Chapter 568

Just as Sugishita Ukyo Kobe Takeru and Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly felt something was wrong.

Shizuoka Prefecture, the kidnapping case of a National Diet member's daughter.

Led personally by Kashiwagi Jin, Chief of Section 3, Investigation Division 1, dispatched by the Metropolitan Police Department, who gathered the Organized Crime Division Officers,

Public Security Police, and the Headquarters detectives to form a special investigation headquarters targeting the kidnapping case of Kurokawa Tetsuro's daughter Uno Yukiko, which had now reached its final stage.

Having left the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Department, Kashiwagi Jin could say he was as free as a fish in the vast sea and a bird in the high sky, especially after the opposing party openly declared themselves terrorists, Kashiwagi Jin obtained from the police organization the power he most desired—he could play his favorite game of presumption of guilt.

Thus, Kashiwagi Jin began to play mind games with the kidnappers; he obtained ten million yen in genuine banknotes and five hundred million yen in counterfeit banknotes from the bank, and then engaged in a battle of wits and courage with the kidnappers.

"Presumption of guilt" means that Kashiwagi Jin will first screen out all individuals who possess the conditions, motive, and capability to commit the crime as "potential suspects," then focus all efforts on proving them "guilty," rather than proving them "innocent."

This can greatly improve efficiency.

So who is the most suspicious?

Kashiwagi Jin first focused on Uno Yukiko's husband, and after investigation, his suspicion was quickly ruled out.

Subsequently, Kashiwagi Jin began to focus on those related to Kurokawa the lawmaker.

The kidnappers' greatest advantage lies in information: they knew Uno Yukiko's exact commute route, knew the scarf she wore that day (which could serve as a token), knew she was four months pregnant (even the lawmaker himself had only recently learned this), and knew the core controversial points of the "National Security Enhancement Bill."

This information, especially regarding pregnancy and bill details, could not be easily obtained through ordinary surveillance or hacking methods; it could only come from an information source extremely close to Kurokawa the lawmaker's inner circle.

That is, the core circle around Kurokawa Tetsuro, including his secretary, family, personal doctor, and personal driver.

The secretary Miyajima was considered highly suspicious, after all he had been involved in all of the lawmaker's private affairs throughout, thus Miyajima became Kashiwagi Jin's primary suspect.

As for family members, motive was insufficient; the Kurokawa family had no adequate reason to kill their own daughter, let alone she had already married, and while the personal doctor knew of Uno Yukiko's pregnancy, a private doctor paying attention to politics and knowing Uno Yukiko's exact commute route was obviously unlikely and difficult to achieve.

However, the investigation into Secretary Miyajima yielded nothing, so Kashiwagi Jin turned his attention to Kurokawa the lawmaker's driver—Taguchi Shigemichi.

Drivers beside important figures generally play a very special role; they appear to have low status and weak power, and usually have little presence, but in reality such people must be the trusted confidants among the leader's confidants, and cannot hold this important peripheral role without absolute trust and absolute reliability.

They manage all travel arrangements for the lawmaker and his family.

They can hear countless private conversations of the lawmaker in the car, including possible discussions about his daughter's pregnancy.

They escort the lawmaker to and from the National Diet and the office, through long-term exposure, their understanding of the bill's content and political opponents far exceeds that of ordinary people.

They are the 'shadow'; people are accustomed to ignoring the driver's existence, which provides excellent cover for transmitting information.

Therefore, when Kashiwagi Jin again shifted his gaze to the driver, some things naturally came to light.

Taguchi Shigemichi had previously exhibited some strange behavior; after careful screening, Kashiwagi Jin finally uncovered the secret this driver had hidden—his son Taguchi Jun'nosuke and the lawmaker's daughter's complicated past!

It turned out that Kurokawa the lawmaker and his driver Taguchi were nominally lord and vassal, but in reality were brothers; Kurokawa the lawmaker had always treated Taguchi extremely well, not only giving him an annual salary of five million yen (which counts as middle-high income for Shizuoka Prefecture), but also arranged for his son Taguchi Jun'nosuke and his daughter Kurokawa Yukiko to attend the same school.

Kurokawa the lawmaker regarded Taguchi Jun'nosuke as his own son; whenever there was something, he would also buy one for him; whenever there was a banquet or event, he would also invite him; even every day's breakfast was prepared in two portions, and naturally the tuition was also paid by Kurokawa the lawmaker!

The two children grew up together, innocent and carefree; Taguchi Jun'nosuke quickly adapted to this "young noble" lifestyle, and also regarded himself as the fiancé of Kurokawa Yukiko, having already prepared in his heart to take over all of Kurokawa the lawmaker's political resources and wealth.

However, things always change.

Kurokawa the lawmaker's kindness toward him came from the heart.

But this kindness was built upon a huge class divide.

For Kurokawa the lawmaker, preparing an extra breakfast or paying tuition was an easy act of goodwill, and also a way to win over his confidants.

But for this boy, he day after day witnessed the true "lawmaker's household" versus his own "driver's household" heaven-and-earth difference; he ate the same breakfast, yet was heading toward a completely different life; the lawmaker's "favor" began to ferment in his heart into unspeakable shame and jealousy: "Since you treat me as your son, why can't you give me everything your biological daughter possesses?"

Why can Uno Yukiko be recommended for admission to Keio, while I have to take the exam myself?

But at that time, Taguchi Jun'nosuke could still endure, because in his view he only needed to wait.

He had originally grown up with Uno Yukiko as childhood sweethearts; this feeling turned into affection after puberty, but when Uno Yukiko and Kurokawa the lawmaker ultimately chose a marriage of equal status, in his eyes this became proof of the Kurokawa family's ultimate "betrayal" and "hypocrisy."

Taguchi felt betrayed; he believed the lawmaker's so-called "treating as one's own" was merely the charity and hypocrisy of the upper class; he not only deprived him of the "deserved" paternal love, but also took away his beloved woman.

Coincidentally, his father Taguchi Shigetaka also deeply resented the "betrayal" of the "old brother"; in his view, Uno Yukiko was originally his prospective daughter-in-law, unexpectedly she had been engaged to someone else!

Filled with resentment, father and son conspired together and committed this great deed!

Kashiwagi Jin immediately arrested Taguchi Shigetaka; Kurokawa the lawmaker never imagined that the driver he regarded as a brother was actually one of the main perpetrators who plotted and kidnapped his daughter!

However, when Kashiwagi Jin questioned Taguchi Shigetaka, "Where is Uno Yukiko?" Taguchi Shigetaka laughed and shook his head: "I have lung cancer—cough cough cough, I will soon see her, and you all still have a very long time before you can see her!"

"Soul fade!" Kashiwagi Jin cursed in anger, but could do nothing about this driver; he could only re-investigate, conducting a sweep based on Taguchi Shigetaka's movement trajectory and possible destinations.

Fortunately, with clear leads, the sweep became much easier.

After locking onto Taguchi Jun'nosuke as the true culprit and locating their possible secret hideout at an abandoned clinic outside Shizuoka's suburbs, just as Uesugi Muneyuki brought Ōsumikawa out of the Tree Sea in the afternoon, Kashiwagi Jin personally commanded the assault operation.

The operation proceeded unusually smoothly, with almost no encounter of significant resistance. When the special investigation headquarters officers smashed open the rust-streaked iron door, inside there was only Taguchi Jun'nosuke, sitting quietly on a chair, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

His face showed no panic, only an unsettling calm after completing his mission, even tinged with a strange smile.

"Inspector Kashiwagi, I have been waiting for you." Taguchi Jun'nosuke's voice was clear and calm, "You arrived faster than I imagined, but—just in time for the finale."

Kashiwagi's heart sank violently; that ominous premonition felt like ice water poured over his head: "Where is Uno Yukiko?

!

Taguchi Jun'nosuke did not answer, merely turning his gaze toward the tightly closed, heavy soundproof door on the inner side of the room.

On the door, an abstract pattern resembling a flying bird was painted in dark red paint—this was the emblem of the "Red Goldfinch."

Two members holding breaching rams, under Kashiwagi's indication, violently slammed open that door.

The moment the door opened, a blast of icy air mixed with the pungent smell of strong formalin and a faint, nauseatingly sweet metallic rust odor surged out like a physical entity, causing even the most alert detectives in the front row to instinctively retreat half a step, their stomachs churning violently.

Then, they saw a hellish scene.

In the center of the room, a stainless steel table originally used for surgery was illuminated by a spotlight.

On the table lay Uno Yukiko.

She lay on her back, eyes wide open, frozen in the unimaginable fear and agony of her final moments.

Her body, from the chest downward, was precisely and cruelly split into two by a professional chef's knife, clearly a German "Zwilling" brand, flashing with cold, icy light.

Her internal organs and shattered bones were exposed to the freezing air, blood had already coagulated and turned black, pooling on the ground into a sticky, dark red swamp. That chef's knife, like a cruel ritual marker, was still deeply embedded in the separation point of her torso.

Beside her corpse lay a small experimental table. On the table, a large glass specimen jar reflected a faint cold light under the illumination.

Inside the jar, filled to the brim with transparent formalin solution.

In the solution, a four-month-old infant embryo, no larger than a palm, fully formed and clearly showing a head and limbs, was suspended.

It was curled up, as if still sleeping, forming a shocking contrast with the mother's shattered, horrifying body beside it—so extreme it could destroy any rational mind.

On the glass wall of the jar, a printed note was affixed, bearing the signature, icy declaration of the "Red Goldfinch":

"The purity symbol of the old world has been sacrificed. The embryo of the new world has been stored. This is only the beginning. One-Red Goldfinch."

The entire room was grave-like in its silence. Only heavy breathing, and the suppressed, uncontrollable dry heaves of a young officer from Investigation Division 1.

Kashiwagi Jin felt his blood freeze instantly. All his reasoning, all his efforts, all his "success," in this moment was utterly crushed by the extreme, bloody, inhumane scene before him, reduced to meaningless dust. He was not the hero who came to rescue hostages—he was the janitor come to clean up after a mad ritual.

"We—we succeeded, didn't we?" Taguchi Jun'nosuke said from behind him, in a tone almost like chanting, laced with mad philosophy: "We have cleared the continuation of the old bloodline, stored hope in eternity. Inspector Kashiwagi, you won, you caught me. But you lost, you lost the future."

"This is not revenge, this is revolution! Revolution is not dining together, revolution is about shedding blood! Hahahaha ah hahahahahahahaha!"

"It's all because of this bastard betraying me! She betrayed me first! She even dared to carry another's child!

What do you say—is there still royal law? Is there still heavenly principle?" Taguchi exclaimed, overjoyed: "This is our class struggle! This is the victory of our proletariat! Red Goldfinch, board the ship!!!"

"You bastard!" Kashiwagi Jin spun around and slammed a fist hard into Taguchi's face, the joints of his fingers instantly bleeding. He could not speak, the overwhelming sense of powerlessness and rage nearly tearing him apart: "I will kill you! I will kill you!"

"You think you saved something? You merely upheld this doomed-to-collapse order. That goldfinch has long since flown toward a wider sky!"

"We broke only the shackles, and won the world!"

Thus, the Taguchi father and son were taken away.

What remained for Kashiwagi Jin was a corpse nearly severed in two, the four-month-old infant embryo in the glass jar, and that gleaming Zwilling kitchen knife, declaring this investigation's "complete victory."