One of the things all single-episode TV mysteries have in common besides being single-episode TV mysteries is ridiculous titles. The title of this week's "Monday Mystery Theatre" (TBS, 9 p.m.) is "Obasan Kaicho Murasaki no Hanzai Seiso Nikki: Gomi wa Koroshi wo Shitte Iru," which translates as "Middle-aged Chairwoman Murasaki's Crime Cleaning Diary: The Garbage Knows Who Did It."
Madame Murasaki is the chairwoman of a large conglomerate who nevertheless has a thing about corpses and housekeeping: She disguises herself as a cleaning lady to solve murders. Murasaki is played by veteran actress Tamao Nakamura and her sidekick, Nanako, by Tamao Sato.
A young escort named Masayo disappears from a hot-spring resort, but traces of blood are found in her room. Apparently, Masayo had been having difficulties with the management of the service she worked for and in the midst of the search for her, the owner turns up dead. Murasaki steps in and cleans the girl's room from top to bottom, and then rummages through the resulting trash for clues.
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