Mia Costa

**Mia Costa** (ミア・コスタ, *Mia Kosuta*) is a high school student from Italy.

## Physical description

Mia has fair hair and light eyes. She often keeps her hair in a bun.

## Biography

### Early life

While her mother was pregnant with Mia, she was contacted by a man with a crescent moon mark to make Jim Gore accompany her to a hospital. For this job, she was paid with an emerald which she eventually passed down to Mia.

Because her aunt lives in Japan, Mia studied Japanese on her own and came to love Japanese culture.

### Plateau Auberge Serial Murders Case

Mia receives an invitation from her aunt who lives in Japan for a dinner at an auberge. At the Auberge Reunion, she meets Ron Kamonohashi and Totomaru Isshiki who compliment her Japanese skills. Mia asks them about the mystery they have been talking about, and Ron tells her that his invitation was sent seventeen years ago and came with a gemstone in the envelope. She identifies the gemstone as an emerald and show them her mother's heirloom, saying that it is an emerald too. Ron notes the coincidence and remarks that this a perfect way to start off the adventure to solve the mystery, and Mia replies that a mystery-solving adventure sounds fun.

At six o'clock, Mia heads to the dining room alongside the other guests. They eat multiple courses together at a single round table, and Mia is quite pleased with the served dishes.

The next morning, Mia hears commotion and goes to Lenny Gardner's room to find out what happened and learns that Gardner was murdered during the night. Toto and Ron investigate the murder, and Shusuke Sakai informs everyone that they have no phone signal, the landline does not work, and the mountain road is closed off due to a landslide. Mia 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. 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, Karen Lily screams. Mia 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 Tom 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. Mia says that she was in her room. Nobody else has an alibi as well. Then, Toto reveals that Gardner's and Sasaoka's murders were 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). However, while Mia and Sakai do not know the meaning behind the dishes, Sasaoka knew it—and so do Bill Clark, Lily, and Tiger 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. Mia is shocked to hear about her mother's connection to the murder, but states that she does indeed have an emerald keepsake from her and that her mother once told her that she made a mistake while she was pregnant with her.

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.

Mia then questions whether they are the only ones in the auberge, and she, Ron, Toto, and Lily decide to search the locked vacant rooms to see if anyone is hiding in one. Clark, Sakai, and Dan decline and instead retreat to their rooms to rest.

After they finish searching all vacant rooms and find nobody, Mia and Lily head back to their rooms.

Later, Sakai tells everyone that he found Clark's corpse covered in extinguishing foam, and Mia heads to the wine cellar with the others. Seeing the corpse, Mia says that she wants to go home and wonders who could do such a cruel thing. Totomaru assures her and the others 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 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. Mia asks a spaced-out Ron if he is okay but he does not answer her.

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. Mia hugs the teddy bear while 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 Mia'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. However, Ron does not know what Toto means, and Toto says it is weird that Dan wants to kill everyone involved in the Jim Gore Murder Case—after all, the M. Family only eliminate those who failed them and that crime seventeen years ago was a success! Dan is impressed that Toto noticed this and tells him that, from the M. Family's perspective, that case was a failure because Gore was supposed to be kidnapped, not murdered; they wanted to use him and his research to gain great wealth. Eliot made a mistake—and he was purged for it.

Then, Dan takes out his gun and points it at Mia and Lily who scream and beg him not to shoot. Seeing this, a long-suppressed memory of Ron resurfaces, he regains his resolve and confronts Dan: The reason why those involved in the Jim Gore Murder Case were not eliminated seventeen years ago is that Eliot outwitted the M. Family; the M. Family did not know about their involvement until recently. Furthermore, Ron deduces that Gore must still be alive because he thought it was odd that Gore was first brought to a hospital, then to the warehouse: Gore was switched with a dummy corpse in the rear garden. This is exactly something his father, who would always make sure that nobody got hurt, would do; Eliot would have neither handed Gore over to the M. Family or murder him.

Dan confirms that Eliot threw a body from the morgue in the Thames and let Gore escape who went on to live under a false name in Switzerland. Only recently, the M. Family found out about what truly transpired that day. Ron then starts to laugh and tells Dan that his plan to convince him to stop doing detective work has failed. The shock of seeing Dan pointing his gun at Lily and Mia made him remember the last of his sealed memories, and Ron is now more determined than ever to use his intellect against the M. Family. Of course, he cannot do any investigations on his own due to the Bloody Field Trip Case, but he has a partner for that. Toto affirms this and tells Dan that he will arrest him and orders him to drop the gun. Dan does not comply though; after all, he now has to get rid of everyone to make sure "he" does not find out he disclosed info about Ron's father.

The next moment, to Mia's shock, the teddy bear on her lap starts to move—its eyes narrow and its mouth opens—and talk: It addresses "Uncle Tiger" and says that it has been an amusing show. The voice adds that he is a very busy man and has no time for such things. Nevertheless, he introduces himself to Ron as the M. Family's eldest son Mylo Moriarty. Mylo remote-controls the teddy and rolls from Mia's lap onto the table before he says he intended to watch everything silently but decided to reveal himself after Dan's plan failed. Then, Ron orders Mia, Lily, and Sakai to cover their ears so that they do not hear more about the M. Family; they comply.

Mia, Sakai, and Lily 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 escapes. Toto orders Mia to flee from a hole in the wall while he carries Lily and Sakai outside. He then tells her to drag them as far away from the building as possible before running back inside to get Ron.

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

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, page 14
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, page 16
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, page 15
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 40, pages 12-16
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 38, pages 14-20
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 39, pages 3-10
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 3-9
11. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 41, pages 19-22
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 44, pages 3-21
16. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 45, pages 3-5
17. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 45, pages 13-16
18. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 45, page 20