Chapter 233: Tokyo Bay Serial Dumping Case Solved! (2k Monthly Votes)

As Tokyo Marine Holdings sent over the photo of Sasaki, the moment the tall, sturdy man came into view, the familiar rhythm of solving cases finally returned to Uesugi Muneyuki.

That's right, it's him!

This physique, these streamlined muscles—he is the killer from the Death Flashback.

"Please have your company immediately suspend the salvage operations in Tokyo Bay and prioritize dispatching a salvage vessel to the accident area at Hakkeijima to recover the vehicle involved in the accident," Uesugi Muneyuki said in an unquestionable tone. "This person and this vehicle are highly suspected of being involved in the crime!"

"Huh?!" Tokyo Marine Holdings was completely thrown off by Uesugi Muneyuki: "But... Sasaki has already gone missing; it's basically confirmed that he is dead!"

"This matter is complicated, I cannot explain it clearly for the moment, but in any case, just do as I say!" Uesugi Muneyuki said in an unquestionable tone. "Property insurance, 230 billion; serial policy, 150 billion!"

"... Understood, I will notify my superiors immediately." Hearing the figure of 230 billion, Tokyo Marine Holdings was silent for a moment, and Shibukawa on the other end quickly said: "We will proceed with the salvage work immediately."

Uesugi Muneyuki hung up the phone and said to everyone at the scene: "I have a lead. Notify the members of the Special Investigation Headquarters immediately to gather in the conference room at the Yokohama Mitsui Garden Hotel."

"Yes!"

Minami and Eirina exchanged a glance; they could feel that after making this call, Uesugi Muneyuki's mental state had changed!

Having worked with him for so long, the two women naturally understood what this mental state meant.

He's got it!

Half an hour later, the special joint investigation meeting was held in the conference room of the Yokohama Mitsui Garden Hotel.

Special Investigation Headquarters Chief and Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita, Deputy Chief and Management Officer Megure, First Division Chief Kousaka, Third Subsection's Kashiwagi, Fourth Unit's Shimano, Fifth Section's Itami, and Minami of the Special Mission Unit were all in attendance.

Section Chief Kakuda from the Organized Crime Control Department and Management Officer Ichijo from Public Security were also there.

In addition, Nippon Life representative Takeda, Tokyo Marine Holdings representative Shibukawa, and Sumitomo Mitsui representative Executive Director Sato had also arrived.

Inside the magnificent hotel conference room, Special Mission Unit Forensic Examiner Uesugi Muneyuki laid out the events in detail.

He first wrote several dates on the blackboard.

Late night on September 6th to the early hours of September 7th—Igarashi Aiko encountered a situation.

September 7th, Igarashi Aiko found missing during the Mitsui Group team-building event—report filed, Kanagawa Police intervened in the investigation.

September 10th, Executive Director Sato suspected due to blood DNA—arrested.

September 12th, Sasaki, who had been injured in a collision with Igarashi Aiko a month prior and was preparing to sue, drove his car into the sea and went missing.

September 15th, Igarashi Aiko's remains found in Tokyo Bay; September 16th, Hirasawa Yui's remains found in Tokyo Bay.

September 19th, the Special Joint Investigation Headquarters for the Tokyo Bay serial dumping case was established.

Uesugi Muneyuki wrote these dates on the blackboard and then said to the crowd below: "Everyone, please look at this timeline, and you will know what we overlooked during the investigation."

The people in the audience frowned, but no one answered.

"First, there is no doubt that Aiko encountered trouble after returning home late on the night of September 6th. On September 7th, the Kanagawa Police had already taken the case, began investigating it as a missing person case, and on September 10th, locked onto Executive Director Sato, who is sitting here, as the suspect and arrested him."

Uesugi Muneyuki drew a timeline: "However, according to subsequent investigations, Aiko died 7 to 10 days before her body was discovered. That is to say, when we reached this conclusion on September 17th, we could confirm that Aiko died between September 8th and September 11th."

"Therefore, Aiko did not actually die immediately after being kidnapped; there was a period of time between being kidnapped and being murdered."

"And this is the key to proving Executive Director Sato's innocence. Aiko died after the incident occurred, and Executive Director Sato has an alibi for the time after the incident on September 7th."

Executive Director Sato in the audience nodded at Uesugi Muneyuki, feeling both aggrieved and grateful.

"What are you trying to say, Uesugi-kun?" Superintendent Megure in the audience frowned; he did not fully understand.

"What I mean is that the very period during which we suspected Executive Director Sato provided cover for certain guys hiding underwater," Uesugi Muneyuki said earnestly. "We can confirm that from the time Executive Director Sato was arrested on September 10th until he was released due to insufficient evidence on September 19th... or at least until the body parts were found on September 15th, the focus of the Kanagawa side was always on Executive Director Sato, and as a result, some things were overlooked."

"By the time Igarashi Aiko's body was discovered on September 15th, the case was upgraded from a missing person case to a criminal case. And once it was confirmed as a missing person case on the 15th, when the Kanagawa Police went back to re-investigate the case, what would they see?"

Uesugi Muneyuki used his pen to draw a long line under the September 12th Sasaki sea-crash incident: "What they investigated was that Sasaki had already died by crashing into the sea on September 12th. Because he was Yakuza, they didn't even salvage the car and simply treated it as a missing person death."

This is the Yakuza; they have no human rights.

"Dead men are not worth investigating, and dead men do not commit crimes. With this subconscious bias, the Kanagawa Police automatically ignored the conflict that had occurred between the two parties due to the vehicle collision."

"In other words, before September 15th, the Kanagawa Police's attention was on Executive Director Sato and they didn't notice the collision incident. After September 15th, when the Kanagawa Police re-investigated other aspects, they learned that Sasaki, the protagonist of the collision incident, had already died on September 12th, so naturally, they wouldn't continue to investigate in that direction."

"Therefore, from beginning to end, this most critical clue was ignored just like that!"

"By the time the Metropolitan Police Department intervened on September 19th, this clue was naturally not reported, so... we walked right into the trap, exhausting our energy in other areas, not knowing that it is highly likely the real killer had already died on September 12th due to an accident or other reasons!"

"Everyone, think about it again. Sasaki was a Yakuza who had a conflict with Igarashi Aiko over a collision incident and was injured, unable to pay for the repairs. He already had enough personal vendetta to commit the crime, and his method of disposing of the body was the traditional old method of the Violent Group: cutting it up and throwing it into Tokyo Bay!"

Uesugi Muneyuki's words were like a sudden enlightenment, clearing the fog for everyone present!

It was as if, after being constipated for a whole week, the feeling of relief from finally letting it all out when the stomach rumbled had washed over the minds of the dozens of people present.

That's right, that's right!

Everything makes sense this way! A Yakuza, a personal vendetta caused by a car accident, injured, an unemployed drifter with plenty of time to handle this, someone who knew Igarashi Aiko but couldn't knock on her door, so he would tail her, stalk her, commit the crime, and even dismember the body and throw it into Tokyo Bay!

Brilliant, brilliant!

Everyone present was amazed by Uesugi Muneyuki's forensic ability.

It's simply divine!

Think about this ghostly case—what was it all about?

A severely decomposed body that was only partially recovered, a desperate situation where all evidence at the scene was contaminated, the victim's simple yet complex and hidden interpersonal relationships, the constant obstruction and lack of cooperation from those useless people in Kanagawa, and the complex background of Sumitomo Mitsui and the shadow of her father interfering behind the scenes.

And he could deduce all of this?

With Uesugi Muneyuki laying it out like this, all the logic and events fell into place.

So that's how it is!

No wonder it couldn't be solved; this clue was ignored by the Kanagawa side from the very beginning, and the Metropolitan Police Department side didn't know about it at all. Tokyo Marine Insurance, which was involved in this matter, had already finished their procedures, while other forces kept diverting everyone's attention in other directions.

And after Uesugi Muneyuki peeled back the layers, the truth was revealed.

The real killer had already died in the sea on September 12th!

Amazing! Even this could be dug up by Forensic Examiner Uesugi?

There was a chorus of sighs from the conference room.

Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo said in a low voice: "If what Uesugi-kun says is truly correct, we will know the result very soon."

"That's right, the joint fleet formed by the Japan Coast Guard and our Tokyo Marine Holdings is already preparing to launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor," said Shibukawa, the insurance representative who had arrived at the scene, joking with a smile: "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

"That's right, what we need to do next is wait for news." Miss Minami held up her mobile phone and said to everyone present with a smile: "I live-streamed Uesugi Muneyuki's explanation to everyone at the Metropolitan Police Department!"

The young lady turned the phone around.

It was already late at night, but on the other side of the phone screen, led by Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji, all the high-ranking officials of the Metropolitan Police Department were in attendance, and Commissioner Kaneko Takuro and Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda Kimiaki had also come.

Everyone had watched Uesugi Muneyuki's entire deduction process.

"A very brilliant deduction, Uesugi Muneyuki." Watanabe Eiji nodded and smiled from inside the phone screen: "Now, we only need to wait for the salvage results."

This old man had a bit of a show-off attitude; the expressions of the high-ranking officials below varied, but they were all speechless with admiration for Uesugi Muneyuki.

The meeting ended, and everyone immediately rushed to the salvage site near Hakkeijima.

September 26, 4:00 AM, the decisive moment finally arrived.

The salvage ship from Tokyo Marine Holdings went through great pains and finally salvaged that Mazda car from the seabed!

The Metropolitan Police Department and the Special Investigation Headquarters found two corpses soaked and rotted by seawater in the Mazda, along with Igarashi Aiko's Briefcase, and two black plastic bags in the car's trunk that had not yet been discarded, which contained Igarashi Aiko's lower limbs and head!

With this, the Tokyo Bay Serial Body Dumping Case, which shocked all of Japan, attracted countless attention, involved the Sumitomo Mitsui Group and the Yokohama 1.5 trillion yen port revitalization project, and involved a total insurance amount exceeding 380 billion yen, was officially solved!

However, Uesugi Muneyuki only checked the corpses, and his expression changed abruptly.

"This is not an accidental fall into the sea!"

"This is a premeditated murder!"

"Sasaki was murdered by someone!"

This statement shocked everyone present.

This case, it hasn't ended yet?

(End of this chapter)