Chapter 162: Peeling the Cocoon and Drawing the Silk

The District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Squad began their search operation almost the moment they arrived at Tokyo University; these men in suits were one more ferocious and one more sharp than the last.

"Search! Over here!" The Special Investigation Squad barged into the laboratory building, throwing open drawers, pulling open cabinets, hauling away boxes upon boxes of documents, confiscating computers, lugging off CPU towers, and seizing records, throwing the entire Agriculture and Forestry Department into a state of chaos.

Once anyone dared to step forward to obstruct them, they were either shoved aside or, in more serious cases, threatened by the Special Investigation Squad with being taken away as well.

A4 paper and various documents flew everywhere.

"Headquarters Chief!" Two Special Investigation Squad prosecutors arrived before Headquarters Chief Kirekawa, holding large bags of paper shredded by a shredder: "These are fresh."

"Ha!" Headquarters Chief Kirekawa looked at the bag full of shredded paper and couldn't help but laugh. He held the entire bag in one hand and roared at the Department Manager of the Todai Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and several biology professors: "You're quite fast, aren't you? Truly worthy of Todai."

"However, if you think you can dodge the investigation by doing this, you are gravely mistaken!" Headquarters Chief Kirekawa was full of interest and excitement: "Listen, it is precisely because you people act like thieves of the national tax revenue all day long! And caused such a huge incident! That our District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Squad had to intervene!"

"We are helping you; you brought the Americans and the FBI here, causing us to suffer as well! This matter will not be so easily concluded." The Special Investigation Squad members slowly approached the Department Manager of the Agriculture and Forestry Department: "Don't think we don't know anything!"

"I'll tell you some good news: not a single one of the public prosecutors and administrative officials who came today is from Todai!"

"Search!"

"Everywhere, not a single place is to be spared. Before the search is over, no one is allowed to leave here. Control Professor Tsuda and all his students! Also, other projects must be checked one by one!"

"Yes!"

"Also, immediately issue an official document to the Metropolitan Police Department; the wording must be firm. We want to review all materials from the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Investigation Headquarters to date, all of them!"

……………………

At the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Investigation Headquarters, Uesugi Muneyuki also received the news: the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Squad, this powerful department established by Five-Star MacArthur, had already begun its operation.

Uesugi Muneyuki's perception of the District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Squad was complex. First, this group was indeed overbearing and hated by others, biting everyone they saw like mad dogs. They were similar to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in the Southern Abyss; although the Special Investigation Squad had an excellent reputation among the public, those in higher positions—in politics, business, academia, and medicine—hated and feared them more than anyone else.

However, MacArthur's original intention was to establish a powerful, privileged department that was loyal only to himself. The intention was neither good nor bad, but the job was done well.

As everyone knows, the Confucian bureaucratic atmosphere and self-enclosed system of the three East Asian countries dictate that unless there is external force paying attention and intervening, it is almost impossible for them to supervise themselves. If they truly collapse, it will only be due to conflicts of interest and factional struggles, yet the existence of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Squad truly fulfilled the responsibility of supervising Japan's political and business circles.

Although the Special Investigation Squad could not fully represent justice, compared to the environment of this "little days" country, they were truly the embodiment of justice.

If you use Yangtze River water to flush a clean room, that is pollution; if you use Yangtze River water to flush a cesspit, that is purification.

The political environment of this "little days" country before the war was a cesspit. MacArthur managed to drive the hereditary rate of lawmakers from 60% down to 3% in one go; however, decades later, the hereditary rate of Japanese lawmakers had returned to nearly 40%. This is inertia.

The appearance of the District Public Prosecutors Office alarmed the top brass of Todai, making things easier for Uesugi Muneyuki, as Todai's attention had been completely captured by the District Public Prosecutors Office.

Having obtained intelligence from Police Inspector Kosaka, Uesugi Muneyuki had completely figured everything out.

Why did he have Police Inspector Kosaka tail Professor Tsuda?

It was simple; this was also a type of deception.

Facing the Metropolitan Police Department's investigation, Professor Tsuda appeared a bit too calm. He was composed, as if he had been waiting for something all along. At this time, no matter what move the Metropolitan Police Department made, Professor Tsuda knew how to respond. Such a highly educated scholar might act out of passion, but it is not strange for him to quickly calm down afterward to formulate a strategy and consider all possibilities.

Therefore, Uesugi Muneyuki had to summon the District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Squad to scare him.

The principle is simple. For example, if a person returns home and finds that a thief has entered their house, what should their first reaction be?

Besides calling the police, they would immediately check if valuables were missing. They would instinctively check the places where they keep bankbooks and valuables, they would check their home safe, or places they deemed necessary to check.

This is why Professor Tsuda would instinctively go to take a look at the waste warehouse.

What does this indicate!

This indicates that there is a high probability that Tsuda's Wife is there!

Facing the group, Uesugi Muneyuki began to recount his hypothesis. He first wrote "May 6th" on the small blackboard—the starting point of everything.

Below, the key figures of the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Investigation Headquarters all sat and listened.

Miss Minami and Eirina, in particular, had stars in their eyes.

They could see Uesugi-kun solve a case with their own eyes again! It really was something they could never get tired of watching!

Handsome! Uesugi! Handsome!

"First, we can be certain that on May 6th, Tsuda Takako was definitely still alive. That evening, Tsuda Emi, Tsuda Daisuke, and Tsuda Takako held a family meeting."

"At the family meeting, because Tsuda Emi had been admitted to the Keio University Faculty of Medicine, she naturally requested money from her parents, but Tsuda Takako disagreed, hoping her daughter would just study nursing and become a nurse. The two sides erupted into a fierce argument because of this."

"For a Todai person like Professor Tsuda, providing the guarantee of higher education for his children is a matter of course. Especially since his daughter was able to get into Keio, he naturally supported his daughter's studies with all his might. Therefore, he felt suspicious of his wife's fierce attitude."

"Consequently, the husband and wife had a private argument. Professor Tsuda further suspected that there might be problems with the family accounts. At this point, after pressing and checking, Professor Tsuda learned how collapsed the family's economic situation was after Tsuda's Wife, the FX Warrior, had lost money round after round in foreign exchange speculation."

"We don't know exactly what happened afterward, but the motive for murder was already present," Uesugi Muneyuki explained.

The people below all nodded. One could imagine how devastated he would be to discover that all the wages, various allowances, income from gray-area project topics, and income from visiting lectures that Professor Tsuda had painstakingly saved for over a decade had all gone into foreign exchange speculation and been lost completely.

"Therefore, we can infer that between the evening of May 6th and the morning of May 7th, something happened to Tsuda's Wife. Professor Tsuda managed to kill her and transport the body out of the Oiwake Dormitory," Uesugi Muneyuki continued: "The Oiwake Dormitory is not a perfect sealed room. As long as one lives there for a few more years, one would know how to transport a body out without being discovered by surveillance."

"On May 7th, Professor Tsuda had his entire research group go to Kyoto University for a visiting study, while he himself remained at Tokyo University to begin disposing of the body."

Uesugi Muneyuki drew a line with his pen from May 7th to May 9th: "Professor Tsuda spent three whole days disposing of the body before deciding to voluntarily report the case on May 10th."

"Wait, I have a question," Eirina raised her hand: "Since he committed the crime, why would he voluntarily report it?"

Uesugi Muneyuki did not answer. Police Inspector Kosaka, who had rushed back, snatched the chance to say impatiently: "Because according to Kashiwagi's investigation, the attention on Tsuda's Wife had already attracted notice. If he didn't report it, others would have. If that happened, it would be better to report it voluntarily and recount the process himself; this could both reduce his own suspicion and disrupt the direction of our investigation."

Eirina pouted, thinking to herself, who asked you!

I want Uesugi to answer!

"That is exactly it." Uesugi Muneyuki did not say anything more. He continued: "Then the question arises."

"How exactly did Professor Tsuda dispose of the body, right?" Miss Minami clasped her hands between her legs, looking at Uesugi Muneyuki with glowing eyes: "I think Mr. Uesugi would surely be willing to teach us."

"Hmm." Uesugi Muneyuki explained in detail several methods for disposing of a body.

First, rule out burial and cremation. Burial, needless to say, would definitely leave traces, and performing long-term outdoor work in a place with such population density as the Todai campus is simply a joke.

Japan's cremation system is actually very strict. Every cremated person's identity must match before the incinerator can be started. The registration and operational procedures of the crematorium staff are equally rigorous. It's not that Professor Tsuda couldn't do it, but that in such a short time, without going through the procedures, and without knowing anyone, it was impossible for Professor Tsuda to find an incinerator that he could stuff a body into.

Actually, at this time, finding the Yakuza might work; the Yakuza aren't good at other things, but they are very skilled at disposing of bodies.

But according to Police Inspector Kashiwagi's investigation, an academic heavyweight and Todai professor like Professor Tsuda could not possibly know any Yakuza.

Therefore, based on Professor Tsuda immediately going to check the waste warehouse after being startled, the answer is already very obvious.

Chemical means.

So, how many types of chemical means are there?

Uesugi Muneyuki explained them one by one.

First, strong acid decomposition: using concentrated sulfuric acid, concentrated hydrochloric acid, and hydrofluoric acid for hydrolysis and oxidation reactions to decompose organic tissues (such as proteins and fats), destroying cellular structures.

Strong acid decomposition is the most common chemical method and also the most effective, but its limitation is that the decomposition process produces a large amount of toxic gas, requires an extremely high level of professional expertise, and cannot completely dissolve bones.

Second, strong alkali decomposition: using strong alkalis like sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide to saponify fats and dissolve proteins, generating soluble substances; modern "aquamation" is strong alkali hydrolysis.

This method must use professional equipment.

Third, oxidant decomposition: this is a common method used by a Forensic Pathologist to dispose of corpses, destroying organic molecular structures through strong oxidation to degrade bloodstains and soft tissues, but it can only partially decompose them and cannot handle them completely, so it is directly ruled out.

Fourth, biological enzyme decomposition: destroying organic molecular structures through strong oxidation to degrade bloodstains and soft tissues.

This method has extremely low efficiency for disposing of corpses and requires a long time, so it is also directly ruled out.

"Therefore, there is only one truth!" Uesugi Muneyuki said directly: "After three days of processing, the body of Tsuda's Wife has already turned into a barrel of toxic waste liquid in the waste warehouse, waiting to be thoroughly cleaned out!"

"Kousaka! Okada!" Uesugi Muneyuki shouted: "Go immediately to apply for a search warrant from Division Chief Oshima!"

"Yes."

"Minami, you immediately report this intelligence to Director General Watanabe!" Uesugi Muneyuki continued to instruct.

"Okay." Miss Minami nodded, her eyes shimmering with brilliance.

Even without an Autopsy, he could make such a complete and brilliant deduction; Uesugi Muneyuki... you guy, what other surprises do you have that I don't know about?

"Kashiwagi, go investigate when exactly the Agriculture and Forestry Department discharges waste liquid? If it was discharged during this period, what were the test results?"

"No need to investigate," Kashiwagi Jin said directly: "The waste liquid from the PT Project is tested for abnormalities on the afternoon of the 15th of every month, and it is processed and transported out of the school in the early morning; this rule was set by Professor Tsuda himself!"

"Very good!" Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but think more highly of this guy.

Interpersonal relationships and tracing evidence are indeed the strengths of orthodox mystery solving.

Wait, the 15th?

Isn't that just today?

"Then, begin the operation!"

(End of this chapter)