Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 213, The Perplexing Disappearance Case

The bizarre disappearance case reminded Uesugi Muneyuki of the previous case of the disappearance of a female student from Tokyo Women's University.

More than four weeks have passed since the incident, and the perpetrator has neither been found alive nor dead. It is one of the very few cases that the Metropolitan Police Department is currently unable to solve.

Since Uesugi Muneyuki officially joined the Metropolitan Police Department, the case-solving rate of the First Investigation Division has increased to over 80%. The entire Tokyo Metropolitan Government is applauding the Metropolitan Police Department's efforts. As for the case of the missing Tokyo Women's University student, the public expressed understanding for the Metropolitan Police Department's failure to solve it, because even the Special Missions Division is powerless without a body. Uesugi Muneyuki is a forensic doctor; he is not some kind of subspace Four Holy Grails wish-granting machine.

However, this disappearance case alerted Uesugi Muneyuki, and he continued to ask, "Could you tell me more about it? Father, Uncle Mori, Mr. Uchimura, I'm reminded of that previous disappearance case."

"You mean the one at Tokyo Women's University?" Department Head Uchimura remembered.

The three high-ranking Japanese police officers exchanged glances, thinking that since they were on the same side, they might as well be frank.

“Aiko is the daughter of Masataka Igarashi, the former Chief of the Second Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department.” Eiji Watanabe thought for a moment and said, “Chief Igarashi is ten years older than me, and Aiko is 38 years old this year… I think she is still unmarried?”

"No, she's divorced." General Mori nodded. "She graduated from Meiji University and joined Mitsui Properties at the age of 22. She had a smooth career from then on, becoming a section chief at 25, a division chief at 28, a vice-commander at 32, and a department head at 35. She was devoted to her career. She was married, but divorced soon after and has no children."

"Divorced? Wasn't she unmarried?" Watanabe Eiji was taken aback. "I always remembered her as unmarried."

"Wait!" Uesugi Muneyuki interrupted the three elders' gossip: "That's not what I'm asking about!"

"Oh, oh, oh, I've gone off on a tangent. Anyway, Zongxue, do you know why Aiko was chosen as the project manager for the Yokohama International Logistics Center?" Watanabe Eiji asked with a slight smile.

"That's what I'm concerned about. Why are you all so agitated over something as simple as a disappearance?" Uesugi Muneyuki was genuinely interested: "You even brought up Shimata."

"It's actually very simple. Let me put it simply. Former Section Chief Igarashi retired in his fifties, not yet sixty, and then became a director of Mitsui Properties." Department Head Mori said simply, "Around the same time, Igarashi Aiko joined Mitsui Properties. Do you understand?"

Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly realized.

Another revolving door?
“Yes, that’s why we felt things were going badly, and why this position had to be held by Aiko. It’s because only the resources behind Aiko’s father can connect all the relationships in the project, including the government, local governments, banks, and many construction companies and suppliers.” Chief of Criminal Investigation, Kanji Uchimura, also said with a wry smile, “Only the former head of the Second Investigation Division has such power, but now that Aiko has disappeared… this project is going to be in big trouble.”

"Doesn't the Mitsui Sumitomo Group have enough resources?" Minami Watanabe asked with interest.

"Mitsui Sumitomo also owes so many resources to the connections and influence of Section Chief Igarashi," Chief Mori Takayoshi said with a wry smile. "Otherwise, why would these large corporations, companies, and various industry associations like to invite high-ranking police officers like us to take up positions after the new year? It's because we, as members of powerful departments, have connections and influence."

"Furthermore, Aiko's personality is rather... how should I put it? She is indeed very capable and works very hard, but the reason she was able to rise so quickly within the Mitsui Sumitomo Group is mainly because she has a father who is a director and has extensive connections throughout the Kanto region, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. He is a former section chief."

Minister Uchimura casually remarked, "But Aiko has always believed that her current position, which she achieved by becoming a minister at the age of 35, is the result of countless hours of hard work and effort. Therefore, she places great importance on her work. Perhaps for this reason, her first marriage ended abruptly, and she has no children."

"A career woman, huh?" Uesugi Muneyuki stroked his chin, and for some reason, he suddenly turned to look at Minami, the young lady beside him.

Miss Minami immediately understood and, somewhat angrily, waved her little fist at Uesugi Muneyuki.

Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? Kora!

The three high-ranking police officers couldn't help but laugh when they saw this.

Watanabe Eiji suddenly felt a little fortunate that he had let his daughter act as the head of the 13th Division for a period of time before Uesugi Muneyuki officially joined the company. Minami initially thought that it was just about solving cases, and that Uesugi could do it but she couldn't.
As a result, Minami suffered a huge setback in this matter, and only then did she realize that she was really not good at solving cases.

However, Aiko Igarashi was unaware of this.

At the same time, Uesugi Muneyuki also thought about this issue. In Japan, if a young woman holds a high-ranking position in a large corporation or government agency and wields great power, there are generally only three possibilities: either her father is very powerful, her husband is very powerful, or her father-in-law is very powerful.

Besides these three situations, there is another hidden situation: her son is very powerful, but generally speaking, a powerful son only has a high status and rarely helps her to hold real power.

Of course, Uesugi Muneyuki was referring to Japan, and has nothing to do with other countries. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

After chatting for a while, other news was immediately broadcast on TV. Uesugi Muneyuki saw a familiar face – Mai-senpai was filming a promotional advertisement for Mitsui Property, where the national goddess was doing a hand gesture dance, her beauty captivating and ethereal.

“MI~TSU~I~Group~”

Then came another advertisement for the large female idol group YKC48. Uesugi Muneyuki saw a familiar face again: Miyawaki Sakura, whom he had met on Fuji TV, was promoting a banana milk with her innocent-looking face.

Before he could react, Minister Uchimura retorted, "Isn't this that Kagoshima Sakura thing?"

"??? Uchimura, are you planning to tell us that you're still a fan of celebrities at your age?" Watanabe Eiji and Mori Takayoshi were stunned.

"No, no, no, I just..." Minister Uchimura said awkwardly, "My son really likes her. Our house is full of her merchandise, posters, light sticks, handshake coupons, and so on. I've told him this many times."

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha~" Laughter echoed from the VIP lounge of the racecourse.

“I do know Miyawaki Sakura. Do you need me to get your son’s autograph?” Uesugi Muneyuki asked casually.

“Well… if possible…” Minister Uchimura was embarrassed, but it was clear that he really loved his son.

"Hahahaha~" Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly realized that gatherings with these older generations weren't always so boring.

But the prerequisite is that you yourself must be strong enough.

........................

On the same day, at the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters, the Forensic Science Division.

Forensic investigators at the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters are preparing to classify the evidence collected at the scene of the disappearance yesterday.

The Kanagawa police never took this case seriously. If the other party wasn't a senior executive or department head at Mitsui Properties, a subsidiary of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group, the Kanagawa police wouldn't have bothered to investigate at all.

No one expected it to be a missing person case beforehand. In fact, when the police arrived, the scene had been completely messed up by a large group of Sumitomo Mitsui Group employees, with fingerprints, shoe prints, and hair everywhere.

He was stunned when the forensic officers took out the evidence bag.

Oops!

During the on-site search, the police did not use an evidence numbering labeler! Instead, they used ordinary markers to write the labels by hand.

As a result, with the weather so hot now, by the time the forensic department received the evidence bag the next day, the serial number on it had been completely smeared off with the oil-based pen.

How the hell am I supposed to determine the order of events, how am I supposed to tell which one is which?

When the Kanagawa forensic science staff saw this, they broke out in a cold sweat.

Oh no, I didn't ask any questions during the handover. What am I going to do now? If something goes wrong, I'll definitely be the one to take responsibility!
None of my business!

The forensic officer thought for a moment, then shook his head indignantly.

Yeah, what's it to me!
So he stopped distinguishing between order and renumbered all the hair samples, and assigned a number to any physical evidence that matched, and gave any other samples a random number.

In this way, all the physical evidence collected at the scene was renumbered, as for which one was which and whether they could be matched.

None of my business!

Just as the forensic department was dumbfounded, the Kanagawa Police Headquarters was also holding a special investigation meeting.

At the special investigation meeting, Chief Takakura and others from the Kanagawa Police Headquarters listened to the investigation by Inspector Yamanaka, who was in charge of the case, while more than thirty police officers sat below.

"The missing person is Aiko Igarashi, a 38-year-old female, who is the project manager of Mitsui Properties, a subsidiary of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group. She is in charge of the planning of the New Yokohama International Logistics Distribution Center project in the Yokohama Port Revitalization Plan."

"Aiko Igarashi's father is Masataka Igarashi, the former head of the Second Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department."

"According to the description from the Sumitomo Mitsui Group, on the morning of September 7, during the group's internal golf team building event, the missing person failed to arrive for a long time. After discussing with her superiors and colleagues, they decided to go to her home in person to inquire about the reason for her unexcused absence."

"The missing person's apartment was a typical detached house with very few surveillance cameras nearby. The items inside were neatly arranged, and there were no signs of forced entry. However, the window on the second-floor balcony was broken, which suggests that there may have been an accident. Judging from the glass shards and broken marks on the ground, it should have been broken from the inside."

"Therefore, based on the golf bag found at the entrance and the call records, the missing person likely experienced the incident between after get off work on September 6th and before the team building event on September 7th."

"The missing person's briefcase is missing. According to her colleagues, the briefcase contained key documents for the port revitalization plan, tens of thousands of yen in cash, some of her jewelry and makeup bag, and her two cell phones."

Inspector Yamanaka displayed the known evidence on the blackboard: "Since the Mitsui Sumitomo Group and others entered the house first, there are a large number of footprints, hair and shoe prints inside the house, making the identification work very difficult."

"But we have obtained a crucial piece of evidence!"

Inspector Yamanaka proudly displayed: "In the toilet, we found what appears to be human tissue and bloodstains left by the perpetrator!"

"Based on the above speculation, we can conclude that this was a crime committed by someone known to the victim! Moreover, it is very likely that it involves business competition and personal revenge. The perpetrator should be familiar with the missing person, which would enable the missing person to open the door voluntarily."

"Therefore, as long as we can identify who did it based on the bloodstains and the missing person's network of relationships."

"Very good. Based on this, thoroughly investigate the missing person's interpersonal relationships, conduct DNA testing on their blood, and interview each neighboring street!" Kanagawa Prefecture Chief Takakura stood up: "Gentlemen, this case involves the entire Yokohama City revitalization plan, and the future strategy of all my citizens and even the entire prefecture. Please be extremely vigilant and solve this case in the shortest possible time! That's all!"

"Hi!!!"

The entire police force in Kanagawa Prefecture was full of confidence.

With so much physical evidence, including blood DNA, and no signs of intrusion, this is a sure thing!

This time, it's our Kanagawa Prefectural Grand Prix's turn to shine!

(End of this chapter)