Chapter 15 Section Fourteen

The investigating authorities probably did not determine that the poison used by the murderer was a pure cyanic acid compound, let alone potassium cyanide as they later did in the public trial. The investigating authorities must have conducted various studies on the poisons used in the "Reichsbank Incident".They must have tried their best to find out what compound it was, if not potassium cyanide. Investigating authorities presumably finally identified a resemblance to acetone cyanide manufactured at the old Army Research Institute.This was researched and manufactured by the army in extreme secrecy during the war, and it was called "nitroxyl" in military terms.It is said that it was invented by Captain Tanaka of the Noborito Ninth Technical Research Institute in Inada, Kanagawa Prefecture.It is as slow to take effect as the poison used in the "Reichsbank incident", but there is no basis to conclude that this "nitroxyl" is the same poison as the poison used in the "Reichsbank incident", only that they are very similar That's all.

Besides, the 731st Unit stationed in Northeast China once studied various strategic bacteria under the leadership of Lieutenant General Ishii.The Metropolitan Police Department first suspected that the perpetrator of the "Imperial Bank incident" must be one of these demobilized soldiers, which is also a natural thing. In fact, it is evident from the investigative outline that this approach has been advanced to a certain extent. "As mentioned in the latter paragraph of item (5) of the first part above, it is very likely that the perpetrators belong to the above-mentioned ranges, and I hope that the investigation on this aspect will be done carefully. So far, the investigation experience has proved that most of the above-mentioned people are now All of them work in the institutions of medical treatment, epidemic prevention, and pharmaceutical systems, and special attention should be paid when investigating these personnel. After this outline, a list of the above-mentioned personnel found by the headquarters under the jurisdiction of your Ministry is attached. Please your Ministry one by one. Investigate whether there are any suspects. Since there are many omissions in the registration list, if there are no suspects in your department, please ask the relevant people to mention other colleagues who belonged to the same unit and have the above experience. After the investigation, please contact this office and inform the result as charge."

It can be seen from this that the investigation work has been carried out quite clearly against the old military department, and even the list is attached.The instructions also said that there may still be omissions, please ask the people on the list. A fact worth noting here is that most of the people who had this kind of experience in the old military department are now serving in medical, epidemic prevention, and pharmaceutical institutions. At that time, whether it was the backbone of the 731st Unit or the members of the Ninth Technical Research Institute system, the knowledge of bacteria and poisons was extremely rich.As soon as they are demobilized, they will work in non-government medical and epidemic prevention institutions and companies in the pharmaceutical system. This is also extremely natural.There must still be many people who still hold technical positions in drug companies today.

But the question is: Is it only private drug companies that accommodate these outstanding technicians?Not at all.A few percent of them have already been quietly retained by the Public Health Section of the US General Command.The oldest person in this regard is Lieutenant General Shiro Ishii, who once served as the captain of the 731st Unit. When the war was coming to an end, Lieutenant General Ishii returned home quickly.After the war, he opened a hotel in Wakamatsu Town, Shinjuku Ward, and was harassed by journalists, but he disappeared afterwards. The subordinates of Lieutenant General Ishii's Unit 731 were arrested by the Soviet Union and tried as war criminals.In 1950, the Japanese version of the trial record was published in Moscow under the title: .

However, the people in Lieutenant General Ishii's system who returned to Japan were not convicted as war criminals by the U.S. Army, but were retained by the U.S. General Command.Why would the US occupying forces use them?Because the research on bacteria in the Japanese Army had made remarkable progress at that time, whether it was the Ishii Technical Unit or the Ninth Technical Research Institute, the United States deliberately wanted to use them. Conversely, it can also be said that the reason why the Soviet Union tried the soldiers headed by Lieutenant General Kajizuka Takaji (the top leader of the 100th Army at the time of the armistice) as war criminals was because they judged that they were of no use; The military headed by Lieutenant General Ishii was determined to be useful.This value is naturally intended to be used in future local wars.Therefore, the U.S. General Command must strictly keep the fact that it is conducting bacterial research in extreme secrecy and must not leak information.

If the Reichsbank murderer was a member of the Bacteriological Department system sheltered by the U.S. General Command, it would be a big deal.What they want to protect is not the murderer himself. If the fact that the United States retains former Japanese soldiers to conduct bacterial research is leaked out, the problem will become serious.Once this matter is made public, it will be very bad.Therefore, if the detective network cast by the Metropolitan Police Department on the old military headquarters becomes tighter and tighter, and the problem becomes more and more acute, it will naturally cause an embarrassing situation.The investigative techniques of the Japanese Metropolitan Police Department, as the occupying forces called them, were excellent.Step by step, however accurately and precisely, it narrowed the net it had cast on the old military headquarters.The case was so important that not to mention Japanese newspapers, even foreign journalists were watching its development.If the outside world has even heard of the existence of the bacteria research department in the U.S. General Headquarters, although the occupying forces can prohibit Japanese newspapers from disclosing it, they cannot prohibit the reports of special correspondents from all over the world.Immediately after the case happened, the Metropolitan Police Department sent the surviving victims of the case to Notre Dame Hospital for hospitalization. At that time, Japanese journalists were strictly prohibited from meeting with them, but foreign journalists could not be prohibited from interviewing them.A reporter from Kyodo News once went to the hospital to learn about the situation of the surviving Imperial Bank staff, and published a special report-the reporter was disguised as a foreign reporter.

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