Jung-myung Lee - The Investigation

‘That year the Ministry sent 8,000 troops to the Kwantung Army, including regimental-level supply troops, 700 guard troops and 300 recon troops. They sent sixteen separate orders to round up Korean insurgents and Communists in Manchuria. That had never happened before or since. That means that around that time they had suffered immense losses. They had to reconstruct the platoon, strengthen vigilance and go after the anti-Japanese elements.’

‘And what was the result?’

‘It was a partial success. They destroyed those elements armed against us throughout Manchuria, more than 2,000 of them.’

‘Why was it only a partial success then?’

Hasegawa smiled meaningfully. ‘There’s no record anywhere that they found the stolen military chest. Had we got the money back, it would certainly have been recorded, in celebration of such an enormous defeat for our enemies.’

‘So where is all that gold?’

‘That’s something I should ask you.’ Hasegawa smiled suggestively. He saw Choi’s lips purse involuntarily. ‘I know the rumour is true. You’re risking your life to get out of this place to recover that hidden gold. Because you’re the one who attacked the platoon.’

Hasegawa unfastened the top button of his uniform. He was ready to make a deal. First, they had to establish the rules. Choi was the only person who knew where the gold was. He had to leave the prison to get it. Hasegawa would look the other way. They would split the gold in half. Hasegawa would send armed guards with Choi, so he couldn’t get away. His secret plan was to order the guards to kill Choi the moment the gold was recovered. But now they needed a convincing escape plan. They discussed various options and came to an agreement on the best one. Choi would dig his way out and the warden would look the other way. It might take months, even years, but it had to be done perfectly.

Choi began to get himself sent to solitary and brought in other prisoners. The solitary cells were always at capacity as he and his gang began to dig. When they only had fifteen metres left, they encountered a problem: Sugiyama. The guard had been watching Choi and had sniffed out the plot. Sugiyama reported the incident to Hasegawa, his eyes emitting righteous fire.

‘Sugiyama!’ Hasegawa soothed. ‘I know what’s going on. Thank you for your efforts, but this is not something to get worked up about. There’s a bigger plan in place. So forget you know anything about this.’

Sugiyama didn’t understand. All he could think about was stopping this prisoner from escaping. He brought Choi to the interrogation room and beat him to a pulp. If Choi filled up the tunnel, Sugiyama would forget it ever happened. That was the best Sugiyama could do to obey Hasegawa’s order and still stop Choi from escaping. Choi couldn’t flout Sugiyama, who now checked on the tunnel daily. Hasegawa became frustrated; Choi was unable to do anything.

That was when Sugiyama died.

‘Who killed Sugiyama?’ I asked, voice trembling.

‘As you know, it was Choi. But it doesn’t matter who actually committed the deed. Sugiyama’s death created a way out for the stalled plan.’

I shook my head. ‘You used a guard’s death to further your plan?’

‘That’s how important it was. A dead man is a dead man. If he knew his death would contribute to the victory of the Empire, Sugiyama would have been happy, too.’

‘How could that possibly happen?’

‘It was too late to continue digging the tunnel. With the war effort faltering, there was no time to hesitate. So we changed our plan. Choi’s execution would be the best way for him to get out of prison. And to do that, Choi had to be Sugiyama’s murderer.’ Hasegawa grinned. His self-importance was nauseating me.

My chin trembled with rage and resentment. ‘So you assigned me to the murder investigation so that I would accuse Choi? Was it also part of the plan to promote me for solving it?’

Hasegawa looked bashful for a moment. ‘I’m sorry about that. Really, I am. But you were the perfect person to be assigned that task. You are both adequately naive and well-meaning. I couldn’t tell you what was going on. Anyway, you did your best in the situation. You found the murderer and contributed greatly to the plan.’

That was why Choi had confessed so readily when I interrogated him. I was merely a puppet. I had worked so hard for nothing; the countless sleepless nights, the time I spent racked with guilt — all was meaningless. I was the only one who’d been kept in the dark.

‘As I said, you did a good job,’ Hasegawa said gently. ‘Your job was to be completely fooled.’

‘You made me a fool and a puppet!’ I shouted.

‘Maybe you’re right. But sometimes a puppet is necessary. We were able to get Choi out and recover the imperial gold.’

‘But your plan failed! The three guards protecting Choi died. And there’s no gold.’

‘No, no. I checked all the records. He did attack the supply unit and stole immense amounts of gold. I’ll have to dispatch special service guards to capture him. We have to find that gold!’ Hasegawa’s face was flushed.

‘Forget it, sir. You were tricked. You know why? You weren’t trying to get the military chest back, you were coveting the gold for yourself. If you were going to recover the military chest, you would have reported it to the Ministry or the Special Higher Police. But you plotted everything in secret. If it hadn’t been for your greed, you would have seen through Choi’s trick.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Choi made his first ridiculous escape attempt so that he would be personally interrogated by you. He made up a rumour about the secret gold and then attempted to escape. He knew he wouldn’t succeed. When he was sent to solitary instead of being shot, he was certain that you believed the rumour. He was the only person who knew where the mythical treasure was, so he was certain that you wouldn’t kill him. After that, he attempted many more escapes. He demonstrated that he would risk death to escape, proving that there was something he had to do on the outside. He slowly got you to believe him.’

‘That’s not possible.’

‘You might think you would never be tricked, but you were begging to be fooled. You wanted to believe him. You believed Choi’s story because of your greed.’

‘Greed?’ Hasegawa glared at me and slammed his baton on his desk. ‘Is it greed to show my loyalty to the Empire, to return stolen gold to the nation?’

I froze in place. I’d said too much. I had to choose: I would be safe if I took the warden’s secret to my grave; time would pass uneventfully, and I would survive if I buried all of those things deep within me. ‘Sir, was it your plan all along to kill Sugiyama? Did you need a victim to make Choi a murderer?’

Hasegawa shook his head. ‘Sugiyama wasn’t part of the plan. He just got in the way. Nothing would have happened to him if he hadn’t discovered the tunnel, or if he’d listened to my advice. But he was persistent, and Choi couldn’t shake him off. And it’s not only that. Sugiyama committed treason. He purposefully wounded certain prisoners so that they wouldn’t be chosen for medical treatment. Like Hiranuma. After Sugiyama died, we made sure Hiranuma was selected for medical treatment.’

It was just as I’d suspected. I now truly began to understand why Midori believed Sugiyama wasn’t evil. ‘Is that why you killed Sugiyama?’

He shook his head. ‘I did use Sugiyama’s death, but I didn’t kill him. He disobeyed orders and he was a traitor, but he was still a war hero. He was valuable to me.’

‘Then who?’