Chapter 32 - Light and Shadow 11 (65–72: Sada Minoru's Footsteps in Ikutahara in August and Finding Hojo Masaharu's Whereabouts)
On Tuesday, September 19th, before noon, Section 1 Head Kurano of the Kitami Regional Headquarters contacted the Engaru Station Detective Division. Regarding the serial female murder case Kurano was involved in, for which the culprit had not yet been caught, a stroke of good luck was that no new victims had appeared. If one had, it would have been a major problem, but the media criticism had settled down somewhat. In that sense, Kurano must have been in a state where he could catch his breath to some extent, but even so, he shouldn't have had time to look at other things. The fact that contact had come from such a Kurano, even if it had been a while, made it clear that it was a reasonably important matter. Sawai, who hurriedly took the call, began to speak with Kurano.
"Section Chief Sawai? It's been a while. I've heard various things about your hard work since then. I'm sorry I couldn't be of help, but it seems there's no problem at all even if I leave this matter to you."
Whether it was social courtesy or self-deprecation, Sawai said to Kurano's words, which were spoken with a weak laugh, "No, no, we still don't have enough people. We want to receive help from Kitami soon," humbling himself.
"Over here... we're in a state where we don't even have a lead. It's like being in a thick fog..." A sigh came out naturally, but he resumed the talk as if pulling himself together. "Oh, this is no time to be talking about this. I called about the Kitagawa matter."
"Kitagawa? Did something happen?"
"Yeah. It seems talk has finally come out among the family about turning off the life support. The Kitami Kyouritsu (Hospital) side also explained to the family that there's no prospect of recovery. It seems they're still in the middle of discussing it, but the situation isn't favorable. Since the doctor at Kyouritsu knows it's a police matter, he contacted us. Of course, it doesn't seem like the police's intention will be reflected, but how is it for Engaru?"
"I see... I was prepared for it to some extent, but it's the brain, after all. Even if he recovered, it would be difficult to get him to a level where we could interview him, so I think it can't be helped. Oh, wait a moment. I'll ask Nishida and Takeshita too." Sawai said that and beckoned Nishida and Takeshita to explain the situation. Both of them didn't seem surprised, perhaps because they had been prepared for it to some extent like Sawai. They thought there was no point in struggling now and the investigation was already at another stage.
"Section Chief Kurano. Both Nishida and Takeshita say we have no choice but to accept it. So, please tell the hospital side that."
"I see, understood... I'll tell them that. After that, just do your best as the Engaru Station alone for a while. I'll be cheering you on from the shadows. Well, I have various things to do here, so I'll leave it at that."
"Thank you. I hope for an early resolution on your end too."
"Yeah, later." When Sawai was about to put down the receiver after hearing that, he heard a voice that sounded like Kurano was shouting something from the receiver, so Sawai put it back to his ear again.
"Did you have something left to say?"
"Exactly. I almost forgot. It's about Matsushima Kotaro, the former Prefectural Assembly member who was present when Sada and Isaka had a meal at the Central Hotel."
"He was there. What about that Matsushima?"
"It seems Matsushima is also admitted to Kitami Kyouritsu. According to our information, it's terminal lung cancer. He doesn't have long."
"I see... Isaka Daikichi and Shinoda have died, and now Kitagawa and Matsushima; the people related to the case are leaving this world one after another, aren't they?"
"That's right. That's the weight of eight years of time. Director Toyama at the 'Headquarters' was also saying that when the relationship between Sada and Isaka became clear. And he also spoke nagged me about the negligent investigation from four years ago. Of course, he understood it wasn't the responsibility of the current Kitami Regional Headquarters." Kurano seemed to have been in a bad mood while saying that.
"I don't care about that anymore! So, you don't have anything you want to ask about Matsushima, right? If you do, there's no time, so keep that in mind."
"For me, I think Matsushima might have committed perjury, but I think that doesn't have much meaning for the investigation anymore..." Saying that, he confirmed with Nishida and Takeshita again. Both said things like "there's no particular problem," so he told him, "Like before, both say there's no need to ask. In the first place, if we were to interview Matsushima, wouldn't it be dangerous unless we've 'narrowed it down' considerably?"
"Dangerous? I see, the matter of the boss, Oshima Kaiji. The pressure on the Prefectural Police would be more relaxed than back then, but if we ask the immediate entourage, the information will go straight there, so I don't know if there will be an influence." Kurano also couldn't definitively say whether there was such a danger.
To Sawai, who finished the conversation with Kurano, Nishida spoke, "So it's one after another to the other world, huh."
"Yeah. Regarding the murder of Yoneda too, it's delicate whether we can officially determine Shinoda as the culprit, and time won't wait for us."
"The circumstantial evidence is gathered, but even if the result is a flow of sending the case to the prosecutor and the prosecutor not indicting, it's difficult since we can't prove it clearly. We know the murder weapon, but it's difficult to prove that Shinoda was at the scene when Yoneda was killed. We can prove that Sada was hidden in that 'grave marker' with the fingerprints of Shinoda on the urn, though. It's ironic that the Sada murder case is progressing more than expected compared to the Yoneda murder case we were investigating first. Your change in investigation policy back then definitely paid off, so that part was good."
"Well, well, thank you for the praise." Sawai joked, but while watching that and laughing, a mental leeway had come out, and at the same time, Nishida was starting to feel an inexplicable bad feeling in the corner of his mind.
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Although there had been remarkable progress in the Sada matter, as expected, the investigation didn't just keep going smoothly from there, and it was approaching the end of September. The non-existence of Kitagawa and Shinoda's alibi around Sada's disappearance was proven, but from there, how they were actually involved in Sada's disappearance was another matter, and Nishida and the others were racking their brains over how to handle that.
In the midst of that, Nishida suddenly remembered that he had been told by Chairman Matsushige of the "Jomon Tunnel Research Group" to "contact him when the remains collection investigation becomes possible," and he had left it for quite a long time. While knowing he would be complained to quite a bit, he contacted Matsushige, and Matsushige's attitude was unexpectedly calm.
"I've kept you waiting for a long time." To Nishida, who was bowing low, he gave an adult response, "No, no, it's unavoidable that the investigation takes priority."
"So when can we do it?"
"That's... actually, because the investigation has progressed, we've come to a situation where we don't want the scene to be messed with too much..."
"Eh...?" Matsushige was speechless for a while. It's true that with the discovery of Sada's remains from the scene, the end of the investigation at the scene was in sight, but it wasn't desirable for the investigators for a large-scale remains collection to be carried out as long as the case wasn't solved. However, since the details of the case had hardly been reported, it shouldn't have been conveyed to Matsushige how far the investigation had progressed. Nishida explained the situation as much as he could say, and considering the time when snow falls, he spoke frankly about how difficult it would be to do the remains collection investigation within this year. Matsushige might not have been fully satisfied, but he didn't voice a reluctant attitude and allowed it.
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Sunday, September 24th. Nishida, who was off duty, received a call at his home from Maruyama at the Ikutahara Police Box. He apparently heard the home phone number from Takeshita, who was at the station.
"Team Leader Nishida, sorry to keep you waiting. There was an old couple who said they made contact with Sada back then!"
"I've been waiting for that! So what's the story?"
"It seems the wife was with Sada Minoru on a local train from Engaru. Since he said he was going near the Jomon Tunnel, they got off together at Ankoku Station, and she asked her husband, who had come to pick her up, to take him from the station to the 'vacant lot where you can park' near that Jomon site. It seems he talked as if he'd tried to go to the site at Ikutahara Station the day before but failed. No witnesses have come out for the previous day's part at the moment."
"I'd like to hear the story from those people directly?"
"I thought you'd say that, so I've already made arrangements. They're a couple living on a pension, so they said anytime is fine. They're the Maeda couple. I'll give you the phone number, so discuss a convenient day between the two of you. Well then, excuse me." As expected of Maruyama, his preparations are good.
"I'd like to say even today, but I want to let Yoshimura rest properly. I'll push it to tomorrow..." Nishida said that and called the phone number he was given.
"I was introduced by Maruyama; I'm Nishida from the Engaru Station."
"Yes, yes, Detective? I've heard the story from Maru-chan." The one who answered the phone was the elderly wife. Maruyama must have built a close relationship with this couple, given they call him by the nickname Maru-chan. He's fulfilling his role as a resident officer closely tied to the local area. Nishida immediately made an appointment to hear the circumstances the next day, heard the house address, and hung up the phone.
"It's finally starting to move..." Nishida felt as if a ray of light had shone on the investigation, which had been stagnant for a while. Of course, in the murder investigation of Sada, it was a story of a part that wasn't the main part.
Immediately after, when he contacted Yoshimura by phone to tell him that the witness interview for the next day was decided, he was told in a throwaway line, "You didn't have to tell me that today. I'm just following you anyway..." When he heard the story in detail, it seemed it was after he'd had a phone argument with his long-distance girlfriend. At the point he realized that, Nishida quickly ended the conversation, thinking it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.
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On Monday, September 25th, after 2:00 PM, the interview began at the home of the Maeda couple in Ankoku, Ikutahara Town. Both were a gentle old couple over 70. The husband, Takaaki, had finished his life as a teacher as the principal of an elementary school in Ikutahara, and he and his wife, Sakiko, had apparently decided to live permanently in Ikutahara, which they had an attachment to.
"In what form did you converse on the train?" In a peaceful atmosphere, the interview began by Yoshimura.
"On a local train from Engaru, a man who seemed to be of the same age, Sada-san, was sitting right in front of me in the facing seats, and it started from small talk. We finished our introductions, and before long, he was saying things like, 'I want to go near the Jomon Tunnel, but yesterday I went to Ikutahara Station and couldn't catch a taxi, so I had no choice but to look at the map and try to walk there, and when I asked for directions on the way, I was advised to stop, so I went back to Ikutahara Station and just gave up.'" Sakiko answered the questions politely.
"The day before means it was August 15th, right?" Yoshimura's point was that the couple didn't have a clear memory, so Sakiko's reply was vague: "I don't know about that, but I think it was probably Obon." Since he thought it was unavoidable not to remember the date clearly and that the testimony of Shinoyama, the inn owner, was enough, Nishida gave an appropriate nod and asked Sakiko for the rest of the story.
"So I said, 'If that's the case, my husband will come to pick me up at Ankoku Station, so shall I ask my husband to take you near there by car?' and Sada-san was delighted. We explained the situation to my husband, who was waiting in front of the station, and we drove along the mountain road leading from Ankoku Station to near the Jomon Tunnel."
"I see. However, I think it's rare even for locals to go near the Jomon Tunnel; what did you two think about that?"
"Ah, that? It's true we also thought 'that's strange,' so we asked him in a roundabout way, but he was evasive, saying something like 'there's something I want to confirm.' We thought it wasn't right to pry further, so we didn't ask more than that. My husband is a man of few words, so he was just making eye signals from the driver's seat to me to 'ask, ask,' though..." Takaaki, the husband, made a face that said 'oh boy' at his wife's testimony. Nishida thought that the couple had naturally thought what he was thinking back then.
"What did Sada-san do after he was dropped off there? Of course you also gave him a ride back, right?" The right to question moved to Yoshimura.
"Of course. We couldn't leave him there. Bears also come out. Sada-san also asked us, 'I'm sorry, but please wait for about an hour.'"
"So you waited until Sada-san came back?"
"That's the thing. Right after Sada-san got out of the car, there was a thunderstorm..."
"A thunderstorm?"
"That's right. It was a thunderstorm. Well, I'd noticed very black clouds starting to hang over while I was driving on the way, but I didn't think it would become such a sudden thunderstorm. The weather forecast said it would be clear all day. Since it was summer and hot, cumulonimbus clouds must have formed. Takaaki, who had seemed to leave the explanation to Sakiko, finally opened his mouth and explained to Yoshimura. "That's certainly how it was. So Sada-san immediately came back to the car, and we were waiting for it to stop, but while that kind of sudden rain usually stops quickly, it didn't stop for about an hour. In such a situation, since it's a mountain road, the footing becomes bad. We told Sada-san to give up. Sada-san also had a look of regret, but it was clear that the heavy rain had been falling for an hour. He followed our advice and we went back. Since there was time until the local train back to Engaru, we had him over to our house for tea to kill time."
"Sada-san stopped by here?" Nishida asked again.
"That's right. We also had small talk here. When I asked, 'Is tomorrow no good?' he said something like he had to go back to Sapporo. He said something about a bank? Or something, and having a discussion with them. Again, we didn't pry further than that." Nishida understood that Sada needed to talk to the bank about repayment.
"Did Sada-san give up completely at that point?" Yoshimura asked.
"No, he didn't. He said he'd come again next time and asked us to guide him again, and he asked for our phone number. By the way, he tried to leave five thousand yen as transportation for that day, but we had him put it away, saying we'd just take the sentiment. Well, he was a dutiful person." Takaaki looked back on the situation back then.
"In that case, he came here again after that, didn't he?"
"No, Nishida-san. After that, there was no contact at all. We hadn't made a promise of when he would come, so we just let time flow. We never thought he'd gone missing and been killed. I don't have a memory of seeing it on the news either. Not until we heard from Maru-chan. They said they posted flyers and posters, but they weren't at Ankoku Station..." As Sakiko said, the fact that Sada's murder was discovered shouldn't have been handled grandly in newspapers, let alone TV news. There's the fact that it has no news value compared to the ongoing serial female murder, but it's because the police side—no, the Engaru Station—actually had the intention of not wanting it to be made into big news. It's not an undercover investigation, but keeping the investigation quiet until the truth is clear is the greatest defense to avoid all "interference." Even if they didn't "openly" request it of the media, it could be called an "instruction" through the unspoken understanding between the police and the media.
"I see... In the end, did Sada not go to that site until he met Isaka? Or did he go without going through the Maedas?" Yoshimura tilted his head.
"By the way, you said you had small talk in the car and at your house; did he say anything else that caught your attention?"
"Something that caught my attention... Oh, he was talking about whether there had been an incident like three bodies being discovered in Ikutahara a long time ago. When we told him we'd been in Ikutahara for about 15 years and hadn't heard of it, he seemed satisfied, saying, 'Then it can't be helped.'" Sakiko's statement was undoubtedly a confirmation of what was written in his brother Toru's letter. It's just that the person he happened to ask wasn't someone who had lived in the local area for a long time. Needless to say, the possibility that even a local person who had lived there for a long time would have known about it was likely extremely low...
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In the car back to the station after finishing the interview, Nishida and Yoshimura thought about the Maeda couple's story. At least it was determined that Sada was unable to go to the site in Ikutahara during his two-night, three-day stay at the "Shinoyama" inn. It wasn't clear if he had ever been to the site between when he met Isaka in Kitami and when he went missing, but the possibility that he went while ignoring the Maeda couple, who had promised to guide him, didn't seem that high to the two.
On the other hand, considering the information obtained from Shinoyama's testimony that "Sada might have returned to Sapporo with a certain amount of satisfaction," it wasn't clear whether that satisfaction was directed at having secured the cooperation of the Maeda couple, or if it was just a misunderstanding on Shinoyama's part, or if it was Sada's "social courtesy." What could be said for certain was that at that time, he hadn't been able to reach the "site where the gold dust was hidden" written in Sada Toru's letter, so it wasn't something he could be satisfied with.
"Team Leader, in the end, it's delicate whether Sada was able to go to the site before he was killed. I think it's more likely he couldn't go or didn't go, though."
"I think it's better not to have prejudice about that part. Let's have Maruyama continue to investigate. If Sada had come to Ikutahara after that, some story might come out." Nishida said that, but unfortunately, no additional information came out from Maruyama after that.
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On the evening of Tuesday, September 26th, the Violent Crimes Unit was reaching a turning point in the case. Contact came that Kitagawa's life support was finally being removed. It was the third person related to the case to enter the "demon register" (T/N: to die). Nishida was wondering in the corner of his mind how Kitagawa's father-in-law, Tanaka Kiyoshi, was taking this situation now. There was no doubt that there were parts of Kitagawa that he didn't like. However, the fact that the husband his beloved daughter loved had died—what kind of change did that bring to the spirit of Tanaka, who had exploded with anger at Nishida after seeing the article in the Doho, or did it not bring any... Although it was a relationship to the extent of being involved as part of the investigation, there was an emotion there that couldn't be ignored.
On the next day, Wednesday, September 27th, after noon, contact came from Forensics Senior Staff Shibata of the Kitami Regional Headquarters. It was determined from the DNA test that the remains found were indeed those of Sada Minoru himself, based on the results of a comparison with the DNA of his son, Kakeru. It's a result that's too late now, but for the SIL, it's important to "accumulate achievements," and the timing of the result's determination wasn't important. Shibata is in a position unrelated to the SIL, but he was shouting over the phone that DNA testing would become an epoch-making thing in future scientific investigations.
However, a few hours later in the evening, unexpected good news flew in. It was that the suspect in the serial female murder case, which the Kitami Regional Headquarters and the Kitami Station had been investigating with all their might, had been arrested in the act. The culprit was a 30-year-old male worker named Sogabe. It seemed he had come to a construction company in Bihoro after being imprisoned for a sex crime several years ago and finishing his term, drifting from Shikoku. It seemed the arrest was made just as the investigation headquarters, which had grasped this information a few days before the arrest, had begun to mark him. However, the arrest itself seemed to have been made in an unexpected situation.
A police officer on foot patrol in Kitami City, who was not directly involved in the murder investigation, discovered a high school girl who was about to be abducted into Sogabe's car on her way home, and fired at the tires of the car that was trying to escape. It seemed a stroke of good luck overlapped as it hit and caused a flat tire, leading to a crash into a utility pole. If it hadn't hit, it could have become a quite troublesome development. It seemed it was right after the investigators who were marking him had been shaken off. If one step had been wrong, it would have just become an investigation error, but as expected, it wasn't reported that far in the TV news.
"Now Kitami can finally be at ease." Sawai said deeply while staring at the night news.
"As a result of this, will the Kitami side cooperate with us?" Oba asked as he prepared to go home, so Nishida answered, "Well, there will be questioning from now on, so I don't think they'll participate here immediately." In fact, the indictment hadn't been finalized yet. From now on, even if the suspect admits it, back-up investigation and solidifying evidence are necessary, so it won't happen in a flash. The Kitami Regional Headquarters also cannot immediately stop its involvement since its position of command and supervision over the Kitami Station, the jurisdiction, is stronger than the name of cooperation.
While they were having such a conversation, a phone call suddenly came from Kurano. Kurano must be busy since he's taking the investigation command, but Sawai answered the call, which was on hold, with a puzzled expression, wondering what had happened. "Hello, this is Sawai speaking."
"Sorry to call when you're busy. You've probably been contacted and know from the reports, but we've finally been able to catch our breath over here. If you need them, I don't mind dispatching Kitamura and Mitsushima from tomorrow?" Kurano finished saying what he wanted to say all at once, without even giving Sawai a chance to offer congratulations. Sawai lost his timing because of that, but he prioritized social courtesy first, saying, "Ah, anyway, congratulations on securing the 'maru-hi' (T/N: suspect)."
"I don't care about that! It's thanks to the patrol officer from the Community Police Division, not us. We almost provided material for the media to hammer us again. Since the 'maru-hi' wasn't originally from here, the information was quite late in coming in. It's a form where the harm of the vertical division of information between prefectural police, which is common in wide-area cases, showed up clearly... Well, we'll be questioning him from now on, but the talk is to proceed mainly with the DNA from the semen that remains. It's the times..." Kurano spoke as if he had reached a state of enlightenment. He must have had a weight lifted off his shoulders, but he probably doesn't think at all that he fulfilled his responsibility as the investigation headquarters. However, as if reconsidering that this is no time to be saying such things, he asked again, "No, that's not it. Do you need the two?"
"We are continuing the investigation, but rather than a lack of personnel, it's more that the investigation itself feels like it's reaching a dead end again, so to be honest, it wouldn't help much just to have people."
"I see... Understood. However, either way, I'll dispatch the two within a week. Of course, if you need more, I'll do that. It's just a hindrance to have only numbers over here too. Ah, sorry. It seems I have to handle the media... Well, for now, that's how it is, later." Kurano hung up the phone abruptly. In the first place, he shouldn't have been involved in the Engaru matter, but he must have been concerned. Sawai also put down the receiver with a clatter and encouraged his subordinates, as if telling himself too, "Now, Kitami has solved the case. Now it's our turn!"
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The next morning, while watching the articles about the serial female murder dancing on the front page, Nishida was reading the morning paper on the sofa. The fact that the investigators had been shaken off wasn't in the Doho or the national papers. The police press club system seemed to have functioned in a bad sense for journalism and a good sense for the police. It's easier to work on the ground, but if you follow Takeshita's way of thinking, it would be the corruption of power.
Nishida isn't the type of person to take either side, but as a member of the organization, he was thinking vaguely that he would probably support the latter after all. He felt a strong sense of incongruity at the reports that were completely different from when he was criticized for Kitagawa's separate arrest and loss of consciousness, but at the same time, he felt he wasn't qualified to criticize that either.
"Team Leader, it seems that thing from the Noshiro Chamber of Commerce has arrived." A female staff member from the Police Administration Division brought the mail for the Detective Division, so Yoshimura, who was checking it, spoke up.
"Oh, it's finally here." Nishida put the newspaper on his desk, took the envelope from Yoshimura, and took out the contents.
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On September 20th, when the investigation felt like it had reached a dead end, he requested an investigation into Kumazawa Fisheries, where Hojo Masaharu was said to have worked, from the Noshiro Station of the Akita Prefectural Police by phone, but he was politely turned down with "It would be better to have the Chamber of Commerce look into that," and at the Chamber of Commerce he was introduced to, he was told "It's impossible to look it up right now, so we'll mail the investigation results later," and it had finally arrived.
"How is it?"
"Wait a bit, I haven't seen it yet." While calming the impatient Yoshimura, Nishida opened the folded paper.
"Uh, Kumazawa Fisheries went bankrupt in Heisei 3 (1991). The president and his family are currently missing. Regarding Hojo Masaharu, who was said to be an employee, because of such a situation, we cannot report the current situation or provide contact information..."
"So we can't track him down either?" When Nishida stopped reading aloud halfway through because the conclusion was clear, Yoshimura said immediately with regret, but Nishida had been prepared to some extent. In reality, even if he had been able to get in touch with Masaharu, what he could have heard was whether the story of the eldest brother, Sada Yuzuru, about the Hojo brothers was true, and whether "something related to the case had happened" between when Masaharu heard about the "location of the money" from the Sada family and his second visit to the Sada family. Since it was hard to believe Yuzuru would lie, and it was also doubtful if anything had happened after that, he thought that itself wasn't a big problem that would stall the investigation. Of course, if he could hear it, he should have.
"Wait, I'm sure the younger brother, Hojo Masaharu, was said to have lived in Takikawa at one point?"
"Yuzuru said something like that."
"A surname like Hojo, he's not a warlord, but it's quite rare not just in the prefecture but nationwide, right? Maybe if he still has relatives living in Takikawa, we'll know immediately?"
"Well, it's not an impossible story."
"Since we're at it, why don't we try? After all, what we're doing now in the investigation is just a background check on the son, who is the current president of the Isaka Group, to see if he's involved in the case. The Senior Staff and the others are mainly working on that. We have leeway, even if we're not exactly free."
As Yoshimura said, what the investigation team centered on Takeshita and the others was mainly working on now was the investigation of Isaka Masamitsu, the son of Isaka Daikichi and the successor president of the Isaka Group. It was an investigation from the angle of whether Masamitsu knew about Daikichi's crimes and was cooperating, in order to break the deadlocked investigation. However, Masamitsu took over the Isaka Group in the spring of 1993, and until then he had been working for Daikoku Construction, a major general contractor in Tokyo. From a famous public preparatory high school in Sapporo, he went to Waseda's School of Science and Engineering, and even finished the graduate school of the School of Science and Engineering, and had been at Daikoku Construction ever since.
Even if he knew about his father Daikichi's "crimes," he had been working at the head office or branch office in Honshu since eight years ago, so there was a flow that it was unreasonable to think he was involved in the case geographically. There was also the option of going to the Daikoku Construction head office in Tokyo to ask around, but since results couldn't be expected at the moment, the Section Chief was also hesitating to make that conclusion. And Takeshita and the others were in the middle of asking around in Kitami today to the extent that they wouldn't be noticed. On the premise that results were almost certainly not to be expected... "Understood. I'll follow your opinion..." Nishida said that and raised his waist, which wasn't heavy but wasn't light either if you looked at his actual weight, and called the Takikawa Station.
He asked the person on the phone in the Community Police Division of the Takikawa Station if there was a resident registration for Hojo. This is because the police boxes create a resident ledger when they check residents. Even if the surname Hojo is rare, as expected, the reply was that they wouldn't know immediately, so Nishida said, "It doesn't matter when or how long it takes, so if there is one, list them up and contact me," and he began to read the newspaper again.
On the same day, after welcoming Takeshita and Kurosu, who had returned from their "expedition" to Kitami, and saying a word of "good work" to them, Nishida and Yoshimura greeted the Section Chief and were about to go home for the day. Then suddenly the phone rang. As soon as Oba took the receiver, he notified him, "Team Leader, it's from a person named Hisamatsu in the Community Police Division of the Takikawa Station." It must be about the "Hojo" matter. Nishida had Oba put it on hold and took the receiver of his own desk.
"Hello, this is Nishida speaking."
"Nishida-san? Regarding the matter you requested, we can't find any, unfortunately. We checked as far as the jurisdictions of Shintotsukawa (Town) and Hamamasu Village (Author's Note: Now Hamamasu Ward, Ishikari City. Due to the incorporation into Ishikari City in 2005, the jurisdictional station was changed from the Takikawa Station at the time to the Sapporo Kita Station), but we couldn't find a single one. Since it's a rare surname, I don't think we've missed any."
"Ah, I see... It's very unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Sorry to bother you when you're busy. Thank you very much." Nishida said that and put down the receiver.
"Was it no good?" Yoshimura, who had asked that, nodded silently.
"But you know, listening to the story from the Takikawa Station just now, I thought that relatives don't necessarily live in Takikawa. Of course, it's quite tough to search all of Hokkaido, and there's probably no need to go that far, but I feel like we could manage to search the Sunagawa Station, Akauta Station, and Fukagawa Station, which manage the area around Takikawa, given their populations."
"I see. As expected, the other side would hate it if it was Sapporo or Asahikawa, but for the population of those jurisdictions, it doesn't seem extremely difficult to find the surname Hojo. Since they contacted us in one day even in Takikawa, it's a good idea to try asking the surrounding stations of Takikawa!"
"That's fine, but it's unreasonable to ask now, so let's push it to tomorrow." Nishida took today's "skunking" positively, even though no results came out.
Sawai, who was listening to the conversation of the two, said just one word, "You're diligent." But Nishida said those cold words as he left the Detective Division with Yoshimura, though it was later than planned, "Well, the ones who actually look it up are over there... We're just asking."
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On Friday, September 29th, from the morning, Nishida and Yoshimura were dividing the work and requesting an investigation into whether there were residents with the surname "Hojo" at the Sunagawa Station, Akauta Station, and Fukagawa Station. Since the Takikawa Station had accepted it smoothly, they had been mistaken, but as expected, there were many staff members who made their "it's a pain" attitude blatant, and unless they explained that it was "part of a murder investigation," they wouldn't easily give an OK. However, if you think about it carefully, if you're requested to do a listing task from a level of tens of thousands by another jurisdiction, even if the target is a rare surname, it's natural to not want to do it emotionally, and neither of them was in a position to complain. In the end, they "pushed through" the requests to the three jurisdictions by bowing low. However, from the reply that "it will take a while," they were also certain that there wouldn't be a contact on the same day like with the Takikawa Station.
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On Monday, October 2nd, as if they had coordinated, the investigation results were reported to the Violent Crimes Unit one after another after the weekend had passed. In conclusion, only the Akauta Station reported a result of "finding the Hojo surname." Since the contact from the Akauta Station was already in the evening, Nishida decided to try calling that "Hojo" house during dinner time, when they would almost certainly be at home.
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The Akauta Station is a police station that was born in 1976 by the merger of the two jurisdictions of the Akabira Police Station and the Utashinai Police Station. The exact reason is unknown, but it's likely influenced by the population decline of both cities due to the decline of the coal mining areas. And Utashinai City is the only city in the country with a population of less than 10,000 (this was as of 1995, and it seems to have fallen below 4,000 as of 2014).
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The confirmed Hojo surname was in two households in Akabira City, and he had received a report that there were a total of five residents there according to the ledger as of 1994. Nishida was calling the house of the head of the household, "Hojo Ichiro," who was not a single-person household. Ichiro, who was 47 at the time of the faxed copy of the ledger from the Akauta Station, should be 48 or 49 depending on his birthday, but his voice was very youthful. Ichiro's household was a record of Ichiro's mother (thought so because of the same surname), his wife, and one child who was a middle school student at the time. Nishida first checked if the other household, "Hojo Yoshi," was a relative. This is because if they were relatives, it might become a double effort in some cases.
"Hojo Yoshi is my aunt. My late father's younger brother—he's also passed away—she's his wife."
"I see, I understand that part well. So, I don't know for sure... but I'm calling because I thought you might be a relative of a person named Hojo Masaharu who lived in Takikawa around Showa 20 (1945), whose older brother is Hojo Masato..."
At Nishida's question, Ichiro was silent for a moment, but he asked back, "You're from the police, right? Was there some kind of problem?" Nishida said in a practiced tone, "No, I'm just asking as part of an investigation, and it's not like he's a suspect (he dared not say 'maru-hi' to make it easy for a civilian to understand) or anything like that. Please rest assured."
"That's good then. I was a bit surprised because you said you were from the police... I've heard those two names from my late father... I heard he met Masaharu-san when he was little, but I have no memory of it at all. I'll ask my mother now, so wait a bit." Saying that, the on-hold melody flowed from the receiver. And almost at the same time as the melody stopped, Ichiro began to speak again.
"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting. I've explained the situation and I'll switch to my mother, but she's a bit hard of hearing, so could I ask you to speak in a relatively loud voice and slowly?" After asking that unilaterally, a clattering sound was heard, and then a hoarse voice characteristic of the elderly was heard.
"Hello... good evening, I'm taking the call."
"Good evening. I'm Nishida from the Engaru Police Station. Nice to meet you." Nishida naturally matched the "good evening" (T/N: 'Oban-desu') characteristic of middle-aged and older people in Hokkaido, but first he introduced himself. However, he forgot what Ichiro had told him and didn't have the awareness of speaking to an elderly person. Fortunately, the other party seemed to be able to hear, and she also introduced herself slowly but with more strength in her voice than at first, saying, "Good work. I'm Umeko."
"So, Umeko-san. I called to ask if you know anything about Hojo Masato and Masaharu. I've heard that Masato-san has already passed away, but what about Masaharu-san? I've tracked him as far as when he went to Akita, but after that I'm troubled because I don't know."
"Ah, yes, yes, that was the story. Masato-san and Masaharu-san are my late husband's cousins. They were the sons of my husband's father's younger brother. But we haven't met for a long time... Their father died in a coal mine explosion, and their mother also suffered and apparently committed suicide by jumping into the Sorachi River around Showa 15 (1940)... or maybe before that... Since the bodies of both parents didn't come out, there isn't even a grave. Well, they might not have had the money to build a grave... Since it's a story from before I was with my husband, I don't know the details... I heard those two were also quite destitute from when they were little, but my husband's house was also poor and couldn't help much... Originally those two lived in the neighboring Ashibetsu (City), but Masato-san worked at the local coal mines for a while after he finished (ordinary) elementary school... But after his lungs got a bit bad from the coal, after that he went around the labor camps in the prefecture. Masaharu-san was physically weaker than Masato-san, so it seems he was an apprentice at a shop in Takikawa after he finished elementary school. Masaharu-san, who was in the local area, attended the wedding of my husband and me. After that, Masato-san was drafted with a red paper (T/N: draft notice) and died in the war, and the younger brother was also drafted but managed to survive... A while after the war, he went to Akita and worked for a fish processing company, and after various things, he's now living alone in Tokyo... After he went to Akita, he only came here once, and only the years have passed. But we've been exchanging New Year's cards the whole time."
When Nishida finished hearing that, he made an OK sign with his fingers so Yoshimura could see. Yoshimura also grinned when he saw that.
"I'm very sorry, but do you know Masaharu-san's detailed address? I definitely want to contact him. There's something I want to ask." This time, Nishida spoke clearly so it would be conveyed to Umeko, but Yoshimura, who was next to him, hadn't heard the circumstances, but he seemed to have grasped it from the situation and asked with a gesture, pointing to his ear, if the other party was hard of hearing. Nishida thought it would be bad to ignore him and nodded appropriately as a reply. More importantly, Umeko's answer is important.
"Uh, there should have been a New Year's card... Wait a moment." Saying that, the on-hold melody flowed again. Nishida took that gap to tell Yoshimura in a low voice, "I'm talking to the wife of the person who was the cousin of the Hojo brothers. She seems hard of hearing, but 'here' seems to be fine, and she's looking for the New Year's card they exchange now. He should have been married, but now he's living alone in Tokyo." He pointed to his head when he said "here."
"Wait, wasn't he married?" Yoshimura muttered, but Nishida only said, "It wouldn't be strange if he's bereaved given his age."
When about five minutes had passed, Ichiro suggested, "My mother is still looking, but it seems like it'll take a bit longer, so should I call you back?" and Nishida decided to take him up on that. He told him the phone number and said he would wait for about an hour.
While waiting for the return call, Yoshimura and Nishida were talking about the success of the "search" with the Hojo surname. "As expected, a rare surname is effective. Even if we say there isn't much population, each station has tens of thousands. Being able to pick it up from there is thanks to the rare name."
"But you know, don't forget that the narrowing down was possible because there was the keyword location of Takikawa. If this was just a 'width' of the whole prefecture, it would have been impossible if we included Sapporo, Asahikawa, Hakodate, Obihiro, Kushiro, Otaru, and also Kitami, right?" Nishida rebuked the elated Yoshimura.
"That's also true. But if you think about it carefully, 'Mende,' who appeared in the letter and deed together, is also a considerably rare surname, even more than Hojo. Aside from Takanashi, who was buried together, I wonder if it's possible to find Mende's relatives and that orphan of his if we really tried to do it with a Hokkaido-only restriction..." Yoshimura took the deed out of the cabinet where the materials were stored and placed it on the desk somewhat roughly.
"As Sada's son said, Mende is certainly a surname that's often seen in Hiroshima. Of course, even if we say it's often seen, it doesn't change the fact that it's an absolute minority just in the area around Hiroshima. It's a shame that from the missing person search requests I asked Director Toyama for, there was no relevant person not just in the prefecture but also in the Hiroshima Prefectural Police. No, even if one had come out, there's a possibility it's been erased since it's a pre-war thing... In the end, I don't know if Mende was a descendant of a settler from around Hiroshima and was a 'Dosanko' (T/N: Hokkaido-born person) born here, or if he drifted to Ikutahara in his own generation. If he was originally a drifter, it would be quite tough. Furthermore, Mende's child, who is said to be an illegitimate child, and the mother would definitely have a different surname..." Nishida said that and lit a cigarette. Yoshimura, as if confirming that Nishida had exhaled the cigarette smoke first, said, "Even so, I don't know if Isaka and Kuwano got the money Senzaki left or not, or if it wasn't there from the beginning, but if they had found it, the people who were supposed to inherit it, Hojo Masaharu and Mende's child, are pitiful. It's like they were embezzled." He showed his anger.
"I wonder about that. But Isaka started a business after the war, and that's a huge construction company now. Even if we don't know about Kuwano, at least for Isaka, it wouldn't be strange if he used it for start-up capital. If that's the case, it's as pitiful as you say." Saying that, Nishida also took the deed Sada Toru left from the desk and was just staring at it intently.
After that, he was having idle talk with the Section Chief and the night-shift Komura, Sawada, and Oba, but Takeshita and Kurosu, who had gone to Kitami for the investigation around Isaka, had not yet returned. Just as it was about to be an hour since he hung up the phone, the long-awaited phone finally rang. The clock had passed 8:00 PM.
"Sorry for being late. My mother had put it away in a place where it wasn't supposed to be. From what I see, it's Oyama in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, is that right? Big mountain for Oyama, the address is Oyama-cho XXXX Oyama-ei-sou Room 204." Nishida immediately repeated that and took a memo.
"While I'm at it, do you know a phone number or something?"
"No, it's just an exchange of New Year's cards. I only know the address."
"I see. No, that's enough. I've caused all sorts of trouble during dinner."
"Not at all. Since it was after we'd eaten dinner, it was just a good after-dinner exercise."
To Nishida, who finished the conversation with a household that seemed to be honest but had no decoration at all, characteristic of the countryside, Section Chief Sawai, who had heard the exchange, suggested, "Hojo Masaharu is in Tokyo, huh... I wanted to do an investigation if possible into whether Isaka Masamitsu was involved in the case in any way during his Tokyo days. I don't think anything decisive will come out from either Masamitsu or Masaharu, but it might be good to do what can be investigated. How about it? There's still budget, and how about going to Tokyo to ask about both? Hojo Masaharu might know something about back then, and even if nothing comes out, if consistency comes out between Sada Yuzuru's story and Masaharu's story, the credibility of the background of the case will also increase. Regardless of the possibility of indictment, isn't it worth going to bring the outline of the case to light?" All the subordinates who were there showed a reaction close to a cheer, saying, "Oh, Tokyo!"
"For now, I'm thinking of dispatching either Nishida's or Takeshita's team. Let's decide when Takeshita comes back." Hearing that, Komura said half-jokingly with a look of resentment, "Tokyo, huh, I'm jealous of the Team Leader and the Senior Staff." But since they weren't going for fun, it wasn't a very easy position for the side that might actually go. However, Yoshimura next to him had a carefree smile, so Nishida was impressed in a way that this guy is the same as usual.
It was after 9:00 PM when Takeshita and Kurosu returned. Takeshita, who was explained the situation by the Section Chief, thought for a bit and then stated his personal opinion, "How is it for the Team Leader? It's true that we're chasing Isaka Masamitsu now, but the one who's properly involved in and understands the investigation of the old story over there is the Team Leader. The story of Masamitsu, to put it extremely, the background isn't that complicated. On the other hand, regarding the Hojo matter, it's complicated, so I think the Team Leader should be the one to go after all."
"It's true the letter and deed are various and complicated, but since we're the ones who went on the Sapporo trip, how about Takeshita and the others this time? You should understand the story well enough too." Nishida tried saying that. It was also Nishida's consideration that it wouldn't be interesting to only have local investigations. "Then, let's do this. Rock-paper-scissors with no hard feelings!" When Sawai saw the two were deferring to each other, he presented an extremely simple and clear solution. The one who wins goes to Tokyo. When both agreed to that, they fought with the standard rock-paper-scissors style: "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Nishida was paper, Takeshita was rock. The match was decided in one shot.
"Alright, it's decided! Then Nishida and Yoshimura, go to Tokyo. It won't be possible tomorrow, so as soon as preparations are complete. It should be possible the day after tomorrow. I think we can get an appointment for Daikoku Construction where Masamitsu worked, but for Hojo, it might be better to ask the police of the jurisdictional address if they know the phone number!"
"Right. It would be better to do that." Nishida decided to follow the Section Chief's advice.
At that time, Takeshita suddenly remembered and reported to Sawai and Nishida, "Oh, I forgot. I heard from a city official related to public works at the Kitami City Hall cafeteria today that in the company history the Isaka Group put out for its 40th anniversary, there was a story that Isaka Daikichi changed his name from Tasuke to Daikichi, and I confirmed it at the library; it was certainly there. As the Team Leader says, if Sada Minoru suspected that Tasuke and Daikichi were the same person after seeing the photo in the 'Zaikai Hokkaido' article, I think it wouldn't have been that difficult to turn that into a conviction, as can be seen from the company history."
"Oh, that's a good story! Yeah. I think Sada was definitely able to be convinced that Isaka Tasuke and Daikichi were the same person." Nishida deepened his confidence in his theory.