Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 133 - 129: Direction of Investigation, The Furious Asano Hirofumi

Chapter 133: Chapter 129: Direction of Investigation, The Furious Asano Hirofumi

Aoyama Xiu Xin had two purposes for leaving his card.

The first was to prevent Old Yang’s family from becoming the scapegoat for him, an honest man trying to make a living in a foreign land, and he couldn’t just cause trouble and walk away without a care.

The second was to have the Fulong Gang’s spokesman come to him.

Compared to domestic Violent Gangs like the Yamakawa Family,

it was easier to control foreign powers, and they were bolder in their actions than domestic gangs.

Moreover, if found too dirty after use, they could be discarded at any time without fear of being unable to shake them off.

The key point was that they were indeed fighters, and if it weren’t for being outplayed in political background and power by domestic gangs, they would have long since jumped to the top as Japan’s number one gang.

In the end, the underworld wasn’t about fighting and killing,

it was about human relationships and worldly wisdom.

It was also to give Yamakawa Ichiro a competitor, to create a sense of crisis for him and to have the two forces engage in internal rivalry to compete for his favor.

Besides, if you’re part of the Black Society, what sort of skill is it to only bully your own people? Of course, it makes sense to follow Mr. Aoyama in bullying the little devils!

After all, Mr. Aoyama is a blessing for the Japanese.

Upon arriving at the Police Headquarters, Aoyama Xiu Xin called Nakamura Shinichi over and said, "Stop investigating Kikumura."

There was no need for pretense with his own relative.

"Ah?" Nakamura Shinichi’s face changed; he was somewhat unwilling, but he could guess that Aoyama Xiu Xin was under pressure, and replied, "Yes, sir! I understand."

He understood that his personal will was not important.

All actions would follow Aoyama Xiu Xin’s command.

"Kikumura will hand over a sum of money as a reward for your hard work during this time; doesn’t mean you investigated him for nothing," Aoyama Xiu Xin joked.

Nakamura Shinichi responded again, "Yes, sir!"

Aoyama Xiu Xin stood up, went over, and patted his shoulder, "Shinichi, this is for your own good. I don’t want to hear about you being unexpectedly transferred or involved in a car accident or a fall from a building."

His words were not an exaggeration; if Nakamura Shinichi continued his investigation, he would certainly invite disaster upon himself.

After all, the Kimura family would not sit by and do nothing.

"Yes, sir! I understand, and thank you for your concern, Police Chief," Nakamura Shinichi said sincerely.

He investigated the Kimura family out of duty and dislike for the bank personnel, but he had no personal obsession with pursuing justice.

If Aoyama Xiu Xin said not to investigate, then he wouldn’t.

Getting a sum of money for nothing was already quite good.

"That’s the spirit, recognizing the situation is what makes a great man," Aoyama Xiu Xin showed a satisfied smile, turned around, and went back to his seat, "If there’s nothing else, you may leave now."

"Police Chief, if we don’t investigate the Kimura family, how shall we close this case?" Nakamura Shinichi asked.

It couldn’t be that after such a long investigation it would just end up as an unsolved case.

"We caught two suspects, didn’t we? Noda and his accomplice have been in prison many times for previous crimes, they were present at the crime scene, who else could have killed the person if not them?" Aoyama Xiu Xin said lightly.

It was bad luck for them, leaving traces at the crime scene by mistake.

If not pinning the crime on Noda’s gang, how would he close the case and earn the credit? They would have to be the ones to suffer this inconvenience.

The public just wanted an explanation; he just wanted the merit. As for the truth? No one cared.

Oh, perhaps Noda’s gang would care.

But unfortunately, nobody cared about their thoughts.

"Yes, sir!" Nakamura Shinichi bowed again and said in a deep voice, "Police Chief, rest assured, I will make them confess and perfect the chain of evidence to put an end to this case."

Aoyama waved his hand, signaling that he could leave.

Nakamura Shinichi turned and left, closing the door behind him.

It was only then that Aoyama Xiu Xin had the time to take out the file bag that Ashida Shuichi had given him last night and open it to check.

Inside were his notes on this case,

which had been compiled sporadically over the last year.

Ashida Shuichi had proposed in the notes that the combination of two men and one woman was mostly likely led by the woman, and from their continuous cruelty in the crimes, it seemed they were psychologically twisted, enjoying the torment of their own kind.

Five murders within a year, with the victims all being chosen randomly, indicated that they simply killed for the sake of killing and had an addiction to it.

But afterward, they completely disappeared without a trace, certainly not because they were scared or sick of it; otherwise, they wouldn’t have committed serial offenses. It’s very possible that some force majeure prevented the three from killing together again.

The five crime scenes were all in Tokyo.

This suggests they are likely long-term residents of Tokyo.

From footprints at the scene, one could infer that the three were not old at the time of the crimes, most likely around seventeen or eighteen years old, still students, and what could have separated them could only be death, disability, transferring schools, dropping out, or studying abroad.

Aoyama Xiu Xin immediately called Yoshikai Youzai.

Before long, Yoshikai Youzai came to report.

"Police Chief, were you looking for me?"

"You, go investigate all the students in Tokyo’s high schools and universities who dropped out, transferred, or died between November 7th, 1990, and the start of the new school term in 1991," Aoyama Xiu Xin instructed him.

Although the three killers committed random murders and there was no common trait among the victims, there was one pattern.

The time between deaths was always about two to three months.

If it was as Ashida Shuichi had deduced, then one of the killers, or rather all three, must have split up within the two to three months following their last crime on November 7th, 1990. Although this time frame wasn’t long, investigating it was still a massive task.

But compared to conducting fingerprint and DNA comparisons on over 100,000 people, this was nothing.

At least they had a direction to investigate.

"Got it!" Yoshikai Yoshitsune responded, waited a moment to make sure there was nothing else, then bowed and left.

Nakamura Shinichi was skillful, using both soft and hard tactics. In one morning, a miracle happened, Noda confessed, admitting that he killed Ayase Mihiko.

"Detective Nakamura, didn’t you say before that the killer wasn’t Noda, but the Agricultural and Forestry Bank Credit Department Director Kimura Yakuo?" Assistant Director Asano Hirofumi looked at the report brought by Nakamura Shinichi, his brows furrowing slightly in confusion.

Nakamura Shinichi sighed and replied, "I was overthinking earlier. I always assumed the case couldn’t be so simple, but after a thorough investigation, there’s no evidence to prove Kimura Yakuo is the killer. The case indeed is that simple. Noda has also confessed to the crime."

Even though he was Aoyama Xiu Xin’s man, his immediate superior was Asano Hirofumi. He still had to submit reports to the Deputy Director for a signature before passing them to the Chief.

"Is that so?" Asano Hirofumi looked deeply at Nakamura Shinichi then said, "You can go back to work. I’ll look at the report later."

"Understood," Nakamura Shinichi said, bowing before leaving.

Asano Hirofumi had not actually signed the report. Taking advantage of the lunch break when everyone was out, he interrogated Noda.

The moment he saw Noda’s pale face and evasive eyes, his expression darkened, anger flaring within him as he realized the suspect had been forced into a confession.

This was what he loathed the most.

"Noda-kun, I am the Assistant Director of the Murder Division, Asano Hirofumi. Tell me, did you really kill Ayase Mihiko?"

"Yes, I killed her, it was me. Stop trying to test me. I won’t change my statement. I did it; please believe me, I really confess," Noda uttered, trembling, tears and snot mingling as he nodded incessantly. A fierce killer brought into the police interrogation room resembled a pitiful stray cat.

"Idiots! These damn fools!"

Witnessing the suspect’s mental breakdown, Asano Hirofumi’s anger burst forth, slamming the desk as he cursed vehemently.

"Ahh! Stop harassing me! I really confessed! Waaaah, I confess everything!"

Noda, terrified, knelt on the floor.

Asano Hirofumi stormed out of the room with a dark face.

"Bang!"

The door heavily smashed against the wall and rebounded shut.

.................

In the office, Aoyama Xiu Xin hadn’t gone to the canteen because he was engrossed in Ashida Shuichi’s notes. Instead, he had food brought to him.

He ate while reviewing the materials in the office.

His need to solve the case was very urgent, especially since Renping Kuniaki’s silver coin had been made public by the Police Headquarters’ Public Relations Division.

The media was highly interested in his taking on the case.

They even wanted to conduct an exclusive interview with him.

But Aoyama Xiu Xin declined them all. Renping Kuniaki had already put him on the hot seat—if he agreed to the interview, wouldn’t he be adding fuel to the fire?

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the office door burst open.

Aoyama Xiu Xin looked up instinctively and saw his deputy, Asano Hirofumi, storming in furiously.

"Asano-kun, what’s happened?"

Aoyama Xiu Xin asked, putting down his materials and spoon.

"Police Chief Aoyama, Detective Nakamura suddenly dropped the investigation into Kimura Yakuo and closed the case with Noda as the murderer of Ayase Mihiko," Asano Hirofumi slammed Nakamura Shinichi’s report onto the desk.

Aoyama Xiu Xin picked up the report, scanning it casually, "Asano-kun, isn’t it very clear here? Noda’s footprints were found on the scene, he was captured by nearby surveillance cameras, and he has confessed to the crime himself. What is the problem?"

"Police Chief Aoyama, if you see Noda, you’ll understand the problem. This is a classic case of forced confession through torture!" Asano Hirofumi, unable to contain his fury, smacked the table and continued, "Is this how we police conduct our investigations? No wonder some of the public are terrified of us! I quite agree with Detective Nakamura’s previous speculation. Why did he suddenly stop investigating Kimura Yakuo? I suspect he’s been bought off!"

"I demand a different person to re-investigate this case. Detective Nakamura is no longer trustworthy."

Facing the indignant Asano Hirofumi, Aoyama Xiu Xin suddenly understood what Ayase Ayumi meant when she said he was a troublesome guy—

Of course, the police brass would have kicked him out.

Aside from the regular citizens, what leader would like someone like him?

"Asano-kun! Please mind your language. Avoid making divisive comments! And don’t randomly suspect your colleagues!" Aoyama Xiu Xin raised his voice, waiving the report in his hand, "I endorse Detective Nakamura’s report. Are you implying that I, too, have been bought off by Kimura Yakuo? Is that it, Deputy Director Asano?"

Though he had indeed entered into a nefarious deal with Kimura Yakuo, the confidence he exuded was powerful and justified, with no hint of guilt on his face.