He had only one answer, and he believed in only one thing.
But even so, lately, he could hear the sound of his bones creaking inside his body from time to time.
In fact, he thought he’d just heard the rasp of them again. But Sora Oushuu fixed his eyes on the broad-shouldered man in the dark-gray suit sitting diagonally across from him.
“It’s not for me to pass judgment on how excessive the embezzlement was,” Sora said.
He was in the conference room on the fourth floor of Daitokyo Bank’s Mejiro branch, located in front of Mejiro Station. From where he sat, he could see the edge of some lush greenery outside the window, the neighboring campus of an old university. It was the second Friday of September; green leaves rustled against the clear blue sky in the late summer heat.
“Going forward, your bank should give a clear indication of how you intend to assess the act itself in terms of its malice, its intentionality, and its recurrence,” Sora continued. He turned to a man named Nakategawa, who was sitting on his right, dressed in a dark-navy suit; Nakategawa served as both the general manager and the deputy general manager of the branch.
Sora was a certified fraud examiner: a specialized profession in which he was commissioned by business corporations to investigate any fraudulent activity and, if anything was detected, to ascertain the responsible party and compile the relevant evidence.
The conference tables formed two rows in the room, and a man named Etou—the head of the corporate sales division, who was being accused of embezzlement—sat on the other side, his face twisted into a grimace. The man in the dark-gray suit sitting next to Etou was his attorney. It was just the four of them facing one another in the large conference room: Sora, Nakategawa, Etou, and Etou’s attorney.
“‘Should,’ you say?” the attorney said in a low but airy tone.
“I don’t see any sign of remorse in Mr. Etou,” Sora went on. “Besides, this isn’t the sort of crime you can sweep under the rug by simply repaying the entire sum and taking disciplinary action.”
“Are you suggesting,” Nakategawa blurted out anxiously, “we should report it to the Financial Services Agency as well as the prosecutors? I have no authority to make such a decision on my own.”
“With these figures, it’s only reasonable to suspect some foul play when the person in question can repay the sum in full. We’re talking about over a hundred million yen here. It hasn’t been made clear why Mr. Etou would be able to make the entire payment in the first place.”
Sora turned his icy gaze on Etou in front of him.
Etou glared back. “The money was pooled. That’s why I can return it as is. I’ve already told you a number of times,” he snapped. He had passed his boiling point long ago.
For a thirty-one-year-old, Sora still looked quite young. His features were well-proportioned, and most people would guess that he was intelligent from his appearance alone. His voice was steady, neither high-pitched nor low, and his expressions didn’t change much, either.
As a certified fraud examiner, he was an outsider hired by corporations to prevent fraud, if possible, or to handle the issue internally before it became a public scandal—although, strictly speaking, these tasks were normally the purview of the company’s internal audit office. Since he would be called in when that internal system proved ineffective, Sora was used to being accosted as a persona non grata. In fact, he never concerned himself with other people’s feelings while carrying out his duties.
“Mr. Etou, I apologize for putting this question to you once again. Are you certain you are the sole perpetrator? Do you assert that there was absolutely no involvement of any criminal organizations?” Quiet and calm, he intoned the same question he had already posed to Etou many times.
“Certainly—”
Etou was about to add not, but the others could sense some hesitation.
“Mr. Nakategawa. If, in fact, the head of the corporate sales division was methodically passing on to a criminal organization funds that amounted to over a hundred million yen—money that your customers have entrusted to your bank, essentially…”
Sora paused and glanced at Etou, who showed no hint of either repenting or confessing.
“If that is indeed the case, and if the bank proceeds to cover up the crime, imagine what would happen when the scandal comes into the open. The people’s confidence in your bank would be irrevocably destroyed.”
“Well, that is true, but…,” mumbled Nakategawa.
“If it came to that, Mr. Etou would certainly face imprisonment for corporate embezzlement,” the attorney remarked to Sora in his low voice. He looked at Etou, his client, with a strangely indifferent expression.
“Imprisonment would be appropriate. Hundreds of millions have been flowing from your bank to criminal organizations, effectively funding their unlawful activities—systematic fraud on the elderly, drug dealing, violence. The mere act of backing them calls for severe punishment. I would like you to acknowledge the full magnitude of your actions.”
“That was never my intention!” Etou stood up, knocking over his chair. His face was red with fury, and he was trembling with anger.
Sora returned a steady gaze at the panicking man. Over the last two weeks, Sora had investigated Etou, collecting information on the transactions in his account and on the records of suspicious activities in his private finances and entertainment expenses. He had everything he needed to prove Etou’s embezzlement. Only a single issue remained: to ascertain whether Etou had a connection with a criminal organization for his personal gain.
On his laptop, Sora typed up the words Etou had just spoken. “I’ve made a record of his words, Mr. Nakategawa.”
It was Nakategawa, not Etou, who gave a heavy sigh of resignation.
“I can also confirm… I heard him clearly.”
Just when the battle seemed to be settled, the attorney interjected once again in his nonchalant way. “As I understand, today’s hearing was on the condition that it wouldn’t be recorded. You are only writing down what you heard, yes?”
“What more do you intend to do?” Sora demanded sharply, turning to the attorney. “Mr. Etou has committed a serious crime. Now that he has practically admitted to his link with a criminal organization, you must realize the bank will want to report it to the prosecutors as quickly as possible.”
“Everyone’s doing it!” Etou shouted desperately, still standing.
“Everyone? Who exactly do you have in mind?” Sora looked at Etou but kept his voice low. “Please, do tell.”
Etou bit back whatever he was going to say.
“Systematic embezzlement of over a hundred million yen and feeding funds to criminal organizations—no, not everyone does that,” Sora went on. Etou’s fists were clenched tight. “Did you ever stop to imagine how your own greed might lead to someone’s death?”
His quiet yet ruthless words sliced through the air like a thin blade.
“Allow us to reconsider our position,” said the attorney. He picked up his black briefcase, full of documents, clearly preparing to leave. “Come with me, Mr. Etou. For now, they have no power to force us.”
When the attorney gave a pat on his back, Etou finally breathed out a sigh.
“We can’t force you,” said Sora, “but you have no right to settle the matter yourself, either.”
“I’m a lawyer like you, so I have no intention of helping him escape. Please send me a written report on Monday. After confirming the facts, we will discuss at length how he can atone for his conduct.” The attorney waved off Sora’s concern with a laugh. “At this point, nothing more will happen, I can assure you.”
Without explaining precisely what he meant by that last remark, the attorney nudged Etou toward the door. Etou glanced back one last time and glowered at Sora, but his dirty look had no effect on Sora’s feelings or any outward expression thereof.
“You’re so sure you’re always right, aren’t you? You and no one else,” Etou spat out, irked by Sora’s unfaltering air. “You think you know everything…!”
“What I do know at the present moment is how malicious this case is,” Sora replied bluntly and honestly. But there was something in Etou’s words that disturbed him.
“Shall we, Mr. Etou?” As calm as ever, the attorney ushered Etou out of the room. He was smiling, as if to shrug and say, “What else can we do?”
Sora bristled as he watched them leave.
Nakategawa threw up his hands as soon as the door had closed behind them. “Honestly, I didn’t think the case was this serious when I called you on board, Mr. Oushuu.”
When it was discovered that the accounts of the Mejiro branch didn’t balance out and the internal audit office could only provide vague answers, Sora was brought into the investigation. One by one, Sora interviewed the main people at the branch whose positions allowed them to move large amounts of money. He found out that the companies the bank had financed under Etou’s guidance had undergone unnatural bankruptcies, and some of those companies didn’t even exist. His next move was to hold a hearing for Etou himself and file a report, but then the attorney came on the scene, and now the investigation was dragging out needlessly.
“Just the fact that Etou has the means to hire that attorney suggests he has some private funds hidden away somewhere.” The services of a formidable opponent like that would cost a considerable sum.