Aibou TV Season 4 Episode 13 - The Last Call/Message(最後の着信)

Subtitle: The Last Call/Message(最後の着信)

 One evening, Sergeant Kaoru runs into Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎), a 27 year old man, who gives the sergeant a free pack of cigarettes saying that he's quitting since he's getting married. Before Kōtarō leaves, the man returns to Sergeant Kaoru and tells the sergeant that he won't be able to get married unless he quits smoking. The good-natured man turns out to be a drug dealer who was trying to wash his hands clean from the business so that he could marry a high school classmate. Unfortunately, he turns up dead at the bottom of a set of stairs of a park three days later. Who killed Kōtarō? Was it his drug supplier Ichirō Washizu(鷲頭 一郎), Sadao Hishinuma(菱沼 貞夫) the cop he's been passing information to, or someone else?

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Sadao Hishinuma(菱沼 貞夫) - Detective working in the life safety division(生活安全課 seikatsu anzen-ka) at Roppongi Station (六本木署 Roppongi-sho). Detective Hishinuma has received numerous awards for drug seizure including the commissioner's award(警視総監賞 keishisōkan-shō) and the chief award (署長賞 shochō-shō).

He arrested Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) three years ago. The detective says that Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) turned himself in carrying stimulants he purchased. He supposedly told the detective that he gave into his desires on a weak moment but got scared before he used them. Since Kōtarō turned himself in, his sentence was suspended, and he hadn't been arrested since.

When Inspector Ukyō asks Detective Hishinuma if he recognizes the phone number registered on Kōtarō's white cellphone, the detective answers that he hasn't seen Kōtarō in three years and doesn't recognize the phone number.

Yumi Shirasaka(白坂 由美) - She was Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎)'s high school classmate back in Osaka and a member of the badminton club. They ran into each other two months ago. Since then, they got together several times including the day he was killed.

On the day Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) was killed, they got together at a cafe, saw a movie, and ate together at a okonomiyaki restaurant. While there, Kōtarō complained about the quality of the okonomiyaki to the chef,. Kōtarō then took her home in a cab, went to a bar, and then walked to Kichijoji(吉祥寺 Kichijōji) by himself.

She later tells the Tokumeigakari pair that Kōtarō used a red cellphone while they were eating in the okonomiyaki restaurant.

Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) - The good-natured man who gives Sergeant Kaoru cigarettes after seeing that the sergeant had just run out. Kōtarō had a criminal record however - he had been arrested three years ago for possession of stimulants. Three days after meeting Sergeant Kaoru, he is found dead at the bottom of a set of stairs at a park known to have little foot traffic at night, a perfect place for dealing drugs. Right before he died, he scratched someone and had skin cells lodged underneath his fingernails and died between 10 PM and 12 AM. He had alcohol in his system at the time of his death.

Kōtarō was holding a white cellphone when he died and made his last call at 10 PM. He also had a red and black phone in his possession at the time of his death. He used his red phone for personal calls, black for his business calls (drug deal customers), and the white phone for unknown purposes - only two numbers were registered on that phone, both without names.

He lived in Nishimachi(西町) in Kichijoji(吉祥寺 Kichijōji). His mother lives in Osaka and had left a message on his answering machine, not knowing that her son had been killed.

Ichirō Washizu(鷲頭 一郎) - Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎)'s drug supplier. Kōtarō's registered Ichirō's phone number on one of his cellphones, which allowed the Sōichi to track him down. Superintendent Kakuta's men had also tracked Ichirō down with help from their informants. As a result, the two groups fought over who gets to take Ichirō in. Ichirō realized that it's better to be taken into custody for selling drugs rather than for murder, so he deliberately admitted to selling drugs to Kōtarō so he would be arrested by Superintendent Kakuta's men.

Once in custody, it turns out that Ichirō doesn't have an alibi for the night Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) was murdered. He also knew that Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) was a spy for the police, and he reveals that Detective Sadao Hishinuma(菱沼 貞夫) was the one who had told him.

Ichirō eventually reveals where he was shortly before Kōtarō was killed. After finding out that Kōtarō was spying for the police, Ichirō decided to teach Kōtarō a lesson for betraying him. Ichirō was getting ready to beat him up at the park where Kōtarō was killed, but before he could carry it out, Ichirō overheard Kōtarō talking to Detective Hishinuma on the white cellphone. Realizing that he had been set up, Ichirō decided against beating Kōtarō up and left after overhearing that Detective Hishinuma was heading over to the park to talk to Kōtarō.

Ten'in(店員) - The unnamed clerk and chef at the okonomiyaki restaurant. Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) complained about the quality of the okonomiyaki to him after the clerk warned Kōtarō not to use a cell phone in the store. The clerk tells the Tokumeigakari pair that Kōtarō was using a white cellphone in the restaurant. He lives in Kichijoji(吉祥寺 Kichijōji).

Masutā(マスター) - The unnamed proprietor of a bar where Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) dropped by before he was killed. The proprietor says that Kōtarō came to the bar by himself, as he always did. Kōtarō got very drunk on the day he died and rambled on about getting married. Yumi Shirasaka(白坂 由美) had told him that she wanted to live together with him, and that had put him in a very good mood.

Haruki Ōkōchi(大河内 春樹) - The Tokumeigakari pair visit General Inspector Ōkōchi to ask about Detective Sadao Hishinuma(菱沼 貞夫). Even though Kōtarō Waki(脇 幸太郎) had caused a traffic accident resulting in property damage, the case was never sent to the prosecutor. Under questioning, Detective Hishinuma had admitted that he didn't send the case to the prosecutor. The Tokumeigakari pair suspect that this is because Kōtarō was a spy for the detective, and the detective was protecting his informant. General Inspector Ōkōchi confesses that he suspects something fishy about Kōtarō 's initial arrest as well.

The General Inspector before General Inspector Ōkōchi had closed his eyes to Detective Sadao Hishinuma(菱沼 貞夫)'s questionable activities because the detective had seized a large quantity of drugs.