Chapter 42 - Light and Shadow 21 (120–125: The Mystery of the Deed Kept by Kitagawa and the Contract; Masamitsu Agrees to Questioning Following Media Reports)
On the morning of October 12th, the materials for Motohashi's interrogation, which the Kitami District Headquarters had gathered by the day before yesterday, were sent to the Osaka Prefectural Police. Nishida and the others immediately obtained permission from the Osaka Detention House through the Prefectural Police and headed for the interrogation. This time, no investigators from the Prefectural Police accompanied them; it was a solo operation by the Hokkaido Prefectural Police.
"These are the photos of several ryokan in front of Kitami Station that we took based on your testimony. Do you see it here?"
Takeshita's irritation seemed to have subsided since yesterday, and he was quite calm. Motohashi compared the photos for a while, then simply said,
"This one, probably,"
as he selected the photo of Kume Ryokan. According to the inquiries made in the Kitami area, none of the ryokan employees had provided promising answers regarding whether Motohashi had stayed there, given the issue of the eight-year time gap. However, by using information that one wouldn't know without staying at Kume Ryokan—namely, that Kume Ryokan had baths attached to each room like a hotel—and asking about the bath, he gave an accurate answer, confirming beyond a doubt that he had stayed there.
Next, Nishida asked about the coffee shop. There were several candidates for this as well, and because there were shops with similar exteriors and interiors, he seemed to struggle between "Lumonde" and "Cafe Sanwa" until the end, but ultimately chose Cafe Sanwa based on its appearance.
Lumonde was located far from Kume Ryokan, and Cafe Sanwa was the closest, so Nishida thought Motohashi's testimony was consistent here as well. Having finished a satisfactory interrogation, Nishida informed Motohashi that he might come for another interrogation again, to which Motohashi smiled and said,
"You're welcome anytime."
Nishida and Takeshita could only manage awkward, polite smiles in response.
Yoshimura, who joined the two in the adjacent waiting room after the interrogation, was beaming with joy at the seemingly smooth progress. On the other hand, Nishida knew that pitfalls often exist in such moments and did not take the situation at face value as purely positive. Whether his subordinate knew this or not, he had a bottomless smile. However, Nishida's caution might have been due to the unexpected developments regarding Hojo's deed.
Upon returning to the Prefectural Police, they were greeted by Section Chief Tamaru of the Investigation Cooperation Division. It seemed he would return to Hokkaido once for the time being, following yesterday's press conference. He would return again once the transfer was finalized, but the Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters still seemed undecided on where to conduct the questioning. That said, he stated that Engaru Station would be difficult, so the Kotoni Detention Center in Sapporo, which is under the direct control of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters, would be the most appropriate for now. He also informed them that starting the day after tomorrow, the 14th, their long-term business trip would officially begin, and they would switch to staying at a business hotel due to budget constraints. It was a pity since they had been in a first-class hotel until now, but in a sense, it couldn't be helped as the previous arrangement had been "abnormal." After finishing the exchange with Tamaru, Nishida first reported the interrogation results to Kurano.
Kurano informed him that last night, a fax had been sent by Sada Akiko, the widow of Sada Minoru, containing an old document with the impression of his registered seal and Sada's handwritten signature, which was confirmed to be identical to the one left on the remaining contract. On the other hand, regarding the change in the method of returning to Sapporo from Kitami, she said she had heard nothing from Minoru at the time. Furthermore, he was told that forensics had detected fingerprints matching the bloody thumbprint of Hojo Masato from the remaining deed. This scientifically confirmed that the deed found in the safety deposit box was the one the Hojo brothers had transferred to the Sada family in Otaru.
After Kurano, Nishida finished his phone report to Sawai. Since there were no plans for the rest of the day, they were to remain on standby for the time being, so the three returned to the hotel and gathered in Nishida's room. As usual, whenever he had free time, Takeshita stared at the letter Shiino had written to Motohashi as if trying to bore holes through the paper to find what was hidden, but he only tilted his head in frustration, seemingly struggling quite a bit. Nishida and Yoshimura stepped in to help each time, but there was no way the two of them could manage what Takeshita couldn't decode...
Then, after 4:00 PM, the contract that Isaka was thought to have handed to Sada during their dinner was faxed over after forensic processing. Nishida immediately read through the text.
○ Contract Regarding the Will of Mr. Senzaki Daishiro and the Transfer of Funds/Lending of Business Capital Thereof
Isaka Daikichi (Representative Director of Isaka Group Co., Ltd., hereinafter "Party A") and Sada Minoru (Representative Director of Kanemi Shokusan Co., Ltd., hereinafter "Party B") shall enter into a contract regarding the transfer of the will of Mr. Senzaki Daishiro and the transfer of funds and lending of business capital thereof (hereinafter "this Contract"). Furthermore, regarding this contract, Matsushima Kotaro (Member of the Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly, hereinafter "Party C") shall serve as a witness.
Article 1: Party A shall receive the transfer of the will of Senzaki Daishiro (effectively a contract detailing the distribution of Senzaki Daishiro's estate) from Party B on September 25, 1987, and as consideration for this, shall pay the sum of 20,000,000 yen by bank transfer to Party B's ordinary account at the Sapporo Kouyou Bank, Higashi Branch, by Wednesday, October 7, 1987.
Article 2: Separately from this, as a loan for Party B's business capital, 200,000,000 yen shall be transferred to the checking account of Kanemi Shokusan at the Sapporo Kouyou Bank, Higashi Branch, by October 7, 1987.
This loan shall be repaid in full over 10 years, with interest at an annual rate of 0.1% on the principal. Regarding repayment, other than the deadline and the total amount of principal and interest, it shall be at Party B's discretion, and Party A shall have no right to make any claims regarding this.
Article 3: Party B shall not engage in any words or actions that damage the honor of Party A in any way.
Article 4: All three parties—A, B, and C—shall not disclose anything regarding this contract.
Article 5: In the event that Party B violates Articles 3 and 4, the contracts in Articles 1 and 2 shall be automatically voided.
In witness whereof, to prove the establishment of this Contract, three copies of this contract shall be prepared so that they may be given to Party A, Party B, and Party C respectively, and after being signed and sealed by the three parties, each shall retain one copy.
September 25, 1987
Party A: Hokkaido, Kitami City XXX...
Name: Isaka Daikichi [Seal]
Party B: Hokkaido, Sapporo City OOO...
Name: Sada Minoru [Seal]
Party C: Hokkaido, Kitami City △△△...
Name: Matsushima Kotaro [Seal]
"Hmm."
That was the first word out of his mouth after finishing. He immediately showed it to Yoshimura, who then handed it to Takeshita, who had been "struggling" with Shiino's letter. Takeshita took it and began to read. When Takeshita finished, Nishida and Yoshimura asked for his impressions.
"It's exactly as Komura reported to the Team Leader... Certainly, at least on this document, whether it's real or fake, it's assumed that Isaka received that deed. We don't know if the transfer actually took place, but because of this, even if Sada had handed over the deed beforehand, a contract was created, so the plan to receive the money was legally secured. He must have felt relieved at this time... That's also evident from the phone call to his family on the night of September 25th after the dinner. By handing it over in advance, the possibility of a default on the funding—where Isaka would just run off with the deed and not pay the money—was gone. Also, the document was likely prepared in advance by a lawyer. It's quite well-made... It was probably made by someone like Matsuda, the legal advisor for the Isaka Group. However, the fact that he wasn't included in the dinner as a witness..."
He trailed off.
"Was it harder to deal with compared to Matsushima?"
Yoshimura tried to speak for him while watching Takeshita's reaction.
"Yeah... Certainly, as Isaka's legal advisor, Matsuda is loyal enough to clash with the police during Kitagawa's time, but if Isaka was planning to kill Sada, he might not have had enough trust to involve him that far..."
Upon hearing Takeshita's opinion, Nishida asked for confirmation.
"So, does that mean Matsushima knew about Isaka's plan?"
"To be honest, it's subtle. However, Matsushima is like Oshima's lackey. There's the relationship between Oshima and Isaka, and the relationship between Matsushima and Oshima. Given the suspicions toward Oshima, it's logical to see Matsushima as deeply involved, whether or not he was aware of the murder. In contrast, Lawyer Matsuda is Isaka's loyal advisor, but he's also a properly independent lawyer. And even if he clashed with the police over Kitagawa's case, in the end, that was a solid legal battle... It's hard to say how much Matsushima knew, but on the other hand, I think it's safe to say he recognized he was treading on very dangerous ground."
"I see. A Prefectural Assembly member is perfect if you want someone with social status whose later testimony to the police would carry weight. At the same time, for Sada, who was facing him, a witness like that would carry weight, so Sada would trust him too."
Nishida was deeply convinced.
"Anyway, by creating this contract, Sada felt safe and let his guard down, and Isaka likely secured the conditions to kill Sada by obtaining the deed in exchange for the contract. If he recovered Sada's copy of the contract after the murder, the contract itself would become unclear. Unfortunately, it seems it was snatched away by Kitagawa and Shinoda, who were at the murder scene... If I recall, when Isaka was questioned eight years ago, he said the talk of funding was resolved amicably, but after that, there was no actual provision of benefits to the Sada family as described in this document, right?"
Asked for confirmation by Takeshita, Nishida replied,
"That's right. Kanemi Shokusan went bankrupt after that... Since Sada himself went missing and the contract didn't come to anyone else's attention, a third party couldn't prove what kind of funding it was, and there was effectively no need for the contract to be fulfilled. In this situation, worrying about the fulfillment of the debt and lying that 'the talks ended in failure' would have been far more suspicious. Looking at the overall picture, since Sada went missing immediately after talking about money, it might be a weak excuse, but it's at least better than saying they parted on bad terms."
"Exactly, it's a perfect balance. According to the terms on the document, he would have needed to transfer the money regardless of that, but if the contract terms are unknown, it would actually seem strange to transfer money while the person himself is missing. It's the best among the excuses. After that, he just had to get through it with Oshima's intervention... There was almost no fear of the culprit, Motohashi, being caught back then."
Takeshita said this in a tone of satisfaction that things made sense.
"That's all well and good, but if we assume it went according to this contract, we still don't know why the deed was in Kitagawa's possession instead of Isaka's... Wait, that's not it... Of course, the reason Kitagawa ultimately had it was because they snatched it along with the luggage, but rather than that, it's more accurate to ask if what was in Isaka's hands ended up in Sada Minoru's luggage... Anyway, in that sense, nothing has been solved."
Yoshimura made a comment that was like throwing cold water on the two smiling men, which was rare for him.
"Don't say that..."
Nishida let out a sigh, but Takeshita said definitively,
"We can leave things we don't understand for later! My brain is at its limit! No need to touch on it on purpose!"
It was a rare, dismissive remark for Takeshita, but hearing it, Nishida also cheered like a child,
"That's right, that's right! That's fine for now!"
He folded the fax of the contract and put it in a file. By then, Takeshita had already begun struggling with Shiino's letter again. His head was full of that right now, and he had no room for anything else; that remark must have been the result of that.
Not wanting to disturb Takeshita, Nishida was watching TV with the sound muted when his cell phone rang after 6:00 PM, just as he was thinking of ending the standby and having dinner. It was from Kurano.
"I had Sada's wife come all the way from Sapporo to Kitami, and she just arrived. I had her confirm it right away, and she testified that the bag from the safety deposit box was her husband's. Also, regarding the man who lured him out to the coffee shop... based on the sketch, a man named Shigeno, who was a secretary at the time, was listed. But... unfortunately, this guy died five years ago too."
Nishida wondered why his tone had suddenly dropped, only to be met with that punchline.
Hearing that, Nishida couldn't help but raise his voice.
"Good grief, again!?"
Both Yoshimura and Takeshita looked toward Nishida.
"However, it seems he died of a bad heart, so there's nothing suspicious about it. It was a natural death."
Kurano must have been disappointed himself, but he spoke in a way that unconsciously soothed Nishida.
"Even so, with people dying left and right like this, the investigation is tough. He probably didn't know the details about the murder, though..."
The only saving grace for the investigators was the "thinness of involvement" based on the conjecture that the man who took Motohashi to the coffee shop—likely Shigeno—was not involved in the core of Sada's murder, or hadn't heard about it.
"Oh, I forgot something important. Speaking of people dying, there's Matsushima Kotaro, who also looks like he's about to die..."
Kurano suddenly changed the subject and spoke with a strange, lingering pause.
"What is it?"
Nishida lost his patience.
"When we asked Matsushima for voluntary questioning about the contract that turned up, thinking it was a long shot, he actually agreed!"
"Really? That's another surprise!"
Nishida was truly shocked by the positive, unexpected turn of events.
"Yeah, I was really surprised, to be honest. I thought he'd refuse, saying he wasn't allowed visitors... Kitamura and Mitsushima went, and apparently, he talked to them. Something about Kitamura's girlfriend's relative being Matsushima's attending nurse... Apparently, they put in a good word. When asked about the contract, he said he certainly remembered it. It's a pity he said he'd already disposed of the original he was supposed to have received. Well, we had confirmation with the registered seal, but it's a help that we got new testimony from the man himself."
Kurano's voice sounded happy, unlike before.
"He admitted it himself? That's surprising... Admitting it is a disadvantage for the deceased Isaka. Is a trend of pushing everything onto Isaka already being established? Because it'll be revealed that he had to pay the money according to the contract, regardless of Sada's situation... Since we didn't interrogate him about the contract eight years ago, whether his mind changed because of the years passed or he didn't answer because he wasn't asked, at this point, can't we do something about the rest too..."
Nishida spoke in a pleading tone, even though he wasn't talking directly to Matsushima.
"I don't know how much of the document's content he admitted to. It's just testimony to the effect that he'd seen it. Also, unfortunately, it seems the questioning was only about the contract. He said anything else was a thing of the past, so it was a no-go."
"I see... That's a pity. Still, I wonder how much Matsushima knew about the incident at the time of the dinner. Was he really just a witness? From past investigations, Motohashi's current statements, and surrounding research, there's no sign of Matsushima's involvement... I was just talking about the witness Matsushima with Takeshita and Yoshimura. Now might be the last chance to re-examine everything before he dies. He's agreed to questioning this time, even if it's limited..."
"I don't know. According to Kitamura, he looked quite emaciated, so if he uses his illness as a shield, it'll be impossible voluntarily. A warrant might be refused depending on the attending physician, and in the first place, there's no grounds to apply for one. Isn't it impossible?"
Kurano seemed quite skeptical.
"I suppose so... Well, I'll hear more from Kitamura when I get back there... There are so many other things I want to hear again, like the stories about the raids here and there."
Nishida replied.
"Also, I sent all the photos of male employees in their 30s at the time, which were seized in yesterday's raid, to you by express mail, so please question Motohashi. It might be better to leave Shigeno for last. In the end, because we conducted a head-on raid, the materials we'd been gathering covertly until then have gone to waste..."
Kurano spoke as if cutting off Nishida's words.
"Understood... The questioning of Motohashi will likely proceed smoothly, but the problem will be what lies beyond..."
Nishida implicitly suggested how they would turn the brunt of the investigation toward MP Oshima, but Kurano didn't particularly acknowledge that and further added that trace metal components found on the clothes believed to be Sada's matched the bullet casing Motohashi had used. In this regard as well, the walls were steadily closing in to convict Motohashi.
"Was there anything else... Oh right, I also questioned Kitagawa's bereaved family as witnesses to see if they'd heard about the safety deposit box..."
"Were you doing that simultaneously?"
Nishida felt that his preparations were quite good.
"I suppose so."
Kurano said this and began to tell Nishida the results.
"Apparently, they hadn't heard anything about the safety deposit box from Kitagawa while he was alive—or rather, before he collapsed. On the other hand, according to his wife, she had consulted with the President—that is, Isaka Masamitsu—at the stage of removing the life support."
"With Masamitsu?"
Here, Nishida asked this while not quite understanding how the story of the safety deposit box and the story of the consultation with Isaka Masamitsu were connected.
"Yeah. Well, he's the head of the company where her husband was an executive, so it's not unnatural at all, right?"
"That's true."
"And then, at that time, before Kitagawa became unconscious, he was apparently asked in a roundabout way, 'Had you heard anything about him keeping something important?'"
"Ho. That's interesting."
Here, after understanding that the matter of the safety deposit box and the story were finally connected, Nishida felt that it was something that could normally happen, along with some surprise, since he and Takeshita had suspected that Masamitsu might have heard something about the series of incidents from his father, Daikichi.
"You don't seem very surprised."
Kurano spoke in a disappointed tone.
"When we were investigating independently over here, we were considering the possibility that Masamitsu might know something, even if he wasn't directly involved in the incident..."
When Nishida said this frankly, Kurano seemed to understand the reason for Nishida's attitude, saying,
"I see. So you'd gone that far when we were chasing that serial killer case."
"So, what did the wife say?"
"She really didn't seem to know, so she apparently just said, 'I don't know.'"
"So Masamitsu just backed off?"
"It seems so. He didn't seem to ask persistently or anything."
"Was there any other movement?"
"That's about it, as far as I heard from the wife. There might have been something else moving where we can't see, but for now, that's it. We're also in the middle of checking all the accounts related to Isaka."
"I see. In that case, if Masamitsu had heard the circumstances from his old man, it would mean that he wasn't that obsessed with the mementos of Sada Minoru that Kitagawa and the others were keeping..."
For Nishida, it was a bit of a letdown.
"I don't know how much Masamitsu knew about Kitagawa and the others' 'trump card' for blackmailing Daikichi, or what kind of thing it was, but if he knew, of course—and even if he didn't—he might have thought it wouldn't turn out too badly because he himself wasn't involved in the crime and Kitagawa and the others were criminals themselves. If it were something really dangerous, he'd be desperate, right?"
It was Kurano's own interpretation, but it was a story Nishida could nod along to.
"That's true. And looking at it now, perhaps the relationship between the Isaka father and son and Kitagawa and Shinoda wasn't that bad. Behind their great rise to success, there was undoubtedly a struggle over terms using Daikichi's past crimes as leverage..."
As for Nishida, based on Motohashi's testimony, he and Takeshita had considered the possibility that the two had half-threatened Daikichi using his past murders as leverage. On the other hand, if he thought back, that leverage could be said to remain as just a scandal due to the statute of limitations. The two themselves were directly involved in the murder of Sada Minoru. After that, the two continued to serve as Managing Directors, and even after Daikichi's death, no particular stories of a bad relationship under Masamitsu had been heard. Considering all these things comprehensively, he was beginning to think that although there was some tension between the two sides, it hadn't reached a complete state of confrontation between the blackmailed and the blackmailer. In other words, he was beginning to feel that a course correction was necessary.
"We'll investigate that part from now on. Masamitsu has also agreed to questioning."
"Was it that easy!?"
Nishida was surprised. Certainly, considering that they had obtained a statement about Isaka Daikichi's involvement in the incident through Motohashi's testimony, it was a part they would have to move on eventually, but since Daikichi, who was directly involved in the incident, was already deceased, his son Masamitsu shouldn't have had to force himself to agree to a voluntary questioning.
"Yeah, it was unexpectedly easy. It's already been reported in today's morning edition of the Doho, regarding the incident Motohashi testified about, in a way like, 'At the request of a now-deceased construction business owner in Kitami.' To those who see it, they'll know it's about Isaka Daikichi, right? In such a situation, he probably realized that if he continued to run from the police investigation, it could have a negative impact on his business."
"I see. So the Doho stepped into that... Yes, in that case, it would be safer to comply. But Section Chief Kurano, you're quite full of motivation."
When Nishida said that to Kurano with a laugh, Kurano replied,
"To reveal the secret of my motivation, the DNA for the serial female killer case also matched, and the decision to prosecute that one has been made, so I can now put all my effort into this one. Though I have to be careful, of course."
Kurano emphasized the last part, but from his voice, he seemed to be in a good mood. The fact that one case had been settled seemed to lead to psychological leeway, after all.
"I see! Congratulations on that. It helps us out over here too."
Nishida was truly happy about the change in circumstances, even though it was a case that had nothing to do with him.
"Well, it's about time..."
Kurano said as if savoring the moment.
On October 13th, new investigation materials had not yet arrived from Kitami. Since it was a long-term business trip, the three of them—Nishida, Takeshita, and Yoshimura—decided to go shopping for daily necessities in Osaka city during the day. They were scheduled to move to a business hotel the next day, but there was a limit to the laundry they could do themselves, so they were buying replacement underwear and dress shirts.
Also, to verify Yoshimura's theory that the limited express "Ootori" in 1987 might have passed through Ikutahara, they searched for old timetables at a large secondhand bookstore and successfully found a September 1987 timetable, checking the column for the Sekihoku Main Line that goes from Asahikawa through Engaru and Kitami to Abashiri.
As Yoshimura had planned, the Ootori was treated as passing through Ikutahara Station. This made Yoshimura's theory the most persuasive one at present. However, if they intended to visit the couple, it was only common sense to call in advance, and the weakness in that regard didn't seem likely to be resolved. Also, when returning to Sapporo, it was confirmed on the timetable that the Okhotsk No. 4 in 1987 stopped at Ikutahara Station, and after meeting the Maeda couple, they could just board from Ikutahara Station as Takeshita had argued, so such questions also arose. It seemed it wasn't an idea that could be perfectly explained so easily.
On the way, they stopped at a convenience store to buy drinks, and Nishida's eyes were caught by a headline in a famous gossip magazine called "Weekly FREE." It was "Drastic Change! Local General Contractors and Construction Industry Transformed by Public Works Cuts." Or rather, to be more precise, it was the subtitle "Hokkaido Okhotsk Fierce Battle Edition," which had a naming sense like the subtitle of a yakuza movie like "Battles Without Honor and Humanity," and the words "Report/Text by Takagaki Shinichi" that he reacted to. He realized it was the name and report content he'd heard from the master when he drank at the bar "Charmant" in Shinjuku Golden Gai during the investigation in Tokyo.
Nishida immediately picked it up, checked the relevant part in the table of contents, and flipped through the pages to that page. As he'd heard mostly at Charmant, it said that among the construction companies around Kitami and Abashiri, which were the home turf of the MP Oshima Kaiji in question, a conflict structure involving the yakuza in the background—which would have been unthinkable until now—had been established. It seemed that the construction companies themselves were front companies for the yakuza, or the yakuza were the backers of the companies, and the skirmishes between nearby yakuza were gradually becoming noticeable.
It was quite interesting for something he was just browsing, and since there were many pages, Nishida handed a 1,000 yen bill to Yoshimura along with a plastic bottle and had him buy it. Yoshimura had asked for a cola and Takeshita for black tea, but of course, he had them paid for together.
After finishing all the shopping, having lunch, and returning to the hotel, Nishida lay down on his bed alone in his room and re-read the weekly magazine properly. In short, the political situation was such that the fiscal situation had worsened due to the collapse of the bubble economy, and although public works spending was currently on an expansionary trend as an economic measure, it was certain to be significantly reduced in the near future.
It seemed that the scramble for the (few years ahead) public works pie among construction companies, which would have normally shared or cooperated, had begun openly. It said that the yakuza moving around them were also in a suspicious situation, but Nishida, who was inside the police, hadn't heard any stories about yakuza fighting each other, especially within the Kitami District Headquarters, so he couldn't help but be quite skeptical about this point, thinking, "Is that really true?"
As one specific example in the article, it said that there was a conflict involving yakuza among construction companies under the influence of local assembly members under Oshima Kaiji, and as a result, it was also creating friction between the assembly members. Since it was a topic related to the person they were chasing, he was quite concerned, but considering the timeline, it was clearly unrelated to the incident. As for the articles about the yakuza, he felt they might be exaggerated descriptions to make them sensational.
After finishing the relevant article, Nishida looked at other articles out of habit. It was a topic about a treasure appraisal program he also watched. This program, which started in September of the previous year, 1994, had become a program with a viewer rating of about 20% in about a year, even though it was the weakest TV station with the lowest ratings among the national key stations. The structure was to have experts appraise self-proclaimed "treasures" or seemingly worthless "junk" brought in by amateurs, and while watching the amateurs' joy and sorrow, one would gain knowledge about various treasures.
In an interview with the program producer, he talked about how many fakes were circulating in the city. He said there were many fakes, especially in paintings, calligraphic works, and ceramics, and they were quite careful when putting them on the program. However, Nishida cynically felt that there was also an element of making fun of people who had been stuck with such fakes.
In any case, since it was a program Nishida himself watched, he looked at the article with quite some interest, but as he began to read other articles, the matter of the deed suddenly bothered him, and he placed the weekly magazine on the corner of the bed.
Certainly, Hojo Masato's deed was kept in Shiino's hands—at least after Shinoda's death—likely as a "deterrent" by Kitagawa and Shinoda against Isaka Daikichi, and perhaps even against Masamitsu after he died. This destroyed the scenario Nishida and the others had initially thought of, where the deed had passed from Sada Minoru to Isaka Daikichi as "leverage" for Sada's funding.
On the other hand, one copy of the contract—likely the one Sada had received—out of the three created for Isaka, Sada, and Matsushima, which assumed Isaka Daikichi had received the Hojo brothers' deed from Sada Minoru, was also in Kitagawa's hands. Two clearly contradictory facts.
If that's the case, was a different deed—other than the one for Sada "Toru" that Minoru possessed, and the one Hojo Masato had, which was passed to Sada "Yuzuru" by the younger brother Masaharu and finally to Minoru—transferred to Isaka Daikichi?
At the time, there's no doubt that there were two deeds in Sada Minoru's possession. If we assume others of the same kind existed, they would be Isaka Daikichi's and Kuwano Kinya's. However, logically speaking, Isaka's should have been held by Isaka or disposed of, and it's almost impossible that Sada would transfer that to Isaka.
If so, the only possibility is Kuwano Kinya's, but Kuwano himself is missing, and it would be almost impossible in terms of time for Sada Minoru to obtain Kuwano's deed after learning of the deed's existence following his biological mother's death. No trace of Sada Minoru having sensed Kuwano's whereabouts or location has been found so far. This matched the thought Takeshita had explained immediately after Komura reported to Nishida that "there was a deed" after the search of the safety deposit box.
However, since it was before the funding was actually provided, perhaps there was a hidden "condition" that the deed would not be transferred to Daikichi until that "realization." In other words, the wording of the document was formally "transferred," but the reality was not so.
But if that were the case, the reason why Sada Minoru brought the real Hojo deed all the way to Kitami would be unknown. Was it just to confirm the existence of the deed Sada was using for blackmail in front of Isaka?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was entering a dead end, but even so, Nishida desperately tried to summarize his thoughts on the premise that the transfer had not actually been made at the time of the dinner on September 25th, and that the deed had been brought only for confirmation of its existence.
If that were the case, Isaka naturally wouldn't have known that Sada had two deeds, so if he could recover the ones Sada brought, his "silencing strategy" against Sada would be most effective. And after confirming that the deed had been brought to Kitami during the dinner on September 25th, he executed Sada's murder the next day as planned. He left the recovery of the deed and contract from Sada to Kitagawa and Shinoda, whom he had attached to Motohashi to assist in the murder.
However, because the two happened to know about Isaka Daikichi's past murder by discovering the unidentified body, and ended up being involved in Sada Minoru's murder as well, this time, as material for further "negotiation of terms," the deed, along with all of Sada's luggage and the "letter," fell into the hands of the two. Thinking about it that way, it seemed to make sense in its own way.
If Kitagawa and Shinoda hadn't had the "memory" of discovering the past body, Isaka Daikichi's intentions should have been achieved as planned. And, as he thought earlier, if the reason Sada Minoru brought the deed to Kitami was just for a "showing," and Isaka Daikichi had only received the deed for the sake of the contract's form, it's possible that it returned to Sada Minoru's hands once more afterward, and the contradiction would be resolved in the broad framework.
"I see, I don't need to worry too much if I just think that the reason the deed remains is because it went through such a process..."
Nishida muttered this, gave a short laugh, and picked up the weekly magazine again, but then,
"No, no, wait a minute..."
The words of hesitation came naturally to his lips.
Certainly, the reason Sada brought the deed to Kitami might not be important. Even so, isn't it too convenient to say that the wording of the contract "transferred" was formal and not a fact? The hesitation began again. Going back and forth, no conclusion could be reached.
"Ah, what a pain, hey!"
He almost went mad and shouted loudly, but Nishida, who barely suppressed it to a whisper, flopped face down on the bed, then turned over onto his back and tried to sleep with the weekly magazine over his face.
"I shouldn't be thinking by flatly denying the evidence that has come out..."
Nishida muttered to himself from "under" the weekly magazine.
"It's impossible to think that Isaka receiving the Hojo deed and the Hojo deed passing into the hands of Kitagawa and the others are compatible..."
Just as he was about to say that, Nishida jumped up and stared at the weekly magazine he'd been looking at until just now.
"What if the deed he handed over was actually a fake?"
The article he was looking at mentioned that "there are many fakes in calligraphic works and paintings." Nishida allowed himself to think conveniently "only in this part" that a deed would not be harder to imitate than a painting. Even if it was because there was no material to deny it...
And even if it was old, since the deed was from the Showa era, wouldn't there be no need to "process" it that much? In other words, couldn't even an amateur manage it? That thought suddenly grew strong.
The other day, when Takeshita mentioned the possibility of it being a fake when Komura told him about the existence of the deed, Nishida had countered, "Then there's a possibility that the one handed over was a fake," but at that time, he hadn't thought for a second that he would seriously think so. It's not like a drowning man clutching at straws, but the possibility is not zero. And the existence of the deed that should have gone to Isaka and the fact of the transfer would be compatible and established by a fake deed being transferred from Sada to Isaka.
Now, if Sada Minoru were to make a forgery of the deed, how would he do it? Given his profession, he probably wouldn't have had such connections. If that's the case, wouldn't he first rely on knowledge from books and such? Based on the large number of books in Sada Minoru's collection when he visited the Sada residence, Nishida first thought so. If that's the case, it's time for action. Nishida called Akiko at the Sada residence.
Just as Nishida was about to ask Akiko, who happened to be at home, if there were any art-related books in Minoru's collection, especially ones dealing with forgeries, he realized he'd forgotten something important. This definitely had to come first.
"It's been a while. I think you've seen the news, but the culprit behind your husband's case was that Motohashi. I questioned him directly here, and there's no mistake. Even though I was busy, I apologize for not contacting the person I should have contacted first."
Yes, he'd forgotten to tell her about Motohashi. He should have done it at least right before the press conference.
"If it's about that, I was contacted directly by a Mr. Toyama, the Director from the Prefectural Police, so don't worry about it."
Akiko said it simply.
"Oh, is that so..."
Nishida was surprised by the unexpected news, but Toyama must have heard the contact information from Nagumo and reported the investigation directly. It must have been because the Director recognized that the delay in solving the case was caused by insufficient investigation that he wanted to explain it himself. In that case, he could say there was no psychological barrier to getting to the main point. His heart felt lighter.
"While I'm at it, your husband had quite a collection of books, didn't he?"
"Yes!? Well, I think he has a fair amount of books..."
"Among them, were there any art-related books, especially those dealing with reproductions, restorations, or fakes?"
Nishida felt that the expression "how to make fakes" was hard to say straight out, so he stuck to a vague way of saying it.
"Let's see..."
"No, you don't have to tell me right here, if you could just check and then contact me..."
"Um... no, I certainly remember there being... no, there is. Even so, what's wrong with that book?"
"Oh! Is it really there!? That's a help."
Nishida felt like dancing, sensing his hunch might be right.
"Yes, it's true... But is it necessary for something?"
Akiko's voice sounded strangely flustered, which bothered him, but he was naturally hesitant to answer directly. He couldn't exactly say, "Your husband forged it."
"Do you know the title of that book? If possible, it would be a help to know the publisher's name and the edition as well..."
"Please wait a moment."
When Akiko said that, a hold melody played, and after about a minute, Akiko began to speak again. It didn't take as long as expected.
"Mr. Nishida, I found it... 'The World Behind Artworks: This is the Forbidden Fake Production Manual'? That's the title of the book..."
Akiko's wording became faltering when she read the title. Judging from the title, it probably wasn't a very respectable type of book. Akiko, who was a refined elderly woman, might have felt embarrassed even reading it.
"Who is the publisher?"
Nishida didn't engage in unnecessary conversation and asked only the necessary items without a moment's delay. It wasn't because he was in a hurry, but because he didn't want Akiko to feel bad for long. If the book the police asked about was in her husband's collection and the title of that collection was suspicious, it was natural for Akiko to sense something. Nishida felt that scent in the way she read the title. Since she already knew that her husband had effectively been "blackmailing" Isaka, there was almost no doubt.
"Koushun Publishing, Koushun as in 'crimson' and 'spring'... yes."
"While I'm at it, is there an edition, like the what-th edition? It's the one listed at the very end, please tell me that."
"Let's see... it says first edition, June 30, 1986."
"Understood. Thank you. I'll be in touch if anything else comes up."
Just as Nishida was about to hang up, Akiko stopped him.
"Um, there was a receipt tucked in as a bookmark. That page is page 83..."
"Thank you for going to the trouble. Goodbye then."
He thought it wouldn't be much work to check everything even without being told, but it must have been Akiko's own consideration. He brushed it off, but it was a grateful gesture.
Nishida tore up the memo he'd taken and, in order to go straight to the bookstore, explained the situation and called out to Takeshita and Yoshimura. Yoshimura was watching TV and laughing, so it was natural to draft him for work, but Takeshita was still "struggling" with the letter from Shiino to Motohashi, so he tried to cancel taking him along. However, Takeshita seemed to be at quite an impasse, and he chose to follow along for a change of pace, despite Nishida's hesitation.
When he specified the largest bookstore in central Osaka as "up to you" in a taxi, the veteran driver mentioned the name of a bookstore in a building in front of Osaka Station, and when he agreed, he took Nishida and the others there. The floor area was indeed large and spanned two floors, so the driver's choice was understandable. However, when he had the clerk look up the title, it took quite a while, and he was told only the fruitless result that the book was out of print and Koushun Publishing itself had already gone out of business. In this situation, the three of them took a taxi to the secondhand bookstore they'd stopped at for the timetable.
However, it wasn't in stock there either. Since it was quite a large secondhand bookstore, expectations were high, but those expectations were crushed there as well. Since it was a waste of time to go around secondhand bookstores aimlessly in a city they didn't know well, they returned to the hotel, borrowed a phone book, and checked for stock one by one, but unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found.
"I'm stumped... I'll have to have the wife send the actual book..."
"It's actually strange that you didn't do that when it wasn't at the bookstore in front of the station..."
Yoshimura didn't hide his dissatisfaction upon hearing Nishida's words.
"The Team Leader probably didn't want to put too much of a burden on the wife."
Takeshita spoke for Nishida's inner thoughts, but Yoshimura didn't seem to have any intention of changing his attitude, saying,
"It's too late for that after causing her so much trouble."
However, Yoshimura's attitude aside, his way of thinking could be said to be correct.
"The secondhand bookstore where I bought the book in Tokyo had quite a few volumes, so I'll try calling the number on the bookmark I got and ask... If it's not there, I'll have to give up and rely on the wife."
Saying that, Nishida called "Kaiser Shoin" in Kanda Jinbocho, Tokyo, which was listed on the bookmark, pinning his last hope on it.
The employee who answered the phone made a sound like typing on a terminal while listening to the story, but immediately told Nishida,
"Ah, we have it here."
"Oh, you do!? Is it the first edition?"
"Well, it looks like it on the screen... Well, books from unknown companies like this usually go out of print after the first edition."
After showing off knowledge typical of a secondhand bookstore employee to Nishida, he asked,
"It'll be 1,545 yen including tax, should I put this on hold?"
"No, I'm sorry but I don't have the leeway to go to Tokyo, so I'd like you to send it to Osaka..."
"In that case, it would be either by transferring the money to a designated account or by cash on delivery..."
"Then cash on delivery. Send it to the hotel in Osaka..."
Just as Nishida was saying that, he was politely refused.
"I'm sorry, but cash on delivery is impossible at a hotel... Sometimes there are troubles at the hotel front desk. If you transfer the money, the delivery person just has to hand it over, so that's fine..."
"If that's the case, it can't be helped... Then send it here..."
Saying that, Nishida specified Nishida Toshihiro of the Police Administration Division, which he didn't even belong to, in addition to the address of the Osaka Prefectural Police.
"I've received the address. Well then, I'll ship it now... It looks like it'll make it for the night flight by a hair, so if it's cash on delivery, it might arrive tomorrow afternoon. So the total will be 2,100 yen including shipping and the cash on delivery fee, so please pay the delivery person when it arrives."
"Understood. I'll leave it to you then."
To Nishida, who had finished the order, Yoshimura, who had suddenly changed to a smile, said,
"As expected of Jinbocho."
"I ordered it without saying anything to the Police Administration Division, so I'll have to go to the Police Administration Division before the delivery person comes. Ah, either way, tomorrow."
Nishida's mind was now on that, but since they needed to move to a business hotel the next day, the three detectives began the task of packing their luggage.