The Case of the Benizome Hot Springs Murder Pt. 1 (episode)

The Case of the Benizome Hot Springs Murder Pt. 1 (紅染温泉殺人事件【前編】, Benizome onsen satsujin jiken [zenpen]) is the third episode of the Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective anime.
==Synopsis==
Ron wins the first prize, a pair of tickets to a hot spring, in a lottery at a home improvement store. Toto accompanies him on the trip, and they stay at the Benizome Annex, an old inn in the Benizome Hot Springs. The clerk who greets them is friendly, but his true identity is that of Spitz Fire, the "tracking" instructor sent by BLUE to investigate Ron.Translated from the Japanese description with DeepL Translator and Google Translate
----
Ron wins a pair of tickets to a hot spring in a raffle. Toto accompanies him to stay at the Benizome Inn. The innkeeper who greets them is friendly, but he isn't who he seems. Plus, it isn't long before Ron's eccentricities begin to surface."E3 - The Case of the Benizome Hot Spring Murder (Part 1)" — Crunchyroll
==Summary==
During a faculty meeting at BLUE Academy, headmistress Aimee Emmerich orders an investigation into Ron Kamonohashi to determine if the report made about Ron engaging in sleuthing activity is true. She specifies that the investigation is only about determining the truth with no specifications given about what will happen if the report is true. Spitz Fire volunteers to do the investigation and is sent to Japan.
In Japan, Ron calls Toto to come to the store with him to buy cat food since he does not have enough money. After Toto pays, Ron receives a raffle ticket and from this wins the grand prize of a couple's package for a weekend trip to the Benizome Hot Springs. Toto has a moment of panic when the clerk refers to him and Ron as a couple. Ron suggests that he does the trip by himself twice, but the dates for the trip cannot be changed, so Toto agrees to go with him. 
Driving to the hot springs, they learn that they will not be staying at the main building, but will instead be staying at the annex, which is in a state of disrepair. Ron comments that it looks like the building was hit by a typhoon. They are greeted by a couple as well as Spitz Feier who is posing as an employee. Ron and Toto go to the men's bath, where Ron tells Toto about a legend he read in the pamphlet they received from their taxi driver: the hot springs received its name after a girl was sacrificed in the river, and her blood dyed the spring water red. Toto sees the scar on Ron's neck, which he mistakes for a tattoo. Ron tells he was once covered in wounds, but the only injury that left a scar was the one on his neck. Ron states that he likes the scar since it include the number 6, which is a lucky number for him. 
For dinner, Ron eats a dish of rice covered in brown sugar syrup that Toto considers to be slime. Ron states that the syrup is the source of his brainpower and that he also consumes black sesame paste to prevent anemia. Afterward, Ron and Toto play ping-pong, with Ron claiming that the loser of the game will become a slave to the winner. Upon losing the lone ping-pong ball, they search outside, but are unable to find it, and so they return to the men's bath to warm themselves up. Shortly after, a drunk Amamiya enters the men's bath naked and screams upon realizing her mistake. They learn that she came because she won second prize at the raffle. Drunk and weepy, she goes to bed around 10 p.m. That night, Toto and Ron play The Game of Life with a couple until 2 a.m.
The next morning, a staff member discovers a corpse in the women's bath, which is covered with red leaves. The body is that of Sachiko who went to the bath alone at around 10 p.m. Amamiya examines the corpse and determines that she must have died between midnight and 2 a.m. based on the degree of rigor mortis. Suspicion immediately falls on Amamiya because she is the only one without an alibi during that time period, but Ron declares that she cannot be the culprit, and that Toto will prove it. Toto already deduced that the murder was modelled after the Benizome legend; Amamiya does not know it and, thus, could not have committed the crime.
==Characters and cast==
* Ron Kamonohashi: Yōhei Azakami
* Totomaru Isshiki: Junya Enoki
* Amamiya: Yoko Hikasa
* Spitz Fire: Taku Yashiro
* Aimee Emmerich: Kikuko Inoue
* Vice Principal: Hiroki Tōchi
* John Grizzly: Kazuhiro Yamaji 
* Fin Fennic: Megumi Han 
* Hirsch: Kenjiro Tsuda 
* Disguise instructor: Ryūsei Nakao 
* Timetable instructor: Kenji Nomura 
* Husband: Hiroshi Shirokuma
* Sachiko: Marie Oi
* Michiyo: Mariya Ise
* Clerk: Ryōsuke Higa
* Taxi driver: Shōmaru Zōza
* Hostess: Aki Sugawa
==Gallery==
===Episode stills===
Ep3 BLUE from above.png|BLUE
Ep3 Hardware store.png|The home improvement store.
Ep3 Mountain road.png|The mountains around the Benizome Hot Springs.
Ep3 In the taxi.png|Ron and Toto in a taxi to the hot springs.
Ep3 The lord.png|A lord apparently named Benizome Hot Springs.
Ep3 Benizome Annex.png|Benizome Annex
Ep3 Ron and Toto.png
Ep3 Spitz in disguise.png|Spitz, disguised as a Benizome staff member.
Ep3 Evil-looking Spitz.png|Spitz, after having confirmed that "Kamoo Nanban" is Ron.
Ep3 Toto and Ron in the onsen.png|Totomaru and Ron in the men's bath.
Ep3 Sacrifice.png|A secret version of the hot spring's name legend says that a woman was sacrificed to the river, staining it red.
Ep3 Ron with brown sugar syrup.png|Ron holds up a pack of brown sugar syrup.
Ep3 Sachiko puts her glasses on.png|Sachiko puts her glasses on.
Ep3 Game of Life.png|Ron holds the Game of Life.
Ep3 Sachiko.png
Ep3 Drunk Amamiya.png|Drunk Amamiya.
Ep3 The husband.png|Sachiko's husband
Ep3 Michiyo.png|Michiyo
Ep3 Sachiko's corpse.png|Sachiko's corpse in the women's bath.
Ep3 Making a declaration.png|Ron says "he" can prove Amamiya's innocence.
===Others===
Ep3 Preview.png|Preview image
【-ボイス動画】シュピッツ・ファイア（CV.-八代拓）／鴨乃橋ロンの禁断推理 -shorts|Spitz Fire's voice video
==Differences to the manga==
* In the manga, Ron brings the 2016 edition of the Game of Life to the Benizome Hot Springs."The Game of Life 2016 Version" — Amazon Japan In the anime, the game is upgraded to the 2023 edition."The Game of Life (2023 Version)" — Amazon Japan
==References and notes==
----
Category:Episodes
Category:Season 1 episodes
Category:Benizome Hot Springs Murder Case