Genius poet Ishikawa Takuboku moves to Tokyo with the help of an upperclassman of his, Kindaichi Kyousuke. Enraptured by both drink and women, Takuboku finds himself perpetually out of money. One day, the two men decide to drop by Asakusa and find themselves primary witnesses to a murder. The victim, Tatsukichi, worked in the home of Oguri, the head clerk to the Arakawa mines. When the murder weapon and a letter of accusation written by Tatsukichi are discovered, Oguri is arrested for the crime, but Takuboku isn’t convinced…

A prostitute from Hananoya, O-Taki, has been killed. When Takuboku says, "I saw Kyousuke in O-Taki’s room," Kyousuke becomes a prime suspect. Meanwhile, based on the fact that Takuboku’s romaji diary was left in O-Taki’s room, Kyousuke begins to suspect that Takuboku might have done it. Where does the truth really lie?

Kyousuke has been arrested. Hagiwara Sakutarou, Nomura Kodou, and the others gather at the "milk hall," a small cafe serving European beverages and foods, to try to discover the truth of the situation. Each of the literary men unveil their deductions. Natsume Souseki introduces Akutagawa Ryuunosuke who also participates in the puzzle solving, but none of them come up with a deciding theory. As they ponder, a boy named Hirai Tarou steps forward. Hirai tells them that everything started two nights ago…

Day after day, the papers are alive with accounts of an apparition at Ryouunkaku. Rokurou, a man who sees to the running of Asakusa, commissions Takuboku to find the truth of the matter. On his way to the scene, Takuboku reunites with an old friend, former newspaper reporter Yamaoka. Takuboku soon sees that Yamaoka is somehow connected to the ghost, but Yamaoka walks away, leaving behind only the words "throat moon." Then, magic lantern projectionist Matsukichi is killed. Two months earlier, Matsukichi had come across a woman who had been sexually assaulted. Takuboku starts looking to see if the two cases might be related.

Thrilled by a friend’s poetry collection, Takuboku begins to lose confidence in himself. Kyousuke tries to cheer him up, but when he finds out that Takuboku was involved in talks of someone buying Oen, the prostitute from the same province as them, he can’t conceal his indignation. Meanwhile, at the milk hall, Yoshii, Sakutarou, and Bokusui hold a poetry contest, refereed by Nomura, to see who will confess their feelings to Kiku, the waitress.