The Locked Room Murders (鍵のかかった部屋)

The windows are locked.

And the door cannot be opened.

Because...

...there was a corpse here...

...which was locked in this place by a table and sofa.

The ventilation is too small for anyone to pass through...

And there isn't any other possible route of entry...

...that anyone could have used.

In short, this room was completely locked from the inside.

Here is the question.

This corpse that was found inside...

How did he die?

Is it just suicide... Or a murder disguised as a suicide?

This locked room holds all the keys for the mystery.

- Thank you for waiting. - Yes.

This way please.

"Come in."

Sorry, I have a full schedule today...

Yes, uh...

How about next Thursday?

Now? Uh, no. For now...

Oh, I understand...

Then I'll see you in Wellington Hotel in 15 minutes. Excuse me.

Good morning. I'll be under your guidance starting today.

- My name is Aoto Junko. - Aoto-kun. Your experience is...?

I've worked for two years at a small private office but I never thought...

...I'll be working at Friedman & Serizawa Law Firm.

Also, to work under Serizawa-san...

...I feel like I'm dreaming...

I will work my best to be able to assist you!

Company president Maruyama of Nissen Co. is waiting at the lounge of Wellington Hotel.

- Go meet him and listen to what he has to say. - What about you, Serizawa-san?

Right now, I have to finish with my oral argument.

Then, 'Due-Dili' is waiting for me at the Central Asahi Bank.

- "Due-Dili"? - For the acquisitions and mergers...

...investigate the value of the targeted companies.

- 'Due diligence.' - Exactly. So, I'm counting on you.

Uh, uhh. What shall I do?

I told you to meet with Pres. Maruyama.

His business is probably regarding the GE Brother's contract.

Listen to his demands and concerns and report it back to me.

- Yes. - Listen.

This person is an important client. Anyway, listen to him...

Be extremely careful not to offend him in any way. I'm counting on you.

Good luck, Junko. Here we go.

Actually, I came to consult with a personal matter.

Eh? Uh. Y-yes.

The other day, President Oishi of Shin Nippon Funerals...

...had committed suicide. - Please accept my condolences.

Oishi-san was at the final stage of pancreatic cancer...

The doctor gave him only 6 months to live.

The room where his body was found...

...had been locked in such a way that no one could have entered it.

The police concluded that it was a suicide over his illness but...

...I am a bit bothered by it.

- Pardon? - The thing is, Kusakabe-sensei here...

...handles the legal matter in Shin Nippon Funerals.

It seems Pres. Oishi had recently requested to...

...rewrite his will. - Rewrite his will?

Shin Nippon Funeral President Oishi's...

...entire legacy including his majority stakes are all going to his only living relative...

His nephew, Executive Director Ikehata.

Notarized last will and testament was all ready to go but...

...he changed his mind. - Why?

Because Director Ikehata was caught embezzling company funds.

That's why, for him to kill himself before rewriting the will...

...Isn't that strange? And another strange thing is...

His hand written last will and testament was left at the scene.

Moreover, what is on this hand-written will...

...and the one that has been notarized...

...almost had no difference.

Uh, so...

...you mean the contents of those 2 wills were virtually identical?

- Exactly! - But the police...

...said that since the room was locked from the inside, then it must have been suicide.

So... we're sorry to ask you this...

But we would like Serizawa-sensei to investigate this matter.

"Investigate"?

Fool. Why did you agree on such a thing?

I thought if I refused, I'll offend him.

He may be a client...

...but you can't agree on everything... If it can't be done...

...then it can't be done. - You said to listen to him...

In this main vault, along with cash...

...there are paintings, statues and precious metals that are stored.

We estimate the total value to be around 200 billion yen (over $235m).

This way please.

Murder case? Me? I only do corporate legal work.

- But I can't refuse now... - You... wait here.

Excuse me. I can't find the list of paintings.

What? I'm sorry.

- Hey, the list of paintings is missing. - Oh... I'll get it now.

Excuse me. I'll be back right away.

- This way please. - Alright.

What should I do?

Eh? Huh?

Eh?

Huh? Wait, wait a minute!

Wait... No way... Wait, wait a minute.

Wait wait wait...

Umph... Wai-! Noo~!

- Uwa~! - Ehh?!

That's bad... Bad... Baaadd~!

- Don't tell me... - Eh? What is it?

- What? - Like I said, once this door is locked...

...the system will not open it until the start...

...of the next working day!

You gotta be kidding! I've got an important contract after this!

Hey! Hurry and get us out of here! Hey!

Serizawa-san. What day is it today?

It's Friday. That's not important right now...!

The bank is closed on weekends.

This means that this door will not open until Monday morning.

No...!

What shall I do? Please! We have to open this. What can we do?

Here! Can we open it with these dials?

In case of emergencies, we should be able to open with these dials.

Oh... What the-- Thank God!

I only have one set of combination. I don't have the other one.

- The other one? - The President knows it.

President? Where is he...?

He's the one whom you just locked inside the vault!

"What should we do?"

"We have to save them."

Hey you! What're you doing?

Hey!

Who are you?

My name is Enomoto. From Tokyo Total Security...

I received a call from the guard.

Please help us! People are inside. The vault door got locked...!

Sorry to have troubled you but please leave now.

There's nothing you can do.

Dammit... Why did this have to happen?

Hey, get us out of here! Get us out! Hey!

Please stop that. Or you will...

...reduce the oxygen.

- What is this? - In the case of a resettable dial...

...you turn the dial to the left and keep the number where it feels heavy on the graph...

...and guess the combination number. - What is 'resettable?'

It is the type that users can configure their own combination.

You are able to change the combination for each disk.

For example, if per disk has a scale from 0 to 99...

...then there are 100 numbers...

...generally there are four disks, so 100 to the 4th power, totals 100 million possible combinations.

It's also called '100 million combinations dial.'

Oh...

- You don't get it? - What?

- You don't understand it? - No.

Uh, yes. Not quite...

Please try to imagine. At the heart of this dial lock...

...are four disks and each comes with a cut-out...

When all of the disk's cut-outs align...

...it'll move to allow the dead bolt to enter the space that was created and then the lock will be released.

- Excuse me... - When you can set any number on a disk...

In the case of four disks, you must match four numbers...

For example, turn 5 times to the left to 45. Four times to the right to 12.

3 times to the left to 99. 2 times to the right to 57.

Clockwise and counterclockwise... You must alternate the direction.

- Uh, excuse me, that's enough... - Initially, you have to turn more than 5 times...

It's because if you turn a disk more than 5 times, others will turn together...

That's enough please! It's okay. Thank you for explaining.

Oh.

I told you, didn't I?

I'm sorry...

It took longer... than I anticipated.

What?

- Eh?! - It opened!

Open? It's open? Right? Ah! It's open!

That took only 17 minutes!

Serizawa-san, I'm sorry! It was due to my carelessness!

- You?! - Yes, I pressed that button.

- So then, it was you who closed the door? - Yes.

What the heck were you doing?!

I'm awfully sorry!

- Hold it! - Yes, sir!

President.

Is this safe? This security vault.

So as promised, can we go with Kusakebe-san...

...to the lodge in Okutama where Oishi-san committed suicide?

You not only locked me up in a vault... Now you want me to drive to Okutama?

How much more of my time do you want to waste?

Do you know how much I can earn in just 10 minutes? And also...

...most importantly, didn't the police already said it was a suicide?

But what if it wasn't a suicide?

So then, how are you going to prove it?

Oh. Thank you for your help.

It was ruled as a suicide because it happened inside a locked room.

So if we can prove that it wasn't a locked room situation--

Easily said than done! Even the police couldn't find anything...

Do you really think amatuers like us can find anything?

Then let's bring in an expert.

- The police are the experts in crime. - No, not them...

Someone who is familiar with house, locks, and security.

- Then who? - Uh, for example...

Someone from a security company?

Excuse me~! Wait... Excuse me.

Can I ask you some questions? For example..

In the room where the doors and windows cannot be opened from the outside...

And no one can go in and out of the room...

- A locked room? - Yes! A locked room.