The Case of the Poisoned Latté Pt. 2

**The Case of the Poisoned Latté Pt. 2** (毒入りカフェラテ殺人事件②, *Doku-iri kaferate satsujin jiken ②*) is the 15th chapter of the *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga.

## Summary

Chicory thrusts forward a recorder, saying that as a crime reporter she will faithfully record every step of Toto's investigation and turn it into a quality article. She has experience in reporting the Kushiro Giant Snowman Murders, and the Izumo Eight-Headed Serpent Assassination, which Toto knows as notorious cases from around the country. Ron says she is a promising reporter and asks for her name, and once given he says Chicory should consult Officer Isshiki about any difficult cases she finds, no matter where they are. Toto knows this for what it is: Ron is trying to use connections with Chicory to take on cases from all over the country. Ron encourages Chicory to take a good look at Toto's solving skills, as Chicory wonders why he is telling her that.

Toto begins the interrogations, lining up Ron and the two other girls. They can assume the killer is someone who was able to touch the victim's cup, so he asks what the three of them were doing at the time, starting with Ron. Ron first says his latté was perfect, and with a grudge says the one with a ponytail mistook his platypus art for a duck. Otherwise he gives no further details.

Next is Hayami, the girl who carried the drinks. She brought the lattés to the table, and Julie offered to take a picture together. Hayami got a call after that from her boss and separated for a while. Julie then said she was going to take some pictures of the coffee shop, as the other girl waited. Hayami returned to the table, and Julie was the first to grab a cup. Julie drank the coffee, then collapsed. Ron therefore says that the ones who could have put the poison in was him who made the lattés, Hayami who carried the cups, and Tamada, the other girl who was by herself at the table. Chicory complains: Ron should not steal Toto's lines.

Toto quickly defends Ron, saying it could not be him. There is no way he could have known who would take which cup, and he would not have a motive for indiscriminate murder. Even if he were trying to kill Julie specifically, it would have been hard to specify that positions of the cups so that she would choose the poisoned one. Chicory is impressed by that, and so is Ron.

Hayami though adds that it is not true, and Tamada also remembers something: Instead of choosing the cup closest to her, Julie took the latté from the back of the tray. Both Chicory and Toto wonder about this, with Toto saying there is no way the killer could have controlled the victim's actions to make her choose the one at the back, so Toto suspects a trick.

Ron raises his phone, saying Toto dropped it, but Ron had typed down "The victim's social media and the reporter's photos." Toto takes the hint, which Chicory thinks is so clever. Toto does ask to see the mentioned photos taken by Chicory. Her photos are mostly of Toto, but she has one of the three lattés before they were served. Next, while Chicory complains about Ron's presence, Toto finds Julie's Instagram. He finds one of the coffee shop, the three girls posing behind the coffee cups, and Julie with the cup she drank from. Ron notices a problem, but Toto feels stuck, not finding a clue. Chicory sees Toto sweating and gripping his head. She has a picture of Toto in her head that he solved all the cases so quickly, that she was certain he would solve the present one without trouble. But Toto is clearly flustered now, and had sunk to the floor, looking totally different from how Chicory imagined him.

Ron approaches Toto who is sweating hard. Ron offers a "jumbo-sized hot towel," which is really a steamed bath towel. Ron demonstrates with the total that if he had glasses on, they would fog up instantly, and it would be a hit on social media with the logo of Pot Coffee. But Toto, knowing Ron, thinks it would stand out for the wrong reasons. Ron, pushing his hair to the side, replies that this is the key. If you stand out for the wrong reasons, your life will go wrong too.

Chicory asks if Toto figured out who the killer is, and Toto hazards his yes. Ron says he is going to wander farther and if Toto needs to "monitor him." Toto takes the hint, but also asks Chicory to hide all the knives, fearful of Ron's pressuring. When Chicory asks if there could be a second murderer, Toto just says maybe, but thinks definitely.

Toto gathers the police and other people, starting with the statement that it was not an indiscriminate murder, that Julie was targeted and murdered. The killer knew that Julie would choose the cup at the back of the tray. The answer could be seen in Julie's social media account. In all the pictures, Julie was standing in the center of everyone, where she would most stand out and where she would look the best. For someone like her, it was inevitable that she would choose the latté that looked the best, without knowing it was poisoned. Hayami complains that all three lattés look the same. Toto says yes, but only until a certain moment. The killer used a nail to scratch two of the lattés that had no poison. It could be done in a moment without anyone noticing, even in the short time needed to carry the lattés to the table.

The photo in Julie's account provided proof. In contrast to when they were still at the counter, when Chicory's picture was taken and the platypuses were all the same, in Julie's picture when the cups arrived on the table, two platypuses were scratched at the head.

Toto now directly asks Hayami why were the eyes ruined on only two of the lattés when they got to the table. She is the only one who could have done it. Hayami kneels down and admits. Julie always wanted to be the center of attention and never let anyone else have that spot. As soon as Hayami's boyfriend got scouted by a talent agency, Julie stole him. All the same, Toto says that no matter how much you hate someone, you can never solve things by killing them.

Kill on Sight is triggered, and Ron tells Hayami to smash her head; someone who toys with other's lives has no right to exist in this world. Hayami goes under, and walks toward a large decoration kettle, holding it to smash her head. Toto grabs the bag of coffee beans in the counter, and whacks Hayami with it, going between the pot and Hayami. Ron gives his thanks as he recovers consciousness, and Chicory blushes.

Toto apologizes to Chicory for destroying her recorder (when he whacked the bag of coffee beans), asking if it had the material she recorded. It had everything from the day. But Chicory, still blushing, says it was nothing in comparison to being able to see a famous detective's true form. She is totally satisfied. She says she misunderstood him. Toto handles each and every bit of monotonous work with care and attention, and when a murder happened, he wracked his brain so hard he fell to the ground clutching his head. Toto is amazing not because he is able to solve cases like magic, but because he earnestly devotes himself to everything he does. She has even more respect for him than he did previously.

So does Ron, and he is so happy to share in Officer Isshiki's excellence that he made more lattés, with the art saying "You did it!", "Got 'em!", and "Reporter connections". Toto immediately stirrs them in so that she would not see. Ron continues by offering delivery options to Chicory.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Chicory Monki
* Totomaru Isshiki
* Ron Kamonohashi
* Tamada
* Hayami