Synopsis: Kanako is safe but the truth regarding the incident is yet unknown.

The episode begins with the man with glasses from the first episode visiting his grandmother’s burial. He comments on how his grandmother’s coffin, being round, was a mistake. A coffin should be a box, one sized to fit the corpse perfectly so air cannot get in.

That night, the man wanders around the city. He comes across a small shrine and remembers the girl in the box. He feels that he must find her, no matter what, thinking that he needs her.

The scene changes to the night of the 15th of August, the night when Kanako fell. Whether it was suicide or murder, it is not yet known. Detective Kiba is interrogating Yoriko but he cannot get anything from her. A man from the railroad company comes and Kiba asks him if they were able to contact Yoriko’s parents. Yoriko, however, tells them that she doesn’t think her mother will come since she is not home on Fridays.

Detective Kiba goes outside then ponders on Kanako’s resemblance with someone. Kanako looks like a certain Kyougokudou’s wife, or his tomboyish little sister. Kiba isn’t sure but he thinks it could be someone important to him. His thoughts, however, are interrupted by the arrival of a local policeman.

Kiba asks the policeman about what happened to Kanako and the policeman responds that she was taken to the local hospital already. Kiba then asks him if it was an accident, an attempted suicide, or murder but the policeman asks in return about the witness, Yoriko. Kiba tells him that Yoriko is confused. He says he’d like to take her to the hospital where Kanako is being held.

The policeman Fukumoto makes some arrangements and he takes Kiba and Yoriko to the hospital in Mitaka. Fukumoto asks Kiba about his residence and Kiba replies that he lives just nearby. He explains that he was on his way home and that he should have been asleep already if it weren’t for the incident. He glances at Yoriko who is shivering wildly.

When Kiba and the others arrive at the hospital, he asks a nurse about Kanako’s condition. The nurse tells him that Kanako looks pretty bad but her head is safe.

A stern-looking man arrives and asks Kiba for his identity. Kiba asks him the same.The man, however, refuses to answer. He asks if Kanako is alive. He also asks if the victim is Kanako indeed. Kiba tells him that he has no obligation to give information to someone who gives no introduction. Another man arrives. He asks the stern-looking man, Masaoka, if Kanako is safe. He notices Yoriko sitting on a bench and recognizes her. Yoriko recognizes him too. He was the man who told Kanako it was time for her to go home when she and Yoriko were dancing in the moonlight. Kiba asks him who he is and Masaoka tells him that Kiba won’t give information unless one gives an introduction. The man then introduces himself to Kiba as Amemiya Noritada, Kanako’s guardian. Kiba wonders why Noritada and Kanako’s last names are different. Noritada explains that there is a reason for that.

A beautiful woman in a kimono arrives. She asks Noritada if Kanako is safe. She tells him she is with Kanako’s family. Fukomoto recognizes her to be the actress Minami Kinuko. The woman tells him she no longer uses that name. She then introduces herself as Yuzuki Youko, Kanako’s older sister.

At the washroom, Kiba remembers a movie he watched with Youko as the lead. Fukomoto comes and informs Kiba that the operation is almost done. The starstruck Fukomoto then tells Kiba that he read a gossip article about Youko eloping with one of her assistants. Kiba leaves and tells him not to get too excited.

As Kiba returns to the waiting room. Youko asks him why Kanako was at the train station. Masaoka, however, interrupts by questioning Yoriko whether it was an accident, attempted suicide or murder. Yoriko breaks down. Kiba tells Masaoka that she isn’t in a good shape to testify. Youko asks Kiba if there is a chance that Kanako was harmed by someone on purpose. Kiba replies that there is a possibility. He then asks Masaoka why he is quick to assume that it was crime. Before he, or anyone, could answer, Yoriko’s mother arrives.

She reprimands her daughter and is about to slap her but Kiba stops her. He explains to her what happened to Yoriko. Kiba then summons Fukumoto who leads Kanae away.

Kiba resumes his previous conversation with Masaoka. He asks if there is a reason why Kanako would be attacked. Masaoka replies that as of the moment, he is not sure but if there is evidence that Kanako was pushed indeed, then he will tell Kiba. This irritates Kiba and he turns to Noritada and Youko asking them if there is a reason why Kanako would commit suicide. Noritada replies that there is one but Masaoka changes the topic by asking about Kanako’s condition.

Masaoka says that according to the nurses, Kanako can’t be saved. Youko asks him if he would be happy then. She accuses Masaoka, saying that he could have committed it easily. Masaoko tells her she’s wrong. He is about to tell her something but stops as he thinks there is no point discussing it there. He says negotiations were made in good faith and if Kanako dies first, the deal would be canceled. Kiba is puzzled while Noritada tells Masaoka that he shouldn’t talk of such things there. Youko then tells Masaoka that as soon as the surgery ends, she will send Kanako to another hospital.

The doctor goes out from the operating room and announces that Kanako is alive, and in a stable condition but only for a short while. He tells Youko that Kanako should be transferred to the other hospital soon. Youko faces Masaoka and tells him she won’t let Kanako die.

We then return to the man with glasses. It is the 30th of August and he, together with a young editor and the sister of a friend, is investigating rumors of a gruesome murder where the body was chopped into pieces. The right arm was found on the previous day and the legs were found on that day.

It was already late and the three were on their way home. The man with glasses, Sekiguchi, tells the editor, Toriguchi, that they are late because Toriguchi got lost on the way to Mitaka. Toriguchi asks the girl, Atsuko, if she’s heard about a group called the Holy Box of Sealing. He explains that it’s a group who performs exorcism. They seal the things they exorcise in boxes.

Atsuko then tells them that she heard the legs were found in a long iron box. Toriguchi wonders why the murderer would chop the person they killed. Sekiguchi comments that the murderer isn’t in a normal psychological state when commiting that act. Atsuko says that her brother, Kyougukudou, thinks otherwise. According to Kyougukudou, it’s like running into someone randomly. The motives in detective stories are just after-the-fact justifications and that a random event separates the murderers. In many cases, things such as chopping their victim’s corpses, are an attempt to move from their abnormal life to a normal one.

Atsuko then asks Toriguchi how he knew of the legs when it hasn’t been reported yet. Toriguchi replies that he has an acquaintance from the police. He then praises Sekiguchi for solving a seemingly impossible case in Zoushigaya during the summer. Sekiguchi tells them that he actually didn’t do anything.

Atsuko mentions Detective Kiba. Toriguchi tells her that he heard from Detective Aoki that Kiba got involved in an incident outside his jurisdiction and he hasn’t been back for two weeks. Sekiguchi wonders what Kiba is doing. He then asks Toriguchi about their location and he replies they should be seeing familiar scenery soon. Atsuko then notices a sign for Yokohama, they are now in the Kanagawa prefecture. Toriguchi wonders where he got lost. Sekiguchi comments a tanuki is probably playing tricks on him. He recommends that Toriguchi see Kyougukudou, who is good at exorcism.

Toriguchi then makes a U-turn and eventually they reach a strange place. Searchlights were lit towards the car and men in uniform approached as it stopped. Toriguchi and Sekiguchi explained that they got lost but the men in uniform think they are suspicious. Sekiguchi notices a strange building and he comments that it looks like a box. Detective Kiba then appears to the surprise of Sekiguchi and Atsuko. Kiba asks them what they are doing. He tells them to leave. Sekiguchi then notices Youko and an older man standing at the building’s doorway.

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Boxes are prominent in this episode. The first mention of a box is when Sekiguchi commented on his grandmother’s coffin. Later on, Toriguchi spoke of a group called the Holy Box of Sealing who seals the things they exorcise into boxes. Atsuko, with regards to the murder case, mentioned that the killer chopped the victim’s corpse into pieces and hid them in boxes which are disposed in different locations. Lastly, Sekiguchi noticed that the strange building they came upon looked like a box.

A box is essentially used for storing items. A coffin, thus, is simply a box to store the remains of the deceased. This metaphor of a box for storage is played upon by the exorcists who seals things into boxes. Could the murderer’s act of hiding body parts into boxes be some sort of ritual akin to exorcising and sealing something into a box?

I found Kyougukudou’s theory regarding the killer’s body-parts-in-a-box-act interesting. According to him, what separates a killer from ordinary people is a random event and that the act of chopping the body parts and disposing them into boxes helps them return from an abnormal state of life to a normal one. If I understand it correctly, the random event is what leads the killer to commit the crime. By committing the crime, his state of life becomes abnormal. And so, to revert it, he needs to perform a ritual. Going back to the box and exorcism analogy, one could say that the murderer is exorcising and sealing his crime into boxes.

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Kanako’s case is starting to become some sort of whodunit, although it has not yet been identified whether it was an accident, attempted suicide or attempted murder. Noritada says that there is one reason why Kanako would commit suicide. Also it seems that Masaoka knows of a reason why someone would kill Kanako. He spoke of some negotations and he seems to have a stake in it, that is probably why Youko accused him of being delighted should Kanako die. Aside from those, Yoriko’s angle still remains. We do not yet know if Yoriko was the one who pushed Kanako due to beliefs that Kanako ingrained on Yoriko’s mind.

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The episode’s title is “The Deception of the Tanuki” but the phrase is only mentioned once in the episode, when Sekiguchi commented on Toriguchi’s knack for getting lost. In Japanese culture, the tanuki, is said to be mischievous. They are masters of disguise or shapshifters. When one reflects upon the entire episode, it seems that there is indeed a “tanuki” at work, a force or an entity trying to prevent the characters from knowing the truth as to what happened to Kanako.

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