"She just disappeared."
"Would you search for her?"
"She was also her."
Drama Special - Kasha
No material evidence.
No corpse.
An off-work detective takes action on...
a case the investigation department cannot.
A woman who has suddenly disappeared...
and a man who sets out to track her down.
This is not just a case of abscondence.
An astonishing truth has been concealed.
The Miyabe Miyuki best-seller... "KASHA" ...will begin in a moment.
"I won't let you kill any more!"
"In its long history, this country has been...
dealt numerous severe experiences."
"As a detective, I definitely witnessed one of them."
"As if it were tainted honey, with tender sweet care...
it inflicted humanity profoundly."
"The bubble economy era."
"At the beginning of the nineties...
the bubble era, in which money had become the sole thing of value...
suddenly burst."
"A time when people who had lost everything...
began to grasp desparately at thin air."
"It was then that I encountered her."
[Year 1992 - Tokyo]
Give it up. OK?
Look out! Ikari!
You bloody idiot!
You all right, Pon-chan?
Heh... no sense of tension, as usual. ...using that nickname.
Honma's been shot in the leg. It's not life-threatening.
Requesting an ambulance.
Suspect is secured! He was packin' a piece, damn it!
Add illegal firearm possession to this bastard's charges!
[Three months later]
Here Boke. Boke, sit!
Here Boke.
Boke, shake a paw.
He'll only do it for Satoru.
Good boy, Boke.
Let me have a try. Can you do it?
Shake a paw! It's not working.
Satoru!
Satoru, aren't you tired of just eating curry rice?
I'm not.
But you have to eat things like fish, and yakisoba, and hamburger as well.
Calcium is important, you know.
Mother said she loved curry.
That's good enough about mother.
Why good?
You're right. There's nothing good about it. OK.
Today what were you doing while I was at my rehabilitation session?
My friends and I were with Boke.
What did I tell you before?
You can't keep a dog here. That includes at the park.
This is the rule.
"It all began with this phone call."
Honma speaking.
Ah, Kazuya.
What's up? It's rare for you to call.
Tonight?
It's been so busy at the bank that...
I wasn't able to attend her funeral and wake.
I truly apologize.
It's OK. Chizuko would herself understand.
After all, you're her cherished...
What would you be now? Her cousin's kid?
The truth is I was going to be married.
Her name was Sekine Shoko.
Same age as me... 28.
An employee for an office equipment company that our bank did business with.
She just completely disappeared.
We'd been seeing each other for a year and four months.
She said OK to my proposal and...
recently, when we were on our way back after looking at houses...
we stopped at a department store.
At that time, I registered a credit card for Shoko.
But then...
Ah, long time no talk. What is it? What's wrong?
Blacklist?
There was a call from the card company.
I wasn't able to put a card in her name.
Shoko had been blacklisted.
Five years earlier she had went into personal bankruptcy, they said.
Personal bankruptcy?
She had thirty creditors, and a total debt of 10 million yen.
This is the document that was sent to the creditors five years ago...
by the lawyer handling her case.
I questioned her about it right away. I was surprised. It was the first I'd heard of it.
I understand how you feel.
So then, how did Shoko react?
She went pale... and she said... "Give me a little time and I'll explain."
But ever since, there's been no contact from her.
When was this?
One week ago.
What about her workplace?
The day after I questioned her, she left her job.
Her family?
No parents or siblings. A woman all alone in the world.
And the police?
I can't talk to them!!
This is just between you and me but, right now, the bank is in dire straits.
Bad debt is snowballing. If it continues as is, it's bankruptcy.
Bankrupt? Come on... a bank?
It will happen I tell you. If things stay as they are, it will.
And me having a fiance who's bankrupt...
What's more, one who's absconded...
If those above me found out, I could be fired if I'm not careful.
That's why...I'm asking you, Honma... Would you be able to search for Shoko for me?
Not as a detective... but as family.
I'm begging you!
Kazuya...
Help me with this! Please!
Kazuya... Lift your head up.
I'm worried for Shoko.
Here.
I'm a bungling banged-up detective in rehabilitation.
Don't expect too much.
I understand. Thank you.
"Why would I undertake this?"
"Perhaps it was something like a premonition of some kind."
KASHA (Fiery Chariot)
{Kasha: A flaming vehicle}
{Said to carry the dead who had done evil during their life, to Hell}
Metropolitan Police, 1st Investigation Division, you say. So you're a detective?
To be precise, I'm on leave due to injury. Ah, please have a seat.
I was requested by the son of...
my wife's cousin to search for a Miss Sekine Shoko. So I've come here.
That would make him a "haitoko," wouldn't it Micchan? [note: haitoko means 2nd cousin]
Hmm... I'll look it up.
Yes, please do.
Ah, do go ahead.
What was the reason Sekine Shoko left her job?
Personal reasons. Phoned in without warning, saying she wanted to quit.
I too was concerned. With it being an abscondence and all.
It is an abscondence, isn't it?
That has yet to be determined.
Do you have any search clues? A lead of some sort, perhaps?
Ah, well here we... only have a resume.
Just hold on for a minute.
The child of a cousin is apparently not a "haitoko", boss.
Oh? Well what about "mataitoko"?
"Mataitoko" and "haitoko" appear to be the same thing.
Really? Well then, how about...
"ohitoko" (great cousin) ... or "itokokko" (cousin's kid)? [note: madeup words]
I'll look them up.
Ah, here it is. Here, take a look.
Thank you very much.
"Born in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, September 14th, 1964"
She started here two years ago, in April of 1990.
And here would be her prior work history.
Miyoshi Lease Instruments... Ishii Corporation...
and Ariyoshi Chartered Accountants. Those three.
Is it all right if I copy this down? Sure, go ahead.
Did Miss Sekine have anyone she was close with here?
Well... as you can see she was quite a beauty.
Tall like a model and had a great figure.
But, you know... She wasn't really a flashy girl.
Is that so?
Yeah, she was a simple, quiet, modest, good office worker that...
you don't find often nowadays.
You know like... those girls who get up on the disco floor...
dancing and shaking their stuff with a fan in the air?
Totally different from that.
Boss. What?
For the child of one's wife's cousin...
there doesn't seem to be the terms "ohitoko" or "itokokko".
Sorry about this. Making you look up all this extra stuff.
I enjoy it. Looking things up.
{This is 104 directory assistance.}
I'd like the number for Miyoshi Lease Instruments in Godenzaka, Shibuya-ku.
{Just a moment please.}
{Miyoshi Lease Instruments is not registered...
at that address.}
OK, how about Ishii Corporation in Misakicho, Chiyoda-ku?
{Just a moment please.}
{Ishii Corporation is not registered...
at that address.}
It isn't? Neither of them?
{That's correct. They are not.}
Is there an Ariyoshi Chartered Accountants in Toranomon, Minato-ku?
{There is not.}
"The resume of Sekine Shoko, the woman who had disappeared, was fake."
Mr. Mizoguchi, this is the personal bankruptcy document that you sent to...
Sekine Shoko's creditors, am I not mistaken?
That's correct. It was me.
Is there any problem with it?
This is not an investigation but rather a thorough private person search.
Well, let's be up front, shall we.
Yes, Sekine Shoko...
I remember that girl well.
Because she had, what you might call, a lovable charm about her.
Charm?
She had her hair and nails colored red, and she spoke with a lisp but...
was a simple and naive girl at heart.
Her, facing the cold winds of society with her small frame.
Small frame?
Is something wrong?
I'd just like to confirm that...
Sekine Shoko would be this woman, would she not?
Who's this?
This is not Sekine Shoko. Nor have I ever met her.
You are talking about a different person.
"The woman was not Sekine Shoko."
The more I hear about it, the stranger the story gets.
You met Sekine Shoko... or... I mean the real one...
five years ago, right? That's right.
Ah, her first job was... let's see...
Ah... Kasai Commerce in Edogawa-ku.
Edogawa-ku... Kasai Commerce...
Originally it was the monthly credit card payments she couldn't make.
Then apparently she cleverly took out a loan. Heh.
That loan falls into arrears, and then it's a big hole with loan-sharks.
When one can't make that payment, they borrow from another loan-shark.
Then borrow again, and borrow again. Before they know it, it's loan-shark hell.
And so... she quit the company and went to work in the bar scene.
But, you know right? There's just no way that a young girl these days can
pay back a 10 million yen debt.
Right.
So then, she came to talk to me.
I handled her personal bankruptcy procedures. That was five years ago.
Any word from her since?
Well...
Two years back she showed up again at the office, shortly after New Years.
Her mother had passed away...
with a two million yen insurance policy.
She wanted to discuss whether a bankupt person could collect such a sum or not.
She really seemed like a good earnest girl.
Can one collect in that situation?
Of course they can. Or don't you think so?
Would a bankrupt person not qualify?
Ah, right.
Well, certainly debt is one's own responsibility.
But you know...credit...cash advancing... Young girls don't have...
any realization that this is debt.
They've received no financial education.
But still they're given card after card.
"Go ahead! Use them all you like." they tell them.
It's the same thing as giving someone...
a car to drive without any driving training. There'd be accidents all over.
Isn't there some self-responsibility in that?
I'm not joking with this.
Unscrupulous banks... credit companies... loan-sharks...
One after another they're destroying people's future.
[Kawaguchi City]
"If the girl who had disappeared was not Sekine Shoko...
then what was the true Sekine Shoko doing now?"
"My premonition was getting a rough awful feel to it."
Sekine Shoko?
I don't want to remember that name.
Pulled a midnight vanishing act on me, that girl. Left me in a real bind.
This midnight vanishing act... When did it happen?
And who might you be? What's your relationship to her?
I apologize.
The name is Honma.
This is not an investigation, but a private person search.
Metropolitan Police, Criminal Investigation Department, First Division.
Where's your police badge?
Right now I'm off duty, so work-related... I mean... it's at the police office.
A detective without a badge... That doesn't even happen in TV dramas.
Ahhh... Just wait. I'll make a call.
Umm... This is a private person search so...
I know that!
Sekine's disappearance two years ago was...
Ah!! March 17th. I just confirmed the date with my account book.
No mistake about it.
All right, do your investigating, Mr. Detective.
I got rid of most of the belongings that she left except these I just couldn't throw out.
Nothing really important in there though.
Were you contacted by Sekine's workplace at all?
The Rahaina bar in Shinbashi.
Of course I was. The bar manager was really upset.
She disappeared from there as well...
without even collecting her paycheck.
That's her! The one with red hair. That's Sekine Shoko.
So this is her real...
Her real what?
Ah, it's nothing.
If it's this number you want, it's already written on here.
Eh?
Being run out on by her left me in a fix, so I also tried calling the number.
Rose Rain.
Panties and bras and such. It's a mail-order company for underwear.
Working in the bar scene, she needed that flashy underwear.
It makes me blush to say it but...
she left her dresser filled with it.
Cemetery...
What's this about?
I don't know.
So Mr. Detective... What's the case about?
I won't say anything to anybody, so you can tell me.
It wouldn't be called a case yet...
Ah... would you have ever caught sight of this woman in the neighborhood?
What a pretty girl!
I've never seen her before but who is she?
That's something I don't know either.
Huh?
Looks like I overdid it at rehabilitation today.
Kazuya...
Today after work...
can you show me her room?
A key... you had your own key, right?
Yeah...
Yeah... various things.
I'll explain it to you when we meet.
OK, see you later.
Are you going somewhere again?
Yes, just for a little while after dinner.
For work?
It's not for work but...
I can't leave you at home alone, Satoru.
Always looking down like that, is not a very good habit, you know.
Honma speaking.
What sort of trouble has you going down to Kawaguchi, Pon-chan?
Heh... Ikari. What's up?
There was an identity inquiry from a private citizen regarding one of our detectives.
As your partner, I'm going to have to at least have some verification of this.
Would you feel like complying with some questioning over a little edamame and beer?
Get me my lawyer.
It's merely a person search. It won't be an issue to the force.
Person search? Who are you looking for?
That I don't know.
What?
The curry's ready now. I gotta go.
Hey, hold it a minute.
Next to me, you're the sharpest in the department, Pon-chan.
So it's intriguing that you wouldn't know.
Clear me up on this.
Or am I going to have to come over?
Lay off. Don't you come over here. Got it?
Her name is Sekine Shoko. Age 28.
Was working at Kasai Commerce in Edogawa-ku.
In debt, she started working the bar scene. Loan-shark hell.
Five years ago, she declared personal bankruptcy.
A petite girl with red hair.
Well yeah, I can see that.
And what have you traced since the bankruptcy?
It's not that clear but two years ago...
she was working as a hostess at the Rahaina bar in Shinbashi.
And what was the reason for the inquiry from that nice lady from Kawaguchi?
She was the landlady of the apartment where Sekine Shoko was living.
Two years ago, on March 17th, she did a moonlight flit.
Disappearing without even collecting her paycheck from the bar.
Disappeared, did she?
In April of the same year, she began working at an office equipment company in Shinjuku.
What here. That wouldn't be disappearing.
The hostess-type redhead had transformed into a quiet, intellectual, beauty.
Transformed? Well, people change, you know. Especially the case with young girls.
Would a petite girl's height change into that of a model?
She worked at that office equipment company for two years, but then...
one week ago, her fiance found out about her personal bankruptcy and...
the following day she quit the company.
As well she disappeared from her address in Honancho, Suginami-ku.
Is the woman still alive?
Which woman? You know who I mean.
The redhead. The real Sekine Shoko.
As of now, I don't know.
Well, I'm going to have to take this on as a side job.
Hey... hey!
Don't let it be trouble for the force. Do you even have time in the first place?
No need to see me out.
We're friends, Pon-chan.
"For what purpose are you searching for that woman?"
"is what I felt I was being asked."
"I would give up being a detective."
"It was a half year since my wife had passed away, and it was supposedly what I had decided when...
I was shot in the leg three months ago."
"Nevertheless..."
It's just not here.
What isn't?
A feeling of living perhaps.
Appears to have had a dislike for accumulating things.
It's gasoline.
She said wiping it on the ventilation fan made the dust come off nicely.
Shoko was a cleanliness fanatic.
Can't be!
She left all the photos of her with me.
Why would she leave behind something this precious!
This is strange.
Eh?
It shows the stadium lights for a baseball park.
Look at this, here.
The lights are facing towards the houses.
In other words, the stadium lights are facing outside.
Could there be such a baseball stadium?
So what are you getting at?
Had she ever shown you this photo?
No she hadn't.
Why do you think she would have kept this photo all along?
Honma...
Why have you only been referring to Shoko as "she"?
So far tonight, you haven't uttered her name once.
Honma, tell me what you know.
Baseball stadium lights mean nothing to me!
This is your Sekine Shoko.
Now what are you talking about?
However, she is not the true Sekine Shoko.
The actual Sekine Shoko declared personal bankruptcy five years earlier.
She was unaware of that.
That's why she abruptly disappeared.
She had assumed the identity of Sekine Shoko.
Her real name, I don't know.
I'm finished with this.
Looking for Shoko...
Searching any more for the woman who was Shoko is meaningless.
This is for your expenses thus far.
This should be sufficient, eh?
Kazuya.
Wasn't she the one you were going to marry?
Don't you want to know who she is and where she is?
I will forget.
And I mean it.
"She had abandoned her name, and abandoned her lover."
"Her lover as well, had abandoned her."
"How can people so easily...
abandon the things that were precious to them?"
Honma speaking.
Mr. Mizoguchi.
Is that so? Will you call it off?
Well, I guess if the client says "drop it"...
then there's nothing one can do.
I'd like to thank you for all your cooperation.
No problem at all.
But you know. A financially strapped girl disappearing without taking her paycheck...
the way Sekine did...
gives me a bad feeling about it.
In what that girl...
Sekine said to me...
there was a line I cannot forget.
I really don't know how I managed to...
get myself so far into debt.
I only...
just wanted to be happy.
'Just wanted to be happy'.
If the winds of fortune would have changed just a bit...
what happened to Sekine could have happened to anyone in this room.
Everyone line up!
All right, got it?
Groups of two is search basics. OK?
All right, we'll be searching for the whereabouts of a dog but...
It's Boke, Mr. Ikari. His name is "Boke".
Ha Ha Ha... Quite the silly name, Satoru.
These are the teams!
Investigation squad... tracking squad... questioning squad...
Everyone clear? Yes!
Good! Stay with your partners, always. Combine intelligence.
OK, gentlemen!
The search for Boke will commence.
Time for action!
Go! Boke...where are you?
Go, go, go!
Gimme a cold one. I'm kinda thirsty.
It's already been a half year since Chizuko passed away, hasn't it?
Yeah.
How are things going?
How is what going?
Cuz there's fools within the first division as well.
They're saying you jumping out in front of a pistol like that...
even to protect your partner, wasn't necessarily bravery.
That you may have just wanted to end it all.
It was three months after your wife had died in a car accident.
Struggling to raise a small child...
Pon-chan was really having a tough go of it, they've been saying.
And you know what I said?
Bullshit!
Pon-chan is just a stupid idiot, that's all.
Such a nice partner you are.
If you know anything, give me the details. I'm also interested in this.
It's the instinct of a detective.
Can you not express some gratitude just once?
Shoko-chan? I remember her.
This girl, right?
Ah! Just what you'd expect of a detective! You already have it.
The photo was taken on a trip to Shinshu with some regular customers.
At the time, the economy was rough for stockbrokers as well.
So we all needed to let loose and have fun.
I really like this one.
You see, everyone with a nice smile?
You get no feeling of the bar scene whatsoever.
Just take a look, would you.
Did Miss Sekine have any friends?
Female friends... like for example...
Pretty girl.
First time I've seen her.
I see.
Shoko-chan....
I don't think she had any friends.
Just only her mother who lived in the Tochigi countryside.
She was a lonely girl.
And her mother, as well...
just before Shoko-chan quit...
well... she fell down a staircase and died.
Two years ago in March, Shoko...
disappeared without collecting her paycheck, right?
Heh...
No surprise you know all about it.
Didn't you file a missing person report?
Me, file for her?
Come on... this is a dangerous trade.
Who would come looking for me, if I disappeared?
Nobody cares.
Even if they did care, it wouldn't amount to one cent.
I care.
Why?
Because who disappeared was a human being.
Human being?
Human being...
What have you traced on the real Sekine Shoko?
Well, for now I've traced her residence cards.
The first time the real one changed her residence card was when she left her home...
in Utsunomiya to stay at the Kasai Commerce employee dorm in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo.
9 years ago.
It was 4 months after she'd turned 18 and she'd just finished high school.
The next time she changed it, it was to...
Room 102, Castle Apartments, Kinshicho, Sumida-ku.
Right. Age 21. 7 years ago.
The start of the single life that she had dreamed of.
The hoop had come off the barrel.
When she was young, her father had died...
and now she was living apart from her mother as well.
Nobody around to keep after her.
Before she knew it, it was credit card and loan-shark hell.
She then sank into the bar scene...
and went into personal bankruptcy.
And 3 years ago her mother died.
So what will you do now, Pon-chan?
I think I'll head for Utsunomiya.
Is that Sekine Shoko's hometown? Yeah.
If I go there, I may be able to find...
a connection between this woman and the woman who became her.
[Utsunomiya]
Sekine Toshiko... She was Shoko's mother.
Of course I knew of her. She lived in the neighborhood.
She lost her husband young...
and raised Shoko by herself.
It was a lot to go through.
And about Sekine...
there was those Tokyo mafia debt collectors who showed up.
They say the police were called.
Ah, right. There was that.
In the end, Shoko's mother...
lost her footing at the top of an emergency staircase for the...
building where she'd been drinking.
It was all over the newpapers.
'Fatal Fall From Emergency Stairs'.
But it seems there was nothing written about the insurance money.
Master!!
Insurance money?
It's just that... because of the commotion over Shoko's debt...
some nasty rumors got started.
Perhaps to get the insurance money, Shoko could have.......
It might have been 80 or 100 million yen.
At any rate, it was supposed to have been an enormous sum of money.
And with that, her debt would be...
It was 2 million yen.
And Shoko was hesitant to receive it.
After bankruptcy, the debt would have been gone.
Is that so?
All right! It's fixed!
In the country it's as if everyone's related.
Lots of rumours floating around, so be careful.
There are those who think her mother may have committed suicide.
Suicide? Yeah.
They say she was heard to say as she stood on the staircase...
'One could die if they fell from here, eh'.
Are you familiar with this woman?
Who?
Don't know her.
Me neither.
But speaking of a woman...
apparently it was a young woman who called the ambulance...
when Shoko's mother fell from the stairs.
A young woman?
Who are you? Why are you following me?
"Who are you?" is the question.
And why are sniffing around about Shii-chan?
Shii-chan?
A token of my apology.
Thank you.
Honda. Yes.
When you say you were a childhood friend of Shoko's...
We were in the same class from kindergarten all the way through to high school.
After Shii-chan... or I should say, Shoko. After she left for Tokyo...
I never heard from her at all.
But then three years ago Shii-chan's mother...
Ah! I mean... Shoko's mother...
died falling from some stairs...
It's fine if you use "Shii-chan".
Okay.
Anyhow, I met Shii-chan for the first time in a long while at her mother's...
funeral and 49th Day memorial service.
It was then that I got her address and shortly after New Years...
I went to visit her at her apartment in Kawaguchi, Saitama.
But Shii-chan was no longer there.
A rather scary landlady came out.
Right.
And now today when I heard there was a man searching around after Shii-chan...
I thought it must be another debt collector. So then you went after me.
Wouldn't you know it... a detective!
Honma. Has there been an incident involving Shii-chan?
Was there a woman like this amongst Shoko's classmates?
There was nobody as beautiful as this! First time I've seen her.
I was wondering if you knew of a young woman who...
called an ambulance at the time of Shoko's mother's death.
If that's who you mean, I know very well.
It was my wife.
This is my wife Ikumi.
I'm really sorry about my husband's actions.
It's all right. Please sit down.
Sure.
Ah! A chair would be better I think.
Thanks.
So... When Sekine Shoko's mother fell from the staircase...
it was you who called the ambulance?
Yes. I just happened to be passing by.
I called an ambulance right away.
And because of that incident...
she also attended Shii-chan's mother's funeral service.
It was at the funeral where we first got to know each other.
Ah, the start of a romance. Yes.
It's weird don't you think? At his age, still calling her "Shii-chan".
Shoko was like my husband's first love.
That was back in elementary school!
In elementary school days...
me and Shii-chan used to take care of a Java sparrow.
He says "pippipii"
Shii-chan was very serious about it.
She seemed to have a sense of responsibility.
To a fault.
When Shii-chan returned home with her red hair...
she gave the impression of a bar scene worker.
She regretted not having the time to dye it black.
After her debt became known, she said she felt very ashamed.
Was there anything odd at the time of the funeral service?
Like say... a suspicious person intermingling.
Well...no. This is a rural area so there were only faces we knew there.
But, at the 49th Day memorial service... Hey, that's right... Tamocchan.
Ahh... you mean that unfamiliar woman who was loitering around?
Naw... nothing to do with it. It was just that she had sunglasses on.
In the country, just wearing sunglasses attracts attention.
People start talking. It's really stiff that way.
Say Mr. Honma, Where are you going next?
If you like, please let Tamocchan guide you about.
Woah, Ikumi! Nice one!
Yes but... In a father-to-be's heart there is...
always the person they first loved. And they wonder what became of her.
That's not it, Ikumi!
I know all about it.
When the woman is suddenly not there, the man feels like a failure, right?
Ikumi... You're misunderstanding!
This is where Shii-chan's mother used to go drinking.
Even drunk, to fall down a staircase like this...
The police suspected it may have been a passive suicide attempt.
A moment's temptation. Such things do happen.
Huh?
Would Shii-chan... I mean...
Would Shoko have said anything else, I wonder?
Aww... At the 49th Day memorial service...
she said that with the insurance money, she would put up a gravestone for which...
to place her parents' ashes.
Her parents' grave...
Honma, something serious has happened to Shii-chan, right?
Why aren't the police doing a proper investigation?
It's that, isn't it?
Supposing if Shii-chan was murdered...
without a body, they wouldn't be able to investigate, right?
Put your wife ahead of this, OK.
I'm sorry. I know I was wrong.
Yes...
This is the pamphlet for our gravesite visitation tour.
And a gravesite visitation tour would be?
It's a tour in which we charter a bus for customers who are...
considering purchasing grave space...
so that they may view the actual location beforehand.
Lunch and a commemorative photo are included.
Commemorative photo? That's correct.
Would you be able to show me all of the commemorative photos...
from November 25th, 1989, up to now?
Sorry to keep you waiting. Ah, thank you.
Detective... Does this involve a case of some sort?
It's a private person search.
In these times business has become somewhat difficult for our company as well.
If you are planning to purchase grave space, please by all means consider us.
"The two Shokos together."
At long last you've found it. Yeah.
Young women on a tour with a bunch of old people buying graves...
is something you wouldn't usually see.
They made friends here, and the woman then saw Sekine Shoko as her identity target.
That's not it. It isn't?
Look at the date.
February 18th, 1990.
March 17th...
The time between the tour day and Sekine Shoko's disappearance...
would be around 21 days.
That's a little short to assume an identity.
That's what I also think.
She somehow had her...
eye on Sekine Shoko before that.
She did her research, and joined the tour to get close to her.
Entering the final stage.
And the all-important woman's name and identity?
Unknown. The tour name list had been disposed of.
What is it? Your detective look has returned.
Give it a rest.
Even a daytrip seemed like it was too much with Satoru.
Don't use Satoru as an excuse.
If you have no will to return to detective work, then why are you chasing after this woman?
Why do you suppose the woman assumed Sekine Shoko's identity?
There's a motive, you know.
If it was the insurance money, then just robbing her of it would be enough.
There would be no need to hijack her name and family register.
What she was after was the register.
The register of a woman quietly living...
on the fringe of society and without any...
living relatives.
Why would she want it?
I don't know.
However... She was level-headed, scrupulous...
and bold.
Beautiful and intelligent.
Nevertheless she was in a situation so severe that to survive she had to...
become another person.
That's the feeling I get.
Have you fallen for her?
Please check it over.
With a poloroid snapshot, if you make a maximum enlargement...
it will always come out like this.
No, I don't have any complaints.
I was just wondering why...
these stadium lights would be facing outwards.
Eh? Ohh...
This house was probably built inside the stadium.
Inside? Could there be such an absurd stadium?
There is. The Osaka Stadium in Nanba.
The only stadium in Japan with houses built inside.
Osaka is a really bizarre place.
Just a second! Tell me about this a little more in detail.
Osaka Stadium? Listen... The Nankai Hawks were purchased by...
the Daiei Corporation, and they moved the team to Fukuoka.
The Nankai Hawks' home park was...
Osaka Stadium.
But with the team gone, it didn't serve any purpose as a ballpark.
So they used it as housing exhibition grounds.
A housing exhibition within the stadium?
Satoru.
Tomorrow I'm thinking of going to Osaka.
Eh?
It doesn't look like I'll make it back the same day.
So tomorrow...
stay the night at Grandma's place.
Understood?
I just called Grandma about it.
She says she's looking forward to seeing you.
What about Boke?
Boke?
Dad, you promised me that we'd go and look for him together!
I did? When?
Satoru. It's not good to lie.
But it's not a lie!
It's not a lie! Dad, you promised!
Sorry.
Maybe I did promise.
But tomorrow I have to work.
That's a lie. You're on leave from work.
Is it wrong for kids to lie, but all right for adults to lie?
Anyway, tomorrow go to Grandma's.
I'm just a burden to you.
Do not say such stupid things!!!
[Osaka]
Yes, this is definitately the model house...
we introduced at the exposition three years ago.
Do you have any questions?
Is this uniform your company's? New City Housing's?
Ah, it is indeed。
Do you know these two office ladies?
They're not our company's employees.
They likely work for the Mitsushiba Construction Group.
Mitsushiba Construction?
Yes. Our parent company.
This uniform design is common to all companies in the group.
We're very sorry but...
we are unable to respond to...
any inquiries regarding employee identities.
No exceptions, eh.
Excuse me.
Yes.
I can't talk now. There's a customer here.
I sincerely apologize for this.
He just left now.
Eh? A mixer party? I'll come! I'll come!
No, they don't give out taxi tickets anymore.
Construction's come to a halt. The banks too are in trouble.
Seems there's no money at all.
Our company... other companies... Everyone.
'Rose Rain'...
"Panties and bras and such. It's a mail-order company for underwear."
Excuse me.
This "Rose Rain" company... Where is it located?
Hold on a sec.
Is it Rose Rain you are inquiring about? Yes.
Rose Rain is located on floor 19 of this building.
"She somehow had her eye...
on Sekine Shoko beforehand."
"A woman without any living relatives...
quietly living on the fringe of society."
She searched using a questionnaire.
Sorry to keep you waiting.
My name is Katase. Assistant administrative director.
A pleasure.
I understand you've come to Osaka on investigation but...
what could it possibly...?
First off, I apologize. It isn't actually an investigation.
At the present stage, that is.
Huh?
I'm looking for a person. This woman.
She worked here at Rose Rain.
Is that right?
Is Kyoko all right?
So why was it that you asked...
if she was all right?
She disappeared. Three years ago, just all of a sudden.
I wonder where should I start.
'Shinjo Kyoko'
Kyoko worked for us from April of four years ago to December of the following year.
Almost two years.
Excuse me for asking but, what is your relationship to Shinjo Kyoko?
Have you ever seen this photo?
Yes, it was Kyoko's favorite.
Can you tell me about it in more detail?
Three years ago at Osaka Stadium...
Mitsushiba Group put on a training workshop for new employees.
When she saw that house...
she borrowed a co-worker's poloroid and took the picture.
She said she fell in love with it instantly.
She often would say it was her dream to live in a house like this one.
Were you two committed to a future together?
That was my intention.
But nevertheless...
she abruptly quit the company without even discussing it with me.
And there was no further contact from her either.
I'd like to ask about Kyoko's employment duties.
Was she in charge of tallying the results of this questionnaire?
No, she wasn't.
She wasn't? No.
Since the questionnaires contain strategic customer information...
the sales department manages them by computer.
Kyoko was a clerk in the general affairs division.
So for Kyoko to see...
the results of the questionnaire it would...
Absolutely impossible.
The official family register for a Shinjo Kyoko, is it?
Her birthdate was when? Got it. OK, leave it to me.
As for you, what's next?
Well... right now I'm returning to Tokyo and going to pick up Satoru.
It's too bad, you know.
I was really looking forward to...
having Satoru for the night.
I apologize, mother. I mean it, Shunsuke.
Make more use of your mother-in-law. Don't take so much upon yourself.
Satoru seems restless and uneasy.
Chizuko's sudden fatal accident...
and then his father badly injured on the job.
But that is why I won't tell you to quit as a detective.
And I think Chizuko wouldn't either.
That boy is proud of you.
I'm sorry, I went a little far.
Don't burden yourself, Shunsuke. Make more use of me, please.
What did you do today?
Did you want to stay at Grandma's place?
I hope Boke is found soon.
Next chance let's look for him together. OK?
Shinjo Kyoko. Born May 10th, 1966, in Koriyama City, Fukuoka.
Married Kurata Yasushi in Ise City, Mie. June 1987.
So she was married? Yeah. Five years ago this month.
Before she began working at Rose Rain.
In September of the same year, they divorced.
Came to an end after just three months of married life.
Something must have happened. The half year that followed is a mystery.
In April of the next year, she begins working at Rose Rain.
Falls in love anew with this man, Katase, and two years later runs off leaving him behind.
Hey, Ikari. I meant to tell you this before.
What?
Could you do something about all the melodramatic talk?
Huh?
Ise City, Mie Prefecture... Only three months married...
Are you gonna plunge right into it? Yeah.
What about Satoru? Maybe hold off for a bit.
When I get a day off, I'll make a trip to Mie.
No, I'll take him with me.
Huh?
I've never heard of taking a kid out on an investigation.
It's perfect for a summer vacation.
Fast, isn't it? The Bullet Train. Yeah... The speed is incredible.
This is our first trip since Mom died.
Yeah.
Hey, Satoru. What?
Your dad used to run around...
the country a lot, like we are today.
Sometimes I wouldn't get home till late. And sometimes I wouldn't make it back at all.
I know that.
Mom said it had to be that way because it was your job.
When my injury gets better, things may return to that.
And if it does, as a result...
you may be lonelier than you are now.
Can you handle it?
Thank you very much.
[Ise City]
Hello.
Yes, may I help you?
Would you be Mr. Kurata Yasushi?
Yes, I am Kurata.
My name is Honma.
Please excuse me for asking but, would you happen to know this woman?
Kyoko.
This is the Shinjo Kyoko that you were married to...
am I not mistaken?
In Koriyama, Kyoko was...
leading a very normal, happy life.
What destroyed it apparently...
began with her father's housing loan.
When Kyoko was 17, they fled by night, as a family.
First, the loan-sharks caught her father, and he was put into forced labor.
Soon after, they caught her mother as well...
and she was put to work in a mob-run establishment.
Only Kyoko escaped to Nagoya.
Every time the loan collectors appeared, she would change locations yet again, trying to escape.
Her family broken apart.
When I first met her, she was working as a server at a traditional inn.
I fell for her and made advances her way.
She told me of the debt at that time.
But, it wasn't Kyoko's debt. It was her father's.
I thought it wouldn't be a problem. We had a formal wedding ceremony.
But when you register for marriage, one's former register is recorded at the municipal office.
The debt collectors went that far?
They did.
From morning on they scream "Return the money!" through megaphones.
They break windows entering the office.
They go around telling our customers that we welshed on our debts.
The phone rings constantly.
My mother fell ill.
They had us cornered.
Did you consider personal bankruptcy?
Only the registered debtholder can declare it.
Only Kyoko's father.
We didn't even know where he was.
However... If her father were dead, it would be possible to relinquish her inheritance.
The two of us researched it at the library.
Be pronounced dead with whereabouts unknown.
That's right.
The two of us searched every day for information about roadside deaths.
An experience like that...
I never want to have again.
"Father, be dead."...
Her own father's death she wished for as she searched.
At that moment, I felt her fear and hatred.
Kyoko.
Look at your face in a mirror.
You look like...
a demon.
From that point on, everything went wrong between us.
And we divorced after just three months.
Though I loved her...
I hurt her tremendously.
After Kyoko left...
the debt collectors stopped coming around.
I was so relieved.
And I felt better.
As cowardly as it may be, I felt like my old self again.
Do you know where Kyoko went to stay after that?
Or someone who might have given her shelter?
There was only one person.
One who helped her after her family had been split and...
she'd been hiding in Nagoya.
"A situation so severe that, to survive, she had to become another person."
"Shinjo Kyoko was another who was in a hell of her own."
And how will you be paying?
"A woman desparate and tired of being on the run...
she abandoned being Shinjo Kyoko...
and chose to become Sekine Shoko."
That 'Sekine Shoko' also was bankrupt.
{Is that to say she preyed on her own kind?}
The fiery chariot... {Nnn? Fiery chariot?}
'Today the fiery chariot will pass through my gate...
taking me to a place of sorrow.'
{What's that about?}
An ancient poem. It may have been in the "Shugyoku-shu".
All right, Pon-chan. What are you gonna do next?
Go to Nagoya. There's apparently a friend of Shinjo Kyoko there.
Her name is Sudo Kaoru.
[Nagoya]
Here you are. Thank you.
So you're a detective and a parent.
Master, the boy's portion is on me.
Got it.
Thanks for that. It's no problem.
Kyoko, eh?.... Well, after she was kicked out of the household in Mie...
the loan-sharks eventually caught up with her.
Sold to the mafia, she was forced to earn money with her body.
She'd be killed, if things stayed as they were.
Risking her life, she fled and came to my place.
That was around the February of four years ago.
I told her I would hide her from them, but she said it would be too much trouble.
Do you have any contact from her now?
I'm worried because I don't.
That is why I'm complying with the questioning of an off-duty detective.
When was the last time you heard from her?
November 19th... three years ago.
I remember it well because it was my birthday.
Kyoko came to my house.
Shaking and burning up with a fever.
Her right arm had been burned.
Burned?
I'd imagine it was probably the debt collectors that did it to her.
I took her to the hospital right away, and she stayed there one week.
The first week of the following year, she came to thank me.
But then, on parting...
Master, could I get another coffee? Sure thing.
On parting... what happened?
She would usually say "I'll come again"...
However, that time only... "Farewell" is what she spoke.
That was the last I saw of her.
One month after she bid her sole friend farewell...
Shinjo Kyoko went on the gravesite tour coming in contact with Sekine Shoko.
And in turn, one month after that, assumed Sekine Shoko's identity.
Two questions remain.
The first: How did she get the questionnaire...
information in which the sales department managed by computer.
Computers... Not my strong suit.
The second: What caused the burn injury that Shinjo Kyoko had.
Burn? Was that November 19th, three years ago?
The debt collectors' doing, perhaps?
We're getting stuck on that. I feel there's something we're overlooking.
No material evidence. No body.
All we know is there's a woman who has assumed the identity of another who's missing.
Should I get the investigation department on this case?
They'd search the entire country of Japan.
Ah, I know what you're going to say. "This is a private person search", right?
And you're not thinking straight, associating with them.
We've both fallen for her. Shinjo Kyoko, I mean.
It's the nature of a detective.
And you, in particular, are really enchanted by her.
Hello
This is bad. I found something strange with the school yearbooks that Shii-chan...
took with her when she moved to Tokyo.
Shii-chan's surely been murdered!
Tamocchan, calm down.
Anyway, that's all I can say over the phone. Tomorrow I'm going to Tokyo.
It's all right, isn't it? Ikumi? Sure.
Honma, can I meet and talk with you?
Kindergarten, elementary school, middle school... These are Shii-chan's school yearbooks.
After I met with you, Honma, I went around asking childhood friends and classmates...
if they had heard anything about her.
And I found out from a classmate, that around the time of the Flower Festival two years ago...
The Flower Festival of two years ago would be 1990...
The beginning of April. Right about the time of the identity switch.
At that time, these four yearbooks...
were sent to a classmate in Shii-chan's name.
They came with a type-written letter.
"Please forgive my sudden correspondence."
"For the time being, would you be able to keep these school albums for me?"
"Right now, my situation is such that I can in no way call it happy."
"And it's painful for me to view these albums from a time that was happy."
Shii-chan didn't write this.
This sort of writing, is definitely not Shii-chan's!
This is the girl they were sent to.
And now I remember something dreadful.
Back when we took care of a Java sparrow...
the bird, whose name was "Pippi", died.
We made a grave for Pippi in the elementary schoolyard.
If I die...
bury me here with Pippi.
"And the night of her mother's funeral, she said the same thing."
If I die, I want you to bury me alongside Pippi.
Shii-chan!
Don't be weak.
But now... I've truly become a person all alone in the world.
I'm here, aren't I? And there's our hometown. Come home.
I can't go home. At this point, I can't.
I was thinking about who might have murdered Shii-chan.
Though it would have been better to burn the yearbooks...
that person instead sent them to a classmate.
If Shii-chan had mentioned Pippi in conversation...
her murderer may have buried her...
in the schoolyard beside Pippi.
As at least a way of atonement for the crime.
Hey, hey now... That's too much, don't you think?
I'm going to dig up the schoolyard!
Don't talk nonsense. Get a grip on yourself.
But if Shii-chan's body is found...
the police will open an investigation, right?
They'll investigate, won't they? Honma!
That guy... Says he's going to dig up the schoolyard.
How's he gonna do that himself? Really now.
Ah, blast it all! It's almost for certain there's been a crime.
If only we had some material evidence. We'd be able to move forward confidently on this.
What's this?
You're doing a good job there. Ah, thanks, Honma.
A lot of work, isn't it. It sure is.
Mr. Ohmiya, the accountant moved away, and threw out his account books.
There's a real lot of them.
Is it OK to burn account books?
Seems the time period that they have to be kept on file has elapsed.
Plus, nowadays everything's computer so...
once entered, you apparently don't need the original copy.
Once entered, the original isn't needed... Required storage period...
Huh?
I know how she did it.
As I informed you before...
the questionnaire information is all on computer...
and the sales department is in charge of it.
Excuse me, but this sort of conversation at work is not appreciated.
What I want to ask about is, what happens to the questionnaire cards...
after the data is entered into computer.
Are they disposed of right away?
The cards that have been entered?
No, there is a required storage period, so they are put in a storage locker.
Disposal is one month later.
And who has the key to that storage locker?
Well I do but...
Bingo. Bingo? What do you mean?
You have passed on those cards awaiting disposal in the storage locker...
to Shinjo Kyoko before, correct?
Sorry, I have work to do.
Answer the question.
Rose Rain is on the 19th floor, you know.
Have you ever passed on those cards to Shinjo Kyoko?
An answer should be unnecessary.
Within the company, it's considered garbage!
So you did then?
Shall we go to the rooftop? We'll accompany you. Both of us.
Kyoko said to me... "I want to take a computer certification exam."
"I want to practice touch-typing so...
I'd like to make use of any documents that are going to be disposed of," she said.
And amongst them, there would be the questionnaire cards.
The cards that had already been inputted. No question about it.
Information leakage. There could be a lot of issues!
Could you show me the cards that you handed over to Miss Shinjo?
But, they've already been disposed of.
The data ought to still be in the computer.
I can't because the sales department is in charge of the data.
Shall we do some private negotiating with the sales department right now?
Or shall I get a formal search warrant and investigate your personal residence?
Which would you prefer?
Here it is! Sekine Shoko. Kawaguchi City. Employed by a bar in Shinbashi.
This is how she determined her target.
Targets...
Her right arm had been burned.
It's gasoline.
She said wiping it on the ventilation fan made the dust come off nicely.
Hey!
What do you mean the target was not Sekine Shoko?
Isn't that what we've come here searching for?
Shinjo Kyoko selected her targets from the...
Rose Rain questionnaire. Targets she could potentially become.
A first candidate... Second candidate... Third candidate...
Candidate?
If she were to pickup a number of targets...
Then what?
The burn is what I'm thinking of. Three years ago on November 19th...
Shinjo Kyoko attacked the family household of candidate number one.
To completely isolate that candidate...
she set fire to the place with gasoline.
She herself had her right arm burned and was hospitalized for one week.
In the end, that murder attempt failed.
It was at that time, that the death of Sekine Shoko's mother appeared in the papers...
and Shinjo Kyoko changed her target to...
candidate number two, Sekine Shoko.
Hold it a minute. Let me get this straight in my head.
Before Shinjo Kyoko had her sights on Sekine Shoko...
there was somebody else. And you're saying she attacked the relatives of that somebody else?
Yes. A young woman in her twenties, living alone.
A target with few family ties... whose register seemed easy to acquire...
with a weak connection to society...
and easily buried in the dark.
Now that she's abandoned the guise of Sekine Shoko...
Shinjo Kyoko may return to her previous target.
Ah, is this the Azuma residence?
Excuse me for inquiring but...
did any of your relatives experience a fire three years ago?
They didn't? Sorry to trouble you.
Oh no, no... I'm doing an insurance investigation.
I apologize.
Hello, would this be the Obata residence?
Ah, hello.
You once answered a questionnaire of the...
Rose Rain mail-order company, is that correct?
Yes. It was three years ago, right?
Have any of your relatives since experienced anything resembling a fire?
I see. Sorry to bother you.
Your dad just called.
Says he's back in Tokyo but it looks like he'll be working all night.
So stay here the night with Grandma, OK Satoru?
Sure! Wah! That's an enthusiastic reply!
I promised Dad.
Whenever Dad's really working hard, I'm going to do my best too.
Oh? Yes, let's all do our best, eh.
Eh?
Three yours ago there was a fire and your sister was seriously... ?
Is that a bingo?
The apartment where your sister was living...
was set fire to November 19th of that year?
It's a bingo!
Excuse me for asking but currently are you living alone?
Are you still freelancing part-time?
Your parents have already passed away, is that right?
Ju...just... don't hang up please. This is something extremely important.
Please call the Metropolitan Police Criminal Investigations Unit and make a reference to us.
We are First Division detectives Ikari Sadao and Honma Shunsuke.
After that, call this number back.
Yes, that's right, it's my home. The Honma residence.
The arson incident seriously injured my sister...
and ever since, she had been hospitalized and in a coma.
The one responsible still hasn't been caught.
And your sister, now?
Last summer she died without ever regaining consciousness.
Recently have you made any new friends?
New friends?
Yes... a friend... acquaintance... a face you'd recognize.
Even someone who just asked you for directions.
Have you had any recent contact with a woman like this?
The face I don't know.
The face?
All I heard was her voice.
About five days ago I received a call from a woman who said she was a friend of my sister.
Seems she recently found out about my sister's passing and...
said she wanted to pay a visit to the grave and would like to have me show her the way.
We made an appointment to meet.
And that would be when?
This Saturday in Ginza.
What name did that woman refer to herself as?
Shinjo Kyoko.
[Utsunomiya]
Your leg looks like it's doing better.
Eh? Ah... I'd forgotten all about it.
Two years ago, at the end of March when the cherry blossoms were out...
an office worker for the school met a peculiar woman here.
She was tall and beautiful like a model.
Apparently the woman came to the office worker...
saying a friend of her's used to go to this school.
She used to take care of a Java sparrow.
When it died, her and another boy made a grave for it in the schoolyard.
Then she asked, "Where would that grave be?"
The office worker responded that she didn't know.
Nevertheless, the worker was somehow concerned...
and when she asked the woman what her friend was doing now...
the woman then......
How did Shinjo Kyoko reply?
She said her friend...
had passed away.
This is too much for just us. I'm going to request support from the Tochigi police.
Honma.
I won't let her kill any more.
[Ginza, Tokyo]
At long last you may come face-to-face with the real person.
If Shinjo Kyoko arrives what are you going to say to her?
I wonder.
There's something here!
Oh... they've found it.
Stay back, get back!
Shii-chan! Shii-chan! Shii-chan!!
Get back! Shii-chan... Shii-chan!
Shii-chan!
Shii-chan...!
"There was no mistaking that it was her."
"Both the anguish within her appearance...
and the loneliness within her silhouette...
left any doubt about it, impossible."
"She was beautiful."
"Her figure from behind...
was slender and delicate."
"At last I had tracked her down."
"At last I had reached her."
Shinjo Kyoko, is it?
I would like you to tell me your story.
The story that has unfolded during the secret life you've been living...
while on the run.
The story that you have borne alone.
I am a detective of the Metropolitan Police First Division Criminal Investigations Unit.
My name is Honma Shunsuke.
KASHA
Boke... Boke!
Boke! Boke!
Boke!
I'm home.
Boke!
You're all right, Boke!
-Translation and Subbing by akMetallic-