Chapter 97: The Culprit Finally Appears

The Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters building looks like a nearly cubic pillar; aside from the satellite antenna tower on the roof, the dim sky can be seen through the transparent glass windows.

It is already mid-November, and the cold wind is howling. Under the azure-colored dark clouds, tiny raindrops sprinkle onto the glass windows of the Second Conference Room, and likewise onto the frontline members of the Special Investigation Headquarters present.

The local headquarters' conference room is not as grand as the one in Tokyo; the room is filled with a cold-toned, minimalist office aesthetic. Simple white plywood tables are arranged in several rows, making these big shots from the Metropolitan Police Department sit huddled together like a group of elementary school students.

Hearing that Uesugi Muneyuki agreed to seek help from Public Security, the several Police Inspectors from the Criminal Investigation Division had looks of anger on their faces.

As mentioned before, the conflict between the Criminal Police faction and the Public Security faction has existed for a long time. The Criminal Police faction deeply loathes the Public Security faction; the different results caused by their different logical approaches to work, along with the huge differences in their styles of conduct and the scope of their authority, mean that neither side can understand the other.

Here is a small example.

In the famous 1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas incident, in fact, when this cult was preparing to stir up trouble, the Public Security Police already knew through various channels that Aum Shinrikyo was planning to do something evil. If it were the Criminal Police, they would have already mobilized everyone, assigned personnel, and prepared to round them all up in one fell swoop.

However, the approach of the Public Security Police was to send a piece of advice to their superiors at the National Police Agency regarding the danger of Aum Shinrikyo, and then... they did nothing at all. They just watched as this massive terrorist attack occurred; they would rather do nothing than risk "infringing upon freedom of belief" by acting in advance.

Is this kind of approach detestable? Do you feel that this group of Public Security Police is truly wicked?

Yes, but not entirely.

The Public Security Police naturally have their own considerations—because at the time, Aum Shinrikyo was not considered a cult (it had even developed tens of thousands of followers in Russia). Therefore, the Public Security Police knew full well that if they had mobilized in advance and utilized their privileges, which are far greater than those of the Criminal Police, they could have completely prevented Aum Shinrikyo's terrorist attack. However, doing so would not fundamentally solve the problem. If they stopped it before the terrorist attack occurred, the other side could easily use "Justice Cutter," or deny it entirely, and Public Security would still have to bear the trouble of "obstructing freedom of belief."

If you stop it this time, there will be a next time; if you stop it the next time, there will be a time after that.

Then it is better to let this problem erupt completely once, so that it can be thoroughly resolved.

It is precisely because the sarin gas incident had such a massive impact and so many people died that the Public Security Police got their wish—after paying the price of 13 lives and 6,000 people poisoned, Aum Shinrikyo was finally officially defined as a cult and was subsequently completely wiped out.

This way of doing things naturally runs counter to the Criminal Police, and both sides look down on each other. Especially Terao Masaharu, the Criminal Investigation Division 1 Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, and Yamada Masaharu, the Investigation Division 1 Director, who were in charge of the sarin gas case at the time; after learning about this later, they cursed at Public Security, asking why they didn't tell them when they had obtained intelligence about a possible attack earlier. If they had notified them in advance, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened!

Public Security's attitude was: mind your own investigation; since when can the Criminal Police question the affairs of Public Security?

It's just a few people dead; we in Public Security have Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido in our hearts. We are the ones truly considering the long-term peace and stability of the country's future.

This Chiba Prefecture serial murder case made the Public Security Police lose face significantly, and the Criminal Police faction was as happy as if it were New Year's. But at this critical juncture, just as the Criminal Police suddenly discovered they were very close to the culprit, the Public Security Police jumped out again.

They are here to steal the credit and pick the peaches!

The Criminal Police present were all so angry their teeth itched, especially after Uesugi Muneyuki agreed to let Public Security intervene in the investigation.

Kosaka Shinichiro, the First Division Chief of Investigation Division 1, 40 years old, Police Inspector, Non-Career Track, is a standout among the Non-Career Track officers in the Metropolitan Police Department. Like everyone else, he also felt they were very close to solving the case. Seeing that Uesugi Muneyuki had actually agreed to Public Security's intervention, he, with his fiery temper, leaned directly in front of Uesugi Muneyuki: "Why? Advisor Uesugi!"

"What 'why'." Uesugi Muneyuki closed his eyes coldly.

"This is the moment of glory for us in the Criminal Investigation Department; why let Public Security participate?" Kosaka's small eyes reflected the image of Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Because we lack evidence and leads to continue the investigation." Uesugi Muneyuki tilted his head: "Criminal Police faction or Public Security faction, your opposition has nothing to do with me. I came to Chiba Prefecture to find the culprit, to solve the case."

"Time is slipping away every minute and every second. Police Inspector Kosaka, and everyone present, I ask you a question: if we don't request help from Public Security, how are we to continue our investigative activities without decisive evidence and while being rejected by the school?" Uesugi Muneyuki opened his eyes: "Evidence obtained through illegal investigation cannot be used as evidence in court, especially when the other party is a minor."

"Things have reached this point; there is a 99% chance we are not wrong!" Police Inspector Kosaka thought for a moment, then suddenly found Police Inspector Okada: "You must have a way, right? You..."

"I know what you want to do, Kosaka!" Okada Masayoshi coldly shook off Kosaka Shinichiro's hand: "I will not call my father!"

"Tsk, are we just going to let the Public Security people do whatever they want?" Seeing that this wouldn't work and that wouldn't work, Police Inspector Kosaka of the First Division couldn't help but be exasperated: "We are just a little bit away from finding the real culprit!"

"Calm down, Kosaka." Megure stopped Kosaka: "Isn't it pretty good as it is now? We rest here, and Public Security runs errands for us. Isn't this also a kind of victory?"

Megure's words made everyone in the conference room laugh.

Thinking that the Public Security people are busy running around while we Criminal Police are sitting in the office acting like big shots, the long-awaited victory made the Criminal Police present unable to help but hum lightly.

The atmosphere in the conference room improved a lot.

"That's true, Management Officer Megure." Police Inspector Kosaka took the coffee from Megure with a huff: "In the future, it will be Division Chief Megure."

Police Inspector Megure will be promoted to Superintendent Management Officer next year due to his merit in the Fuji TV Case, which made Police Inspector Kosaka very unhappy. His ultimate goal as a police officer is to be the Investigation Division 1 Chief, and now Megure has beaten him to it.

The Non-Career Track relies on that chair of the Division Chief.

Waiting for the results from Public Security, everyone had nothing to do for the moment and formed small circles to rest.

The conference room was clearly divided; the Career Track played with the Career Track, and the Non-Career Track played with the Non-Career Track. An invisible, thick barrier separated the two sides.

Because Police Inspector Okada was considered an external member of Investigation Division 1, he held a few photos of animal dismemberment and looked at them with Uesugi Muneyuki: "Advisor Uesugi, any discoveries?"

"I am a Forensic Pathologist, not a veterinarian." Uesugi Muneyuki examined them for a while, then nodded: "Indeed, judging by the knife marks and the wounds, we are very close to the real culprit."

Uesugi Muneyuki's firm attitude gave the police officers present great confidence.

"Speaking of which, Chiba Prefecture is indeed incompetent." Police Inspector Shiratori Sho of the Second Division also intentionally tried to get close to Uesugi Muneyuki: "Does Advisor Uesugi know about the theft incident at the Chiba Prefecture Headquarters a few days ago?"

"The Police Headquarters was also robbed?" Sure enough, Uesugi Muneyuki became interested.

Police Inspector Shiratori Sho talked about a recent amusing incident in the police world, saying that a thief had passed through a gap in the wire fence to enter the police station and stole about 1 million yen in cash from a vehicle that had been impounded as evidence due to a traffic accident.

The Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters didn't notice for more than twenty days after the incident, until the car owner retrieved the car, found the money inside missing, and demanded an explanation from the police. The Chiba Prefectural Police naturally didn't admit it, and the two sides argued for a long time until they watched the surveillance footage and realized it had been stolen.

The thief is still at large. To put it bluntly, because it wasn't the police headquarters' own money that was stolen, the Chiba police didn't search seriously at all and just brushed it off.

The Career Track members of the Metropolitan Police Department might not be great at detective work, but they are very clear about the little tricks these bureaucrats play.

"If we hadn't intervened, and you gave them another three months, they still wouldn't have found anything." Police Inspector Shiratori held his coffee and said with full contempt: "Even so, they refused to ask the Metropolitan Police Department for help. This time, they must understand the strength of our Investigation Division 1, right?"

Uesugi Muneyuki smiled and nodded upon hearing this.

It must be said that there are indeed true elites within the Metropolitan Police Department. After Uesugi Muneyuki provided sufficient investigative direction, the efficiency and ability of these elites from the Metropolitan Police Department present were still very good.

What Japanese police are best at is checking relationship networks and tracing the origin of evidence.

Arriving in Chiba Prefecture in the morning, Uesugi Muneyuki stayed until the evening. By about six or seven o'clock in the evening, there was finally news from Public Security.

Superintendent Ichijo, travel-worn, pushed open the door and threw a document he was holding onto the table.

"With this, it should be enough, right?"

The suit brigade immediately gathered around.

Uesugi Muneyuki also stood up immediately.

On the table lay a document from inside Inage Junior High School in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture.

The restroom animal dismemberment case!

The data showed that this incident occurred more than a month before the first case, the Doi Junpei murder case. Someone had placed many stray cat carcasses in the school restroom and also left headless pigeons; the scene was extremely bloody.

Students immediately called the police, but the school refused to let the police enter to investigate. Because it was just animal dismemberment and involved the school and minors, the case was ultimately not filed and was handled perfunctorily.

"According to our investigation, the school side had already determined who did it that very day." Superintendent Ichijo took a few photos from his pocket with some pride: "It is this student currently enrolled named Saijo Yasue."

"Saijo Yasue, 15 years old, a first-year female student in Class C at Inage Junior High School, has a record of intimidating teachers and classmates, and once underwent psychological counseling for certain reasons."

"The incident of placing animal carcasses in the school restroom was indeed her doing, but considering the impact, the school administration suppressed the matter."

How on earth did these people from Public Security get their hands on the school's internal records?

Police Inspector Kosaka reached out to take the photo, but Superintendent Ichijo suddenly pulled his hand back, looked at this Section Chief of the First Investigation Division with a rather arrogant attitude, and only then slowly placed the photo in front of Uesugi Muneyuki: "Can you confirm, Advisor Uesugi? Is this the person you are looking for?"

Uesugi Muneyuki took the photo and immediately compared it with the surveillance footage brought by the people from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Short hair, relatively sturdy build, height roughly the same.

That's it!

The high school girl with the strange behavior in the surveillance footage is her!

Got it!

(End of this chapter)