Chapter 15 Section five
Akio took the Chuo Line back to Shinjuku, and then took the Yamanote Line to Takadanobaba, it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon.He called the Onda Investigative Intelligence Office, and the other party said that it was only a five-minute walk from the station.Qiu Sheng told the other party that he would go over immediately, and the other party said kindly, "Then I'll wait for you."
The office is located on the third floor of a commercial and residential building in the alley behind the big box from the east exit.The faint sunshine sprinkled down from the clouds.The elevator had a "regular maintenance" sign, so Qiu Sheng could only go up the escape ladder.The first floor of the building is a restaurant, and the stairs are full of garbage and towels.
I rang the doorbell, and there was a "please come in" from inside, and then someone opened the door, maybe I have been waiting for a long time.The person who answered the door was a young girl in her twenties, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, she looked like a work-study student. "Maki, bring the guests to the reception room." A voice came from inside. "Okay—" the work-study student answered in a long voice.The atmosphere is laid back, which can't help but be a little disappointing.The office is not too big, with three desks and a reception room, it is already crowded.
The director, Onda, is in his fifties, obese and bald on the top of his head.Wearing a white shirt, he walked over with the information in one hand, and after handing over his business card, he went straight to the topic.He doesn't seem to like social rhetoric.The way the girl named Maki brought tea made one couldn't help but sweat for her.
"The phone number you want to check has been found. It was registered under Yasuko Wakabayashi's name before."
En Tian took out the data from the data folder, looked at the data and said, and then asked Qiu Sheng with his eyes: "What should we do next?"
"Can I find the registered address?"
"certainly."
"This call was forwarded to me by a woman named Ruobayashi Lizi. Because of personal reasons, I am looking for her whereabouts."
En Tian glanced at Qiu Sheng, and asked sharply, "May I ask you what is your personal factor?"
"Well... I can assure you that it has nothing to do with crime."
Hearing Qiusheng's answer, Ontian pretended to think for a while and said, "Then I will believe what you say." In their line of business, if you go after the client, you can't do business at all.For him, if the client is willing to come to the firm directly, it is considered very good.
"Do you know that woman named Yasuko Wakabayashi?"
Qiu Sheng shook his head.
"Since the person you are looking for uses this woman's phone number, it means they should be related by blood. It may be her mother, or sister... If you find out the household registration or resident certificate, you may be able to learn more about it. Other than that Besides, some simple personal data can also be investigated, what do you think?"
"What kind of information specifically?"
"Usually it is the investigation of credit data and criminal records. If the person is really missing, you can check the bank account and confirm the ATM usage records. Although it is impossible to check all banks, as long as it is a large urban bank, there should be no problem. "
"Can I check the record of going abroad?"
"If you have a passport number, you can. However, it is very troublesome to enter the database of the Immigration Bureau. Only Narita Airport and Kansai Airport can check it immediately."
Akio took out a copy of Reiko's passport from the inside pocket of his jacket.When he was at the Peninsula Hotel, he made an extra copy.
"Is this the woman you're looking for?"
Holding a copy of her passport, Onda said, "Since we already have her identity documents, it will be much easier to check." Then he added, "What a beautiful woman."
"May I trouble you to investigate all the data you may have?"
Onda filled in the commissioned content on the data, and said to Akio: "The investigation fee needs to be at least 500,000 yen."
Qiusheng nodded.Onda said: "Please pay a deposit of 300,000 yen first, and the rest will be settled after the investigation is completed. As for the content that cannot be found, you will not be charged." They quickly negotiated the deal.
Akio took out the unopened cash from the envelope given to him by the old man Kurata, counted 300,000 yen and handed it to him, saying, "No receipt is needed." Onda smiled happily.Even well-qualified investigators will be overjoyed when they receive money that they don't need to file a tax return on.
"Also, Lizi once registered with a manpower dispatch company and was sent to Lingyou Real Estate as the director's secretary."
"Which manpower dispatch company is it?"
Qiusheng mentioned the name of the businessman who was treated coldly when he called a few days ago. Onda said "ah" and replied very simply: "That company should be fine. I will check the dispatched company and job content .”
Qiusheng asked Ontian, can personal data be found so easily?He was really puzzled.
"There are no secrets in the world." Entian said with a smile.
"For example, NTT or a mobile phone company, there are always some employees who want to sell the company's information for money. Usually, they borrow money from underground banks because of gambling, but the money is not paid. As a result, the industry will find a special collection of information The company threatens those who owe money to sell the company's customer information in order to repay the interest. If the company finds out, it will only be fired. Compared with being chased by someone, the company's ethical regulations are simply insignificant. One keystroke and they don't even feel guilty. Some even actively sell customer data. That's the wholesaler of data. Whether it's a bank clerk, or a police officer, or a civil servant, everyone wants money.
"On the contrary, there are people like you who want to buy data with money. The most common is the credit investigation of the company. If you are accidentally defrauded and get a blank check, it may lead to the closure of the company. Japanese companies are very protective of labor rights , if someone with an abnormal personality is hired, it will cause great damage to the company. In comparison, a simple behavior investigation only costs 300,000 yen, and a company's credit investigation only costs 500,000 yen. .Of course, there are also some stalkers who want to investigate the address and phone number of a woman they met recently, and groupies who want to investigate the restaurants that their idols frequent.”
When Onda said this, he looked at Qiusheng's expression.Qiusheng felt as if he had become a stalker.
"Data companies are like intermediaries, connecting data wholesalers and data consumers. They have internal lines in the police, telephone companies, and credit data companies. Once entrusted by someone, they can find out what they want with just one phone call. Data. The kind of business they do is illegal, or very close to the black gray area. It is impossible to casually sell information to an unspecified number of individuals. Especially recently, the so-called right to privacy has been emphasized. If it is too blatant, someone will go to Report to the police or newspaper.
"Therefore, credit agencies and survey companies like us are needed as a window to contact consumers. Data companies will sell their information sources to credit agencies and survey companies around the world. When we accept customers' entrustments, we will Among the data companies you know, look for the cheapest and most reliable place, and entrust them with the work. For data companies, this method can protect their intelligence sources, and it is easier for them to do things.”
After listening to Onda's words, Qiusheng discovered that the trading of materials is the same as the financial industry.Data companies are wholesalers, and credit bureaus and research firms are retailers.Since the wholesaler wholesales the goods to various retail stores, it is actually the same where you buy them.Whether it is a large store or a small and medium store, there is not much difference at all.
The advantage of buying and selling materials is that the cost is the same whether it is sold to one person or to a million people.Therefore, data companies that have mastered high-quality data sources sell to credit agencies and survey companies everywhere, and sign contracts with discounts based on quantity.Assuming that it costs 80,000 yen to investigate a phone number, the data source of the wholesaler, the data company of the wholesaler, and the credit agency or research company of the retail store will share the money, and each can get nearly 30,000 yen.Since there is no cost at all, it is a profitable business.
Whether personal data or financial data, it is just data.Once the data is known to have value, it is of course hoped that the value can increase infinitely.Someday, personal information will be sold as cheap as beef.
Qiusheng asked Ontian to contact him by phone or email once he got the news.
He took the Yamanote Line at Takadanobaba, transferred to the Chiyoda Line of the Nishi-Nippori Subway, and arrived at Ayase Station in about 30 minutes.Although it was not yet five o'clock, the sun was almost setting in late autumn.The address of Wakabayashi Yasuko found by Onda is located in a remote area south of Ayase.After passing Tsumanchuan, you can see the long gray wall of the Tokyo Detention Center.
Akio has been living along the Chuo Line since he was in college, and he has little idea of the Kita District in Tokyo, but he still knows that after the bubble economy, with the redevelopment of the center of Tokyo, this area has become more and more declining, almost turning into a slum .Although it is a slum, the situation in Japan is not too bad after all, it's just that women dare not go out alone at night.
In the square in front of the station at the west exit, a group of blond young men gathered there with nothing to do.These school dropouts are unable to work and act as parasites for their parents.They still live in the era when as long as they have a mobile phone and a car, they can spend free time with beautiful girls.A few pairs of eyes glanced at Qiu Sheng, and found that it was someone who had nothing to do with them, so they resumed their dead fish-like expressions.
It is also common to see wage earners from China, South Asia and South America here.In the current recession, they can't find jobs and have nothing to do.Many people borrowed money to come to Japan, so they had to send money back to their extremely poor hometowns.Once the visa expires, if they do not earn enough money, they will stay illegally and continue to stay and work, which can easily lead to crime.
When passing through the downtown area, Qiu Sheng was pestered several times by solicitors.Apart from the large supermarket in front of the station, there are only bistros and convenience stores, a pharmacy, a beef shop, and a 100-yen store.A female middle school student wearing a uniform is sitting on the road in front of a convenience store, smoking a cigarette with dignity.
Yasuko Wakabayashi's home is located in a densely populated area of old wooden houses and apartments near the Ayase River, and it feels a bit deserted.Most of the houses did not have house numbers, so it took a lot of effort to find them, and finally found a wooden structure apartment over 30 years old.The first floor is the landlord's house, and the second floor is the rental apartment.Judging from the mailboxes, there are four in total.
There are two mailboxes with the residents' names written on them, the nameplates of the other two rooms have been torn off, and the rain windows are also tightly closed, so it doesn't look like there are people living there.Even rooms that looked like they were inhabited had no lights on.Next to the stairs leading to the second floor are shoe cabinets and a public washing machine. Walk up the stairs and see that there is a public toilet at the end of the corridor, and the door of the room is made of plywood.Living in such a simple house, you can hear the voices of the neighbors.
Qiu Sheng thought about it in front of the apartment, and felt that the only way was to ask the landlord.So he rang the doorbell of the landlord's house.After a long time, the light in the entrance was turned on, and a thin old man in his seventies poked his head out and looked at Qiu Sheng suspiciously.He probably thought Qiu Sheng was a salesman.
"Uh, there used to be a woman named Wakabayashi Yasuko who lived here..." Before he finished speaking, the old man's face suddenly flushed and he roared loudly: "Why are you looking for that woman again! I don't know anything , let’s go, let’s go!” Then, he closed the door forcefully and locked it from the inside.Qiu Sheng had no idea what happened.
Due to the sudden incident, Qiu Sheng was a little frightened.When he walked out the gate, a woman stuck her head out of the opposite house and looked around.She might have heard the old man growling.From her dyed brown hair, she looks like a bar girl, but she looks like a housewife wearing a flower pattern apron. It is clear that she wants to say something to Qiusheng.Qiu Sheng scratched his head, greeted her, and deliberately showed a hopeless expression and said, "Oh, I didn't expect him to lose his temper suddenly."
"Are you looking for Ruolin?" the woman asked bluntly, "Yes, I just want to know if there was a man named Koko who lived here before."
"A lot of weird people came last time, that's why the old man was so angry."
"Weird people?"
"It's someone from the underworld." The woman smiled contemptuously, "The Mercedes-Benz drove in suddenly, it's frightening to death."
"when?"
"I forgot, almost two weeks ago. There was a very scary 'one-eyed dragon' who came to my house and asked if I saw a woman named Reiko. They kept asking where the hell was her daughter, and finally, The landlord called the police and they finally left. What happened?"
She was literally watching a gossip show.
Qiu Sheng couldn't help becoming confused.The "one-eyed" gangster who went to that woman's house was definitely Goro.If it was two weeks ago, it was before they went to Hong Kong.After Reiko stole the money, Kuroki found the apartment, threatened the landlord, and asked him where her daughter had gone.Therefore, Wakabayashi Yasuko is Reiko's mother.
How did Kuroki find this apartment?Could it be that he found it by following the clues of the transferred phone call just like himself?If so, it means this is a dead end.
"Do you know Miss Wakabayashi?"
Qiusheng ignored the woman's question and asked on his own.
It wasn't long before I moved here.After those gangsters came, I heard a lot of rumors about them.As a result, everyone found an old man who lived nearby and asked him what was going on.He said that ten years ago, Wakabayashi Yasuko did live here with her daughter who was in high school. As a result, something happened, she went to the police station, and then moved out.That old man also has a bit of dementia, so I don't know the details. At this time, the woman lowered her voice and said, "That's a terrible thing."
"What's up?"
This time, the woman ignored Qiu Sheng's question.She meant that information needs to be exchanged with each other. Qiu Sheng said in a mysterious way: "Her daughter got into trouble because of money."
"I knew it." The woman looked at Qiu Sheng with curious eyes, "Are you from an underground bank?"
"Well, it's almost there." Qiu Sheng casually said.
"I heard that both mother and daughter are famous beauties in this area."
"Did you hear that her daughter came back here recently?"
"Those people in the underworld have been asking, and the neighbors have been discussing it, but no one has read it. Who would come back to look at the dilapidated house they lived in ten years ago."
It is impossible to determine the blood relationship between Yasuko Wakabayashi and Reiko based on the phone number alone.That being said, Kuroki has checked Reiko's household registration and found this place according to the household registration.Since Wakabayashi Yasuko is Reiko's mother, of course I have to go to her hometown to find her.However, when I came here, I found that the building was empty, and I couldn't find any clues at all.That's why he threatened the landlord in a rage.Qiusheng believes that Kuroki did not notice the transfer of the phone.So, he still has a chance.At this time, several housewives who came back from shopping came over. Seeing them, the woman hurriedly said:
"Uh, I'm cooking dinner."
The woman then hurriedly hid in the house.When Qiu Sheng turned his head, he happened to meet the curious eyes of those housewives.
Akio drank bland coffee in the smoky coffee shop in front of Ayami Station.He left the apartment where Reiko's mother lived under the curious eyes of the housewives.On the way to the station, many questions came to his mind, and he needed to sort them out.
Reiko is 31 years old.According to the woman who lived across the street, when Reiko was in high school, she lived with her mother in that poor apartment with only public toilets.That was more than ten years ago.Then, there was an incident that triggered a police call, and the mother and daughter left the apartment.The neighbor's woman said it was "terrible".What the hell is going on here?This is the first question.
Akio recalls Reiko wearing Chanel, Gucci and Bulgari.In the ten years since she left that run-down apartment, Reiko has been able to live as luxuriously as she wants.So, what about her mother?Where are people now?
In any case, Reiko's story about her fiancé is utter nonsense.Judging from the living conditions in this apartment, it was impossible for Reiko's mother to arrange a blind date for her, and it was impossible to invite her fiancé to the house.So, who is her fiancé?How did they meet?Akio recalled hearing a young man's voice say "Hello, I'm Sanada" when he was on the phone at a coffee shop in Victoria Peak, Hong Kong.This is the second question.
After Reiko and her mother left the apartment, the household registration remained here.The neighbor's woman said that no one lived here at all.However, Reiko set the call to be transferred here.The reason why Kuroki and the others threatened the landlord was because the lease contract was still in progress.Once the contract is terminated, it will be impossible for Reiko to use the phone.Therefore, during the past ten years, someone has been paying the rent here.Who and for what purpose?This is the third question.
All in all, not so long ago, the phone in that room still worked.Calls made to Mr. Chen's company in Hong Kong will be directly transferred to Lizi's mother's apartment.So, how does Reiko answer the calls here?Have you been waiting in that house for the phone to ring?
It should be impossible, Qiusheng thought.Today, any phone call can leave a message and listen to the recording afterwards.If you just want to answer calls from overseas financial institutions, you only need to set the voice of the recorder to English.As long as they hear the same name as the account holder, the bank will leave a message on the phone without any suspicion.Reiko only needs to listen to the phone message somewhere, and then call the bank.Once the message recording is set, Reiko doesn't even need to stay in Japan at all.In this case, it is really convenient to set up the phone in a room where no one lives.
At this time, Qiu Sheng noticed a very important thing.If the phone is still in the room, the message from the overseas bank may not have been erased.Of course, Reiko may have used teleoperation to eliminate the message, but that is not very likely.If the message confirming the remittance has not been deleted, the whereabouts of the 5 billion yen will be known.
Thinking of this, Qiu Sheng grabbed the bill and stood up, walked out of the coffee shop after paying the bill, and turned back along the original road.He looked at the time, it was past six o'clock.The sun had long gone down, pale street lamps shone coldly on the street, and from time to time one could smell someone else's home preparing dinner, but half the houses were still dark, and the owners hadn't come home yet.
He didn't know how to get into Wakabayashi Yasuko's house.Should I go to the landlord again, give him money, and ask him to help open the door?The occupants of the apartment haven't come home yet, why not pry open the door now?That kind of thin plywood door, as long as you use a crowbar, you should be able to open the lock easily.
He walked to the apartment. Fortunately, neither of the two residents came home.The landlord on the first floor also closed the rain windows tightly, and it was so quiet that no sound could be heard.Qiu Sheng put the shoes into the shoe box and tiptoed up to the second floor.
There were two vacant rooms in the apartment, and Akio Chai Riko's mother should live in room 201 near the entrance.Another family seemed to have just moved out, and the name tag on the mailbox had just been torn off.
Just in case, Qiu Sheng took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it on the doorknob of Room 201 to avoid fingerprints.Unexpectedly, the doorknob turned all of a sudden, without any effort.
Due to the closed rain windows, the indoors could not be seen.After some difficulty, I saw a small kitchen about half the size of a tatami mat next to the door, with only a dirty gas stove.
He looked for the circuit switch, and finally saw it next to the public toilet at the end of the corridor.Turn on the circuit switch in room 201, and go back to the room to find the light switch.The lamps in the room have been removed. Fortunately, there is still an incandescent lamp in the kitchen.Turn on the switch, and the yellow light illuminates the small room.
Qiu Sheng realized at a glance that his trip was in vain.Not only is there no phone in the room, but even the furniture has been removed.The tatami mats have absorbed a lot of moisture and have slumped down. The paper door has many holes and has not been replaced at all. The walls have peeled off and the inner walls can be seen. It seems that they have no intention of welcoming new tenants.The room was small and dark and felt very gloomy.Judging from the orientation of the room, it should be exposed to the sunset all year round.Qiusheng couldn't believe that Lizi used to live in such a place.
Qiu Sheng found the phone plug next to the kitchen. With the help of the dim light, he carefully checked the surrounding tatami mats, and found that there was no dust in a small square.Absolutely yes, the phone used to be here, but it was recently taken away.
At this time, Qiu Sheng suddenly found a strange pattern on the sliding door of the closet.Walking over to take a look, I found that it seemed to have been splashed with paint, and the tatami mats below were also black.
Qiu Sheng cut off a small piece of paper door and took it under the light bulb in the kitchen.When I rub it with my hands, there is also a faint black powder on my hands.You don't need a test to know that it's a lot of blood.
Although the reason is not known, people have shed a lot of blood here before.Since then, this room has been abandoned here.
Qiu Sheng walked out of the room and observed the apartment from the outside again.
Under the dim street lights, you can see the dilapidated rain windows and rusty railings.This is the home where Reiko lived with her mother when she was in high school.
There was a dog barking in the distance, and then, silence fell.
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