Chapter 452

Okada smashed open the fire escape door, ignoring the tearing pain in his back, and sprinted downward at full speed. He knew the police would seal the building's exits and control the elevators immediately.

"Don't run! Stop!"

"You suspicious person! Stop right there!"

"What are you doing? Don't run!"

Three patrol officers arrived from the koban, two of whom lunged into pursuit, but these two officers wore heavy new bulletproof vests plus full gear, and were unfamiliar with the apartment structure, so for a time they failed to catch up!

"That, that looks like... Inspector Okada?" The koban officer only felt Okada Masayoshi's background was very familiar.

"No, impossible? Inspector Okada isn't still in the hospital? With injuries like his, his hospital stay isn't long enough, is it?" Another koban officer hesitated, saying: "Should we, still chase?"

They reached the stairwell, looked down, and saw no trace of the suspicious person below in the fire escape.

"Let's first see what's going on." The two koban officers hesitated for a while, then finally gave up the pursuit.

A monthly salary of only 250,000 yen—what's life worth for that?

Chasing this far already does justice to Nagatacho!

And their giving up just gave Okada Masayoshi the chance to escape.

Using his familiarity with building structure, he knew this apartment's fire escape on underground level two didn't lead directly to the surface but connected to a large, complex parking transfer level. He rushed to the underground level two stairs, flung open a large door at the corner.

A tremendous roaring (air conditioning main unit running), tangled pipes, machinery, maintenance passages, dim light, only emergency lights and some equipment indicator lights.

Okada Masayoshi swiftly entered the room, beside the huge central air conditioning main unit, found a red button marked "Emergency Stop" (familiar public facility sign), and slammed it hard without hesitation! Boo—The giant machine's roar cut off abruptly, the entire equipment layer plunged into an eerie relative silence, then came the strange noises from water flow and air pressure changes in the pipes, triggering the apartment's fault alarm, drawing more attention.

Afterwards he peeled off his blood-stained coat, shoved it into a gap in a running, high-temperature steam pipe; the high heat and steam would quickly destroy the blood's DNA information and destroy the coat, then he pulled open a small door in the maintenance passage and slipped inside.

Cannot be caught!

Okada Masayoshi hunched his body and moved forward in the maintenance passage, his mind in utter chaos! Before his eyes red, blue, green, yellow, black swam, making him unable to open his eyes; in his mouth sour, bitter, astringent, dry, making his nose sour.

Miki died!!!

He had given everything to marry this wife, the first time in his life he chose a wife for himself, she died!!!

Thinking of this, Okada Masayoshi nearly burst into tears, this thirty-year-old man at the age of establishment had his facial features twisted together, he really wanted to cry.

That was his most beloved wife! The one he fell in love with at first sight, who ignited his infinite love for life and hope for the future!

But he couldn't cry!

Because Miki betrayed him! She betrayed their love, she betrayed their marriage!

Okada Masayoshi is essentially a very traditional man with strong male chauvinism; he can hand over his entire salary for traditional duties to let his wife manage the household, and can indulge his wife endlessly, bear hardship and tolerate labor, and can even accept his wife's reproaches and demands for career and finances, but if all this fails to win his wife's fidelity, then to him this is the most cruel betrayal.

Rights and duties are always equivalent.

Wanting to cry but unable, wanting to laugh but unable, the wound behind him throbbed faintly, the chill wind from the passage was intense, Okada Masayoshi sobbed, the world before his eyes blurred, he wiped with his hand.

Ah, so it's tears, I thought it was blood!

Also, Miki betrayed me, how could I possibly bleed for her?

"Wuu wuu wuu, why did it become like this? Why?" Okada's body was drenched in cold sweat, he forced himself not to think why his wife betrayed, nor when that stranger he'd only met once, Koizumi Ryosuke, hooked up with his wife (probably not short), he only knew he couldn't stay at the scene, nor be caught!

If he were an outsider, surely he'd think staying at the scene to explain things clearly would suffice.

But Okada Masayoshi himself had long served in the Metropolitan Police Department as a career-track elite, and he understood the logic of police organization operations!

He absolutely cannot stay at the scene!

There's a saying that goes very well: ordinary citizens' goodwill toward police often ends right after the first police report.

First, he cannot explain he didn't kill; he has motive, physical evidence, even witness testimony! In this situation, if he cannot, like Uesugi Muneyuki, conduct powerful on-site forensics and identify the killer, then all his defenses will be seen by police as mere quibbling.

Would anyone really believe police think only of "never wronging a good person, never letting a bad person go"?

Come on, this is just a job!

People are all lazy and seek ease, police are people too, they're the same!

This extends to the next question: is the evidence at the scene enough to convict him?

Okada Masayoshi's answer is, already enough.

If he were caught at the scene, what would face the police organization would be: he has killing motive, opportunity to commit the crime, the scene has his fingerprints and bloodstains, so much evidence already enough to send him for prosecution!

And once sent for prosecution, once Japan's judicial system starts operating, then no one can intervene!

Evidence stacks like mountains!

With this evidence, the district prosecutors will undoubtedly prepare indictment; once they decide to prosecute, assistant prosecutors will get backing from prosecutors, prosecutors will get backing from the prosecutor general, the prosecutor general will get backing from the chief prosecutor, layer upon layer of backing protecting downward, even if knowing an innocent was framed, even if afterward one could find proof of innocence, wanting the prosecutorial system to overturn the verdict and admit error is nearly impossible; the Tokyo Chief Prosecutor usually becomes the Supreme Prosecutor General, and only when he retires at age limit does one have a sliver of chance to overturn, which would take at least five years!

You laugh at my fleeing as foolish, I laugh at your not understanding Japan!

Staying would mean being made into an ironclad case, able to withstand public scrutiny!

Haven't you seen the Odaiba incident?

Conversely, if he hadn't been caught at the scene, the Metropolitan Police Department couldn't send him for prosecution, the prosecutors couldn't prepare indictment, meanwhile this murder case would trigger a manhunt, once the manhunt starts it would draw higher-level attention, bringing things to Superintendent Watanabe Eiji and his own father Okada Masahide, perhaps allowing a glimmer of turning point!

Uesugi! If Uesugi Shougenshou could come to the scene to autopsy, he'd surely discover this wasn't done by me!

Okada Masayoshi recalled Uesugi Muneyuki, and a glimmer of hope welled in his heart.

But... Uesugi and I are in the same department, according to judicial justice and procedural justice, he must avoid conflict of interest! So the Metropolitan Police Department would absolutely not assign Uesugi Muneyuki to autopsy! Certainly it would be other Forensics Division people, and Okada knows the level of other medical examiners, eight or nine times out of ten their conclusion would still be that I did it!

Damn!

Okada Masayoshi cursed in his heart, he thought actually it was also himself who, seeing his wife murdered and unfaithful, suffered a double blow, mental breakdown panicked, seeing people come he instinctively fled, even threw away his phone!

After thinking so much, so complicatedly, I myself also have a bit of unconscious excuse-making for fleeing.

Now I must persevere, persevere hiding until the truth comes out!

Persevere on, and there will be hope!

Believe in Uesugi and... father, they will find a reasonable way to intervene, and return to me a bright moon, a vast clear sky!

Mmm, so painful, clearly I don't want to cry, can't cry, but why won't the tears stop flowing?

What a miserable man, wife betrayed and died, I myself have hunger and wound pain, under cold and hunger hardship, I trudged along the maintenance duct to escape the scene.

……………………

At the same time, Okada Masayoshi's apartment, police sirens wailed, red and blue lights flashing.

Three young area police officers had the apartment manager open the door, instantly their faces turned deathly pale, suppressing their urge to vomit, they stood outside the apartment door, fingers gripping the walkie-talkie tightly, their voices distorted by shock and fear: "Command... Command Center! This is... this is the XX Apartment Unit X in Ota Ward! Requesting... requesting emergency support! Found... found two deceased! Repeat, two deceased! Large amount of bloodstain at the scene! Preliminary judgment... judgment is homicide! First... first suspect, Special Mission Unit, Superintendent Okada Masayoshi... at large! Requesting Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters Investigation Division 1 and Forensic Identification Division for immediate support! Over!"

The police at the nearby box relayed the message to the police station, and upon hearing of such a major case, the police station did not dare delay, immediately reporting the situation to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Metropolitan Police Department, Sakurada Gate Headquarters, Special Mission Unit.

Newly appointed Chief Medical Examiner of Investigation Division 1, Uesugi Muneyuki, sat gently rotating in his leather chair, looking at the email sent to his inbox.

Attorney Kunpei of Nishimura Asahi Law Office had already initiated litigation proceedings regarding the Saito Asuka incident, suing Weekly Bunshun, and the Tokyo District Court accepted the complaint, with the trial to commence imminently.

The Heisei Era First Corruption Case, under investigation by the Prosecutor's Special Investigation Unit, shows a further spreading trend, with the involved amount already rising from 20 billion to 50 billion to 90 billion, and now reaching a staggering 120 billion!

Professor Zaizen of Tokyo Medical and Dental University... seriously ill, already in late-stage lung cancer with signs of metastasis, time is short.

Hmm?! Uesugi Muneyuki saw the email sent by Professor Ouchi, his pupils slightly trembled.

Professor Zaizen, seriously ill? Lung cancer? Already metastasized and spread?

How could this be?!?

Uesugi Muneyuki's complexion looked somewhat grim, he let out a long sigh.

Actually, my experience at Tokyo Medical and Dental University was not pleasant, but after all, it is the place where my dragon rose, so if there is an opportunity, I should still go see Professor Zaizen for the last time.

After thinking, he stood up, hands behind his back, gazing upward at a forty-five degree angle, today Tokyo's weather is clear, ten thousand miles without clouds, no incident occurring.

Today is also good weather!

Moreover, there is no case, no major incident occurring.

No news is good news.

And just at this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki's phone rang.

Hmm?

Is it an unknown number?

(Chapter End)