Eiko Ashiya (Rihoko Yoshida) is the main villainess of "An Elevator Murder Case", episode 1.19 of Case Closed (airdate June 10, 1996). She was the head of a successful fashion design company, working alongside her secretary Mika Taniguchi.
During the episode, Mika was found stabbed to death in the elevator of the Ashiya Building as Ran Mouri and her father, detective Kogoro Mouri, arrived for Ran to do an interview for a potential modelling job. Soon after discovering the body, Eiko used footprints found on the floor to claim Mika had been killed by a robber.
But as Conan Edogawa deduced over the course of the episode, Eiko had been Mika's true murderer. Mika had been stealing designs from Eiko's company and selling them to her rivals, which resulted in her being forced to cancel a recent fashion show. When Eiko threatened to go to the police, Mika boasted that it would do nothing but ruin Eiko's reputation before resigning from her job, with her last day being the day of Ran's interview.
Not wanting Mika to get away with her treachery, the vengeful Eiko devised a plan to murder her secretary. After using a pair of sneakers to plant the footprints on the 8th floor of her building, Eiko called Mika as she was going to that floor to get the fitting room ready, asking her to come to the 15th floor. Once she got there, the evil Eiko attacked Mika in the elevator, stabbing her to death and sending her corpse down to the 8th floor in the elevator, covering up much of the physical evidence and staging everything to make it appear that Mika was the victim of a robber.
After uncovering Eiko's conniving scheme and deducing that the gloves she wore were in her handbag, Conan exposed Eiko as Mika's murderer. Caught, Eiko fully confessed to killing Mika, revealing that she had been motivated by hatred towards Mika for her betrayal. She also revealed how she had considered not going through with her plan when she realized Kogoro was Ran's father, having heard about Kogoro's famous detective work, and expressed disbelief that she had actually went through with murdering Mika. Eiko was later arrested, telling Ran she had genuinely believed she would make a good model and asking her not to make the same mistake she had before she was taken away.
Trivia[]
- In the English dub, Eiko's name is translated as Laurel Hallerand and she is voiced by Susan Huber (who was credited as Lucy Small).
- Rihoko Yoshida also voiced the evil Scorpion from Shin Cutie Honey.
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