Chapter 28 Chapter 26 Action

"Kamei, let's go to Hakone!" Totsukawa suddenly said to Detective Kamei. "The incident twenty years ago happened in Horie Masahiko's villa?" "yes." "Then he is the murderer?" Kamei detective asked. "Old Turtle, do you think so?" "I think so, but it has been 20 years since the incident, and the case has long been closed. I don't think we can still investigate evidence that can prove Masahiko Horie is the murderer." "I know that." Totsukawa said with a smile. "So, are you going to put pressure on Masahiko Horie?" Detective Kamei asked with his eyes wide open.

"The other party hasn't moved, so let's take action and see what the other party's reaction will be?" Totsukawa said. "Will the other party take action?" "Now don't say that Horie is very panicked, and the people around him are the same. Although the incident 20 years ago has expired, because he was abroad before, the statute of limitations expired. If Masahiko can be proved to be the murderer, he can be arrested for murder. .” "He should know that too, right?" "Of course he knows, that's why he pretended to be calm on the surface, but he was very anxious inside. Although he didn't take any action himself, he will definitely send someone to follow and monitor us." Totsukawa said confidently.

The two of them drove to Hakone in a patrol car. This time they did not drive a patrol car without a police car logo, but deliberately drove an ordinary patrol car with obvious targets. They drove the car deliberately and slowly. Detective Kamei, who was looking in the rear mirror, smiled and said to Totsukawa, "Sure enough, someone is following us. It's the white blue bird car." Totsukawa immediately contacted the Nishimoto detective by radio and asked him to investigate the owner of the car. Detective Kamei drove the patrol car onto the Tomei Expressway. Thirty minutes later, he received a radio from Detective Nishimoto.

"The owner's name is Junichiro Teraoka, thirty-seven years old." "What does he do?" "Currently, he is Masahiko Horie's secretary. He used to be a reporter. He quit his job as a reporter only after making a mistake." "Sure enough, it's the people around Masahiko." "I heard that his hands are very strong, because he was a boxer in college." Nishimoto detective said. After Totsukawa hung up the wireless phone, Detective Kamei asked as if confirming while driving, "Is this Masahiko Horie's secretary?" "Seems."

"What should we do? Stop him and ask him why he is following us?" "No, let him follow." Totsukawa said. After arriving in Hakone, go to the Gotemba Police Station first, because this police station was responsible for the investigation of the incident 20 years ago. The director at that time had changed, but a fifty-year-old detective named Hirata still remembered the incident clearly. "Mr. Tsukamoto's only daughter died in a car accident. It was a big news at the time and caused a great sensation." Detective Hirata told Detective Totsukawa and Detective Kamei about the car accident twenty years ago.

"I heard that the incident was investigated based on the two clues of homicide and death in a car accident?" "Yes. Since there was no evidence of homicide, the case had to be closed in a car accident." "During the investigation, was the name of Diet member Masahiko Horie mentioned?" Totsukawa asked. "Yes, because we have investigated the boyfriends the deceased had dated with, and Horie Masahiko was one of them." "Is he suspected?" "We suspected him at the time, but after our investigation, the two of them have only been dating for half a month, and their relationship is not bad, so it is impossible for him to kill the deceased."

"Is there no other person involved in the matter?" "They are all young men and women. If they say they are suspected, they are very suspicious. If they say they are not suspected, they are not suspected. With no evidence, they finally closed the case with death in a car accident." "Did you meet Masahiko Horie at that time?" Detective Kamei asked. "Yes. Like other related persons, he was not specifically interrogated." "So, did his father, Diet member Horie, tell you anything? For example, his son was definitely not responsible for that incident." Totsukawa said.

"His father called the director and heard that not only did he not put pressure on the director, but he also politely told the director that his son caused him trouble, and he was very sorry." Detective Hirata said. (Isn't that just stress?) Totsukawa thought so, stood up silently, and stared out the window. He looked at the road next to the police station, and the car following them was parked there. The driver was smoking a cigarette outside the car. Detective Kamei also came to the window and looked down with Totsukawa|. "Is it Teraoka himself?" Detective Kamei asked in a low voice.

"That's right, it's him, because the age matches. Don't you think he looks like someone?" Totsukawa asked with a smile. "You mean he looks like Ishizaki?" Detective Kamei took a closer look, and said with admiration, "You observed carefully, he really looks like Ishizaki." After the man finished smoking his cigarette, he changed his position, and Totsukawa and Detective Kamei hurried away from the window. "What's going on here? Does Masahiko Horie like Ishizaki too?" "Do you still remember that when he was traveling with Yoshioka Masashi and was secretly photographed by the photo weekly, he immediately stopped that weekly magazine from publishing those photos? Yoshioka Masashi also looks like Ishizaki." Totsukawa said.

"From this point of view, he still misses Ishizaki?" "If Horie had no political ambitions, or a father who didn't have a politician, maybe he and Ishizaki would live together lovingly. It's a pity that he is too passionate about politics, and his father expects too much of him." "Is that why the murder happened?" Kamei detective asked. "It is very difficult to prove that he killed someone, and it is even more difficult to get him to bow his head and plead guilty." "But, isn't it his weakness that he hired someone who looked like Ishizaki as his secretary?"

"Maybe?" Ten Tsukawa also agrees with Kamei Interpol.As Detective Kamei said, we can start from this aspect so that he can bow his head and plead guilty, but this is not an easy task.The other party is a master, and the incident happened twenty years ago. After they left the police station, they went to the Numazu branch of N News. The blue bird car is still following behind, probably wanting to report Totsukawa's every move to Masahiko? There are seven or eight reporters in this branch, and three of them still remember the incident twenty years ago. Totsukawa and Kamei Detective asked the three senior reporters about the incident. "Let's talk about it from the scene at that time." "Some things should not matter now." A reporter said so. Totsukawa asked with great interest: "What is it?" "At that time, our branch heard a rumor that the only son of a great politician who had served as a minister was involved in the murder. I heard that he killed a young woman by causing a car accident." "Is it Masahiko Horie, the son of Diet Member Horie?" "Yes. Since he's a young man of his age who came back from America, it's newsworthy." "You said you can say it now, but you couldn't say it twenty years ago?" Kamei Detective asked. "Yes. At that time, the president of this newspaper was from Mr. Horie's faction, so we were not allowed to mention that matter. Now that the president has changed, we should be able to talk about it." "Did you check it at that time?" Totsukawa asked. "Like the police, we are desperately looking for witnesses. Because homicide and car accidents are possible in this incident, witnesses are the biggest key to solving this incident." "So, have you found any witnesses?" "Yes, we found it." After the reporter said this, because Totsukawa showed a strange expression, he quickly shook his hand and said: "The witness did not witness the car falling off the cliff, but saw the car parked near the scene an hour before the accident." "Is the car seen by the witnesses the one that fell off the cliff?" "I think there's nothing wrong with that because the witness is a trustworthy person." "Do witnesses know who was in the car?" "The eyewitness said that there was a young man and a woman in the car. Because the lights in the car were dim, the faces of the two people could not be seen clearly. However, he remembered the clothes worn by the woman. The woman was Yumi Tsukamoto." "Where are the men?" "I don't know, but I think the possibility of Masahiko Horie is very high," the reporter said. "But, didn't you say that the witnesses didn't see the other person's face clearly?" "Yes. But the witness said that when he passed by the car, he heard the man speaking English. The man's English is far better than that of the native Japanese." "Do you know what that man said in English?" Detective Kamei asked with bright eyes. "The man said that I have dedicated everything to you, and the words were mixed with popular slang in the United States at that time." The reporter said. "Are the witnesses' English also good?" Totsukawa asked. The reporter smiled and said, "The witness is an office worker. He has worked in the New York branch for two years and only recently returned to China. Therefore, he not only speaks good English, but also is familiar with popular slang in the United States at that time." "So that's it, I understand, no wonder he can say that that person's English is far better than that of the native Japanese." Totsukawa said. "Therefore, we investigated which of the boyfriends who dated Yumi Tsukamoto, the victim, had the best English." The reporter said proudly. "Have you found out who speaks English the best?" "We went to visit the five men who had been with the deceased, deliberately talked to them in English, and secretly recorded them. These five people, of course, also include Masahiko Horie." "What was the result?" "It turned out that Masahiko Horie spoke the best English, and the other four spoke Japanese English." "Don't you think those four people spoke poorly on purpose?" Totsukawa asked cautiously. "We have checked this. Those four people's English is indeed very bad." "So, did you show the tape to the witnesses?" Kamei detective asked. "For the sake of confirmation, of course we showed the tape to the witnesses. After listening to it, the witnesses said that Horie Masahiko was the most similar." "Is that tape still there?" Totsukawa asked. "No. As I said just now, the president of this newspaper was from Mr. Horie's clique at that time. In order to protect Mr. Horie's reputation, everything related to him was destroyed. Thinking about it now, it's a bit regrettable." The reporter Said in a regretful tone. "Do you remember the name of the witness?" When Totsukawa asked, the three reporters glanced at each other and said, "What's your name?—" "Can't remember the name?" "I just remember the surname Kato." One of the reporters said. "Which company does he work for?" Kamei detective asked. "He is an employee of a famous trading company and has worked in the New York branch for two years." "Is he coming to Hakone for vacation?" "yes." "How old was he then?" "About thirty years old, should be fifty years old now." A reporter said so. It is difficult to find this witness based on these alone, because there are so many people with the surname Kato. "Did you tell the police about this?" Totsukawa asked. The reporter shrugged his shoulders and said, "If I could talk to the police, the newspaper would have published it long ago." After Totsukawa and Kamei Detective thanked the three reporters, they left the branch office. It was already dark all around, and as soon as the two of them drove the patrol car, the blue bird car followed behind. "I think the thing about the eyewitnesses is interesting." Detective Kamei said while driving the car. "Even the local police didn't know about it, which shows that our trip was not in vain." "The question is whether this person will be found today, twenty years later." "I don't know if he is still alive?" Totsukawa said, "We have to search for that person in extreme secrecy, otherwise, that person will most likely be killed." "Aren't you worried that those three reporters will inform Masahiko Horie?" "I'm not worried about this, because they have suffered from him before." Totsukawa said. "But, if we go to find that person, won't the other party know about it?" Kamei Detective asked a little uneasily. "Therefore, we have to adopt a frontal combat method." Ten Tsukawa said. "How about the specific method?" "Kurtle, I hope you and the Nishimoto detectives will investigate a person, a person who is in the air." Totsukawa said with a "haha" smile. "You want to draw the other party's attention in this way?" Kamei detective asked. "Yes. We have to pretend that our actions are real, so that the other party can fall into the trap and focus on this fictional character." Totsukawa said happily. As soon as Totsukawa returned to Tokyo, he immediately created fictional characters. The fictional character must have a name and occupation. Totsukawa and Kamei detectives started the work. "Teraoka who followed us must know that we are investigating the cause of Yumi Tsukamoto's death 20 years ago. Therefore, the person we want to investigate must be someone related to that incident." Totsukawa said. "yes." "We just cast this person as a witness." "But, does Masahiko Horie know that someone saw him and Yumi Tsukamoto in the car twenty years ago?" Detective Kamei asked. "The eyewitness Kato said that he saw a young man and a woman in the car through the interior lights. I think Masahiko Horie will also see him, but he doesn't know who the other party is." "Then it's kind of weird that we're not looking for witnesses." "Yes. But if the other party finds it first, it will be miserable." "So, how do we shape that witness?" "The name is unknown. I was in my thirties at the time. It is best not to be a company employee, because it would be bad for the other party to find out that I am an employee of a trading company." "So, what kind of job should I have?" "This is—" After thinking for a while, Totsukawa said, "How about the photographer? On the day of the accident, he just took a picture of the car." "Very good." Detective Kamei said with a smile. "What was the photographer doing in Hakone that day?" "Let's say he was sent by the magazine to Hakone to take pictures, how about that?" "Okay, has the title of that magazine been decided yet?" "It must be a magazine from twenty years ago." "Let's check it out, we must really have this magazine." Totsukawa said. "What about height and weight?" "Height 173 centimeters, weight 65 kilograms, how about it?" "Yes, because this is the average height and weight." Kamei detective said. They called the National Diet Library to check for magazines issued twenty years ago. It turned out that F Publishing House published a magazine called "Modern Japan". This magazine is now discontinued. The magazine often features landscape photos of Japan, so it's no surprise that a photographer was sent to Hakone to take landscape shots. Totsukawa wrote the fictional witness on the blackboard. "Kurtle, you and the Nishimoto detective investigate this person." Totsukawa said. "Do you want to tell the Nishimoto detective the truth?" "No, because Detective Nishimoto is a person who is very emotional. I think it is better not to let him know the truth, so that he will investigate very vigorously and the other party will believe it." Totsukawa said. Detective Kamei copied the words on the blackboard onto a note and said, "I hope Detective Nishimoto will also bring this note." "What is it for?" "When Detective Nishimoto and I started our investigation, the other party would definitely follow me. I wanted to find an opportunity to throw away this note. If the other party picked up this note, they would definitely believe that we were looking for this overhead photographer." Kamei Detective said . "You have to do it without showing any traces, so as not to show your feet." "I know that." Kamei detective nodded and said. Totsukawa called the Nishimoto detective over and told him to copy the words on the blackboard onto a note. While copying, the Xiben detective asked, "Can we solve the case if we find this person?" "Yes. So I hope you must find this man." Totsukawa said in an encouraging tone.Asking him to lie really made him feel very uncomfortable. The two detectives Kamei and Nishimoto left the Metropolitan Police Department together to find overhead witnesses. This time they were driving a patrol car without a police car badge. Detective Kamei reported to Totsukawa by wireless phone: ——Now we are going to F Publishing House in Kanda, because we want to borrow the expired "Modern Japan" from F Publishing House. "Is the other party following you?" ——Yes, it’s still that Mercedes-Benz, ah!Please wait a moment. "What's the matter?" ——The Mercedes-Benz is gone, replaced by a white Suarra with the license plate number XXXX. "Understood, I will investigate clearly. Mr. Gui, are you alright?" ——It's okay, I want to visit the president of F Publishing House and borrow "Modern Japan" from twenty years ago. "Please be extra careful," Totsukawa said. (Looks like our bait has worked.) Totsukawa called two detectives Kusaka and Shimizu over. He instructed the two detectives to secretly look for an employee named Kato from a large trading company. "I hope you two must keep the secret strictly and not let the other party know, otherwise that person's life will be in danger." Totsukawa said solemnly. The two detectives, Kusaka and Shimizu, left the police station respectively, and then met outside. An hour later, I received another call from Kamei Criminal Police. ——We have already borrowed the expired "Modern Japan", which was twenty years ago, with a total of twelve issues. "Are there any pictures of Hakone in it?" ——Two of the twelve issues included photos of Hakone. "In this way, the other party will probably believe it more?" ——I thought so too, so I told the people at F Publishing House that if anyone came to ask about this matter, you should honestly say that the police have come to investigate it. "So, the other party will probably fall into the trap?" Although he came up with this plan, he is not very sure that it will succeed. ——I think there should be no problem. After borrowing the outdated "Modern Japan" from F Publishing House, the detectives Kamei and Nishimoto went to Yotsuya to visit photographer Motohashi, because Motohashi's studio was in Yotsuya. "We are looking for a photographer in his fifties." Detective Kamei said to Motohashi: "That person was sent by F Publishing House to Hakone to take photos twenty years ago." "Twenty years ago?" Motohashi seemed a little surprised. For photographers who decide the outcome every day, maybe twenty years ago was a long time ago, right? "Yes. It was over 40 years ago in the Showa era." Kamei detective said. "At that time?—" "You should be in your fifties now." Detective Kamei showed Motohashi the note he had brought. "I'm in my fifties now, and I often take pictures of mountains." Motohashi thought for a while and said, "Maybe it's Yamawaki-kun." The unaware Xiben detective quickly asked, "Where is that person now?" "He has a studio and is now a master photographer." "Where is his studio?" "In Roppongi. However, I heard that Yamawaki-kun has gone to mainland China." After Motohashi finished speaking, he told them the address of the studio in Roppongi. Two detectives, Kamei and Nishimoto, drove to Roppongi. "If this photographer named Yamawaki is what we are looking for, the case can be closed very quickly." Detective Nishimoto said excitedly while driving a patrol car without a police car logo. "yes." Detective Kamei nodded and looked in the rear mirror, the white Suarra was following behind again. Detective Kamei took out his notepad and confirmed the house number that Motohashi told him. Yamawaki's studio is located in a residential building in Roppongi. There were two young men in the studio, and one of them said, "The teacher went to the Western Regions to take photos for the newspaper." "When will you return home?" Detective Nishimoto asked, a little nervous. "Come back the day after tomorrow." "Mr. Yamawaki also takes pictures of Japanese mountains, right?" "Of course, the teacher took a lot of photos of Japanese mountains." "Did he start taking mountain photos from a young age?" "The teacher took landscape photos from the beginning." "Look at this." Detective Kamei showed the other party a photo published in "Modern Japan" twenty years ago. "Is this a photo taken by Mr. Yamawaki?" Detective Kamei asked.