Chapter 36 - Light and Shadow 15 (92-96 Nishida Osaka Investigation Part 2: Discovery of New Important Facts - The Deed and the Letter)
The following morning, Sugai came to the hotel to pick them up. The Hokkaido Prefectural Police team—excluding Shibata, who had headed to the Osaka Prefectural Police headquarters for forensics work—was guided by him to the Osaka Detention House by taxi. Although it wasn't as close as the Prefectural Police HQ, even though it was in the neighboring Miyakojima Ward rather than the Chuo Ward where the HQ was located, the detention house was quite nearby, and they arrived in about ten minutes.
Nishida, Takeshita, and Yoshimura could not hide their surprise that the second-largest detention facility in Japan was located almost in the very heart of Osaka City, but the elite Hokkaido duo, Kurano and Tamaru, showed no particular reaction. They might have had experience with business trips here before.
They met up with Section Chief Hiramatsu of Investigation Division 1, Team Leader Murono, and Senior Staff Hatayama from the Osaka Prefectural Police, who had arrived earlier. The group of nine, including the respective Investigation Cooperation Section Chiefs Sugai and Tamaru, first paid their respects to the Director of the Osaka Detention House, Daimon (his rank as a prison officer was Correction Supervisor. This follows the same system where, even in a small to medium-sized police station, one needs a rank of Inspector or higher to hold the position of Section Chief).
Daimon himself was perplexed, saying it was "unprecedented" for a death row inmate whose sentence had been completely finalized to suddenly confess to a new murder. In the first place, it was almost unheard of for a suspect who had maintained their innocence to have a change of heart and confess to the matter after the sentence was finalized.
After finishing the formal greetings, they were guided to a relatively large interrogation room. Since there were many investigators, four people—Nishida and Takeshita from the Hokkaido Police, and Murono and Hatayama from the Osaka Police—would directly handle the interrogation, while the other members monitored from outside through the one-way mirror in the adjacent waiting room.
Motohashi, who was brought in by two prison officers with a waist rope, looked a bit plumper than the images seen on television. However, his appearance itself was at a level where it wouldn't feel particularly out of place (only "particularly") if he were called an ordinary citizen, something one could never imagine from the gravity of his crimes.
However, while his eyes looked gentle at first glance, Nishida felt something sharp emanating from their depths. From his experience as a detective, it was an ocular power he rarely felt from anyone but the most heinous criminals. When Nishida and Takeshita of the Hokkaido Police, who had no prior acquaintance with him, introduced themselves, Motohashi responded with a slight, somewhat sulky nod. Nishida, leading the charge, felt like taking a deep breath, but since doing so would be synonymous with being looked down upon, he kept it strictly to a mental exercise.
"Well then, we have a few things we want to ask, so answer properly. I'm counting on you."
The gong for the start of the hearing finally rang with Nishida speaking in a lower voice than usual. Motohashi nodded shallowly and replied in a voice that was barely audible,
"Yeah, I get it."
"First, I'm sure you've been asked this many times, but since it's the first time for us who came from Hokkaido, I'll ask just in case. Why did you feel like confessing now? Did you think you could delay the execution? Specifically, is that your purpose for the Kitami incident we're about to hear about, which newly surfaced through your confession?"
Motohashi made a sneering expression at that statement.
"Delay the execution? How many years do you think it'll be delayed? A few years? No way, right? A single year is meaningless. My death sentence has already been finalized for another case, and I'm confessing to a new incident, so there's not much to dispute in court. The prosecutors won't ask for many years at this point, will they? If that happens, even if I appeal because I'm dissatisfied with the sentencing, it's a given that the High Court will dismiss the appeal at an early stage. The same goes for the Supreme Court, right? I'll see a swift finalization of the sentence. I just decided to spit it all out before I die anyway. I'm not that petty of a person. Besides, I have no intention of appealing in the first place."
His tone was confrontational with blatant Osaka dialect, but his remarks were laced with heavy irony. Just as Motohashi said, it was questionable whether the time from arrest (though he was already detained) to interrogation (including the prosecution), indictment, and trial would take long enough to have the effect of delaying the execution. At most, wouldn't it be about a year? In the first place, even if a death sentence is finalized, it is uncertain whether the execution will be carried out immediately, and there were certainly significant doubts about how much of a "delaying" effect it would have in the true sense. In any case, for a criminal, his words might have exuded a considerable amount of pride.
However, while they could say that now because Engaru Station had actually discovered Sada Minoru's body, what would have happened if Nishida hadn't seen through the fact that Sada's body had been moved from its original burial site to the "Grave Marker"? Even if Motohashi testified according to the facts as far as he knew them, they had to carefully consider the fact that there was a very high probability the body would not have been found.
Unless he could get in touch with Shinoda and the others, who must have cooperated in burying the body after the murder, Motohashi would likely only know the original location where Sada was buried—the same place where Yoneda's body was later buried. If things had remained that way, proving a murder without a body would be, frankly, under very strict conditions, and one could imagine a situation where the investigation would stall and, in some cases, even indictment would be difficult.
On the other hand, the fact existed that Sada Minoru had actually disappeared, and there was a question as to whether the Ministry of Justice could carry out the execution based on previous sentences while leaving Motohashi's testimony unaddressed. It was uncertain whether Motohashi knew about Shinoda's subsequent actions in moving the body, but depending on the circumstances, they had to assume that the effect of delaying the execution might have actually been quite significant (T/N: tekimen).
"I'll ask about this in detail later, but did you meet or contact the person who requested the murder or the people who cooperated with you after that?"
Takeshita asked a question with the fact in mind that Sada's body had been moved to the "Remote Grave Marker" by Shinoda five years later.
"In my style, once I've carried it out and received the reward, I don't make any contact at all."
After he finished speaking, Takeshita confirmed that Motohashi wore an expression as if saying 'don't mock me,' and then said,
"I heard that even after confessing to your previous crimes, you didn't say a word about the person who requested the murders. Is that your pride as a 'hitman'?"
"It's nothing that grand..."
Motohashi stared at Takeshita and let out a sigh.
Then, after a pause, he continued.
"Well, it's just that I have no intention of going out of my way to say things the police haven't grasped. I just won't do anything like sending salt to the enemy (T/N: shio wo okuru — an idiom meaning to help an opponent in trouble). I'm not doing this with such a noble aesthetic. Well, even if I did say it, it's not like the crime of murder would get any lighter. I'll just take it to my grave."
Nishida felt irritation at his philosophical way of speaking, but what was needed here and now was not a cheap hammer of justice, but a calm pursuit of facts. At the same time, he had the impression that this statement of Motohashi's contained a bit of "modesty."
"So, is that it? You still have no intention of naming the client for this incident, then?"
"I have no intention of saying it from the start! However, if the police bring something to me, I won't go out of my way to deny it."
"?"
All the detectives present, including Muroi and Hatayama, looked at each other, unable to fathom what Motohashi meant.
"What on earth does that mean? Explain it properly!"
When Nishida interrogated him, he replied dismissively,
"It means that if the police can properly identify the person who asked me, I won't go out of my way to deny it. I won't keep it that much of a secret. However, I won't proactively say who it is. It's been the same until now and will be the same from now on."
Nishida found it strange that although the logic felt incomplete, there was something exuding from the statement that made it convincing.
"I see. That'll be something to look forward to. Then, why don't you tell us right away who requested the murder! Among certain photographs, there is someone we believe asked you to commit the murder. It might be a bit broad to call it identification, but it should be enough."
Normally, they should have started by asking "Who did Motohashi kill?", but Nishida dared to follow the flow. In response, Takeshita mixed four dummy group photos with a group photo (out of five people) in which Isaka Daikichi was shown relatively large, taken within a year before the murder, and thrust them in front of Motohashi. Motohashi smirked when he saw them and said,
"Mixing in photos of unrelated people must be the investigation manual, so I don't mind, but with five photos and about twenty people in total, it seems the Hokkaido Police lack confidence and I don't feel like answering."
At this, Murono from the Osaka Police couldn't help but shout,
"That's enough of that!"
But Nishida stopped him.
"Fine. Then I'll make it two photos. In exchange, point to him immediately," Nishida instructed Takeshita.
"Now you're talking! I'll tell you right away!"
He said excitedly, sending a provocative glance to Murono beside him. When Takeshita left two photos, including the one with Isaka Daikichi, Motohashi immediately pointed to Isaka. Nishida shouted "Yes!" in his mind, but pretending to be calm, he confirmed,
"Is this the one?"
Then he said,
"Yeah, this is him. No mistake. I was instructed by this guy to kill a certain man at a coffee shop in front of Kitami Station. I never heard his name, so I don't know it, though."
"Do you really not know?" Takeshita reconfirmed.
"You're persistent. I really don't know! However, there's no mistake that this old man was the one who actually met me in Kitami and gave me various instructions. Even so, you Hokkaido Police are quite capable, unlike some idiot police forces! The blockheads at the Osaka Police, the Metropolitan Police, and the Hyogo Prefectural Police couldn't even identify them in other cases. It's a secret that thanks to that, I didn't have to say it one by one."
He said clearly with a laugh.
The Osaka Police team was completely mocked, but this time they didn't show any particular reaction. Since things like this must have happened countless times in previous interrogations, they might have given up. If the outburst earlier was a kind of "performance" out of consideration for the Hokkaido Police, who were in a sense guests, it made a certain amount of sense.
However, even though the police hadn't been able to present them in previous investigations, Nishida and Takeshita were certain that the reason for such a change couldn't just be whether the police had identified them or not. However, both Nishida and Takeshita felt that even if they pressed him on that point in the interrogation, he would only evade them, and they decided that they should move the conversation forward for now.
"Then, next is the person you killed that time. What about this?"
Nishida said this and had Takeshita produce five photos, including one showing Sada Minoru, and had Motohashi point to him. In the incidents involving Motohashi so far, the victims had been "obvious" in every sense, so there was no point in having Motohashi identify them. However, this case of Sada Minoru differed significantly from the series of crimes in that the incident itself had been covered up, and with the "revelation of secrets" (T/N: himitsu no bakuro — a legal term for when a suspect reveals details only the perpetrator could know) involved, identifying the victim (T/N: marugai or gaisha — police slang for victim) became an important key. Motohashi identified Sada Minoru immediately here as well. At this point, the framework of the case—that the perpetrator of Sada's murder was Motohashi and the "client" was Isaka Daikichi—was almost backed up.
"Regarding this person you killed, had you heard his name?"
"I feel like I heard it from the guy who gave the instructions at the time, and I think I also heard it from the victim himself on the way to the murder site, but it's a story from eight years ago, right? I've forgotten it... This time was a different pattern from my previous 'jobs,' so I didn't really need to remember the person in detail, so I don't have much memory of it, sorry about that."
It was clear that Motohashi's "sorry about that" had no feeling in it, but when Nishida confirmed with the two Osaka Police officers beside him, they said that in his previous confessions, a certain amount of information about the victims of other incidents had come from his own mouth, so Nishida was somewhat convinced that he might truly not have known.
Also, various stories he wanted to hear in detail, such as the circumstances of how they went to the murder site, started to emerge at this point, but he decided to put those off and prioritize identifying the collaborators first.
"It seems there were people who cooperated with you in various ways during the murder. Are they among these?"
As soon as he saw the total of five photos of five people, each shown individually, that Takeshita presented, he said,
"This guy and this guy. They helped me with various things other than the killing. Also, I never heard their real names, so even if you ask, I don't know them."
He pushed the photos of Kitagawa and Shinoda toward the detectives with his finger.
"No mistake?" Takeshita confirmed just in case.
"Yeah," he replied shortly and leaned back against the backrest.
At this point, it meant that Kitagawa and Shinoda's involvement in the incident was almost confirmed. On the other hand, the initial view of the incident was that the two were more directly involved as perpetrators, but that line was discarded assuming Motohashi's testimony was true. However, at the point when the murder was found to be a shooting, they had felt something was off, and it was also true that Nishida and the others had anticipated this to some extent.
"So, specifically, what kind of cooperation?"
"Hmm? Let's see... To put it plainly, they took me and the target to the place where we killed and buried him, and after the murder, they buried him instead of me. Well, it seems they themselves followed the instructions of the guy who gave the orders for the purpose of repaying a debt."
"Repaying a debt?" Takeshita pressed.
"Something about gambling on mahjong? Apparently, they owed a considerable debt to the old man who gave me the instructions. They supposedly accepted it as a reason to write off that debt. I remember the old man saying something like that when we met for a face-to-face the night before the execution day. When I asked if the two people helping me were trustworthy, he said that, and the two who were sitting right next to him didn't deny it."
He answered bluntly. Nishida and Takeshita hesitated whether to expand on that, but decided to have him reveal secrets first to substantiate Motohashi's crime, and Takeshita's questioning moved to the topic of the murder method and location. However, whether it was Kitagawa or Shinoda, the story that they liked gambling had been backed up by hearings from Okuda Mitsuru and Shinoda's widow, and they had also heard about the mahjong story, so it was certain that it made sense at that point.
"Then next, about the murder method..."
"Even if I don't say it one by one, you guys know, don't you? A handgun, a handgun! Just like my other crimes, two shots with the same handgun... I'm sure I pumped two shots into the heart from point-blank range. That's all there is to it."
"Two shots is correct?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
Takeshita confirmed the number of shots just in case, but it was certain that finding the bullets that would have passed through and scattered in the forest was almost impossible now. If there were bullets, it would not only back up Motohashi's testimony that he fired two shots but also allow for identification through rifling marks, but this time, since they were aiming for proof through the external components of the bullets that happened to be detected from Sada's remains, the fact that they couldn't back up the number of shots fired shouldn't become the kind of issue that would make it impossible to substantiate the murder.
"Next, I'll ask about the place where the two buried him after the murder. Is it among the photos?"
The photos Takeshita presented were in groups of several surrounding photos. All the groups centered on forests, but the group of actual scene photos showed many white birches and the single track of the Sekihoku Main Line. There was another group that included photos of a railway, but unlike the Sekihoku Main Line that passed near the scene, it was a photo of a double track. The Sekihoku Main Line is a single-track railway. As expected, he didn't react immediately even when shown the photos, but while comparing them for a few minutes, he pointed and said,
"They all look like similar photos, so I'm not very confident, but I think it's this photo..."
White birches were captured in it.
"I'm sure they're called white birches? I remember those being there. I'm sure we buried the body at the base of that tree."
This corresponded to a very powerful revelation of secrets. Since he had firmly answered the place where they would have first buried Sada's body, Nishida and Takeshita looked at each other and smirked. If the bullet components matched the story so far, it would undoubtedly be possible to indict him and sufficiently establish the facts in court.
"From what I've heard so far, there was information that only the perpetrator would know, and it matches the information we have, so I think your confession this time is undoubtedly the truth. To be honest, thank you for speaking so well."
Nishida spoke in a somewhat gentle tone, but when he said,
"However, there are still other things I want to hear. It'll be a problem if you don't answer those properly!"
his way of speaking turned around to be intimidating. He didn't think for a second that he was the kind of person that would work on, but basically, tension and relaxation are the basics of interrogation. Nishida resumed the questioning in that flow.
"This time it's about the overall flow of the crime. First, how did the request come?"
"Well, in various ways... I won't say the details."
An immediate refusal, but regarding this, he must have been severely questioned in previous cases and hadn't answered, so Nishida gave up, thinking there was no point in making a fuss, and continued the conversation.
"Fine. Then how did you get to Kitami? I heard it was by rail?"
"Since the down payment of two million was delivered to me by a certain method, I went from Osaka to Kitami in September as promised. I couldn't use a plane because of the baggage inspection. There's also the option of sending the handgun separately as luggage, but I can't feel at ease unless I have my 'tools of the trade' on hand. So I took the train slowly. Well, I had a nice time sightseeing in Toyama, Kanazawa, Akita, and Aomori on the way."
The confession of such audacious behavior made the blood rush to Nishida's and Takeshita's heads, but there was no point in lecturing this brute now. They decided to listen to the story as it was.
"And then, I heard that the Seikan Tunnel was going to open in March of the following year, and the Seikan Ferry would be gone at that time. I had only ridden it once when I traveled to Hokkaido when I was young, so I felt a bit nostalgic."
When Motohashi spoke thus, Murono of the Osaka Police cut in.
"In this incident, the year of the crime wasn't clear even to Motohashi himself at first, but from this story, it was determined to be Showa 62 (1987)."
I see, since the opening of the Seikan Tunnel was in March 1988 (Showa 63) and the Seikan Ferry operated until then (Author's Note: However, the opening date of the Seikan Tunnel and the date of the abolition of regular service of the Seikan Ferry overlap on March 13. Normally it would be until the day before the opening, but the reason for this is not well understood. Furthermore, since it was operated as a temporary service after that, it was not a complete abolition), the identification of the year could be established as 1987, one year before that, from Motohashi's testimony.
"I see, is that so?"
Nishida said his thanks and told Motohashi,
"We're done with this part, so please continue."
"Okay, I get it. Then I'll continue. So after getting off the ferry, I had time until the promised day, so I sightseeed and stayed in Hakodate. I took the limited express from Hakodate to Abashiri, and I arrived in Kitami at night about four days before the crime. But I don't have a clear memory of the sense of the day of the week around there. And I stayed at an inn in front of the station. It was an inn I was designated to stay at in advance. I don't remember the name, but it was a salty (T/N: shoppai — slang for cheap/shabby) inn really close to the station."
Nishida looked toward Takeshita. Identifying that inn wouldn't be so difficult if it were true. If it was close to the station, there would only be a few. The problem was whether they could prove he stayed there. For the time being, while in Osaka, they would need to get photos from the Kitami Headquarters to have him confirm the exterior of the inn, and at the same time, have the Kitami side check the inn by showing Motohashi's photo. Takeshita seemed to understand that as well. By the way, Nishida thought the limited express from Hakodate to Abashiri must have been the down "Otori" from Hakodate, the opposite direction of the limited express "Otori" that the murdered Sada Minoru had intended to take from Kitami to Sapporo on the day of the incident.
"Naturally, you stayed under a false name, right?"
"Of course!"
Motohashi let out a dry laugh at Nishida's question.
"Then what happened?"
"On the night of the first day I arrived, a middle-aged man visited the inn. He was a different person from the guy who instructed me to kill, whom I would meet immediately after. Maybe he was his subordinate? His face looked like an ordinary office worker. Then, I was led by him into a coffee shop very close by. Given the time, it was empty... There, I met the man who instructed the murder for the first time. The man who brought me left as soon as he greeted the old man. For that reason, I suspect he was the old man's henchman or subordinate."
Suddenly, Motohashi spoke of the existence of a man they hadn't anticipated in advance, so Nishida and Takeshita immediately went into confirmation.
"Tell us more about the appearance of that man who looked like an office worker!"
"He was an ordinary middle-aged guy wearing glasses. He looked over forty at the time. His clothes were a jumper and ordinary pants then."
Nishida tore a page from his notebook and put it in front of Motohashi with a pen.
"Do you have any artistic talent? Try making a simple drawing of his face."
When told that, Motohashi wore a smirk.
"Can't be helped. I'm not skilled enough to say I have artistic talent, but I always got a 5 in elementary school arts and crafts, and a 4 or 5 in middle school art. It's not bad, is it?"
Saying so, he turned a fearless smile to the detectives in front of him again and wrote smoothly on the paper, and although it was cartoonish, a decent likeness was completed. Nishida took the paper and pen from Motohashi and showed the paper to Takeshita. Takeshita also looked at the drawing and seemed convinced by Motohashi's statement.
"Is this fine?"
"Yeah, I don't know if it looks like him, but as an image, it's my masterpiece."
When Nishida confirmed, Motohashi puffed out his chest.
"This matter ends here. Then, continuing from before. The guy who brought you to that place left immediately, right?"
Nishida brought the conversation back at the right timing.
"Yeah, he was sent back as soon as he brought me. I guess he didn't want him to hear the conversation much. Well, given the content of the conversation."
Again, Motohashi said it as if it were interesting. Having become a bit irritated by such things, Nishida temporarily handed over the right to question to Takeshita. However, regarding the man who led him to Isaka, he suspected there was a high possibility he was an associate of the Isaka Group, just like Kitagawa and the others. For this as well, they had no choice but to ask the Kitami Headquarters for cooperation. It was more advantageous geographically and in terms of manpower than having Engaru Station move.
"What kind of talk did you have there?"
"Well, it was like, 'I don't know if I'll have you carry it out yet. I'll have you do it after I finally give the go-ahead. The person I want you to kill will be decided then.' I didn't want to be kept waiting forever, so when I asked, I was told 'I'll definitely reach a conclusion within five days,' so I accepted for the time being. Also, he guaranteed me, 'I'll use people who will cooperate to take you together to a place where the crime will never be found out, and have you kill him there.' Well, in fact, since I was able to carry it out in such a mountain, I've been able to get away with it until now. Even so, I heard from the Osaka Police guys that you guys had already found the body before I spilled it? It's quite something that you found it before my confession."
Motohashi seemed genuinely impressed by this part. However, the fact that Sada's body was no longer in the original place where Motohashi and the others buried it immediately after the murder, as Motohashi had just confessed, had not been conveyed to Motohashi by the Osaka Police side, or rather, the Hokkaido Police side hadn't conveyed it in detail in the first place. Certainly, Hiramatsu and the others had only learned about it for the first time during yesterday's meeting, so there was no way Motohashi would know. The two dared not mention it even in this scene. And they moved the topic to the next.
"So, when was the go-ahead for the execution given?"
"As I said before, I don't remember exactly how many days after I came to Kitami, but I think it was about four days. Until then, I was allowed to sightsee nearby during the day, so I went to places like Abashiri Prison, famous for (Takakura) Ken-san's 'Abashiri Bangaichi,' and Shiretoko. Regardless of the number of days since I came to Kitami, the go-ahead was given on the night before the execution. Even though it was night, I think it was quite a late time. In other words, from my perspective, it was suddenly 'kill him tomorrow.' The same guy as when I arrived came to call me at the inn, and just like last time, at the coffee shop... It was sudden, but since I'm always ready, that was fine... And as I heard before, it was 'take him out and do it in the mountains,' and if that's the case, there's no need for prior investigation of the target. However, what was different from the day I arrived was that two people were beside him."
Motohashi told Takeshita nonchalantly.
"Did you talk to those two then?"
"I hardly talked to them then. However, that guy who gave the instructions, ah, it's a pain! What are the names of him and the two?"
Suddenly, he asked Takeshita to tell him the names of Isaka, Kitagawa, and Shinoda. To be honest, both Nishida and Takeshita had been waiting for Isaka's name to come out of Motohashi's own mouth. But, whether he truly didn't know or was being cunning, Motohashi said "the instructor" but didn't bring out Isaka's name until the end. Of course, regardless of Isaka's own name, the person had been identified by Motohashi through the photo, so even if it was intentional, the "concealment" of the name had no great meaning.
However, if he dared to pretend not to know Isaka's name while knowing it, it was consistent with the fact that in Motohashi's other crimes, even after his own confession, he still hadn't given the names of the clients at all, even though the police hadn't been able to thrust the "clients" in front of him. His tight-lippedness was quite something.
"The old man is Isaka, this guy who cooperated is Kitagawa, and this one is Shinoda."
Takeshita taught him while producing each photo.
"Thank you! Ah, regarding Kitagawa and Shinoda, I remember giving them the nicknames A and B on the day of execution, and having them agree to it. Since there were two of them, you wouldn't know who I meant by 'hey,' right? Well, I think I called the guy Shinoda A and the guy Kitagawa B... Well, that doesn't matter. So, to repeat, that old man named Isaka guaranteed me, 'These guys have local knowledge (T/N: tokikan), so they'll take me and the target to a place where it won't be found out and help with the burial, so don't worry.' The two also said 'leave it to us.' And it was only after that talk that I was shown a photo of the target. Well, since I was going to be taken along, it wasn't a problem even if I was told suddenly the day before the execution. When I have to do everything alone, I get more detailed information."
Since Kitagawa and Shinoda were dead, a reconciliation of stories was impossible now, but Nishida and Takeshita newly obtained the fact that they had been called by pseudonyms for convenience.
"By taking him by car, do you mean Sada... er, the person you killed is called Sada, but is it correct to say you forcibly abducted him?"
Nishida accidentally said the victim's name, but since he was already half-indifferent, he let it slide.
"Sada? So that old man is called Sada... As for that Sada guy, far from being abducted, he willingly got into our car when he came out of the hotel on the morning of the day I killed him. I suspect he was tricked into thinking we were taking him to a destination. I think the one who tricked him was that Isaka guy. In the car, the old man was blathering about how 'it was good because I didn't think the gold would have been left behind' or something. Only that point remains clearly in my memory. He was talking about old stories especially with Shinoda, who was driving, the whole time. At that time, I couldn't understand what he was saying, but he was smiling the whole time. I don't know the details. By the way, on that day, we were in work clothes. They were the ones provided by Isaka the night before."
"Work clothes?"
Nishida bit.
"Yeah, the general beige-colored ones."
"Was there a company name or anything like that on them?"
"I wasn't paying attention to that, but I don't think there was anything in particular."
"I see."
Nishida thought they might be work clothes specially ordered by the Isaka Group, but it seemed identifying that was impossible.
"After getting in that car, do you know what the route was?"
Takeshita corrected the track that had been derailed by Nishida.
"How could I know? It was my first time in that land! While driving for a while without knowing where we were going, we went into a very mountainous area, and after that we came out to a small town, but then we delved into even more mountain roads. Unbelievably, it wasn't even paved... Then, we got out of the car and walked along a thin animal trail, crossed the tracks, and came out at the place in the photo earlier. Oh, right! Kitagawa and Shinoda? were holding shovels they brought from the car. From there, that old man Sada was trying to go even further back while looking at a map. We were following behind him, but the two said 'it's fine here already,' so I called him to a stop and immediately fired the handgun. Well, it had sound suppression processing, and in those mountains, no one would care even if there was a bit of a gunshot sound."
The death row inmate showed no sign of remorse. However, both Nishida and Yoshimura were no longer more angry at that attitude than they were devoted to inferring the situation at the time by combining the information they had with Motohashi's testimony.
If Motohashi's story was true, Sada Minoru believed he had succeeded in blackmailing Isaka at the "dinner" in Kitami. But in reality, a murder plot was progressing behind the scenes. It was something he had discussed with Yoshimura when returning to Sapporo after questioning Sada Yuzuru in Otaru, but even if it was just a guess, there was a possibility that because Sada Minoru had handed over Hojo Masato's deed as a "hostage" substitute to Isaka, the murder plan for the following day was carried out.
And as long as they assumed Motohashi's testimony earlier, just before returning to Sapporo, probably on the day itself, wasn't he told by Isaka that "there is unrecovered Sennaki Daishiro's gold dust"? And taking the story that he would let him recover that gold dust at face value, he might have gotten into the car with the three—Kitagawa, Shinoda, and Motohashi—who would take him to that place.
As a result, he went to the murder scene voluntarily on his own feet and was finally killed by Motohashi there. With this, the problem Nishida had been obsessed with—"if he was killed at the scene, was he forced, did he go voluntarily, or was he already killed and then transported"—could be said to be almost solved.
There was no need to transport the body to that scene, and even if someone happened to see them on the way, it wasn't an "unnatural" situation, so it wouldn't be thought suspicious. In the first place, Kitagawa and Shinoda would have had not only local knowledge but also a general grasp of the movements and working conditions of the track maintenance staff who came to the scene, so there was almost no worry of being found by others. Unless there was an even more unpredictable movement of a railway fan, like Yoneda who was killed by Shinoda... Nishida whispered his theory to Takeshita, and Takeshita agreed with it.
"What... Don't you need to hear the story after that?"
Motohashi looked at the two of them with a dissatisfied tone.
"No, I still have things I want to hear. Sorry for leaving you alone. Please continue."
Nishida humored him.
"After that, first we stripped off his clothes, and after making him buck naked, Shinoda and Kitagawa buried the body at the base of the white birch. They had shovels too."
The irony that Sada Minoru must have thought those shovels were for digging out gold before he was killed, but as a result, they were for digging his own "grave." And the clear testimony that "we buried him at the base of the white birch," which no one but those involved could know, had already jumped out of Motohashi's mouth.
"However, after burying the body, the two were staring at the map the old man had until just before and another piece of paper? and saying something. I had no idea what it was about..."
"Paper? Sada had a paper besides the map? What was written on it!"
Nishida lifted his hips from the chair and pressed Motohashi.
"Hey, don't make such a scary face."
He played around, but said with a serious face,
"I didn't see the contents. Anyway, the two were saying something while looking at it. I think they were saying things like 'This is?'. Even after finishing the burial, they were talking while looking at the paper all the way back to the car. And they were also rummaging through the old man's left-behind luggage, or rather his bag, and looking for various things. I had already finished my job, so I was outside having a cigarette and taking a breather."
When Takeshita heard that, he suddenly poked Nishida's upper arm lightly with his elbow.
"Team Leader, shall we step out for a moment?"
"O-oh."
Nishida also accepted those words, and after telling Murono and Hatayama,
"We'll step out for a few minutes,"
the two went out into the hallway. When they went out into the hallway, Kurano, who had been watching the interrogation from the back waiting room, came out and beckoned them. Since the sound was completely shielded, they thought it would be safer to talk there and entered the waiting room.
"Team Leader! That paper Sada had is probably related to that letter Sada Toru left behind. Since the place where the gold was buried was also described, albeit roughly. Even if Kitagawa and Shinoda said they would guide him, if Sada himself had something describing the location, he would normally lead the way. It fits the situation of the testimony. However, since the original letter was still with Minoru, I think it was a copy or something. Probably a photocopy. The problem is that the reason he brought it to Kitami is not clear. If he intended to give it to Isaka, it wouldn't have been in Sada's hands anymore. Besides, looking at Motohashi's story, it doesn't seem like he had the purpose of looking for the location of the gold dust while looking at that letter, at least not from before he came to Kitami."
As Nishida expected, what Takeshita talked about was the story about the paper Sada had.
"Reason? That's not like you, Takeshita. Have you forgotten what we think Sada was blackmailing Isaka about? Originally, what was important for blackmailing Isaka was that Isaka killed Takamura before the war, right? Even if it only has the meaning of a scandal since the statute of limitations has passed. So, the letter itself must have been important for blackmailing Isaka. As evidence to back that up, the deed with Isaka's fingerprint and blood seal, which was also mentioned in the letter, would be important. To give the general impression that the contents of the letter were true without the deed, recognition of those three unidentified bodies is necessary, but it wasn't clearly written in the letter where they were buried, and the police wouldn't move because of the statute of limitations. Of course, the reality was that the seniors at our station had already discovered them a long time ago, but Sada Minoru wouldn't have known that."
Nishida said that, confirmed Motohashi's state through the one-way mirror once, and then resumed the conversation.
"So for Isaka, if he just recovered the deed Sada Minoru brought—of course, that was only one of the two because the Sada family happened to be keeping the Hojo brothers' portion as well... if he just recovered that, there's a high possibility he thought he could manage even if the letter remained, in the extreme. Sada would have understood that too. This is my own judgment, but Isaka might have demanded that Sada not only hand over the deed—specifically the one Hojo Masaharu left at the Sada house in Otaru—during the dinner, but also show him the text of the actual letter left behind. Even if he said 'he could manage,' he probably couldn't feel at ease unless he saw everything that was written. Thinking that way, I think the reason Sada brought a copy of the letter to Kitami can be explained by that."
Nishida presented his own theory.
"I see. According to that theory, Isaka figured that as long as he recovered the deed, after confirming the contents of the letter, he could barely treat it as just a 'mysterious letter' without grounds, no matter how much the original remained. Well, as long as there's no deed, it would be impossible to believe that what's written in the letter is true just by looking at the letter. But, shouldn't he have recovered the original letter as well, just to be sure? That's more certain. I wonder why he didn't..."
Takeshita showed agreement with Nishida's opinion in part, but seemed to have parts he couldn't understand.
"Hmm, if he wanted to be certain, he'd want to recover the original letter too, but unlike a deed with a blood seal, if it's just a letter, it wouldn't matter if other copies were made, right? Because the content is what's important for the letter. As for Isaka, I think he had already made up his mind about that. And he actually saw and confirmed it, and judged 'this should be fine even if it gets out.'"
"I see. If the content is important, then indeed, there might not be much need to worry about how many duplicates of that 'content' there are. In that case, recovering only the deed is enough, and it's logical to dare to ignore the letter given the situation. I won't say I'm perfectly convinced, but I can understand it well."
Takeshita accepted it reluctantly, though not from the heart.
"Even so, Isaka must have thought that the bodies mentioned in the letter were still in the place where they buried them, even when he was being blackmailed by Sada. Even if he had snatched the decisive deed backing up the contents of the letter from Sada, wouldn't he have been restless?"
"That might be so. But it's interesting. The three bodies were already dug up in Showa 52 by Shinoda and Kitagawa themselves, who were made to cooperate..."
As he started to say that, Nishida, and Takeshita too, realized for the first time the magnitude of that meaning. No, it might be more accurate to say they were made to realize it.
"That's it! In the first place, Kitagawa and Shinoda were the first discoverers involved in the discovery of those three bodies!"
After Nishida said that, he was half in a daze, but Takeshita took over after that.
"I didn't notice such an important thing until this very moment! It's frustrating... If they saw that letter Sada Minoru had after the murder, which was written by his brother Sada Toru before the war, there's a high probability they realized what the 'Tasuke' in the text did in the past, and that he killed Takamura... It wouldn't be strange if they realized that the bodies they found in Showa 52 were involved with the past incident in the letter!"
Natural strength began to enter both of Takeshita's fists as he said that.
"It's subtle whether they immediately realized that the Isaka Tasuke written in the letter and their own president, Isaka Daikichi, were the same person, but at least, the 'Daikichi' of that time eight years ago was giving them various instructions to kill Sada Minoru who had the letter... Wouldn't there be a high probability they thought there was some connection between the two from the name 'Isaka' as a result?"
"Indeed, it doesn't feel out of place to think that way."
Nishida also agreed, but added,
"In the first place, in the 40th anniversary commemorative company history the Isaka Group put out in 1990, the fact that Daikichi's old name was Tasuke was made public, so it's not strange at all if the two, who were employees, knew about it even before the 1987 incident."
Nishida was receiving the words of his subordinate, who continued to fire a machine gun of words, but when he confirmed that the talk had taken a breather, he began to state his own thoughts.
"If that's the case, there's something that caught my attention. If Motohashi's story is true, it seems Shinoda and Kitagawa initially accepted the cooperation in the murder in exchange for repaying a debt. If we take that literally, wouldn't their subsequent rise in the world not have been included in the initial terms? Could it be that after the murder, from the contents of the letter Sada had, they blackmailed Isaka about the letter and further raised the 'terms'? What do you think of this idea?"
Nishida was speaking passionately, unconsciously using gestures.
"That's entirely possible! If we assume Motohashi's story, that's actually cleaner! I'm sure the promotions weren't immediately after the incident, but had a subtle time lag, and they became managers in the winter of that year, and finally became executives in 1990, quite a while after the incident... Although personnel matters can't be moved so easily, it's not very smooth for something they were involved in the incident for. It's also conceivable that the promotions were after a dispute between the two parties."
"However, there's a difference in Isaka Daikichi's appearance between when he was probably blackmailed by someone else after August 1992 and then. What is that difference?"
Nishida spoke in a tone that suggested he wasn't convinced about that.
"Team Leader, as we talked about yesterday, there's also the theory that it's due to the difference in Isaka's age. Also, I thought of one more thing..."
Takeshita opened his mouth hesitantly.
"Even if Kitagawa and Shinoda blackmailed him, it's blackmail from people who were involved in the crime together with Isaka. There's a limit to blackmail. It's not so easy to blow oneself up and confess everything to the police. Conversely, regarding the blackmail three years ago, he seems quite panicked even looking at the phone conversation with Shinoda. If it was from a completely unexpected 'outsider,' just like the blackmail from Sada, the mental strain would be on a different level. The opponent is likely to have nothing to lose."
"Hmm, I wonder if that's how it is. Even so, when he was blackmailed by Sada, he seems to be dealing with it relatively calmly. Well, I say calmly, but in reality, it's in the sense of being cold-blooded enough to even resort to murder... The explanation for the difference from 1992 doesn't seem to hold up at all for that side..."
"Team Leader, 1992 is definitely different. If he thought he had completely disposed of it and had been at peace for several years, and then was suddenly blackmailed anew, the shock would be on a different level, wouldn't it? Because he was being blackmailed about the Sada murder, there's a possibility the police investigation would reach him again. Besides, at the point he was blackmailed by Sada, regarding Takamura's murder, the statute of limitations had passed, so couldn't he have stood his ground somewhat calmly?"
Nishida wasn't necessarily satisfied with Takeshita's answer, but he felt like following along since Takeshita went that far.
Even so, when they were collecting the remains of the forced labor camp victims, the two bodies they happened to find, and the body the police found immediately after that as a result, were related to the incident written in the letter, and Shinoda and Kitagawa probably never dreamed that the body of the person their company's president killed a long time ago was included among them. Isaka Daikichi himself, without knowing that the body had been discovered, and of all things, made the discoverers themselves his collaborators for the reasons that "they had a debt to him" and "they had local knowledge," which was truly nothing but an irony of fate.
Yoshimura aside, Kurano hadn't been fully grasping what Nishida and the others were saying because he had temporarily left this investigation, but he understood the outline, and it seemed he could follow the conversation the two were having beside him as Yoshimura seemed to have lectured him well while watching the hearing from behind. On the other hand, the people on the Osaka Police side must have been completely lost. For the time being, since the hearing wasn't over yet, they were hesitant to keep them waiting any longer, and prompted by Kurano, Nishida and Takeshita hurried back to the interrogation room.
*
Perhaps because it took more than ten minutes despite saying a few minutes, Motohashi already had a sluggish attitude. When they apologized to Murono and the others,
"You're late,"
Motohashi spoke rudely. He seemed to be demanding an apology.
"Ah, sorry about that."
Nishida could have brushed it off, but he dared not to sour his mood.
"Well then, please continue."
Takeshita also sat in the chair and lowered his head a bit to humor him.
"Can't be helped... Er... Right, right, so while rummaging through the luggage or rather the bag, I remember they were investigating persistently. I had brought a change of clothes, so I changed in the car, was taken straight back to the inn in Kitami, and in the afternoon I packed my things and left Kitami by train."
Motohashi continued talking while clicking his tongue.
"What happened to Sada's clothes and bag?"
Nishida pursued that part, thinking it was important.
"I don't know. Because I was sent back by those guys from the place where I killed him without stopping anywhere. Didn't they throw them away somewhere?"
Motohashi didn't hide his lack of interest.
"I see... If you don't know, it can't be helped. So you returned to Osaka from Kitami just like that. You said you received a down payment, but you must have received a success fee, right?"
"Well, I stopped at various places on the way back. In Sapporo, I played a bit in Susukino, and from there I went to Osorezan, Sendai, and Tokyo for a bit of sightseeing, and this time I went through the Pacific side. Did it take about a week..."
"And the rest of the reward?"
Nishida confirmed once more because Motohashi evaded it.
"You seem polite at first glance, but are detectives the same everywhere, always persistent?"
At Motohashi's blatantly exasperated attitude,
"Answer properly! Hey!"
Murono, who was unrelated, suddenly slammed the desk forcefully and intimidated him again. Of course, Murono probably didn't think such a thing would work on his opponent, but perhaps his feeling that he couldn't stand being looked down upon by the Hokkaido Police team's relatively "quiet hearing" made him do it again... However, according to Nishida's arbitrary "prejudice" against Kansai that the Osaka Police would have more daily opportunities to deal with ill-mannered opponents than the Hokkaido Police, he also arbitrarily assumed that a mere daily "habit" just happened to come out.
"You're a noisy detective as always, hey! Learn some manners from the Hokkaido detectives!"
It seemed to be a backtalk due to being "acquaintances" from before, but when he turned his face nonchalantly toward the Hokkaido Police team,
"The success reward was eight million. Well, I can never say by what arrangement I received it, though,"
he said clearly, strangely solemn, but emphasizing only the final "can't say."
"Eight million... So with the down payment, it's ten million in total. Was that a good deal for your work?"
"Yeah, there's no mistake that it was a good deal in terms of both amount and difficulty. But it was the bubble era then. Naturally, there must have been factors that made it higher than now, right?"
He answered Takeshita's question calmly, as if it were someone else's business.
"Is that because he's the president of a construction company?"
"President!? No, I'm hearing that for the first time."
Whether Motohashi didn't fall for Nishida's leading question or truly didn't know, he maintained the "logic" of the story that he didn't recognize Isaka except for his face. Nishida also internally thought he wasn't the kind of opponent who would crumble at that level, but it was undoubtedly futile to try anything with a man who had seen it all.
"So, do you know what happened to Sada's clothes and luggage, and the matter of the paper and keys after that?"
"I have no involvement in that at all. As I said before, I left it to those guys. My job ended with just the killing. So I don't know at all what they did or what happened after that."
He spoke flatly, but strangely, he didn't seem to be faking anything.
"Alright, I see. It seems futile to hear more today. But your story has parts that match the information we have quite well, and without the need for colored glasses, I think most of it can be trusted. I won't say all of it, but it's probably mostly true."
Nishida spoke quietly to Motohashi, unlike a detective.
"That's right. Because I'm only saying the truth. I can't stand being doubted about everything."
Motohashi showed a very happy expression. While observing that state, Nishida said,
"Since we undoubtedly need to indict you for this matter, it's certain that we'll eventually pull you to Hokkaido. I'm sure you understand since it's a confession made with that resolution... We'll hear various things formally then, but there will still be things to hear here in Osaka too. I'll count on you then. Now, that aside, there's one last thing I want to hear for today's hearing, is that alright?"
"Oh, so it was a lie that it's futile to hear more. Well, fine, if it's the Hokkaido Police, ask anything."
Motohashi opened both arms and took a welcoming pose.
"Then without hesitation. After the murder, how did you prove to Isaka that you killed Sada? As far as I've investigated the incidents you were involved in, you haven't used methods like broad daylight or ways where the murder wouldn't be found out at all, except for this incident. In other words, you're making 'society' recognize the death, so the client also knows, but regarding the Sada murder, you've completely concealed it, so there's no way to know from reports or elsewhere. Did you report to Isaka after the crime?"
Nishida asked while staring at every part of Motohashi's expression in front of him.
"I didn't meet him. I left the report to the two who were with me... They can prove it too, right? Since those guys took the clothes and luggage too."
"I see... I get it... My desire to hear is truly finished for today with this. Now, what will the Osaka Police side do? We don't mind ending it here."
Nishida asked Murono and Hatayama just in case, but he got a response that didn't feel very spirited,
"Well, I guess we'll have him do a bit more."
They probably knew it was futile to ask. However, the one who put a stop to that was Takeshita.
"Excuse me, may I also ask just one last question?"
It was a sudden request, but there was no particular reason for Nishida to block it, and since the two on the Osaka Police side didn't either, the question was naturally allowed. In response, Motohashi didn't hide his 'good grief' expression, but Takeshita didn't seem to mind.
"I'll ask once more, the one who requested you to kill Sada Minoru was Isaka, right?"
When he asked that, Motohashi's face went from lacking concentration to a serious expression for a moment, and after staring intently at Takeshita's face, he followed a transition to a suddenly relaxed expression and laughed,
"That's why I've been saying it many times since a while ago, right? The one who instructed me to kill was that old man Isaka."
"Is that alright? The one you were requested to kill by was Isaka?"
"You're a persistent guy! Yes, Isaka instructed me!"
Motohashi lightly tapped the desk with his fist, but without looking back at that, Takeshita turned toward Nishida and the two from the Osaka Police and said,
"I'm done with my part. Sorry for taking extra time."
To be honest, Nishida didn't understand if there was meaning in this "extension" of Takeshita's, but it didn't take much time, and with just a light nod and a "I see," Nishida and Takeshita went out into the hallway, leaving the three in the room.