David Peace - Occupied City

1948/6/13; 06.00:Take train back to Tokyo.

The Eighth Period (the eighth twenty days of the investigation; 14 June to 3 July, 1948) —

1948/6/14; 06.00:Rain, humid / The second floor of Mejiro Police Station / Full meeting of the Special Investigation Team, including Robbery Room Name-card Team / Police Chief Kita present / Inspector Iki-i details interviews conducted in Tōhoku and Hokkaido / Photograph of Hirasawa and report of interview distributed to all members / Chief Inspector Suzuki (Head of the First Division) and other members of First Investigative Division sceptical / Hirasawa’s alibi checked months ago / Alibi solid, reputation good / Photograph does not match composite drawing etc. / Age and appearance do not match witness descriptions of Teigin killer / Iki-i restates that Hirasawa is a strong suspect, behaviour suspicious / Strong hunch, good lead / Suzuki not interested / Waste of time / Other leads, better leads / Move on.

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1948/6/25; 08.00:Hot / Meeting of Robbery Room Name-card Team / Directive issued: Detectives should pay particular attention to the following persons who have i) experience in handling medicines or hygiene, ii) experience in medical research, experiments or study, iii) experience in China with the above, and iv) former members of the Tokumu Kikan or Kempei because the suspect had experience and knowledge of i) the quantities of poison needed, of ii) the timing needed, of iii) the control of the victims, of iv) the amount he himself could take and of v) the equipment and tools needed I Emphasis again taken off the name-card teams / Information ignored / Sidelined again / Despondent.

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The Ninth Period (the ninth twenty days of the investigation; 4 July to 23 July, 1948) —

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The Tenth Period (the tenth twenty days of the investigation; 24 July to 12 August, 1948) —

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The Eleventh Period (the eleventh twenty days of the investigation; 13 August to 1 September, 1948) —

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1948/8/13; 08.00:Hot, humid / Meeting of Robbery Room Name-card Team / Police Chief Kita present / Chief Kita states all other leads exhausted / Kita orders direct investigation of Hirasawa Sadamichi / Begin with Hirasawa’s family in Tokyo / Report results of investigation directly to him at his residence in Meguro / Do not disclose direction of investigation or share information with First Investigative Division / All information classified SECRET.

1948/8/14; 10.00:Hot / Visit the father of Hirasawa’s daughter-in-law, wife of Hirasawa’s eldest son / Father of Hirasawa’s daughter-in-law addicted to gambling / Heavy debts, minor charges / Lean on him for information / Provides us with list of guests at wedding of his daughter to Hirasawa’s son / Suggests we speak directly to Hirasawa’s eldest daughter / Claims daughter has voiced suspicions about her father and Teigin incident / 14.00: Visit Hirasawa’s daughter’s place of work; Marufuku coffee shop / Nervous and intimidated / Request to talk to her in private / Outside workplace, daughter suddenly says, ‘This is about the Teigin incident and my father, isn’t it?’ / ‘Why do you say that?’ / ‘Because you’ve already interviewed him and because he looks so much like the composite drawing.’ / ‘You think he resembles the drawing?’ / ‘Not only me. The manager of the coffee shop — he was a police chief in Kanagawa before the war — and he said the resemblance was enough to make the police suspicious.’ / Tell her this questioning is just routine / Make small talk to relax her / Begin to ask about her father and his relations with rest of the family / She says they have not seen him since the end of January / Ask if this is usual / ‘No.’ / ‘How do you all manage with your father in Hokkaido and you in Tokyo?’ / ‘Before he left for Hokkaido, he gave my mother ¥80,000.’ / ‘¥80,000 is a lot of money.’ / ‘Yes, but he told her it was to last for eight months. He told her if she was to spend only ¥10,000 a month, it would be enough.’ / ‘And your father gave your mother this ¥80,000 at the end of January?’ / ‘Yes.’ / Kuro-kuro / ‘Not before?’ / ‘No.’ / Blacker and blacker / ‘You’re certain?’ / ‘Yes. Why? Have I said something I shouldn’t have?’ / Guiltier and guiltier / ‘No.’ / Now says she must return home to her two children / Escort her home to her residence in Nakano Ward / Buy her box of peaches as a thank-you present for taking up her time / 18.00:Report back to Robbery Room Name-card Team / Blacker and blacker, guiltier and guiltier .

1948/8/16; 06.00:Very hot, very humid / Meeting of Robbery Room Name-card Team / Divide into ji-dōri teams to question Nakano neighbourhood about Hirasawa family / 08.00:Begin questioning of Nakano area / Street by street, house by house, door to door / All day / 22.00:Meeting of Robbery Room Name-card Team / Chief Kita present / Each ji-dōri team reports day’s questioning / Inspector Iki-i then details information gathered about Hirasawa’s finances / In December last year, Hirasawa was in considerable debt; for example, he did not have the cash to purchase a small wardrobe priced at ¥2,500 / Kuro-kuro / Hirasawa and his wife forced to borrow variously ¥500 and ¥1,000 from friends and relatives / Blacker and blacker / However, following the Teigin incident, the Higashi Nakano branch of the Mitsubishi Bank shows ¥20,000 in his wife’s account and ¥44,500 in Hirasawa’s own account / Guiltier and guiltier / Sudden deposits unexplained / Re-state statement by Hirasawa’s eldest daughter concerning ¥80,000 given to his wife at the end of January / Chief Kita states he will present all evidence and information to the Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office tomorrow morning / Kita confident arrest warrant will be granted / Told to prepare to travel to Hokkaido to arrest Hirasawa and bring him back to Tokyo for formal interrogation / Elation.

1948/8/17; 08.00:Hot / Gather at Inspector Iki-i’s residence in Ōmori / Collate all evidence and information on Hirasawa / Prepare request for arrest warrant for Hirasawa Sadamichi / Prepare requests for search warrants for houses of Hirasawa’s family and relatives in Tokyo / No sleep.

1948/8/18; 13.00:Hot / Robbery Room Name-card Team HQ / Receive telephone call from Hirasawa’s eldest daughter / Frantic, desperate / Asks for meeting / Claim to be too busy / Desperate, persists / Daughter says family worried / Her mother’s younger brother, her uncle, accusing her of selling her own father to the cops for a box of fruit / Speak to Inspector Iki-i / Agree to meeting / 16.00: Meet Hirasawa’s eldest daughter with Iki-i on second floor of Marufuku coffee shop / Daughter requests we visit her mother at family home to ease her fears and worries / Promise to visit in next few days / Daughter persists / Asks exactly which day at exactly what time / Promise to visit her mother in three days / 17.00: Meeting with daughter ends / Return to Iki-i residence in Ōmori / Detective [NAME DELETED] of First Investigative Division waiting / States that imminent arrest of Hirasawa now common knowledge / Newspapers already sniffing around / Requests that he arrest Hirasawa on our behalf / Argument, fight / Table upturned, punches thrown / Detective [NAME DELETED] says, ‘You Name-card guys are all crazy.’ / Detective [NAME DELETED] leaves / 20.00: Telephone call from Investigation HQ / All expenses and funding for Name-card Team suspended until further notice / Obvious attempt to stop Name-card Team travelling to Hokkaido to arrest Hirasawa / 21.00: Inspector Iki-i calls his bank manager at home / Arranges mortgage of Ōmori house and telephone line to cover cost of travel to Hokkaido if arrest warrant granted / All anxious, all nervous / No sleep.