Original subtitles

SAGAMI-TEI FISH RESTAURANT

Sorry to drop in on you like this.

We previously

spoke about your wife. I'm from Kanagawa Prefe--

You're Domoto, right?

I remember.

Yes.

So, what brings you here?

The truth is, similar incidents to your wife's case have happened since then.

Within the police department,

it hasn't reached the point where a special task force has been formed.

I'm looking into the case on my own.

In other words,

I have to admit

that the information I've gathered so far is still pretty thin.

But I believe

that I absolutely must catch the person responsible for this series of cases.

If your wife's death

was caused by someone…

then there has to be

a reason for it.

Domoto.

Yes?

To be honest with you,

even if you found the person responsible…

I don't know

if that would make me happy or not right now.

The other day,

it rained heavily, and on the hill over there,

there was a landslide.

A few houses were completely destroyed,

and there were some casualties.

People were very emotional,

and some blamed the rain or the mountain itself.

But deep down, we all know nature

has no malice.

Malice…

Sure.

And that made me think…

Whether Michiko's death

was suicide or murder,

even if whoever did it is never caught…

just like a natural disaster

or an accident…

my wife was taken away by bad luck.

I can live with that.

That's what makes the most sense to me.

So, Domoto, I'm sorry.

I just

don't have it in me to keep digging up the past.

I just want

to be left alone.

KANAGAWA, 2024

Goodness me…

-Where's the family? -Not here, it seems.

According to the neighbors,

it was just the husband and wife living here.

Well, for now, let’s focus on identifying the victim.

Okay.

Who's that?

The person who found the body.

A neighbor. He says he was walking his dog

and came across the body just like this.

Nice one.

Alright!

Whoa!

What was that?

What's wrong?

The time.

What? That went by fast.

Here.

See you.

Next week?

Next week's probably fine. I'll text you.

Okay.

How's your mom? Doing alright?

Hmm.

What's with the "hmm"?

It's just, there's this guy she gets along really well with.

What?

Come on, man. You can't just drop that on me.

Then don't ask.

See you.

I see.

The wife wasn't home?

Taiwan?

WIFE: AKARI SAWADA, DESIGNER, BORN ON NOVEMBER 7, 1983

On a business trip, huh?

Since this Monday…

Let us know when she's back and when she's available.

-Hello. -Oh, hello.

Excuse me.

Domoto, real quick.

What is it?

You haven't bathed, have you?

-Huh? -You smell.

You haven't been home, have you?

Seriously, you need to take better care of yourself.

Huh? Iida?

Aren't you supposed to be off today?

I forgot something here.

Starting today, I'm going to be working at a different precinct.

What, why?

Why? I have other cases to take care of, you know.

What kind of cases?

Listen, you need to take a rest.

You're working way too hard.

You had another case today too, right?

Let someone else handle it. Take tomorrow off.

Go out to lunch with your boyfriend or something.

And one more thing, take a bath.

A terrible way to go,

but this is what happens when your jack fails.

Cause of death is hemorrhaging from a depressed skull fracture.

When the car dropped, it exerted tremendous pressure on the body,

leaving deep marks on the skin.

Judging by the injuries,

it seems clear he was crushed by the vehicle.

Well, in any case, the victim has been identified as the homeowner,

Yuto Sawada.

Thank you.

Anything else worth noting?

Let me think…

He had a bruise on his right arm,

but it doesn't look like anything serious.

Actually, nothing really stands out.

It's not really my area of expertise,

but it seems pretty clear it was an accidental death.

Yes.

What about the hair?

-His hair? -Yes.

For example,

was there a part of his hair

cut off, or something like that?

Let's see…

There's dried blood in parts of his hair, but…

nothing particularly noteworthy.

-Is that so? -Yes.

ALARM

YOSUKE

My husband…

He worked at a lighting company he co-founded with some friends.

The office was about a half-hour drive away.

He came home late every night,

often past midnight.

Was your husband a designer too?

No. Well, sometimes he did things related to design,

but he mainly handled the sales side.

I see.

But…

he liked working with his hands.

On his days off, he'd shut himself in the garage and work on his car.

Even on holidays, he said his car was his best friend.

I complained more than once.

Um, I'm sorry,

what brings you here today, exactly?

I'm sorry.

I came to pay my respects and update you on the case.

I see.

We in the police department are treating this case as an accident.

But even if we believe that's the case,

we need more information,

so right now we're still in the process

of gathering and verifying it.

So once we have solid details,

we'll let you know.

I understand.

I'm sorry to visit so soon after what happened.

It's okay.

Did you get back to Japan this morning?

No, I flew in late last night.

-I was in Taiwan. -I see.

Um…

Aren't you forcing yourself too hard?

What?

You seem so composed and calm.

No…

I don't know why.

Meaning… what exactly?

I myself don't know why

I can't cry.

Maybe that's what it means for it to not have hit you yet.

Alright, done.

-Thank you very much. -No problem.

Motokawa, please go ahead.

Alright, here I go.

Ready, and…

So, it wasn't an accident?

But who could have…

That's what we're going to figure out.

Every crime has its reason.

HIROKI DAIMON

LOOK FOR DESIGNS THAT WILL LAST 100 YEARS - AKARI SAWADA

Hey, come here.

What's up?

Look.

Both photos seem recent,

but if something or someone is in the background, we might find something out.

Yeah…

Have these photos analyzed.

Okay.

-Hey. -Oh, welcome back, Iida.

I'm exhausted…

Did you take a bath?

I did.

-What about your boyfriend? -Excuse me?

-Did you meet up with him? -No.

-Did you call him? -I did,

but I couldn't get ahold of him.

SERIAL KILLER OBSESSED WITH HAIR

-What's that? -Huh?

What are you reading?

An article about haircutting on victims who died under suspicious circumstances.

You're still looking into that?

It's from over ten years ago.

It's by an American researcher.

-Have you found anything? -No,

I'm just getting started on it.

You're starting now?

Do you know what time it is?

Back in the day,

I couldn't stop working either.

I'd go a week without stepping foot in my house.

And before I knew it, both my wife and son had left.

That's hard to believe seeing you as you are now.

Even though I worked my fingers to the bone,

I never managed to become anyone special.

My seniors used to call me "useless Iida."

I see.

What do you mean, "I see"?

Anyway, at this rate,

even if you marry that guy, you're going to end up just like me.

So? How did it go?

Did you get anything out of your unexpected trip?

Well, it seemed like it at first.

-So, a wasted trip? -Well…

Please don't work too hard at this hour of the night.

STAFF SLEEPING QUARTERS

I'm sorry.

No, it's fine. I was just about to get up.

Actually, thanks for waking me.

Oh, no, no need to rush.

Oh, really?

-Excuse me. -Ah, thank you.

-Iida. -Hmm?

I've wanted to ask you for a while…

Why are you helping Domoto

so much with her investigation?

Domoto's investigation?

You know, looking for that serial killer.

Oh…

What do you think, Kikuchi?

What do I think?

Do you really think there's a serial killer?

To be honest,

I'm not really convinced.

I think I'm helping Domoto

because I find it really interesting.

What?

Just like you,

I don't think there's a serial killer.

Everyone at the station probably thinks the same.

Nobody is going to take it seriously just because

"Their hair is cut strangely."

That's true.

But…

even so, she's working so hard on it.

Doesn't it make you want to cheer her on?

I like these kinds of investigations.

The ones where you're just going around in circles the whole time.

Yeah…

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY

KATSUYA DOMOTO

THOSE WHO RUSH TO FIND THE TRUTH MUST, ABOVE ALL,

DISCOVER THE REASON FOR THE CRIME

Your mother and

the rest of the family

are still trying to put a label

on the reason why I'm sick. It's terrible.

Even though my doctor, you know…

He says it's not a lifestyle-related disease.

That's because if they figure out the reason,

they can try to cure it.

We want to do anything we can for you.

We're all trying to help.

Yeah, but…

What if you find out the reason for your terminal illness

turns out to be

something like lack of sleep?

You'd regret it endlessly.

Not having gotten enough sleep.

Dad, you were always talking about "reasons" when you were working.

I was told you do the same thing.

So I thought maybe you had come, like your mother,

to scold me for my bad habits…

But I'm glad you didn't.

I mean it.

Anyway, when you die,

it's better not

to know the reason.

Bingo. You were right.

Yeah.

IMAGE ANALYSIS REPORT REGARDING UNNATURAL DEATH IN SAWADA RESIDENCE PARKING GARAGE

Reiji Ninomiya, 37 years old. Kitchen designer.

Four years ago, he went independent and set up his own office,

and now, he was working as a freelancer.

-Domoto. -Yes?

Why don't you believe this was just an accident?

Her expression, I suppose.

Expression?

She doesn't look like a wife

grieving the sudden death of her husband.

Even the first time I visited her,

I didn't get the feeling that she was affected by it.

If I had to say, she seems like a cheery person,

but I think she realized that if she tried to lie or fake it, it'd be too obvious.

So she decided

to act naturally in front of me

and not pretend to be sad.

If I asked an uncomfortable question,

she'd say, "I don't really know myself,"

to dodge the question.

I see.

There are many approaches a detective

can take to discover the truth.

But I always start with the reason.

No one dies for no reason.

I try to think about what problems may have been lurking around them.

And then, what we couldn’t see at first

starts coming to light.

The reason…

Do you think Ninomiya is staying the night?

I'm not sure.

HERE IS THE REPORT ON FUMIYA KISHI, AS PER YOUR REQUEST

FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME IF YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE. -IMANO

-Hello. -Hello there.

Oh, sorry for using it without asking.

Ah, it's fine.

This is for the cleaning staff, right?

Doing laundry at home has always been such a pain for me.

But here, it relaxes me.

It's weird, isn't it?

Thanks for the other day.

What?

-You know, for waking me up. -Ah…

Oh, no, I'm very sorry for that.

Not at all, not at all.

If you hadn't come by,

I would have missed something really important. You did me a favor.

Have you been doing this job for a while?

Yes.

But I've only been here for three months.

Where were you before?

Saitama.

Oh, Saitama?

At a police station, I assume?

No, not with the police.

A regular company.

Have you had a lot of different jobs?

No, I've always been a cleaner.

Really?

-Then you must be a pro at it, huh? -Well, yes…

Anyway, sorry for keeping you.

Oh, goodbye.

Why did you decide to work here?

Huh?

You know, since I work here,

I was just wondering if this station had something special about it.

Well, I applied at a few different places…

This was the first one that hired me.

I see. Makes sense.

Sorry for keeping you.

No problem, goodbye.

Domoto, this is terrible. It's Iida…

Well…

among all the detectives…

they've decided the chances of it being a murder…

are extremely low.

But…

there's no way Iida committed suicide.

Did we…

miss certain warning signs?

Domoto.

I found out what Iida had been looking into recently.

What was it?

Here, take a look.

HIGH SCHOOL GIRL IN KANAGAWA, YURI KITAGAWA (AGE 16)

High school girl in Kanagawa…

People who resigned…

RESIGNATIONS REPORTED

COMPANIES IN KYUSHU

Housewife drowned in Fukuoka…

People who resigned…

NUMEROUS RESIGNATIONS REPORTED

These are the cases we've been tracking…

Yes.

It seems he was tracking down people who disappeared after the incidents.

People who disappeared?

IORI SAKIYAMA, CLEANING STAFF, AGE 39

Iida… he kept insisting the events weren't connected too…

WHO RESIGNED AT THE BARBERSHOP?

Don't tell me…

Was he murdered because he got too close to the killer?

And jump!

Hold your position!

Don't forget to breathe! Yes!

And now, four steps forward!

FROM MASAFUMI YAMAZOE, NAGOYA

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION

ANY PERSONS OR ORGANIZATIONS WHO APPEAR HAVE NO RELATION TO ANY ACTUALLY EXISTING

NEXT TIME

-Swimming? -Yes. Swimming exercise.

So your husband won't tell you, "You've gained weight."

Must be nice to have an easy job

where all the neighborhood housewives adore you.

Both photos were taken by someone who's resigned.

So he avoided getting in the photos?

-Misae! -What a coincidence.

I think what we call coincidence or disaster

is the result of invisible forces at work, like gravity.

In other words, when invisible forces accumulate

and finally take shape,

that's when people truly perceive them

as coincidences or disasters.

That's what I believe.

Subtitle translation by: Maslin Friedman