Chapter 95: The Ghostly Uesugi!

The fourth day since the establishment of the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters, at nightfall on Thursday.

Here at the headquarters, the team of several hundred people gathered had made several key discoveries while repeatedly watching the surveillance footage.

They immediately reported to their superiors.

"Members of the Headquarters, Police Inspector Watanabe, and Advisor Uesugi, please look here."

Inside the conference room, a female officer from the General Affairs Section of the Kasai Precinct, wearing a pair of brand-new high-heeled shoes and light makeup, proudly puffed out her chest as she recounted the harvest from organizing the surveillance footage over the past few days.

For female officers in the General Affairs Section like her—who were not on the career track, not in field operations, not in departments with real power, and not well-connected—work was secondary; what mattered was hooking a wealthy man within the police force. The income of Japanese police was generally quite good, and after marrying, whether one just coasted in an office job or resigned to become a housewife, it was a good choice.

With such a major incident occurring this time, a large group of elites from the Metropolitan Police Department had come; if she could hook a career-track officer wearing a gold watch, her life would be set. Even if she couldn't hook a career-track officer, a potential stock among the non-career-track officers from the Metropolitan Police Department still had better promotion prospects than those at local precincts.

The large screen displayed several segments of footage.

Uesugi Muneyuki sat beside Miss Minami, watching the projected large screen with rapt attention; however, he felt somewhat disappointed the moment he saw the surveillance footage.

It was a bit blurry.

Couldn't the Japanese use better surveillance cameras?

But this complaint was soon left behind as the edited footage played.

"Everyone, please pay attention here."

The female officer from the General Affairs Section pointed to a female dressed as a student on the screen and said loudly: "It's her!"

The surveillance image was not very clear, but one could vaguely make out that this was a female with hair cut to the ears, wearing a winter high school girl's uniform; it was hard to determine if she was a minor.

"According to our organization, we discovered that from five days before the case to two days after, she appeared in the surveillance footage near Sendai Horikawa Park a total of sixteen times! And there were multiple instances of her observing the surveillance cameras," said the female officer from the General Affairs Section.

"Next, the surveillance near the second case."

The large screen image changed to the surveillance near the weather station where the Chiba Prefecture Case occurred.

The image was even blurrier, but one could still barely recognize that this was the same person captured in the surveillance footage at Sendai Horikawa Park earlier.

A short-haired high school girl.

"In the time period from before the case to after the case, she appeared in the surveillance footage over three months a total of nineteen times," the female officer from the General Affairs Section continued: "The area near the weather station is desolate; this frequency is unusually high!"

"Moreover, according to our field investigation, following the roads and the pace of an average adult female, walking a round trip around Sendai Horikawa Park takes about forty-five minutes. If moving at a normal speed, the travel time between the two surveillance points should be between eight and fifteen minutes."

Police Inspector Megure in the audience was the first to make a discovery: "But looking at the time in the surveillance, she lingered for about 25 minutes between the two surveillance points."

"Yes," the female officer from the General Affairs Section nodded: "And these awkward intervals appeared many times."

"If it's a Theater-type Crime... is she staking out the place?" Department Manager Mouri's eyes lit up slightly: "It's a rehearsal! She is rehearsing, she is selecting targets! She is scouting crime scenes!"

"The second case, the third case—she appeared repeatedly in the surveillance footage before and after both of these crime scenes!" Police Inspector Megure of the Thirteenth Section also said excitedly: "Although this cannot serve as decisive evidence, perhaps we can start with this schoolgirl!"

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

Inside the large conference room, more than forty police inspectors and assistant police inspectors looked at Uesugi Muneyuki with incredulous eyes.

Before, everyone thought this guy was a lunatic!

Now, everyone realized that this person was simply a genius!

However, Uesugi Muneyuki remained calm throughout; he stared fixedly at the girl in the high school uniform on the surveillance screen, his eyes devoid of the slightest joy.

This was not decisive evidence; at most, it could only prove that she might be related to this case.

More important evidence was still needed.

And where exactly did this person learn such experience in killing and disposing of bodies, as well as counter-reconnaissance?

But regardless, after shifting their thinking and changing the direction of the investigation, the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters had finally found some clues!

It hadn't been easy!

And on Friday, the core members of the Metropolitan Police Department who had gone to Chiba Prefecture to investigate also sent back good news.

After changing their investigative approach, the core members of the Metropolitan Police Department began to investigate strange incidents in Chiba Prefecture within the last year, and sure enough, they made discoveries.

Over the past year, animal mutilation cases had appeared from time to time in Chiba City; someone had once discovered dismembered frogs on the roadside, which then gradually developed into pigeons with their heads cut off and chickens with their abdomens sliced open.

Later, the animal mutilation cases progressed to stray cats; multiple incidents of stray cats being dismembered occurred in Chiba City. Someone had once called the police, but the thick conservative atmosphere of Japan determined that animal rights activists could not occupy the mainstream voice, and the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters didn't take it to heart, even going so far as to deceive the reporter by saying "We will pay attention" without even giving a receipt; naturally, no case was filed.

These trivial matters were just brushed aside.

It wasn't until the core members of the Metropolitan Police Department went to the countryside to press them that the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters, intimidated by the huge public opinion and the pressure to solve the case, was forced to inform the Metropolitan Police Department that such things had happened.

This instantly caught the attention of the core members of the Metropolitan Police Department; Police Inspector Kashiwagi Jin of the Third Subsection and Police Inspector Shiratori Sho of the Second Division immediately relayed this news back to the headquarters.

Compared to the aimless searching before, after Uesugi Muneyuki provided a clear investigative direction, the elites of the Metropolitan Police Department were finally able to fully exert their strength.

They quickly constructed a possible activity range for the suspect based on the locations of many animal mutilation incidents, divided the areas where the suspect might live, and finally found the school where the largest-scale animal mutilation case had occurred.

Chiba Municipal Inage Junior High School.

A strange incident had occurred here two months ago; someone had placed many stray cat carcasses in the school toilets and also left headless pigeons.

However, out of consideration for the school's image and the school's face, although students reported it at the time, the school refused to let the police intervene, handled the matter internally, and demanded that it not be publicized.

Upon hearing this, the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters immediately demanded that the front line quietly collect the style of the high school female uniforms of Chiba Municipal Inage Junior High School and then compare them with the female captured in the surveillance.

The styles matched.

With this, the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters, established on Monday, finally achieved a crucial major breakthrough by Friday!

All the police officers present were excited because of this.

Although there was still no direct evidence to prove that this girl was the killer, and although the existing series of inferences could not yet directly conclude that the perpetrator of the serial murder case came from this school, this important clue in front of them proved that the two weeks the Public Security had spent investigating were all a waste of effort!

And they, the criminal investigators, had only spent one day finding new leads and verifying that their own conjectures were well-founded.

As the investigation reached this point, when everyone looked again at Uesugi Muneyuki, who was sitting calmly beside the Metropolitan Police Department's special communication representative Watanabe Minami and the Metropolitan Police Department's Criminal Investigation Department Chief and Joint Special Investigation Headquarters Chief Mouri Takayoshi, they could no longer describe it as just being surprised.

It was truly outrageous!

Baby, Superintendent General Watanabe really picked up a ghost!

Are the new forensic pathologists from Tokyo all monsters?

How on earth did he think that the culprit might be a schoolgirl?

If they were in his shoes, even the most experienced old police officers who had the most contact with frontline investigations would swear that even if they racked their brains, they could never imagine that a serial killer with rich experience in disposing of bodies + strong counter-reconnaissance awareness + excellent killing techniques would actually be a minor female!

Yet Uesugi Muneyuki just happened to figure it out!

And yet, by following the line of reasoning provided by Uesugi Muneyuki, they actually found clues!

A genius Uesugi—no, he is simply the Ghost of Uesugi!

After confirming that the school uniform worn by the girl in the surveillance footage matched the style of Inage Junior High School, one Police Superintendent (Department Manager Mouri), five Police Superintendents (Investigation Division 1 Division Chief Mikasa, two local precinct chiefs, a Criminal Investigation Department Counselor, and a Public Security Department Counselor), over a dozen Police Superintendents, and more than thirty Police Inspectors all stared at Uesugi Muneyuki.

Some were suspicious and uncertain, some were fascinated, some were dumbfounded, and some had burning cheeks.

When Uesugi Muneyuki said earlier in the meeting that the culprit might be a female student, all the high-ranking officials present felt, to varying degrees, that he had water in his brain.

No wonder Superintendent General Watanabe wanted to send his own daughter to Uesugi Muneyuki's side.

Is he even human?

Perhaps he is, but in the eyes of these people right now, Uesugi Muneyuki is simply a walking KPI-slaughtering weapon!

And upon seeing Uesugi Muneyuki's seemingly bizarre yet logical conjecture hit the bullseye, the sweet black eyes of Miss Minami beside him gradually became chaotic, a little flustered, and a little sweet.

She didn't know why either, even though she had already spent quite a lot of time with Uesugi Muneyuki.

But this time, truly witnessing his on-site autopsy and deduction, truly tasting the sweetness of supporting him, and seeing him turn the impossible into the possible, her heart still trembled uncontrollably, like honey and like fire, making one unable to extricate oneself.

Damn it, it was clearly me who was supposed to control him, so how did this guy manage to move me?

Miss Minami angrily pinched her own thigh to make herself sober up.

"In that case, we should initiate an investigation into the municipal Inage Junior High School in Chiba Prefecture and demand that the school produce a student list for matching," Miss Minami took the initiative to speak, trying to calm herself down.

She didn't quite dare to look at Uesugi Muneyuki; her two hands subconsciously gripped the hem of her police uniform skirt, her pair of 80d thick black-stockinged legs under the skirt twisted together, enduring the intense throbbing coming from her body.

When this guy is deducing seriously, he really is a bit handsome!

Miss Minami only felt her whole body wrapped in an inexplicable emotion; this inexplicable emotion made her nervous, made her suffocated, and yet made her excited and joyful.

Moreover, the pine scent on him was really so fragrant, intoxicating Miss Minami, who had seen the big world, and making her mind a bit messy...

Oh no, my pantyhose seem to be wet.

"The middle school over there rejected our request because it would cause unnecessary panic and cause damage to the school's reputation." Department Manager Mouri's words finally diverted Miss Minami's attention. After the brief excitement, Department Manager Mouri regained his reason: "The current evidence is clearly still insufficient."

"It's more than just insufficient; we assumed the culprit first and then looked for evidence. Without the assumption of a culprit, this evidence wouldn't even convince a stray dog on the side of the road," Uesugi Muneyuki took the initiative to speak. He sneered a few times and then stood up: "Department Manager Mouri, and everyone else."

"I want to go to Chiba Prefecture myself to find more concrete evidence!"

"You want to go yourself?" The high-ranking police officials present clearly had no intention of going themselves. Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki propose to go to Chiba personally, everyone thought it was just right; this was originally the job they had invited Uesugi Muneyuki to do.

So Department Manager Mouri took the initiative to speak: "If you wish, Uesugi-kun, we naturally have no reason to object. You are the Field Consultant for the Metropolitan Police Department anyway. Tell us, what help do you need? The headquarters will fully support you."

"I need Megure and Okada," Uesugi Muneyuki said without hesitation.

"Huh?" The crowd was stunned.

"I need Megure from the Thirteenth Section and Superintendent General's personal driver, Okada Keibu, to assist me," Uesugi Muneyuki repeated when he saw that the crowd didn't react: "Is that possible?"

This "Is that possible?" instantly pulled Miss Minami, who was beside him, back to reality.

He actually didn't name me?

Although this young lady certainly wouldn't go to Chiba with him, this guy actually didn't name me?

Uesugi! You guy, give my touched feelings back to this young lady! Kora!

You really are still in need of discipline!!!

(End of this chapter)