Kuramochi.
Got a minute?
Yes.
Let me ask you straight.
How far along are you on the case you and Tatsu were on?
What?
I know about it. The land swindlers, right?
I let it go as he was retiring soon.
But he kept investigating behind my back
even though no crime was reported.
Well, whatever.
Turn in a report about it tomorrow.
I don't think…
it was suicide.
Huh?
There's no way
Tatsu would kill himself.
What are you talking about?
You read the crime report and his suicide note.
It was suicide.
I knew about his illness and that it used to torment him.
I get how you feel, but it's not strange for--
Harrison Yamanaka.
Tatsu told me.
The land shark.
The Shimbashi landowner six months ago.
The Ebisu fraud imposter.
He said Harrison's land swindler group may have been involved with all those murders.
On that day before Tatsu died,
couldn't he have somehow come in contact with Harrison Yamanaka?
I'm saying, he may have been murdered under the guise of suicide
by Harrison Yamanaka.
Lower your voice.
Let me check the call log on Tatsu's phone.
No.
Why not?
It's not necessary.
Okay, let's begin.
There's no need to worry.
Just answer like we practiced, and you'll be fine.
Okay.
First, could you remove your hat?
Wow. That's perfect.
Okay. Please tell me your name.
I'm Natsumi Kawai.
Date of birth?
July 3rd, Showa year 51.
Your zodiac sign?
Year of the dragon.
Your address?
It is…
It's 5-22-6 Takanawa,
Minato City, Tokyo.
What do you say?
Tell me about your family.
She's good.
Yes.
Very good.
So it's settled, right?
Yes.
What's the name of the temple you work at?
It's Kouan-ji.
How do you write that in kanji?
It uses the kanji characters for "light" and "Buddhist hut,"
and then "temple" at the end.
Land swindlers.
They steal large sums of money
by posing as landowners who want to sell their land
using forged documents.
A group of land swindlers consists of a leader,
a negotiator, an informer,
a legal expert, a document forger,
and a casting coordinator for imposters.
To swindle billions of yen,
they require precise and highly advanced criminal techniques.
The identity confirmation with Sekiyo House
is in ten days, on November 20th.
It will take place at the Shirokane Grand Hotel lobby lounge.
Goto, myself, and Natsumi Kawai's imposter will be there.
What about Abiru?
We'll say that Natsumi Kawai wants to meet with as few people as possible.
Will she be able to respond properly in the real meeting too?
Her son's life is at stake. I'm sure she'll do fine.
She's smart too.
The identity confirmation should take about half an hour.
We will then leave for Kouan-ji separately in taxis and our Lexus,
have them see the land with the parking lot,
and then take them inside the temple.
They'll have no reason to doubt us once we let them into the temple.
How about the locks?
I sent Orochi in. He's been working there as a gardener since last month.
He's ready to replace the locks to the main gate, main hall, and office.
Great work, Takeshita. Back to your usual self?
Just doing what I'm paid to do.
Oh, you guys agreed on the pay?
- Three billion, was it? - Yes.
We had a gentlemanly discussion.
But now I have more work.
Why's that?
He will launder the money we receive from the buyer instead of me.
Due to the large sum, my usual methods may leave unwanted traces.
That's not fair. We only get the usual share.
Yeah, we deserve a bonus too.
Shut up!
You guys only do the same amount of work as always!
Laundering money means more chance of getting caught.
And? After that?
We'll leave Taniguchi at the temple,
and Goto and I will head to the Sekiyo office.
Abiru will join us there
to sign the sales contract between Abiru Holdings and Sekiyo.
How are things at Sekiyo?
Won't internal approval take time for a ten-billion-yen property?
We told Sekiyo that unless they get internal approval,
we won't let them meet Natsumi Kawai.
As I explained,
Mitsui, Tokyu, Mori, and Sumitomo already seem to have information on this property,
so we must complete the approval process without delay.
The landowner wishes to sell the land as soon as possible,
which means there's a chance the property will escape us if we don't act soon.
Wait a second.
That's impossible.
Approval for 11.2 billion in two weeks? We have in-house rules.
I'm not finished.
The board of directors must consent
for transactions exceeding ten billion.
Time is too short!
This agenda is urgent.
What?
We've had multiple cases in the past where urgent agendas were decided
without going through the board, but with the approval
of executives like the president.
These cases dealt with high-grade properties,
so rules and business value judgment were set aside
to avoid losing those properties to our competitors.
I have already told President Abekawa about this property,
and he is extremely interested.
Which means,
this is not only an urgent agenda
but can also be a president's agenda.
And the fact that the president himself is interested
means that this is of the highest priority in the company.
- So you toss the president into this? - I'm doing no such thing.
I'm saying the property is worth it.
From the meeting we had the other day,
I am certain they will sell as soon as we have internal approval.
But the property may be sold to our competitor if we hesitate.
Are you really sure?
You heard me earlier.
Isn't it risky to submit this to approval?
Be more specific, will you?
I think this broker, Abiru Holdings, sounds shady.
We've never dealt with them.
They have a real estate division, but they were originally in apparel.
Are they safe?
There were no issues in their credit report.
Also, they have the LDP lawmaker Tabuse's wife as their advisor.
I'm sure you know that Diet Member Tabuse is an ally of the construction lobby.
Still, a broker fee of one billion yen is absurd.
One billion to the middleman. Doesn't that sound weird?
That's between the landowner and Abiru. It's none of our business.
And the landowner?
Why haven't you met her yet?
It's in the report.
She was absent due to poor health.
I checked the power of attorney, her passport, and driver's license.
How could you purchase land
without meeting the landowner or confirming her identity?!
We're scheduling a meeting now.
Can't we meet her before approval?
What if she sells to someone else in the meantime?
Who will take responsibility?
Are you sure this isn't fraud?
What?
What if this is land fraud?
Like it wasn't listed in the first place?
And these documents… all of these!
What if imposters forged them?
Impossible.
You know it too!
Cases of land fraud increased in Tokyo after being chosen as an Olympic host.
Remember that Ebisu property case?
This is of a different scale.
It's a super-massive property that's over ten billion yen.
Those shitty land swindlers can't handle something like this.
Like I said earlier,
the president is keen on this, so quit meddling.
Let the chairman know if you want.
But it's the president who has the final say for domestic properties.
You do know that?
Here's a word of caution too.
The urban development project in Kazakhstan
initiated by the chairman you're sucking up to…
- That's far more shady than this. - What?
My friend works for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia Division.
And he told me
that there could be shoot-outs.
Oh, and one more thing.
On the day of the identity confirmation, can we get the real Natsumi Kawai out?
This won't work if she's there.
That won't be an issue.
We'll make her go on a trip that morning.
A trip? Where to?
Okinawa?
Yeah. What do you say?
Why so suddenly?
Well, you know, I realized something.
Realized what?
Just how important you are to me.
I'm sorry I made you wait for so long.
I want to make love to you properly,
in a place with just you and me.
But…
You can't trust me?
No, that's not what I meant.
It's just so sudden.
I'm actually thinking of quitting this job.
You are?
Yeah.
I've earned enough money,
so I want to start something I've always wanted to do.
Huh? What's that?
You won't laugh?
I won't.
A hamburger joint.
Hamburger?
Yeah. There's a lot in Tokyo now, right?
But I want to do something like A&W or Jef in Okinawa and…
You wouldn't know.
The vibe and hamburgers are so American, like you're at an American diner.
I used to eat those burgers all the time back home,
and they're damn good.
You're from Okinawa?
I never told you?
No, you didn't.
Well, I've always wanted to do a restaurant like that in Tokyo.
But you know, this job is the only option for someone like me to make money.
So I promised myself I'd try it once I'd saved 100 million.
So it's your dream.
Exactly. That's my dream.
Going to Okinawa will be my first step
toward making my dream come true.
That's why I want you to come with me.
Hold on. Is this… about money?
Oh, come on. That's not it.
Don't be silly.
You've been the biggest cheerleader for me to achieve my dream.
I see.
So, I wanna thank you for that.
And like I said,
I want to make love to you properly.
- Good evening, Kaede. - Good evening.
It's all set. All good.
Take this.
It's an early flight, so don't miss it.
And, uh, what should I do when I arrive?
We've arranged a rental car and a hotel. The rest is up to you.
But I'm not really familiar with Okinawa. Won't she be suspicious?
Where's your hometown?
It's Kumagaya, in Saitama.
- That's so close! - Sorry.
Go to some of those hamburger places, then take it easy at the hotel.
Ms. Kawai would prefer that too.
Just give her all the fucking she wants.
Understood.
Don't even dream about running away.
We're hiring some guys over there to keep watch on you the whole time.
Okay.
Kaede, I trust you'll do well.
Make sure to never leave Ms. Kawai's side during those three days.
Right.
They told me it'll take time to return his belongings from work.
These are all I have.
I see.
Um,
may I ask you a very sensitive question?
What do you honestly think?
About Tatsu.
What?
Do you really think it was suicide?
I don't know.
Why is that?
It's true that… the way he died can only be interpreted as a suicide.
He had also left a note.
Our daughter thinks it was suicide too.
But to me,
there's something about it that feels unconvincing.
Please tell me.
His note.
Did you read it?
Yes.
When they first showed it to me,
I was too panicked to see it the way I do now.
I can't explain it, but it's just not something he would write.
It's definitely my husband's handwriting.
But something is different about it.
Different how?
It just feels off.
I'm sorry. I can't explain it well.
It's fine.
Let me get you a fresh cup of tea.
Oh, thank you.
My husband never talked about his work.
But there is one thing he told me.
He told me that in the case he died suspiciously during an investigation,
there's someone I should contact.
MASASHI KUBOTA
But this is…
Are you sure I should have it?
Why not Superintendent Haba or--
My husband didn't like Haba.
Huh?
He didn't?
- I hate him too. - What?
I worked in the Second Division before marriage.
- Is that so? - Yes.
I was a police clerk, not an officer.
I guess I'd say now
that I was sexually harassed… by Haba.
Oh…
So I'll leave this in your hands.
One more thing.
A few days before he died, my husband was researching here late at night.
I think that was when he wrote this down.
ABIRU HOLDINGS
Well, simply put, I sell information.
I see.
I used to be a freelance tabloid journalist.
But while chasing some financial crime,
I found myself in the lion's den.
I was kidnapped, and Tatsu saved me from the yakuza killing me.
Since then, he'd always look out for me
and I'd give him information from the underworld.
Well, that's how we were.
I see.
So he passed away, huh?
Just as you and his wife suspect,
Tatsu would never kill himself.
I bet they made him jump.
What do you mean?
You hear about it in the media, the so-called "mysterious suicides."
A recent example.
Do you recall a former executive at Livedoor
who was found dead at a hotel in Okinawa with his belly sliced open?
It was treated as a suicide in the end, but that guy was murdered.
In the underworld, there are people who do such things in cold blood.
They corner people and tell them to die right here.
They go, "If you don't die, I'll kill your family. What'll it be?"
It's what you call the ultimate choice.
I'm certain that's how Tatsu was killed.
So?
What should I do? I'll do anything.
From here on, you and I are gonna…
All I can do is gather information.
This isn't work.
It's to give Tatsu peace.
So consider this my funeral gift. I'm willing to do this free of charge.
Tell me everything about Tatsu's last case.
Tatsu was going after a man named Harrison Yamanaka.
Harrison? He's infamous.
How is it?
There are concerns including the internal approval process at Sekiyo,
but we are pretty much ready.
That's not what I meant.
The 1979 Port Ellen 1st Release.
This was distilled the year you were born, on the island of Islay in Scotland.
It's so rare, avid whiskey fans worldwide would be eager to taste just a drop of it.
Oh, I see. I didn't know.
Well, I do think it tastes good,
but I can't tell if this is worth such attention.
That's perfectly fine.
The value of things tends to change through time.
You see, the Port Ellen Distillery was closed in 1983.
This sold for only 3-4,000 yen per bottle in Scotland back in the day.
However,
the recent whiskey boom has turned this into something precious and sought-after.
Because it is no longer produced,
avid whiskey fans around the world
compete to purchase Port Ellen at a high price.
Yet,
I suppose most of them
do not even know its true taste.
In that case,
what exactly are they paying for?
The scarcity value?
Of course, they're buying that too.
But let's say this Port Ellen is sentient.
Is this bottle aware of its own scarcity value?
The same goes for land.
All land have simply existed as they are since the dawn of time.
Wild animals have a sense of territory
but no desire to own land.
Humans are said to be the animals whose instincts have been destroyed,
but instead, we have intelligence.
Our intelligence gave way to civilization.
It put us above all living things.
And then,
it created this horrible world.
The most foolish thing of all is our obsession to possess land.
By nature, land does not belong to anyone.
Regardless, this concept of land ownership was invented in the human mind,
and it led us to never-ending wars and killings.
To put it simply, human history is a history of people scrambling for land.
Land drives people mad.
And if that's the case,
land itself
may have the instinct to annihilate humans.
Perhaps you're right.
My apologies for boring you with my rambling.
You didn't.
Maybe it's the Port Ellen talking.
One day,
I hope you will share with me
the true reason why you accepted my invitation to become a land swindler.
One day.
Hopefully soon.
NOVEMBER 19 DEATH ANNIVERSARY
Huh? What do you mean?
I'm saying the four top directors won't approve our request for purchase.
Why not? We can't get the president's approval without theirs first.
- It's Sunaga. - What?
It seems like Sunaga is going around
telling the directors that the property is suspicious.
Boss.
To be honest, something bothers me as well.
What is it?
Getting the company's approval before confirming the owner's identity
does seem rather risky after all.
What can I do? The owner was sick.
They said they'll bring her next time.
We can confirm her identity then.
Okay, then before we meet her,
what if we take the copies of the IDs we received, show them to her neighbors,
and make sure that those photos are of Natsumi Kawai?
I guess that couldn't hurt.
We're on it.
No, wait.
What if she finds out and gets offended?
Oh, I guess that's possible…
Oh. Excuse me for a second.
MR. TAKASHI AOYAGI CERTIFIED MAIL
Yes?
- Hey. Get in. - Yes, sir.
You’ve got something to report to me?
I do.
Regarding that alternative land,
we managed to proceed to signing the agreement in two weeks.
However, we need the approvals from the directors before yours…
Isn't this urgent?
What's the holdup?
This is a great plot. No issues with the location or conditions.
This is also our opportunity to join
the redevelopment in this area that's been dominated by others.
Precisely.
- Although, the issue is… - Identity confirmation?
Huh? Oh, yes.
We do have a meeting arranged to meet her face-to-face sometime soon, but…
You need approval first?
Yes.
It's sort of a trade-off.
The owner will meet us only after we get internal approval.
Sir.
I know this is not how we do things,
but may I please have your approval first?
Out of the question.
It's against company rules for me to give my approval first.
You know that two of those four directors are on the chairman faction, right?
Yes.
However,
changing the order another way… could be an option.
Pardon?
- Hey, take us to Takanawa. - Yes, sir.
Let me have a look at the land too.
Wow, this is huge.
This parking lot and the plot with a building beyond that wall combined
is 3,200 square meters.
Yes, it looks big enough to build something of this scale.
Now this means I have visited and inspected this property.
Add it in as a side note to the request for approval.
Okay.
Mention that you took me to the site and that I saw the property myself.
I see.
If the directors find that you have already seen the property,
they'll have no choice but to approve it.
Yeah.
And then, I'll give my approval after them and erase the note.
That way, we're still following the standard approval procedure.
- Thank you very much. - Yeah.
This really is a wonderful plot.
I'm almost in love with it.
I can already smell the money.
REQUEST FOR APPROVAL
PRESIDENT ABEKAWA VISITED AND INSPECTED PROPERTY WITH AOYAGI.
APPROVE
Boss!
Boss! The approval!
It's done! The president approved it too!
Great!
We made it! We turned the tables in the nick of time!
But those guys in Legal were still whining.
Who cares?
Get in touch with Abiru Holdings right away.
Yes. In two days. November 20th at noon as planned.
We will confirm the owner's identity,
check the property with her,
and seal the deal at the office.
It's happening!
Yes, sir!
Oh! So, what should we do?
Should we talk to the neighbors and show them her photos as we discussed?
Huh? Forget it.
We're gonna get busy!
Yes, sir!
Hey, I've got news. Our request was approved!
- Really? - We got it!
Yeah! Yes!
We did it!
Yeah, it's great.
- Congratulations! - Well done.
Planning and Development did it!
We made it happen!
We did it!
Nicely done.
Oh, wow, that's awesome.
Yes. Then I'll see you the day after tomorrow. Yes.
Yes. Oh, please wait at Sekiyo's office, Mr. Abiru.
Let's see. I think we'll join you at 2:00 p.m.
Yes, okay. See you then.
Yes!
A big game fell right into the middle of the trap.
Now they can't get away from us.
What the hell? You're creeping me out.
Well, then. I'm off to do my lucky ritual.
Where to?
Huh? I need to refresh my mind and body before finishing a huge job.
Time for a threesome.
You gross me out.
See ya.
Well, I guess I'm off to play with some guys too.
Is Taniguchi ready?
We'll meet at Shinagawa tomorrow,
and she'll stay with me at a hotel.
It's booked, right?
Of course. A suite.
Thanks a lot. Okay, then. See you guys later.
See you, Reiko.
- How are things on your end? - Things are mostly done.
"Mostly"?
I'm concerned about the quality of the fake passport,
so I'll ask Nagai to fine-tune it tomorrow.
I'll be back in the evening to show it to you.
Oh, no water. I'll have a Coke.
Certainly.
Did you find anything about… What was the name? Abiru…
It's Abiru Holdings.
Oh, that's right.
So did the land swindler bastards show up?
No.
I wonder which land they're going after.
And you, Mr. Kubota?
- Oh, I found something. - What?
I figured it'd take time to dig them up,
so I started with Takumi Tsujimoto since we know who he is.
I found the swindler who scammed him and his father.
You're fast.
The Yokohama area is my specialty.
His name was Nishitani for the fraud, but his real name is Kazuma Saeki.
He wasn't caught, so I guessed he must've fled the country.
I got a hold of the broker in that field,
and boy, that wasn't cheap at all.
After the Tsujimoto fraud case,
he got in some trouble and fled to Manila with this fake passport.
Manila?
It's a timeless cliché that criminals seek refuge in Southeast Asia.
What was that trouble you mentioned?
I couldn't get details,
but he ran after someone tried to kill him.
I know a semi-gang member in Manila, so I'll have him dig a little deeper.
He's also on the run after a murder.
Oops. Just keep that hush-hush.
But this Saeki guy probably has nothing to do with Tatsu, right?
When investigating things like this, you have to start from any lead you have.
Seemingly irrelevant lines can sometimes end up crossing, you know.
So? What's your plan, Ms. Kuramochi?
Gonna keep watching that company?
No.
I'm making a move tomorrow.
SHIORI, TOSHIMI
Mr. Takumi Tsujimoto, correct?
As I thought,
you're here on the death anniversary of your wife and son.
I'm sorry, but you are?
Police.
And what do you want with me?
Six months ago,
there was a fraud over an Ebisu property that swindled one billion yen.
Do you know anything about it?
Not at all.
You're lying.
In that fraud, you disguised yourself as a fake consultant named Hideo Inoue,
used a fake landowner, and swindled money out of a real estate company.
You're a land swindler.
Subtitle translation by: Astrid Oliver