Original subtitles

Eleven years ago,

on 16 December 2007,

in a ruin in Kanagawa Prefecture,

the dead body of a young woman covered in stab wounds was found.

She was identified as 20-year-old Ayaka Akiu from her belongings.

Ayaka was stabbed in her chest and stomach six times,

and a hole was dug deep into her throat.

The police arrested her boyfriend,

Touo University second-year science and engineering student

Daisuke Asama.

After he was arrested, Asama denied the charges till the end,

but the victim's blood was detected on the shoes and clothes

in his locker at the university.

Asama is obsessed with ruins, and from his laptop,

photos of the crime scene were found.

Asama was prosecuted due to the many physical and

circumstantial pieces of evidence.

He was sentenced to life in prison in Yokohama District Court's trial.

He did not make an appeal and...

"I am innocent."

It had been reported that

the victim was being stalked at that time.

Was the court's decision to find her boyfriend, Asama, guilty

actually the correct one?

"Episode 9"

"Hoshundo Law Office"

- Let's have lunch now. - I'll make some tea.

- Mr Kurokawa, actually... - Yes?

I bought too much food, so I packed one extra lunch box.

Would you like to have it? Today is the day before payday.

Oh... thank you.

Let's have lunch together, then.

Sorry, I'd like to do some studying alone.

I guess not today either.

What is it? Kurokawa shut himself in his room again?

I was going to treat him to grilled meat for lunch.

Wait, that's my idea. And I would've been the one to pay.

It seems the dismissal of the appeal for a retrial the other day

is still affecting him.

It made him realise

how difficult it is to reinspect a case from the past.

So Mr Kurokawa wants to inspect the case from 11 years ago again?

He should be thinking about a posthumous retrial.

But isn't that more difficult than a regular retrial?

- Oh, Ms Arima. - Hello.

What's the matter?

- Where's Kurokawa? - He's in his room.

"Taku Kurokawa's home"

Oh, Ms Arima. Good afternoon.

Do you know that February murder in a riverbed in Ota City?

I think a young woman was killed, and her body was found?

I saw on the news that the suspect was arrested already.

The victim was stalked, right?

Yes, the guy confessed to his crime and has been prosecuted.

But there is a problem.

I can't tell you where I got this,

but it's a photo of the wound on the victim.

She was stabbed in her throat.

Don't you think it looks like

the stab wound on Ayaka Akiu from the case 11 years ago?

That's...

"Touo University Student Murder Case"

"Innocence, Fight Against False Charges"

The murder happened on 6 February 2019, around 1:00 p.m.

Under an overhead railway in Tamagawa, Ota City,

21-year-old Kyoka Hanamaki, student of an arts university in Tokyo,

was found stabbed to death.

Before the murder,

the victim had been stalked by someone,

and she had reported it to the police several times.

After the investigation,

a worker at an auto parts factory near the victim's home,

33-year-old Junpei Fujita, was deemed the suspect.

The victim's student ID card was found in Fujita's home.

"Kyoka Hanamaki"

A sketchbook stained with blood was found

at a rubbish dump near the auto parts factory.

I did not do it.

But we heard that you confessed to murder.

During questioning,

the detective kept torturing me, so I had to.

But you admit that you had been stalking the victim, right?

I only watched her from far away.

I fell in love with her when I first saw her sketching in the park.

Since then, I started taking photos of her

and wandered around near her home.

But I wasn't a stalker.

Hundreds of photos of her

that you took secretly were found on the laptop at your home, right?

Also, her student ID card and a sketchbook stained with blood.

I picked up her student ID card in the park.

I wanted to give it back to her,

but I wasn't brave enough to talk to her.

But I really don't know anything about the sketchbook.

Mr Fujita,

you're from Ibaraki Prefecture, right?

Yes.

My parents had passed away, so I don't really go back.

After finishing high school,

you left your hometown and started working part-time.

When you were 22 years old,

that is, 11 years ago, you lived in Kanagawa.

Yes, I did.

Eleven years ago,

there was also a female university student murdered in Kanagawa.

This case is similar to the one 11 years ago in many ways.

What?

Mr Fujita.

Eleven years ago,

on 15 December 2007...

where were you, and what were you doing?

Mr Kurokawa.

What the heck?

Do you suspect me?

Please calm down.

Don't be ridiculous!

I was told that a lawyer who isn't court-appointed would come,

and I expected better!

This is very important.

Please answer my question.

How would I remember something from so long ago?

I did not kill anyone! Not 11 years ago and not now!

All right, then.

Mr Fujita.

Please let me defend you as your defence lawyer.

Yes?

I personally...

want to investigate the case thoroughly and fight.

Mr Kurokawa.

You never know.

We won't know whether it's related to the case 11 years ago or not

if we don't investigate it.

For now, there are three...

no, there are four possibilities.

Four possibilities?

"Touo University" One, it's just a coincidence.

Whether Fujita was the murderer this time or not,

the victim's neck wound and the case

just happened to be similar.

The second possibility is a copycat.

But the wound wasn't revealed to the public in the case 11 years ago.

Everyone involved knew about it.

The people in the investigation organisations, the press,

and, of course, the victim's family too.

And...

Fujita could be involved in this murder

and the one 11 years ago.

The fourth and last one is

the real murderer is another person, and they deflected blame.

This time, on the man, Fujita...

and on Daisuke Asama 11 years ago.

But the probability of that is significantly low.

Even if the same person committed both murders,

they have no reason to wait for 11 years.

Go now if you've finished what you want to say.

Kurokawa will be in charge of this case.

If the probability isn't zero,

I'll investigate it thoroughly too.

Kyoichiro,

it's the photo we took the other day.

Please put it in your lab.

It's stupid. I don't want it.

You made me go and hang out with you, and I didn't want to.

That's a pack of lies.

You had quite a lot of fun.

Mr Akiu, you've been shutting yourself in your lab.

Isn't it nice to go out for a change?

And you two go out too often.

A student's duty is to study.

Okay, we know that.

We'll go have lunch now. Take it.

- Let's go, Daisuke! - Sorry, Mr Akiu!

Hello?

Dr Kyoichiro Akiu, I presume?

Speaking.

I am the Public Prosecutors Office's Kurokawa.

Sorry about calling suddenly.

Actually, I would like to meet you personally and talk about something.

It's somewhere around here?

On that security camera,

the victim who came here to sketch and the suspect who was watching her

were caught eight times in a month.

He said that he found her student ID card in this park too.

Two weeks before the murder,

they wrote these on their respective social media accounts.

This is the victim's.

"Kyoka: Oh, no. I lost my student ID card... How awful."

This is the suspect's.

"Fujita: I found something amazing.

Should I keep it or make it my treasure?"

Excuse me.

"Fujita: The setting sun”

It's here.

Besides the photos of the victims Fujita secretly took,

this photo caught the prosecutor's attention too.

He thought Fujita came to check out where he'd commit murder.

- It's unnatural. - Yes?

If he really was the murderer,

would he upload a photo that might make people suspect him on purpose?

You mean the prosecutor prosecuted Fujita without a proper reason?

The same thing happened in the case 11 years ago.

At that time,

just because Asama had been to the ruin where Ayaka was killed,

the prosecutor concluded that he went to check out the place.

I'm sorry, but please return to the office without me.

What are you going to do?

I want to think alone. I'm sorry.

Is Mr Kurokawa all right?

He always does things his own way. I do wonder who he is like!

Yes, exactly!

Oh, Ms Wakura! It's been a while since we last saw each other!

Your friend?

This is Mr Kurokawa's mother.

This is the first time we've met, right?

I am Taku's mother. Thank you for helping my son.

I am Kinosaki. Mr Kurokawa is the one who helps me a lot.

What's the matter?

You look like the ducklings that float in a bathtub!

You're so adorable!

Thank you... I think?

What are you here for today?

I'm here because I haven't been here to say hello so far,

but Taku is out, so I thought I would leave at once,

but our conversation got lively!

Yeah, it's been an hour...

well, two hours already.

- Two hours... - Two hours...

Yes?

Ms Wakura, do you have a minute?

Ms Wakura, where is Kurokawa?

He wants to think alone, so we came back first.

In that case, we'll count on you to entertain his mum until she leaves.

What?

She is nice and cheerful, but she keeps going on and on...

We can't even work,

but we can't be rude to the wife of the SPO's Deputy Prosecutor-General.

I think she likes you pretty much.

She likes me?

Mr Kurokawa just brought me to his home against my will,

and I only had supper there once.

But from what we've heard, that isn't the case.

- She mentioned engagement gifts. - Engagement?

She also talked about the colours of dresses you'd wear for the wedding.

Dresses? Wedding?

And she wants to have grandchildren soon.

Grandchildren!

Ms Wakura,

I would like to have a brief look at the room Taku lives in.

Do you mind?

But I'm not the person that you should ask.

It's not a problem at all! I give you the right as the head of office.

Ms Wakura, please take Mrs... l mean, Kurokawa's mother there!

- Please take her there. - Please take her there.

- Well then, please follow me. - Okay.

That's right. Show her the way...

Wow!

My, my...

I think he should tidy up the place a little, though.

Yeah.

Oh, this...

"Touo University Student Murder Case"

It's Dai's case 11 years ago.

Dai?

You know Mr Daisuke Asama?

He was Taku's best friend.

His mother was my friend too.

This case was what shaped Taku's current way of life

and his relationship with his father too.

"Asama family grave"

Dai was two years older than Taku.

Taku was a shy boy, and Dai was like his reliable elder brother.

Let's do it!

I think Dai had a great influence on Taku's current way of life.

"I am innocent."

Taku was serious to a fault to begin with,

and he didn't like to do things differently than others.

Until the murder happened,

he aimed to be a public prosecutor, like his father.

Is that why Deputy Prosecutor-General Kurokawa

is not happy about Mr Kurokawa defending criminal case suspects?

My husband complains about various things,

but it doesn't mean he thinks that Taku's way of life is wrong.

Instead, he worries about Taku more than anyone else.

And he cheers for Taku.

They are in different positions,

but the enthusiasm they both have for their work

must be the same.

It's the first time we're meeting like this,

Dr Akiu.

How can I help you?

Please have a look at this.

It's the confidential document we have, and it hasn't been revealed.

Directly under the Prosecutors Office?

As you know, currently,

we decide whether we prosecute someone or not based on

the evidence provided by the police.

But there are many problems too.

Their investigation relies

on circumstantial evidence and confessions,

or their inspection is careless and lacks scientific proof.

To improve these,

Mr Kurokawa plans to set up this investigation organisation.

We would like you to join it as one of the leading members.

Why me?

The reason that Taku Kurokawa has been able to win these cases so far

is because you've been helping him.

Dr Akiu,

since the case from 11 years ago,

you've been having doubts about how investigations are conducted,

and I understand that.

But the feelings you and my son have

may not necessarily be the same.

Am I right?

Thank you for coming...

- Sorry, I stayed too long. - Don't worry about it.

But you really aren't going to see Mr Kurokawa?

Ms Wakura.

Please continue to help Taku.

When my son is in agony,

please be there for him.

I'm counting on you.

I will.

See you! I will come again!

Welcome back.

Have you been waiting for me?

Yeah.

My mother texted just now. Seems that she had been bothering you.

No.

So?

Yes?

You said you wanted to think alone, so I've been waiting.

I thought you wanted a listener after organising your thoughts.

I'm sorry.

Sorry that I kept you waiting, but I haven't organised my thoughts.

It doesn't have to be organised.

Maybe you'll feel relieved after you tell me.

Moreover...

I don't know whether I can give you support when you're in agony,

but I think I can share your pain.

By investigating this case,

you want to grasp some clues about the case 11 years ago, right?

I think we only have to find the real murderer.

But...

this idea has a problem, right?

Why do you say that?

Because I wanted to believe...

that Senior Asama was innocent.

After I became a lawyer...

no matter who the suspect or the accused was...

I've always thought that we had to find out the truth by investigating.

That's why I know it in my head.

Whether Senior Asama is innocent or not...

is actually unknown.

But if he really was innocent...

I wish he hadn't killed himself and stayed alive.

Sorry, my thoughts are a mess, and they're unorganised.

What's wrong with that?

Yes?

You want to trust him, but you don't know the truth.

That's why we'll investigate.

What's wrong with that?

That's what you've been doing so far.

Let's first handle the murder that happened recently.

If Mr Fujita is falsely charged,

that means the murderer is someone else,

and that person could be the real culprit of the murder 11 years ago.

And then

you'll be able to...

clear Mr Asama of the false charges 11 years ago.

You are right.

We have no time to stop here.

We'll do the pretrial conference procedure soon.

What's the matter?

Nothing.

The phone is ringing.

Okay.

Hello, Hoshundo Law Office.

Oh, Ms Arima?

What?

A second dead body?

A young woman was found dead on a mountain in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The MPD arrested the suspect, Junpei Fujita, again,

who was charged with another murder.

See you...

18-year-old Nana Yamashiro's body was found a month after she died.

Nana Yamashiro was killed first.

"Nana Yamashiro: Died on 4 Feb Kyoka Hanamaki: Died on 6 Feb"

The case suddenly drew attention as a serial murder.

But Fujita denies killing both of them.

The shape of the weapon matches the wound on their necks

and what Fujita did at that time too.

Yamashiro's estimated time of death

was between 3 and 5 February,

and he suddenly returned to Ibaraki.

But would he kill someone while on a trip to visit his parents' grave?

Maybe he went to visit their grave while he was there to murder?

"Ikemori Police Station"

Nana Yamashiro was a runaway girl from Ibaraki.

After she left high school half a year ago,

she left home and lived in Tokyo.

You don't know her, do you?

I don't know her at all.

You went back to Ibaraki around the period of time she was murdered.

Did you come into contact with her?

Will things be easier for me if I admit to the crime?

I've been telling him that I didn't kill her,

but the detective shouts at me every day.

My sleeping hours are cut down.

If I say that I did it,

will I be relieved from this situation?

Please don't give up, Mr Fujita.

In addition to Kyoka Hanamaki's murder,

the prosecutor will charge you with Nana Yamashiro's murder too.

But I think we can still fight.

The police and the prosecutor

think your motive for murdering Kyoka Hanamaki

had something to do with you being her stalker.

In that case,

you would have no motive for killing Nana Yamashiro, who you didn't know.

But you can't prove it, can you?

You can't prove that I really don't know the girl at all.

We will look for clues.

So, Mr Fujita, please don't give up.

Okay, we have come as far as Ibaraki.

It's freezing here.

It must be even colder at the crime scene.

It's impossible to find clues to prove that he didn't know Yamashiro.

It's the so-called probatio diabolica.

Probatio diabolica?

It's easy to prove something that exists.

For example, if we want to prove Mr Fujita had seen the victim,

we only have to look for witnesses or security camera videos.

But if we want to prove that he had never seen the victim...

There is no evidence, right? They'd never met in the first place.

That's why, basically, it's impossible.

Maybe we'll notice something when we go to the scene of the murder.

- Oh... - Watch your steps, Mr Kurokawa!

I'm sorry.

Excuse me, there aren't any bears around here, are there?

I think there are Asian black bears, but they should be hibernating.

- What? - What?

There's a lemon field nearby.

Let's go and ask if anyone had seen anything.

Okay.

Thank you.

- Thank you. - Wait, young man. It's for you.

Thank you, ma'am.

We didn't gain anything.

But I've gained a lot.

Look!

We aren't here for fun.

But it's really amazing

that lemons can grow in the cold weather on the mountain.

No, the farmer told me just now that this area is special.

The temperature doesn't drop much at night.

Not even at night?

It's impossible to find clues to prove that he didn't know Yamashiro.

It's the so-called probatio diabolica.

Would he kill someone while on a trip to visit his parents' grave?

Mr Kurokawa!

What's the matter?

Mr Isawa, you did an excellent job.

Maybe probatio diabolica is possible.

"5 o'clock in the morning”

- Pan it. - Okay.

"Touo University"

Dr Akiu, thanks for helping us today.

It's the base station. Launch the balloon.

Roger that.

"Ibaraki Mount Keiya mountain trail"

We launched the balloon to measure the temperature.

The temperature is minus one degrees Celsius at 50 metres above ground,

but at 300 metres above ground, where the body was found,

it's five degrees Celsius higher.

Just as I thought.

Why does that happen?

It's a natural phenomenon called a thermal belt.

"Thermal belt"

On a clear night,

cold air flows down the mountain slope,

and the air on the ground cooled by radiative cooling

stays on the ground.

The layer of cool air stops after it reaches a certain level

and doesn't go farther up.

Higher than the mountain's base. It's the reverse of the usual case.

When the body was dumped,

the mountain's climate could have caused such a phenomenon.

But the police should've taken that into account.

When doing the autopsy,

the coroner deduces the temperature on the mountain

based on that at the foot. It's common practice.

On average, the temperature on a mountain drops 0.65 degrees Celsius

every 100 metres up.

But in this case, because of the thermal belt,

the temperature at the crime scene was much higher than they deduced.

If the temperature was higher,

of course the dead body decayed faster too.

In other words,

the estimated date of death was much earlier.

That means the day that Nana Yamashiro was killed

is later than the current deduced date, right?

This temperature difference should give it 2 one-week difference.

Kyoka Hanamaki's body was found on 6 February.

Two days later, on 8 February,

Mr Fujita was arrested.

The date the police estimated Nana Yamashiro died

was around 4 February.

If we move it a week later...

Yamashiro's estimated date of death is 11 February.

Then Mr Fujita couldn't have killed her because he was arrested.

The real culprit is another person.

The experiment is done.

It isn't related to the case.

It's only about the environment on the mountain.

Dr Akiu?

There's something wrong with him today.

Wait a minute, Dr Akiu.

What did you mean by that?

It's literally what I said.

It was only a theory.

If you don't actually inspect the dead body,

you can't say that you can prove Fujita's innocence.

But if Nana Yamashiro was possibly alive after 4 February,

we can look for witnesses that had seen her--

You'll lose if you can't find anyone.

Even if you can, there's no guarantee that you'll win.

Kurokawa, this is the limit of what you can do as a lawyer

and what I can do to help you.

Compared to the evidence and first-hand data

the investigation organisations have,

it's significantly less accurate.

But so far, we've been able to prove our point thanks to you.

You were just lucky.

But this is the last time.

Very soon, the Public Prosecutors Office will set up

a specialised agency to conduct forensic investigations

that's independent from the police.

I was invited to join it.

By your own father.

The Prosecutors Office is a government organisation.

I can conduct experiments that are much more accurate than before.

But the culprit behind the murder 11 years ago

and the culprit behind this murder could be the same person.

We can almost do it. Very soon...

maybe we can clear Senior Asama's false charges and avenge Ayaka!

Kurokawa.

You don't know how cold a dead body is.

To us, her family, nobody can replace Ayaka.

She was cheerful, lively, and she laughed a lot...

the exact opposite of me.

But Ayaka was suddenly taken from us.

She was killed!

Suddenly. In an unreasonable way.

Her body got cold, and she couldn't smile anymore.

Do you know how trying it is for us, her family?

Do you know how much we hate the murderer who killed Ayaka?

But maybe Senior Asama didn't kill her.

Who killed her, then?

Find the murderer right now and prove that they killed her!

The investigation was careless.

The forensic inspection was imperfect.

That's why we've been unhappy.

But there's a definite difference between you and me.

You want to believe that Daisuke Asama was innocent,

but ...

The victim's family

doesn't mind that Asama was the murderer as a result.

Instead of the truth,

having a ready answer can stop our agony.

I'm not good enough to be a scientist.

Feel free to be disappointed in me.

"Courthouse”

Ms Arisa Nasu.

"Defendant witness cross-examination”

On 10 February,

you met the victim, Nana Yamashiro, in Tokyo.

Am I right?

Yes.

I hung out with Nana from time to time.

Was there anything wrong with her at that time?

She said she would get a sum of money and treat me to a meal.

I thought she could've been doing something risky.

Thank you.

As the video of the experiment about the thermal belt had shown just now,

Nana Yamashiro was alive after 3 to 5 February,

the date of death estimated by the police,

and the witness has proved that.

Like Nana Yamashiro, you've left home

and kept moving from one place to another in Tokyo, right?

Yeah. At my friends' place.

How do you make a living?

I work part-time sometimes.

Or get pocket money.

Pocket money? From men?

What?

Objection.

The question is not related to the case, and it insults the witness.

Your Honour, judges,

the reliability of her statement is concerned.

The witness had been caught multiple times for compensated dating.

What does that have to do with this case?

I only said I saw Nana because I did.

You could've been paid to give a false statement.

Your Honour, what he just said--

You are the one insulting the investigation organisation, lawyer.

Saying the time of death deduced by the police was too early

is only a theory because you hadn't actually examined the body.

In addition,

the lawyer has connected a murder from 11 years ago in Kanagawa,

which had its final decision made, to this murder.

I've been informed

that he places the focus on finding the truth in that case instead.

I have to say that, as a lawyer,

your attitude is very problematic.

Here he is...

Mr Kurokawa, what's the case from 11 years ago that was mentioned?

Will you deny all charges in the coming trials?

No comment. Please let us through.

Do you have any valuable information?

Dr Akiu...

Hello, Hoshundo Law Office.

We won't accept an interview about that case.

This is really bad.

After last time,

we're digging up another case that had been concluded in a trial.

It became the headline across all kinds of media.

If Kurokawa continues as a lawyer,

he has to go through it someday.

I'm saying that I hope he won't get our office involved in this.

I mean, I don't want to be involved in this case again.

This case made my brother die with regret as a lawyer, after all.

Yes, indeed.

I know you want to take your mind off this,

but we should go back.

Would you like some snacks?

The trial isn't over yet.

The case from 11 years ago too.

Pull yourself together starting tomorrow.

Dr Akiu and Mr Ibusuki were right.

I don't know how cold a dead body is.

Sorry I asked you to come, but...

would you leave me alone for a while?

Don't drink too much.

"Satoko Arima"

Wakura speaking.

I'm Arima. Is Kurokawa with you?

No, I just left.

I see.

He didn't answer my call.

I have to tell him something urgently.

Tell him something?

It might lead us to the real murderer.

What?

"KooZ"

"KooZ: I am always watching you."

"Ayaka's Diary - Random stuff in my daily life-"

Where is he?

Mr Kurokawa!

"This drama is fictitious"

"The shocking final episode”

Ms Wakura!

The guy who stabbed Ms Wakura turned himself in.

I killed all three of them.

He is the murderer!

Pressure from the authorities.

You're a coward.

Can the false charges be cleared?

You framed someone innocent 12 years ago!

I'll never accept this!

The real murderer was someone else.

Please help me one last time.

We'll prove the convictions in this and the murder 11 years ago wrong.

Please help us.

The Prosecutors Office and you

will turn a blind eye to it just to keep your honour?