Chapter 226: Investigation Strategy

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On September 19, the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters was officially established in Ota Ward.

Uesugi Muneyuki also began to perform an autopsy on the corpse of Igarashi Aiko.

The corpse of Hirasawa Yui had been examined and only one-third remained; having been discarded for nearly a month and chopped up, the corpse was almost completely decomposed, and even an elite Forensic Pathologist like Ishihara Mikoto could hardly find anything of value.

The Special Mission Unit then focused their attention on the corpse of Igarashi Aiko.

Igarashi Aiko's head and the parts below her thighs had still not been found; Tokyo Marine Holdings and the Japan Coast Guard were working overtime on salvage operations, but there had been no discoveries so far.

Mikoto and Uesugi Muneyuki worked together to stitch the four existing body parts together, and Uesugi Muneyuki then began to attempt Soul Communication.

It was useless, because due to the lack of a head, the existing residual Dead Soul was insufficient for adequate communication.

It seemed that they would have to wait until the head was found.

Fortunately, Uesugi Muneyuki had already unlocked a new ability.

Death Flashback!

A blurry scene appeared before Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes.

The impression of a relatively plump Igarashi Aiko before her death appeared in a completely dark place; she was saying something in anger, but Uesugi Muneyuki could not hear it, then she flatly denied something, shook her head vigorously, and kept saying something intensely in her mouth; it seemed that because of this reason, the other party then used a baseball bat to kill her.

A baseball bat?

Uesugi Muneyuki continued the flashback, and the scene quickly returned to a certain residence from before, presumably Igarashi Aiko's home; seeing her return home from work, she looked around very uneasily, and at the same time immediately locked the door, looking as if she were hiding from something, but when she went to the second floor and sat down to drink tea, she was still attacked by a masked person; the other party covered her mouth and nose with a cloth and dragged her away.

Uneasy? A masked person? Hiding in the house in advance?

Then the last scene was Igarashi Aiko begging Executive Director Sato for something, bowing at ninety degrees, but Executive Director Sato kept shaking his head.

The Death Flashback ended there.

Uesugi Muneyuki seemed to understand something, but he did not fully understand it; the only thing he could confirm was that the masked person should be a male, with a tall build that was not particularly muscular, but he was very strong and had well-defined muscles; one could see obvious muscle lines on his simple black tight-fitting clothes.

On the other side, after Ishihara Mikoto finished the examination, she said: "There are defensive wounds on the arms, abdomen, and back; from this, it can be seen that Igarashi Aiko should have resisted to a certain extent."

"The degree of decomposition is very high; the microorganisms in the seawater and the large amount of detergent added make it impossible for us to test anything." Mikoto sighed: "What a vicious murderer; it is clear that professional equipment was used for the cutting, and they are an old hand..."

"It might involve a Violent Group." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "Can you determine the time of death?"

"The time of death was probably between 10 days and a week ago." Mikoto said regretfully: "Because it is severely decomposed, there is no way to determine it very accurately."

"Very well..." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "Gather everyone, meeting!"

At 9:00 AM, the members of the Special Investigation Headquarters, having had a short rest, all gathered.

Inside the large conference room of the Police Station sat over a hundred Detectives, dressed in suits and leather shoes, with serious expressions.

Police Inspector Shimano of the Fourth Division of Investigation Division 1 stood on the stage and briefly described the background of Igarashi Aiko; this part has already been mentioned before, so it will not be repeated here.

At the same time, Police Inspector Shimano emphasized the reasons and evidence for the Kanagawa Prefectural Police arresting Executive Director Sato.

At this time, Uesugi Muneyuki spoke up: "Regarding Executive Director Sato, does anyone know his height? And his weight?"

"Executive Director Sato is about 170 centimeters tall and weighs about 74 kilograms." Police Inspector Shimano said on the stage.

"Uesugi-kun, did you find anything?" asked Sugishita Ukyo, Chief of Investigation Division 1.

"According to the autopsy results, I personally believe that Igarashi Aiko's home in Yokohama is not the crime scene." Uesugi Muneyuki came to the stage and said to the hundreds of Detectives below: "According to our autopsy results, there are many defensive wounds and injuries from being hit with a blunt object on Igarashi Aiko's body, but according to the investigation of the scene, there is only the blood of Executive Director Sato; setting aside whether his bleeding was caused by a ruptured hemorrhoid, one thing is certain, and that is that Igarashi Aiko was killed elsewhere, processed, and finally dumped in Tokyo Bay."

"Otherwise, if the struggle had taken place at home, it would definitely have left more traces." Uesugi Muneyuki judged.

"And according to our autopsy results, Igarashi Aiko's time of death was 7 to 10 days ago; today is September 19, the disappearance was September 6 to September 7, and Executive Director Sato was arrested on September 10; we can contact the Mitsui Group, and if the other party can provide an alibi for Executive Director Sato for these days, it means that the other party is at least not the direct murderer."

"In other words, we still need to find the second crime scene?" said Kosaka Shinichiro, Chief of the First Division of Investigation Division 1 below.

"Also, I have an idea." Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly said: "According to the current situation and the case introduction, we can find that Igarashi Aiko was a person who could not distinguish between work and life very seriously; for her, work was her life, and her life was work; her ex-husband divorced her because of this, and her relationship with her second boss, Naito, was also an office romance, so I tend to think that this case is unlikely to be a random murder; there must be a reason."

"As her direct supervisor for the past two years and a person who does not distinguish between public and private matters, Executive Director Sato must know something, but because he himself is involved in the case, he must have unspeakable secrets." Uesugi Muneyuki said to the crowd below: "So, my idea is that we set off for Kanagawa Prefecture now; some people will go to inspect the Igarashi Residence, and some people will go into Kanagawa Prefecture to fish out Executive Director Sato of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group and bring him to us for questioning."

There was a silence in the audience, and the Deputy Chief of the Investigation Headquarters, Management Officer Megure, tilted his head and said: "Taking people directly from the Prefectural Police will cause conflict between the Metropolitan Police Department and the local authorities."

"There is no other way; if we want to solve the case quickly, we must do this." Police Inspector Kashiwagi Jin of the Second Division said coldly: "Forensic Examiner Uesugi has already judged that it was a person involved who committed the crime, so we must continue to investigate along this line."

Everyone nodded one after another.

Regarding the reason for Igarashi Aiko's murder, the Special Investigation Headquarters summarized three types: the first is personal hatred from Igarashi Aiko's own social relationships, the second is targeted harm caused by commercial competition, and the third is that Igarashi Aiko's father was once a Chief of Investigation Division 2, and it is possible that he offended someone and was retaliated against.

As for Uesugi Muneyuki, his attention was still focused on the Death Flashback.

If the other party wanted to kill Igarashi Aiko, why wear a mask and take her away for questioning instead of killing her immediately?

If the other party did not want to kill Igarashi Aiko, why kill her, cut up the corpse, and then throw it into Tokyo Bay?

Isn't this too Yakuza?

Uesugi Muneyuki believed that perhaps Executive Director Sato and Igarashi Aiko's colleagues knew something.

Aiko, what exactly was she begging Executive Director Sato for?

One hour later, Kanagawa Prefectural Headquarters.

Uesugi Muneyuki and Kashiwagi Jin, who had arrived here, encountered an incomprehensible thing.

The Kanagawa Prefectural Headquarters refused to release the person!

Upon hearing Uesugi Muneyuki's purpose, Police Inspector Yamanaka of Kanagawa Prefecture flatly refused to release the person; he told Uesugi Muneyuki that counting the 72 hours for submission to the prosecutor and the 10 days allowed by the District Public Prosecutors Office, it would take at least another 3 days before Executive Director Sato could be released!

Before that, the Kanagawa Police refused to release the person.

Police Inspector Yamanaka's attitude was very tough.

And accompanying him was Takakura, the Prefectural Police Chief of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Prefectural Police Chief Takakura's hair was already gray, and his hairline was V-shaped; he pushed open the door and entered, saying to Uesugi Muneyuki and Police Inspector Kashiwagi: "We don't recall this prefecture having requested the intervention of the Metropolitan Police Department?"

"Who allowed you to take the suspect away!" Prefectural Police Chief Takakura slapped the table and said sternly: "Who allowed the Metropolitan Police Department to intervene in local affairs?"

"Explain it to us clearly! Whose orders are you following, who allowed it, and who approved you to take the person away?"

"It was allowed by the National Police Agency." Before Uesugi Muneyuki could speak, Watanabe Minami stepped forward and took out an official document signed and stamped by Onoda, the Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat of the National Police Agency, and placed it in front of Prefectural Police Chief Takakura.

Prefectural Police Chief Takakura read the document, his expression livid but helpless: "What does the National Police Agency mean by this? Are you saying that this prefecture cannot handle it?"

"We have already given you so much time; what have you investigated? Release the person immediately." Police Inspector Kashiwagi also had a tough attitude.

"You idiot!" Headquarters Chief Takakura looked over the official document again, and helplessly signaled for them to release the person.

Uesugi Muneyuki keenly sensed a trace of unease from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters.

After Uesugi Muneyuki and the others took Executive Director Sato away, Headquarters Chief Takakura signaled for Police Inspector Yamanaka, who was in charge of investigating this case, to come over.

"Yamanaka, do not give them any clues, especially about that matter..."

"Understood!"

……………………

On the morning of the 19th, Executive Director Sato, who had been detained for a full 9 days, was finally released.

Having been locked up in the police headquarters for so long, Executive Director Sato looked haggard and his physical condition was particularly poor. As soon as he saw Uesugi Muneyuki, the Executive Director of the Mitsui Sumitomo Group Board of Directors gritted his teeth and stared at the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters behind him with bloodshot eyes: "I have noted this debt. An eye for an eye, ten times over! No, a hundred times over!"

Uesugi Muneyuki, however, stared at Executive Director Sato and observed him for a long time, comparing him to the image in his death flash.

It was not him; at least, the person who committed the crime was not him.

"It wasn't you who did it," Uesugi Muneyuki said.

"Of course it wasn't me who did it!" Executive Director Sato nodded as a matter of course, but he soon froze and a hint of joy appeared on his face: "You also think it wasn't me who did it?"

"Yes, I also think it wasn't you who did it," Uesugi Muneyuki nodded calmly: "First, the timing doesn't match, and second, I cannot think of any reason why you, Executive Director Sato, would have to kill Igarashi Aiko."

"However, you must have some unspeakable secret you want to tell me, right?" Uesugi Muneyuki took the initiative to smile at Executive Director Sato: "How about this, I will help you clear your name, and you tell me what you know. Let's make a deal, how about that?"

The elderly Executive Director of the Mitsui Sumitomo Group Board of Directors was silent for a moment, then nodded: "It seems you have already guessed some things."

"Fine, to thank you kid for getting me out, I will tell you what I know."

Just like that, they waited until noon, and Uesugi Muneyuki and the others brought Executive Director Sato back to the Special Investigation Headquarters in Ota Ward.

Inside the reception room, Miss Minami personally served a cup of green tea to Executive Director Sato and gently expressed that he had suffered.

Executive Director Sato took the green tea, looked at Uesugi Muneyuki and Kashiwagi Jin sitting opposite him, as well as Ikeda Erena who was standing straight behind Uesugi Muneyuki, and nodded with a bitter smile: "How did you know that I knew some inside information, and that I wouldn't tell the people in Kanagawa?"

"Because according to our investigation, Igarashi Aiko was someone who particularly failed to distinguish between public and private matters, and judging by her office romance with her superior, she was someone who would tell her secrets to her superior," Uesugi Muneyuki nodded and said: "Please rest assured, Executive Director, we will not spread this."

"Hmm." Upon hearing this, Executive Director Sato was silent for a long time, and said with a hint of awkwardness: "That day, Aiko found me and said that she had been feeling uneasy lately, as if someone was secretly following and harassing her."

The few detectives present widened their eyes instantly.

This was an important clue!

"About a week before she went missing, I noticed that Aiko's mood was particularly low and she was often distracted at work, so I asked her what happened. Aiko told me that she had been feeling like someone was following her lately."

Executive Director Sato said in a deep voice: "She said it might be her ex-husband Asakura, so I asked her if she needed help, but Aiko asked me if I could arrange for her to meet Naito again. She knew that Naito had recently been transferred back to the country from the United States and was working at Mitsui & Co."

"I personally did not want Aiko to have anything more to do with Naito; the group had already been troubled once because of this matter, so even though Aiko begged me, I still refused. But as far as I know, Aiko still tried to contact Naito secretly afterward."

As mentioned earlier, Department Manager Naito was the victim's former superior, and the two had once had a long office romance, but it was called off because Department Manager Naito's children were firmly opposed to it. After the incident, Department Manager Naito was also transferred to the United States for several years and only recently returned to the country.

Uesugi Muneyuki now understood why Executive Director Sato was unwilling to tell the Kanagawa Prefectural Police about this matter.

For the sake of the group's interests, having one person arrested was enough; if others were implicated without cause, the Mitsui conglomerate would encounter new trouble.

"Because Aiko mentioned that she was being followed, I suggested she move into our group dormitory, but she refused. We sent people to install a security door and an alarm bell for her, but neither of these things worked. And because the alarm bell was installed by my arrangement, this might have become evidence that I committed the crime," Executive Director Sato smiled bitterly and helplessly, saying with both anger and resentment: "Oh my, oh my, it seems I must completely draw a line with female subordinates in the future. No matter how hard the other party works or how talented they are, I never want women as subordinates again."

After finishing, Executive Director Sato was dejected: "This is all the information I know. Uesugi-kun, the Niki-kai told me that you are trustworthy, which is why I told you all the information I know. I am truly innocent!"

"Leave it to me," Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "However, I hope we can get the full cooperation of your company."

"Of course!" Executive Director Sato said very seriously: "As long as you can help me clear my name and help our Mitsui Sumitomo Group land the entire project smoothly, not only will you receive our full cooperation, but in the future, you will also always be a friend of our Sumitomo Mitsui!"

(End of this chapter)