Missing Cabbage Case

The **Missing Cabbage Case** is a case about the mysterious shortage of cabbage throughout the Tokyo Metropolis.

It is the 18th main case in the *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* series.

## Overview

It is Toto's birthday. For the special occasion, Ron called Kawasemi, Chicory, Amamiya, Mofu, and Spitz to throw Toto a hot pot party at the Maison du Kamonohashi. Everyone was instructed to bring various ingredients. I.a., Kawasemi brought *hatchō miso*, dark soybean miso from the Aichi Prefecture, and Spitz brought drinks. Furthermore, Ron vetoed to have brown-sugar-flavored hot pot.

Toto is touched by the surprise. However, the situation escalates when the others find out that there is a Chinese cabbage shortage. Insisting that there has to be Chinese cabbage in hot pot, Ron, Amamiya, Kawasemi, Chicory, and Mofu come together the solve the mystery—to Toto's dismay.

## History

While Toto is heading to the Maison du Kamonohashi after Ron sent him a cryptic text message, he is attacked by a stray cat. Mofu approaches him and apologizes: She dropped *enoki*, and when she wanted to pick them up, she accidentally kicked them on the head of a stray cat instead. To Toto's surprise, Chicory is with Mofu. After they talk a bit, Chicory and Mofu leave to do some "pressing" business.

At Ron's apartment, Toto is surprised to see that Amamiya and Kawasemi are there too. He asks Ron what is going on, and Ron reveals that he exaggerated in his message to ensure that Totomaru would come over—after all, it is his birthday today.

Ron informs Toto that he called everyone to throw him a hot pot party, and Kawasemi happened to be in Tokyo because of business reasons. Chicory and Mofu arrive shortly afterward. Everyone's efforts touches Toto and he thanks them for everything. Then, Chicory tells everyone that she went to three supermarkets but they were all out of Chinese cabbage. Totomaru is fine with having hot pot without cabbage. However, Ron and Kawasemi stress that cabbage is essential to hot pot, and Ron calls Spitz to search a bit farther away for cabbage.

In the background, the television is running and a news broadcast announces that a Tokyo jewelry store was robbed early this morning. Then, Kawasemi suggests to use his *hatchō miso* as the hot pot flavor, but Amamiya argues that they will use the standard soy sauce flavor as they are in Tokyo. Ron informs them that the flavor has already been decided: The hot pot will be brown-sugar-flavored. Everyone has mixed feelings about that.

Then, Spitz arrives and announces that he looked for cabbage in fifteen shops and none of them had any. Totomaru wonders if there was a bad harvest this year, but Chicory says there were cabbages available last week. Because hot pot is not hot pot without cabbage, Ron, Amamiya, Mofu, Chicory, and Kawasemi get ready to investigate this "indispensable" case and bring the truth to light while Spitz and Toto think they are exaggerating the matter.

After everyone agrees to Ron's plan to solve the mystery of the missing cabbage for Toto's birthday, they realize that they all know him by different names: Amamiya knows him as "Kamoo," Chicory as "Kamokyu," Kawasemi as "Kamosemi," and Mofu as "Kamonohashi." Ron explains that he sometimes does not feel like using his real name; Toto then thinks of suitable nicknames. Everyone accepts this explanation and decides to keep calling Ron by the name they know him.

Then, they review the facts. When Amamiya suggests that cabbages may have been trending which led to people mass-buying them, Chicory tells her that she looked that up. Cabbages were not trending anywhere, but she found out that a greengrocer reported to have seen a man with a facemask, sunglasses, and a hat buying all the cabbages. With that in mind, Mofu, Toto, Kawasemi, Amamiya, and Ron each make a guess.

Mofu thinks the culprit may have bought so much cabbage because they are clumsy too and needs a lot of backup for cooking. Ron reminds her that no one is as clumsy as her, and the theory is dismissed.

Totomaru believes the Korean chef in the third district may be the culprit because he also wears a facemask, sunglasses, and a hat. His kimchi is amazing, and if his restaurant suddenly got very popular, he would need a lot of Chinese cabbage to make enough kimchi. Amamiya points out that it is impossible for a single restaurant to use up all cabbages in town just for kimchi. His theory is dismissed too.

Kawasemi remembers the news from earlier and theorizes that the cabbage thief and the jewel thief are the same person: After committing their theft and fleeing the scene, they noticed a police officer walking toward them. The thief hid the jewels in a cabbage truck which drove away before they could retrieve the stolen goods. By the time, they found the truck, the cabbages had been unloaded, and they had to buy all the cabbages in the area to get back the stolen jewels. Ron says that Chinese cabbages are usually cut up before they are displayed; the thief would have to break into the supermarkets to get the cabbages before opening time. Then, the news broadcast announces that the thief was apprehended: He had been hiding in a warehouse near the crime scene. Thus, Kawasemi's theory is dismissed as well.

Amamiya then suggests that the culprit may not have wanted to acquire Chinese cabbages but "erase" them from the market to force shoppers to buy something else as a substitute, e.g. lettuce. The culprit may, thus, be a lettuce farmer wanting to profit from the missing Chinese cabbages. Toto wonders whether they would even make a profit after spending so much money on cabbages. And although her theory was overthrown too, Ron uses it as a basis for his own.

Ron says he also thinks the culprit may be a farmer, specifically one who sells to stores wholesale. Then, they would have to hide their face to ensure that the supermarket employees did not recognize them. The farmer might have had to buy all the cabbages again after selling them to the supermarkets because he did not want them to sell. For example, the farmer might have gotten into a fight with his son who then poured pesticides over the cabbages in his anger. His father delivered the cabbages without knowing any better, and when the son realized that, the cabbages were already being lined up in stores. The son then had to buy all the Chinese cabbages to make sure the family business and his future would not be tainted by his anger-fuelled action.

Everyone is satisfied with Ron's theory. However, he insists that he is only an amateur and Toto will solve the mystery. Everyone roots for Toto and awaits his deduction—only, he has no other idea than his kimchi one. Stressed, Toto reaches for a drink in Spitz's shopping bag and takes out multiple receipts alongside a drink: All receipts show that Spitz bought dozens of cabbages in various supermarkets. Caught, Spitz confesses that he bought up all cabbages because he despises Chinese cabbage. Everyone is shocked by his admission.

Afterward, everyone wishes Toto a happy birthday, and Ron brings the nabe hot pot to the table. The pitch-black brown-sugar-syrup-based hot pot garners many unnerved looks. Ron innocently says that they agreed on *hatchō miso* in the end and wonders where the brown sugar came from. He suggests to search for the culprit, but Toto replies that they already know who it is. Ron praises him for the quick deduction, and Toto tells him to shut up.

## References and notes

1. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, pages 8-11
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, page 14
3. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, page 13
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, pages 15-16
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, page 11
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, page 12
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, pages 16-18
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 58, pages 4-18
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 59, pages 2-19

1. ↑ Although the MangaPlus translation only calls the food "cabbage," the Japanese original says "白菜" (*hakusai*, Chinese cabbage).