Shusuke Sakai

**Shusuke Sakai** (酒井秋助, *Sakai Shusuke*) is a hired chef at the Auberge Reunion.

## Physical description

Sakai has short dark hair and dark eyes. He usually wears his chef uniform and a bandana on his head.

## Biography

### Plateau Auberge Serial Murders Case

Sakai greets Ron Kamonohashi and Totomaru Isshiki when they arrive at the Auberge Reunion. He informs them that they are short-staffed and apologizes that he cannot give them a warmer welcome. Toto tells him not to worry about it, and Ron asks him if he was the one who sent him his invitation. Sakai takes a look at it and confirms that the menu detailed in the invitation is the one that they would be serving today. However, he is only a hired chef who has not even met the auberge's owner. Thus, he knows nothing about the invitations. Sakai gives Ron and Toto their room key, tells them to go to the dining room at six o'clock, and then hurries back to the kitchen.

At six o'clock, Sakai greets the guests in the dining hall and tells them to please sit down at the room's singular round table. When everyone is seated, Sakai brings out the four courses one after another. Bill Clark excuses himself when the fourth course arrives, but Sakai says that he wants them to try the dessert. Upon seeing the dessert, Karen Lily, Tom Sasaoka, Tiger Dan, and Lenny Gardner also tell him that they are full and leave the dining hall.

The next morning, Sakai is called after Dan hears a strange noise from Gardner's room. He, Dan, and Lily knock on Gardner's room; they receive no response, but Sakai cannot open the room as he does not have the key for it. Ron and Totomaru arrive, and Ron offers to pick the lock. However, Lily is quicker. She unlocks the door, and they find Gardner's corpse inside, lying on the ground with a ice pick lodged in his chest and flowers covering and surrounding him.

Toto asks Sakai to call the local police. He complies and later returns, informing everyone that they have no phone signal, the landline does not work, and the mountain road is closed off due to a landslide. Sakai and the others head to the nearby ropeway station, but it is out of service for the day and they have no way to escape from the plateau on which the auberge is located. There, Sakai tells everyone that the auberge is the only establishment that is open during the off-season. Thus, they are the only one on the plateau right now. Then, Sasaoka runs away into the woods, and Toto and Ron follow him after Toto urges the others to return to the auberge.

Later, back at the auberge, Lily screams. Sakai and the other guests hurry to her, and Lily tells them that she walked past the bathroom door when she saw that yesterday's menu was taped to it as well. The bathroom door is open, and they look inside and find Sasaoka's corpse.

After examining the body and crime scene, Toto and Ron gather everyone in the dining room to ask them about their alibis at the time of Sasaoka's murder. Sakai states that he was in the kitchen. Nobody else has an alibi as well. Then, Toto reveals that Gardner's and Sasaoka's murder was modelled after dishes from yesterday's dinner: Gardner was covered in flowers (the edible flower salad), and Sasaoka was placed in red-colored water (the lobster soup). Sakai insists that he knows nothing about this and was only hired to prepare those dishes. However, while Sakai does not know the meaning behind the dishes, Sasaoka knew it—and so do Clark, Lily, and Dan.

Ron persuades them to confess, and the three admit to having been hired by a man with a crescent moon mark seventeen years ago. They were all treated to the same meal which had the same courses as yesterday's dinner, and they were all hired to do something in connection to the murder of Jim Gore and paid with emeralds. Gardner and Mia's mother were involved as well.

Because every other guest is connected to the Jim Gore Murder Case, Clark wonders what Ron's connection to it is. Lily and Dan note Ron's resemblance to the crescent moon man, and Clark suspects Ron to be the murderer. Totomaru reminds them that Ron was with him when Sasaoka was murdered and that he was only a child seventeen years ago. Dan also comes to Ron's defense, saying that the veracity of everyone else's story is just as suspect.

Afterward, Toto, Ron, Mia, and Lily decide to search the vacant rooms. Clark declines to participate in the search as he is tired, and Dan proposes that everyone takes a two-hour break. Sakai adds that he has barely got any sleep and can hardly stand anymore. Lily does not want to wait though; she and the others go look through the rooms while Sakai, Dan, and Clark retreat to their rooms.

Later, Sakai seeks out Ron and Toto in the first-floor storage room to tell them that he has discovered another corpse. He leads them to the wine cellar where Clark's corpse lies covered in extinguishing foam. The others arrive as well, and Totomaru assures everyone that he will catch the murderer.

Toto examines the corpse; he notes that it is still warm and that the crime scene is yet another reference to one of yesterday's dishes (fresh fish steamed with white wine and served with a foam garnish). He also notices that, curiously, Clark was strangulated and not stabbed like Sasaoka and Gardner.

On Toto's request, Sakai tells him that he was cooking in the kitchen to relax because he was too restless to sleep and found the corpse when he wanted to get some wine for a dish. Toto then inquires what everyone was doing at the time of the murder: Mia was writing in her journal, Lily tried to connect to the internet in vain, and Dan worked on a lawsuit. Because they were all alone, none of them has an alibi except for Ron and Toto who were together. Still, Lily insists that Ron must be the culprit because he looks like the crescent moon man; she even theorizes that Toto may be a fake officer.

Then, Totomaru checks the menu for the next dish: three varieties of roast game. This makes Dan believe that three people will die at once next. Everyone is nervous about this possibility, and Totomaru tells them to calm down and suggests that Mia, Sakai, Lily, and Dan wait in the dining room while he and Ron investigate.

Later, Lily rushes outside as she wants to walk down the mountain, and Mia, Dan, and Sakai follow her and try to convince her to stay.

When Lily is about to walk past a sign saying "Beware of landslides ahead!", Mia and Dan tell her to stop because she could start a landslide. Toto asks Lily why she would do something so reckless, and she replies that she does not want to be shot and reminds him that she heard an explosive sound from Gardner's room when he died. She believes the culprit fired a bullet as a threat and accuses Ron of carrying a hidden gun.

Ron then solves the case and declares that, after seventeen years, a "Judas" was revealed at this last supper. He tells everyone that he does not mind being searched for a gun, but asks if Toto can share the results of his investigation first as "he" has solved the case.

Everyone gathers in the dining hall, and Toto reveals the reason why the crime scenes were modelled after the dinner's dishes and the culprit: Gardner was stabbed in front of his room, not inside it. With the last of his strength, he was able to lock himself in his room and grab an "oniyuri" before he collapsd. The culprit saw this through the window; because of that, footprints were below it. To cover up Gardner's dying message, they took flowers from the garden and put them in a balloon from the storage room which they slipped under the door and inflated. The balloon exploded, covered Gardner in flowers and made the crime scene look like the edible flower salad; the balloon explosion was the exploding sound Lily and Dan heard. Afterward, the murderer continued basing the crime scenes on the dishes.

Gardner did not speak Japanese. The flower he grabbed before his death is called "oniyuri" in Japanese—and "tiger lily" in English. Because Lily could have easily picked the lock of Gardner's room and removed the flower from his hands, Gardner could have only meant Tiger Dan.

Dan objects to the accusation, and Ron lays out more reasons why Dan is the murderer: Clark was covered with extinguishing foam and not with wine although he was killed in the wine cellar because Sakai was in the kitchen at that time and the culprit could not get a corkscrew. They also could not break a bottle as they would inevitably get wine on their clothes and they had no more clean clothes after getting drenched and having to change when they struggled against Sasaoka in the bath. Thus, the murderer had to risk getting the fire extinguisher from the hallway. Because the culprit is someone who does not have many extra clothes and Mia brought a lot of clothes, she cannot be it. And because the culprit has to be someone able to read the fire extinguisher's label and Lily cannot read Japanese, it cannot not be her either. Sakai could not be the killer as well because he could have easily gotten a corkscrew from the kitchen. Therefore, only Dan can be the murderer.

To Sakai's shock, Dan confesses and says that he killed so many people to reawaken Ron's Moriarty roots; Ron still has a criminal's heart and it allowed him to replicate Dan's criminal state of mind and solve the case. Ron tells him that he indeed decided to cease doing detective work. Dan is thrilled to know his method worked because many in the M. Family opposed his endeavor. He adds that he also wanted to use this opportunity to eliminate everyone involved in the Jim Gore Murder Case because the M. Family leaves no trace of its activities. He sent out the invitations and told a made-up story to make the others confess to their crimes. Dan then keeps telling Ron that he has always been a Moriarty and a criminal and will always be one.

Ron freezes up, and Toto tells him to get a grip because he noticed that Dan is lying but cannot see through his "colossal lie"; Ron could though.

The teddy bear on Mia's lap starts to speak and introduces itself as the M. Family's eldest son, Mylo Moriarty. Mylo says he intended to watch everything silently but decided to reveal himself after Dan's plan failed. Then, Ron orders Sakai, Mia, and Lily to cover their ears so that they do not hear more about the M. Family; they comply.

Sakai, Lily, and Mia do not uncover their ears while Toto, Ron, and Mylo talk. When their conversation is done, Mylo detonates an incendiary bomb planted in the Auberge Reunion for the main dish: three types of roast game.

The auberge, being largely built of wood, quickly catches fire. When Sakai and Lily try to flee, Dan shoots them in the legs before he picks up Mylo's teddy bear and flees. Toto asks Sakai and Lily if they are fine; they negate as they obviously cannot walk. He carries them out of the burning building and to Mia who has already escaped from the auberge. Totomaru tells Mia to get Sakai and Lily as far away from the building as possible before he runs back inside to get Ron.

Sakai and the others are saved by Spitz Feier. With BLUE's help, Sakai, Mia, and Lily go into top secret protection to ensure their safety after hearing of the M. Family.

## Etymology

* The name "Shusuke" means "autumn" (秋, *shu*) and "help, rescue, assist/assistant/assistance" (助, *suke*).
	+ Sakai is a hired help for the Auberge Reunion. The Plateau Auberge Serial Murders Case is also likely set in autumn.
* His surname "Sakai" means "liquor, sake, alcohol, booze" (酒, *saka*) and "well, mine shaft, pit" (井, *i*).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, page 14
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, pages 13-14
3. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, pages 16-25
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, pages 27-29
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 39, page 4
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 39, pages 7-10
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 39, pages 18-19
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 40, page 3
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 40, pages 6-16
10. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 41, pages 3-7
11. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 41, pages 18-22
12. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 42, pages 3-9
13. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 42, pages 17-22
14. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 43, pages 4-20
15. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 45, pages 3-5
16. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 45, pages 13-16
17. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 45, page 20