Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 222, Search Strategy

P.S.: Requesting a monthly pass at the end of the month!
On September 19, the Joint Special Investigation Headquarters was officially established in Daejeon-gu.

Meanwhile, Uesugi Muneyuki began to conduct an autopsy on Igarashi Aiko's body.

The body of Yui Hirasawa was found to be only one-third intact after testing. The body had been disposed of for nearly a month and was almost completely decomposed after being cut up. Even an elite forensic doctor like Mikoto Ishihara could hardly find anything of value.

The Special Missions Division then focused its attention on the body of Aiko Igarashi.

Aiko Igarashi's head and lower body have still not been found. Tokyo Marine Holdings and the Japan Coast Guard are working overtime to salvage the body, but so far nothing has been found.

Mikoto and Uesugi Muneyuki worked together to stitch the four pieces of the corpse back together, and Uesugi Muneyuki then began to attempt to communicate with spirits.

It's useless, because without a head, the existing remaining souls are insufficient for adequate communication.

It seems we still have to wait until the head is found.

Fortunately, Uesugi Muneyuki has unlocked a new ability.

Death flashback!

A blurry image appeared before Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes.

The image of Igarashi Aiko, who was relatively overweight, before her death appeared in a completely dark place. She was angrily saying something, but Uesugi Muneyuki could not hear her. Then she categorically denied something, shook her head vigorously, and kept saying something intensely. It seemed that for this reason, the other party used a baseball bat to kill her.

Baseball bat?
Uesugi Muneyuki then flashes back to a previous residence, presumably Igarashi Aiko's home. After returning home from get off work, she looks around anxiously and immediately locks the door, seemingly hiding from something. However, when she sits down on the second floor for a cup of tea, she is attacked by a masked man who covers her mouth and nose with a cloth and drags her away.

Unease? A masked man? Did he hide in a house beforehand?

Then the last scene shows Igarashi Aiko pleading with Sato executive director with something, bowing at a 90-degree angle, but Sato executive director shakes his head repeatedly.

The flashback to death ends here.

Uesugi Muneyuki seemed to understand something, but not completely. The only thing he could confirm was that the masked man was male, tall but not particularly muscular, but very strong with a muscular build, and his muscles were clearly visible through his simple black bodysuit.

On the other side, after examining her, Ishihara Mikoto said, "There are resistance wounds on her arms, abdomen, and back, which shows that Igarashi Aiko must have put up some resistance."

"The level of decomposition is very high. The microorganisms in the seawater and the large amount of added cleaning agents make it impossible for us to detect anything in the samples." Sister Mikoto sighed, "What a vicious murderer. They clearly used professional equipment to cut the meat, and they're an expert..."

“It might involve yakuza groups.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded. “Can you determine the time of death?”

"The time of death was probably 10 days to a week ago," Mikoto said regretfully. "Because the decomposition was so severe, it's impossible to determine the exact time."

“Very good…” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: “Call everyone together for a meeting!”

At 9 a.m., after a short rest, everyone from the Special Investigation Headquarters assembled.

Hundreds of police officers, dressed in suits and ties, sat in the police station's conference room, their expressions serious.

Inspector Shimano from the Fourth Division of the First Investigation Section stood on the stage and briefly described Igarashi Aiko's background, which has already been mentioned earlier, so it will not be repeated here.

At the same time, Inspector Shimano emphasized the reasons and evidence regarding the arrest of Executive Director Sato by the Kanagawa Prefectural Police.

At this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki spoke up: "Regarding Executive Director Sato, does anyone know his height and weight?"

“Executive Director Sato is about 170 cm tall and weighs about 74 kg,” Inspector Shimano said on stage.

"Uesugi-kun, have you found anything?" asked Sugishita Ukyo, the head of the First Investigation Division.

"Based on the autopsy results, I personally believe that the residence of Aiko Igarashi in Yokohama was not the scene of her death." Uesugi Muneyuki stepped onto the stage and addressed the hundreds of police officers below. "According to our autopsy results, Aiko Igarashi had numerous defensive wounds and blunt force injuries. However, based on the investigation at the scene, only Executive Director Sato's blood was found. Regardless of whether his bleeding was due to ruptured hemorrhoids, one thing is certain: Aiko Igarashi was murdered, disposed of, and ultimately dumped in Tokyo Bay elsewhere."

“Otherwise, if the fight had taken place at home, it would have left more traces,” Uesugi Muneyuki judged.

"According to our autopsy results, Aiko Igarashi died 7 to 10 days ago. Today is September 19th. She went missing between September 6th and September 7th. Executive Director Sato was arrested on September 10th. We can contact the Mitsui Group. If they can provide an alibi for Executive Director Sato during these days, it means that they are at least not the direct murderer."

"So, we still need to find a second crime scene?" asked Shinichiro Kosaka, the head of the First Division of the First Investigation Division.

“Furthermore, I have an idea,” Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly said. “Based on the current situation and the case description, we can see that Igarashi Aiko is someone who is very bad at separating work and life. For her, work is her life, and her life is her work. Her ex-husband divorced her because of this, and she also had an office romance with her second boss, Naito. So I tend to think that this case is unlikely to be a random killing; there must be a reason.”

“As her direct superior for the past two years, and someone who can’t separate public and private matters, Executive Director Sato must know something, but because he is involved in the case, he must have something he can’t say.” Uesugi Muneyuki said to the crowd below, “So, my idea is that we set off for Kanagawa Prefecture now. Some of us will go to investigate the Igarashi residence, and some of us will go to Kanagawa Prefecture to bail out Executive Director Sato of the Mitsui Sumitomo Group and bring him here for questioning.”

A moment of silence fell over the audience. Inspector Higurashi, the deputy chief of the investigation headquarters and the superintendent of the First Investigation Division, tilted his head and said, "Taking people directly from the prefectural police will cause conflict between the headquarters and the local authorities."

“There’s no other way. If we want to solve the case quickly, we have to do it this way.” Inspector Kashiwagi Jin from the Second Division said coldly, “Forensic Inspector Uesugi has determined that the person with connections committed the crime, and we must continue to investigate along this line of inquiry.”

Everyone nodded.

The Special Investigation Headquarters summarized three reasons for the murder of Aiko Igarashi: the first was personal hatred stemming from Aiko's social relationships; the second was targeted assassination due to business competition; and the third was that Aiko Igarashi's father was once the head of the Second Investigation Division, and may have offended someone and been retaliated against.

As for Uesugi Muneyuki, his attention was still focused on the death flashback.

If the other party wanted to kill Aiko Igarashi, why did they wear a mask, take her away for questioning, and not kill her immediately?

If the other party did not want to kill Aiko Igarashi, then why did they kill her, cut up her body, and then dump it into Tokyo Bay?
This is so Yakuza-esque!

Uesugi Muneyuki believed that perhaps Executive Director Sato and Igarashi Aiko's colleagues knew something.

What exactly is Aiko asking for from Executive Director Sato?
An hour later, at the Kanagawa Prefecture headquarters.

Upon arriving at this place, Uesugi Muneyuki and Kashiwagi Jin encountered something incomprehensible.

Kanagawa Prefectural Headquarters refused to release him! Upon hearing Uesugi Muneyuki's purpose, Inspector Yamanaka of Kanagawa Prefecture resolutely refused to release him. He told Uesugi Muneyuki that, including the 72 hours for the prosecution and the 10 days allowed by the District Public Prosecutor, it would take at least 3 more days before he could release Executive Director Sato!

Prior to this, the Kanagawa police refused to release him.

Inspector Yamanaka's attitude was very tough.

Along with this came Takakura, the head of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters.

Chief Inspector Takakura's hair was already gray, and his hairline was V-shaped. He pushed open the door and came in, saying to Uesugi Muneyuki and Inspector Kashiwagi, "We don't recall this prefecture requesting the Metropolitan Police Department's intervention?"

"Who gave you permission to take the suspect away!" Chief Inspector Takakura slammed his hand on the table and said sternly, "Who gave the Metropolitan Police Department permission to interfere in local affairs?"

"Give us a clear explanation! Who gave you orders, permission, and authorization to take them away?"

“It was authorized by the National Police Agency.” Before Uesugi Muneyuki could speak, Watanabe Minami stepped forward, took out a document bearing the signature and seal of Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki, and placed it in front of Chief Takakura.

Chief Inspector Takakura glanced at the document, his expression turning ashen yet utterly helpless: "What does the National Police Agency mean by this? Are you implying that this prefecture cannot do it?"

"We've given you so much time, what have you found out? Release them immediately." Inspector Kashiwagi's attitude was equally firm.

"Baka yarou!" Chief Takakura glanced at the document again and helplessly gestured for the release of the person.

Uesugi Muneyuki keenly sensed a slight unease emanating from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters.

After Uesugi Muneyuki and the others took Sato away, Chief Inspector Takakura signaled to Inspector Yamanaka, who was in charge of the case, to come over.

"In the mountains, don't give them any clues, especially about that matter..."

"understand!"

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

On the morning of the 19th, Sato, who had been detained for nine days, was finally released.

Having been detained at the police headquarters for so long, Executive Director Sato looked haggard and was in very poor health. Upon seeing Uesugi Muneyuki, the executive director of the Mitsui Sumitomo Group gritted his teeth and stared at the Kanagawa Police Headquarters behind him with bloodshot eyes: "I'll remember this debt. An eye for an eye, ten times over! No, a hundred times over!"

Uesugi Muneyuki stared at Executive Director Sato for a long time, comparing him to the image in the death flashback.

It wasn't him, at least not the one who committed the crime.

“You didn’t do it,” Uesugi Muneyuki said.

"Of course I didn't do it!" Executive Director Sato nodded matter-of-factly, but he quickly paused and a hint of delight appeared on his face: "You also think I didn't do it?"

“Yes, I also don’t think you did it.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded calmly: “First of all, the timing doesn’t match up. Secondly, I can’t think of any reason why you, Executive Director Sato, would want to kill Igarashi Aiko.”

“But you must have some unspeakable secret you want to tell me, right?” Uesugi Muneyuki smiled at Executive Director Sato and said, “How about this, I’ll clear your name, and you tell me what you know. We’ll make a deal, shall we?”

The elderly executive director of the Sumitomo Mitsui Group board of directors remained silent for a moment, then nodded: "It seems you've already guessed something."

"Alright, to thank you for getting me out of this mess, I'll tell you what I know."

They waited until noon, and then Uesugi Muneyuki and the others took Executive Director Sato back to the Special Investigation Headquarters in Ota Ward.

Inside the reception room, Ms. Minami personally served Executive Director Sato a cup of green tea, gently expressing her gratitude for his trouble.

Executive Director Sato took the green tea, looked at Uesugi Muneyuki and Kashiwagi Jin sitting opposite him, and Ikeda Erena standing straight behind Uesugi Muneyuki, and nodded with a wry smile: "How did you know? I know a little about the inside story, but I won't tell the people in Kanagawa?"

“According to our investigation, Igarashi Aiko is someone who doesn’t distinguish between public and private matters, and given her office romance with her boss, she’s the kind of person who would tell her secrets to her boss.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded and said, “Please rest assured, Executive Director, we will not leak this information.”

"Hmm." After a long silence, Executive Director Sato said with a hint of embarrassment, "That day, Aiko came to me and said that she had been feeling uneasy lately, as if someone was secretly following and harassing her."

The police officers present widened their eyes instantly.

This is an important clue!

"About a week before she disappeared, I noticed that Aiko was in a particularly low mood and was often distracted at work. So I asked her what was wrong, and Aiko told me that she felt like someone was following her lately."

Sato, the executive director, said in a deep voice, "She said it might be her ex-husband Asakura, so I asked her if she needed help. Kako asked me if I could arrange to meet with Naito again. She knew that Naito had recently been transferred back to Japan from the United States and was working at Mitsui & Co.

“Personally, I don’t want Aiko to have anything to do with Naito again. The group has already been troubled by this once, so even though Aiko asked me, I refused. But as far as I know, Aiko still tried to contact Naito secretly afterward.”

As mentioned earlier, Naito was the victim's former boss, and the two had a long office romance. However, it ended because Naito's children strongly opposed it. After the incident, Naito was transferred to the United States for several years and only recently returned to Japan.

Uesugi Muneyuki now understood why Executive Director Sato was unwilling to discuss this matter with the Kanagawa Prefectural Police.

For the sake of the group's interests, arresting just one of them is enough. If they are implicated for no reason, the Mitsui Group will encounter new troubles.

“Because Aiko mentioned that she was being followed, I suggested that she move into our company dormitory, but she refused. We then had a security door and an alarm installed for her, but neither of these things worked. And since I arranged for the alarm to be installed, it might become evidence that I committed the murder.” Executive Director Sato smiled bitterly, both angry and resentful, and said, “Oh dear, I really must completely sever ties with female subordinates from now on, no matter how hard they work or how talented they are. I never want a woman as my subordinate again.”

After saying that, Executive Director Sato hung his head dejectedly: "That's all the information I have. Uesugi-kun, the Futaki Association told me that you are trustworthy, so I told you everything I knew. I'm really innocent!"

“Leave it to me.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded. “However, I hope we can get your company’s full cooperation.”

“Of course!” Executive Director Sato said earnestly, “As long as you can help me clear my name and help our Sumitomo Mitsui Group to smoothly implement the entire project, you will not only receive our full cooperation, but you will also be a friend of Sumitomo Mitsui forever!”

(End of this chapter)