Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister

A few minutes later, Asai Ayumi and two others met Yamamoto Hiroshi, who had turned himself in carrying a gun, at the interrogation room.

"Chief!"

The two policemen in charge of the interrogation quickly stood up to salute and then moved to stand by the wall.

Yamamoto Hiroshi had been hanging his head, only lifting it when he heard the door open, revealing a weary face with eyes reddened and a stubble sprouting on his chin.

"You may leave," Asai Ayumi waved a hand.

"Sir!" the two policemen turned and exited.

"Vice Director Fujimoto, you will take the statement," Asai Ayumi instructed Fujimoto Ryosuke standing behind her.

Although Aoyama Xiu Xin had the lowest rank among them and logically should have performed this task, Fujimoto Ryosuke naturally did not dare refuse Asai Ayumi and replied, "Yes."

"Yamamoto Hiroshi, since you claimed that you killed Yeharadong, why did you do it?" Asai Ayumi pulled up a chair and sat down, asking with a cold face.

Yamamoto Hiroshi licked his dry lips and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Because half a year ago, I picked up the bad habit of gambling and then borrowed money from the Nozawa Financial Corporation, money that I couldn't pay back. I had no choice but to resort to this. I frequently visited underground gambling dens in Tokyo, and you can verify this."

"To clear myself of the murder suspicion, I pretended to have lost my gun two days before I acted, then I utilized my relationship with Chief Zhongshan and his weakness of protecting his subordinates, asking him to help persuade the gun control department to conceal this matter and give me a second chance to retrieve my gun. He indeed agreed."

"In the end, when Yeharadong was discovered killed, it would come out that my gun had already been lost, naturally leading no one to suspect me. On the night of action, using repayment as an excuse, I convinced Yeharadong to meet with the loan contract, successfully shot him, and destroyed the loan agreement."

After finishing his statement, his body slumped back into the chair, seemingly much relieved.

"Riddled with holes!" Fujimoto Ryosuke, who was taking the statement, couldn't help but speak up, slammed the table, and questioned fiercely, "In China, there's an old saying, 'hiding three hundred silver coins doesn't hide the secrecy.' If it was premeditated murder as you said, why would you risk using your own gun?"

Although gun control in Japan is strict, groups such as policemen and Black Society still have their ways to get them.

"I... I don't know, maybe I was confused at that moment; otherwise, how could I have committed murder?" Yamamoto Hiroshi chuckled bitterly, shaking his head and swallowing his saliva, "It was my gun that killed the man, my fingerprints are on the gun, and I admit to the murder, why don't you just send it for examination?"

"Since you went through all this trouble to clear your own suspicion, why did you turn yourself in?" Aoyama Xiu Xin, who had been silent behind Asai Ayumi, asked.

"Maybe it was my conscience; it turns out I'm not as bad as I thought," Yamamoto Hiroshi said in a low voice, a resigned smile on his face. He sniffed and lifted his head, "This early morning, I received a call from Chief Zhongshan saying he was in a bad mood and wanted to have drinks because he got suspended for protecting me, which impacted him greatly."

"We drank a lot then, and he shared a lot with me but still consoled me saying that protecting subordinates is a superior's duty, and I shouldn't feel guilty. I tossed and turned all night, unable to stay indifferent to the consequences Chief Zhongshan suffered because of me."

"I didn't sleep all night, and this morning I came with the well-hidden gun to turn myself in. My life is already ruined due to gambling, but Chief Zhongshan still has a bright future. He shouldn't suffer delays because of helping me."

"Idiot! Nonsense!" Fujimoto Ryosuke couldn't hold back anymore, shot up from his seat, and grabbed Yamamoto Hiroshi by the collar, "You damn jerk, are you protecting Zhongshan Akiyu? Is he the real murderer? Why are you doing this? Why?"

This can't be the end of this case, he thought. After enduring many injuries, risking his life, and sucking up endlessly to get to where he was today, if Zhongshan Akiyu turned out fine, then he would be in trouble.

"Fujimoto... Vice Director, what are you saying?" Yamamoto Hiroshi asked in disbelief, shocked, "That's absurd, why would you suspect Chief Zhongshan? He's completely unrelated."

"Still being stubborn!" Fujimoto Ryosuke was about to get physical.

Modern day judicial systems worldwide lack the appropriate supervision and hardly practice civil law enforcement.

"Vice Director Fujimoto!" Asai Ayumi couldn't just stand by and watch violence unfold under her supervision.

Reluctantly, Fujimoto Ryosuke released Yamamoto Hiroshi.

"Chief Zhongshan, you can't go in..."

"Idiot! Get out of the way!"

Following a wave of argument, the door to the interrogation room was violently kicked open, and Zhongshan Akiyu stormed in, his face grim and furious. He threw a punch directly at Yamamoto Hiroshi.

"Ah!" Caught off guard, Yamamoto Hiroshi faltered and tumbled from the chair.

Zhongshan Akiyu bent down, grabbed his collar to lift him up, and with eyes almost bursting, he roared, "You bastard, you dared to trick me! To use me!"

"I'm sorry..."

"Go to hell!" Before Yamamoto Hiroshi could finish, Zhongshan Akiyu punched him again, panting with rage, "What makes me even angrier, how could you do such a thing? How could you kill someone, you bastard!"

Asai Ayumi, Aoyama, and Fujimoto watched the performance coldly; by now, they all knew that Zhongshan Akiyu might be the real murderer.

But the problem was the lack of evidence, after all, who made Yamamoto Hiroshi willing to take the blame, with all evidence ready?

Zhongshan Akiyu fiercely let go of Yamamoto Hiroshi, turned around, and bowed deeply to the three, "It's my negligence that led such a scum under my command, causing trouble to colleagues in the firearms department; I am truly sorry."

"There's no need to act like this, Chief Zhongshan, after all, you were used as well," Asai Ayumi said without expression.

Zhongshan Akiyu looked embarrassed, as if he wanted to say more but felt awkward, finally, he only bowed again and said, "Please send for the examination and close the case as soon as possible."

With those words, he hurriedly left.

"Let's go." Asai Ayumi glanced at Yamamoto Hiroshi and left with Aoyama and Fujimoto, handing over the interrogation work to others, as it would be a waste of time to continue if they couldn't get the truth from Yamamoto Hiroshi.

As soon as they walked out, Fujimoto Ryosuke said, "Are we really going to let it go like this? Should we close the case just like that?"

"Of course not, the real murderer must not go unpunished!" Asai Ayumi declared righteously and then looked at Aoyama Xiu Xin, passing the action to him.

Aoyama Xiu Xin said, "To get Yamamoto Hiroshi to stop shielding Zhongshan Akiyu, we need to understand his motives to tackle them correctly; let's split up. I'll investigate Zhongshan Akiyu, and Vice Director Fujimoto, you check on Yamamoto Hiroshi."

It was clear from this incident that Zhongshan Akiyu was a hypocrite, a ruthlessly cunning silver coin.

He had also agreed to investigate in the conference; if they didn't use this case to completely crush him, he would definitely seek revenge in the future.

Whether for greater merit or to avoid revenge, even if Zhongshan Akiyu wasn't the true mastermind behind the scenes, Aoyama Xiu Xin had to make it so!

It was about fighting the enemy.

"Good!" Fujimoto Ryosuke's thought was the same at this moment, so for once, he didn't counter.

Asai Ayumi asked, "What should I do?"

"Go see the Senior Police Director," Aoyama Xiu Xin and Fujimoto Ryosuke said almost in unison, then exchanged glances and each muttered about bad luck under their breath.

Fujimoto Ryosuke said, "Zhongshan Akiyu will definitely try to push us to hurry the examination, so we need the Senior Police Director to help us buy some time."

......…

To prove Zhongshan Akiyu is the murderer, they first had to establish his motive for killing Yeharadong.

Aoyama Xiu Xin came back to the Yoshinaga family home again.

But he saw a police car parked at the entrance.

It bore the license plate of the Shinjuku Police Station.

He frowned and hurried inside; the parlor had been arranged, and upon entering the villa's living room, he saw Mrs. Yanahara still in mourning clothes sitting anxiously on the sofa, her brows furrowed.

And opposite her sat a middle-aged man.

"Mr. Aoyama." Hearing footsteps, Yehua Yiren looked up instinctively, and seeing Aoyama Xiu Xin, she looked relieved, "Why are you here?"

The middle-aged man also stood up.

"Mrs. Yanahara, I just saw a police car at the entrance," Aoyama Xiu Xin looked puzzled.

Yehua Yiren glanced at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man's eyes flickered slightly; he calmly walked up to Aoyama Xiu Xin, pulled out his ID courteously, and introduced his identity and purpose, "Aoyama Criminal, I've long respected your reputation. I am Deputy Director Yukawa Jinichi from the Criminal Investigation Division charged with violent crimes. Yeharadong had been suspected of some criminal offenses, and we are here to conduct a basic search."