Chapter 109: The Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case, National Reaction

In the chaotic KTV, seeing that there was no more drama to be had with Uesugi Muneyuki, the several beautiful policewomen from the Public Relations Division shifted their attention to Police Inspector Shiratori Sho of the Second Division.

Okada and Togasaki were both married men, and Uesugi Muneyuki had already been claimed by Watanabe Minami, so the only one left was this Shiratori Sho.

Uesugi Muneyuki also noticed this scene; he smiled and didn't mind.

According to Miss Minami, Police Inspector Shiratori was on the Career Track, came from a fairly wealthy family that ran a business, and owned a villa in Karuizawa; he wasn't an "old Minato Ward" aristocrat like the Shimakawa family, but he was considered a family of accumulated wealth. Police Inspector Shiratori himself only became a detective because he disliked doing business.

Miss Minami indicated that the Shiratori family had originally disapproved, but upon seeing that Shiratori had passed the senior public servant examination and become a Career Track officer, they felt it wasn't bad and expressed support for their son's choice.

Based on Uesugi Muneyuki's observations of the several Police Inspectors currently in Investigation Division 1, Uesugi Muneyuki had roughly formed some impressions.

Police Inspector Kosaka of the First Division (Non-Career Track) was the most capable and had the fieriest temper; his desire for achievement was also the strongest, and he was very aggressive in his work.

Police Inspector Shiratori of the Second Division (Career Track) usually kept a low profile and never engaged in any intense investigative actions, emphasizing a step-by-step approach; it had a bit of the air of "fighting a gentleman's war"—not that he wouldn't do the work, but he wouldn't risk his neck to do it.

Police Inspector Kashiwagi of the Third Division (Career Track) had an arrogant and conceited personality, but he hated evil as if it were a personal enemy and had a very strong sense of justice. Like Kosaka, he had a strong desire for achievement, but while Kosaka focused on promotion, Kashiwagi focused on honor.

Megure of the Thirteenth Section had an upright and unyielding personality, was full of responsibility, and had a slightly humorous side; he was a very good person.

As for Okada, Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't easily evaluate his feelings toward him, but aside from that, his ability was quite good, he was willing to work on the front lines, and he had a sense of justice and responsibility; he was a good prospect.

Miss Minami was still immersed in the joy of "Wow, I can sing this song too," when she noticed that this scumbag Uesugi Muneyuki was observing Police Inspector Shiratori, who was being surrounded below, and she took the initiative to tease him: "Envious?"

"What's there to be envious of?" Uesugi Muneyuki glanced over and said very nonchalantly: "None of them compare to our Miss Minami; they're far behind!"

Watanabe Minami's pair of sweet almond-shaped eyes immediately narrowed into crescent moons, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

She naturally knew that her looks were invincible, and she naturally knew that none of the policewomen below could compare to her.

But knowing it was one thing, and hearing it from this man's mouth was another.

Uesugi Muneyuki's persona was one of being straightforward and honest, so the sweet words coming from his mouth carried a lot of weight.

It was a pity this man didn't say them often.

Hearing it once in a while, Miss Minami couldn't quite handle it; she took the initiative to pinch him, her tone turning dangerous: "Then why are you still looking?"

Uesugi Muneyuki was taken aback, only to see Miss Minami smiling without warmth: "Those are all Non-Career Track; they have no prospects for promotion in the Public Relations Division for their whole lives. After working a few years, they either get married and resign or transfer to other desk jobs. They'll cap out at Assistant Police Inspector, with a small probability of becoming a Police Sergeant, and a high probability of being a Patrol Sergeant for life."

If it weren't for me, Ikeda would probably just be a Patrol Sergeant for her whole life, right?

Hmm, Ikeda?

Having not seen the tall beauty for two weeks, Uesugi Muneyuki was more or less a bit unaccustomed to it. Although Miss Minami was by his side, it wasn't the same kind of companionship as Ikeda's.

Thinking again of Ikeda's figure, which, while not as pretty in the face, could be called a miracle, Uesugi Muneyuki's mind was full of wanting to find someone to "Princess Connect" with. So, to divert his attention, he smiled at Miss Minami: "I'm not looking at her person; look at that woman in the pink outfit with the floral skirt, the shoes she's wearing."

"Oh! Those are Valentino ROCKSTUD patent leather studded high-heeled shoes, the ten-centimeter version." Miss Minami was annoyed by Uesugi Muneyuki and said with slight disdain: "The standard model, the price of a pair is about 120,000 to 150,000 yen, enough to cover more than half a month of their salary."

"Credit card, installment payments; the annual interest rate is 6% on the surface, but it's actually as high as 13.2%." Miss Minami seemed very knowledgeable.

"Tossing money back and forth between multiple credit cards, their salary isn't enough to pay the interest." Uesugi Muneyuki laughed.

As an insider at the Metropolitan Police Department, Miss Minami understood the situation inside the MPD more deeply. She secretly told Uesugi Muneyuki that many desk-bound policewomen maintained a glamorous life on the surface, but in reality, they were riddled with debt, desperately paying off credit cards every month, barely scraping by, all while hoping to hook a good husband to solve all their problems at once.

Japanese women were the pioneers in East Asia in this regard; a husband's money was "real" money, while their own money wasn't called money—it was called an investment in themselves.

"If I were to wear those shoes barefoot without socks, I wouldn't be able to stand it after walking a hundred meters on the street," the young lady said huffily. She actually didn't like wearing such high shoes.

"Those shoes weren't meant for walking on the street in the first place," Uesugi Muneyuki said meaningfully.

Sure enough, this bad guy!

Miss Minami pouted, holding his hand with one hand and pinching his chin with the other: "I know you're up to no good!"

"I am holding a rigorous spirit of academic research, my Miss Minami," Uesugi Muneyuki said with a straight face: "I am a Forensic Pathologist!"

"What's there to research about this? Do you want to wear them yourself?" Miss Minami's eyes lit up when she said this, somewhat expectant: "Good idea, next time there's a Metropolitan Police Department program, I'll sign you up for a cross-dressing performance."

Uesugi Muneyuki's mouth twitched; sure enough, women all had a penchant for twisted humor, and it was no less than men's—they just hid it deeper.

"I want to see you wear them," Uesugi Muneyuki could only make his words clearer.

Miss Minami's heart skipped a beat, feeling both excited and playful: "If you have a performance like this next time, I might consider it."

This man, he likes me after all~

Miss Minami thought happily.

You won't wear them, right? Then I'll buy them for Ikeda and let her wear them for me to see.

Uesugi Second Young Master thought happily.

The two looked at each other and smiled, both feeling that they had won.

…………

By the time they returned to the home at Sakata Bridge Tower, it was already nearly eleven o'clock. If Uesugi Muneyuki hadn't firmly refused the request to continue, the group could have partied until dawn.

Many people talk about the problem of Japanese hosts not letting guests eat their fill, but this actually means the other party is just having a routine meal with you.

If a Japanese person is truly treating you to a meal, it won't end in one sitting. It's usually a serious dinner, followed by activities like KTV after dinner, then a late-night snack after the activities, then more activities after the snack, and another meal after that.

Uesugi Muneyuki didn't like to drag things out so late; he told Togasaki Tomonobu that he was tired and wanted to rest.

Considering his contribution to the Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case, everyone at the Metropolitan Police Department expressed their understanding, so both sides wrapped up after Togasaki Tomonobu sang a song, "Spring in the North," and everyone went home.

Before leaving, Togasaki Tomonobu secretly slipped a note to Uesugi Muneyuki, on which were written the phone numbers of every policewoman who came to play today, except for Watanabe Minami.

It ended up being discovered by Miss Minami; Uesugi Muneyuki handed it to her without a second thought, and Miss Minami tore it up on the spot and threw it into the trash can.

She didn't actually care much about Uesugi Muneyuki's private life, but she could arrange it; if other women in the Metropolitan Police Department dared to bypass her and collude with Uesugi, that was not allowed!

Back home, Uesugi Muneyuki realized that he hadn't been home for nearly two weeks. The mailbox at the door was stuffed with all kinds of newspapers. Remembering what Tanaka Laodeng had said about chasing criminals for a whole month without returning home when he was young, and the property management thinking he had died, he thought to himself that he was about the same.

The 18th floor of Sakata Bridge was silent; the home had become larger and there were more things, but as a result, it seemed even more lonely and cold. Uesugi Muneyuki shouted "I'm home" listlessly and collapsed onto the sofa with the smell of alcohol on him.

The TV turned on, and sure enough, it was the "Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case SP Special Program."

Several major TV stations were holding special programs centered around today's press conference, each finding a bunch of "experts" and "professors." As if by tacit agreement, their viewpoints on the discussion of this case were all different.

The key point of the NHK discussion was the issue raised by Uesugi Muneyuki regarding careful consideration of sentencing. Because of this, NHK was divided into two viewpoints: the affirmative side argued that they should continue to execute the law as it currently stood, while the negative side believed that such an antisocial personality would continue to commit crimes after being released, and the circumstances were too heinous, so it should be a special case with a special judgment.

The focus of the NTV discussion was on the reflection of this incident on Japan's existing education system, and it continued to report on the subsequent impact caused in Chiba Prefecture; it always felt like there was a bit of schadenfreude in it.

Fuji TV had the least bottom line; this group of people was "doxing," racking their brains to infer the true identity of the murderer "Girl C" through non-illegal means, focusing on the murderer's mental illness issues, and suspecting that the police might have just happened to encounter a suspect with mental illness who confessed voluntarily, so they just went with her.

Asahi Television focused on the revival of the Metropolitan Police Department. After the Fuji TV Case and this case, the MPD successfully reversed its image. Asahi Television dug into the personnel changes in the MPD during this period from this angle, with a key focus on Director General Watanabe Eiji, Police Inspector Kashiwagi Jin of the Third Division, and Forensics Division Advisor Uesugi Muneyuki, with less description of the case itself.

TBS focused on the investigation process and the struggle between the Criminal Division and the Public Security Division, combing through the entire event from the beginning and thoroughly reconstructing the logical chain from the crime to the resolution based on Uesugi Muneyuki's description; the program was produced with great detail and was very effective, even featuring a large diagram explaining which people involved in this case were from the Criminal Division and which were from the Public Security Division.

The Criminal Division was "Red" and the Public Security Division was "Black," so the program was titled "The War of Red and Black."

TV Tokyo was broadcasting an Ultraman compilation, and the invincible Zoffy Ultraman, with his head on fire, was fighting the volcanic bird monster Birdon.

"Wow, that's so nice. If one day, all the major TV stations produced special programs for me, I would have no regrets even if I died," Hironaka Mariko suddenly realized: "Oh right, I'm already dead, and the TV station did produce a special program for me."

"That's great, it's a special program, I'm saved!"

Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her.

"By the way, Uesugi, your phone screen has been showing new messages for a while now, is that okay?" Hironaka Mariko continued.

"Hm?!" Only then did Uesugi Muneyuki pull out his phone.

As soon as he saw the screen, cold sweat broke out.

Holy crap! I was too busy today and didn't check my phone!

Eirina, 99+.

He tapped it open with trembling hands.

"Uesugi-kun!"

"That's great, you finally have news; Professor Okochi said you went on a business trip."

"You always said you were very busy before, and you only replied to messages at night."

"What exactly happened with this case? Can we find a time to talk about it in detail?"

"What on earth happened?"

"Why aren't you replying to my messages? Are you busy?"

"Can you not even tell me?"

"I watched the news, it said you made the arrests at the scene."

"Why didn't you come to me? I am still very confident in my own abilities."

"Weren't we very happy when we were partners before?"

"Uesugi-kun? You also said that we would always be partners, right?"

"The press conference is already over, are you done on your end?"

"Is the case details released to the public like this?"

"Uesugi-kun, why aren't you replying to my messages? Are you angry?"

"Can we talk a little?"

"My desire to solve the case is the same as yours; I hope you can understand my feelings."

"Please, as long as you need me, I will go anywhere."

"I am applying for leave from the Police Station right now; you promised me you would explain the case to me properly."

"Can I come to your house? I will wear the gray pantyhose I promised you last time..."

"We are Partners! It won't do to be separated for so long."

"If possible, please reply to me as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)