Chapter 140: Interrogation

As he watched Patrol Leader Haruyama Daisuke snoozing at the desk like a pig, the young patrol officer Sada Ario couldn’t help but feel drowsy himself.

Sada knew he couldn’t afford to fall asleep. Today was his shift alongside Haruyama, and if both of them were caught napping, disciplinary action was inevitable. Worse yet, it would leave a permanent stain on his record, which would spell trouble for future promotions.

Such consequences probably meant little to someone like Haruyama, who had been a patrol officer for over 15 years—hence his carefree and shameless slumber. But Sada was different. On his very first day as a police officer, he had vowed to become a Police Inspector within ten years.

However, two years into the job, his once fiery ambition was beginning to waver.

The district he patrolled was significantly quieter compared to others. His daily routine mostly consisted of recording lost property cases, occasionally breaking up brawls among high schoolers, and frequently helping locals track down their missing pets.

He recalled a senior officer once saying, “People only recognize the importance of the police during emergencies; the rest of the time, we’re just glorified errand boys.”

Back then, Sada didn’t believe it. Now, he had no choice but to concede.

Watching Haruyama drooling in his sleep, Sada felt a mixture of envy and disdain.

The rank of Patrol Leader wasn’t actually an officer’s position—it was a title given to officers who hadn’t advanced beyond Patrol Supervisor after 10 years of service.

This guy had been contentedly coasting as a patrol officer for 15 years. Sada found it incomprehensible that someone could lack ambition to this extent. That said, Haruyama wasn’t a bad person—just annoyingly talkative.

Glancing at the clock, Sada saw that it wasn’t even 10 PM yet. The long night ahead felt unbearable. Fortunately, tomorrow was Sunday, and he could finally rest.

While his mind wandered, the desk phone suddenly rang.

Sada instantly perked up and reflexively grabbed the receiver.

“Hello, this is the Hachioji District Patrol Unit in Tokyo. How can I help you?”

After hanging up the call, Sada immediately shook Haruyama awake.

“What’s going on? Are we heading out?” Haruyama yawned as he asked.

“I just received orders from headquarters. There’s been a serious off-campus brawl involving Teikyo University students. Seventeen students have already been hospitalized, and we’ve been tasked with arresting the main perpetrator, who managed to escape.”

“What? A prestigious school like Teikyo University had something like this happen?” Haruyama exclaimed in disbelief.

“Headquarters will fax us the suspect’s details shortly. Once we have them, we’ll move out.” Sada sounded almost excited.

This guy seems unusually enthusiastic, Haruyama thought, a bit puzzled.

***

Sitting in the patrol car, Haruyama stared at the suspect’s information with some skepticism.

“This kid is the perpetrator? According to the file, he’s also a Teikyo University student. He looks like an ordinary college kid. Are you sure it’s just him who hospitalized over a dozen people?”

“I’m not clear on the specifics. Headquarters just told us to bring him in for questioning,” Sada replied while driving.

As Haruyama glanced at the suspect’s address, a sense of familiarity struck him.

Half an hour later, their patrol car pulled up in front of a two-story house.

“Are you sure the suspect really lives here?” The senior officer, Harayama Daisuke, stepped out of the car with a surprised expression.

“What’s the matter, sir?” The younger officer, Sada Ario, asked as he shut the car door.

“This is definitely the place. I’m certain. Do you know who lives in this house?” Harayama countered.

“Isn’t it where the suspect lives?”

“Yes, but it’s also the residence of Maeda Ryutaro, who was just promoted to police inspector this year. I attended a gathering here with some colleagues for his wedding, so I’m absolutely sure.”

“Does that mean the suspect is a relative of Inspector Maeda?” Sada exclaimed in surprise.

Sada naturally knew of Maeda Ryutaro, who was one of his role models. Like Sada, Maeda had started as a junior officer. Over his nearly ten-year police career, he had solved numerous challenging cases. At the age of 37, he was promoted to police inspector—a step away from Sada’s ultimate goal of achieving the rank of senior inspector.

“What should we do now?” Sada asked, feeling unsure.

“We still need to bring him in, but we should first explain the situation to Inspector Maeda. He’s one of us, and he’s known for being easygoing. I don’t think he’ll make things difficult,” Harayama said. His years of experience had made him well-versed in handling interpersonal nuances.

At the sound of the doorbell, Rumiko walked to the door and opened it.

“May I ask if you are Mrs. Maeda?” Harayama asked politely, removing his cap.

“Yes, I am. Who are you looking for?” Seeing two police officers at the door, Rumiko’s first thought was that they were here for Ryutaro.

“Is Mr. Maeda at home? We’re officers from the Hachioji District Police Station, and we’d like to speak with Inspector Maeda about something.”

“Please come in. My husband is inside.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Maeda,” the officers said, bowing before stepping inside.

When the officers followed Rumiko into the living room, they saw Maeda Ryutaro engrossed in a game of Go with a young man. Maeda was deeply focused on the board and seemed unaware of their arrival, while the young man briefly glanced at the two officers.

Sada immediately recognized him as the suspect they were here to apprehend and nearly blurted something out.

“Ryutaro, two officers are here to see you,” Rumiko gently called her husband, breaking his concentration.

“What’s this about?” Maeda finally noticed their presence.

“Good evening, Inspector Maeda,” Harayama greeted him.

“Ah, Daisuke! It’s been a while. Please, have a seat,” Maeda said warmly upon seeing his old colleague.

“Here, have some tea,” Rumiko said, placing two cups on the table in front of them.

“You wouldn’t have come just to visit. What’s this about? Let’s get straight to it,” Maeda asked directly.

“Uh…” Harayama hesitated, glancing at Rumiko.

“I’ll leave you to talk. I’ll go prepare some fruit. Masashi, come and help me,” Rumiko said thoughtfully as she got up.

After giving the officers a glance, Lei Yin stood and followed Rumiko to the kitchen.

Once Rumiko and Lei Yin had left the room, Harayama asked, “May I ask, Inspector Maeda, what’s your relationship with that young man?”

“He’s my stepson, the child from my wife’s previous marriage,” Maeda replied succinctly.

So that’s how it is, Harayama thought. After clearing his throat, he continued, “This may offend you, Inspector Maeda, but duty calls, and we have no choice. Here’s the situation…”

※※※

Maeda lightly knocked on Lei Yin’s room door.

“Come in.”

When the door opened, he saw that Lei Yin had changed into casual clothes and was sitting on the edge of the bed reading a book.

“Masashi, are you leaving?” Maeda asked.

Lei Yin looked up at him and smiled. “If I’m not mistaken, the two police officers are actually looking for me. Did I guess correctly?”

Maeda sighed. “So, everything they said was true?”

“I didn’t hear exactly what they said about me, but there’s probably some distortion. I’ll go with them to the police station now. You should find an excuse to explain things to Mom and Kazumi.”

“I’ll go with you. Since I met you, I’ve told more lies than I have in the past decade,” Maeda said with a bitter smile.

Looking at Rumiko’s concerned expression, Lei Yin rolled down the car window to comfort her. “Mom, don’t worry. I’m just going to the police station to identify which one of the suspects is the thief. Nothing will happen.”

“Be careful, and remember not to let those bad guys see you, or they might come after you for revenge,” Rumiko cautioned.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Masashi,” Maeda said, also rolling down his window.

“Ryutaro, you need to be careful too.”

Watching the gentle and virtuous Rumiko, Harayama Daisuke, the senior officer, felt deeply envious. If his wife could show half of Rumiko’s gentleness, he’d be smiling to himself.

At the quiet police station, Maeda sat outside the interrogation room, smoking, feeling somewhat frustrated.

Because he was Masashi’s relative, and this district wasn’t under his jurisdiction, all he could do for now was bail Masashi out while he was detained.

Inside the interrogation room, the officer in charge of questioning Lei Yin was also feeling quite frustrated. No matter how he asked, the suspect’s answers were flawless.

“They all consistently testify that you were the one who initiated the violence. Aside from your three friends, do you have any other witnesses who can prove your innocence?” the officer asked again.

“If my friends can’t be witnesses, then those people can only be the plaintiffs and not witnesses. You should ask them to produce a witness or evidence that proves I struck first, instead of me, the defendant, providing it,” Lei Yin replied.

The officer knew further questioning would be useless, so he walked into the outer room of the interrogation room. After closing the soundproof door, he took out his phone.

Returning to the interrogation room, the officer said to Lei Yin, “To be honest, we know it was those guys who started the trouble. But among the people you beat up, a few of their parents have significant backgrounds. They’re saying they’ll sue you until you’re locked up. We’re just following orders from above. Although this isn’t in our jurisdiction, your stepfather is one of us, so we don’t want this to escalate into something we can’t control. If this goes to court, it will get very complicated. I suggest you apologize to them and admit your mistake. We’ll help smooth things over, and maybe they won’t pursue it further. Think it over.”

Lei Yin looked at him for a moment before replying, “Although you’re not a principled officer, I can’t deny you’re a good person. I’m sorry, but I refuse to do that because I’m not in the wrong. I demand to confront those people face to face.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? Don’t let a moment of recklessness ruin your future,” the officer urged again.

“I’ve made up my mind. Please arrange it for me,” Lei Yin said calmly.

“Alright, since you’re so insistent, I’ll make the arrangements. I hope everything will be fine. But it’s too late now. You’ll have to stay here for the night. You can go to the hospital to confront them tomorrow. If you don’t want to stay here, your stepfather can bail you out,” the officer said before leaving the interrogation room.

“Thank you.”

Seeing the officer in charge of the interrogation come out, Maeda immediately asked, “How is Masashi doing?”

The officer shook his head. “He just claims it was self-defense, but he can’t provide any valid witnesses or evidence to prove that the others struck first. Also, he insists on confronting the injured students directly.”

“Confront them directly? What’s the use of that?” Maeda asked, somewhat puzzled.

“I don’t know what he’s trying to do either. But the situation is very unfavorable for him. First of all, everyone has testified that he struck first. More importantly, the injuries to those students are serious—some have broken ribs and limbs, and the lightest injury is a dislocated jaw. Yet, he’s completely unharmed. The obvious disparity in injuries makes it easy for people to side with the victims. And you know, some of the parents of those kids are not people we can afford to anger. I’ve already advised him to apologize, but he refused.”

Maeda was silent for a moment before saying, “No matter what, I won’t let Masashi get into trouble.”

The officer looked at him but didn’t say anything.

※※※

“Hey, how did you do it?” Takeda looked at Lei Yin.

“What are you talking about?”

“With the personalities of Sanada and Eguchi, they wouldn’t have given up so easily. Also, their fathers are both politicians. I thought they’d sue you, but in the end, they didn’t. I want to know why.”

“They originally planned to do that, but when I went to the hospital to confront them, after just a few words, they admitted they were the ones who started it. To avoid the matter escalating, those so-called politician parents decided not to pursue it any further.”

“Is that for real? They admitted it so easily?” Takeda said, half in disbelief.

“Others wouldn’t, but for me, it was very easy.”

“Sometimes, I really don’t know if you’re telling the truth or not,” Takeda sighed.

At the same time, the officer who had previously interrogated Lei Yin was staring blankly at the tape recorder in his hands.

He had worked on cases for many years and had never encountered anything like this.

When the young man, Gennai Masashi, went to the hospital to confront the injured students, after asking just a few questions, they all admitted they had started the fight. Their cooperation was unprecedented.

The only explanation he could come up with was that the young man might have used some sort of hypnosis, but he had never heard of anyone being able to hypnotize someone so quickly. It didn’t make sense—completely illogical.

Anyway, this matter was considered resolved.