Chapter 179: The Todai Case Press Conference

On May 24, the press conference for the Todai Case was officially held.

Over two hundred media outlets arrived at the scene, packing the entire press conference venue so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

The atmosphere at the conference was heavy with low pressure. In front of the dark blue velvet curtain, more than a dozen uniformed detectives stood still like statues. The gold-plated Cherry Blossom Badge on the chest of the spokesperson in the center reflected a cold light under the strobe lights, and the surface of the long podium reflected the grid lights from the ceiling. The logos on the six microphones atop the ebony desk represented half of Japan's mainstream media.

The Commissioner of the National Police Agency, the Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat, the Superintendent General, the Criminal Investigation Department Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, and others all attended this press conference, yet the seat for the most crucial party involved—the Investigation Division 1 Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department—remained empty.

Division Chief Oshima was gone, and the new Division Chief had not yet taken office. At this moment, the throne of the Investigation Division 1 Chief was vacant, and countless people throughout the Metropolitan Police Department, especially those on the Non-Career Track, were staring fixedly at this seat.

This was, after all, the Investigation Division 1 Chief! The face of the Metropolitan Police Department!

Who would get the turn to sit in this position?

It was not just the entire Metropolitan Police Department that cared; even the press and media were concerned.

The reason was simple: in recent years, the position of Investigation Division 1 Chief had seemed cursed. Division Chief Mikasa was gone after only one year and three months, and the successor, Division Chief Oshima, had served for less than two months.

Who would be the next Division Chief?

Everyone was concerned about this question.

This included the Section Chief of the First Division of the Metropolitan Police Department's Investigation Division 1, Kosaka Shinichiro.

He had been tasked with organizing the files of the late Division Chief Oshima. After finishing everything, he stood alone in the Division Chief's office for a while, his hand resting on the empty throne, his eyes filled with irrepressible longing and a tiny bit of joy at having survived a disaster.

In truth, the first leak had been his doing, while the second leak to the District Public Prosecutors Office had been the work of Division Chief Oshima.

However, everyone assumed both times were Oshima's doing. Although Division Chief Oshima had tried to argue that the first time was not his fault, no one believed him anymore.

Division Chief, you were right; this is who we are on the Non-Career Track. We are different from the Career Track.

If we want to be promoted, we have no choice but to jump into the mud ourselves, and even if our eyes are plastered shut by the muck, we must reach out our hands and desperately search for that sliver of a faint possibility.

Police Inspector Kosaka felt deeply moved: without sacrifice, there is no victory!

Division Chief Oshima had wanted to sacrifice Kosaka, but in the end, it was Oshima who took the blade for him. Originally, the outcome of offending the University of Tokyo was destined to be exile to the countryside, but because the University of Tokyo conceded and he had merit in solving the case, Kosaka miraculously remained in Investigation Division 1 and even received a commendation.

Thinking of this, Police Inspector Kosaka took an account book from his suit and smiled slightly.

The investigation into the University of Tokyo this time had led him to an unexpected discovery.

Komiyama Forestry, located in Sasebo, was a relative of President Komiyama. Under the guise of hiring the University of Tokyo's top brass, led by President Komiyama, as advisors and project managers/consultants, they had paid a total of 24 million yen in "consulting fees" and "management fees" to the President and several high-level officials of the Agriculture and Forestry Department over the past five years. In exchange, the University of Tokyo handed over forestry research projects worth 160 million yen to Komiyama Forestry.

If it were before, Police Inspector Kosaka would certainly have exposed this matter.

But with this Todai Case, Police Inspector Kosaka had gained enlightenment.

We police protect the safety of the citizens' bodies, lives, and property according to the law, but there is no law that protects the police.

We must find a way to protect ourselves.

Therefore, he did not expose this account book, but instead handed it to the Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat, Onoda, letting this Director handle it, and Onoda was very satisfied with this.

There is no other way; in order to get ahead and become the Investigation Division 1 Chief, I, Kosaka, must continue to fight.

For justice!

……………………

The press conference officially began, and Uesugi Muneyuki began to recount the course of the case.

"On the evening of May 6, Professor Tsuda Daisuke of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry had an argument at home with his wife, Tsuda Takako. The reason for the argument was that their daughter, Tsuda Emi, had been accepted into the Keio University School of Medicine..." Uesugi Muneyuki's voice was severed by a sudden burst of shutter sounds, his Adam's apple bobbing above the collar of his stiffly starched suit.

The projection screen behind him displayed various documents and data, with pixelated blood-red stains blooming next to the Metropolitan Police Department logo. A female reporter from the Mainichi Shimbun in the front row suddenly stood up, her camera strap sweeping over her notebook, and as the pages fluttered, the scrawled words "Professor Tsuda and wife argue over daughter's tuition" were revealed.

Uesugi Muneyuki described the entire process with an expressionless face. He said whatever there was to say, from Professor Tsuda suggesting his wife provide the full tuition fee triggering the argument, to realizing something was wrong and checking the accounts, to the passion-killing during their dispute, to calming down afterward and starting to dispose of the body, and finally deciding to report the case when he realized he couldn't hide it anymore. The entire process was full of twists and turns, especially when Uesugi Muneyuki mentioned that Mrs. Tsuda had transformed into an FX Predator, playing with 380x leverage in overseas OTC markets over several years and losing 1 billion yen, which left the reporters below completely bewildered.

This is possible?

Japan also has a foreign exchange market, but the maximum leverage is stipulated at 29x, which is already enough to bankrupt a whole bunch of housewives.

Mrs. Tsuda actually dared to use 380x leverage?

Uesugi Muneyuki's phrase "FX Predator" left a deep and colorful mark in the hearts of all the reporters and the 6 million Japanese citizens watching the live broadcast in the Kanto Region from that moment on.

And this 1 billion yen in remittances also gave Professor Tsuda some opportunities for maneuvering.

"That's right! I did it all!" Earlier, when faced with questioning from the Metropolitan Police Department, Professor Tsuda had very readily admitted to all his faults, emphasizing that it was all his personal doing and had nothing to do with the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry.

He even took full responsibility for all the bad debts and problematic accounts of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry over the past ten years!

Failed projects? That's right, I was the one who made them fail, I take full responsibility!

Overseas research expenses? That's right, I was the one who arranged them, I take full responsibility!

Personnel allowances for the PT Project? That's right, I was the one who embezzled them, I take full responsibility!

Recent unsuccessful forestry research? It was all my decision-making error!

As for the embezzled money? Of course, it was all taken by Mrs. Tsuda to speculate on foreign exchange!

In reality, by this point, the figure of 1 billion was already a bit insufficient, but Professor Tsuda was simple: the extra few hundred million were also used by Mrs. Tsuda for luxury goods and overseas travel. Don't ask anymore; if you ask, I take full responsibility!

Just like that, Professor Tsuda single-handedly balanced the books for the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry for ten years.

And shortly after Professor Tsuda was arrested, many people in the University of Tokyo Alumni Association immediately took pity on Professor Tsuda's tragic plight and launched a fundraiser, donating a total of 80 million yen for Professor Tsuda's daughter, Tsuda Emi, to attend the dentistry department at Keio University.

As for the son who had been missing from start to finish, he immediately received a real-time offer from overseas and left Japan overnight.

Uesugi Muneyuki saw all of this, and precisely because he saw it, the University of Tokyo, the Metropolitan Police Department, and others were all very afraid that Uesugi Muneyuki would say something "inappropriate."

Fortunately, they overthought it. Uesugi Muneyuki himself focused on the criminal aspect; he was not very interested in matters outside the criminal aspect, nor could he manage them. He was a Forensic Pathologist, and all he had to do was make the facts clear.

It was also fortunate that because of his persistence in the criminal aspect, the University of Tokyo side did not dare to play any more tricks like "accidental fall" or "excessive self-defense," and honestly listened to Uesugi Muneyuki's arrangements.

Professor Tsuda would be sent to the prosecutors on three charges: "passion-killing," "destruction of a corpse," and "embezzlement in office."

As Uesugi Muneyuki finished explaining the entire case himself, there was no doubt that the FX Predator and the University of Tokyo professor wife-killing case would become the front-page headlines of all newspapers and news media tomorrow!

And with the holding of this case's press conference, the University of Tokyo professor wife-killing case officially came to an end, and the case was declared closed.

However, although the Metropolitan Police Department announced the case closed, the social discussion triggered by this case among the Japanese public had only just begun!

(End of chapter)