The Case of the Twin Prison Locked Room Murder Pt. 1

**The Case of the Twin Prison Locked Room Murder Pt. 1** is the 51st chapter of the *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga.

## Summary

Totomaru asks Ron what he means with a case "important to him," and Ron reminds him of Chicory's article about the discovery of a seven-year-old corpse in the Okutama Mountains. Totomaru points out that they have only found a body; it is uncertain whether it is a real case yet. Ron says this is exactly why he is interested.

Ron then drives them to the Okutama Mountains. On the way, Toto reads the article and tells Ron that the corpse was found in the Moon Prison. Ron says this is the most intriguing aspect of the case because the prison is one of the "Two Prisons" an eccentric architect built one hundred years ago. The other prison, the Sun Prison, is located in England. Seventy years ago, someone was murdered there too, though this locked-room murder has never been solved. Toto then inquires about the side effects of Ron's medication; Ron only replies that "a difficult case is the best medicine for him."

When they arrive at the Moon Prison, Ron remarks that it looks just like the Sun Prison. They meet Amamiya at the prison, and Totomaru is surprised that she came to the scene without taking a day off. Amamiya says that she got called in; she could not have possibly stayed home in this case. She then notices "Kamoo" who gifts her a lollipop for arresting the culprit in the Severed Head Balloon Case and asks if he can help with the case too.

She allows it and briefs Ron and Totomaru about the case: Juntaro Mihane locked himself in Moon Prison "to connect with space" seven years ago, right after buying the prison. Ron tells Toto that Juntaro belonged to the same religious organization as Jarr Jorr, the prison's architect; he designed the prisons to aid the organization's goal. Shortly after the purchase, Juntaro was murdered with a blow to his had. He had first been reported missing before he was declared dead; his corpse was only found today by his family. Amamiya also introduces Juntaro's family to Toto and Ron: His wife Youko, his son Kiyotaka, his younger brother Junji Kaji, and his servant Kaki Sakanoue who are being questioned by an officer. They have been at the Moon Prison two weeks earlier as well because they wanted to liquidate Juntaro's estate. However, they did not see Juntaro's corpse through the window. And because the door was locked, they could not get inside. Shortly after Juntaro went missing, the Moon Prison key was completely warped in a house fire, rendering it useless. Kaji wanted to break the window to get inside the prison, but Youko did not let him as it is a one-of-a-kind window; destroying it would reduce the building's value. Kiyotaka then found out online that the Sun Prison key is identical to the Moon Prison key and contacted the Sun Prison's owner who agreed to send the key to him. Two weeks later, they could finally enter the prison and found Juntaro's corpse.

Toto is shocked to hear that the body suddenly appeared in the room and wonders if the body was in an area which could not be seen from the window. He and Ron then look through the prison's only window. Through it, they can look into the prison's single room—and right at Juntaro's corpse lying on the ground. Toto notes that Juntaro's family could not have possibly overlooked the body, and Kiyotaka shows him a picture he took through the window as proof. Indeed, two weeks ago, Juntaro's corpse was not in the locked prison.

Amamiya tells Ron and Totomaru that the prison door is made of thick steel before she leads them inside to show them that it is a perfect locked room mystery: There is only one room with one fireplace. The floor is a single slab of concrete, making it impossible for anyone to have entered the room from beneath. Totomaru asks if the body could have entered the prison through the chimney, but Amamiya infoms him that the chimney is too narrow; not even a child could fit through it. Totomaru checks the chimney and confirms this.

When they leave the prison, Ron notes that the Moon prison is exactly like the Sun Prison and this is a textbook locked room case. Amamiya asks what he means with "textbook"; Toto replies that he calls the internet his "textbook." An officer then approaches them to say that he believes the family is lying to "deify" the Moon Prison as "locked rooms" and "impossible crimes" do not exist outside of fiction; it is likely that Juntaro simply fell on his head by accident and died.

When Amamiya remarks that it would indeed be nice if this was only an accident, a man appears to tell her that she does not have the authority to declare Juntaro's death an accident. He also notes the Moon Prison's stark similarity to the Sun Prison to his hooded companion, his "Madame." She confirms this to Shachi and proceeds to ask who is in charge of the crime scene. Amamiya tells her that she is, and the woman replies that she will now assume direction of the crime scene. This upsets the officers who asks if they are from the FBI or Interpol. Shachi, offended, says they are "cooler" than Interpol and the FBI; he also tells the officer not to be rude to "Madame." She then shows everyone her S-rank detective license. Ron is shocked to see it. Amamiya recognizes the license as well as her boss told her about such experts. She remarks she did not expect them to have already arrived from England. Shachi only replies that "of course" they did.

The woman then tells Amamiya that she is looking forward to working with her and uncloaks herself. Amamiya and Ron respectively recognize her as the world's expert on locked room studies and BLUE's locked room instructor, Detective Fin Fennec.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Totomaru Isshiki
* Ron Kamonohashi
* Amamiya
* Youko Mihane
* Kiyotaka Mihane
* Junji Kaji
* Kaki Sakanoue
* Shachi
* Fin Fennec