Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 43, Face to Face with the Local Prosecutor
The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters is called Sakuradamon Building, located in the center of Chiyoda Ward. Opposite the Sakuradamon Building, the Kasumigaseki Kaikan, a Chinese ethnic group, is just across the street from the Sakuradamon Building.

Uesugi Munesetsu was very familiar with the Kasumigaseki Hall of the nobility because he had participated in many nobility conferences as a member of the nobility. At the same time, the Kasumigaseki Hall was the location of the former feudal residence of the Yonezawa Uesugi clan in Edo. Now that the former feudal residence has been nationalized, the Uesugi clan has only retained a garden house in Bunkyo Ward.

All the honors of yesterday have become a distant memory. Now if we want to create glory again, we can only rely on ourselves.

Next to the Sakuradamon Building is the National Police Agency Headquarters, which is also a modern giant office building. However, unlike the Metropolitan Police Department, the National Police Agency is not open to the public. In addition, compared to the huge scale of the Metropolitan Police Department, which has as many as 1000 civilian staff, the National Police Agency's regular staff has always been within people.

So, what is the difference between the Metropolitan Police Department and the National Police Agency?

It's very simple. The Metropolitan Police Department is a regional law enforcement department under the Tokyo area, responsible for the public security of the entire Tokyo. The National Police Agency is a national administrative department under the Cabinet, responsible for indirectly managing and coordinating all police departments in prefectures across Japan. The former will deal with specific cases and detective patrols so it requires a large number of manpower, while the latter is just a simple bureaucratic management organization.

Opposite the Metropolitan Police Department is the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which is a local prosecutorial unit responsible for determining whether suspects arrested by police should be prosecuted.

The Procuratorate has "absolute prosecution power" and firmly controls the power of public prosecution. Naturally, it is very incompatible with the Metropolitan Police Department. The duties of both parties overlap a lot. However, the public security department of the Procuratorate is managed by the public security department under the National Police Agency, making it difficult for the local prosecutors to resist the will of the National Police Agency in some matters. However, the Procuratorate also has the power to supervise bureaucrats, which in turn can influence the National Public Security Commission, the superior organization of the National Police Agency...

Are you dizzy after getting here?

That's right, this is the typical bureaucratic system design, with a balance of power between the big and the small, and power dispersed. No one can completely control the situation, and those in power deliberately create a situation of long-term confrontation so that everything can be under control.

In fact, it is even more complicated.

The predecessor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the Japanese Metropolitan Police Department, was riddled with crimes before the war, too numerous to mention. For some unspeakable reasons, I won't go into details here, but it was the kind of department that sat at the same table with the Gestapo, the Cheka, and the Military Intelligence Bureau.

After the war, Emperor Mai carried out a major reorganization of the Metropolitan Police Department, which was equivalent to completely destroying and rebuilding the entire organization. Emperor Mai split the Metropolitan Police Department according to the American model. Not only did he deprive the Metropolitan Police Department of its national jurisdiction and divide it among local branches, but he also deprived the Metropolitan Police Department of the exclusive right to its name. Each local branch can be called the Metropolitan Police Department, such as the Osaka Metropolitan Police Department, the Kyoto Metropolitan Police Department, etc.

The relatively rough transformation did not completely clean up the situation and only changed the structure of the Japanese police system to a certain extent. Later, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department managed to regain the exclusive naming rights of the Metropolitan Police Department from the local branches. However, due to the strong transformation of Emperor Mai, decentralization from the central government to local governments became a fact, and the local police did not dare to openly resist Emperor Mai, so the functional powers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were greatly strengthened, making the Metropolitan Police Department, a local branch in Tokyo, in fact the highest-level and powerful department in the police system, and the national-level police agency instead became a bureaucratic department that coordinates and oversees national police affairs.

When Uesugi Sosetsu walked into the lobby of the Metropolitan Police Department under the guidance of Sudo Higurashi, Inspector Higurashi of the First Investigation Division was already there.

Unlike what he had imagined, the first impression that Uesugi Sosetsu had of the Metropolitan Police Department lobby was that it was plain.

The decoration is really plain, without any of the domineering aura of being the most powerful department. If he hadn't told him, Uesugi Sosetsu would have thought this was some large comprehensive service center.

There were people everywhere, and the dense flow of people squeezed from the lobby door to the glass automatic door. A row of female police officers sat behind the horizontal windows and provided business services to the people outside the windows. A large group of people in suits were distributed throughout the lobby, including men and women, a mixed crowd.

"Rizo, little brother Uesugi, and... Miss Ikeda." Inspector Higurashi groaned inwardly when he saw Ikeda Erena following behind Uesugi Sosetsu.

Why is this woman here too?
Life in Tokyo is great, I don’t want to be transferred to the countryside!

"The prosecutor's office is already waiting." Inspector Higurashi grabbed Uesugi Sosetsu and said, "I'll take you there. Be careful."

"Why did the district prosecutor's office ask Brother Uesugi to come here?" Sudoku felt that Inspector Higurashi was in a somewhat strange mood.

"It's not good. The people who came this time are Prosecutor Kambayashi and that female prosecutor Lin Yanzhen." Inspector Higurashi whispered in the noisy environment, "They want to find a breakthrough from Uesugi-kun."

"What? It's those two people?" Sudo covered his head with a headache: "I miscalculated."

"So the police department is also dispatched this time. Brother Uesugi, when facing the questions from the district prosecutors, you only need to answer questions related to the autopsy. The other departments will be handled by the elites of our police department." Inspector Higurashi carefully instructed: "For other questions, just answer that you don't know."

"Wait, Yeon-jin, why do you have such a strange name?" Uesugi Sosetsu didn't seem to care about these questions at all. Instead, he was interested in the name of the female prosecutor.

“She’s Korean.”

“How can a Korean-American be employed by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office?”

"That's why you have to be careful."

Taking the elevator upstairs, the scenery in front of me suddenly changed. The interior decoration of the Metropolitan Police Department changed from simple to elegant in an instant. The three colors of white, brown and black in the original wood style highlighted a unique capable and serious atmosphere in the exquisite combination, which was completely different from the environment of Otsuka Police Station. The suit-wearing brigade and the female police officers in police uniforms coming and going did not have a trace of slackness on their faces, and they worked as fast as precision instruments.

When the door of the conference room was opened, three prosecutors from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office were already there. Opposite the District Public Prosecutors Office, three prosecutors from the Police Department and the management officer of the First Investigation Division, who were wearing sky blue police uniforms, were also seated.

"You are Uesugi Muneyuki from the Department of Forensic Pathology at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University School of Medicine, right?"

Three prosecutors, two men and one woman, dressed in suits, sat opposite each other with stern and fierce expressions. The female prosecutor indeed had some Korean-American features on her face.

The predecessor of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is also related to Emperor Go-ho Mugi. After the war, Emperor Go-ho Mugi was very angry after inspecting the current situation. He believed that the entire government agency and system were rotten. Under the instruction of Emperor Mugi, the Hidden Retreat Special Investigation Team was established, which struck hard at both the political and business circles, and defeated all the pre-war chaebol families.

This group is the predecessor of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

"Yes."

"The autopsy on the scene of the Bunkyo Ward arson and murder case was conducted by you personally, right?"

"Yes." Uesugi Sosetsu had a blank expression on his face.

"Then can you explain to me why you performed an on-site autopsy without the family's permission and the district attorney's review? Who allowed you to perform an on-site autopsy?!"

The middle-aged man in his fifties sitting opposite Uesugi Muneyuki was the "Prosecutor Kamiya" mentioned by Inspector Higurashi earlier. He had a ferocious look on his face and slammed the document on the table fiercely: "Are you kidding me?!"

"My judgment is based on the facts and scientific evidence at the scene," said Uesugi Muneyuki expressionlessly. "According to forensic knowledge and the provisions of the Police Act, I have the right to examine the body with the presence of local police."

"Yes, Inspector Higurashi of the Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigation Division and Inspector Sudo of the Otsuka Police Station were both at the scene. They have the right to request an on-site autopsy by Mr. Uesugi to determine whether the cause of death was an accident or a homicide." The Metropolitan Police Department's Police Department Management Officer flipped through the law on the spot: "This standard meets the regulations."

"There are indeed regulations for requesting an autopsy on the spot, but there must be enough evidence to prove that this incident may be a murder. Let me ask you, where is the evidence?" The district prosecutor then asked: "Please answer, Mr. Uesugi!"

"Metropolitan Police Department, please shut up!" The female prosecutor immediately signaled the Metropolitan Police Department not to get involved: "We are questioning the parties involved."

The atmosphere in the conference room immediately became much more solemn. There were three people with six eyes in front of Uesugi Sosetsu, and behind him were three Metropolitan Police Department inspectors, Inspector Higurashi, Section Chief Sudo, and Ikeda Erena, six pairs of eyes also fell on Uesugi Sosetsu.

The tall beauty Erina showed a worried look on her face. She didn't know how to answer. Uesugi, what should we do...

"The evidence is that there is no adhesion in the deceased's trachea and lungs," replied Uesugi Sosetsu.

"What I'm asking you is, what is the basis for your on-site autopsy?"

"The basis for this is that I believe this was not an accident, this was murder."

"Do you think this is evidence of murder?"

"The evidence is that there was no sticking material in the deceased's trachea and lungs."

"I didn't ask you for the evidence. I asked you for your reason for performing the autopsy!"

"The reason is that I don't think this was an accident, it was murder."

"Just because you think this is a murder, you conduct an on-site autopsy without any evidence to suspect foul play and without the permission of the family, the judge, or the prosecutor's office?"

"The evidence is that there was no sticking material in the deceased's trachea and lungs."

After a conversation, the atmosphere at the Metropolitan Police Department had changed from serious to the point where they could hardly hold back their laughter. Three police officers buried their faces in their necks, shaking from trying to hold back their laughter. Inspector Higurashi and Inspector Sudo turned their heads away, trying desperately to hold back their laughter. Erena simply covered her mouth with her hands, and her "huhuhu" laughter could be faintly heard in the room.

In contrast, the faces of the three prosecutors sitting opposite the District Prosecutor's Office turned purple, and the leading prosecutor, Shen Lin, held his breath for a long time, gasping for breath.

He was trapped in the nesting doll!
This guy, if you ask for a reason, he says he has evidence. If you ask for evidence, he says he has a reason. But there was indeed no sticky substance in the trachea. According to the judgment of professional forensic institutions and the autopsy report of the University of Tokyo, Uesugi Sosetsu's judgment was reasonable. In fact, even the district prosecutor knew that the smoke and dust did not pass through the lungs, which was irrefutable evidence of death before the fire.

He really hit a bug, but how dare this guy? Doesn't he know that if he saw the sticky substance when he cut in, the local prosecutors could seize this opportunity and beat him and the Metropolitan Police Department to death with a combination of punches?
Oh, no, it's not the Metropolitan Police Department. As the old rival of the Metropolitan Police Department, Prosecutor Kambayashi knows it too well. If they really can't stand it, the Metropolitan Police Department will immediately cut off justice and say that Uesugi Souji is just a temporary worker in the local branch and has nothing to do with the Metropolitan Police Department.

Sure enough, when the Metropolitan Police Department saw that Uesugi Muneyuki was holding out, the head of the Police Department Inspector immediately said, "Uesugi-kun's autopsy was approved by the local police station and the First Investigation Division. After the First Investigation Division arrived at the scene, Inspector Higurashi and Inspector Sudo who was also present had a full exchange of ideas and reached a consensus. They both believed that further inspection of the scene was necessary."

"Yes." "That's right." Inspector Higurashi and Inspector Sudo looked at each other and immediately said affirmatively.

In this situation, no matter how much the Metropolitan Police Department and local police stations disagree with each other, they must unite and face the outside world.

The local prosecutor's office looked even uglier.

Since one strike failed, they could only try to find a breakthrough in other ways: "According to the news, on that day, Uesugi Munenyuki and his family hosted a banquet for several people from the Otsuka Office at Shunfeng Ryotei. Is this true?"

"That's true. This is my father's way of thanking Otsuka Prefecture for taking care of me." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded, "The cost of the restaurant will be borne by the head family."

"Then, did the police officers from Otsuka Police Station conduct the search while drunk?" the district prosecutor asked.

"The arson site is located within the jurisdiction of Otsuka Police Station in Bunkyo Ward. Although several members of Otsuka Police Station were not on duty at the time, they interrupted their party and went to the scene immediately out of honor. At the scene, because they were drinking, the Investigation Division prohibited Otsuka Police Station from participating in the search. Therefore, although several members of Otsuka Police Station drank alcoholic beverages, it did not constitute a violation of the Police Act." The Metropolitan Police Department responded immediately.

"It is known that the deceased, Mr. Oyama, was a full member, and you, Mr. Uesugi, were just transferred to a full member at the hospital. Is it out of sympathy or some other emotion that you firmly believe that there is a suspicion of murder?"

"I believe that there is a suspicion of murder based solely on factual evidence and professional knowledge, and has nothing to do with Mr. Oyama's identity."

"So, in the autopsy report, you believe that the deceased was strangled to death. Is this also based on professional knowledge and factual evidence?" The district prosecutor still did not let Uesugi Sosetsu go.

This is also a trap question.

The Metropolitan Police Department became worried again.

"Yes, it's based on my professional knowledge." Uesugi Munen was very calm: "People who were strangled have the characteristics of being strangled. I wrote it in the report."

"You mean you identified the blood stains on the burnt skin with your naked eyes?"

"Yes." Uesugi Sosetsu was very calm.

"How do you tell?"

"Identify with the naked eye."

"You mean you used your naked eyes to identify the bloody injuries on the burnt corpse's skin that only a professional colorimeter could distinguish?"

“Yes, based on my expertise.”

“What expertise?”

"People who were strangled had the characteristics of being strangled. I wrote that in the report."

"Pfft~ Hahahahahaha!" Someone at the Metropolitan Police Department finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Correspondingly, the three people from the local prosecutors were completely furious. The leading prosecutor Shenlin opened and closed his mouth, unable to speak for a long time. Finally, he could only stand up and said, "Okay, that's all for today. Thank you very much!"

After saying that, the three district prosecutors' faces turned red as they grabbed their briefcases and ran out almost as if they were escaping.

As soon as the door of the conference room was closed, hearty laughter broke out in the room, and the atmosphere inside and outside the conference room was filled with a happy atmosphere.

In today's game, our Metropolitan Police Department won!

　I checked and found that the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is extremely arrogant. The things shown in the TV series are not nonsense.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)