ERASED (僕だけがいない街)

I don't think my dad could endure being branded a thief.

And I guess my mom did suspect that he really did it.

It made me want to stop believing in people.

I thought maybe I would feel better

if I could just hate either my mom or dad.

But after years passed, my mom let it slip,

"Why couldn't I believe him back then?"

That made me want to keep loving both of them.

I realized that believing in people was my strong point.

ERASED

What is this?!

I saw Airi go in there before!

S-She's probably still inside!

Hey!

Airi!

Airi! Can you hear me?!

Airi!

Airi!

Wake up!

Heavy...

Hey! Airi!

Dammit!

I won't make it. I'm not strong enough.

Manager!

Never count on a manga artist.

We're goin' down, non-stop! Brace yourself!

Satoru, go out the back.

Don't get Airi mixed up in your business anymore.

I'm getting the credit for this.

Will Airi be okay?

And that fire...

Don't tell me he did that too...

That's right!

Sachiko Fujinuma's Phone

Incoming Mail

This is Satoru Fujinuma. Stay right where you are.

The fire was set to target Airi.

And it looks like I did it!

Airi slipped the phone to me so the police couldn't see this message.

Then he knew from the beginning where Airi lived.

He followed her.

He may be closer than I think.

I'll look for him.

Either I get caught first

or I find him first.

Koiwa. Koiwa.

Please do not leave any articles on the train...

COLUMBUS RECORDS

Yes?

Who is this?

Why don't you just identify yourself already?

It's Satoru Fujinuma.

If you are Satoru Fujinuma, nice to meet you.

I've been waiting for your call.

Yes, by all means.

No, not here.

Let's meet at a public place.

I haven't given you my name yet, have I?

I will when we meet tomorrow.

Because you may have murdered Sachiko Fujinuma.

KOHAKUTEI COFFEE SHOP

Welcome.

Hi, Satoru. Over here.

Good to meet you.

I'm Sawada, formerly of TV Ishikari.

I'm relieved. You really are Satoru.

Yeah, you resemble your mother.

Him!

I'm sure you're on guard, but I didn't tell anyone about this meeting,

and I didn't murder your mother either.

You don't suspect me?

Of course not.

Why not?

Because she didn't raise the kind of son who would kill her.

I see.

Yesterday I remembered that it was in my pocket.

This keeps snowballing.

I'm pathetic.

My string of blunders makes me partially responsible.

Thinking it's your fault after the fact is just pointless.

Those are Sachiko's words.

I always liked them.

Shall we talk about her phone call?

Please.

COIN LAUNDRY

Sawada, do you remember?

The serial killings 18 years ago...

Of course.

Jun Shiratori is on death row, but he still claims to be innocent.

It's just as Satoru said.

Shiratori didn't do it.

Now I know who did.

Let's meet at Koiwa Station tomorrow.

I should've asked her for the name.

Why don't we talk about a past incident?

About Kayo Hinazuki's death...

On the night of March 2nd, 1988,

Kayo was beaten by her mother and her mother's boyfriend,

and locked in the storage shed.

She froze to death.

The police suspected Kayo's mother and the boyfriend of hiding the body.

But sometime between 10 and 11 pm on the 2nd,

Kayo disappeared from the shed.

Kayo's mother discovered the disappearance at 12:30 am on the 3rd.

She called your house and casually inquired about Kayo's whereabouts.

Jun Shiratori had taken her away.

The footprints made by rubber boots around the shed

matched Jun Shiratori's boots.

HOKKAIDO POLICE

The police went public with their version of the events.

Shiratori knocked Kayo out with physical violence

and then photographed her.

He put her in the family business cold storage room

and used an atomizer to speed up her death by freezing.

When her temperature dropped to 20 degrees, she was brain dead.

Shiratori waited about 30 minutes,

when she had almost zero chance of recovery,

then returned her frozen corpse to the Hinazuki shed before sunrise.

Yuuki would never have done that!

Kayo Hinazuki, Hiromi Sugita, Aya Nakanishi...

Shortly before those three disappeared,

there was a series of abduction murders in the next town over.

The culprit was quickly arrested,

but like Jun Shiratori, he denied any wrongdoing.

Now.

Including your present circumstances,

do you notice a common link?

I've been ridiculed for years for being a weirdo freelancer reporter

who investigates crimes that have already been solved.

The truth is, none of them are solved!

Both Kayo Hinazuki and Sachiko were murdered by the same bastard

who gives the police another suspect!

And now he's in this city.

He's a crafty son of a bitch.

He buys time by framing someone else, which reduces eyewitness testimony

and changes the circumstances at the scene.

As a result, the investigation gets further and further away from himself.

This is going overboard.

So he tried to shut her up.

Satoru Fujinuma...

He won't be able to get at her now.

And what about the high school girl?

Is she an accomplice?

She helped him kill the mother

and once that was done, he tried to silence her.

That's terrible.

Getting that girl caught up in his madness...

You're wrong.

Airi, you have nothing to apologize for.

That's right. A stalker went after you.

You must have been terrified!

Aunty, that's not what happened.

Don't blame yourself. I'm sorry that we didn't notice anything.

It's not what you think.

The police are after the culprit.

You have nothing to be afraid of now.

They've got it wrong.

Fugitive Suspect Responsible for Arson?

Suspect Targeted Co-worker's House (Chiba)

I can't believe they're going after Satoru for murder and arson.

That's impossible...

Who would believe me...

A message was sent from Sachiko's phone to that girl?

Yes.

According to the news, she wasn't badly hurt,

but I'm sure she's still in the hospital.

This is it.

I see.

He plotted to help the investigation along by framing you for arson.

I think that's part of it,

but I was already a suspect.

I can't believe he would target her, Airi Katagiri, just for that.

In other words, you think she was already his target?

In order to frame me as my mother's murderer,

he had to find out what time I'd be home from my job.

So in the 24 hours plus between my mother's sighting

of his attempted kidnapping and her murder,

he went to the pizza shop and looked at the shift schedule.

Airi must have seen his face then.

Maybe he's even someone I know.

I see. Then he's someone

who could get behind the counter at a pizza shop to look at the schedule.

We may be able to use this to reach the bad guy.

I'm going to the hospital.

Okay.