Chapter 900

At the same time, at Sakuradamon in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, the National Police Agency held its New Year's meeting.

The New Year's meeting was attended by only about half the usual number of people.

The on-duty senior police officials sat sparsely in the meeting room, some drinking tea, some flipping through documents, some looking down at their phones, and some leaning back in their chairs with eyes closed to rest.

Watanabe Eiji's seat was empty; he was on vacation in Hakone, soaking in hot springs, enjoying kaiseki cuisine, and taking leisurely walks with his wife—this was his first New Year as Commissioner of the National Police Agency, and also the first time in ten years he had taken a full New Year holiday.

However, it seems that after spending so much time with Uesugi Muneyuki, Watanabe Eiji has also learned his sense of humor; although he himself did not come to the meeting, he left something on that chair.

A Kumamon.

Sitting upright with proper posture, wearing a tailor-made miniature National Police Agency commissioner's uniform, a deep blue coat, the sakura and star insignia on the shoulder boards embroidered meticulously, the National Police Agency's badge pinned to the collar, and still wearing a miniature police cap on his head, the brim pressed low to cover those signature, perpetually wide-open black eyes.

In front of the Kumamon lay Watanabe Eiji's nameplate, white background with black text, his position and name written neatly and properly.

"National Police Agency Commissioner, Watanabe Eiji"

Criminal Investigation Bureau Director Mouri Takayoshi was the first to notice the bear; he stood at the doorway holding his teacup, staring at it for several seconds, then the corners of his mouth began to twitch.

Security Department Chief Morofushi Takahiro glanced at the Kumamon and couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth, then suddenly recited a poem: "Green mounds over the graves, jagged stones in the stream, between heaven and earth, life is like a sudden traveler. Sharing a cup of wine for enjoyment, neither rich nor poor, driving a carriage, guiding a weak horse, playing in Luoyang and Chang'an—what gloom exists in Chang'an? Officials seek each other out. Long avenues lined with side alleys, nobles and princes fill the mansions. The two palaces gaze at each other from afar, twin gates over a hundred feet tall. At the grand feast, entertaining the heart, why should the sorrowful feel oppressed?" Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Kobe Takeru walked in expressionlessly, sat down in Watanabe Eiji's neighboring seat, flipped open a file folder as if nothing were happening, but his gaze still couldn't help but dart a glance to the left, then he coughed once.

"Well then, let us begin—but before that, please let everyone first listen to what Commissioner Watanabe has to say to us, Commissioner Watanabe, the floor is yours!" After saying that, Kobe Takeru pulled out a sheet of paper from beneath the Kumamon's rear end and placed it behind its head, atop the police cap.

It was Watanabe Eiji's handwriting, in blue-black ink, semi-cursive script, written extremely quickly, yet each character crystal clear.

"First clause: Minor cases shall follow standard investigation procedures."

"Second clause: Major cases go to the Special Mission Division and Uesugi Muneyuki."

"Third clause: Kashiwagi Jin is an amateur."

The signature was that of the National Police Agency Commissioner, a flowing cursive rendering of Watanabe.

The meeting room fell silent for a moment. Then someone laughed out loud—first a low chuckle, as if afraid to startle something, then growing louder and more unrestrained.

"Hahahahaha~"

Mouri Takayoshi laughed so hard he slumped over the desk, his shoulders heaving; Morofushi Takahiro laughed so hard the hand holding his teacup shook, the tea nearly spilling: "Commissioner truly..."

Even the usually stern-faced Kobe Takeru couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

I TMD Kumamon's power!

Kumamon! Save the world!

The Kumamon wearing the National Police Agency commissioner's uniform still sat in the chair belonging to Japan's highest police official, its round, black eyes gazing at the laughing crowd filling the hall, expression innocent and bewildered.

It did not know it had been entrusted with such an important mission—while the newly appointed commissioner soaked in Hakone's hot springs, he had entrusted the entire National Police Agency's New Year to this bear.

"Alright, let us begin the meeting now!"

The National Police Agency's duty room was much quieter than usual during the New Year holiday.

In the hallway, only the hum of the outdoor air conditioning unit echoed; the duty officer stared at the monitoring screen, his teacup already refilled several times. The phone rang, his fingers fumbled on the desk for the thermos lid, then he picked up the handset.

These officials of the National Police Agency are all "heavenly beings," each one arrogant to the core.

"This is the National Police Agency; what is the matter?"

"This is the Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters, General Affairs Division. A corpse was discovered at Kobe City Comprehensive Sports Park, cause of death suspicious, body severely damaged. Special investigation procedures have already been initiated, headed personally by Bureau Chief Ikeda!"

The duty officer's pen paused on the paper: "What does 'severely damaged' mean?"

A moment of silence on the other end: "The body was severed at the waist into upper and lower halves. The cut surface was extremely neat, suggesting the use of power tools. The body had been washed, leaving almost no blood traces. The victim's identity remains unconfirmed; fingerprints and teeth have been destroyed."

"Tell me in detail!" The duty officer immediately took notice.

"No fingerprints—not wiped off by alcohol, but fundamentally absent! The skin on the fingertips has been burned, the ridge patterns completely gone, chemically corroded. Repeatedly applying a glue called 'cyanoacrylate' to the fingertips, and the teeth as well. All teeth have been violently extracted, alveolar bone shattered, gums torn—not done in one go, but over many sessions."

"What about DNA?" The officer asked, surprised and out of habit.

"We don't know who she is." The reply: "DNA testing is underway; we are..."

"Understood, I'll go report immediately!"

In the Commissioner's Secretariat office, Kobe Takeru sat behind his desk.

The 48-year-old Kobe Takeru is now Commissioner's Secretariat Director, succeeding after Onoda Kimiaki's assassination, belonging to the Public Security Division, but his record lacks the intense Public Security aura of Onoda; Watanabe Eiji appointed him as Commissioner's Secretariat Director, thus granting him rocket-promotion treatment—when Uesugi Muneyuki emerged, he was still merely a Public Security Division Counselor.

"Commissioner's Secretariat Director, news from Hyogo Prefecture. Kobe City has discovered a corpse, severed at the waist."

Kobe Takeru's coffee cup froze midair.

He looked at the duty officer's face, confirming he hadn't misheard: "What did you say?"

"Severed at the waist, upper and lower halves placed separately. The body had been washed, fingerprints and teeth destroyed. Identity unknown, already sparked major public outrage!"

"???!!!" Kobe Takeru instinctively clapped his hands over his face.

Whatever you fear will come!

No way, dude! Why is Kantou dark but Kansai lit?!

I was still thinking Uesugi Muneyuki, this forensic little lucky star, had finally stopped bringing trouble, but why did Kansai have an incident again?

Commissioner Watanabe, is this also within your expectations?

Kobe Takeru recalled the A4 sheet Watanabe Eiji left behind: minor cases follow procedure, major cases go to Uesugi, Old Ren is an amateur.

"Activate emergency protocols!"

Soon, the on-duty senior officials immediately gathered; Criminal Investigation Bureau Director Mouri Takayoshi picked up the desk phone, dialed the number of Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters. The call was transferred several times, he waited a long time before Ikeda Toshiaki's voice came through the handset.

"Bureau Chief Ikeda, we've heard about the Kobe case. The National Police Agency can activate emergency procedures and dispatch support from Kantou." "No need. Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters can handle it. I've already recalled all officers on leave, and Osaka Prefectural Police has also promised support. Equipment, manpower, technology—we have enough. No need for the National Police Agency to worry."

Mouri Takayoshi gripped the phone tighter: "Bureau Chief Ikeda, this case is not an ordinary homicide. The method has almost no precedent in Japan, the media has already started sensationalizing it. If mishandled, it will become a nationwide incident, and we'll become an international laughingstock!" "So what? So you just want us Kantou people to come? Bureau Chief Mouri, let me speak frankly. This case, we Kansai people can solve it ourselves. Give us some time—before the New Year holiday ends, we'll give you an answer."

The call ended.

"What did he say?" Kobe Takeru asked.

"He said, Kansai doesn't need Kantou's support." Mouri Takayoshi put down the phone.

"We weren't consulting him; the Cabinet has granted us authority to guide local investigations." Security Department Chief Morofushi Takahiro couldn't help but say: "Right, but limited to Commissioner Watanabe alone." Commissioner's Secretariat Director Kobe Takeru shook his head.

……」Outside the window, the sky over Kasumigaseki was gray and murky, clouds pressed low, like a water-soaked rag that could at any moment be wrung out to release rain

The rag that came with it.

"Let……Uesugi Muneyuki prepare?" Morofushi Takahiro asked tentatively: "Let him……be ready to deploy at any time?"

"Uesugi Muneyuki? Besides Uesugi Minami and Watanabe Chokan, who can command him?" Kobe Takeru said in a low voice: "Interrupt his vacation, have him return on standby. If the Kansai side has already solved the case by now, then who will take responsibility?"

Tail too big to fall, a state within a state.

The same thought simultaneously occurred in the minds of all three people.

"Or should we first, report to Watanabe Chokan!"

Bunkyo Ward, Uesugi Mansion.

"The Black Dahlia is an unsolved case that occurred in Los Angeles, USA in 1947. Actress Elizabeth Short was murdered, her body severed at the waist and dumped in an empty lot. The corpse had been washed, leaving almost no bloodstains, and the pose was deliberately arranged. Because the victim liked wearing black clothes in life and her hair was also black, and there was a film at the time called Dahlia, in which a female character was also dismembered, the media gave her the nickname 'Black Dahlia'."

"That case remains unsolved to this day, one of the most famous in the United States, on par with the Zodiac Killer and Jack the Ripper, forming part of the collective memory of several kokumin."

Uesugi Sadanori's fingers lightly clenched on his knee.

Grandfather Uesugi Kuninori picked up his teacup and put it down again: "So you mean, a case unsolved for seventy years, a similar method has appeared in Kobe?" Uesugi Muneyuki neither nodded nor shook his head, but fell into deep thought.

"It's not a similar method. It's a similar 'mode of presentation'."

"The characteristics of the Black Dahlia case are waist-level severance, corpse washing, pose arrangement, disposal in a public place, and even playing with the victim's intestinal organs and forcing the victim to ingest feces ante mortem—these elements are not necessary steps in the killing process, but added behaviors after the killing."

"Such added behavior is intentional, meant to display or mock something; the killer does not intend to hide the corpse, he deliberately displays it. He wants people to see. The time, place, and pose he chooses are all meant to elicit a specific reaction from those who see it."

"Put simply, for the killer, killing is very likely not the main purpose."

The television was broadcasting news from Kobe. The footage was an aerial shot of the periphery of the Comprehensive Sports Park, with yellow police lines particularly glaring in the winter sunlight. The reporter stood before the camera, holding a microphone, while the alley entrance behind her was completely blocked by vehicles from the Forensic Identification Division.

Uesugi Muneyuki watched the television screen for a while, his gaze sweeping over those yellow police lines.

He opened his voice, not loud but very clear.

"This, very likely, is not the only such case."

Uesugi Muneyuki's evaluation caused his grandfather, father, and older brother to all suck in a breath of cold air.

"What did you say?!?"

"I am saying……this very likely is not the only case committed by the killer!" Uesugi Muneyuki narrowed his eyes.

Kansai……Kansai? Kansai!!!

Earlier I said let Osaka burn, but now I haven't even lit the fire yet—how did Osaka catch fire on its own?

Could it be……Uesugi Muneyuki thought for a moment, took out his mobile phone.

Senior Student, help me!