The Drops of God (神の雫)

Huh?

The wine is... gone!

This Lafite is finally at its peak.

Are you Robert Doi?

Indeed, I am.

We're with the police, and we'd like to talk to you.

What? If you want me out of the park, you've got the wrong idea.

This is a private park, and I own it.

That's not what this is about.

I'm Iwakura of the Kyukaruizawa PD.

You're under suspicion of larceny.

What's going on, Kiryu-san?

Old Man Robert was taken in by the police?

It's a voluntary interrogation, and he'll be back soon.

What happened? Was there a crime?

Robert-sensei went to visit Murakoshi-san,

the caretaker of the Karuizawa villa, last Thursday and Friday.

And when Murakoshi-san did his rounds in the wine cellar Saturday morning,

he discovered five bottles were missing.

So the theft took place between Thursday and Saturday?

Wait, just five bottles?

Why would detectives come all the way to Tokyo over that?

Because all five bottles were priceless and irreplaceable.

Tomine?

An 1870 Lafite.

An 1899 Latour.

A 1945 Petrus.

From Burgundy, a 1959 Domaine Henri Jayer Richebourg.

And lastly, a 1978 Romanée-Conti.

Together, they boast a value of over 10 million yen.

F-Five bottles are worth over 10 million yen?!

But the cost isn't the problem.

These are extraordinary wines that you could not buy again,

no matter how much money you had.

Extraordinary?

I'd get it if they were fifty or sixty years old,

but these are from over a century ago, right?

Only a collector would want them.

You really don't understand a thing, do you?

The two that are over a century old are as valuable as massive diamonds.

Truly superior wine is immortal.

It has the power to inspire, even after centuries have passed!

Yutaka-sensei left permission to serve the two of you this wine.

It's a Château Margaux over a hundred years old.

Astonishing!

I once scoured auctions all over the globe in search of this...

But two of the bottles I found were fake,

and the last was unfortunately spoiled.

Is it really that amazing?

The label's nearly fallen off.

I'm sure of it! This is real!

Yoshida-san, may I be the one to open this bottle?

Please, help yourself.

I-Incredible!

He's opening that old cork with his sommelier's knife?

I've collected old, degraded bottles of wine and trained with them

just for this moment!

He got it!

Yoshida-san, bring me the glasses.

Let me serve it!

I won't forgive you if you fail.

I know.

It feels so fresh and young!

Is this really over a century old?

A statue of Cleopatra?

This marmoreal flavor...

It's the terroir of Château Margaux a century ago,

when it was much stronger than it is today!

S-So this is a 1900 Château Margaux...

You felt it too, did you not?

The pure soul of something that has seen far beyond the lifespan of a normal man...

Yeah. It's incredible.

I'll do anything to get it back!

So, as I was saying, "Margaux" means "hussy" in French!

As I see it, the criminal didn't like that,

and so they left the Margaux in the cellar untouched!

Okay, I think that's enough for today...

What?! You're the ones who asked me to come down here!

So what else do you want to know?

Please let us go!

Now, I'm sure those two are putting their heads together as best they can.

All right, we need to do something, and fast!

Indeed. If anything befalls those bottles, the loss will be immeasurable.

Save me...

Save the wine...

From the terrible clutches...

Of the criminal!

Shizuku-san, Shinohara-san...

This is all my fault.

Let's find who did it as soon as possible.

Yes.

I didn't think the police would suspect Robert-sensei...

I feel terrible.

How did that end up happening?

Well, I was explaining the situation to the police, and...

Wouldn't Robert Doi be our first suspect?

No, Robert-sensei was Yutaka-sensei's most trusted friend.

Besides, though he may not look it,

his worth is in the billions of yen.

He has no reason to steal wine.

I'll grant there are others who came and went at the villa around that time,

but none of them would've known what that wine was worth.

That's how it transpired.

Who were the other people at the villa?

Allow me to explain that as well.

Tomine!

Three people dropped by the villa around Robert-sensei's visit.

None of them have anything to do with wine.

Our guest before Robert-sensei arrived was Hamasaki Ryo-san, the architect.

He said he wanted a tour of this mansion,

which was brought over from France.

This mansion is spectacular!

I'm sure the cellar I've heard so much about is just as impressive.

Are you interested?

I only drink hard liquor.

I don't know anything about wine,

but I'd love to take a look.

Certainly. Follow me.

I got excited, and...

And the second?

Ikegami Kyoka-san, a real estate appraiser from Tokyo,

came the day Robert-sensei left.

A real estate appraiser?

Ms. Kiryu recommended one to me.

I'd wager she's trustworthy, then.

Yes, but her recommendation had to cancel at the last minute.

She sent Ikegami-sensei, a friend of hers, in her place.

This stuff could easily be in a museum.

Yutaka-sensei would visit the most remote French countrysides

and procure items he thought had true value.

How wonderful.

May I see the wine cellar in the basement too?

I know nothing about wine,

but there may be valuable pieces down there as well.

And so I took her downstairs.

The lighting and shelves in the cellar are all antique, yeah.

And the third?

A talented Karuizawa-style woodcarver.

Morishita Gozo-san was his name.

This is the work of a skilled craftsman.

But the humidity will damage it.

We should put something on the door to keep the wood from rotting.

Please do, then.

Wine, huh?

Some of the places around here sell the tasty stuff.

It's sweet like juice, though.

He compared wine to juice?

It doesn't sound like it was him, then.

No, if he planned to steal the wine,

he may have been feigning ignorance.

How could they steal wine from a locked cellar in the first place?

I'm ashamed to say this...

But I let all of them see where I keep the key.

I had no idea it would lead to this...

I'm so sorry!

You do good work here, Murakoshi-san.

We'll find the thief. You have my word.

Then we'll get the wine back, and Old Man Robert will be off the hook.

That's right, Murakoshi-san.

If someone knew where the key was,

sneaking into the cellar while you weren't around would've been easy.

So one of the three of them was pretending to be ignorant about wine.

It had to have been someone who knew the value of those bottles at a glance.

And if we can catch them in that lie,

we'll know which one of them is the thief.

Let's have them come back to this mansion, then.

Tell them we've caught the thief, and we wish to treat them

to dinner as an apology for the trouble.

Sounds fun...

A real wine mystery, huh?

Welcome, everyone.

Karuizawa-Style Carver Morishita Gozo

Hello. I am Morishita.

My name's Ikegami.

Real Estate Appraiser Ikegami Kyoka

Nice to meet you.

Mine's Hamasaki.

Architect Hamasaki Ryo

Glad to be here.

This is Tomine Issei, the critic who selected the wine for this evening.

Oh, how wonderful.

A wine critic?

I don't know much about wine. I apologize, but I'm not familiar.

Me either.

I never get to eat the kinds of meals where they serve wine.

It really seems like none of them know anything about wine.

But one of them might be lying.

If our plan works, we'll know who.

I've prepared champagne as our apéritif.

Oh? Champagne?