Chapter Twenty-Seven: Rising Winds and Scudding Clouds

Things had, after all, taken a turn for the worse.

Following Uesugi Sosetsu’s assessment, the entire scene erupted into chaos. The crowd of onlookers and reporters from major news outlets, like sharks catching the scent of blood, turned flushed with excitement. Some in the crowd began shouting nonsensical slogans like "Free Transit" and "Free Mainlines," directly pinning the responsibility on the state-monopoly enterprise, JR East.

The momentum was so overwhelming it felt like a tidal wave, forcing the police officers maintaining order to retreat.

*A major scoop!*

The reporters were equally ecstatic. They had expected nothing more than a routine report on a minor incident, only to stumble upon a massive scandal.

"Shocking! JR East Covers Up Railway Dismemberment Case—Is This the Truth?"

Excitement was an understatement. One could only imagine how this headline would detonate across the Tokyo metropolitan area and the entire nation once published. Reporters shoved their way forward, while the police and maintenance workers on-site fell into total disarray.

"Uesugi-kun, isn't it a bit premature to jump to conclusions? Perhaps it isn't a cover-up. It could be worker negligence, or maybe a body-dumping incident?" Inspector Moritsugu, now drenched in sweat, quickly grabbed Uesugi by the arm. "You can't just throw around words like 'cover-up,' Uesugi-kun. Do you want to paralyze all of Tokyo?"

"If it's not a cover-up, then what is it?" Uesugi asked coldly. "If I’m not mistaken, Director Minami, Inspector Moritsugu, you had already conducted an internal investigation the moment this broke out. There were no police reports, and no internal notifications, correct? If that is the case, what else could it be but a cover-up?"

Uesugi’s words were like a blade, slicing repeatedly across the face of Director Minami of JR East. The fifty-something director’s face turned deep red, his eyes burning with the rage of a demon from hell. He glared at Inspector Moritsugu, his gaze lethal enough to reduce him to ash.

However, being a man of over fifty, he possessed enough composure and restraint. With cameras and microphones thrust into his face, he dared not act out. Muttering a brief "excuse me," Director Minami stepped into a nearby staff breakroom and immediately made a call.

"President, yes, yes... there’s a problem. A medical examiner arrived, and while the source of the body has been identified, he claims someone in our department covered it up. Yes... I will have people investigate immediately. Regarding the situation here, I must request your assistance... I understand." Director Minami had called the President and Representative Director of JR East.

It wasn't that he didn't want to lash out at Uesugi; it was that the sheer number of onlookers and reporters made any rash action a risk to the company’s reputation. Furthermore, Uesugi’s claims were logical, grounded in scientific deduction, personal experience, and forensic expertise. Based on his fifty years of life experience, Director Minami knew Uesugi wasn't lying.

After giving urgent instructions to the President and his subordinates, Director Minami made a second call—to Eiji Watanabe, the newly appointed Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police Department.

The situation had escalated. If this continued, Uesugi’s earth-shattering claims would inevitably draw direct intervention from the Metropolitan Police. That would be an even worse development for JR East; they needed to coordinate immediately.

The good news, as previously mentioned, was that the new Superintendent General’s father, Kazuo Watanabe, had once served as the President of the Japanese National Railways—the predecessor from which JR East was partitioned after the war.

Within minutes, someone called Inspector Moritsugu inside. Director Minami held his phone to the inspector’s ear, signaling him to listen.

Inspector Moritsugu, though seething with suppressed rage, had no choice but to comply. He heard a voice filled with authority from the other end: "Hello, this is Eiji Watanabe..."

The expressions on Inspector Moritsugu’s face shifted brilliantly: from stifled anger to shock, from surprise to containment, and finally from a sycophantic grin to stern professionalism. After the transition, he bowed respectfully to the phone and said, "Understood! I am deeply grateful for the Superintendent General’s personal attention!"

Seeing this, a smile finally returned to Director Minami’s face.

*Little medical examiner,* he thought, *I said it before: I’m stepping off a train, you’re stepping off your career path. You aren't just examining a corpse; you're examining your own future. If things go wrong, I’m the one in trouble, but you’re the one who will be punished. The train stopped on the tracks, but you’ve stopped your promotion. Thanks to you, an inspector from your precinct gets to face off against a Representative Director of a Fortune 500 company. Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson in life.*

After the call, Moritsugu and Minami emerged. "Uesugi-kun, we are deeply grateful. Your forensic findings were very sophisticated; we all agree that you are correct."

"Thank you for your assistance. We will handle things from here, you may go back," Inspector Moritsugu said, taking a deep breath. For the first time, he looked directly at Ikeda Erena, who was standing beside Uesugi. "Thank you for your hard work. Please, take Uesugi-kun back."

With that, a subordinate police sergeant presented the death certificate.

Uesugi’s expression changed. He knew it would end right here if he signed. The Shinagawa Precinct and JR East had clearly reached an understanding.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Uesugi took the certificate. He checked the format, took a pen, and filled out the death report. His beautiful, traditional-style calligraphy documented the entire forensic process. When it came to the cause of death, Uesugi hesitated, then placed a checkmark next to "Undetermined Cause" rather than suicide, homicide, or accidental death.

Uesugi wrote slowly, and the onlookers watched intently, especially the JR East staff and the Shinagawa police. They felt their hearts skipping beats.

Only Ikeda Erena was still confused about what was happening.

As Uesugi began to sign and stamp the document, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

*This kid knows when to be sensible,* they thought.

*Good. Let it end here. Now, we just need to find a way to suppress the news...* Inspector Moritsugu reached out with both hands to take the paper.

Unexpectedly, Uesugi folded his hands downward and tore the signed certificate into shreds!

"Are you kidding me?" the man said, unhurried, calm, and deliberate. "Call people here. Call the Metropolitan Police. Investigate! Do as I said—investigate!"

"This cannot just end like this! I have evidence!" Uesugi’s eyes blazed like fire, his voice ringing out like thunder. "I, Uesugi Sosetsu, don't play that game! Notify the Metropolitan Police and JR East right now! Check for luminol reactions on the main line of the Sanya section where this train passed! And investigate the shelters of the former construction workers in the Sanya slums! Go now!"

"INVESTIGATE!!!"

Uesugi’s roar carried far, silencing even the onlookers outside.

Shock, humiliation, and the anger of being offended washed over the faces of Inspector Moritsugu and Director Minami. Director Minami gave a look, and Moritsugu stepped forward. "Uesugi-kun, aren't you being a bit excessive?"

"You are just a medical examiner we hired. You have no law enforcement authority, no search warrant, and you have no right to give us orders. We don't need to pay attention to your words." Moritsugu’s face was livid. With the reporters nearby, he was struggling to keep his composure, but he had to maintain the act. Being reprimanded by a twenty-something medical examiner was a stinging humiliation for a forty-year-old inspector. If not for the reporters, he would have exploded.

"You want to investigate? Fine, we can investigate!" Director Minami, cooler-headed, pushed through the crowd. "Uesugi-kun, we can investigate. Our tens of thousands of employees at JR East can cooperate with you. You want to check the train? Fine. The tracks? Fine. You say someone covered it up? We can verify that too."

"BUT!" Director Minami shouted back, "Searches require evidence! If we find nothing, who takes responsibility?"

"I will!" Uesugi raised his head. For a moment, the twenty-something young man stood his ground against a director of a global corporation with no sign of inferiority.

"You'll take responsibility? You don't have the standing for that!" Minami shook his head. "Searches require evidence! Since you love evidence so much, where is it?"

"The evidence is..." Uesugi pointed to the mangled remains, "...the body."

"The clothes on the body are made of a pure cotton fabric, typical of the workwear issued to construction workers during the building boom of the 70s and 80s. It’s durable and easy to wash. The body shows severe malnutrition and pitting edema, and the dirt and wear on the fingernails and skin suggest the deceased was a person in poverty." Uesugi addressed the hundreds of people present. "Given there are no missing persons reports or reports from family, it’s clear his disappearance caused no ripples. Based on the uniform, he was likely a former construction worker. Director Minami, this train passes through the Sanya slums, famous in Tokyo. If I recall correctly, there are several homeless groups of former construction workers living under bridge arches near the station, right?"

"So, just send someone to check those shelters to see who is missing. Then, focus on the tracks surrounding the local station in Sanya, and you will find the scene of the incident." Uesugi said with absolute certainty. "As for why no one reported it, it is highly likely that the station master and the workers knew this man, knew he was a homeless person no one cared about, and colluded with the conductor to cover it up!"

"Now, I have said my piece. Go investigate. Go right now!!!"

The silence was absolute. For three full minutes, not a soul made a sound.

From a sixty-centimeter fragment consisting only of a right leg and part of a torso, he had deduced the location, time, process, identity, cause of death, and the existence of a cover-up through a surface examination.

*Are you serious?*

Uesugi’s words left everyone stunned. Inspector Moritsugu’s face turned the color of liver. He twitched his mouth, not knowing what to say. He felt both admiration and annoyance toward Uesugi—admiration for his brilliant judgment and professionalism, and annoyance at his stubbornness.

Director Minami’s expression shifted constantly. He looked at Uesugi deeply, with a mix of admiration and annoyance. "If we conduct a serious inspection, we must stop operations on that section, which will affect the travel of tens of thousands. If we investigate thoroughly, it could affect the jobs of hundreds. Uesugi-kun, have you really thought this through? We can stop operations for at most one day. If we find nothing, what will you do?"

"I will lose my job, I will be blacklisted by your company, I might even face a lawsuit, and by tomorrow, I could be the laughingstock of all Tokyo," Uesugi said indifferently. "But I am a medical examiner."

"All I want is for the truth to be told."

"Now, go! I will wait here. I won't leave until there is a result." Uesugi clapped his hands together and said quietly, "I am going nowhere. I will be right here, waiting for your results."

"Fine. Very well." Director Minami thought for a moment and decided to call the President again.

*Investigate!*

All of JR East, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Traffic Division, mobilized!

The police were the first to react. Special mobile units of the traffic police were dispatched, and dozens of patrol cars and motorcycles were deployed. JR East temporarily sealed off an entire section of the railway. Thousands of people were mobilized to begin an investigation along the Sanya line.

Amidst the brewing storm, Uesugi Sosetsu sat calmly in the Shinagawa maintenance facility, waiting for the results alongside Director Minami and Inspector Moritsugu.

Without realizing it, two detectives had stationed themselves behind him, ready to pin him down at any moment, and auto mechanics had quietly surrounded him.

Uesugi ignored the setup. He sat calmly on a plastic bench, even apologizing to Ikeda Erena beside him: "I'm sorry, I’ve dragged you into this. Please, sit."

"..." Erena’s head was still spinning. The tall beauty had witnessed Uesugi’s sudden shift in attitude. She didn't understand why he had suddenly lashed out when he could have just signed the papers, nor did she fully grasp how his deductions had reconstructed the entire case.

She only thought, *Uesugi-san is truly incredible.*

She only thought, *The police and JR East are truly disgusting.*

But none of that seemed to matter anymore. Erena adjusted her skirt, pulled her legs—clad in flesh-colored stockings—together, and sat resolutely beside Uesugi.

*We are accomplices.*

*He is standing on my side, so I must stand on his.*

*I believe in him.*

"I'll wait with you," Erena said to Uesugi.

Uesugi offered a strange smile but said nothing. Opposite them, Director Minami and Inspector Moritsugu sat down, staring at each other.

They sat in silence. The July sun was scorching, and the maintenance facility was as quiet as a grave. In the waiting time, the only sounds were the mechanics adjusting machinery.

*Clink, clank, thud.*

The morning sun continued to rise. The air conditioning in the room ran at full blast, yet the air felt stagnant. A pressure thick enough to choke everyone weighed on their hearts.

Everyone was watching Uesugi.

*Professional? Arrogant? Stubborn? A sense of justice? A genius or... a madman?*

They would have their answer soon.

"I'm hungry. Inspector Moritsugu, could you order a tonkatsu bowl?" As the noon sun reached its zenith, Uesugi suddenly spoke. "This counts as official business, right? Assistant Inspector Tanaka always covers the food!"

"Huh? Uh, sure..." Moritsugu was startled by the request. Hearing this, he closed his eyes in frustration.

*Yes, a tonkatsu bowl. You idiot, you really do deserve a tonkatsu bowl.*

"I'll order it." Just as Moritsugu was about to tell his subordinate to grab some food from a nearby shop, his phone rang.

It was the Metropolitan Police!

"We found it! Inspector Moritsugu! The forensics team found a luminol reaction on a section of the tracks near Sanya Station!"

"What?!" Before Moritsugu could recover from his shock, Director Minami’s phone rang.

"Director Minami, the station master at Sanya has cracked and confessed! He admitted to the cover-up! The deceased is Matsubara Daigo, a former construction worker and a homeless man without residency papers! The station master and several employees all knew him!"

"Really? Can you confirm it?" Minami’s eyes widened.

After receiving a definitive confirmation, the director and the inspector put down their phones.

*Completely... flawless.*

*Are all the new medical examiners these days... monsters?*