Chapter 83: Chiba Prefecture Serial Murder Case

Following the emergency news, the scene was in total chaos.

The high-ranking Public Security officials present looked bewildered, as if they still hadn't grasped what had happened.

But the reporters had already begun to ask questions.

"May I ask why another murder case has appeared?"

"Didn't Public Security say they had already brought the potential suspects to justice?"

"Is this matter truly the work of a Violent Group?"

"Is there some connection between the two murder cases? May I ask how Public Security intends to handle the follow-up events?"

The reporters at the scene were like they had eaten gunpowder, crazily crowding forward and scrambling to ask questions.

"Please be quiet! Maintain order!" Public Security detectives immediately came up to maintain order, pushing back the sharks who had smelled blood: "Maintain order!"

The high-ranking Public Security officials on the stage only then reacted; thinking of the promises they had just made, each of them felt their faces burning.

But after all, having worked in this profession for so many years, one couldn't get by without some level of composure. The Security Consultant of the National Police Agency on stage took the initiative to speak: "At present, we are not yet clear on the specific situation and need some time to understand the state of affairs, but please, all citizens, rest assured."

"The press conference ends here."

Having said that, the Security Department Counselor of the National Police Agency forcibly terminated the press conference. The high-ranking officials, their faces ashen, quickly stepped off the stage.

What the hell is going on? Hadn't the person already been caught? Hadn't the situation already been brought under control?

How did something go wrong again? What exactly is the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters doing? If it weren't for your incompetence, would things have ended up like this?

As for this Headquarters Chief, we in Public Security will arrange for your disciplinary dismissal this year!

The press conference for the Chiba Prefecture dismemberment murder case, which had originally been pinned with infinite expectations and intended to be a benchmark against the Fuji TV Case, ended in such a lackluster way. Faced with the sudden outbreak of a new case, the Public Security Department was at a loss; they didn't even know themselves what had happened or if there was any connection between the two cases.

The only thing they knew was that this time, they had lost face in a big way!

…………

That night, Uesugi Muneyuki responded to the call of Miss Minami and rushed to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Japanese police are essentially on duty year-round; even late at night, the place was still packed. Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji, Criminal Investigation Department Chief Mouri Takayoshi, and Miss Minami, who had been chatting and laughing with Uesugi Muneyuki that afternoon, were all there. The former two had already changed into their uniforms, while only Miss Minami was wearing private clothes.

Uesugi Muneyuki's first words upon arriving at the Metropolitan Police Department were: "Does this count as overtime?"

Gourmet Uesugi's attitude left Watanabe Eiji speechless. The Superintendent General took a document out of his drawer with annoyance: "Yes, it counts as overtime. You'll be paid, and you'll get compensatory time off!"

"But since it's overtime work, then show me some attitude! Kora!"

"Uesugi-kun, I am limiting you to 20 minutes to understand this emergency Forensic Autopsy Report, and then explain the situation of the case to us in language we can understand. You have 10 minutes!"

"Why the rush?" Uesugi Muneyuki wore an expression that said, "Are you setting me up?"

"Because in 45 minutes, I have to go across the street to report the situation." Watanabe Eiji pointed to the National Police Agency across from the Metropolitan Police Department: "Do you have any idea how big this is? We were already in a state of panic because of a primary school student being dismembered, and now a second murder case has broken out! And it's dismemberment! And it's a primary school student! Now the entire Kanto region is going to be terrified."

"I'm counting on you, Uesugi-kun." Miss Minami bowed meekly to Uesugi Muneyuki, three parts expectation, three parts apology: "I'm sorry to bother you, but we really need your help. You are an expert in this field. Please, help us, will you?"

With her sweet face and beautiful appearance, being asked like this by Miss Minami, the anger Uesugi Muneyuki felt from being urgently summoned dissipated quite a bit. He nodded, and just as he took the report, he frowned: "Who wrote this Forensic Autopsy Report? They aren't a Forensic Pathologist, are they?"

"It was done by a Pathological Professor at a National Hospital in Chiba Prefecture." Watanabe Eiji nodded: "Chiba Prefecture has no forensic institution. The Public Security detectives temporarily took people, stormed into the hospital, grabbed the Pathological Professor, and told him to perform the autopsy on the spot."

"How arrogant, Public Security." Uesugi Muneyuki sighed: "Is there no law that can keep them in check?"

"As long as Public Security deems it necessary, they can do so. Act first, report later, with Cabinet authorization."

Uesugi Muneyuki said no more and began to read the report seriously.

Victim, Kawanishi Ayaka, 9 years old, 3rd-grade primary school student.

She also went missing two days ago, her parents also reported it to the police to no avail, and she also had her head severed. There were too many similarities between these two cases.

Just as the Chiba Prefecture police were concentrating their efforts on investigating the dismemberment murder case of Doi Junpei, the body of Kawanishi Ayaka, who had been missing for two days, was discovered beneath a temperature detection device at a weather station in Chiba Prefecture.

The weather station was rarely visited, with no one working there usually. Someone would come to collect data once a week. Not many people knew about this place, and it had been closed off for a long time; many people living nearby didn't even know there was a weather station there.

Apart from the head being severed, the difference from the first case was that the victim had a heavy impact wound on her head, with a fractured skull; she had been stunned first before being killed and dismembered.

And unlike the first case, a death message was left at the scene. Someone had stuffed a note into the victim's mouth, on which was written in bright red, twisted characters: "This is the price of betrayal."

Likewise, the scene investigation found no other effective clues. There was very little surveillance around; it was clear the killer had a strong sense of counter-surveillance.

"It's homicide." Uesugi Muneyuki said without hesitation: "Not only is it homicide, but it is definitely the same killer as the first case."

"How can you tell?" Sure enough, Watanabe Eiji and Mouri Takayoshi exchanged a look, thinking, this is exactly what we wanted!

"Look at the wounds." Uesugi Muneyuki pointed to the picture in the data: "Generally speaking, using a blade to decapitate requires rich experience, but unless it is severed in one go, one always has to go through a process of multiple cuts when performing a beheading."

"People always form muscle memory. From the moment the blade pierces the flesh to the moment of withdrawal, the angle of the blade tip will change."

"And what I see now, on the cross-section formed by the change in the angle of the blade tip's entry and withdrawal as captured in the photos of the incision, the angles in the first case and the second case are almost identical. This is muscle memory." Uesugi Muneyuki said with certainty: "Therefore, this is a serial murder case."

"However, this is just what is written in the data. If only I could perform the autopsy myself." Uesugi Muneyuki pushed the data aside and shook his head: "I can't see anything else relying solely on the existing data. I need to perform an on-site autopsy. Superintendent Watanabe, can you arrange for me to go to the Chiba Prefecture scene to perform the autopsy?"

Hearing that this was a serial murder case, Watanabe Eiji's brows locked tight. Just as he was about to ask something else, hearing Uesugi Muneyuki's request for an autopsy, the dignified head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department could only smile bitterly and shake his head: "I'm sorry, I can't do it."

"Uesugi-kun, we are the Metropolitan Police Department. We only manage Tokyo. Unless the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters actively seeks help, we have no right to interfere." Miss Minami also added.

"Then make the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters seek help!" Uesugi Muneyuki tossed the file aside in frustration. He was truly annoyed. One after another, major vicious murders were happening right in front of him, but he couldn't perform an on-site autopsy and could only look at the data.

If he only looked at the data, his level wasn't necessarily much better than other forensic pathologists. His greatest strength was the Death Soul Contract, and this feeling of having power but nowhere to use it made him very irritable.

He had clearly already joined the Metropolitan Police Department, and clearly could already go straight to the Superintendent General through Miss Minami, so why was he still so tied up when trying to get things done?

How could one be a good forensic pathologist while working with this bunch of vermin?!

"Don't be angry, Uesugi-kun. I want to solve this matter even more than you do. Protecting the health, property, and safety of the citizens is our duty. This data was something I had the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters Chief secretly fax over; it's an illegal document." Watanabe Eiji patted Uesugi Muneyuki on the shoulder, comforting him: "The victim's family is very grief-stricken and has vowed to find the killer."

Uesugi Muneyuki didn't appreciate it at all: "Then why don't you ask the Chiba Prefecture Headquarters to request assistance? Is it a matter of face?"

"You child... a matter of face is completely irrelevant in the face of human life. If you can catch the killer on the spot, I'd even go to Chiba Prefecture and bow." Watanabe Eiji squeezed Uesugi Muneyuki's shoulder and said softly: "The main thing is that Public Security has already sealed off the scene and fully taken over the second case."

Public Security, Public Security again?

Uesugi Muneyuki was even more annoyed. He suppressed his anger: "What's the excuse this time?"

"Kudo's side seems to still believe that this matter was done by a Violent Group."

"What Violent Group? It's possible for a child to occasionally witness a Violent Group transaction, but could they witness two transactions in a row?" Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head repeatedly: "The probability of that is smaller than Mars hitting Earth. And even if it really happened, didn't the press conference already say that the entire Futaba-gumi had been taken into custody? Could it be another Violent Group?"

"In short, if I need further clues and evidence, I need to be able to perform an on-site autopsy."

Uesugi Muneyuki provided a conclusion: "In short, this is a serial murder case. The killer may have experience and a background in a Violent Group, but they will never be directly linked to that Futaba Violent Group. There was a transaction at the warehouse by the sea, and a transaction at the weather station on the mountain? Was it accidentally witnessed by an elementary school student the first time, and witnessed again the second time?"

The four of them held a small meeting.

Unfortunately, whether it was Watanabe Eiji, Mouri Takayoshi, or Watanabe Minami, they were all from the Career Track and rarely had contact with frontline detective work. Even for a Career Track officer like Watanabe Eiji who had personally worked in Investigation Division 1 and gone to crime scenes, the number of investigations he had participated in was merely a fraction of those handled by the Non-Career Track Detective Megure.

Uesugi Muneyuki's judgment gave them confidence.

"How about we wait a little longer?" Department Manager Mouri attempted to suggest to Watanabe Eiji: "Should we wait until they have no results over there and take the initiative to ask for help?"

"No, whether it is Public Security or Criminal, we are all police! In this matter, we prosper together and suffer together." Watanabe Eiji flatly rejected this proposal: "This is not the time to consider factional infighting."

"I am going to call the National Police Agency! I will request Commissioner Kaneko to allow the Metropolitan Police Department to intervene."

After saying this, Watanabe Eiji went out.

Watanabe Eiji was indeed very responsible; Uesugi Muneyuki felt slightly more settled, but his brow remained furrowed. He vaguely felt that this serial murder case was not only complicated but also far from over.

He might have missed something, or perhaps the entire police system had.

But without being able to perform an autopsy on-site, he was completely helpless.

…………

One floor away, National Police Agency, Security Department.

A man in a suit fell backward onto the floor, knocking the sofa behind him crooked. His neatly pressed suit became wrinkled, but the guy dared not show the slightest negligence. He sprang up from the ground like a spring, straightened his back, and then bowed deeply, enduring the pain in his thigh as he shouted: "Sumimasen!"

"You brat, have you forgotten what I said?" Director of Security Kudo Tsuyoshi of the National Police Agency had his hands in his pockets, his expression twisted: "For us in Public Security, there is only one sun in the sky; we only need to obey the orders of the Cabinet!"

"What kind of thing is that Watanabe Eiji? Just because he is the Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police Department, what right does he have to command us, who are the shield of the nation?!"

"Sumimasen!"

"You idiot, if you act as a mouthpiece for the Metropolitan Police Department again, it won't just be a kick like today."

Director of Security Kudo Tsuyoshi irritably shoved his hands into his pockets.

He had lost his composure due to the outbreak of the second case, and his face had been slapped hard.

Where did the second case come from? Hadn't all the suspects been arrested? In order to solve the case quickly, Public Security had even used torture!

If he couldn't solve the case quickly now, his chance at being the next Superintendent General would be gone!

Two years and another two years, when will it finally be my turn?

When it comes down to it, the National Public Safety Commission only chose Watanabe Eiji to serve as Superintendent General because they needed the Criminal faction right now; otherwise, this position would definitely have been mine!

Once I handle this case as beautifully as the Fuji TV Case, the next Superintendent General should finally be mine, right?

Just at this moment, the phone on the desk rang.

"What are you still staring at? Go answer the phone!" The Secretary to the Director of Security limped on one leg, hopping over to answer the phone. After listening to the voice on the other end, the secretary's expression changed unpredictably: "Director."

"Hmm?"

"It is a call from Commissioner Kaneko (Commissioner of the National Police Agency)."

"He called personally?" The head of Public Security's eyes flickered.

"Yes."

Kudo Tsuyoshi thought for two seconds, then reached out to signal him to take the call.

Today is the last day for double monthly tickets, please give me a ticket~

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(End of this chapter)