Chapter 160: , Start the Investigation!

In the underground parking lot, several detectives were discussing what their next step should be.

"Because Shiratori is unwilling to participate in this matter," Kashiwagi Jin said, his face showing signs of anger as he brought it up. "Actually, we already discovered some problems when we were investigating interpersonal relationships."

Kashiwagi Jin spoke about the investigation results he and Shiratori Sho had obtained.

The surrounding interpersonal circle was tight-lipped about Professor Tsuda's affairs, clearly having been instructed by the upper echelons of the University of Tokyo not to talk much about this issue; however, Police Inspector Shiratori and Police Inspector Kashiwagi still managed to obtain some clues from the people around Professor Tsuda through their efforts.

Tsuda's Wife had a poor reputation among the circle of professors' wives and was known by the nickname "Gold-Grubber" (this nickname mocked Tsuda's Wife for being stingy and calculating on one hand, and for being pretentious on the other). Among them, one professor's wife mentioned that Tsuda's Wife was stingy in her conduct; when others gave high-quality Matsuzaka beef as holiday gifts, Tsuda's Wife would return the favor with cheap Brazilian steak.

The circle of professors' wives often hosted each other, and although the housewives did not have large appetites, they usually served substantial dishes when hosting; only Tsuda's Wife frequently used low-to-mid-range dishes like ordinary imported Atlantic salmon sashimi to brush people off.

As time went on, the circle of professors' wives became unwilling to associate much with Tsuda's Wife.

Yet, Tsuda's Wife was very pretentious; if someone carried Gucci or Hermès, she had to have them too, and if everyone wore Manolo Blahniks, she insisted on buying a pair, emphasizing that she had to be at the top and would attend every event without fail.

But in reality, the circle of professors' wives did not emphasize this; only those who were not professors' wives but desperately wanted to squeeze into the circle would play these games.

Tsuda's Wife had been missing since May 7th. By May 9th, her social circle and those around her had already noticed that she, who usually had a very rich social life and would never miss an event, had been out of contact for two or three days. People had already begun asking Professor Tsuda and his son and daughter where Tsuda's Wife was.

This was Kashiwagi Jin's first discovery.

The second discovery was that Kashiwagi Jin had found the female university student, Hayakawa Nanami, who provided information and worked part-time as a hostess and in soaplands. Kashiwagi Jin decided to start from her economic situation to investigate why Hayakawa Nanami was so poor.

He soon made a discovery: besides her impoverished family background and Hayakawa Nanami's obsession with participating in tennis club activities, Professor Tsuda's stinginess was also an important reason.

For the PT Project, Professor Tsuda only gave each student a subsidy of 300 yen per day, which was only 9,000 yen a month.

"9,000 yen?!" Okada Keibu was the first to lose his composure. "Is he serious? 9,000 yen!"

"Yes, only 9,000 yen." Police Inspector Kashiwagi took a form out from his person. "This is what I obtained from Hayakawa Nanami."

Uesugi Muneyuki took the form; on it was the project subsidy receipt list signed by Professor Tsuda and his students a few months prior, in which a Doctor received 50,000 yen a month, and students received 9,000 yen plus a 1,000 yen perfect attendance bonus, totaling 10,000 yen.

"If calculated according to the form, the monthly salary expenditure for Professor Tsuda's team members is only 430,000 yen, but in reality, over the 6 months from this list last year until now, the employee salary subsidies they have withdrawn from the fund amount to as much as 46 million yen."

From the perspective of the Americans, a scientific research team that large (over 20 people) indeed required that much in expenses, and the MIT side had never suspected anything.

Hearing this string of numbers, Uesugi Muneyuki and the others all fell silent.

After a long while, Uesugi Muneyuki said to Police Inspector Kashiwagi, "You University of Tokyo people are really ruthless when it comes to making money!"

And this was just the salary; it was said that the larger portion, the experimental expenses, hadn't even been touched.

"Pfft!" Miss Minami, Ikeda Erena, and Kosaka could not help but laugh, while Okada covered his face with his hand in resignation.

"Now is not the time to talk about this!" Kashiwagi Jin was anxious.

"Fine, we will believe you for now." Uesugi Muneyuki had entered the zone by then. "Then let me ask you, let me ask you, what method did you actually use to make Hayakawa Nanami willing to reveal this information to you? Kosaka spent 20,000 yen on her before, and she only gave some evasive information. And how did you get this table?"

"I..." Police Inspector Kashiwagi's face turned red when he brought this up, feeling both ashamed and angry. He stammered for a good while before saying in a low voice, "I 'ordered' her."

"Huh?!" Kosaka and Uesugi Muneyuki understood instantly, while Miss Minami, Erena, and Okada looked confused.

"I 'ordered' her! I went to her soapland shop and requested her! It was what she demanded!" Police Inspector Kashiwagi gave up on his pride and wailed, "She recognized me and said she had always liked me as a senior; if I went to the sex shop where she worked and specifically requested her, she would tell me!"

"This paper, too—it was left in the office by Professor Tsuda after he signed it following a group meeting, and it was accidentally left behind. Hayakawa Nanami found it in the crevice of the sofa while cleaning!"

Police Inspector Kashiwagi announced his investigation method with resignation, while also hiding deeper things he did not mention.

Due to the sense of urgency, shame, and immorality, Police Inspector Kashiwagi had ejaculated after only a few minutes of service in the soapland, and Hayakawa Nanami had even comforted him, saying, "It's okay, 3 minutes is also very impressive, Senior."

This sentence dealt a major blow to Kashiwagi Jin.

However, Uesugi Muneyuki did not care about this; he raised the final question: "Then, why did you come to find us?"

"Didn't I say? Because Shiratori is unwilling to continue, but I... I cannot accept it!" Police Inspector Kashiwagi gripped the list in his hand. "The University of Tokyo is my alma mater; now that such a big thing has happened, there is no reason for me to ignore it! That's right, I am a University of Tokyo man, but first and foremost, I am a detective! Other things might be one thing, but murder, drug trafficking, rape—I absolutely will not allow such crimes to go unpunished!"

"The same goes for Professor Tsuda, and the same goes for you, Uesugi Muneyuki! Don't think that just because you got away last time, I will think you didn't do it." Police Inspector Kashiwagi said coldly, "You have probably already determined that Professor Tsuda is the murderer, right? Through your inexplicable crime-solving deductions?"

So that was it.

Uesugi Muneyuki understood now. To put it bluntly, Police Inspector Shiratori of the Second Division had sensed danger as he investigated, and he clearly did not intend to continue. As a member of the Career Track with a bright future ahead, there was no need to take such a huge risk for a case that was under immense pressure from all sides.

This fit the character profile of Police Inspector Shiratori; as a wealthy young master and high-ranking Public Servant who was also a University of Tokyo alumnus, he did not do illegal things and did not want to put himself in danger.

That was enough! With a salary of over 400,000 a month, why risk one's life?

But Kashiwagi Jin was different. Although he was also a University of Tokyo alumnus, this guy was quite stubborn. He had his own logic for handling cases and his own values of right and wrong. That was the case when he tried to arrest him, and it was the same with his fixation on Professor Tsuda.

This fit the character profile of Police Inspector Kashiwagi.

Uesugi Muneyuki began to feel that he was somewhat credible.

"That's right. From the current perspective, the disappearance of Tsuda's Wife has a very high probability of being directly related to Professor Tsuda." Uesugi Muneyuki rubbed his chin. "Then the question arises: first, if something has happened to Tsuda's Wife, then where is she now?"

"Secondly, it has been a week since the incident. From the time he reported the case until today, Professor Tsuda has maintained a normal expression throughout without the slightest abnormal behavior. During this time, the Metropolitan Police Department has been monitoring him, but he has never performed any strange actions. So the question arises: if it is very likely that he did it, then what is the source of his confidence to sit so securely?"

"Finally, what is going on with Tsuda's Wife's Overseas Account? From May 7th, when Professor Tsuda arranged for the team to go to Kyoto University, to May 10th, when he and his daughter went to the Hon-Fujisawa Station to report the case, what was he doing alone during those 3 days?"

Uesugi Muneyuki analyzed, "I think that by investigating through these clues, we will soon have the answer."

"But... Uesugi, this is too dangerous!" Miss Minami finally could not help but say, "Now all eyes are on us. If we continue to investigate, the headquarters might replace us at any time! Replace us with people just like Police Inspector Shiratori!"

"You are right." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded with a smile. "Therefore, let's start assigning tasks now."

He first looked at Okada. "Okada-san, is that okay?"

Okada Masayoshi nodded bitterly, indicating that since they had already made the decisions, why bother asking him: "Fine, I will go and request Chief of Investigation Division 2 Duan Zhi Da Hui to help investigate the accounts. After all, I am also a University of Tokyo man; I cannot watch my alma mater degenerate like this... but when the formal investigation begins, let me step aside, okay?"

"I am deeply grateful!" Kosaka and Police Inspector Kashiwagi bowed to Police Inspector Okada in unison.

"Kosaka, take your people and investigate Professor Tsuda's movement trajectory, especially the surveillance footage from the days he was active alone." Uesugi Muneyuki said to Kosaka. "Do not alert anyone; tell the public that you are looking for the trajectory of Tsuda's Wife. Pay attention to the things Professor Tsuda carried when entering and exiting."

"Yes." Kosaka nodded.

"Police Inspector Kashiwagi, please investigate the nearby crematoriums and the waste disposal issues at the University of Tokyo campus, and also whether there is anyone in Professor Tsuda's interpersonal circle capable of disposing of a body, such as the Yakuza." Uesugi Muneyuki continued to assign tasks to Police Inspector Kashiwagi. "By the way, can you further investigate the circle of professors' wives and Professor Tsuda's relatives and friends?"

"Understood." Kashiwagi Jin sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Minami, you are responsible for holding the fort, dealing with inquiries from the University of Tokyo side, and also helping us stabilize the Metropolitan Police Department. By the way, let this list fall into the hands of the District Public Prosecutors Office through appropriate methods and channels." Uesugi Muneyuki handed the list to Miss Minami. "You must have a way."

Tsk tsk tsk, in the end, this young lady still ended up on your pirate ship! Miss Minami felt unhappy, but she agreed nonetheless. The appearance of Mai had given her a serious sense of crisis; she had to prove that she was useful!

"I suspect that the body of Ms. Tsuda was cleverly hidden by Professor Tsuda, and furthermore, it is very likely that it has already been disposed of." Uesugi Muneyuki raised his head, his cold and solemn face glowing with spirit. "However, we are already very close to the answer. Do as I say; if all possibilities are excluded, then the answer I suspect that remains might be the only truth!"

"Then what about me? What about me?" Ikeda Erena indicated that she hadn't gotten on board yet; what was her task?

"You come with me, Master Erena." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled at the tall beauty. "I need you to protect me!"

"Alright, watch me!" This was exactly what Ikeda Erena wanted; she proudly puffed out her chest to signal to everyone that she was important to him!

"Very well, then it is settled." Surrounded by several Detectives, Uesugi Muneyuki stepped forward: "Begin the search!"

……………………

On May 15th, a group of black luxury sedans drove directly into the University of Tokyo Hongo Campus without any prior appointment, and a large crowd of uninvited guests in suits and leather shoes, carrying Briefcases, stepped out from them.

It was the Special Investigation Team of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office!

(End of this chapter)