01x10 - Episode 10

[bunniefuu]

Excuse me.

I'm Hinako Shinoda,

a reporter for the Sengoku Weekly.

A tabloid?

I have a photo I'd like to show you

in relation to Ms. Madoka.

Does anyone here look familiar?

I'm sorry, someone's here,

I'll be right back.

I don't want to cause a scene.

Please come inside.

Thank you.

Sorry.

HASHIMOTO

I didn't want people to overhear,

so come inside.

I'm so sorry!

I'll come in.

Let's see that picture.

It may not relate to

Ms. Madoka's case at all,

but does this seem familiar to you?

What is this picture of?

We're currently following a story

on the fugitive Kota Kubozuka,

and this picture turned up.

I have one favor to ask.

Please don't share that a tabloid

reporter brought you this picture.

The police, too?

You mean they don't know?

We uncovered it ourselves.

But this Kubozuka

is a wanted fugitive, isn't he?

Usually you'd submit this.

Why wouldn't you?

We don't know if it's a lead or not.

Not telling the police first?

What are you after?

For a scoop?

You're doing this

to write a tabloid piece?

That's why you're hiding

something that is potential evidence?

Threatening me not to share it

with anyone.

I'm sorry.

That wasn't meant as a threat.

I'm sorry for upsetting you.

The reason I came here today

was to learn if you had heard

from Ms. Madoka lately.

I swear, that's all.

Would you look at the picture again?

If you don't recognize anything,

that's okay.

We'll continue to look for leads

on Ms. Madoka's whereabouts.

Please!

Please.

I'm sorry.

Could you show me again?

Thank you.

Who is this here?

You don't recognize them?

I don't think so.

Did they do it?

All I can say is there's a possibility

they're involved.

Then you're saying it's not Kubozuka?

I don't know yet.

We're investigating that now.

Sorry to ask again.

You're not the police?

No, I'm not.

But I think a tabloid reporter

can also have a role to play.

I'm sorry I couldn't help.

Not at all.

I'm sorry for the intrusion.

She loved these.

A bear?

She's waiting for Madoka, too.

I promise to bring her home to you.

Ms. Shinoda?

You're working late.

You, too.

So, are you taking a break?

I feel a little stuck.

Me, too.

The case has so much information,

I can barely keep up.

I keep wondering where the truth

of this case might be hiding.

The truth of the case, huh?

Right now,

all the information about the case

are like stars.

But if you draw lines between those stars,

you'll discover a new constellation.

What?

Something a detective said

in the novel I'm editing.

So how about you pretend to be

the protagonist of my mystery novel.

I want you to find a star.

I'm sure you just haven't found

the constellations in the darkness yet.

Okay, I guess I'll keep looking

for these stars you're talking about.

Nice!

You're Detective Hinako Shinoda.

So like this?

I need to work hard too.

You got this.

Have a good night.

You too.

It was another fake tip.

I came up with nothing too.

Good work.

You too.

Good work.

So?

Find the Sunglasses Man?

Not yet, I'm sorry.

It's fine. Take your time.

What's that?

I got pictures from

the marriage mixer organizers.

What are the pictures of?

They sent every picture they've taken

for all their mixers.

There's even pictures of staff including

cooks, waiters, florists, and cameramen.

Thought it could help.

But it seems hard to find the Sunglasses

Man from all these.

Plus, he might not be wearing sunglasses.

Wait.

He looks somewhat similar.

Vaguely, though.

Hold on.

I feel like I saw him in a picture

I got from Ms. Iijima.

In a picture from an industry party.

Look!

This man.

They do seem alike and

have similar features around the mouth.

True.

I'll check with Ms. Iijima.

I'll ask the party organizer tomorrow.

Okay.

According to Ms. Iijima,

the Sunglasses Man looks like the first

victim Harue Komiyama's nephew.

His name is Atsuhiro Imamura.

He's the son of Harue Komiyama's

older sister.

She died a few years ago,

and Ms. Komiyama would give

her nephew work and financial support.

Financial support?

If he was relying on his successful aunt,

he'd be in her debt.

As a beauty consultant, she had money.

What is Imamura's job?

It seems he worked at a design firm,

but he quit and started his own company.

May I interject?

What is it?

Ms. Komiyama's sister

and parents passed away, right?

Yes.

If she earned a fortune as a consultant,

her nephew would

inherit everything, wouldn't he?

Dai, look into Imamura

and Komiyama's relationship.

Okay.

INHERITANCE?

Anything else, Murai?

Oh, take a look at this photo.

It's one of the photos we got

from the marriage mixer organizers.

This man looks like the Sunglasses Man.

We don't know if he's the same person.

Yamabuki went to verify it.

If it's the same person,

that connects Makiko Tanioka's case

and Harue Komiyama's.

Still, I'm not seeing the big picture.

Excuse me.

What was the Akasaka Cave again?

It's a cave bar in Akasaka.

It's where Ms. Komiyama met with

Kubozuka before her death.

A cave bar.

It's pretty interesting,

drinking booze in the dark.

They hand you a lantern at the entrance,

and your eyes have to adjust.

I had no idea what we were drinking.

But you ordered the drinks!

That's how dark it was.

Maybe Kubozuka drugged her then.

That's totally possible.

I'm back.

Great!

I visited the organizer's office.

Any pushback?

No, they helped look for new pictures.

Sorry for being so late.

I got details on the Sunglasses Man.

Let's see.

He was involved with the marriage mixer.

He was in charge of their website design.

Web designer?

They weren't expecting him at the party,

but he said he came in for work.

Which is why he likely got past reception

without signing in.

Did you get his name?

Yes.

Atsuhiro Imamura.

Yamabuki, go to the venue now

and check if he really had business there.

Okay.

Shinoda and Murai, go to

his former workplace and ask questions.

Okay.

It's Akutsu.

Put him on speaker.

Yes, what's up?

Good evening.

I was eavesdropping on someone

from Aoshiro's company,

and they were worried about

the Truth Weekly.

What do you mean?

It seems the Truth Weekly reporter is in

contact with one of Aoshiro's employees.

Why the hell are they in contact?

Apparently, the Truth Weekly got ahold

of Aoshiro's former secretary,

who seems to be their source.

Seriously? What information

is she giving them?

I believe it's about his relationships.

Ms. Kizaki, the second victim's name,

came up.

Yuko Kizaki.

This is Tsubaki.

Yes, hello.

I got information that Yuko Kizaki

was an investor who invested in Aoshiro.

Is that right?

The secretary knows about that too.

I also heard Aoshiro gave Yuko Kizaki

a key to his apartment.

But Aoshiro has an alibi

for the second victim.

So the Truth Weekly thinks Aoshiro

came up with the plan

and Kubozuka carried it out.

That's my guess.

Which means the Truth Weekly's headline

would be like

"Handsome Businessman's Dark Secret:

The Mysterious Death of a Young Beauty."

What we fear is them finding

strong evidence against Aoshiro.

Akutsu, thanks for the report.

Of course. I'll keep watching Aoshiro.

I made up my mind!

This will be the top story

for our next issue.

Hold on.

We need to investigate more first.

Either we get outscooped

by the Truth Weekly or we outscoop them.

- It's one or the other.

- I get that.

But this is a big story

I've been chasing since last autumn.

Don't worry, be confident

and get back to it.

I don't want to fall short.

One wrong move, and we get sued.

You know that better than anyone.

Murai, we have an ace up our sleeve.

It will stain our record.

I urge for discretion here.

Look, I don't know what that man's done,

but I'm not covering for him.

He already left our company.

Plus, he was a designer in name only.

He kept bragging about

his successful aunt.

Also, he wasn't the type to have his fun

partying it up with everyone.

More like get sucked into

some weird, shady hobby.

A shady hobby?

What kind exactly?

The type of hobby I can't share.

Like bondage for example?

I can't say.

That's the nature.

You said you wouldn't cover for him.

I wouldn't cover for him,

but as a fellow man,

I'll protect his dignity.

We done?

Keep me anonymous, okay?

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're back.

Welcome back.

What happened?

Kitahama pulled some strings

to dig up the Truth Weekly's

secret weapon.

Turns out it's pretty big.

Aoshiro's currently dating

a famous actress.

It's the cherry they need to put on top

the suspicious deaths.

They're going to lead with it for sure.

If they do, the editor-in-chief

won't let us lead with our story.

It means all we can do

is sit back and watch.

Mr. Kitahama.

We can't.

Even if we break Imamura's story,

it's too late.

Like you said, we still have

more to investigate.

We were too slow.

Mr. Murai.

We ran a good race.

Doesn't matter if it's buried.

Akutsu, good work on the stakeout.

Well.

I'm still bitter.

How can it end like this?

Look, it happens in our industry.

It's cruel, sure.

But it's normal.

Just be sure to thank everyone

like Ms. Iijima who helped out.

- Yes, sir.

- Thanks.

Cave bar…

Darkness.

Kubozuka.

Was with her the day before her death.

Komiyama.

Inheritance.

Imamura.

A shady hobby?

Imamura and Komiyama.

Vaguely

resemble each other?

DARKNESS

SHADY HOBBY

What is it?

A witness said Ms. Komiyama met with

Kubozuka the day before her death.

But was it really Harue Komiyama

who Kubozuka met with?

We heard Atsuhiro Imamura

had a shady hobby.

Perhaps that hobby was crossdressing.

Crossdressing?

So maybe Kubozuka met with Imamura who

was dressed like a woman at the cave bar

and not Harue Komiyama.

Then Mr. Imamura k*lled Ms. Komiyama

and framed Kubozuka.

What's Imamura's motive?

The inheritance?

Most likely.

INHERITANCE?

Mr. Murai, Yamabuki.

Su, Dai, Attsu.

Go try to verify if Imamura

was into crossdressing.

Yes, sir!

Shinoda.

Good catch.

Can we still go for the top story?

Oh, yeah.

It's a walk-off grand slam.

This could be a big scoop.

- I'll go too!

- Okay.

TO BE CONTINUED

We're launching a camouflage tactic.

Who's good at lying low?

We have to find some evidence

to make it for the next issue.

A tabloid like us made a breakthrough.

It's all over for tabloids!