WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 5 of The Detective Is Already Dead, "That Was Directed at One Year in the Future," now streaming on Funimation.
World-class detective Siesta has been an ongoing mystery since Episode 1 of The Detective Is Already Dead. All that's known about her is that she uses "Siesta" as a codename and has been tracking the criminal activity of a mysterious organization known as SPES. She has two known assistants: a sidekick named Kimihiko Kimizuka and an apprentice named Charlotte "Char" Arisaka Anderson. She even has an ally with the Japanese police force in the form of Fuubi Kase, an assistant police inspector. As a detective, Siesta possesses many traits associated with iconic pop culture detectives Sherlock Holmes and DC Comics' Batman.
Like Sherlock, Siesta is a bit eccentric, lives with her sidekick in the same apartment and examines every piece of evidence in meticulous detail. Like Batman, she's exceptionally skilled at preparing for cases well in advance and uses specialized gadgets and weapons during missions. While Siesta isn't a billionaire like Batman (she's known to be constantly broke), nor does she have a base of operations, she does carry a specialized gun that's tailored to her DNA and has even mastered Batman's disappearing act. Episode 5 of The Detective Is Already Dead is the first episode since the series' debut to reveal more details about Siesta's past since meeting Kimihiko.
Set two years after the events of Episode 1, Siesta and Kimihiko find themselves investigating a gruesome Jack the Ripper-style case in the United Kingdom. Also on the case is Fuubi Kase who was temporarily transferred to the British police and set to return to Japan. During their investigation, Siesta and Kimihiko encounter another SPES operant called Cerberus who, like Bat in Episode 1, has a prosthetic nose with a heightened sense of smell. Cerberus is the first operant known to shapeshift and murder his victims by ripping out their hearts and consuming them.
With the little information that's been gathered from a crime scene involving Cerberus, Siesta meticulously plans a trap for the villain which further fleshes out her Batman-like qualities. Like Batman, Siesta is seen using every tool to her advantage, including seemingly insignificant ones like Fuubi's lighter that was given to Kimihiko by the inspector herself. Also similar to Batman is Siesta's tendency to use her sidekick as a decoy for luring out enemies -- without revealing all the details of her plan. The full extent of her strategizing is only revealed when the plan itself is executed.
Siesta effortlessly captures Cerberus by disabling his sense of smell, which she accomplishes by tampering with the sprinkler system of Kimihiko's hotel room to incorporate an odorless gas. Fuubi's lighter is used as the catalyst for making the gas more effective against Cerberus being able to detect Siesta's scent. When Cerberus attacks Kimihiko in his hotel room disguised as Char, Siesta uses the element of surprise to crash through Kimihiko's window (another Batman trope) and incapacitate Cerberus with her specialized gun. It turns out, however, that Cerberus may not have been Siesta's end goal, merely bait for luring her real target: the supreme leader of SPES, known only as Hel.
Little is revealed about Hel prior to Episode 5's cliffhanger ending, potentially setting up for more reveals in Episode 6. What is known, however, is that she's able to paralyze Siesta with a direct stare -- something Siesta herself didn't seem to expect. Hel also successfully captures Kimihiko and attempts to lure him to her side by presenting herself as an ally who actually intends to save the world, not destroy it. And yet, Hel capturing Kimihiko appears to have been a part of Siesta's plan as well, as she ends up using him to track Hel to her hidden base. After zoning in on both Kimihiko's and Hel's location, Siesta reveals another tool in her arsenal: a giant robot she pilots that's similar to a Gundam.
Whatever history exists between Hel and Siesta will likely be revealed in The Detective Is Already Dead Episode 6, where audiences can probably expect to learn more about Siesta's actual plan. Based on what Episode 5 revealed alone, it appears Siesta knew more about her enemies than she told her sidekick -- and most likely Char as well.
