Episode 3: Ruckus
Kaoru receives a message from Yukawa summoning her to his lab. She harbours suspicions about the sudden message as she heads to Teito University. There, she meets a female by the name of Yayoi. Yayoi is the older sister of Yukawa’s student, Murase. She tells Kaoru that she would like her help because her husband, Naoki, has been involved in an incident and hasn’t come home. Yayoi had asked the police to search for him but was told that there is no case. Kaoru says a private discussion will get her in a bind and rejects Yayoi’s request. But she is told by Yukawa that it is now her turn because he had always helped her in the past. Kaoru thus ends up hearing about the incident from Yayoi.
Naoki, who works at a nursing care supplies manufacturer had disappeared five days ago. On the day of his disappearance, Naoki had dropped by a nursing home. However, Yayoi claims that Naoki had gone to the home of an old lady, Takano Hide, after that because he was constantly worried about her living on her own. Furthermore, she says that Hide had died of a heart attack on the same day Naoki went missing. Yayoi had paid a visit to Hide’s home by herself. Takano Masaaki, who calls himself Hide’s nephew and three other males and females were there but said that they didn’t know anything about Naoki. Yayoi, who knows that Masaaki and the rest began living in Hide’s home one month ago, harbours suspicions about them and seems to have kept watch of them all the time. According to Yayoi, Masaaki and the rest go out around 8 p.m. every night. Yayoi, who took the chance to creep in one night, tells Kaoru that she heard noises come from within the house.
According to Sakurako, the medical coroner, there weren’t any suspicious points in Hide’s death certificate. Kaoru says it might have been a case of abuse, so she seeks Yuge’s help and visits Hide’s home. However, Yuge finds out that the Community Safety department is investigating the matter and yells at Kaoru not to stick her nose into their business.
In the midst of this, Kaoru learns of Yayoi’s deep love for Naoki and that she is now pregnant with their child. For Yayoi’s sake, Kaoru goes to Hide’s house with her. The two of them arrive at the house and slip inside when Masaaki and the others go out. For some reason, charms are pasted in the interior of the house. It is deserted and there is no reply when Kaoru and Yayoi call out Naoki’s name. Then, at that moment, the whole room suddenly starts to shake violently. Kaoru grasps Yayoi’s arm and they run outside. However, all is quiet around the house, and before long, the noises that they hear from inside Hide’s house is gone.
Kaoru informs Yukawa of the poltergeist phenomenon at Hide’s house. Yukawa tells her that witness accounts of poltergeist phenomenon have mostly been dubious reports, and heads to Hide’s house with her. Yukawa, who has observed Hide’s house, instructs Kaoru to obtain old maps of Hide’s neighbourhood for him.
Yukawa inspects the old maps that Kaoru has brought. He comes to a map that shows the neighbourhood before Hide’s house was built and takes notice of a certain mark. At that moment, something flashes through his mind. Yukawa tells Kaoru that the poltergeist phenomenon is connected to Kanzaki’s disappearance, and that it isn’t Hide’s spirit that Masaaki and the rest are afraid of but Naoki’s. He means that Kanzaki’s body is hidden somewhere within that house. Kaoru cannot hide her shock.
Kaoru, who has returned to the precinct, attempts to pull out the records of the man who was with Masaaki from the list of ex-convicts. At the same time, she also begins legwork to get information from those around Masaaki. Masaaki apparently owes a lot of money, and it seems that he had been pressed by the debt collectors. Kaoru then finds the records of Kondo, the man who lives together with Masaaki in Hide’s house, from the list.
The next day, Yukawa and Kaoru visit Hide’s home. After a while, Masaaki and Konda come out. Kuribayashi had posed as an employee of a bank and made a phone call regarding Hide’s estate. Yukawa and Kaoru enter Hide’s home. Masaaki’s wife, Yurie, and Harumi, a woman thought to be Kondo’s woman, are there. Harumi is ranting at Yukawa and Kaoru when the house suddenly starts to shake wildly. Yurie and Harumi run outside at Kaoru’s order. When the tremors cease, Yukawa takes tools out of a bag, and removes the floorboards beneath the tatami. That area has been fortified with new concrete.
Masaaki, who is under investigation, starts to talk about the matter. A debt-ridden Masaaki had tried to borrow money from his grandmother Hide. However, Hide didn’t agree. At that moment, Kondo, who was with him, got rough with her. Hide, who had a heart condition, fell over and died of shock. As luck would have it, Naoki arrived at the house. Kondo killed Naoki, who had witnessed Hide’s death, dug a hole under the floor of Hide’s house and threw Naoki in. He then instructed Masaaki to pour concrete from above.
There is actually an old manhole beneath Hide’s house. The sewer pipe is also connected to a factory nearby. That factory discharges hot water every night between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. The poltergeist phenomenon is due to the vapour vibrating the manhole beneath Hide’s house. That phenomenon, which hadn’t occurred while Hide was alive, meant that the environment surrounding the manhole had changed. Yukawa, who divulged that, goes on to say that he had asked the factory to do the discharge at 3 p.m., after Masaaki and Kondo were lured out of the house.
Yayoi comes face to face with Naoki’s corpse at the mortuary. There, Kaoru tells her that they had found the key to the money Hide kept in the bank in Naoki’s suit. She tells Yayoi that the will in the bank’s safe deposit box bequeaths Hide’s entire fortune to Naoki. Yayoi expresses her gratitude to Kaoru and then murmurs, “That tremor back then was Naoki telling me ‘I am here’ wasn’t it?” She tells Naoki to rest in peace because she will bring up their child. Her tears brim over.
Kaoru, who is visiting the lab, tells Yukawa that she had no heart to tell Yayoi that that phenomenon wasn’t due to Naoki’s spirit. Then, she asks him if she can linger for a while longer. Sensing Kaoru’s feelings, Yukawa leaves.
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