just as he began to consider making way for young people and gradually lost his enthusiasm for handling cases, he became partners with keiko (played by hashimoto kanna), an animal expert graduated from the veterinary department. keiko, who loves animals more than humans, often makes sudo not know what to do. but if an incident occurs, keiko will reason through the pets left on the scene and her rich knowledge and observation. in the process of working with keiko, sudo also rekindled his enthusiasm for work.
