The Tokyo Police Journey Begins with the Ability to See Evil Thoughts

"Go on."

Kamiya Gen was somewhat surprised, but he nodded, signaling him to continue.

Toda Toshiaki scratched his already messy hair and continued:

"Ueda Kazuki is actually a fake identity I created a year ago. He's a ghost in the factory. Because there are many people in the factory and I have a lot of power, as long as I operate properly, no one will know that there is an employee fraudulently collecting wages every month."

I was completely bewildered when I heard the news yesterday that he was dead, because there's no such person here! Officer, you know, I was sleeping at home late at night when I suddenly received a message from the factory manager saying that Ueda Kazuki was dead and that I needed to come to the factory immediately. When I got there, I saw that someone had indeed been killed by a machine…”

Kamiya Gen nodded and asked, "Then who exactly died?"

"I have no idea."

Toda Toshiaki shook his head and continued, "I really don't know who that is. There are no missing people in the factory, except for this fake identity I created. I was worried that people would find out that I had over-reported employees and embezzled wages, so I had to find someone to help cover it up. Of course... trying to cheat for compensation came later. I shouldn't have done that..."

As he finished speaking, he looked up at Kamiya Gen, his face filled with undisguised fear and despair. His lips trembled for a long time before he cautiously managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"Officer Kamiya... I... I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have had these crooked thoughts... I just want to ask, if I were to be sentenced according to the law for things like hiring someone to impersonate a family member to defraud compensation, and for previously embezzling wages..."

Kamiya Gen leaned back in his chair and said, "You want to hear the truth? Then I'll explain it to you clearly. First, you fabricated employee identities and took advantage of your position as the HR manager to embezzle factory wages, which violates Article 253 of the Criminal Law, the crime of business misappropriation. For this alone, the statutory penalty is up to 10 years in prison."

Toda Toshiaki's face paled instantly, and his body involuntarily leaned forward.

"Secondly, you colluded with others to impersonate the deceased's close relatives and fabricated facts to defraud the factory of death compensation with the intent of illegal possession. Even if you did not ultimately receive the money, it still constitutes attempted fraud, and the statutory penalty is also imprisonment of up to 10 years."

Kamiya Gen paused, then added, "And the forged employment documents and safety training confirmation you provided are all forged private documents, which is another crime. With multiple offenses, even if you are a first-time offender with no prior record, the prosecution will seek at least three years of imprisonment with no room for probation, and you will also be fined more than one million yen."

These words struck Toda Toshiaki like a hammer blow, making him almost faint and nearly slip off his chair. He muttered to himself:

"Three years...it's over...it's all over..."

Seeing his distraught appearance, Kamiya Gen suddenly changed the subject, his tone softening: "However, it's not like there's no way to turn things around."

Toda Toshiaki suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed intently on Kamiya Gen:

"Officer... what... what did you say? Is there still a way?"

"The Criminal Law clearly stipulates that if a person voluntarily surrenders after committing a crime and makes significant contributions to the investigation, assisting the police in uncovering the truth of the case, their sentence may be significantly reduced, and in cases where the circumstances are minor, the prosecution may decide not to prosecute..."

"I'll tell you everything! I'll help the police solve the case!" Toshiaki Toda said quickly.

Kamiya Gen nodded; this was the effect he wanted. He continued, "Go on, tell me what you know."

"Well, officer, it's like this. My original idea was simply to find someone to collect the money. That Keiko Ueda is actually... a cousin from my hometown. Anyway, no one has ever seen that ghost person, and when the factory manager assigned me the task, he said something like 'this matter must be handled immediately, no matter how much it costs,' so I went to find my cousin that very night to have her collect the money. I just didn't expect this idiot to raise the price at the last minute..."

As Toda Toshiaki spoke, his previously fearful tone instantly turned cold. He clenched his fist and slammed it hard on the edge of the table, his knuckles turning red without him even noticing.

"That idiot! That ungrateful woman!"

His voice trembled, half with anger and half with hatred. "I rushed back to my hometown to find her that very night. I made it clear to her that if she pretended to be the deceased's sister and caused a scene, I would give her eight million yen. She knelt on the ground to thank me, saying she would remember my kindness for the rest of her life! And what happened?!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his chest heaving violently, and the veins on his forehead bulging: "After listening to a few words of encouragement from others, she felt that I had taken too much. Not only did she bring people with her, but she also turned against me on the spot, insisting on increasing the compensation from 20 million to 30 million. I advised her to stop while she was ahead and not to call the police, but she wouldn't listen to a word I said. She blocked the gate, stopped the production line, and made the matter known to everyone!"

You just asked her two questions, and she immediately betrayed me, trying to dump all the blame on me and absolve herself of all responsibility!

Toda Toshiaki's voice was trembling with tears, filled with anger and resentment. "I must have been blind to have asked her to do this!"

He vented his anger and curses for a long time, blaming all his mistakes and resentment on his cousin, as if his current predicament was entirely caused by Keiko Ueda.

He cursed until his voice was hoarse, then stopped, panting heavily, and looked at Kamiya Gen with expectant eyes, waiting for him to respond, waiting for him to give a definite answer to confirm that he could reduce his punishment.

But Kamiya Gen remained silent throughout, neither responding to his words nor showing even a trace of extra expression.

The room fell silent instantly, with only Toda Toshiaki's heavy breathing remaining.

Looking at Kamiya Gen's expressionless face, the little bit of confidence he had just vented instantly vanished. He involuntarily shrank back, his head slowly lowered, and the fear in his heart surged up again.

Only after he had completely fallen silent did Kamiya Gen speak softly:

"Finished venting? Let's get down to business. You say you don't know who the deceased is, but what about Sakaguchi Akihiro? Doesn't he know either? He's a factory manager, and an unidentified person suddenly dies in the factory for no reason. Instead of trying to find out who the deceased is, he's urging you to spend money to settle the matter, even going so far as to bribe the police. Do you think that's reasonable?"

Toda Toshiaki clearly hadn't considered this: "What kind of relationship could he have with the factory manager? He shouldn't know..."

"Who informed you that the 'Ghost Man' is dead?" Kamiya Gen asked.

"Yes... Factory Manager..."

"Then where did the person who told you to find the family members to handle the situation quickly go?"

"It's him again."

Kamiya Gen nodded, picked up the handcuffs, stood up, and said:

"Alright, Mr. Toda, let's go down now. I will consider reducing your sentence as I said before."