Previously on Detective versus Detectives
Sasaki Rena's sister was murdered by a stalker. Her murderer is already dead.
Unidentified Charred Corpse Belonging to the Same Individual
But the Death God, the detective who revealed her sister's location,
Investigative Report
is still out there somewhere.
In order to avenge her sister,
Rena became a detective who investigates corrupt detectives.
Together with detective Minemori Kotoha,
Investigative Report
Rena tracks down the corrupt detective Tsutsumi Nobuo
in search of a connection to the Death God.
Tell me everything you know.
She gets the name of wife-beater Masuse Atsushi from Tsutsumi.
Meanwhile, eleven domestic violence victims go missing from a shelter.
Police officer Kubozuka Yuma, who was investigating Rena,
and his subordinate Hasebe are assigned to the case.
We'll start by investigating this man.
Masuse Atsushi
All right.
Detectives and the police.
These two unrelated entities are going head to head.
Hasebe, go to the car.
What? But...
Please.
All right.
Was Masuse Atsushi in his apartment?
He wasn't home.
Why are you interested in him?
He hired a detective to find his wife.
He hired your company?
No.
I see.
I know you work for the Anti-Detective Department.
I know you're looking for the detective who contributed to your sister's death, too.
Really?
Why do you put yourself in danger to do this?
It seems to me you're not just motivated by avenging your sister.
You think you understand me?
It's none of your business.
Don't talk like you know me.
One year ago,
I helped you in that factory because I was reminded of my own daughter
when I saw Rio-chan imprisoned there.
I didn't want her to be afraid.
I'm glad you have a daughter.
You must know Hiike died in his hospital room the other day.
The police are investigating under the assumption that you did it.
This isn't like last year with Abiru.
They mean to find proof and arrest you.
You're Minemori Kotoha-san from the Anti-Detective Department, right?
Have your injuries healed?
Yes.
If you don't stop, she could get hurt again.
The police could even go after her.
I'm sorry about your sister, but you should keep a low profile.
No matter what you do, the dead will never return.
If you ignore the law again, I will arrest you without mercy.
Who was that?
MPD Section One's Kubozuka.
Kubozuka?
Kubozuka-san.
Let's go.
All right.
Keep watch.
What are you going to do?
Masuse
It opened!
What did you do?
If you pull and turn these dial locks twice,
even though you just passed each number twice,
the internal mechanism interprets it as if you stopped at the appropriate numbers.
But isn't this a crime?
Yeah, domestic violence is.
If Masuse comes back, couldn't he report his bills missing to the police?
He won't.
Hello? This is Masuse Atsushi's wife.
I lost my bills. Could you send us a new one?
Yes, the address is 2-20-2 Kitasengawa, Chofu City,
Jindai Apartments, Room 301.
Thank you.
The new bills they send will look identical.
Masuse won't know we took them.
I see.
Could you go back to the office
and ask the Mega Bank call center which bank Masuse is using?
Sure, but why?
The police mentioned something when we arrived.
The landlord says he hasn't paid his rent
even though he brags about having three million in his account.
There must be a reason he can't pay up with all those savings.
A reason?
Masuse offered three million to a detective to find his wife.
Is it the Death God?
I'm not sure yet.
But I think it's worth pursuing.
I'll stay here and watch to see if Masuse comes back.
Got it. I'll call you as soon as I find out.
We'll decide in the meeting after this.
Ayane?
Sorry. You go on ahead.
What's wrong?
I want you to apologize to Kotoha.
Let's talk over here.
Why me?
She's with that woman. Aren't you worried?
Well...
Yeah, but she's not a kid anymore.
What are you talking about? She's still a child.
She's easily influenced.
There's no telling what'll happen if she stays with her.
You're overthinking this.
If anything happens, then we'll—
By then it will be too late!
Kotoha... Kotoha needs me.
Calm down, okay?
Please.
Calm down, Ayane.
Forget it.
What?
I don't want to be with someone who doesn't understand.
Ayane. Wait, Ayane.
I'm Masuse Atsushi's wife.
While moving, I lost my bankbook and card
and don't know the name of my branch anymore.
Could I get that information?
I'm sorry, but we can't tell anyone except the account holder.
I see.
My name is Masuse Atsushi.
While moving, I lost my bankbook and card...
We don't seem to have an account under that name.
Really? Thank you.
Yes, that's me.
My date of birth is January 24, 1979.
My address is 2-20-2 Kitasengawa, Chofu City, Tokyo Prefecture.
Tokyo Kowa Bank?
There's an account under the name Masuse Atsushi at the Chofu branch.
Really? Got it.
I'll head there, too.
Wait. I need you to ask Kirishima-san for a favor.
Find out everything you can about the eleven women missing from the shelter.
Okay, got it.
I'll let him know.
Thanks, Kotoha.
Sure thing.
Minemori.
Yes?
Your sister's here.
What?
Hello? I'm Oshima of the Tokyo Kowa Bank Chofu branch.
Is this Masuse Atsushi-sama's cell phone?
Yes.
I'm terribly sorry, but we received a bill from the landlord of Jindai Apartments.
They're making a forced withdrawal for the total amount of your unpaid rent.
A forced withdrawal?
They can do that?
We wanted to explain this to you sooner, but you weren't home.
Hold on. I've got my own reasons.
Then we'll send you the documents immediately.
If you sign them,
we can keep your account open.
Send them to the Streitear Hotel Ikebukuro.
What room number?
You can send it to reception.
Very well. I'll get that sent out immediately.
Two days have passed since eleven women disappeared from a domestic violence shelter,
and they are still missing.
The missing women are Izuka Kaede-san, Ichimura Rin-san, Ashihara Haruka-san,
Takahashi Aoi-san, Tobashi Mio-san, Kurasawa Chiharu-san...
Kotoha.
Why are you here?
Why? I'm here to bring you home.
Don't you have work?
Why not focus on that?
I took the day off.
It's okay now.
I'll break up with Tetsuya.
I'll move out of that house, too.
Do whatever you want.
When she came to our house, I just wanted her to apologize.
What are you talking about?
Rena-san came countless times to apologize.
But you did terrible things to her.
Because Tetsuya-san said we should be harder on her.
So you're not at fault?
That's Minemori's voice.
You're the one who egged them on and set them on her.
Her sister seemed nice.
Sounds interesting.
Hey, wait.
I admit that I went along with Tetsuya-san and his friends.
I feel bad about it.
I'm really sorry for what I did to you.
Not to me. You mean Rena-san.
Why can't you say that?
Just leave already.
Hold on. Wait.
Kotoha, what happened to you?
You're so violent now.
There's something wrong with you.
This isn't the Kotoha I know.
It's because you're with that woman.
Come home with me, okay?
Let go.
I regret it.
When I restored the videos, I should have saved them.
You just don't want me to report you.
It would destroy your social status
and your image as the perfect sister who loves her sibling.
That's all you're afraid of.
You're wrong.
I don't feel that way.
I really am worried about—
Just stop!
You've always been this way since we were children.
You'd use my clothes and bags without permission.
But when you let me borrow yours, you acted so self-important.
You were clever,
blaming others at your convenience while pretending to be the victim.
I've put up with that until now.
How could you say that?
Stop pretending to cry.
Do you have any idea how badly you hurt Rena-san?
I hope the same happens to you.
Just leave.
Kotoha.
Don't call me again.
Kotoha, please.
I don't want to see your face!
Come home with me.
Leave.
I'll protect you.
I don't need you.
Are you okay?
Rena-san wants you to investigate the eleven women who disappeared from the shelter.
Got it.
Since we know their names,
I should be able to find out where they worked and some personal information.
Thanks.
Is there a Masuse Atsushi-san staying here?
Are you his friend?
Yes. What room number is he in?
Room 715.
I'll call him.
Wait.
Tomorrow is his birthday.
I want to surprise him.
If the neighboring room is open, I'd like to stay there.
In that case, Room 716 is open.
It's a double.
That's fine. I'll take it.
Very well.
Please write your name and address here.
Tachibana Kaede
These are your room keys.
Thank you.
Housekeeping?
Yes. May I come in?
Sure. I'm going out to eat.
Sir, your key.
I have another one.
Kubozuka-san, look at this.
What is this?
It's an online message board.
Missing Persons Message Board
Abusive men post here asking people to find their missing wives and girlfriends.
Name: Black Sheep
I'm looking for this woman. She's my wife.
Has anyone seen her?
I can pay.
So someone may have accepted a posted request and found the domestic violence shelter.
Possibly.
Who runs the site?
A company called Alphashift in Ikebukuro.
Let's head there immediately.
Okay.
Thank you for waiting.
We will be meeting tonight.
Nohozu
Nohozu?
Set Password
Synchronizing Data
Synchronization Complete
Investigative Report
Here you go.
It's the information on the eleven missing women.
Thanks.
I fought with my brother all the time, too.
We'd fight over toys.
I was stupid.
While I was in the hospital,
my sister complained that Rena-san was an awful person
who didn't offer a single apology.
I believed her and thought the same thing.
I wanted to talk to her.
I wondered why she wouldn't come to see me.
I'm terrible.
She did go to the hospital.
But Rena-san—
I don't know why, but she left without seeing you.
She never mentioned anything about that.
You think she'd bring it up now?
She never speaks her true feelings.
It must be hard to live that way.
Not being able to tell anyone your true feelings.
Maybe that's why she needs you.
Yes?
Excuse me.
President, there's a police officer here to see you.
I'll be right there.
Hearing your voice earlier made me want to come see you.
I see. So you called to confirm my location.
How long has it been since we last met in person?
Eight years.
Your new office is quite nice.
And Suma Research?
That's an interesting name for a company.
What's a veteran police investigator doing here alone?
Whatever you want to discuss must be important.
Discuss? Am I your client now?
Very well. I hope you have an answer for me, detective.
Where is Sasaki Rena?
Who knows?
I let my detectives operate at their own discretion.
I'm amazed you're a manager.
I was just getting information at Meisei Central Hospital.
Meisei Central Hospital?
You sound like you don't know anything.
On the afternoon of the 11th, Sasaki Rena attacked Hiike in his hospital room.
She used a couple of high school kids to deceive the police.
Hey, wait!
What are you doing there?
We showed them a photo of Sasaki Rena, and they confirmed it was her.
I want to show them her actual face to make things even more certain.
What did they say when you showed them the picture of Sasaki?
I want them to meet her in person to be absolutely sure.
That's vague.
You make it sound like the witnesses think Sasaki did it.
I'm sure they actually said no such thing, though.
I'm impressed. You got me.
I guess bluffing doesn't work on you.
You're right.
Sasaki Rena covered her face with a mask and glasses.
Was this her?
Showing the siblings the photo was useless.
I don't know.
We checked the hospital's security camera footage, but the results were the same.
There's no solid proof that it was Sasaki Rena.
Then you have no more business here.
Now, then...
Please leave.
By law, detective agencies are required
to accept on-site investigations by the police at any time.
The Anti-Detective Department has stepped outside the bounds of civil affairs.
No matter how corrupt they may be,
don't think you have the right to punish other detectives.
You're the one who's confused.
We resolve domestic issues, find runaways,
and protect people from debt-related crimes.
All we do is solve people's problems while respecting their privacy.
Thanks.
I have a message for Sasaki Rena.
Don't underestimate the police.
Anyway, I can see you haven't changed.
Despite all you've done, we haven't been able to make any charges stick.
You don't accept jobs from the Shijin Group anymore, do you?
We follow the law.
We have no connections to crime syndicates.
That's good.
Word is the Shijin Group has been using
loosely-organized gangsters to live comfortably and quietly.
After all, the Anti-Organized Crime Law doesn't apply to them.
We have to be careful in our dealings with them, and it's causing some trouble.
I'll stop by again if I feel like it.
Wait.
You forgot something.
Don't bother with the five gigahertz range.
It's easy to intercept.
Hello, Rena-san?
A policeman was just at the office.
He was here to see President Suma.
The president?
How many were there?
Just one.
I see. What about the information on the domestic violence victims?
Kirishima-san told me everything.
I'm on my way to you now.
Got it.
There's something I want you to get before you come here.
I brought what you asked for.
Thanks.
So what did Kirishima-san tell you?
He found the names of all the husbands and boyfriends of the victims.
What else?
He called to investigate the known workplaces of the victims.
They haven't been in to work.
He thinks they're afraid the police will come question them, so they're on the run.
None of them have been in to work?
There was one other thing, too.
The women who took time off
left messages saying they'd be in Ikebukuro if anything happened.
Ikebukuro?
It wasn't just one of them, either.
Do the victims know each other?
No. Their occupations, ages, and addresses are all over the place.
Did you find anything?
Masuse Atsushi is connected to the Death God.
What? Connected how?
He hired the Death God to find his wife.
He's the one who found the domestic violence shelter.
Then...
Tonight Masuse is meeting with a loosely-organized crime group called Nohozu.
The Death God may be there.
Nohozu?
Do you know something?
The policeman who came to the office told President Suma
that crime syndicates and loosely-organized gangsters have been working together recently.
What did the president say?
He said we follow the law and denied any knowledge of it.
Rena-san?
Don't tell the president or Kirishima-san what we do next.
Okay.
Use this to find out what he's doing next door.
Got it.
They moved out of this office a month ago.
Looks like they left in a hurry.
Officially they made money through demolition work and transporting industrial waste,
but they ran dating sites and scams.
I see.
Among the managers of Alphashift, I found the name of a member of the Nohozu gang.
Nohozu?
Yes. It's a loosely organized gang that operates out of Toyoshima-ku.
They're bad news.
They were involved in the lynch killings in Otsuka
and the Nishi-Ikebukuro group kidnapping.
They killed a local cop on the job, too.
Yesterday the Metropolitan Police Department opened the investigation
and have put out a request
for any eyewitness information,
but with no useful leads, the investigation is struggling.
The MPD plans to question the families and acquaintances of the missing women
and canvass the area around the shelter as well as...
His phone is ringing.
What is that?
When I snuck into his room earlier,
Sub: (No subject) Masuse Atsushi-sama
Please come within ten minutes. Be punctual.
Nohozu
I synched our devices so Masuse's emails would be displayed here, too.
You snuck in there?
I switched out our key cards.
You're being reckless again.
What's wrong?
He turned the TV off.
He opened the door and left the room.
Let's follow him.
Wait.
Did you set that up, too?
Go back to the employee dorm and wait.
What? But—
It's okay.
I'll be back today once I confirm Nohozu's location.
But if something happens while you're alone...
I'll have an easier time tracking down their location alone.
Don't worry. I won't be reckless anymore.
Rena-san.
Promise you'll come back.
Bank Attacked
A Premeditated Crime by "Nohozu"
Nohozu
Masuse Atsushi is connected to the Death God.
Series of Bank Transfer Scams
Nohozu
Tonight Masuse is meeting with a loosely-organized crime group called Nohozu.
Lynch Murders
Nohozu Members Arrested
The Death God may be there.
A brutal lynching
Stop!
You can hurt me instead!
Don't worry. I won't be reckless anymore.
The number you are trying to reach is currently switched off—
Suma Research
Don't tell the president or Kirishima-san what we do next.
I'm from Niigata, so I came by bullet train.
Really? From that far?
Did you post on that message board, too?
Yeah, under the name "Black Sheep."
I'm looking for my wife.
What?
Is everyone here involved with those women who disappeared from the domestic violence shelter?
Seems like it.
I wonder why they gathered all of us here.
What?
Thank you for waiting, everyone.
We appreciate you coming here today.
I am Mariko of Nohozu.
I have a question.
What are you going to do if the police come barging in here?
The facility's female victims of domestic violence all chose to run.
You are not under scrutiny, so don't worry.
I still don't think it's right for all of us to gather here.
You just had to bring our wives back.
Don't be that way.
They're quick to respond,
and thanks to them, my funds weren't forcibly withdrawn from my bank account.
You'll really give us back our wives, right?
Once we have all the money, we will leave immediately.
We'll drive for about three hours during the night.
Then hurry up and take our money.
Very well.
We'll now read off a list of names.
Once your name is called, please come over here.
Kubozuka-san.
Sorry for the sudden call.
Is it true Sasaki Rena headed to the Nohozu meeting?
Yes.
Don't you know how dangerous they are?
That's why.
Rena-san went alone so I would stay out of danger.
I wanted to go with her.
I wanted to help her.
But I would only slow her down.
I warned her.
Why would she do this?
Rena-san has been searching for the detective responsible for her sister's death.
But that's not all.
I think she's trying to prevent the worst-case scenario
so a similar incident won't happen again.
Rena-san told me that the police don't act until something has happened.
Preventing crimes before they happen is a detective's job.
That's not a reason to ignore the law, though.
The police handle criminal affairs, detectives handle civil affairs.
We specialize in different areas.
We don't stand opposed to each other at all.
This is the police's job.
Next, Shibata-san.
Here.
Thank you.
I'm impressed, though.
You helped them escape from the shelter.
I know.
The report had details on the inside of the facility and even conversations.
How did you get that information?
We hired a detective to find them.
We simply contacted you and agreed to return your missing wives
and girlfriends to you.
Must be a pretty good detective.
You're next, Masuse-san.
You mentioned earlier that your savings were nearly forcibly withdrawn.
Yeah. The bank called me today.
I haven't paid my rent,
so they were going to forcibly withdraw the funds from my account.
Your rent?
Do you live in public housing?
No.
They said I could keep my savings if I signed a document, so I had them send it.
How curious.
Where did you have them send the documents?
A hotel.
Search the garage.
You!
There she is!
Move!
Watch out!
Bitch!
Take this!
Hold her down.
Please wake up.
Next Time
Find out the identity of the Death God.
You're coming back today, right?
An Unprecedented
Final 15 Minutes
I know some of Nohozu's members are connected to the Death God.
I think I understand you better than a complete stranger.
You tolerate Sasaki Rena's criminal behavior, don't you?
Someone on the inside helped them.
You may now take your dear partners.
There's nowhere to run.
What detective? Answer me.
Watch out!
Thanks. I'm not alone.
This drama is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, organizations or names is purely coincidental.