Chapter 31: Ōshima Mana
Kagehara Tetsuya didn’t bother listening to Kishida Masayoshi’s ramblings. As soon as the car stopped, he pushed the door open and stepped out, immediately surveying the surroundings of Ōshima Mana’s home.
The area was part of Setagaya Kitamachi, far from commercial districts and the city center, only slightly better than Kōya Sanchōme. The fact that Ōshima Mana lived here suggested her family wasn’t well-off.
The parking lot below didn’t have a single high-end car in sight. All the vehicles showed signs of recent use, and the residential complex was large, indicating a significant flow of people at peak times.
What made Tetsuya frown slightly was the presence of surveillance cameras in the parking lot and warning signs on nearby utility poles.
These conditions didn’t meet the standards for easy surveillance.
Tetsuya considered whether Ōshima Mana might be one of the few people Hasebe Koichi could trust to hold onto his "braganing chips." He needed to confirm this.
Currently, Hasebe was using Ōshima Masaki’s face, which provided considerable room for manipulation. If used properly, it would be easy to control Ōshima Mana. Given Hasebe’s relationship with Ōshima Masaki, it was likely he knew enough about his friend’s sister to pull this off.
Additionally, if something went wrong during the coercion of senpai, and she decided to kill people and seize the chips directly, Hasebe wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice Ōshima Mana.
Based on these two points, Tetsuya had to consider whether Hasebe might exploit Ōshima Mana. Moreover, from his observations, the environment here was highly unfavorable for surveillance, which worked in Hasebe’s favor. Even if senpai had set up surveillance, Hasebe could blend into the crowd during peak hours and move unnoticed.
"If Hasebe really plans to use Ōshima Mana, it’s also highly disadvantageous for me. In a place like this, intercepting his chips would be nearly impossible."
As he pondered this, Kishida finished locking the car and approached. "Honestly, can’t you let me finish speaking? I’m not joking. Allowing you to sit in on the questioning of the victim’s family is already pushing it. You absolutely cannot say anything out of line, especially not about the current suspect. And you can’t mention that you were at the inn on the night of the incident, understand?"
The reputation of the Japanese police among the public was already poor, and Kishida was worried this high school girl might get carried away and say something inappropriate. If she offended the victim’s family and they refused to cooperate, it would be a disaster.
"Don’t worry, I won’t say a word," Tetsuya nodded, signaling that they could proceed.
Ōshima Mana lived on the fourth floor. After ringing the doorbell, the security door opened quickly. Tetsuya stood slightly behind Kishida, observing the woman before him.
Ōshima Mana appeared to be in her early thirties. Her skin wasn’t well-maintained, and her hair looked slightly greasy. It seemed that despite scheduling this meeting with Kishida, she hadn’t prepared much for it.
Her eyes showed no signs of redness or swelling, indicating she wasn’t particularly grief-stricken over Ōshima Masaki’s death. She also didn’t seem overly enthusiastic or emotional about the police visit.
She probably didn’t care much about who had killed Ōshima Masaki.
If that was the case, it would be quite difficult for Hasebe to manipulate this woman using Ōshima Masaki’s face. For Tetsuya, this was undoubtedly good news.
"Mrs. Ōshima, I’m Kishida Masayoshi, the detective in charge of investigating your brother’s murder. Thank you for your cooperation," Kishida said, bowing slightly.
After exchanging greetings with Kishida, Ōshima Mana looked puzzled at the girl who had been scrutinizing her.
"My name is Yomikawa Tsuko. I’ve been asked by Officer Kishida to assist in the investigation. Thank you for your time," Tetsuya said, placing his hands in front of her and bowing slightly.
"Assist... in the investigation?" Ōshima Mana seemed to find this absurd, her expression clearly showing her confusion.
Kishida inwardly groaned. They had agreed earlier that Yomikawa Tsuko would be introduced as a witness in the case, only accompanying him to the investigation headquarters to identify evidence. He hadn’t expected her to deviate from the script right away, claiming to be assisting in the investigation... though, in a way, it wasn’t far from the truth.
"If it’s hard to understand, you can think of me as a detective with an interest in bizarre cases," Tetsuya said deliberately, without elaborating.
Kishida began to feel uneasy. He quickly interrupted their conversation, saying, "Mrs. Ōshima, please don’t mind her. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to start as soon as possible."
"I don’t have a problem with that," Ōshima Mana hesitated for a moment before inviting them in and offering tea.
Tetsuya had done this on purpose. He wanted Ōshima Mana to see him as a somewhat eccentric individual, much like declaring "I’m a difficult person" before becoming friends. This would lower her expectations, making any strange questions he asked later seem less abrupt.
Once seated, Tetsuya spoke before Kishida could. "Is your husband married into your family, Mrs. Ōshima? It seems you haven’t changed your surname."
"Oh, that’s because my husband and I happen to share the same surname, so there was no need to change it," Ōshima Mana replied, clearly having answered this question before. When she mentioned her husband, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, suggesting that despite their financial struggles, the couple had a good relationship.
Tetsuya also noticed some children’s toys on a cabinet against the wall. "How old is your child?"
"Two and a half," she replied, just as a child’s voice came from the bedroom. "I’m sorry, children at this age can be a bit noisy."
"No, we’re the ones intruding," Kishida finally managed to interject, shooting a discreet glare at the girl sitting beside him to express his displeasure at her breaking their agreement.
Then, clearing his throat, he began formally. "Regarding your brother’s death, we deeply regret your loss. Could you tell us when you last saw Ōshima Masaki?"
Ōshima Mana thought for a moment. "It was around 7:30 PM on June 9th. I remember it clearly because my husband and I were watching a TV program. My brother suddenly came over to borrow money. He’d done this before and never paid me back, so I wasn’t going to lend him anything that day. But he started shouting at the door, looking quite frightening, so in the end, I gave him some money."
Kishida noted the time. "Did Ōshima Masaki mention why he needed the money? And how much did you give him that day?"
"He didn’t say why, but since he never worked, I assumed it was for living expenses. I gave him 100,000 yen, but he said it wasn’t enough. When I stood firm, he left." Ōshima Mana’s tone was filled with resignation. It was clear that having a brother who didn’t work and constantly asked for money was a burden. While she didn’t hate him, she certainly didn’t want anything to do with him.
In other words, it was almost impossible for Hasebe to exploit Ōshima Mana.
Tetsuya’s judgment was supported by two additional observations.
First, Ōshima Mana’s child was only two and a half years old. For the sake of her child, she would never want any uncontrollable, life-threatening risks in her life.
Second, her relationship with her husband seemed strong. When the topic of "changing surnames" came up earlier, her subconscious smile didn’t seem fake.
With this, Tetsuya had effortlessly confirmed the first thing he wanted to know.
Comments (1)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.