Kaki Sakanoue

**Kaki Sakanoue** (坂ノ上 柿, *Sakanoue Kaki*) is the servant of the late Juntaro Mihane.

## Physical description

Sakanoue is an elderly woman with white hair which she keeps in a tight bun.

Her hair used to be black.

## Biography

### History

When Sakanoue was young, Youko Mihane's mother found her wandering on the roadside and saved her. She employed Sakanoue in her household and later made her promise to protect her daughter from her husband.

Seven years ago, Sakanoue's employer Juntaro Mihane bought the Moon Prison and shut himself inside "to connect with space." Not long afterward, Juntaro disappeared, and his family filed a missing person report, but he was not found and eventually declared dead. His corpse was found seven years later in the Moon Prison by his family.

Two weeks before the corpse's discovery, Sakanoue accompanied Juntaro's family, his son Kiyotaka, his wife Youko, and his brother Junji Kaji, to the Moon Prison because they wanted to liquidate Juntaro's estate. Because the door was locked and they did not want to damage the prison's sole and unique window, Kiyotaka contacted the Sun Prison's owner and asked them if he could borrow the Sun Prison key to unlock the Moon Prison. The Moon Prison key was damaged in a house fire seven years ago, shortly after Juntaro was reported missing. As the two prisons are twin buildings, their keys are identically shaped and, thus, the Moon Prison can be unlocked with the Sun Prison key as well. The Sun Prison's owner agreed, and the key arrived two weeks later. Juntaro's family opened the Moon Prison and found his corpse lying inside. Curiously, when they were there weeks earlier, they had not seen Juntaro's corpse through the window.

### Twin Prison Locked Room Murder Case

After finding Juntaro's body, Sakanoue, Kiyotaka, Youko, and Kaji call the police. When the police arrives, they are questioned by an officer, and later observe Amamiya, Ron Kamonohashi, and Totomaru Isshiki inspecting the Moon Prison. Sakanoue quietly stands by while Kiyotaka shows Toto a picture of the empty prison which he took the first time they went to the Moon Prison.

Later that day, Fin Fennec, a locked room expert who has arrived in the meantime, solves the locked room mystery. She then gathers everyone to tell them what happened: The culprit never entered the prison in the last seven years—and neither did the corpse. Juntaro's body was in the prison for all these years, hidden behind a dummy wall made of foamed styrol. The block were likely connected via a cord which was threaded through the chimney; its end was stuck out of it and fixed to ensure that it did not slip back inside. The culprit never wanted anyone to discover Juntaro, but when they learned his family asked for the Sun Prison key to be delivered to Japan, they went to the Moon Prison and pulled on the string, lifting the blocks through the chimney and removing the dummy wall. This is the reason why Fin found pieces of foamed styrol in the fireplace. She also suspects that the dummy wall held some kind of clue that pointed back to the murderer.

She deduced that there must have been a dummy wall because, in the photo Kiyotaka took, the sunlight is striking a larger area of the wall than it does now although Kiyotaka's and her picture were taken around the same time, from the same location, and with the sun at the same height. Therefore, two weeks ago, the wall was closer to the window than it was now.

The murderer can, thus, only be someone who knew the Sun Prison key was being delivered to Japan. This brings the spotlight to Sakanoue, Youko, Kiyotaka, and Kaji. However, Fin does not reveal the culprit as her only goal was to solve the locked room's mystery; she leaves the rest to the Metro Police and returns with Shachi to the guesthouse where they have been staying, the Moon Lodge.

The next day, Sakanoue accompanies Youko and Kiyotaka to the Moon Prison to verify that Kaji was really killed. When Toto confirms this, Sakanoue says a prayer to Amida Buddha.

Kiyotaka wants to see his uncle's body, but Toto denies him the access. He also testifies that Kaji was fixated on finding Juntaro's killer; Kiyotaka had tried to talk him out of it, but he did not want to listen. Youko tells Sakanoue to stand back while they continue the conversation; Sakanoue complies.

Later, Sakanoue yells through the window at Ron, Fin, Shachi, and Toto, saying that it is their fault that Kaji died because they did not arrest the culprit yesterday. Toto wholeheartedly apologizes to her; they only focused on solving the mystery, not apprehending the culprit, and now, another life was lost and will never come back. Youko then notices Sakanoue by the window and leads her away from the prison.

Afterward, Fin and Toto gather Sakanoue, Youko, and Kiyotaka to question them. Fin apologizes for still not having apprehended the culprit and informs them that the current case is a replica of a seventy-year-old case from England. Kiyotaka immediately realizes that she means the Sun Prison Murder Case and says that Kaji found out about that case when he researched the Moon Prison following Juntaro's disappearance.

Toto says that, just like seventy years ago, the prison door was sealed with a brass bar from inside. It is possible that it was stored somewhere until now because of its good condition and asks Sakanoue, Kiyotaka, and Youko whether they have any ideas about that. When Youko ponders what to say, Kiyotaka yells at her that she is a coward and Sakanoue becoming senile; because of that, Kaji pushed everyone around and did what he wanted. Kiyotaka then reveals that the bar was stored in the shed at their home. Hearing this, Fin tells them they are all suspects as they all had access to the bar. Youko scolds her son for saying all that and putting them under suspicion before she starts to panic and sinks shaking to the ground; Sakanoue tends to her. Kiyotaka remarks that she always acts like that to get away when things get tough and reminds her of that one time she called the ambulance.

While Fin, Shachi, and Kiyotaka go to the shed and Totomaru and Ron talk to Youko, Sakanoue stands distanced from them in the woods. When Ron then suddenly stands up in realization, she goes to confront him, asking if he wants to scare Youko again. He only tells her that Youko was praising her cooking skills and asks her who has made a cooking mistake lately if Kiyotaka cooks for himself. Sakanoue replies that she has not made a mistake in thirty years. Totomaru scolds Ron for making her angry and Ron tells him that "guilty people make people guilty."

A moment later, Fin and Shachi return, and Fin says that there were no clues in the shed and they have to start anew. Ron then announces that he has solved the case, and Fin stares at him.

Sakanoue, Youko, Kiyotaka, Amamiya, Fin, and Shachi gather in front of the Moon Prison to hear Toto solve the case: Fin did not find anything in the prison because the culprit knew about her Phoenix touch ability and found a way to destroy a clue's material properties. The clue was a powerful neodymium magnet. The murderer inserted it into the brass bar and concealed it with a brass cover which they polished to get rid of any evidence that the bar had been tampererd with. They attached the magnet to the door, a bit above the bar bracket, and then left the room. Afterward, they used a blowtorch to heat the door and the bar until the bar was heated to 330 degrees—neodymium's Curie temperature, the point that has to be reached for the material to lose its magnetism. The bar then dropped into the brackets and locked the door.

Because the culprit used a blowtorch they were not familiar with, they hurt their left hand—and Sakanoue has been suspiciously covering her left hand. Until yesterday, when she clutched her hands, her right hand had been on top, not it was her left one. Sakanoue claims that she burned her hand when a pot boiled over, but Youko points out she said she never made a cooking mistake in thirty years. Sakanoue then replies that she was simply careless once; she also has no motive to kill Juntaro and Kaji.

Amamiya says she cannot see a motive, but Ron can: Sakanoue was trying to protect Youko. She cooks meals with many vegetables and hides Youko's treats because she worries about her mistress' fragile health. Youko defends Sakanoue, saying that she would never considers that; she also cannot employ a murderer, so she cannot get wrapped up in this. Then, Sakanoue confesses. Totomaru points out that she only looked out for Youko though, not Kiyotaka because she does not care about what he eats, and asks why.

Sakanoue tells everyone that she promised Youko's mother to protect her daughter. Youko's mother did not like Juntaro as she realized he would only bring trouble, and because Sakanoue felt indebted to her mistress as she saved her life when she was young, she agreed to take care of Youko. Juntaro had been squandering the Mihane fortune for his religious group, and Kaji had tried to pin his brother's murder on Youko and Kiyotaka to get his hands on the fortune. Sakanoue had to kill them to protect Youko and the fortune; she imitated the Sun Prison Murder Case because she hoped if she copied an unsolved murder, her murder would never be solved too. She also learned about Curie temperature on television and created the bar in case she ever needed it.

And although she was caught, Sakanoue is happy because she could fulfill her promise. She will die soon anyway, and with her promise fulfilled, she can face her first mistress in heaven. Youko remarks that Sakanoue must have really gone senile but Kiyotaka replies this is not just senility.

## Etymology

* The name "Kaki" means "persimmon" (柿).
* Her surname "Sakanoue" means "slope, hill" (坂, *saka*) and "above, top, upper" (上, *ue*).

## Trivia

* Because Sakanoue prays to Amida Buddha, she is likely a practitioner of Pure Land Buddhism.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 56, page 10
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 8-9
3. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 6-7
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 2-3
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 9-12
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 7-12
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 53, pages 3-13
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 54, pages 8-10
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 54, pages 14-16
10. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 55, pages 1-6
11. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 55, pages 10-18
12. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 56, pages 2-13
13. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 54, page 9