Chapter 375

In the Ebisu gym, Kashiwagi Jin was deep in thought.

He actually hadn't even reached the end of his confinement period yet; he was still in a state of meritorious service through punishment, but not having come out to investigate for over a month had really made Kashiwagi Jin itch unbearably—he couldn't possibly go looking for that University of Tokyo female student Hayakawa Nanami every single day, could he?

This is also why he was so emotionally agitated during the Sakurada-mon hearing—it could be said that I finally caught an opportunity!

Although there were rumors afterward claiming his performance at the time had displeased the Tokyo Chief Prosecutor, Kashiwagi Jin didn't think he had done anything wrong; after police arrest, they can at most interrogate and detain a suspect for 48 hours before handing them over to the prosecution—this isn't something I stipulated, and the fact that the prosecution lacks independent arrest power and often needs police assistance is just a fact.

I am not wrong!

So as soon as he heard about an incident, and with the New Year having passed and the Metropolitan Police Department's symbolic punishment against him weakened, Kashiwagi Jin immediately came!

The peculiar nature of this case let him sniff out something different.

The Metropolitan Police Department cherry blossom badge on my chest is vibrating!

There must be something fishy about this case!

And Uesugi happens to be absent—this is my chance to shine!

Kashiwagi Jin first measured the depth of the leg press machine wreckage and the dent on the sliding bench.

"23.7 centimeters—I don't know whether this guy was lucky or unlucky, but it just happened to be enough to crush his pelvis,

yet it also just happened to leave him half a life." Kashiwagi Jin looked up at the hydraulic rod and couldn't help but say: "It's as if it were designed with a ruler!"

"Kashiwagi-san! My Inspector superior!" The Inspector Itami, who had been watching the surveillance, heard this and became flustered, hurrying over to say: "Keep your voice down! Kashiwagi-san~—his dad could send you to Hachijo Island with just one word!"

"Pfft!" Kashiwagi Jin snorted coldly, looking down on Itami's hesitant investigative style from the bottom of his heart, thinking the non-career track is just the non-career track—we're not like you; when have I and Uesugi Muneyuki ever feared the powerful?

The Absolute Dual Pride have endured hardships, tasted the bitterness of the world, and survived through endless long nights!

But after the previous incident, he had finally restrained himself somewhat, so Kashiwagi Jin could only nod: "Any findings? Itami?"

"If there are any findings, it's really strange!" Itami Kenichi gestured for Kashiwagi Jin to come over and look.

The gym had already released all surveillance footage, time-locked to 9:37 a. m., which happened to be exactly when Suou Ryohei arrived at the gym; they personally witnessed the female trainer Sayakura, wearing a duck-tongue cap, bringing in several yoga girls.

However, according to Sayakura the female trainer's statement, she was in Chiba Prefecture Disneyland today! Moreover, she had been lining up to enter the park for fun since seven or eight in the morning!

But the gym not only had surveillance—it even had audio recordings!

In the recording, Kashiwagi Jin and Itami Kenichi et al. clearly heard that Suou Ryohei had proactively asked the on-site "Miss Sayakura" to adjust the weight, and he especially emphasized needing strong and powerful professional level; the female trainer merely followed his instructions!

This is very strange—could someone have deliberately disguised themselves as Miss Sayakura to infiltrate the gym and intentionally cause harm?

But this was Suou Ryohei himself making the request!

"Inspector! Inspector!" At that moment, the forensics identification staff holding the fallen critical limit screw,

murmured doubtfully: "This screw—the thread wear isn't high at all; based on experience, it should still be able to bear at least seven or eight hundred kilograms—how could it just suddenly fall off?"

Everyone looked toward the gym's high-definition surveillance, and at the moment Suou Ryohei sat down, it seemed the equipment really did tremble at that instant.

"???" Now this case again looks like an accidental incident.

And it originally was just an accidental incident.

But Kashiwagi Jin still felt something was off; after thinking, he said to the gym's person-in-charge: "Would you mind if we copy the surveillance and audio back to headquarters for appraisal?"

"Of course." The gym's person-in-charge turned pale.

"Inspector! Inspector!" At that moment, the Forensics Division medical examiner Higashiyama Takeshi handed Kashiwagi Jin a knee pad stained with organ tissue: "This—also take it back for appraisal!"

"Huh?" Kashiwagi Jin glanced at it and immediately showed a look of disdain, not wanting to accept it.

"Inspector! Don't underestimate it—this thing is more expensive than your full suit!" Higashiyama Takeshi's burly build and beard had already attracted the attention of several trainers in the gym.

"Hey! Higashiyama! Is that you?" At that moment, two other patrol officers couldn't help laughing as they pointed at a certain fitness trainer's phone, where a video was saved.

Accompanied by the energetic music of "bodying," one sees the Forensics Division medical examiner Higashiyama Takeshi in the video applying a cat-boy effect to himself facing the camera, the cute bear-boy making hand gesture dances, with a rather alluring gaze.

"Ah? Why is this here???" Higashiyama Takeshi was teased until his face turned completely red: "I was just, casually taking some shots—. "

"Pfft" The Metropolitan Police Department officers at the scene collectively held in laughter until they snorted like pigs, and Inspector Itami deputy chief individually jabbed their calves.

Please! I beg you! I might just be promoted to Inspector in April—can't you be a bit more serious, a bit more solemn???

"Alright, let's divide the work—Itami, you continue leading the team to examine the footage and alibi records; I'll lead the team to conduct nearby inquiries; Higashiyama, you uh, you package up the evidence collected at the scene and send it back to headquarters for forensics!" Kashiwagi Jin curled the corner of his mouth, arranging: "Let's move out!"

"Yes!!!"

Just like that, while Suou Ryohei was undergoing emergency resuscitation at Tokyo University Hospital, the Metropolitan Police Department also began investigating this accidental incident.

At the same time, the winter sun bathed the high-rise glass in molten gold, and Mikoto finally took off that signature surgical gown and protective boots; now she stood at the entrance of the Forensics Division, wearing a simple beige trench coat, underneath a light apricot knit dress, the skirt hem falling just right at the knee.

What drew the most attention was her pair of well-proportioned, straight beautiful legs; although Mikoto is not tall—only 157 cm—she is actually the most petite in build beside Uesugi Muneyuki, but her figure is extremely harmonious and aesthetically pleasing, a pair of captivating beautiful legs wrapped in Fukusoku gray-bottom silver-patterned plaid-pattern embossed stockings, 40D thickness presenting in winter a delicate matte silk feel, only occasionally when walking at certain angles can one glimpse the faint silver diamond pattern shifting on the stocking surface, understated yet revealing hidden refinement.

The forensic beauty's feet are clad in a pair of side-open pointed-toe nude red-soled high heels; the side-open hollow design perfectly reveals her delicate ankle and the arch of her foot covered in thin stockings, the nude shoe surface against the gray-silver stockings creating a subtle warm-cold collision, the red sole flashing a startling warning in each step—this is restrained sensuality.

"Have you been waiting long?" Mikoto came over quickly, the sound of her high heels striking the ground clear and crisp, carrying a hint of barely perceptible lightness.

"Anyway, I have nothing else to do." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled as he took from her hand the thick document bag emblazoned with the "Special Mission Unit New Equipment Procurement Application" insignia, his gaze sweeping over the lines of her beautiful legs and feet wrapped in stockings.

"And—admire more beautiful scenery." Uesugi Muneyuki implied something.

Mikoto's face turned slightly red; she glared at the man resentfully, she likes wearing fashion to work—this is something everyone in the Metropolitan Police Department knows; for this reason she hasn't avoided being gossiped about behind her back, pointed at and discussed, privately many desk-duty female police officers scold her as someone who shops to lure and steal career-track positions.

However, once everyone later discovered she was Uesugi Muneyuki's person, no one dared gossip about her anymore, because everyone knew she was "that esteemed one's" person.

Eirina is the same: the deer in the mountains rushes out of the woodland, the heroes all pursue it, but once this deer has an owner, everyone also lays down their arms; previously, whenever the tall beauty appeared, all the men in the Metropolitan Police Department would retreat three paces, not daring to look at her or speak to her, but once everyone truly knew of her special relationship with Uesugi Muneyuki, everyone instead could interact with her normally and converse normally.

Uesugi Muneyuki's big hand has already enveloped Sakurada-mon.

"I need to send this procurement application to the Metropolitan Police Department General Affairs Department Equipment Management Section—will you come with me?" Mikoto said somewhat helplessly: "If you're with me, maybe I could—"

Due to Uesugi Muneyuki's appearance, the Metropolitan Police Department was finally forced to begin reforming its forensics capabilities, among which Mikoto proposed needing a Japanese NEC-developed far-infrared spectrometer.

Every human fingertip is distributed with 120-620 sweat gland pores (average 3-5 per square centimeter), their arrangement possessing lifelong invariance. Even if the epidermis is completely destroyed, the dermal layer's sweat gland duct openings still retain the original topological structure.

That is to say, even without fingerprints or if fingerprints are destroyed, one can still detect via far-infrared spectrometer whether the DNA methylation markers in sweat crystals match to identify the perpetrator,

but if this machine is to reach police-grade standards with legal validity, it won't be cheap—it requires approximately 40 million yen in budget, and this is still the simplified version; if it were the formal laboratory version, the procurement budget would soar to 170 million.

So much silver—Minami Ojou-sama remains noncommittal; in her view, since Uesugi is already here, is it really necessary to buy such an instrument?

Therefore, Mikoto especially needs Uesugi Muneyuki's support.

"You mean going to the General Affairs Department Equipment Management Section?" Uesugi Muneyuki said upon hearing this, somewhat amused.

"Hmm." Mikoto clearly sensed the change in Uesugi Muneyuki's attitude, and she suddenly felt a little downcast.

Japan's workplace is extremely unfriendly toward women, especially women like her who are serious about their careers; in fact, without Uesugi Muneyuki's support behind her, she would be unable to move an inch within the Metropolitan Police Department, and she would definitely pack up her bedroll and roll out of Sakuradamon Gate within three months at most.

"Without you, the people in the Equipment Management Division..." she sighed softly, her tone carrying a hint of something elusive and hard to detect. After a brief silence, she suddenly spoke, her voice lowering: "How is your enrollment and employment at Tokyo University going? Tokyo University is always so strict—if it really doesn't work out——"

"Don't worry." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head, he smiled, and patted Mikoto on the shoulder: "Just wait and join the workforce with me."

Mikoto smiled upon hearing his words, that smile appearing somewhat thin under the light at Sakuradamon Gate's corridor.

He is always so reliable, but this is the price of giving up, and the price is being completely possessed by him.

Well, at least she can still choose what she likes and what likes her, and that is enough.

In the Metropolitan Police Department's General Affairs Division, Equipment Management Section, Mikoto Kashiwagi's figure stood in the slightly chilly lighting of the desk duty office within the Metropolitan Police Department, wearing a neatly pressed standard winter desk duty uniform of the Metropolitan Police Department, her dark blue wool overcoat tailored to perfection, fitting her tall and slender figure perfectly.

"Please send the testing permit for the biological attachments on this knee guard to the Scientific Investigation Research Laboratory."

"Hi~"

"The packed physical evidence ahead is already on its way back; please get ready."

"Understood."

As section chief, Section Chief Mikoto Kashiwagi, Assistant Police Inspector, efficiently distributed document work within the section; it seems the former golden boy and jade girl of the Metropolitan Police Department are each shining and burning brightly in their respective domains.

"And about the electron microscope—uh!" As she said this, Mikoto Kashiwagi suddenly clutched her lower abdomen and pressed her legs together, a faint, indescribable tingling sensation and a strange itchy numbness striking her and interrupting her speech.

"Section Chief? Are you alright?" a subordinate asked strangely.

"I'm fine," Mikoto Kashiwagi said, pressing her lower abdomen, forcing out the words, and unconsciously glanced toward the door of the Equipment Management Section.

This feeling. It explains—he is nearby!

Indeed, just a few seconds later, Uesugi Muneyuki and Mikoto Ishihara pushed open the door of the Equipment Management Section!

The man's playful gaze and the former beauty of the Metropolitan Police Department locked eyes in midair.

Good afternoon, ma'am~