Noriko Imai (Case Closed)

Noriko Imai (Junko Iwao) is the villainess of "The City Crows", episode 13.10 of Case Closed (airdate June 7, 2004). She was an employee at a pastry shop and was the upstairs neighbor to Tatsue Egami, who became a recluse in their apartment building due to her habit of rummaging through the garbage of other residents.
Her backstory also revealed that she had history with Ayumi Yoshida, having encountered her at her shop along with her boyfriend. The episode began with Ayumi and her friends (including Conan Edogawa) arriving at the apartment complex after Tatsue was discovered dead. While it was initially believed a crow knocked over a flower pot of Tatsue's and it fatally struck her in the head as she was reaching for a coin that rolled under a broken refrigerator, Conan was quick to have doubts.
Conan's hunch was eventually proven true, as the position of the broken flower pot allowed him to deduce that Tatsue's death was the result of a murder staged to look like an accident. After finding that the roof was inaccessible to residents, Conan pinpointed Noriko as the only plausible killer, as only she had the ability to drop the flower pot on Tatsue due to being in the room above hers. Despite this, Ayumi fiercely denied the possibility that Noriko could have killed Tatsue, arguing that her rememebering her after such a long time when they encountered her at the apartment complex proved she was too kind a person to commit murder.
But later on, Conan and his friends Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Genta Kojima discovered evidence definitively proving Noriko as the killer: a lottery ticket stuck underneath the discarded refrigerator, with the seller identifying Noriko as the purchaser. The children later confronted Noriko outside the apartment building, with Noriko's inability to show them the lottery ticket she bought sealing her reveal as Tatsue's killer. As Noriko revealed, Tatsue's habit of snooping through the garbage lead her to uncover the letter her boyfriend sent Noriko breaking up with her, which she showed to everyone at her shop to embarass her. Humiliated and enraged, the evil Noriko plotted to kill Tatsue in revenge, buying the lottery ticket as bait to lure Tatsue beneath her window, dragging the ticket underneath the refrigerator using rope she'd attached to it. Once Tatsue was on the ground trying to retrieve the ticket, Noriko dropped one of Tatsue's flower pots (having used a rope and hook to retrieve one) onto Tatsue's head, killing her. Afterwards, Noriko placed a 500 yen coin under the refrigerator to make it appear that it was what Tatsue had been reaching for when she died.
After her confession, Noriko claimed to a heartbroken Ayumi that she was too young to understand her motivation and tried to justify her actions by arguing that Tatsue didn't underneath how much her actions would hurt her. Ayumi responded by arguing that nothing justified taking a life, with Noriko agreeing with her sentiment. After Detective Kazunobu Chiba arrived at the scene (presumably summoned by Conan), Noriko submitted herself to arrest after giving Ayumi a bag of baked goods from her store.
== Gallery ==
Noriko Imai Glare.png|Noriko's enraged glare at Tatsue; the start of her heel turn
Noriko Imai Reveal.png|Noriko during her villainous reveal
Category:2000s
Category:Anime Villainess
Category:Brunette
Category:Hero's Lover
Category:Humiliated
Category:Makeshift Weapon
Category:Mostly Heel
Category:Murderer
Category:Murder: Bludgeoning
Category:Vengeful
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Fate: Arrested