Pathway to Japanese Literature

I

Inspector Kirihara Shōsaburō of the Metropolitan Police Department, who had recently made a name for himself as a renowned detective, often said the following to his colleagues:

“…No matter how tightly a criminal clamps their mouth shut, if you utter just one word that strikes at their vital spot at the most opportune moment, they will surely confess. The Third Degree interrogation method devised by the late Detective Burns of the New York Police gradually corners criminals through psychological torture until they finally confess—a technique currently adopted across American police departments as the best way to intimidate suspects when evidence proves insufficient. Yet I could never bring myself to employ such ‘Third Degree’ tactics. Even without resorting to those cruel methods, conducting an interrogation with perfect composure and delivering precisely one critical statement at the end will inevitably make criminals confess. But should that single word miss its mark—should we fail completely—we must then re-examine the case from its very foundations…”

Inspector Kirihara’s unique interrogation method became extremely famous not only in police circles but also in the general legal profession. Not only that, but even among criminals, it gained such notoriety that they feared once falling into Inspector Kirihara’s hands, they would ultimately have no choice but to confess. Once, a first-rate lawyer in the capital, Mr. M, half-jokingly proposed at a gathering that Inspector Kirihara’s interrogation method be named the “Special Interrogation Method” in contrast to the aforementioned Detective Burns’ “Third Degree,” and ever since then, the name “Special Interrogation Method” began to spread throughout society. However, since few in society still seemed to understand what this “Special Interrogation Method” entailed, I shall here attempt to introduce Inspector Kirihara’s “Special Interrogation Method” as applied to a certain murder investigation while also recording the full account of that incident.

On the clear morning of June 3, 1924, Inspector Kirihara sat facing Detective Asai—who had returned from investigating the scene—in his waiting room at the Metropolitan Police Department to hear the report on the murder that had occurred the previous night in Koishikawa.
The main points of Detective Asai’s report were as follows.

A little past twelve o’clock last night, on the slope of Block ○○ in Sasugaya Town, Koishikawa Ward, a scream of “Murdeeerr!” echoed through the air of the dark, sparsely traveled street.
Some people in nearby houses were still awake, and when they rushed out in alarm, they found a woman around twenty years old—dressed in decent attire—crouched on the ground, writhing in agony.
When they tried to lift her up out of concern, the woman—contorting as if in unbearable pain—groaned “Aah… aah…” while tracing something on the ground with her finger. Then, just as she uttered a final “Ugh…”, she fell still and died.
Upon closer inspection, beside the woman lay a bloodstained dagger glinting even in the darkness, with scattered droplets of black blood nearby. Afraid to touch her, the people immediately reported to the police box at the foot of the slope. The officer there urgently notified the Metropolitan Police Department before proceeding to guard the scene.

From the Metropolitan Police Department, Detective Asai rushed to the scene without delay, bringing along the police doctor, photography unit, and other necessary personnel.
According to the doctor’s examination, the woman was an oval-faced beauty with her hair tied in a bun. Her body lay prone with her face turned to the side, appearing to have died from blood loss after being stabbed through her clothing below the right shoulder blade on her back.
Meanwhile, Detective Asai searched the vicinity with a flashlight, carefully picked up the dagger and placed it in his bag, then noticed the three katakana characters “Tsunoda” clearly written near the corpse’s right hand. Lifting the corpse’s right hand to examine it, he found mud clinging to the tip of the index finger.
It became clear that the woman had written it in her final moments, but what those three characters meant was naturally impossible to discern; Detective Asai had them photographed to preserve the handwriting.

As it had not rained for over ten days，the ground had accumulated dust，and while quite a number of footprints were present，since they had been trampled by many people，the footprint examination naturally failed to yield satisfactory results.
As there were no other notable discoveries at the scene，the body was immediately transported to the university，and it had been arranged for an autopsy to be conducted in the forensic medicine department starting at ten o’clock today.

Now，another incident occurred last night in Koishikawa that seemed related to this case.
When a patrolman from Haramachi Police Box was making his rounds through his assigned area a little past twelve o'clock，someone came clattering toward him from ahead.
The patrolman hid in the shadows to observe when，for some reason，the man suddenly shouted，“Murder！”
The patrolman leaped out and attempted to apprehend him，but as the man resisted fiercely，he subdued him by force．However，there was no sign of anyone else giving chase.
When they brought him to the police box for inspection，he was a fair-skinned，gentle-looking man who resembled a woman，but since there were five or six bloodstains on his left sleeve，they questioned him about the circumstances．He only claimed that a terrifying man had been chasing him，but regarding the bloodstains，he clammed up and refused to say anything，so they took him to the police station for the time being.
However，at the police station，they were already aware of the murder of the beautiful woman．Since the time of the murder and the time this man came running coincided exactly，they transported him to the Metropolitan Police Department early this morning as a prime suspect.
With that，Detective Asai finished his account and let out a sigh of relief.

“The woman’s identity still hasn’t been determined?” Inspector Kirihara asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“At the scene—the one who shouted ‘Murdeeerr!’—that was undoubtedly a woman’s voice?”

“All the nearby people stated it was a shrill voice, like a woman’s.”

“But when those people rushed over, the woman didn’t say anything, did she?”

“Yes, sir. It seems she was groaning in pain and writing characters on the ground.”

“What about the dagger?”

“We had the Forensics Division examine it, but they say no fingerprints were found at all. The perpetrator was likely wearing gloves.”

Inspector Kirihara took out his pocket watch and checked it.

“There’s still time before the university autopsy.”
“I plan to examine the body myself later, but first I’ll conduct a brief interrogation of the suspect they sent over.”
“The sleeve bloodstains have been forwarded to Forensics?”

“Yes sir. They’ve cut out a section for immediate analysis.”

The man brought before Inspector Kirihara possessed delicate features—a fair-complexioned beauty with long black hair parted neatly down the middle. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, likely from sleeplessness.
His left sleeve bore scattered blood spatter.

“What is your name?” asked the Inspector kindly.

“My name is Hiraoka Teizō.”

“How old are you?”

“I am twenty-five.”

“What is your address?”

“It is Sugamo Miyanaka Block ○○.”

“Very well. How did that blood get on your sleeve?”

“I don’t know how it got there.”

“Where did you go late last night?”

“I went out for a walk.”

“I hear you shouted ‘Murderer!’ and ran—who was chasing you?”

“I don’t know who it was.”

“Do you know about the murder that occurred last night in Sasugaya Town?”

“I don’t know.”

Inspector Kirihara seemed to be staring fixedly at the chest of the downcast man, but his eyes shone with an unusual gleam.
Detective Asai, who stood beside him, sensed that the Inspector had already discovered something crucial, but unexpectedly—

“For now, let’s leave it at this,” he said.

Then the man pleaded,

“Please let me go home,” he pleaded.
“Not yet.…………” the Inspector declared firmly.

After the man left, the Inspector whispered instructions to Detective Asai, then stood up and said.

“Then I’ll go to the university now, so please take care of the matters I just mentioned.”

II

The autopsy revealed that the fatal wound had been a stab to the back; due to severe injury to the right lung, she had died from internal hemorrhage.
Furthermore, it was discovered that the woman had been three months pregnant, her stomach empty, with no clues sufficient to determine her identity found on either her clothing or corpse.
Therefore, it was decided that a photograph of her face would be published in newspapers to await responses from acquaintances, and the body was to be kept in the university’s refrigeration room for at least today and tomorrow.

When Inspector Kirihara returned from the university to the Metropolitan Police Department that afternoon and was taking a rest, Detective Asai entered with an excited expression and made the following report.

Acting on the Inspector’s orders, Detective Asai had gone with one of his subordinates to investigate Hiraoka Teizō’s residence at Sugamo Miyanaka Block ○○. They found it to be a solitary house set apart from the surrounding area. Just as they were about to enter, a man inside bolted out the back door toward the fields. Spotting him immediately, the two detectives gave chase and apprehended him without trouble.
The house’s interior was utterly empty, showing no signs of habitation either there or elsewhere on the premises. When they informed the man that Hiraoka Teizō had been arrested as a murder suspect, he appeared deeply shaken and even begged them to take him to the Metropolitan Police Department. After entrusting the man to his subordinates, Detective Asai inspected the house but found it completely vacant—no trace of a woman living there remained. Upon questioning neighbors, not a single person knew anything about it. When they located the landlord, he stated he had rented the house four days prior to a man named Kito Seigo but did not know whether he had brought a woman along.

“So the man’s name is Kito?” asked the Inspector after hearing Detective Asai’s report.

“Yes, he gave his name as Kito Seigo.”

“He fled when he caught sight of you, didn’t he?”

“Yes, sir.”

“In that regard, what do you make of that man?”

“I believe he may be an ex-convict.”

“That’s correct. Have his fingerprints taken immediately and check the records. Additionally, as a precaution, have Hiraoka’s background checked as well.”

“I had Hiraoka’s checked, but apparently there’s no record.”

“Very well. Then have Hiraoka summoned for a moment.”

Before long, the Inspector began interrogating Hiraoka once more.

“I hear you’ve been living with a man named Kito Seigo—what is your relationship with Mr. Kito?”

“Mr. Kito saved me at the Sumida River during the Great Earthquake.”

“What about your family?”

“I think my family members are probably all dead.”

“Where is your family home?”

“It’s Honjo ○○-chō, ○-banchi.”

“How many people were in your family?”

“Including parents and servants, there were seven people.”

“Any siblings?”

“I had one younger sister.”

“What did you and Mr. Kito do after that?”

“The two of us lived here and there and searched for our family members.”

“When did you move to Sugamo?”

“Four days ago.”

“Were you planning to move somewhere else again?”

“…………”

“Were there just the two of you?”

“Just the two of us.”

“There was a woman with you, wasn’t there?”

“There wasn’t.”

“Very well.”

Having said this, the Inspector dismissed Hiraoka and summoned Detective Asai to interrogate Kito.
Detective Asai entered with a pleased expression.

“We found it, we found it.
Kito goes by the name Sonoda Senkichi—he served two years at Ichigaya Prison for theft and was released last August.”

“What? Sonoda?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What were the characters written by the murdered woman at the moment of her death?”

“Tsunoda.”

"Hmm."
_Tsunoda to Sonoda._
"Bring me a photograph of the characters on the ground."

In the photograph, the character “ツ” appeared clearly, making it impossible to mistake for “ソ”.

“Very well, bring Sonoda here.”

The man who was brought in was around thirty years old, with a muscular build, a dark complexion, and could be considered rather handsome.

“Mr. Sonoda… no—Mr. Kito, how did you come to live together with Mr. Hiraoka?”

“It was because I saved him during the earthquake that we formed a brotherhood pact.”

“Where did you go last night?”

“I didn’t go anywhere.”

“What did Mr. Hiraoka go out to do?”

“He said he was going for a walk and went out around eleven o’clock.”

“Do you know there was a murder in Koishikawa last night?”

“I’m not aware.”

“Mr. Hiraoka was caught near the scene right around the time the murder occurred, but it was due to having blood on the clothes that he became a suspect.”
“Do you have any clue?”

“What kind of woman was killed?” asked Kito in a somewhat excited tone.

At this moment, the Inspector’s eyes suddenly gleamed, but he silently ordered Detective Asai to retrieve a photograph of the victim’s deathly visage and showed it to Kito.

“Don’t you recognize this face?” the Inspector asked, briefly glancing at his face.

“No.”

“Very well.”
“Please wait over there for a while.”

“If Mr. Hiraoka is here, please let me meet him.”

“Not now.”

When Kito withdrew, a man from the forensics department entered and reported that the blood on Hiraoka’s sleeve was human.

“Detective Asai, what do you think?”

“Is it about the blood?” the detective asked back, taken aback by the sudden question.

“No—it’s about whether these two are connected to this case or not.”

“First, we must ascertain the woman’s identity.”
“And then we must determine whether the two of them were accompanied by that woman.”

“When you conducted the house search, you found absolutely no traces of the woman having been there, correct?”

“There were none.”

“Then go search once more.”
Having said this, the Inspector lowered his voice to issue another command, at which Detective Asai’s face abruptly brightened.
As Detective Asai moved to leave,

“Ah, wait a moment,” the Inspector called out to stop him.
“When you brought Kito here, you didn’t tell him who had been killed, did you?”

“I had thoroughly cautioned my subordinates regarding that matter as well.”

III

Mr. Kirihara Shōsaburō leaned back in his chair after Detective Asai had left, closed his eyes, and sank into deep contemplation.

Adhering to his principles, Mr. Kirihara took care during interrogations conducted before their proper timing to avoid touching upon the subject’s vital points as much as possible.
He believed interrogating criminals resembled a medical immunological phenomenon.
For instance, if one injected a lethal dose of toxin into a laboratory animal, the animal would collapse; yet if that lethal dose were divided into two portions administered days apart, not only would the animal survive, but even a third full lethal dose injected at once would no longer prove fatal.
Similarly, during criminal interrogations, one ought to begin with words sufficient to elicit a confession; however, if one instead frequently uttered words grazing the criminal’s vital points, the criminal would grow merely wary—and even subsequent words gouging those points would lose their effect.
Thus Inspector Kirihara had made it his practice during initial interrogations to conclude matters briskly, avoiding excessive probing.
It was through this approach that he had achieved success with his “Special Interrogation Method” until now.

In this case, Inspector Kirihara encountered an extremely difficult problem.
First, what did the three characters "Tsunoda," written by the victim at the time of her death, signify?
Since Hiraoka had no prior criminal record based on interrogation results, they could not determine whether his real name was "Tsunoda."
Even regarding family registries, since the Honjo ward office had burned down in the earthquake disaster, they could not investigate.
Furthermore, they had discovered that Kito’s real name was Sonoda, but they could not definitively assert that the victim had written it by mistake, even if it was in her final moments.
Moreover, Tsunoda might be the woman’s own surname, or Tsunoda might not be a personal name at all.
Be that as it may, why didn’t the victim verbally name the killer when she had enough strength to write?
In fact, when she was being killed, didn’t she scream, "A murderer—!"?

Secondly, why did Hiraoka have human blood on his sleeve?
Earlier, when I carefully observed during the interrogation, Hiraoka had breasts unusually large for a man.
The condition of a man having woman-like breasts is termed “gynecomastia” in medical terminology—a phenomenon frequently observed among congenital criminals—so one might not dismiss its relevance to this crime; yet if that were true, why did he clatter about running and deliberately shout “Murderer!” at the top of his voice?
If he had killed the woman and fled, there would have been no reason to shout.
Then had he been chased after a fight with someone?
However, the officer who arrested him stated that no one had pursued him.
Moreover, I found no wounds from a fight on Hiraoka’s body.
Furthermore, he hadn’t mentioned any nosebleed either.
If only we had a superior blood identification method—a scientific means to conclusively prove the blood on Hiraoka’s sleeve belonged to the murdered woman—but regrettably, forensic science has yet to advance that far.
Though recent research on autoagglutinins makes such methods seem feasible to some extent, that belongs to a much more distant future.
Moreover, Hiraoka remains silent about the bloodstain’s origin.
Inspector Kirihara knew from experience that if a suspect said “I don’t know” during initial interrogation, they would never confess—which meant we had to uncover the blood’s secret ourselves.

Similarly, if Kito were to say “I don’t know” even once upon seeing the woman’s photograph, he would undoubtedly stick to “I don’t know” to the very end. Münsterberg deduced from experimental psychological theory that by applying a respirometer and sphygmograph to measure a suspect’s breathing and pulse patterns, even if they verbally denied knowing the woman upon seeing her photograph, a change in their pulse would still manifest—yet this remained purely theoretical, and in practical application, it was prone to lead to erroneous judgments. Moreover, today’s evening newspaper had reported the murder case for the first time and included a photograph of the woman’s deathly face, but because of this, there would likely be extremely few people who came forward claiming to know her. In Japan, the general public remained not only indifferent to such matters but also included those who feared that carelessly coming forward would entangle them in trouble. Even if someone were to come forward—since a deathly face was easily mistaken—it seemed unlikely that the woman’s identity would be uncovered through this avenue; therefore, what relationship the woman had with the two men would have to be ascertained through our own inquiries.

If we supposed the woman was someone known to Hiraoka or Kito，what exactly would be the motive? Seeing that she had been three months pregnant，it was not impossible to find a motive related to that．However，it proved difficult to imagine someone killing her out of desperation over handling her unborn child；moreover，even if two men had been competing over her and one killed out of jealousy，the notion of murdering the very woman herself remained unthinkable．Considering this，the murdered woman might have been unrelated to both men．

Despite all this, Inspector Kirihara could not shake the conviction that these two men were involved in the current case. First and foremost was the blood on Hiraoka’s sleeve. Human blood does not easily end up on one’s sleeve like that unless one sustains an injury oneself. While doctors or anatomists might easily get bloodstains, such professionals mostly wear Western attire when working. If it had been a fight, he would have sustained some injury himself. Moreover, there were no reports of any bloody altercations in Koishikawa last night—when it came to bloody incidents, there was only this murder case. Considering this, Hiraoka could not be deemed unrelated to this murder. Yet as things stood, there was not a single link in the chain connecting the murdered woman and Hiraoka... When he considered this, Inspector Kirihara juxtaposed the murdered woman’s profile with Hiraoka’s in his mind—and smiled faintly.

The Inspector continued his deliberations.
The second factor suggesting the two men's involvement was Kito fleeing when Detective Asai arrived to search his residence.
While those with prison experience instinctively fearing officers wasn't unusual per se, this case couldn't be dismissed through such general reasoning.
During earlier questioning, Kito had grown flustered upon hearing about bloodstains on Hiraoka's sleeve and inadvertently asked, "What kind of woman was killed?"
The murder report had been withheld from morning editions, appearing only in that evening's paper - meaning he couldn't have known unless informed by Asai.
Moreover, given how stringently the Inspector routinely cautioned subordinates about information leaks, Asai should logically have told him nothing.
This proved Kito had prior knowledge of the victim's gender.
Therefore, any claim of Kito's non-involvement became indefensible.

An investigation had been conducted regarding the dagger’s origin, but there had been no reports from that department. Therefore, Inspector Kirihara continued to wait with bated breath, relying solely on the results of the second house search he had ordered Detective Asai to conduct.

Around six o’clock in the evening, Detective Asai returned.
The face was overflowing with joy, so the Inspector had already discerned that a good lead had been obtained.

“As you instructed, when we conducted an inspection of the cleaning port, we unexpectedly obtained a crucial lead.”
“First of all, there was a large amount of vomit in the cesspit.”

“What do you make of that?”

“I consider it to be the morning sickness of a pregnant woman.”

“That’s certainly an excellent deduction.”
“Given the victim was three months pregnant, she ought to have been suffering from morning sickness.”
“But that alone doesn’t constitute definitive proof.”

“However, we’ve obtained an even more significant second clue.”

“What is it?”

“When we extracted papers from the toilet and carefully washed them, among them—though only a single sheet—we found tissue paper with characters written in ink.”

“What characters were written?”

“It was written in three katakana characters: ‘Tsunoda.’”

IV

Inspector Kirihara was known for his usual composure, but at this moment alone, he rejoiced so intensely he nearly leapt from his chair.

"That's an extraordinary discovery!" the Inspector exclaimed.
"Let me see that paper."

"I've sent it to the forensics department to have it dried, so they should be bringing it here shortly."

At that moment, the clerk entered and handed over a piece of paper.
On it, in characters about three centimeters square, "Tsunoda" was clearly written in ink at the center.
Having received it, the Inspector had already regained his usual composure.

“What do you make of this?” asked the Inspector, who had been comparing the characters on the paper with the photograph of those written on the ground.

“I want to think that the murdered woman was living with the two men.”

“That’s highly probable.”
“There are similarities in the handwriting between the characters in the photograph and those on the paper.”
“From this, it follows that what was written on the ground was not a miswritten ‘so’ character but must undoubtedly be ‘Tsunoda.’”
“Then what on earth does ‘Tsunoda’ signify?”

Detective Asai thought for a while, then raised his head with a perplexed look and answered.
“I believe ‘Tsunoda’ must be the name of someone connected to the woman after all.”
“Could the criminal’s name be Tsunoda?”
“Hiraoka’s real name might be Tsunoda.”

“So, to put it simply, you’re saying Tsunoda was the woman’s lover?”
“Even so, what reason could there be for writing the lover’s name in such thick characters—and in such a clear script—on tissue paper?”

“Since the woman was superstitious, she might have used it as some kind of curse.”

Inspector Kirihara said with a look of vindicated satisfaction.

“You’ve grasped an excellent point.”
“Superstition proves fascinating—particularly since pregnant individuals grow more prone to it.”
“But assuming Hiraoka was her paramour, what motive would exist for murder?”

“…………”

“Well, it’s only natural you’re perplexed.”
“This case requires far more thorough investigation.”

“Why don’t we let Hiraoka hear the word ‘Tsunoda’ and observe his reaction?”

“That’s still premature.”
“Instead, I intend to have Hiraoka and Kito meet now.”

“But if we do that, won’t they finally collude to keep their mouths shut?”

“Precisely.”
“I want to hear what conversation they’ll have when meeting.”

Detective Asai had already grasped Inspector Kirihara’s intentions.
The wall between the Inspector’s office and the adjacent reception room had been specially constructed such that standing at a certain point before it allowed all conversations in the reception room to be heard on this side. Moreover, the oil painting portrait of the Superintendent hanging in the reception room had its pupils hollowed out, so that by placing one’s eye against them from this room, every movement of those in the reception room could be observed. Thus, Inspector Kirihara undoubtedly intended to have Hiraoka and Kito meet face-to-face and uncover their secrets through their behavior and conversation.

Dusk was approaching, making it an exceedingly opportune time for such observation.
Under the Inspector’s orders, Detective Asai first had Kito guided to the reception room.
Then, upon a signal, they decided to bring Hiraoka in, with Detective Asai peering from behind the portrait and the Inspector taking on the role of listening to their conversation.
And if the two inside began whispering, they decided that Detective Asai would signal with his hand, and then the subordinates would enter the reception room to separate them.

At last, Hiraoka was brought into the reception room.
The Inspector strained ears tensely in anticipation, yet unexpectedly no voices of conversation reached him.
When he looked toward Detective Asai—wondering if hushed whispers had begun—the detective was staring fixedly ahead, though his mouth gradually fell agape in astonishment.
After some time passed, Detective Asai violently waved a hand, causing subordinate officers to storm into the reception room and pull the two apart.

Two minutes later, Inspector Kirihara and Detective Asai sat facing each other, but Detective Asai blinked repeatedly and seemed unable to speak for a while.

“What’s wrong, Detective Asai?” asked the Inspector with a suspicious look.

“I’ve done something terrible.”

“What?”

“The two communicated using hand signs.”

“Now, calm down and tell me.”

“When Hiraoka first entered, the two exchanged glances, but Kito looked around the area before suddenly using hand signs.”
“Then Hiraoka responded in kind, and they conversed that way for a time. But when Hiraoka suddenly burst into tears, Kito moved closer to comfort him and whispered into his ear.”
“In my surprise, I gave the signal—but it was so unexpected that I ended up letting them exchange hand signs after all.”
“I’ve studied thieves’ argot somewhat, but their signs made no sense to me.”
“Still, this proves they’re partners in crime.”

“Hmm,” he said, then hung his head and sank into thought.
“But if they’re partners in crime, it’s a bit odd that Hiraoka cried.”
“It must be because Hiraoka is weak-willed.”
“I wonder. I’ve encountered all sorts of criminals, but it’s rare for a man to cry.”
“But given that they communicated through hand signs, I can’t think of any other explanation.”

“Hand signs!”
That’s it.
“Letting them communicate through hand signs was a mistake... Wait—the key to the secret might lie there.”
No sooner had he said this than Inspector Kirihara’s expression suddenly brightened.
But—

“Look here—we’ll have to perform another autopsy on the corpse!” he exclaimed.

At these unexpected words, Detective Asai was completely taken aback and could only stare at the Inspector’s face.

“Modern forensic science only resolves secrets directly related to crimes, making it all too easy to overlook those concealed within the corpse itself.”
“In this case too, beyond the victim’s pregnancy, she appears to harbor an even greater secret.”
“I believe that unless we uncover that secret, solving this case will prove difficult.”
“If my deductions hold true, we’ll understand why the culprits remain silent—and recognize Kito—no, Sonoda’s—scheming at work here as an ex-convict...”

“So, do you consider Sonoda to be the culprit?”

“It’s still impossible to say anything definitive.”
“If we uncover the corpse’s secret, I believe we can use that to get one of them to talk.”
“However, the second autopsy must be conducted in strict secrecy.”
“Not even you yourself will be permitted to attend.”
“I wish to resolve this matter with just Professor Murayama from the university and me.…”

5

The following morning, a re-autopsy of the corpse was conducted at the university, but aside from Inspector Kirihara and Professor Murayama, no one else was aware of it.
As Inspector Kirihara had surmised, not a single person came forward to identify the corpse; moreover, all investigations into the dagger’s origin proved futile. Not only did no direct evidence emerge to conclusively judge the two detained individuals as the culprits, but they could not ascertain anything about the pair’s movements prior to arriving in Sugamo.

However, when Inspector Kirihara returned to the Metropolitan Police Department that afternoon, tension filled his face.
Detective Asai saw that expression and surmised today would finally see the execution of the "Special Interrogation Method".
What secrets had the corpse's re-autopsy unveiled? Could this information finally make those two men speak?

Inspector Kirihara sent for the French wine he customarily drank.
This wine invariably appeared whenever the Special Interrogation Method was implemented.
Within the Metropolitan Police Department, whispers even claimed this vintage extracted every confession uttered during those sessions.

At 4:00 PM, by order, Kito was summoned first.
Detective Asai knew that when two men were interrogated in the same case, the Special Interrogation Method was applied to the one questioned later. Therefore, he found it somewhat suspicious that Kito had been summoned first.
This was because Inspector Kirihara seemed to regard Kito—that is, Sonoda—as the culprit.
However, the inspector’s true intentions were unclear.
The detective quietly decided to wait for the time when the secret would be revealed.
Soon, Sonoda—that is, Kito—took his seat.

“Take your time,” the Inspector said gently.
“Do you mean to continue insisting you don’t know the murdered woman?”

“I’m not aware.”

“However, evidence has emerged that a woman was cohabiting in your residence.”

“I don’t know what evidence you mean, but I know nothing of any woman.”

“Do you mean to persist in this blanket denial to the very end?”

“If evidence comes up, isn’t that enough?”

“Then one of you two will be recognized as the perpetrator.”

“Do you even have that evidence?”

“The evidence is the blood on Mr. Hiraoka’s sleeve.”

“That alone doesn’t prove Mr. Hiraoka killed anyone.”

“But human blood doesn’t just get on one’s sleeve for no reason.”

“So have you identified the murdered woman?”

“You should know her identity well.”

“If her identity isn’t known, you can’t identify the perpetrator.”

“Hmm.”
“You’re quite well-versed in logic, aren’t you—no wonder you’re accustomed to places like this.”

“…………”

“So you’re saying you don’t know the woman and have no recollection of killing her either?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you intend to persist in this charade to the very end?”

“What I don’t know, I don’t know.”
“You may go ahead and present whatever evidence you please.”

“That will suffice.”

Then the inspector had Kito withdraw to the adjacent room, made him sit directly opposite the door, stationed an officer to guard him, and subsequently summoned Hiraoka through a separate entrance.
In this way, he arranged Hiraoka’s interrogation to be clearly audible to Kito.

“Mr. Hiraoka, how did the blood get on your sleeve? You don’t intend to tell me, do you?”

“I have absolutely no idea how it got there.”

“I’ve clearly established that the murdered woman was living with you.”
“Even so, do you claim to have no connection to this case?”

“But I have no idea.”

“You’re aware that your associate Mr. Kito is an ex-convict named Sonoda, aren’t you?”

“…………”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Hiraoka was biting his lip, but after a while,

“I am aware,” he answered.

“Do you know the name Tsunoda?”

“Huh?” Hiraoka uttered, his face rapidly paling.

“It’s Tsunoda.”

“I don’t know.”

“Surely that isn’t your real name?”

“That’s not true.”

“Then perhaps it’s the murdered woman’s name?”

“That’s not true.”

“You mustn’t answer ‘That’s not true’—you must say ‘I don’t know.’”

Hiraoka grew even paler.

"Do you intend to persist in this 'I know nothing' pretense to the very end?"

"I don't know... I don't know."

"Now, there's no need to panic. Compose yourself. I'll have something to tell you soon enough."

Hiraoka's breathing grew increasingly ragged. He stared up at the inspector's lips as if trying to anticipate his next words, his hands trembling violently along with his entire body.

“Now listen carefully,”
“Understood?”

Like a mouse glared at by a cat, Hiraoka shrunk back.
“The one who was killed was your mute sister!”

“Agh!” No sooner had Hiraoka cried out than he suddenly stood up,
“I’ll tell! I’ll tell! The one who killed my sister… was Mr. Kito!” he shouted.

The inspector remained silent for a while, staring at Hiraoka’s face.

At that moment, the adjacent room suddenly became noisy, and one of the officers rushed in.

“It’s terrible! Kito has committed suicide!”

“Huh!” The inspector stood up, but at the same time, Hiraoka fell back onto his chair and fainted right there.

Six

Inspector Kirihara Shōsaburō-sama… I humbly ask your forgiveness for addressing you in this manner without regard for propriety.

By the time this confession reaches your hands, I will be in the next world, held in the arms of my beloved Mr. Kito. Since you did not imagine that I too would commit suicide, when I stated that I would write and submit a confession, you graciously permitted it.

I do not know how you discovered that the murdered woman was my sister and that she was mute, but even with your keen insight, I imagine you are not aware that I am a woman. I have been raised as a male until now. Even my parents died without knowing that I am a woman. Though it brings me shame to admit, I was born what is commonly called a "hermaphrodite." And I was raised as a male, but I myself came to know that I was a woman only after the Great Earthquake.

To allow you to fully comprehend the origins of this tragedy, I must begin by recounting the dreadful shadow of the curse that haunts my ancestral home. My family was an old established household in Honjo ×× District that had prospered for generations, but it is said that six generations ago, the family head killed a traveling monk named Tsunoda Sekien who had been lodging with us under grave circumstances—I must inform you. On his deathbed, this monk reportedly declared, "I shall curse this house until it crumbles," before perishing—and from that time onward, my family has borne one mute child per generation—I must inform you. Though my father and mother being cousins makes our birth defects medically unsurprising, circumstances persisted that suggested the monk's lingering curse—I must inform you. This stems from how my mute sister had come to write only the characters for "Tsunoda"—the monk's surname—from her childhood onward—I must inform you. I know not where or from whom she learned it, but she wrote no other characters—I must inform you. Though she could convey anything through hand signs and likely knew other letters, she would spend every spare moment writing "Tsunoda" on paper.

For that reason, my parents made my sister live in a detached room in the inner quarters and never let her out into society.
This was due to a family superstition passed down through generations—that if it were ever revealed to society that she was mute, our entire household would be annihilated.
We were the only two siblings, and perhaps because of my own physical deformity, I felt particular sympathy toward my sister and cherished her dearly.
And somehow, we managed to keep my sister’s existence hidden from society.

However, last year when the Great Earthquake and Fire struck, our family met with the fate of being scattered.
I fled carrying my sister on my back and floated upon the Sumida River for two days and nights—it was then that Mr. Kito saved me.
It appears my parents and servants all perished.
Looking back now, it would have been better had we simply died then.
My sister—raised in sheltered seclusion—was finally cast out into that terrifying world, making our family legend seem ever closer to fulfillment: that should her muteness become known to society, it would bring about our complete annihilation.
Just as anyone enduring such horrors becomes prone to superstition, from that moment I too became a man consumed by profound superstition.
To survive and restore the Hiraoka family name, I resolved never to let society learn of my sister's muteness.
Thus I confided our family secret to Mr. Kito alone—he in turn revealed his status as an ex-convict—and we formed a brotherly pact to live together.
Fortunately having secured substantial funds beforehand, we three first evacuated to Shibuya—moving each time my sister's secret risked exposure—while searching fruitlessly for our parents and servants.

Amidst all this, something unexpected began to unfold there. To put it briefly, my sister fell passionately in love with Mr. Kito. And in the end, the two of them became inseparable.

However, shortly after the Great Earthquake, a great change occurred in my body as well. I do not know whether it was due to the physical and mental shock I suffered during that disaster, but menstruation suddenly began in me—I who had always believed myself male. The shock I felt when realizing I was a woman cannot be put into words. Though I initially kept this hidden from both Mr. Kito and my sister, my breasts—which had never been small—began growing conspicuously larger as I became conscious of my womanhood.

Inspector Kirihara Shōsaburō-sama.
During my interrogation yesterday, you looked at my chest area and assumed a peculiar expression.
At that moment, I was startled, thinking that perhaps you had seen through my secret.

Now, as physiological changes occurred, psychological changes came about simultaneously.
Ah, even to think such a thing is dreadful.
This became the source of the current tragedy, so I must inform you.
In other words, whenever I saw the relationship between my sister and Mr. Kito, I came to feel a jealousy that intensified daily—I must inform you.
The mental anguish during those four or five months following the Great Earthquake disaster—merely thinking of it makes me shudder.
Finally, I could no longer endure it and confessed my secret love to Mr. Kito—so I must inform you.
Ah, if only Mr. Kito had killed me then—it would have been better. But because he accepted my love, ill-advised as it was, my heart turned into a demon.
All my previous feelings toward my sister turned entirely into hatred.

Amidst all this turmoil, I discovered my sister was pregnant.
As her pregnancy advanced, she developed severe morning sickness.
Not only that, but her temperament grew increasingly volatile.
Her heightened sensitivity gradually discerned the bond between Mr. Kito and myself.
From that moment onward, she obsessively scribbled "Tsunoda" across every available surface, hurling curses through her tantrums.
Though I burned every scrap of her writings, we found ourselves constantly relocating—five days here, four days there—lest her condition be exposed to society.

Mr. Kito too had been nearly overwhelmed by my sister’s behavior.
And as the bond between Mr. Kito and me deepened imperceptibly, a dreadful notion had come to ferment between us—I must inform you.
We conceived the idea that should we eliminate my sister, all secrets would be interred with her, allowing us to become husband and wife—I must inform you.
Mr. Kito argued that killing an unidentified mute girl would never be traced back to us—that without knowing her origins, no perpetrator could ever be punished—and thus we devised our plan to murder her.
Four or five days beforehand, we relocated to Sugamo to await the ripening moment. When the day finally arrived, Mr. Kito bundled our luggage and transported it to Iidamachi Station, then lured my sister out under pretext of a nighttime move—for we always chose such shadowed hours for our relocations.
After dispatching my sister, we meant to take separate paths to rendezvous at Iidamachi and flee the capital—I must inform you.

Finally, the three of us came to that slope in Koishikawa Sashigaya-chō.
When Mr. Kito was about to kill my sister, he instructed me to shout “Murdeeerr!”
He reasoned that by doing so, the police would search for her identity as a woman who could speak—ensuring it would never be discovered.
Looking back now, those very contrivances were what brought about our ruin.
We made my sister walk a step ahead while I followed behind her on the right side and Mr. Kito positioned himself to my left; he donned gloves and stabbed her with the dagger he had long carried.

At the same moment he stabbed her, Mr. Kito withdrew the dagger, but it seems blood splattered onto my left sleeve at that time.
My stabbed sister turned to glare at me resentfully—but ah, that terrifying face!
In the darkness, that demon-like visage loomed with terrifying clarity.
I shouted “Murder!” once; Mr. Kito went forward while I turned back and ran the way I had come—though I was in such a frenzy that I have no recollection of where or how I ran.
My sister’s face would not leave my sight, and while running, I apparently shouted “Murder!” again.
I have no memory of saying that, but because of it I was apprehended by the police—who grew suspicious of the blood on my left sleeve—and was brought here as a murder suspect.

Because I did not go to the station as promised, Mr. Kito returned to our Sugamo house to search for me the next morning, where I later learned he had been apprehended by the police—I must inform you.
When we met in the reception room, we conversed using those hand signs my sister had always used, and through my tears I pleaded, “Please die—there’s no saving us now.”
We had long since made a pact that if our secret were ever discovered, we would commit lovers’ suicide—I must inform you.
Yet Mr. Kito pressed his mouth to my ear and whispered we should cling to life while we could.
At that very moment police officers entered and tore us apart.

Inspector Kirihara Shōsaburō-sama.
I do not know how you came to learn of Tsunoda, but when those words were spoken from your lips, my mind was utterly overthrown.
How might one describe the state of my heart during those two or three minutes until you gave voice to your final pronouncement?
I believe this must be what they mean by anguish surpassing death itself.

Mr. Kito apparently heard my confession and promptly committed suicide using cyanide.
The cyanide had been placed inside the false tooth some time ago.

I believe I have now conveyed most of what I needed to tell you.
Even as I write this, I am hastening toward death.
I will die by the same method as Mr. Kito.

Thus, my family will come to an end here, but that may be our inevitable fate.

As I face the end, I sincerely pray for your health.

Hiraoka Teizō

VII

“What a pitiful life she led,” Inspector Kirihara blurted out the next morning when Detective Asai read aloud the suicide note found beside Hiraoka’s corpse—the inspector having listened intently throughout.

“If only we had at least kept Hiraoka under surveillance and alive…”

“No, no—I had noticed that much myself. But I deliberately gave Hiraoka that opportunity.”

“So, did you know Hiraoka was a woman?”

“No, I didn’t know that. However, I thought it was an unusual physique for a man.”

“Even so, how did you know the murdered woman was Hiraoka’s sister and mute?”

Inspector Kirihara smiled faintly and said.

"There was no definitive evidence they were siblings—it was purely deductive reasoning."
"As you know, siblings typically share similar facial features somewhere."
"In most cases, comparing their eyes reveals it, but when matching a deceased face to a living one, the dead person’s eyes alter beyond recognition."
"In such situations, I always compare the curvature of their profile from nasal tip to lips."
"Any face lacking distinctive features frontally often reveals clear characteristics when viewed sideways."
"During the woman’s autopsy, I meticulously studied her profile’s curve. Later, observing Hiraoka’s profile showed remarkable congruence."
"And let’s not forget—Hiraoka did initially mention having a sister."

There, the Inspector took a breath, sipped the tea nearby, and continued speaking.

“Next, my deduction about her muteness first arose from Hiraoka and Kito using hand signs to communicate. Rather than assuming those two were criminals themselves, I considered whether a third party might be mute.”
“The second clue was the murdered woman writing characters on the ground as she died.”
“If she had strength to write, it would be strange she couldn’t speak aloud.”
“Moreover—though I don’t know if you’ve seen writing by mute people—they form strokes correctly and clearly.”
“This comes from rigorously following what they were taught.”
“Hiraoka claims not to know who taught him, but someone must have instructed him.”
“That’s why I concluded those characters were written by a mute person.”
“So I immediately visited the university and asked Professor Murayama to perform a second autopsy.”
“The results showed defects in her auditory organs and underdeveloped vocal muscles.”
“While that alone couldn’t definitively prove she was mute in life, synthesizing all evidence made it undeniably clear.”

“Now, assuming the murdered woman was mute, it seems the key to this crime’s secret lies there.”
“This is because a mute person couldn’t have spoken—meaning whoever shouted ‘Murderer!’ must have been either the killer or a third party.”
“So I concluded it was a scheme to mislead the police and linked ex-convict Kito to that.”
“In the West they teach mute people to speak, so even mutes might talk—but dwelling on that leads nowhere.”
“Besides, if she could speak, she wouldn’t have written on the ground.”
“Detective novels often have victims writing the culprit’s name in blood with their last breath—but that’s only when no one’s around.”
“Of course, people can be too distressed to speak—I considered that initially—but assuming muteness makes everything fall into place.”

“However, I didn’t understand what Tsunoda meant. So I questioned Hiraoka, but when he heard the word ‘Tsunoda,’ he completely lost his composure—which made me realize this wasn’t merely about his real name, but something tied to a far graver secret. That’s why I chose that moment to deliver my final words…”

“No, indeed—when you said, ‘Your sister was mute,’ I myself was shocked.”
“All the more, it must have struck Hiraoka even more powerfully.”

“But when all is said and done, the most crucial evidence in this case was obtained through the latrine search.”
“Had that scrap of paper with ‘Tsunoda’ written on it not been found, this case might have become an impenetrable maze.”
“In Western cities, they generally can’t perform cesspool searches—in this regard, Japan’s backwardness paradoxically benefits criminal investigations.”
“Years ago when a certain Kawarai murdered a pharmacy clerk, a beer bottle from the latrine became vital evidence too.”
“When you consider it, even foul places shouldn’t be dismissed outright.”
“Perhaps we ought to discard proverbs like ‘Cover up what stinks.’”
“Ha ha ha ha ha.”