Aibou TV Season 8 Episode 2 - Farewell to Birdland(さよなら、バードランド)

Subtitle: Farewell to Birdland(さよなら、バードランド)

 Inspector Ukyō and Lieutenant Kanbe return a Taishō era Fukuske doll that the police needed in a now-closed case back to its owner, but miss the last return bus for the day after losing their way. Reluctantly, they decide to stay nearby for the night. They end up ordering beef stew at a nearby restaurant where they see Kazuki Aoyagi(青柳 和樹) also enjoying his dinner at a nearby table. Once they finish their dinners, they head to an inn where they discover Trio the Sōichi and the other Keishichō officers investigating Tetsuo Hirota(広田 哲夫)'s murder. Hirota was a managing director of a trading company who recently decided to stop funding Aoyagi's Jazz magazine Birdland. Though Aoyagi has a motive for killing Hirota, the Tokuemeigakari pair saw Aoyagi eating dinner when Hirota was murdered. Who killed HIrota and why?

Locations

Shirayama Tenbōdai(白山展望台) - Aoyagi tells his friends that he is calling from the parking lot here at the start of the episode.

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

The college jazz band mentioned in the story had five members: Kazuki Aoyagi(青柳 和樹), Yoshihiko Kuroki(黒木 芳彦), Rie Kuroki(黒木 梨絵), Sōichirō Uno(宇野 宗一郎), and Masao Watanabe(渡辺 政雄). Kuroki married Rie and the four guys meet every 3 years, even 20 years after they graduated from college. The band always played the song "You Are My Everything" at the end of their performances. That was Rie's favorite song and the song recorded on the cassette tape found in Aoyagai's villa's wine cellar.

Kazuki Aoyagi(青柳 和樹) - He was one of the jazz band members and played the saxophone in the band. He was the cleverest of the four, but now struggles to sell a self-published jazz magazine called Birdland. In fact, Tetsuo Hirota(広田 哲夫) of Eimei Bussan(英明物産) decided to stop funding the magazine before Hirota was killed.

He is the only member of the reunion to get to the inn separately. The other three members took Kuroki's car to get to the inn. He was eating dinner at the restaurant Walnut between 5:30 and 6:00 PM. The Tokumeigakari pair got to the restaurant around 5:45 and sawo Aoyaki eating in the establishment. He says that he ate dinner at the restaurant knowing that dinner would be served at the reunion because he was initially ambivalent about attending because he was losing funding for his magazine but changed his mind while eating dinner and ended up driving to the inn.

Later, when they discover Kuroki's body, Aoyagi comes in to the villa a short time after Uno and Watanabe. He was wearing driving gloves.

Yoshihiko Kuroki(黒木 芳彦) - He was one of the jazz band members and played the trumpet in the band. He is the only member who wears glasses.

Now, he is the president of his own company, Office Kuroki who plans CMs. He married Rie Kuroki(黒木 梨絵), the pianist in the band, and is the only former band member to marry. He is known to be a ladies' man, and he supposedly is carrying on an affair with a younger woman.

After arriving at the inn, Kuroki supposedly drank wine and stayed in the room before all the commotion started, He claims that he heard chirping crickets when Aoyagi called,

He plans to build an apartment in the city. Construction is scheduled to start at the beginning of next year. He used the land as a collateral to borrow money from the bank. The land and building are in his wife's name. He plans to live in one of the rooms in the apartment, but did not include plans to soundproof the room even though his wife plays the piano.

Kuroki also owns a villa near an inn. He dies there after falling down the stairs leading to the wine cellar. Someone cut the wires carrying electricity into the villa, and power was out inside the villa. Young people often loiter around the area, and his villa's electrical wires had been cut before. After his death, police discover a pair of bloody gloves among his belongings.

Rie Kuroki(黒木 梨絵), nee Yamazaki(山崎) - She was one of the jazz band members and played the piano in the band. She was Watanabe's girlfriend during college, but she is now married to Yoshihiko Kuroki(黒木 芳彦). She comes from a wealthy family and owns the land and the apartment that will be built on the land.

She was in Akita Prefecture visiting her aunt during the entire reunion, including when her husband died. She last saw her husband the morning he left for the reunion. She received the plane ticket for Akita Prefecture and a typed letter addressed from her husband encouraging her to go have some fun. Her husband had surprised her in a similar way sending tickets to plays in the past.

Sōichirō Uno(宇野 宗一郎) - He was one of the jazz band members and played the bass in the band.

He is now an associate professor at Tōto University(東都大) specializing in American folk songs, He has published numerous books and is about to be appointed professor. However, the first book that brought him fame was in fact a collaborative work between him and Aoyagi, at least according to Watanabe. Uno later claims that most of what's in that book is his own original work, however.

After arriving at the inn, he took a dip in the hot springs, then walked around until he heard the sirens.  The Tokumeigakari pair question him at the bar in the inn.

Masao Watanabe(渡辺 政雄) - He was one of the jazz band members and played the drums in the band.

He now works in sales at Kudan Commercial Business(九段商事 Kudan Shōji). Ten years ago, his father lost a lot of money in futures trading. Aoyagi loaned Watanabe the money to cover the debt, and Watanabe has considered Aoyagi as a life-saver since then.

Watanabe went on a walk after arriving at the inn, Lieutenant Kanbe questions him in the hot springs.

Tetsuo Hirota(広田 哲夫) - New managing director of Eimei Bussan(英明物産). For some reason, he is staying at the same inn as the reunion. Hirota decided to stop funding Aoyagi's magazine Birdland and Aoyagi's small publishing company. He was last seen alive at 5:30PM when the maid brought the dinner wine. His bludgeoned body was discovered at 6:00PM.