Tower of Sand (砂の塔～知りすぎた隣人)

Sora-chan. Will you come with me?

Bad mothers should be punished.

We've been had. A child has been missing since yesterday, what's more, in the bay area.

There's security camera footage, hurry up! Yes!

What's this about Harvard? Why did you lie about that?

What was that? A hidden camera? I don't know!

When was it you started lying?

No-one will believe anything you say any longer.

One after the other, you spread your lies everywhere.

You're... like a bad smell.

Everyone, let's continue.

It would be bad if the lying were to spread to the children.

That's right, shall we have another drink?

Hiroko-san, would you like something to eat? Sure.

Sora...

Which is it. This one.

This is the footage caught on the security camera.

Does that kind of thing actually happen?

Sora.

Aki-san.

I'm sorry.

I thought it would be a good idea to take her away from there.

Oh... Thank you. Hey!

Can I come to yours to play some time?

Sure, I'll look forward to it.

Yay!

Bye bye Yumiko.

Come here.

What is it?

Sora, when did you become so friendly with Yumiko?

I love Yumiko.

The missing child's name is Maeda Chiaki, she's 3 years old

As you can see, she was clearly alone in the apartment,

when she decided to leave by herself.

We have no idea where she went afterwards...

Also, this was found at the entrance of the apartment block.

That makes it four...

But how did they get her... She must have been lured out somehow.

Somehow... you say.

You mean something like the pied piper of Hamelin's flute.

For fucks sake!

I'm home.

Have you had too much to drink?

I had to do it for work. It's entertaining.

Have some water.

Hey, listen today...

Everything went horribly wrong today.

It wasn't me that made that video.

I had something urgent to do that's why I left Sora.

Urgent?

Someone called me to help Sora's gym coach. Was it that important?

Aki-san why the hell did you have to be married.

It was awkward for me too, but I couldn't refuse.

In that case, it would have been better if you just said that when she asked you.

Let's all start warming up.

Please get into pairs. Yes.

Let's go together.

Shunsuke-kun, let's go together.

That's fine. Ah we've got an odd number.

Shunsuke-kun and Rena-chan can Sora-chan go with you?

I don't want to,

because her mum is a liar. We might get infected by her lies.

Listen you mustn't say things like that.

Sora-chan, why don't you pair up with me.

Let's stretch our bodies.

Hey everyone, shall we have some tea? That sounds lovely.

I'd like us to take our time looking through the halloween pictures.

That would be lovely.

Ugh, it seems someone is hanging around like a bad smell again.

a stubborn stench,

and she wasn't even invited. Well then.

Hiroki-san I'll make reservation, okay. Spread your legs wide.

Thank you very much. Goodbye.

She really is an unfortunate person.

Hello. It's Ubukata, sorry for coming by suddenly.

I just wanted to apologise. What? Now?!

Hold on...

Can you give me a hand Sora-chan.

Okay.

I'm really sorry.

I don't know what to say...

I know I was drunk but I was really rude to you...

Not only that, because of me, there was a misunderstanding with the mothers.

There's no way you'd expose someone else's secret.

It's all my fault.

If it's okay with you, I'd like to explain to everyone

about what happened... Please don't do that.

It will just make matters worse. But...

It's fine.

I'm not cross.

When times are hard, no matter who, you need someone to rely on.

It happens to everyone.

No matter who? We all have difficult times.

Well, you say that, but... I'm okay.

I really am completely fine.

I'll make some tea.

But...I wonder, who was it that tampered with the video?

Do you have any idea who? None at all.

I'd left it at the venue, so anyone could have touched it.

When did you take the disk to the venue?

Just before the halloween parade?

I'd finished editing it the night before.

Weren't you finishing off the editing?

Didn't you say you only just made it in time?

Come to think of it, why did she say that...

Aki-san, are you okay?

I thought you might be feeling down

about what happened at halloween.

If you'd like, you can talk to me about anything.

I'll always support you.

I'm sorry Yumiko-san.

Why?

I'd...better be leaving now. Oh, yes...

I'm sorry, you've got a visitor?

Ah...well...you know...

I'm off, we'll continue this later. Yes.

Thank you.

A friend of yours?

Well rather than a friend...

he's just an old neighbour. He's my daughters gym coach now.

Is that really all it is? What?

If I'm mistaken, I'm sorry but,

the way you looked just then was not so much like a mother but more

like a women. What...!?

What are you talking about? Goodness...

Welcome home. Hello.

Were you talking about the man who was just here?

Don't you know who he is? He's Sora-chan's gym coach.

The one she has now?

Yes...that's right.

Does he often come here? Of course not, it was the first time.

He just came by today by chance.

What are you thinking?

It's because you said something weird.

He's just a childhood friend.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Ah, I'm sorry for saying that.

That's right, goodness me.

Sometimes women

lie.

In order to be believed in by someone important

a little lie.

However.

women don't notice

someone right beside them

may have another side to them.

That somebody may

in the end, approach you, without a sound

and perhaps with a smile

bear you ill will...

I'm just going to the upper floor for a moment. Okay.

Be a good girl and wait here. Okay.

I said we both graduated from Harvard.

What was that. A hidden camera?

If you're here to see mum, I'd leave her be.

She's taken to her bed. What?

You reap what you sow, don't you.

She lied about her qualifications so,

I'm distancing myself from her.

It's fine, you don't need to worry about her.

Sora-chan? What's this chair?

Next up is a report on the Hamelin case.

We've had a report from someone on the investigation team that

Maeda Chiaki, who went missing the day before yesterday

may have left her apartment by herself.

There are security cameras on all the entrance and emergency exits

and in all the corridors on all the floors of the apartment building where she lived.

The police are using all their resources to analyze the data.

Sora-chan, that's impressive.

You came on your own? Yep!

Can I play with you?

As you can see from the security camera footage made available to the public,

Chiaki-chan opened the door of the apartment by herself,

and it's confirmed she left the apartment.

After that, she rode the lift down to the lobby,

and made her way through the busy lobby,

and left through the main entrance.

The mother has testified that this all happened

during just 10 minutes she took her eyes off the child.

The police are continuing to investigate how

the culprit was able to lure the child away.

Sora-chan, would you like some juice? Yep!

It's mummy! Since these images of Chiaki were taken,

there's been no further trace of her.

Sora... It seems she was taken directly after this an

the police are trying tracing her steps from there on.

Wow...

Who's toys are these?

You see...

You mustn't go into this room.

I'm really sorry. I never thought she'd actually go to see you.

It's fine with me.

But...

it would be better for her to play with her friends,

don't you think?

Yes... But...

... you don't want to be told that by someone childless like me.

That's not it...

It's just as you say.

But...