[p. 1]
[Text:] Nagano prefecture. Mt. Saijo.
W-Wait…
Please, wait…
I'm sorry…
I'm really sorry…
Please consider this carefully...
If this gets out, you won't be able to live normally anymore either... Your life will over...
Those who desire life will die…
And those who desire death will live*...
[T/N: Quote attributed to Uesugi Kenshin]
[Side note:] The start of a new series, featuring a fierce battle…!!
[p.2 (title page)]
File 913: Woodpecker
[Thought bubble:] I am Bishamonten*…
[Thought bubble:] The God of War who will destroy the woodpecker…
[T/N: Japanese name of Vaisravana, a Buddhist God of warfare]
[Text:] The Kawanakajima murder case begins!!
[p.3]
Are you sure you don't need a lift?
I’m bringing them to the station anyway...
Or I could call another patrol car?
I would drive you myself...
Don't worry about it! I already asked the proprietress to call us a taxi.
I want to take a detour to a certain place...
I see…
But I really don't want to share a car with these two…
They look like they’ll be at each other’s throat any minute...
Say…
This detour you mention…
What is it?
Well, speaking of Nagano, it can only be...
[p. 4]
The battles of Kawanakajima...
Where Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen fought!
I didn’t know you were that interested in history, Dad!
Oh, you didn’t?
Wasn't there a period drama special on TV recently…
Where the role of Princess Yuu, the woman Takeda’s strategist Yamamoto Kansuke was in love with, was played by Okino Yoko?
Oh, right, what was that strategy called again?
You know, the strategy that was used in this battle which was named after some bird…
Was it the owl stratagem, or something?
Woodpecker…
[p. 5]
It's the woodpecker strategy, Ran-chan!
Detective Yui!
Like a woodpecker, who pecks one side of a tree and then waits for the bugs to come out on the other…
Takeda's troops divided into two groups. One group snuck up the mountain where Uesugi’s troops were stationed under cover of the night and took position there. Once Uesugi's troops fled down the mountain in a panic, the second group would be waiting for them at the foot of the mountain.
It's a truly annihilating strategy!
It’s a famous strategy that Yamamoto Kansuke, who belonged to Takeda’s army, came up with.
Right, Kan-chan?
It’s not like I thought of that strategy...
However, Uesugi Kenshin saw through the strategy and elegantly turned it into a counter-attack, driving Takeda's troops into a corner.
It is truly deplorable that the strategy failed...
I already said that I didn't come up with it!
What are the three of you doing here?
Is it a case?
No. We only took a short detour to this place after finishing up some questioning nearby.
Inspector Yamato said that he'd never been here, so I thought I should bring him here at least once…
Inspector Yamato Kansuke of the Nagano police...
[p. 6]
A one-eyed, long-haired guy with a cane…
He's the person who comes closest to Haibara's description of the Black Organization's number two, Rum...
I-It couldn't be that he is really...
Hm?
What is it, sonny?
Is there something on my face?
Ah, no.
Oi, Yamato!
What are you doing here?
Don't tell me you came here for a date with your childhood friend Uehara…
… during work hours?
[Box:] Saegusa Mamoru (37)
Inspector of the Nagano Police
W- We'd never do something like that!
We had a bit of free time after questioning, so we decided to stop by here.
Ah, I see that the returnee Morofushi is here as well...
[p. 7]
What brings you here, Saegusa-san?
I need to visit the hideout of a wanted robber.
Before that I wanted to pay my respects to Lord Shingen…
Don't think I came here to make idle conversation...
Not like Aburakawa here...
My name isn't Aburakawa, it's Akiyama!
I already told you that I took my mother's name, Akiyama, after my parents' divorce last year!
Please stop getting it wrong all the time!
[Box:] Akiyama Shinsuke (26)
Police Sergeant of the Nagano Police
Sorry, sorry.
More importantly, did you happen to see our squad leader?
You mean Takeda-san?
Yes. We had agreed to meet here…
But he's nowhere to be found...
[Box:] Kano Shouji (45)
Assistant Inspector of the Nagano Police
He doesn't pick up his cell phone either...
Geez, what’s he doing?
Maybe he got the meeting point wrong?
That old man is already getting on a bit after all...
True...
Let's look around a bit!
Please excuse the interruption...
Oh, that’s right…
If you meet Takeda, please let him know...
[p. 8]
... that even if ordered from above, I'd rather die…
Than return to his squad!!
Sure, we'll let him know!
Even though you'd fit right in here...
Too bad...
Did something happen between him and that Takeda?
Mhm, kind of...
More importantly, if you want to look around the Kawanakajima battlefield, shall I give you a tour?
Eh?
Do you have time for that?
Not a bad idea. We still have quite some time until the conference starts...
Even if we returned to the precinct now, there'd be nothing to do but drinking your horrible coffee...
How rude! The Chief said it tastes better than before...
You mean the previous chief of the first division, right?
I heard that the current one prefers black tea.
Now that you mention it, he was transferred here from the National Police Agency, wasn't he?
That guy drinks black tea even though he looks like that?
You’re really not in a position to comment on people’s looks, Kan-chan.
In any case, let’s get a move on...
[p. 9]
This is the place where Yamamoto Kansuke is said to have died in battle...
And his shrine!
Here is Kansuke’s grave!
Here’s the bridge where his body and head were found to fit together perfectly…
Douaibashi!
F-fit together perfectly?
Kansuke's vassals collected many heads that had been taken by the enemy during the battle…
But they were so bloody that they couldn't tell which one belonged to Kansuke…
But this is the place where they found a head that perfectly to the body wearing Kansuke’s armor!
Ah... I see...
But, you know…
Isn't this turning into a bit of a Yamamoto Kansuke memorial tour?
Ah, that’s pure coincidence!
It can't be helped, since she is childhood friends with a man who bears such a similar name to him, Yamato Kansuke, it’s only natural for her to be interested…
[p. 10]
But no matter the similarities, please don't follow Yamamoto Kansuke’s example of rushing headlong to your death just because your plan fails...
How many times do I have to repeat that I'm not Yamamoto Kansuke?!
Well, I suppose you're not really the type to linger on your defeats...
What did you say?!
Now, now, calm down. We're running out of time as well...
To round it all off, let's take a look at the river that runs through the battle field!
Okay...
Wow! It's beautiful!
It’s hard to imagine that such a huge battle was held here in the past!
Yeah...
That reminds me, wasn't there a poem about the river during the battle?
[SFX font:] Ahem
[p. 11]
The water of this red river…
Reflects the remains of the warriors that have been washed away by it…
Hmm…
What does it mean?
I cannot say whether the tributary in question is connected to the Chikuma river here...
But in any case, the battles of Kawanakajima were fierce battles with a death toll of over 8000...
According to legend, the river in front of a certain temple was dyed red by the blood of warriors that died in battle over a span of three days and three nights and Asai Retsu put that image to words in this poem...
Ever since that battle, the river has been known as the Red River and the temple in question as the Red River Temple!
I-I see…
Not that again…
It’s clearly exaggerated!
Like a river could be dyed red by blood in three days and three…
[SFX bubble:] splash
[p. 12]
Blood?!
That thing that's floating there ...
Is that a human head?!
Uehara, call forensics immediately!
A-Alright!
[SFX bubble:] tap
[p. 13]
Oi, is that really a head?
It is.
And of someone we know at that...
Eh?
It belongs to Inspector Takeda Shibaru, leader of the Takeda squad from the first division of the Nagano police!
Eeh!?
But where's the body?!
I'd say it's over here.
Eh?
Unfortunately it's been burned…
And even a bit smashed...
Unlike in Yamamoto Kansuke's case…
Putting head and body together won't be possible here…
[p. 14]
Takeda-san was murdered?!
By whom?!
And why?
The real question is…
Given that the fire must have ceased about half a day ago, judging by the scorch marks…
Why did the head float down the river just when I was looking at it earlier?
Didn't it hang off the railing of the bridge?
Eh?
Look over there!
There seem to be ropes hanging there!
[p. 15]
The culprit probably put the head into a grocery bag with fake blood…
And tied it to a rope which would tear after some time, so the head would fall into the river…
He also added a few stones to the bag so that it alone would sink to the river bed.
We heard a splash as well, so this must be how it was done!
Right, Uncle Kogorou?
Er, yeah…
But why fake blood?
Burning the body and fastening the head to the railing should have happened at around the same time…
If that was real blood it would already have coagulated wouldn't have dissolved and left traces in the river...
But why would the culprit deliberately use fake blood?
To make sure it was easy to notice, probably…
It was discovered because I happened to see the head…
But if the culprit hadn’t done that, it might have been mistaken for garbage...
Excuse me…
There were some unusual traces of blood on the forehead, so I applied some luminol and found a strange mark...
What?!
See here? It looks like the letter X…
No, this doesn't look like a normal X!
It looks like the claw marks of an animal...
Probably from a bird?
Idiot! A bird has three claws pointing forward and only one pointing back!
[p. 16]
It's a woodpecker...
Due to its way of life, a woodpecker has to be able to attach itself well to a tree…
So its claws are positioned like an X…
Didn't you know that?
Chief Kuroda!
…………………
A one-eyed…
well-built man?!
[Box:] Kuroda Hyoue (50)
Chief of the First Division of the Nagano Police
[Side note:] A disquieting atmosphere hangs over the former battlefield ... who is this man?!
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