Chapter 19: The Mastermind Behind the Mastermind

Hasegawa Gaku was still caught.

There was a curb between the sidewalk and the road.
Hasegawa Gaku’s Toyota had rushed onto the sidewalk, reversed off it, and then charged across it again to escape.
In the process of repeatedly hitting the curb, the tires blew out, and he couldn’t get very far.

“The driver reeks of alcohol.
It should be a case of drunk driving.”

A subordinate officer reported to Kihara Shinichi.

“Drunk driving?”

Kihara Shinichi was stunned for a moment.
Then, seeing the bloodstains left all over the ground by the Esumi-gumi and the white sheet covering Esumi Goro’s body, he suddenly laughed out of anger.

The Esumi-gumi had just clashed with the Yamagami-gumi the day before, and the very next day, Esumi Goro was run down and killed at the hospital entrance, with so many of his underlings sent right back into the hospital.

And some mastermind behind the scenes actually expected the police to believe this was a drunk driving accident?

Kihara Shinichi recalled the words Yamagami Nobuo had once said to him: “You police officers could tell me my son was killed by a drunk driver.
Why can’t I…”

Mockery.
Kihara Shinichi felt the blatant mockery!

“Confess.Did you hire a hitman?”

Kihara Shinichi grabbed Ishiwatari Takashi by the collar, staring into his eyes as he spoke.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Ishiwatari Takashi was a seasoned veteran among the Yakuza; he wasn’t about to be intimidated by Kihara Shinichi’s glare.
He raised his hands and said with a cheeky grin, “Officer Kihara, you have to be responsible for what you say! I’m just an innocent passerby.
With such an unfortunate case, if you police can’t answer to your superiors, you can’t just grab a random person off the street and frame them, can you?”

“What kind of innocent passerby are you!” The female officer, Kumiko, who had once met Seiko, questioned angrily, “Who doesn’t know your Ishiwatari-gumi just clashed with the Esumi-gumi yesterday?
And you show up here first thing in the morning!
You have a motive, you have the opportunity.
What kind of innocent passerby are you?
You’re the prime suspect!”

“A suspect isn’t necessarily a criminal, Officer,” Ishiwatari Takashi drawled, looking helpless.
“You also know my boys just clashed with the Esumi-gumi.
So many of them are still in the hospital.
As their boss, I have to come visit them, don’t I?
There’s no law in Japan that says you can’t visit patients in the morning, is there?”

Kihara Shinichi waved his hand, signaling for Kumiko to say no more.
He then said, “Get a message to him.
I want to talk to Yamagami Nobuo again.”

The atmosphere between the Yamagami-gumi and the Takada-gumi was growing increasingly tense.
Kihara Shinichi felt he couldn’t let the situation develop any further.

However, Ishiwatari Takashi replied, “Of course I can pass on the message for you, Officer.
But our old Kumicho isn’t in Urawa recently.
Even if I pass it on, you probably won’t be able to see him.”

“Not in Urawa?
Where did he go?” Kihara Shinichi was alarmed.

“The old Kumicho goes wherever he wants,” Ishiwatari Takashi said with a dismissive smile.
“Am I in a position to tell him what to do?”

Kihara Shinichi had a bad feeling.
He couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on Ishiwatari Takashi.
He let him go, leaving him with a final sentence before departing: “You just wait.
Investigation Section One won’t let you off easy.”

Sure enough, by the early afternoon, one of Ishiwatari Takashi’s trusted Yakuza was taken away by Investigation Section One.

Because an eyewitness had seen this Yakuza go to Hasegawa Gaku’s home the previous afternoon and talk with him for a long time.

Although Ishiwatari Takashi felt the sting, he could accept it.
This Yakuza was meant to be the fall guy from the start.
Since the 1980s, cases of immediate execution for the death penalty had become increasingly rare in Japan.
Even if his trusted man were convicted, he would just be serving eight or ten years in prison in place of his boss and would eventually be released.

Meanwhile, Kihara Shinichi went to see his direct superior, the chief of Investigation Section One, Superintendent Nagaoka.

“This isn’t the first incident.
Just two weeks ago, the gunman we arrested, Kiban Naoya, was confirmed to have ties with the Takada-gumi…”

Kihara Shinichi sat across from Superintendent Nagaoka, speaking gravely.

“What are you implying?” Superintendent Nagaoka asked.

“All recent signs indicate that the Takada-gumi is trying to move into Urawa, and the Yamagami-gumi is reacting fiercely,” Kihara Shinichi said.
“I’m sure you’ve also heard about the Yama-Ichi Kōsō currently happening between the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Ichiwa-kai.
To prevent a violent conflict as brutal as the Yama-Ichi Kōsō from happening in our jurisdiction, we must nip this turmoil in the bud.”

Superintendent Nagaoka frowned, thought for a moment, and said slowly, “Then how do you plan to nip it?”

Without hesitation, Kihara Shinichi replied, “By cracking down hard on the Takada-gumi’s attempts to enter Urawa, of course.
The Yamagami-gumi has been severely weakened recently.
If no one provokes them, it would be difficult for them to make any big moves.
On the other hand, with the Takada-gumi, the best approach is to detain every Yakuza they send.
It’s not like these guys don’t have criminal records.
If we keep arresting them for a month, the Takada-gumi should quiet down.”

“You have a point,” Superintendent Nagaoka said, praising him while rubbing his temples.
He frowned for a long time before saying, “But it probably can’t be done…”

“Why can’t it be done?” Kihara Shinichi was stunned and asked in confusion.

Superintendent Nagaoka was silent for a long while.
Under Kihara Shinichi’s intense gaze, he finally had to sigh and say, “I’ll be honest with you.
Someone from above has put in a word, telling us to cooperate with the Takada-gumi’s entry into Urawa.”

“What!” Kihara Shinichi nearly leaped out of his seat, pointing at his own nose in fury.
“We’re the Violent Crimes Section, specializing in investigating Boryokudan!
And we’re supposed to cooperate with the Takada-gumi?
Who put in this word?
Is this meant to humiliate us?”

“Calm down, calm down…
We have our own position.
Just because they put in a word doesn’t mean I said we have to listen to them.”

Superintendent Nagaoka tried his best to soothe his capable subordinate, barely managing to calm Kihara Shinichi down.

“If we’re not listening to them, then why can’t we crack down hard on the Takada-gumi?
Who exactly is the person who put in a word?” Kihara Shinichi pressed.

“While we don’t have to listen to him, we can’t afford to offend them either.
Besides, it’s not like the Yamagami-gumi doesn’t have its own connections…” Superintendent Nagaoka hemmed and hawed, still unwilling to reveal who wanted the Urawa police to help the Takada-gumi enter Urawa.

“Just tell me straight, what should we do?” Kihara Shinichi urged with a frown.

“We’ll remain neutral,” Superintendent Nagaoka said.
“We’ll try not to interfere in the affairs of the Yamagami-gumi and the Takada-gumi.
Let them fight it out themselves, let them both suffer losses!”

“Hehehehe…
Choosing neutrality between two groups of criminals.
How many times has it been?
Is this the job of the Japanese police?
Hehehehe…”

Kihara Shinichi laughed as if mocking himself, stood up, kicked his chair away, and stormed out of the section chief’s office.