Chapter 10 Chapter Ten: The Madman

Isao Nishimoto's home is in Azabu City. After receiving a call from Section Chief Honda, Kamei and Sakurai drove to Azabu City in a patrol car. The homes in this area are first class, mostly art homes.Nishimoto Isao's house covers an area of ​​about 200 pings, not too big, but it is worthy of being the home of a young celebrity, and the shape of the house is also very fashionable. There is a TV monitor on the door of the house.So Kamei and the others stood outside the gate and rang the doorbell. "Who is it?" They hear a woman's voice. Kamei showed the policeman's ID card to the camera of the TV monitor.

"We are the police, and we want to see Mr. Nishimoto Ko." The other party suddenly lost their voice.After a while, a voice of "please" came from inside. The door opened, and Isao Nishimoto came out in person. His face, which was so powerful and very popular with young girls in the past, was very pale and lifeless today. "What's the matter?" Xi Bengong asked unnaturally. "I came here for the red hat at Tokyo Station." Kamei said bluntly. Suddenly, Isao Nishimoto's expression changed, and he let the two of them into the room in a panic. When Isao Nishimoto's wife came in to deliver drinks, Kamei didn't say anything.After he confirmed that she had walked out of the room, he asked Xi Bengong straight to the point:

"You disguised yourself as a porter with a red hat and went to Tokyo Station, and took away Secretary Kitano's two suitcases containing 100 million yen?" Isao Nishimoto shook his head, but he seemed to have no reason to refute at all. "I'm sure it's you! Why did you do that?" Kamei stared at Isao Nishimoto.Xi Bengong couldn't take it anymore, his complexion changed, and his whole body trembled like chaff.Suddenly, putting his hands on the table, he shouted: "Forgive me! I have no choice but to do that! Forgive me!" "Be quiet! Tell me the reason of the matter. We haven't regarded you as an accomplice of the criminal yet!" Kamei said sincerely to Isao Nishimoto.He believes that this person does not seem to be the kind of person who specializes in abduction, and there is no such motive.This kind of movie star who has just become famous will never do such a thing.

"My child has become a hostage," began Isao Nishimoto. "We know your child is on the 'Mystery' train!" "Really?" Saito asked in surprise. Kamei nodded and said: "So you already know that all the passengers on that train have been kidnapped?" "At the beginning, I didn't think of it at all. I just thought that my child was traveling with the whole car. But I suddenly received a call saying that someone had taken my child as a hostage. I thought nothing happened. Maybe it was a prank! Later, they let me listen to my son’s voice. Usually my child is very brave, but what I heard that day was his crying.”

Isao Nishimoto bit his lip while recalling the situation at that time. "Then the other party made a request to you, right?" "Yes. I thought they were asking for money. But the other party laughed and said they didn't want money, but asked me to do what he said. That is, I first stole a car, then disguised as a 'red hat', and went to Tokyo Station. So I went to the TV station and borrowed a 'red hat' costume for props. Because I played the role of a porter in a drama last month, maybe the criminals have grasped this. Then I approached a man standing under a silver bell. He told me how to answer the man's questioning, and threatened to kill my children if I didn't do so. I did it out of desperation! I knew I couldn't Tell the police about it because I just wanted to save my own child!"

"You did as they ordered, but did your son come back?" "They only said they wouldn't kill him, they didn't let him back, and they didn't say when he would be back. They also told me that after they brought the two suitcases back, they had to be honest with no one. This matter. If this is the case, the child can be released. This is quite a painful thing! I want to report to the police, but I can't..." "Then, please cooperate with us in the future!" Isao Nishimoto sighed helplessly and asked: "Were all the passengers on the 'Mystery' train really abducted?"

"Unfortunately, it's true." "Then my son is in there too!" "yes." "But there were 400 passengers on the train! All of them were kidnapped?!" "Yes, that's exactly what it is." "Why would they do this?" "These guys are good at babbling." "How are these hostages now, have they been released?" "They said they would release them once they paid the ransom, so the State Railways gave them the ransom. But I don't know why they didn't keep their promise." "What kind of gang are the criminals?"

"It's not clear at all! Judging from his superb criminal methods, he is a very cunning veteran." "Don't you know where the hostages are being held?" "In general, I know, but I don't know the specifics." "Do you know or don't you know?!" Kou Nishimoto was confused and couldn't help getting angry, but he quickly said to Kamei: "I'm really sorry. I'm really worried about my son!" "I understand. How old is the child?" "10 years old, in the fifth grade of elementary school." "That's the same age as my son. However, my son also has a younger sister!"

"I only have one son!" "It's natural to be worried. Is it a man calling?" "Ok." "What kind of voice is it, can you tell how old he is?" "Age, I think it is about 30 to 40 years old. His tone is calm and steady, and he is very happy when I am afraid. Therefore, although I don't know what kind of person he is, I think he is domineering and makes people think he is He is the leader of that group of people. Moreover, if you pay attention, you will feel that this is a decisive dictator who speaks to you without any room for discussion, and even calls me in such an arrogant tone!"

"You pay attention to his tone!" "On the phone, a strange voice can also be heard." "What does it mean?" "It must be the sound of a model railway turning." "Is it the sound of a train running on the tracks?" "Yes, because my son is a 'railroad fan', I bought him that thing, put it in the child's room, the train runs like that! I heard the same sound as that .I started wondering if he bought it for my son to coax him? But that would not be the case if there were 400 hostages. It would never have been bought for my son alone .The criminal must be a train fanatic!"

"Is this the voice you heard during the phone call between him and you?" "No, it's been there all along. And it's heard every time you call." "So, that sound is quite loud!" "I think so. So I figured it was a train maniac. Because there were two or three model trains going at the same time, so there had to be several tracks laid, and the guy was probably going to put some kind of platform on." Well, railway switches or something? Among my friends, there are people who have this hobby, and this kind of model stuff takes up most of the room." "Then the culprit was a man with a penchant for model trains. Did you notice anything else?" "Also, his tone does not have the accent of a foreigner, so I conclude that he is from Tokyo." "In other words, the criminal is from Tokyo, who loves model railways, and also ordered others to do these things. This is the man who called you." "Well. Yes, I think a middle-aged man." "Understood. If you think of anything else, please let us know immediately." "policeman." "What else is there?" "The 400 people, including my son, will come back safely?" "To achieve this, the police and the National Railways are going all out!" After Kamei and Sakurai came out of Isao Nishimoto's house, they boarded the patrol car.Young Sakurai drove the car. Unfortunately, they caught up with the rush hour for commuting, and the road started to clog up.They had no choice but to turn on the harsh siren and choose their way among the cars. Kamei, who was sitting on the assistant's seat, fell into deep thought. "What are you thinking, Mr. Kamei?" Sakurai asked worriedly while steering the steering wheel. "what?" "Through Isao Nishimoto's confession, have we figured out anything about the criminal? This criminal is a middle-aged man from Tokyo, and he loves model railways. These are great progress, right?" "right!" "Even so, I can't cheer up. Are you worried about the time?" "No! I was really worried when I saw Isao Nishimoto." "Are you worried that he's lying?" "I didn't think so. I was just thinking that the way the criminals used one hostage to threaten their father. I'm thinking about that. There are 400 hostages! There are all kinds of people in here. If it is connected to the family If it is not, then I am afraid it will make the problem even more complicated. In the family, there may be some influential politicians, and some people from the National Railways or the police system. Will the criminals take advantage of this? No, the criminals have already taken advantage of it. If you consider the issue from this starting point, this is no small matter!" "So that's the case. I haven't thought of this step yet! Really, if the hostage's family has international airlines or customs personnel, the criminals may take advantage of this and plan to escape abroad!" "So even though they got the ransom, they didn't release the hostages." "Is it okay to do this? Because the passengers on the 'Mystery' train wrote on postcards, they must have used these originals with the addresses and names of the passengers. Trouble!" "It's just like you said. This is how criminals line up hostages, and they will use them when they find out who is useful to their purpose." "The bastards!" Sakurai muttered softly. Kamei said as if talking to himself: "There is no way. For us, there is nothing we can do. One of the criminals is a railway fan. We have to investigate based on this clue." After returning to the search headquarters, the two of them conveyed Isao Nishimoto's confession to every criminal policeman. "What model railway?" Most of the policemen showed a look that had nothing to do with them, only one policeman named Xiaochuan quickly searched around in his drawer and got busy. "What are you doing? Ogawa-kun." Kamei asked. "Nothing, wait a minute." While talking, Xiao Chuan rushed out five or six magazines from the drawer. Xiao Chuan is a 38-year-old experienced veteran, but usually taciturn, everyone thinks this person is very weird. For such an important matter, Xiaochuan didn't say a word, and looked down for his things.After finding out, I still flipped through silently.Suddenly, he shouted: "Ah! It's him!" "what?" "It's this guy who is very interested in model railways. But he doesn't have much money and his family is not rich. He just made a 'N-type lift car' by himself." "I didn't know this guy in the past!" "This magazine is written for railway fans. It was just launched this year. The name of this man named Takano Masaoyuki is listed in the first issue." "Masayuki Takano is the person in charge of that cram school?" "Because he also lives in Denenchofu, Tokyo, so I think it's right, it's him! I remember this name from a long time ago, and this magazine about model railways reminded me." Indeed, on the page pointed by Ogawa, there is a very eye-catching headline: "Design Grand Prix!" The theme of the competition was the rational design of content including the station's platforms and train tracks. Masaoyuki Takano is on the list of those who won the "Gold Award"! Among these award-winning models, there are models made into small rural stations, and there are also models of electric locomotive tracks that pass through the urban area, and the names are also marked under the photos, such as "National Railway Driftwood" Station Interior View", "A Glimpse of Higashi Sugi and Money" and so on. "This 'Higashi Suginami Line' of course refers to a false railway line. But what is this 'National Railway Driftwood Station'?" Kamei asked Ogawa in confusion. "Of course it's a fictitious station name. It's not the station name of any station." "But doesn't it say National Railway?" "Hey, that's the abbreviation of 'National Railways'. National Railways, doesn't it seem elegant to say that?" Ogawa smiled. The work of Masaoyuki Takano, who won the Gold Award, is titled "A Glimpse at the M Operation". "Is this also a fake location?" "Ah, that's not clear. If it's really fictional, wouldn't it be more 'fashionable' to name it casually, such as 'M' or something? For example, you can use your own name, such as 'Takano Operations' or something." .Therefore, maybe it’s okay to call this an “M” operation, or to use a real operation as a model of your own design!” "Then this 'M' is the 'Xiangri Street Operation Office'?" Kamei asked, staring at the photo. Since the photo is too small for the whole station, maybe he just modeled a small part of the station. Even so, Kamei could still make out several lines of railroad tracks in the photo, with a few temporary special trains and electric locomotives on them. "It would be great if the Totsukawa Police Department was here. He would be able to tell whether the background is the 'Xiangri Street Operation Office', because he has been there!" Kamei said regretfully. "Then I'll give the publishing house a call to confirm!" After speaking, Ogawa immediately picked up the handset and dialed the phone number published in the magazine. He asked the other party to find the editor-in-chief, and said that he was a policeman in the first investigation department. "I'm the editor-in-chief, we don't publish articles with pornographic content!" "Pornographic articles are under the control of the first security department. I'm talking about your model railway magazine. I want to inquire about it. It's the work that won the gold medal in the Design Grand Prix in this year's new issue. It's the work of a man named Takano Masaoyuki ?” "Ah, it's that painting! I remember it very well. Because it's a good painting! But what's the problem?" "It's the photo in the background, isn't it the 'Xiangri Street Operation Office' of the National Railway?" "I think so too." The editor-in-chief said as if joking. "How did he introduce himself? Of course, you must have met the winner himself?" "I saw it. At that time, I also thought that the background photo of this work was 'Xiangni Street Operation Office', but he himself said it was not." "no?" "Hmm. But among the entries, there is indeed someone who went to the 'Xiangri Street Operation Office' to design materials! He said that what he made is very similar to a certain part of Xiangri Street!" "What time did this happen?" "Well... the deadline was September last year, and the announcement date was November 27. The time for Mr. Takano to accept the prize is December 5." "Of course he took the work back?" "yes." "Did Mr. Takano say nothing at that time?" "What did he do?" "No, it's something else. How, what were you going to do then?" "Ah, it's like this. This model is just a part. Let's see if someone can create a whole one. This idea is because next year is the first anniversary of the publication of this magazine, and we plan to hold a competition with the first prize of 1 million yuan." Design Grand Prix, and want to formally recruit staff.” "The results of it?" "He was just grinning, looking very happy. Obviously, he has made the overall model of the operation station or is continuing to complete it!" "At that time, Mr. Takano came alone? I think that model must be very big?" "There was another person who came with him, a man in his 30s. He came and went back by car." "That man's name is Shiraishi, right?" "I don't know the man's name." "Don't you know anything else?" "I just think that person seems to be very good at model railways." "That's the model! Did they draw materials from the 'Xiangri Street Operation Office'?" "yes." "Your reporter looked at this design model, do you think it is exactly the same as the operating site to some extent?" "please wait for a moment!" After the editor-in-chief said something, he seemed to call a reporter, asked a few questions in a low voice, and then another person answered on the phone: "I went there for an interview, and I saw that the place on the model is exactly the same as the refueling line of the 'Xiangri Street Operation Station'. Even people who are not familiar with the national railway and pay little attention can see it." "Please give me an example." "For example, aren't there spare cars lined up on the left side? Those lined up cars are indeed the same as the cars in the 'Xiang Ri Street Operation Station'." "Hey, that's true! According to this, the man named Takano must have been to the 'Xiangri Street Operation Office' and made this model based on actual observations?" "However, it's not so casual for ordinary people to visit. I let me see it because I went to visit." "Then the photos you took must have been published in magazines?" "Well, it's called 'Xiangri Street Operation Office One Day' and it's published in a magazine." "Then he made the model after seeing your photo?" "Will not." "why?" "The magazine that published the photos was in the February issue, and the magazine for the grand prix was on December 27 last year. The time when I received the model was September Song." "I see. I understand. Thank you very much." Xiao Chuan thanked and put down the phone. So, he conveyed to Kamei the situation introduced by the other party just now.After listening, Kamei said: "Perhaps this Takano Masaoyuki is one of the criminals, and he made the model to figure out how to hijack the 'Mystery' train?" "But the schedule for the 'Mystery' train will be announced at the end of May!" "That's true. Maybe Takano planned to attack other national railway trains at the beginning, so he made the model of the "Xiangri Street Operation Station". Probably because of this, he participated in the Grand Prix. And then announced the "Mystery" 'The operation plan of the train. So he used this model to study the countermeasures against the 'Mystery'." "But Mr. Kamei," the young Sakurai policeman standing aside interrupted, "If it wasn't for the people inside the National Railways, it would be impossible to make such a realistic model! However, if it is someone inside the National Railways, who is planning Is it impossible to know about the 'Mystery' at this stage?" "Yes. I don't think the Mystery train program would have been known when the passengers were recruited. If he had known, he shouldn't have been in this grand prix. So, he was in this I only found out about the 'Mystery' train after the race." "Should I make another call?" So Xiao Chuan picked up the phone again and dialed the number of the publishing house. "It's still the matter just now." Ogawa said to the editor-in-chief, "Before the announcement of the 'Mysterious Number', did this person named Gao Ye say anything about the request to withdraw his model?" "How do you know such details?" The editor-in-chief asked in shock. "Have you ever been there? What time is it?" "I remember that around November 20th, Mr. Takano called. He said that because of some urgent need, he asked if he could get back the model that participated in the competition. Since we will announce the ranking soon, and the model will be released soon. It is very likely to win the gold award, so we explained to him that it will be announced on November 27, and we will refund it immediately on December 5, please wait for a while." "Did Mr. Takano say anything?" "At the beginning, he repeatedly asked to return it to him as soon as possible, but we also repeatedly emphasized that it must be returned as soon as December 5th. Anyway, we hope he can understand and so on." If it is November 20, this matter will be very important. The matter of the "Mystery" train was published in the newspaper on June 1.The question is when this plan was established within the State Railways. So Kamei called the Osaka Railway Bureau and wanted to ask the sales manager of Kusaka who made the plan. "Why, haven't you found any hostages or criminals yet?" Kusaka asked Kamei anxiously and abruptly. "Unfortunately, not yet!" "If the hostages can't be rescued quickly, I'll be blindsided!" "That's why I ask for your great help! I want to ask, when did you make the plan for the 'Mystery' train?" "please wait for a moment." It seems that the sun is flipping through the records in a "squeaky" manner. "The draft was drawn up on Saturday, November 1, and it was formally approved by the superiors on November 15." "Did you decide on the carriage and destination at that time?" "Of course, if you don't get every detail right, your boss won't agree." "Thank you." "Is this also useful for solving problems?" "Of course, of course it works." Sure enough, Kamei got an answer just as he imagined. On November 15, the "Mystery" train plan was officially approved by the Osaka Railway Bureau.Then, within the National Railways, a specific plan was made for its details, and it was scheduled for June 1st, and it was officially announced in the newspaper to start recruiting passengers. Therefore, if it is someone inside the National Railways, you will be able to learn the details of this plan on November 20.Especially for the staff within the Osaka Railway Bureau, this possibility is even greater. "As long as one person knows the inside story, the problem can be solved!" Kamei said to Sakurai after putting down the phone. "However, maybe this person is not an employee of the National Railways!" Ogawa said from the side. "Could it be a retired employee?" Kamei asked. "Well, yes! I also think retired staff are more likely. I think in this case, these criminals must be familiar with all kinds of things on the railroad. They got 400 passengers from the Mystery. , where it was locked up, this is the continuation of this incident. Also, they used the 'Crane 13' to get a ransom of 1 billion yen. In addition, they killed a flight attendant of the Osaka Railway Bureau and Shi Shan, a member of 'Happy Year'. Therefore, I think that although it is not clear what the criminal looks like, he led us around a big detour. If the criminal is one or two people, it may be the current staff of the National Railways , but they must be on vacation. Thinking about it this way, I think it is more likely that they are retired personnel.” "Is it a retired employee of the National Railway?" "National Railways has a slogan called 'National Railways Family'. Therefore, any National Railways personnel, including retired personnel, can freely enter and exit the National Railways, so they can capture intelligence." "Then, we can imagine this: one of the criminals is Takano Masaoyuki. The other criminals are the recently retired staff of National Railways, who are also familiar with Takano and have some knowledge of railway models." After Kamei finished speaking, he seemed to ask for help. He looked at the surrounding detectives with an opinion. Ogawa immediately agreed with this statement. "After the criminals got off 400 passengers at Shintarui Station, they drove the train to the 'Xiangil Street Operation Office'. If we assume that the person who drove the train before it reached Xiangil Street was one of the criminals, say he It is untenable to be a retiree of the national railway. It can only be said that this person is the driver of this kind of train before. If they threaten the driver of the "Mystery" to drive the train to the "Xiangri Street Operation Station" , I’m afraid the people there won’t be able to tell which one is the real driver.” "However, even in that case, there is nothing difficult to explain. Since he can enter this train freely, then we can certainly assume that this person used to be a member of the National Railways! I think we You should immediately contact the National Railway Headquarters and ask them to help you check the roster of recently retired and resigned personnel. I’m just afraid that the other party will not be very happy!” Kamei said and picked up the phone receiver. Since Kitano, the president's secretary, was still on the Shinkansen back to Tokyo, a young man named Goto answered the call on his behalf this time. "Please quickly check the resignations in the past year. In particular, please pay attention to the resignation reasons and interpersonal relationships among the resignations of the Osaka Railway Bureau." Kamei said to Goto. "Understood. Since there are not many people who have resigned in the past year, I estimate that it can be found out in an hour." "One more thing, this time the 'Mystery' train, did you recruit passengers in the form of postcards?" "Yes, because it exceeded 20 times the planned capacity, 400 people were screened from it." "Where are the postcards of these 400 people?" "Because the plan was made by the Osaka Railway Bureau, and the selection of the capacity was also done by them, so all the postcards are kept with them," "Do the postcards have the passenger's address and phone number?" "Yes, for the sake of reference, we asked the other party to record their address, phone number and even their age and occupation." In this way, the investigation will take some time.To get them to send the 400 postcards again, the time is even tighter.Therefore, Kamei contacted the Kusaka sales manager of the Osaka Railway Bureau again, asking him to help.