Aibou TV Season 6 Episode 5 - The Naked Lady Tells(裸婦は語る)

Subtitle: The Naked Lady Tells(裸婦は語る)

 Taeko Yoshizaki(吉崎 妙子), a college student who modeled for the famous artist Ryūhei Tachibana(立花 隆平), lies dead at the bottom of the stairs in the artist's atelier (Atelier de Tachibana). Taeko apparently fell down the stairs to her death. At first, Ryūhei insists that he knows nothing about her death, but changes his story a short time later. He claims that he was romantically involved with Taeko but decided to end the relationship because he is married. She supposedly did not take the news well, and accidentally pushed her down the stairs in the ensuing struggle. Is the artist telling the truth this time, or is there more to this story?

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Ryūhei Tachibana(立花 隆平) - Famous artist who had been professionally releasing works for twenty-five years and owner of the atelier. He called the hospital around 2 AM to report that Taeko Yoshizaki(吉崎 妙子) had fallen to her death in his atelier. He says that he was working on a painting and only noticed her lying dead when he left the room to go use the restroom. He had asked her to drop by to model for him, but she supposedly left the room around 11 PM.

When Inspector Ukyō asked him why then she went back up the stairs and how Tachibana planned to lock the doors after she left, Tachibana could not give convincing answers. The inspector then asked Tachibana to show him the painting upstairs while the Sergeant stayed downstairs. Once they were in the room, the Sergeant, following the inspector's request, knocked down a metallic armor located near the bottom of the stairs. The resulting noise was loud enough to be heard in the workroom, proving that Tachibana was lying when he said he didn't hear Taeko fall to her death. The inspector had suspected that someone put the armor back because the armor had multiple fingerprints on it.

Tachibana then said that they argued about the modelling fees, and she demanded an insane amount of money. After a while, he told her to leave, and she slipped on her own and fell to her death. He didn't call an ambulance because he was trying to revive her during that time.

Investigating this new confession, Inspector realized that there were more problems. First, although there were marks left on the armor, none of those marks were fingerprints, which meant that Tachibana had worn gloves when he put the armor back. If Tachibana was in a state of panic after seeing the model fall down the stairs, how could he remain calm enough to wear gloves when he put the armor back up?

Second, according to Taeko's notebook, she received one million yen each modelling session from Tachibana, so it's difficult to think that she would complain about her modelling fees. Hearing all this, Tachibana then revised his story yet again and explained that he met Taeko at a bar in Shibuya a month ago. After drinking too much, he ended up at a hotel with her. However, Tachibana is married, and last night, he told her that he has to end the relationship. She did not take this well, and they argued, and she somehow ended up with her falling down the stairs. He asked the Inspector not to reveal his infidelity to his wife. He also explained that he wore gloves that night so that the oil from his hands would not get on his painting.

His work titled Blue Woman(青い女 Aoi On'na), an art of a nude woman lying near a blue ocean, was displayed at New York's MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) two years ago.

Mitsue Tachibana(立花 光恵) - Ryūhei's wife. The couple is about to celebrate their twenty year anniversary. On the night Taeko fell to her death, Ryūhei had called her around 1:30 AM, shortly after Taeko fell to her death. She is unhappy about her husband's involvement in Taeko's death.

She laments about another incident which happened five years ago: Ryūhei had forgotten to lock the atelier's doors and thieves had stolen many of the artist's works.

She believes that she is responsible for her husband's success since she convinced her father to aid Ryūhei financially so that Ryūhei could start his career. She believes that Ryūhei is her work and kept him on a short leash. She selected and bought everything that he wears. She instructed her husband to call her at certain times every day.

Taeko Yoshizaki(吉崎 妙子) - Model for Tachibana's painting and Ryūhei's lover, She died after falling down the stairs at Ryūhei Tachibana(立花 隆平)'s atelier between 12:30 AM and 1:30 AM. The CSIs had a hard time deciding whether her death was an accident or intentional (she was pushed). She had a wound on her upper left arm which was made when she fell down the stairs. However, that wound couldn't possibly have been made just by falling down the stairs.

Shigeki Obara(小原 茂樹) - Publishing editor for Maronie Shuppan(マロニエ出版) which plans to publish a book with most of Tachibana's art. He says that because several paintings were stolen five years ago, they were unable to get a complete collection of the artist's works. Tachibana wasn't too eager to look for the stolen paintings, and he was trying to forget about them. The artist claimed that the stolen paintings were incomplete anyways.

On the night of the incident, the editor had gone to Osaka on a business trip. Several days before he left for the business trip, he met Tachibana at Snack & Coffee Banff. Just as he got to the cafe however, Tachibana rushed out of the cafe;s front door and said that the artist wanted to eat unagi instead. They ended up going to a different restaurant. Later, the Tokumeigakari pair showed him a snapshot of the stolen painting, and he gave his opinion that the painting was most likely drawn by Tachibana.

He also appraises works of art for Tanizawa.

Tanizawa(谷沢) - Proprietor of Snack & Coffee Banff. He collects antiques and recently acquired a well-drawn painting at a flea market. However, a thief broke into his story the same night Taeko died between 11:00 PM and 3:30 AM and stole that painting. The thief broke in to the store through the back door using a crow bar, even though the door had an easy-to-pick lock. The thief also opened the cash register with much more force than necessary, the proceeded to steal the money in the cash register, a table clock, the aforementioned painting. The police concluded that an amateur was most likely responsible for this crime, but they could not find any suspicious fingerprints. The did find a black button possibly belonging to the culprit.

Tachibana and Obara frequently visit Snack & Coffee Banff to discuss business.

Oda(太田) - Constable investigating the robbery at Snack & Coffee Banff.

Katsue(勝枝) - She took a photograph of the painting at Tanizawa's cafe. She asked Tanizawa if he will sell the painting to her, but he declined.

Kayo Hoshino(星野 佳代) - Taeko's friend. On the night Taeko died, she sent several text messages to Kayo from Tachibana's atelier. Taeko had texted Kayo to ask if Kayo wanted to come over because Taeko was alone in the atelier at the moment.

Masami Umeno(梅野 正美) - She disappeared five years ago since the day Tachibana's paintings were stolen. Her skeletonized body was discovered half year ago in the mountains of Tsukuba.