Chapter 615: Chapter 415: Risk Hedging
Nowadays, every trivial matter in the Police Department is handled single-handedly by Kujo Yui.
This is probably the closest she has ever been to her ideal.
If she misses this opportunity, there won’t be a second chance. She is already forty this year, and it’s impossible for her to wait out another Director of Police.
If she doesn’t get promoted this time, Deputy Director will be the pinnacle of her career.
Kujo Yui knows perfectly well what she is doing, and she is aware that her actions go against her principles. She is not a good mother now, nor is she a good superior, not even a qualified police officer.
She sits in the Director of Police’s office, smoking one cigarette after another, with the ashtray full of cigarette butts. The whole room is filled with smoke, making her face indistinguishable from outside the door.
The Police Department has urgently established a Special Countermeasures Investigation Division, primarily managed by the third public security division. In the past, Public Security mainly handled national security and intelligence affairs, including counter-terrorism, monitoring specific organizations, etc.
The third division specifically deals with lone wolf attacks, integrating information from multiple departments for early warning and handling. The members are all elite among elites, each one resembling criminal police officers from the movies, with a downward slant of their mouth as they bark orders.
They are so busy that their feet barely touch the ground, scrutinizing Sunshine City’s traffic records, conducting interviews and taking statements, intending to reverse-engineer the method of bomb placement and discern the terrorists’ behavioral patterns.
Some have already noticed that something is off with Kujo Yui, but no one knows why. They try their best to avoid that smoke-filled office, and before any results are found, no one dares to meet Kujo Yui.
For now, Kujo Yui is also waiting.
She waits for Fushimi Roku to say something, not expecting Fushimi Roku to confess, but hoping he still has some police ethics left, and will continue to send anonymous letters to the Police Department like before.
If not for that anonymous threat letter, Kujo Yui would have had no way to initiate the counter-terrorism action in advance.
Now, only the second letter is needed, and it doesn’t even need to contain actual evidence. As long as Fushimi Roku sends a letter reporting Uesugi Shion, Kujo Yui will immediately arrest them.
In theory, the entire Police Department has become accustomed to techniques like the Great Memory Recovery Technique and Void Creation. As a high-ranking officer, Kujo Yui fabricating evidence is no difficult task for her.
But this time the situation is special.
Firstly, it is because the nature of the terrorist attack is too severe. As the person in charge, she cannot lead by falsification; otherwise, the case would be unmanageable.
Secondly, because this case is for her future political achievements, and while it doesn’t have to be perfect and flawless, it can’t have any significant loopholes.
Now the entire Police Department is filled with countless eyes watching Kujo Yui.
She bears the pressure, waiting all night but instead of receiving an anonymous letter from Fushimi Roku, she receives a visit from the Minister of Defense.
The Minister approached her for a private conversation, claiming new leads on the terror attack, but the source of these leads was somewhat unclean...
Kujo Yui knows the Minister of Defense is testing the waters. She has no time to beat around the bush, so she directly indicates that she doesn’t mind and will not hold anyone accountable afterward. As long as it’s valuable information, she’ll accept it and show the deserved gratitude.
The Minister of Defense is sitting across from Kujo Yui, leaning slightly forward, speaking in a very low voice:
"The Inakawa Association has taken the initiative to contact us; they have evidence..."
He pauses, then adds: "I usually have no dealings with the Inakawa Association. It was the Chief of the Riot Squad who reported to me, and I went to verify it. The situation is true."
This is putting his subordinate in the line of fire as a scapegoat.
Kujo Yui shows interest, planning to sit back and wait for Fushimi Roku’s conscience to awaken; if there’s a better option, all the better.
"What kind of evidence?" She flicks the ash off her cigarette, glancing sidelong.
"A mobile phone."
The Minister of Defense adds: "The terrorists used that phone to redirect the call to threaten someone, and predicted the terrorist attack. Because of that, the individual wrote an anonymous letter sent to the Ikebukuro Police Station...as long as handwriting identification is conducted, it can indirectly verify the person’s testimony."
He unscrews a bottle of mineral water, takes a sip to soothe his throat, alleviating the itch caused by nervousness: "There’s both a witness and physical evidence...what do you think?"
Kujo Yui, cigarette in mouth, squints, her gaze unfocused.
She knows the "person" the Minister refers to is Fushimi Roku.
She thought that guy had already thrown in the towel; acting all tough and hanging up the phone without a care, seeming completely unconcerned for Minamoto Tamako, while secretly digging hard, not only obtaining the routing mobile phone as evidence but willing to undergo handwriting identification for accusation...
Heh, men.
Say they don’t want it, but their actions betray them!
Kujo Yui doesn’t agree or disagree, remaining silent. The pressure on the Minister of Defense increases, sweat pouring down, unsure of Chief Kujo’s stance.
After a long while, Kujo Yui finally speaks, breaking the silence:
"Too rash."
The Minister of Defense immediately nods, too anxious to wipe his sweat, taking the blame proactively: "Yes, yes, indeed too rash. How could we listen to the one-sided words of the underworld? It was my failure to manage the subordinates; I will definitely penalize them when I return!"
"I meant the evidence is too rash," Kujo Yui taps her fingers on the table: "Can you find the contract information of the forwarding number? Can you identify the caller? How do you prove the call was from ’terrorists’?"
She implies that "terrorists" is a euphemism for Uesugi Shion, intending to establish Uesugi Shion’s crimes.
But the Minister of Defense doesn’t understand and Kujo Yui doesn’t expect him to. She just needs her subordinates to handle it.
"This...is yet unclear." The Minister of Defense speaks truthfully, sensing some hope and taking the blame: "It was my oversight; I should have investigated thoroughly in advance."
"No need, I’ll look into it myself." Kujo Yui says.
Finally, she stands from her office chair and issues another directive, instructing the aide to call in the Special Countermeasures Division for a meeting.
In 1991, Japan’s mobile communication was in its early stages, yet to popularize digital technology and SIM cards. Phones at that time relied on analog communication systems, like NTT Docomo’s "mova" series flip phones, where users had to sign long-term contracts with carriers, binding the phone and number directly, adding substantial task loads to police investigations.
Mobile phone services were limited to a small group, with very low penetration. Carriers focused more on equipment sales and long-term contract profits rather than the absolute traceability of user identities, making early mobile phone crimes hard to track.
Despite Fushimi Roku, Minamoto Tamako, and Kujo Yui each possessing a phone, in reality, these fellows were either wealthy or daughters of wealthy parents... whereas people like Watanabe Shun, representing the working class, still used pagers and begrudged service fees for messaging.
But difficult to track doesn’t mean impossible.
Carriers typically required users to provide identification when signing contracts, with common documents including driver’s licenses, residence certificates, health insurance cards, etc. Japan had no ID card system and hadn’t established a national registry, allowing for widespread itinerant criminals.
They needed to go to the carrier’s headquarters to sift through a vast array of contract documents to unearth the original service agreement.
The Minister of Defense never mentioned how the lead was obtained or the cost involved in acquiring those mobile numbers. Whenever the Public Security Department wanted to verify the physical evidence, he came up with excuses like sent to the Metrology Division or temporarily unavailable.
Kujo Yui knew what was going on and dismissed everyone, questioning the Minister of Defense alone if he failed to reach an agreement with the Inakawa Association on terms.
Now was the time to bear the blame, and the Minister of Defense confessed, reciting Inakawa’s conditions one by one: Sazaki Gen wanted to lift the specified organized crime group restriction law, halt financial investigation on the office, unfreeze bank assets under Inakawa’s name, and collaborate with or obtain endorsement from the Financial Bureau for a real estate project...
All these conditions were beyond the Minister of Defense’s reach, and he couldn’t fulfill any of them.
Kujo Yui couldn’t meet all these conditions either, but she knew how to resolve this, instructing the Minister of Defense to step aside. She closed the meeting room door, using her private mobile phone to call Fushimi Roku.
Indeed, she intended to bypass the middleman and negotiate directly with the supplier.