Kogoro is invited Kagoshima for a variety talk show to promote their local shochu and is later invited by Takakuma Shochu sample their handmade sake. Tatsumura wants to increase production of sake by mechanizing the production process at the expense of quality. Fumiko takes Kogoro on a tour of the city and asks him to decline Tatsumura's offer to be a spokesperson. Later Tatsumura is found to be missing; there is blood on the floor and evidence to suggest that he was struck with a blunt object and kidnapped. Two days pass and then through an anonymous tip the police discover Tatsumura dead in his car in a park.