NABC Page 130
Page 130
"He was afraid, afraid of what was behind that symbol, far more afraid of us."
At the case analysis meeting, Miwako Sato said, "His confession does not match the DNA found at the scene, and the precise tool marks on the door frame corroborate each other, suggesting that the murderer is likely someone else."
Section Chief Matsumoto's expression turned grave: "So, the focus returns to Ryunosuke Mishima and that mysterious symbol. Shinsakai Industries..."
“We have applied for a search warrant for Shinsakai Industries.”
Yuki Takada continued, his arm bandages particularly noticeable, “Based on Yoki Sakai’s testimony and the clues provided by Yuko Kobayashi’s text messages, we have reason to suspect that Ryunosuke Mishima and his accomplices are involved in this murder case.”
The search warrant was quickly approved.
The next morning, Miwako Sato and Yuki Takada led a team of police officers straight to Shinsakai Industrial Park.
The company is located in an industrial area on the outskirts of Sanbancho, and looks like an ordinary mechanical parts manufacturing plant.
The person in charge was a middle-aged man named Beishan, who appeared shrewd and cautious.
Faced with the sudden arrival of the police, he showed just the right amount of surprise and cooperation.
The search operation proceeded smoothly.
The factory, offices, warehouses... everything seemed normal on the surface.
But Miwako Sato noticed that the triangle surrounded by a circle appeared with an unusually high frequency in the company's brochures and some internal documents.
Yuki Takada then directly accessed employee files and recent entry and exit records.
He discovered that on the night Kobayashi Yuko was murdered, a truck belonging to the company's transportation department had an unusual entry and exit record, and the timing overlapped with the time window of Kobayashi Yuko's death.
The driver in charge of that truck was named Shinji Kawashima.
Chapter 164 Ryunosuke Mishima's Personal Secretary
Shinji Kawashima happened to have a background in car repair, which matches the source of the fibers in the deceased's fingernails.
"Please call Shinji Kawashima over here. We have some questions for him," Yuki Takada said to Mr. Kitayama.
Kitayama Hiroyu's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and ordered his men to go and fetch him.
However, a few minutes later, his subordinates reported that Shinji Kawashima had taken the day off and was not at work.
The phone was switched off when I called.
"Go to Shinji Kawashima's house immediately!" Yuuki Takada said coldly, his face filled with panic.
The door to Shinji Kawashima's residence was locked. After forcing his way in, he found the house in a mess, indicating that the owner had left in a hurry.
In the bedroom's trash can, forensic investigators found a torn work shirt stained with a little oil, which matched the size and fiber type.
More importantly, trace amounts of skin tissue were extracted from the bathroom drain filter, and preliminary rapid testing showed that it highly matched the DNA sample left under the fingernails of the deceased, Yuko Kobayashi.
Shinji Kawashima's suspicion has risen sharply.
Police immediately issued an arrest warrant and launched a full-scale manhunt for the missing driver.
Meanwhile, Miwako Sato led another team to conduct a more in-depth investigation at Yuko Kobayashi's law firm.
Faced with pressure, Kobayashi Yuko's boss, the partner who had previously been in charge of the Mishima Group's business, finally revealed some information.
He admitted that Yuko Kobayashi had indeed expressed concerns about several old documents related to Ryunosuke Mishima from several years ago, which happened to be connected to those unsolved murder cases from that time.
He warned the deceased, Yuko Kobayashi, not to investigate further and quickly put the documents into the "closed case" archive.
“I never expected her to copy it secretly… and I never imagined it would lead to my death…” the partner said, his face pale.
All the clues seem to point to Shinsakai Industries and the elusive Ryunosuke Mishima behind it.
However, Shinji Kawashima seemed to have vanished into thin air, and Ryunosuke Mishima himself, since being rescued by his accomplices last time, has become even more elusive and difficult to capture.
The case reached a stalemate for a time.
Three nights later, Sato Miwako was still in her office reviewing case files. Takada Yuki's arm injury needed a dressing change, but he only received a simple treatment before returning to his post.
"Still thinking about that symbol?" Yuuki Takada walked over to her and put down two cups of hot coffee.
Miwako Sato rubbed her temples and nodded. "Yeah. I always felt that it was more than just the logo of Shinsakai Industries. Yoki Sakai mentioned 'the organization,' and Yuko Kobayashi said it represented 'purification and silence'... It's more like a belief."
Then, all available materials and images bearing this symbol were retrieved, including brochures brought back from Shinsakai Industries and scattered records found from some of the Mishima Group's hidden affiliated companies.
“Takada-senpai, look.” She pointed to several pictures on the screen, “Although they are all circles and triangles, there are slight differences in the details.”
"The triangle in the Shinsakai Industrial building is solid; but in the photo we found outside Yuko Kobayashi's apartment, the engraving seems to have an extremely thin line inside the triangle."
Yuuki Takada bent down to examine it closely: "Indeed... you can't even notice it without looking closely. What does this mean? Different branches? Different levels?"
“Perhaps…” Sato Miwako said thoughtfully, “we need more professional help.”
She contacted an expert within the Metropolitan Police Department who studied semiotics and clandestine organizations.
I received a reply shortly after sending the picture.
The experts' feedback was shocking: the symbol bore a striking resemblance to a clandestine organization active in the underworld known as the "Triangle Society."
The organization believes in "survival of the fittest" and "eliminating impurities," and often handles "inconvenient to disclose" matters for certain tycoons or politicians. It is known for its ruthless methods and its ability to create "accidents."
The subtle differences in the triangles within the symbol may represent different functions or levels within the organization; those with fine lines inside are usually associated with "execution" or "cleanup" tasks.
“The Triangle Society…” Sato Miwako murmured, feeling a chill. “Mishima Ryunosuke is very likely just one of them, or he hired them.”
Just then, Yuki Takada's phone rang; it was the technical investigation department calling.
"Inspector Takada, we've made a major discovery while trying to recover deleted data from Yuko Kobayashi's phone! We found an encrypted file and just successfully cracked it."
Inside were scanned fragments of ledgers and some… backup photos.
The two were greatly encouraged and immediately rushed to the technical department.
The screen displays the recovered data:
The ledger recorded several large sums of money flowing through Shinsakai Industries to an overseas shell company. The notes were vague, but one of the transactions was strikingly close in time to a recent murder.
What's even more shocking are the photos—several photos that look like they were taken secretly.
The film documented a night when a truck belonging to Shinsakai Kogyo was parked on a secluded road. Several people were unloading something from the truck. The background was blurry, but the profile of one of the men was confirmed to be that of the missing Shinji Kawashima after comparison.
Another, clearer photo shows a man in a suit talking to someone with a tattoo on their arm—a triangle surrounded by a circle with fine lines inside!
“This man…” Sato Miwako zoomed in on the photo of the man in the suit, “is Ryunosuke Mishima’s personal secretary, Takuya Kishimoto!”
Takuya Kishimoto, Ryunosuke Mishima's most trusted right-hand man, is a man who always hides in the shadows.
"Immediately apply for an arrest warrant for Kishimoto!" Yuki Takada decided without hesitation.
However, Kishimoto Takuya seemed to have sensed danger beforehand, and when the police arrived at his residence, it was already empty.
This time, however, the police acted more swiftly, tracking the vehicle through surveillance footage and discovering that Takuya Kishimoto was driving a black sedan toward a private dock in the suburbs.
Under the night sky, sirens wailed.
Several police cars sped along the coastal highway, closely following the tail of the black sedan in front.
"Kishimoto Takuya! You have nowhere to run! Stop the car immediately!" Takada Yuki shouted through the loudspeaker.
Instead of slowing down, the black sedan suddenly accelerated, broke through the railing at the dock entrance, and drove straight to the end of the pier.
With a sudden stop, Kishimoto Takuya jumped out of the car, carrying a silver briefcase.
Miwako Sato and Yuki Takada led the police officers to quickly get out of the car and form an encirclement.
"Takuya Kishimoto! You are hereby formally arrested on suspicion of murdering Yuko Kobayashi and for multiple crimes related to the Mishima Ryunosuke criminal group!"
Miwako Sato raised her gun, aimed, and shouted sharply.
Chapter 165 Are You Playing Us?
Takuya Kishimoto stood on the edge of the pier, with the dark, surging sea behind him.
He turned around, his face expressionless, only showing a cold indifference.
“You know nothing.” Kishimoto Takuya was eerily calm. “The will of the Triangle Society is not to be desecrated.”
"Did Kobayashi Yuko desecrate your 'will'?" Takada Yuki stepped forward, staring intently at him. "Just because she discovered evidence that you were covering up the truth of that murder?"
A strange smile tugged at the corner of Kishimoto Takuya's lips: "Eliminate the unqualified, purify the system. This is a necessary procedure. That woman... doesn't know what's good for her."
"So you sent Shinji Kawashima to kill her? And staged a gas explosion?" Miwako Sato questioned.
“Shinji Kawashima? Just an insignificant executor.” Takuya Kishimoto sneered. “He completed his mission, but he also left traces, so… he was eliminated as well.”
Shinji Kawashima is probably in grave danger.
"Where is Ryunosuke Mishima?" Yuki Takada demanded.
Kishimoto Taku didn't answer, but instead raised the silver briefcase in his hand: "Inside, there are some things you want... but there are also some things that don't belong to this world."
He suddenly pressed a button on the box, and a red countdown timer lit up on the edge of the box!
"Watch out! It might be a bomb!" Yuuki Takada shouted, instinctively pulling Miwako Sato behind him.
In that instant, with a mocking look on his face, Kishimoto Takuya leaped backward and plunged into the icy sea.
"Bang!" A gunshot rang out.
Sato Miwako reacted extremely quickly, firing a shot at the spot where Kishimoto Takuya had fallen into the water.
But it seemed to have missed the mark, leaving only a ripple and a faint trace of blood on the sea surface.
The officers immediately stepped forward and cautiously examined the suitcase that Kishimoto Takuya had abandoned on the pier.
The countdown numbers were still ticking, but slowly, suggesting it wasn't a device that would explode immediately.
"Call in the bomb disposal team and the maritime search and rescue team!" Yuki Takada ordered, his brow furrowed.
He glanced at Sato Miwako, who was still in shock beside him. Pulling her had aggravated the wound on his arm, causing her to ache.
Miwako Sato took a deep breath and steadied herself: "He might be trying to confuse the situation and escape... or, there really is something important in this box."
The search at sea continued all night, but no body or trace of Kishimoto Takuya was found; it was as if he had been swallowed up by the dark sea.
The bomb disposal team carefully opened the silver briefcase. Inside, there was no bomb, only some encrypted documents and an empty memory card slot.
Takuya Kishimoto's final words were more like a misleading and provocative statement.
Although the main culprit is at large, the outline of the case has become clear.