Live Broadcast Murder Case

* Anime
* Manga

The **Live Broadcast Murder Case** is a murder case that happened during a broadcast of Lie or Truth? ESP!!. The murder was apparently committed with the power of ESP.

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

## Overview

In a live-broadcasted episode of Lie or Truth? ESP!!, self-proclaimed psychic Dankichi Torage faces off against neurosurgeon Mofu Usaki. He wants to prove her and the world that he has ESP powers by demonstrating his apparent power of controlling someone's brain using only writing. A volunteer is given noise-cancelling headphones, and Torage shows him three signs. On the first, he writes "jump" in English, and on the second, "run." The volunteer obeys in both cases although it seemingly goes against his will.

Mofu reveals that she analyzed the volunteer's basic movements with a biological motion app and learned that he is the same volunteer Torage "randomly" chose the last time; they are, thus, partners and the demonstration is not to be believed. To prove her wrong, Torage then writes "death" in English on the third and final sign. The volunteer promptly collapses. Afterward, Mofu examines the body and finds the cause of death to be poison; because of the flaccid paralysis and cyanosis, she suspects he has been injected with a nerve poison, possibly blowfish poison, snake venom, or botolinium toxin. Ron also notices a small mark on the back of his neck when he inspects the corpse; he believes it to be a poison needle wound.

## History

At the Maison du Kamonohashi, Toto and Ron watch an episode of Lie or Truth? ESP!!. In it, Dankichi Torage and Mofu Usaki face off; he wants to prove that he is a real psychic with ESP powers, and she wants to disprove him.

Torage says he will control someone's brain using only writing and asks for a volunteer. A young man is chosen, and Torage says that what he will perform is not hypnosis: He will directly control the man's brain using words he writes on a large panel. Further, to ensure no influence from his voice, noise-cancelling headphones were prepared for the subject to wear. He shows the audience the English word "jump." The subject proceeds to jump, to the astonishment of the audience and Toto. Torage shows the English word "run," saying the subject's brain will obey the word regardless of his will. The subject begins to run around the stage.

Mofu protests, asking if the subject was really selected randomly. Torage says he was, and Mofu replies that even if a person is disguised, it is impossible to change their basic movements, which almost function like a fingerprint. She analyzed the subjects movements and confirmed that the subject is the same one as the last time, that he was a plant working with Torage.

Torage challenges Mofu by writing another word, saying will she believe the subject is not a plant once the word is shown. Torage writes the English word "death" on the panel. Mofu is sure the subject will not die though. Then, Torage shows the panel to the subject, and the subject shuts his eyes and falls onto the floor. After some moments Torage holds the subject's wrist, and announces that he is dead. The show cuts the feeds and puts up the emergency message, while calling for an ambulance.

Ron—as Kamoji Asasuki, a "fair-weather fan" of Torage—and Toto arrive at Donut Television; in the meantime, Amamiya allowed Toto to handle the case. There, Toto is informed by forensics that the subject's death has been verified, and Ron lays down and inspects the corpse. Shortly afterward, they meet Torage, and Torage gives Ron an autograph in Toto's notebook when he requests one. However, Torage uses the thick side of his marker, making the writing illegible.

Totomaru and Ron then meet Mofu and Shikada. Mofu tells them about her findings when she examined the corpse, but she is too distraught by the situation to deduce what has truly transpired. She also says that Torage never made any suspicious movements, and the victim collapsed as soon as he saw the panel. From where Torage was standing, it would have been impossible for him to aim for the neck. Lastly, there was not anyone behind the test subject victim.

Ron then drops his "fan" act to "seriously" pursue the investigation. Not long afterward, the forensics team reports to Totomaru that they were not able to locate a poison needle, and Totomaru brings this piece of information back to Ron and Mofu.

Ron ask Mofu whether the volunteer twitched after he collapsed. Mofu says that, while she was doing chest compressions, the victim let out a groan for a moment before his breathing stopped again. Ron solves the case and proclaims that "all of the tricks are in the TV."

They then gather everyone for Totomaru to reveal what happened. To do so, Toto wants to reenact the incident and asks Mofu to play the test subject; he himself would play as Torage and use the same panel cards used during the broadcast. Toto also asks to be lent the marker Torage used, but Torage refuses. Mofu is ultimately able to retrieve the marker from him though. Then, she puts on the noise-cancelling headphones, and Toto raises the signs with "jump" and "run" written on them; Mofu complies. And when he shows her the "death" sign, Mofu falls onto the floor.

Everyone panicks, and Totomaru calms them down, reassuring them that Mofu is not dead. He explains that the board is just normal card stock, but Torage flipped the card when he set it on the podium. When he picked it up, he grabbed it from the opposite side, to show the card upside-down to the victim. Toto then shows the flipped panel to everyone; due to the particular way, "sleep" was written and semi-stylized, it became "sleep" upside-down. The accomplice was, thus, just pretending to be asleep. Torage then took advantage of the commotion and injected the poison into the back of the victim's neck. Thus, when Mofu was doing CPR, the victim still groaned because the poison only spread slowly.

Torage exclaims that it is a false accusation and they have not found the poison needle. Toto informs him that they already recovered it: When he signed Toto's notebook, Torage used the thicker side because he had inserted a poison needle into the narrow marker side.

After some theatrics, Torage ultimately surrenders and confesses that his accomplice threatened him. He said he would reveal his secrets if he did not give him 90 percent of the profits. This triggers Ron's Kill on Sight ability. He tells Torage to stab himself and flicks the marker out of Totomaru's hand to Torage. When Torage is about to stab himself, Toto charges in and draws out his hand to stop him—and gets stabbed by the narrow marker side. Panic errupts. Ron is distraught, and Totomaru fears for his life. However, the marker left an ink spot in his skin, and Torage says that he took out the narrow marker to insert the poison needle: When Mofu retrieved the marker earlier, she tripped and sent not only the murder weapon but other markers flying. She then took the wrong pen. This relieves everyone but Ron.

As they leave, the TV network building, Toto jokes around, but Ron firmly tells him that he jeopardized his life; he cannot continue their partnership like that. He leaves on his own while Toto goes to help Mofu whose bandage got stuck on a railing. She tells him that his deduction is going to save many lives. This makes Toto realize that what he and Ron are doing is right and worth every danger. He thanks her and hurries after Ron.

Toto catches up to Ron outside the building and tells him that they cannot quit. Ron reminds him that his ability nearly killed him, and Totomaru reminds him that he only isolated himself for five years *because* he cares about other people's lives so much; he also reassures him that he will not die that easily. They are then interrupted by a network employee who has come to deliver a letter to Toto. Toto opens it and finds an invitation by the Comet Appreciation Society to a party at an island observatory to watch a meteor shower in the constellation of Leo inside. Ron takes a look at it too and then says that he has to go too as the island is calling him.

## References

1. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 7, pages 4-16
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 7, pages 24-25
3. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 7, pages 2-29
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 8, pages 2-31