Chapter 584

The Minister of Justice, Yuzō Setouchi, seemed carefree, but his days were not easy.

The Ministry of Justice had a nickname: "Graveyard of the Career Track."

Although the Minister of Justice was one of the cabinet ministers, his status in the cabinet was low, and unlike other ministries, the Ministry of Justice had an extremely powerful and independent group, the Prosecutor's Office, which resulted in very limited room for advancement for career-track bureaucrats in the Ministry of Justice, with real power lying in the hands of the Prosecutor's Office, which handled investigation, prosecution, and execution, while the career track could only handle administrative work—this point need not be elaborated; everyone understands.

Moreover, the Ministry of Justice had a convention: the Administrative Vice-Minister could only be appointed from prosecutors, so the career track could only rise to the position of Bureau Director, which for these elites who had passed the national civil service exam was simply hopeless.

At least going to the Metropolitan Police Department could still allow one to become Superintendent General and Director General of the National Police Agency; after all, the police are a powerful department with society's resources! Solving cases brings a sense of achievement, one could become a big star like Kashiwagi Jin, and one could even cling to Uesugi's golden thigh!

The Superintendent General is the commander of Tokyo's 80,000 police, while the National Police Agency oversees more than 300,000 police nationwide!

Controlling a budget of several billion yen!

As for the Minister of Justice? Unfortunately, it's also hard to be the Minister of Justice, first because the Ministry of Justice is a small ministry with a low budget and no perks, and it also has to handle executions and prison management—a position with little power but a big pot, where any decision easily sparks huge controversy; Japan has so-called "abolitionist alliances" and "human rights protection organizations" constantly eyeing the Ministry of Justice and the minister himself!

Onoda knew that Minister Setouchi was actually an abolitionist, but when facing the situation, he unhesitatingly declared that he would carry out Sakuma Kaito's death sentence as soon as possible and expressed his support for retaining the death penalty.

This person is a politician with flexible principles and loose bottom lines.

The biggest difference between a politician and a statesman is whether they have political ambition? Whether they have a political blueprint?

And Onoda indeed needed his support on some matters; this brother of the Cabinet Secretary-General, who had usurped the leadership of the Public Security Police of the National Police Agency, was plotting a "grand scheme."

"Regarding Uesugi Muneyuki————now Tokyo's Death Penalty Detention Center is overcrowded!" Minister Setouchi said rather helplessly: "Inside, it's simply divided into the Uesugi faction and the non-Uesugi faction."

"Huh↑ eh↓?" Onoda blinked.

"That is, every time a serious criminal enters the detention center, they ask each other whether they were sent in by Uesugi; if yes, they are Uesugi faction; if not, they are non-Uesugi faction. In just three years, the Uesugi faction has already occupied half of the detention center, and during exercise and meal times in the cafeteria, inmates still ask each other, 'Were you sent in by Uesugi?' 'You too were sent in by Uesugi?' 'What, I too was sent in by Uesugi?' Then they become sworn brothers, even calling themselves the Uesugi Society, treating him like Guan Yu." Minister Setouchi complained: "This gossip has even reached my ears."

"

"Hehe." Onoda Kimiaki smiled, with hidden worry on his face: "Does this not demonstrate the ability of Uesugi Chief? Oh right, good news came from Shizuoka Prefecture, saying they had already wiped out the Red Goldfinch, who collectively self-immolated."

"What good news is this? It's just adding another name to the list of those awaiting execution." Minister Setouchi said with a bitter face: "Since I took office, the list of those awaiting execution has grown rapidly, getting longer and longer! I am truly————every time the court sends documents, seeing that the autopsy is signed by Uesugi makes my scalp Stopped!"

"It's all Uesugi's fault!" Onoda Kimiaki smiled faintly, thinking: if not for Uesugi, I would already be Superintendent General, but without him, I couldn't do it either!

"It's all Uesugi's fault!" Minister Setouchi said angrily and frustratedly, thinking: if not for Uesugi, where would all these people awaiting execution come from, but without him, I couldn't do it either!

This guy is really unlikable, but it seems that without realizing it, he has already become an irreplaceable colossus!

I am the dividing line of the colossus. At the same time, on the other side.

As the Nagano Prefecture Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Division 1's Superintendent Yamato led the prefecture's elite detectives to the scene, Uesugi Muneyuki had also finished the autopsy.

"The deceased, Yamashita Mizuki, 19 years old, biological father unknown, biological mother Yamashita Saeko died six months prior, cause of death was breast cancer." Superintendent Yamato was exchanging information about the deceased with Uesugi Muneyuki: "She had once fainted due to anemia and getting lost while alone near Karuizawa, discovered by patrolling officers, and her identity was registered."

"She was not the owner of this property; according to our inquiry, the owner of this villa is Kimura Aki."

"I see." Uesugi Muneyuki pinched his chin.

Superintendent Yamato is a fierce detective in his forties with a scar on his face, said to have once fought a bear; upon receiving the report from Karuizawa Police Station, he immediately led the elite to the scene, his expression somewhat excited.

"Me! Being able to work on a case with Uesugi Chief is the greatest honor of our Japanese police!"

"Uesugi Chief, regarding the request for guidance from the Metropolitan Police Department, it has already been formally initiated by the prefecture headquarters to the National Police Agency; do you have any findings?"

"The cause of death is carbon monoxide poisoning." Uesugi Muneyuki led Superintendent Yamato and several detectives to the scene, pointing to the corpse of Yamashita Mizuki in the center of the living room: "The cherry-red lividity, this is the most typical symbol of carbon monoxide poisoning. Her cheeks, neck, and lower parts show an abnormal, gaudy cherry-red, like poor makeup, contrasting strangely with her bloodless, pale skin. In forensic medicine, this is direct evidence of carboxyhemoglobin formation in the blood."

"Rigor mortis has developed throughout the body; the jaw, neck, and major joints of the limbs are difficult to bend passively. Based on the preliminary judgment of Karuizawa's nighttime cool temperature, the time of death should be 12 to 15 hours ago, i. e., late last night."

"Around her were scattered several empty beer cans and a half-eaten convenience store bento. A delicate metal fireplace was filled with burned-out charcoal ash, and in the center of the room, two traditional seven-wheel charcoal braziers were prominently placed, their charcoal completely burned out, beside which lay a suicide note reading 'So tired' Mother passed away, I too have ended it'."

"Therefore, without a doubt, Yamashita Mizuki died of carbon monoxide poisoning." Uesugi Muneyuki informed Superintendent Yamato and Miss Minami Ojou-sama beside him of the scene.

"Besides, I also found at the scene that the lock core of the back door had slight pry damage, and although this villa had indeed been unoccupied for a long time, but————in the kitchen and trash bin, there was more than one convenience store package, indicating she had resided here for a period of time."

"I see." Miss Minami Ojou-sama immediately understood: "In other words, Miss Yamashita Mizuki broke in by picking the lock? Treated this place as her own home? In other words, she is an illegal tenant"? Or rather, adverse possession"?

"

"Illegal tenant" is it?" Superintendent Yamato muttered.

"Yes, she is the illegal tenant of this villa." Uesugi Muneyuki frowned.

This is a rather interesting concept; everyone should have heard that in Europe and America, many vacant houses were broken into and lived in for a period, after which the owner could not evict them and had to endure lengthy lawsuits, which is called "illegal tenant," with the United States and France as representatives.

When homeless and wandering, some knowledgeable people, after observing for a while, would break into a vacant house and move in.

They would quickly forge a "lease agreement," even if extremely crude, and then openly become "rent-paying tenants," when the landlord discovers their home has been broken into and calls the police, police arriving usually say: "Sir, this is a civil dispute. We cannot determine who is the lawful resident; you need to go to court to obtain an eviction order before we can act."

Thus, the issue shifts from "criminal illegal entry" to "civil eviction procedure."

The landlord must then sue the tenant.

Lawsuits in the United States and France drag on for months at least; if the tenant knows a bit of law, appeals and requests for jury changes, constantly filing motions, it could last two or three years.

During this period, the landlord cannot take any action against them, otherwise they themselves would instead be sued for "illegal eviction"

and face huge compensation.

This is exploiting the "protect tenants" loophole in U. S. law; many people thus enjoy luxurious apartments and villas invested in or used for holidays by the wealthy, and as for losing the lawsuit, they also have nothing to enforce.

France even has a "winter hiatus" ban: from November 1 each year to March 31 of the following year is the "winter hiatus."

During this period, even if tenants do not pay rent, landlords in principle cannot evict them, out of humanitarian consideration to prevent people from being left on the streets in harsh winter.

Karuizawa, like Sapporo in Hokkaido, has many wealthy people who bought villas just to live there for a few weeks each winter or summer, leaving most of the time vacant.

Japan's real estate registration system is very strict, and tenant protection is not as strict as France's, but there is still room to exploit the "illegal tenant loophole," only that Japanese people's "sense of shame" does not really allow them to do such shameless things, so illegal tenants in Japan are relatively few.

"So, is this a suicide case?" Superintendent Yamato nodded, feeling the logic had worked out: "The deceased lived in hardship, ashamed to seek help, finally could only break in here, then, upon reflecting on her situation, decided to commit suicide; you see, Uesugi Chief, she left a suicide note, also burned charcoal to kill herself, the scene left no other fingerprints, and the autopsy confirmed death by carbon monoxide poisoning; then without doubt, this is a suicide case, right?"

"Correct, Miss Yamashita broke in by picking the lock, correct, Miss Yamashita died of carbon monoxide poisoning, correct, Miss Yamashita lived in hardship but was ashamed to seek help, these are all correct." However, Uesugi Muneyuki smiled and shook his head: "But, this is a murder!"

"What the heck?!?" Superintendent Yamato and Miss Watanabe Minami beside him were shocked.

Not suicide? Homicide?!?

"Gentlemen, have you heard of adverse possession?" Uesugi Muneyuki slightly nodded, using a "trust me" expression to indicate: "Please immediately call the owner of this villa, Miss Kimura Aki."

"Please have her come, so we can clarify this complicated matter."

Uesugi Muneyuki gazed at this villa dust-covered yet hiding a corpse.

This matter is somewhat complicated!