I wish there were something exciting

- Like what?
- Perfect crime?

- I have a joker on hand
- Lady Joker, huh...

- He killed himself because of what I said.
- That's enough.

but this should put an end to our ordeal

it's kidnapping!

Hinode Beer's president has been kidnapped!

You also want to make some money with stocks, huh?

There's a possibilty that a "Sokaiya" might be involved.

Sokaiya?

we want 2 billion yen

hostage is 350 million kilo liters of Hinote beer.

If you don't pay, the hostage dies.

Get ready to guard Mr. Shiroyama!

LADY JOKER

LADY JOKER
Episode 2

- Good morning
- Good morning

Shiroyama Kyosuke, age 60. President of Hinode Beer,

was taken away by somebody in front of his house in Ootaku Sannou.

Police is treating it as kidnapping case.

Good morning

Good morning

Good morning

Yamanashi prefecture, Minamitsuru district

Yamanaka lake firehouse

Mr. Shiroyama walked into get help by himself

and safely taken under their custody

Although Mr. Shiroyama's isn't fully recovered,

he was able to walk on his own,

and was able to respond to all questions without problems.

As a precautionary measure however...

We're live at Hinode Beer's head quarter.

About 60 hours ago,

on Monday of 10th, 9:48PM,

Mr. Shiroyama's vehicle left the headquarter.

He then arrived at his home in Ootaku Sannou at 10:05PM.

Right after he got out of the car,

he was kidnapped.

You're the president. So you decide...

if you want to cooperate with the police and let the company go down in toilet...

or cooperate with us, and save the company.

think about it

But before you start walking...
make sure to look at this first.

With testimony from Mr. Shiroyama, the investigation is expected to ramp up.

Mr. Shiroyama is coming out

Mr. Shiroyama!

Did they demand a ransom?

Mr. Shiroyama greeted the press and got inside his vehicle

Judging by his face, I can see he made a backdoor deal.

Next press conference is at noon

Seri, leave the font page section 2 empty for now.

We'll fill it with text later

Hello, this is local news desk

Can I speak to Kikuchi Takeshi?

To whom am I speaking?

My name is Toda, and I'd like to speak to Kikuchi

I'm sorry, but he left the company a long time ago.

If you'd like, you can speak to me instead.

I'm Yashiro covering local news

Alright fine.

I'm going to tell you what kind of company Hinode Beer really is

Go ahead please

Hinode Beer would have no qualm betraying people for its gain

I bet tons of people are cheering about the president's kidnapping

But since Hinode is a big advertiser,

no national newspaper woulld dare to divulge their true color.

That's why your paper should do an expose on them.

Got it?

An insider tip?

I'm not sure yet.

Anyway, what does Mr. Kikuchi do these days?

He runs an investment consulting firm

Investment consulting?

I got his business card

He loved speculating stocks. You should be careful, because he's also a tough guy.

Here it is

- Serujek?
- Yep

Let me confirm your story one more time

At all time, you were blindfolded, so you were not able to see the kidnappers

So you don't know their face, body type, or what they were wearing.

Yes

And the kidnappers demanded 600 million yen in cash

Yes

Mr. Shiroyama,

if what the kidnappers want is indeed money,

then their method is very unsual.

While you were kidnapped, they made no attempt to contact your company or your house

Moreover, after making demand for 600 million yen, they let you go free.

How do they expect to get paid if they no longer have their hostage?

Hostage is 3.5 million kilo-liter of Hinode beer

Mr. Shiroyama,

I think you are not telling us everything.

I've told you everything I remember

What about this then?

Letter of complaint

The complaint states that someone sent an audio CD filled with baseless accusation about your company

Is that true?

Yes

On 9/2/2011,

an applicant named Hatano Takayuki during middle of his interview.

And shortly after, he was killed in an accident.

Isn't it true that the letter and the CD were sent by his father?

And shortly after, he also killed himself by jumping onto a track

Dad hired an investigator.

When he found out about Hatano's father's Burakumin background, he opposed the marriage

Mr. Shiroyama,

This is discriminatory hiring...
Mr. Shiroyama?

I'm sorry, can you repeat?

Isn't it true that the father wanted to find out if his son had been discriminated against during hiring process?

Yes

However, no such discrimination took place then,

nor has there been one in the past.

The person who originally wrote the letter was Okamura Seiji,

who is the uncle of the deceased applicant's mother.

I did hear that they were distant relatives

Stories like this will leak out soon, and spread very quickly.

If the media digs deeper into this story,

your company image will become tarnished.

To avoid such consequence, you have to tell us everything you know.

As i've said before,,

I've already told you everything I remember.

Hello, this is Yashiro from Toho newspapers

Mr. Yashiro?

Oh, it has been awhile

You guys must be really busy because of the Hinode case

Yes

And actually, I'm calling you to talk about the Hinode case.

Do you know a person named Toda?

He is an elderly gentleman who speaks with Kansai dialect

He called looking for you, Mr. Kikuchi.

Ah, Mr. Toda!

Can you tell me more about him?

Toda Yoshinori

He is a third-rate journalist in Osaka area.

He used to run his own trade publication for awhile,

but since that went under, he now freelances.

We did some work together before,

but we no longer keep in touch.

Why, what did Mr. Toda say?

Well...

he said a lot of people hold grudge against Hinode Beer.

Something like that.

Now that I think about it, he also worked at Hinode Beer before

Toda Yoshinori?

Yes

It happened many decades ago, but I heard he was wrongfully terminated

Wrongfully terminated?

He claimed he was terminated because of his Burakumin background,

but I'm not sure if it is true.

Thank you

That call was from a Toho newspaper reporter

Yeah?

Hello, Sano?
It's been awhile

Can we meet?

Hinode Beer

Welcome back, Mr. president

Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry to have worried you.

Welcome back.

I'm glad you are safe

I'm going to make a stop on each floor and say hi to everyone,

and I'll be attending the board meeting at 6:30.

Yes sir.

Kyosuke,

I'm really sorry about what happened before

- I'm sorry!
- Stop it, Sugihara

- Calm down
- I'm sorry

I am really sorry

Listen up, Sugihara

The perpetrators are only after the money.

They have nothing to do with that audio CD

So keep the family issue out of it

But if the media is scrutinizing this case,

- the company will suffer...
- If that happens,

it is our job to figure out a way to minimze the damage.

It is critical that you do your job as a director at this point.

Don't worry too much

Understood.

Sir,

VP Mr. Shirai and Mr. Kurata are here

Let them in,

and hold off on any incoming calls.

Got it.

We wanted to talk to you before the board meeting.

- Newspapers say the ransom was 600 million yen?
- Yes

But it's not 600 million yen

The amount they're demanding is...

2 billion yen.

2 billion?!

I'm not sure why,

but the kidnappers told me to tell the police that the amount was 600 million.

I haven't told this to the police yet,

but the reason why they let me go is,

so that I tell the police this false amount,

and to have me get the ransom money ready.

They also said,

the hostage is...
350 million kilo-liter of Hinode Beer

Beer?

- They're going after our product?
- Most likely

Did they say why they're targetting Hinode Beer?

No

They didn't mention anything else besides the 2 billion yen demand.

And they did not answer any of my questions.

So they didn't mention anything about the interviewee Hatano, or your niece?

They didn't.

And no mention of the Okada Association, and their property?

No mention of that either.

What is your feeling on this?

To avoid the worst case scenario, I didn't tell the police everything I knew.

And I left the channel of communication with the kidnappers open.

Does that mean you are going to pay them off?

If the perpetrators go after our products,

the monetary damage to our company will be catastrophic.

- 1 trilliion?
- It will cost us 1 trillion yen

And if our customers get sick or die, the damage to our company will be far greater

Stocks will tank.

So if we can make it go way,

2 billion yen is a cheap price to pay.

I'm in agreement too.

At this point, there's no hope of arresting the kidnappers.

So to minimze the potential damage,

we don't have a choice but to...

Wait a minute.

Media is already suspecting that a backdoor deal might be taking place.

If we go through with it, and the media finds out,

our company's brand will be tarnished.

In my opinion,

we should tell the police everything.

If we tell the police that the real hostage is our beer,

it's going to be a bigger problem if the media gets a hold of that information.

Police will not protect us.

We have to protect our own products

That's my conclusion as the president.

Mr. Shirai, if you were in my shoes, what would you do?

Mr. Shirai

I understand

There's no new lead on the stolen vehicle

I will keep looking

Ok

Hinode Beer

Is this ok with everyone?

Thank you for supporting my decision

As for discussing our strategy on how to deal with the prepetrators,

let's first see how the police investigation unfolds.

Any other opinions?

One last thing.

Just in case something happens, I want to make this clear.

Sure

The real target of the perpetrator is Hinode Beer, correct?

That is correct.

May I say something?

We just rolled out a brand new product "Excellent" beer.

Should some kind of product sabotage occur,

our sales will be cut by more than half.

Sir,

I know you must be exhausted,

but would you mind confirming tomorrow's schedule?

Sure

Thanks

I'm going to excuse myself then.

- Thanks for your hard work
- Thank you.

Hello, Shiroyama residence

It's me

Darling, is everything ok?

Yes I'm fine.

I'm about to leave now, so I'll be home after 10.

Ok.
Yoshiko is here.

Hello, this is Yoshiko.

I'm so glad you're safe.

I'm sorry I made you worry

Uncle,

Yes?

Do you think this is because of what happened to my boyfriend a year ago?

- Then this is all because of me...
- Yoshiko, you're thinking too much

They are completely unrelated.

Really?

Yes, really.

So you don't have worry.

Ok

I'm going to sleep over here.

I want to make sure I see you.

Sure, I'll see you later then.

Oomori Station
Let's have our investigation briefing.

- Any status on the vehicle?
- Yes

The dark gray van used to kidnap Mr. Shiroyama,

was not seen on the highway camera system leading to Fujiyoshida city.

On the night of kidnapping,

an owner of a small passenger car had hit a guardrail by Daibosatsu hill.

Though the owner try to flag down a dark gray van for assistance,

the driver of the van didn't stop and sped away.

Considering skillful manuevering through curves at high speed,

I believe the van was driven by an expert driver.

Can you provide more information on the kidnapping?

Yes sir

The food the kidnappers gave Mr. Shiroyama include:

Fruits, milk, cream pastry, cheese, pudding, and banana.

What were they thinking feeding him children's food?

Be quiet

- Continue
- Yes

There were two convenience store nearby.

So we are currently analyzing their security camera footages.

And we've requested more information from Fujiyoshida city police about the surrounding at the time of the crime.

Gokurosama desu!

- Do you always come by at this time?
- Yes!

But you weren't around on the night of the incident, right?

That's correct

Officer Sawaguchi, please come to station

I got it. I'm on my way to the scene.

It looks another accident. Please excuse me.

Thank you.

Serujek?

Kikuchi Takeshi. He used to work for our newspaper.

I heard a rumor from my writer friend.

What kind of rumor?

That Kikuchi Takeshi has a deep tie to Okada Association

Okada Association?
Really?

Well, it's just a rumor.

- Would you mind looking into it for me?
- Sure

- Hey, Mr. Yashiro
- Hrm?

What do you think is going to happen to Hinode's stock price?

If I knew that, I would be buying.

The fact that the kidnappers released the president unharmed,

tells me that Hinode Beer did a backdoor deal with the kidnappers.

I'm curious how this will impact the stock price moving forward.

Good morning

Hey Yashiro, they beat us to it.

How come we missed this?!

A mystery audio CD surfaces.
Is it related to Hinode president's kidnapping?

New facts emerge about the Hinode Beer case

A case of revenge?
A suspicious recording from 1 year ago....

...could it be related to recent kidnapping?

Goda, you knew about the article?

It's news to me.

Thank you

How depressing.

Newspapers have better channel of information than us police.

Since you were at the elite Team 1 for a long time, you can tell how far behind we are.

I'm heading over to Tokyo Stock Exchange now

But I have no idea what I'm doing really.

Is this to watch Hinode's stock price movement?

I'm just following my boss' order.

I don't even know where the frontline is, in this battle.

He is digging grave for himself by blabbering on like that.

Be careful.
There's a bad rumor going around about you.

A bad rumor?

They talk about how you still can't put your glory days of working at Team 1 behind you.

Um, can I read that newspaper?

Go ahead

Let's go, Goda

Team Hiroshima won?!

Sir, it's an urgent call.

Who is it?

It's Mr. Tamaru from Okada Association.

Put him through.

Hello, this is Shiroyama

It's been awhile. This is Tamura.

You must've been through some rough times.

I'm glad you are ok.

Thank you, and I'm sorry to have you made worry.

So how can I can help you today?

I was just reading a newspaper.

If you're in a trouble, I can help you.

I really appreciate your offer.

Mr. Shiroyama, if your family is somehow involved in this issue,

don't lose your chance to nip this in the bud by pressuring the media.

What's reported in the newspaper is completely unfounded.

So I'm concerned.

I feel relieved then.

Anyway, please give me call some time.

If you would excuse then

Okada Association

"Three newspapers that wrote about the audio case should issue an apology"

Well, I could say that, but since that won't stop you guys from writing more articles,

I got a permission from Hinode Beer to distribute the audio CD transcript to all newspapers.

We didn't delete anything from the transcript.

What motivated you to disclose this?

We want to minimize victims getting hassled by overzealous news investigation

Oh...., Yo-chan, you're quite handy, aren't you

This is great!

- You want some squid?
- Sure, thanks

Hinode Beer Corporation
Kanagawa Factory

Do you have the money ready? If so, print an ad on 9/28 issue of Sports Japan:

"Kyoko, I forgive you. From Dad"
- Lady Joker -

This was found a the Kanagawa factory's front gate this morning

Guess it's finally here

Do you have the money ready? If so, print an ad on 9/28 issue of Sports Japan:

"Kyoko, I forgive you. From Dad"

- Lady Joker -

Lady Joker?

Rather curious name, huh

Should we send this to the police?

Yes

Sorry for interrupting your busy schedule

Not at all. Have a seat.

Thank you for cooperating with our investigation

Mr. Kanazaki, would you like some beer?

I'm sorry, but I'm still working right now.