Chapter 234: Major Breakthroughs and New Mysteries

At the hour of dawn in Hakkeijima, the sea breeze whistled along Tokyo Bay. Rows of police cars were parked near Hakkeijima, and over a hundred police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Investigation Headquarters for the serial body-dumping case had arrived. Surrounded by the wailing of sirens, the crowd gathered around Uesugi Muneyuki, watching him perform an autopsy on two highly decomposed corpses.

The two deceased were Sasaki Toshito and Fujisaki Katsumata. Sasaki Toshito was the tall, sturdy, and powerful man Uesugi Muneyuki had seen, who did not look fat but was covered in streamlined muscle. Fujisaki Katsumata was the particularly thin and small one, only about 1.6 meters tall, with a waist just slightly wider than an A4 sheet of paper, who had successfully climbed through the small bathroom window and entered the Igarashi Residence.

"This is it!" Police Inspector Kosaka found two black plastic bags in the trunk, containing the lower limbs and head of Igarashi Aiko, which had not yet been discarded.

"Eek!" Miss Minami instinctively stepped back and quickly pinched her nose. Her calves, wrapped in silk stockings and high-heeled shoes, retreated rapidly along the concrete ground, pulling Eirina along with her.

Eirina was more curious by comparison, while Ishihara Mikoto followed Uesugi Muneyuki, checking the bodies by his side.

"How is it? Uesugi-kun, can you confirm?" Superintendent Megure also squatted beside Uesugi Muneyuki, frowning as he looked at the corpses of Sasaki Toshito and Fujisaki Katsumata: "Are you sure it wasn't an accident?"

"It wasn't." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head directly and pointed at the bodies: "Under normal circumstances, after a person drowns, water enters the lungs in large quantities due to breathing and the piston action of the lungs, leading to fluid accumulation in the lungs, and eventually, the person is submerged by the water."

"But if it is not death by drowning, a person will not breathe after death, so a large amount of air will remain in the lungs, forming an environment similar to a balloon. In this case, the body will not only fail to sink, but will actually float due to the large amount of air in the lungs and body."

"Therefore, the simplest rule of thumb is that most bodies that float in water are not drowned."

Uesugi Muneyuki said with a frown.

This is actually very simple forensic science. According to the experience of a Forensic Pathologist, non-drowned corpses, even if tied with 5kg or 10kg weights, still have the possibility of floating up from the sea. There is even a case in history where a deceased person was tied to a refrigerator, yet it still floated up from the water and was discovered after drifting for about 20 kilometers.

"The bodies look like they died from drowning and asphyxiation, but in reality, they were already dead before falling into the water." Ishihara Mikoto also confirmed: "This is not an accidental fall into the sea, but a murder!"

"Yes, or someone committed the crime and then let the two people sit in the car to let them fall into the sea naturally, or the killer was in the car at the time and left after committing the crime."

"These two people look like they drowned, and the cause of death was indeed asphyxiation. Because they were locked in the car and unable to float up, if they were soaked in water for a long time, water would indeed slowly enter the lungs, creating an illusion very similar to drowning, but..." Uesugi Muneyuki said calmly: "But precisely because their bodies were inside a sealed car that fell into the water, the environment was relatively airtight. The air in the lungs would not escape, which instead exposed the truth that the two did not die by accident!"

"I see!" Superintendent Megure, Police Inspector Kashiwagi, and the others nodded.

Learned something new again!

"I see, so there are two possibilities." Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo paced slowly with his hands behind his back: "One, the scraping incident was an accident. Sasaki Toshito was already in financial distress and living a difficult life. After accidentally encountering the scraping, due to the vehicle damage and the need to bear the compensation costs—and perhaps Ms. Igarashi's words were quite harsh—he harbored resentment. Later, the two negotiated, followed Ms. Igarashi to confirm the location of her home, and seized the opportunity to commit the crime. They kidnapped Igarashi, demanding she waive the compensation and pay for his car repairs and medical expenses. The negotiations broke down, and Sasaki Toshito eventually killed Igarashi."

"This matter was learned by the interior of the Violent Group, and the higher-ups quickly discovered that Sasaki had caused a huge disaster, so they had no choice but to kill him to silence him. That is how this accidental fall into the sea came about."

Everyone nodded one after another; this was a relatively reasonable explanation.

Uesugi Muneyuki had a different view, and he continued: "Besides this, there is a second explanation."

"The scraping incident was not an accident. Sasaki Toshito, as a public member of the Violent Group, deliberately caused the scraping incident with Ms. Igarashi Aiko under instructions. Afterward, the two sides began to negotiate the compensation issue. Sasaki obtained the opportunity to contact Ms. Igarashi, then followed her to confirm her home and seized the opportunity to commit the crime."

"After successfully committing the crime, Sasaki Toshito intended to dump the bodies according to the organization's instructions, but the organization had already planned to silence him and his accomplice."

After Uesugi Muneyuki stated the second possibility, everyone's expression became serious.

"Uesugi-kun is right, the second possibility also exists." Sugishita Ukyo sighed with his hands behind his back: "According to our understanding of Ms. Igarashi during the investigation, it is impossible that she would not mention that she was a Department Manager at Mitsui Real Estate, and it is even possible she mentioned her family."

"Division Chief, and Uesugi-kun, which one do you think it is?" Superintendent Megure asked.

"Without a doubt, it is the second one." "It is the second one." Sugishita Ukyo and Uesugi Muneyuki said simultaneously without hesitation.

"But the Violent Group probably didn't order the killing." "The killing should have been an accident."

Sugishita Ukyo and Uesugi Muneyuki said simultaneously again.

Afterward, Uesugi of the Metropolitan Police Department and Sugishita looked at each other with astonished gazes.

You old geezer?

You young punk?

Uesugi Muneyuki was even more surprised. He had used the Death Soul Contract for Soul Communication. Within the Death Soul Contract, the resentful and wailing Dead Soul of Sasaki Toshito told Uesugi Muneyuki.

The scraping incident was precisely instructed by the high-level officials of the Designated Organized Crime Group behind Sasaki Toshito—the Kudo-kai!

Kudo-kai high-level official Kudo Geni instructed Sasaki to deliberately create a scraping incident with Igarashi Aiko and harass Igarashi Aiko to hinder the smooth progress of the entire Yokohama City Revitalization Plan.

Kudo-kai promised to send Sasaki Toshito to Southeast Asia afterward and give him 60 million.

Sasaki Toshito acted according to Kudo-kai's requirements, however, Igarashi Aiko firmly refused to cooperate.

【I didn't intend to kill anyone in the first place!】 Sasaki Toshito said to Uesugi Muneyuki: 【She wanted to escape and even recognized who I was. I had no choice but to kill her!】

【How exactly did you die?】

【There was someone in the car, someone else! We clearly confirmed there was no one in the car, but there was someone in the car!】

Sasaki Toshito had been dead for a long time, and his Soul was very weak. Uesugi Muneyuki asked a few questions in a hurry, and his Soul dissipated on the spot.

The other accomplice was kept in the dark the whole time; he didn't even really understand what he was doing, only knowing to follow the "team leader."

Uesugi Muneyuki only knew the full picture because he cheated, but how did this old geezer Sugishita Ukyo deduce it?

As if seeing through Uesugi Muneyuki's doubts, Sugishita Ukyo smiled and said: "Don't be surprised. I am 56 years old this year. I have witnessed the peak and the fall of the Violent Group. At this point in time, killing is the last and most desperate resort, especially when the other party is an employee of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group."

"If that's the case, this incident... we should still report it to the headquarters!" Superintendent Megure said to everyone present.

Uesugi Muneyuki, Watanabe Minami, Kosaka, Kashiwagi, Shimano, Itami, and others all nodded.

Only Sugishita Ukyo hesitated for a moment. Seeing everyone looking at him, the Division Chief paused for a long while before nodding silently.

The response from the Metropolitan Police Department was extremely fast. Watanabe Eiji, who had stayed up all night, listened to the report and told everyone to stand by on the spot, as new instructions would arrive immediately.

Just like that, the sea breeze at four in the morning whistled, and over a hundred police officers waited beside the salvaged car.

Uesugi Muneyuki tried to perform a Death Flashback, but Sasaki Toshito also didn't know who had attacked them from behind. In another flashback, he saw the scene of Igarashi Aiko's death, which was much the same as when Igarashi Aiko died. After being kidnapped, the female Department Manager firmly refused to cooperate, spoke harshly, and even tried to escape. Sasaki Toshito had no choice but to kill her.

It seemed that all questions had been answered.

But there was still one point that didn't make sense.

This case was solved, but the clue about the Tokyo Woman's Christian University female student was broken again.

Assuming these were two different unrelated cases, why were the body parts found in the same location?

This was a new mystery.

Uesugi Muneyuki was still thinking, but the people from the Metropolitan Police Department had already relaxed a lot. In any case, this case, which was being watched both domestically and internationally and involved 1.5 trillion, had been solved—at least from a criminal perspective, it had been solved. The killer was dead, and they could write their reports.

Another great achievement!

Kashiwagi Jin was already imagining what kind of commendation he would receive afterward and how he would accept interviews. Kosaka Shinichiro was looking at Superintendent Megure's back full of anticipation, thinking about when he would be promoted. Miss Minami and Okada Keibu were discussing the case and how to write the follow-up report.

Eirina was bickering with Mikoto. The tall beauty was angry that she hadn't been the first to discover that the two hadn't died by accident, even though Uesugi had already said so. Mikoto tried to explain the principle, but the complex forensic terminology made Eirina dizzy, and she indicated that she didn't want to hear what she had to say, she wanted to hear what Uesugi had to say.

"Don't worry, Uesugi-kun." Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki looking troubled, Superintendent Megure couldn't help but come to his side and point into the distance: "Further ahead is the Yokosuka US Military Base. If it really doesn't work, we'll ask them for help."

"Help solve the low birth rate? Speaking of which, how many Japanese-Americans did the US military stationed in Japan leave behind in Japan?" Uesugi Muneyuki's train of thought was interrupted, and he also made a joke.

"I'm not too sure about that; the only thing I know is that in the nineties, Okinawa once investigated and announced that there were over 5,000 Japanese of American descent living near the United States military bases." Superintendent Megure looked into the distance: "By that standard, did the three United States military bases leave behind over 15,000 people of United States blood in Japan after the war?"

"Then the actual number left behind should be even higher, perhaps around 30,000 to 50,000, though some are second or third generation and are no longer direct descendants of the United States military." Uesugi Muneyuki became interested: "After all, it involves personal and family privacy; in many cases, it is only discovered when the skin, hair, and eye colors of the newborn are not right."

"There are quite a few good-looking ones among the mixed-race children." Superintendent Megure shrugged and laughed along: "Like Ikeda?"

"Ikeda is of Filipino and Spain descent, right? How can that be the same?"

"Close enough, close enough."

The two of them joked for a few sentences, and just as they were wondering why there was still no news from the Metropolitan Police Department, a sound from the night sky caused the expressions of everyone present to change drastically.

A police helicopter cut through the sky and landed near the salvage site at Hakkeijima.

Amidst the roaring rotors and churning air currents, Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji and Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda Koken were seen stepping down from the helicopter one after the other.

"Attention, salute!" the Counselor of the Metropolitan Police Department who followed closely behind roared.

The Superintendent General and the Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat had actually arrived in person?

All the detectives present bowed.

"I've long wanted to make an entrance like this in front of you once. How about it, Ukyo? This helicopter was only deployed because I went to great lengths to persuade Director General Watanabe!" Before Watanabe Eiji could speak, Onoda Koken trotted over to show off in front of Sugishita Ukyo: "Isn't it stylish?"

"Well, it's a little..." Sugishita Ukyo kept a straight face; he did not know what to say.

"Don't be so serious. If it weren't to show you, Ukyo, I wouldn't have come by helicopter." Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda was disappointed by Sugishita Ukyo's reaction: "Persuading Tokyo air traffic control was not that easy."

"Could you please act normally? Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat, this is a very serious matter." Sugishita Ukyo could only reply.

"It is precisely because this is a very serious matter that we have come in person." Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda quickly shifted from a joking posture to a serious expression: "Forensic Examiner Uesugi?"

"Present." Uesugi Muneyuki looked directly at Onoda Koken for the first time.

"Well done. This case can stop here." Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda nodded: "From here on, Public Security will take over."

"Huh?!"

"Public Security has been silent for too long. It is time to let the whole society understand once again the necessity of Public Security's existence and its importance to Japan."

Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda said expressionlessly: "Prepare to witness our big move."

"To dare to cause such a big incident—this is no longer an ordinary Violent Group; we must strike with a heavy fist."

"Your analysis and Ukyo's are very reasonable, but whether it is the first possibility or the second possibility, it~doesn't~matter~at~all~"

(End of chapter)