Gentlemen, this is
the hallway of the residence where the media mogul Harada Heizou lives.
Once again, Masuzawa Banji was forced
to set foot in an extremely hideous place.
I'll explain the circumstances.
Harada's daughter Shizuka was murdered in her bedroom.
Her husband Harada Tamotsu, suspected of murder, escaped to Taiwan. Then he killed himself.
However, Banji believes in his innocence and has been making every effort to seek the truth.
Then, one night, Harada Heizou's elder daughter Yoshino went to see him.
Because...
Actually, there's someone who's been wanting to meet you.
Could that possibly be your father?
Very good, you sly old man!
Thank you!
I'm a man who wants to always be honest.
This case was nicely covered up.
By someone who had enough power to do that.
Money, sex, the smell of blood.
The story that was supposed to enliven the gossip column had been completely hushed up.
♬｢I was so wild with love that｣
♬｢I left my leopard skin in the jungle｣
♬｢on a rubber tree｣
So you're Masuzawa Banji?
Yes.
Will Masuzawa Banji be released unharmed?
Let's find out.
subs: maboroshinohikari@d-addicts
Episode 4: 「In A Grave」
There's no need to explain
why I made you to come, is there?
Well, I can make an educated guess.
Let's hear it.
Before that, may I ask you to kindly turn that off?
The fact that I believe in Harada Tamotsu's innocence seems
to be annoying you.
It was Harada Tamotsu who killed my daughter.
How can you affirm that?
Because he told me himself.
He called me on that night.
He weeped bitterly on the phone.
"I found Shizuka with another man and impulsively beat her to death", he said.
Of course I told him to give himself up
to the police at once. In spite of that, he went to see you
and fled to Taiwan. Soon he got too frightened even to escape,
so he shot a pistol in his temple and died. That's all.
I don't know why you think he's innocent,
but unfortunately nothing could be more true than what I've just told you.
- There's something I've been wanting to ask you. - What?
Indeed Harada Tamotsu may be the culprit.
There is evidence to think so. It's not flawless, though.
It's strange in some way, isn't it? And you, too, must be aware of that.
Nevertheless, instead of seeking the truth, you're trying
to bury everything in the darkness. Why in the world are you doing that?
- You don't read newspapers? - I do.
Then you can guess.
I hear you're running for the lower house election.
Why ask, if you already know?
So you mean you hushed up the media with a huge bribe?
The small-minded pipsqueaks like you are always proclaiming justice.
However, as far as I'm concerned,
a bribe is just nothing to be ashamed of.
You know why?
I don't know, and I don't wish to know.
It's because I have a mission.
For those who leave their mark on history the end justifies the means.
Just shut up and look.
Losing the war created a huge vacuum in this country.
From here on television's going to fill that vacuum.
The things we once had to believe in,
honor, decorum, loyalty, all that stuff
was reduced to ashes by the war, and that caused the masses
to feel unbearably uneasy. It's a sort of vice.
They're all making a frantic search for something to rely on next.
Still, in my opinion, they should just get over that vice.
They should quit worrying about the unavoidable stuff, and solely, solely watch TV.
Just getting excited about pro wrestling, dancing to the music, enjoying rakugo*.
*(Rakugo are short humorous, often satirical stories told by professional storytellers.)
Emptying their minds of everything, just becoming empty.
And there! A wind called "television" will be blowing.
- Forgetting problems, being filled with laughs and excitement... - No no no no!
- Are you sane? - Come again?
You're going to empty those people's minds...?
- Are you in your right mind when you say that's your mission? - Is that wrong?
Empty people are much better than a rubbish heap.
You can't be serious. That'd be like giving alcohol to a starving child!
Indeed their anguish may disappear.
Because their minds would become empty in no time.
Still, wouldn't that mean depriving these people and this country
of something that's extremely important to them?!
Shut up!
Look! I'm saying your very head is a garbage dump!
Will those splendid lofty opinions appease your hunger?
A hundred men like you wouldn't be able to provide for one child.
Shall I expel the brainless shithead from this country right now?
Huh? You bloody idiot!
Father...
It would be rude to keep our guest any longer.
What's with you? Weren't you supposed to go home?
Masuzawa-san, I'm sorry but my father has to get up early tomorrow.
I'll take you home now. Come.
Come now!
Be sure to escort him to his office safe and sound.
Certainly.
- But before that, go over there! - Pardon?
Go! Just for a moment.
I have to tell something important to Masuzawa-san.
Don't laugh. I've rebelled against my father for the first time in my life.
Congrats, then!
My father was awful, wasn't he?
No, no, not really.
What your father told me was quite correct.
Still, no matter what, I couldn't bring myself to agree with him.
Of course! Your objection was absolutely right!
No, your father defeated me.
You see, his arguments are strong.
Robust enough to hold true in any chaos,
they're going to take this country by storm.
I'll have him take you home.
Please drive him home.
Hey! Hey, hey!
Oh, Masuzawa-san. Welcome back. I've been waiting for you.
- How was he? Our Harada Heizou. - How do you know about that?
- Goes without saying! - Ah...
To my surprise, he was a simple old man.
- Simple? That Harada? - Yeah. - Please give me a break!
Even you were defanged, Masuzawa-san?
He said he indeed hushed the media up.
But he did that only for his political campaign after all.
He doesn't seem to have covered up the truth.
The old man doesn't even know the truth,
- and he didn't look like he wanted to know. - Ah～
His mind must be too occupied with the election, huh?
Ah, for me too, please. A very strong one.
What a cheeky guy...
But I didn't come empty-handed, either.
- I brought you a small present. - I don't need coffee beans.
Oh, please! It's not that kind of gift.
I've finally solved Harada Tamotsu's mystery.
- Lemme see. - My coffee, first.
- Never mind that. - It's here. - Mm?
Falsified family register?
Married before the war??
361st Independent Border Patrol Unit
Shirosaki Tamotsu Matsui Seiichi Masaoka Toraichi Kimura Maruo
Matsui Seiichi...?
Harada Tamotsu wasn't Shirosaki Tamotsu.
It seems his real name was Matsui Seiichi.
- What do you mean? - Since then I kept on
searching for the members of the 361st Independent Unit, but...
This is Shirosaki Tamotsu.
- Shirosaki? - Shirosaki Tamotsu.
Dunno. I don't remember this fellow!
Still, you have to keep at it.
- Hey! Take care of the rest! - Yes!
Excuse me. Excuse me!
I am Morita, I've called you earlier. Sorry for bothering you when you're busy.
Ah, aren't you talking about Matsui Seiichi?
- Matsui Seiichi? - The guy who got along well with Masatora
and went missing halfway was called Matsui Seiichi.
Wasn't his name "Shirosaki Tamotsu"?
- Shirosaki? - Yes. It's this man.
That's Matsui.
Is that so? So he was Matsui Seiichi...?
You see, buddy...
*(Japanese law requires all Japanese households to report births, acknowledgements of paternity, adoptions, disruptions of adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces of Japanese citizens to their local authority, which compiles such records encompassing all Japanese citizens within their jurisdiction.)
He probably got himself a new family register* when he was repatriated,
and perhaps he changed his name.
Just between you and me, Masatora's real name was Kimura Maruo.
Kimura Maruo?!
Well, he's been in that business since he got repatriated after all.
Guess a false name was more convenient in various ways.
After the war it was possible to falsify a family register and commit any number of frauds.
Um, do you know anything else about him?
I'm pretty sure he had a wife.
A wife?
Yes. It seems he was married before he went to war.
So where's that woman now?
Well, I asked the man, but...
Well, how would I know that...
Still, considering he started living
with a different name after he was repatriated...
it mustn't have been such a sweet story.
Well, maybe she died during the air raids,
or maybe she got remarried to another man, I suppose.
An all-too-familiar story.
I'm going to keep on investigating. Also, um... the water is...
AH～!
Seiichi!
Shortly afterwards the cabaret found a new star,
and customers happily came back.
Manager! The girls are having a fight in the backstage.
Hey! Out of the way! Hey, cut it out! Cut it out! I said stop!
What the heck are you doing?! Get a grip!
Thus, being distracted by the daily round,
the manager completely forgot about the claim for damages he had sent to Masuzawa Banji.
"There will be a dedicatory fireworks display in Tokyo."
Hey, give me a paper.
Are you going today? To the fireworks display.
I am! So I have to sell them all quickly.
Then two more papers. Here.
Thank you!
- Go and be careful. - Yeah!
Hey, what about my change?
- Take these, if you like. - Ah, thanks!
- Masuzawa Banji's office. - Hi, it's me!
Yes?
- Masuzawa-kun? - Yes.
- It's Kamiido. - Hello.
Looks like there's a fireworks display tonight. You going, too?
- I'm not going! - Then come over here, it's been a while.
- No thanks. - Why?
- Well, I have work to do. - An important one?
Well, yes.
- This one's more important. - Please ask someone else.
Harada Tamotsu.
Huh?
What about Harada Tamotsu?
You believe Harada Tamotsu is innocent, right?
Yes.
- So do I. - Huh?
What do you mean?
He didn't kill Harada Shizuka.
I'll tell you.
I'll tell you about that incident.
I've finally resolved to.
Come quickly. Before I change my mind.
Okay.
Kamiido-san!
I'm coming in.
Kamiido-san, I'm coming in.
Kamiido-san.
Hey, Great Detective!
- Why did you drink...? - Mm?
You asked me to come, so why did you drink?
Uh! Sorry.
Still, you see...
You see, Aiko...
She said she'd go to watch the fireworks.
And then she said she felt guilty about going alone...
I'm no match for him...
In the end I can't beat him...
But it's okay.
That's okay.
Fireworks...?
I'm going to write about a certain incident.
If I could write that book, I think I wouldn't mind dying.
I just could never abandon my husband.
That woman is empty, Banji-kun.
Please wait!
Will you kindly stay here a little while longer?
I just wrote some strange stuff.
I don't want Aiko to read that.
You wrote here
that a man died in your place. Who's that?
AH!
In the end I can't beat him...
I was certain...
I'm no match for him.
...that you would definitely come back to me.
- Masuzawa-san. - Hello.
I am sorry. I forgot the key when I left.
The door was unlocked, though.
Oh my, and I even asked him to lock it.
- Why are you here, Masuzawa-san? - Well, your husband called me over.
Is that so...
He's resting upstairs now.
- He looks like he drank a lot, though. - Oh my, he drank again?
- Didn't you offer him a drink? - Me?
That's what your husband told me.
No way. I would never do something like that.
He got drunk and said something inappropriate again.
When he drinks, he stops being normal, after all.
Hey...!
No!
And you...?
How about you?
Rather than your husband,
aren't you the one who's not in her right mind?
Tonight I'm not leaving until I hear what he has to tell me.
I'll stay here until your husband gets sober, no matter how long it takes.
I'm sorry.
I didn't realize...
I couldn't stop him.
NO～!
- Hello. - Hi.
- Good evening. - Hi.
Kamiido-san. Please leave it to us.
- Dear! - Take a deep breath.
It was that man.
That man has... killed my husband.
- Kishida-san, thank you for coming. - So, how's it going?
His wife's in the study. The man's in the living room.
Also, their houseboy's off-duty today.
It seems he's at his parents', so I sent someone to bring him back.
- What's up, dude? - Hello.
Why are you here?
He explained everything just now.
- So you're the suspect? - It seems so.
Please hear the rest from him.
I'm not going anywhere.
He said he was sorry?
Yes. That man apologized to me.
I had a frightening presentiment, and when I entered my husband's bedroom...
Kamiido-san... are you okay?
It's inconceivable that Sensei committed suicide.
Mm.
I think Masuzawa might have killed him.
Any idea why he'd do that?
Perhaps he was blinded by jealousy.
Jealousy?
He... to Madam...
- Actually, I saw. - You saw? Saw what?
The other day, in Madam's bedroom...
Did you hear anything?
- Madam's voice... - What did she say?
I was certain that you would definitely come back to me.
"Please stop", she said.
"Please stop, Masuzawa-san".
Madam told him so.
Shall we take Masuzawa to the police station for the time being?
- No, let him go home. - Pardon?
- He didn't do it. - Why do you think so?
If he had killed a man, he wouldn't have carelessly remained at the crime scene.
Masuzawa-san.
Masuzawa-san!
Sorry to have detained you.
Please go home for now.
It was that man.
That man has...
killed my husband.
On that morning, Masuzawa Banji was enlightened by a double meaning.
He just had to proceed.
WE TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR MIND AND LIFE
So you're a psychiatrist, huh?
So what?
Well, some time ago the Kamiidos' houseboy
told me you were Aiko-san's attending doctor.
I asked him what your specialty was, but he stubbornly didn't answer.
Is Takamura a physician?
That is none of your business.
I don't know what you came to ask me, but I'm not telling you anything.
Don't think a doctor will easily disclose his patient's condition.
No, no. I came here to talk about you, doctor.
Huh?
Doctor Takamura, I think you gave her too many bad drugs.
What're you talking about?
I'm here for his wife.
Her symptoms are clearly visible.
Ma'am!
Don't talk nonsense! You layman.
However, doctor, her symptoms
are now obvious even to the untrained eye.
Actually, last night Kamiido Jouji passed away in his house.
So the police are inside Kamiido's mansion right now .
Once they notice Aiko-san's disorder
they'll eventually come here, won't they?
So what if they come?
You don't know who my father-in-law is?
He's Harada Heizou, dude!
I needn't fear the police and whatnot.
Come in.
Hey.
Jeez, your office is as shabby as ever.
That's just what Masatora said.
- Masatora? That Masatora? - Yes.
- He came here? - A long time ago.
Dude, you gotta inform me at once when stuff like that happens.
Jeez, what an obtuse fellow you are.
- Are you chasing him? - Obviously.
- When is he coming next? - Well, I suppose
he'll come again if I expose the truth about Harada Shizuka's case.
- What does that mean? - I have no idea.
It's just what he told me.
- Is this garbage? - Coffee beans.
I asked the owner of my favorite café to give me some of his.
- So, what is it? - Huh?
You came to tell me something, didn't you?
It's about Kamiido Jouji.
I think he was murdered.
- I didn't kill him. - I know that, dude.
I think it was his wife Aiko.
There's no evidence.
Sill, when we were interrogating her, I saw it clearly.
That woman is a pathological liar.
Rather, what the hell is she?
I've never seen such a frightening woman before.
That woman keeps lying at random, without any awareness.
Therefore she has no sense of guilt.
How to put it... she's incoherent. Right?
Why are you protecting her, dude? You fell for her?
She's just troublesome.
That woman said you killed Kamiido.
That man has... killed my husband.
She probably conceived that lie...
I'm sorry.
...when she heard you apologize.
If she hadn't said that unnecessary thing
that staged suicide would have gone smoothly.
She carefully planned the murder. Meanwhile she lies on impulse.
Then she blindly believes in her own lies.
She's a monster.
Strangely enough, those who're too abnormal can sometimes appear perfectly normal.
If I hadn't known who you are, I'd have easily been duped.
Well, I suppose
that's what makes you an excellent professional, unlike me.
You mocking me, dude?
No, I was completely deceived by her.
Oh... really?
Well, I guess that's the proof that you're still inexperienced.
Still, precisely because I fell into her trap, I understood something.
I think Kamiido Jouji knew that Aiko was going to kill him.
Come again?
He accepted Aiko's drink knowing everything.
I guess he was sincerely in love with Aiko, after all.
Why did Kamiido Jouji know that she'd kill him?
Tell me, don't be stingy.
I dare say...
Aiko killed Harada Shizuka too.
What?!
On the night Harada Shizuka was killed,
the man in her bedroom was Kamiido. And he witnessed Aiko's crime.
What...!
Kamiido asked me to go to his house to tell me the truth, but...
Aiko sensed that and killed him.
Still... please wait a second.
Why in the world did Aiko kill Shizuka?
What do you think?
Ah～ she resented her for stealing her husband?
Well, that would apply for a normal person, but we're talking about Aiko.
Indeed she didn't love Jouji to that extent, huh...
- She went so far as to kill him, after all. - Then, why?
I don't have the slightest idea, either.
Still, an odd fact is now unquestionable.
- What is it? - Harada Tamotsu
died to take the blame for Kamiido Aiko's crime.
Huh?!
It will be all right. I am burning them.
Masuzawa Banji decided to go and meet the enemy of his own accord this time.
Of course his enemy is...
- I'm sorry I'm late. - Hello.
not this man.
Welcome.
- Coffee, please. - Certainly, sir.
I'm sorry, but after all Aiko-san said
she doesn't feel like meeting you.
I'll listen to you on behalf of her.
Well then, I'll ask you straightaway.
- Will you accompany me to her house? - Pardon?!
It's not something I can ask you.
It's meaningless if I can't talk to her.
Don't be unreasonable. She's unwilling to see you.
She lost Sensei in that horrible way,
- you should sympathize with her... - Haneoka-san.
What I'm about to tell you may be unbelievable for you,
and you may not want to acknowledge it.
Or maybe, in reality, you've already sensed it too.
Kamiido did not commit suicide.
It seems Aiko-san killed him.
Haneoka had wished
to keep staring at her through his foggy spectacles.
Enough already!
Take a look.
That publisher guy is just so obvious!
Because...
In difficult times like these,
wouldn't it be too painful to live
if we didn't at least fall in love with someone?
(Kamiido Jouji and Aiko's family register. Jouji was born on October 13, 1912. Aiko was born on March 17, 1920; her maiden name was Tanaka.)
Kamiido Aiko and Harada Tamotsu.
There must have been a link between them.
Were you on familiar terms with the deceased Harada Shizuka and her husband?
No, not really.
We did greet each other at parties and the like, though.
Still, it couldn't be such a trivial thing.
Kamiido Aiko...
A woman is a young girl
and loves a man that way
only once in her lifetime.
Harada Tamotsu...
There's someone else, right? A woman you're in love with.
When he tried to compare them,
he got the feeling they were the most well-matched couple.
However, Aiko's family register clearly denied that possibility.
No divorce history, huh? Ah～ damn it!
- By the way, did you check Harada Tamotsu's family register? - I did.
It seems it was made anew after the war, indeed.
Needless to say, only his marriage with Harada Shizuka was recorded in it.
How about Matsui Seiichi's family register?
- That's the crux. - How was it?
- Didn't find it. - You didn't find it?!
- Yeah. - You mean it's missing?
Well, according to the city hall, noting can be said for sure.
Perhaps he wasn't born in Tokyo to begin with,
perhaps his family register got destroyed during the war.
What the heck?
- Aren't they just unwilling to check?! - Exactly.
Ah～ shit!
Still, I wonder why Harada Tamotsu fled to Taiwan in the first place.
Do you think he could speak Taiwanese or something?
Wha-what's the matter?
If you think I shouldn't escape to Taiwan
but go to the police,
please... please stop me.
If you call out to me,
I will definitely... come back to you.
Seiichi!
I wonder
what exactly I lost.
While being swept along
by the years and the times.
Final Episode: 「Too Early」