第68話: 剣持がホテルで生け花作家の桐沢幸四郎の殺人事件を捜査する

68

Koshiro Kirisawa, the famous ikebana artist and head of Mugetsu School of Flower Arrangement, is stabbed and killed in the hotel where Inspector Kenmochi is staying. Kenmochi believes he witnesses the murder in an external stairwell by a woman around 2am, and one of the hotel staff also reports seeing her. Kirisawa's two step-daughters Beniko and Midoriko are prime suspects because if Kirisawa’s fiancée Akemi Todo has his child, it would inherit his valuable estate. Kenmochi asks Hajime to help him with the case, and after examining the crime scene, Hajime deduces the identity of the culprit over dinner. He takes everyone to the crime scene where he explains what happened and accuses the older sister Beniko of killing her father. She admits killing him because he married their mother shortly after their father's death. However, Todo tells them that Kirisawa was their real father who had an affair with their mother when she was married, and he dearly loved his daughters. Both Beniko and Midoriko are devastated by the revelation. (Source: Wikipedia)