Chapter 24 Section 24

When Yukiko Uehara saw me, the smile on her face froze as if the video tape had suddenly stopped. I nodded to her, and she couldn't help but bow her head. "Why is he here?" Yukiko looked at the ranch grandfather in confusion. "He said he was here to apologize," said the old man. "For business matters." "Oh." She nodded and turned her gaze back to me again.However, she didn't seem to know what to say and fell silent.Grandpa explained my current job to her, and she nodded as she listened, as if those things were unimportant. "I just heard from the old man of the ranch that the contract termination procedures seem to have not been completed yet?" I asked tentatively.

I saw her nodding slightly.So I went on to ask, "It looks like you're not allowed to hire a lawyer. Is that okay? If there's anything I can do, I'll help." Hearing what I said, Yukiko lowered her head first, then raised her head and said, "However, Mr. Tajima is helpless, right? Besides, you have already quit your job now." "That's right..." Her words hit the nail on the head. In fact, I was helpless, but I couldn't say that, so I had no choice but to say: "I think I should be able to help you in various ways. Friends inquire about the current situation."

She shook her head. "Please don't say such perfunctory words. Anyone can play lip service." "No, I don't have that intention..." "Don't worry. We will find a way to help Grandpa on our own. We appreciate your kindness. Thank you." She bowed her head and saluted. She put on a gesture of refusal to be thousands of miles away.I had nothing to say, and having lost all reason to be in that room, I had no choice but to get up and leave. "Then it's almost time for me to go." They didn't keep me. I put on my shoes, until I came out of the entrance, Yukiko stood by the gate, as if watching the plague god leave.Although this is understandable, when I think of being so disgusted by others, I can't help feeling sad.

"Maybe you don't believe me, but I really want to help you. If there is anything I can help, I hope you can contact me." I handed out my business card, but it was printed with my boss's name. "When you call this company, someone will forward the call to me. Even if I'm not here, as long as you leave a message, I will call you back." She silently accepted the card.I knew she didn't mean to contact me at all, but I still accepted it to avoid pestering me. I hadn't taken a few steps when there was a "bang" door closing sound behind me. After that, there was a period of calm.In other words, Yukiko did not contact me.While this was to be expected, it made me very frustrated.Whether it's at work or when I'm drinking a little wine in the house, I think about her and it makes me feel bad.I didn't think I would care about her so much.

In this way, the police finally launched a compulsory investigation into Dongxi Commercial, because some people reported that a certain salesman was selling products by force.The man seemed to claim to the old man that he was an employee of the district office, so that he relaxed his guard and forcibly took away passbooks, health insurance cards, seals and other items.The reason why this crime was reported was that when the prisoner brought the passbook to the bank to cancel the contract, the clerk in charge felt that the prisoner was acting suspiciously, so he confirmed with the owner of the passbook.The male suspect was charged with fraud, but police appeared to conclude that the company was involved.

The hairs on my body stood on end when I heard the news.What the arrested salesman did was exactly the same as how I and Cang Mochi cooperated to defraud the elderly.If we had made a mistake, we would have been arrested. I think that the business of things will probably be completely destroyed. In this way, maybe the old man of the ranch can get some money back more or less.I intend to wait until the matter is over before going to see him. However, the reality is not as good as expected. After the report of the compulsory investigation was published, about ten days later, on a holiday, when I was lying on the bed and wanted to sleep until the afternoon, there was a loud knock on the door, and someone called: " Mr. Tajima, Mr. Tajima!" It was a man's voice that I had never heard before.I thought to myself, maybe it was a courier or something.When I opened the door, I saw two men with fierce faces standing outside.Both of them looked thirty-five or six years old.

"Are you Mr. Kazuyuki Tajima?" The man with the square face said when he saw me sleeping in a T-shirt. I replied, "I am." Almost at the same time, the man took the police manual from the inside pocket of his coat.The surface of the manual was greasy from the dirt of the hands. "Can you please come with us to the police station? I want to ask you something." Things were unexpected and I was taken aback. "This is how the same thing?" "You'll know when you're here. It won't take much of your time." "Wait a minute, please. At least let me know what it's about..." The two detectives looked at each other.

The criminal policeman with a square face replied with a smile: "I want to ask you something about business." "Something... oh." "You already understand what's going on." The detective looked at my clothes and said, "We'll wait here while you change." "But I... I resigned a few months ago. At this point, I have nothing to say, so I shouldn't be able to help." "Whether we can help or not is up to us to judge." Another thin detective said, "You'd better go and change quickly." Their language speaks more to the suspect than to the reference witness.However, with no room for protest, I began to slowly change clothes.The detectives were looking around in my room.

They took me to the Ikebukuro police station.I sat across from the two of them at a small table.The criminal policeman with a square face first handed me a document. "Have you seen this?" What does it mean to have read it? I don't want to read that document a second time. "This is the receipt for the gold purchase from Tozai Shoji, isn't it?" I said. "That's right. Do you know what the official name is?" "I think it should be pure gold home securities." "Correct answer." The detective nodded in satisfaction. "When did you join the company? I don't mean the current company, but Dongxishangshi."

"last year……" After this, they asked detailed questions about what happened during my stay at Tozai Shoji.They inquired particularly carefully about sales tactics.I was reminded of the salesman who had been arrested earlier, so I tried to be vague. "I know you don't want to tell the truth, but for your own good, you'd better tell the truth." After a while, the criminal policeman said anxiously: "There is a crime called perjury." Seeing my stiff face, the criminal policeman pursed his lips and said with a smile: "Don't worry, we don't want to arrest small characters like you at all. If we do that, no amount of criminal policemen will be enough. Our goal is the company itself. No, it should be said that he is manipulating the company behind the scenes. So, it doesn’t matter if you have anything to say honestly. I won’t harm you.”

As I listened, I thought to myself: "If these detectives become salesmen, they must be very good." They didn't seem to be really planning to arrest me for fraud etc., so I gave my confession bit by bit about the hard sales tactics I used as a salesman.The detectives sighed "Oh, that's too much" while listening.They didn't look surprised, however, presumably having heard the same thing from other salesmen. Soon, Dongxishangshi declared bankruptcy.Television and newspapers reported the case in detail day after day.It is said that there were about 40,000 victims, and the total amount of victims was as high as 150 billion yuan.This astronomical figure surprised even me, a former internal employee.A feature of this case is that most of the victims are elderly people who depend on pensions. I also learned one other thing.That is, there is a group above Dongxishangji, which has several companies engaged in fraudulent business. The cadres at the top of Dongxishangshi disappeared long ago.Not to mention pure gold in the company's vault, there is not even a dime of cash left in the customer's deposit.Presumably someone at the top had absconded with money before bankruptcy.Now, even if the victims are of the same mind and want to file a lawsuit to get back their property, I doubt how much they can get back? When I returned home exhausted after sending a set of newlywed furniture to Chiba, the criminal policeman with a square face was waiting for me in front of the house again.He saw my tired face and said to me, "Thank you for your hard work." "What's the matter? Haven't I already said what I should say?" "But the case is not over yet." "I have nothing more to say." I took out the key from my pocket, but the policeman grabbed the handle of the door before I inserted the key into the keyhole, and the door swung open. I shouldn't have forgotten to lock it, so I couldn't help but went into the room in shock. Someone had obviously broken into the house.Things will not be turned over in a mess, but there are traces of being touched everywhere. "We searched your house during the day." The policeman said. "Of course, we have a search warrant. We're asking the landlord to help open the door." "Why are you doing that...?" "I'll explain this slowly. Anyway, come with me first." He pointed to the car parked by the side of the road. As soon as we arrived at the Ikebukuro police station, we sat across the small table as before. "You know the company is down, right? Has anyone contacted you?" "No, not one." "Where are the people who acted together in the company? Who should you contact now?" "No, I haven't contacted anyone from my previous company at all now." Kuramochi's face appeared in my mind, but I tried not to think about it.In fact, I haven't even spoken to him on the phone since moving out of his apartment. The detective tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. "We have only recently learned that your resignation does not appear to have been accepted." "what?" "In other words, when the company goes bankrupt, you're still part of the company." "Impossible. I did give my resignation to a man named Yamashita." "Yamashita... the business manager?" I nod.When the detective said that, I remembered Yamashita's title. "However, that's the way it is. So, the company has been paying you. At least on paper." "I didn't take that kind of money. You'll find out by looking into it." I got up from my chair to emphasize the point.The detective smiled and comforted me. "We know that. That's why I said it was on the books. Besides, there are other ghost employees like you. The cadres probably used your name to distribute the company's money, because they know that the company will face bankruptcy sooner or later." "That's despicable..." I cursed under my breath. "We have one more thing to confirm with you." The detective raised his index finger. "According to what you said, the signing process is as follows. First, let the customer remit the money into the company's account. After the company confirms that the money has been remitted in, the receipt for the purchase of pure gold—should be called a family bond—is sent by mail. or by the salesman directly to the signatory. Another method is that after the salesman receives the cash from the signatory, he brings the money back to the company, asks the company to issue securities, and hands it directly to the signatory. right?" "Yes, that's it." "The problem is the second signing procedure." Interpol said. "If that's the case, the salesman can keep the cash for himself as long as he can find a way to get the family securities." "Huh...?" I was momentarily confused, but then understood what he meant. "The words are correct, but as long as the customer calls the company to confirm, the salesman's trick will be exposed immediately." "It's generally true. However, after you resigned, the company's interior is not in a normal state. Originally, the issuance or management of securities should be strictly enforced, but now it is forged arbitrarily, and it has reached the point of lawlessness. To put it simply, anyone who knows a little bit about the inside information of the company can easily produce securities. As for why the securities are forged, I don’t need to explain further? It's a piece of paper. They're calling it a receipt of pure gold, but there's no such thing as pure gold from the very beginning, so it doesn't matter to the cadres whoever messes around with that scrap of paper." "Someone actually did that... somebody took the money for themselves?" "Apparently there is. To be fair, there are signs of people doing that." The criminal police put a copy on the table.That is a document.I have seen the form countless times. "You know what this is?" "Receipt for cash." "That's right. When the signatory pays cash, before receiving the securities, the salesman will hand over this piece of paper to the signatory as evidence of the cash payment. Seeing this, do you notice anything?" I stared at the piece of paper, then my eyes widened and I let out an "ah". "It has my seal on it..." "That's right. The seal on it is Tajima's name, right? According to our police investigation, there is only one employee named Tajima in Tozai Shoji." "However, this is not my seal. I don't remember that I have stamped it. Besides, I am usually responsible for auxiliary business, and the company has never entrusted me with such a heavy responsibility." "Apart from the seal, have you noticed anything else?" "Is there anything else?" I thought as I set my eyes on the copybook.This time it took me a while to notice the small print around the edges. "The date is... a month after I left the job." "Right? That is to say, someone used your name to promote and completed the cash transaction. That person first gave the cash receipt with Tajima's seal to the customer, and then brought the counterfeit securities to the customer a few days later." "But in that case," I stared at the copy. "I should ask for the cash receipt when handing over the securities to the customer, and it would be strange to leave the receipt like this. People who can do that kind of thing should dispose of the receipt they want back immediately." "But he can't do that. Because he has to hide it from the company. You may not know that in order to manage the issued securities, the Tozai Shoji will file cash receipts, securities receipts or registered receipts. The prisoner must secretly mixing receipts into the file." "So, this is from those files..." "I really wanted to say 'completely correct', but I missed it." The detective scratched his nose. "Actually, it seems that there was such a file, but it disappeared during the compulsory investigation. It seems that the cadres did not want the police to know the identity of the victim, so they disposed of it. This file was accidentally found among the unfiled files. of." I hold the copy in my hand.The amount written on it is 200,000, which is not a large amount, so it should be paid in cash. "It doesn't have the guest's name written on it." "Hmm. The name field is blank." "Why didn't the salesman write down the customer's name?" "It could be a coincidence, but it could be on purpose. Because once you know who the customer is, you can target the salesman who is taking the money for himself." I nod.But as long as you let the customer see the mugshots of all the salesmen, you can still catch it.Having said that, using the names of ex-employees to deceive people is really clever.He must have seen that Dongxishangshi was about to close down, and the cadres would destroy the evidence of the transaction.At this moment, I suddenly thought of one thing and raised my head. "Is that the only time that the salesman stole my name and took the money for himself?" The detective with a square face closed his lips tightly and tilted his head in thought. "It should be more than that. Because using this method can easily succeed. It's a pity that we have no evidence." I bit my lip.Although I have no loss, I still feel regretful that my name is used for such a bad thing.That is to say, after I resigned, there are still salesmen who call themselves "Tajima" who deceive the elderly again and again. "The reason we searched your home was to see your seal. If you have the same seal as this receipt, it means you took the money for yourself." "I didn't." I stared at him. "I know, just to be on the safe side. In addition, we also investigated your deposits and so on. As far as the conclusion is concerned, there is nothing suspicious about you. But excuse me, you seem to live a fairly frugal life." I thought to myself: "None of your business." I looked away from the criminal police. "So," the detective stepped forward. "Speaking of this, do you have any idea in your heart? Do you know any scoundrel who stole your name and took advantage of this deceitful company?" Immediately a name came to my mind.No, it should be said that it is more accurate to say that it gradually came to mind while listening to the detective's words. I adjusted my breathing and pretended to be thinking.How should I answer it? Before long, I found a reasonable answer.I looked into the criminal policeman's eyes and said, "Since it's that kind of company, all of them should be salesmen who can lie to others without changing their faces. To be honest, it's not so much that they have the bottom line in their hearts, but that everyone has the possibility. So, really If anything, the entire staff is suspicious." The detective looked a little disappointed. I often wonder how things would have turned out if Osho Kuramoji's name had been uttered at that time.Would he have been arrested by the police, and would my life be different after that?No, I don't think so.I don't think Kuramochi would be straightforward about committing a crime.The evidence in the hands of the police is almost equal to zero.Even if there is any evidence, the court should not charge him with major crimes. However, the reason why I didn't tell the criminal police his name was not because I considered these things, but because I thought that finding the worse part of him and keeping it in my heart would definitely come in handy in the future.I decided to punish him myself, I don't want the police to get involved. A few days later, I headed to Kuramochi's apartment.The purpose is to confirm whether he has stolen my name to promote. However, Kuramochi has already moved.I asked the neighbor next door and found out that he had stopped living there a month ago.The other party does not seem to know his whereabouts.I stopped by the real estate company that managed the apartment.The sultry-faced store manager flipped through the documents as if it was troublesome, and he told me that the contact address of Kuramo is the address of his hometown. "Home? Is that the tofu shop?" "I don't know, he only left the address." Looking at the contact address column, it was indeed the address of the old tofu shop.I decided to make a phone call to Kuramo's hometown.It was his mother who answered the phone.I said, I am a junior high school classmate of Kuramochi. "Because I'm going to make a classmate address book recently, please tell me the current address of Kuramo." Cangchi's mother didn't doubt my words, but said on the other end of the phone in confusion: "I don't know his address either." "Huh? What do you say?" "The last time he contacted his family was at this time last year, and there has been no news since then. He lived in Nerima at that time, but now he can't get through the phone there..." His mother asked me: "Do you know How is my son doing?" I couldn't answer a few words, so I hung up the phone. I went to the bathhouses, restaurants, coffee shops and other places I visited together before, but the answer was the same everywhere: "From what you said, he hasn't been here recently." I also went near the building where Tozai Shoji is located.However, doing so is a waste of time.It was impossible for Kuramo to appear there without warning. As time went by, I gradually forgot about him.After all, in order to survive the day, there is no time to find someone. I thought it would be best for me if I just forgot about him.In fact, I did live a more secure and enjoyable life for the next few years. However, the black thread of fate connecting me and him has not been broken.