Chapter 89: The Third Case of the Serial Murders

When Uesugi Muneyuki proposed letting Ikeda Erena participate in this joint investigation, contrary to his expectations, Miss Minami flatly refused.

"No!" Watanabe Minami gripped the steering wheel and said coldly, "Ikeda Erena is a criminal detective on the roster of Otsuka Station. She belongs neither to Chiba Prefecture, nor to Edogawa Ward, nor to the Metropolitan Police Department. On what grounds are we supposed to transfer her over?"

"Cooperative investigation?" Uesugi Muneyuki sat in the passenger seat wearing a long trench coat; he felt a bit discouraged bringing this up: "Ikeda has always coordinated well with me, and she also saved face for your Metropolitan Police Department last time, for instance, with that move, Arashi no Yama?"

"Uesugi-kun!" Watanabe Minami seemed a bit impatient: "Let me ask you, the case originated in Chiba Prefecture, the third case occurred in Edogawa Ward, and the Metropolitan Police Department finally received permission to intervene in this case. You want to transfer Ikeda over; what is your reason? On what basis would the Police Affairs Department approve it for you?"

That was true indeed.

Uesugi Muneyuki thought about it carefully; it seemed he really lacked a sufficient excuse. He was relatively upright and respectful of regulations in this regard. Seeing that Miss Minami would not budge, he could only change his tone: "But am I not currently holding a post in the Forensics Division?"

"That's just you who was transferred! Ikeda wasn't transferred too! To be honest, she is a non-career track female Patrol Officer who was promoted to Police Sergeant after only four years; we have already treated her well enough, haven't we? Do you know how many times she has reported us to our Police Affairs Inspection Department over these past few years?" Watanabe Minami twitched the corner of her mouth: "If she comes to the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters, how is everyone supposed to work properly? Everyone will be avoiding her."

"Uh... then why can you, a Police Inspector from the Personnel Division of the Police Affairs Department, personally come to the scene?" Uesugi Muneyuki was left speechless by Miss Minami and could only attack from other angles.

"Who told you I was going to the scene?" Miss Minami tilted her head with self-satisfaction, looking charming and lovely: "I am responsible for staying at the Special Investigation Headquarters to coordinate, report the situation, and facilitate communication between the local branch and the Metropolitan Police Department. Isn't that exactly the job of my Personnel Division?"

"Then did you get an official transfer order from the Metropolitan Police Department?" Uesugi Muneyuki looked at her sideways.

"What, Uesugi-kun, do you want to see the official document? Then I'll write one for you right now." Miss Minami was a little flustered.

"Heh." Uesugi Muneyuki saw that she was also an unofficial transfer and couldn't be bothered to lecture her.

I'm sorry, Master Ikeda, I am currently of low status and little power in the Metropolitan Police Department, and I am being rubbed into the ground by Miss Minami.

Once I develop, I will definitely find a way to transfer you into the Metropolitan Police Department as well.

You must believe in me!

By the time the two of them drove to the Kasai Police Station located in Edogawa Ward, the massive police force had already fully arrived.

It was already late at night, and the twinkling stars covered the entire earth. The Kasai Police Station was brightly lit, with police cars and police officers everywhere. Patrol Officers wearing police uniforms and hanging batons stood all around, monitoring every corner of the surroundings, and a brigade of suits from all directions had gathered here.

Getting out of the car in the parking lot, the figures of Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami stretched long under the streetlights.

Uesugi Muneyuki looked up at the starry sky and took a deep breath: "The stars witness everything."

"So beautiful." Watanabe Minami also looked at the stars with him.

The vast sea of stars could indeed allow everyone to temporarily put away their worries and immerse themselves in the boundless universe.

"Alright, let's go." Uesugi Muneyuki only stayed in the parking lot for about ten seconds: "Time to pull another all-nighter."

"Today counts as overtime, one day of compensatory leave; working through the night counts as three days of compensatory leave, plus an additional 8,000 yen per day for meal and accommodation subsidies." Miss Minami said with a playful reproach: "Don't worry, I'm calculating it for you."

"When the young lady handles things, I am at ease." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled and nodded.

"Hmph, I'm saving you the trouble." Miss Minami wrinkled her nose, imitating the tone of a yakuza young lady: "Work hard, the master has a reward for you~ Kora~"

The result was a completely inaccurate imitation, full of willful cuteness.

By the time they entered the Kasai Police Station, the station was already packed. To host the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters, the police station had cleared out the entire conference room on the second floor. Now, it was filled with police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, the three police stations of Edogawa Ward, and the police headquarters that had rushed over from Chiba Prefecture. Below the stage sat hundreds of Police Inspectors and Assistant Police Inspectors.

Because the matter had escalated to the point where even the Chief Cabinet Secretary had inquired about it, Mouri Takayoshi, the Criminal Investigation Department Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, personally served as the Headquarters Chief of the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters. Several Counselors and Directors from the Criminal Investigation Department, the chiefs of the three police stations, and representatives from Chiba Prefecture had all arrived.

Almost all of the elite of the Metropolitan Police Department had also arrived, including Kosaka, the First Section Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division 1 of the Metropolitan Police Department, who had been on vacation but rushed back temporarily.

The Investigation Division 1 had sent out all its elites this time: Investigation Division 1 Chief Mikasa Yohei, First Section Chief Kosaka Shinichiro, Second Section Chief Shiratori Sho, Third Section Chief Kashiwagi Jin, Fifth Section Chief Matsuda Jinzori, and Thirteenth Section Chief Higurashi Sota were all present.

One hour later, the Joint Special Investigation meeting was officially convened.

Below, a sea of black sat in rows, all men in suits.

Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami naturally had their own seats. Uesugi Muneyuki sat next to Criminal Investigation Department Chief Mouri in his capacity as a Field Consultant for the Forensics Division, while Watanabe Minami's status was that of a Communication Representative for the Metropolitan Police Department.

Perhaps as Miss Minami said, if you want a transfer order, I'll write one for you right now.

The white incandescent light was somewhat blinding, and the room was as bright as day.

Shiratori Sho, a Police Inspector and Second Section Chief of the Investigation Division 1 of the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters, was on stage explaining the case to everyone.

"The victim, Yamato Rina, 11 years old, a fourth-grade elementary school student."

"November 6th, which is this afternoon, the deceased was discovered in Sendai-bori River Park in Edogawa Ward. An elderly woman with a child found the victim in the restroom."

"There were two wounds on the victim's body. One stab wound in the abdomen caused serious injury and punctured the liver, and then the victim was strangled with an electric wire. Unlike the situation in the previous two cases, the killer did not choose to decapitate the victim immediately, but simply strangled the victim with an electric wire before decapitating them, and then threw the head into a trash can."

"Because it was a weekday afternoon, there were not many people in the park, and the victim's body was not discovered immediately until an elderly woman passing by the public restroom with a child wanted to go in to use the facilities and found the deceased."

"According to the description from the scene investigation, we tend to believe that the killer used a sharp weapon to attack from top to bottom, first causing the victim to lose the ability to resist, then strangling the victim with an electric wire, and afterwards using the water device in the restroom to simply clean up the scene before leaving in a hurry."

"After the incident, we immediately pulled the surveillance footage, but found nothing. The killer seems to be very clear about the location of the surveillance cameras. The Sendai-bori River Park he chose is a place mainly for cherry blossom viewing in the spring, and there are also skateboarders and bicycle gangs active nearby. In the autumn, there is not much foot traffic on weekdays, and the coverage of the surveillance is small. For the time being, there are no further discoveries, no murder weapon found, and a lack of sufficient clues."

After Police Inspector Shiratori finished speaking, a police officer below immediately raised his hand: "May I ask what the reason is for linking these three cases together?"

This police officer was Police Inspector Yukinoshita Hachiman from the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters. According to Watanabe Minami, he was a man who married into the local Yukinoshita family of Chiba Prefecture, a local lawmaker family, and married the family's daughter, Yukinoshita Yukino. After graduation, he passed the exam to enter the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters and was an associate career track officer.

Police Inspector Shiratori paused, signaling for the main person to take the stage.

Uesugi Muneyuki stood up and slowly walked to the front of the stage: "Next, please allow me to explain the forensic results."

"Oh, oh, oh! It's that legendary rookie Forensic Pathologist! The one from the Fuji TV Case last time!" Someone below immediately recognized Uesugi Muneyuki: "He really did enter the Metropolitan Police Department to work!"

"Since he's here, he must be able to provide a different result, right?"

"Don't rush, listen to what he has to say first."

There was a rumbling sound below. Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki appear, especially his very young appearance, many veteran detectives perked up.

"These three cases have a very important commonality." Uesugi Muneyuki held the data and first showed everyone three pictures.

They were the decapitation cuts of the first case, Doi Junpei; the second case, Kawanishi Ayaka; and the third case, Yamato Rina, respectively.

Among them, the cuts were specially printed out by Uesugi Muneyuki: "Everyone, please look. These are the wound cavities of the three victims. May I ask if you can see the difference between them?"

There was silence below, and even the local Criminal Investigation Department Chief Mouri was watching carefully.

After giving the army of suits below and the uniformed police officers on stage a minute, Uesugi Muneyuki then slowly said: "The answer is, there is no difference."

"This is the reason why I believe the killer of the three cases is the same person. It is not about specifically targeting elementary school students, not about specifically wanting to decapitate, or having a strong anti-reconnaissance awareness and knowing the surrounding terrain well, but the wound cavities."

Uesugi Muneyuki pointed to the photos: "From the wound cavities, it can be inferred that the killer used a very sharp cutting tool and was very skilled. Generally speaking, the wound when the blade enters and the wound when it is pulled out will have the angle of the blade tip change due to the violent struggle of the fatal wound. However, when the killer pulls out the murder weapon, the muscle memory formed over a long period will cause the shaking of the blade tip to present a special arc."

"This makes the wound cavity appear not as a triangle, but as a W-shape."

"And after I carefully observed the wounds of the three victims, the arc size of the W-shaped wound cavities of the three victims was almost exactly the same." Uesugi Muneyuki said in a deep voice: "Once human muscle memory is formed, it is very difficult to change and requires long-term training. The time interval between the three serial cases is very short, so it can be judged from this that the killer has always been one person, and it is the same murder weapon."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh~"

Uesugi Muneyuki's words were reasonable and well-founded, convincing, logical, and expressed smoothly; they were very pleasant to hear.

The elite Japanese Detectives below clicked their tongues in wonder and nodded involuntarily.

"At the same time, we must also note a strange phenomenon," Uesugi Muneyuki continued, "Besides all having similar beheadings, these three cases also have different aspects."

"In the first case, the victim was killed in one blow with almost no vigilance, and there were no signs of a struggle or fight before death."

"In the second case, the victim was clearly knocked unconscious first and then killed; although there were also no signs of a struggle or fight, the perpetrator's method was clearly different from the first case, as he had to knock the victim unconscious first to commit the crime."

"In the third case, according to the report, the perpetrator clearly used a sharp blade to pierce the victim's liver first, then strangled the victim with an electric wire, and finally performed the beheading; furthermore, compared to the first case, the beheading in the third case could be described as sloppy."

"From this, it can be seen that the perpetrator's methods seem to be getting increasingly hurried, and the victims' level of vigilance is also gradually rising; from the first case where the victim had no vigilance at all, to the third case where the victim clearly had an awareness of resistance, the perpetrator's impatience and urgency are evident."

"Therefore, two questions arise here: first, how did the perpetrator evade the patrols everywhere in Chiba Prefecture, which is under martial law, and come to Tokyo to commit the crimes so brazenly; second, what reason does the perpetrator have that makes committing these crimes necessary, especially under the current circumstances where everyone is in danger, and with methods becoming increasingly crude and hurried?"

Uesugi Muneyuki bowed: "These are all the points I can analyze for now; I am merely offering a humble remark to spark further discussion, so please feel free to speak your minds."

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

See that? This is what you call professional.

(End of this chapter)