episode 118 — the naniwa serial murder case
"That's the Tennoji Zoo!
"That's the Osaka Dome!
"And this is the Tsutenkaku Tower!" Heiji spread out his arms with a hopeful grin. "Whaddya think? Osaka's nice, huh?"
Ran nodded as Suzume was looking through the binoculars that were set up inside the tower. "Yeah! This is a great view!"
Kogoro was uninterested, looking around. "I dunno, it's no different from the Tokyo Tower..."
"Don't be dumb! Don't compare this with that tasteless red thing!" Heiji complained as Suzume chuckled in amusement as she felt his frustration with the older man. "The Tsutenkaku and the new world all around it are brimming the Osakans' humanity!"
"It's almost like downtown Tokyo!" Ran murmured in amazement.
"How about some food now?" Kogoro asked hopefully.
Heiji raised a hand, glancing at his watch. "Just a little longer! I'm waiting for someone!"
Kogoro held back a groan. "Fine, guess I'll have a smoke," he grumbled, walking off.
Suzume let Ran take her place at the binoculars and went to stand beside Hattori. "What's the real reason you called me to Osaka?" she asked quietly.
He smiled at her. "You're concerned about that?"
"You have another real reason, yes?" she rephrased her question.
Heiji waved a nervous hand. "No, no! There's really no work this time!"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Heiji..." she trailed off warningly.
He raised his hands in a surrendering gesture as he looked out the window. "I just thought I'd show you guys around Osaka! There's no telling when you'll die, you know?"
She blinked. "What do you mean by that?" she asked, leaning against the railing with her hands in her jacket pockets.
He had a sad smile on his face as he shook his head. "I had a bad dream," he told her. "It happens when we catch a bad guy. But he winds up stabbing and killing you instead."
She chuckled and shook her head. "Your imagination is all over the place, Hattori Heiji," she said, poking his forehead with her index and middle fingers.
He blinked and raised a hand to where she poked him.
"Sorry! Heiji-kun!" someone called out.
Heiji smiled as he, Suzume, and Ran looked at the approaching man. "Oh! He's finally here!"
The man came to a stop in front of them, rubbing the back of his head with a smile. "I'm Sakata of the Osaka Police, Tojiri Station!" He introduced himself. "Sorry for being so late!"
"Why is a police detective here?" Ran asked Heiji as her father rejoined them.
"My old man said that if Mori-han and Suzume's coming to Osaka, they should have a proper tour guide!" Heiji explained before looking back at Sakata. "Where is my old man? He said he was going to stop by."
Sakata leaned in. "The chief is busy in a meeting about the incidents," he said quietly.
Suzume raised an eyebrow as she listened. Incidents?
Heiji acted like nothing was wrong. "So, did you get the car?" he asked the policeman.
"Of course! I did just like you asked and borrowed the Tojiri Station's best one!"
Heiji grinned as Kogoro gained a nervous look on his face. "H-Hey, now. Don't tell me this car is..."
"Well, let's go!"
~ — — — ~
"Isn't this the best?! Cop cars are great!" Heiji laughed as Sakata drove them through the busy streets. "You can even pass other cars even in traffic jams!"
I don't think that's what they're for, Heiji...
Oh, let me have my fun!
Heiji turned towards the three in the backseat with a grin. "So, where would you like to go, guests?"
Kogoro had an irked mark on his forehead and Suzume scootched a little more towards Ran. "Tell me...are you making us tour Osaka in this thing?!"
Suzume winced as her right ear rang slightly from the yelling and Ran rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.
Heiji was confused. "Huh? You don't like it? It's brand new!" He got an idea. "Oh, I know! Should I turn on the siren? We can go even faster!"
Ran waved her hands with a nervous smile. "No, that's not what he means..." She looked out the window as she dropped her hands into her lap. "It feels like we're being arrested, so it's kind of embarrassing."
Heiji smiled. "Oh, don't worry about that! You haven't done anything wrong! Hold your heads high!"
~ — — — ~
"Whaddya think?! This is real udon!" Heiji smiled from where he stood next to Suzume's seat in the restaurant. "The soup's so clear you can see the bottom!"
"Yeah, you can!" Ran hummed before trying some. "It's a light flavor, but good!"
The chef looked at the Osaka native with a smile. "Oh, Heiji! Who's she? A new girlfriend?" he asked, nodding towards Ran.
Heiji smiled awkwardly, glancing down at a nonchalant Suzume, who was eating her udon without saying anything. Ah...that doesn't bode well for me... "Does it seem that way?"
"No! I'm just a regular Tokyo—" Ran cut herself off when she felt something was wrong.
Suzume glanced at her with furrowed brows. "You okay?" she asked.
"I suddenly got a chill..." Ran murmured, looking behind her.
"So, where to next?" Heiji asked, making Suzume look away from Ran and at him.
Kogoro looked at a guidebook he had brought along with them. "Hmm, the next thing Osaka is famous for is..."
~ — — — ~
"This takoyaki is great!" Kogoro cheered as he ate another from the plate.
Suzume chuckled as she chewed on the one in her mouth. "Never had ones with octopus as big as these ones," she said in agreement.
Heiji glanced at Ran, who was looking around with a frown. "What is it?" he asked.
She looked back at him. "Nothing...it just feels like someone's been watching me..." she told him as she continued to look around.
He smiled at her. "Oh, don't worry about it and eat up!" he said.
Ran gasped as she saw there were only two takoyaki left on the plate since Suzume and Kogoro had both gobbled them up while Ran and Heiji were talking. She snatched the plate away from them. "I can't take my eyes off you!"
Suzume just gave her a mischievous smile that had Ran shaking her head with a fond smile.
~ — — — ~
"Okonomiyaki? Why didn't you say so before the takoyaki?" Heiji complained, looking at the book. "We already passed a great place I know! We're going the wrong way! We can't get there on Midosuji! Osaka is full of one-way roads, so you often have to go way out of your way!"
"In that case, shall I show them a nearby place I know?" Sakata suggested.
~ — — — ~
"It's a good thing this place was nearby!" Ran said.
Heiji stood up. "I'm gonna call my mom real quick," he told them. "Mister! Don't forget the rice!"
The three from Tokyo let out noises of surprise.
"You eat okonomiyaki with rice?" Kogoro asked.
"Of course! It's a main dish!" Heiji said before smiling. "Rice with the sauce on it is great, too!" Heiji gave them a wave before walking off to make his phone call.
"Osaka's pretty nice," Suzume said to Ran, leaning her elbows on the table.
"Yeah!" A teenage girl took the seat next to Suzume. "Oh! That seat is taken—"
"You're Kudo, aren't you?" the girl asked Suzume, her chin in her hands, not looking at her.
Suzume smiled nervously. "I am..."
The girl looked at her with a sly smile. "Heiji's always talking about you," she said.
"Hattori-kun does?!" Ran asked her in surprise, glancing at a still Suzume with concern.
"Don't play dumb. I already know everything," the girl said before leaning into Suzume's face, making a faint blush appear on her cheeks. "You're his Sky, eh?"
Suzume let out a muffled shriek before covering the girl's mouth with both of her hands. "Don't talk about that in public!" she whisper-shouted at the wide-eyed girl. Suzume realized what she was doing and quickly pulled her hands away, clearing her throat. "Sorry."
"Hey, Kazuha." The girl, Kazuha, glanced at Heiji, who was now behind her. "What're you doing here?"
Suzume made a sign with her hands that only Ran understood. "Ah, fire," Ran translated when she saw the clueless look on the Osaka natives' faces. "Can't really talk about it in public without getting into too much trouble." She gave Suzume a quick side-eye. "Don't know how you got away with it last time, though."
Suzume whipped her head around with an embarrassed flush. "Shut up!" she hissed at her childhood friend. "I can't talk about that! You know that!"
Heiji gave Toyama Kazuha an unimpressed stare. "You idiot," he sighed, shaking his head. "If you were that eager, I would have brought you along or something." He pulled up a seat between Suzume and Kazuha and sat down.
Kazuha pouted, crossing her arms. "You should've! We're bound by chains of iron! Where you go with this business, I go!"
Heiji just chuckled as Suzume raised an eyebrow. "Chains of iron?" she repeated, tilting her head. "What's that about?"
"When we were kids, we found my old man's handcuffs in the attic," Heiji explained. "Then we got stuck together when I pretended to be a policeman! It was lame. We found ourselves in big trouble!"
"It was not lame!" Kazuha argued. "We had to bathe and use the bathroom together!"
"You moron! Don't tell them that!" Heiji said.
Suzume gave him an amused look. Sounds like something's going on there...
"To commemorate it, I put a piece of the chain in here for good luck!" Kazuha said, pulling out a charm from under her sweater.
"Gross! Throw that thing away!"
Ran smiled. "Say! Are you two going out?!"
Suzume choked on her spit as the two Osakans looked at the Mouri with dotted eyes.
Kazuha was the first to snap out of it. "No, no! Heiji and I are just childhood friends!" she insisted, waving a hand in front of her face. "I'm like his big sister who's always looking after him!"
"Sure you are," Heiji said. "Her dad's chief detective of the Osaka police and my dad's friend, so we've known each other since we were kids, that's all."
Kogoro hummed, looking off to the side. "A detective runt and the daughter of a police detective..."
Suzume narrowed her eyes at him. "Kogoro-san..." she said in a warning tone, making the man back off with a nervous smile.
Heiji looked at Kazuha. "Still, why are you here?"
"I was acting as your big sister and keeping watch so Kudo over there didn't try anything with you!" Kazuha said, giving Suzume a playful glare that showed she didn't mean her words.
"Keeping watch?" Heiji repeated. "From where?"
"The Tsutenkaku Tower."
Ran smiled. Now I see! She was the one I sensed watching me!
~ — — — ~
"Thanks for the meal!" Ran said as they all exited the restaurant.
"I'm stuffed," Kogoro said.
"That was delicious!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Kogoro said to Sakata, who opened the back door of the car for them. "You should've joined us!"
"No, no, I'm just here to show you around!"
Suzume frowned as she looked around, getting a bad feeling in her gut as she let the other girls in before she did.
"Where to next?" Heiji asked as he got in.
"I guess only Osaka Castle is left..."
Heiji flinched before giving Kazuha a look. "What are you doing in here?"
She gave him an innocent smile. "Oh, come on! Take me with you!"
"What a pain..." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw people looking up above the car before running away. "Huh?" He looked up outside the window just as a body crashed into the hood of the car.
Suzume stared with wide eyes as everyone else either gasped or screamed. So that was my bad feeling... She sighed. I'm a death magnet, I swear... She quickly opened the door and went to the body, which had a knife stabbed into his chest over the heart. Kogoro and Heiji joined her not long after she got out.
"What happened to this man?!" Kogoro wondered.
"I don't know! He suddenly fell onto the hood of the car!" Heiji said before looking up. "From the roof of this building!" He gasped as he saw a dark figure on the roof. "Someone's up there! Sakata-han! Contact the police!"
"G-Got it!"
Heiji and Suzume quickly ran into the building, ignoring the calls of their companions. They raced up the staircase until they reached the door to the roof, slamming it open. A man stood at the railing looking down before turning to look at them when he heard the door open.
"Alright! Now you tell us why you dropped that body on top of a police car!" Heiji demanded.
The man whimpered. "N-No! I'm just a—!"
~ — — — ~
"What?! He was called to the roof?!" Kogoro exclaimed.
Heiji nodded. "Yeah. Someone called this guy about a strange man on the roof."
The man smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "I run a tea shop on the second floor, you see..."
"But what sent the body falling?"
"The body was wrapped in rope, attached to the roof's handrail," Heiji said, "and covered with a tarp, while the other end of the rope was tied to the door so the rope would come undone when opened."
"We'd say that the estimated time of death was about a day ago," Suzume said as they all looked at the body. "Which means someone murdered him around this time yesterday and left him hanging up there."
"But why on top a police car?" Sakata asked.
"It was probably just a coincidence, but it could be someone trying to make an example..." Heiji said.
Suzume raised an eyebrow. "Example?"
Heiji nodded. "The knife through the wallet and heart... This is clearly connected with those incidents." He paused when he heard a horrified gasp and quick footsteps. He turned around to see a woman running away from the scene. "Hey! Lady! Hold up!"
She got into her car and quickly drove off before Heiji could stop her.
"There she goes!" he groaned.
"Don't worry about it," Suzume said as she joined him. "I memorized her license plate number. But never mind that." She looked at him with a frown and furrowed brows. "Tell me about these "incidents," Hattori Heiji!"
He shuddered.
~ — — — ~
They were brought to the Tojiri Police Station.
"Serial murders?!" Kogoro gasped. "And that man who fell was the third one?!"
"Yep. In each case, they were stabbed in the chest, through their wallets," Heiji explained. "After they were strangled to death with something."
"Maybe it was someone who held a grudge about money?" Kazuha suggested.
"No, we can't say that for sure," Heiji told her. "The first victim, Nagao Hidetoshi, was a convenience store owner. The next victim, Nishiguchi Tayo, was a mistress of a small pub. And the one who fell was Noyasu Kazuto, a taxi driver. None of them had enough money to incur someone's wrath. In fact, none of them are connected in any way."
"There's no connection?" Kogoro frowned.
"Nope. They were all born, raised, schooled, and employed in Osaka, but all in different places."
Sakata came running over to the group. "We found it, Heiji-kun! We found a link between the victims!"
Heiji smiled. "Seriously?!"
Sakata pulled out a tape and put it into the player, the TV turning on a second later.
"Goshi-san! Any comments?! Goshi-san!"
They paused the tape and Heiji leaned towards the TV with a frown. "Huh? Isn't this from Goshi Sotaro's corruption case six years ago?"
"The case where his secretary took responsibility for him and quit?" Kogoro asked. "As I recall, the secretary's name was Nagao..."
"Hidetoshi, I'm assuming?" Suzume finished with a dreadful look on her face.
Heiji nodded. "Yes. Nagao Hidetoshi, the first one who was killed!" He looked at Sakata. "But didn't you already investigate this? Why now?"
"No, take a look at the driver." Sakata pointed at the screen.
Heiji gasped. "Th-That's Noyasu, the third victim!"
"It seems he was Assemblyman Goshi's driver until four years ago," Sakata reported.
"His former secretary and his former driver..." Heiji murmured. "Assemblyman Goshi may be involved in this."
"We thought so too, so one of my seniors is headed to his place now," Sakata said.
"Still, he's famous for his hatred of police." Kogoro frowned, crossing his arms. "Just going to see him won't help anything."
Heiji did up the zipper of his jacket. "Then what do you say we pay a visit too, Sakata-han?"
"Hold on! You should leave that to the police!" Kogoro argued.
"Don't be stupid," Heiji said, righting his ball cap. "I can't just let the guy who screwed up your Osaka tour get away!" He waved at them. "Head over to my house! Kazuha can tell you where it is!"
"Heiji! Do you have the good luck charm?!" Kazuha quickly asked before he left.
He gave her a smile. "Yep, sure do. Don't worry. Well, later!"
Heiji and Sakata left the room and Ran glanced at Kazuha.
"What good luck charm?" Ran asked curiously.
"A good luck charm I gave him," Kazuha said. "It's always protected his life."
Kogoro chuckled. "What nonsense."
Kazuha frowned at him. "It's true! The last time he forgot it, he got really hurt in a kendo match!" She smiled. "They're very important charms! There are only two in the world!"
"Two?"
"Yeah, remember that story about us and the handcuffs? I secretly put a piece of the chain in his good luck charm!" Kazuha paused and gave Ran a look. "Though it's none of your business!"
"Y-Yeah."
Kogoro frowned as he looked around the room. "Never mind that. I don't see Suzume anywhere..."
"Eh?!"
"Did she go to the bathroom?"
~ — — — ~
"I guess this means no more police cars," Heiji sighed as he and Sakata got into the car. "Sorry, Sakata-han. You gotta write a letter apologizing for the crushed car, don't you?"
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
"I don't think that's something to get used to," Suzume said as she slid into the backseat of the car, earning a yelp from Sakata and a laugh from Heiji.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away!" Heiji continued to laugh and she rolled her eyes fondly.
"But won't Mouri-han be worried?!"
Suzume hummed, crossing her arms. "He knows I can handle myself," she said.
Once they were on the road, Sakata looked at Heiji.
"Oh, that reminds me, we used the license plate number to get the address and phone number of that suspicious woman you saw," Sakata said before glancing at a small piece of paper. "Her name is Okazaki Sumie, age 39. She divorced last year and lives alone in the West Side Apartments. Want to check her out first?"
"Yeah. It seemed like she knew something," Heiji said.
Sakata pulled out his phone. "Here, I'll call to see if she's home or not." He dialed the number.
It was answered after a few rings. "Yes?"
"Oh, is this Okazaki-san's residence? My name is Sakata, I'm with the Tojiri Police Department."
"O-Officer! Hurry here and protect me! I'm going to be killed!" Heiji and Suzume leaned in. "I'll tell you everything! Just hurry here! Hurry!"
"Just calm down! I'll be right there! Lock your door and don't let anyone in!"
Heiji's eyes widened when he looked into the side mirror of the car. "Oh no! We passed the West Side Apartments!"
"What now?! It's a one-way road and it's a heavy traffic day! It'll take forever to turn around!" Sakata panicked.
"It'll be faster on foot! Stop the car!" Heiji ordered as he and Suzume took off their seatbelts.
"Heiji-kun!"
Both teenagers jumped out of the car and ran across the lanes, almost getting hit a few times. They quickly made their way towards the West Side Apartments, hoping they weren't too late.
~ — — — ~
Heiji rang the doorbell a couple of times. "Hey! Lady! We're with that cop who called earlier! Open up!" he said into the speaker.
Suzume grabbed the door handle and paused when she was able to open the door. She shared a look with Heiji before slowly opening the door to the apartment.
"Oi! Lady!" Heiji called out as he shut the door behind them. "Lady! Where are you?!"
After looking around the apartment, they shared a frown. As Heiji was making a call to Sakata, a scream made them run to the covered window and push back the curtains.
"That's the public restroom!" Suzume said.
"D-Don't tell me she—!"
They quickly ran downstairs to the restroom, where the janitor was staring inside in terror. There, they found Okazaki dead with a knife stabbed through a wallet and into her chest. They went over to her and Heiji checked her wrist for a pulse.
"Too late. She's dead," he sighed, setting down her arm. "But why?! Why did she go outside?!"
"And there's a knife through her wallet and chest," Suzume pointed out with a frown. Who's doing this? And why?