Chapter 7 Encrypted Communication
Horii's house, Sunday.
Date and Takagi waited in the car.
Since Horii had met Date once before, she seemed to be intimidated by the tall and imposing detective, so Takagi was put in charge of the investigation.
This was the first time Takagi had questioned a suspect alone. Even though the other party was just a frail woman, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Date, with a toothpick in his mouth, struck a pose of a seasoned veteran: "Relax, Takagi. If anything happens, I'll be right there."
Takagi nodded and put on the communication headset. He asked curiously, "Date-senpai, why have you been wearing two headsets lately? Isn't the one on the right part Metropolitan Police Department equipment?"
"Haha! I'm listening to a live football match. Work is so busy, but we need to learn to relax a bit!"
"Huh? Really? So what's the score now?" Takagi suddenly became excited.
Date's face darkened, and he patted Takagi, saying, "Look! Ms. Horii has gone home, hurry up!"
"Yes!" Takagi said, and jumped out of the car in a flash.
When Takagi explained his purpose to Horii, Horii's face immediately turned pale, and he seemed at a loss for what to do.
"Ms. Horii, may I come in?"
"S-Sure, I'm sorry the house is a mess..."
Takagi walked in and realized what "very messy" meant. He looked around and asked, "Ms. Horii, are you moving?"
Horii nodded silently.
"What a coincidence that she moved at this time; this woman is definitely suspicious."
"Could it be that, as Senior Date said, we were deceived by her delicate appearance?"
With a heavy heart, Takagi made her way through a pile of clutter and finally found a place to sit before asking, "Why is Ms. Horii moving?"
"I'm changing jobs."
"Huh? You've already resigned?"
"No, next Monday."
Takagi quickly took notes.
As Date said, Horii was indeed a very timid woman, speaking with her head down and her voice soft.
The atmosphere of the conversation was quite tense, so Takagi had to try to be as gentle as possible and grit his teeth and move on.
Why did Ms. Horii resign?
“There’s no need to stay any longer…” Horii sighed and handed Takagi a cup of tea.
"Thank you, but no need." Takagi waved his hand. Hearing Date's voice in the earpiece urging him to press for details about Horii's resignation, he continued, "Ms. Horii hasn't been working at the Sakai Group for very long, has she? Leaving right after her probation period probably doesn't look good on her resume. And Ms. Horii's boyfriend, Mr. Shintani, also works at the Sakai Group. Are they leaving together?"
Horii lowered his head and said, "Hiro and I have broken up. I know it's not good, but I really can't stay here any longer."
"Did something happen at work?"
Horii asked warily, "Officer Takagi, why are you investigating me?"
"It's about the Sakai Group..."
Before Takagi could finish speaking, Horii asked, "Are you referring to the matter of me falsifying accounts?"
"Huh?" Takagi was a little confused because he didn't expect the other party to admit it so frankly.
"They couldn't hide it after all; they gave me away, didn't they?"
"them?"
"My supervisor, or Mr. Nakagawa, or even my supervisor's supervisor? Who knows? It's probably one of those people!"
"Ms. Horii means that falsifying the accounts was at the behest of her superiors, is that right?"
Horii nodded.
"But you know this is wrong, right? Why don't you report it?"
Horii suddenly looked up, a helpless expression on his face, and asked, "Officer Takagi, who should I report this to? I'm just a recent graduate still on probation! Of course I know this is wrong, but doesn't my supervisor know better than I do? The higher-ups definitely know about tax evasion and such. My supervisor told me everyone does it this way, what can I do?"
Takagi sighed silently and continued, "You mentioned Mr. Nakagawa earlier, who is he?"
"Taku Nakagawa is the person in charge of the Dr.Virus project."
"Ms. Horii is an accountant. Do you have any work-related interactions with Mr. Nakagawa?"
Horii shook his head.
"How did those two meet?"
“Mr. Nakagawa came to me and asked me to steal something. Otherwise, he would have my supervisor fire me.”
"What is that?"
“A small black leather bag, it belonged to Mr. Ishiura. Mr. Nakagawa asked me to steal it when I went to Mr. Ishiura’s house.”
"Are Ms. Horii and Mr. Ishiura very familiar with each other?"
“I was in college with Mr. Ishiura’s son. Hiroshi was quite close to Mr. Ishiura; he often went to Mr. Ishiura’s house to play chess, and sometimes I went with him. Oh, at that time, Hiroshi and I hadn’t broken up yet…”
"Ms. Horii, do you know what's in that bag?"
"I don't know, it feels like a key or something."
"Besides that, does Ms. Horii have any other dealings with Mr. Nakagawa?"
“Last Friday, Mr. Nakagawa asked me to go to his friend’s used car factory, drive a car to a parking lot, and wait for him.”
"And then?" Takagi sensed this was an important part and suddenly tensed up.
"I didn't go."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because I can't drive!"
"What?! Mr. Nakagawa doesn't know?"
Horii shook his head with a wry smile: "Why would they care about something like this? A weak and insignificant girl like me is just an insignificant presence. They only remember me when they need something. And I can only obediently accept orders. I can't say anything, I can't refuse, and if I argue, I'll be scolded. If I don't do a good job, I'll be scolded too. But no one has ever asked me if I'm willing or able. Officer Takagi, perhaps you wouldn't understand the situation and feelings of someone like me?"
Takagi was speechless for a moment, and Date reminded him through his earpiece to ask about the phone call he made early Saturday morning.
Takagi then continued, "Ms. Horii did not do as Mr. Nakagawa asked. I suppose Mr. Nakagawa will not let this go easily?"
"Yes, Mr. Nakagawa was very angry. He called and yelled at me, he said some really nasty things..."
"Around what time did that phone call come in?"
Horii opened his phone and looked through the call log: "There's a recording of a call from 3:07 last Saturday. Officer Takagi, would you like to listen to it?"
Takagi was overjoyed, but then suddenly remembered that there were many "very harsh" insults in the text, and cautiously asked, "Is it convenient?"
"It's okay."
As Horii stated, the phone call was filled with Nakagawa's loud rebukes and insults.
However, the following part seems a bit strange: Nakagawa appears to be talking to someone else, but the phone's microphone seems to be blocked, making it difficult to hear clearly...
"Thank you, Ms. Horii. This recording is very important. Can it be used as evidence for the police?"
"Sure, please go ahead."
Taking the opportunity, Takagi browsed the other call logs and asked, "Didn't Ms. Horii make any other calls early Saturday morning?"
"No, I was in a bad mood because I was woken up in the middle of the night, so I turned off my phone and went back to sleep."
"Ms. Horii is not afraid of Mr. Nakagawa's retaliation?"
"I was already thinking about quitting at that point, so I didn't care anymore. After all, it was really too much for him to drag me down with him when he was reselling used cars!"
"Wait a minute, Mr. Nakagawa told you he's going to resell used cars?"
"He didn't say it that way, but I guess so, don't I?"
"Horie knew nothing about the kidnapping and hadn't called Miyazaki. Who's lying?"
"However, there are indeed missed calls from Miyazaki on Nakagawa's phone. But there are no call records with Horii. How come that's going on?"
Just as Takagi was puzzled, Date told him:
Nakagawa has two cell phones, one for work and one for personal use.
"Does Ms. Horii know Mr. Nakagawa's private contact information?"
"Private contact information?" Horii looked puzzled.
"It's nothing... Does anyone else know about what Mr. Nakagawa asked you to do? Like Mr. Shintani?"
"I didn't tell anyone."
Why?
"Who can help me?" Horii's face still showed that helpless expression, and Takagi didn't know how to answer.
"I will help you, I will definitely uphold justice!"
“Thank you, Officer Takagi. Has something happened to Mr. Nakagawa? He hasn't been to work for several days and hasn't called me either…”
"I'm sorry, I can't disclose the specifics yet. I'll contact you again if needed. Thank you very much for your cooperation. I'll take my leave now."
Back in the police car, Takagi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Takagi, what's with that expression?"
"Date-senpai, did I say something wrong just now?"
"If you mean the part about upholding justice, it certainly doesn't sound like something a detective would say. Doesn't that mean you're already taking Horii's side when it comes to this case? It's pretty passionate, though. Don't worry, I won't scold you."
"It's so wonderful to have a senior like you! It's just a pity that Ms. Horii didn't meet such a good person. Isn't this society too cruel? She clearly wanted to work hard, but she became an accomplice to workplace bullying by mistake. It's so pitiful..."
"Workplace bullying is very common. I've experienced it too," Ida said casually, a toothpick dangling from her lips.
"Huh? Really?"
“When I first joined the First Investigation Division, the senior officer who mentored me was not a very easy person to get along with. I thought to myself, if I ever become a senior officer, I must be kinder to the newcomers.”
"Thank you, Date-senpai!"
Date tilted her head slightly, looking at the setting sun: "Speaking of which, time really flies. Three years, we've all gone from newbies to seniors..."
Still absorbed in his conversation with Horii, Takagi didn't notice the "we" in the title. He asked, "Date-senpai, do you really think I can help Ms. Horii?"
"Takagi, as detectives, we pursue judicial justice, not moral judgment. This justice is even more precious to the vulnerable. Write this report carefully; it will be an important basis for the judge to sentence Horii Haruko, understand?"
"yes!"
Back at the police station, the analysis results of the call records came back.
The dialogue between Nakagawa and the unidentified person was: "Mr. Kurosawa, what are you doing here?!"
"Date-senpai, who is Mr. Kurosawa?"
"Let me think, I don't recall ever hearing of this person before..."
However, the headset that was broadcasting the football match quickly gave Ida the answer:
Mr. Kurosawa, full name Kurosawa Jin, codename Gin.
He has been a key target of the police for more than a decade.
"Does Senior Date remember now?"
"I don't know him," Ida replied without changing his expression.
"Then who made that phone call that Miyazaki mentioned?"
"It's possible that Miyazaki is lying, or it's possible that someone is impersonating Horii."
That evening, Takagi handed the completed report to Date for review.
"Well done! I came to check on you. Takagi, you can go home now!"
"Senior Date is still working overtime? Why don't I stay and keep you company?"
"No need. We have to pay the second ransom tomorrow. Get some rest and cheer up! Because President Sakai is still in the hospital, we have a great opportunity to have direct contact with the prisoner. We must not make any mistakes again."
"Yes! Senior Date, I'll be going now."
However, Takagi returned shortly afterward.
"Takagi, what's wrong?"
"It's raining outside, and I forgot my umbrella." Takagi hurriedly grabbed his umbrella and was about to leave when he seemed to notice something and asked, "Why did Date-senpai send my report to your phone? These kinds of confidential documents shouldn't be leaked, right?"
"Ah... because my girlfriend is checking up on me tonight, and it would be troublesome if she found out I was still working overtime, so I'm planning to take the report home to read."
"Working overtime even at home? Senior Date is so dedicated!"
"It's alright, it's alright, I'll take care of it quickly. Takagi, you can go now!"
After Takagi left, Date quickly scanned and packaged the documents.
He clicked on a strange link on his phone and uploaded the encrypted compressed file.
Then Date turned off the last light in the Metropolitan Police Department office and went home into the rainy night.
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