Chapter 907

The Special Mission Division's convoy departed from Tokyo in the afternoon.

Heading to Kobe were Uesugi Muneyuki, Watanabe Minami, Okada Masayoshi, Nango Yui, Ikeda Erena, Kai Toru, Igarashi Hayato, Date Nagamune, and Maeda Toshihide—nine people in total.

Yamada Nanase and others did not come, nor did the Prosecutor's Liaison System or the Public Security Division; as for Mikoto, she herself was pregnant and it was inconvenient for long-distance travel, so Uesugi Muneyuki had her stay in Tokyo.

The vehicle entered the Shuto Expressway and headed west all the way.

Behind them, Tokyo's sky grew ever more distant; ahead, the cloud layer thickened, and a leaden sky pressed down on the mountain ridges, like an unfolded quilt.

Unusually, Uesugi Muneyuki did not let Ikeda Erena drive; here, Okada Masayoshi was driving, Nango Yui sat in the front passenger seat, and Uesugi Muneyuki and Minami sat in the back; the four of them, as current senior members of the Special Mission Division, needed to discuss the case and what to do next.

Several people said nothing, merely gazing at the announcement of Hyogo Prefecture's successful apprehension.

Nango Yui turned from the front seat, her arm resting on the back of the front passenger seat: "Uesugi-san, there's something I need to say. The interrogation methods in Kansai differ from those in Kantou; Kansai people in this regard……culturally, all kinds of differences. Ikeda Bucho, that person, is a leading figure of the Kansai faction; his style is 'first catch the person, then look for evidence.' Now all of Kansai's eyes are on him—Kobe City Council, the Business Federation, the Orix Group—all pressuring him. The media daily asks, 'Where are the four children?' Ikeda Bucho can't wait. Hyogo Prefectural Police can't wait. Kobe City can't wait."

"I know!" Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but say: "That's why I told Souda you need to hold out!"

Okada Masayoshi's fingers lightly tapped the steering wheel once. "You mean they'll torture for a confession?"

"Nowadays, who would do something like beating someone?" Nango Yui neither nodded nor shook her head: "But prolonged, high-intensity interrogation that doesn't let you sleep. Continuous questioning for dozens of hours, not letting you close your eyes, not letting you drink water, not letting you use the toilet. When you're tired and doze off, they shake you awake the moment you nod off."

"You say 'I want a lawyer,' and they say 'The lawyer is on the way.' You say 'I want to see my family,' and they say 'Your family is coming right away.' The lawyer is always on the way, the family always just arriving. When you can't hold out, you confess. What you say doesn't matter; what matters is that you said it. If you say 'I killed the person,' they can close the case. Souda Sosuke is a professional athlete, his physical condition better than ordinary people's, but mental pressure has nothing to do with physical strength. Going without sleep for dozens of hours, no one can endure it."

Uesugi Muneyuki looked out the window.

The sign above the expressway read "Nagoya," and Kobe was still far away.

"Moreover, he himself already had problems—he cheated, not only during marriage but even before marriage, and after cheating he didn't stop; he even told me that the boy among Wilda Reika's children is likely his son, while others are uncertain." Uesugi Muneyuki said with a cold smile: "That's why Hyogo Prefectural Police dare to act first and report later! They surely have even more evidence!"

"The situation is very unfavorable for us." Watanabe Minami, the Young Lady, crossed her arms after hearing this: "If Souda confesses to the crime before our Special Mission Division arrives in Kansai, then our going to Kansai would be meaningless. Hyogo Prefectural Police will say 'The suspect has already confessed, no need for you to interfere.' The Metropolitan Police Department and National Police Agency also can't say anything. The person was killed in Kobe, the case is handled by Hyogo Prefectural Police, and the suspect confessed himself. Procedurally, there's no flaw. By then, the Special Mission Division will become a laughingstock. Tokyo's elites, having done nothing yet, the case is already solved."

"Yes." Uesugi Muneyuki narrowed his eyes.

He suddenly felt that all this was too much of a coincidence.

It seemed as if someone had deliberately drawn him out, deliberately pulled him in.

After the incident came to light, Uesugi Muneyuki had no choice but to get involved, because this matter had already stirred up a situation akin to near civil war within the Japanese Police, and at this time Watanabe Eiji, as the newly appointed Commissioner of the National Police Agency, had to mediate, thus dispatching the Special Mission Division became his only option; and Uesugi Muneyuki, as someone suspected of being connected to Higashitani Miyabi, had no choice but to get involved and had to come personally to Kansai to investigate the case.

"I can roughly imagine that in Hyogo Prefecture, it's highly likely nothing worth investigating will be found on Wilda Reika's corpse." Uesugi Muneyuki said with a cold smile: "This part has reached a deadlock, so they're rushing to get a breakthrough from Souda Sosuke's person!"

Okada Masayoshi's hand tightened somewhat on the steering wheel. "Uesugi-san, do you think Souda Sosuke is the murderer?"

Uesugi Muneyuki looked out the window. Nagoya's streetscape receded slowly on both sides of the expressway, those buildings' outlines in the winter's thin mist like a faded ink painting.

"I don't know. I only know the current evidence is all circumstantial. Surveillance captured his visit, but visiting doesn't equal killing. Transfer records show he received money, but receiving money doesn't equal killing the person who gave him money. Surveillance captured a man of similar build to him carrying a box in and out, but 'similar' is not 'confirmed.' These pieces of evidence, taken together, can be assembled into a 'he is the murderer' story. They can also be assembled into another story." "What is the other story?" Minami asked.

"He went to borrow money. After borrowing, he left. Someone then killed Wilda Reika and the four children after he departed. That person might know his relationship with Wilda Reika, might know he would come to borrow money, might deliberately choose this time to commit the crime, directing all suspicion toward him." Minami's finger lightly pressed on his arm. "Do you have evidence?"

Uesugi Muneyuki looked out the window, silent.

"No. So we must get to Kobe as quickly as possible. Before Souda confesses, we must find that evidence."

The air in the vehicle stagnated for a moment.

Nango Yui's voice came again from the front seat, this time lower: "Uesugi-san, is there a possibility……that Hyogo Prefectural Police……might not let us easily access core evidence. They've given us autopsy rights, investigation rights, examination rights. But they can take the key things first, leave the non-essential for us. We can autopsy the corpse, but they can process the corpse first. We can investigate the scene, but they can clean the scene first. Procedurally, there's no problem, but operational flexibility is great. Kansai people's way of doing things won't leave a handle, but will leave a result." Okada Masayoshi changed lanes on the expressway, overtaking a slow-moving truck.

The engine's sound grew slightly louder during those few seconds of overtaking, then returned to normal.

Uesugi Muneyuki leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

"That's not the case."

"Not the case?" Nango Yui frowned.

"What Hyogo Prefectural Police want is to solve the case! Solve the case! Solve the case! Naturally, if they can get Souda to confess and announce closure, that's best; but if Muneyuki can solve the case and resolve the ensuing social problems and public sentiment, then this outcome isn't too bad either." Watanabe Minami, the Young Lady, crossed her arms, lifted one leg wrapped in flesh-toned thick stockings, and snorted with her small nose: "Although it's not as good as winning twice, being able to solve the problem counts as 'this is how it is.'" Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "Within the system, there is the system's operational logic; as long as problems can be solved, they don't mind losing face, so they won't deliberately interfere with us but will focus their efforts on Souda to find a breakthrough."

"Yes, this is also Kansai people—Kansai people are fiery and act radically, but they are not like Kantou people, who are sinister at heart." Okada Masayoshi laughed: "Just more shrewd."

"Ah, this kind of thing can't be generalized, but overall it's indeed true." Nango Yui nodded: "I miss my days in Kyoto, demonstrating and protesting all day with a group of people, scribbling and drawing messily in school."

"What were you drawing?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked curiously.

"I was drawing the repeated violent deaths of Subaru Natsuki." Nango Yui laughed: "486 should have died long ago!"

Several hours later, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture Police Headquarters Forensic Medicine Teaching Room.

Uesugi Muneyuki stood before the autopsy, facing Wilda Reika's corpse.

A white cloth covered from the ankles to the lower jaw, revealing only a grayish, bloodless face.

Her face was thinner than he imagined, cheekbones prominent, eye sockets sunken, lips tightly shut.

He stood there for a long time, then lifted the cloth.

The corpse had already been processed by Hyogo Prefectural Police's Forensic Identification Division.

The cut surfaces had been re-sutured, black sutures on the pale skin like a centipede.

The abdominal cavity had been opened, organs were missing, the suturing lines were uneven, and Uesugi Muneyuki's gaze swept over that suture line without saying anything.

He put on gloves, placed his hand at the edge of the autopsy table. The metal's cold traveled up from his fingertips.

However, the following scene caused Uesugi Muneyuki to hold his breath!

Qinghui Stone did not glow!

Qinghui Stone did not glow! Not only did it not glow, but it felt no trace of Wilda Reika's soul at all! Not like when the Tokugawa old lady refused Uesugi Muneyuki's call, wanting to keep the family gate impure, but rather, there was simply no soul!

How could this be?!?

Uesugi Muneyuki closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into that gray, soundless, lightless soul realm only he could enter. "Wilda Reika. Thirty-nine years old. Mother of four children, open your eyes, I am Uesugi Muneyuki!"

"You died before the New Year holiday began. You were killed by someone. Your body was cut in half down the middle. Your fingerprints were burned off. Your teeth were pulled out. You were stripped from identification, from social relations, from everything that could let people recognize who you are. Your four children's whereabouts are unknown."

"I need your help!"

No response.

He called again.

Still no response!

Uesugi Muneyuki leaned against the wall opposite the autopsy table, hands in his coat pockets.

His gaze fell on Wilda Reika's face, that face under the autopsy lights white and blinding.

No!

The ability that Uesugi Muneyuki was best at, relied on most, and that set him apart from all police, all forensic pathologists, and all investigators—the ability to converse with the dead—had failed!

He could not trigger the Death Soul Contract, nor initiate the Death Flashback!

What, what should we do?!

Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly felt sweat begin to form on his back, his abdomen clenched in sharp pain, and his eyes widened.

【Village Flower Palace, save me!】

Arimura Hana smiled faintly at Uesugi Muneyuki and appeared beside him.

【This woman's soul is not in her body. Not at the scene. Not anywhere I can sense. She has vanished. Not dissipated after death, but trapped by something, obscured by something, erased from this world by something.】

【Then what should we do?】Uesugi Muneyuki's voice lacked confidence for the first time: 【How am I supposed to solve this case? It's obvious her body has already been sent for examination once—if even professionals from Osaka University or Kyoto University couldn't find anything, how am I supposed to investigate?】

【You ask me?】Arimura Hana said with full malice: 【It's just a cockroach—are you going to get your shoe sole pierced through?】

After speaking, the Village Flower Palace vanished: 【Ah, I'm going to Osaka Universal Studios! I want to play《Halikapatu Lu and Azugul Khan's Prisoner》!】

Only Uesugi Muneyuki remained standing in place.

He stared at the face of Yamada Rinka during the autopsy.

This time, he would face disgrace and ruin!

Truly, disgrace and ruin—mouth sound!!!