Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 103 - 99: No More Nosy, The Real Big Shot

Chapter 103: Chapter 99: No More Nosy, The Real Big Shot

"What?" Aoyama Xiu Xin stood up instantly, grabbing his coat as he headed for the door. "I’ll be right back."

He knew that Japan’s public safety was poor at the moment and had been pleased about it because the worse the public safety, the more room for the police to make their presence felt and the more opportunities for them to achieve merit.

But now a thief had targeted his own family.

He was suddenly dissatisfied with the public safety!

Double standards are human nature.

"What happened?" Asai Ayumi asked anxiously.

Fujimoto Ryosuke and Nakamura Shinichi also turned to look at him.

Aoyama Xiu Xin turned back to explain, "My sister-in-law said there’s been a burglar in the house, I need to hurry back and check."

"We’ll go together," Asai Ayumi suggested, looking at his frantic manner and putting her chopsticks down.

Fujimoto Ryosuke and Nakamura Shinichi quickly stood up as well. "Yes, Deputy Director, we’ll take a look too."

"Alright, I didn’t bring my car anyway, you guys can give me a lift," Aoyama Xiu Xin readily agreed.

About twenty minutes later, the four arrived at the Aoyama family residence, where Aoyama Haruko was waiting at the door. As soon as she saw Aoyama Xiu Xin getting out of the car, she quickly came forward to greet him.

"Sister-in-law," Aoyama Xiu Xin called out.

Fujimoto Ryosuke and the others simply bowed.

Even though she was anxious, Aoyama Haruko still patiently bowed back before saying to Aoyama Xiu Xin, "The house is turned upside down. I didn’t go in to avoid disturbing the scene, just waited for you to come back."

Clearly, having lived with her brother-in-law Aoyama Xiu Xin for a long time, she had been affected by his work and understood the importance of protecting the scene.

"Let’s go in and take a look," Aoyama Xiu Xin beckoned to everyone, then led the way inside the house.

The living room was still tidy, with no signs of disorder.

Aoyama Haruko said, "Upstairs, the rooms on the second and third floors have been ransacked. I just came back from closing the shop and was about to take a shower and change clothes when I suddenly realized something was off."

"There are no male footprints in the living room, so the thief either took off his shoes, wore shoe covers, or didn’t pass through the living room," Fujimoto Ryosuke said.

He had already observed the floor.

Nakamura Shinichi followed up, "There are no trees close to the house in the yard, so the thief couldn’t have scaled the walls. He probably went through the living room. Taking off shoes would be too much trouble; it’s more likely he wore shoe covers."

While speaking, he went to inspect the windows on the first floor. After coming out from the kitchen, he said, "There are shoe prints on the grass outside the kitchen window. The thief must have climbed in through there."

"I often leave the kitchen window unlocked for ventilation," Aoyama Haruko said, feeling somewhat guilty.

"This has nothing to do with you, sister-in-law. Who would have thought a thief would come to this place to steal?" Aoyama Xiu Xin consoled her. After all, their neighborhood was a rich one. "Let’s go up and take a look."

Generally, thieves don’t target the extremely poor or the rich because the former don’t have much to steal while the latter could be troublesome. However, exceptions do occur.

Given that the thief was cautious enough to wear shoe covers after entering the house, it indicated professionalism, and most likely gloves were worn as well, so the others weren’t worried about destroying fingerprints and inspected all the areas that were disturbed.

"The money... none of it is missing," the sister-in-law said in surprise after some time counting the possessions.

The trio Asai Ayumi didn’t breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing this but instead looked more solemn.

Since the money wasn’t taken, it meant the thief wasn’t after cash but something else.

Sure enough, moments later Aoyama Xiu Xin emerged from the bedroom with a dark expression, "My things are missing."

The photographs he had taken from the Zhongshan Minggui residence were gone, and he instinctively suspected Yamada Yuuji, since he had clearly indicated that he knew Aoyama Xiu Xin had the photos.

But then he dismissed this suspicion, thinking that even if Yamada Yuuji had designed today’s events to delay him and then arranged for someone to steal the photos, he should have called off the plan after Aoyama Xiu Xin agreed to hand over the photos.

Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that Yamada Yuuji was afraid Aoyama Xiu Xin would have a change of heart, so he wanted to ensure the photos were indeed with him before having someone steal them for peace of mind.

"What’s missing?" Aoyama Haruko inquired.

"It’s nothing, sister-in-law. Entertain them for me, I need to make a call," Aoyama Xiu Xin said, heading towards the balcony on the second floor. Soon after, he returned and asked Asai Ayumi, "Do you have Police Chief Morishita’s number?"

"Morishita Yu?" Asai Ayumi took out her mobile phone and made a call as soon as Aoyama Xiu Xin nodded. She then gave the number to Aoyama Xiu Xin.

"You guys go ahead and sit down," Aoyama Xiu Xin said as he walked back to the balcony, dialing Morishita Yu’s number, "Police Chief Morishita, this is Aoyama Xiu Xin."

"Ah, Mr. Aoyama, where have you been? Haha, you’re quite something. President Tangong’s legs were trembling when he was walking, even asked me for your number," Morishita Yu’s tone was tinged with envy.

After all, who doesn’t like a beautiful wealthy woman?

Aoyama Xiu Xin said, "Please get Prosecutor Yamada on the phone, there’s been a little mishap with the photos."

"What? Alright, hold on for a moment."

Soon after, Yamada Yuuji’s voice came through the phone, "Police Chief Aoyama, what’s going on?"

"Prosecutor Yamada, I’d like to ask you the same thing." Aoyama Xiu Xin’s tone was displeased, as if he was holding back his anger, and he spoke sternly, "I’ve already promised to give you the photos and would never go back on my word. Why, then, would you arrange for a theft to occur, scaring my sister-in-law?"

Whether the other party arranged it or not, it’s best to shift the blame to them first, otherwise Yamada Yuuji might suspect that he’s lying about not wanting to hand over the photos.

If so, he’d have a hard time clearing his name.

Because you can’t prove yourself innocent in such matters, once the other party becomes suspicious, the feud would be set.

So, the strategy was to make Yamada Yuuji suspect him before he suspected Yamada Yuuji, forcing him to prove his own innocence and distancing himself.

"What did you say?" Yamada Yuuji raised his voice immediately and then seemed to move to a quieter place, as the background noise diminished considerably, "What do you mean, Police Chief Aoyama? The photos were stolen?"

"Do you still need to play dumb, Prosecutor Yamada?" Aoyama Xiu Xin scoffed coldly, his teeth clenched in anger, "Do I really need to spell everything out for you? You arrange Police Chief Morishita to stall me so I can’t go home, and you personally probe whether I have the photos. After confirming, you instruct the already prepared thieves to strike, taking me for an idiot!"

"Darn it!" Yamada Yuuji exploded in rage upon hearing that the photos were stolen, shouting, "I’ll have you know, I did arrange for someone to go to your place and steal the photos, but that was in case you refused to hand them over. You agreed to give them to me, so why would I still have them stolen? Isn’t that just superfluous?"

"Are you sure it wasn’t your people who stole them?" Aoyama Xiu Xin fell silent for a moment and then asked with a doubtful tone.

"No!" Yamada Yuuji roared angrily, took a deep breath, and calmed down, "Who else have you told about the photos?"

"I haven’t told anyone. Although I don’t know who the people in the photos are, I can tell they’re no ordinary individuals," Aoyama Xiu Xin asserted definitively.

Yamada Yuuji fell into silence, "Let me ask you one last time, are you sure the photos were really stolen?"

Clearly, he suspected that Aoyama Xiu Xin, upon realizing the importance of the photos, no longer wanted to hand them over.

"What do you mean by that, Prosecutor Yamada? Are you suspecting that I staged this whole thing?" Aoyama Xiu Xin asked sharply.

Yamada Yuuji didn’t give a straightforward response and instead said directly, "The photos went missing while they were in your possession; you must find them and hand them over to me. Whether I believe you or not is not important, but there are those who definitely won’t believe you."

"Are you threatening me?" Aoyama Xiu Xin was also furious. If only he had known how dangerous these photos were, he would have never taken them.

Yamada Yuuji exhaled, "It’s not a threat from me. If the photos can’t be found, I won’t end up in a good position either, and surely neither will you. Do your best to find them, and I’ll provide you with all the help you need."

Aoyama Xiu Xin understood; just like he suspected himself of not wanting to turn over the photos now, if Yamada Yuuji couldn’t retrieve them, those behind him would suspect him of the same thing. The pressure would pile layer upon layer down the hierarchy, with himself at the very bottom.

His outcome would undoubtedly be the worst.

"Prosecutor Yamada, I haven’t told anyone about the photos. The problem must be on your end. Please think about who else over there might know that the photos could be in my possession," Aoyama Xiu Xin said gravely.

Yamada Yuuji’s voice was laden with fatigue, "I can’t think of anyone at the moment, but I will investigate this. I’ll let you know if there’s any news."

What he thought was a sure bet had gone awry, and he had already phoned in the good news to his superiors, which left him weary.

Opening champagne at halftime is a curse.

"Who is that person?" Aoyama Xiu Xin asked.

Now that he might have to take the blame, he naturally didn’t mind learning a bit more.

"Heize Xin," Yamada Yuuji answered softly.

Not being very familiar with Japan’s political circles either in his past or present life, Aoyama Xiu Xin vaguely remembered having heard the name before, but couldn’t recall any details.

So he shamelessly asked, "Who is he?"

"Darn it!" Yamada Yuuji couldn’t help but curse, shocked that Aoyama Xiu Xin didn’t even know this person, "The real ’Emperor’ of the Liberal Democratic Party. He’s been behind the elevation of several Prime Ministers. Moreover, he wields ultimate influence not just in political circles but also within the Black Society."

"He could crush us like bugs, no, he wouldn’t even need to do that himself; one of his lackeys could squash us. Do you realize the gravity of the situation now?"

"Right!" Aoyama Xiu Xin did indeed realize the seriousness now. He couldn’t fathom how Zhongshan Minggui got such compromising photos of such a high-ranking figure in Japan, "So as long as I find the photos and hand them over to you, I’m in the clear, right?"

"It would be to your benefit. If you find them, you would have accomplished a great feat. So misfortune and luck are interlinked; this is also an opportunity for you," Yamada Yuuji began to entice him with promises.

Aoyama Xiu Xin had no taste for empty promises, "What choice do I have at this point? If that’s the case, then please, Prosecutor Yamada, let’s pull together in this."

"Mr. Aoyama, I’m counting on you to recover those photos," Yamada Yuuji said earnestly.

Aoyama Xiu Xin assured just as solemnly, "Right!"

"Beep~beep~beep~"

Listening to the busy tone from the phone, Aoyama Xiu Xin stood on the balcony, looking into the distance in silence.

He resolved never to recklessly take things that weren’t his again.

Then he withdrew his gaze and walked downstairs.