The Case of the Twin Prison Locked Room Murder Pt. 2

The Case of the Twin Prison Locked Room Murder Pt. 2 (「双子の牢」密室殺人事件②, Futago No Rō' Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken ②) is the 52nd chapter of the Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective manga.
==Summary==
Ron tells Toto that Fin Fennic is BLUE's locked room instructor which shocks him.
Meanwhile, Amamiya briefs Fin about the case. She shows her the photo Kiyotaka took of the prison two weeks ago and tells her that Juntaro suddenly appeared yesterday although it was impossible to enter the prison. Fin asks her about the key, and Amamiya hands it to her, telling her that it was warped in a house fire seven years ago. Amamiya also gives Fin the Sun Prison key and allows her to touch them both as they were already examined.
Only by touching the keys, Fin confirms that they are the genuine items; she touched the Sun key before and, thus, knows its size, mass, maker signature, etc. This amazes Amamiya and Toto who is watching them from afar with Ron. Ron tells Toto that he was nothing against Fin when it came to locked room mysteries and that all instructors at BLUE are geniuses and experts in their respective fields, e.g. Spitz is the world's best tracker. He also reminds him that, like Mylo told him, a BLUE instructor suddenly appeared before him and adds that they need to be careful around Fin as she may be the M. Family spy.
Amamiya invites Fin to touch the inside of the Moon Prison as well and offers her help if she needs it. Fin thanks her and excuses herself to talk to Ron and Totomaru. Before she reaches them, Shachi appears and loudly asks Ron what he is doing at the crime scene. Ron covers his mouth with his hand and tells him to call him "Kamoo" before he asks who Shachi is. Shachi introduces himself as Fin's bodyguard and reminds Ron that they went to BLUE together. Ron vaguely remembers a "fidgety" student who was always behind Fin. Shachi confirms that was him and says his "shyness" was his selling point. Then, Fin joins them.
Ron greets her and reminisces how they used to compete in her class: She would bring her students unsolved locked room mysteries which she had gathered from all around the world to solve. He only managed to solve three while she could solve eight. Fin admits that she solved those three cases beforehand; she had lied about the cases' unsolved status to foster the students' autonomy. Totomaru is stunned to hear that Fin even surpasses Ron, and Shachi ridicules Ron for being beneath Fin's notice. Fin tells him not to laugh as Ron was already "far beyond the level of a student" back then—"for an egg with a bright future" at least.
Ron says he is not the same person he used to be and suggests that Totomaru who will inherit his "will" will compete with her for old time's sake. Both Shachi and Totomaru are shocked to hear this, and Totomaru tells Ron not to issue challenges for him. Fin is uninterested in any challenge though. She informs Ron that she has heard of the rumor about him and illegal investigations and states that she will punish him without hesitation if she sees a sign of the rumor being true.
Ron understands that, remarking that she is as strict as always. Shachi then inquires what Ron is even doing at the Moon Prison. When Ron replies that he is here to offer sweets to the officers, Shachi asks for some. Ron points out to him that he is getting left behind as Fin is already leaving, and Shachi hurries after her. However, when Toto remarks that Fin apparently only listens to what interests her, she stops and cites her father: "Listen even to what doesn't interest you." Fin then asks about the challenge from earlier. Ron says it will be a race to see who can solve the Moon Prison's mystery first—she or Totomaru. Fin accepts and even offers Toto to investigate first to handicap her. Toto tells her he already examined the prison and questioned the victim's relatives, but he has no idea how Juntaro could suddenly appear in the prison after all those years.
Fin then heads to scrutinize the Moon Prison. Ron informs Toto that, although she is incredible at solving locked room mysteries, she was unable to solve the Sun Prison Murder Case. As the current case takes place in the identical Moon Prison and Juntaro was murdered seven years ago, solving the mystery will be difficult. They then follow Shachi and Fin to the prison and watch them investigate.
Fin touches the prison's door (3cm thick, made of iron, no signs of tampering), walls (made of bricks imported from England, three-layered), and ceiling (no cracks, no hollows, no signs of restoration) which Shachi helps her reach. She writes down everything into her tablet. Totomaru is baffled, and Ron says this is Fin's "Phoenix touch," an ability with which she can determine an object's or room's composition and discover inconsistencies. With it, she could find 5,000 hidden rooms, 3,000 illegal constructions, and 10,000 tricks of physics.
Fin hears Ron. She says the physics never lie and reminds him that his abstract deduction which starts with figuring out the culprit's state of mind first can never reveal the truth. Ron notes this was always the biggest difference in their thinking. Fin then examines the ash in the fireplace and finds foamed styrol mixed with it. Fin concludes that something was applied in the fireplace and solves the mystery to Ron's and Toto's surprise and amazement.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
* Ron Kamonohashi
* Totomaru Isshiki
* Amamiya
* Fin Fennic
* Shachi
==Navigation==
Category:Chapters
Category:Twin Prison Locked Room Murder Case