Box of Demons

Chapter 37

After the incident at Koganei Station—the opening act of the first act—Kiba spent five days with mixed feelings. After much agonizing, he finally decided to visit Kanako on the sixth day. When it comes to visiting someone in the hospital, most people would think of sending flowers, but the rugged detective hadn't considered that. Kiba bought some red bean paste cakes to offer his condolences.

Kanako declined the invitation to meet. They didn't meet, but they did meet Yoko. Yoko was very surprised and thanked Kiba profusely.

Kiba was only present for a short fifteen minutes, and there was no conversation that could be called a dialogue, but for Kiba, those fifteen minutes were more meaningful than any other moment.

Kiba would visit again two days later, all in pursuit of the same moment. Of course, he was also worried about Kanako's condition, but worrying about someone he couldn't see was pointless.

But looking back now, he realized that a special feeling had already begun to develop in his heart for Yoko—to fight the enemy for her.

Of course, at that time it was just a vague and inexplicable feeling. It wasn't until some time later that Kiba learned the truth about this feeling.

There was no one on the first floor. The first time, Amamiya was there, and the second time, Koda was there; both times, Kiba was guided upstairs by them. No matter how loudly he shouted from the first floor, no one upstairs could hear him. There was no alarm bell or call bell in the box. However, this was his third visit, and Kiba was already used to it. He guessed that Yoko should be in the reception room on the second floor, so he barged into the building, went straight up the spiral staircase, and opened the reception room door.

Only Yoko was there.

The partition is in front of the desk in the corner.

She turned around in surprise, holding the envelope in her left hand.

"—Mr. Kiba!"

The letter taken out of the envelope slipped out.

She looked panicked; something seemed unusual.

"What's wrong, Miss Yoko!"

Yoko collapsed as if she were anemic, and Kiba saw it that way as he ran forward. To this day, it remains unknown whether Yoko truly fainted or was simply trying to pick up the letter that had fallen to the floor.

Kiba, who had intended to help Yoko up, grabbed the paper faster than she could. Yoko, who was about to pick up the letter, simply...

It was placed on the huge fist of the wood yard.

"ah."

Yoko withdrew her hand. Kiba spread out the paper in his hand.

It was a letter pieced together from cut-and-pasted printed text.

Will come and take away the extra vegetables.

Add/dishes/therefore/

If you value your life, then prepare your money.

The amount is /ten million / dollars / that is.

The deadline is nine months.

Go / Notify / Mouth / Demon

"That, that is..."

"This—is a threat—"

Yoko's expression suggested she was at a loss. No matter how much Kiba asked, she remained confused. Amamiya stood there, seemingly oblivious.

Behind them, he looked equally disheveled.

This is the scene where the second act begins.

Kiba has recalled this scene countless times, but...

—When was the letter delivered?

Was it really delivered at that time? Kiba has never doubted it.

Aoki said

"That strange string of foreign characters looks like French, and it seems to mean 'possessed by a demon.' Right now, there's a huge debate in Kanagawa about how that threatening letter was delivered, because they can't seem to find the envelope."

It was still there then; I saw it at the lumberyard.

"There seems to be something written on the front of the envelope, but I'm sure it wasn't mailed."

According to Amamiya's testimony at the time, the letter was tucked under the door at the entrance. After Kiba finished speaking, Aoki said:

"If—it was delivered to the victim's home, that would be one thing, but that's a research institute, to put it bluntly, someone else's home. Why would Amamiya and Yoko open a letter without a recipient's name and address? That's strange, isn't it? So it must have been written as Yuzuki."

It's something like "Miss" or something similar.

That's right. But Kiba's memory wasn't good enough to remember even what was written on the envelope, and the detective who arrived after receiving Kiba's call was only focused on the contents and didn't notice the envelope. Amamiya kept repeating that it was a prank, a prank, while Yoko said nothing.

"Next is the issue with the spaces. Was the missing word in the second half there from the beginning, or—"

"That's how it was from the very beginning."

The photos are exactly the same as the actual items that Kiba saw at the time.

"Isn't that very unnatural?"

Indeed, that was the case; the detectives in Kanagawa also pointed this out at the time. Kiba thought that perhaps it had fallen when he grabbed it. But when he noticed this and went back to look, there was nothing on the floor.

"There seem to be traces of glue. So it was either torn off or ripped off. But when did this happen? If it was torn off after the envelope was opened, who tore it off and why? If it wasn't torn off by someone, the prisoner couldn't have deliberately carried a threatening letter with the deadline and closing torn off, could they?"

"That's certainly quite reckless; such threats are usually just treated as pranks—"

Why haven't I thought about the issues Aoki raised until now? The envelopes, the documents, the methods of delivery—it's all a mess. I've been ignoring these issues.

No wonder I couldn't understand it.

"By the way, the paste is the very common kind sold in the market. What's puzzling is the printing type. It seems to have been cut from the same type of printed material. It's not a magazine, and the quality is similar to mimeographed quality, so it should be a fan-made publication or something similar, but that's not confirmed yet."

At this point, Aoki began peeling a banana.

"In conclusion, Kanagawa headquarters believes this was a staged kidnapping. Both the setup and the props were too crude; anyone would think so. To send so many people, spend so much time, and even set up a makeshift toilet to protect the victim—if it weren't for pressure from above, the content of such a threatening letter would practically be ignored."

This doesn't constitute an event at all.

Aoki is right, but...

"But the incident really happened, is that what you wanted to say, senior? That's right."

After Aoki finished eating the banana, he threw away the peel.

Carefully toss the skin into the trash can.

"Indeed, there are several parts that are hard to believe were staged. If they were staged, it would mean that Yoko and Amamiya were the culprits—but generally, they would announce it after the kidnapping. If they gave advance notice, it would be difficult to commit the crime under layers of security. Of course, if, like this time, they used a mechanism that no one could have imagined, then that's a different story. Also, the initial element of chance in this incident was too high. It was by chance that Senpai went there, by chance that she received the notice, and by chance that she contacted the police. Then, the most unbelievable part is the fabrication. Even if they staged the kidnapping, the two of them wouldn't gain anything. Because they would be the ones preparing the money, and they would also put Kanako's life in danger."

“That’s right, saying it’s fake is too illogical. If Kanako wasn’t injured, it would be understandable—but she’s a critically injured patient whose life hangs in the balance. Plus,”

——Find Kanako

—Right now, Kanako's life.

Those words were not lies; you can absolutely believe that.

That's not a lie.

"But whether it's true or not, it seems that the Kanagawa headquarters has no intention of resolving this incident, although this is just my personal feeling."

Aoki said indifferently.

"No intention to resolve this? -- What are you saying? They were already willing to deploy a large number of police officers for defense. How could they now be doing this again -- And isn't the higher-ups under pressure? Otherwise, how could they possibly deploy such a large force?"

That's right, someone must have instructed the police to send people to protect Kanako, and this person must have the power to control the entire Kanagawa headquarters. Kiba believes that without finding out this guy's true identity, they won't be able to know the enemy's true face.

"The pressure is being exerted by the higher-ups at the Kamichikawa headquarters."

"What?"

"It is true that a certain important figure in the financial world has some kind of blood relationship with Kanako Yuzuki."

"By the way, who exactly is that guy who played the trick on people?"

"Who is this important person? I've inquired several times, but I still don't know. I initially thought it was probably due to a confidentiality order, but it seems they genuinely don't know. None of the investigators know, which is strange, isn't it? Because without knowing the connections behind it, how can you conduct a search? Just looking at Kanako's usual lifestyle, no one would want to kidnap her. The motive for kidnapping must be related to this important person. Here's my personal speculation: this important person is likely a powerful figure in Kanagawa Prefecture, because he doesn't seem to have much influence within the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Senior is the best evidence."

That's certainly true. This person's influence is such that the police mobilized so much manpower for a girl; there's no reason they couldn't eliminate a patrol chief who might be hindering security—from the perspective of the on-site commander. According to Aoki, the reason they couldn't do it is because Kiba isn't from Kanagawa headquarters. That makes perfect sense.

Aoki continued:

"However, that important person must be very powerful, because I heard that Inspector Ishii was demoted."

"Ishii, can that important person even interfere in internal personnel matters?"

"Of course not. It's a matter of face, a self-inflicted wound for the sake of that important person. Ishii is the scapegoat. Simply put, the Kanagawa headquarters demoted Ishii, hoping that the important person would forgive them."

"Forgiveness, what do you mean?"

Aoki said mysteriously:

Senior. This is a one-man show put on by the Kamichikawa headquarters—to put it bluntly, it's a one-man show by a few high-ranking police officers, including Ishii.

"A one-man show?"

“There is no external pressure at all. Even if the business community wants people, it's not the government that wants them, and it's not that easy to motivate the police. The police force is not corrupt to that extent; what's corrupt is internal, that is, the people themselves.”

"I really don't understand."

"Please think about this. Regardless of whether it was a kidnapping or not, the Kanagawa headquarters made absolutely no effort to catch the perpetrator, right? They were just protecting him. The investigation into the source of the threatening letter only began after the incident occurred. That's understandable, since they didn't even think the incident would happen in the first place."

"Um."

"In short, when they saw the threatening letter, they strongly suspected it was staged. But since a senior detective from the Metropolitan Police Department had reported it, they couldn't handle it too casually. And as mentioned earlier, if it was staged, some parts were hard to explain. So they proceeded with security and investigation as usual, with Ishii in charge. That was the mistake. At this time, they discovered a very serious fact: Kanako's identity was related to a big shot. This information was probably told to Ishii by Yoko. Ishii hurriedly returned to headquarters to confirm whether it was true or not. This incident seems to be one of the topics of conversation among the officers now, saying that Ishii was busy digging his own grave. In any case, it should be the truth, but the way things have developed feels a bit different."

"What's different?"

"That means the possibility of a self-directed and self-acted scheme has resurfaced. Yoko and her ilk might be trying to extract money from a powerful figure, making a demand of ten million, which is unusually high, possible. However—this would turn into a dispute between relatives. If Kanako had already been kidnapped, it wouldn't be a problem, but Kanako is still safe and sound, and in a situation where she's extremely difficult to kidnap. So, the higher-ups in the police force are trying to stop this foolish plan, thinking that once a large-scale operation is launched, they will naturally give up. After all, it's a family dispute. It's better to avoid causing a stir for the powerful figure."

"So it wasn't under pressure, but rather the police acting autonomously—"

"That's right. It was Takasō from the Kamichakawa headquarters who put pressure on the people on site. Of course, Ishii, who was in charge on site, was also closely involved in the operation planning. They wanted to show that important person how hard the prefectural police had worked on this matter, which is why they made it such a grand affair. They even set up toilets, so of course, someone from the security detail would come to inspect it."

—Masuoka.

Masuoka's second visit came two days after the discovery of the threatening letter, and the makeshift toilet was set up that very morning. It was also around that time that his attitude towards Kiba began to deteriorate further.

"In short, although they appeared to be carrying out a grand operation on the surface, they were actually confident that it was just an internal dispute and nothing serious would happen. That's why they failed. As it turned out, Kanako really only kidnapped someone, which must have surprised the prefectural police. But their minds were already open to any other possibilities, so they suspected Yoko, even though she was detained and therefore unaware of the truth."

Miss Zi has also been detained. They separated you because they suspected you were an accomplice.

"She's a criminal, how could that be?"

"However, it was a misjudgment. If you think about it carefully, you'll realize that if you wanted to swindle money from the big shots behind the scenes, the threatening letter should have been sent to them. But there was no contact at all. The only threatening letter that ever reached was Yoko."

"You're talking nonsense. Even if Yoko is a criminal, of course she can't send things while she's in custody."

"And then there's Amamiya. Anyway, we haven't heard from the prisoner since. Yoko was released after being detained for a week. I heard she was tortured quite badly during that time. Well, we're not in a position to judge others. If we detectives had suspected them from the beginning, we would have subjected them to severe torture. And now, these new testimonies are hard to call lies."