Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 286, Emergency Arrest

Like the deceased's family, Uesugi Muneyuki also distrusted the Kanagawa police.

But he has already figured some things out.

He called Okada, Mikoto, and Erena together: "I understand what's going on."

"The deceased was named Nikaido Kei, an employee of Nidoji Foreign Trade Co., Ltd. There are two main suspects, Mitamura Ken and Kitano Yukari. Mitamura Ken was Nikaido Kei's superior, and Kitano Yukari was Mitamura Ken's lover."

"According to the investigation and description by the Nikaido family, he had been depressed for six months before his disappearance and often told his family that there were problems with the company."

"What's wrong with the company? According to the investigation of the Yokohama case, the Kudo-kai has been using the foreign trade of Yokohama Port to smuggle narcotics (i.e. drugs) into the country for many years, and Nidoji Company is involved in it."

"So, it's highly likely that Nikaido Kei discovered something at work or in another matter, which is why he's feeling down. But since this is his company, as a full-time employee, he's unwilling to report it directly. So, he plans to find out what happened from his superior, Mitamura Ken."

"Uesugi Muneyuki said in a deep voice."

Japanese corporate culture differs from that of other countries. Because Japan employs a system that combines lifetime employment with temporary staff, permanent employees often regard their company as their own family and have a very strong sense of belonging. Companies also do not dismiss permanent employees arbitrarily or without cause. Permanent employees have a high social status, and even in a small, ordinary company, a permanent employee is highly sought after by Japanese women.

Especially now, the proportion of regular employees in Japan is less than 50%, and they are all temporary employees.

Therefore, Tokyo Medical and Dental University is quite willing to use this matter to threaten Uesugi Muneyuki, since the importance that Japanese people place on the status of a full-time employee is ingrained in their genes.

Unfortunately, although Uesugi Muneyuki is not Japanese at heart, he also has the DNA of "the end of the universe is the system". He dares to confront things head-on, and he must have made a lot of determination and has the support of the University of Tokyo to do so.

Nikaido Kei is a full-time employee, so he may have indeed discovered something. However, due to his strong sense of belonging to the company and his reluctance to lose his full-time employee status, Nikaido Kei is unwilling to report it directly. He may want to talk to his superiors, or he may be planning to do something together with his superiors.

Then he disappeared.

The reason is simple: now that he has discovered it, he can't be allowed to live.

The reason why the Kanagawa police insisted on closing the case as a drowning suicide is clearly because someone instructed them to do so.

The matter points back to the Kudo-kai and the mysterious force behind it.

Uesugi Muneyuki discovers that someone seems to be behind all these events.

"So what do we do now?" This was Erena's usual way of asking questions: "The main suspect, Ken Mitamura, has already fled. Shall we head to South Africa now?"

"Are you kidding me? Heading to South Africa? Ikeda, don't you know what it's like there? The KFC counters there are made exactly like bank counters, with bulletproof glass, walkie-talkie windows, and you have to drop the money down into a recess inside the counter and retrieve it from the other side." Mikoto Ishihara looked at him with disdain: "There are guns everywhere there, and foreign tourists have to hire local security companies. They'll send people to protect you and tell you where you can and can't go."

“Yes, and there’s another problem.” Inspector Okada frowned. “If we want to conduct cross-border law enforcement, we need to notify Interpol and the South African government. This will inevitably require the use of valuable resources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It’s too difficult. You may not understand, but I’m familiar with the Second Investigation Division. Money from international telecom fraud can travel through Japan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Canada, the Virgin Islands, London, the Cayman Islands, and back to Japan in just 7 seconds. After 7 seconds, the money is irretrievable.”

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would never agree to use national resources for such a trivial matter, at least not in a situation like the Chiba case involving Yasue Saijo."

Inspector Okada's greatest strength lies in the fact that his father is the Commissioner of the Financial Services Agency, so he is very familiar with the entire upper class of Japan. Because of his status as the son of the Commissioner of the Financial Services Agency, he is the only one who can pass through the deepest barrier in the Metropolitan Police Department—the gap between the First and Second Investigation Divisions.

In contrast, the other members of the First Investigation Division could not expect to receive any assistance or information from the Second Investigation Division.

It is clear that Watanabe Eiji had a very deep purpose in sending Okada Masayoshi to him and Minami.

The Metropolitan Police Department was sucking blood from Uesugi Muneyuki, but wasn't he also sucking blood from the Metropolitan Police Department and the Minami father and daughter?
Oh no, if this keeps up, it'll turn into the shape of Minami and form a whole ecosystem...

“That’s not the key issue. The key issue is that we have no evidence.” Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head: “These are all just my inferences.”

“However, thanks to the Nikaido family’s investigation, perhaps the key to this case lies with Kitano Yukari, Mitamura’s lover. She is currently living in Chiba Prefecture, right?” Uesugi Muneyuki’s finger pointed to the information that the Nikaido family had painstakingly investigated over the past five years: “She returned to Japan three years ago. What was the reason for her return?”

"Although I don't know for sure, I can roughly guess that firstly, the security situation in South Africa is too bad. It's okay for men, but Japanese women are used to the security situation in Japan and find it difficult to adapt to the situation in South Africa. Secondly, living abroad requires a lot of money, and the expenses are quite troublesome. They probably thought they were safe abroad for two years and then returned to Japan, right?" Inspector Okada thought for a while and said, "Cross-regional arrests and joint operations are often fraught with difficulties, but..."

“However, the head of the Chiba Prefectural Headquarters is the former head of the Criminal Investigation Department, Uncle Daisaburo Mori.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded with a smile: “I should be able to handle it with just one phone call.”

Without delay, Uesugi Muneyuki immediately called the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters.

"Really? Is that so? I understand, okay, no problem."

In Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, at the Chiba Police Headquarters, Chief Mouri Takayoshi put down the phone, and the fax machine on his desk quickly received information from Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Okay, apply for a search warrant immediately! As for the evidence... just tell the district prosecutor that this is the person Uesugi wants to arrest!" Uesugi Muneyuki is the only person in all of Japan who can persuade the district prosecutor to issue a search warrant to arrest someone first and then gather evidence.

"Chiba Prefectural Police, mobilize!"

Police cars quickly departed from the prefectural police headquarters and headed towards Yukari Kitano's residence.

"Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~" Large groups of Chiba police officers, who had been urgently dispatched, arrived at Kitano Yukari's residence.

With no one home, the police opened the apartment door with the help of the dormitory manager.

nobody.

At the bar where she worked, the owner told the arriving police, "Kitano? She was supposed to be working at the bar as usual today, but this afternoon she seemed to have seen that NHK news report... about the Metropolitan Police Department's forensic investigator Uesugi going to Kanagawa to provide technical guidance, successfully reopening the case and restarting the investigation, and then she took leave temporarily." "Temporarily?!" Inspector Yukinoshita Hachiman of the Chiba headquarters, who was in charge of the case, looked alarmed: "Oh no!"

"Immediately investigate the nearest flights! Request cooperation from Narita International Airport!"

"Yes!"

"Emergency! Emergency! Airport police deployed immediately!"

"Yes!"

A large group of police officers rushed directly towards Narita International Airport.

Finally, on the most recent flight to Spain, a line of police cars blocked the way for the shuttle bus where passengers had already handed in their boarding passes and were about to board.

"Officers, excuse me!" Several police officers boarded the shuttle bus and went to the back seat: "Yukari Kitano, this is your arrest warrant."

"…………" Sitting in the back seat, the woman wearing sunglasses and a trench coat looked at the policeman who appeared in front of her, chuckled, her face pale and her expression dejected as she took off her sunglasses and was taken away by the policeman as if she had resigned her fate.

"At 21:13 PM, Kitano Yukari was successfully apprehended!"

The news from the front was exhilarating; Uesugi Muneyuki and the others, who were waiting at the Kanagawa Prefecture headquarters, finally received good news.

"Great! Uncle Mori is indeed exceptional!" Uesugi Muneyuki slapped the table excitedly, his joy evident. "Moreover, the Chiba case last time has given the Chiba police some experience in handling cases."

“But…we still have no evidence. If we can’t get anything out of them within 48 hours…” Mikoto Ishihara still looked conflicted.

“It’s alright.” Uesugi Muneyuki gave a meaningful look.

48 hours is enough.

At the same time, a deafening cheer erupted from the Kanagawa Prefecture Special Investigation Headquarters.

"Found it!" "We did it!" "Yada~"

The Kanagawa police officers excitedly hugged and shook hands, raising their fists and shouting.

What happened? Uesugi Muneyuki and the others were interrupted from their thoughts.

At that moment, a deputy inspector came over excitedly: "We found him! Forensic officer Uesugi, and everyone from the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Missions Division, we've found the whereabouts of Kenji Mitamura!"

"Look at this. Based on our investigation and interviews, we have confirmed that the main suspect, Kenji Mitamura, flew to South Africa five years ago!"

"Look, this is the flight registration record, and also his registration certificate!"

"Confirmed, the main suspect, Mitamura, is at large!"

Uesugi Soyuki: "…………"

The Special Missions Unit members: "……………………"

Faced with the hard-won results of the Kanagawa police's investigation, which had taken several hours, Uesugi Muneyuki's face twitched for a moment, and he could only say, "Thank you for your hard work."

Leaving behind the cheering Kanagawa police, Uesugi Muneyuki gestured for us to head to Chiba Prefecture immediately.

Yukari Kitano may become the key to this incident!
At the same time, Uesugi Muneyuki also gained a deeper understanding of the case-solving process.

Because it was a five-year-old cold case, there was absolutely no chance of triggering the Soul Contract, so he had to rely on his forensic expertise to solve the case.

Relying on forensic expertise to solve cases, whether or not a case can be solved quickly and a criminal can be caught quickly, depends not only on his and Sister Meiqin's own forensic abilities, but also to a large extent on how many resources he can control and how much resource exchange he can make.

It's only because Chief Mori is a staunch supporter of Eiji Watanabe and has a personal relationship of loyalty that he's willing to work so hard. Otherwise, after refusing to accept cross-regional guidance and requesting the National Police Agency to coordinate, Yukari Kitano would have already boarded a plane to Spain.

Perhaps, the various problems and operations within an organization are essentially the result of resource exchange.

This is also why, in the Kanagawa body dumping case, despite reporting the crime to the police nine times and appealing six times over five years, the police's determination that the death was a drowning or suicide could not be changed.

Thinking about this, Uesugi Muneyuki felt a little heavy-hearted, but soon his phone rang.

"What?! Yukari Kitano confessed?!"

"Yes, that's right!" Minister Mori said on the phone. "Yukari Kitano said that she has been plagued by nightmares for many years and is no longer able to fight against the deceased, so she readily confessed."

"Okay!" Uesugi Muneyuki finally clenched his fist and smiled.

In this way, at least the matter can be clarified and an explanation given to the deceased's family!

Five years have passed. Justice may have been delayed, but at least I didn't let it be absent!
(End of this chapter)