Aibou TV Season 5 Episode 3 - The Culprit is Suzuki(犯人はスズキ)

Subtitle: The Culprit is Suzuki(犯人はスズキ)

 Ms. Tamaki is buying tofu at Mr. Ibuse's tofu store when his wife Setsuko rushes back from her daily walk and blurts out that she found local resident Mr. Shirasaka bludgeoned to death on the grounds of a Shinto shrine. Ms. Tamaki calls and reports this murder to Inspector Ukyō, and the Tokumeigakari pair start to investigate. Initial clues point to a man named Mr. Suzuki who was seen arguing with Mr. Shirasaka the night the victim was murdered. However, Mr. Suzuki is extremely hard to track down for some reason. Can the Tokumeigakari pair track down the elusive man and solve this case?

Several of the neighborhood's homes had been burglarized recently.

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Shōichi Ikenohata(池之端 庄一) - Town chairman. He couldn't find the neighborhood association contacts list with Suzuki's contact information.

Momoyo Ikenohata(池之端 桃代) - Mr. Ikenohata's daughter who was murdered 24 years ago in September 1982. The statute of limitations for her murder case expired nine years ago.

Tatsuya Dōmoto(堂本 達也) - Mr. Suzuki's fishing buddy and a member of the local crime watch who worked at a nearby police box until he retired five years ago. He explains to the Tokumeigakari pair that the adults in the neighborhood take turns and patrol the area. The local children have been taught to use the crime prevention buzzer to attract attention if any stranger talks to them.

Even though Mr. Dōmoto is Mr. Suzuki's fishing buddy, he can't remember where Mr. Suzuki lived. Mr. Dōmoto lives in 3-Chōme(３丁目), and Mr. Suzuki lives in 2-Chōme(2丁目). Mr. Dōmoto had Mr. Suzuki's address saved on a cellphone but damaged it with water when he was mountain stream fishing.

Katsu Ibuse(井伏 勝) - Owner of Ibuse tofu shop(井伏豆腐店 Ibuse tōfu-ten). He claims to have seen Mr. Suzuki quarreling with Mr. Shirasaka the night he was murdered. Later, he calls Inspector Ukyō over when Mr. Suzuki calls his tofu shop. Mr. Suzuki confesses that he killed Mr. Shirasaka and says that he is committing suicide to atone for his actions.

Setsuko Ibuse(井伏 節子) - Mr. Ibuse's wife, She was the first person to find Mr. Shirasaka's body

Suzuki(鈴木) - A member of the neighborhood watch according to Mr. Ibuse. He moved to the neighborhood about a month ago, but no one seems to have his contact information nor recall his address. The Yanase City town council Ward office had a notebook with Mr. Suzuki's contact information, but someone apparently took it and never brought it back. Interestingly, everyone who knows him are people who have lived in the neighborhood for many years.

On the night Mr. Shirasaka was murdered, he was a first time customer at Hana no Sato who entered the restaurant shortly before it closed. While drinking cold sake there, someone called him on the cellphone, and during the private conversation, he mentioned that he was Suzuki. She described him as a man around 40 years of age.

Takeshi Tamiya(田宮 剛史) - Teahouse owner.

Shizue Tamiya(田宮 志津江) - Mr. Tamiya's wife. She spoke to Mr. Suzuki the night Mr. Shirasaka was murdered around 11 PM when she ran into him on her way back from her grandchild's home. She asked Mr. Suzuki where he was going, and he answered that he was going to have a drink and walked into Hana no Sato. She says that Mr. Suzuki was a reticent man who didn't share much about himself when he attended the neighborhood association meetings.

Eiji Shirasaka(白坂 英治) - The murdered man who died after being hit on the head multiple times between 8 PM and 11 PM. He was seen quarreling with Mr. Suzuki around 10 PM.

He was a long-time resident of the town and a member of the neighborhood association for over 30 years. He had worked at the ward office for many years before retiring. He was a serious man who didn't drink nor smoke.

For some reason, he had items with pictures from Magical Lily(マジカルリリィ Majikaruriryi), a popular anime series from 22 years ago, One item of interest was the transformation stick used earlier in the series. In the anime series, that original stick was broken by the villainess of the show, and Lily got a new transformation stick. For this reason, the original stick was produced and sold for only a limited amount of time.

Ikuo Ejima(江島 郁夫) - The man who called himself Suzuki when he ate at Hana no Sato. In actuality, he is a 47 year old factory worker who lives in Shinjuku(新宿). He was arrested three months ago for breaking in and stealing items from homes while the residents were out. The homes he targeted includes homes in Yanase City(柳瀬町 Yanasechō), where Eiji Shirasaka(白坂 英治) lived. For some odd reason, he hasn't been prosecuted for these cases.

CSI Yonezawa find Mr. Ejima's real identity and address using fingerprints he left on a stick of chewing gum from the grocery store where the security camera had recorded him. When the Sōichi make their way to his residence, they find that he had committed suicide by hanging himself a short time ago.

Akane Isomura(磯村 茜) - Sergeant Kaoru's elder sister who is only mentioned in Sergeant Kaoru's conversations in this episode. For some reason, Eiji Shirasaka(白坂 英治) had several items with the picture of a popular anime character from years ago, including a key chain. Sergeant Kaoru recognized the character because his elder sister Akane was also a fan of the series around 30 years ago. It turns out that Miwako was also a fan of the series, and she remembers the character's name - Magical Lily(マジカルリリィ Majikaruriryi).

Mahō Tenshi Majikaru Riryi(魔法天使 マジカルリリィ) - Magic Angel Magical Lily. Anime character from a magical girl series that stopped airing 22 years ago. Momoyo, Akane, and Miwako were all fans of the series.