Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 104 - 100: The Prime Suspect, Three Days’ Time

Chapter 104: Chapter 100: The Prime Suspect, Three Days’ Time

Aoyama Xiu Xin saw his sister-in-law, Aoyama Haruko, chatting enthusiastically with Asai Ayumi, holding her hand and smiling as he descended the stairs. She apparently already knew that this was going to be her future sister-in-law.

"Xiu Xin, are you okay?"

Seeing him come down, Aoyama Haruko released Asai Ayumi’s hand and looked at him anxiously, expressing concern.

After all, anyone could tell that Aoyama Xiu Xin’s complexion was not normal at the moment and he was in a terrible mood. It couldn’t be said that his brows were dancing with joy, but rather they weren’t unfurrowed either.

"I’m alright," Aoyama Xiu Xin shook his head to adjust his mood, then spoke, "Sister-in-law, you’ve had a hard day at work too. Go rest first, I will chat with them to see how we can catch this thief."

"Okay," Aoyama Haruko replied, glanced at Asai Ayumi, and then headed upstairs.

No sooner had she left, Asai Ayumi couldn’t wait to ask, "What exactly did you lose?"

"Something very important," Aoyama Xiu Xin walked over and sat down beside her, picked up the cup she had drunk from, took a sip, and said, "I can’t tell you specifically what it is, but it’s vital, and must be recovered. The current approach is to start with the thief."

Although he felt that the mastermind behind the theft of the photographs was someone close to Prosecutor Yamada Yuuji, Prosecutor Yamada Yuuji needed time to identify potential suspects, but in the meantime he couldn’t just wait here, doing nothing.

From what Prosecutor Yamada Yuuji said, he and his backers were probably pawns of Heize Xin, and they wanted the photographs to help Heize Xin eliminate negative evidence.

The key issue at the moment was not knowing the stance of the person who stole the photographs. If they intended to give them to Heize Xin’s political rivals, then any action they took would be too late.

However, if the intention was merely to use the photographs for personal gain, then there was still a chance to retrieve them.

Right now, all that Aoyama Xiu Xin and Prosecutor Yamada Yuuji, these two brothers in distress, could do was to leave things to fate after doing their utmost.

"I’ll go check the surveillance footage to see if I can find any clues," Fujimoto Ryosuke immediately declared his position.

Nakamura Shinichi followed closely and said, "I’ll go ask the neighbors to see if they noticed anything."

"Thank you," Aoyama Xiu Xin said.

Both men hurriedly stood and bowed, showing their apprehension.

"Please take it seriously and let me know immediately if you find anything," Aoyama Xiu Xin spoke as he gestured for the two to get moving, and then turned to Asai Ayumi, "I need information on Heize Xin."

He wasn’t very familiar with Japan’s political circles, and even in the memories of his previous incarnation, there was no information on Heize Xin, indicating that this significant figure is currently very low-key.

But since he had heard of Heize Xin in his past life, it meant that this guy must have made some significant moves. Aoyama Xiu Xin wanted to learn more about him.

Because he had to be prepared to bear the brunt of the other party’s anger if he couldn’t recover the photos. Even if he seemed like an ant in the other party’s eyes, he was not willing to die without a fight!

Even in death, he would inflict a bloody wound.

"Why are you suddenly asking about him?" Asai Ayumi looked at Aoyama Xiu Xin with a touch of concern in her eyes.

She had guessed that the loss might have something to do with Heize Xin. Ties with such an important figure carried uncertain fortunes, and it seemed more likely now to be misfortune.

Aoyama Xiu Xin did not offer an explanation, but he didn’t order her around like before. Instead, he held her hand sincerely and said, "Please, Ayumi."

"Okay! I will gather some recent information on him and give it to you tomorrow morning," Asai Ayumi agreed after a moment of silence, then stood up to leave. After taking a few steps, she turned back and said, "Don’t forget tomorrow night."

Tomorrow was Wednesday, and her parents and elder brother had already promised to take time out to meet Aoyama Xiu Xin’s family that evening.

"Don’t worry," Aoyama Xiu Xin nearly forgot about the photo incident but didn’t show it on the surface, "Of course, I won’t forget."

Asai Ayumi then turned and continued to walk out.

"Clang!"

"Sigh——"

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Aoyama Xiu Xin, who was sitting on the sofa, massaged his brow and let out a long sigh.

Prosecutor Yamada Yuuji was also in a state of irritation at that moment. After receiving Aoyama Xiu Xin’s call, he had all the women leave his private room to sit in silence and reassess the situation.

According to the information he knew, the whole affair started when the girl accompanying Heize Xin, unaware of Heize Xin’s identity and only knowing that he was very wealthy, had initially planned to extort him. Therefore, during the process, she had secretly taken photos of them in bed together.

Later, when she couldn’t contact Heize Xin, she sent one of the photos to the middleman who arranged her company, who, panicked, planned to silence the girl without letting Heize Xin know, thinking that would be the end of it.

If all had gone smoothly, that would have been the case.

But clearly, things did not go smoothly.

Eventually, the girl had a narrow escape from an attempted murder, and in a state of shock, anger, and fear, she decided on revenge, telling the middleman she didn’t want money anymore but would send the photos to major newspapers.

The middleman could no longer bear it and had no choice but to confess to Heize Xin, protecting his family’s lives by offering his suicide. The girl was quickly found by Heize Xin’s people and forced to hand over the photographs.

However, they ended up torturing her to death, and the photographs’ location was completely lost. The photographs were like a ticking bomb, so Heize Xin’s people never ceased searching for them for over a year.

A few days ago, Morioka Yu incidentally learned from a drunk Zhongshan Minggui that he had the photographs, so he informed Prosecutor Yamada Yuuji, with whom he had a good relationship.

Upon learning this, Prosecutor Yamada Yuuji was ecstatic; this was an excellent opportunity to step into Heize Xin’s view.

As a result, just as he was about to make a move on Zhongshan Minggui, the man died. Then, after some analysis, he suspected that the photograph might have been taken by Aoyama Xiu Xin. Tonight, as expected, the photograph indeed turned out to be in the other party’s possession, and to his surprise, the other party was aware of the circumstances and willing to hand it over.

Thinking the matter was almost certainly in the bag, he immediately made a call to report to his superiors after parting with Aoyama Xiu Xin, informing them that he had located the photograph and would soon have it in hand. Of course, to prevent someone from intercepting and taking credit, he did not disclose that the photograph was with Aoyama Xiu Xin.

But the photograph was stolen...

So, Aoyama Xiu Xin was right; the problem could only lie with someone close to him. But who could it be?

Yamada Yuuji pondered carefully; there were only three people around him who knew the photo was in Aoyama Xiu Xin’s hands.

One was Morioka Yu, who could be directly ruled out since he was the one who provided the lead on the photograph; there was no need for such redundancy.

The second was his assistant, Ito Hiroshi, who had been with him for many years and was a trusted confidant; he was also unlikely.

The third was his trained attack dog, Sugimoto Yuki, the Family Head of the Sumimoto family. The person he had arranged to steal from Aoyama Xiu Xin’s house was one of his subordinates.

With this in mind, Yamada Yuuji felt that Sugimoto Yuki was the most likely suspect; after all, those in the Black Society were bold enough to take risks, and anything was possible in pursuit of their goals.

"Ring, ring, ring~ Ring, ring, ring~"

The sudden ring of the telephone startled him.

After coming to his senses, an irritated Yamada Yuuji snatched up the phone and answered, "Mosi Mosi?"

"It’s Harayama Heiji."

"Hi, Mr. Harayama!" Yamada Yuuji instantly jumped up, although they were only on the phone, he still instinctively bowed.

Because Harayama Heiji was the secretary of Heize Xin.

Nowadays, Heize Xin rarely made public appearances, and Harayama Heiji served as his spokesperson and heir.

"The president has been waiting for your photograph."

Yamada Yuuji’s forehead immediately broke out in a fine sweat, his breath grew heavier, and after a moment of silence, he carefully replied, "Mr. Harayama, please convey to President Heize that there has been a slight complication, but the situation is still under my control. I will get the photograph soon and deliver it to you immediately."

"Prosecutor Yamada, you know the president is very concerned about his reputation, and if something goes wrong with this matter, no one can save you," Harayama Heiji warned.

"Hi! I understand, so I absolutely can’t be careless with this!" replied Yamada Yuuji, then quickly added, "Mr. Harayama, please grant me a little more time, I will resolve it as soon as possible!"

"Three days," said Harayama Heiji flatly.

Though Yamada Yuuji felt this was way too short, he dared not bargain. He understood that getting three days was already a result of his long-term loyalty, so he could only reply, "Hi!"

"Are you certain there will be no issues?" Harayama Heiji asked again, this time with an especially stern tone.

Seeing Yamada Yuuji’s long-standing loyalty, he was willing to do this small favor for him, but he needed to be sure it was indeed a small matter.

He absolutely couldn’t get dragged into this mess himself.

Yamada Yuuji had no confidence at all, but he asserted condescendingly on the surface, "Three days is more than enough to deal with this minor issue. Mr. Harayama, even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I wouldn’t dare to lie to you about such a matter!"

"You know best," Harayama Heiji hung up.

"Phew—"

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Yamada Yuuji let out a long sigh of relief, collapsing onto the sofa as if drained of all his strength.

A moment later, he hurriedly called Aoyama Xiu Xin.

"Sugimoto Yuki, the one with the greatest suspicion among my people, is Sugimoto Yuki. The Sumimoto family is a subsidiary organization of the Daokuan Association. The person I had arranged to steal the photograph from your home was one of his men."

"Also, I did my best, but I only managed to get three days, three days! If we can’t retrieve the photograph within three days, we might as well be buried alongside each other."

On the other hand, although Harayama Heiji verbally agreed to buy time for Yamada Yuuji, he also feared the latter wasn’t telling the whole truth. To avoid implicating himself, he decided it was still better to get the full picture.

So he instructed a subordinate to handle the matter.

Then he went to report to Heize Xin.

"Okay, I’ll arrange a private talk with him," Aoyama hung up the phone and called Yamakawa Ichiro, getting straight to the point, "Do you know Sugimoto Yuki?"

"Hi! He’s the Family Head of the Sumimoto family, a core member of the Daokuan Association." Yamakawa Ichiro was a veritable encyclopedia of industry knowledge and connections, easily retrievable.

Aoyama Xiu Xin said, "Find a discreet place and invite him over. I want to have a chat with him."

"Now?" asked Yamakawa Ichiro.

"Now," answered Aoyama Xiu Xin.

He wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight anyway.

With only three days left, 72 hours, every second wasted now was indeed a waste of life.

"Hi!" Yamakawa Ichiro agreed.