Zero's Truth: Forensic Medical Examiner Matsumoto Maou
Ah!
[Protected wildlife Park Do not pick flowers].
(Nakayama Mitsunori) That last assignment is so distant…
(Hiroshi Hosaka) Today we're helping West Tokyo Institute…
(Nakayama) Why don't they handle it themselves?
Hmm… I'm so hungry!
(Hosaka) You want a chocolate? (Nakayama) Thank You!
You want a chocolate?
When you were kid didn't you rub your nose in chocolate…
And pretend you had nosebleed?
You did not? (Matsumoto Mao) Did not.
Me and my brother… You did it?
(Driver) No…
Your brother became a doctor too?
He's running karaoke bars.
He started the karaoke chain "Lovely Echo".
Are you guys tone-deaf?
I am. -I knew it. It shows.
A person like you succeeds at anything.
'Course she fails often, for one she can't keep a schedule.
She can't work in a team, she can't smile…
Muhohohoho…
(Hosaka) Yes please.
Don't tell me we have to walk? (Hosaka) Let's go!
(Hosaka) Thank you. (Nakayama) Good afternoon.
(Hosaka) 1 2! Be careful!
1, 2! 1, 2!
We're still in Tokyo sector?!
Yes, it's Tokyo.
Mind your head!
1, 2! 1, 2!
Good afternoon! Medical Examiner's Office.
We're here for the examination!
(Inspectors) Good afternoon.
What took you so long!
(Tomita Hajime) Beware of dehydration.
Everyone takes a bottle…
Don't be stupid!
It's down here.
Come.
(Examiner) This is all the personal effects?
(Hosaka) What?
Never seen such a corpse.
You really like your job? -I'm starting.
You have more chocolate? -Sure.
Here you are.
If I don't have my blood sugar, I'm useless.
The first on the scene was a fan of ruins. -Fan of ruins?
They come in two types.
Those who take photos, those who want to sneak in.
(Nakayama) This one was a sneaker in.
This is the shoes and clothes she wore.
There's nothing to identify her.
Even in the bag? nothing.
You mean someone took everything that would identify her?
It's possible that she discarded it herself.
I see. -I ate too much, I'm close to a nosebleed.
What? Mummified?
That's unusual.
We're bringing her in. Yes.
It lost its water and dried off…
An external examination doesn't yield anything.
How long does it take for mummification?
At the minimum two to three months.
I gets like this in 2-3 months.
As it is we can say she died more than 2-3 months ago…
A woman, size 1m65.
Estimated age? (Nakayama) From 20 to 60 years old.
Dr. Miporin be serious for a while.
Look who's talking.
You can think what you want about me…
I'm asking you the age of that woman.
It's a mummy, we can't tell anything.
How about I punch you? -Easy now…
Autopsy at the Medical Examiner's Office!
No ligature mark apparent on the neck.
"The body of an adult female was found mummified"
"The police said the body had possibly been dropped there…"
"The investigation is not ruling our murder"
You wanna bet on that mummy's age?
I bet you $100 she's in her forties.
$100, you've come down to modest bets.
I could go to $500, that's getting interesting.
For $500, how old is she?
I'm checking people who have been missing for more than 2 months.
Female 1m65.
Are you an idiot?
80,000 people are gone missing every year.
30,000 women.
Only women, 80 missing every day.
But 90% of those missing people are found.
Judging by her shoes and clothes she's not young…
That certainly narrows the search.
You're welcome to try hard.
I wonder what tomorrow's autopsy's gonna bring.
You like that Medical Examiner's Office…
A mummy was discovered in the Alps in 1990…
It was 3000 years old I was in the Japanese delegation.
We visited the Forensic Department in Paris.
Great! A chance to go for it!
I because I'm from Tokyo University. -Never heard that story chief!
I don't wanna look vain. -Oh come on!
It's my first experience with a mummy…
I hope the chief will offer his insight.
Yes, I wanna see that! -Yes me too.
Yes, last time Iwamatsu…
Let's do this. -Indene too has experience with mummy autopsy.
Matsumoto-kun, many people on that mummy, you don't keep it overnight!
Reply! Yes.
Matsumoto-kun, considering this mummy is 18kg…
Could you assess how much she weighed before her death?
45kg. -Why?
Water represents 60% of a person…
The mummified body lost its water…
The mummy has only 40% weight-mass left.
18kg is 40% of her original weight.
Which is estimated at 18/0.4 = 45kg.
That much anyone could have guessed.
Exfoliation of the skin on the left and right shin.
Exfoliation really? Who can tell.
There's something below the navel. -Really?
Dr. Indene what could this be?
Dr. Indene.
What? -This.
A stretch mark… or a surgery scar.
Surgery…
A stretch mark means she could have been fat…
I'd assess her weight at 55kg.
Once a body is mummified, nothing is certain.
The heart is almost all gone…
Even if the gastrointestinal system is left, it's just a thin thread…
The insides give little clue.
Who? Where? Why is she dead?
(Indene) You're not very committed for a man so learned.
(Nakayama) I didn't mean to…
I want to take her through Ai scan.
Please carry her. -Alright.
(Kosugi Sadao) All the unnatural deaths within the 23 wards of Tokyo…
Come to the medical examiner first…
And if there is suspicion of crime…
They're sent to the Forensic Department at the University for autopsy…
Other non-criminal cases Such as accidental death or suicide…
Undergo clinical autopsy at the Medical Examiner's Office.
This way, 14,000 bodies are examined each year…
While 2500 undergo autopsy.
There is a defect in the thoracic spine.
Where?
This?
On the rib too… here.
A line from the ribs to the thoracic vertebra…
Would be a clue to a stabbing.
She was stabbed… If that is the case…
That's terrible.
We can't know just with the scan, I autopsy.
There's a stabbing on the left fifth rib inner face.
So the weapon entered from the back…
Pierced the heart I and left a mark inside the rib. -Right.
(Nakayama) But we can't see entry wounds on the back or front…
A pointy, sharp tool as an awl or an ice-pick…
Makes a tiny entry hole that disappears when the skin dries.
The heart is right between the thoracic vertebrae and the rib.
The death was probably caused by that wound to the heart.
(Nakayama) If it's a crime they could have sent the university yesterday…
I missed that one.
You didn't make a mistake sir.
Only an autopsy could show it. -I know that.
You don't have to be bossy about the obvious.
Where are you going? (Nakayama) -We need to process the autopsy.
We need to process the autopsy. Hurry up!
What's with you! -Thanks.
What is it? -They treat us like dirt!
I hate these guys at the Medical Examiner's Office.
Oh… Oh!
The site where the mummy was discovered…
A large-scale survey was conducted for land development …
They didn't see the mummy then…
Did I tell you?
I told you to call.
That autopsy, we really had no choice.
Chief! -What?
I thought you'd scold me but you're so kind… my eyes are misty.
No one could have predicted it would be necessary?
We'll perform the clinical autopsy as a formality…
The cause of death is obscure. unsolvable, case closed.
Chief, telephone. no time for my eye drops.
Yes…
Aren't you glad to be the center of attention, Matsumoto-kun.
This clinical autopsy has become a forensic autopsy.
I will now take a sample of skin and bones.
This is how a forensic autopsy should proceed.
The body won't escape, and as the identity is unknown…
We have no hurry to return her to her family.
Enough for today, let's go home.
Chief, there's one question I'd like to ask.
How old do you think she is? (Nakayama) Wait a minute…
Didn't you listen when I said it?
Between 20 and 60 years old.
When do you think she died? -You said you had 'one' question.
Gloves. (Hosaka) Yes.
Judging by the dessication progress …
Considering how much weight she has lost…
I'd say more than 2-3 months, could be a few years.
Thank you, sir!
Oh, yes, the police called earlier about the crime scene…
8 years ago there was a large-scale survey there…
We could estimated this death at eight years ago.
8 years…
Let's call it a day, thank you.
Thank you, sir!
Clean up the place.
It would be 8 years…
Dr Indene. What?
8 years ago What were you doing?
The same as now.
How about you?
8 years ago I came back to Japan from the United States.
Right… and so?
Excuse me.
(Mr. Sugai) Dr. Nakayama.
It's been a while.
Sorry for ambushing you so early.
I'd like to ask you something Dr. Nakayama.
What?
(Door opening and closing)
You slept with the mummy last night too.
I made a CT scan of the trabecular bone.
What?
The mummy?
To determine exactly her age at death.
Accordidng to the shifting of the femoral surface and the lesser trochanter…
The victim died in her forties.
I see.
So What?
Good morning. -Hi.
Please.
Matsumoto-kun did you upload the dentition of the mummy on the police network?
Yes. -You had to report to me before.
Why? -I said so.
Good morning.
Who are you? -Excuse me.
My name is Sugai, I'm a Dr. in dentistry.
I'm Izumisawa chief medical examiner.
After the Great Hanshin Earthquake with Dr. Nakayama we were…
Assigned to the body identification at the morgue.
Matsumoto-kun yesterday uploaded the mummy's dentition on the police network…
Her dentition…
Seem to match the dental record of Dr. Sugai's wife.
This is my wife's dental record.
The name of my wife was Tomoko Sugai.
Born October 3, 1964 She was 41 at the time.
Please let me see my wife.
Rather than go to the police I thought I'd better come straight here…
Where is Tomoko, please?
(Nakayama) Dr. Sugai we deeply sympathize but…
Sugai Tomoko's dental record…
Is a match with the mummy's dentition.
5th left maxillary, 7th lower right jaw Treatment marks on the 6th right maxilla.
Please let me see Tomoko.
For old time's sake, I beg you.
This is Tomoko.
On May, 10, eight years ago…
I closed the medical clinic to return home…
Tomoko was not there.
I thought she was out shopping, but…
She didn't come back.
(Sugai) Where's Tomoko?
(Voice of Sugai) I reported it to the police…
I desperately did everything We couldn't find her.
For 8 years I kept looking for her and waiting.
I want to take Tomoko back home.
Please, I'm begging you!
She may be your wife but she's been killed.
We're Tokyo Metropolitan Police this is a request for forensic autopsy.
She was killed… how is that?
That's what we're investigating.
Mr. Sugai, we're starting an autopsy now.
So if you want to see her…
This way please.
The body is here. -Dr. Matsumoto!
This autopsy will take some time…
He will have to wait for the return of the body.
We'd better let him see her now.
Come here… come here!
Good morning.
(Akiyama) Something happened? sure did!
If he sees a mummy he will have a shock!
Now or later.
We'll bandage her and give her proper form.
That won't conceal the reality.
A medical examiner should have such commonsense and sympathy.
That man needs to know the truth.
To address that need is sympathy.
Tomoko…
Such a long time…
I'm sorry…eight years, I couldn't find you.
Your cat Ulala passed just last month.
Ulala who had been abandoned at our doorstep.
I didn't even like cats…
But you made me love cats, Tomoko.
I saw her draw her last breath.
I couldn't see you, but I saw Ulala.
Tomoko…
I'm sorry… I'm sorry Tomoko.
I missed you so much…
Those 8 years I was so sad.
After such a tragic death, you were left for eight years…
Sorry…
(Sugai cries)
Mr. Sugai…
(Sugai) … Tomoko.
(Nakayama) We'll start the autopsy of the body No. 3 from Okutama.
Let's start.
(Nakayama) The cause of death is a heart wound.
She was stabbed with a pointy tool like an ice-pick.
The weapon entered from the 7th thoracic vertebra pierced the heart…
And left a mark on the left 5th rib inner face.
The cause for exfoliation on both shin is unknown…
That's it.
Did your wife have enemies?
That's a bold idea.
Certainly…
A gentle person who picked a stray cat and raised it. -That's right.
How did you get to know your wife?
I met her we were students in the Dental College.
We graduated together then got married…
We started to work in her father's dental clinic.
He was still healthy at that time.
You worked for your father-in-law?
That's right. You have kids?
No kids. So who's taking the clinic after you?
We spoke with Tomoko…
We'd be looking for a worthy dental student.
I see.
There is a hematoma in the subpleural area.
The rib fractures may have damaged the aorta.
It's 10:20, the autopsy is done.
Thank you.
We haven't done the organ and skin analysis.
If all systems analysis isn't done, it's not finished.
You saw how distraught Mr. Sugai was, I'm not keeping him waiting longer.
New facts could be unveiled with further analysis.
We have the cause of death and the identification, that's all we need.
He wept so much…
It's not what I meant.
Matsumoto-kun please write the postmortem certificate rapidly.
As soon as the police okays it, we return the body to the family.
Dr. Nakayama's authority is growing in stature suddenly.
Anyway we're returning the body, that's best, isn't it Dr. Indene.
I don't know. What?
(Sugai) Sorry for being pushy.
(Nakayama) We value your patience and determination…
I'm grateful that you uploaded her dentition to the police…
So I was able to see my wife again… excuse me.
That body is going home after 8 years of leave.
And it's great that it coincides with the Bon Festival.
Have we found something? (Examiner) Nothing.
(Mobile phone) (Tomita) Hello?
Hello? " 'sup?"
What " 'sup"?…
Found something? Nothing.
We've been searching that building's in every nook and cranny…
And it's been 8 years, there's nothing here.
Look for something that looks like an ice-pick.
Any new info? "None."
The Dental Clinic has a good reputation…
No one remembers anything about that time.
There's something fishy about the way she disappeared.
Matsumoto we go for a steak? -I'm not going.
Alright.
We'll have to hold on to the hypothesis of a random assailant.
At least we identified the body.
Are you stupid. what a shallow cop you are!
You have to read between the lines! (Tomita) Between the lines?
You Yashiki can read between the lines? -Don't be a cretin, of course.
But you're too shallow to see it, you should listen to people!
What the…? -You're hopeless.
Let's go for a steak. -I'm fine.
Nakayama Miporin had a big success today.
It was heart-rending to see the love of that man pouring over that mummy.
I felt it too.
Iwamatsu I'll return your handkerchief when I washed it.
It's fine as it is. -Thanks.
I'm sure, seeing him like this, she heard him.
She sure heard him.
But he could not take her in his arms. -Impossible.
They loved each other so much.
My old lady too sometimes, runs away when she's upset.
But I know she sleeps at a friend's or her parents' place.
But if one of us disappeared, I'd be really sad.
(Kodama) Your wife has to run away sometimes, I knew it.
What do you mean by "I knew it"?
(Kodama) …because your wife was raised like a princess…
Sometimes she's probably demanding.
When I broke up with Indene I looked for such princess type.
(Iwamatsu) We're so amazed by the story of your life, chief.
Maybe Mr. Sugai made you think about your wife.
How about 'red'. Let's go for it.
Red wine? let's go for it!
No one remember about 8 years ago.
Possibly.
Could be 8 years ago, some people have a sharp memory.
Sure. Me I can't remember what I had for lunch.
(Sigh)
Sometimes I remember about 8 years ago…
With grief or remorse sometimes.
So it's about a man?
If I was still hung about a man 8 years later, it would be hatred.
You're drawing an eight.
Your legs are great.
8 years ago is when I first met you Ichiro.
I don't think I remember!
How lucky! Blissful forgetfulness.
Gimme a break!
You know an inspector does no to think from experience.
I soon forget thus I don't think in patterns, and that's my art.
Your art? -Sure.
You're bullshitting me…
Dr. Indene, what were you doing 8 years ago?
(Cry of Sugai)
Thank you for coming!
(Sugai) Thank you for coming.
[Tags] "skin", "bone"
There she is again.
Why are you waiting here?
You can't enter in my absence…
I found a substance adhering on Sugai's trachea, please analyze it.
(Kume) You hate her but you give her priority.
(Tsukuda) The soner I either her off my back. -Why such consideration?
Because I dislike her.
When you dislike someone obsessively, you start to like her, right?
What the…?
That substance in Sugai Tomoko's trachea…
That substance I found it.
(Indene) Her trachea? Why the trachea?
To assess the environment before one dies the trachea is reliable…
The trachea is cartilage so it remains close to the bone.
The digestive enzymes have all disappeared. I wondered if something was there.
(Tsukuda) That substance that has adhered is primula pollen.
Primula pollen?
It is only found in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture…
The flower blooms in April-May.
(Examiner) We couldn't find that pollen on her personal effects.
Primula pollen is so rare.
Did you test it for blood? I can't.
Why? -Look at what's left of it!
She was stabbed from the back. There should be some blood.
That's puzzling.
What have you been doing all that time?
Easy now!
Sorry about that!
Find who disappeared in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture 8 years ago in April-May…
Alright.
41 years old woman who disappeared in May 2006 in Kiryu…
Takeshita Kozue 158 cm 45 kg.
She could be that mummy.
Who the hell are you?
(Takeshita Aya) In those days I was living with my mother and grandmother.
I was going to school …
My mother told us she was going to Tokyo for the day…
She went at noon. -I see.
(Aya) My mother abandoned me.
It doesn't matter anymore, forget it.
(Tomita) We are re-opening cases of missing people.
(Aya) I'm not talking about it anymore, and if you knew something I don't care.
Did your mother have a surgery scar on her stomach?
This is Dr. Matsumoto, medical examiner.
That mummy was not Sugai Tomoko.
What? Dr. Matsumoto it's your day off.
A substance was found in her trachea.
That is found only in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture…
Primula pollen.
But the clothes found on the body had no trace of it.
May 11, 2006.
The missing person report was issued the same day as Sugai Tomoko.
She's a women from Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture.
She was 41 at the time.
On her stomach a scar from a cesarean section.
It was confirmed that she breathed that pollen at her home location…
The mummified body is not Sugai Tomoko…
She's Kozue Takeshita from Kiryu City.
Mrs. Takeshita was killed and dressed in Mrs. Sugai's clothes…
Right.
But how about the dental record?
How could she have the same dentition as Sugai Tomoko.
What?
Mr. Sugai knew she wasn't his wife?
That's right.
No way!
You get it? -Nope.
Sugai knew she wasn't his wife and he brought Takeshita's dental file to confuse us…
We were all deceived brilliantly.
That's right.
(Bell)
Come on, go.
No, no, don't…
I told you "don't"!
(Sigh)
(Live) They raced at an incredible speed.
How do you feel?
Well…thank you.
Gambling is fun but one needs to win.
The dental file you brought to the Medical Examiner's Office wasn't your wife's…
It belonged to someone else.
What's that?
I give you a drive to the police station.
(Investigators) Don't run! Stop!
(Tomita) This is the end of the run.
Don't use that hammer!
(Voice of Sugai) When my wife knew that I had embezzled her family's asset.
She got upset and asked for a divorce.
(Voice of Sugai) We were arguing I hit her without thinking…
She hit her head and died almost instantly.
I had no intention to kill.
What did you do with the body?
Give a straight answer, asshole.
I Buried her. -Where? -In our garden.
(Tomita) I burried her then I notified the police.
Why did you kill Takeshita Kozue?
This woman was a school friend of Tomoko's…
She had come for treatment for a while.
All the way from Gunma.
(Takeshita Kozue) I don't need that drink, tell me where Tomo-chan is.
I spoke with her last night.
She said you'd betrayed her.
I spoke with her this morning again.
This is not something easy to say…
She said she feared for her life.
I know, she gets upset and says that sometimes.
Where is she now?
I couldn't reach her later. -At her parents'.
So I'll call them. -Wait!
I'm going now to pick her up.
It could be confusing if you call…
How about you come along?
Maybe she didn't believe me but she came along blindly.
(Voice of Sugai) I took her deep in the mountains and killed her.
(Takeshita) Ah!
Ah…
Then you dressed her in your wife's clothes.
I thought, once her skeleton is left…
They'd identify my wife with the clothes…
And all her assets would be transferred to me.
To play on bets, I'm a gambler.
Gambling has always a way to defeat you at the end.
Cretin.
(Iwamatsu) That Dentist, Sugai, killed them both.
When I met him he looked like a reliable person.
He really took you for a ride, Dr. Nakayama.
I hope you can forgive me.
You don't have to apologize. (Nakayama) But I screwed up, big time.
(Hosaka) You all are doing your job with such dedication…
How could you get fooled?
You really went too far this time.
Living one's life… one has to lie.
Lying is a proof that someone is well alive.
Dr. Matsumoto.
Mrs. Takeshita's daughter asking for a keepsake from her mother…
A keepsake from her mother? (Akiyama) Yes.
This is skin that was taken off her body.
You can have it if you like.
This is… from my mom…
It's skin scar from her cesarean section.
(Sobbing)
Mom…
(Sobbing)
The medical examiner is the last to take care of a person.
The medical examiner…
Determines the correct cause of death to return dignity to the dead…
He connects that single death to the many lives he left behind.
(Kosugi) Her mother had not abandoned her.
Her mother had been killed.
It's spicy.
It's a good thing we unveiled the truth.
It may be.
The truth doesn't save people.
I want the truth.
Even if I had to die for it.
Don't speak so lightly about death…
In front of a murderer.
That's why I come here.
Even 172 times. -No it's been 175 times.
Really?
You killed my mother?
[Matsumoto Yuko -Morgue].
I didn't.
I killed men.
I'm charged with killing 3 men.
And I didn't kill your mother.
(Buzzer)
Your mother was a goddess.
I have no reason to kill a goddess. -So why did my mother…
Eric Paroissien translation