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 five or six 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?
The bottle's so cute.
I wish I could put it up in my house.
Is that an Art Nouveau design I see on the bottle?
Yes, it was designed by Émile Gallé,
a glass artist and one of the most famous figures of the Art Nouveau movement.
Please enjoy its exotic and enticing flavor, like a flower that's just opened its petals.
It's delicious.
I've only ever had hard liquor,
but this champagne is quite good.
Yeah, it smells great too.
I could get hooked.
Next, I have prepared some white wine as well.
It smells incredible.
It really does. Maybe it's expensive.
Japanese sake and shochu don't smell like this.
Indeed. Wine is about enjoying the aroma as well as the flavor.
It's chilled and delicious.
It even smells like vanilla.
Winemaking using lots of new barrels
will sometimes result in a vanilla or slightly smoky aroma.
I'm impressed you could tell.
W-Well, I have a good nose...
Yeah, you could pick up on that with a decent sense of smell.
Oh no! My hand slipped.
Did you cut yourself?
I'm fine.
But I broke this expensive-looking glass...
I'm so sorry.
I'll bring you a new one immediately.
Please do, sommelier.
And bring the next wine as well.
Is it time for a red?
Yes. Tonight we're having duck, so I have a Burgundy for you.
Duck and red wine? I can't wait.
Anyone could read in a magazine that red wine goes with duck.
Just lovely.
It smells strongly of roses.
The color is beautiful.
This must be expensive too.
I'll have a little myself.
Now then, everyone... A toast to our mysterious meeting.
What's wrong with this wine?
Serving this amazing Pinot in a glass that smells like fish
is an insult to wine!
I-I mean...
It would appear you're rather knowledgeable about wine, Morishita-sama.
You broke your glass to avoid drinking the white wine,
but you snapped when you couldn't take any more.
That's just how much you love wine.
Why did you play dumb?
B-Because...
Because you stole five expensive wines from the villa cellar, right?
It was you, wasn't it, Morishita-san?!
He certainly didn't look it to me.
He was holding his white wine like this, remember?
That's right.
You're supposed to hold the stem of the glass
so your hand doesn't warm the wine, right?
Yes. If it's served at room temperature,
of course that's how you should drink it.
But we'd deliberately chilled the white wine we served.
Many people believe that whites are supposed to be served chilled.
But with aromatic wines like this one,
colder temperatures will close up the aroma
and dampen their rich flavors.
Morishita-san noticed as much,
and he tried to warm it up with his hand like so.
You're right.
When warm, it's bursting with fruity aroma.
It's an incredible wine.
And he was forced to drink this wine in a glass that smelled of fish.
Enough to madden any true wine lover.
With this one, I get the wonderful aroma of roses all the way over here.
I get why it would make you snap.
If you love wine so much, why would you steal my father's?
Y-Your father's?
Then you're....
Yes. I'm Kanzaki Shizuku.
The only son of Kanzaki Yutaka.
I-I'm sorry...
I'm in a tight spot and couldn't help myself.
My mistake was wanting to see the wines here
and asking to go into the cellar...
When I saw them, I realized what a fortune they'd fetch at auction.
Morishita-san, if Murakoshi-san asked you for repairs,
you must be very talented and take your work very seriously.
So what's going on?
I cosigned a loan for a friend, but his business failed, and he vanished.
The debt accordingly fell on me.
I sold everything I could to pay it off, including my wine collection.
But I'm still ten million yen short.
I have a sick wife.
If I lose my house too...
I understand that you're in trouble.
So, where is my father's wine?
I have it carefully stored at my house.
Then return it immediately.
If you do, we'll tell the police that we were mistaken about the theft.
R-Really?
Thank you! Thank you so much...
What a relief.
Let's contact the police immediately.
Now, let us continue with our meal.
We opened a wonderful bottle of wine for the occasion. Please enjoy it.
Th-That's right.
Indeed.
Morishita-san, that includes you.
What you've done spits in the face of the art of wine.
Reflect on that as you drink this wine.
I will. I'm so very sorry.
This is delicious.
The wine is exceptional too.
I feel bad for Morishita-san.
Yes.
Even if he's not arrested,
he's ten million yen in debt.
He's not exactly out of the woods.
Tell us more about wine.
I'd like to learn as well!
Fixing up a set of doors in the villa won't get him the money he needs.
I'd like to do something, but...
Yeah, I know.
Old Man Robert?
I'm back!
That was a blast!
The way he's glowing...
He was drinking wine at the police station, wasn't he?
Welcome back, Robert-sensei.
Indeed, it looks like something interesting is happening here.
Interesting? More like unfortunate.
I'm sorry.
This was my fault.
I beg you... Please forgive me.
Oh, please, I had a good time.
Mysteries go great with wine.
Thanks to all of you, I'm avoiding a criminal record.
Um, perhaps...
Morishita-san, I might be able to introduce you to a well-paying job.
I just appraised a large villa in this area.
The owner bought it to open a restaurant,
but after being unoccupied so long, it's falling apart.
This Karuizawa carving is wonderful, isn't it?
But they tell me it will take 10 million yen to restore.
I'm going to have to give it up and replace it with another door.
That's a shame.
Huh?
What? I didn't notice that when the room was carpeted.
A basement storage area, perhaps?
Let's open it up.
Stairs?
It's a wine cellar...
Look at all of this.
But I can't read these labels.
I can't even tell what these are.
I can't serve this wine at the restaurant.
What a real waste.
If I could actually serve all this,
I could use the money I'd save to repair the Karuizawa carving.
What a fascinating story.
Don't you think so, Shizuku? Issei?
As a wine collector, I'm interested in this buried stash.
And as a wine lover, I want Morishita-san to come back from this.
Perhaps you could appraise the wine, even with the damaged labels.
No, show me you can!
Yutaka would've done it!
Well, I've gotta do it now.
But of course.
I'll handle the negotiations between Morishita-san and the owner.
You too, Hamasaki-san?
Let's all come together to help Morishita-san!
Wine brought us together, after all!
I'll help.
I can't believe I caused problems for such wonderful people...
Let's do it together!
Where do we begin?
It's best to act fast.
I'll make the call, and we can visit the villa.
I'm up to speed now.
If I'm able to serve the wine in my restaurant,
I'll ask you to repair the Karuizawa carving.
Oh, thank you!
But there's not much time, you see.
I'm signing the contract with the renovators in three days.
If you can't appraise the wine before then, then I'm afraid...
Three days?
L-Look at it all!
And it's all so old.
Chickening out?
Hell no.
This is a real wine mystery!