Chapter 52 Condolences

"Kei Ichikawa was found by the police when they uncovered the Ryugasaki Group's lair. He had been shot in the chest and was unconscious. He was only on his last breath and could not be rescued. He was the secretary of the vice president before his death. He submitted his resignation to the Human Resources Department after the vice president's death. However, he suddenly disappeared a few days after the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office conducted a compulsory search of the foundation. Both the foundation and the police station dispatched a considerable amount of manpower to search, but his whereabouts were not discovered until yesterday."

"Is he an important witness?"

"All private transactions and related matters during the vice president's tenure were handled by him. He has a large amount of records of fund flows and account transactions. After the incident, I was ordered to find him to investigate the matter, but by then, he had disappeared?"

"You mean, he was silenced?" The door of the president's office was closed. The morning sunlight poured in through the large French windows, casting a light warm edge on the brown smooth floor. Youji leaned back in his chair and flipped through the information handed over by Takuma Akiyama. He bent his fingertips and gently tapped the snow-white paper: "But since he has been with the vice president for many years, why do you think he would provide us with information?"

"This..." Takuma Akiyama met the woman's sharp gaze and did not hide much. "Master Jingwu once ordered people to investigate his Beijing. When Kei Ichikawa was young, he accidentally killed someone and fled to a foreign country. Later, he was taken in by the vice president."

"I see." Youji roughly understood.

It is worthy of Keigo Atobe's style of doing things. He grasped the prey's weakness early and brought him under his control. When necessary, he would hit him with one strike.

But this calculation went wrong in the end.

The private account book presented by the prosecutor in court was not even found by Keigo Atobe. Who would reveal this secret to the district prosecutor?

Kei Ichikawa, who held important evidence, was the most likely person to betray the consortium, but he died in such a strange way at this critical juncture?

Youji frowned and calculated carefully in his heart.

"Does the police have any statement on the investigation of the accident in which Kei Ichikawa was killed?"

"The First Investigation Division raided the Ryuzaki Group this time, and unexpectedly found Secretary Ichikawa there. Hiyoshi told me privately that the Ryuzaki Group had dealings with some large companies in terms of accounts, but the specific list still needs to be confirmed. I will contact Hiyoshi further for further investigation results." Feng Changtaro said this, and suddenly seemed to remember something: "Oh, it seems that Kei Ichikawa's memorial service is this afternoon." Youji was

slightly stunned, lowered his head, as if thinking about something.

"Continue to keep in touch with the police, and be sure to obtain their support when necessary." After a long time, Fang said, "In addition, prepare a flower basket. Secretary Ichikawa must go to visit him when he was innocently killed." "

The memorial service for Kei Ichikawa seemed a bit hasty, and the scene and scale were very small. Not many relatives and friends went to pay their respects. At around four o'clock in the afternoon, most of them had said goodbye and left one after another. Kei

Ichikawa's wife was probably in her forties. She was a gentle and elegant traditional housewife. She had some wrinkles because of years of doing housework, but you could still vaguely see her beautiful face when she was young.

The woman was dressed in a black kimono and a white corsage. She looked sad and grief-stricken, as if she would burst into tears if she was not careful.

Yuki sat on the tatami in a black suit. Looking at the woman who had lost her husband in front of her, she sighed in her heart.

"Secretary Ichikawa also worked for the foundation during his lifetime. It is really sad that he encountered such an unexpected event." Her opening remarks were slow and deep, and she leaned forward slightly. "The deceased is gone. Mrs. Ichikawa, please accept my condolences."

"Madam, you are too kind. "The unfortunate woman seemed a little embarrassed and only lowered her head politely.

"If there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to ask." Youji looked at her without saying a word, "I'll do my best."

The woman remained silent and did not answer, lowering her head so that her expression could not be seen.

Youji waited for a long time and asked her softly, "Has the police investigation yielded any results?"

The other party shook her head, as if she was suppressing something. After a long time, she finally sobbed, "I called the police from the beginning, but I didn't know it would be like this. How could he be involved with the underworld? How could he..."

The woman in front of him finally couldn't help crying, her cry was mournful .

Youji was silent for a long time: "Was there no sign before?"

The woman didn't bother to answer and shook her head. Youji saw it and couldn't help but sigh.

"Mrs. Ichikawa, Mr. Ichikawa was most likely killed because he knew something. Think about it carefully. Did he do anything abnormal before this, or did he leave anything behind? "

The woman was stunned, she raised her head and stared at her for a long time, and suddenly a look of realization flashed across her face.

Youji thought she remembered something, but the next moment he saw her shaking her head in panic.

"No, nothing." She stood up hurriedly, "Thank you for coming to see me, I have something to do at home, I'm sorry I can't accompany you."

She took a few steps back, bowed deeply, and retreated to the inner room in panic.

Youji looked at her steadily, and the guess in his heart became clearer and clearer.

"Mrs. Ichikawa." She called the woman who was retreating in a hurry, and raised her voice slightly, "Mr. Ichikawa was murdered for no reason, don't you want to seek justice for him? "

The woman's body suddenly froze, and she slowly turned around with a timid expression on her face.

She was stunned for a long time, then suddenly bent her knees and knelt on the ground, leaned over, tears streaming down her face: "My husband is dead, and there is no way to bring him back even if we pursue it, but my child and I have to continue living, please, don't disturb us anymore..."

"Mrs. Ichikawa..." Youji was stunned for a moment, looking at her in silence for a long time.

"Over the years, he has been running around for Vice President Atobe, and has been worried, but in the end he ended up like this." The woman was already sobbing, "I'm really scared, Mrs. Atobe, please let us go..."

"Mrs. Ichikawa." Youji sighed slightly, sat up slightly, "You seem to have misunderstood, I have no ill intentions." "

But we don't want to be dragged into these messy things anymore."

"Madam." Youji looked at her, "I also have relatives who were innocently dragged into dirty fights and lost their lives. "

Her voice was gentle and her eyes were like water. The woman opposite raised her head with a surprised expression in her eyes.

"I was also so angry and sad before. But there is no use in escaping from these." She just continued, "If you don't face it directly, the disaster will come again! Madam, do you think you can stay out of it by saying nothing? The mastermind who killed Mr. Ichikawa is worried about him, so how can he be at ease with his wife? Are you really willing to let the killer go unpunished?"

Her voice was not loud, but full of strength, and the look in her eyes was sharp.

The woman looked at him blankly, without speaking for a while, and after a long time, she whispered: "Hehe, it sounds good, you are just doing it for yourself."

"Yes, I don't deny it." You Ji nodded, "You must have heard about the case of the Atobe Zaibatsu suspected of money laundering transactions. The accounts left by the former vice president can only be traced to Mr. Ichikawa. " "

But, wouldn't my husband become an accomplice to money laundering in that case? "She suddenly became excited," The man is already dead, do you still want to destroy his reputation?"

Ji Muran looked at the woman in front of him and sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." She said, turning sideways, facing the person in front of her, supporting herself on the ground with both hands, and leaning down. "I'm really sorry to ask you this. I don't want to hide it either. The Atobe Zaibatsu is mired in a money laundering scandal. If no strong evidence is produced, the lawsuit is likely to be lost, and the reputation and performance of the chaebol will also be greatly hit. But ma'am, do you really not want to find out the truth? Mr. Ichikawa is also very likely to be implicated in this matter and die innocently. The mastermind behind the scenes will do anything to cover up the truth, not to mention that it involves the power of the underworld? Please think about it carefully!"

She lowered her head, her expression humble.

The woman sitting opposite looked at her in a daze, and after a long time, she sat down dejectedly.

"My husband..." She said silently, "Before the accident, he once mentioned to me that some things were placed in a secret place."

When she came out, dusk was already falling, and the neon lights on the street were lit up one after another.

"Senior?" Sakai Otonashi, who had been waiting outside for a long time, waved at her, not forgetting to look at her expression, "How was it, how did the talk go?"

"Let's talk about it when we get back." Youji just nodded and walked side by side with her, a little tiredness disappeared in the twilight, "Where's Tezuka?"

"Inspector Hiyoshi has a message. He and Fengjun went to the police station."

Fengjun, not Chotaro.

Youji vaguely sensed something, and thought of that snowy night, and glanced at her, "Are you still angry with him?"

"It's not me who wants to be angry with him." Sakai Otonashi snorted and raised his head, "I just followed the wishes of Old Master Feng and drew a clear line with these big families."

So Youji could only smile helplessly.

There are always many things in the world that don't go as one wishes. It would be really good if the woman in front of her could see things more clearly, but she just kept saying it. But at the moment, she didn't have too much energy to interfere in the grievances of young people, so she could only smile and say nothing.

At this time, Akiyama Takuma and Attorney Takagi should still be investigating the accounts at the headquarters, so they should go back to explain some things.

An expert consultation lasted for a whole morning, and then they discussed the surgical plan for an entire afternoon. It was not until the evening that Yuushi Oshi had time to wander into Atobe's ward. By then, it was dark, and lights were lit in every corner of the hospital, emitting a dim, warm and desolate light.

"Has Yuki not come back yet?" Oshi looked at Karaji standing outside the door and raised the corner of his lips slightly.

Atobe leaned against the head of the bed and pulled the corner of his mouth inadvertently: "Ah, it seems that I have offended her."

"Who told you not to take it seriously."

Oshi taunted without hesitation, but Atobe coldly hooked his lips and closed the financial magazine in his hand: "Dr. Oshi is here to issue a serious illness notice to me?"

"There should be a limit to being poisonous. Do you curse yourself like this?" Oshi glanced at him, smiling lazily, but frowning inadvertently.

"So, a large group of experts have been busy for a whole day, there should be a result, right?" "

Surgery immediately, can't be delayed any longer." The Kansai man in a white coat leaned against the wall and looked at him calmly, his tone firm.

"What's the plan?"

"The safe way is to use Batista surgery to remove the diseased part, and then wait for organ transplantation." Oshiro said slowly, "Or directly perform volume reduction surgery and try to reconstruct the left ventricle. In this way, the recovery after surgery will be faster, and the impact on quality of life will be smaller, but the risk is greater."

"How much?"

Oshiro glanced at him and said a number: "The success rate is 45%."

Atobe was silent for a while: "Got it."

Oshiro knew that he had made a decision in his heart.

It is true that using Batista surgery to remove the diseased myocardium is the most conservative method, but it cannot fundamentally cure the disease. If a suitable match cannot be found in the next few years, then the efforts made before will only extend life for a few years.

Atobe Keigo never fights a battle without confidence, but he is also a shrewd gambler.

But this time, the chips are on him, Oshiro Yuushi.

The genius of Hyotei gave a bitter smile, not knowing whether he should feel honored.

Although he was somewhat hesitant about the high-risk surgical plan, because of Atobe's insistence, when Atobe Jingyi and Yuki came over at night, they had a brief discussion and finally decided on a general surgical plan.

At that time, the night was fading, and the ward was silent. The footsteps of the nurses patrolling the corridor could be heard occasionally. Yuki pulled the light green blinds to isolate the deep twilight outside. Turning back, a floor lamp in the room was quietly emitting a soft light.

"I went to Kei Ichikawa's memorial service this afternoon and talked to his wife for a while."

"How was it?"

"There is an envelope in the safe deposit box of Citibank."

She poured a cup of hot water and handed it to him. Atobe took it in his hand and pondered for a moment: "Ask Akiyama to check it out, he will take care of it."

"Before, did you plan to let him testify in court?"

"Unfortunately, someone took the initiative." Atobe sneered and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed. "I didn't plan carefully and caused you trouble."

This game should have been handled by him personally, but who knew that something unexpected would happen and she had to run around. Atobe raised the corner of his lips, and a little apology flashed in his eyes.

Youji stared at him blankly and didn't say anything.

"Why, are you still angry?" Atobe smiled bitterly, thinking that she was still angry from the morning.

Youji rolled his eyes at him, was silent for a long time, and finally sighed.

"Who wants to argue with you?" She frowned at him, "You are still trying to be strong now. Do you really think you are more lucky than Ryosaka and dare not accept you?"

It was obvious that she was complaining about such a risky surgical plan.

Atobe laughed, "Inuzuka has his own limits. You should trust him."

She frowned and said nothing.

Even in the era of advanced medicine, countless people die of diseases every year.

She also believed that her brother, who depended on each other for life more than a year ago, was also lying in the cold cemetery on the outskirts of the city.

She didn't say this out loud. When such a thought flashed through her mind, she was inexplicably panicked in her heart. How could she have such an ominous idea?

Atobe looked at her depressed look and seemed to have guessed something. He curled the corners of his lips and reached out to hold her hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not your brother." He pulled her wrist and held the woman's slender fingers in his hand. The temperature between them was slightly cool, and the wedding ring on the fingertips slid across the skin, with a hard touch.

The limited edition Cartier diamond ring, I remember he put it on her at the New Year's party the year before. He seemed to remember something, and looked at it carefully for a while, his fingertips lingering on the delicate facets and textures of the diamond, and with his eyelids drooping, he suddenly whispered: "In the worst case, let it accompany me."

You Ji was stunned and suddenly pulled out of his hand.

The wedding ring symbolized the marriage contract, but he wanted to take it off?

Maybe her reaction was too intense, and Ji was also slightly startled. He looked at her for a while, and then smiled faintly: "Just kidding."