Fortuneteller Prince Murder Case

The **Fortuneteller Prince Murder Case** is a murder case that occurred at a signing event for the Fortuneteller Prince's newest book.

It is the 15th main case in the *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* series.

## Overview

Before the signing event for the Fortuneteller Prince's new book, Lost Koala confronts him about his Mega-Boost Fortunetelling. She has been a devoted fan of the Fortuneteller Prince for a long time and donated a lot of money to him and his business. However, now she demands her money back because she is certain that he is a conman: He steals his customers' passwords via his Mega-Boost app and uses the internet to learn as much as possible about them to give them fitting advice and gain their trust. Lost Koala realized this after investigating the unauthorized access to her social media account and following the trail to him.

The Fortuneteller Prince tries to stop her from reporting him to the police, but when his attempts fail, he strangles her with a Mega-Boost ribbon.

Later, during the signing event, Lost Koala's corpse is found in the venue's garden. The Fortuneteller Prince claims she died because she was not wearing her Mega-Boost item: a pair of blue gloves.

## History

Spitz meets up with Toto and Ron at Pot Coffee to inform them that he was unable to find out anything about the M. Family mole at BLUE. Believing that he has no other choice, Ron wants to march into BLUE, but Toto and Spitz stop him, reminding him that he was expelled and will not be let in. Ron decides to wait until the mole comes to Japan, and asks Spitz if he wants a drink. Spitz orders a cola and a coffee, but Ron gives him a brown sugar drink because he has deduced that Spitz only wanted a brown drink.

Spitz confirms this and tells Ron and Toto that he is currently obsessed with the Fortuneteller Prince and his Mega-Boost Fortunetelling; his Mega-Boost items for today included "brown drinks." Spitz even bought three tickets for thirty thousand yen to a signing for the Fortuneteller Prince's new book and invites Ron and Toto to come with him.

Later that day, Ron, Spitz, and Toto go to the venue, an inn, and wait until their number gets called to get their signed book and the event-exclusive Mega-Boost ribbon. Totomaru is called first. The Fortuneteller Prince remarks that his work has gone well in the past few months and binds the Mega-Boost ribbon around his wrist. Afterward, Toto rejoins Spitz and Ron, and Ron tells him that the Prince's correct guess was only a trick; he figured it out while watching Toto and the Prince. Before Ron can explain the trick, a staff member announces that it is time for the customary monthly event. At that event, this month's Mega-Boost zodiac sign will announced and everyone with that zodiac sign can buy special items.

Right afterward, a group of fans discover Lost Koala's corpse in the garden. Spitz, Ron, and Totomaru inspect the body, and Totomaru confirms her death. The Fortuneteller Prince arrives, expresses his sadness over losing such a devoted fan, and claims that Lost Koala died because she was not wearing her Mega-Boost blue gloves. Toto calls Amamiya, and although the Fortuneteller Prince says that he will help with the investigation, Ron is wary of him.

The police arrives, and an officer relays a message from Amamiya to Toto: He should do his job. The officer also informs Toto about the result of Lost Koala's autopsy: She died of strangulation about two hours ago, just before the start of the party which was invite-only. Witnesses saw Lost Koala arrive early and leave her seat right before the signing.

Ron states that it looks like Lost Koala was strangled with a belt-shaped cord. Totomaru asks the officer if such an item was found. The officer negates and says that it is possible the murder weapon was flushed down the toilet; they will check the surveillance cameras to see who went to the bathroom. Toto tells the officer to make sure that nobody leaves the restaurant, and the officer leaves.

The Fortuneteller Prince approaches Toto, Ron, and Spitz and says that he did not use the bathroom and asks if they are searching for something. Ron tells him that they are looking for a belt like the one the Prince is wearing. He also tells him about "Toto's" suspicion from earlier: How did the Fortuneteller Prince know that Toto was a detective and may need help investigating? The Prince replies that he knew this because of Totomaru's confidence walking around the crime scene; a regular person would not be so calm. Ron replies that "Toto" has a different theory: The Fortuneteller Prince knew about Toto because he quickly searched his name after he told him it at the signing. Ron also points out the Prince's suspicious certainty that Lost Koala was murdered. The Prince only replies that he simply knows his fans very well and, thus, knows that she would have never committed suicide.

Afterward, Totomaru asks Ron if he is right that he is suspecting the Fortuneteller Prince; Ron confirms this. Totomaru also points out that, if this is a murder case, Kill on Sight will be triggered. Ron assures him that he took his medicine and that the side effects will not prevent him from solving this case. They then head to the Prince's room to search for the murder weapon.

There, they note that the heater is not working because its remote has no batteries. The Prince comes into the room, and Spitz is surprised and happy to see him wearing a frog necklace; frog goods are this month's lucky items for Leos, and Spitz has a frog keychain because of that. The Prince states he believes in Mega-Boost Fortunetelling "more than anyone" and thinks Lost Koala died because did not have her Mega-Boost item with her.

Ron takes a look outside and says that, like "Toto" thought, the Prince's room has access to the courtyard. The Prince replies that the courtyard can be entered from many rooms and adds that he knows they are suspecting him. However, he cannot possibly be the murderer because he would have damaged his kimono moving the corpse from his room to the courtyard. Ron says "Toto" initially suspected that the culprit lured Lost Koala into the courtyard and killed her there, but the Prince's theory is probable too. And if the culprit had worn a kimono, they could have easily repaired slight damage to it. The Prince then reminds them that he is friends with politicians: If they have no evidence to prove his guilt, he will inform his friends how he was harassed by the police.

Later, Toto ponders out loud about the case, and when he mentions the murder weapon, Spitz's eyes fall on the Mega-Boost ribbon around Toto's wrist. Spitz says he thinks he found the murder weapon but notes that it is too short to strangle anyone with. Ron asks him to repeat himself because he is still eating the chocolate buns he found in the Prince's room and did not hear him while chewing. Totomaru scolds him for eating that many sticky buns as his throat will dry out. Hearing this, Ron pushes back his hair and states that he knows where the murder weapon is.

While the Fortuneteller Prince is doing a live broadcast from the inn, Toto, Ron, and Spitz search his room wearing overalls and animal heads to hide their faces from the Prince's audience. When the Prince notices them, they explain that they only wanted to check for the murder weapon again. The Prince allows them to continue their search; meanwhile, his live broadcast continues.

Ron says that the murder weapon either has the culprit's fingerprints on it or it connects directly to the culprit. The Prince replies that, if he was the culprit then, the murder weapon would be his Mega-Boost ribbon. He has handed them over to the forensics team though and they found nothing. The ribbons given out to the guests were confiscated and analyzed as well, in vain. The Fortuneteller Prince uses this opportunity to address his viewers to tell them that the Mega-Boost ribbons protected everyone from suspicion and that they should keep using his products. Then, he notes the surprising heat in his room; after all, it is currently very cold in Tokyo.

The Fortuneteller Prince ignores the AC remote and the coffee bottle on his table and reaches for a cup of tea instead. When he takes a sip from it, Totomaru confronts him why he did not choose the coffee as his Mega-Boost item is "brown drinks." The Prince replies that the heat dulled his judgement, and Toto asks him why he did not pick up the AC remote then before he answers the question himself: The Prince knew there were no batteries in the remote because he took them out to submerge the murder weapon—a Mega-Boost ribbon—in the coffee bottle. He wrapped the ribbon around the batteries so that it would not float back up and stay hidden on the bottom of the bottle.

Ignoring the Prince's protests, Ron takes the bottle and takes a sip from it before he reveals that they already exchanged the bottles. This one is filled with brown sugar; the real one was given to the forensics team. Hearing this, the Prince confesses to murdering Lost Koala for wanting to defame his Mega-Boost Fortunetelling and asks why it mattered that he was only using a trick as long as his "fortunetelling" made people happy. Toto informs him that the forensics team found no conclusive evidence on the ribbon. Because of that, they needed the Fortunetelling Prince to admit to his crime during his live broadcast because he could not contradict his own fortunetelling in this situation. Ron also shows him the heaters they surrounded his room with to ensure that he would get thirsty and reach for the tea.

Totomaru arrests the Prince, and they, Spitz, and Ron leave the room—however, without ending the live broadcast first. And the viewers who could only half-witness everything are convinced that the exchange was staged.

## Trivia

* Toto was the 200th visitor at the signing event.
* Ron was the 28th person who found Lost Koala. Spitz was the 53rd.

## References

1. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 48, page 3
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 46, pages 8-14
3. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 46, pages 18-20
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 46, pages 2-6
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 46, pages 14-20
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 47, pages 2-18
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 48, pages 2-18
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 46, page 15
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 47, page 4