Chapter 53 - Light and Shadow 32 (174–175: The true meaning of Motohashi's remarks; Engaru Station's effective white flag)
"So, what kind of stories are 'The Blue Carbuncle' and 'The Adventure of the Norwood Builder' in the first place?"
Nishida voiced a fundamental question, but before he knew it, the title Motohashi had mentioned in the car had also been added.
"To explain simply... in 'The Blue Carbuncle,' a stolen gem was hidden inside a goose (Author's Note: It was not a turkey, so this is not a mistake) being shipped for Christmas, but it ended up coming to Holmes... And it's a story about saving a man who had been arrested on false charges for stealing the gem."
"Hmm."
He somewhat understood, yet didn't quite, but Nishida let the talk slide.
"'The Adventure of the Norwood Builder' is also a story about false charges. It's about a builder who tried to frame the son of a woman he had unrequited love for long ago as the culprit who murdered him... In the end, his evil scheme is exposed by Holmes and he's caught."
"I see."
Again, it was impossible to grasp everything just by hearing it, but he pretended to understand well. Whether he sensed that situation or not, Takeshita suddenly cut into the conversation.
"'The Norwood Builder' was a story where Holmes struggled quite a bit, wasn't it?"
"That's right. Holmes was backed into a corner, but the builder and his female helper did something unnecessary, and conversely, the son's innocence and the evil deeds of those who tried to frame him were exposed, if I recall correctly."
"Ah, that's right! I remember now. He forged a bloody fingerprint on the wall that wasn't there at the time, trying to make it decisive evidence of the murder. It was a typical example of a 'superfluous addition' (T/N: literally 'snake's legs')."
Kitamura nodded as if to say 'exactly' after hearing Takeshita's story.
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After returning to Engaru Station, Nishida changed out of his work clothes and was about to leave the Detective Division to have a smoke, but he was suddenly stopped by Takeshita.
"What is it?"
"Team Leader, maybe... this is just a maybe, but Motohashi, who was acting like that, might have actually been confessing to us."
Takeshita was a bit excited.
"Are you saying that seriously?"
Nishida almost dropped the lighter he was holding, but he managed to hold on at the last second.
"What do you mean? That guy played dumb until the very end, didn't he?"
"Of course, he did on the surface. However, considering the stories from the Section Chief and Kitamura, I thought maybe he was giving us some kind of hint, including the talk during the escort from Sapporo when I wasn't there."
"I don't get it. Explain it properly."
Nishida still didn't see the connection even after hearing that.
"When you combine the fact that he said his favorite Sherlock Holmes works were 'The Blue Carbuncle' and 'The Adventure of the Norwood Builder' with his question, 'Could you have reached me without my confession?', it's a bit concerning. Well, going by the timeline, I can't say anything about 'The Blue Carbuncle'..."
To the subordinate who spoke hesitantly, Nishida, becoming impatient, urged him to continue.
"What are you trying to say!"
"To be honest, regarding 'The Blue Carbuncle,' he might have truly liked it given the flow of the conversation, but I think he clearly aimed for something with 'The Adventure of the Norwood Builder,' which he went out of his way to change to on the second day..."
Takeshita's speech was more mumbling than usual, and he didn't look full of confidence, but at the same time, he didn't look like he had no conviction at all.
"In this story, the true culprit who runs a construction business does something unnecessary and his evil deeds are exposed. Kitamura was saying the outline of the story earlier—to settle a grudge from his youth, he frames the client, who is the son of the woman he once loved and then hated, as his own murderer. He makes it look like he was burned to death. And he successfully deceived the police, and Holmes, who was asked for help, unfortunately couldn't prove the client's innocence. However, the culprit, intending to deliver the final blow, did something unnecessary... that is, he deliberately attached the client's bloody fingerprint to the wall, which wasn't there when Holmes was carefully investigating the scene. The police discovered this. The police rejoiced at this as 'certain evidence of murder by the client,' but because of this, Holmes conversely became convinced that the client was clearly being framed, and the mastermind was likely the builder who was supposed to have been killed. And it's a story about smoking out the true culprit hiding somewhere in the mansion by deliberately starting a small fire."
After hearing the outline of the story from Takeshita, Nishida stated bluntly,
"I understand the content of the story, but what's the conclusion?"
"I feel like that's subtly connected to this case. Maybe, just maybe, Motohashi is likening his 'confession' to the bloody fingerprint..."
Having heard this far, Nishida began to see the thread of the story.
"Is what Takeshita wants to say this? Regarding Sada's murder case, it's true that we had reached the point of discovering Sada's remains on our own, but as you told Motohashi, we honestly don't think we could have reached Motohashi, the actual murderer, as we are. However, because Motohashi confessed, at least the executioner was definitely identified. But, if the true purpose of that confession was to conceal the living mastermind who planned the murder... In other words, if it was to pin the case entirely on Motohashi and the dead people, then because he did the unnecessary thing of confessing at a strange timing, it led to further confirming the existence of a suspicion for us, especially for Takeshita. Motohashi likened that to the Holmes story and was being ironic. Is that what you mean?"
To Nishida, who finally realized the 'meaning' and confirmed it with a serious face, Takeshita said,
"Yes, exactly that! I think so too. Those people behind the scenes tried to use an unnecessary scheme to put an end to the police investigation because they wanted to feel safe, but the script they drew conversely exposed the flaw, and now we are slowly pulling the thread that came out of it. Wasn't he trying to convey that 'behind the scenes'?"
"The masterminds used a superfluous tactic and tried to end the case to feel at ease, but as a result, it was a 'snake's legs' (T/N: superfluous)... And the clever Motohashi had the thought, 'You've made me do something unnecessary.' Is that it?"
Nishida nodded to himself and blew out cigarette smoke. Most of the cigarette he was holding had already burned away.
"My reasoning is that in his series of confessions about Sada Minoru's murder, Motohashi distinguished between 'instruction' and 'request' for the murder, misleading the police while protecting his own policy. And this time too, I think he was conveying the truth behind this confession drama to us in a form that would never be on an official deposition... And while taking a form that wouldn't lead to a direct investigation of the Aoi-ikka, which was likely the prime contractor for the murder and would have been involved in this sudden confession, he tried voicing his dissatisfaction... Since this kind of thing won't become an official confession... It's just my own speculation, but considering his loyalty to the group so far, even if he had dissatisfaction, I don't think he would have made such a remark just for that reason alone. So I think he was quite angry this time. And knowing that we saw through that he was instructed to confess, he took advantage of that to convey his dissatisfaction in a way only we would understand. That's what I think."
Takeshita supplemented Nishida's theory, but Nishida didn't particularly harbor any emotion toward it. It was because he thought his excellent subordinate's logic was the stronger one. But if that were the case, there was something that bothered him during the interrogation, so he decided to check with Takeshita.
"Immediately after you did that decoding of the letter, you probably remember that Motohashi showed some agitation in his words and actions. But, you know, just before that, for a... really, just for an instant, it looked like Motohashi smirked."
"No, I didn't notice that at all. I was desperate to corner him somehow..."
"Certainly, for you, Takeshita, you had lost your composure quite a bit."
When Nishida said that, Takeshita wore an awkward smile.
"Anyway, is that smirk also connected to the dissatisfaction theory? Like, 'You noticed well. Then I'll give you a hint at least.'"
"I can't say for sure, but..." Takeshita prefaced.
"To put it exaggeratedly, it might have been a kind of reward for our interrogation so far, like 'I enjoyed the last game of my life,' or as the Team Leader says, a 'prize' for noticing the code, given it's him... No, more than that, maybe there was a kind of sympathy for us."
He stated his own theory. Takeshita used the word 'sympathy,' but Nishida interpreted its true meaning as Motohashi having felt the passion for solving the case from them.
"If that's the case, he was a truly spiteful bastard who repeatedly used indirect ways to convey what he wanted to say..."
Nishida cursed him on the surface, but inwardly, while thinking it wasn't good to be impressed, he couldn't help but feel a kind of respect for the notorious villain. The way he was always conscious of the bargaining and handled himself skillfully could be called a kind of intellectual exchange, if one set aside the premise of him being a criminal.
"In the end, even if Motohashi gave us such a hint, as long as we don't have evidence that can lead to an indictment, it's frustrating that it only becomes a 'heartwarming' episode between a detective and a criminal, damn it! And he was the one who came out on top."
Takeshita spoke roughly with the phrase 'heartwarming' and returned to his seat. Nishida understood Takeshita's frustration well, but it was likely that nothing new would come out of Motohashi's mouth anymore, and once Motohashi was indicted for Sada's murder, it was only a matter of time before it became virtually impossible to make Oshima Kaiji, the suspected mastermind, pay for his crimes unless new solid evidence appeared. That reality was already looming before them even if they didn't want to admit it, and at this stage, it was a situation that was hard to change.
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Late that night, another incident occurred where bullets were fired at a construction company, this time in Bihoro. According to information that came from the Kitami District Headquarters on the afternoon of the following day, November 1st, it was a civil engineering company called 'Taihei Giken,' but it was apparently the company that had fought until the end with 'Murayama-gumi,' which had been shot in Abashiri last time, in the bidding for the Koshimizu Town public hall reconstruction in August.
According to inside information, Murayama-gumi, which had obtained information on the expected contract price from the town office, had narrowly outbid Taihei Giken. The 4th Division (T/N: Organized Crime Department) in Kitami (Author's Note: At the time. Currently, most HQ organizations like the Organized Crime Department are completely independent from the Detective Division within the police organization) saw the shootings at both sides as a conflict between the yakuza groups backing them based on that.
However, in the past, both Taihei Giken and Murayama-gumi had been supporters of Oshima Kaiji at the national level, and they had been properly segregated even in public works. There was also a view that the conflict was being triggered by the pressure of public works budget cuts. Also, regarding Taihei Giken, there was a story that since the change in leadership, their relationship with the yakuza had almost disappeared, so the police hadn't reached a consensus on the line of it being a conflict 'between' yakuza groups.
And Nishida was again recalling the article in the weekly magazine.
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On November 3rd and 4th, while the police, centered on the local stations, were patrolling construction companies within the Kitami and Abashiri districts, incidents of handguns being fired at the homes of presidents and executives occurred one after another. Late on the night of the 4th, bullets were fired at Murayama-gumi again. The rifling marks from this matched the rifling marks of the bullets fired on the 3rd and the rifling marks from the shooting at Murayama-gumi on October 28th. Also, the handguns fired at each construction company and their executives were all Russian-made Tokarevs, which have recently been spreading in Hokkaido, but the rifling marks were different for each, so it was speculated that the yakuza or punks backing each were moving independently (Author's Note: Regarding this point, since the use of different handguns wasn't clearly described in the main story, I have added it to Meimei 147 and 148. For those who haven't read the main story, it's fine if you don't understand the meaning, and please don't worry about it. You'll understand eventually).
The Kitami District Headquarters was investigating with a considerable mobilization, including the Detective Division and Security Division in addition to the 4th Division for organized crime countermeasures, and of course the local stations. They searched the offices of yakuza groups close to each construction company one by one, but they couldn't quite secure the perpetrators. Although they were making arrests for unrelated minor crimes, the path to a fundamental resolution of the case was not in sight.
At Engaru Station, the Community Safety Division and Public Safety Division, as well as Nishida's Detective Division as support, patrolled nearby construction companies. However, in the case of the Engaru area, there were few that were in competition with companies in the Kitami and Abashiri districts, and fortunately, at that point, no companies were caught up in it. Meanwhile, the deadline for Motohashi's detention extension was also approaching, and although the Violent Crimes Unit was eager to obtain evidence leading to Oshima Kaiji, feelings alone weren't enough to make it happen.
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And finally, on November 8th, the decision was made to indict Motohashi for the murder of Sada Minoru. At the same time, the investigation into Oshima's involvement, which the Engaru team had been pursuing, effectively met the fate of being terminated unless new solid evidence appeared.
Regarding Isaka Daikichi, it was decided to send the case to the prosecutor's office as a suspected co-principal in the murder of Sada Minoru, despite the suspect being deceased. For Kitagawa and Shinoda, although opinions initially differed on whether to treat them as accomplices or co-principals, since their degree of involvement in the murder was strong, it was decided to send them as co-principals with the suspects deceased, as per custom. In the first place, regarding the abandonment of a corpse, the statute of limitations is three years, so it would have been impossible to even send the case to the prosecutor's office anyway. Regarding the secretary 'Shigeno Yoshiaki,' who had taken Motohashi to the coffee shop where Isaka was, since there was considerable doubt as to how much he knew about the incident, sending the case for aiding and abetting murder with the suspect deceased was passed over. Nishida also thought the possibility that he knew the core was low.
Regarding the death of Yoshimi Tadayuki in Kitami, which was the start of the case, it was an accidental death, but since Kitagawa Tomoyuki had taken the camera, it was decided to send the case as embezzlement of lost property, although the suspect was deceased. Originally, it might have been at a level where there was no need to even send the case, but considering what Kitagawa had done, there was an intention to bring him to the 'nominal' table of crime.
Regarding the murder of Yoneda Masatoshi, the probability of Shinoda Michiyoshi's crime was naturally high. However, unfortunately, there was no solid evidence that Shinoda had killed Yoneda. The only circumstantial evidence was that Shinoda, who was involved in the past murder of Sada Minoru, had taken out Sada Minoru's remains, which were thought to have been abandoned earlier, from the same place where Yoneda had been abandoned (confirmed by Shinoda's fingerprints on the urn and the purchase history of the urn), and mixed them with other remains at the 'Remote Grave Marker.' And that the wound on Yoneda's skull matched a pickaxe that would be the same shape as the pickaxe he had borrowed at the time. Those two points were all they had, which was painful.
The fact that Shinoda had killed and buried the youth Yoneda in the same place where Sada Minoru's body had previously been buried, and moved Sada Minoru's remains to the 'Remote Grave Marker,' which he judged would be harder to find, was something that could only be done by Shinoda, who should have known the location of Sada's body. However, for the prosecution, the proof of the connection between Yoneda's murder and the transfer of the remains was merely speculation and was seen as 'weak,' which was a problem.
If it could be completely proven that Shinoda had visited the scene on the same day Yoneda Masatoshi went missing, they might have been able to solidify the involvement in the murder to some extent along with other circumstantial evidence, but it's understandable that it's difficult with only speculation. Therefore, the conclusion was reached that it would be difficult even to send the case with the suspect deceased, and unfortunately, the murder case of the youth Yoneda effectively became an 'unsolved case.' The same was true for the abandonment of Yoneda's corpse.
Also, regarding Isaka Daikichi's son, Masamitsu, the Engaru Station placed importance on the possibility that he knew about his father's involvement in Sada Minoru's murder. However, whether he knew or not did not become clear during the voluntary interrogation, so it remained ambiguous. In the first place, because of the parent-child relationship, it was impossible to indict him by applying the crime of destruction of evidence or the crime of harboring a criminal (in the first place, 'exemption from punishment' is provided for in the law between relatives).
Even so, it was regrettable that they couldn't reach Oshima's involvement in Sada Minoru's murder, but the fact that the murder case of the youth Yoneda, which Engaru Station had directly grasped the lead for and investigated, ended in an incomplete combustion—even if the reason was the suspect's death—was a major blow for the Engaru Station investigators like Nishida. It was a conclusion for which they felt apologetic toward Yoneda's mother.