Mitsuhide-san!
Where am I?
Who am I?
It was a tiny whim that brought me in contact
with that terrible incident.
Kibayashi-kun, stop here.
Hey, who are you?
It looks like something happened here.
I thought I'd take a look.
This place is off-limits.
Get lost.
Akechi-san!
That's you, isn't it, Akechi-san?
Detective Hirai?
Your assistant, Kibayashi, is with you, too, huh?
So you know the detective.
This is the famous detective, Akechi-sensei.
So you're in charge of this crime scene, Detective Hirai?
I would be overjoyed to have the opinion of somebody
who's solved as many difficult cases as you.
Come in.
What on...
A single puncture wound to the heart, from the front.
And she's so young, too. It's horrible.
A headless corpse?
Who's the victim?
Her name is Hototogisu Ayako.
The eldest of the three Hototogisu sisters.
They're a very old family in this area.
Three sisters?
She has two younger sisters: Meiko and Machiko.
They said that she was a very free-wheeling sort.
That she had her quirks.
She would often leave the house
in the middle of the night and go swimming in this river.
Naked?
Indeed. We found her clothes a little upstream.
So that explains why she's naked.
The next question is why they cut her head off.
Is something wrong?
There was a strange man over there.
A strange man?
Kibayashi-kun, you saw him, too, right?
Yes.
I was passing by when I saw someone lying there.
When I got closer...
It was Ayako-san?
Yes.
I knew it was the eldest
daughter of the Hototogisu family at a glance.
Detective.
The coroner confirmed our thoughts:
her heart was pierced.
Estimated time of death is
between 11:00 and midnight last night.
And there's no sign of any drug use.
Okay, I've got it!
Why?!
Why am I a suspect?!
Hazama-san, I've heard you didn't get
along with Ayako-san when she was alive.
Well, sure... we had our differences.
And you said repeatedly
that some day you would kill her!
But that doesn't mean I really killed her!
You saw Ayako-san alone at night,
and thought it was your chance, didn't you?
And so you tried to get even—
Detective, she's innocent.
The victim was stabbed from the front.
There's no signs of a struggle, and no indication
that any drug was used to make her fall asleep.
And the victim was swimming naked in the river.
Detective, would someone leave themselves so
exposed to a person who'd said repeatedly
they were going to kill them,
and let themselves be stabbed?
Well, you're right...
Okay, you're free to go!
But if it wasn't Hazama Okemi,
our next suspect is...
Sob sob.
Our father, Genji, just died,
and now Ayako-neesan!
Sob sob!
I saw the body in the chapel after it was returned from the coroners.
At least it didn't look like she suffered much...
I guess that's some consolation.
Sob sob!
Indeed.
But...
Henri!
Yes, Miss Meiko.
But why are we suspects?
That's right.
Neither I nor Meiko-neesan have any alibi.
But that's because we were alone in our rooms.
That's right.
It was the middle of the night, of course we were!
What are the police thinking?
Miss Meiko.
Thanks, Henri!
I never eat dinner without this.
I see.
I'm told Akechi-san is a very famous detective.
I wouldn't go that far.
Please.
Please prove our innocence and catch the real criminal!
You can stay here as long as you like until then.
If you need something, tell Henri here.
Thank you.
I'm done.
You're done already?
Yes. I'm full.
You barely ate a thing today...
That's right.
You're on a diet, aren't you, Machiko?
I'm not on a diet!
I just don't feel like eating.
Such an awful thing just happened and look at you...
Sob sob!
Henri, make sure you wrap up the rest
and put it in the fridge.
We shouldn't waste food.
Understood.
Ayako.
Meiko.
Machiko.
The three sisters of the Hototogisu family.
At the end of last month,
the head of the Hototogisu family, Genji, died of illness.
Hototogisu Genji Wife ?
Eldest - Ayako 2nd - Meiko 3rd - Machiko
And now his heir, Ayako, the eldest, was murdered.
From the state the body was found in,
it's very possible she was murdered by someone she knew.
Did I imagine it?
This stuff's great on white rice!
It stinks, Onee-sama.
First, I have to investigate the crime scene more thoroughly.
Him again?
Thank you for coming.
Did you find anything?
No... that masked man's been staring at the scene.
Oh, Professor Morilanty.
Morilan?
Morilanty.
A strange man who lives on the edge of the village.
He claims to be a professor of applied criminology,
but who knows what he's really doing...
Applied criminology?
He probably wants to investigate the case.
You should stay away from him.
This is the chapel where Ayako-san's body is being held.
They must really be rich if they've
got a chapel on their property.
Sensei, where have you been?
What's wrong, Kibayashi-kun?
Why are you in such a hurry?
They found a new suspect!
Detective Hirai wants you to come to the station.
His name is Murakumo Matsuo.
He may dress like that, but he's definitely a man.
He's a well known blackmailer.
The entire village hates him.
His thug pals call him Matsuko the Spider, so I've heard.
Come on, confess.
Silence!
Don't tell me to be silent!
You killed Hototogisu Ayako!
What are you talking about? I don't have a clue!
We've had our eye on him for a while.
When we brought him in for something else,
we found this.
What is it?
The seal of the Hototogisu family.
I'm told they have it specially made.
Then...
We don't know what he was using to do it,
but we're confident Murakumo was blackmailing Ayako-san.
You were blackmailing Hototogisu Ayako.
But when you went to get the money,
there was a problem and you killed her.
Right?
How stupid.
I've been a blackmailer for years.
I wouldn't screw up like that.
Whether he's the criminal or not,
I'm sure we can learn something from him.
We'll pressure him until he tells us something.
I'm shocked.
Tenka Village Nude Murder Case
So Murakumo was blackmailing Meiko-san, not Ayako-san!
But how did you know, Akechi-san?
The smell.
Smell?
This stack of bills has a faint smell
of fermented soybeans.
The ones that Meiko-san was always putting on her food.
I see.
So the smell of the soybeans stuck to her fingers
and transferred to the bills without her knowing.
But now the investigation is back to square one, Sensei.
Indeed...
The time when Meiko-san went
to meet Murakumo for the trade overlaps
almost completely with Ayako-san's
estimated time of death.
There's a long distance between the place they met
and the crime scene.
The time involved makes it impossible for her to have done it.
Your Rairaiken ramen is here!
But why didn't Meiko-san say anything about it?
If only she had, we would've stopped suspecting her.
Three bowls of ramen, 1800 yen.
Given what she was being blackmailed for.
Thank you.
She must've been too worried about being exposed
Here's 8200 yen in change.
to say anything.
Goodnight!
Even if that meant being suspected of her sister's murder?
Actually, I'm not related to my father, Genji.
I'm the illegitimate child of my mother and another man.
If it gets out,
I won't be able to inherit the Hototogisu family.
Sob sob!
Murakumo was blackmailing her
with an old diary Genji's wife kept.
It talks about her lover and
the child she's carrying... likely Meiko.
It says very clearly that the child isn't her husband's.
So that clears Hazama Okemi, Murakumo Matsuo,
and Hototogisu Meiko.
That leaves...
Machiko, the youngest.
There's also the possibility it was a random murder.
No, Detective.
That would be disappointing.
Disappointing? To whom?
To me.
I see.
Give me a moment.
My little goma tofu-colored cells are
working at full capacity.
I'm counting on you.
I know.
What if Machiko-san was the one
who put Murakumo up to blackmailing her?
What if?
Her goal would've been
to take away Meiko-san's alibi during the murder.
While Murakumo was meeting with Meiko-san,
she went and killed Ayako-san.
And so, Meiko-san has a firm alibi,
but can't say anything about it.
Indeed.
If we hadn't brought in Murakumo for something else,
Meiko-san would still be our prime suspect.
Okay, I've got it!
Let's take another look at Machiko-san.
There's no need for that, Detective.
Henri-san?
Miss Machiko has a firm alibi.
What?
Miss Machiko has been on a diet for the past month.
She always leaves more than half her meals.
But dinner that night was her favorite, fish tempura.
Even so, she managed to avoid eating
almost anything during dinner,
but when I went to the kitchen that night...
Miss Machiko!
What's wrong?
My stomach...
just started hurting.
She ate something full of fat
while being on such a limited diet.
It left her with a bad stomachache.
She had some medicine and
got better shortly afterwards,
but not to the point where
she could have left the mansion to kill someone.
Why didn't you tell us that sooner?
Miss Machiko insisted I didn't.
It would embarrass the family if it was known
that a daughter of the Hototogisu
collapsed after eating a midnight snack.
But still, it hurt to conceal the truth from the police,
so I've come to tell you the truth.
Henri-san, I hate to say this,
but it's possible, since you're her servant,
you're making this up to protect her.
No, this is the complete truth.
I am prepared to state so formally if required.
Meiko and Machiko didn't do it.
Then who did?
And why did they cut off the head?
Why would they...
A headless body.
A mask.
They switched places?
There he is!
Wait!
Morilanty!
You're going to show me who you really are!
Give it up!
Kibayashi-kun?
No...
Morilanty is actually you?
No. Professor Morilanty's true identity
is not young Kibayashi.
Kibayashi's true identity is Professor Morilanty.
That's the same thing!
It's not, Sensei.
Kibayashi-kun?
What's... What's going on here?
This.
I've been with you this whole time.
I've always been watching you.
But why?
Because you... are the criminal!
W-What are you saying?
I'm the detective!
I can't be the criminal!
Then tell me this.
Why are you the only one who
thinks it's a headless corpse, when it still has a head?
Because you don't want to accept whose body it is.
What?
That was clearly a headless body!
Then how did the person
who found it so quickly
realize it was Hototogisu Ayako,
when the body was naked?
Because he saw her face.
Why else?
And do you remember what Machiko-san said
when they were eating?
I saw the body in the chapel
after it was returned from the coroners.
At least it didn't look like she suffered much...
It didn't look like she suffered
because her face looked peaceful.
Am I wrong?
You killed someone very dear to you.
But you didn't want to admit it.
No...
That's impossible!
Come on, you still have your last line.
Say it.
That one sentence will end this play.
I...
Yes, you...
I...
I am Akechi Mitsuhide?
I...
I killed Nobunaga-sama!
Lick.
These are the Vengeful Fangs!
Akechi Mitsuhide!
Next time on Sengoku Collection:
"Vengeful Fang - OS."
Watch the next episode, too, okay?
Yay!