I've got the 3 million yen.
10,000 shares in Towa, huh?
Are you sure?
I'm home.
[Tsukumo Residence]
That Summer's Getting Gloomier
How long have you been there?
About a minute.
You looked focused so I didn't want to disturb you.
What's with that?
You were looking for me?
Yeah, sort of.
S-Should we talk outside?
Episode Three
You know my dad, right?
No, is he famous?
My surname's Mutou.
Mutou?
Yeah.
Mr Mutou from the Tozai Newspaper?
Yeah, he's my dad.
W-What is it?
You don't look much like him.
I wanted to talk about you working at Tozai...
Well, you see...
This probably doesn't concern me, but if you accept the job offer,
me and my dad would be... happy?
Maybe that's not the right word.
What the hell?
You want me to accept the offer to make you two happy?
That's not what I meant.
Then what did you mean?
Sorry for upsetting you.
I get it, I'm not mad at you.
Your dad put you up to this?
No, he didn't.
This was my idea.
I thought so.
He wouldn't have done that.
You sure think highly of him.
He's wonderful.
He has a kind and stern look in his eyes.
I like his gaze of humility that's hiding overflowing intelligence.
Well, he does roam around the house in his suteteko.
What are suteteko?
Huh?
Well, um, they're underwear. Kinda long-underwear.
Interesting, that word sounds Spanish.
I wonder where's it from?
Do you wear them too?
Not in a million years.
I've already made up my mind.
It's a very caring company.
I found that out by meeting your dad and Mr Suwa.
But tell your dad this for me:
I really can't accept the offer.
Then where will you get a job?
I don't know yet.
But I can't work there.
I can't bear the thought of becoming the center of attention there.
If you want me...
If you want me to tell him, I will.
But wouldn't it be better if he hears it from you?
You do remind me of your dad.
Huh?
Okay, I'll tell him myself.
But I doubt I have enough self-confidence to explain why.
Sorry for the short notice.
You had to leave your niece's wedding reception early.
She won't mind.
Anyway, how's it going?
Find out anything?
I think it's too early to tell.
But I have a few questions.
So you're on to something?
First, about Sachiko Haruki's height.
Height?
Yeah.
In your notebook,
you wrote that a pre-school aged girl
saw a short woman take a baby from the nursery, right?
Right.
She was the only eye-witness.
But she was only five years old, so we couldn't really interview her.
So we let her choose a photo.
Teruyo.
Which one of these women look like the one who took the baby?
This one.
So you concluded that Sachiko Haruki was the one who took Natsuo, right?
That's right.
But Mr Ootsuki said the girl would've been too small to make out it was Sachiko.
Oh, you talked to Director Ootsuki, huh?
I remember him well.
Inoue, you saw her corpse too.
What did you think?
I don't recall.
What do you mean?
You always remember a suspect's details.
I really don't.
Her body was quite deformed.
Seeing bodies like that scars you for life.
But forgetting what you thought when you saw something is normal.
Then how could what a little girl thought she saw be reliable evidence?
Her height doesn't matter.
The witness was a pre-schooler.
She was very small so she could have only seen a very small woman.
You can't trust a pre-schooler to identify a suspect anyway.
You may be right.
But we couldn't ask those two for their side of the story.
They fled with the ransom and died in a car accident.
Normally it's you reporters who are to blame for stuff like that happening.
I guess it comes with the territory.
Oh, that's right.
Also, Mr Ootsuki's wife thought the culprit's voice on the phone
didn't fit Tsukumo's face.
Didn't fit?
Yes.
Tsukumo's face and the voice gave off different impressions.
Impressions again.
But this is the first I've heard about that.
She told the police.
But an impression wouldn't cut it.
But you used little Teruyo's impression.
Did you consider the possibility of additional culprits?
Of course we did.
But after those two died, the investigation became fixated on finding the baby.
The baby's safety was our first priority.
Did you think he was still alive?
It was a gloomy atmosphere.
All a baby can do is cry.
If he was still alive, an additional culprit would've given him a new identity.
But no matter how much we investigated Tsukumo and Haruki,
we couldn't find anything suggesting there were more than two culprits.
You never pinpointed their movements up until the chase.
I believe they hid out at Sachiko Haruki's place.
We found cut up newspapers used for making the letters at her home.
And a novel called 'King's Ransom.'
Take this to Kurobata.
Yes sir.
King's Ransom?
You didn't write about this in your notebook.
I didn't jot down every single thing.
Tsukumo was in the mystery club during his university days.
He liked that story and was probably inspired by it.
Were those the only publications you found?
No, there was a lot...
I think the rest were all just fashion magazines.
What's wrong?
I find it a bit strange.
Like it was planted there or something.
I guess it's possible.
Sure, that kidnapping may have seemed to be copying the book.
But the only similarity is that the kidnappers asked someone
unrelated to the baby to pay the ransom.
The similarities end there.
There was no reason to have the book on hand, as if to consult it.
Only Tsukumo would know why it was there.
What about fingerprints?
Only Tsukumo's were found on the newspapers.
Funny enough,
they had the privilege of being Tozai newspapers.
What about the book?
There were a few fingerprints on it which weren't Tsukumo's.
We never found out whose, but it was probably a bookshop's employee.
Does that put your mind at ease?
You're paying for my meal today,
so if you want to know something, I'll tell you.
Then one last question.
Why did the culprit take a baby from the nursery?
I don't get it.
If they weren't targeting a particular baby,
why didn't they take a baby closer to an exit?
That came up during an investigation meeting.
It was concluded that they wanted to take a baby likely to be asleep.
If it was awake, it'd probably cry and cause attention.
I see.
You don't sound convinced.
No, I thought that too.
But I came up with a second possibility.
Really?
Let's hear it.
What if the culprit planned on taking Natsuo Tezuka from the start.
The babies in the nursery have name bands on their feet, right?
Yeah.
Say there were two other culprits besides Tsukumo and Haruki...
Those people had something agaisnt the Tezuka's,
looked for their baby via the name bands, found Natsuo and then kidnapped him.
And then Tsukumo and Haruki somehow meet up with them.
Tsukumo who had read 'King's Ransom' says instead of the Tezuka's,
they could demand a higher ransom from the hospital's director.
Then the additional male culprit called Ootsuki's house.
The reason you couldn't pinpoint what they did before the chase was
because they were at the additional culprits' home.
And when Tsukumo and Haruki went off to retrieve the ransom,
those crafty additional culprits left 'King's Ransom' in Haruki's apartment.
By making it look like they referenced that novel
and that they were targeting Ootsuki from the start,
the idea that the Tezuka's were targeted becomes unlikely
and that line of inquiry won't be pursued.
What do you think?
Now the problem of the woman's height, the male voice on the phone
and the fingerprints on the book which weren't Tsukumo's, can be resolved.
No matter how you look at it, it seems like a stretch.
And Tsukumo was still somewhat involved.
What about clearing his name, huh?
And do you think it's easy to plan a major crime with lots of people?
Anyway, how did you know that newborns have name bands?
The police wouldn't have mentioned that to the press.
Well, um, Mutou told me about that a while back.
His wife gave birth at that hospital.
Oh.
Seiichi Mutou from Tokyo University, huh?
What's he doing now?
He's a human resource manager at my company.
He was the one who saved my bacon two years back.
Well, if he didn't step in, I probably would've been fired.
He's got a heart of gold.
And he's like that at work too, huh?
But I went from the elite Tokyo U to a dull prefectural police HQ.
A lot of names I haven't heard in a while keep coming up.
Has the rumor made its way around the university?
People like rumors.
I think they're jealous.
Not many people get offers from newspapers straight out of school.
Thanks.
How is she?
Still not letting it get to her.
She should sue Shuho for character assassination.
With the Tozai Newspaper's support.
Don't be so childish.
If this gets blown out of proportion, it'll only hurt her.
Well, of course.
But I'd hate it if Asakura couldn't work at Tozai because of them.
Wouldn't you too, Miss Chiyo?
I don't know much about it,
but I think you should leave the decision making to her.
Or doesn't she get a say?
Is that right?
Hiroko Asakura intends to decline the offer...
You probably don't want to hear this now.
But aren't we trying too hard to make her accept the offer?
Since this issue came to light,
advertising rates for Shuho publications are at a high.
People are questioning why we're losing money over a prospective employee.
And there's no guarantee that similar articles won't be written.
She doesn't seem to want the job, so considering that,
as a company, I think the best choice now is to let this go.
What do you think Mutou?
Hiroko Asakura received top marks in language studies on the written exam.
And she mysteriously charms the people around her.
Great reporters need to have a gift.
To be honest, I want to see how she uses hers.
I see.
She hopes to be in the International Division.
I think she should be assigned to a North American bureau.
There will be opposition to this, but this is an unprecedented situation.
The Tozai Newspaper shouldn't be going so far for this ordinary girl.
That's what the chief at Shuho said when I called him.
Our newspaper will make it up to Hiroko Asakura at any cost.
We'll make her an offer she can't refuse.
[Tezuka]
It's tough to remember that.
Anyway, what sort of article would they be writing now?
Thanks.
We don't need it.
We won't use it straight away. It'll just be a burden.
We can just rent one.
But we could reuse it if we have another baby.
It was gender neutral and cute.
If we really need one, I guess we can buy one.
Really?
That's good.
Which one does he like?
Should I make some tea?
I'll do it.
I should move around more.
Really?
Please call out.
I thought you were a door to door salesman.
He's from the Tozai Newspaper.
Tozai?
Sorry for coming out of the blue.
I wanted to interview you a while back.
You probably don't remember me.
Well, I sort of do.
He's looking into that again.
Huh?
Sit down.
Thanks.
I'll make some tea.
I deliver newspapers now.
We work for the same company, so I'll try to be of some help.
Thanks.
It took years for her to come to terms with it.
I was the same.
Words can't describe how a parent whose child was kidnapped and killed feels.
I'm from the archives, I'm looking into major incidents in the past.
So you're not a reporter?
No.
If a similar incident does happen,
I have to be of some use.
It's sort of behind the scenes work.
I deliver newspapers every morning, so I guess I work behind the scenes too.
A lot of people do.
Anyone can do my job, I'm just a small cog in a big wheel.
Well, but I've heard a lot of people can't handle it.
That's true, some people just stop coming to work.
It may surprise you, but the older guys like me do that more.
Even so, newspapers have to be delivered.
So everyone has to step up when that happens.
It's a pain.
Here you go.
So...
What do you want with us?
Well, when I was looking into that incident again,
I became curious about some things.
I thought there could be more culprits.
More?
More culprits besides Tsukumo?
Tsukumo...
That's right.
Other culprits besides Tsukumo and Haruki.
Hey.
This seat taken?
Go ahead.
What's wrong?
You look gloomy.
Hasn't work tired you out too?
No, not really.
Mutou.
I met with the Tezuka's.
Deep down, they think Natsuo is still alive.
Our baby was their target from the start?
Yeah, I don't think Tsukumo could pull off such a crime.
I think Tsukumo was helping out some people he knew.
I think those people must have held a grudge agaisnt you two.
We went over this with the police back then.
I gave them a number of my co-worker's names.
But I heard they all had alibis.
What about you?
I didn't give any names.
I only really know the women from the neighborhood.
I see.
That's enough, right?
We've talked about things we didn't want to.
Tsukumo was the kidnapper.
He and that woman did it.
He had a little kid of his own,
how could he take ours?
Now it's our turn to ask questions.
What happened to Tsukumo's family?
He had a wife and a daughter.
Where are they now?
What will you do if I tell you?
Nothing.
We just want to know.
We know his family did nothing wrong.
But we still can't forgive them.
We want the family of the man who stole Natsuo
to have suffered like we did.
We can't help it.
Our feelings won't subside until we find out if they did.
Tsukumo's wife died a year after the kidnapping.
It was certainly the mental anguish from the kidnapping that killed her.
And their daughter?
She was only two back then...
She really did nothing wrong.
You know, don't you?
About what she's doing now.
Mr Kaji, it's quite unfair.
You come here unannounced with your theories.
Now you're hiding what you know.
I guess it's in your nature to lie.
Could you calm down?
Please tell us.
Tsukumo's daughter is deciding whether to work at Tozai or not.
What do you mean?
I don't know the whole story.
She probably applied like any other person would and was offered a job.
However that information was leaked.
Shuho Weekly wrote an article about how Tozai employed a kidnapper's daughter.
Is that why you came here?
No, it's just a coincidence.
It's bad timing-
A coincidence? Yeah right.
So since that article's bothering Tozai,
they've sent you to try and clear Tsukumo's name?
Are all you people heartless?
Tsukumo took the ransom and had it when he died!
Who else could the culprit be!?
Yes, but other people-
Shut up!
You people never change!
You gave us hell back then!
And you're trying to do it again!
I am so sorry.
Want some coffee?
This one?
Yeah.
[Tozai Newspaper] Yokosuka Bureau
Kaji?
It must be you.
I'm Bureau Chief Nomura.
Hi, nice to meet you.
Chief Sugino said that you might come here.
I was told to assist you in any way with the kidnapping matter if you did.
Come on in, sit.
I was hoping you'd show up.
Make yourself comfy.
Give me the details.
Sachiko Haruki's exact height,
the whereabouts of those nurses and the little girl eye-witness.
Yes.
That little girl, Teruyo Tajiri.
Yes.
Well, the woman she saw was small.
But the ex-hospital director said Sachiko Haruki was at least 160cm.
Interesting.
I've gotten bored with writing about some American sailor getting into a fight.
Note: There's a U.S naval base in Yokosuka. U.S military personnel in Japan have a bad reputation for causing trouble.
I'm counting on you.
Leave it to the Yokosuka Bureau.
We get results.
Will we get there by 9.30?
We should.
Welcome.
Sorry.
Are you closing up?
Yes.
But we're just starting to, so come in.
Is that young female waitress here today?
You want to talk with Hiroko?
Oh sorry, you're her mother?
I'm Sugino from the Tozai Newspaper.
Oh, please wait here.
Go ahead.
Oh, here.
Thanks.
Thanks for waiting.
Will the restaurant be okay?
The young guys can take care of it.
Please don't worry.
You drink too, right?
Um, yes.
Just a little.
Oh, you have some too.
If it's fine by you,
I'll have some.
Glasses.
Sure.
Thanks.
It really shows when she has a drink.
I'll pour hers.
To us.
Let's drink.
Thanks for making me a meal after hours.
It's no problem.
This is the least I can do.
If you want more,
feel free to ask.
I think this will be plenty.
Having a father from the war generation,
I grew up with the three principles.
Three principles?
I can't converse in English,
I won't dance
and I lick my plate clean.
Right?
You know a lot for your age.
I like those sort of things.
You'd make a good reporter.
Having vast knowledge is an essential requirement.
But I didn't know what suteteko were.
I want to find out where the word was derived from.
Oh, sorry.
She changes the subject a lot.
It probably started in the Meiji era
with a rakugo storyteller named Sanyutei Enyu.
While preforming his so called 'suteteko dance,'
the underwear under his kimono could be seen.
Eventually, men would wear that kind of underwear again with trousers to absorb
sweat during summer and they became known as suteteko.
Really?
Incredible.
Now I can sleep easy.
But why did you bring up suteteko all of a sudden?
Sorry.
I know Mr Mutou's son because we go to the same university.
Shinji told me something about Mr Mutou.
Hey Hiroko, don't disrespect Mr Mutou.
It's okay.
If it's funny, I want to hear it.
Mr Mutou roams around the house in his suteteko.
So even he lets himself go?
He's such a stern HR manager at work.
Oh, relax.
Rest your legs.
May I?
Thanks.
Just leave them there.
Are you friends with Miss Asakura?
Yeah.
Could you introduce me to her?
What?
I came here today to talk about Miss Asakura's job offer.
We want to send you overseas after your on-the-job training.
To a North American bureau.
You can put your language skills to good use there.
Washington or New York?
Mutou will give you a strong recommendation for either.
Washington is for world politics and New York is the financial center of the world.
Cover whatever you want to.
Is climate a concern?
No, it's not that.
Hiroko, this is wonderful news.
My daughter's very grateful.
Words can't express...
Thank you so much.
But I...
I didn't come here today for an answer.
I just wanted you to know how highly our newspaper thinks of you.
Give it some thought
and tell us your decision when you're ready to.
Well then, let's see how much of your cooking I can fit in.
Sure.
It'll be hard to lick all these plates clean.
[...Reference Room...]
Hello?
Sorry to disturb you.
I'm Kaji from the Tozai Newspaper.
Yes.
Is Mr Satou in today?
On a business trip?
Okay then.
Then could you give me his cell phone number?
[The Minami Medicine Company]
Okay, please do.
Yes.
Mr Satou, right?
Which one would you like?
I'll have the tea.
Me and Tsukumo used to go out drinking a lot.
When I heard he was one of the kidnappers, I couldn't believe it.
But the ransom was found in his car
so there wasn't much room for doubt.
Did you know about Sachiko Haruki?
Tsukumo was invited to her store a number of times.
The newspaper and the TV news didn't mention much about her.
Her family probably used money to ensure that.
Did Tsukumo seem troubled because of money problems?
The police confirmed he had a debt over 2 million yen.
It didn't seem that way.
Was that from underworld activities?
Yeah, something like that.
2 million, right?
Sachiko had to repay that amount six months prior for her store.
Maybe it was just from living it up?
Tsukumo's company was a money making machine.
I envied him back then.
Wait...
He might have played the stock market.
Stocks?
Yeah.
One time when we went drinking...
Satou.
Yeah?
Shall I give you a tip?
What kind?
Information about which stocks will do well.
Stocks?
But this is a secret, okay?
It was like he had tips from an inside trader.
I was surprised.
He never mentioned stocks before then.
Did you tell the police this?
No, I didn't.
It only came back to me now.
Would this information have been useful?
It's Kaji.
It's like you suspected.
Sachiko Haruki might have been taller than 162cm.
So you didn't find the autopsy report?
I could only get her health records from high school.
According to them, she was 162.5cm in her 2nd year of high school.
Since she might have grown after that, she could have been taller in 1995.
I see.
And about that five year old witness.
Teruyo Tajiri?
I had a look.
I could only find out where she works.
I'll email you the address later.
Thanks.
Don't let word of this get around.
A person there on the day of the kidnapping.
Excuse me.
The financial planner with Ootsuki when he was told Natsuo was missing.
He was called back when Ootsuki needed money for the ransom.
Excuse us.
He was even in the police's blind spot.
The one who helped arranged the loan using Ootsuki's stocks as collateral.
The man with them from the start who was right under their noses.
The one most likely in on it.
The only person here who works with stocks.
The hospital's financial planner at the time.
Junji Horie.
Now hang on.
That's rushing to conclusions.
Besides, Tsukumo's sudden interest in stocks isn't enough to connect them.
You may be right, but...
if Horie manipulated his client's investment decisions
and Tsukumo needed to pay off some of his debt...
Think about it.
Nomura?
Oh, sorry.
Horie...
You said Junji Horie, didn't you?
Yeah.
Well, that name rings a bad bell.
Really?
Because of an incident?
Probably.
A white collar crime or something?
I've reported on that sort of thing a number of times...
Junji Horie...
If I could look up his name...
Hey Kaji.
Use the computer.
You can look up past articles, why don't you search his name?
Right.
Give me a minute.
Something come up? What is it?
[Wife in Common-Law Marriage Murdered] [Strangled to Death After Accusations of an Affair]
Well... Junji Horie committed murder.
When and where?
Let's see, December 1997 in Otaru, Hokkaido.
Eureka!
I was in Sapporo at the time.
He killed her because she was having an affair, right?
Financial planner Junji Horie was arrested for strangling his wife, Kinue Takigawa...
Kinue Takigawa?
[A nurse was first told of Natsuo's disappearance]
What's wrong?
The woman Horie killed was interviewed by the police about the kidnapping.
She was a nurse.
She came to you first after seeing Natsuo wasn't there, yes?
Yes, she came to me.
Hey, does that mean?
If Horie and Kinue were in on it...
That murder and the kidnapping are related?
They're the additional culprits.
Completely timed and translated from Japanese into English by Miharu-Rush.
NOT FOR Selling, Renting, Streaming or Profiteering! Please support the official release if possible. Terminate this subtitle file once/if this series has been licensed in your region.
Episode 4 Preview
Where is Horie now?
He fell for that stupid woman's charms.
Don't tell me... he's dead?
Will telling the truth now change anything?
You look like you're back to your old self.
You were responsible for that kidnapping, right?
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the product(s) of the staff's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.