National Tide 1980.

As expected, Takahashi Harunori's interrogation initially occurred shortly after he returned to his solitary confinement cell following breakfast. The police came to summon him.

He never expected the subsequent drop in fortune to be so dramatic.

"Takahashi Harunori! You're going to be interrogated. Come out!"

The door lock rattled loudly.

It must be said that after opening the door, although Takahashi still had to pull up his pants to move, just like before, and even though his empty stomach was burning with hunger, he was happy to see the hope of escaping.

Perhaps because he was already used to it, or perhaps because he was eager to clear up the misunderstanding, he no longer minded being named like that, and walked on quite excitedly.

So much so that the police officers following behind him had to order him to slow down in order to calm him down.

The police station has a long corridor with many small rooms on both sides, each with a nameplate indicating the police inspector. These are all interrogation rooms.

Harunori Takahashi was taken to one of the rooms by the police officers escorting him.

At the table by the window in the room sat a slightly overweight man, around thirty-four or thirty-five years old, wearing a suit.

He seemed to have nothing to do, so he leisurely looked out the window, where the bright sunlight streamed into the room.

“We’ve brought the prisoner here,” the two policemen reported to him, standing at attention.

However, upon hearing this, a nameless worry began to arise in Harunori Takahashi's heart.

The term "prisoner" was not what he expected.

It was clearly just a misunderstanding, so why are these police officers calling him that?

His emotions surged again, and before the police officer could even speak, he was eager to clear his name.

"I'm not a criminal. I haven't committed any crime. What criminal?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Otherwise, I will sue you."

"Where is my lawyer? Call him here immediately, I need to see him right now..."

Two policemen immediately took action and forcibly restrained him. One of them had already reached for his baton at his waist, and it looked like he was about to give Takahashi a good beating.

However, the police inspector seemed to be a magnanimous person. He raised his hand to stop them and then smiled to soothe Takahashi Harunori's emotions.

"Don't get agitated, I understand how you feel. You'll be able to see a lawyer, but everything will have to go through the proper procedures. Don't make things difficult for us. Relax, calm yourself down, and then we can have a proper talk, okay?"

In this situation, even a fool would know which option to choose.

Takahashi Harunori was secretly regretting his impulsiveness and thought he was going to suffer again. Upon hearing this, he had no reason not to agree and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Please have a seat." The other person gestured to the chair across the table and introduced himself, "I am Inspector Inoue, nice to meet you."

Upon hearing this, Takahashi Harunori, who had just sat down, realized that this was the name on the nameplate at the entrance.

"Here, have a cigarette."

Unexpectedly, the inspector then took out a cigarette case from his pocket, opened it, and offered a cigarette to Takahashi Harunori.

Such a gesture of goodwill made Takahashi Harunori feel even more at ease, thankful that he had finally met a reasonable person.

However, the stinging in his throat made Harunori Takahashi have no interest in smoking.

He first waved his hand to refuse, saying, "No, thank you," and then made another request, "My throat hurts a little, could I have a glass of water?"

"That's it."

The inspector withdrew his cigarette and immediately said to a young policeman, "Hey, what are you doing? Didn't you hear me? Hurry up and serve Mr. Takahashi some tea..."

Such courtesy made Takahashi Harunori feel that Inspector Inoue was quite approachable, which increased his hope of clearing his name.

Unfortunately, everything before his eyes was just an illusion created by Harunori Takahashi.

It turned out that all of this was nothing more than the cunning and shrewd inspector manipulating human nature, another way of tormenting him.

Just like a cat that has caught a mouse, it doesn't rush to eat it.

Sometimes, the cat will deliberately let the mouse go, and when it gets tired of playing with it, it will swallow the toy whole.

"The conditions here aren't very good. Judging from your appearance, you didn't seem to rest well yesterday. Are you not used to it?"

Inspector Inoue lit a cigarette and exhaled a few smoke rings.

“I really can’t adapt. I never knew that the conditions in the detention center were so bad.”

The hot tea soothed his stomach and intestines, and also calmed his emotions.

At that moment, he genuinely believed that the person interrogating him was just being polite.

"That's not surprising. Your file shows you're the president of EIE. If that's the case, you've always lived a life of luxury. Let alone a place like this where prisoners are held, even for an ordinary person, life would be considered suffering..."

The inspector's words clearly had a hidden meaning.

However, Takahashi, having endured a night of torment, was completely exhausted and did not notice this at all.

He put down his teacup, then adopted the demeanor of a young nobleman, nodding in agreement, and began to describe with a sense of unease the mistreatment he had suffered the previous day.

His attempt to elicit sympathy elicited a smile from Inspector Inoue, as if he had seen something amusing.

"Your information also shows that you are a top student who graduated from Keio University? So, you're a business elite from a prestigious university. You must deal with important figures in the business world every day, right?"

"Hmm, more or less." Takahashi Harunori didn't notice the sarcasm hidden in Inoue's eyes; he only cared about his own face.

So after thinking it over, he not only decided not to reveal that he had been ousted by the board of directors, but also began to embellish his description of his social connections.

People like Nakano Kō of Daiei Company, Masatoshi Ito of Ito-Yokado, and Shun Ishihara, the representative director of the Keizai Doyukai, all became his close business partners.

Undoubtedly, he wanted to gain more respect for himself in this way.

However, the disappointment came so suddenly.

"Then I don't understand. Someone like you, who originally had a comfortable life and a bright future, why would you do so many bad things?"

With Inspector Inoue's aggressive question, the previously pleasant atmosphere immediately turned sour, and an inexplicable sense of oppression quietly descended upon Takahashi Harunori.

"What? What... what are you saying! I... I understand what you mean perfectly well!" Takahashi Harunori was dumbfounded, never expecting the other party to suddenly attack him.

"You understand, I'm stating the facts. As a law enforcement officer, I'm naturally responsible for what I say. The question now is, are you going to voluntarily confess your crimes?"

If what he said earlier could be considered a test, then now that Inoue is staring straight at Takahashi, his intentions are obvious.

"Crime? What do you want me to say? I didn't do anything."

Takahashi Harunori's heart skipped a beat, and he answered even more cautiously. "Is that really so?" the inspector asked, his tone sinister as he confirmed. "You mean, you're completely innocent?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm completely innocent. Whatever the reason, you must have made a mistake in arresting me."

"Then why would anyone report you? You seem to be quite adept at business bullying. Whenever other companies have a conflict of interest with you, you use bribery, sometimes even outright extortion, employing all sorts of dirty and despicable means to forcibly merge them into your own name. I heard that you even embezzled your father-in-law's company, right?"

"This is all a lie. This is a slander against me. Who is the person who is defaming me? I will sue them until they beg for mercy on their knees."

Harunori Takahashi gritted his teeth; he now finally realized that the other party was not a good person and would not come.

He wasn't even sure if the police inspector in front of him was acting on behalf of one of his enemies.

Therefore, in order to protect himself, he had no choice but to fight back forcefully and deny everything.

However, Inspector Inoue was no pushover either.

Even from a professional standpoint, once you bare your fangs, you won't give your opponent a moment's respite, just like a predator relentlessly pursues its prey.

"So this is slander against you? What about financial crimes? Your lifestyle seems quite extravagant, all paid for with your own money. Besides, the source of many of your personal financial assets seems suspicious. Oh, and women, you seem to have quite a few mistresses. But it seems you never pay for these women out of your own pocket; all the expenses are paid by the company's finance department. It seems you have someone by your side specifically to handle everything related to your mistresses. Am I right?"

Takahashi Harunori was driven to the brink of madness. The inspector's words were like stripping him naked, pointing directly to his vulnerabilities.

He was both angry and terrified, and wished he could grab the other person's collar and demand to know who had betrayed him so completely.

But his reason also told him that what was more important at the moment was that he had to deny it and do everything he could to protect his innocence.

“I’ve heard that police officers act on instinct, no matter what they do. What you just said is certainly true. Inspector, I need to see my lawyer now. That’s my right, and I won’t say another word unless you grant my request.”

"Oh? Sharp-tongued and knowledgeable about the law. No wonder you're from high society, you understand the law of silence, don't you?"

The inspector, Crab, had a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his face. He then opened a drawer and casually took out some documents. "But I'm not just going by gut feeling. I have solid evidence for the accusations I made against you."

That wasn't all. The inspector continued his psychological warfare, saying, "Don't harbor any illusions. I'm giving you one more chance. Do you want to confess your crimes? This is related to your sentence. Think it over carefully."

It seemed that from that moment on, the sunlight outside the window gradually weakened, and the room became much darker.

Takahashi Harunori began to feel uneasy; he hadn't expected his opponent to have such a trick up his sleeve.

He tried hard to make out the writing on the documents, but Inoue placed his fingers on the table, pressing them down as if to hide the writing.

Takahashi couldn't see clearly no matter how hard he tried.

As a result, an uncontrollable new anxiety welled up in his heart, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead from his guilty conscience.

He was both afraid that the other party had solid evidence, and worried that the other party was bluffing him.

To admit or to deny? The two strategies kept tug at his heart.

"Don't waste your energy. I'm innocent and haven't done anything that can be called a crime. I advise you to let me meet with a lawyer as soon as possible and not make things too ugly. Otherwise, don't expect me to answer any of your questions. And I will pursue legal action against you."

Finally, Harunori Takahashi made up his mind and decided to gamble on Inoue's bluff. He was determined to go all the way down this path.

Unfortunately, he lost the bet.

He didn't see the reaction he expected from Inoue; the other man's expression still showed complete confidence.

Moreover, not only that, the other party, as if they had guessed the dice roll correctly, happily snapped their fingers.

"I knew you would choose this. How could someone as radical as you so easily admit defeat? But everything I said is true, and no matter how much you deny it, it's useless. I already have enough evidence."

Then, he actually took his hands away and spread out the documents, displaying them to Takahashi Harunori as if to show off.

"I can't show you the specific contents of the documents, but I can read you the names of some witnesses who are willing to testify in court, and their relationship with you."

Then, the names and identities he uttered struck Takahashi Harunori's heart like stones falling from the sky.

"Impossible! Impossible, how could this happen? Where did you get these people's testimonies from...?"

Biting his lower lip, Takahashi Harunori could no longer continue after only hearing half of it. The color drained from his face, and a huge black hole appeared before his eyes, sucking him into the abyss.

Each of these names represents someone who has done some clandestine work for him or collaborated on certain shady deals. Some were his confidants in the company, while others were business partners of affiliated companies.

If one or two cases could be considered a coincidence, then the probability of Inoue reading out the names of more than a dozen people in succession is absolutely impossible.

Without a doubt, Harunori Takahashi knew that his chances of winning were slim.

In this situation, arguing is futile and meaningless.

His tough stance just now was based on his confidence that the other party could not easily find any evidence against him.

But now that premise has been overturned, so what can he do even if he denies it?
His situation is very precarious, and he may indeed face legal consequences for some of his actions.

He just doesn't understand how the other party managed to do that.

He was just arrested yesterday, how could they have investigated his case so thoroughly and accurately in such a short time?

This is too strange.

"Someone must be trying to frame me! Who is it that wants to harm me?"

This was the only possibility that Harunori Takahashi could think of.

His mind began to go haywire, and everything around him seemed to be tilting.

He felt dizzy, but he struggled to stay upright, just to figure out why.

"Inspector," he said, sweating profusely, "please tell me, please tell me who it is? Who wants me dead and sent me here? And who gave you this information?"

The inspector laughed. "Are you that concerned about this? What does it matter who it is anyway? It won't change your situation."

"Please tell me, I want to know."

“Oh,” the inspector’s eyes were smiling, full of mockery, but he didn’t keep him in suspense any longer.

"Alright, since you care so much, I'll tell you then. Listen carefully, the one who brought you here to provide the police with evidence of your crimes and demanded that we bring you to justice is the EIE board of directors."

"The board of directors? The EIE's board of directors?"

"Yes. Who could believe it? The company you used to work for is now sanctioning you?"

"..."

The truth was revealed in an instant.

But Takahashi Harunori felt the world spinning, and his vision blurred. (End of Chapter)