On the bus ride home from an amusement park,
Miyuki and I were imprisoned in an abandoned hospital,
along with six other passengers,
and forced to participate in a deadly game by the mysterious Game Master.
Shimomura Shiho
Shimomura Ikuma
Then Shimomura Shiho and her son, Ikuma, were killed.
Takaragi Shigeru
Who is the Game Master?!
Mugibayashi Mika
Kikukawa Kozue
Sugimoto Jun
Now I understand everything.
Why those two were murdered and the tricks that were used!
I've solved all of the mysteries!
The Case File of Young Kindaichi Returns
The Game Mansion Murder Case
The Game Mansion Murder Case!
Hey, Kindaichi-kun,
is it true you figured out the truth about what happened?
Yeah.
From the beginning,
the killer's targets were Shimomura Shiho and her son, Ikuma.
The Game Master, who murdered those two
and made it look like random killings,
is among us!
What are you talking about?!
You were forced to play the game that night too, so you understand!
Any of us could've died then!
That's right! Even with our kidnapping,
we just happened to be on that bus!
I don't know about that.
Shimomura Shiho was a major shareholder in that amusement park.
She and Ikuma inspected it every week and always took the last bus home.
The other members, too, were all set up so they were forced to ride that bus.
Only me and Miyuki weren't part of the plan.
At the time, a flash of lightning lit up the driver's face for just an instant.
The driver was nervous, thought Miyuki and I probably saw their face,
so let us on the bus, figuring we could be bumped off at the Game Mansion.
R-Really?! Then...
Yeah. That driver was the Game Master.
The Game Master brought convenient extras here
to make it look like random murders.
We found other bus passengers, who'd been knocked out with that gas
and abandoned in the mountains.
But why were the Shimomuras targeted?
Yeah. What possible reason could there be?
Inheriting her fortune.
Her fortune?!
25 years ago, Shiho married Shimomura Shouzou.
Shiho
Father
But Shouzou died soon after Ikuma was born.
Ikuma
After that, Shiho started her own business and amassed a huge fortune.
Shiho Father
Ikuma
But the deceased Shouzou had an ex-wife
and they had a child we'll call "A".
Shiho Father
Ikuma
So if Shiho and Ikuma died, where would that fortune go?
If Shiho had no other relatives, the country would take it, right?
No. That's incorrect.
Who are you?!
Certainly, if Ikuma died first, the country would get it.
Shiho
But if Shiho died first, Ikuma would inherit the fortune.
Ikuma
Under the law, if Ikuma died after that,
"A" would inherit everything.
And that "A" is one of you.
What?!
Your name is on the family register, Kikukawa Kozue-san.
Kozue
Kozue?! You're the killer?!
I-I don't know! I don't know about any of this!
I don't think you knew.
Only one person here knew,
and they're the one that murdered the Shimomuras.
Mugibayashi Mika! You're the murdering Game Master!
Mugi-mama?!
D-Don't make false accusations!
I could have been killed, too!
But you're groundlessly treating me like a murderer?!
I've got grounds.
If two people leave at the same time or if you help someone,
you'll all die from poison gas.
But this is what you said then...
K-Knockout gas?
That's right...
Both of them were already murdered by then.
So if you smelled gas in that situation,
normally you'd think it was poisonous, right?
In order to make Shimomura Ikuma's death look like a random murder,
you set various traps, didn't you?
First there was the puzzle ring, which Ikuma wasn't good at.
When that failed, you went with the poisoned noodles.
W-What are you saying?!
It wasn't the noodles that were poisoned then, but the chopsticks, right?
No. There was no poison on the chopsticks.
It was actually the broth.
B-But we all used the fish to test the broth for poison.
The killer figured we'd use the fish for that purpose
and so slipped in a poison capsule that would dissolve after three minutes.
Ikuma was supposed to die from the dissolved poison, but...
You can have mine. It's been safety tested.
That put Kozue-san in danger, so you said this...
The poison could've been put on the chopsticks themselves!
You said that to protect Kozue-san from drinking the poison.
You failed to kill Ikuma again,
but in the next stage, you'd set a trap particularly for him.
Do you remember?
However, please follow the rules of etiquette as you search.
By "etiquette", we thought we were supposed to have good manners.
But that was a mistake.
Ikuma caught the hint, though.
"Etiquette" refers to this, doesn't it?
What is it?
A wine label?
Apparently, wine labels are called "etiquette".
There's no way Ikuma wouldn't figure it out.
I'm studying to be a sommelier.
Takaragi-san wrote on his blog that he hates alcohol.
Miyuki and I are minors
and you knew that Kozue-san and Sugimoto-san weren't interested in wine.
In other words, only Ikuma knew that "etiquette" refers to wine labels.
And that's how you finally murdered him as planned.
That's just silly! What about Shimomura Shiho-san?
You're suggesting I made it
so out of eight people, she was the last one in the room?
That's impossible!
What if it were possible?
This TV is the same type that was in the room.
Everyone, cover your face with these masks.
Okay, start!
I'm going to give you a quiz question
and the person who can't answer it is the Game Master.
Question: In what direction does the sun rise in the morning?
"In what direction does the sun rise in the morning?"
East, of course.
Raise your hand if you know the answer.
What's wrong, Mugi-mama?
Maybe the eye of that mask is blocked so she can't see the question.
She can see it. Although it's a different question than everyone else's.
Question In what direction does the sun rise in the morning?
What do you mean?
Try looking at it with the kind of mask she has.
Question What does the Swahili word "mashariki" translate to in Japanese?
Swahili? N-Nobody would know the answer!
I see! This is a 3D TV?!
That's right. These 3D glasses are equipped with crystal shutters,
which artificially produce the parallax of both eyes.
This TV alternately plays the image you see with your right eye
and the image you see with your left eye at a high speed.
The glasses' sensor catch the monitor's signals,
which change every moment,
and this makes the shutters switch left and right,
so you can't see the opposite image.
That artificially creates the parallax,
so you see flat images in three dimensions.
This mask has 3D glasses attached.
But the right eye is blocked, so you can only see with your left eye.
Except with Mugibayashi-san's mask,
the glasses are attached upside down.
So the image for the left eye was an easy question, as we saw.
Question In what direction does the sun rise in the morning?
And this is the image for the right eye.
Question What does the Swahili word "mashariki" translate to in Japanese?
The same thing happened that night!
Answer each question with a four-digit number.
I-I don't know! What is this question?!
Question 7 How is this girl crying? Put your numerical answer in the four squares.
And then she was shown an image
telling her to help the last person in the room.
She had no idea it was a trap.
And so you succeeded in your goal of murdering Shiho and Ikuma in that order
as well as making it look like random murders so you and Kozue,
who were there, wouldn't be suspected.
Right, Mugibayashi Mika?
Or rather, Kikukawa Sanae!
Kikukawa?!
M-My mother?! Are you my mother?!
The Case File of Young Kindaichi Returns
Mugi-mama is Kozue's mother?!
I don't believe it!
After all, my mother committed suicide in the Sea of Trees!
She survived, with a changed name and face.
There's no other way to explain it.
She wouldn't commit murder
just so some girl she works with gets her inheritance.
Yes, that's right.
I murdered the Shimomuras, mother and son.
I wanted to make it so Kozue got Shimomura Shiho's fortune
and as her mother, I would reap the benefits.
I did it all by myself!
You murdered those two just to satisfy your own desire?!
Money put me through hell!
Do you want to know the hell I've lived through?
Stop it, Mugi-mama! Kozue doesn't want to hear...
Tell me!
Why did this have to happen?
I want to hear it from the person herself.
Despite my appearance now, when I was young,
I did my best to be a producer at a TV production company.
That's when I met Kozue's father, Shimomura Shouzou.
Eventually, we married and had Kozue,
but we were so busy that we became like ships passing in the night.
That's when she appeared.
He already named the baby I'm carrying.
His name will be Ikuma.
That was the last time I saw him.
I struggled to raise Kozue all on my own.
TV Program Production Kikukawa Productions
I formed my own small TV program production firm and gave it all I had.
You were so cool back then.
Although you were so busy that you didn't have time for me...
That's when you were a high school student.
There was an accident on the set of one of the shows I made
and as a result, my company went bankrupt before I knew it.
Saddled with crushing debt, I worked a scam,
Tenant Wanted
and ended up being wanted by the police.
I thought it was all over for me.
I wrote a suicide note and went into the Sea of Trees.
The Sea of Trees at night,
it was darkness that went on forever, reminding me of my own life.
Ow!
Mugibayashi Mika
"Mugibayashi Mika"? We're the same age...
I thought this was my chance to reset my life.
I abandoned my debt, my work, and my child
and tried to give myself another chance as Mugibayashi Mika.
After having plastic surgery, I worked for all I was worth,
and eventually, I took over the bar.
Mugi-mama, there's a girl who says she's here for an interview.
Yeah, let her in.
Excuse me!
K-Kozue!
It was a total coincidence.
She's gotten so big...
Kozue didn't know I went bankrupt
and was still burdened with the debts I left behind.
That debt ballooned after some man tricked her.
I see. And you don't have any relatives?
Nope. And no hope of getting this debt paid off.
Huh?
My life is like a puzzle ring that you just can't set free.
I bet you carry a grudge against the mother who abandoned you.
I hated her for dying on me, hated to even think about her.
But now I understand.
When there's nothing good in your life, you want to die.
I think that myself sometimes.
I'm sure my mom had it rough.
Sorry! I'll never attract customers by being this gloomy!
That's when I saw the article about Shimomura and her son.
The amazing life of apparel maker president Shimomura Shiho! A single mother worth 10 billion yen!
That's right! If I could arrange for Kozue to inherit that huge fortune,
as her mother, I could live out my life in the lap of luxury!
As long as I killed them in the right order, Kozue would definitely...
How could you commit murder for that?!
Say what you want! Legally, Kozue will get...
What's wrong?! Are you okay?!
I'll call for an ambulance.
You're a liar! "Live out your life in the lap of luxury"...
You don't have much time left!
You look tired.
I know how hard you're working
to secretly pay off Kozue's debts little by little.
Sugimoto, you should worry about yourself.
W-What are you talking about?
You're in love with Kozue-chan, aren't you?
But you're a loser in the game of life.
You don't have the confidence to hit on her.
You noticed?
You're hopeless.
M-Mugi-mama!
I don't have much time left.
Have confidence. You actually are a good man.
If you could just get your act together,
I'd have you take care of Kozue-chan after I'm gone...
Mugi-mama...
You did this to take the burden off of Kozue...
Mugi... mama...
Mom...
Mom!
Don't call me "Mom"! I'm a terrible woman!
Your mother died long ago.
In that dark Sea of Trees...
Hey! Hang in there! Hold on!
I just told my mother the news.
I inherited the fortune and gave it all to charity.
Charity?!
Yeah. For children who have no parents, like I was before.
All of it?!
That huge fortune?!
That's right! There's no way I can use money gained that way.
After all, I can't condone what my mother did.
"My life is going nowhere. I don't care what happens to me."
I thought that for the longest time.
But my mother always had me on her mind.
When I found that out, I had second thoughts.
Now I want to start over again.
I'll do my best to pay off all my debt and then I'll find happiness!
I'll support Kozue.
Sugimoto-san...
I'm not reliable yet,
but I'm resolved to stay grounded
so I can protect Kozue from now on.
I'm sure those two will become happy.
Like the blue sky today...
Yeah. It's fitting.
Maybe they actually loved each other for a long time.
But they were so close to each other that they just couldn't say it.
M-Maybe.
Like us...
Nothing!
What the heck, Miyuki?!
Hurry up, Hajime-chan!
Yeah!