Pathway to Japanese Literature

22

“Now!”

As they all rose up uttering such clichéd cries and began preparing to flee—at that belated moment—from beneath the bench where Enko and the others had been sitting, a man in a white surgical gown crawled out like a large black rat that had sniffed poison gas, paddling his hands along the floor. The group froze in astonishment.

When they looked, it was none other than Detective Fuyuki disguised as medical staff.

"Piriri!"

When Detective Fuyuki—now risen to his feet—parted lips sealed as if by cobwebs and blew the whistle he had pulled from his pocket, detectives disguised as medical staff emerged not only from the X-ray room but one by one from each nearby chamber. In an instant, they surrounded Masumoto, Funaki, Ochou, Enko—alongside mystery novelist Hasegawa and journalist Yamamoto—together with Detective Okita, who had rushed there alone.

Masumoto, Funaki, and Ochou all let out bitter smiles, but Enko—along with Hasegawa and Yamamoto—stared with eyes like budgerigars whose price had plummeted at this swift maneuver too fast for the eye to follow.
The patients who had been peering curiously into the X-ray room until then—perhaps also due to the cold—turned faces the color of poorly pickled eggplants and, aghast at this imposing spectacle, scrambled away in a flurry.
Only the X-ray machine continued to emit its low, monotonous hum—goooh, goooh—unchanged as ever.

Though Detective Okita had been narrowly preempted by Detective Fuyuki, he seemed to feel a certain pride in having almost simultaneously discovered a valuable quarry—a realization that he himself wasn’t yet past his prime.

“Detective Okita, good work.”

Detective Fuyuki brushed off the dust while already having regained his calm breathing and greeted them with a smile containing laughter.
And before Detective Okita could offer a reply,

"Now then, Mr. Masumoto and the three siblings!"

Then, with particular emphasis—
“The esteemed siblings”—
laying weight on those words—
“It’s difficult to talk here, so I’m afraid you’ll need to come with us to XX Station now.
Hey, you lot.”

looked back at his subordinate detectives,

“Now, return those surgical gowns to the hospital and prepare the car. Have everyone get ready, then take them to the station.”
“Don’t worry—I’ll handle the hospital matters appropriately.”
“We’ll be heading out right after you, so give my regards to the chief.”

Masumoto, Funaki, Ochou—and even Enko, who until now had been hiding behind Ochou and peeking out like a child looking at something frightening from behind their mother’s back—now seemed to have resigned themselves, obediently walking away after the detectives.

When the four in question had left, Detective Okita—

“Detective Fuyuki, I must admit I’m impressed by your skills.”

He had intended this remark to be neither sarcastic nor flattering, yet his voice carried a faint note of loneliness.

“Oh, you’re the one who tracked it down so skillfully.”
“That’s what accumulated experience gets you.”
“By the way—how did you pinpoint Funaki’s presence at this hospital?”

“I just tailed Masumoto.”
“I thought he was a suspicious character, so I kept my eyes on him.”
“I never imagined Funaki would be here.”

“I see. Now, Mr. Hasegawa—”
At this moment, Detective Fuyuki looked directly at Hasegawa’s face for the first time, nodded to Yamamoto standing nearby, and said—

“And how did you come to know Funaki’s whereabouts?”

“We simply followed Enko’s trail.”
“Just like Detective Okita, I never imagined Funaki would be hiding here.”
“By the way, how did *you* manage to pinpoint Funaki’s whereabouts?”

“Yesterday, upon visiting Nishimura Shokai’s factory and learning that Funaki was the ringleader inciting workers, I had my subordinates search for his whereabouts. When it was discovered he had been admitted to this hospital under the alias Matsumoto Masao, I bribed a nurse to gather information. Today, upon learning he had arranged to meet Ochou before the X-ray room, I disguised myself as medical staff and hid beneath the bench.”
“Well, speaking of disguises—I must excuse myself to return this surgical gown and explain the situation to the deputy director.”
“Please, you three wait at the entrance.”

Before long, the four boarded a single car and headed toward XX Station.
The snow continued to fall in scattered flurries.

"Why did you peg Masumoto as a suspicious character?"

Shortly after the car began moving, Detective Fuyuki asked Detective Okita—seated next to him—

“Yesterday, after interrogating Masumoto, I visited Nishimura’s bereaved family again.”
“The wife still refused to meet me, but when I started talking to the daughter who came out as intermediary about Masumoto, she made such a strange face that I pressed her with questions—and in the end, she confessed a minor detail.”
“So I decided to keep Masumoto under surveillance.”

“What exactly was that?”

Detective Fuyuki asked, his eyes shining.

“Well.”
“He’s now, here—”

And Detective Okita hesitated mid-sentence.

Hasegawa, who had been eagerly listening to their conversation until now, interjected.

“Now that matters have reached this point, why don’t we all fully disclose our individual investigative findings and unite our efforts to ascertain the truth?”
“Detective Okita—please commit to this approach.”
“To begin, I shall first relay what I learned through questioning Enko and Noda.”
“Though I promised Enko to keep her secret, necessity compels me in our pursuit of truth.”

Having said this, Hasegawa explained—with a touch of mystery novelist’s fancy yet concisely—the facts already known to the reader: how he had marveled at Mr. Tenkei Hasegawa’s *Psychoanalysis of Hamlet* (a namesake’s work), further rejoiced in Freud’s theories, and brilliantly analyzed the dreams of Enko and Noda to uncover truths beyond mere dreams—namely, that two days prior in Room 27 on the fourth floor’s vacant office, when Enko was about to be apprehended by the president, she struck his left shoulder with a nearby British spanner with all her might; that even then, the president refused to yield and lunged at her, only to let out a groan and collapse backward in that instant; that when Enko looked up in shock, she saw Noda’s pallid face urging her to flee at once, prompting her to run out in a daze without knowing what transpired afterward; that analyzing Noda’s dreams revealed Noda likely had some weakness exploited by Kitagawa from accounting; that while Noda did not directly kill President Nishimura of Nishimura Electric商会, he seemed privy to aspects of his death; that Enko’s blow to Nishimura occurred around 4:05 PM, and while Noda’s subsequent strike might have felled him moments later, the timing made it implausible for this alone to kill Nishimura outright—necessitating an accomplice; and finally, journalist Yamamoto’s discovery that Enko’s parents had been major landowners in the prefecture until their land was embezzled by Nishimura about ten years prior. To this account, Hasegawa added a final remark.

“Even so, I was truly astonished when I heard from Masumoto’s own mouth at the hospital earlier that Enko, Ochou, and Funaki are siblings. However, because of that, I feel it has become increasingly clear that Funaki is involved in the president’s death. When it became clear that the man in the military coat was indeed Funaki, suspicion against him deepened all the more.”

Having been listening to this account while deep in thought, Detective Fuyuki now raised his head and spoke.

“However, when we asked Funaki if it was him who struck Nishimura from behind earlier, he vehemently denied it with a ‘No!’ Of course, even if he were the true culprit, one wouldn’t expect him to confess so readily—but at the same time, we must consider Ochou’s words: that he would have ended up hanging himself even if no one had killed him, given how untenable his situation had become. Even if we say that Nishimura’s family members and employees have no reason to commit suicide, since his mistress Ochou must have known even deeper circumstances, I think the suicide theory cannot be entirely denied. Even so, it’s truly regrettable that at that moment when Funaki started to say, ‘But, you see—’ and was about to share a crucial clue, Enko noticed your face and Masumoto spotted Detective Okita.”

“Well, that was certainly my mistake.”
“I thought they were going to ask something too critical, and in my excitement, I lost my composure and turned around—that was my mistake.”

“By the way, Detective Okita—what did you manage to find out from Nishimura’s daughter about Masumoto?”

Detective Okita couldn’t help but marvel at the conversation between Hasegawa and Detective Fuyuki. Yesterday, he had learned from Tomekichi the pickpocket that Masumoto visited Nishimura shortly before his death, suspected Masumoto, took him to the station for questioning, and unexpectedly extracted information about Ochou and Funaki. Thinking this meant Funaki was now suspect, he went to the factory to inquire, only to be told Funaki had not shown up for work since that morning. When considered, Masumoto’s statement to the superintendent during questioning—that he had gone to check the factory that morning and it seemed Funaki had been there—turned out to be a lie. Thereupon, he visited Nishimura’s bereaved family again and attempted to inquire about Masumoto—but when the daughter told him something unexpected, he decided to place Masumoto under surveillance. But now, upon hearing Hasegawa and Detective Fuyuki’s discussion, he realized this case was far more complicated than he had imagined. Concluding that withholding any information at this juncture would only harm his own interests, he briefly recounted his actions since the previous day and added the following remarks.

“So, what I heard from Nishimura’s daughter is that Masumoto lost his wife some years back, and at his age, he boldly proposed marriage directly to her—only to be flatly rejected, of course.”

As Hasegawa made a face that seemed to say this was unexpected, Detective Fuyuki—

“Ah,”
He pondered.

“Did Nishimura know about that?” Detective Fuyuki asked.

“Well, he apparently didn’t know at all. First of all, if he were to bring up such a thing, he would undoubtedly be laughed off as a joke—so it seems he had the audacity to approach only the daughter. In fact, yesterday, while going to offer his condolences, he apparently asked the daughter to reconsider once more.”

“I see,” Detective Fuyuki said.

“This makes sense of what Funaki said earlier—that Masumoto was the mastermind who incited the workers to launch the strike. Given that, even if Masumoto isn’t directly involved in the president’s death, he might have some indirect connection. No—this case is more complex than I imagined.”

“Hmm, I suppose so,” Detective Fuyuki responded.

Then, journalist Yamamoto, who had been silently listening to the three’s conversation until now, spoke up for the first time.

“Perhaps Masumoto had told Funaki in advance that he was going to meet the president around four o’clock in Room 27 on the fourth floor of the S Building. So that’s why Funaki donned a military coat and barged in—isn’t that the case?”

“That may be the case,” said Detective Fuyuki. “Speaking of the military coat reminded me—when I questioned the factory workers, they said Funaki had never once worn a military coat in daily life, nor had he ever put on a hunting cap. So it seems he went in disguise, but I can’t quite understand why he disguised himself.”

“That’s simply because Funaki has a penchant for disguises, don’t you think? Disguises are convenient for committing murder—in fact, he was disguised again the very next day wearing tinted glasses, wasn’t he? Moreover, that antiquated sticker prank he pulled shows a clownish streak unbecoming of an ideologue. And it’s precisely that disposition which made him susceptible to Masumoto’s prodding to instigate the strike.”

“Hmm...”

As Detective Fuyuki pondered this, at that moment, Hasegawa—

“Ah, I’ve got it! I know why he disguised himself!”

The moment this loud shout erupted, Detective Okita—who until then had been captivated by the snowscape outside the car—whirled around in surprise.

And then, at that moment, the car stopped in front of the ×× Police Station.

23

While Detectives Fuyuki and Okita were staging a dramatic arrest at K Hospital, the ×× Police Station had just concluded their interrogation of Judicial Officer Tsunetou Kitagawa and were moving on to questioning Noda, the accountant.

Noda was a passionate man, but he seemed to have suffered a severe psychological blow from the recent incident—within mere dozens of hours, his complexion had turned ashen, and dark circles had formed around his eyes, which were now sunken deeply.

Since being taken to the police station, he had been consumed by thoughts of Enko. It was said that anyone who came to a detention cell began to miss even their usually not-so-lovable wives and children—he was no exception—he found himself thinking of Enko incessantly. At the same time, he couldn’t help but think about the dramatic incident that had occurred in Room 27 the afternoon before last. What does Enko think about my arrest? Does she truly think that I killed the president and threw him out the window? No—of course she must think that. And really, there was no helping it if she thought that. Enko had fled immediately upon my telling her “Quick, get away!”—so of course she must think I’m the culprit. However, Enko probably thinks she would never disclose that matter—but I wonder how it really is. If Enko had even the slightest regard for me, he believed she would never disclose it no matter how intensely interrogated. But is this assumption mistaken? However, according to what Hasegawa said today, it seems Hasegawa met with Enko and extracted something from her; perhaps Enko was indeed asked about the dream and ended up revealing everything. However, even if Enko were to disclose that matter to Hasegawa, my love for her would only grow stronger—it would never diminish. If it was for Enko’s sake, I would not even hesitate to mount the guillotine. All my actions were carried out to protect Enko. It is my duty as her lover to protect her. My love for her is serious. My love for her cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the president’s or Kitagawa’s. Still, what has become of Kitagawa? What exactly did he state?

I saw through it all too clearly—his love for Enko was utterly frivolous, and if anything, he seemed bent on pushing her toward the president instead. But now the president was dead. Which meant he’d inevitably start making advances toward Enko for his own sake. This thought left Noda frantic over whether Kitagawa might already have been released. Even as he stood before Judicial Officer Tsunetou now, he still couldn’t shake thoughts of Kitagawa. So when Judicial Officer Tsunetou—

“You… I’ve just heard something from Mr. Kitagawa…”

When Judicial Officer Tsunetou began to say this with pursed lips, Noda started as if he had touched an open wound. The judicial officer continued speaking without the slightest regard for what was in Noda’s heart.

“When Mr. Kitagawa entered the president’s office at 4:15 the day before yesterday, you were there at that time, weren’t you? What exactly were you doing there?”

When Noda heard this, he felt as if his vision went dark.

*That bastard Kitagawa finally talked.*
(Even though I'd had him strictly silenced for the company and the president's sake...)

The moment this thought struck him, Noda felt his knuckles crack. Before he could even begin to formulate a response—so overwhelmed was he by seething hatred for Kitagawa—Judicial Officer Tsunetou, seeing Noda's confusion, pressed further.

“You can’t answer, can you? Isn’t it true that that morning, at that very moment, you were stuffing into your pocket the 2000 yen you had passed to the president through Kitagawa?”

Noda was still thinking about Kitagawa, so the judicial officer’s words essentially went in one ear and out the other.

“Hey, you.”

With that, the judicial officer rapped the table with his fist to prompt attention.

“Why aren’t you answering? Isn’t it true that at that time, you begged Kitagawa as if bowing in supplication, promising any reward later if he wouldn’t tell the police about this?”

Upon hearing this, Noda finally came to his senses.

“That’s a lie! It’s a lie!”
“I would never say such a thing!”

Noda had finally fallen into Judicial Officer Tsunetou’s cunning trap.
The phrase “You begged him not to tell the police about this” was entirely Judicial Officer Tsunetou’s fabrication—yet when presented in such a natural way, no one could avoid falling into that trap.
Judicial Officer Tsunetou promptly asked,

“So you did meet Kitagawa in the president’s office?”

Noda was momentarily thrown into confusion, but after thinking for a while, he spoke as though he had resolved himself.

“There’s no helping it. If Mr. Kitagawa has revealed what he was so strictly instructed to keep secret, then—though it will tarnish the president’s character—I shall disclose everything.”

“That’s a commendable resolve. So, you did indeed put 2000 yen into your pocket?”

“I did put it in.”

“What did you do with the money?”

Noda reached into his jacket pocket and took out a bundle of bills,

“This is it.”

...and handed it over to the judicial officer.

Judicial Officer Tsunetou took up the bundle of 100-yen bills and counted them, but—

“You’ve only got ten bills here. Where are the remaining ten?”

Noda made a perplexed face,
“Please examine those bills carefully.”

he said in a gentle voice.

Upon being told this, Judicial Officer Tsunetou pulled out one of them, took it in hand, and spent some time inspecting both sides of the bill before—

“Ah, this is a counterfeit bill!”
the judicial officer shouted.
As expected of Judicial Officer Tsunetou—who had particular experience in this field—he identified counterfeit bills that even someone with a keen eye would struggle to detect, all within two minutes. Noda felt an involuntary respect surge within him.

“As you’ve identified, they are counterfeit bills.”
“That’s why I seized them to protect the president’s honor—and why I made Mr. Kitagawa keep silent about it.”

“So, the president counterfeited these bills?”

“No, that’s not it,” Noda declared firmly.

“Then why did you hand over 2000 yen to the president only to take it back? If that’s how it was, you should’ve never handed it over in the first place!”

Noda was utterly perplexed by this logical onslaught.

“Well, under these circumstances, I shall lay all my cards on the table.”
“Nishimura Electric商会 recently incurred massive losses due to the economic downturn, and to deceive the public and business partners, the president purchased 50,000 yen in counterfeit bills the other day.”
“Initially, the president said he had borrowed 50,000 yen from a certain source, but when I discovered they were counterfeit bills, he confided the circumstances to me alone.”
“However, the president refused to say from whom he had purchased these counterfeit bills.”
“Also, I did not press or ask about it.”
“However, until the day before yesterday, the 50,000 yen in counterfeit money had never been used, but on the morning of the day before yesterday, the president told me to give him 2,000 yen from it.”
“And because I sensed a certain danger, I repeatedly advised him to stop.”
“But he said it didn’t matter if the money he was handing over today was counterfeit and wouldn’t listen to my advice.”
“So, reluctantly, I had Mr. Kitagawa pass it to the president.”
“However, since no matter how I thought about it, it seemed dangerous, around noon I went to the president’s office and tried to warn him once again.”
“However, the president merely laughed and said, ‘You needn’t worry—this won’t cause you any trouble,’ refusing to engage any further.”
“At that moment, I noticed there was a briefcase on the president’s desk.”
“Since the president always kept money in that briefcase as a habit, I said, ‘Isn’t it dangerous to leave it out like this?’ Then he pointed to the second drawer of his desk and said, ‘That money is kept here.’”
“I left it at that and returned from the scene, but I was still terribly worried. So I decided it would be better to just steal this and secretly preserve the president’s honor. I waited for an opportunity when he was away, entered his office, opened the drawer, and tried to stuff the bundle of bills into my pocket.”
“At that moment, unluckily, Mr. Kitagawa came in to get the president’s approval and discovered me.”
“Mr. Kitagawa naturally did not know they were counterfeit bills, nor could he speak of them. I told him I had come to retrieve them for a profound reason, urged him never to tell anyone about this matter, and parted ways saying I would explain everything in full before long.”
“Then, not long after that, the president’s corpse was discovered on the street, causing a great commotion.”
“Therefore, I believe Mr. Kitagawa probably told you that I killed the president and stole 2,000 yen.”
“However, putting that aside, that night—taking advantage of being on night duty—I burned all the counterfeit bills the president had purchased in the stove.”
“Since there was no one else who knew besides me, I thought that by doing so, the president’s honor would be preserved forever.”

“However, for future evidence, I left just one thousand yen out of the two thousand yen I took from the desk drawer in the president’s office like this.”

Judicial Officer Tsunetou had listened to Noda’s lengthy statement with a mask-like expressionless face, but then—as if struck by a thought—he suddenly smiled and spoke.

“Your statement is remarkably coherent.”
“But there’s just one suspicious point.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you understand?
“You entered the president’s office to retrieve these counterfeit bills around 4:15.”

“What about it?”

“You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you? Let me spell it out for you. From these counterfeit bills and your current statement, I’ve deduced this: You were told by the president to hand over two thousand yen, so you secretly passed him counterfeit bills. Then you killed him on the lower floor and threw him onto the street, immediately returning to his office to steal back the counterfeit evidence. Well? There’s no mistake here.”

Noda was left speechless, his mouth hanging open.

“If what you say were true, there’s no way I would show you these counterfeit bills like this,” he said, panting.

“That’s exactly where your cunning lies,” Judicial Officer Tsunetou retorted. “Moreover, since you’d been seen by Kitagawa, you kept it preserved to explain yourself later. Anyway, the fact remains that you killed the president and threw him out.”

Noda mustered up his resolve and stared at Judicial Officer Tsunetou’s face, trying to read his mind.
Could Enko have confessed everything she knew?
But no matter what, if I were to say everything I knew here, I alone would have to take the blame.
I must stand my ground no matter what.
With this in mind, as he considered how to respond, a good idea suddenly came to him.

“But wasn’t it stated that President Nishimura was killed between 4:20 and 4:30? However, I entered the president’s office around 4:15. Therefore, I believe the theory that I killed the president and stole the counterfeit bills does not hold.”

Upon hearing this response, Judicial Officer Tsunetou seemed somewhat exasperated.
He crossed his arms and closed his eyes,

“Hmm.”

With that, he nodded two or three times, but at that moment, the clamorous sound of many people entering the main interrogation room next door reached them, followed by a detective arriving and whispering something into his ear. Seizing this opportunity, Judicial Officer Tsunetou stood up, ordered the detective to take Noda to the detention cell, and proceeded to the main interrogation room together with the police chief.

24

Not long after that, the grand interrogation to unravel the mystery of this case was conducted in the main interrogation room.

The term “grand interrogation” will likely be unfamiliar to readers, but Police Chief Yamakawa of XX Station had discovered that when a case grew complex, gathering all involved parties in a single room and conducting interrogations in a relaxed manner—without overly formal demeanor—proved more effective than questioning individuals separately. He had frequently employed this method, dubbing it the “grand interrogation.”

Earlier, Police Chief Yamakawa heard from the detectives who had brought Masumoto and the three siblings about the incident at the hospital, then heard the circumstances from Detectives Fuyuki and Okita’s group, concluded that conducting a grand interrogation was most appropriate, and thus summoned Judicial Officer Tsunetou, resulting in everyone gathering in one room.

By that time, the snowy day was drawing to dusk, and a five-hundred-candlepower electric light illuminated people’s faces as if it were daylight.
On one side of the large desk placed at the center sat those from the police; on the other side sat those involved in the case.
In the corner, a stove burned vigorously, filling the room with spring-like warmth.

First, Detective Fuyuki explained the course of events; next, Detective Okita; then mystery novelist Hasegawa; followed by newspaper reporter Yamamoto—each elaborating in mutual reinforcement on what you readers already knew.

When the reports concluded，Judicial Officer Tsunetou turned toward Enko and said.

“Ms．Sekawa，there’s no mistake in what you told Mr．Hasegawa this morning，correct？”

Enko, who had been sitting between Ochou and Funaki with an unsettled expression since earlier, glanced briefly toward Hasegawa.

“Yes...”

She uttered in a faint voice and lowered her gaze.

“Then Noda is the culprit.”
“Hey you – bring Noda here.”

With that, the chief said to the detective standing in the corner.

“Wait a moment.”

The police chief gestured to stop him with his hand.
Then he turned toward Judicial Officer Tsunetou and said.

“You seem to have interrogated Kitagawa and Noda alternately earlier, but I haven’t heard the results yet. So first, kindly tell me about that here.”

Thereupon, Judicial Officer Tsunetou first extracted from Kitagawa the matter of Noda’s embezzlement of 2,000 yen, then narrated in detail the entire process of interrogating Noda, and finally—

“Given this reasoning, when we combine the facts Ms. Sekawa has just confirmed, Noda must have killed Nishimura in Room 27, moved the corpse to the adjacent room, opened the window and threw it onto the street below, then closed the window and proceeded to the fifth-floor president’s office to steal the counterfeit bills.”

“Hmm…”

The police chief pondered silently for a while, then turned to Detective Fuyuki and said.

“Detective Fuyuki, you did inspect the vacant Room 27 and its adjacent room, correct? But wasn’t that neighboring room directly below the president’s office—the one that’s supposedly the office of an architect named Ishizaki or something?”

“Yes, that’s correct, sir.”
“I carelessly mistook Ishizaki’s architectural office for Room 27, but the vacant room without windows that we inspected was actually Room 27.”
“There was a door in the wall separating Room 27 and the architectural office, but I thought it would be inappropriate to enter someone else’s room and simply left.”
“However, according to the investigation conducted by detectives today, a man named Ishizaki rents that room entirely alone and has been away on a trip to the Kansai region for about ten days now.”
“So, I was planning to go investigate that room as early as tomorrow.”

“I see.”
“So it follows that Noda undoubtedly rendered the president unconscious in Room 27, but we still lack conclusive evidence that he then moved him to the adjacent room and threw him from the window.”
“Moreover, if Noda entered the president’s office around 4:15 while the president died between 4:20 and 4:30, there appears to be a slight temporal contradiction.”
“Tsunetou—how do you explain this?”

Judicial Officer Tsunetou wore an expression closer to a bitter smile.

“As Noda himself stated earlier, whether we can definitively determine that Nishimura’s time of death was between 4:20 and 4:30 is something I’ve doubted from the start.”

“That’s a fair point,” said the police chief. Then, turning to the detective in the corner: “Now then, kindly bring both Kitagawa and Noda here.”

Before long, Kitagawa and Noda were brought in by the detectives.
Both of them saw Enko’s face and tensed up.

“Mr. Noda.”

Judicial Officer Tsunetou asked Noda as he was about to sit down.

“From Ms. Sekawa, we’ve fully understood the situation.”
“It’s about time you confessed.”
“If you don’t confess, Ms. Sekawa will be considered to have killed the president.”

At these words, Noda was thoroughly flustered and seemed momentarily speechless, his words lodged in his chest—but eventually steeled himself and spoke in a rasping voice.

“I’m terribly sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused. The day before yesterday, when the president attempted to assault Ms. Sekawa, it was I who struck the back of his head with a nearby club and rendered him unconscious. I first had Ms. Sekawa leave, then administered artificial respiration to the president for seven or eight minutes, but he did not revive. During that time, I kept fearing someone might come, until finally terror overwhelmed me and I fled to the fifth floor unnoticed. That’s when I suddenly remembered the counterfeit bills. If the president were to die like that, I thought preserving his honor might atone for my deed—so without conscious intent, I entered his office to retrieve them, only for Mr. Kitagawa to arrive. I silenced him and waited in dread, yet unexpectedly, the president’s corpse later turned up on the street. I know nothing about how it was moved there.”

“Then, that story about you going to the president’s office around noon and warning him not to use the counterfeit bills—was that a lie?”

“Yes…”

Noda hung his head.

“That’s exactly the sort of lie you’d tell.”
“Who can guarantee your current story is true?”
“You must have thrown the president’s corpse out onto the street after all.”

Noda hung his head, unable to muster a response.

At that moment, Shinjirou Funaki raised his face,

“I guarantee that Noda-kun’s current statement is true,” he declared in a loud voice.

Everyone involuntarily turned toward Funaki.
Judicial Officer Tsunetou made a face as if to say, “Don’t meddle in unnecessary matters,” but at that moment, Police Chief Yamakawa turned to Funaki and asked:

“So you witnessed that scene?”

“Now that it’s come to this, I’ll speak frankly,” Shinjirou Funaki declared.
“As Detective Fuyuki mentioned earlier, we three are siblings—my sister Ochou and I being a year apart, while Enko alone was born much later.
But shortly after Enko’s birth, our father had his land seized by Nishimura and fell into abject poverty, forcing my sister and me into service at other households.
We changed our surname and begged our mother never to reveal our existence to Enko.
We drifted from place to place, never returning even when our mother died—which is why Enko never knew she had siblings.
My sister and I sought revenge against Nishimura, and when the opportunity finally came, it led to these circumstances you all know.
Yet Foreman Masumoto somehow discovered our situation.
Enko too—who’d coincidentally become Nishimura’s typist—learned she was our sister.
We implored them never to tell Enko, but after Nishimura’s unnatural death, the foreman revealed everything to her.
To backtrack—it seems Masumoto bore his own grudge against Nishimura.
When twenty workers were laid off last month, he incited me to lead a strike.
He suggested extorting ten thousand yen from the president by threat and distributing it among the workers.
Having long awaited revenge against Nishimura, I immediately agreed and stirred up that commotion.
But when Nishimura stubbornly refused, I concluded violence was our last resort.
After I told Masumoto this, he apparently relayed it to Nishimura, who then relented and agreed to meet workers’ representatives.
Finally two days ago, Masumoto instructed me: ‘I’ll summon the president to vacant Room 27 on the fourth floor—come around 4:05.’
Though I initially planned to visit with two other workers, I abruptly decided to go alone.
I wanted to terrify Nishimura.
To appear as my father’s ghost.
Wearing Father’s sole mementos—an officer’s mantle and hunting cap—and carrying a club, I set out disguised.
But delays made me open Room 27’s door around 4:20.
Just then, Nishimura had opened the adjoining room’s door.
When he saw me, he screamed ‘Ah! Sekawa!’”

"He shouted at the top of his voice and tried to flee into the next room, so thinking I couldn’t let him escape, I gave chase—only to step on a round club lying there and fall with a thud."
“At that moment, I let go of the club I had been holding.”
“Now, when I got up and opened the door to the next room to see where Nishimura had gone, he was unexpectedly opening the window to jump down.”
“Ah!”
"I shouted, but it was already too late."
“I walked on tiptoe, sneaked up to the window, and looked down—Nishimura was lying there dead, completely flattened.”
Startled, I closed the window, walked back on tiptoe to Room 27, and since the door remained locked, I released the latch and took the key. Then as I considered the situation, I realized that once the corpse became known, I would undoubtedly be deemed the culprit—so I knew I must somehow handle this.
First of all, even leaving the S Building filled me with terror.
However, when I happened to look down and saw a pair of old straw sandals lying there, I seized this chance to avoid suspicion by swapping them with my shoes. I picked up both the shoes and the club that had fallen nearby, tied them together with the shoelaces, then securely fastened the bundle to my body using a hand towel. Pulling the hunting cap low over my eyes, I spent some time observing the situation outside before finally emerging into the hallway—a process that must have taken six or seven minutes in total.
"However, when I returned home, the club was unexpectedly different."
"Due to the dim lighting, I inadvertently took the wrong one."
"And since I couldn’t stop worrying, the next day I went to retrieve it in a different disguise."
"On the way, the two men I had met by the elevator the previous day kept muttering 'murder weapon' and were frantically searching places like ditches, so I suddenly got a mischievous idea, put up that notice, and returned home. Then, feeling that my safety was in danger, I consulted Foreman Masumoto, who suggested a hospital would be best. So I immediately checked into K Hospital under the alias Matsumoto Masao."
“Then today, Foreman Masumoto came to the hospital and said, ‘You took the money, so hand over 2,000 yen.’”
“And then he summoned Enko and my sister Ochou, intending for the four of us to split five hundred yen each.”
“However, not only did that 2,000 yen never reach my hands, but according to what was just said, it was apparently counterfeit—it seems Nishimura made me take it in order to frame me for passing counterfeit bills.”
“No—he’s an utterly monstrous man.”

Police Chief Yamakawa listened with sharp eyes throughout Funaki’s account but eventually turned to Masumoto and,

“Mr. Masumoto, your actions are quite different from what you described yesterday.”
“Is what Funaki-kun just narrated true or not?”

Masumoto had already flushed red after Detective Okita exposed the incident of him trying to court Nishimura’s daughter, and now, with Funaki tearing off his mask, his glossy face flushed even more intensely.

“I must admit defeat.”

he answered in a soft voice.

“So what Funaki-kun said is true,” said Police Chief Yamakawa, pivoting toward Ochou. “Then it follows the president committed suicide. Ms. Ochou, was he truly in such desperate circumstances?”

Ochou seized the moment with crystalline clarity in her voice.
“Ah yes, it appears he’d fallen into quite dire straits indeed.”
“Which explains why he resorted to acquiring those counterfeit bills mentioned earlier.”
“Moreover—whether from the syphilis he contracted young never fully leaving his system—whenever he drank or grew anxious, his once-cheerful nature would invert entirely, driving him to bizarre acts.”
“Thus I’m certain that episode recurred the day before yesterday.”

“But—”

At this moment, Chief Tsunetou turned toward the police chief and shouted loudly.

“The claim that the president committed suicide relies solely on Funaki-kun’s testimony, with no supporting evidence.”
“Moreover, it’s inconsistent that the president opened the door when Noda-kun testified he never regained consciousness.”
“Given Mr. Funaki’s admission of carrying a club, we can sufficiently acknowledge murderous intent.”
“Therefore, even if Nishimura had regained his senses during that interval, there’s no contradiction in concluding Mr. Funaki killed him and disposed of the corpse.”
“In fact, throwing an unconscious person would align more logically with the circumstances.”
“First, there’s no evidence Nishimura fell onto the street alive.”
“Second, no evidence proves he wasn’t thrown by another party.”
“Thus, I formally recognize Funaki as Nishimura’s murderer.”

“Hmm. First you acknowledged Noda-kun as the culprit, and now you recognize Funaki-kun as the culprit? Funaki-kun, can you produce any evidence to corroborate your earlier account?”

“Police Chief,” he said gently.

“I can’t provide any evidence.”

Funaki glared sharply at Chief Tsunetou as he said this.

“I have merely stated the truth. Whether you deem me the culprit or not is entirely your prerogative.”

“Very well.”

“In that case, I will recognize you as the culprit.”

Chief Tsunetou declared.

The Police Chief appeared greatly perplexed and, as was his habit, uttered "Hmm..." before falling deep into thought.

At that moment, Detective Fuyuki interjected.

“Whether Funaki-kun’s testimony is true can be determined by investigating the autopsy results and the footprints on the floor of Ishigaki Architectural Office.”

Hearing this, the police chief suddenly brightened his expression,

“Ah, right! The autopsy was supposed to be conducted this morning per Dr. Tagami’s schedule at the university. Hey Detective △△—could you call the prosecutor’s office and check?”

As Detective △△ started to leave, the clerk entered and announced loudly to the police chief,

“Prosecutor Orita and Dr. Tagami have just arrived,” he shouted.

“That’s perfect timing. Show them in immediately.”

25

As readers are aware, Prosecutor Orita was the prosecutor dispatched to S Building on the night of President Nishimura’s unnatural death to question those involved, and that same night he had sent Nishimura’s body to the university to request an autopsy.
However, as Dr. Tagami had been on a business trip to the provinces with his assistant all day yesterday, the autopsy of Nishimura’s body was finally conducted this morning.
Dr. Tagami differed from previous forensic scientists in that his methodology involved not only conducting autopsies but also investigating crime scenes to ascertain the true cause of death; consequently, despite having discovered the direct cause of death through that morning’s autopsy, unresolved ambiguities remained regarding the circumstances surrounding Nishimura’s demise. For this reason, he spent the afternoon investigating S Building alongside the prosecutor, and upon completing this task, visited XX Police Station to solidify his theory—though in truth, he had been unable to establish a definitive conclusion until arriving there.

When Prosecutor Orita explained Dr. Tagami’s purpose for visiting to Police Chief Yamakawa and requested an explanation of the police investigation’s findings, the police chief briefly summarized the developments thus far: despite Noda having left President Nishimura in Room 27 around 4:12–13 under the belief that he was dead, Funaki had visited the same room around 4:20 to find the president opening the door, after which the president entered Ishigaki Architectural Office, opened a window, and jumped to the street below. If this account were accepted as true, President Nishimura would have first lost consciousness, regained it, and then committed suicide—yet this remained nothing more than people’s oral accounts, with not a single piece of evidence sufficient to prove it.
Therefore, he added that he had intended to request to hear the results of the autopsy just now.

Dr. Tagami, who had been listening tensely to the police chief’s explanation, now slowly opened his mouth.
The thick mustache and beard imparted an unassailable dignity to the doctor’s face.

“I’ve gained full comprehension,”
“Your explanation has resolved several lingering questions.”
“The external examination results align precisely with the police coroner’s report.”
“The blunt force injuries on the left scapular region and occipital area were both antemortem.”
“Regarding the occipital wound—while lacking significant hemorrhaging, the substantial dermal destruction might suggest a fatal injury at first appraisal, though the cranial structure beneath remained intact.”
“This substantiates the distinct possibility that after initial unconsciousness, the president regained consciousness again.”

“However, there were no other fatal injuries whatsoever.”
“Now, to state the cause of the president’s death—the autopsy revealed it to be a ruptured aortic aneurysm.”
“It is a well-known fact that aortic aneurysms are caused by syphilis, which aligns perfectly with your earlier account of the president having contracted syphilis in the past.”
“Now, when considering the president fell from a height—or rather, assuming he fell—the violent motion would naturally cause aortic rupture.”
“Many might imagine that falling from the fourth or fifth floor onto hard ground would utterly destroy the body, but this isn’t necessarily so—in most cases, death results from ruptured internal organs.”
“Moreover, it’s erroneous to equate falls from different floors; even a single floor’s difference creates substantial disparity in impact force due to acceleration laws.”
“In this case, given no other internal ruptures beyond the aortic aneurysm were found in the corpse, common sense dictates we must conclude he fell from the lower floor if asked whether it was fourth or fifth.”
“In fact, had he not suffered from an aortic aneurysm, he might well have survived.”

"The next question that arises is whether an aortic aneurysm might rupture naturally in its terminal stage or even due to an impact applied to the shoulder blade area in advanced cases—but in this instance, its wall was sufficiently thick that it would not have ruptured unless subjected to considerable force."
"Therefore, it is most reasonable to conclude that he fell from a high place."

Dr. Tagami paused briefly.
The room was as silent as a pindrop.
At that moment, Chief Tsunetou interjected.

“However, wouldn’t an aortic aneurysm rupture even if someone threw a corpse or an unconscious person from a high place?”

“You are absolutely correct.”

Dr. Tagami said with utmost composure.

“I was just about to explain that now. Even if we can infer that he fell from a height, whether he fell alive and died, was already dead when he fell, or was thrown by someone while unconscious cannot be determined solely from the fact that an aortic aneurysm ruptured. In this case, since there are no externally visible fatal injuries, even if we can assume he wasn’t dead yet when he fell from the height, whether he actively jumped or was thrown while unconscious cannot be determined through autopsy alone. Moreover, distinguishing this has now become the most critical issue at hand. Having realized this, I conducted a field investigation, but unfortunately my investigation alone didn’t yield sufficient evidence, which is why I’ve come to consult you here.”

“In that case, what kind of evidence are you seeking here?”

And, completely impressed by the doctor’s clear argument, the police chief said.

“In fact, according to the autopsy results, the aortic aneurysm had adhered to the lung tissue, and when it ruptured, blood entered the lungs and flowed through the trachea to the mouth.”

“Now, if it ruptured while he was alive—in other words, while he was conscious—the blood would be expelled through coughing.”

“However, if it had ruptured when he was already dead or unconscious, the blood would merely flow out mechanically.”

“However, on the autopsy table, it is impossible to determine whether the blood was expelled by coughing or simply flowed out mechanically.”

“Therefore, I went to investigate the scene where the body had been lying, but unfortunately, with the snow having piled up, I was unable to find any clues.”

“If an investigation had been possible at the time the corpse was discovered—and if he had expelled blood through coughing—it would have scattered in large droplets all around. Conversely, if he had fallen while unconscious or already dead, the blood would have flowed from his mouth and been discovered as a pool on the street.”

“However, unfortunately, those traces are no longer present.”

“Moreover, I think the people who conducted the field investigation probably do not remember clearly either.”

“That is why I came to inquire, wondering whether the police might by any chance have photographs of the scene.”

Before these words had even finished, Yamamoto, the newspaper reporter, sprang up like a rubber ball, causing the police chief and everyone else to stare in astonishment.

“There is! There is!”
“I had completely forgotten, but I have that photo right here in my pocket.”
“I never dreamed this would become such an important clue.”

With that, Yamamoto took out the photograph and extended it toward the doctor with trembling hands.

“Whether this will serve as a clue or not, I cannot determine without examining it.”

Dr. Tagami accepted the photograph and gazed intently at it while speaking with utmost calm.
The onlookers stared at the doctor’s face with bated breath.
Then his face began to twitch around the lips, and in the blink of an eye, a look of satisfaction spread across his entire countenance.

“This is as clear as day.”

Dr. Tagami declared in a voice filled with conviction.

“The blood is scattered across the street in thick streaks.”
“To an untrained eye, it might appear as calmly pooled blood, but this is unquestionably blood expelled through coughing.”
“Since the head rests precisely atop the most coagulated portion, anyone seeing this for the first time would inevitably assume the cranium had been completely shattered.”

Having said this, Dr. Tagami passed the photograph to Police Chief Yamakawa, who examined it for a while, nodded deeply as if thoroughly impressed, and then handed it to Chief Tsunetou.

Dear readers, you must surely be thinking that Chief Tsunetou ought to have something to say. Exactly as expected, no sooner had Chief Tsunetou finished examining the photograph than he—

“However,”

he exclaimed.

“However, even if this confirms that President Nishimura fell from a height while alive, it still doesn’t determine whether he jumped of his own accord, was pushed by someone, or was thrown while being held by another person.”
“Moreover, I believe determining that is crucial at this juncture.”
“I previously posited the theory that Funaki either killed the president after he regained consciousness and threw him out, or lifted the unconscious president and threw him out as he was. However, now that we know the president fell to his death while fully conscious, I would like to modify (revise) my theory to propose that Funaki either threw out the president while he was still alive or pushed him out from the window ledge.”

The people tensely awaited how the doctor would respond to this.
Contrary to their expectation that he would surely be perplexed, the doctor smiled quietly once more.

“That is truly sharp insight.”
“However, I also considered that possibility and conducted a search of Room 27 and the adjacent vacant architectural office just now.”
“Even if photographs of the fall site existed, I concluded they alone couldn’t determine whether he jumped voluntarily, was carried and dropped, or was pushed.”
“When I entered Room 27, however, everything had been trampled beyond recognition.”
“I found no traces resembling bloodstains.”
“I then borrowed a master key and opened the door separating Room 27 from the Ishizaki Architectural Office.”
“This room appeared untouched by prior searches—a most fortuitous circumstance for my investigation.”
“The office’s proprietor had reportedly been absent for several days, leaving a thick layer of dust accumulated on the compacted earthen floor.”
“Yet upon careful inspection, I discovered critical traces.”
“As you know, while dust on such flooring proves harder to examine than that on wooden planks or linoleum, a practiced eye finds little difficulty observing footprints within it.”

Now, to explain what footprints were found on the office floor—there were two types of footprints there, or in other words, footprints from two individuals.
The footprints traced a diagonal line from the door bordering Room 27, passing by the central desk toward the window facing the street.
The first set showed someone walking from the door toward the window at a relatively quick pace, with no returning footprints.
"The other set only left toe marks, but they clearly turned back."
"However, while the former footprints match President Nishimura’s shoes, we cannot identify who made the tiptoe impressions."
"But since these latter prints overlay President Nishimura’s path without being stepped on by him, we can confirm the second person went to the window ledge after him."
"This establishes that chronologically and spatially, the second individual approached the window ledge following President Nishimura."
"And given the absence of returning footprints from the president, we must conclude he exited through the window directly."

“The natural question that arises here is whether the president’s act of jumping from the window was his sole doing or whether the second person’s force was applied to compel him to jump. The fact that the second person walked on tiptoe there becomes an extremely crucial key to resolving this case. The first thing we must consider is whether the second person crept up from behind and suddenly pushed the president as he stood by the window looking outside. However, since the window frame’s height measures about two shaku five sun [approximately 75 centimeters], pushing a person out would require considerable force. In that case, even if the second person approached on tiptoe, they would naturally need to brace both legs firmly when pushing someone out. However, the second person walked there on tiptoe and returned on tiptoe as well. Therefore, it cannot be considered that he was pushed. Similarly, it cannot be considered that they crept up from behind, lifted him up, and threw him out. The reason is that lifting someone up requires more force than pushing them over.”

From this, it follows that President Nishimura was neither picked up and thrown while unconscious, nor pushed from the window ledge, nor lifted and cast out on the spot.
Moreover, the notion that the second person dragged the insensate president or forced him to walk to his death cannot possibly be entertained.
"If he had been cast down by external force, his body would have struck the first- and second-floor projections—injuries matching such impacts would necessarily be present."
"Therefore, we must conclusively determine that President Nishimura leapt of his own accord, with the second person only creeping toward the window ledge afterward before withdrawing."

According to your earlier account, it appears the second individual is Mr. Funaki; therefore, what Mr. Funaki himself stated is considered accurate.
"All that remains is to obtain conclusive evidence that the second person is indeed Mr. Funaki."

Having said this, Dr. Tagami took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“This is the diagram of the second person’s toe prints.”
“If you’re still wearing the same shoes from two days ago, Mr. Funaki, I must ask you to remove your left shoe for inspection.”

Funaki stood up and strode briskly to Dr. Tagami's side, removing his left shoe and handing it over.
Dr. Tagami took it and compared it with the diagram before finally speaking.

"They match perfectly."
"This confirms that the second person was Mr. Funaki, meaning his account aligns completely with the facts."

＊＊ ＊

Now then, dear readers, thus was this case resolved as President Nishimura’s suicide.
According to Dr. Tagami’s theory, it was likely that temporary mental derangement from syphilis—rather than the company’s dire circumstances—had caused the suicide; however, the doctor stated this was mere conjecture.
However, it was at least clear that this suicide had not been part of the president’s planned actions, as evidenced by the letter he had addressed to Yamada Trading Company that same day. It was surmised that after regaining consciousness from his stupor and rising unsteadily—his mind still not fully lucid—he had mistaken the nearby door for one leading to the corridor and opened it. It was at this moment that Funaki arrived, causing the president to likely perceive him as the ghost of Sekawa, whom he had once tormented. In his deranged state, he had impulsively flung open the window and leaped out.

With this, the author believes they have roughly written what needed to be written.
Masumoto and Funaki were indicted for threatening the president and are currently undergoing pretrial proceedings, though how this will conclude remains naturally beyond the author's knowledge.
Moreover, where Nishimura had obtained the counterfeit bills was thoroughly investigated, but it appears the source was ultimately never discovered.

Furthermore, it is said that Noda and Enko became very close after this incident.
Whether they will ultimately marry is something this tactless author cannot presume to know.