Chapter 9: , The Aizen Myoo

This is a very simple case, Uesugi Muneyuki thought to himself.

He only needed to prove that this elderly couple died in a double suicide, rather than what the outside world imagined: that during their long life of caregiving, the husband finally became overwhelmed and chose to commit murder.

Very well, all he had to do was make the facts clear!

Uesugi Muneyuki came back out: "There is no doubt, Tanaka-san. The two deceased died in a double suicide. Mrs. Ishizaka likely died of natural causes and was discovered in the morning; afterward, Mr. Ishizaka chose to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills. The two bodies were stacked together, creating this scene."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Little brother Uesugi? Are you serious?"

Uesugi Muneyuki's words shocked the police officers who were discussing the matter outside, especially Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka. This Tanaka Laodeng opened his mouth wide, thinking to himself: Little brother Uesugi, you are a Forensic Pathologist, not a Detective!

How is it that you, a person performing an Autopsy, are telling us about the case instead of telling us the results of the Autopsy? Are you a Detective? You kid, this is against the rules. We invited you here to be a Forensic Pathologist, not a special envoy from the Metropolitan Police Department!

Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka subconsciously wanted to give Uesugi Muneyuki a piece of his mind, scolding him: What does a rookie Forensic Pathologist know? Who told you to judge the case? Since when does our dignified Criminal Investigation Division need a Forensic Pathologist to deduce and reconstruct a crime scene?

However, before the words could leave his mouth, this Tanaka Laodeng suddenly shut it.

He had suffered a loss once before.

The last time he suffered a loss, it cost him 20,000, and afterward, Tanaka recalled it and always felt that Uesugi Muneyuki had a hint of "entrapment" in his law enforcement.

This time, he must not fall for this little brat's trap again!

Tanaka glanced at Kuwabara opposite him; sure enough, this guy was also dissatisfied but dared to be angry without speaking.

It was fine, someone would step up, and he would not lose out regardless.

Tanaka Laodeng decided to walk until the water ran out and sit to watch the clouds rise.

Someone would stand up for him, for instance, some guy who was still hoping for a smooth few years to get a promotion without any incidents.

Sure enough, another person, Police Sergeant Naito, could not hold back: "Mr. Uesugi, what nonsense are you spouting? We are waiting for your Autopsy results, not your deduction show! What we need now is for you to tell us the Autopsy results! Autopsy results, do you understand? Even if I am not a professional, I can see that the two bodies have different degrees of decomposition; isn't this the most powerful evidence of homicide?"

"That's right, that's right!" The middle-aged women around them chimed in, and one middle-aged woman carrying a vegetable basket chirped: "I knew that was the case. Serving someone like that, it's unbearable! Mr. Ishizaka must have been helpless, right?"

"Oh my, I can't even stand taking care of my own husband, let alone taking care of a dementia patient."

"Mrs. Ishizaka would give candy to everyone she saw, and giggle when she saw people eating it. We really couldn't bear to look at that."

"With no children and the National Pension not being enough, it's only natural that Mr. Ishizaka got emotional for a moment~"

"Exactly~~~" After discussing for a while, the group of women let out satisfied sighs. Following this "exactly," everyone looked up and sighed, letting their tears slide down the corners of their eyes.

The vegetable basket woman continued: "Besides, if Mrs. Ishizaka really died of natural causes, why didn't Mr. Ishizaka bury his wife properly before choosing to commit suicide? It's obvious he couldn't take it anymore~"

"That's true!" The surrounding women echoed again. For a moment, there was a sense of uprightness and prosperity, and then, filled with joy, they shared the couple's story with other passersby, over and over, tireless and enjoying it.

"That's right, Uesugi-san. You Forensic Pathologists only need to be responsible for the Forensic Autopsy Report, while we detectives handling the case have much more to consider." Police Sergeant Naito, seeing that he had the support of the surrounding neighbors, showed a look of triumph: "You only need to tell me the estimated time of death and the cause of death."

"Come in." Uesugi Muneyuki crooked his finger: "I will explain it to you."

Hearing that they had to enter the death scene, the few police officers present all looked troubled.

"Come in. If you don't come in, how can I discuss the sequence of events with you?" Uesugi Muneyuki crooked his finger again, extending a warm invitation.

"Naito, aren't you the one with the most opinions?" Tanaka Laodeng spoke first: "We have decided, we will send you!"

"That's right, Naito, it's a perfect chance for you to discuss the Autopsy results with Uesugi-san, isn't this a great opportunity?" Kuwabara also said.

"I'm counting on you, Naito!" The only female officer, Miss Takasaka, stood even further away.

As for Koban Chief Ito, this Tanaka Laodeng was even more laid back. I don't know when it started, but he was already standing far away in the crowd behind the police tape, arms slightly open, eyes looking at his nose, nose aligned with his heart, with an expression of "this has nothing to do with me," "where am I," "who am I," and "what am I doing."

Uesugi Muneyuki looked at these police officers and felt despair from the depths of his heart.

This is the police of Japan. If you want them to do some odd jobs, they are very proactive; if you want them to actually handle a case, this is the level they are at.

Moreover, even according to the current Autopsy results, Mr. Ishizaka, the Red Ghost, definitely died before Mrs. Ishizaka, the Green Ghost!

How on earth did this guy judge that Mr. Ishizaka killed his wife first?

If the local police are at this level, then what is the Metropolitan Police Department, their direct superior, like?

In the end, after going back and forth, only Police Sergeant Naito followed Uesugi Muneyuki into the room.

"Please explain, Mr. Uesugi. The decomposition levels of these two bodies are so different; it doesn't look like a double suicide. What explanation can you give?" Police Sergeant Naito asked with some impatience.

"It's very simple. As Mr. Naito can see, the decomposition levels of these two bodies are indeed inconsistent." Uesugi Muneyuki explained the principles of the Green Ghost, Red Ghost, Black Ghost, and White Ghost to him: "If following traditional forensic Autopsy, the time of death for these two bodies would differ by at least one day."

"So?"

"But!" Uesugi Muneyuki held up a finger: "According to your judgment, even if they died, Mr. Ishizaka died first!"

"What 'our judgment,' this is just Naito's judgment!" Tanaka Laodeng, squeezed at the door, said: "Don't drag us into this, hey!"

"Uh..." Uesugi Muneyuki's words made the Police Sergeant a bit embarrassed, but he immediately reacted: "Then could it be that Mr. Ishizaka, as the provider, died suddenly, causing Mrs. Ishizaka to lack care, and the demented Mrs. Ishizaka didn't understand why her husband wasn't moving, so she went to sleep as usual and accidentally suffocated to death?"

"How do you think an elderly woman with dementia could lift a husband weighing over a hundred jin across a blanket, press him onto herself, and then suffocate to death?" Uesugi Muneyuki said coldly.

Naito had nothing to say now; he could only ask: "But why is the time of death inconsistent?"

"No, the time of death is consistent." Uesugi Muneyuki began his performance. He first pointed at the stacked bodies: "The degree of decomposition of a body is not only related to the time of death, but also related to three other things."

"One, the speed of gas flow on the body's surface; two, the temperature and humidity of the body's surface; three, the area of the body in direct contact with the outside."

"Now, let's pay attention to this situation: Mr. Ishizaka died pressing his wife. Is it the one on top who has more contact with the outside, or Mrs. Ishizaka, who is wrapped in a blanket?"

"That would be Mr. Ishizaka." Police Sergeant Naito looked at the pairs of eyes outside the house and could only admit it helplessly.

"Good, then the second point. Everyone outside the window, please move aside." Uesugi Muneyuki walked to the window again and pulled the curtains open abruptly: "Look, the orientation of this apartment. It is now April, and the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. We only need to use geographical knowledge to calculate the noon sun altitude and the orientation of the house, and we can easily know."

Uesugi Muneyuki spread his arms, and the light from the cloudy sky outside filtered into the room, shining exactly on Mr. Ishizaka: "Every day, Mr. Ishizaka experiences at least four hours of direct sunlight! But the time Mrs. Ishizaka spent under the blanket being irradiated is: 0!"

As if responding to Uesugi Muneyuki's stern shout, thunder and lightning flashed outside the house, and pale lightning light passed through the window, falling directly into the room and shining exactly on Mr. Ishizaka.

"So that's it!" Kuwabara outside the house suddenly realized: "No wonder the decomposition times of the bodies were inconsistent!"

"As expected of the Peerage! He even knows this..." Miss Takasaka also opened her mouth wide.

"How did this kid know the window at the scene wasn't closed?" Tanaka Laodeng, however, looked suspicious: "I remember no one told him!"

"So this is a double suicide case; it makes sense." Uesugi Muneyuki said to the stunned Police Sergeant Naito: "They died together. The husband woke up in the morning, found his wife had already passed away, and then set up the scene and committed suicide by taking poison."

"Bu, but, what poison did he take?" Police Sergeant Naito had nothing left to say to Uesugi Muneyuki's judgment; he could only ask further.

"It is a sleeping pill."

"The reason?"

"There is eye discharge attached to the eyelids of the corpse, and white foam at the mouth and nose. If you perform a Dissection, you should be able to find pulmonary congestion and significant facial conjunctival edema. These are typical symptoms of death from taking sleeping pills."

"Then what is the cause of death for Mrs. Ishizaka?"

"Natural death; of course, it can also be considered death by illness. You should also be able to learn from your investigation that Mrs. Ishizaka suffered from over a dozen diseases. Under such circumstances, a sudden death at any time is normal. As for the death by asphyxiation you suspect, there is no congestion on the face of the corpse, so it is not death by strangulation. You only need to check the lungs for emphysema."

Uesugi Muneyuki answered all of Naito's questions like a machine gun. Finally, he concluded: "All of the above are my judgments. As long as the body is sent for Dissection, it can be verified, but I can be one hundred percent certain that this is the specific situation."

"That morning, Mr. Ishizaka habitually got up early to do chores, then called his wife to wake up, but she did not move. He quickly realized she had passed away, so he took out the sleeping pills he had prepared in advance and swallowed them, committing suicide for love."

"But, since it was not death by asphyxiation, why did Mr. Ishizaka press his wife underneath him? Since he wanted to commit suicide for love, why not properly hold his wife's funeral and then calmly commit suicide, instead of dying together in the apartment and letting the bodies rot? Whether cremation or burial, wouldn't that be more decent?" Police Sergeant Naito still did not understand. He did not even notice that his questions had gone beyond the scope of a Forensic Pathologist, and even beyond the scope of handling a case.

Uesugi Muneyuki did not answer this time; he simply walked out of the apartment building.

The crowd outside had grown larger, and the nearby neighbors were chattering and discussing the matter. Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki come out, the crowd could not help but be excited. A woman with a vegetable basket was the first to squeeze forward: "Young man, how is it? Was it suicide or homicide? Oh my, I said it long ago, these two people are truly too pitiful. Their children have all passed away, they have no relatives, and Mrs. Ishizaka even had dementia..."

Stained by love and desire, all things are full of resentment; clearing the obstacles of the body and nature, purifying the Bodhi heart.

"I'm talking to you all." Uesugi Muneyuki was expressionless: "Have you said enough? Are you done yet?"

The surroundings slowly quieted down. Dozens of people looked at Uesugi Muneyuki in confusion, not understanding what this cold, stern young man meant.

The ones who died were the Ishizaka couple; what does that have to do with us?

"Do you know why Mr. Ishizaka chose to commit suicide? Why didn't Mr. Ishizaka bury Mrs. Ishizaka before committing suicide for love?"

Uesugi Muneyuki pointed at these chattering gossips: "It is because of you!"

"You pity them, you sympathize with them, and every time you see them appear, you cannot help but share their story with others. You like to appear compassionate and loving, but you have forgotten that Mr. Ishizaka, he did not need your sympathy at all! On the contrary, every bit of your sympathy was a hurt to him, a deep hurt!"

"He did not like being sympathized with, he did not need your pity, and he needed even less for you to share their pain with every passerby! He just wanted to live his life properly. He had had enough; he hated his name appearing in your mouths, he hated his story circulating on the streets, but he had no choice. Just as you said, they had no money and no ability to move away, and he had no ability to resist, because just to take care of his wife, Mr. Ishizaka had already exhausted all his energy!"

Uesugi Muneyuki's cold voice froze the heart: "He did not want to have another funeral, to gather these hurts, these sympathies, and these crocodile tears and sighs after sharing the story, and perform it all over again. Dying in his own apartment and dying with his wife was his final stubbornness. So, can you stop now?"

After speaking, Uesugi Muneyuki ignored the increasingly embarrassed expressions of the neighbors in the crowd, turned around, and said to Police Sergeant Kuwabara and the others: "Wrapping his wife in a blanket so that outsiders could not see her, and not letting people recall her affairs, was also Mr. Ishizaka's final pride."

"But... but, this guy taking care of his wife like this, what was he aiming for?" The woman with the vegetable basket said unwillingly: "There must be a reason, right?"

"The reason is, deep love."

Externally manifesting a wrathful and fierce appearance, internally proving it with love and respect.

As soon as these words were spoken, the Qinghui Stone in Uesugi Muneyuki's hand shone brightly. The Dead Souls of the Ishizaka couple appeared once again. Mrs. Ishizaka was still frantically looking for candy, while Mr. Ishizaka bowed to Uesugi Muneyuki, full of gratitude.

This couple formed a bond because of a piece of candy.

In that generation after the war when material goods were extremely scarce, the young girl and the young boy lived a poor and arduous life, and the bond that connected them was that one small piece of konpeito. It was a precious sweet treat squeezed out from between their teeth in that era. They shared it with each other; neither could bear to eat it, and both hoped the other would eat it.

After Mrs. Ishizaka developed dementia, she gradually forgot her relatives, forgot her friends, forgot the past, and sometimes even failed to recognize her husband. But she always remembered, the only thing she remembered was that piece of konpeito. That is why she always kept a few candies in her clothes, and that is why she always asked others if they wanted to eat candy.

Every time they were sympathized with and pitied, it was a painful memory for Mr. Ishizaka. Now, they were finally able to be liberated.

A massive amount of Courage surged crazily into Uesugi Muneyuki's right hand. The originally brilliant light of the Qinghui Stone was also stained with a bright red color symbolizing love, condensing into a strange Dharma Image within the gemstone.

Wisdom King Aizen!

There should be another chapter today, perhaps.

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(End of this chapter)