Chapter 14: Case of the Drowned Woman Living Alone

"Sorry, little brother Uesugi, the few of us can't afford to treat you to kaiseki, Japanese-style set meals, or any high-end Michelin restaurants; we can only treat you to this okonomiyaki."

With a few hearty servings of okonomiyaki down, the group felt somewhat full. Uesugi Muneyuki finished off his beef udon stir-fry in a flash, and only then did Tanaka Laodeng say with some embarrassment: "After all, we are all public servants and don't have much money. Last time at Jojoen, we fell for your trick, kid; I won't mention it again in the future."

"That's fine. Did you think the main family eats Japanese food every day and dines at Michelin restaurants and ryotei? You've thought too much." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head: "At home, I usually eat normal food. I personally quite like Yoshinoya, Sukiya, Matsuya, and Saizeriya. Come to think of it, I thought your so-called dinner party would be at an izakaya, where everyone orders a 1,000-yen skewer platter and draft beer set, then drinks until eight or nine in the evening."

Japanese office workers especially love to spend time at izakayas after work, but the vast majority of them are not obese. This is because their so-called izakaya consumption really just consists of one large draft beer and three to five yakitori skewers over the course of an hour or two, spent entirely talking and bragging. They probably consume less alcohol than they do saliva, so how could they possibly get fat?

"If you like, I can treat you next time, no problem," Sudo said with a grin: "And it's even cheaper."

After speaking, the Section Chief shouted toward the bar: "Thank you for the meal!"

The bar responded immediately. The proprietress, wearing a headscarf, brought over the bill with both hands. Section Chief Sudo pulled a ten-thousand-yen note from his person, and the proprietress thanked him profusely while giving him the change.

The four of them had only spent a little over eight thousand yen, not even ten thousand.

Just as they were about to get up and leave, the television inside the izakaya played the same advertisement that Tanaka Laodeng and Uesugi Muneyuki had seen that day; Uesugi Muneyuki's goddess, the senior student Shirakawa Mai, was participating in a cosmetics event.

A touch of moving, pure white met the eyes. Shirakawa Mai's brilliant smile was as holy as a plum blossom blooming in flying snow. Her tender, white skin had not a single flaw, nor any trace of an unnatural, sickly pallor; instead, it was a pure white like a porcelain doll or mutton-fat jade. A simple, sky-colored dress clung perfectly to the girl's blossoming body. Her youthful yet mature, exquisite form was like a finely carved work of art, now placed on the television screen's display stand for all to admire. The cosmetics she held in her hands were completely overshadowed by her own radiance; all anyone could remember was her flawless appearance.

The senior student proudly displayed her incomparable beauty. Her long, straight black hair cascaded over her shoulders as smooth as magnificent silk, the glossy strands reflecting a soft halo like water. On her beautiful, tall, and delicate body, her warm, jade-like skin was radiant. Every curve of her figure was breathtakingly beautiful, her graceful posture as natural as a lotus flower emerging from the water, enough to make all who love beauty fall for her.

"Oh? The super-popular actress from the Soul Agency, Shirakawa Mai, I see her again." Tanaka Laodeng winked at Uesugi Muneyuki: "My daughter is her super fan!"

"My child is too," Sudo said, picking up his suit jacket.

"Mine too!" the proprietress of KAKA Zhuang laughed: "The kids call her 'Mai-sama, Mai-sama' all day long without stopping!"

"Me too!" "Mine too!" Once this was said, most of the office workers in the shop joined in the commotion.

"I am one myself!" Kuwabara Mako straightened her back excitedly, immediately indicating she wasn't pretending, and insisted on showing that she wasn't just following the crowd but truly loved her: "Super cute Mai-sama! The ideal of humanity, Mai-sama!"

Uesugi Muneyuki chuckled upon hearing this. He rarely laughed, but remembering that this senior was his high school alumna, Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but hum softly, which counted as tacitly admitting he liked her too.

"Not only that! Little brother Uesugi and Shirakawa Mai were even in the same high school!" Tanaka Laodeng immediately spilled the big news: "Kuwabara, looking at you like this, I don't think you have a chance. Only someone like little brother Uesugi, a descendant of a Noble, would have the chance to get close to her, right?"

"Forget it," Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head repeatedly: "She graduated from the University of Tokyo's Department of Art and Culture, and she probably doesn't have any thoughts of romance these few years."

For Japanese actresses, the "flowering period" is particularly short. Generally speaking, orthodox actresses start as child actors, needing to show their faces in dramas and movies by the age of thirteen or fourteen. By sixteen or seventeen, after their voices change, they must strive to star in series, because once they pass twenty, they are no longer very suitable for playing teenage roles.

At this point, if the actress hasn't become famous, she must hurry to consider marriage by twenty-four at the latest, otherwise, it will be very difficult to marry. Although in modern society one doesn't necessarily have to marry to realize one's value, if an actress is neither famous nor married, what is she doing lingering in the entertainment industry?

If they become famous, their professional lifespan will be longer, but they must complete a transition by thirty-two at the latest. Because once they pass this age, if they want to continue playing lead roles, they can only play mother roles or workplace drama roles. Their range of roles will become very narrow, and traditional romance dramas, youth dramas, and manga adaptations will be off-limits to them because society won't accept it!

Male actors are different; male actors can still be accepted by society until they are in their forties as long as they don't get married.

The society of Japan is just that harsh.

During this precious flowering period, one must firmly draw a line against romance.

Senior Mai is a year and a half older than Uesugi Muneyuki and is twenty-three this year, right in the best flowering period for an actress. At this time, it is unlikely she would want to date. Even if she wanted to, the agency would absolutely not agree. The flowering period is so short; having finally cultivated a red-hot star, how could they not rush to make money?

There have already been several cases where an actress they worked hard to cultivate found a boyfriend just as she became famous, resulting in her commercial value and career path collapsing, leaving the agency in tears.

"Speaking of which, little brother Uesugi, what kind of women do families like yours, the Peerage, like?" Section Chief Sudo asked with interest.

"A woman who has nothing." The group walked out onto the street. A light rain was still falling, and in the haze where the rain curtain and streetlights intersected, Uesugi Muneyuki replied with emotion: "A woman without her own dreams, without her own blueprint, who views her husband's life as her own, can manage the household well, and fully supports her husband's dreams and career."

Women who graduate from the University of Tokyo might be unreachable goddesses in the eyes of normal people, but in reality, political families, financial conglomerates, and scholarly families like Uesugi Muneyuki's Peerage background shake their heads and keep their distance as soon as they see such highly educated women from the University of Tokyo. The so-called "strong-strong" union that society imagines is simply impossible.

Then what about marrying down?

For example, Eri Kisaki from Detective Conan is simply the ultimate nightmare of a highly educated woman. After sacrificing her studies and career to marry down, not only did she not reap happiness, but Kogoro Mouri turned out to be a pathetic man who is an alcoholic, a gambler, a lecher, and greedy for money. Although he occasionally shows a side of caring for his family and having a strong sense of justice when sober, the occasional sobriety is meaningless to a long marriage, and it ended in separation anyway.

"No wonder many University of Tokyo women would rather say they are from Tokyo Woman's Christian University when they are out." Sudo shook his head triumphantly: "So, Tanaka, there's no need to let girls go to such good universities. What's the use? You only take home 5.5 million a year; the cost of four years of university would take at least three years of you not eating or drinking. Even after graduating, it's hard for them to marry, right? *Hiccup~*"

"Makes sense~" "That's true~" Tanaka Laodeng and Kuwabara Mako nodded repeatedly, with expressions of "As expected of the Section Chief, he sees things so clearly."

Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at these three stooges and sighed, saying nothing. They were all adults; no one could convince anyone else. The meaning of life isn't just marriage and children.

Before leaving, Section Chief Sudo stuffed an envelope containing fifty thousand yen into Uesugi Muneyuki's hand: "In the future, I'll trouble you too, little brother Uesugi!"

"In the future, leave anything related to corpses to me!" Uesugi Muneyuki took the envelope and nodded slightly. The Buddha light of the Aizen Myoo Dharma Image shone everywhere; even under the umbrella in the rain, it could not hide the intense confidence on his body.

The three criminal investigators from the police station felt a sense of inexplicable trust rise within them.

That's right, this little guy is really amazing!

With him, our police station is saved!

————I am the divider line for "our police station is saved"————

A few weeks later, in June, summer arrived in Tokyo.

As usual, there was another case requiring an autopsy to issue a death certificate. Tanaka Laodeng drove personally to pick up Uesugi Muneyuki from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital.

It had happened many times in a row; both sides were familiar with the routine, and they didn't even need to speak to each other. Meet, get in the car, leave—all in one go.

Otsuka Police Station was located in a five-story building in the eastern part of Bunkyo Ward. As a relatively central police station in Tokyo, the facilities here were relatively good. The entire police station was fully staffed with 230 employees, including 25 in the Criminal Investigation Division. People came and went under the transparent windows. Beside the large "Metropolitan Police Department Otsuka Police Station" sign, the golden cherry blossom emblem reflected the brilliance of the late spring sun. Inside, the police officers were all dressed in crisp uniforms, their police badges and leather shoes polished to a shine, their backs straight, full of spirit and vitality.

The male police officers had neat uniforms and upright postures, while those in plain clothes were dressed in meticulous suits. The female police officers also wore dark blue police uniforms with skirts and police caps, standard flesh-colored stockings paired with patent leather block heels, though these were all exclusively administrative female officers or Traffic Division officers.

The second Uesugi Muneyuki stepped out of the car, he immediately attracted all the surrounding gazes; the air seemed to become much cooler because of his appearance. The young intern doctor shook his well-fitted suit to smooth out the wrinkles, and after striding into the police station, he ignored everything around him.

Only Tanaka Laodeng ran along behind him, embarrassed, greeting everyone while hurriedly leading the way: "Here, here, little brother Uesugi, this is the Criminal Investigation Division, that over there is the Traffic Division!"

The two arrived at the Criminal Investigation Division on the third floor and pushed open the door. Inside, it was silent; not a single person was there, except for the messy environment and mountains of files mentioned before. Two iron chains hung from the ceiling, respectively holding plastic signs for "First Investigation Division" and "Second Investigation Division," and a line of text was framed on the wall.

"Investigate immediately, swiftly, accurately, think carefully."

"Where is everyone?" Uesugi Muneyuki looked at Laodeng.

"They're in a regular meeting, wait a moment." Tanaka Laodeng made a phone call.

Not long after, Patrol Officer Kuwabara and Miss Takasaka, who held the rank of Patrol Officer, entered immediately: "Section Chief Tanaka."

"Let's go!"

The four of them got into the police car together. It was Kuwabara Mako's turn to drive, and Tanaka Laodeng handed the documents to Uesugi Muneyuki.

"The deceased, Kurozawa Yōko, 65 years old, a woman living alone, was found drowned in her bathtub at home. The door was locked from the inside, no signs of forced entry or theft, no obvious external injuries on the body, and no signs of a struggle or other traces in the house."

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "So, she accidentally drowned herself while bathing?"

"Yes, but..." Tanaka Laodeng said two sentences, his face showing confusion: "All the doors and windows of the house where the deceased lived were locked. In other words, an elderly person living alone actually died in..."

"A locked room?" Uesugi Muneyuki frowned: "Could it be that she lacked a sense of security? After all, she was an elderly person living alone."

"Yes, so we need little brother to come and see whether it was suicide or homicide," Tanaka Laodeng nodded repeatedly: "I'll trouble you."

So that's how it is.

Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at the female Detective Takasaka sitting in the front seat and understood why she had been asked to come this time.

During an investigation or arrest, if a female suspect's residence or a corpse is involved, it is best to have a female Detective handle it to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the location.

The place where the deceased lived was an ordinary two-story apartment, but the building was old and dilapidated with few residents; the scene was cordoned off with yellow tape, and as usual, the Koban Detectives were maintaining order.

Entering the scene, it was indeed as Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka had described: the interior was a typical setup for an elderly person living alone, kept very tidy, with all doors and windows locked; inside the bathroom, next to an old-fashioned wooden bathtub about 1.5 meters long and 80 centimeters wide, the corpse of an elderly woman had already been retrieved.

Uesugi Muneyuki went up to perform an Autopsy without a word, while Tanaka Laodeng and the others began to survey the scene.

Examining the remains, Uesugi Muneyuki did not rush to perform Soul Communication, starting first with his own forensic judgment.

The corpse had not decomposed; it was June, which meant the time of death should not have been very long ago.

Hmm, the estimated time of death should be no more than one day.

Uesugi Muneyuki checked the palms and soles of the corpse, where he indeed found washerwoman's skin, then opened the mouth and found tiny white foamy liquid inside.

Without a doubt, it was drowning, and the time of death should have been between last night and early this morning.

Uesugi Muneyuki calmly made his judgment based on his professional knowledge.

"How is it? Little brother Uesugi?" Tanaka Laodeng also returned after checking around: "What's the situation, and what is the estimated time of death?"

"It is definitely drowning, and the estimated time of death should be last night." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded.

"Eh? Really?" Who knew that Tanaka Laodeng would show a look of surprise: "But..."

"But what?"

"But it's different from what we investigated." Tanaka Laodeng pulled Uesugi Muneyuki to the doorway: "Look at this."

A milk delivery box hung on the door of the apartment, with three bottles of milk inside.

"Milk is delivered once a day; even by the most generous estimate, Ms. Kurozawa Yōko should have not left her home for at least two days." Tanaka Laodeng stroked his chin: "What is going on here?"

Hmm?

Uesugi Muneyuki also furrowed his brows; he immediately realized he might have overlooked something.

Returning to the bathroom, Uesugi Muneyuki awakened the Qinghui Stone Power.

After a short while, Uesugi Muneyuki came out with a serious expression; he knew why.

"This is not a suicide! Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka."

"This is a homicide case!" The young Forensic Pathologist's face was as dark as water: "The killer has deceived us all!"

"Ms. Kurosawa drowned in the bathtub, but she was not soaking in hot water."

"It was ice water!"

I declare the Golden Joystick to be the most valuable game award in human history!

Kesa! Kesa!

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(End of this chapter)