Episode 44 – Past achievements and regrets
Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093094088809262/episodes/16818622171807462103
The intercom rings in the house.
“…Are you there〜? Azekura san. Well, it seems that you were using a false name the other day, and I fell for it. I’ve gotten a bit sloppier.”
He muttered to himself as he pressed the intercom.
They already know I’m here.
There is nowhere to hide.
“If you don’t open the door, I’ll break it open. Are you sure you want that? Oh, do you have a companion with you? If so, we can talk about it quickly. We wanted to see the body of the man deep in the mountains. That man’s body.”
That’s a lie.
The body has already been turned into bones and scattered in the sea.
That means he is trying to make up evidence.
Then, Aira’s eyes turned grim.
“Oh man, this is troubling. Well then, I’ll just force it open. You’re okay with that, aren’t you?”
In a moment of tension, something dull sounded outside the door.
Then another voice was heard.
“Hello. Erm, is it correct that the people here are Yamasaka senpai, Yua chan, Sasagamine san, and Akino san? I’m a subordinate of the president. I just put Shindo to sleep, so don’t worry. I’m sure it’s too sudden for you to understand, so I’ll tell you the details at the office.”
The call was from the president.
◇Spring, 1995
A police station in Tokyo.
It is 8 o’clock in the morning.
The dusty curtains sway slightly.
Shindo Kenichi, 27 years old.
A young detective in his third year in the Criminal Investigation Division, he sits at his narrow desk and stares at the documents in front of him.
On the table was a coffee-stained mug and a pile of cigarette butts in an ashtray.
His face was smeared with fatigue from last night’s all-night investigation, and dark circles were etched under his eyes.
“Shindo, you’ve been up all night again?”
Sasagamine, his boss, calls out to me from the desk next to his.
He is a veteran detective in his late fifties with a sturdy physique and a gentle tone of voice.
He will be retiring in two years.
He is like a father to Shindo, but sometimes his kindness can be depressing.
“Yes, well. The suspect in yesterday’s injury case wouldn’t talk. I tried to press him a bit.”
Shindo smiles and lights a cigarette.
Smoke rises from the cigarette and drifts into the small room. Sasagamine furrowed his brow, but said nothing and turned his attention back to his papers.
Shindo’s mind was filled with scenes from last night’s interrogation.
A dimly lit interrogation room.
The man handcuffed to a steel table looked like a thug in his early thirties.
His face was bruised and his eyes were vacant, wandering in the air. Shindo approached the man from his chair, as if peering into his face, and whispered in a low voice.
“You know, you can’t keep quiet. I have proof. Yesterday, you were the one who went on a rampage in a back alley in Nishimachi, weren’t you? There are eyewitnesses. Just tell us what you know. I’ll make it easy for you.”
The man bit his lip and looked away.
Shindo couldn’t contain his irritation and banged on the table.
A metallic sound echoed through the room, and the man’s shoulders jerked up.
“You think you can get away with this by keeping quiet? I’m sick to see trash like you living like this. Spit it out, now !”
The man’s eyes were swimming and sweat was beading on his forehead. Shindo folded his arms even further.
“We know you did it. We have all the evidence. There’s no use in lying. Hey, just tell us the truth. Don’t you want to get comfortable?”
In fact, the evidence was vague.
Witness testimony was also vague, and there was almost no physical evidence.
However, Shindo’s intuition was screaming, [He’s the murderer.]
And that intuition had been right on the money many times.
The man finally couldn’t take it anymore and muttered in a trembling voice, “..I did it.”
Shindo smiled with satisfaction and leaned back in his chair.
◇2:00 p.m. Interrogation room
That day, the suspect was again locked up for another case.
This time it was a theft case.
A man in his 20s was accused of stealing money from a convenience store.
Shindo sits in an interrogation chair, cross-legged and smoking a cigarette, glaring at the man.
“You threatened the clerk at the convenience store yesterday and stole the money, didn’t you? You can’t get away with it.”
The man shakes his head.
“No, it wasn’t me…”
Shindo’s eyes light up at these words.
He stood up, grabbed the man by the neck, and pushed him against the wall.
“Don’t lie to me. I’m disgusted just because a piece of trash like you is alive. Spit it out now !”
The man’s face contorted with fear.
Shindo’s hand tightens even more, and the man’s breathing becomes labored.
Just then, the door opens and Sasagamine enters.
“Shindo ! Enough !”
Sasagamine’s voice rings out, and Shindo reluctantly pulls his hand away.
The man collapsed to the floor, coughing.
Sasagamine glared at Shindo and said in a low voice.
“You’ve gone too far. You’re going to get into trouble later with such a forceful approach.”
Shindo snickered.
“So what? The problem is that these trash are still alive. Sasagamine san, you are too kind. Criminals don’t deserve to live. I’m just cleaning up the mess.”
Sasagamine sighed and patted Shindo on the shoulder.
“I understand your sense of justice, but think about how you’re going to do it. I used to be just like you…but if you go over the limit, you’ll never be able to get back.”
Shindo did not listen, pushed his cigarette into the ashtray, and returned to his seat.
Sasagamine’s words reached his ears but did not touch his heart.
In his mind, he was firmly convinced that all criminals were “trash” and that he would stop at nothing to get justice.
◇
Shindo’s aggressive investigations gradually became the talk of the station.
“Apparently, Shindo’s interrogations are scary. I heard that the suspect confessed while crying.”
“But it’s true that the number of cases is increasing, isn’t it? It seems that the higher-ups have given their tacit approval.”
“No, but I heard that his evidence is often vague.”
The younger members of the group looked at him with a mixture of awe and respect, while the veterans voiced their own complaints.
Shindo himself, however, was unconcerned.
In fact, as the number of confessions he obtained increased, he became more and more convinced that his methods were correct.
One day, while tightening up a suspect in a robbery case.
Shindo pressed him in his usual intimidating manner, and the man finally confessed that he had done it.
The case was closed and the boss praised him, but later it emerged that the man may have been falsely accused.
Witnesses who could prove his alibi appeared, but they were ambiguous.
Sasagamine warned him.
“Shindo, you didn’t have much evidence in that case, did you? Didn’t you force him to confess?”
Shindo shrugged his shoulders.
“Since he confessed, that person must be the culprit. We can gather evidence later.”
Sasagamine’s face turned grim.
“bastard…..that’s what makes a false accusation. You’re going to ruin people’s lives. You should know that.”
Shindo looked away and lit a cigarette.
Of course, one out of every hundred cases is a false accusation.
But no matter what, it’s my job to bring criminals to justice.
That’s what he thought.
◇Autumn, 1996
One of the cases Shindo worked on was a fraud case.
A man in his thirties was alleged to have swindled an elderly man out of his money.
As usual, Shindo forcefully interrogated the man and forced him to confess.
The man admitted in tears that he did it, and was convicted at trial. Shindo was satisfied that he had put away another piece of trash.
A few months later, however, it was discovered that the man had been falsely accused.
The real culprit had been arrested in another case, and the evidence was now in place.
The falsely accused man attempted to commit suicide in prison, and although he survived, he was deeply traumatized.
The man’s wife made her move.
One rainy night.
Shindo left the station, stopped at a convenience store as usual, and was on his way home.
He was walking with an umbrella and a cigarette in his mouth. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see a woman in her thirties standing there.
She had a thin face and an exhausted look on her face.
In her hand was a knife.
“You…..you killed my husband….!”
The woman’s voice was trembling, and her face was crumpled with tears and rain. Shindo was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was happening.
“Who are you? Calm down.”
The woman shouted.
“Calm down? You’re the one who framed my husband ! You falsely accused him…you ruined his life ! You’re dead ! Die !”
A knife is raised and thrust toward Shindo.
At that moment, a shadow jumped in from the side and pushed the woman down.
It was Sasagamine.
“Shindo, run !”
Sasagamine san’s voice echoed, but the next moment, the woman’s knife plunged into his stomach.
Fresh blood mixed with the rain and spread on the asphalt. Shindo widened his eyes and could not move.
The woman breaks down crying and drops the knife.
Sasagamine san kneels down and mutters to Shindo.
“You…went too far…that’s why…”
With those words as his last, Sasagamine stopped moving. The rain beat coldly against his cheeks, and Shindo could do nothing but stand there.
◇After that
Sasagamine’s death sent shockwaves through the police department, and the criticism against Shindo suddenly intensified.
However, the incident did not become public knowledge, and the woman was not prosecuted because of her mental problems, but a deep scar was etched on Shindo’s heart.
“Did I… go too far….?”
On the night he first questioned his methods, Shindo shed tears in his apartment as he stirred up his drink.
He could not get Sasagamine’s words out of his mind.
Still, he did not quit being a detective.
His beliefs were shaken, but in order to ensure justice, he gave up his forceful ways. Now in his fifties, he watches over the growth of his younger colleagues and lives his life as a reminder of his former self.
The memory of that rainy night still weighs heavily on his heart.
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