Chapter Eleven: The Other Shoe Drops

Chief of the Mihana Town Police Station in Eastern Capital...

As expected...

While Shiraishi Kuroshi felt a bit resentful in his heart, he also understood—this was the moment the boot finally dropped!

He had anticipated this outcome to some extent. Not only had he failed to be assigned to the Metropolitan Police Department, the government’s central police authority, but he hadn’t even secured a position within the Eastern Capital Police Headquarters. As a member of the “Professional Group,” he was directly relegated to a local police station!

And not just any station—it was a major one!

Generally, the typical promotion path for the Professional Group would be to serve as a captain at a small station as a stepping stone during the “Police Inspector” rank, then advance to a major station as “Senior Police Inspector,” after which further promotion was rare.

Still, it wasn’t entirely bad. At least Director Hakuba, though he hadn’t met him, had managed to pull some strings for him. Moreover...

The Mihana Town Police Station, under the jurisdiction of the Police Headquarters and located right in the Eastern Capital’s port district, wasn’t some remote backwater county station!

Being appointed Senior Police Inspector and assigned as Chief of Mihana Town Police Station was just about right...

In the entire Eastern Capital, there were 106 police stations, 22 of which were major stations led by Senior Police Inspectors; the rest were smaller stations headed by Police Inspectors.

Mihana Town was one of the major stations...

And the appointment date was set for tomorrow—September 17, 2016!

Shiraishi Kuroshi hadn’t even seen Director Hakuba to receive any commendation, clearly understanding that this meant he wasn’t going to meet him.

So Shiraishi went straight to the Police Affairs Department’s Document Section—since he had to take up his new post tomorrow, he needed to collect his chief’s uniform, new ID, and other essentials there.

Of course, managing records wasn’t technically the remit of the Document Section, so why was he here...

“Yo, Section Chief Iwata!” Shiraishi greeted casually as he entered the office, with no one stopping him.

However, Iwata, seated behind his desk, didn’t look up and said coldly, “Please knock before entering. Thank you.”

“Don’t be so cold! Iwata-kun!” Shiraishi grinned, leaning forward playfully.

“Cut the crap! When you’re working, do you think you can just buddy up? Use formal titles for superiors and subordinates, and rank designations for equals, got it?” Iwata snapped in irritation.

Shinichi Iwata was Shiraishi’s classmate from the police academy. In the Eastern Island Nation, the police academy was attended only after passing the police exam and being confirmed for employment. Thus, the “Professional Group,” “Quasi-Professional Group,” and “Non-Professional Group” were clearly separated and did not attend together.

Since Iwata was Shiraishi’s classmate, he was also in the Professional Group, three years older, bespectacled, and even in uniform, exuded a refined, bureaucratic police officer demeanor. In fact, he had been promoted to Police Inspector two years earlier and was currently head of the Document Section in the Police Affairs Department of the Police Headquarters—a model career path for the Professional Group.

Each year’s Professional Group cohort had only about a dozen members; Iwata was among Shiraishi’s closer classmates.

At this moment...

Because a month ago Shiraishi had ignored his advice and even concealed his investigation into the Ichiro Inukai case, Iwata was sulking.

While Shiraishi was unconscious, Iwata visited the hospital several times. After Shiraishi awoke, Iwata came only once—and left after seeing him from outside the door...

“Next time something like this happens, I’ll drag you along!” Iwata had said.

“Next time? Fine, deal... Next time, you tell me first, and I’ll report you for illegal evidence gathering in advance!” Shiraishi replied.

“Next time, definitely, next time...”

...

Thanks to his thick skin, Shiraishi finally appeased him.

“Got something to say, say it. If not, get lost!” Iwata grumbled, but at least was willing to listen now.

Iwata also understood that Shiraishi hadn’t contacted anyone beforehand mainly to avoid implicating others.

Shiraishi’s reason for visiting was to find out if anyone had been dragged down because of him.

“You’re overthinking it. But your old superior, Section Chief Odagiri from the Special Group, has been transferred to head the Criminal Department... Though Kanagawa Prefecture is a different system, I heard from a contact there that Inspector Yokomizo also received commendations, and even though he’s from the Non-Professional Group, he’s safe from retaliation!” Iwata replied.

Shiraishi wasn’t surprised about the change in criminal department leadership—the previous chief had been a lackey of the Minister of Justice, brazenly defying Director Hakuba.

Such a person wasn’t going to escape unscathed.

What Shiraishi hadn’t expected was that his old superior would actually be the one promoted...

The Special Group theoretically was on par with the Criminal Department, but the latter’s chief usually had greater seniority and influence.

“Director Hakuba also managed to topple Minister Inukai, so... only your world got wrecked!” Iwata deliberately teased Shiraishi.

“Wrecked? I actually jumped two ranks!” Shiraishi said awkwardly.

“Heh, yeah... The hopeless future of Senior Police Inspector Shiraishi,” Iwata rolled his eyes.

If he had only been promoted to Police Inspector, Shiraishi, as a Professional Group member, would be considered relatively fast for getting there before age 30, but not extraordinary—just “decent.”

For example, Iwata himself became an Inspector at age 30 and heads the Document Section.

However, normally, promotion to Senior Police Inspector required at least fifteen years of service, even for the Professional Group.

This was clearly an abnormal situation!

A two-rank leap...

Shiraishi guessed this was a posthumous-like promotion—usually, officers who die in the line of duty are posthumously promoted two ranks!

Firstly, Shiraishi’s injuries had indeed been severe, with extensive nerve and internal damage; doctors considered it a matter of life or permanent disability.

Secondly, given the scale of the incident, not publicly acknowledging the “injured officer” status would look bad in public opinion.

Thirdly... Director Hakuba likely intended to use this opportunity to stage a coup, abandoning his previous cautious strategy and making a bold statement.

Of course, even though Shiraishi was alive and kicking now, the rank of Senior Police Inspector couldn’t be revoked—no wonder officials in the Police Headquarters and Ministry of Justice questioned whether Director Hakuba had bribed the old man Hiruma or fabricated the injury report!

But speaking of “prospects,” a position like chief of a local police station, especially a major one, was usually a role people held until retirement and was incomparable to being a department head in the Police Headquarters.

When special task forces or joint investigations formed, any department head in the Police Headquarters could easily command within a local police station...

...

After chatting with Iwata for a while and being kicked out, Shiraishi returned to the Special Group’s Third Section office to pack up.

Fortunately, Shiraishi had decent standing within the Special Group, and although he had suffered losses, their big boss, Section Chief Odagiri, had been promoted.

Though Odagiri was absent, other colleagues wanted to hold a farewell gathering for Shiraishi.

But at that moment...

“I have plans tonight.”

“Takei...”

Clang—

A rugged-looking officer with a scruffy beard left abruptly without even looking at Shiraishi.

The atmosphere became awkward because Takei was Shiraishi’s former partner and the new head of the Fourth Unit in the Third Section, and rumors of their bad relationship were already circulating.

“Lately, the Arakawa Group has been really unruly... Haha, then Police Inspector Takei will have to work overtime. By the way, I booked a spot at the usual place!” someone quickly changed the subject.

...

A group of rough Special Group officers heading to a tavern really gave off the vibe of a yakuza meeting...

At the farewell party, Shiraishi drank quite a bit, and by the time he returned to the Police Headquarters dormitory, it was very late.

However, he still took out the documents for his new post as Chief of Mihana Town Police Station—copies he had obtained from the Document Section!

The Mihana Town Police Station had 522 officers, with a residential population of 320,000 in its jurisdiction. The daily population flow was several times the permanent residents. It oversaw 17 police boxes, with important sites including Shiba Park, Eastern Capital Tower, Tarobica Amusement Park, Mihana Museum, Mihana Library, Mihana Art Museum, Mihana Aquarium, Mihana Central Building, Mihana Department Store, Mihana Central Hospital, Teitan University, Mihana University and its hospital, Mihana Hotel, Daikoku Building, Mihana Tower, Mihana Shopping Street, and Mihana Forest...

Flipping through the documents, Shiraishi found himself wide awake, feeling as if between every line was written just two words:

Murder!