Chapter 53: The Corpse, Found?

PS: Another paragraph was deleted from the second chapter yesterday; I should probably write less in the future.

Unlike what Ikeda Erena had imagined, Uesugi Muneyuki's professionalism regarding the underground search was worlds apart from what she had envisioned.

For many things, he neither lifted them to look underneath nor opened the doors; he simply kept his right hand raised as if sensing something, and after pausing for a few seconds at each spot, he would signal to Erena that they could proceed to the next location.

Erena did not ask why; she had a blind trust in him.

"The last time we searched together seems to have been that time at the host club." With no one else nearby and Uesugi Muneyuki right beside her, Ikeda Erena had no idea that the Metropolitan Police Department and Fuji TV were nearly going crazy with anxiety at this moment. The tall, beautiful detective actually found the building lockdown... quite interesting. Since the two were supposed to have parted ways, they were now forced to stay together: "That host named Takigawa Tsubasa went missing later, and I don't know what happened to him after that."

"Right, that was an illegal search too, and this one is the same." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded. He kept his right hand raised, responding to Erena's questions in a disjointed manner: "So we have to be careful, Master Erena. You must be wondering why I am sometimes so forceful, yet so cautious at other times, right? In the case of the corpse on the train, I dared to confront the world-class JR East, but in the host case, I only dared to investigate in secret, and afterwards, I even had to find excuses to twist the logic and report it to the Metropolitan Police Department?"

"You always have your reasons anyway, and I can never win an argument against you." Erena pouted, feeling a bit aggrieved, thinking to herself, who would understand if you explained such complicated things?

"Some things, if they aren't put on the scale, they don't weigh four ounces, but once they are, even a thousand pounds won't hold them down." Uesugi Muneyuki said softly: "Indeed, JR East is a world-class company, and I, as a rookie Forensic Pathologist, am nothing in the face of the entire Metropolitan Police Department, or even when the Superintendent General personally inquires. But in my work, when I perform an autopsy, I follow regular procedures and compliant objections, so not a single one of them dares to move against me directly or openly reject my judgment."

"This is the system. It has long since formed an incredibly tight operational structure. In this mode of operation, no one can defy it, otherwise, they will suffer the backlash of the entire system. This backlash won't come quickly, but it will gradually grow stronger and stronger." Uesugi Muneyuki said in a low voice: "At this time, if one still wants to continue within this system, everyone has no choice but to follow these rules."

"This is the reason why I dared to challenge JR East, dared to deny the Metropolitan Police Department, and dared to face the District Public Prosecutors Office. I acted within the rules the entire time, handling matters according to the system's way of operating. Even if they are dissatisfied with me, they cannot bypass the rules to attack me directly."

"But the host case and our current situation are different. In our current situation, this is an illegal search, so we must be careful about everything." Uesugi Muneyuki sneered: "Under a regular search, the system can protect us, but an illegal search offers no such protection. In this situation, we must prioritize protecting ourselves."

"You always say such complicated things." Ikeda Erena pursed her little lips. After thinking about it, she also felt that what Uesugi Muneyuki said made sense.

Ever since she started developing, she had been subjected to endless gossip. Uesugi Muneyuki did not know what kind of trouble she had encountered in the world of Judo and Karate before she was admitted to the police station; refusing to submit to her coach, she had been forced to leave the dojo.

Who knew that the police world would be full of endless harassment as well? Fortunately, reporting in the police world was much more effective than reporting in the sports world.

"Then why do I encounter so many troubles? Uesugi? Isn't it because I am acting according to the operational logic of the police system?" Ikeda Erena finally asked the question that had been buried at the bottom of her heart for many years.

She believed she had never done anything wrong, she believed she had tried her best to do everything she was supposed to do, and she had also gone through the regular channels!

"Because..." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled, revealing his teeth: "Bureaucratic order only cares about order and chaos, and has nothing to do with good and evil."

What Uesugi Muneyuki did not say was: Your existence brings turmoil and chaos, so you will naturally be rejected by the system; this has nothing to do with good or evil.

The tall beauty's mood dimmed instantly. She did not fully understand, but she roughly grasped what Uesugi Muneyuki meant.

It was all because of this damn pair of assets on her chest, and her unaccommodating height and mixed-race face!

Erena pursed her lips and suddenly asked: "Then what about you? Uesugi, don't you also bring chaos?"

"Admittedly, that is so. The only difference is that the value I can create is far greater than the trouble I bring." Uesugi Muneyuki said with a smile: "Is it more important to tolerate my forceful attitude, or is it more important to solve the case that day and return to 'order'? The system's rewards and punishments will tell them the answer."

"Yeah, I'm just a woman with no value at all who always brings trouble." Erena felt even more depressed.

This was not the answer she wanted!

She knew this man's personality was just like this: frank and straightforward.

If she had known, she wouldn't have asked!

So annoying, so annoying, so annoying!

"Don't think like that, Master Erena. At least to me, you are very important!" Uesugi Muneyuki continued, giving the tall beauty a thumbs up: "You are my master and my partner, after all!"

"Hmph, trying to make up for it now? Too late!" Ikeda Erena turned her head slightly, not wanting to pay attention to him.

This was the answer she wanted.

He probably didn't know that, to him, she was at most just a relatively important person by his side.

But to Erena, he was already almost everything in her life. To her, he...

As the two chatted, Uesugi Muneyuki had already roughly searched the first basement level.

Nothing found.

Next was the second basement level. Besides a large pile of props and scenery boards, there were many pipe rooms and storage rooms on this floor.

The stench was even more intense. In addition to the smell of rust and the pungent odor of paint, the air carried a slightly sweet, fishy scent.

"There doesn't seem to be any surveillance on this floor." Ikeda Erena had a vague, ominous premonition. She took the initiative to stand in front of Uesugi Muneyuki: "Be careful, the air smells a bit strange."

"No, it's not here." Uesugi Muneyuki kept his right hand raised and shook his head: "Continue, keep walking."

The underground area was very large. The two moved for a long time, turned several corners, and even took the wrong path and circled twice before Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly sensed something.

"Follow me!" Grabbing Erena's wrist, the two jogged all the way to the entrance of a basement room.

Opening the door to the small room, a foul, unbearable stench immediately rushed toward them.

However, the scene inside the small room was clear at a glance. Except for the pipes on the ceiling, construction materials and some cleaning tools piled on the floor, and a cart, there was no place to hide a person.

"That's it, it's right here!" Uesugi Muneyuki said with great certainty: "Ms. Hironaka Mariko is hidden in this room!"

"Huh?" Erena looked around the bare, unobstructed room, her face showing confusion: "But..."

"You can notify Police Inspector Megure now, tell them to come over!" Uesugi Muneyuki applied slight pressure with his hand, saying each word clearly: "Tell them we have found Ms. Hironaka!"

"But... there is nothing here!" Erena was still looking around the entire room in vain, over and over again: "Where is the evidence?"

Only the stench could be smelled, but the person could not be seen.

"She is in..." Uesugi Muneyuki raised his right hand. In a realm invisible to Erena, the Qinghui Stone was glowing.

Hironaka Mariko's Dead Soul had triggered the Contract.

The anchor's corpse was right inside the wall of this basement room!

……………………

Minato Ward, Tokyo, Fuji TV Odaiba Building, 9:30 PM. Two and a half hours since the Odaiba Building was sealed, two hours into the Fuji TV Live Broadcast.

The Fuji TV anchor had already been changed for the third time. They had gone back and forth, releasing all the information that could be made public. The story had gone from the missing Hironaka Mariko to her colleagues, her department, the programs she had hosted, and finally to her hometown and her alma mater, Keio University. In the end, they had even started talking about the traditions of Keio University, mentioning the alumni dinner hosted a while ago by the current president of the Keio University Alumni Association, Uesugi Yūken.

The person still hadn't been found.

The content described by the anchor had gradually deviated from the key issues, her attitude had become increasingly lax, and she had even secretly touched up her makeup once.

She was relaxed, but the Fuji TV executives waiting outside were so anxious they were jumping up and down.

In the late September weather, President Kameyama was wearing only a long-sleeved shirt, yet he looked as if he had been fished out of the water.

The rooftop water tower, searched.

The president's office, searched.

The confidential archives room, searched.

They searched the conference hall, the studios, the production sets for various programs, even the cold storage rooms used by the restaurants to store food, the stage sets that hadn't been sold for years, and even the large wardrobe trunks in the backstage area, left over from the eighties and packed with costumes, which hadn't been opened for years.

Nothing, nothing, there was just nothing!

Only the ghosts know where Hironaka Mariko has gone!

"President, the ratings for the Live Broadcast are dropping rapidly!" a staff member shouted on set.

"I know!"

When Fuji TV just started the Live Broadcast, it instantly captured the attention of the entire Kanto Region; the ratings once broke through 25%, and at least several million people in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area witnessed the Metropolitan Police Department searching layer by layer—not to mention rooms and large cabinets, the Metropolitan Police Department didn't even let go of places the size of shoe lockers.

Yet, they still came up empty-handed.

And as the buzz faded, trouble began to pile up for Fuji TV, such as the phone ringing off the hook for President Kameyama, and Miyazaki Takataka, one of the Miyazaki Brothers from the Soul Agency, threatening to sue Fuji TV because the agency's prized national star, Shirakawa Mai, was also locked inside.

There were also endless calls from other agencies like Stardust, Johnny's, and Yoshimoto.

If those could still be managed, and the deadlines set by Dentsu, Hakuhodo, and Nippon Life hadn't arrived yet, then the calls from Fuji TV's major shareholders were like death warrants.

What made Kameyama's head explode even more was the Security Division Section Chief secretly telling him that although the surveillance coverage was extremely comprehensive, there were still ways to bypass it by memorizing the locations of the cameras, provided one had worked at the station for a few years and had a concept of the layout.

In other words, it was very likely an internal staff member...

After learning this news, President Kameyama's expression turned foul.

Hironaka, where on earth did you go? Are you planning to destroy the entire television station???

"President, the ratings have already dropped to 17.2%!"

"I know, stop talking!" President Kameyama screamed.

The Metropolitan Police Department was under just as much pressure as Fuji TV.

Up to this point, Investigation Division 1's Third Subsection, Sixth Subsection, Ninth Subsection, Thirteenth Subsection, the Special Squad, and five police stations in Minato Ward—a total of over five hundred police officers—had all been committed to the search, but two and a half hours had passed, and they still had nothing.

"Did you find her, did you find her? Did you find her!"

Two hours after sealing the building, Police Inspector Megure began to neurotically repeat the same sentence over and over.

As the search continued, one of the detectives from Investigation Division 1, after lying down to check a gap with no results, suddenly collapsed to the ground while quickly standing up, falling unconscious on the spot and being carried away by Fuji TV's security guards.

There was no help for it; from noon until now, Police Inspector Megure and his team hadn't rested, and this guy had reached his limit.

Also reaching their limit was the Special Investigation Headquarters in the first-floor restaurant.

The remaining thirty-some people sat in the restaurant, restless and uneasy.

The Odaiba Building had over thirty floors, and having spent two and a half hours, the Metropolitan Police Department had only finished searching about ten floors; if they continued searching like this, they would have to search until at least the second half of the night!

Then everything would be over.

Just then, the restaurant doors were pushed open violently, and Star Inspector Kashiwagi Jin of Investigation Division 1's Third Subsection suddenly burst in.

"Division Chief! Division Chief! A major discovery!" Kashiwagi Jin said, out of breath.

"What?" Division Chief Mikasa and the others all stood up, and even the sweet and beautiful Face of the Metropolitan Police Department, Police Inspector Watanabe Minami, who was nearby, leaned in; at this moment, the usually calm and dignified Face of the Metropolitan Police Department was also a bit flustered.

"This is our investigation result, regarding Executive Director Shimakawa!"

Kashiwagi Jin presented his conclusion directly.

Shimakawa Ren, 31 years old, Executive Director of Ota Real Estate in Taito Ward, Tokyo, from a wealthy family, became engaged to Ms. Hironaka Mariko last year, with the wedding date set for tomorrow.

"According to the investigation, Division Chief, this guy Shimakawa has had relations with many women outside, and often frequents high-end clubs in Ginza... We have reason to believe this guy has a motive for murder." Kashiwagi Jin said very firmly: "Moreover, Ms. Hironaka also had quite... ambiguous relations with Fuji TV's upper management, so she also possessed a reason for hatred."

Division Chief Mikasa took the documents, glanced at them, and immediately made a decision.

There was no time left!

"There's no other way, detain him first!" Division Chief Mikasa gritted his teeth; if it really came to it, they would just announce to the public that the fiancé might be the murderer.

They couldn't really let the Metropolitan Police Department look incompetent, could they?

At this time, the fiancé Shimakawa and Ms. Hironaka, who were waiting for results in the building, were quickly taken to a cleared-out General Affairs Section room on the second floor under the name of "protection."

Shimakawa Ren was still anxiously waiting for news of his fiancée, but when he was surrounded by three members of Investigation Division 1, even though he was agitated, he knew something was wrong.

"I'm here to find Mariko, what do you want?" Shimakawa asked, both shocked and angry, trying to stand up, only to be pressed back into his chair.

"Please cooperate with the investigation."

"Mr. Shimakawa, we have a question we would like to ask you." Star Inspector Kashiwagi Jin asked with his hands in his pockets, very politely but at a very fast pace: "You and Ms. Hironaka Mariko met through an arranged marriage, right?"

"Yes... but rather than calling it an arranged marriage, it was more of a discussion between our families." Executive Director Shimakawa had already answered this question several times and was a bit impatient: "At the time, we felt we got along well enough, so we decided to get married quickly."

"Decided to get married so quickly?" Police Inspector Kashiwagi looked serious as he took several photos out of his pocket: "As far as we know, you were previously in close relationships with many women, and even with the wedding date approaching, people still saw you frequenting high-end clubs in Ginza and acting as a couple with some hostesses, right?"

"That is so." The fiancé looked a bit embarrassed when talking about this, and he nodded reluctantly to admit it: "Work entertainment is a matter of course, isn't it? And I'm not married yet, after all."

"That's really strange then. You're holding a wedding in a few days, yet you still have the leisure to go out for entertainment? And since you met through an arranged marriage and got engaged in a rush, there shouldn't be any feelings between you, so why were you so agitated before?" Kashiwagi's body slowly leaned forward: "Also, what have you been doing these past few days?"

Executive Director Shimakawa's expression grew worse and worse, and he slowly raised his head: "What do you mean by this? Is the Metropolitan Police Department asking for my... alibi? Do you think I murdered my fiancée?"

"Wait!" A look of 'as expected' appeared on Kashiwagi's face.

It really was like this!

It was him!

"Ms. Hironaka Mariko is only missing, how can you, this guy, assume she has already been murdered?"

"It really was you, wasn't it?! Speak, where have you been these past few days? Where did you hide Ms. Mariko?"

Investigation Division 1 had found a breakthrough in the fiancé.

It was time to turn up the heat!

"Exactly, judging from the statements of the police inspector and security guards earlier, it feels like Mariko was murdered." The fiancé's face flushed red, turning blue and white from extreme anger: "Don't treat me like an idiot! I work in real estate; with the surveillance density of the Odaiba Building, she's been missing for four days... You don't go looking for the body or the suspect, but you come to look for me? You actually came to look for me???"

"Please answer the question, Mr. Shimakawa, what have you been doing these past few days?"

"I...!" The fiancé's expression became even uglier; he couldn't produce an alibi: "Mariko's phone has been unreachable, I did come to the station to look for her a few times... The rest of the time, I was at home preparing for the wedding..."

"That means you can't provide a complete alibi!"

"Excuse me, Mr. Shimakawa Ren, for this period of time, could you please stay here and cooperate with our investigation?"

One leaning over, one blocking the door, one standing behind Shimakawa; before he knew it, the fiancé had no way to escape.

"Idiots! Instead of catching the real criminal, you actually..." It was too late for Shimakawa Ren to escape; he had just stood up when two detectives pressed him back into his seat. The agitated fiancé shrieked and screamed as he was pinned to the table, letting out a wail like a slaughtered pig: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Born and raised in Minato Ward, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?!

Interrogate him ruthlessly!

"Confirmed, the missing person's fiancé is a suspect." The news from the Special Investigation Headquarters spread rapidly via walkie-talkie to every Metropolitan Police Department detective inside the Odaiba Building.

However, the fiancé remained adamant in refusing to confess, his attitude extremely unyielding.

The most important thing was still to find where Ms. Hironaka was.

"Police Inspector, Police Inspector!" As Police Inspector Megure was organizing the search, a subordinate ran over quickly: "Police Inspector Kashiwagi from the Third Subsection believes the missing person's fiancé is a major suspect and that there might be a breakthrough with him."

"Is it like this again? Is it true that every time a case involves marriage, the husband, wife, fiancé, or fiancée is the prime suspect?" Police Inspector Megure had been running around all day and was feeling a bit tired: "Have you found the body?"

"No, Executive Director Shimakawa firmly denies any involvement in this matter and also denies knowing the location of the body." The subordinate was also under some pressure: "But Police Inspector Kashiwagi has already detained him, and now a lawyer from the Nishimura Asahi Law Office, contracted by Ota Real Estate Co., Ltd., is on their way here!"

"That guy Kashiwagi! Detaining someone without finding the body, isn't he just adding to our trouble? Even someone on the Career Track shouldn't act like this, right?" Upon hearing that the fiancé's lawyer was on the way, Police Inspector Megure felt immense pressure; exhausted, he squatted directly on the floor, panting heavily, and took a Snickers bar and a Red Bull from his subordinate.

Time, time, they were running out of time!

Just as the police and the television stations were at a loss regarding the current situation, Police Inspector Megure's cell phone rang.

"Uesugi-kun? Is there something urgent? I'm busy right now." Police Inspector Megure answered the phone impatiently: "Please cooperate with the work of the Metropolitan Police Department; who hasn't been working since this morning?"

Megure looked up at the wall clock; there were only fifteen minutes left until ten o'clock.

However, the voice coming from the other end of the phone made Police Inspector Megure cry out in shock: "What did you say???!!!"

"The body has been found???"

This chapter is 5,700 characters; this counts as a super-sized chapter, right?

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(End of chapter)