Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 220, The National Hot Pot

There was silence.

Another body? Another case of someone being chopped up and thrown into Tokyo Bay?

Inspector Kashiwagi, who was at the scene, immediately reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.

The Sakurada Gate was immediately thrown into chaos. Sugishita Ukyo, the head of the First Investigation Division, finally couldn't hold back and took action himself. At the same time, the head of the Criminal Investigation Division, Uchimura, had no choice but to report the news to the Superintendent General.

"What?" Watanabe Eiji jumped up from his seat, his hand trembling so much that he dropped his pen. "A new body has been discovered?"

"Yes, besides Aiko Igarashi's body, the salvage ship also found other bodies at the location!" Chief Detective Uchimura said in a deep voice. "Tokyo Marine Holdings has currently cordoned off the surrounding area and plans to send more coast guard and salvage ships to investigate the scene."

"Was Uesugi there? What did he say?" Watanabe Eiji quickly recovered from his initial surprise.

"Uesugi-kun is currently examining the body at the scene. Although there is no evidence to prove it, his report is that he believes the newly discovered dismembered body in the water may be Hirasawa Yui, the missing female student from Tokyo Women's University," said Department Head Uchimura.

"What? What did the forensic department say?" Watanabe Eiji's pupils narrowed slightly.

"The forensic department is working overtime to conduct tests." Uchimura Kanji thought to himself, "I'm really unlucky," but could only force himself to say, "Also, former Second Section Chief Igarashi Masataka, who received the news, is on his way from Kanagawa Prefecture."

“Understood. Do as Uesugi-kun arranges.” Watanabe Eiji nodded. “Cancel the press conference. Inform Togasaki to announce that other bodies have been found in Tokyo Bay and are currently being searched. The press conference will be rescheduled for tomorrow.”

“Yes…but, Director.” Department Head Uchimura hesitated for a moment before saying, “But there are too many people at the scene, and there are reporters outside…it seems that TBS television has already used drones to capture aerial footage of the scene, and it’s gone viral online.”

"I see." Eiji Watanabe was pondering how to respond when the phone on his desk rang.

It was a call from Chief Cabinet Secretary Kimiaki Onoda.

Onoda Kimiaki's attitude was very mild, but his words were anything but. The Chief Cabinet Secretary asked Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji and his younger brother, National Police Agency Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki, to come to the Cabinet Office for a face-to-face report.

"I'm going to the Cabinet Office. Uchimura, I'll leave the frontline matters to you and Ukyo."

"Yes."

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

Sure enough, after all the TV stations received the Metropolitan Police Department's notice that the press conference was to be postponed, the stations, which had already learned about the salvage operation from other sources, couldn't resist making a big news story out of it.

First, NHK broadcast a news report in the afternoon: "New female body found in Tokyo Bay, unidentified, Metropolitan Police Department is conducting further investigation."

NHK reported the incident in a calm and objective tone, emphasizing the police's preliminary investigation results. The footage showed police tape at the crime scene, Coast Guard vessels, and forensic personnel at work. The narration mentioned that the body was discovered in the early morning, reported by an employee of Tokio Marine Holdings. The body had been cut into several pieces and was highly decomposed, suggesting the time of death was approximately one week prior. A reporter contacted Tomonobu Togasaki, head of the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Relations Division, who stated that they would "compare records with missing persons reports and expedite DNA testing," while also appealing to the public for information.

During the retrieval process, the Metropolitan Police Department discovered other bodies, the current condition of which is unknown.

NTV's intermission program, "Emergency Report: Mysterious Body Recovered in Tokyo Bay, Confirmed to be Missing Person in Yokohama Case; New Body Discovered During Recovery Process."

NTV's focus is on the rampant gangs in Yokohama, where murder, dismemberment, and dumping in Tokyo Bay are common practices among Japanese gangsters. However, NTV's perspective differs. They mention that in addition to Japanese gangs, Yokohama also has Chinese gangs that have existed since the 1980s and 90s, as well as Southeast Asian gangs that have recently begun to emerge due to Southeast Asian immigration. According to NTV's investigation, nearly half of the guns on the Japanese black market now come from Southeast Asia.

Why are Southeast Asians so mean?!

TBS television station's emergency live broadcast: "At the scene where the female body was found in Tokyo Bay, a new victim has emerged."

TBS television network stands out among the five major television networks. They used drones for aerial filming, bypassing police cordons to secretly capture footage of the scene, accompanied by suspenseful music. Reporters held maps marking the location of the body's discovery, speculating that it "may have drifted from other areas to the bay due to tidal influences." The program also invited a criminal psychology expert to analyze "why the victim's body was dumped in Tokyo Bay," and interspersed with simulated animations recreating the discovery process.
TV Asahi, however, focused on Aiko Igarashi's family.

They found Igarashi Aiko's family. As the eldest daughter, Igarashi Aiko has four younger brothers and sisters. Although her eldest sister had been missing for more than a week, anyone would know that the worst was likely to happen to her. However, since they had not yet seen her body, they still held a glimmer of hope. But now that the bad news has been confirmed, all six members of the family are devastated. Igarashi Aiko's mother cried so hard that she almost fainted, while her father, Igarashi Masataka, stood there in silence for a long time.

He didn't cry, but every audience member could feel his grief as a father.

Masataka Igarashi is in his sixties. He is a traditional Japanese father who is usually strict, solemn, and reserved and does not like to show his emotions.

His love was as deep as the night.

“I killed my beloved son,” the former head of the Second Investigation Division said into the microphone of an Asahi TV reporter.

Finally, there's Fuji Television.

Fuji TV went too far. They directly connected with Uesugi Muneyuki live on the phone, using sensational editing to show "the body being cut into pieces and placed in a black plastic bag before sinking to the bottom of the sea," repeatedly emphasizing the "body dumped in Tokyo Bay" to imply its impact, and interspersing comparisons with past unsolved cases. As soon as they successfully connected with Uesugi Muneyuki on the scene, Fuji TV's ratings immediately soared to number one among all TV stations! Fuji TV's presenter, Sakura Jyu, seized the opportunity to ask Uesugi Muneyuki for his judgment on the matter.

An anonymous forensic officer from the Special Missions Unit, Muneyuki Uesugi, stated that the two bodies were different. The first body was identified as Aiko Igarashi, and the body was cut using a sharp, professional cutting machine, resulting in clean cuts.

Although the cut surface of the second corpse was also quite smooth, there were obvious signs of a failed cut, and a section of the thigh bone was broken. Uesugi Muneyuki judged that the second corpse was cut with a sharp knife. Although the dismemberer's technique was also very professional, it was still inferior to using professional equipment.

"So, the forensic examiner's opinion is that the two bodies may not have been the work of the same person, is that right?" Fuji TV asked on-site.

“We still lack more clues,” Uesugi Muneyuki told TV anchor Setaku. “There is no evidence that it was done by the same person, and the second body is obviously very badly decomposed. This female victim clearly died before the first body and had been dumped for a long time.”

"I see. So, forensic officer, what is your opinion on the on-site investigation, which suggests that this may have been the work of an extremist organization?" Setara then asked.

“I think we can’t rule out that possibility,” Uesugi Muneyuki replied. “Based on the on-site investigation and the assessment of the team, the knotting method of the plastic bags came from the seafood industry, and may be related to yakuza groups or extremist organizations, but we cannot draw a conclusion at this time.”

"Besides that, I have a guess about the identity of the second body. I think after the forensic department's examination, we should have the results tomorrow." Uesugi Muneyuki said confidently, "Please look forward to tomorrow's press conference."

"Okay, thank you for the anonymous response from the Special Missions Forensic Officer who wished to remain anonymous."

Fuji TV concluded the Q&A session with satisfaction.

At the Odaiba building site, Fuji TV is already popping champagne!
"President! The real-time viewership rating has reached a peak of 35%!" A staff member told President Kameyama, who was outside the studio.

"Great!" President Kameyama and the top executives of Fuji TV were overjoyed.

All the TV stations were reporting on this, but we were the only ones who managed to get in touch with Uesugi Muneyuki himself!
This guy is practically a guarantee of high ratings!

There's no way around it; this guy is mysterious on one hand, but he also keeps appearing in front of the public in certain ways.

Humans have a strong voyeuristic desire, especially the Japanese, whose society is generally repressive and places particular emphasis on identity and collectivism. This is why the Japanese particularly enjoy programs like "pranks" and "human observation."

"President, do you think we could invite Uesugi-kun to co-host a program with our station?" Just then, the head of the production department, Kazuhiko Abiru, came up with a new idea: "We don't need to make it too complicated for now. Just talk about cases, and the ratings will easily reach 20%. The duration doesn't need to be too long. We can do one episode every two weeks or a month. We can also invite Uesugi-kun's senior, Mai Shirakawa."

"Invite Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai at the same time?" President Kameyama thought it was a good idea, but the TV station's budget... those two aren't cheap.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to say,” Director Abiru said meaningfully. “Japan Life Insurance just sent a message.”

"As long as we can get the people, they are willing to invest heavily in sponsoring and naming the show."

"oh?!"

President Kameyama's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

I'm willing to do anything for ratings!
That afternoon, NHK and the four major commercial television stations simultaneously broadcast a special program, and the entire Tokyo metropolitan area was shocked by this brutal dismemberment case and the discovery of new bodies during the retrieval.

At the same time, TV Tokyo was still airing "The Solitary Gourmet Special." Just as Goro was enjoying his meal, they realized that other TV stations were reporting on the same thing, but by then it was too late to send out a program crew.

So, just as the protagonist, Goro, was savoring the horse meat sashimi and putting the bright red horse meat into his mouth, the caption below read, "Dismembered body parts discovered in Tokyo Bay; police are conducting further investigation."

This episode was hailed by the Japanese as "the least appetizing episode ever".

Regardless, the incident of the body being dumped in Tokyo Bay shocked the entire society, and the attention of 3000 million people in the Kanto region was focused on this matter.

At the same time, the waters and seafood markets near Daejeon District were temporarily closed for inspection by the Japan Coast Guard, which now suspects that the perpetrator infiltrated the seafood market.

Tokyo Marine Holdings also announced the blockade of nearby waters and intensified its search efforts.

Late that night, the forensic department released its results.

Uesugi Muneyuki's uncanny judgment once again left the Metropolitan Police Department speechless.

He said the second body might be the missing Tokyo Women's University student.

After testing and DNA comparison, the answer is yes, it is her!
Amazing, forensic officer!

(End of this chapter)