both Nishida and Yoshimura spent their free Saturday meaningfully. Nishida devoted his entirely to family service. On the other hand, from what he heard later, Yoshimura seemed to have been meeting friends from high school. It didn't seem like they were in the middle of a murder investigation, but since the special circumstances and conditions had allowed for it, it couldn't be helped.
Before noon on Sunday, September 10th, Yoshimura came to the apartment to pick up Nishida in a car borrowed from the Hokkaido Police Headquarters. When Nishida stepped out of the entrance, mackerel clouds were faintly scattered in the sky. The temperature was still high, but Nishida reaffirmed that the season had certainly entered autumn.
"The appointment was for 1:00 PM, right? We'll make it in plenty of time."
As soon as he got into the passenger seat, Nishida checked his wristwatch.
"It's right off the Sapporo Shindo in Fushiko, so there's no problem. We'll take the route that merges onto the Shindo from Ishikari Road."
Shifting into gear, the car carrying the two of them headed out to South 9th Street, passed through Nakajima Park—a place of relaxation in central Sapporo comparable to Odori Park—and turned left to enter Ishikari Road. From there, they reached the intersection with the Sapporo Shindo in no time, hardly stopping for any lights, and after turning right, they arrived at the Sada residence in the Fushiko district in about thirty-five minutes.
After killing some time in the car for adjustment until the appointed hour, they pressed the intercom at exactly 1:00 PM and were shown inside. Seated on the sofa in the living room across the table from Nishida and Yoshimura were Sada's widow, Akiko, Sada's son, Kakeru, and his daughter, Miyu.
"Thank you for finding my husband (hito) this time."
Being thanked with the same polite gratitude as when he first spoke with Akiko over the phone, Nishida felt an indescribable emotion. To be honest, for this face-to-face meeting, he had been prepared to be told off with a certain amount of sarcasm. Even if there were reasons, from a layman's perspective, the investigation at the time could not be said to have been a full-hearted effort.
"No, the same to you. It took us eight years to find your husband. I have also brought a message from the person in charge at the time, asking me to give you his regards. We are truly sorry for the trouble we've caused. We haven't been able to return the body yet, as I think it will take a little longer to investigate the details, so please bear with us for a bit more."
Nishida offered his words of apology frankly. Of course, they were not social niceties, but from the heart.
"I had prepared myself by the time six months had passed, but now that he's actually been found, it's an indescribable feeling that he really is dead..."
The son, Kakeru, spoke dispassionately, but the weight of his words was fully conveyed to both Nishida and Yoshimura.
"But, why is it that something that wasn't understood eight years ago has come to light this year..."
"It was triggered by the discovery of a certain murder case and the accompanying investigation; one thing led to another."
Yoshimura answered Miyu's question.
"Does that mean that case and my father's case were related?"
"To put it simply, you may think of it that way."
"Then, that means there's a possibility the culprit who killed my father will be caught?"
"Regarding that..."
Faced with the string of questions from Miyu, Nishida hesitated for a moment and cut the conversation short, but he decided to take the plunge and tell a certain amount of the truth.
"I will tell you the situation as it is. The individuals thought to be directly involved in the case are already either deceased or in a situation where they cannot be prosecuted, so it may be quite difficult."
He intentionally withheld the names of Isaka and Shinoda, who were already dead, and did not mention Kitagawa's current state. He wavered over Isaka, whom the bereaved family likely suspected to some extent, but since prosecution was impossible due to his death, he stopped just short of saying it. That said, they probably sensed it even without him saying so, so whether he mentioned it or not wouldn't have changed the situation much. All three wore expressions of disappointment, but it would only be cruel to give them false hope now.
"However, even so, as a family, you must want to know what happened and why Minoru-san met such a fate, so it remains unchanged that we intend to do our utmost to clarify the truth."
Yoshimura nodded at Nishida's words.
"I see... We have no choice but to leave it to you. We're counting on you."
Kakeru tried to remain calm. Nishida took a sip of the coffee that had been served, but he wasn't in the mood to savor it leisurely.
"Team Leader, perhaps it's time to ask everyone about the case..."
As if he had been watching Nishida's state, Yoshimura spoke up.
"Right. Well then, let's get started. I may ask some things that might seem rude, but please cooperate for the sake of the investigation."
"Yes, we understand."
Akiko nodded.
"First, regarding the time before Minoru-san went to Kitami to meet Isaka Daikichi, it seems the performance of the food wholesale business he managed was not favorable (kanbashikunai)."
"Yes... To be precise, the condition of the main business itself wasn't bad, but to my shame, we ran into a dead end with cash flow... At the time, partly because it was the beginning of the bubble, he was greatly deceived by an investment story... So things became difficult, and eventually, my father was scrambling for funds from around the early summer of 1987. At that time, he suddenly started saying, 'I might be able to receive financial support from an acquaintance.'"
"About that, it seems the family had also mentioned that it didn't seem like there was a relationship between the Isaka Group and Minoru-san before that?"
When Yoshimura continued the questioning to Kakeru—
"It's exactly as you say. I told the police that back then too. He never clearly explained who he was receiving the financial support from, but looking back now, I should have asked properly."
He answered regretfully.
"The late Isaka Daikichi, the president of the Isaka Group at the time, testified that 'I had an association with Minoru-san from before,' but is it correct that the family definitely didn't know about it?"
Nishida confirmed again while reading the documents, but the answer was naturally the same.
"So, from Minoru-san, who went to Kitami to meet President Isaka, there seems to have been a contact on the night before he went missing saying that he could receive financial support. Can you tell, even though it was over the phone, what Minoru-san's state was like then?"
"Nishida-san, yes. He was very happy. I took that at face value too..."
Akiko wore a painful expression, but he couldn't hesitate to take the statement because of that.
"At that time, Minoru-san himself didn't recognize that there was any problem, then. By the way, since Minoru-san was the manager of a company of a certain scale, I imagine he had associations with influential people, but was there anything like associations with politicians or that sort of area?"
"What do you mean by that?"
From Kakeru's attitude toward Nishida's question, he became certain that the police had not given the family any "hints" that a Member of Parliament or a Prefectural Assembly member was involved in the termination of the case investigation. If they had explained it in detail, the bereaved family would have insisted that such a story existed on the suspect's side, not Minoru's. He was glad he had thrown a "jab" from the opposite direction of the victim's perspective just in case. It was a question that wasn't necessary at all for the current investigation, but it was a question by Nishida solely to know how the investigation was conducted at the time. Based on this result, Nishida thought it would be better not to mention Oshima's intervention to the bereaved family for now.
"No, I'd heard that if you have connections with people in those circles, banks and such might take action."
Nishida glossed it over for the time being.
"If we had such connections, we wouldn't have gone bankrupt. Our company was one my father built in a single generation, and while my uncle was quite wealthy, I don't think he was the type to have many connections."
Whether it touched a nerve or not, it was plain to see that Kakeru was inwardly indignant, though he was suppressing it considerably.
"I apologize for that."
"Ah, no... That was immature of me. Well, fortunately, by letting go of the company building, warehouse, and land, we finished the bank repayments, so the house remained, and we were able to give the employees some amount of severance pay, and a little was left for us too. The company is gone, though... The silver lining was that because it was right in the middle of the bubble, real estate values had risen. It would have definitely been tough now."
It might have been a kind of bravado, but it was a fact that the disposal price was higher than it would have been before the bubble burst.
"After he went missing, was there anything like suspicious phone calls? They weren't listed in the investigation records."
Yoshimura asked, perhaps trying to change the atmosphere.
"No, there were no ransom demands, no silent calls, nothing like that. The police asked us back then too. So, at least we didn't think it was a kidnapping or anything like that."
Miyu said clearly.
"The police cut off the search, or rather the investigation, relatively early. Did the family make any kind of protest at the time?"
"No. It's true there was a phone call saying he had a prospect for the funds, but we don't know if that was actually the case, and it was a situation where it wouldn't have been strange for him to disappear... We couldn't accept it, but we didn't have enough conviction to ask the police to continue any further than that."
When Nishida asked, Akiko spoke weakly, but as someone who knew the truth behind the termination of the investigation, it was heartbreaking to listen to.
"However, a few years later, something a bit concerning turned up, and I asked the police once to 'please look into it.'"
With Kakeru's supplement, Nishida instinctively felt it was the story from four years ago that he had heard from Nagumo at Headquarters. He had almost forgotten to ask.
"Are you talking about the story you told Nagumo-san?"
"Nishida-san, yes. Did you hear from Nagumo-san? Since it was a story where a person with the same surname, Isaka, whom we'd heard about from the police, appeared, and since it had only been a few months from when my father first saw the letter until he went missing, well, I thought there might be some connection... The police said they didn't really understand it either..."
"Was it a letter?"
Yoshimura asked.
"Yes. A letter and one other thing, a contract document? Something like that turned up... It's quite old, and considering the historical background and the content of the letter, it's definitely from before the war. It's something left behind by my father's second older brother, my second uncle, 'Toru.' That man died in the war at a young age, so of course I've never met him... Well, you probably won't understand just by me saying it, so it might be better to see the actual thing... Mother, where was that?"
When Kakeru asked Akiko, she stood up and seemingly went to another room to retrieve them.
"Even so, you're saying it turned up quite a long time after the disappearance?"
Yoshimura continued the conversation to fill the gap.
"That's right. After my father went missing, we were looking for various things that might be a hint for the search, but this time, the items originally came out of a safe used at the company. After the bankruptcy, we'd tucked the safe away in the house's storage shed, so we didn't notice for a while. Regarding this, my paternal grandmother—my father's mother—passed away around May 1987, the year my father went missing. At the time of the distribution of mementos, my father's eldest brother, 'Yuzuru,' who is my uncle, showed it to my father, and it seems my father kept it after that. I heard about that from Uncle Yuzuru himself after the letter turned up. If you read the contents of the letter, you'll understand, but it seems Toru wrote it to his parents just before he was called up for service and sent to the front."
Just as Kakeru finished speaking, Akiko returned to the room with an envelope in her hand. Akiko handed the envelope directly to Nishida. Nishida received it and took out the contents; several sheets of letter paper were folded, and separately, a single sheet of what appeared to be Japanese paper (washi) was folded and included.
"Please, read it. Both have the name 'Isaka' written on them as I said before, and I thought this might be related to that Isaka Group president, Isaka Daikichi, so I consulted the police..."
As Kakeru encouraged him, Nishida first took the single sheet of washi and opened it.
It was written in ink. In vertical script. From the right, there was the date July 5, Showa 16 (1941), and large characters were written in order: "Isaka Tasuke," "Hojo Masato," "Kuwano Kinya," "Mende Shigeyoshi, name unknown/biological child." Also, below each was written "Placer Gold 100 Monme Allocation." Furthermore, at a position slightly separated to the right of that, it said Witness "Sada Toru." This must be Kakeru's deceased uncle.
Furthermore, at the very bottom of each column except for Mende's, there was a seal that appeared to be a thumbprint. However, it was not the color of vermilion ink, but a reddish-brown color. Nishida instantly judged it to be oxidized blood. He recognized it as a so-called "blood seal" (keppan). Yoshimura, who was peeking in, asked in a low voice:
"These thumbprints are pressed in blood, aren't they? Also, setting aside the 'Mende' part where it's not pressed, the parts other than Kuwano's thumbprint are pressed with the thumb, right?"
In response—
"This feel is definitely a blood seal. And, you're probably confused because we use the method of having people press the entire pad of their left index finger when we have them sign a deposition, but the character for 'bo' in 'boin' (thumbprint) originally means the thumb, you know? So generally, a thumbprint is pressed with the thumb, so the other thumbprints are just using the thumb as is. The reason Mende hasn't pressed one is, looking at the text, the one being given a share is the unnamed orphan of this Mende fellow, so it's not strange even if it's not pressed. Even so, Mende is a rare surname. I've never heard it before."
Nishida explained, even mentioning unnecessary things. Then Kakeru, who had been listening to the conversation in silence—
"I was a bit curious and looked it up; the surname Mende seems to be common in Hiroshima Prefecture. Even though I say common, it seems to be at the level of a few hundred people."
He added a piece of information that could be called a bit of trivia.
Indeed, since the thumbprint the police have suspects press on depositions is usually the left index finger, it wasn't strange that Yoshimura thought it was odd. However, the reason the police practically designate the index finger for the thumbprint (in this case, it might be more appropriate to call it a finger-print) is simply because it's "easier to see the fingerprint" in the way the police intend. The police take the fingerprint by rolling the entire pad of the finger so that it's easy to distinguish. The general way of stamping, which is "pressing down," makes identification difficult because of smudging during fingerprint comparison, and the purpose is to avoid that.
And the index finger is the most suitable for that way of taking fingerprints. Note that generally, many prefectural police departments designate the left index finger in their internal regulations, but some prefectural police designate the right index finger (Author's Note: Since I do not know what the regulations are for the Hokkaido Police, I will write on the assumption of the general left index finger in this novel).
"Ah, is that so... I never knew the 'bo' in thumbprint meant the thumb."
Normally, he would have made another retort here, but as expected, this was not the place to be fooling around in front of the bereaved family. Nishida restrained himself.
"Ah, while we're at it, one more thing, I can't read this character..."
"Yoshimura, that's read as 'monme.'"
"Ah, I've heard that before. Is it an old unit?"
"Yes. A unit of weight."
"Then how much is it in today's units?"
Nishida thought he'd been had. He had been mocking Yoshimura's ignorance, but he himself had absolutely no knowledge of how much weight a monme represented. Thinking this would affect his dignity as a superior, he was about to break into a cold sweat in silence when Kakeru, who was watching their conversation, threw him a lifeline.
"I was curious when I first saw this too and looked it up; 1 monme is said to be about 3.75g. And the price of gold at the time was roughly 4 yen per gram, and 1 yen back then is said to be about 2,500 yen today (Author's Note: This is a rather high conversion; it might be more reasonable to see it as roughly 1,000 yen). There are discrepancies when comparing with various commodity prices, so it's only an approximation."
He was quite relieved inwardly, but Nishida acted as if he'd known all along.
"So that's how it is; 100 monme of gold would be almost 375g, and if you convert the amount if sold back then to today's value, you multiply 4 yen by 375g by 2,500 yen..."
He chanted. But from the side, as he tried to concentrate on mental arithmetic—
"No, it's easier to multiply 4 by 2,500 and then by 375. That's 3.75 million. So for four people back then, it's 15 million in today's value? That's quite a value in money..."
Yoshimura answered easily. In the end, Nishida's pride as a superior was torn to shreds by Yoshimura.
"I suppose it would be something like that..."
Nishida confirmed Yoshimura's answer as a desperate measure.
"Well, I think it would be roughly like that too. The value of gold has dropped considerably now compared to back then."
Kakeru also felt to Nishida as if he were chuckling inwardly this time, having heard their conversation until then. No, it might have just been "persecutory delusion."
"Even so, what does this mean? It looks like a contract stating the shares of gold?"
Nishida tried to change the subject, partly to hide his embarrassment.
"I think it's better if you look at the contents of that letter paper. Somehow, you should be able to understand the meaning from that."
Kakeru told Nishida with a serious face. Following the advice, Nishida opened the letter paper and began to read it so that Yoshimura could see it too. The letter paper was slightly oxidized and yellowed, but not to the point of being tattered, and the characters were written in blue ink with what appeared to be a pen.
This letter is to record the circumstances and explanation of the enclosed deed, which records the distribution of the legacy of hidden placer gold that a person named Senzaki Daishiro continued to save during his lifetime. I have been called up to the front, and I do not know if I will return alive. In the event of my death, there will be no one left who can prove the circumstances of the deed as a third party, so I have decided to leave this record here. I leave word for my father and mother to read this in the event of my death, but I do not want you to be surprised by the contents. Naturally, I pray for my own sake that the opportunity for you two to read this never comes, but as I repeat, just in case, I record the following.
I, Sada Toru, based on the wishes of the late Mr. Senzaki Daishiro (hereafter Senzaki) during his lifetime, shall bear the obligation to distribute Senzaki's legacy of placer gold equally among the four persons in the deed, and shall finalize those rights in the deed.
My relationship with Senzaki dates back to the time of the Takinoue Mine where I worked from Showa 12 (1937). It began when Senzaki, who had entered the river in Takinoue Village (Author's Note: Currently Takinoue Town in the Okhotsk General Subprefectural Bureau, Hokkaido, located northwest of Engaru) as a gold panner, and I, who often went into the mountain streams for fishing, happened to become close. Senzaki left Takinoue earlier than I did, but when I later began working at the Kitano-o Mine, I accidentally reunited with Mr. Senzaki, who was panning for gold in Ikutahara Village. We deepened our exchange and I came to be trusted, such as by frequently visiting Senzaki's temporary shack in the mountains, leading to me bearing this responsibility.
Senzaki had no blood relatives to leave a legacy to, and he always told me that in the event of his death, I should distribute 400 monme of hidden placer gold owned by Senzaki himself to the servants of his own gold panning business. Therefore, I decided to distribute this to the three servants listed in the deed and the orphan of the deceased Mende (because the three testified that Mende always said he had a child he had never met directly). Note that at the point I received this request, I had already received 50 monme of gold from Mr. Senzaki as a fee.
Senzaki is thought to have died of illness between the middle of the night and early morning of June 18, Showa 16 (1941). Having received word of something unusual early that morning, I was contacted by Kuwano Kinya, who had come down from the mountain to the Kitano-o Mine office, and I rushed to Senzaki's mountain shack, but as Kuwano said, he was already dead. Following the words he had said beforehand, "If anything happens to me, divide it equally among the servants," I thought it was necessary to distribute the gold (at this point, I had not revealed this to the servants). Since I am not a doctor, I cannot say for certain, but since no suspicious points were found on the body, and from the explanation and expression of Kuwano, whom Senzaki trusted greatly, I came to the conviction that it was a death from illness. Seeing as he was suddenly snoring loudly in the middle of the night just before he died, I thought at the time that something related to the brain was the cause of death. Ultimately, I thought a doctor's judgment was necessary, but because there were those among the servants who did not look favorably on making it public, saying "there is a possibility we will be suspected," he ended up being buried as he was. There were those with the status of drifters, and I could understand that such feelings existed.
Note that at the time Senzaki died, there were five servants. I intended to return to work once and explain the will after work that same day. However, past noon on the 18th, one of them, Mende Shigeyoshi, was murdered by Takamura Tetsuo, who was also employed there. It appeared he was murdered while the remaining three, who ultimately received the legacy, went to the center of Ikutahara for shopping after Senzaki's burial, leaving the aforementioned two behind to watch the place. From the situation, it is seen that Takamura tried to steal Senzaki's or the servants' money and valuables (the legacy was safe as Senzaki had originally hidden it) that were in the shack and flee, and when Mende stopped him, he was killed. Regarding this, it is what I heard from Kuwano, but from Kuwano's story, it is highly likely to be the truth. Naturally, Takamura was included among those who did not "look favorably" on the aforementioned matter.
Takamura, who was discovered by the pursuit of the three who returned later and noticed the situation, was beaten and killed by the two excluding Kuwano, who were enraged (this is only hearsay from the three, but from my perspective as well as Senzaki's, and even by the standards of an ordinary person, there is no lie in the words of the educated and honest Kuwano, who should be trusted. The other two also testified that Kuwano did not participate. Also, as for the act of killing, Isaka mainly struck him with a wooden sword in a fit of rage, and Hojo followed suit. Kuwano later tried to stop them but didn't make it in time, as each of the three testified consistently). Due to this, it was decided to also distribute to Mende's orphan (according to the talk of the man himself that Kuwano and the others had heard, it seems he had not gone through marriage and it was in the form of an illegitimate child, and Mende apparently had not told the details, so even the name is unknown), and there would be no distribution at all to those related to Takamura, who killed Mende. Mende was buried next to Senzaki. Initially, there was a proposal to just leave Takamura and let the bears eat him, but due to the opposition of myself and Kuwano, not only for ethical reasons but also because of the high possibility that the incident would be discovered, he was buried in a place slightly away from the two.
Since Senzaki likely died of illness, there is no moral necessity to report to the police, and while the matter of Mende and Takamura is clearly murder, since it was Takamura who killed Mende, and Takamura also bears the responsibility deserving of being killed, I consequently remained silent on this matter and avoided it becoming a police matter. I would appreciate it if you could understand that there were also reasons similar to not reporting to a doctor at the time of Senzaki's death.
After explaining Senzaki's wishes during his lifetime to the final three remaining, I finalized the distribution of the gold and created and handed over the same deed to each. However, I only heard from Senzaki the location where the gold was buried, and determining the exact spot and digging it out would take time. Simultaneously, with the occurrence of the incident, there was a need for the three to leave the settlement quickly. Due to the three points of the name and location of Mende's orphan, who should be an illegitimate child, not being known, I did not do the distribution itself at that point.
Even at the point of writing this on February 20, Showa 19 (1944), naturally the distribution has not yet been done. I told the three to contact me respectively once they had settled down. I also told them that the distribution would be done sequentially at an appropriate time when it could be surely distributed to the three and Mende's orphan. However, while it was decided that the appropriate time should be judged by our side, the three never appeared before me in Ikutahara after that, and because the Kitano-o Mine was suspended, I moved to Sapporo. Finally, upon being called up, I am thinking that I have no choice but to permit the distribution by the remaining three after leaving Mende's orphan's share, depending on the situation. The location where it is buried, explained below, is in a state where only our side knows it yet.
The place Senzaki told me during his lifetime that he buried his money is about 350 meters (100 shaku) toward Ikutahara from the Ikutahara exit of the JNR Sekihoku Main Line Jomon Tunnel (Author's Note: Tunnel), and from there, it is heard to be 3 meters (about 1 shaku) directly under a giant rock located a little over 30 meters (10 shaku) up the slope to the east from Mr. Senzaki's shack, which can be seen on the right facing Ikutahara. However, I have not yet confirmed the existence myself. However, considering Senzaki's personality, I have conviction that it actually exists.
The above is the entirety of the circumstances of how this deed came to be. Due to the Gold Mine Abolition Order of Showa 18 (Author's Note: To be precise, the Gold Mine Consolidation Order), the Kitano-o Mine was also abandoned, so as I have already written, as Father and Mother know, I ended up working in Sapporo. And the three remain without knowing about that.
Just in case, I told them the address of the family home in Otaru before the three left Ikutahara, and I think that if contact remains unestablished, the three are highly likely to visit the house in Otaru in the end. In the event that something happens to me, if there is anyone among the rights-holders who visits with a deed in the same format as the enclosed one, I hope that Father and Mother, even before the orphan of Sumida is identified, will permit the excavation by communicating the place where it is said to be buried, on the condition that they distribute and jointly manage it after leaving the share of Mende's orphan's rights. Note that as for Isaka, since he was leadingly involved in the murder of Takamura and is short-tempered and passionate, and from my perspective has aspects that are somewhat untrustworthy as a human being, I hope that in the event Isaka visits alone, the whereabouts of the gold will not be communicated to him.
I will write down the appearances of the three just in case. Isaka Tasuke has a round face, large eyes, and a large mole near his left elbow. Hojo Masato has an oval (urazane) face, narrow eyes, and two front teeth were missing (more might have fallen out after that). Kuwano Kinya had a face without many characteristics, but he seems to have grown up in a wealthy home and attended an old-system middle school in Iwate, and as a person engaged in the laborer business where there are many rough men, I think he is educated. I think his height was surprisingly tall. I think he was nearly six shaku (Author's Note: roughly a bit over 180cm). A characteristic is also that he has a strong Tohoku/Iwate accent when he speaks. Naturally, the most important thing is that they bring the deed, so please strictly observe that point. If possible, I would appreciate it if you could also compare it with the thumbprint on the deed, but you do not have to do that. Since everyone except Kuwano has pressed with their right thumb, and Kuwano with his right index finger, I think a more accurate judgment of the owner can be made if you have them press it in front of you and compare.
February 20, Showa 19
Toru
*
From the beginning, the two were surprised and looked at each other at the appearance of the name Senzaki, who was likely the unidentified body "A" that appeared in Professor Emeritus Terakawa's testimony, but as they read further, they were simply stunned by the list of facts that appeared. Regarding the "giant rock" written as the landmark for the hidden location of the gold, the two also had conviction that it must be "that thing" they had seen several times during the investigation around the Ikutahara site.
If the contents of this letter were true, then "B," who was buried carefully and had traces of being beaten, would be Mende, and "C," who was buried as if discarded after being beaten, would be Takamura. No, considering how perfectly the situation matched the recovery of the three unidentified bodies in Showa 52, they couldn't possibly think this was a made-up story. Even looking at the timeline, it was impossible to create a story to match after the fact. To put it the other way around, if they hadn't known about that case, they might have thought it was just a fabrication. It was also understandable why the person in charge at the Kitami District Headquarters four years ago, who received the inquiry from Nagumo, didn't take the letter or the deed seriously.
"This content serves as an explanation of the circumstances for that statute-barred case of the discovery of the three bodies, doesn't it?"
Yoshimura was unable to suppress his excitement even in front of the bereaved family, but the same was true for Nishida.
"There's no other way to put it, is there? The only problem is what specific relationship this man Isaka Tasuke had with the former President Isaka. If a 'connection' actually exists there, it becomes a sufficient basis for Isaka's involvement in Sada-san's murder. Since the surname is the same, the possibility of them being relatives is high, but..."
"But Team Leader, there's one problem. We can harbor the suspicion that there was a relationship between Isaka Tasuke and Isaka Daikichi because we know Sada Minoru-san was meeting with Isaka, but I don't think the Sada-san of that time would have immediately suspected a relationship with 'Isaka Daikichi' just by seeing the name 'Isaka Tasuke'?"
Yoshimura's point was exactly right. Whether it was Sada's bereaved family or himself and Yoshimura, they could suspect the relationship between Isaka Tasuke and Daikichi at the point they read this letter because they knew the possibility was high that Isaka Daikichi was involved in Sada's disappearance, but it was doubtful whether Sada could have linked the relationship between Tasuke and Daikichi with only the keyword "Isaka" at the stage he first read this. The surname Isaka itself is not that common, but it's unlikely that Sada Minoru would have suddenly had such an idea at the stage he first read the letter.
"What Yoshimura says is right. However, considering the content of the phone call from Isaka that became the trigger for Shinoda to go to the site in Ikutahara and kill Yoneda, and this, if we obsess too much over grasping things too accurately, it will conversely make it impossible to move forward, so we have no choice but to investigate while glossing over that part well, right?"
Nishida limited himself to that answer.
"Understood. We'll leave that as pending. So, to continue the story, if the hidden placer gold remained, it would have been some help for the cash flow, wouldn't it?"
At Yoshimura's comment, Nishida thought he had to ask something important.
"Excuse me, I'm going to ask something very rude, but do you know roughly how much the necessary amount of funds, or the borrowings, were at the time Minoru-san disappeared?"
He didn't hesitate to ask a direct question that was hard to ask. He thought it was important to investigate this matter properly. Even so, although they felt that the deed they had handed over might be related to their father's case, the three bereaved family members naturally couldn't follow the conversation of the two detectives in front of them, but in response to Nishida's question, Sada's wife, Akiko—
"At the time, the necessary amount for repayment at the end of the year was about 200 million..."
She said softly.
"200 million... I see," Nishida said, then—
"I think Sada-san's aim wasn't the gold of Senzaki that was said to be left behind, but Isaka..."
He hesitated to say that much to Yoshimura, but—
"I think it was to have Isaka directly provide the funds," he expressed it somewhat vaguely. Yoshimura also seemed to sense Nishida's intention—
"I see. Even if it's statute-barred since it was before the war, it's certainly something he wouldn't want known," he nodded.
Nishida thought that perhaps he had tried to draw out money by threatening Isaka, using the fact that a person with the same surname as Isaka Daikichi—Isaka Tasuke, or rather likely a relative or other associate—was involved in the murder of Takamura, which was written in the letter left by Sada Toru, even if there was a somewhat legitimate reason. In fact, even if he had obtained all the left-behind gold, selling it now would only amount to about 3 million, multiplying the 1,500g (the share of four people of 375g) by the unit price of gold in 1987 of 2,000 yen (Author's Note: the unit price is about 4,500 yen as of 2016), which was nowhere near enough. Whether he was looking for the gold is not certain, but the fact that he actually went to meet Isaka also supported that.
On the other hand, for Isaka, he would have to avoid a situation where he had to accept Sada's "demands" indefinitely. If that were the case, "eliminating" Sada would be one of the options. If so, then if the relationship between Isaka Taikichi and Isaka Daikichi could be proven, the investigation would move forward considerably.
As for other problems, it was whether the "curtness" of the police—specifically the Kitami District Headquarters—who received this letter from Nagumo was intended as a deliberate cover-up, but Nishida didn't think so. The discovery of the three bodies in Showa 52 was investigated by the Engaru Station alone, and as a result, the case could not be prosecuted. It was quite doubtful whether the Kitami District Headquarters had grasped that. Whether they knew it or not would have influenced the credibility of this letter.
Also, regarding the existence of Senzaki, even the investigators in Engaru who handled the case in Showa 52 had not grasped it, so it was certain that it was impossible to believe the contents upon reading this letter from Sada Toru. The letter and the deed would have been treated as, so to speak, a fictional treasure island map and its explanation that appear in children's play. It wasn't hard to imagine. However, for the detectives of the Engaru Station, including Nishida and Yoshimura, who knew all the circumstances, this letter not only helped clarify the full background of how the three unidentified persons came to be, but even had the possibility of becoming a signpost leading to the clarification of Sada's murder case.
"Excuse me. I'm going to make a quick phone call."
Nishida took out his mobile and contacted the Engaru Station. He asked Oba, who answered, to put the Section Chief on, and after giving a rough explanation, Section Chief Sawai instructed him to send the documents quickly by fax.
"Do you have a fax?"
After obtaining permission to use the fax from Kakeru with an immediate answer, he sent everything to the Engaru Station. Then he handed a 500-yen coin to Kakeru. To Kakeru, who politely declined—
"Since I used a private citizen's fax, it would actually be a violation of regulations and troublesome if you didn't take it," Nishida said, half-forcing it on him. Then—
"I'm terribly sorry to ask again and again, but may we borrow this letter and deed for a while—though 'a while' might be a long period? I can't go so far as to make a promise, but the investigation might progress."
He made the offer.
"Is that true? If it's useful, of course you may use it freely. Even so, the police didn't take it seriously four years ago; will it be useful?"
In front of Akiko, who was wondering—
"It means the situation this letter is placed in is completely different from back then," Yoshimura said in Nishida's stead.
"Is that so? Four years ago, although I found this letter, the police didn't take it seriously, so I thought my husband might have gone to Ikutahara, which appears in this letter, and with a feeling of clutching at straws, I had flyers and posters with my husband's photo placed at the nearby Engaru Station and Ikutahara Station to see if anyone had any idea. As a result, it was found that he had stayed at an inn in Engaru for about two nights about a month before he went missing. Actually, about a month before he went missing, my husband had been away from home for about three days on the pretext of a business trip. It matched in that point, but that was all that came out. Since these are the words of the detective who found my husband's body this time, it's very encouraging. Please, we're counting on you!"
Akiko grasped both Nishida's and Yoshimura's hands with both of hers. Both Nishida and Yoshimura grasped the lady's hand back with their free hands, and Nishida—
"Whatever the result, we will do our best," he said powerfully. And he continued—
"Normally, I should ask a bit more in detail about the matter of this letter, but since there's something I want to investigate urgently now, I might come to visit again. Please cooperate then too."
He told them. The three bereaved family members naturally promised full cooperation.