radicalducati Page 124
Page 124
The overall area was clean and bright, with all kinds of stainless steel kitchen utensils gleaming. However, the air was heavy at the moment, and all the people wearing white chef's uniforms and work clothes were gathered in the staff rest area, their faces showing unease and fear.
The first person to be questioned was the dishwasher who first discovered the body, a young man named Shigeru Kobayashi. He was pale and clearly had not yet recovered from the brief shock.
“I…I was around 1:30 in the afternoon, and I wanted to go to the back alley for a smoke…” Kobayashi’s voice trembled. “Then I saw Manager Ishikawa lying there…the ground was covered in blood…I, I was terrified, and I ran back to tell the head chef…and then I hurriedly called the police.”
"When was the last time you saw Manager Ishikawa alive?" Yuuki Takada asked in a calm tone, trying to ease the other person's tension.
Chapter 153 Simple Interrogation
"It was after lunchtime, around... around 12:30, I think? I saw him come out of the office and walk towards the back door, as if he was going out to meet someone. He didn't look too good."
"Who are you meeting? Did you hear anything?"
"No...we subordinates dare not ask too many questions about the manager's affairs."
Next up is the head chef of the "Sakura-tei" restaurant, a middle-aged man named Takahiro Nakamura, with a serious expression and the composure of a seasoned craftsman.
"Is there anything unusual about Manager Ishikawa today?" asked Miwako Sato.
Chef Nakamura hesitated for a moment: "If anything is unusual... he was indeed a bit restless this morning. He answered a few phone calls, and his voice was very low. After lunch, he said he had to go to the back door to take care of some things, and then he never came back."
"Do you have any clues about who he might have a grudge against?" Takada Yuki questioned him.
Chef Nakamura shook his head: "Manager Ishikawa is very tactful, and the restaurant is very well run. But as you know, this position inevitably offends some people."
"For example, the recent dispute with food suppliers, and... some rumors about his desire to bring in new investors, have caused dissatisfaction among some long-term employees."
"A supplier dispute?" Yuki Takada caught this information.
"Yes, 'Yamazaki Suisan'. The quality of the tuna they provide has declined recently, but the price has not changed. Manager Ishikawa had a rather heated argument last week with the person in charge they sent to negotiate, a young man named Watanabe."
Subsequently, Yuki Takada and Miwako Sato questioned several other employees, including the front desk supervisor and waiters.
Based on the information gathered, Tomohisa Ishikawa is an outstanding but also rather domineering manager who has the final say in the hotel. Recently, he has indeed had strained relationships with some people due to business strategies and personnel issues.
The foreman also provided a detail: "Manager Ishikawa seems to be paying special attention to the warehouse inventory lately, especially the alcoholic beverages. He has checked it repeatedly for a long time and has even asked me privately a few times about the delivery time of the alcoholic beverage suppliers."
At the same time, a preliminary on-site investigation report was also delivered to Yuki Takada.
Besides the unfinished death message, a crumpled note was found in the inside pocket of the deceased's suit, with a line printed on it: "1 PM today, back alley, meet alone. It concerns the survival of the restaurant."
No signature.
In a corner of the back alley near the wall, the forensic team found a small, crushed plastic lighter in an inconspicuous gap, with what appeared to be a trace of blood different from that of the deceased.
Yuki Takada, carrying the broken lighter from the evidence bag, walked to the staff break room, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
He noticed that when his gaze swept over one of the young men in a waiter's uniform, the man's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily, and his fingers curled up unconsciously.
On the table next to the man was a pack of cigarettes and a brand-new-looking metal lighter.
Yuki Takada didn't immediately expose him, but calmly continued to ask a few questions about Manager Ishikawa's usual habits and whereabouts today.
Then, as if casually, he walked up to the waiter and showed him the evidence bag.
Have you ever seen this lighter before?
The waiter, named Nishimura Toshiya, turned deathly pale instantly, his lips trembling as he stammered, "N-I've never seen this before! This isn't mine!"
“I haven’t even asked if it’s yours.” Yuuki Takada’s voice remained gentle, but his gaze shifted to the head chef he had questioned earlier. “I’m just asking if you’ve seen it before. Besides, I remember that smoking is prohibited in the restaurant’s kitchen area, right, Chef Nakamura?”
Chef Nakamura immediately nodded: "Strictly prohibited! The back alley is the only smoking area."
Sweat beaded on Nishimura Toshiya's forehead.
Yuki Takada didn't press further. Instead, he turned to Miwako Sato and whispered, "Sato, could you please contact 'Yamazaki Suisan' and confirm whether their manager, Watanabe, has an alibi from this afternoon?"
"In addition, we need to thoroughly investigate Nishimura Toshiya's background and whether he has had any recent conflicts with Manager Ishikawa. Also, we need technical support to find out the source of that printed note."
Sato Miwako nodded and immediately walked to the side to make a phone call.
Yuki Takada squatted back down where the body had been, staring at the human figure drawn with white lines on the ground, and the incomplete death information marked next to it.
A circle?
口？
Or is it... a "囧" character frame?
He tried to mentally simulate the deceased's state at the time of death: lying on his back or on his side.
The area reachable by my right hand... the direction of that scratch...
Yuki Takada took out his police officer's handbook and made a few light scribbles on it with a pen.
Suddenly, he stopped moving.
What if the intention wasn't to write a complete word, but rather to point out a direction?
Or was it an interrupted marker that was trying to point to a specific person?
Based on the printed note and the fresh scratches on the back door handle, the murderer likely launched a sudden attack from inside the door when Ishikawa Tomohisa's back was turned away from the back door and his attention was diverted!
The murderer is most likely someone who was in the restaurant at the time, or possibly a customer dining there.
Just then, his phone vibrated.
It was an unknown number. Yuuki Takada walked to a corner a little further away and answered the phone.
A deep, eerie voice, altered and unsettling, came from the other end of the phone; it was impossible to tell if it was male or female.
"Officer Takada, do you remember asking me?"
"Who are you?" Upon hearing the other person's voice, Yuuki Takada felt a sense of familiarity, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard the voice before.
"Do I need to remind you? Chairman Mishima, I think you should already know, right?"
Upon hearing this, Yuuki Takada's expression immediately changed: "You are Ryunosuke Mishima, what exactly do you want?"
"What for?" A chuckle came from the other end of the phone: "Don't worry, I'll send you the surprise you wanted right away."
The call was disconnected as soon as the words were spoken, leaving only the busy tone.
Yuki Takada held his phone, his knuckles turning slightly white.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping once more over the simple and elegant architecture of "Sakura Pavilion" and the dark and bloody scene in the back alley.
The precise wound on Ishikawa Tomohisa's neck, the ambiguous death message, the suspicious reactions of the insiders, and this mysterious phone call filled with warnings...
All clues seem to point to a deeper and darker vortex than an ordinary murder case.
The death of Tomohisa Ishikawa was probably not just a simple matter of internal conflicts of interest within the hotel.
As for himself, Yuki Takada, he seems to have been drawn into it.
Yuuki Takada took a deep breath, suppressing the surge of emotions that had welled up inside him, and his face regained its usual calm. He said to Miwako Sato, who had returned:
“Sato, the situation may be more complicated than we think. Request a formal interrogation of Nishimura Toshiya. At the same time, I need detailed background information on all employees of the ‘Sakura-tei’ Hotel, especially the core management team, as soon as possible.”
The afterglow of the setting sun began to bathe the buildings of Beito-cho in orange-red hues, but the investigation into the "Sakura-tei" murder case had only just begun, casting a heavy curtain.
Yuki Takada knew that he had to find the perilous path to the truth through this fog.
Chapter 154 Justification
Soon, Nishimura Shunya, led by the police, was taken to a secluded corner for questioning.
Meanwhile, Miwako Sato efficiently coordinated all parties, and soon, the preliminary background information of the core employees of the "Sakura-tei" restaurant and the information of the guests who had dined at the restaurant were compiled into the hands of Yuuki Takada.
Right now, Nishimura Shunya's face showed obvious signs of unease and fear.
He twisted his fingers repeatedly, his eyes darting around.
“Mr. Nishimura…” Takada Yuuki stood before him, his tone calm but carrying an undeniable pressure, “Please describe in more detail your movements between noon and 2 pm today. In particular, did you go to the back alley?”
“I…I didn’t! I’ve been busy going back and forth between the front hall and the waiters’ lounge.” Nishimura Toshiya’s voice trembled slightly.
“Oh? But more than one employee mentioned that they saw you walking towards the kitchen around 12:40, for about ten minutes.” Takada Yuki flipped through the interrogation records that had just been delivered. “This time coincides very closely with the time when Manager Ishikawa was murdered.”
"I...I went to the kitchen to help move some things! I'll be back soon!" Nishimura Shunya hurriedly explained.
"Moving things? What exactly? With whom?" Yuuki Takada pressed on.
Nishimura Toshiya's forehead was covered in even more cold sweat, his eyes darting around as if he were trying to come up with an excuse: "It's...it's some cutlery boxes, and...and Mr. Kobayashi, yes, with Mr. Kobayashi!"
Yuki Takada didn't speak, but simply looked at him quietly with those eyes that seemed to see right through people.
A few seconds later, he picked up the walkie-talkie and whispered to Sato Miwako outside, "Sato, please confirm Kobayashi Shigeru's statement about whether he moved the cutlery box with Nishimura Toshiya around 12:40."
A brief silence spread in the secluded corner, each second making Nishimura Toshiya increasingly uneasy.
Soon, a reply came from Sato Miwako over the walkie-talkie:
“Inspector Takada, I asked Mr. Kobayashi Shigeru, and he denied it. He said that he was in the dishwashing area at that time and never left, nor did he move anything with you, Nishimura Toshiya.”
Yuuki Takada's gaze returned to Toshiya Nishimura, sharpening: "Mr. Nishimura, you lied. Why?"
"I...I..." Nishimura Toshiya's mental defenses seemed to be on the verge of collapse. He suddenly covered his head with his hands. "I didn't mean to! I...I just wanted to have a smoke! I was afraid of getting scolded by the head chef!"
"So you did go to the back alley?"
“Yes…yes! But when I went there, I didn’t see anything! The back alley was empty!” Nishida Toshiya exclaimed excitedly.
"Empty?" Yuuki Takada leaned forward slightly. "According to the forensic doctor's preliminary assessment, Manager Ishikawa's time of death was between 12:30 and 1:00. You went to the back alley around 12:40, but said you didn't see anything? How do you explain that?"
Yuki Takada pushed the broken plastic lighter, which was in the evidence bag, in front of Toshiya Nishimura.
The lighter was a typical convenience store model, but the small dark red bloodstain on it was particularly glaring under the light.
"This...this isn't mine!" Nishimura Shunya recoiled as if he'd been burned.
“We will extract fingerprints from it for comparison. At the same time, we will also check whether the bloodstains on it belong to the deceased Ishikawa Tomohisa, or... whether they belong to you.”
Yuki Takada's voice was icy. "If you were there at the time, or even had contact with the deceased, trace evidence and DNA technology will tell us the truth. Confessing now is completely different from waiting for conclusive evidence."
Nishimura Toshiya's face turned from white to green, and his breathing became rapid.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back, his eyes filled with struggle and fear.
Just then, Miwako Sato walked over and winked at Yuki Takada.
Yuki Takada paused his interrogation, looked at Miwako Sato, and then followed her to the side.
“Inspector Takada, there are two things.” Sato Miwako spoke quickly and clearly, reporting: “First, Yamazaki Fisheries has replied that their manager, Watanabe, has a clear alibi from noon to 1 p.m. today. He was having a meeting with another client, and there are multiple witnesses to that.”