bullyxtreme Chapter 945 Rule out homicide
Chapter 945 Rule out homicide
"What?! Sato is dead?! What happened? Why did such a major crisis happen overnight? Can anyone tell me why?" While Matsui was shocked and furious, a surge of joy welled up inside him.
He had been marginalized a year ago. Although he still served as the commander of the Shanghai-Nanjing garrison, the orders issued by the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters bypassed his garrison command and were instead issued directly to the garrison commanders, the military police commander, and the Special Higher Police, effectively sidelining him.
So many things have happened overnight, with Special Higher Police Chief Sakata Tadayoshi and Military Police Commander Sato both dead. He can take this opportunity to consolidate his military power!
"Let's go check on the Special Higher Police first, then we'll go to the Military Police Headquarters!" After Matsui finished speaking, he turned to his adjutant and instructed, "Send someone to contact the 137th Brigade Commander Kagawa, the detachment commander Kono, the Marine Corps Colonel Yamada, the Air Force Commander Colonel Nomura, and Shibayama Shiro, the person in charge of Umedo, and inform them to come to the Garrison Command Headquarters for a meeting at 8 a.m. tomorrow!"
The adjutant, "Hayi," stood at attention.
When the convoy reached the main street in front of the Special Higher Police, Matsui got out of the car and saw a scene of ruins before him, with corpses and severed limbs everywhere. All the Japanese officers accompanying him stared at the scene in disbelief.
The area has been taken over by a company of Japanese soldiers, who are clearing the rubble and carrying out corpses.
"Commander, the 33rd Company is reporting to you!" The person in charge at the scene ran over and saluted Matsui.
After returning the greeting, Matsui asked, "What's the situation on the ground? Are there any survivors?"
The Japanese company commander replied, "So far, we've only found eight living people in the gatehouse and the prison behind it, but they all suffered injuries of varying degrees. Apart from that, all we've found are either corpses or severed limbs. The death toll has exceeded 32. We are still searching through the ruins."
Matsui said coldly, "Continue the search. If you find any wounded, send them to the army hospital for treatment as soon as possible! Also, identify these corpses and severed limbs as quickly as possible, collect their belongings and register them. The weather is hot now, and it's inconvenient to preserve the bodies, so we need to dispose of them quickly."
"Also, you need to find out the cause of the explosion as soon as possible, where the explosives came from, who brought them in, and how they detonated. I need to know who the culprit is. I'm giving you three days. I don't care what methods you use. I want to see your investigation report after three days. If you don't find out the truth, I'll execute you and send someone else to investigate until the truth is found!"
"Hayi!"
After circling the ruins again, Matsui led his entourage to the military police headquarters a few hundred meters away.
Inside the military police headquarters, a solemn atmosphere prevailed, and the alert level was raised to another level.
Matsui's convoy arrived directly at the office building of the Military Police Headquarters.
"Commander, you've arrived!" Lieutenant Colonel Inukai of the Military Police Headquarters immediately led several officers out of the building to greet him.
Matsui waved his hand and said, "Take me to the scene!"
"Hai, Commander, this way please!"
Led by Lieutenant Colonel Inukai, Matsui arrived at the door of Sato's office.
Inside the office, several professional criminal investigation police officers were examining the scene, and another officer was taking pictures at the scene with a camera.
Sato's body is still hanging on the window and hasn't been taken down yet, since the scene hasn't been fully investigated and the body can't be moved.
"Go and call over the person in charge of the site survey!" Matsui ordered.
Lieutenant Colonel Inukai agreed and immediately assigned someone to call a middle-aged policeman over.
"Greetings, Commander. I am Sergeant He Dayou from the Police Department, in charge of investigating this case," the middle-aged policeman said as he approached Matsui.
Matsui nodded expressionlessly and asked, "How much longer will the survey take?"
"It will be over in 10 minutes at most!" He Dayou replied.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you in the conference room for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I want to hear your preliminary on-site investigation report,” Matsui said.
"Ha Yi," He Dayou immediately stood at attention, bowed his head, and bent over.
Lieutenant Colonel Inukai then led Matsui and the others to the conference room to rest, drink tea, and wait.
Matsui sat at the head of the conference table, sipping his tea, and asked, "Inukai-kun, do you think Sato hanged himself?"
"Well... Commander, I'm not a professional criminal investigator, so I wouldn't dare to draw conclusions without investigation! But I know Colonel Sato's character; he doesn't seem like the type to commit suicide!" Inukai stammered out his opinion.
Matsui nodded: "Yes, that's the same as my opinion, but it's not entirely impossible. If someone encounters an insurmountable obstacle or despairs of the world, even someone like Sato might choose to take this path!"
"But what puzzles me is that since he chose this path, why didn't he just end it quickly? Wouldn't it have been better to use a gun? Why did he choose to hang himself?"
Lieutenant Colonel Inukai chimed in, "Yes, Commander, that's something I can't understand either. However... if Commander Sato wanted to preserve his body intact, that choice would be understandable. The key is the investigation results. If the investigation finds clues of homicide, it means the scene was staged by the murderer; but if no signs of homicide are found, it means Sato didn't want to damage his own body."
“Then let’s wait for the preliminary findings of the investigation,” Matsui said.
Ten minutes later, after they had almost finished their tea, Sergeant He Dayou, who was in charge of the scene investigation, walked into the conference room with a folder in his hand.
"Chief He, how's it going? Have you reached any preliminary conclusions?" Lieutenant Colonel Inukai asked immediately.
He Dayou stood at attention and said, "Sirs, based on the results of the on-site investigation, we have found no signs of unauthorized entry. The doors and windows are intact. Apart from the fingerprints and shoe prints of the deceased and his adjutant, we have not found any fingerprints or shoe prints of a third person at the scene."
"No signs of fighting or vandalism were found at the scene!"
"After we lowered the body, the forensic doctor conducted a preliminary examination. The deceased died of mechanical asphyxiation, and apart from ligature marks from the neck rope, there were no other external injuries."
"In addition, we conducted an on-site hanging experiment on the body and confirmed that the ligature marks on the deceased's neck were caused by the body being suspended in the air, rather than by someone strangling the deceased from behind!"
"Based on the above points, our preliminary conclusion is that homicide is a possibility. The final conclusion will be given after the body is taken back for autopsy!"
Everyone was surprised; at least most didn't think Sato would commit suicide, but the investigation's conclusion left no room for doubt. Everyone looked at Matsui.
Matsui said, "Alright, Chief He, I await your final conclusion. If homicide is ruled out, I hope you can investigate the reasons for Sato's suicide."
He Dayou said with great difficulty, "Commander, it's not that I'm trying to shirk responsibility, but Commander Sato is, after all, a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Army. This may involve his privacy, and we, as local criminal investigators, are afraid it's not appropriate for us to intervene in the investigation."