Chapter 224: The Nation in an Uproar

The scene was silent.

Another corpse? Another case of someone being dismembered and thrown into Tokyo Bay?

Police Inspector Kashiwagi Jin at the scene immediately reported to the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.

Sakuradamon was suddenly in an uproar; Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo finally could not hold back and set out in person, while at this time, Criminal Investigation Department Chief Uchimura also had to report the news to the Superintendent General.

"What?" Watanabe Eiji stood up directly from his seat, his hand shaking so much that his fountain pen accidentally fell to the floor: "A new corpse was discovered?"

"Yes, besides the corpse of Igarashi Aiko, the salvage ship also discovered other corpses at that location!" Criminal Investigation Department Chief Uchimura said in a deep voice: "Currently, Tokyo Marine Holdings has already cordoned off the nearby area, and it is expected that more coast guard vessels and salvage ships will be dispatched to investigate the scene."

"Uesugi is at the scene, right? What does he say?" Watanabe Eiji quickly recovered from his initial shock.

"Uesugi is currently performing an autopsy at the scene. Although there is no evidence to prove it, his reported judgment is that he believes the new dismembered corpse discovered in the water might be the missing female student from Tokyo Woman's Christian University, Hirasawa Yui," Chief Uchimura said.

"What? What does the Forensics Division say?" Watanabe Eiji's pupils narrowed slightly.

"The Forensics Division is working overtime to test it." Uchimura Kanji thought to himself that he was truly unlucky, and could only force himself to say: "Also, former Division 2 Chief Igarashi Masataka, who received the news, is rushing over from Kanagawa Prefecture."

"Understood, just do as Uesugi arranged." Watanabe Eiji nodded: "Cancel the press conference, notify Togasaki, and have him announce to the public that other corpses were found in Tokyo Bay and that a search is currently underway; reschedule the press conference for tomorrow."

"Yes... but, Superintendent." Chief Uchimura hesitated for a moment, then said: "But there are too many people at the scene, and there are reporters outside... It seems TBS Television has already used a drone to film the scene, and it has already gone viral on the internet."

"I see." Watanabe Eiji was thinking about how to respond when the phone on his desk rang.

It was a call from Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki.

Onoda Kimiaki's attitude was very gentle, but what he said was not gentle at all; the Chief Cabinet Secretary ordered Metropolitan Police Department Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji and his own younger brother, Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda, to go to the Cabinet Office together to report in person.

"I am going to the Cabinet Office; Uchimura, the matters on the front line are left to you and Ukyo."

"Yes."

……………………

Sure enough, when all the television stations received word that the Metropolitan Police Department intended to postpone the press conference, the stations, having already learned about the salvage situation through other channels, could no longer control their plans to make a big news story out of it.

First was NHK Public Broadcasting; in the afternoon, NHK urgently interrupted its programming with the news: "New female corpse discovered in Tokyo Bay, identity unknown, Metropolitan Police Department is conducting further investigations."

NHK reported the event in a calm and objective tone, emphasizing the police's preliminary investigation results. The footage showed the crime scene cordon, Japan Coast Guard vessels, and Forensics Division personnel at work. The voiceover mentioned the time of discovery was early morning, reported by a Tokyo Marine Holdings employee; the remains had been cut into several pieces and were in a state of advanced decay, with the time of death estimated to be about one week ago. A reporter connected to Metropolitan Police Department Public Relations Division Chief Togasaki Tomonobu, who stated, "We will compare this with missing persons records and accelerate DNA identification," while also appealing to the public for information.

During the salvage process, the Metropolitan Police Department discovered other remains; the current situation is unclear.

NTV interrupted its program with: "Emergency Special Report, 'Mystery Remains' salvaged from Tokyo Bay, confirmed to be a missing person from the Yokohama Case, new remains discovered during the salvage process."

NTV's focus was on the endless stream of Violent Groups in Yokohama; murder and dismemberment followed by dumping in Tokyo Bay is a style favored by Japanese Violent Groups, but NTV's perspective was different. They mentioned that besides Japanese Violent Groups, there have also been Chinese Violent Groups in Yokohama since the 80s and 90s, as well as Southeast Asian Violent Groups that have gradually emerged recently due to Southeast Asian immigration. According to NTV's investigation, nearly half of the firearms on the black market in Japan now come from Southeast Asia.

How can Southeast Asians be so evil!

TBS Television held an emergency live broadcast: "Scene of female remains discovery in Tokyo Bay, new victims appear."

TBS Television was quite unconventional among the five major television stations. They used a drone to film from the air, crossing the police cordon, secretly filming the scene while playing suspenseful music. The reporter held a map marking the location where the remains were found, speculating that "it may have drifted into the bay from other areas due to tidal influence." The program also invited a criminal psychology expert to analyze "why the victim was dumped in Tokyo Bay," and interspersed it with simulated animations to reconstruct the discovery process.

Asahi Television's focus was on Igarashi Aiko's family.

They found Igarashi Aiko's family. As the eldest daughter in the family, Igarashi Aiko had four younger siblings. Although the eldest sister had been missing for over a week and anyone would know the situation was grim, they still held a glimmer of hope since they hadn't seen a corpse. But now that the bad news was confirmed, all six members of the family were grief-stricken. Igarashi Aiko's mother cried until she almost fainted, while her father, Igarashi Masataka, stood where he was, silent for a long time.

He did not cry, but every viewer felt his sorrow as a father.

Igarashi Masataka is over sixty years old; he is the image of a relatively traditional Japanese father—usually strict, solemn, unyielding, and not fond of revealing agitated emotions.

His love is as deep as the night.

"It is I who killed Aiko," the former Investigation Division 2 Chief said to the Asahi Television reporter's microphone.

Finally, there was Fuji Television.

Fuji Television was too ruthless; they directly connected to Uesugi Muneyuki via a live phone call, using sensationalist editing—"remains cut into scraps and placed in black plastic bags, sunk to the bottom of the sea"—repeatedly emphasizing "dumping bodies in Tokyo Bay" to imply its impact, and interspersing it with comparisons to past cold cases. As they successfully connected to Uesugi Muneyuki, who was at the scene, Fuji TV's ratings immediately skyrocketed to first place among all television stations!

Fuji TV host Shitara Ju, who was at the scene, seized the time to ask Uesugi Muneyuki for his judgment on this matter.

The Special Mission Unit Forensic Examiner Uesugi Muneyuki, who did not wish to reveal his specific name, stated anonymously that the situations of the two corpses were somewhat different. The first corpse was 100% determined to be Igarashi Aiko; the corpse was cut using a sharp, professional cutting machine, and the cut surfaces were smooth.

Although the cut surfaces of the second corpse were also quite smooth, there were obvious signs of failed cutting, and a section of the femur was broken. Uesugi Muneyuki's judgment was that the second corpse was cut using sharp blades; although the dismemberer's technique was also professional, there was still a gap compared to using professional equipment.

"So, is the Forensic Examiner's view that the two corpses might not have been the work of the same person?" the Fuji TV reporter asked at the scene.

"There is currently a lack of more clues," Uesugi Muneyuki said to the television anchor Shitara: "There is currently no evidence that it was the work of the same person, and the second corpse is obviously in a state of very severe decay; this female victim clearly died earlier than the first corpse and had been dumped for a very long time."

"I see. Then, may I ask the Forensic Examiner, regarding the investigation at the scene, saying that this matter might be the work of an extremist organization, what is your take on that?" Shitara continued to ask.

"I think this possibility cannot be ruled out," Uesugi Muneyuki replied: "According to the investigation at the scene and the judgment of the Organized Crime Control Department, the method of tying the plastic bags comes from the aquatic industry; perhaps it is related to a Violent Group or an extremist organization, but it is currently impossible to draw a conclusion."

"Besides this, I already have a guess about the identity of the second corpse. I think after the Forensics Division's verification, there should be results tomorrow," Uesugi Muneyuki said very confidently: "Please look forward to tomorrow's press conference."

"Alright, thank you to this anonymous Special Mission Unit Forensic Examiner who does not wish to reveal his specific name."

Fuji TV ended the Q&A session with satisfaction.

At the Odaiba Building site, Fuji TV was already popping champagne!

"President! Real-time ratings reached a peak of 35%!" a staff member told President Kameyama, who was outside the studio.

Hooray! The Fuji TV executives, led by President Kameyama, celebrated and were overjoyed.

All the television stations were reporting on this matter, but only we successfully connected to Uesugi Muneyuki himself!

This guy is simply a guarantee for ratings!

There's no helping it; this guy is mysterious on one hand, yet on the other hand, he constantly appears before the entire society through specific means.

People all have a strong desire to pry into privacy, especially the Japanese, who are generally repressed and place special emphasis on uniformity and collectivism. This is why the Japanese especially like programs like "pranks" and "human observation."

"President, do you think we could invite Uesugi to co-produce a program with our station?" Just then, Production Department Director Abiru Kazuhiko had a new idea: "It doesn't have to be that complicated for now; just talking about cases alone, the ratings would easily hit 20%. The time doesn't need to be very long; we could do one episode every two weeks or once a month, and we could also invite Uesugi's senior, Shirakawa Mai-san."

"Invite both Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai?" President Kameyama felt there was potential after hearing this, but the television station's budget... these two people are not cheap.

"That is exactly what I was about to say," Director Abiru said meaningfully: "Nippon Life just sent a message."

"As long as we can get them, they are willing to invest heavily and sponsor the program, and even title-sponsor it."

"Oh?!"

President Kameyama's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

For the sake of ratings, I am willing to do anything!

That afternoon, NHK and the four major commercial television stations simultaneously broadcast special programs, and the entire Tokyo Metropolitan Area was shocked by this cruel dismemberment case and the discovery of new corpses during the salvage.

At the same time, TV Tokyo was still broadcasting "Solitary Gourmet Special," and just as Uncle Goro was enjoying his delicious food, they realized that all the other channels were reporting on this incident, but it was already too late to dispatch a film crew.

And so, just as the protagonist Uncle Goro was tasting horse meat sashimi and putting the bright red horse meat into his mouth, the subtitles below read, "Body parts discovered in Tokyo Bay, police are conducting further investigations."

This episode was hailed by the Japanese as "the episode with the least appetite."

But regardless, the incident of the body dumped in Tokyo Bay caused a shock throughout society, and the attention of the 30 million people in the Kanto region was entirely focused on this matter.

At the same time, the sea area near Ota Ward and the fish markets were all temporarily closed to undergo inspections by the Japan Coast Guard, which now suspects that the killer has blended into the fish market.

Tokyo Marine Holdings also announced the blockade of the nearby sea area and increased the intensity of the search.

Late that night, the Forensics Division released the results.

Uesugi Muneyuki's miraculous judgment once again left the Metropolitan Police Department dumbfounded.

He said the second body might be that missing student from Tokyo Woman's Christian University.

After testing and DNA comparison, the answer was, that's right, it was her!

Amazing, Forensic Examiner!

(End of chapter)