Chapter 66 - Light and Shadow 45 {Combined 48/49} (219-220, 221-222 Hamana's Suicide, Takagaki Contact)
Meanwhile, Takeshita and Kurosu stopped by the Kaiser Shoin on their way back from Meiho University. Their goal was to obtain back issues of Weekly FREE. They believed there would be a continuation of the series Nishida had found, titled "Drastic Change! The Changing Face of Regional General Contractors and the Construction Industry Amidst Public Works Cuts." However, Takagaki's series did not appear in the issues following the one Nishida had, and Takeshita's prediction proved wrong.
Left with no other choice, they returned to their hotel and first gave their investigation report to Sawai and Nishida. They reported that, unfortunately, they were unable to track down Oshima's educational background prior to that, but neither of the two seemed particularly disappointed. It seemed that being able to trace the flow of the family register was a significant achievement.
Once that was finished, they began to read Takagaki's books thoroughly. Now that they had time, they intended to grasp the content properly rather than doing a rush job. They wanted to be ready in case the master called to say Takagaki had arrived at the shop. Conversely, if he were to call suddenly today, they would be undeniably underprepared, which would have been a problem in its own way.
Kurosu, who had been reading the books in silence for several hours, suddenly spoke up after confirming Takeshita had finished reading.
"The more I re-examine this person's books, the more he seems like someone quite critical of the administration and the successive politics of the Minyu Party, right? Would someone like this really act as a lackey for Oshima Kaiji, like the Team Leader said? I didn't hear it directly, but that's what the Team Leader said, wasn't it? From my perspective, I just can't imagine it."
In fact, Takeshita believed it was inevitable to have such an impression the more one read the books—or perhaps he should say, if one were only reading them.
"I really think so too. However, I've often heard that this is a world where people who say cool things on the surface are rampant, while behind the scenes they're writing articles for money. We won't know what's really going on until we actually make contact, right? The reason the Team Leader specifically told us to investigate is, of course, because of his own time constraints, but also because the master doesn't know our identities, so we can approach him pretending to be ordinary people to get information."
"I suppose so, but..."
Kurosu shook his head as if he couldn't quite believe it. Takeshita was saying things as if he understood, but he had almost no clue as to what the truth was. In the end, no call came from the master that day, and Takeshita decided to change his lodging to Shinjuku starting the next day, where he could easily get to Golden Gai.
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November 18th. Nishida was sleeping soundly at his home in Engaru on his first day off in a while, when suddenly the landline rang.
"What is it... I was sleeping so well, damn it!"
In an apartment with no significant soundproofing, his neighbors might have been sleeping on their day off as well, but he couldn't help but explode with emotion as he picked up the receiver.
"Yes! Nishida speaking!"
"Nishida? You're awfully energetic for so early in the morning... Well, whatever! Kosaka from Kitami called here because you wouldn't pick up your cell!"
It was Sawai's voice. Nishida regretted his angry response to his superior.
"I am terribly sorry... I was sleeping so comfortably, I just got irritated..."
"Yeah, that doesn't matter! Let's get to the main point. That man—Hamada? Hamana?—the one the investigation headquarters was planning to bring in for voluntary questioning, apparently committed suicide by hanging this morning."
"...Huh? No, wait a second! Are you serious? For real?"
Nishida felt himself waking up instantly, while at the same time, the color drained from his face. Sawai, on the other hand, was not directly involved in the investigation at the moment and didn't seem to fully grasp the situation, so he didn't take the significance of the suicide that heavily.
However, regardless of their reactions, the suicide of a person who might have planted a 'wiretap' naturally carried great weight in the investigation, for better or worse. It was only natural that Nishida repeated "that" like a meaningless mutter and showed an emotionally unstable reaction.
"What is it? Was he a key person of interest after all?"
"I couldn't say for sure as of yesterday, but with a sudden suicide... I'd say the possibility that he was heavily involved has become quite high..."
By this time, his head was starting to function properly again. And in proportion to that, he felt a sense of tension as the case took another sudden turn.
"So that's how it was... Well, it's no use me saying this or that here... Anyway, Yoshimura is already at the station, so I'll have him head to your place immediately. Get ready quickly and rush to Kitami!"
To the Section Chief's instruction, Nishida simply said,
"Understood,"
and hung up the phone, then hurriedly began to change.
※※※※※※※
The investigation headquarters at the Kitami Station had become quite noisy following the suicide of the person of interest. Committing suicide before questioning was, in a sense, a "confession of involvement in the case" by the person of interest, so it had to be investigated immediately. A suicide note was left behind, but the investigation headquarters had confirmed it was a short message addressed to his family saying, "I'm sorry."
"Was he involved in the wiretapping after all?"
As soon as he met Kosaka, Nishida asked, but Kosaka had a troubled look on his face.
"Looking at the situation, probably. However, while the hospital side will let us search the Union Leader's office voluntarily, we haven't received voluntary consent for his home yet. The family must be unsettled. But getting a warrant and all that..."
In fact, if it were an obvious murderer, there would be no room for hesitation, but if the involvement was likely at the level of wiretapping, conducting a house search right after a suicide is not something even a detective can do easily, considering the feelings of the bereaved family. Moreover, the degree of certainty was only at the level of "inferring from the situation."
"He wasn't killed to silence him, was he?"
To Nishida's words, Kosaka flatly denied.
"No. I rushed there as soon as I got the report, but there was nothing suspicious at the scene."
"I see... Then it can't be helped. However, I also spoke with Shibata-san, and if he was wiretapping, the culprit should have been within a close range of the hospital room. In that case, I don't know where his home is, but the Union Leader's office inside the hospital would have a higher probability of being the wiretapping site. It was on the same floor, right? But wait, he wasn't in the Union Leader's office around the time of the crime, according to the alibi check of the hospital staff?"
"He shouldn't have been there during that time frame. Regardless, since the police swarmed the hospital because of the incident, I think the wiretap is already gone from the Union Leader's office."
Kosaka seemed to think the possibility of finding anything in the hospital now was low. Indeed, thinking common-sensically, the equipment used for wiretapping would have already been disposed of or taken out.
"In that case, isn't there more of a possibility that he took it home?"
"I see. Then we really do want to raid the place soon..."
In the end, they were back to square one.
As for the investigation headquarters, Kurano apparently insisted on an immediate raid, but Otomo, the Criminal Investigation Director of the Kitami Regional HQ and head of the investigation headquarters, decided to wait and see. However, they did not neglect to take minimum precautions, such as having the police monitor Hamana's home from the outside for a while to ensure that evidence was not destroyed by the bereaved family.
After that, they checked the household trash for about two weeks from the day of the suicide, but in the end, nothing suspicious turned up. Of course, if it had been disassembled and flushed down the toilet, it wouldn't have mattered...
※※※※※※※
By early afternoon on the day of the suicide, investigation results regarding Hamana's background were coming in one after another. Hamana's father, a doctor, was the founder of Kitami Kyoritsu Hospital and had been its Director, but Hamana himself did not hold a medical license. He had inherited the management of the large regional hospital in the role of "Union Leader." Also, while he had no political experience, he was a member of the Minyu Party and was, needless to say, an influential member in the Kitami-Abashiri district.
Upon hearing this information, those within the investigation headquarters who suspected the involvement of "Oshima Kaiji" and knew of the "existence of the tape" naturally suspected a relationship between the two. This was because the possibility had emerged that Hamana had acted upon some request from Oshima's side, using the keyword "Minyu Party" as a medium. Kurano ordered a more detailed investigation into Hamana. At the same time, Nishida was beginning to think that it was about time the investigation headquarters as a whole revealed the existence of the tape.
※※※※※※※
That day, Takeshita and Kurosu, who were in Tokyo, had moved their lodgings to a business hotel called "Shinjuku Nishiguchi Hotel" near Shinjuku Station, still without hearing from the master. As of noon, information that the person of interest had committed suicide had not yet been sent from Hokkaido, so they were concentrating on reading Takagaki's books closely. Quite a lot of information was entering their heads, and the situation was becoming sufficient for them to pretend to be "readers" even if they spoke with Takagaki himself.
In the afternoon, Takeshita finally received word from Nishida about Hamana's suicide and was convinced that the case was finally moving at a rapid pace. Then, a few hours later, he received a call from Saito, the master of Charmant.
"I just got a call from Takagaki-san saying he's coming today. He said he's stopping by directly on his way back from a reporting trip to Okinawa. He's bringing Okinawan mangoes as souvenirs, so he told me to think of a cocktail using mango juice. So if you come tonight, you'll definitely be able to meet him."
"It was much sooner than I thought. It helped that we read the books early."
Takeshita nodded silently at Kurosu's words, but since he had absolutely no experience with this kind of "undercover investigation" or "sting operation," he was feeling quite a bit of tension inside. In contrast, Kurosu seemed unexpectedly relaxed, and Takeshita felt a little envious of his subordinate's position, but it was too late to say such things now.
"I just have to do it..."
He muttered as if to encourage himself. There was no doubt that Takeshita in Tokyo had finally reached a critical moment.
※※※※※※※
At 7:00 PM, the two, who had begun drinking at Charmant fully prepared, waited for the "target" to arrive. However, even after 8:00 PM he did not appear, and just as they were beginning to feel irritated, thinking they might have been "stood up" despite not even having an appointment, it was 8:30 PM. A man they had confirmed through photos in his latest book finally entered the shop carrying a large paper bag and a Boston bag.
"Master, sorry I'm late! The departure time was delayed due to plane trouble..."
He was slightly smaller than the impression they got from the photos, but his appearance matched the photos perfectly. He had a beard, glasses, and a lightly permed hairstyle. According to his profile, he should be 46 years old this year.
"Here, the souvenirs I mentioned! Mangoes and mango juice. A farmer friend of mine who's an anti-base activist grows them, and they're quite sweet and delicious!"
"I was just thinking of a mango juice mix with a rum base, as you requested, Takagaki-san."
The master smiled as he accepted the souvenirs and told him the cocktail recipe he had come up with.
"Ho! That sounds like it'll work. I'll have one right away! And serve these whole mangoes as dessert. It's on the house for the other customers too! I got plenty of them!"
The middle-aged freelance journalist looked around at the four customers in the small shop, including Takeshita and Kurosu, and then took a seat by the wall to the right of the counter.
The master had told them in advance that Takagaki had a "habit" of sitting in the wall-side seat whenever it was vacant. With seven seats in the shop, the left side was already occupied by other customers, so they had left that part on the right open, with one seat between it and Takeshita's seat. They hadn't sat right next to it because they thought he would be more likely to sit by the wall that way. It was necessary to remove any "feeling of pressure."
Also, Takeshita had told the master in advance to hide the fact that he was a "reader of Takagaki's books." His reason was something like "I want to control the pace of the conversation myself," but it was a "notice" given out of Takeshita's own consideration: if a moment were to come later where he revealed himself as police, and he had started talking through an "introduction" from the master, it might affect the subsequent relationship if Takagaki developed "subtle" feelings toward the master. After making the cocktail and serving it to Takagaki, the master also served sliced mangoes to Takeshita and the others. The four of them gave a light nod to Takagaki and thanked him, but Takagaki just waved his hand.
"I just received them, that's all,"
he responded with a gesture that said "it's no big deal."
For a while, while talking with Kurosu, Takeshita eavesdropped on the conversation between Takagaki and the master. It seemed he had been reporting on the incident that occurred in September of that year, where several American soldiers kidnapped and assaulted an elementary school girl in Okinawa (Author's Note: An incident that actually occurred in September 1995. It was one of the reasons for the sudden surge in interest in the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement and the anti-base movement in Okinawa). Although the Engaru Station, which was pursuing its own case, hadn't been focused on it, it had actually become a major matter of concern at the national news level. In October, it had also become a factor leading to improvements in the implementation (not revision) of the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement. Perhaps because of the nature of the conversation, Takeshita decided to delay the timing of speaking to him a little longer than planned.
After waiting about thirty minutes, the conversation with the master was mostly finished, and Takagaki began to lightly sip whiskey while reading a paperback book he had taken out of his Boston bag. Takeshita saw this as his chance and spoke to him across the empty seat.
"Excuse me, I thought 'could it be' from your appearance, but from your conversation with the master, I see you are Takagaki Shinichi-san. I've read quite a few of your works, so it's an honor to meet you."
Hearing those words, Takagaki's mouth relaxed.
"Oh, is that so! Well, that's a pleasure to hear. I don't write the kind of books that are read by everyone, so I don't get approached like this very often... Though the customer further back there is a regular acquaintance, he doesn't seem interested in what I do,"
he laughed.
"Well, your recent activities on television and such are one thing, but I've read quite a bit of your books, though I won't say all of them. For example, 'Jitsuroku: Dangou Keppuuroku' (True Record: The Blood-Stained Record of Bid-Rigging) was quite vivid. Especially the way the chairman of Sudo Construction, a major general contractor, conquered the then-Administrative Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Construction with nightly entertainment offensives to find out the planned price for the new highway construction by the Japan Highway Public Corporation—that was ruthless. On the other hand, the Vice-Minister's side was trying to make good use of that too."
Takeshita executed his strategy of impressing the other person as a "proper reader" by having thoroughly read the material.
"Ho! You read that one. That was the first book I published after leaving the newspaper company. It didn't sell very well, though."
Takagaki gave a wry smile, but after draining his whiskey, he said,
"But you know, it's my debut work, so I have deep feelings for it. I wrote it with a lot of spirit."
He didn't seem to mind at all. Takeshita's strategy seemed to have worked perfectly on him.
The two talked about his books for a while, and Takeshita continued to handle the conversation with Takagaki without making any blunders. Then, at what seemed like the right timing, he brought up the matter of "Weekly FREE."
"Around last month, you wrote an article for a magazine called Weekly FREE, didn't you? About the friction between construction companies in Eastern Hokkaido. Since we're from Hokkaido, it left a particular impression on us."
At those words, Takagaki made a visibly unpleasant face.
"Oh, that one..."
"I thought for sure it was a series related to public works cuts, but you haven't written any articles since then."
When Takeshita mentioned the information he had found at the used bookstore, Takagaki said something unexpected.
"Actually... Takeshita-san, was it? As you say, it was originally supposed to be a series. However, circumstances changed, and I was the one who requested to stop the series..."
Even while speaking, he did not hide his look of resentment. Naturally, Takeshita observed every detail and pushed further.
"Even so, is it common to stop a series like that?"
"No, no, of course it's extremely rare... Especially for the person who received the request to suggest it; in the writer industry, that basically means you could lose future work. I've reached a certain position, so I was able to go that far."
After glancing at Takeshita once, he lightly stroked his glass with his finger.
"If you don't mind, could you tell me the reason..."
"You're awfully persistent, aren't you?"
At Takagaki's sharp point, Takeshita thought he might have pushed a bit too overtly, but he covered it up.
"Well, when someone like you, who is so thorough as a journalist, tries to stop writing an article, it makes me curious."
"I appreciate you saying that... But I felt that continuing as it was would go against my policy far too much, so it couldn't be helped."
"Policy?"
"Yes. After the weekly magazine was published, I got a call from an acquaintance in Sapporo. He said, 'I've never heard of yakuza fighting each other becoming active in Eastern Hokkaido.' Even though I call him an acquaintance, he's a pro in that field and someone I've been getting information from for a long time. If that person tells me the article has no credibility..."
Takeshita speculated that a "pro in that field" probably meant someone in the police. Moreover, there was a high possibility it was someone from the Organized Crime Department. Judging from the mention of Sapporo, he even considered it might be someone from the Organized Crime Department at the Hokkaido Police Headquarters.
"Was that how it was... That's a shame, not being able to see your articles, Takagaki-san."
"In that case, I'm planning to release a book about Okinawa and the U.S. military bases soon, incorporating this recent Okinawa trip, so please check that out instead."
Takagaki made a comment typical of an anti-establishment journalist and lit a cigarette. However, Takeshita needed to get a bit more information on this matter, so he tried to bring the conversation back.
"But considering your reporting style of digging in thoroughly, is it even possible for you to be fed such false information?"
"Being thought of that highly makes me more embarrassed than happy."
After blowing out a puff of smoke, he lightly tapped the ash into the ashtray.
"No, I don't think so. I believe every one of your works is written based on bold yet meticulous reporting."
"Certainly, when I write an article, I report thoroughly and verify the facts. That's the absolute basic of basics. But you know, with reporting for weekly magazines, sometimes you're pressed for time, and those parts get a bit neglected... I knew it wasn't a good thing..."
From the way he forcefully crushed his cigarette into the ashtray, Takeshita could tell he felt a sense of chagrin over such "rush" work.
"In other words, the reporting for that article didn't have very proper verification?"
"Embarrassingly enough, that's how it was. Well, it's no use telling you this, Takeshita-san, but Weekly FREE isn't exactly a weekly magazine that publishes very admirable content. Well, I'm well aware that weekly magazines in general are like that."
Takagaki gave a wry smile but immediately returned to a serious expression.
"However, a request came from them this time. And with specific details for the article's content. They said that while there's no problem for the next few years due to economic stimulus measures in the aftermath of the bubble's collapse, it's certain that public works will be cut in the future, and various problems are occurring even in the home turf of big-shot Minyu Party politicians. They asked me to report on that."
Takeshita confirmed that important information was starting to come out and instantly began to deliberate on how to expand from here.