Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 479, Yamaguchi Maho's Despair
Outside the apartment, Uesugi Muneyuki's autopsy took an unusually long time this time, and the Metropolitan Police Department was already feeling the pressure from society.

As a national female idol group, the 48 Group has seen its older generation graduate one after another, but they have performed at Tokyo Dome and National Stadium. Although they are not as popular as before, their overall national recognition is extremely high.

At this moment, the news has spread like wildfire across the internet, and fans of the 48 Group have reacted intensely. Even ordinary citizens have once again focused their attention on this group.

Especially for Weekly Bunshun, which is still in litigation with Uesugi Muneyuki, this has finally given them a chance to get revenge!
In an instant, all eyes were focused on the 48th Division and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Leaving aside the 48 Group for the moment, as for the Metropolitan Police Department, Eiji Watanabe didn't react much. For the Superintendent General, although this matter had a very bad impact, it didn't involve politics or economics at all, nor was it an extremely serious criminal case. Superintendent Watanabe just sat back and watched, since Uesugi had already gone, and the truth would soon come out anyway.

Power is only accountable to the source of its power; that is all there is to it.

Meanwhile, the First Investigation Division dispatched Superintendent Higurashi to the scene to establish a special investigation headquarters. At the same time, Kosaka from the First Division was handling another case, and Kashiwagi Jin from the Third Division volunteered to go and began preliminary investigations in the morning.

After investigating for some time, at noon, Kashiwagi Jin returned to the Metropolitan Police Department and immediately found Yamaguchi Maho.

Yamaguchi Maho was overjoyed.

As expected of the Metropolitan Police Department, their equipment, operations, and overall performance are truly perfect!
With Uesugi-san's arrival, the blue sky was restored!
So she immediately followed Kashiwagi Jin to the special room of the First Investigation Division.

However, the situation soon changed.

Maho Yamaguchi initially thought it was to prepare for identifying Nakai and Sugawara, or at least to inform them of the case's progress, but she quickly realized that something was amiss.

Unlike Inspector Shiratori, who poured her a cup of hot tea, Inspector Kashiwagi sat directly opposite her, opened his notebook, and spoke in a flat, even somewhat distant tone:

"Ms. Yamaguchi, we have some details to verify with you regarding the last attack."

Maho Yamaguchi felt a chill run down her spine, a bad feeling creeping over her: "Okay, may I ask?"

“Based on our investigation and interviews with people around you,” Kashiwagi paused, looking at her sharply, “we noticed that in the period leading up to the incident, you seemed to have made some… attention-grabbing remarks on social media and in private.”

He pushed over several printed sheets of paper, which contained screenshots of her blog posts on her phone:

"Today I went to a place I never imagined I would go to, and met people who truly stand on the clouds. Only then did I realize how insignificant I was in the past."

"Thanks to fate for this gift, I will seize the opportunity and never let it slip away. Unlike those who just stay in the same place (laughs)."

"I met some very excellent and meticulous seniors in my new job and learned a lot. Indeed, one's level determines one's perspective."

"I've never had such a wonderful start. I'm going to cherish it. I will never give up this position to anyone else!"

These words, written with a touch of arrogance and pride at the time, now appear incredibly glaring and foolish under the cold questioning of the police.

"What exactly do you mean by 'people in the clouds,' 'people who are stuck in the same place,' 'people of different levels,' and 'people who will never give way'?" Kashiwagi asked.

Maho Yamaguchi's face flushed instantly, a mixture of shame and anger: "This...this is just my reflection! Because I've landed a rare job opportunity..."

"So, these comments were indeed made after you got the job on 'God's Hand' and implied that you were different from the other members, or even...superiority, right?" Kashiwagi interrupted her, his words precise and cruel.

Before Yamaguchi Maho could defend herself, Kashiwagi Jin produced even more damning "evidence".

"We have spoken with some of your teammates and staff to understand the situation. Several people have confirmed that you were in a highly emotional state privately during this period, and repeatedly said things like 'This group is not good enough for me' and 'I will be leaving here soon.' Is this true?"

Maho Yamaguchi was struck dumb! She may have said some hurtful things or expressed her aspirations for the future in a moment of excitement, but she was definitely not distorted to this extent!
“No! I never said anything like ‘unworthy’! They’re lying! It’s Nakai Rika and Sugawara Riko! They’ve conspired to frame me!” She stood up agitatedly, her voice trembling with anger.

"Please calm down, Ms. Yamaguchi." Kashiwagi's tone grew even colder. "We have received testimonies from multiple members, and their accounts corroborate each other. The members you've accused all have alibis, proving that they were not present at the time of the attack that night." (meaning they were not directly involved in the attack.)
"Of course they don't need to come in person! They just need to tell the fans the information! Officers, why don't you investigate them? Why are you investigating me instead?!" Yamaguchi Maho's emotions began to spiral out of control, tears welling up in her eyes, but she held them back, because that would look more like acting.

Inspector Kashiwagi leaned forward and asked the most crucial question: "Ms. Yamaguchi, given your recent words and actions that demonstrate a strong desire to 'escape the status quo,' and considering some suspicious points in the incident itself (such as the fact that a 'big shot' happened to be passing by and rescued you), we have to consider a possibility—did you plan or participate in some aspect of this incident to gain sympathy, create a topic, or... to put pressure on certain people to achieve your goals?"

The phrase "self-directed and self-acted" was like a sharp knife, piercing through Yamaguchi Maho's last psychological defenses.

She completely broke down.

"What...what are you saying?!" She stood up abruptly, slamming her hands heavily on the table, her voice a ripping scream: "I was almost assaulted! I was almost dragged away by them! Instead of arresting the person who really wanted to harm me, you suspect that I arranged it myself?! Why would I risk my safety and innocence to do such a thing?! How could this be?!" Her reaction was intense, desperate, and filled with the anger of being wronged.

However, in this sensitive interrogation environment, such overly agitated emotions, in the view of the experienced star inspector, Kashiwagi Jin, might actually be a stress reaction after being exposed.

The young patrol chief next to her, who was taking notes, stopped writing and looked at her somewhat helplessly.

Inspector Kashiwagi remained calm as he looked at her, his suspicion undiminished, even deepening: "This is just one direction of the investigation; we need to rule out all possibilities."

"Please answer calmly: What is your purpose in posting these? Who instructed you? What is your motive? Did you obtain an operating license? Did they allow you to post these? Who is behind you, and what do you want to achieve by posting these? Who are you satirizing? What are you trying to subvert? What are you trying to destroy? What are you alluding to? Can't answer these questions?"

"Calm down? How can I calm down?!" Yamaguchi Maho's tears finally broke free: "I was attacked, the person who leaked my information is still at large, and now even the people who protect me don't believe me! What's wrong with this world?!"

She looked at the two policemen in front of her; their businesslike indifference and hidden suspicion became the last straw that broke her back.

She realized that the network woven by the operations team and those members was so tight that it could distort the truth and turn those who should have helped her against her.

An unprecedented, piercing sense of isolation and helplessness overwhelmed her. She stopped arguing, slumped into her chair, and muttered absentmindedly, "It's not like that...it really isn't like that...why don't you believe me..."

Her transformation from extreme excitement to utter despair was perhaps more like the end of a performance in Kashiwagi Jin's eyes.

We've finally figured you out!

Kashiwagi Jin was inwardly laughing at Yamaguchi Maho's reaction.

Women are indeed born with a talent for acting.

As a star inspector in the Metropolitan Police Department, Jin Kashiwagi also thought that yesterday's events were too coincidental, so coincidental that it seemed like they were deliberately planned!
A perfectly timed alibi! A perfectly timed VIP to pass by! A perfectly timed death of someone involved!

All of this was so meticulously planned that it seemed like a self-directed and self-acted performance!
Today, Kashiwagi Jin's investigation of the management and members revealed that almost all the management staff said that Yamaguchi Maho had known Takei Masanori and Kakimoto Hiroshi for a long time. Who knows if they were secretly colluding with Yamaguchi Maho and staging the whole thing?
Similarly, the group members had overwhelmingly negative opinions about Yamaguchi Maho. Almost every idol thought that Sugawara and Nakai were not the kind of people who would do such a thing. On the contrary, Yamaguchi Maho was particularly suspicious. She was pretentious, hypocritical, and two-faced!
Moreover, ever since she got lucky and landed a role as a sign girl in "God's Hand" with Uesugi Muneyuki, Yamaguchi Maho has become a bit arrogant. Her mobile blog and her usual remarks prove this, not to mention that she has always liked to lie—she herself admitted that she was from Aomori, but when she met Uesugi Muneyuki, she said she was from Niigata.

Therefore, all the members of the group unanimously pointed out that it must have been Yamaguchi who planned and committed the bad thing!

This aligns with Kashiwagi Jin's classic reasoning.

The scheming frog keeps touching your belly!
The real culprit and mastermind is you! Maho Yamaguchi!!!

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

At the same time, Uesugi Muneyuki finally figured everything out from Imazaki's manager.

That's it!

This matter is actually so complicated? So...unbelievable!
Fortunately, Imazaki knew all the inside information; otherwise, Uesugi Muneyuki would have had a hard time connecting all the dots.

With Imazaki's identification, everything became much easier.

After completing the autopsy, Uesugi Muneyuki came out and happened to run into Ikeda Erena and Ishihara Mikoto, who were guarding the door.

“I understand what happened!” Uesugi Muneyuki said in a deep voice. Now there was only one question.

"Mikoto, if Imazaki died quickly from an injection of succinylcholine and it was metabolized rapidly, is there any way to prove or test this?"

Mikoto Ishihara paused for a moment, then thought for a second and nodded: "Of course! Conventional drug screening can detect common drugs, alcohol, and sleeping pills. But for some rare, fast-metabolizing toxins, more sophisticated analytical instruments are needed, such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Should I apply to the University of Tokyo for that?"

"Apply, apply now!" Uesugi Muneyuki smiled slightly and confidently stated his test results.

"This was not an accidental death at all; it was a blatant homicide!"

The scheming frog keeps touching your belly!
(End of this chapter)