Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 586, The Final Verdict!
Uesugi Muneyuki remained calm.

Because he couldn't be wrong. Miss Yamashita Mizuki's spirit had told him everything she knew, including the evidence the Kimura family had been desperately searching for, which was somewhere in this villa!

This is not actually a very complicated case. The real difficulty of this case lies in the fact that it involves complex issues of financial property rights, illegal tenants, adverse rights encroachment, and suicide by burning charcoal, as well as the Kimura family's carefully orchestrated "discovery of the body."

Connecting all these things completely requires time and logic; even Uesugi Muneyuki himself had to think about it for a while before he could figure out the whole thing.

"Since you want evidence, I'll give it to you now." His voice wasn't loud, but it pierced everyone's eardrums like an ice pick.

“First, regarding property rights.” He slowly raised his hand, pointing to the villa and the property management company: “You say you ‘neglected management,’ but I just inquired with the property management company here, and their records show that in the first two years after Mr. Nakajima’s death, the villa underwent regular maintenance and garden trimming without interruption. It was only at the beginning of the third year that it suddenly stopped. This coincides with the initial actions required by the statute of limitations for ‘adverse possession’, which demands ‘management with the awareness of the owner.’ This is not neglect; it is a deliberate creation of the illusion of ‘ownerlessness’ after fulfilling the legal requirement of ‘open and continuous possession.’”

"That's why I said, you guys really understand the whole process of reverse encroachment and are just waiting to get your rights confirmed by the Legal Affairs Bureau."

Kimura Aki opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but couldn't find the words.

“Secondly, regarding the transaction documents.” Uesugi’s gaze finally turned to her, with a hint of pity: “I have asked the Second Investigation Division to retrieve Mr. Nakajima’s account records. Before his death, there was no transfer of funds from your father, Mr. Kimura, or any related companies that were commensurate with the value of this villa. The documents for what you call a ‘legal transaction’ may be ‘legal,’ but the flow of funds is falsified.”

"Of course, you can say these were cash transactions. Although villas in Karuizawa cost hundreds of millions, it's not impossible to do cash transactions if you insist on it. So... why didn't you call the police? Is it because you didn't like it? Or is it because you lack third-party proof and specific transaction records?"

Kimura Aki's face began to turn pale.

"Finally, and most importantly—you 'don't know' Yamashita Mizuki?" Uesugi Muneyuki smiled and nodded. He gestured to Erena: "Master, turn left after entering the door and go into the third room from the outside. There's a book called 'The Dancing Girl of Izu' on the second row of the cabinet. See what's tucked inside."

"Okay!" Erina immediately unleashed a green burst followed by a super fire dance, rushing into the villa, with police officers following closely behind.

Soon, Erina came out with an evidence bag containing a yellowed photograph.

Uesugi Muneyuki showed the photo to everyone on the spot: "I found this in the study of a rare first edition book in the villa. I noticed that the dust marks on it were abnormal. Obviously, the photo is of a young Mr. Nakajima with a baby girl in his arms. On the back, there is a date written by him and a line of words: 'To lovely Mizuki, may you be as bright as the summer in Karuizawa.'"

He then turned the photo to Aki Kimura: "Ms. Kimura, as Nakajima's best friend and business partner, would your father not know about the existence of this illegitimate daughter? When she comes to your door with similar evidence, threatening to expose your crimes of misappropriating property, can you still say that you 'don't know' her?"

Uesugi Muneyuki pressed on relentlessly, his tone remaining calm yet carrying immense force:

The logical chain of the whole story is as follows:

"1. Your family took advantage of your positions and information gaps to forge documents after Nakajima's death and seize his villa."

"2. You are well aware of the legal loopholes in 'adverse appropriation' and have meticulously planned this, waiting only for the statute of limitations to expire."

"3. Just when you are about to succeed, the true heir, Nakajima Mizuki, also known as Ms. Yamashita Mizuki, appears. She has evidence that is enough to ruin your reputation and make you lose everything."

"4. Legal proceedings are not in your favor (calling the police will expose you), and violent eviction is even less feasible (she will directly disclose the evidence)."

"5. So you chose the only way to 'safely' preserve your property and reputation—to silence her forever and disguise it as a tragedy of an intruder's 'accident' or 'suicide'."

After Uesugi Muneyuki finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence.

What a complicated case, what intricate property rights, illegitimate children, illegal tenants, unauthorized encroachment, and a murder disguised as suicide!

Has Uesugi figured it out now?
“However, Dr. Uesugi, there’s still something I don’t understand. If Ms. Yamashita Mizuki did this, she should have known she might be in danger. Why didn’t she take precautions?” Inspector Yamato still didn’t understand. He frowned and said, “If what you’re saying is true, why was Ms. Yamashita Mizuki ‘forced’ to commit suicide? Didn’t she resist?”

“Yes, I have the same question.” Minami said, “Judging from the body, Ms. Yamashita Mizuki doesn’t seem to have resisted.”

“Your suspicions are reasonable.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded, then looked at the silent Kimura Aki and said in a low voice, “I’ve also thought about this question. What made her not resist, allowing you to carry out this ‘forced suicide’?”

"There should only be one reason... Ms. Kimura, you and Ms. Yamashita should be childhood friends, or at least have spent time together on vacation and formed a certain friendship, right?"

"You took advantage of her trust in you, took the initiative to propose peace talks, brought expensive wine and food, and came to negotiate under the pretext of 'discussing a solution acceptable to both parties.' You were sincere and offered to pay her a sum of money in exchange for her leaving and handing over the evidence. Because of the special relationship between you, she chose to believe you."

"Then you put it in the wine..." Uesugi Muneyuki pointed at the wine: "That's why the deceased suffered from widespread and severe incontinence, because she ingested sleeping pills in the wine, fell into a deep sleep, and then you staged the scene, even setting up double the number of seven-wheeled charcoal stoves, as if you were afraid she wouldn't die..."

"Enough! Stop talking!" Kimura Aki was clearly in great pain. She screamed sharply, interrupting Uesugi Muneyuki one last time and in her most frantic moment: "I've had enough of your fabricated stories! You say Yamashita and I knew each other when we were kids, which eye of yours saw that? Show me the evidence!"

"Furthermore, I don't know what you're talking about. This villa... I know nothing about it. It was transferred to me by my father, and I know nothing about it. You say there's a problem with the contract, then go find my father. What does it have to do with me? All I know is that this woman illegally broke into my house! And then shamelessly committed suicide here! It's that simple!" "You've said so much, but it all involves the past of the previous generation. What does that have to do with me? Why should I inherit the affairs of the previous generation? The villa's ownership is mine, and I'm the owner. You say there's a problem? Fine, you can provide evidence, you can sue in court, you can have it reviewed by the Legal Affairs Bureau, but this has nothing to do with whether I'm a murderer or not!"

"If I'm a murderer, produce the evidence immediately! Otherwise, I'll file a complaint against you! I'll file a complaint right now!" With that, Kimura Aki took out her Huawei Galaxy phone from her bag, gripped it tightly, indicating that she was going to file a complaint against her right now!
Uesugi Muneyuki sighed upon hearing this.

When he spoke again, his voice was as precise and cold as a scalpel:
“Ms. Kimura, you may think you have orchestrated the perfect crime. You got her drunk, set up the charcoal brazier, sealed the doors and windows, and created the illusion that she committed suicide by burning charcoal while drunk. However, you made a fatal mistake, one that stemmed from your ignorance of 'time' and 'human physiology,' and exposed irrefutable evidence that you were in that confined space during her dying moments.”

He held up an evidence bag containing several tiny, black particles that looked like dust.

"What is this?" Minami Watanabe asked at the opportune moment, representing everyone's question.

“These are charcoal ash particles extracted from the nasal cavity and tracheal mucosa of the deceased, Yamashita Mizuki,” Uesugi Muneyuki explained. Then, he turned to Kimura Aki, his eyes piercing: “But at the same time, you will also find charcoal ash particles with the exact same composition and shape in the fiber gaps of your shirt cuffs.”

Kimura's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively tried to hide his hands.

"What does this prove!" Kimura Aki tried to make a final attempt to argue. "I just came to check, it's normal for it to have a little dust on it!"

“No, this is not normal,” Uesugi Muneyuki interrupted her, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"When the body was discovered, all the charcoal fires in the braziers had been extinguished long ago, and the room had been ventilated, so there was no more floating ash in the air. It would have been impossible for such tiny particles to have been embedded so deeply into the cuff fibers during a simple inspection."

"More importantly—the location of the particles."

Uesugi Muneyuki took a step forward, exuding an overwhelming sense of pressure.

"The charcoal ash inhaled by the deceased was absorbed from the air during her breathing and deposited in her respiratory tract. This is the only possible way in the case of 'suicide' or 'accident'."

"The way the charcoal ash on your body is embedded and the adhering substances (a small amount of sweat and skin oil) can be examined under a microscope. It will be found that when you leaned close to the burning charcoal fire and waved your arms (such as moving the charcoal basin or checking if she was dead), tiny, not-yet-burned charcoal particles were carried by the rising hot air currents and 'sprayed' and 'embedded' into the fibers with extremely high kinetic energy. This is a dynamic and active contact, not a static and passive contamination."

He paused, then delivered the final, fatal blow: "Ms. Kimura, do you dare let us investigate?"

“We have already notified the hotel where you are staying. They said that the clothes you sent for laundry... haven’t been washed yet, and even if they have been washed... as long as they weren’t burned, we can still detect it.”

"Or, could you explain it to me?"

"In your claim that you 'knew nothing about the situation and had never been to your villa,' why would your cuffs have 'high-speed jet-embedded charcoal ash,' which only forms under specific conditions of intense charcoal burning and active heat convection in a confined space?"

The only explanation is—

"While the charcoal is still burning, carbon monoxide is filling the room, and Mizuki Yamashita is still struggling for her last breath in this 'murder in progress,' you are here! Because you need to confirm that she is dead!"

There was dead silence.

Kimura Aki stood there dumbfounded. She staggered a step and could no longer utter any rebuttal, only endless shock and bewilderment remained.

This, this is okay?
At this point, Mikoto Ishihara added, "Burning charcoal produces smoke and particles, which the perpetrator might inhale or leave traces of when setting up the scene. In suicide cases like this, traces of charcoal ash are a good option because they are easily overlooked but can be detected using scientific methods."

"The presence of charcoal ash particles on the perpetrator's clothing or skin, especially forming an alkaline solution in sweat, aligns with forensic principles. Furthermore, SEM-EDS analysis clearly identifies the composition, matching the charcoal ash found at the scene. This evidence directly points to the perpetrator's activity in a confined space, refuting their claim of not entering the scene."

"Ms. Kimura, do you have anything else to say?"

Ms. Kimura collapsed completely, her psychological defenses utterly shattered by this "tiny dust" from forensic medicine, which she could neither understand nor refute.

It turns out, it's all because of... just this tiny trace?

Is Uesugi Muneyuki a monster?
Upon seeing this, everyone around understood.

one! Book!

The moment of the incident sealed the deal! Finding the perpetrator, gathering evidence, reconstructing the events, and uncovering the motive – all done in one fell swoop!
This is Uesugi!

(End of this chapter)