David Peace - Occupied City

1948/1/29; 06.00:Cloudy, with northeasterly winds / Resume street-by-street, house-by-house, door-to-door questioning of Nagasaki 2-chōme neighbourhood with Fukushi-kun / Resident tells us of a man who always wore an armband and who repeatedly visited the house of a local widow / Rush to the house of the widow / As we knock on the front door, another pair of detectives are banging on the back door / Hot lead, obviously / Send Fukushi-kun back to HQ to report the lead immediately / Make sure we get the credit / The glory / Interview the widow / Boyfriend with the armband is a doctor with an insurance company / Good reputation / Alibi for Teigin incident / Her word / Back to HQ to use the phone / Ten calls later and the doctor turns out to be bogus / Ex-army medic, back from China, no licence / Lives in Shibusawa, down past Atsugi, on the Odakyū Line / Always carries a gun / Police Chief Kita gives the green light / Four-man arrest team / No sake, so we take a mizu-sakazuki each, a ceremonial shot of water before the battle / Pack a blanket for protection against gunshots / 12.00: Train down to Shibusawa / Bogus doctor rents a room in a big house with a grass roof close to the station / Rest of the afternoon, most of the evening, crouched in a field of tea leaves / Bored, freezing and scared / 24.00: Last train of the night and here comes the doctor / Suddenly he stops thirty metres from the house / Pisses on the bush where Detective Sudo and his partner are hiding / Rush him from the back, grab his neck / Sudo takes his legs / Few punches, handcuffs on / Haul him to the kōban in front of the station / Local uniform says, ‘Doctor! What’s going on?’ / Uniform looks at four of us and says, ‘This is an outrage! Do you know who this man is?’ / ‘Yeah! The Teigin killer!’ / That shuts him up / Examine the good doctor’s belongings / Find one Browning pistol loaded with four bullets / One for each of us / Hail the power of mizu-sakazuki! / Back up to Special Investigation HQ with suspect –

1948/1/30; 04.00:Interview with suspect / Alibi checks out / Charged with impersonation of a doctor and possession of illegal firearm / Waste of time / 06.00: Street-by-street, house-to-house, door-to-door / Nothing / Had enough of this / 18.00: Meeting of the entire Special Investigation Team / Chief of Police Kita present / All Tokyo Metropolitan Police leave cancelled / 20,000 officers mobilized nationwide / Kita predicts protracted inquiry / Prepare for long haul / Review of all significant leads to date / Repeated theories from some detectives of links to the wartime Tokumu Kikan (Special Operations Division) / Hunch based on military precision of Teikoku crime / Rumours of similar crimes in Occupied China / Further team to be formed from the Second Investigative Division to investigate links to Tokumu Kikan / Volunteer for ‘Annex’ / ‘Why you?’ / ‘Old contacts.’ / ‘Use them.’

1948/1/31; 09.00:Rain / Ginza / Meeting with [NAME DELETED] / Old friend, ex-Tokumu Kikan, ex-big-shot in Occupied China / Post-war, new-life, new-office, still a big-shot; once a big-shot, always a big-shot / Deep bows and small talk / Tea and cigarettes / ‘You’re not here for old time’s sake, are you?’ / ‘No.’ / ‘You’re here because of that Teigin case, aren’t you?’ / ‘Yes.’ / ‘You think it’s someone who did the kind of work I did, don’t you?’ / ‘Yes.’ / ‘Well, shall I tell you why you’re wrong? Why you’re wasting your time?’ / ‘Please …’ / ‘From what I hear, the man in the bank told the manager he was a doctor, yeah?’ / ‘Yes.’ / ‘And the manager obviously believed him?’ / ‘Yes.’ / ‘Because of the man’s attitude, his behaviour and his character?’ / ‘Yes.’ / ‘Well, in my experience, all the men I know, all the men I worked with over there, they don’t look good.’ / ‘No?’ / ‘No, they look rough, worn out by the lives they led over there.’ / ‘Yeah?’ / ‘Yeah, they are not the kind of men who could pass for doctors.’ / ‘Is that right?’ / ‘I know you don’t believe me. I know you think I’m only telling you this so you won’t go digging around in my past, in the pasts of my colleagues. But that’s not the case.’ / ‘I believe you.’ / ‘Well, I hope you do.’ / ‘I do.’ / ‘Forget Tokumu Kikan. Stick with the doctors. Follow the name-cards.’ / ‘Thank you.’ / Return to HQ / Tell the various chiefs to forget Tokumu Kikan / To stick with the doctors / To follow the name-cards / 18.00: Re-assigned to ji-dōri questioning team / Shit.

1948/2/1; 06.00:No days off / Rain, sleet, snow / Printed notice handed to all detectives: The Teikoku Bank has ascertained that the total money missing or stolen on 26 January from their Shiinamachi branch was ¥164,405. The Teikoku Bank have also ascertained that a cheque (number B09216) with a face value of ¥17,450, drawn in the name of a Gotō Toyoji, is also missing / Out on the streets again / Endless ji-dōri; sometimes Shiinamachi area, sometimes around Nakai, sometimes to Ebara / Different neighbourhoods, same game / Street-by-street, house-by-house, door-to-door questioning of neighbourhood with Fukushi-kun / Establish names and occupations of all residents / Establish and verify whereabouts of each resident at time of various crimes / Repeat description of suspect based on statements of survivors / Note down any possible sightings of men fitting description of suspect / Note down any suggestions as to identity of suspect based on description given to residents / Waste of time, waste of time, waste of time.

1948/2/2; 06.00:Light snow, then rain / The second floor of Mejiro Police Station / Special Investigation HQ / Meeting of the Special Investigation Team / Chief of Police Kita present / New clue: cheque number B09216 for ¥17,450, listed as missing presumed stolen from the Shiinamachi branch of the Teikoku Bank on 26 January during the mass poisoning, was cashed at approximately 14.30 on 27 January at the Itabashi branch of the Yasuda Bank / Cheque endorsed by Gotō Toyoji, 2661 Itabashi 3-chōme, Itabashi-ku / Yasuda branch manager discovered cheque matched that listed missing or stolen during the Teigin incident yesterday / Notified police / Statements taken by detectives / Descriptions by bank staff of man who cashed the cheque do not match descriptions given by survivors of the Teigin incident / Man at Itabashi branch of Yasuda Bank described as being heavyset, wearing spectacles with tortoise-shell frame, and speaking coarsely / Officers sent to address written on back of cheque / No one named Gotō Toyoji lives at this address / Occupants have no knowledge of anyone of that name.

[VARIOUS PAGES DAMAGED, DEFACED, OR MISSING FOR REASONS UNKNOWN]

1948/2/4; 06.00:Cold, rain / The second floor of Mejiro Police Station / Special Investigation HQ / Meeting of the Special Investigation Team / Chief of Police Kita present / Composite drawing of suspect based on eye-witness description of suspect by Teigin survivors distributed to all detectives, all police stations and all newspapers nationwide / First time composite drawing of a suspect has been used in history of Japanese police / Anticipate large public response / Drawing to be used by all ji-dōri questioning teams / Ordered to re-interview households and individuals already interviewed, this time with composite drawing / Note to all detectives and police officers: Poison used in the murders now believed to be cyanic silver NOT potassium cyanide / Murderer believed therefore to be highly experienced in handling and use of drugs / 07.00: Resume ji-dōri questioning with composite drawing / Same neighbourhoods, same streets, same houses, same doors, same faces, same waste of time.