Furuhata Ninzaburô may not know much about music but he definitely has perfect pitch when it comes to killers because he cottons onto the murderous conductor immediately without any real reason. They don't even do the obligatory "why did you suspect me" dialogue at the end of the episode because I suppose Kôki Mitani ultimately had no idea. This is the kind of episode "The Perfect Pitch Murder" is all the way. Unpolished, illogical, and with a rather flimsy mystery. It's another story in which the killer confesses without there really being any real evidence against them. Furuhata must be a mean poker player though because his bluffs are insane.
The title is a bit of a lie. The killer's perfect pitch has nothing to do with the actual murder. It is, however, how he figures out who his mistress' lover was and that little moment is the most inspired in the whole episode. It's a terrific sequence, exciting and original, well-conceived by Mitani and unusually well directed by Yûichi Satô whose direction otherwise is bland and not in the least innovative. The actual murder is a lot banaler which would be fine if the mystery surrounding it was better. Unfortunately, the conductor ultimately proves to be no match for Furuhata. Nothing like John Cassavetes' variation on the same role in "Columbo's" "Etude in Black".
This is through no fault of guest star Masachika Ichimura, by the way, who gives a charismatic, high-strung performance. It's simply that the character he was given is a rather flat and uninteresting villain. In fact, Ichimura's performance is one of the reasons why "The Perfect Pitch Murder" is a watchable if not memorable episode.
There are admittedly other reasons as well. Even if the central mystery is weak the script has some clever gags and good dialogue. I liked Shintaro's interest in music although I think it would have been a better twist if he were actually a really good clarinettist. His being bad is an awfully obvious joke. I also liked the subplot about Furuhata's earworm. This actually gets a funny payoff in the episode's climax even though I didn't get it and had to Google the song. Still, it made me laugh. I was less impressed by another guest appearance from Hamada, the all-knowing waiter. His cameo from "Furuhata Goes to the Dentist" is repeated almost verbatim but is significantly unfunnier here. Instead, he is just as annoying as he was in "The Terror of Dr Kuroiwa" though thankfully he has far less screen time. A good joke should not be repeated so often.
