Chapter 286: , The Chronic Illness of the Japanese Police

Just as Sugishita Ukyo brought his request, Uesugi Muneyuki himself was drinking tea with Watanabe Eiji.

"I watched that program that day, too; it was quite spectacular," Watanabe Eiji said with a seemingly casual smile. "So, Fuji TV intends to make you their main focus for ratings lately?"

"That does seem to be their intention, but I told them that many of the cases aren't actually that interesting. Doing one episode a month is enough; too many would be counterproductive, and it would cause aesthetic fatigue and boredom for everyone. Besides, I don't have the time," Uesugi Muneyuki said, nodding.

"Hmm, very good," Watanabe Eiji said without saying much more. "In any case, as long as I am here, the Metropolitan Police Department will fully support you."

As long as you are here, right? Then what if you weren't here anymore?

Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything more. In fact, most people in the position of Superintendent General don't even serve a full two years; 60% serve exactly or less than a year, 30% serve more than a year but less than two, and less than 10% manage to complete a full two-year term.

"Although personnel appointments won't happen until next April, you have helped the Metropolitan Police Department quite a bit over these years... no, I should say you've resolved the vast majority of our problems. But considering these are the final few months, why don't you see if you can boost your performance record a bit more?" Watanabe Eiji said with a rather smug smile.

"What? The foster father is responsible for creating cases, and I am responsible for completing the performance record?" Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head with a bitter smile. "To have a performance record, there must be cases occurring. If no cases occur, where would the performance come from?"

"You don't need to worry about that," Watanabe Eiji found the question amusing. "Do you know, Muneyuki? There are roughly 800-1,000 homicides in Japan every year, of which 70% are attempted murder and 30% are completed murder. So, theoretically, there are only 200-300 murder cases in all of Japan per year. Tokyo accounts for about one-third, and over this past year, you have practically cornered 80% of the completed murder cases in Tokyo."

"I am honored," Uesugi Muneyuki said with a smile.

"So am I," Watanabe Eiji nodded earnestly. "Being able to have your help is the good fortune of our Metropolitan Police Department... I don't mean that I intend to create cases; I mean, have you considered... cold cases?"

"Our Metropolitan Police Department doesn't only need to consider solving current cases. In fact, there are many legacy cases in history, such as the Three Hundred Million Yen Robbery, the Kirizumi Mountain Hot Spring Case, the Inokashira Park Dismemberment Case, or perhaps the Hachioji Supermarket Shooting Case and the Setagaya Family Murder Case. Many cases have repeatedly drawn nationwide attention and caused a sensation. If you don't have any cases on hand right now, you could spend some time studying cold cases. Failing to solve them won't affect your reputation, and if you can solve them..."

Watanabe Eiji said with interest, "That would be another major achievement that could be highlighted in publicity."

"Eh? Can't I just stay in the Special Mission Unit drinking coffee and joking around with Minami when there are no cases?" Uesugi Muneyuki complained.

"Go! You brat, I give you a budget of 80 million yen a year, and the budget will be raised to 120 million yen when the next few people join. Do you think I give you all that money just for you to drink coffee in the office?" Watanabe Eiji shook his head. The Superintendent General said seriously, "You eat their food and take their salary; the people's fat and the people's cream. The common people are easy to oppress, but Heaven is hard to deceive. You are currently enjoying multiple salaries and receiving the support of the citizens. Do not forget that it is their support and the taxes they pay that have made you and me who we are today."

"From the people, to the people, serving the people!" Uesugi Muneyuki nodded slightly. "Make things clear!"

……………………

After chatting with Watanabe Eiji for a few moments, the Superintendent General had some opinions about the big scandal between Uesugi Muneyuki and Senior Mai, but not many. After all, he was a man of the Showa era; in Watanabe Eiji's view, this was a sign of a man's capability. Moreover, the upper echelons of Japanese society are indeed quite tolerant of men having mistresses. And as of today, Minami can no longer do without Uesugi Muneyuki's support; it's even hard to say who needs whom more between Watanabe Eiji and Uesugi Muneyuki.

However, when Uesugi Muneyuki returned to the Special Mission Unit, he found that Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo was also there.

Sugishita Ukyo always had a way of offending people very politely, requesting Uesugi Muneyuki's help to look at some materials.

Cold cases? Didn't they just arrive?

Uesugi Muneyuki had always been resistant to cold cases, and the reason was simple: since they were cold cases, there was no way to perform an autopsy or Soul Communication, which meant it would test his hard skills.

However, he had to face them eventually. And as Watanabe Eiji said, no one would blame him for failing to solve a cold case, but if he happened to solve one, it would be a great achievement.

Uesugi Muneyuki took out a photograph and stared at the information on it, lost in thought.

Five years ago, in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, a black object was floating near the water intake of a large river, mixed in with filthy small branches, styrofoam, cardboard, and other trash.

It was discovered near the reservoir that this was a prone human body, and the police were notified.

Nikaido Kei, 32 years old, an employee of the Erdaoji Foreign Trade Company in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. When discovered, his entire body was covered in water algae; the corpse was lying horizontally, naked, and the entire body was swollen and filled with putrefactive gases, known as giantism.

"This is...?" Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at the date of the judicial autopsy for the case's corpse; it was about five years ago, performed by the Kanagawa University Hospital. The appraisal report described the autopsy results in detail.

"The corpse presents in a state of advanced putrefaction, showing a severe dark green and light green stained color; the skin is severely swollen, and the epidermis has basically peeled off."

Then it began to describe the organs and body parts one by one: brain, lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, stomach, large and small intestines, aorta. This actually matched Uesugi Muneyuki's usual habits, or rather, autopsies all over the world are like this.

"Lungs: Left lung 429 grams, right lung 388 grams. The surface appears dark red; a small amount of patchy hemorrhage can be seen on the pleural side of the lungs. The cross-section has slightly more blood, mild edema, a small amount of air content, no fine bubbles seen, no lesions."

"No trauma accompanied by fractures or severe organ damage was seen on the corpse. No brain hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, aortic aneurysm rupture, or lesions such as pulmonary tuberculosis, cirrhosis, or malignant tumor canceration were seen."

"In summary, considering the corpse was floating in water and had undergone prolonged immersion, the possibility of drowning cannot be excluded."

"However, due to severe post-mortem changes and advanced putrefaction, it is extremely difficult to determine the cause of death based on the autopsy findings. It cannot be confirmed as drowning; at the very least, no severe trauma or fatal lesions were found. Therefore, it is impossible to either completely affirm or completely deny whether drowning was the cause of death."

Uesugi Muneyuki looked through the large number of photos, appraisal reports, and case files in the box without making any comments.

"Actually, this case is very baffling," Sugishita Ukyo said proactively after seeing that Uesugi Muneyuki had finished reading. "Before the deceased left home, he told his family that he was going out to handle a very important matter and that if he didn't return in three to five days, they must call the police."

"And when Nikaido Kei did not return for a long time, his family called the police, but the police refused to accept the case on the grounds that he was a missing adult. The family called the police nine times in succession, but the Kanagawa police still ignored them until Nikaido Kei's corpse was discovered in the reservoir."

"But even after the corpse was discovered, the Kanagawa police still judged it to be a suicide. The family disagreed and demanded an autopsy, so Kanagawa University performed a judicial autopsy. The autopsy result is what you see, Uesugi-kun."

Uesugi Muneyuki pondered for a moment and nodded. "This is very normal. Most requests for corpse appraisal are made shortly after a corpse is discovered. Once a clear conclusion is easily given, if it happens to be inconsistent with the facts discovered later, the appraiser's reputation will be severely damaged. To avoid this situation, many appraisers write appraisal reports using extremely vague language, making it unclear whether this or that is the case."

Uesugi Muneyuki hated this kind of thing the most.

A professional Forensic Pathologist must have the courage to make a judgment!

How can you lose when a Dead Soul is riding your face? Huh? You tell me, the deceased himself narrates the scene, and you can even perform a Death Flashback—you tell me how this autopsy could be lost?

"Doing this is like taking out insurance; it can be explained any way later, and it won't leave any handle for others to use," Sugishita Ukyo nodded. "And the way the police handled this case..."

"Very much like Japanese police!" Eirina, who was on the side, finally couldn't help but say. "Isn't it always like this? As long as they don't see a corpse, they try every possible way to classify it as a missing person. Once they see a corpse, they try every possible way to classify it as a suicide. If there is truly evidence of homicide, then they report it to Investigation Division 1."

Everyone in the Special Mission Unit nodded. Although Eirina's statement was a bit of an AOE, that is indeed how the Japanese police are.

So, don't look at the fact that homicides in Japan are indeed very, very rare—about 0.2-0.3 per 100,000 people, far lower than the vast majority of developed countries, making it one of the safest countries in the world (compared to 5-6 per 100,000 in the United States)—but many of those homicides were glossed over by the Japanese police as "missing persons" or "suicides."

The chronic illness of the Japanese police lies right here; under the bureaucratic system, they only answer to their superiors.

Especially the prefectural headquarters around Tokyo. Because Tokyo has a huge siphon effect, all the excellent talent in the surrounding prefectures and cities has flooded into the Metropolitan Police Department, leaving behind basically only trash and defective products in the surrounding areas. Therefore, the quality of the police is very worrying.

Kanagawa is a typical example; trash piles up here, one more outrageous than the next, losing their guns four times a year and still feeling good about themselves.

"Hey, look, everyone!" Police Inspector Okada suddenly turned on the television. "Is this the case?!"

"Hmm?" Everyone in the office looked at the NHK channel. Right in front of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters, dozens of Nikaido Kei's family members were holding up banners and causing a scene, demanding that the Kanagawa police give them an explanation.

"Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, this is Kanagawa Prefecture. What is appearing on the screen now is the situation regarding a drowning suicide case from five years ago..."

(End of chapter)