My name is Koichiro Myoko. I’m 57 and serve as a member of the Metropolitan Assembly.
I’m sorry, could I have some water? I’m parched…Yes, I know I need to relax a little.
So, my alibi from 7:11 to 7:48 P.M. I was campaigning outside Kokusai-Tenjijō Station from 6:30 to 8:00. Yeah, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election is coming up soon.
After 8:00? After I finished the campaigning…I went back to my apartment and didn’t go out again. That’s right, I don’t have an alibi for that time.
[Coughing.] Sorry, [coughing sounds], could I have some water? What? I know I don’t look well. Yeah…I guess I’m still coming to terms with Reina’s death and also feeling pressured by this questioning. I’m a politician. I shouldn’t be getting so flustered. This is really embarrassing…No, I don’t need to take a break. Let’s keep going.
My connection with Reina is that she was my daughter. Her mother, my wife Yumi, died when Reina was a middle school student.
Well, I guess that’s around when my life started to go off the rails. My wife’s death was such a shock. I was crushed for a long time. Even now I’m still on meds. I was weak and my company went under, and if it wasn’t for Nakahigashi—ah, I mean, Ken’s father Heiji—if it wasn’t for his support, I don’t know what would have happened. Yes, it was tough. I even thought about killing myself.
To be honest, ever since my wife died, I’ve just felt like, who cares? My head’s foggy, and I always feel like I’m overlooking important things. I’m sorry to be such a downer, but now…I think it might have been easier if I’d died the same time she did. I was just starting to make the family finances better again, and Reina had just arranged a promising marriage. Right when there was finally some hope for the future, I lose another part of my family…I just can’t do it anymore.
Or maybe I’m reaping what I sowed? Since the day my wife died, I haven’t been able to deal with life, and maybe it was my weakness that somehow caused Reina’s death?
You’re right; I’m probably being too hard on myself. I guess I’m just kind of run down. But I don’t need your thoughts and prayers. You should save those for my dead daughter, not me.
Now that I look back on it, Reina’s life was rocky from start to finish.
Right after she was born, her biological mother abandoned her. She was one of those babies given up in a “baby hatch.” As a couple, Yumi and I weren’t physically able to have children, so we hoped to adopt. We met Reina when she was one. I immediately fell in love with how sweet she was. We filled out the paperwork right away and adopted her as our own.
They had a different name for Reina at the orphanage. Her parents apparently left a note with her name on it when they abandoned her. But we thought it was sad to give her a name chosen by the people who left her behind, so we named her Reina.
What was her original name?…I can’t remember anymore. I didn’t really care.
Back then we were well off and incredibly pleased with Reina, and we were confident we could make her happy.
But we were getting ahead of ourselves. For some reason, terrible things just kept happening to her.
Once when she was five, Yumi took her eyes off of Reina for a second, and she disappeared. She was kidnapped for ransom. Fortunately that incident ended quickly without any harm to Reina, but I’m sure she was terrified.
I realize this now, but I think after that we were a little overprotective because of the kidnapping. We didn’t let her go anywhere other than school and our house, not even to her friends’ houses to play, until she got to middle school. Part of the reason we put her in Junseiwa Academy was that it was residential from junior high onward so someone would always be looking out for her.
But nowhere is ever safe. The spring of her second year in middle school, Reina’s roommate cut her wrists and committed suicide. Apparently she’d been bullied by an older student. And it was Reina who discovered her body covered in blood…Ah, the teachers all told us there was no evidence Reina was involved in the bullying.
The summer of her third year in middle school, she saw her mother Yumi fall from a cliff in Portugal and die.
During her third year in high school, the construction company I was managing went under, and we started having financial trouble. I somehow got her through high school, but I couldn’t afford tuition at Keiryoku University and she ended up having to drop out.
Pretty sad, don’t you think? It’s almost like she lived her life surrounded by misfortune.
After she left college, she left home, I think maybe because she was starting to consider her circumstances in life. She cut off contact with me for a while. I guess it was three years I didn’t hear from her? Yes, of course I was worried, but I wanted her to be in a better situation, so I tried not to cry and let her do what she wanted…I have no idea what she was doing during that time.
She showed up in my life again when she was 21 and gave me her contact information. I was so happy. Then she was a totally different person. More grown up, far more radiant than she was before.
Not long after that I learned she was dating Ken and planned to marry him, although I have no idea where they met, Yes, that’s right. I didn’t introduce them. It was what Reina wanted. So it’s really upsetting to hear it called a marriage of convenience.
Shota Akiyama? I only found out about him today…Yeah, I was surprised when he said he was her boyfriend. To be honest, I doubt they were really dating. This may be a little rude, but they don’t really match.
What was Reina like? She was good at school, but aside from that she wasn’t clever in a calculating way or anything. I think she was a little young for her age, probably because she was my only daughter and I spoiled her. She whined a lot, maybe because I was always so busy and she was trying to get my attention. So as you’d expect she was very genuine and gentle. Seen from afar, she might’ve looked like an incredibly blessed little girl.
I think it was probably inevitable for this to happen.
Anyway, this isn’t something a father should normally say, but Reina was beautiful.
If you were to describe her in one word, that’d be it. She was Snow White.
What? There are discrepancies with what Ken said? Well, it’s normal for someone to show a different side of themselves around their boyfriend than their parents.
Oh, it’s not that? It’s…Hmm, what is it then? I don’t know.
Do I know who the killer is?
…
I don’t. Not at all.
[Coughing sounds.] Excuse me, could I have some more water? Yeah, I don’t feel so great.
The killer. If Shota was lying about being with Reina, then I think that’s suspicious. That’s the only thing I can think of.