Chapter 96 - Name and Reality 19 {Combined 36/37} (77–78, 79–80: Higashidate taken into custody)
"Assistant Section Chief Nishida!"
An unexpected person called out to the two of them from across the hallway.
"Ah, Headquarters Chief! Hello."
Nishida noticed Yasumura's figure and immediately bowed. Seeing that, Yoshimura naturally did the same.
"How is it, the situation?"
"Well... I think we're at the stage where we're seeing light little by little."
"Ho... Can I look forward to that?"
"I wonder. I'm hesitant to make any empty promises."
Yasumura was smiling, but Nishida was feeling small, thinking he couldn't say anything too irresponsible.
"Well, it's a difficult case, so it can't be helped. Um, by the way, is this Senior Staff Yoshimura, whom the Assistant Section Chief personally designated and brought to Kitami?"
"Ah, yes! I'm Yoshimura, the Senior Staff!"
Before he could be introduced, he mentioned Yoshimura, who was with him. Yoshimura also straightened his back and greeted him again.
Even so, since he didn't think Yoshimura's face and name would match, Nishida was a bit taken aback, not to mention Yoshimura himself.
"Since you've been pulled up, please support Assistant Section Chief Nishida well. I'm expecting great things from you, just like the Assistant Section Chief! Well then, I'm in a hurry, so excuse me."
Saying so, Yasumura walked away quickly, followed by two of his subordinates.
"Wow, I was surprised. To think Headquarters Chief Yasumura knows me!"
While walking down the hallway, Yoshimura looked back at where Yasumura had gone and spoke to Nishida. He seemed quite pleased and somehow happy.
"Well, you're a Senior Staff, so it's not strange at all for him to know you. Besides, he knows the reason I came here, so he must also know that I brought you along for that purpose."
Even though he said that, he thought it was also a fact that Yasumura himself wasn't just aware of the situation but was also interested in Nishida and his team to some extent.
After the arrival greeting, there were several occasions where he was with Yasumura in meetings as one of many. However, despite the fact that it was the first time they had spoken face-to-face since the first day, he had gone out of his way to call out to them today. Normally, a slight nod would have been enough to pass by.
"Are we being expected to do great things?"
Leaving aside Yoshimura's clearly happy smile, Nishida felt an indescribable sensation that was neither expectation nor anxiety. It was a strange sensation he had never felt before in his life.
※※※※※※※
In the evening, the contact from Sendai Chuo Station finally came in. At an exquisite timing, an assault case had apparently occurred at Higashidate's shop. When the suspect fled, a hair from the suspect was left behind, so they had received a hair directly from Higashidate under the pretext of distinguishing it from that. And the result was a DNA match. It was a stroke of luck that the timing of the go-ahead for the DNA test from the NPA Organized Crime Department and the occurrence of the incident matched perfectly.
However, there was a major problem. They said they hadn't been able to arrest or secure him yet. Since there were no other cases that seemed to apply, they were told that if they wanted to arrest him immediately, they should get an arrest warrant related to this case directly in Kitami.
As expected, it came to the point where Nishida had to go out, and it became necessary to coordinate with the Kitami Station, which is the jurisdiction directly in charge of the case. Also, he requested Sendai Chuo Station to send the report of the DNA match appraisal by fax or email. Without this, they couldn't request an arrest warrant from the Kitami Branch of the Kushiro District Court.
Furthermore, he talked to the Investigation Cooperation Division of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police and the Investigation Cooperation Division of the Miyagi Prefectural Police once and got permission for Sendai Chuo Station, Kitami Regional HQ, and Kitami Station to cooperate directly. He thought it would be better to have the conversation beforehand in case any problems occurred later.
Although they said the surveillance in Sendai was solid, since Higashidate should be secured as soon as possible no matter how you look at it, it began to be a race against time. Even if Higashidate himself is not directly related to the case that was already investigated, Higashidate was originally a "pro." It wouldn't be strange if he sensed something. Of course, he didn't know if his mind had gone as far as having dropped a hair that would become DNA information in the car, but he couldn't be completely at ease.
He handed the appraisal report to Matsuura, the Section Chief of the Kitami Station, and had him request an arrest warrant for "vehicle theft" for the time being, as an arrest for this case related to the main target, which was as close as possible to a separate case (Author's Note: Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, only officers with the rank of Inspector or higher among judicial police personnel can request an arrest warrant. Nishida is also an Inspector by rank, but usually the Section Chief in charge of the jurisdiction of the case does it. Incidentally, a Sergeant is sufficient for a search warrant). Also, it was decided that not only Kusaka and Mayuzumi from the Kitami Regional HQ but also the two detectives Kume and Miyabe, who had been exclusively assigned from the Kitami Station, would be dispatched, and a total of four people would head to Sendai. A route was decided for the four of them to take the arrest warrant and head to Sapporo on tonight's Okhotsk No. 10, and fly from New Chitose Airport to Sendai tomorrow morning.
"I thought it was difficult, but once it starts moving, everything happens in a flash. Well, it's always like that..."
Yoshimura said thoughtfully in front of the vending machine in the break room where they were taking a rest, but it could only be said that the curtain of the criminal investigation had suddenly opened without even a blackout just before.
※※※※※※※
On Saturday, June 22nd, Nishida did not return to the official residence but spent the night in the duty room and welcomed the morning. Partly because he couldn't fall asleep easily due to excitement, he yawned occasionally even after washing his face with cold water, but he couldn't be at ease until the four people sent to Sendai and the investigators of the Sendai Chuo Station secured Higashidate.
Since he had instructed Kusaka to report at any time, the first contact should come after arriving at New Chitose. From there, Nishida would be able to know the investigation status continuously: arrival at Sendai Airport, arrival at Sendai Chuo Station, start of securing, and securing.
However, even if secured, it would be after Monday, June 24th, that he would be escorted to the Kitami Station. This is because there are various problems with moving a suspect in a murder case over a long distance on a Sunday when there are many people on public transportation. After Monday, they were considering a route of leaving Sendai early in the morning and being escorted directly to Kitami by police vehicle from New Chitose Airport.
Originally, it is necessary to send the case to the prosecutor within 48 hours of arrest (the person in charge of the prosecutor decides within another 24 hours until the detention request decision), but since the travel time for long-distance movement is considered not to be included in the arrest period (Author's Note: This whole story is a very subtle scene for a layman in terms of legal interpretation and practical operation. There is a high possibility that it is wrong), the range in which detention by arrest is allowed would be to have him interrogated at the Sendai Chuo Station and then move to Kitami. After that, the cleanest flow would be to immediately request detention at the Kitami Branch of the Kushiro District Court.
The first report from Kusaka that they had arrived at New Chitose Airport came at 7:30 AM. His voice was strangely energetic, but he must have been excited and didn't sleep much while riding the night Okhotsk. Nishida also had such experiences. It's fine while the adrenaline is out, but it's also a pattern where fatigue comes out all at once when you take a breath. Nishida told him not to be too eager and ended the conversation.
Other subordinates also gathered one after another, but even though they were the stay-behind group, the tension was overflowing because it was a situation of whether the suspect would be caught. As expected, Team Leader Onga was calm, as he was quite a veteran in terms of age.
Kusaka and the others arrived at Sendai Airport before 10:00 AM, and from there, they headed directly to secure Higashidate together with the detectives from the Sendai Chuo Station who had come to meet them. They seemed to have thought that stopping by the Sendai Chuo Station once was a waste of time. Certainly, in a situation where every second counts, Nishida also questioned that choice. It would be a natural change of plans in a sense.
Higashidate seems to live in a district called Nagamachi in Taihaku Ward, Sendai, and since it is on the Natori City side where Sendai Airport is located rather than the central part of Sendai City, it was natural considering the geography.
According to the investigators who were staking out, he returned to his rented apartment at around 3:00 AM today when the date changed, and he hasn't gone out yet and is probably sleeping. Since he has no family and lives alone, there is no need to worry too much about the confusion at the time of securing. A report came in that they had finally arrived at the apartment, less than 30 minutes from the airport.
From here, the phone was put on speakerphone so that everyone could grasp the contact from Kusaka one by one. Kusaka did not participate in the securing directly and was instructed by Nishida to report the situation step by step.
At 10:41 AM, six joint investigators from the Sendai Chuo Station, Kitami Station, and Kitami Regional HQ who were waiting in front of Higashidate's room, and the apartment manager who had been contacted beforehand to bring the master key, were perfectly prepared. Of course, the Sendai Chuo Station had already prepared a cutter to cut the chain.
The securing operation began by pressing the intercom. Since Higashidate's room was on the third floor, the investigators of the Sendai Chuo Station were also firmly guarding the outside in preparation for an escape from the balcony, and there seemed to be no oversight.
However, Higashidate appeared at the entrance in his pajamas as if nothing had happened. It seemed he was in the middle of having a late breakfast.
"Arrest? I have no idea what you're talking about. You should know I have nothing to do with the incident the other day!"
In addition to such statements, his appearance showed the dignity of a former gang member, but he was arrested on the spot without any particular struggle.
When it was reported by Kusaka that he had been secured safely without any incident, the team was happy, regardless of who it was. Nishida also told Kusaka in a loud voice:
"Please tell the investigators of the Sendai Chuo Station, not to mention the members here, that they did a great job."
"Yes! I'll pass that along! For now, we're heading to the Sendai Chuo Station, so I'll contact you again then!"
Kusaka's voice was also quite bouncy.
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
"You did well! Congratulations!"
Section Chief Mitani and Criminal Investigation Director Koyabu, who had come to confirm the situation after getting information about the securing, were also happy together. However, Koyabu whispered to Nishida:
"I can't read what's ahead at all... Even if I could, that would be a problem in itself. To be honest, I have a headache too."
If you can see ahead, the enemy you face will also grow larger. Nishida also thought about that.
It was the same with Motohashi, but the reality is that it is quite difficult to clarify the command and order system in yakuza-related cases. The saving grace was that Higashidate had already left the gang, but conversely, it was still unknown why a person who played such an important role had left the gang or was able to leave.
Of course, it's not unheard of to let someone leave the gang in exchange for doing dirty work, but if there's a high possibility that a politician is involved behind this case, it could be said that it's much safer to keep him close at hand. That will also need to be clarified in the interrogation.
The true meaning of Koyabu's statement "Even if I could read it, that would be a problem in itself" was undoubtedly that even if the investigation reached Oshima Kaiji, they would eventually encounter a difficult situation. The arrest for bribery the other day could be glossed over with "media conversion reporting" such as "Minyu Party changing with the arrest of a money-power politician," but even with the change in the internal dynamics of the Minyu Party, if the hand of the law directly reaches a big-shot politician on suspicion of murder this time, it could lead to criticism of the Minyu Party itself. It's almost self-evident that it won't be an easy development. There might be a persistent counterattack from the Umeda Faction, which is the former Hakozaki Faction. It could not be said at all that the true "goal" beyond the murder case against Higashidate was visible just with Higashidate's arrest.
"I'll worry about that after the interrogation."
Nishida said so to Koyabu and glossed it over with a forced smile. But in reality, rather than worrying about such things now, he had a desire to focus on whether he could get Higashidate to spill the truth first, so it wasn't necessarily a lie.
Kusaka and the others and Higashidate entered the Sendai Chuo Station after 11:00 AM, and as soon as they finished the procedures, they entered the interrogation. They had traveled to Sendai after making some preparations for that, and Nishida had sent them off.
Probably, they would start the hearing in connection with the stolen vehicle, rather than from the involvement in the murder case itself, just as the arrest charge. Especially, they would have entered the interrogation from the introduction of what he was doing on November 11th, the day the incident occurred.
The fact that a hair was dropped in the stolen vehicle is something that should be considered as a possibility of involvement in the theft itself, not just that he rode it and fled after the shooting. On the other hand, it was a bit doubtful from the investigators' point of view whether Higashidate and Kagami actually went as far as the theft.
In Kitami, where they have no local knowledge, actually doing everything from murder to procurement of a vehicle in a short period of time increases the risk. In other words, as an arrest requirement, it wasn't bad, but it might have been an arrest with a "high degree of viciousness (as the police)" more than a separate arrest for a minor offense. However, it is a fact that they can take a longer interrogation time, including subsequent re-arrests, than catching him straight for murder.
Nishida left the rest to Onga and went out with Yoshimura to finish lunch. He thought he should finish it first since nothing would happen immediately. He had told them to contact him immediately if anything happened, but he didn't think a person who used to be a yakuza, even if he was a former one, would fall so easily. The fact that he was caught quietly should be seen as an attitude due to a certain professional's composure, thinking that there's nothing he can do even if he makes a fuss at that stage.
In fact, in the preliminary investigation in Sendai, even if he didn't think he had dropped a hair in Kitami, the fact that he didn't seem agitated even when he refused to provide a hair would be that pattern, Nishida surmised. In any case, he had decided to seriously start the hearing that stepped into the content of the tape and the voiceprint analysis after transferring him to Kitami.
※※※※※※※
Afterward, he received an interim report from Kusaka, but as expected, Higashidate declared, "I'll remain silent," and went on a siege operation. The investigators also needed to consider the possibility that the meaning of this declaration was that he did so against the charge of theft because he was also involved in the theft. However, even if he was involved in the theft, if he was arrested for the stolen car in Kitami, it didn't seem that Higashidate didn't understand what was waiting beyond that. This attitude was understood as something that assumed he would be poked at in various ways in the future.
In this case, no matter how much a veteran investigator interrogates him, he won't move so easily. After this, they will attack head-on with things like the fact that the DNA of the hair matched, but even so, he will probably go in the direction of passing it off as not knowing anything.
Like that Motohashi, there are rarely cases where an intellectual yakuza uses "high-level techniques" such as enjoying the exchange of jabs with the investigator without breaking down during the interrogation, but usually this siege operation is taken the most, and it was certain that it was the most impregnable way. It's the development that irritates the investigator the most.
"The real battle will be after we detain him here."
Nishida said to himself as if to convince himself. Since Kusaka was still young even though he was a Senior Staff, it was a fact that Nishida didn't expect much in terms of something happening while he was in Sendai.
※※※※※※※
Since it seemed the interrogation would finally end around 10:00 PM, Nishida ordered Sakata and Koide to procure dinner for everyone at a convenience store. Originally, they could have taken turns to eat dinner, but since it was the climax of the interrogation on the first day of arrest, unlike at lunch, they had chosen to stay in the Violent Crimes Unit room as they were.
Other detectives of the first division also seemed restless and unsettled all day today, and occasionally they would ask Nishida about the situation. Of course, since both sides know that the "final target" they are investigating is a quite subtle existence, the exchange of answering vaguely to the opponent who was somehow probing had continued several times.
And at 9:30 PM, a final report came in from Kusaka that he would end today's interrogation. Although it was over the phone, he spoke with a voice that couldn't hide his fatigue, and Nishida thanked him, but Kusaka didn't seem satisfied at all.
"Sorry, I was completely met with silence. No matter what I said or what I showed him, he didn't react... Regarding the hair, he even scoffed that it must have gotten mixed in by chance and that he didn't know why it was in Kitami..."
He faltered at the end.
"There's no way he's an opponent who falls so easily. I'm prepared for that. Even if he continues to remain silent, we have the DNA appraisal report! If we have this, there's no way a detention request won't be granted for the vehicle theft, so there's no problem in not being able to hear anything at this point. You're in your mid-30s and can experience the interrogation of a case of this magnitude, so you should be satisfied with that first! We just have to re-arrest him on suspicion of murder after the detention. And finally, indictment for murder with voiceprint analysis! Even if we can't get a confession, the blueprint that we can go with this at the worst is ready. The problem is that Higashidate's testimony will be necessary to find out who gave the instructions, but the first premise is the indictment of Higashidate... It's a great relief that that is clearly visible."
Nishida tried to follow up on Kusaka's depression by explaining the situation in detail, but it didn't seem that Kusaka couldn't understand that situation.
"But if it stops at Higashidate, it means we haven't even reached half of the investigation purpose! After all, we have to expose the command system beyond that and get results."
Since he was a man with a strong sense of responsibility, he argued back with a sharp tone at this time, but it's also true that the more you hurry, the easier it is to fall into the opponent's trap. Nishida also told him that and managed to calm him down.
Afterward, leaving Onga and Kubota on night duty, Nishida and the others began to prepare to go home. In the detective room, other detectives on night duty were watching the popular news program "News Center" that had just started, but Yoshimura asked Nishida while watching it:
"By the way, for a case of shooting multiple people, no arrest information has been reported at all, including in the newspapers. Is that the police's decision?"
"From our point of view, he's a murder suspect, but at this stage, he's only a vehicle theft suspect on the surface. However, in any case, I've asked the higher-ups to continue the media blackout even at the stage of re-arresting him for murder. They say they intend to make a decision along those lines. Just in case, I also confirmed it with Senior Staff Sudo of the NPA, and he said our judgment is probably correct. Even if we manage it in Kitami, it's meaningless if it leaks through the NPA route."
"Basically, was it the Assistant Section Chief's decision... By the way, do you do that after telling the press club?"
"No, I won't even do that. It's not like we're making an agreement or anything."
"Is that okay? Won't they complain later?"
"Well, basically it's not a very good way, but this time it's a bit of a special situation."
"Special?"
Nishida and Yoshimura began to head for the entrance while whispering.
"That's right. First, there's the circumstance that Higashidate has currently left the gang. And the arrest information shouldn't have reached the Sunpu Group, where Higashidate was, yet. Since we think that incident was orchestrated within the structure of the entire Aoi-ikka organization, if it's known that Higashidate was arrested, we don't know what kind of move they will make. Harm might come to accomplices or collaborators who might have been there, and there are other parts we can't read. In that case, it's safer to keep the fact that Higashidate has fallen into the hands of the police for now, right?"
"I see."
Yoshimura seemed convinced from the bottom of his heart.