Human beings live
Human beings fall.
There is no convenient shortcut
to save human beings, except that.
(From "Discourse on Decadence" by Sakaguchi Ango)
ASAKUSA HIRYU STAGE
First, pour water into the glass bowl.
If you hold a piece of paper over this water...
Miraculously, it catches fire!
Put this in the empty box.
Here is a spell.
Eishou, Christopher!
The flame has turned into a rabbit!
(Applause)
Next, put the western silk into the western bag...
I'll put it in.
Esho, Christopher! Ha!
The silk turns into flowers, and the whole stage becomes a flower garden.
(Applause)
I was surprised by that rabbit.
That's the best female performer of our time, Yumenosuke.
Madam?
WIFE OF KATSU KAISHU OMIN
Madam?
What do you mean she's gone?
I'm sorry.
I've searched everywhere she might have stopped by, but I can't find her anywhere.
BUSINESSMAN MASAHIKO KANDA
Everywhere...
Sir.
I have a delivery for you...
Yes...
This way... What is this?
What is it? A rickshaw brought it to you just now.
A rickshaw? Yes.
Open it. - Yes.
(screams)
<The corpse of Masahiko Kanda's wife, Hisa.
It was the beginning of a horrible incident.>
Case 2 The Rickshaw Reaper
METROPOLITAN POLICE, SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR YUJI SHINJURO
She was put in here, wasn't she?
Yeah. She was wearing a western dress.
Western... (Toranosuke) So!
IZUMIYAMA TORANOSUKE
What's the cause of death? You again!
The cause of death was strangulation. She was strangled with something like a string.
What are the police doing! Hurry up and catch the culprit!
Just like last time with Kano Gohei.
SUPERINTENDENT HAYAMI SEIGEN
What's going on? Huh...
I'm sure you're the one from that incident...
He is Yuki Shinjuro. I've decided to have him join the investigation of this case as well.
Then find him at once!
Who sent me my wife's corpse?
Who did this? ! (Pipe dropping sound)
Do you have a reason to be frightened?
What do you mean...!
What kind of a man was that rickshaw driver?
Hmm... I think he was a young man.
I didn't get a good look at his face, but he didn't look like anyone I've seen around here.
I went to Asakusa to pick up his wife, but she was nowhere to be found...
KANDA HOUSEHOLD MAID YASU
Asakusa? Yes, a female magician performing at Hiryu-stage
So she saw the performance and then disappeared?
When I came to get her, she was nowhere to be found...
I'm extremely sorry.
For my next show, I'll breathe life into the butterfly I've prepared with this half-sheet of paper
I'll add one more now.
(cheers)
The male and female butterflies will dance and play in harmony.
They have children and grandchildren.
They are now a family of butterflies.
(Applause and cheers) Wow.
Finally, the butterflies perched on this fan...
I'll take them and tuck it into my hand.
Eishou Christopher!
They'll turn into a waterfall of five colors!
(applause and cheering)
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for waiting.
FEMALE MAGICIAN YUMENOSUKE
My name is Yumenosuke, and I am the head of the Hiryu-stage
I am Yuki Shinjuro.
So it's you! You're the famous detective who returned from a trip to the West, aren't you?
I'm Izumiyama Toranosuke.- Ah, his partner!
It seems you're very popular.
Thankfully, since the Meiji era,
even we female performers have been able to make a big name for ourselves.
Is this also a magic device?
Yes. Shall I show you? Ah! Hmm.
There are three balls.
There are also three cups.
I'll put one down.
It's out.
Oh-ho-ho-ho...!
One more.
It fell out again. Eh~!
Now, please look at it up close.
Whoa! It came out again.
I'm going to do a spell at the end.
Eishou, Christopher!
An oranges comes out. Here you go.
What... what?
Yes. In Japan, it's called "Owan-kae".
As expected, you know it well.
What's going on here? Huhuhuhuhu...
Enshou Christopher!
This is the one from earlier... Yes.
On stage, it becomes a living butterfly and flutters about.
A living butterfly...
Yes.
So, about yesterday's incident...
I found out about it this morning.
Everyone was making a fuss about it.
The lady who was killed was visiting the theater as a guest.
Do you know her, Yumenosuke-san? Do you know Kanda Hisa?
No, I don't remember...
She was wearing a Western dress. Western? Yes.
Now that you mention it...
The customer who left right before the end of the performance... she was wearing a dress, I think...
That's it!
That's why I'm asking you why!
Why are you doing this job for the Navy that Saigou-san asked you to do.
Why are you coming home so late in the middle of the day?
KATSU KAISHU
I don't find it funny. The Satsuma and Choshu guys are turning their backs on us.
It's disgusting.
That's why you can't put all your effort into your work forever
Do you understand?
Ah, stheater up.
What? The Hiryu-stage, I took Oito to see it yesterday too.
Really? Yeah.
EDITOR IN CHIEF, NISHIKIE NEWSPAPER HANANOYA INGA
There was definitely a woman in a western dress.
You mean she was conspicuous after all?
Yeah, in that way.
What is this? Are you watching a magic show while I'm working on the Satsuma and Choshu guys?
What? Ah...
It's just a diversion.
Besides, Yumenosuke was the girl who taught me the shamisen when I was working as a geisha.
She's got a good lineage and talent.
I told her she could be a successful geisha in Fukagawa.
But she said she wanted to live on magic.
After Yume no Suke-san's performance, did you see the woman in the dress out front?
No, I didn't.
By the time we left the theater, she was nowhere to be seen...
wait, come to think of it
Oh, what is it?
There was a man who was looking for her.
The lady who left first.
Isn't that Kanda Masahiko's wife who's been making a fortune lately?
I heard she's a westernized woman and wears that kind of dress wherever she goes.
Is Hisa-san here? Yeah...
She was watching a magic show.
Hisa-san!
HISA-SAN!
He seemed awfully upset.
Who is he? Who is that guy?
He's probably Aramaki, a writer attached to the theater where the Hiryu-stage is located
Before Hisa died, he was her lover
What...? At the store,
the two of them were behaving intimately
So that's how they're related
But Hisa had another guy like that.
One more!
Yesterday, Aramaki got frustrated because he was left waiting.
HIRYU THEATER WRITER ARAMAKI GENKICHI
That Aramaki is suspicious.
That's for sure.
If he finds out that Hisa is playing with him, he'll get upset and do something.
Whoa, whoa. What do you think?
Why did the woman in the dress leave her seat instead of waiting for the stage to end...
Eh?
Hey! Hey! Isn't that the guy?
Hey! You're Aramaki, aren't you?
Hey! Get up! Get up!
Hey! Get up! Hey!
I already know you were looking for Hisa-san
in front of the Hiryu Theater yesterday.
And then you found Hisa and killed her, didn't you?
Wait a minute. Hey, hey!
I didn't do it!
I couldn't find her. That's why I drank all night...
POLICE INSPECTOR SAMESHIMA OTOHIKO
Don't play dumb!
You're the one who brought the body back to the house in a rickshaw, weren't you?
No!
I didn't kill her. Be honest, tell me the truth...
So it was a crime of passion. Yeah.
Make him confess. Yes!
Ah~! Hey! Did you catch Aramaki?
Ah, I'm afraid the detective won't be needed this time.
POLICE INSPECTOR FUKUHARA KISUKE
Now, get out, get out.
Aaah! Hey... hey.
Aren't you angry? That attitude.
When there's a difficult case, they're desperate to rely on you, right?
Something strange.
What? Go home!
Please, let me at least talk to him.
He's under interrogation. Do something!
Huh? I beg you... No, no, no!
Yumenosuke-san?
Ah...
Aramaki is not the kind of person who can kill people.
I know because we've been working together on the stage for a long time.
He can be rather petty...
You said you didn't know Hisa-san. Is that true?
What?
Hisa-san and Aramaki-san were intimate with each other
I knew that Aramaki had been seeing someone.
But I didn't know it was that Hisa...
To Hisa-dono, Aramaki was one of her playmates.
Didn't he get upset when he found out about it and killed her?
That's why he's not a man who can do such a thing.
Can you prove that?
Ah~! Ugh...
So what does that mean? Does that mean this case is as good as solved already?
Ugh, yeah. - Whoa.
Since no one saw Hisa after she left the theater...
The only one who's suspicious is Aramaki, who followed her.
Yes! Yes! Ugh.
Ughhh! Hmph.
Oito.
I wonder what this ball is. I wonder...
OITO
OKANE
It's a globe.
A globe? It's a picture of the shape of this world.
Here is America. And...
Here is Japan.
It's so small? Japan is so small.
The world is big. You'll get to see it soon.
Okane-san and Oito-san.
Us too? Ah... then.
Shinjuro-sama, will you come with us then?
I'll be happy to accompany you.
Ahhh~!
Excuse me. Yes
I'd like to thank you all for your help with my father's case.
So you came all the way here?
KANO RIE
Yes. I received an unusual gift.
Asano? Yes.
BUTLER ASANO SAZEN
Bananas officially started being imported into Japan in 1903 from Taiwan. It is said that the first banana ever brought to Japan was the one presented to the warrior Nobunaga Oda by a Portuguese missionary.
What is this?
It's banana, an imported fruit.
This is it? - Yes.
(chuckles)
Hmm~!
Oh~! I didn't know it had such a delicious taste...
I'm sorry that you took the trouble to deliver such an expensive item to us.
*there was once a time in Japan when bananas were so expensive that they could only be bought as gifts or sympathy gifts on very limited occasions.
Actually, I wanted to ask you about this case too...
I've met the late Hisa-san several times.
So I was curious...
Well...
Is the murderer the man who's being held now?
That's all they can do now
It looks like our detective won't be coming out this time.
Ouch.
She was talking to Shinjuro-san.
There's one thing I don't understand...
The rickshaw...
What?
If Aramaki is the culprit, why did he take the trouble to deliver the body to Kanda's residence in a rickshaw...
I was wondering about that too.
I was wondering if this wasn't Aramaki's work, but revenge against Kanda.
That's how much that guy has risen, by using everyone around him as a stepping stone.
My late father was an up-and-coming merchant.
It's always said you can't be too careful with Kanda.
Hmm... he's done everything for money.
Even his current shop was originally a money changer, but somehow the owner died suddenly.
Kanda, who was the head clerk, somehow ended up taking his place.
After he married Hisa-san, the two of them seemed to be running a dubious business.
Hey, you're late! Hurry up! I'll have you fired!
Yes!
They're greedy bastards who don't care about others.
I knew they'd die a horrible death.
Oh no!
Kanda's body just came up from the river!
What?
I saw it coming...
Excuse me.
He was killed after he left the residence on a rickshaw...
Another rickshaw...
Apparently, the rickshaw was claiming to be from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
Did you see that rickshawman's face?
No, I didn't this time...
Didn't you see the master off...
Did you see him?
Just a little...
Calling me out again like this... those guys from the Police Department,
I won't let them get away with it!
Let's go!
But he was wearing a deep hat...
You said he was a young man. - Yes, that's right.
What do you think?
That may be so.
That hairpin...
It's beautiful.
My parents bought it for me when I was a child.
FOREIGN WINES IMPORTED ART WORKS
Since Aramaki is still in police custody, he can't be Kanda's killer.
This is a case where mystery leads to more and more mystery.
ODAKI
What's the headline? Let's see.
A mysterious rickshaw, two dead bodies... who is the killer?
The Rickshaw Reaper...
I'll use that!
Well, well, well... The scariest part is the Rickshaw Reaper!
Who will be the next target?
(screams)
Have you ever been to the Kanda residence, master? No, I haven't.
Have you heard of any other rickshaws going to the Kanda residence?
It's not good if you lie to us. No, no, no...
<Who will be killed next by the Rickshaw Reaper?
The whole of Tokyo was immediately filled with anxiety and fear.>
SAIGO TAKAMORI
It looks like there's a big commotion going on.
Yes.
The Meiji era is still in its infancy.
If people are anxious now, it will only make things more confusing.
It is as you say.
I'll ask the special detective to solve it immediately.
The rumored Yuki Shinjuro.
Yes.
I, too, would like to meet this great detective once.
Hmm, I'm sure the people
who are taking advantage of the Meiji era will be scared.
For example, those from Satsuma and Choshu.
(laughing voice)
Sir! Do you need a ride?
I'm sure Inoue, Yamagata and the others are too scared to ride in a rickshaw.
Sensei! Oh.
Oh, what is it? I heard Aramaki was let go.
Is that so? I didn't think he was the culprit at all.
The culprit is someone who hates upstarts like Kanda.
You're absolutely right!
By the way... where's Shinjuro?
Oh, about that...
Uhhh.... Are you sure we can talk about it?
The master and his wife are dead, and she doesn't owe them anything.
She was just being used.
But it's too much, isn't it? To treat her like that...
Shinjuro-san?
Did you go somewhere?
Yeah, well...
I wonder where the Rickshaw Reaper is.
Reaper, huh...
By the way, what are you doing here?
I was offered the chance to buy this store.
Apparently, Kanda-sama was supposed to buy it.
That's what happened, and that's why they came to us.
Which reminds me, Hisa-san....
wanted to build a billiard hall and a Western-style hotel.
A Western-style hotel?
Yes. It seems she was buying up various stores in a very rash manner.
Hey! Hey, Shinjuro, I've been looking for you.
What is it? I found the owner of the rickshaw.
I already told the policeman and the others. - Oh, please tell us again!
I had a customer, and he was really handsome.
Handsome? Did you notice anything else?
Not really.
As soon as I turned my backto him and tried to pull the car away,
he covered my mouth with his hand and I sniffed something...
What kind of hand was it?
A hand?
The hand...
And the next thing he knew, the rickshaw was gone.
That means the true identity of the Rickshaw Reaper is a mysterious man of color.
Got it! Yes!
What?
People are deceived by what they can see.
Um... what is it?
There's something I'd like you to see.
Madam?
No... it can't be Madam.
Yes, Hisa-san is dead.
The key to solving the mystery of this case is a fake.
In other words, it's a hoax.
The first fake
is that the woman in the dress in the audience...
who wasn't actually Hisa-san, interestingly enough.
Hmm?
That time, Yasu-san.
It was you, wasn't it?
The silk turns into flowers, and the whole stage becomes a flower garden.
(Applause)
Then, you hurriedly changed your clothes at the back of the dressing room.
You rushed to the front of the theater and pretended to look for Hisa-san.
That's to make it look like Hisa was killed after she returned from the theater, right?
Then where is the real Hisa-dono?
She was already dead before the show started.
Isn't that so?
No way... killing the wife of your employer...
That's not true. Yasu-san is the one!
The real heiress.
The servants told me.
Yasu-san was not a maid but the only daughter of a big money changer.
Then, during the turmoil of the Meiji Restoration, her parents died suspiciously one after the other.
Kanda, who was working as a head clerk, took over the store.
Excuse me.
Miss, if you don't want to get kicked out of here, shall I have you work as a maid?
That's right.
I killed her.
But...
You didn't do it alone, did you?
Yumenosuke-san.
The detective saw right through you, didn't he?
Is it to protect this theater?
That's right.
Kanda Hisa wanted to destroy this theater.
and take this land for herself.
To that woman, we were nothing more than insects that she could trample underfoot.
Even that day, before her secret rendezvous with Aramaki
She visited me in my dressing room.
This theater was built with the help of a kind benefactor.
No matter how many times you show up, I won't leave!
I'll use any means at my disposal.
I can even get a government official to kick you out of here...
It's that easy
No way...
Besides, where am I supposed to go after I leave here?
I'll make you become a maid at the western hotel if you want
Hahahahahaha~!
Yeah! Ah~!
I won't let you do that!
I won't let her go through the same thing I did!
You~! Ah!
Hey!
Stop it!
I'm the one who killed her.
No, it was me.
What I had been enduring until now, I couldn't stand it anymore...!
It's okay. If I hadn't done anything back then, Hisa wouldn't be dead. My Lady!
The one to whom you owe the debt of gratitude for building this theater.
That's...
Yasu-san's parents, right?
Yes.
They've been very kind to us.
I heard that they passed away, but I never thought that their daughter...
I can't believe she's become a maid...
But that hairpin looked familiar.
I'd heard the terrible rumors about Kanda and Hisa.
I had an idea how this had happened.
But the one behind the Rickshaw Reaper was a young man, right?
That was the second fake.
You showed everyone
what looked like a young man.
(In a low voice) Please. Yeah.
The rickshaw driver said that the hand holding his mouth was strangely beautiful.
Having acquired a rickshaw, you disguised yourself as a rickshaw puller.
You delivered Hisa's body to the Kanda residence.
(In a low voice) It's a delivery for you.
But why did you take the trouble to do that?
It's because... if you deliver the body in a rickshaw.
You thought that if you delivered the body in a rickshaw, Yasu-san wouldn't be suspected, right?
Yes.
But why even Kanda?
You couldn't let the innocent Aramaki be blamed for Hisa's murder.
those guys from the Police Department, I won't let them get away with it!
Hmm...
Hmm?
What's wrong?
Whoa! Ahhh...!
Ah...!
And... you want that store to be returned to Yasu's hands.
You want to give her parents' store back to Yasu-san.
That's what you thought, right?
Eh...
My Lady...
It must have been hard for you...
I couldn't protect you,
I'm so sorry
Yumenosuke-san...
She doesn't know anything about Kanda's murder.
I alone did it.
I beg your pardon.
I heard that the Rickshaw Reaper incident has been successfully solved.
Both Yumenosuke and Yasu have honestly confessed.
Katsu-san has something to tell you.
If you ask me, it was Kanda and Hisa's bad behavior that caused this.
Don't you think so?
Huh?
Yasu-san has been released
Is that true?
You said you were the only one who killed Hisa
I'm sure the stores and property that Kanda swindled will be returned
That's good
Now she can get her own life back
Why did you use a rickshaw to kill Kanda?
Not only Kanda, but also to the people who are preying on the Meiji era
to spread feat throughout Tokyo, that the Rickshaw Reaper will bring them to justice?
I've been deceived too
It was a brilliant fake
Eishou Christopher!
After all, it's just a make believe language of a cheap performer
Detective,
I wonder where we're headed,
in this world
I'll never get to see Yumenosuke perform again
I'm really sorry to hear that
Once again, your judgment was wrong this time
Didn't I get it right about the revenge on Kanda?
Then why didn't you figure out it was Yumenosuke all along?
I would have done whatever it took to get her out of there
Aargh, you're such a jerk!
Hey stop it, stop it! That's enough!
I'm done with this case
I went to see Yumenosuke-san
At last, female performers can stand on their own and make it on the big stage.
A woman trampling on another woman for her own greed.
It's neither woman nor man
It's just people who fall
And... you're okay with that?
Beyond that, there must be hope
That's what I believe
NEXT EPISODE
Case 3 - The Shoplifting Family
Shoplifters
This! You idiots!
You get worked up so easily
The key to this case
This is a rude thing to ask