Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 566, The End of Blood!
Just as Sugishita Ukyo, Kobe Takeru, and Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly sensed something was wrong.

The kidnapping of a member of parliament's daughter in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Led by Kashiwagi Jin, the head of the Third Division of the First Investigation Division dispatched by the Metropolitan Police Department, the Special Investigation Headquarters, composed of officers from the Special Investigation Division, the Public Security Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department's Criminal Investigation Department, has reached the final stage in its investigation into the kidnapping of Diet member Tetsuro Kurokawa's daughter, Yukiko Uno.

After leaving the Metropolitan Police Department's control, Kashiwagi Jin was free to do as he pleased, especially after the other party publicly revealed that they were terrorists. Kashiwagi Jin obtained the most important power for him from the police organization—he could play his favorite game of presumption of guilt.

So Kashiwagi Jin began to outsmart the robbers. He obtained 10 million yen in real money and 500 million yen in counterfeit money from the bank, and then outwitted and outmaneuvered the robbers.

"Presumption of guilt" means that Kashiwagi will first screen out all "potential criminals" who have the means, motive and ability to commit the crime, and then concentrate all efforts on proving them "guilty" rather than proving them "innocent".

This can greatly improve efficiency.

So who is the most suspicious?
Jin Kashiwagi initially identified Yukiko Uno's husband as the suspect, but after investigation, he was quickly ruled out.

Subsequently, Kashiwagi Jin began to target people connected to Representative Kurokawa.

The kidnappers' biggest advantage lies in information. They know Yukiko's exact route home from work, the scarf she wore that day (which could serve as a token), that she is four months pregnant (even the senator herself only recently found out), and the core points of contention in the National Security Enhancement Act.

This information, especially the details of the pregnancy and the bill, could not have been easily obtained through ordinary tracking or hacking methods; it could only have come from an information source extremely close to Representative Kurokawa's inner circle.

This refers to the core group of people around Tetsuro Kurokawa, including his secretary, family members, private doctor, and personal driver.

Among them, the secretary, Miyajima, was considered highly suspicious, since he was involved in all of the members' private affairs. Therefore, Miyajima became the prime suspect for Kashiwagi Jin.

As for the family's motives, the Kurokawa family did not have enough reason to kill their daughter, not to mention that she was already married. Although the private doctor knew that Yukiko was pregnant, it was obviously unlikely and difficult for a private doctor to be politically aware and know Yukiko's exact route home from work.

However, the investigation into Miyajima's secretary yielded no results, so Kashiwagi Jin then turned his attention to Representative Kurokawa's driver—Taguchi Shigemichi.

Drivers usually play a very special role around important figures. They may seem to have low status and little power, and they may not seem to have much presence, but in reality, these people must be the most trusted confidants of the leader. They are important peripheral figures who cannot be appointed unless they are absolutely trusted and reliable.

They have access to all travel arrangements for members of parliament and their families.

They could overhear countless private conversations between lawmakers in the car, including possible discussions about their daughters' pregnancies.

They shuttled members of parliament between Congress and their offices, gaining an understanding of the bills and their political opponents far beyond that of ordinary people.

They are the 'shadows'; people are used to ignoring the driver's presence, which provides excellent cover for him to transmit information.

Therefore, when Kashiwagi turned his attention back to the driver, some things were naturally revealed.

After some strange behavior from Taguchi Shigemichi, Kashiwagi Jin carefully investigated and finally uncovered the secret hidden by the driver—the complicated past of his son, Taguchi Junnosuke, and the daughter of a politician!
It turns out that Representative Kurokawa and his driver Taguchi were ostensibly ruler and subject, but in reality, they were like brothers. Representative Kurokawa had always treated Taguchi very well, not only paying him an annual salary of 500 million yen (which was considered a middle-to-high income in Shizuoka Prefecture), but also sending his son, Junnosuke Taguchi, and his daughter, Yukiko Kurokawa, to the same school.

Representative Kurokawa treats Taguchi Junnosuke as his own son, always buying him a copy of everything he has, inviting him to every banquet or event, and even making two breakfasts every day. Naturally, Representative Kurokawa also pays for his tuition!

The two children were childhood sweethearts, and Junnosuke Taguchi quickly adapted to this "young master" life, regarding himself as Yukiko Kurokawa's fiancé, and was already prepared to take over all of Kurokawa's political resources and wealth.

However, things always change.

Representative Kurokawa's kindness towards him was genuine.

But this goodness is built on a huge class gap.

For Representative Kurokawa, preparing an extra breakfast and paying tuition fees were easy acts of kindness and a way to win over his confidants.

But for this boy, day after day he witnessed the stark difference between the real "congressman's family" and his own "driver's family." He ate the same breakfast, yet he was heading towards completely different lives. The congressman's "kindness" began to ferment in his heart into unspeakable shame and jealousy—"Since you treat me like a son, why can't you give me everything that your own daughter has?"

Why can Yukiko be recommended to Keio University, but I have to take the exam myself?
However, Junnosuke Taguchi was able to be patient at the time because he believed that all he had to do was wait.

He and Yukiko were childhood sweethearts, and their feelings for each other turned into infatuation after puberty. However, when Yukiko and Representative Kurokawa ultimately chose a marriage between people of equal social standing, he saw it as proof of the Kurokawa family's ultimate "betrayal" and "hypocrisy."

Taguchi felt betrayed. He believed that the politician's so-called "treating him like his own son" was nothing but a handout and hypocrisy from the upper class. He felt that the politician had not only taken away the fatherly love he "deserved" but also the woman he loved.

Coincidentally, his father, Shigetaka Taguchi, was also deeply dissatisfied with his "old brother's" "betrayal." In his view, Yukiko was originally his prospective daughter-in-law, but he never expected that she would be betrothed to someone else!
The father and son, filled with resentment, conspired to commit this heinous crime!
Kashiwagi Jin immediately arrested Taguchi Shigetaka. Representative Kurokawa never imagined that his driver, whom he regarded as a brother, was one of the main culprits who murdered and kidnapped his daughter!

However, when Kashiwagi asked Taguchi Shigetaka where Uno Yukiko was, Taguchi Shigetaka smiled and shook his head: "I have lung cancer... cough cough cough, I'll see her soon, but you guys will have to wait a very, very long time before you see her!"

"Damn it!" Kashiwagi Jin cursed angrily, but he was helpless against the driver. He could only reopen the investigation, searching for clues based on Taguchi Shigetaka's movements and possible destinations. Fortunately, with clear leads, the investigation became much easier.

After identifying Junnosuke Taguchi as the real culprit and finding their possible secret hideout at an abandoned clinic on the outskirts of Shizuoka, Jin Kashiwagi personally directed the raid on the afternoon after Muneyuki Uesugi led Osumigawa out of the forest.

The operation went exceptionally smoothly, encountering almost no significant resistance. When the Special Investigation Headquarters officers broke down the rusty iron door, only Junnosuke Taguchi was inside, sitting quietly in a chair as if he had been waiting for a long time.

His face showed no panic, only an unsettling calm after completing his mission, even with a slightly eerie smile.

“Inspector Kashiwagi, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” Junnosuke Taguchi’s voice was clear and calm. “You arrived a little faster than I expected, but… just in time for the curtain to fall.”

Kashiwagi's heart sank suddenly, and an ominous premonition was poured over him like ice water: "Where is Yukiko Uno?!"

Junnosuke Taguchi did not answer, but instead turned his gaze to a tightly closed, heavy soundproof door on the inside of the room.

An abstract, bird-like pattern was painted on the door in dark red paint—the emblem of the "Red Canary."

At Kashiwagi's signal, two team members wielding battering rams smashed open the door.

The moment the door opened, a blast of cold air, a mixture of the strong, pungent smell of formaldehyde and a faint, nauseatingly sweet smell of rust, rushed out as if it were a physical entity, causing the few capable detectives in the front row to instinctively take a half step back, their stomachs churning.

Then, they witnessed a hellish scene.

In the center of the room, a stainless steel table originally used for surgery was illuminated by a spotlight.

On the stage is Yukiko Uno.

She lay on her back, her eyes wide open, frozen in the unimaginable fear and pain of her final moments.

Her body was precisely and cruelly sliced ​​in two from below her chest by a professional kitchen knife, clearly from the German brand Zwilling, which gleamed with a cold, sharp light.

Her internal organs and broken bones were exposed to the cold air; her blood had congealed and turned black, pooling on the ground into a sticky, dark red swamp. The kitchen knife, like a cruel ritual mark, remained deeply embedded at the point where her torso had been severed.

Beside her body lay a small laboratory table. On the table, a large glass specimen jar reflected a cold, eerie light under the lamp.

The jar was filled with a clear formalin solution.

Suspended in the solution is a four-month-old fetal embryo, only the size of a palm, already formed, with a clearly distinguishable head and limbs.

It lay curled up, as if still asleep, forming a shocking contrast with its mother's mangled and gruesome body beside it—a contrast so stark it could destroy any rational mind.

On the glass wall of the jar was a printed note with the signature, cold declaration of "Red Canary":

"The symbols of purity of the old world have been sacrificed. The embryo of the new world has been sealed away. This is only the prologue. —The Red Canary"

The room was deathly silent, like a tomb. The only sounds were heavy breathing and the suppressed, retching of a young officer from the First Investigation Division.

Kashiwagi Jin felt his blood freeze instantly. All his reasoning, all his efforts, all his "success" were utterly crushed in this moment by the extremely bloody and inhumane scene before him, turning into meaningless dust. He wasn't a hero who came to rescue hostages; he was a cleaner who came to collect the bodies for a mad ritual.

“We…we succeeded, didn’t we?” Junnosuke Taguchi said behind him in an almost aria-like tone, filled with a mad philosophical thought: “We have wiped out the continuation of the old bloodline and sealed hope in eternity. Inspector Kashiwagi, you won, you caught me. But you lost, you lost the future.”

"This isn't revenge, this is revolution! Revolution isn't a dinner party; revolution means bloodshed! Haha ...

"It was all that bitch's fault for betraying me! She betrayed me first! She even dared to get pregnant with another man's child! Tell me, is there no law? Is there no justice?" Taguchi exclaimed gleefully, "This is our class struggle! This is a victory for the proletariat! Red Canary, Banzai!!!"

"You bastard!" Kashiwagi Jin whirled around and slammed his fist into Taguchi's face, blood instantly seeping from his knuckles. He was speechless, overwhelmed by a tremendous sense of powerlessness and rage: "I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"

"What did you think you saved? You merely maintained this order that was destined to collapse. That canary has already flown to a wider sky!"

"We have only broken the shackles; we have won the world!"

And so, the Taguchi father and son were taken away.

All that was left for Kashiwagi was a corpse almost cut in two, a four-month-old fetus in a glass jar, and a gleaming Zwilling kitchen knife, proclaiming the "complete victory" of the search.

(End of this chapter)