Island Observatory Murder Case

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* Manga

* John Grizzly

The **Island Observatory Murder Case** is a murder case that happened during a meteor shower viewing party at the Nandan Observatory on Nandan Island.

It is the sixth main case in the *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* series.

## Overview

Toto receives an invitation to a viewing party for a meteor shower in the constellation of Leo from the Comet Appreciation Society. Takumi Jumonji, the director of Nandan Observatory, invited him and John Grizzly, BLUE's "closed circle" instructor, to ensure that the tragedy from ten years ago will not be repeated. Jumonji is holding the party to overcome this tragedy and honor his father who was the observatory's director at that time and one of the casualties.

Because Toto can bring another person, Ron accompanies him to Nandan Island. The observatory's cook Minami Unno, astronomical photographer Kayoko Onodera, astronomy chairman Eisaku Donzawa, and Orion constellation idol Princess Ori also take part in the party.

The meteor shower starts at 11 p.m. The standing buffet party begins slightly earlier. At 10:30 p.m., Ron excuses himself and goes to bed, having become sleepy after eating dinner and hula-hooping. Shortly after 11 p.m., Onodera leaves the party to get some photography equipment. Two hours later, her prolonged absence is noted by Toto and Donzawa who are still on the roof with Grizzly and Jumonji; Unno and Princess Ori are in the kitchen at that time.

Then, the observation dome suddenly moves and opens. A gunshot is heard from within it, and everyone rushes to its entrance. However, because the door is locked and Jumonji cannot find the master key, he, Toto, and Grizzly have to break it open. Unno brings flashlights as Jumonji requested. Inside the dome, they find Onodera dead and Ron unconscious on the ground, the telescope between them. Next to Ron lies the model gun from the lobby, and the floor is covered in glass shards which come from the destroyed lights in the dome.

Onodera was shot in the back; the bullet directly pierced her heart and she died instantaneously. Because there is no ladder that indicates that someone escaped through the ceiling, the motion detector was not set off, and the master key is found in his pocket, Ron becomes the prime suspect. Toto arrests him and brings him to the first-floor storage room.

Grizzly later takes everyone's alibis: Jumonji briefly returned to his office at 11:30 p.m. because he forgot his astronomical observation notebook; he was back on the roof by midnight. Beside a bathroom break around midnight, Donzawa was always on the roof. Unno was in the first-floor kitchen making stew from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Princess Ori was broadcasting a performance from midnight to 12:40 p.m. She then went to the kitchen to get something to drink, and she and Unno talked until they heard the commotion caused by the gunshot.

## History

Toto receives an invitation to a meteor shower viewing party at an isolated island observatory. He cannot think of who might have sent it because he has no interest in neither stars nor observatories. Ron wants to come too because Nandan Island where the observatory is loated is famous for its brown sugar syrup. Staying there for a while might also help him escape reality and clear his head after their taxing last case. Toto agrees.

Three days later, Takumi Jumonji brings them to Nandan Island on a boat. He tells them that he invited Totomaru after hearing of his accomplishments from a friend who works for the Aichi Prefectural Police; his friend, in turn, heard of Toto from Omito Kawasemi. Jumonji needed someone to be a "deterrent against crime" because one of the guests is concerned about the case from ten years ago. However, before he can elaborate on this, Ron shuts down the conversation as he does not want to hear anything about a case. Jumonji talks about the island instead.

When they arrive on the island, Jumonji leads Totomaru and Ron to Nandan Observatory and shows them around. When they reach the observation dome, they hear Minami Unno scream "I'll kill you!". She does this to release stress because when the dome is closed off, it is perfectly soundproof. Then, one after another, Eisaku Donzawa, Kayoko Onodera, and John Grizzly enter the dome.

Ron immediately recognizes Grizzly, BLUE's "closed circle" instructor John Grizzly, and wants to know why someone of Grizzly's status is around as "bodyguard." Onodera explains that he is necessary because of the case from ten years ago, and Grizzly tells everyone what happened back then: Six people, including the director, staff members, and guests, were killed during a viewing party for the meteor shower in the constellation of Leo and the case was never solved. Jumonji adds that the director back then was his father; his father loved space and the observatory from the bottom of his heart, and Jumonji is holding the viewing party to overcome the past tragedy like his father would have wanted. Everyone says that they will help to make the event a success. Princess Ori then joins them, and Ron opens the dome. Everyone watches in awe at the telescope turning, and Jumonji informs everyone that they will meet on the roof later; at 11 p.m., the meteor will be visible.

That evening, the standing buffet party begins. Ron talks with Donzawa and Onodera about astronomy, i.a. about brown dwarf stars, and they are amazed by how much he knows about the subject. Meanwhile, Totomaru asks Grizzly about the Bloody Field Trip Case.

Shortly before the meteor shower, Ron, tired from eating and hula-hooping, decides to go to bed early. At 11 p.m., everyone but him then watches the meteor shower, and Totomaru is mowed to tears by the sight. Onodera leaves the party to get some photography equipment not long afterward.

Two hours later, Toto notices Onodera's absence. Then, the observatory dome starts to move and open and a loud gunshot is heard from inside. Toto, Grizzly, Donzawa, and Jumonji hurry to the entrance, but it is locked. Jumonji runs off to fetch the key. Grizzly begins pounding at the door asking if anyone is inside, but there is no response from inside.

Jumonji returns, saying that he could not find the key. Grizzy says they have to break down the door then. Jumonji and Toto help him, and together they manage to open it. They find the observatory dome pitch-black and there is no power. Unno brings some flashlights which Jumonji requested earlier.

They shine into the dome and find Onodera and Ron on the ground, the telescope between them, a gun next to Ron. Grizzly confirms Onodera's death. Princess Ori screams when she hears that and her scream wakes up Ron.

Ron says that he does not remember anything about getting back to his room and lying down after dinner. Unno says to hurry up and hold Ron down, but Grizzly shouts that nobody should move as they are all suspects. He then begins to investigate Onodera's body and the room, and Totomaru helps him. After examining everything and securing the murder weapon, Grizzly states that only Ron could have committed the crime. It is a perfect locked room situation; no one could have come in or left, and only Ron and Onodera were inside the dome.

Ron is unnerved by the turn of events and the similarities to the Bloody Field Trip. He did not know that the door was locked. And when he sits up, he finds the master key in his pocket. Seeing it, Grizzly tells Toto to arrest Ron, but to get his boots first because he is barefoot and the ground covered in glass. While Toto fetches the boots, Grizzly asks Jumonji to contact the police. Jumonji calls the police, but because of the typhoon the earliest they can arrive is tomorrow morning.

In the first-floor storage room, Toto asks Ron if he really does not remember anything. Ron, handcuffed to the pipes, says that last thing he remembers is falling onto his bed. He did not wake up before Princess Ori's scream. Toto tells him that he knows about the Bloody Field Trip and asks if the situation then feels the same as the situation now. Ron affirms this; he does not remember anything, so it has to be.

Totomaru then yells at Ron, reminding him that Ron would have never killed Onodera: She is only an ordinary person, and he only pressures murderers to death. And Ron is not the type of person who would kill someone innocent. His words have helped to untangle Ron's frozen brain a bit, and he remembers that he is a terrible shot with a gun. He got perfect grades in all other courses—except in the firearms class. He could not even graze the target and got nothing but failing grades. Because Onodera was shot precisely through the heart from behind, it is, thus, impossible that Ron is her murderer.

Toto asks him why he did not say that sooner as it is vital information. Ron replies that after the Bloody Field Trip incident, he spent the last five years trying to convince himself to accept what happened during the period he did not remember as an accident, even if he did not actually agree with it. If he did not, he would have hated the victims, and BLUE, and the whole world, and probably would have become a criminal himself.

Ron thanks Toto. With his help, 1% of his frozen brain has started working again. He then asks him asks Toto who he thinks could be the culprit. Realizing that one of the other guests must have killed Onodera and framed Ron, Toto rushes out of the storage room to continue the investigation, leaving Ron behind.

Back in the observatory dome, Totomaru looks through everything again. He notices that the lights were precisely shot out, making it even less likely that the culprit could have been Ron. He also notes how odd it is that the only heard one gunshot, not multiple. Totomaru looks for some kind of securit camera and recalls Jumonji telling them about the telescope being able to automatically follow and record the stars. This means that it was recording at the time of the crime, and Toto goes to check the records on the computer. Right after he has found something, Grizzly comes into the dome, carrying a ladder.

Grizzly tells him that he has also come to investigate and that he has asked everyone for their alibis. Although he and Toto investigate for opposite reasons—Grizzly wants to prove Ron's guilt, Toto Ron's innocence—Grizzly tells him everyone's testimonies. According to them, no one could have committed the crime but Ron. Still, Toto insists that Ron is not the culprit because he would never do such a thing. Toto is sure of it because Ron is his friend.

Grizzly is taken aback by Toto's illogical claims but eventually lets it be and asks him if he has found anything. Totomaru tells him about the shot-out lights and the bullet holes. He also says that he checked the telescope recordings. The power was on from 11 p.m., but from then until 1 a.m. it was totally dark. From 1 a.m. onward, only the North Star is visible. That was when the dome opened, and they heard the gunshot. It did not record anything that could give any clue about the crime.

Grizzly analyzes the information for a moment before he understands what must have happened. He does not tell Totomaru his deduction, only gives him the key for Ron's handcuffs and says that Ron is not the culprit. He adds that this is no time to celebrate as they must capture the true culprit without delay. Because of the police cannot come, the island has become a classic closed circle. If this case is connected to the Nandan Observatory Murder Case, it is possible there will be more victims.

Totomaru heads to the storage room and frees Ron. He tells Ron about his findings, and Ron understands everything as well. Because Totomaru still has no idea, he explains it to him.

First, the telescope's recording showed that the dome was pitch-black from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. It would be impossible to precisely shoot out multiple lights if the dome was totally dark. This means the lights were shot out either before 11 p.m. or after 1 a.m. There were seven lights but they heard only one gunshot after 1 a.m. which means that the lights were shot out before 11 p.m. Therefore, at 11 p.m., the dome's floor was already covered in glass shards. When they found Ron, he was barefoot. If he had walked through the dark room, his feet would have been sliced-up and bloody. Because they were not, Ron did not take a single step into the dome after 11 p.m. And because the telescope had been between them, Ron could not have shot Onodera from his position at 1 a.m. Thus, he cannot be the culprit.

Toto's investigation brought Ron's brain up to 2% functionality. Ron informs Totomaru that he must have been so tired after dinner because someone put sleeping medicine in his meal. He adds that this could have been anyone though, not necessarily Unno. They then return to their room.

Meanwhile, Grizzly keeps investigating in the dome. He finds some fishing line tied to a part of the telescope and realizes who the culprit is. He goes to knock on someone's door, saying he needs to speak with them.

In their room, Ron drinks a lot of brown sugar syrup to get his brain's functionality back to 100%. Toto reminds him that the need to catch the culprit, and Ron tells him that they returned to their room because he wanted to look for evidence. After all, the culprit came to this room to carry him out, but they erased all traces. This means that the culprit must have meticulously planned and prepared for this murder. It is even possible that they were targetting Ron from the start.

Toto also tells Ron that Grizzly wanted to apologize to him and even re-open the investigation into the Bloody Field Trip Case. The next moment, they hear a gunshot and see Grizzly falling from the roof. They run outside. With his last strength, Grizzly weakly tells Ron that it is a trap, but Ron does not hear his last words because he and Toto do not reach him on time. By the time, they do, Grizzly is already dead.

Upon seeing Grizzly's corpse, Ron makes sure that Toto knows how serious the situation is now: BLUE instructors are highly trained and experts in their respective fields. If the culprit managed to kill one, they must be quite formidable. Then, Ron examines Grizzly. Judging from his body temperature, he must have just died. His clothing shows no sign of struggle, so he was either shot from far away or very suddenly before he fell. He is also holding a fishing line in his right hand.

Right afterward, Jumonji and Donzawa join them outside; Jumonji without an umbrella, Donzawa with. They heard the gunshot and wanted to find out what happened. Toto tells them they found out that Ron is not Onodera's killer, and Ron explains everything to them by talking rapidly.

They get Princess Ori and Unno, and everyone gathers in the lobby. Totomaru tells them that he went to check the roof and found the same gun there that was used to shoot Onodera. The culprit must have stolen it from Grizzly. Totomaru then lists what everyone was doing at the time of the crime: Jumonji was resting in his room, and he came out when he heard the gunshot. Donzawa was in the first-floor restroom when he heard the gunshot and ran into Jumonji in the lobby. Unno was sleeping with earplugs on. Princess Ori was wearing headphones to check the sound from her performance recording, so she did not heard the noise. This means none of the them have an alibi, and any of them could have killed Grizzly.

The guests worry about their situation, and Ron interrupts them by saing that "Toto" is incredibly angry because of what happened. He glares at the assembled guests and tells them that the culprit is going to regret it as they have angered the one person they should not have.

Ron and Toto go back to the observatory dorm to re-investigate the first murder. Toto says they heard the gunshot from within the observation dome, so they ran to the entrance but the door was locked. Grizzly, Jumonji, and Toto tackled it open, broke the lock, and went inside. Because the master key was in Ron's pocket, how did the culprit manage to lock the door? Totomaru suggests that, as they have found the fishing line, they might have used it to close the door. Ron says that there is no space by the door for the fishing line to go through. Totomaru closely inspects the door and notices that it was glued shut, making them wonder why the culprit double-sealed the door with the glue and the key.

Toto informs Ron that after they entered the doom, it was pitch-black and they had to use the flashlights Unno brought to be able to find Ron and Onodera. Ron quickly inspects Onodera and makes sure that telescope really blocked his view from her then before he asks Toto to turn off the lights. Toto complies, and the room turns dark. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust, and when they do, he notices the shining emergency lights for the switch that opens the dome roof. Onodera is lying right in front of it. She must have flipped the switch just before she was shot.

Totomaru despairs about the case, believing it to be unsolvable, and turns on the lights again. Ron then tells him that he has solved the mystery of the locked room. Shortly afterward, Princess Ori arrives. She is worried the typhoon might knock out the power and wanted to ask if they knew where the flashlights are. She already asked Unno, but Unno was mad because it was the third time someone asked to bring the flashlights, and refused to tell her. Ron solves the mystery and remarks that she is truly the Orion idol. Just like Orion, the master hunter from Greek mythology, she has hunted down the mystery for them.

Later, Totomaru gathers everyone in the observation dome to arrest the killer. It is the one person who immediately knew to run outside and not go up the roof from where the gunshot had come; the one who ran out of the building without an umbrella to conceal his already-soaked state: Jumonji.

Jumonji protests, saying that he ran outside after he heard the gunshot because he has lost his composure and was not thinking. He also reminds him that he could not have killed Onodera because he was with everyone on the roof, but Totomaru tells him that he figured out that trick too: Jumonji pretended that he needed to go to his room. He looked for Onodera, then attacked and drugged her before he carried her to the observation dome. Afterward, he placed Ron, whose food he had laced with sleeping medicine beforehand, next to the telescope. Jumonji put the master key in Ron's pocket and glued the dome's door shut. Onodera, who was given a lighter dose of the drug, woke up before Ron. Because it was pitch-black, she tried to turn on the light, but Jumonji had destroyed the lamps earlier. She then went to the door; however, because it was glued closed, she thought it was locked, and when she turned the key, she locked the door. With the lights broken and the door locked, Onodera went to open the dome's ceiling. As a result, the telescope turned and triggered a mechanism that set off a gun which then shot her in the back and immediately killed her.

The gun had been positioned in an air vent tied to the telescope with the fishing line, and Jumonji had put the model gun from the lobby next to Ron. When everyone's attention was on Onodera's corpse, Jumonji retrieved the real gun from the vent. He later used it to kill Grizzly.

Jumonji wants to know if Totomaru has any proof that he is the murderer. Totomaru counters this with a question of his own: Before they broke open the dome's door, Jumonji told Unno to get flashlights. How did he know about the dome's broken lights? After all, only the killer could know this.

Jumonji confesses and reveals that Onodera was, in fact, a journalist who investigated unsolved crimes. She wanted to find out the truth about the tragedy from ten years ago and had been coming to the observatory for this reason for years, and when she left the viewing party, she actually searched Jumonji's room for clues. Because Jumonji had been hiding the truth and the murder weapon for all those years—that his father killed those people ten years ago before he killed himself—and did not want Onodera to learn and expose it, he murdered her. He killed Grizzly because he kept on investigating although the initial situation incriminated Ron until he figured out that Jumonji is the true culprit.

His confession triggers Ron's Kill on Sight ability. Ron holds out the gun to him and tries to pressure him to take it and shoot himself, but Toto tackles Ron before the ability takes hold of Jumonji. Jumonji then takes out a cyanide capsule and swallows it. Ron shakes him and demands to know why the trap was for him and if he anticipated his presence here. Jumonji tells him that he did and that no matter how much he struggles, he will never escape "his" grasp. Ron wants to know what he means, but Jumonji only says that the sun is rising before he "dies."

Everyone but Ron head to the lobby. As the sun begins to rise, Toto calls the local police on his cellphone and then announces that they are headed toward the island which relieves the remaining guests.

Ron, meanwhile, talks to Jumonji, saying thet he calculated everything from the start, took advantage of his love of brown sugar, lured him to the viewing party through Toto. He set him up to make him look like the killer in front of a BLUE instructor. He asks Jumonji who he is and, if someone gave him instructions, who those people were. Ron then remarks that it was fitting that an observatory director's last words were "The sun is rising," and opens the dome to show him the sunrise. As sunlight enters the dome, Ron is shocked by what he sees.

Toto returns to the dome with the local police. The police interrogate the guests while forensics record the findings for the bodies. Totomaru helps with questioning Princess Ori. When they are done, she says that when he is working, he shines like a "first-magnitude star" before she "comet-dashes" away.

After the police leaves with the bodies, Totomaru finds Ron in the lobby. Ron tells him that he changed his mind: After their last case, he said he wanted to give up detective work; he wants to take back his words now. He has to continue his detective work because this case was just like the Bloody Field Trip Case, and it was no coincidence because when sunlight illuminated the dome, the number 96 became visible. Some had drawn it in red ink on the carpet before Onodera was killed, and she died right on top of it.

The Bloody Field Trip Case was an anomaly in his life, a turning point that completely changed his life for the worse. Only after it, he started to pressure murderers to death; because of it, he has that scar on his neck. Therefore, Ron is sure that the Bloody Field Trip was a set-up and that whoever did all that to him is the same person Jumonji mentioned earlier. They are messing with him and he will not forgive them for this.

Meanwhile, on the police boat, Jumonji zips open his body bag and sits up. Earlier, he ate fizzy almond-scented candy and put a ball under his arm to stop his pulse to fake his death. He thanks the "police officer" for helping him to avoid his death and start a new life. Jumonji reached out to the legendary M. Family for assistance because of his trouble with Onodera, and he is still amazed that the organization actually exists.

The "policeman" then asks him how Ron was. Jumonji tells him that Ron changed after his admission; there was genuine murderous intent in his eyes. It was exactly like he had been told it would be. After receiving this confirmation, the "police officer" shoots Jumonji in the head as his duty was done. He then removes his disguise and calls his his brother to tell him about Ron: He is not like any of them and does not seem to know the meaning of the "96"-mark because his face became pale after seeing it.

The brother says Ron will come to like it eventually, the blood of their side which flows through him. After all, he has the blood of both Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty in his veins.

At the observatory, Ron happily hula-hoops, and Toto remarks that his bad mood did not last long at all. Ron sas that it is kind of wonderful that he has his own personal mystery now and asks Toto if he will continue to help him out. He affirms this; after all, if he is not around, someone will pin a murder on Ron in no time.

Ron then tells him that Unno gave him some brown sugar syrup she did not need. She gave him three canisters, so Toto could have one. Toto does not need it though, and Ron suggests that he could give it as a souvenir to Amamiya instead. Although the container for the syrup looks like it stores marine fuel, Toto actually considers this.

## Trivia

* Akira Amano enjoyed writing the Island Observatory Murder Case because it was the first time she created a lengthy case. She also likes it because it reveals Ron's secret and progresses the story to the "next stage."

## References

1. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 8, pages 30-31
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, page 4
3. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, pages 15-18
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, pages 2-3
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, pages 11-19
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, page 21
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 11, page 7
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, pages 27-28
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 11, page 5
10. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, page 29
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 11, page 6
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 10, page 9
13. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, pages 30-35
14. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 10, page 8
15. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 10, pages 9-16
16. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 9, pages 2-35
17. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 10, pages 3-29
18. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 11, pages 3-27
19. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 12, pages 3-26
20. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 13, pages 3-38
21. ↑ File:RKDD Amano, Azakami, Enoki Interview 1.png