Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 77 - 73: The Truth Doesn’t Really Matter

Chapter 77: Chapter 73: The Truth Doesn’t Really Matter

"Bring the money to Hirakawa Nature Park now."

Just as Du Bian had anticipated, after a brief silence, the other party accepted the reality that they would only get one hundred million yen.

"Hey! I’m on my way!"

After the other party hung up, Du Bian Xiuze immediately called Aoyama Xiu Xin, "Mr. Aoyama, the extortionist contacted me, telling me to bring the money to Hirakawa Nature Park now. Do you want to go to the park and set up an ambush first?"

Through two phone calls, although the person on the other end tried hard to sound calm, Du Bian could hear the nervousness in their breathing; it must have been their first time doing something like this.

Du Bian thought that for such an inexperienced rookie, he could be apprehended right at the transaction site.

"No, give him the money," Aoyama Xiu Xin analyzed in a calm and collected manner. "We need to consider the possibility that there’s more than one person involved, or that the perpetrator might hire someone to make the exchange while staying hidden. We shouldn’t spook him, so let’s go through with the transaction as it is, but hide a tracking device in the bag with the money."

They had to succeed in one strike; otherwise, if the extortionist went into hiding and didn’t resurface, it would become difficult to catch him. They needed to be proactive in preventing that.

"Hey! You’re really cautious, Mr. Aoyama."

Du Bian took two miniature trackers from the Police Station, then went to the parking lot. He had placed one hundred million yen in cash in the trunk the night before.

As a small-time corrupt official, this was the largest amount he could quickly gather without including discounted financial bonds. So no matter how much the other side wanted, he would only give one hundred million.

In strong words, being extorted wasn’t about how much they wanted, but how much he had!

Du Bian hid both trackers in the seams at the bottom of the two money bags, then drove at full speed straight to Hirakawa Nature Park.

The park, located in the 7th district of Hirakawa, was some distance from Akasaka. Du Bian hurried as fast as he could, yet it still took over half an hour to arrive.

He parked the car and used his mobile phone to call the extortionist, "I’m at the park entrance."

Since it was working hours and the park area was relatively secluded, there weren’t many people around.

"See the trash can at the entrance?" asked the extortionist. Without waiting for Du Bian’s response, he continued, "Put the money in there, then get in your car and leave. I warn you, no funny business. If I can’t return safely within the time limit, my partner will spread your photo all over Japan!"

The person on the other end’s breathing was somewhat heavy while speaking.

"Don’t worry, I wouldn’t bet my career on this amount of money," Du Bian snorted dismissively and hung up. After getting out of the car and scanning the surroundings, he took two large parcels from the trunk and threw them into the garbage can.

Then he got back into the car, leaving the park, and called the extortionist, "It’s done as you said, the money is in the trash can. When will you send my photo?"

"I’ll contact you again," the person said before hanging up and turning off the phone.

Shortly after Du Bian left, a young cleaner of average build, around 1.7 meters tall, wearing a hat and a mask, appeared at the entrance of the park and slowly wheeled away the trash can.

"Ha! Fool, you’re done for."

Inside his car, Du Bian watched the signal receiver for the trackers, showing the parcels beginning to move, and he smirked with scorn.

Eventually, the receiver indicated that the parcels had stopped in a residential area in Shibuya District, Harajuku First District. Du Bian, carrying the receiver, switched to a taxi and proceeded to the address, showing his badge and asking the driver to cooperate with the investigation by passing in front of each house.

Finally, by comparing signal strength, he pinpointed the exact apartment number and immediately called Aoyama Xiu Xin.

"It’s at Shibuya District, Harajuku First District, 15-17."

"Alright, Mr. Du Bian, leave the rest to me," said Aoyama Xiu Xin in a relaxed tone.

"Then I’m counting on you, Mr. Aoyama!"

After hanging up, Aoyama Xiu Xin didn’t bring any subordinates but went to the target location alone with his gun.

He called Fujimoto Ryosuke and Nakamura Shinichi on the way, telling them to hurry over there, too.

After all, these were the only two he fully trusted.

Both Police Headquarters and Shinjuku Police Station weren’t far from Shibuya District, Harajuku First District, so it didn’t take long for them to meet in front of the target building.

"The number of people inside is unknown for now, but they shouldn’t have firearms. Pin everyone down once we enter!" Aoyama Xiu Xin, drawing his gun, said to the two.

"Got it!" Both nodded with serious expressions.

Then Nakamura Shinichi stepped forward and pressed the doorbell.

"Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~"

The doorbell rang for nearly a minute before a wary voice came through the intercom, "Who is it?"

"Mail for you," Nakamura replied.

"Mail for me?" The person inside muttered to themselves, sounding confused. Footsteps were soon heard approaching the door, visible through the crack.

Then the gate was slightly opened from the inside.

Fujimoto Ryosuke kicked it forcefully, sending the door flying open, and the person ready to open it was knocked down by the door panel.

"Don’t move! Police! Move, and I’ll shoot to kill!"

Nakamura Shinichi rushed in after him, stepping on the man’s head on the ground and holding his gun with a warning.

Simultaneously, Fujimoto Ryosuke had already entered the house, shouting, "Police! Get down!"

Their coordination was smooth and efficient.

"The house is clear." After a while, Fujimoto Ryosuke emerged from the house, holding a disheveled young woman in handcuffs.

Aoyama Xiu Xin then entered the courtyard and, seeing the woman in Fujimoto’s hands, was first startled then laughed, "Looks can be deceiving, indeed. You put on quite a show at the hospital yesterday, and even fooled me."

The woman was Ashihara Ayaka, the original caller.

Ashihara Ayaka was silent, head bowed.

"Take them all inside," Aoyama waved his hand and went into the house. He saw stacks of large bills on the coffee table and many more bills still left in the two bags on the floor.

After all, this was a whole hundred million yen, and it would take a long time just to take it out from the inside, so they hadn’t yet discovered the tracker hidden at the very bottom.

Ashihara Ayaka and the young man were led into the living room.

Aoyama Xiu Xin sat down on the sofa, casually picked up a wad of cash, and toyed with it as he looked at the two people forcibly pressed to kneel on the ground and said, "To sum up the entire incident in one sentence, it’s the adulterer and his silver wife, who at the sight of riches, conceived an intention and ruthlessly murdered a dear friend. Am I right?"

"No... it’s not!" Ashihara Ayaka suddenly lifted her head, her emotions agitated as she said, "I didn’t kill Yazi, it wasn’t me who killed her! We just took the photos, she was my best friend, how could I possibly kill her, it really wasn’t me..."

"Then it was you who killed her, huh?" Aoyama Xiu Xin threw the cash in his hand, hitting the young man in the face with it.

There were several obvious scratch marks on his face.

"No! It wasn’t me either!" The young man panickedly tried to defend himself, stuttering, "I did have a fight with her, but... but I only knocked her out, I didn’t kill her!"

Looking at the two of them in a state of fear and panic, Aoyama Xiu Xin narrowed his eyes; they didn’t seem to be lying.

"It really wasn’t us who killed her!" Ashihara Ayaka cried out, in a bid to prove their innocence, she confessed everything like spilling beans, "We... we just wanted to get some money, how could we possibly murder someone..."

The two of them began to recount their story, each speaking in turn.

The young man was named Kitano Jinghua and had been Ashihara Ayaka’s boyfriend for two and a half years; they had a good relationship.

But he had a gambling problem and was deep in debt.

So Ashihara Ayaka supported him by selling her body.

But this time, Kitano Jinghua had gotten into debt with the Yamaguchi Group’s high-interest loans, and they threatened to harvest his organs if he couldn’t pay back the money.

While Ashihara Ayaka was worried about her boyfriend’s debts, a few days earlier, her good friend Mikami Yasuko had suddenly found her and produced some intimate photos of herself with Du Bian Xiuze and had invited her to collaborate in a blackmail scheme.

Ashihara Ayaka, wanting to help her boyfriend settle the debt with the Yamaguchi Group, immediately agreed and told her boyfriend, but upon hearing this, Kitano Jinghua’s greed got the better of him, and he wanted to snatch the photos to keep for himself.

After all, extortion wasn’t something you could only do once.

It was a way to make a steady income!

In the end, Kitano Jinghua managed to persuade her with his sweet talk, and Ashihara Ayaka, driven by love, chose to betray her best friend and secretly copied the key to Mikami Yasuko’s house for Kitano Jinghua.

In the early hours of the day before yesterday, Kitano Jinghua, wearing a balaclava and gloves, unlocked Mikami Yasuko’s door with the key and snuck in, then ambushed her while she was sound asleep.

He demanded to know where she kept the intimate photos.

He did this because he was afraid that if he just stole them, he wouldn’t be able to find where the photos were hidden quickly enough.

And he wanted to make Mikami Yasuko believe that he was someone sent by Du Bian Xiuze, so that she would never suspect Ashihara Ayaka afterward.

Mikami Yasuko was terrified and honestly revealed the hiding spot of the photos, but she tried to escape while Kitano Jinghua was fetching them, which led to a struggle between them.

In the end, Kitano Jinghua knocked her out.

He grabbed the photos and hurriedly left.

"After a whole day had passed without any contact from Yasuko, she didn’t come to work, and I couldn’t get through to her on the phone, I went to her house because I was worried, but I didn’t expect..." Ashihara Ayaka cried, her tears flowing, she choked on her words, her voice hoarse as she cried out, "We really didn’t kill her!"

"Yeah, we just wanted to make some money, who has the guts to kill someone! If I had the guts to kill, I would have made my fortune long ago! And why would I kill her after getting the photos? Even if I wanted to kill her, I wouldn’t use such a cruel method!" Kitano Jinghua cried out insistently for his innocence.

Aoyama Xiu Xin felt that the two were telling the truth.

But what if they were lying?

But he quickly realized, why was he even agonizing over this? Does the truth really matter?

Aoyama Xiu Xin looked at Kitano Jinghua, "The injuries on your face, are those from the struggle with Mikami Yasuko?"

"Yes, I got scratched all over my body too." Kitano Jinghua nodded in acknowledgment, then added, "But I only knocked her out, I definitely didn’t kill her!"

"That means Mikami Yasuko’s fingernails probably have your skin tissue under them." Aoyama Xiu Xin’s face broke into a radiant smile and then with a fiercely assured voice said, "You are the murderer!"

"I’m not! I didn’t! I really didn’t kill anyone!" Kitano Jinghua began bawling and wailing desperately.

Nakamura Shinichi and Fujimoto Ryosuke exchanged a glance.

It didn’t matter to them whether Kitano Jinghua was the murderer.

What mattered was, with evidence, they could prove he was the murderer, there was no blaming Aoyama Xiu Xin for using him to close the case. If the person truly wasn’t him, it was just his bad luck carrying the can for someone else.

"Heh, every criminal says that."

Aoyama Xiu Xin didn’t care who the true murderer was, he had already made up his mind to close the case with the two in front of him. After all, these two weren’t anything good.

He didn’t really want to play the detective and uphold justice.

As long as he could catch a murderer and solve the case, that was all that mattered.

"Please, look into it again! There must be other clues, it really wasn’t me, it wasn’t us!"

"I didn’t kill anyone! I didn’t, sob sob..."

Ashihara Ayaka and Kitano Jinghua cried bitterly and kept banging their heads on the ground, begging and pleading with Aoyama Xiu Xin.

But Aoyama Xiu Xin remained unmoved and handed a few wads of cash to Nakamura Shinichi and Fujimoto Ryosuke.

"You had a hard day, take this."

"Alright!" The two men were not bashful.

"Pack up the money." Aoyama Xiu Xin signaled them to lend a hand, saying, "I’ll find a way to bring you both to the Police Headquarters soon."

"Alright! Thank you, Chief Superintendent!"

The two men were immediately excited when they heard this.

Aoyama Xiu Xin let them carry away the cash, while he made a phone call to Yoshikai Youzai, asking him to bring a couple of people to take Ashihara and Kitano back to the Police Headquarters.