The Golden Egg (2025) s01e04 Episode Script

1
How did this happen?
I'm scared.
This is way too scary.
This is Shoichi Kojima, age 54,
who was arrested last month.
The police treated it as
a simple embezzlement,
but the money is still missing
and Kojima's not saying a word.
His wife and daughter insist
he would never do it.
However, we discovered
what we believe
is his social media account.
41 POSTS, 66 FOLLOWERS
The first post is a year and a half ago
when he met a woman in her 30's,
and had a flower-viewing date in Kyoto.
They started dating, and lived
a life of luxury in a fancy apartment.
With the embezzled money.
The Sengoku Weekly thinks
he was tricked by this Saori Shinomiya
into spending the entire embezzled amount
on their relationship.
Saori Shinomiya.
She spent her childhood starved
of parental affection,
and feels indebted to her grandmother
who took her in.
She always brings flowers
to her grave every year.
So we found a post on the date
of the death anniversary from last year.
We used the photo to trace the location.
Akutsu's been staking it out
for a few days.
Today's the death anniversary,
so stay sharp until tomorrow.
Good luck.
You haven't slept?
Nope.
You look kind of tired, too.
I was on a stakeout
since yesterday morning.
What's with all the stakeouts?
So, is this okay?
What do you mean?
I mean, staking out a cemetery.
Well, it gets a bit chilly at night.
That's not what I meant.
Have you been cursed?
I mean, I guess I can't tell yet.
If something horrible happens to me
later on,
I guess I'll attribute it to this.
You seem fine.
What's that?
A protection charm.
This way.
Is it just the one path?
I think so.
You haven't missed anything?
Hold on, wait here.
I'll go check.
We're good.
It would've snapped if someone
came through.
So nobody's been here.
Just who are you?
I learned this from Yamabuki.
Yamabuki, I see.
Okay, let's go.
What, really?
Of course!
Was there a grave for a Shinomiya?
No, there wasn't.
Probably a fake name.
Although, when I saw a woman walk by,
I asked about Shoichi Kojima,
and she bolted.
You think it was her?
Yes.
So,
when I followed after her,
she tripped up ahead
and spilled the contents of her bag.
So, that's when I picked up this key.
- A cherry blossom?
- Yes.
Kojima's account mentions that the key
is on a cherry blossom key chain
to commemorate their trip to Kyoto.
Proof to tie Kojima to Shinomiya?
Yes.
Which is why I think Saori Shinomiya
will return here to get that back.
I'll pop over to the office.
Already?
I'll be back at 11:00 p.m.
You could nap here.
I want to take a shower, too.
The cemetery gate is closed from 6:00 p.m.
to 8:00 a.m.
So if Shinomiya is showing up,
it'll more likely be tomorrow morning.
Okay.
But if she does show up,
you have to use that key to ask her
her connection to Kojima.
I'll share this message
I received from Kitahama.
"Show no mercy,
make her admit everything."
That's the word.
Okay.
Good luck then.
Ghosts don't exist.
Ghosts are a lie.
They're just-
MOM
Hello, what's up?
Hinako, you doing good?
Yeah, I'm fine.
Sorry I haven't been able to answer.
It's fine if you've been busy.
You at the office?
No, I'm on a stakeout.
Stakeout?
Why would a PR magazine
need to do a stakeout?
So actually,
I got transferred to the Sengoku Weekly.
That Sengoku Weekly?
Yeah.
So it's part of that job.
A stakeout?
Why do you have to do something
like a detective for?
I felt relieved when you joined
a proper company,
but a stakeout?
I mean, our company publishes
the Sengoku Weekly.
They should send someone
with more experience, like you see on TV.
Someone with a streak of silver.
I'm not really getting the metaphor.
Don't you see? You're a young woman.
You should turn down stakeouts
before something happens!
If you want to quit,
I'll come resign for you.
Wait, that would be weird.
Like a resignation agent's agent.
But I'd be too scared,
I'll get your dad to do it.
But that would be a resignation agent's
agent's agent!
Hello?
I'm listening.
Not sure what you're saying though.
Anyway, don't do anything reckless.
Yeah, got it.
I'll call you again.
Bye.
Bye.
That was close.
It's me, Tsubaki.
When did you get here, Daisuke?
You were asleep.
I waved from outside,
but you didn't react, so I got in.
Wake me up then.
But Yamabuki said you probably
haven't been sleeping lately.
I let you sleep out of kindness.
Nobody came while you were asleep.
I was about to mess up again.
I brought you food.
Kitahama told me to.
Thank you.
You remember Madoka Hashimoto?
What? The missing high school girl?
Yeah.
Of course I do, I went to find
her old workplace after all.
We got a tip that someone
spotted her in Fukuoka.
Huh? Was she found?
No, it was fake.
I went to Fukuoka with Yamabuki,
and asked around the bars,
but I guess I had an attitude,
and pissed off some goons.
I gave them my card
and said I was a reporter,
but the second they saw Sengoku Weekly,
they dragged me outside by the collar.
What happened?
Yamabuki came in the nick of time.
I'm so sorry!
I apologize for my colleague's rudeness.
He did?
Yeah.
Then he kept going at me.
Don't screw me over.
I told you to watch your mouth.
You're useless.
Just quit then!
Yeah?
Please let him off the hook with that.
Let's go.
Did he do it on purpose?
Yamabuki went on to explain it.
I was so scared.
You okay?
I'm sorry.
I couldn't do anything against them.
Don't worry about it.
Because you seemed so helpless,
someone got worried and came to tell me.
If you acted brave instead,
it would've been worse.
Here.
Yamabuki knows how to bluff
because he's worked tabloids for years.
If a rookie tries to act tough,
you get exposed.
It's something to watch out for.
Anyway, I thought you should know.
Thank you.
- Well, I'm off.
- What?
Don't sleep.
I won't sleep.
Did Shinomiya show up?
No.
I see.
Daisuke got these for us.
You can have the rest.
I'll get sleepy if I eat.
Really?
I get sleepy if I don't eat.
Oh, nice! Rice balls!
It's 2:00 a.m.
Yeah.
Only 4:00 a.m.
Huh?
What is it?
Huh? Gone already?
What is?
- The food.
- Excuse me?
- I'll go run to the store.
- What?
Keep watch, okay?
Thanks!
Thank you!
Akutsu?
It's not him!
Why now?
There's no mistake.
It's Shinomiya herself.
I can't mess up this time.
This lady is an evil woman
who tricked a man to spend
embezzled company money.
In exchange for this key,
I'll get her to admit her connection
to Kojima.
What, are you kidding me?
She's climbing over it? Seriously?
Hold on. I didn't agree to this.
Do I have to climb over it, too?
Will I get arrested?
She did it.
Wait, what do I do?
But…
I have to go!
How did this happen?
I'm scared.
This is way too scary.
When I scaled the gate,
I think my shirt got caught and ripped.
But I can't worry about that.
She's looking for the key.
If I go up to her now,
she'll think I'm a ghost for sure.
I can't startle her.
I can't get answers if she's too agitated.
I should take it slow.
I'll approach her
after she leaves the cemetery.
FOUND SHINOMIYA
WAIT FOR ME IN FRONT OF THE GATE
She's not giving up.
How long will she be looking?
COPY THAT, I'LL BE BACK RIGHT AWAY
So cold.
I'm so cold.
It's so chilly where my shirt ripped.
It feels like a pretty big rip.
Ms. Shinomiya?
I'm sorry to jump on you like this.
Who are you?
I'm Shinoda, a writer
for the Sengoku Weekly.
A tabloid?
Not the police?
What are you doing here this late?
What about you?
Are you looking for your apartment key?
The one with the cherry blossom
keychain Shoichi Kojima gave you?
Give that back!
Answer my questions first.
What do you even want to know?
You tricked Mr. Kojima, making him
embezzle company money to spend on you.
I didn't do any of that.
I was just…
I was just modeling.
Modeling?
- Modeling?
- Yes.
- Give me some more details.
- Yes, sir.
Saori Shinomiya's maternal grandfather
is in a nursing home,
and she was having trouble paying for it.
Then a cousin put her in touch
with Kojima who was looking for a model.
After hearing about her situation,
he gave her a lump sum as a modeling fee.
And the embezzlement?
Shinomiya only learned about it
from the news,
but she already used the money
to pay the nursing home.
She thought she had to go on the run.
It wasn't what we imagined at all.
That's true…
LOVE PAID FOR BY BANKRUPTCY
A MAN'S DREAM
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Is it still a scoop?
- Did you record it?
- Yes I did, this time.
Okay.
I got it from here.
Good work.
SENGOKU WEEKLY
So that became this.
Kojima's motive wasn't anything special.
He embezzled company money,
and as it grew,
he used it to become a different
version of himself.
To lead a completely different life,
he attempted to create
a perfect social media account.
To him, that meant uploading photo
sessions with Saori Shinomiya,
and stage a fabricated lifestyle.
Apparently he had 30 million yen
hidden in the kitchen.
Looking at all that money,
he hung his whole life
on being able to do anything.
He's 54 years old.
His life's purpose…
It wasn't what I was expecting.
You mean Shinomiya?
It was a fake name.
I just made up my mind
that she was some glitzy girl.
But she was actually super normal.
Normal?
I mean…
Not someone who should be wrapped up
in a financial scandal
or hounded by tabloids.
Doesn't that go for everyone?
So then I thought the opposite.
It could literally happen to anybody.
Just one slight misstep,
and that could've been me.
FUGITIVE: KOTA KUBOZUKA
Like it feels far and close
at the same time.
That something similar
could be happening around me.
With one misaligned gear,
it could be me on that side.
There's a chance of getting caught up
in something and pursued by tabloids.
I just kind of had that thought.
TO BE CONTINUED
Apparently he suddenly
pulled out of a play.
Aren't you embarrassed?
Buzzing around human misery.
What's waiting for me at the end
of this path I've been put on?
He made it into a national brand.
A young man's success story.
Subtitle translation by: Zensho Yamamoto