Woodpecker Detective's Office

Episode 9

There comes a point in some mysteries where you really, really hope you're wrong. I reached that moment midway through this week's episode of Woodpecker Detective's Office, but I think it came rather sooner for Ishikawa. Listening to Tamaki recount her married life, which, although she didn't name it as such, was definitely abusive, he had to start putting the pieces together, making the discovery that Kagami didn't have a younger brother who would be interested in avenging him all the more terrible. The moment the police showed up outside her house saying that there had been a murder, Ishikawa had to have known that it was all over for her.

That makes this case, and all of the ones involving Accuser X, a very bitter victory, because Ishikawa seemed to really find a reason to live the life remaining to him in his interactions with her. But, as she pointed out in some of her final words to him, that's something he truly needs to find within himself, not in another person. It's interesting in the context of the Christian imagery use throughout the show, not the least of which is the Catholic confession Ishikawa witnesses (or at least becomes aware of) this week. He likes the idea of someone (else) absolving him of his sins, but Tamaki's words seem to indicate that he shouldn't seek a reason or salvation (in a non-religious sense) from that source either – again, the power to forgive himself ultimately rests within himself, just as his reason for having been born does. It's just that he's never had to think about either of those things before now, and they came upon him so suddenly with his diagnosis that he's been thrown into the deep end face-first.

As a mystery, this is a delightfully twisty case, even without Ishikawa's various crises. That it relies on a villain who only sees herself as partially in the wrong is what makes it even better – it's not that she doesn't know that killing people is wrong or bad, it's that she sees the removal of the one to save the many as a necessary sacrifice that no one but her is willing to make. Is it fair to her victims? With the exception of her abortive attempt to kill Sonobe her not-husband, no, it's not. That Sonobe lives to kill her is one of the crueler things about the case, because there's a good chance that as a man of wealth and influence, he's not going to pay nearly enough for his crimes, among which are the abuse of Tamaki (that scene with the hot poker is hard to watch) and child trafficking. If anything is likely to give Ishikawa second thoughts about his actions, this is it, because he could very easily see himself as having been at least partially culpable in Tamaki's death; he called Mori Rintarō and the police who fished Sonobe out of the river. And if that's his skeletal face we're seeing in the preview for next week, yeah, it looks like that's precisely what he does.

I really do wish that the source novel was available in English translation, because I'd be very interested to know how much the author is basing their work on Edogawa Rampo's fiction. I say this because as a character, Hiro Tarai is particularly interesting, as we see again this week with his careful monitoring of the older authors' conversation in the restaurant and the way he follows Kindaichi and Ishikawa to Kagami's home. As I mentioned last week, there are some serious parallels between this arc and several of Rampo's works (most prominently “The Watcher in the Attic,” but the half-moon smile we see on the “attacker's” face this week is reminiscent of Gold Mask, which you absolutely need to read if you're a Lupin the Third fan) are foreshadowed throughout. He also gets more significant screen time – not more in quantity, just more meaningful – than many of the other authors who make up the cast. It's certainly enough to make you wonder how his role specifically will shake out in the end.

And that end is approaching. With the wrap-up of the interrelated cases that began with episode one, the final three could focus exclusively on Ishikawa's illness and his final days. I'm really hoping that's not the case. We'll soon find out.

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Woodpecker Detective's Office is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.