Chapter 28: , The Wind Rises and Clouds Surge

Things had, after all, developed in a bad direction.

Following Uesugi Muneyuki's judgment, the entire scene was like a pot that had just boiled over.

The crowd of onlookers outside and the reporters from several major newspapers were like sharks that had smelled blood, their faces flushed with excitement; among them, the onlookers couldn't help but start shouting nonsensical slogans like "Free transport" and "Free Main Line," pointing the responsibility directly at the state-owned monopoly, JR East!

In an instant, the momentum was so massive it felt like a collapsing mountain and an overturning sea, booming so loudly that even the police maintaining order in front were forced to retreat.

A big scoop!

Equally excited were the reporters from the major newspapers; they had thought that coming here today would at most be a routine interview to capture a hot topic, never expecting such a massive scoop right from the start.

"Shocking! JR East covers up railway dismemberment case; is this the truth?"

This could no longer be described as mere excitement; one could imagine how, if this news were reported, it would detonate the entire Tokyo Metropolitan Area, and even the entire nation!

The reporters scrambled to push forward, while the police and maintenance workers at the scene were in total chaos.

"Uesugi-kun, isn't it a bit too early to draw conclusions? It might not be a cover-up; perhaps it was worker negligence, or maybe it's a body-dumping incident?" Police Inspector Moritsugu was already drenched in sweat, and he hurriedly grabbed Uesugi Muneyuki: "A cover-up is not something you can just say lightly, Uesugi-kun. Are you trying to paralyze all of Tokyo?"

"If it's not a cover-up, then what is it?" Uesugi Muneyuki said coldly: "If I'm not mistaken, Director Minami Takeshi, Police Inspector Moritsugu, when the incident broke out, you had already conducted a full internal investigation, right? There was no news of any report, nor any internal notification, correct? Since that's the case, if it's not a cover-up, then what is it?"

Uesugi Muneyuki's words were like a blade, cutting into the face of JR East Director Minami Takeshi one stroke at a time. The fifty-something-year-old director's face flushed red, his eyes burning like a demon from hell in his fury; he glared fiercely at Police Inspector Moritsugu, his gaze wishing he could burn him to ashes!

But after all, he was a man in his fifties, and he still possessed plenty of composure and self-control. With cameras and microphones all around, and long guns and short cannons pointed at his face, he dared not lash out. Thus, with a "wait a moment," Director Minami Takeshi entered the workers' break room nearby and immediately dialed a phone number.

"President, yes, yes... there's a problem. A Forensic Pathologist has come here, and the source of the body has been figured out, but he says someone in our subordinate department covered it up. Yes... I will have people investigate immediately. As for the matter over there, I can only request your assistance... I understand." Director Minami Takeshi first dialed the phone of the JR East President and Representative Director.

It wasn't that he didn't want to open fire on Uesugi Muneyuki, but there were simply too many onlookers and reporters here; acting rashly would risk saddling the company with a major stain!

Secondly, what Uesugi Muneyuki said was reasonable and well-founded, backed by scientific deduction, personal experience, and professional knowledge of forensic medicine. Based on Director Minami Takeshi's fifty-plus years of life experience, what Uesugi Muneyuki said didn't sound like a lie.

After giving emergency instructions to the President and the subordinate departments, Director Minami Takeshi immediately made a second call.

To the newly appointed Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police Department, Watanabe Eiji.

Things had become serious. If this continued, Uesugi Muneyuki's earth-shattering remarks would inevitably draw direct intervention from the Metropolitan Police Department! For JR East, this would be an even worse development; they had to communicate quickly.

The good news was, as mentioned before, the father of the newly appointed Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji, Watanabe Kazuo, had once served a term as President of National Railways, and the predecessor of JR East was precisely a part of the National Railways split up after the war.

Within a few minutes, someone called Police Inspector Moritsugu inside. Director Minami Takeshi held the mobile phone to Police Inspector Moritsugu's ear, signaling him to listen to the call!

Police Inspector Moritsugu, daring to be angry but not daring to speak because of this action, was suppressing his rage when he heard a voice full of authority from inside: "Hello, this is Watanabe Eiji..."

The expression on Police Inspector Moritsugu's face changed in a spectacular way—from suppressed to shocked, from surprised to composed, then from a silly grin to seriousness. After the entire sequence of facial changes, he bowed respectfully to the phone and said: "Understood! I am grateful for the Superintendent General's personal attention!"

Seeing this attitude, a smile finally appeared on Director Minami Takeshi's face.

Little Forensic Pathologist, I'll say it again: I'm the one getting off the train, but you're the one getting off your post. You aren't just performing an autopsy on a body, but on your own future. I'm the one in trouble, but you're the one being punished. The train stopped on the tracks, but you've stopped your promotion. Thanks to you, the Police Inspector of your Police Station has the opportunity to face the Representative Director of our world-class top 500 company, JR East. Today, I am going to teach you a lesson in life!

After the exchange was finished, Police Inspector Moritsugu and Director Minami Takeshi came out: "Uesugi-kun, thank you very much. Your autopsy results are very brilliant; we all agree that you are right."

"Thank you for your assistance. We will handle the subsequent matters; you may return now." Police Inspector Moritsugu took a deep breath and, for the first time, looked directly at Ikeda Erena beside Uesugi Muneyuki: "Thank you for your hard work; please trouble yourself to take Uesugi-kun back."

After speaking, the subordinate Police Sergeant presented the death certificate.

Uesugi Muneyuki's expression changed; he knew that if he signed it, the matter would end right here.

The Shinagawa Station and JR East had clearly just reached a tacit understanding.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Uesugi Muneyuki took the certificate. He glanced at it to confirm the format, then took a pen and wrote the death report. A beautiful hand of Samurai Standard Script perfectly reconstructed the entire process of his autopsy, and regarding the cause of death, Uesugi Muneyuki also somewhat uncertainly checked the box for "Undetermined Cause of Death" after suicide, homicide, and accidental death.

Uesugi Muneyuki wrote very slowly, and the people around watched carefully, especially the people from JR East and the Shinagawa Police Station; they felt their hearts beating slower.

Only Ikeda Erena still didn't quite understand what had happened.

Watching Uesugi Muneyuki begin to sign and affix his seal, everyone present let out a breath.

This kid is sensible after all.

That's fine, let it end here; next, we just need to find a way to suppress the news... Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki finish writing, Police Inspector Moritsugu reached out both hands to receive it.

Unexpectedly, Uesugi Muneyuki, who had just finished the death certificate, snapped his hands downward and tore the signed certificate to shreds!

"Are you kidding me!" The man said, unhurried and calm, word by word: "Call people here, call the Metropolitan Police Department! Go investigate! Do as I said, go investigate!"

"The matter cannot end like this! I have evidence!" Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes were like fire, his voice like thunder: "I, Uesugi Muneyuki, don't buy this! Notify the Metropolitan Police Department and JR East right now, go to the Sanya section of the Main Line where this train passed and check for the Luminol Reaction! And go investigate the several former construction worker homeless dens in the Sanya district! Go now!"

"Investigate!!!"

Uesugi Muneyuki's roar dragged on for a long distance, shaking even the onlookers outside into silence.

Shock, humiliation, and the anger of being offended—Police Inspector Moritsugu and Director Minami Takeshi's faces turned a shade of blue and red. Director Minami Takeshi gave a look, and Police Inspector Moritsugu took the initiative to step forward: "Uesugi-kun, aren't you going a bit too far?"

"You are just a Forensic Pathologist we invited; you have no law enforcement power, nor do you have search authority. You have no right to give us orders, and we don't need to pay attention to your claims." Police Inspector Moritsugu's face was very ugly, especially in front of the large group of reporters nearby; he really couldn't hold it together, yet he had to force himself to.

A Police Inspector in his forties being lectured and ordered by a Forensic Pathologist in his twenties was a stinging humiliation to his face. If it weren't for the reporters all around, he would have exploded!

"Want to investigate? Very well, we can investigate!" On the other side, Director Minami Takeshi was more clear-headed; he pushed through the crowd: "Uesugi-kun, we can investigate. All tens of thousands of our JR East employees can cooperate with your investigation. You want to check the train? Fine. You want to check the tracks? Fine. You say a subordinate covered it up and want us to verify it? That is also fine."

"But!" Director Minami Takeshi also shouted sternly: "An investigation requires evidence! If we don't find anything, who will take the responsibility?"

"I will take the responsibility!" Uesugi Muneyuki raised his head. For a moment, the young man of only twenty-something years old showed no sign of inferiority when facing a director of a world-class top 500 company.

"You will take the responsibility? You don't have the qualifications!" Director Minami Takeshi shook his head: "An investigation requires evidence! You like talking about evidence so much, where is the evidence?"

"The evidence is..." Uesugi Muneyuki pointed to the remains beside him: "It is the body."

"The body is wearing clothes made of pure cotton fabric. This is very typical; it is workwear specially issued to construction workers during the construction boom of the seventies and eighties. Its material is characterized by being wear-resistant, washable, and having high visibility." Uesugi Muneyuki faced hundreds of people alone: "The body shows severe malnutrition and pitting edema, plus the dirtiness and wear on the fingernails and skin; from this, we can judge that the deceased was an impoverished person."

"Furthermore, based on the lack of any missing person reports or family reports, the deceased's disappearance never caused any ripples. At the same time, according to the characteristics of his workwear, he is highly likely to be a former construction worker. Director Minami Takeshi, this train passes through the famous Tokyo slum of Sanya. If I remember correctly, in Sanya, there should be several groups of homeless people composed of former construction workers living under bridge arches in cardboard shacks near the station, right?"

"So, as long as you send people to check those dens to see who is missing, and then conduct an investigation of the tracks around the station near Sanya as the center, you will be able to find the scene of the incident." Uesugi Muneyuki said decisively: "As for why no one reported it, it is highly likely that the nearby Station Master and workers knew this guy, knowing he was just a homeless person no one would care about or pay attention to! That is why they colluded with the train conductor to cover up this matter!"

"Now, I have finished speaking. Go investigate, go investigate immediately!!!"

The whole scene was as silent as the void. After Uesugi Muneyuki finished speaking, no one made a sound for a full three minutes.

From a 60-centimeter remnant consisting only of a right leg and part of a torso, he was able to directly deduce the scene of the crime, the time of the crime, the process of the crime, the identity of the deceased, the cause of death, and the fact that someone had covered it up, all through a superficial autopsy.

Are you serious?

Uesugi Muneyuki's words left everyone stunned.

Police Inspector Moritsugu's face was the color of a pig's liver. His mouth twitched for a long time, not knowing what to say. In his heart, he was both admiring and annoyed by Uesugi Muneyuki—admiring his outstanding judgment and professional level, and annoyed by his stubbornness.

And JR East's Director Minami Takeshi's expression changed constantly. He looked at Uesugi Muneyuki deeply, also admiring and annoyed as he said: "If we are to inspect it seriously, we must stop the operation of that section, which will affect the travel of tens of thousands of people. If we are to investigate it seriously, it may affect the jobs of hundreds of people. Uesugi-kun, have you really thought this through? We will stop operations for at most one day for you. If nothing is found, what will you do?"

"I will lose my job, I will be on your company's blacklist, I might even go to court, and I might even become the laughingstock of all Tokyo the next day." Uesugi Muneyuki said indifferently: "However, I am a Forensic Pathologist."

"What I want is to get things cleared up!"

"Now, go investigate! I will wait right here; whenever the results come out, that is when I will leave." Uesugi Muneyuki clapped his hands together and said quietly, "I am not going anywhere. I am staying right here, waiting for your results."

"Fine, very well." Director Minami Takeshi thought for a moment and decided to call the President again.

Investigate!

The entire JR East will coordinate with the Metropolitan Police Department Traffic Division to mobilize together!

The call went through, and a massive bureaucratic organization and corporate machinery began to turn. The Metropolitan Police Department reacted first, with the Traffic Police Department's special mobile unit deploying dozens of police cars and motorcycles. On the JR East side, an entire section of the railway was temporarily closed, and over a thousand people were dispatched to begin an investigation along the Sanya line.

Amidst the rising turmoil, Uesugi Muneyuki sat calmly inside the Shinagawa Ward repair plant, waiting for the investigation results alongside Director Minami Takeshi and Police Inspector Moritsugu.

Before he knew it, two detectives were already standing behind him, ready to pin him down at any moment, and the auto mechanics were also quietly surrounding him.

Uesugi Muneyuki turned a blind eye to the setup around him; he simply sat peacefully on a plain plastic bench and even apologized to Ikeda Erena beside him: "I'm sorry, I've troubled you. Have a seat."

"............" Ikeda Erena's head was still a bit dizzy. The tall beauty had watched Uesugi Muneyuki's sudden shift to a hardline stance from start to finish, and her mind had not yet caught up. First, she did not understand why Uesugi Muneyuki, who could have ended the autopsy just by signing the paperwork, had suddenly erupted, and then she did not understand how Uesugi Muneyuki's subsequent deductions could have directly reconstructed the entire case.

She only felt that Mr. Uesugi was truly amazing.

She only felt that the Police Station and JR East were truly disgusting.

But none of that seemed to matter anymore. Ikeda Erena smoothed out her skirt, brought her long legs in flesh-colored stockings together, aligned the tips of her pointed High-heeled Shoes forward, and sat firmly and stubbornly beside Uesugi Muneyuki.

We are accomplices.

He is standing on my side, so I must definitely stand on his side at this moment.

I believe in him!

"I'll wait with you," Eirina said to Uesugi Muneyuki.

Uesugi Muneyuki wore a strange smile and said nothing, while across from him, Director Minami Takeshi and Police Inspector Moritsugu also sat down, staring at each other.

The few of them just sat there like this. The July sun was scorching hot, and the repair plant was as quiet as water. During the wait, there was only the sound of the mechanics tuning machinery nearby.

Clink, clatter~

The morning sun continued to rise, the air conditioning in the room ran at full power, and the air was almost stagnant, with a pressure so thick it could not be dissolved weighing on everyone's heart.

Everyone was staring at Uesugi Muneyuki.

Professional? Arrogant? Stubborn? A sense of justice? A genius or perhaps... a madman?

They would have their answer soon.

"I'm hungry. Police Inspector Moritsugu, could you order a pork cutlet bowl?" The moment the noon sun reached the zenith of the sky, Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly said, "This counts as official business, right? Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka always provides meals!"

"Huh? Uh, sure..." Police Inspector Moritsugu was startled by Uesugi Muneyuki, and upon hearing this request, he was so angry he closed his eyes.

Yes, a pork cutlet bowl. You brat, you really do deserve to eat a pork cutlet bowl.

"I'll order it." Just as Police Inspector Moritsugu was preparing to tell his subordinates to go to some nearby fast-food restaurant to buy two pork cutlet bowls, his cell phone rang.

It was a call from the Metropolitan Police Department!

"We found it! Police Inspector Moritsugu! The Forensics Division found a Luminol Reaction on a section of the tracks near Sanya Station!"

"What?!" While Police Inspector Moritsugu was still in shock, Director Minami Takeshi's phone also rang.

"Director Minami Takeshi, the Station Master at Sanya couldn't hold up and confessed. He admitted to the fact that they covered it up! The deceased is named Matsubara Daigo, a former construction worker and a homeless person without registration! The Station Master and several employees all knew him!"

"Really? Can you confirm it?" Director Minami Takeshi's eyes widened.

After receiving confirmation again, both the Director and the Police Inspector put down their phones.

Per~fect~ly~ ac~curate.

Are all the new Forensic Pathologists these days monsters?

Signing and stamping is not an exaggeration; in fact, it was only in the last two years that Japan truly abolished the ancient system of personal seals. Before this, many Cabinet documents still bore the personal seals of Ministers and the Prime Minister.

There will be another update tonight.

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(End of this chapter)