Chapter 54: Forced Braking

Urawa City Police Station, Investigation Section One, interrogation room.

“It’s already the middle of the night,” Yamagami Nobuo, sitting in the interrogation chair, yawned.
“Come on, little policeman, if you keep interrogating me like this, I’m going to have my lawyer file a complaint against you for fatigue interrogation.”

“We’re old acquaintances, don’t give me that act, Yamagami Nobuo.”

Kihara Shinichi, sitting opposite him, sneered.

Although Japanese law explicitly states that a single interrogation session may not exceed eight hours, and no interrogations are to be conducted between ten at night and six in the morning, in practice, the police have a great deal of flexibility.
This is especially true for departments like Investigation Section One, which specifically targets violent gang crimes.
Even if there are minor procedural violations, the higher-ups will turn a blind eye.

“Just confess already,” Kihara Shinichi urged while flipping through the case file in his hands.
“You should know that we wouldn’t have conducted a surprise raid on you like this if we didn’t have some evidence on hand.”

“I’ve already said, I know nothing about the case you’re talking about.
I’m a yakuza from Urawa City, how would I know about things in Kumagaya City?”

“Then how do you explain these photos of the streets of Kumagaya City that I found in your home?”

“Why do I need to explain?
I didn’t take them.
Maybe some kid took them while visiting Kumagaya?
Young people like to run around everywhere, you know.”

“Would a tourist focus on taking pictures of the alleys around a bank?”

“That I don’t know.
I’m already halfway in the grave, how would I know what young people are thinking?”

“I think you need to know that if this case is classified as ‘organized crime,’ then you, as the head of the organization, will likely not escape legal punishment.”

“But I really don’t know.”

“…”

Click.

A weary Kihara Shinichi pushed open the door and walked out of the interrogation room.

Interrogation, especially a surprise interrogation in the dead of night, is an ordeal for the police as well.
The only advantage, perhaps, is that the criminal cannot take turns being interrogated, while the police can at least find someone to rotate shifts with.

As soon as he stepped out, the rookie officer Kihara Shinichi was mentoring, Asano Kumiko, came up to him and asked impatiently, “Any breakthrough in the interrogation?”

“It’s not that simple,” Kihara Shinichi had made no progress, but he didn’t feel much disappointment either.
“An old fox like Yamagami Nobuo has seen more police officers than I have.
How could he be broken by just one or two interrogations?”

“What about the bullet?
If you show him the bullet, will he still not confess?” Asano Kumiko, being a new officer, lacked Kihara Shinichi’s patience.
She asked anxiously.

The reason Investigation Section One had conducted a surprise raid on the Yamagami residence was that the Urawa City Police Station had received a tip about the Kumagaya City armored car robbery.
The letter included a spent bullet, and according to a firearms expert’s analysis, this bullet was fired from the same gun as the bullets left at the crime scene.

“The bullet only proves that the tip letter came from someone who knew about the case back then, but it doesn’t prove that the contents of the letter are necessarily true.
Those are two completely different things.”

In fact, Kihara Shinichi had great doubts about the origin of that letter.

The letter had suddenly been transferred to Investigation Section One.
Kihara Shinichi had asked the head of Investigation Section One, Chief Inspector Nagaoka, who only said it came from a superior and refused to say anything more.

This made Kihara Shinichi question the reliability of the tip letter.
Fortunately, during the raid, they found the photo negatives of Kumagaya City in the Yamagami residence, which at least showed that the people who created the tip letter weren’t trying to fool them with something completely fake.

“The investigation of organized crime is often a long process.
It’s not something that can be solved by pulling one or two all-nighters,” Kihara Shinichi advised.
“You should go home and rest first.
You can come back tomorrow and switch shifts with the other colleagues.”

“Alright.”
Asano Kumiko accepted Kihara Shinichi’s advice, but before leaving, she still asked worriedly, “If the Kumagaya City armored car robbery is proven to have been committed by the Yamagami-gumi, what kind of punishment will Yamagami Nobuo receive?”

Kihara Shinichi thought for a moment, then spread his hands.
“It’s hard to say, but it’s very likely just a suspended sentence of a year or two.”

“Why?!”

“Because although Yamagami Nobuo has always had a strong influence over the Yamagami-gumi, the actual Kumicho of the Yamagami-gumi at the time of the armored car robbery was, after all, Yamagami Akira.
It would be difficult for the court to determine that Yamagami Nobuo himself held a dominant conspiratorial position in this case.”

Seeing the clear disappointment on Asano Kumiko’s face, Kihara Shinichi couldn’t help but offer some comfort.

“But if this case can be proven to be an organized crime of the Yamagami-gumi, we will definitely be able to arrest several cadres.
This will also be a heavy blow to the Yamagami-gumi.”

“Mmm…”

Only then did Asano Kumiko’s spirits lift a little.
She returned to the police dormitory to rest.

Early the next morning, Asano Kumiko woke up, hastily ate some breakfast, and returned to Investigation Section One to switch shifts with her colleagues who had worked through the night.

However, Asano Kumiko found the atmosphere in Investigation Section One to be somewhat unusual.

Last night, when Asano Kumiko left, Investigation Section One had been a scene of bustling activity.
The officers were all excited about the raid.
After all, Investigation Section One and the Yamagami-gumi were old rivals of many years.
Who wouldn’t be thrilled to deal a heavy blow to an old rival?

Now, the excitement was gone from her colleagues’ faces, replaced only by solemnity and gravity.

“What happened?” Asano Kumiko asked a colleague.

The colleague replied, “Our informants have disappeared.”

“Informants?
Which informants?” Asano Kumiko asked strangely.

The colleague took a deep breath.
“All of them.”

Asano Kumiko was startled by these words.

“They say the Yamagami-gumi conducted a major purge last night.
All the Yamagami-gumi members who used to have frequent contact with us have lost contact,” the colleague explained.
“Some of our collaborators who were willing to trade intelligence with us in secret have also said they can’t do business with us for the time being.”

“Why…” Asano Kumiko hadn’t finished her question.

Someone else rushed into the office and shouted, “Chino committed suicide!”

“What?” Asano Kumiko exclaimed.

Chino was one of the suspected gunmen involved in the robbery mentioned in the tip letter.
However, he had no fixed address and was fond of drinking and whoring around, so the police hadn’t been able to find him last night.

Kihara Shinichi, who had been sitting at his desk rubbing his temples, also jumped up from his seat, shocked and angry.
“What? Chino is dead?
How do you know he committed suicide?”

The young officer who had just entered was taken aback by the question, then explained, “Someone saw him jump from the roof with their own eyes…”

“And the vehicles?
How is the investigation of the vehicles going?” Asano Kumiko, seeing the situation, proposed another idea.

“The owner of the repair shop refuses to disclose any information.
We promised to help him get acquitted, but he still won’t cooperate,” the colleague explained to Asano Kumiko.

“Heh heh, a purge…”

Overnight, the world had been turned upside down.
Kihara Shinichi’s face grew grave, and he said as if to himself, “It seems Yamagami Nobuo does not lack a successor.
After that old man dies, we’ll have another opponent to face.”