The Case of the Plateau Auberge Serial Murders Pt. 6

The Case of the Plateau Auberge Serial Murders Pt. 6 (高原オーベルジュ連続殺人事件⑥, Kōgen Ōberuju Renzoku Satsujin Jiken ⑥) is the 43rd chapter of the Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective manga.
==Summary==
Ron and Toto talk outside at the garden fountain. Toto says that based on his deduction, it seems like the person really is the culprit. He thanks Ron, saying he couldn't have solved it on his own. He asks if he is really going to give up solving crimes after this case. Ron says he wish he could continue, but he no longer believes he has the right to do so. 
Toto with Ron talks to the remaining guests in the dining room, as Mia hugs the teddy bear wearing a suit. Earlier, Toto says, he had Sakai and Tiger Dan check Ron, and they confirmed that he is not carrying a gun. Lily harrumphs at this. 
Toto then discusses the serial murders. What is particular to the case is that all the murder scenes were arranged to resemble last night's dinner. At first glance it appears to be intended to make everyone recall the murder case from 17 years ago that they are connected to. But the killer actually had a completely different goat in mind by making the murders resemble the dinner. The mimicry was intended as camouflage to hide something else: a dying message. 
For the first murder, Gardner was stabbed in the chest with an icepick in his own room. He was discovered with flower petals scattered over his corpse. Because of that, they assumed he was killed inside the room, but he was actually stabbed outside of it. Lily asks how they know, and Toto says he found blood spatter in the hallway outside Gardner's room. He continues: Gardner used the last of his strength to shut himself in the room and lock the door, while the murderer went around to look in through the window from outside. Mia understands, that is why there are footprints in the garden. Toto concurs, and that is when the killer realized their fatal error. 
After locking himself in the room, Gardner was gripping some oniyuri flowers that he grabbed from the vase as a dying message, before he collapsed. When the murderer realized that, they went and pulled some flowers from the garden, then stole a balloon from the party supplies in the storage room. They then stuffed the balloon with flower petals, slipped it under the door into the room, then inflated it. When it burst over the corpse, it covered the body in petals, and the murderer retrieved the balloon under the door. All this was done so the flower in Gardner's right hand would not stand out. The exploding sound that Lily heard was the balloon bursting. When the killer used this trick, they had the idea to kill everyone while making it resemble the previous evening's dinner. 
Mia asks directly: why were the flowers in Gardner's hands a dying message? Toto says that Gardner did NOT speak Japanese. The flowers are called oniyuri in Nihonggo, but in English they are called Tiger Lily. 
All the guests, especially Tiger and Lily, gasp, and also realize that it could refer to either Tiger Dan or Karen Lily. Yes, Toto says, but Gardner was referring to only one of them. The hint was from why the culprit chose the particular method. If they were to open the door, they could have just removed the flowers directly from the victim's hand. Also, Mia realizes, Lily knows how to pick locks. Exactly, Toto says. So if they rule out Lily, that leaves only one person as the culprit: Tiger Dan. 
Tiger objects, saying this is just a frame-up job. The facts pointing to himself are nothing more than bad luck on his part, he says. He doesn't think that is enough for the members of the jury present. 
Fine, then, Ron says, and takes up the discussion. He shifts the attention to Clark, the third victim to be killed. The scene was made to resemble the white wine steamed fish with foam garnish. So why did the killer use fire extinguisher foam rather than any of the ample supply of wine in the cellar? It was because Sakai was unexpectedly in the kitchen and thus Tiger could not procure a wine opener to open a bottle. Tiger says that's it? He could just break a bottle open and use that. Ron counters: he didn't. 
If Tiger smashed a bottle open, Ron continues, it's possible his clothes would be splashed with wine. Of course he would just need to change his clothes in that case. But he couldn't because of the second murder. When he killed Sasaoka in the bathroom, there were signs that both of them got drenched in the ensuing struggle. Tiger changed clothes after killing Sasaoka. But that created an even bigger problem: he had already used up all his clean clothes. Therefore, rather than break a wine bottle, Tiger used a foam-type fire extinguisher for the mimicry. The reason he used strangulation instead of stabbing was so he wouldn't get blood on his clothes. 
Okay, Lily says, but why does that implicate Tiger? Ron says Mia brought a lot of extra clothes, so they can rule her out as the culprit. Next, the crime would have been impossible to carry out if the culprit could not read the fire extinguisher's label (which was in Japanese). Since Lily could not read Japanese, she can be ruled out as well. Finally chef Sakai could have gotten a corkscrew from the kitchen, so there would have been no need to take the risk of using a fire extinguisher that was in the hallway. Ron repeats: that leaves only one person that the evidence points to, the culprit cannot be anyone else but Tiger Dan. Ron directly asks: he is with the M family, isn't he? 
Tiger Dan chuckles, and gives up. He guesses he left too many hints. But he says, enjoying the fresh air in the auberge, while getting to take lives one after another, was truly fun, son of Eliot Moriarty, Ron Kamonohashi. After getting to observe Ron in such close proximity, he realized, that Ron was able to solve the crime by perfectly replicating his criminal state of mind. No matter how he tries to act the part of a detective, he is nothing but a criminal at heart. 
Ron is left sweating and trembling. He asks Tiger what was his aim in killing so many people, what is the M family after? Tiger says that it's obvious: to reawaken the roots he had forgotten about and cause him to rethink the path he is on. Ron pauses and says in that case, he succeeded. He is planning on giving up detective work. Tiger says he is thrilled to hear that. 
He has been waiting to use a method like that from the start, but some of the stubborn family members opposed him. Oh, and, his other important job was to eliminate everyone connected to the Dr. Gore kidnapping case from 17 years ago. The M family leaves no trace of its activities, he continues. Doesn't he remember how they eliminated everyone connected to Winter's crimes in Shibuya? Tiger sent invitations to entice everyone to the auberge and sent along an emerald in the envelopes. That was really something earlier, he says. As soon as he told his made-up story from back then, everyone else went and confessed to their crimes. 
Ron declares that he will not allow Tiger to hurt anyone else. Tiger says does he really have the right to say so? He has been one of them from the moment he was born. Ron stops. Tiger goes on to say that the Moriarties were the ones who nourished him with the money and blood of the murdered, and gave him an exquisite education in crime. To say nothing of his brain, it must be carved into his body at a cellular level, right? 
Ron stops completely, trembling and sweating as he grits his teeth. Toto grows concerned, and shouts for Ron to get a grip, that his brain is freezing up again. Tiger says to Toto with a chuckle that "Famous Detective Totomaru Isshiki" cannot help Ron. He knows that too well, Toto says directly, he cannot see through the lie Tiger is telling. 
That snaps Ron and gets his attention, as well as Tiger. Toto repeats and tells Ron: even he noticed it! What Ron needs to analyze right now is Tiger Dan's colossal lie! 
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
* Totomaru Isshiki
* Ron Kamonohashi
* Tiger Dan
* Karen Lily
* Mia Costa
* Shusuke Sakai
==Navigation==
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Category:Plateau Auberge Serial Murders Case