The Case of the Island Observatory Murder Pt. 1

**The Case of the Island Observatory Murder Pt. 1** (孤島天文台殺人事件①, *Kotō tenmondai satsujin jiken ①*) is the 9th chapter of the *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga.

## Summary

Outside the Donut Television network building, Toto receives an invitation to a meteor shower viewing party at an isolated island observatory. He cannot think of who might have sent it because he has no interest in neither stars nor observatories. Ron though says he wants to go, after all it says Toto can bring someone else. When Toto asks why he wants to go so badly, Ron tells him that Nandan Island is famous for its brown sugar syrup. Also, Ron says, his mind is still reeling from almost killing Toto. He needs to distance himself from cases. He, therefore, wants to just head to a remote southern island, get his fix of the "premium brown stuff," and escape from reality, and Toto wonders if that brown sugar is illegal. Nonetheless, Toto agrees with him that it is important to relax sometimes, and that they could give it a try. Ron is happy, already dreaming about being immersed in brown sugar.

Three days later, while on a boat, Toto apologizes to the observatory director, Takumi Jumonji, for being late. Jumonji, as he steers the boat, waves it aside, thanking him for spending his precious day off, saying Toto must be busy as "Japan's foremost detective." Toto asks in a panic what he means. Jumonji says a friend of his works for the Aichi Prefectural Police; his friend heard about a "superb detective" from Kawasemi, and introduced Jumonji to Toto. Ron asks why he would invite a suberb detective to a meteor shower viewing party, but Jumonji says that is a deterrent against crime, and one of the guests is concerned about a case ten years ago.

On hearing about a case, Ron first brightens up, then despairs, saying he came to get away from cases. He falters and supposes he could at least listen to the case, then panics again. Ron keeps faltering back and forth as Toto apologizes for him, saying he is just a bit tired. Jumonji just says that having Toto there will guarantee nothing bad will happen.

Jumonji presents Nandan Island as it comes into view. A lot of farmers come from the mainland during sugarcane harvest season. At the moment thought it is just the observatory staff and their six guests staying there. Ron asks if the sugar cane there is used to make the famous brown sugar syrup, and Jumonji confirms it. The sugar is treasure, such that it even sold to three-star restaurants. Ron happily says he would not mind eating only brown sugar at every meal, and that he wants to try playing with a hula hoop after eating. Toto screams at him about having to go back to his apartment just because they forgot the hula hoop. Ron explains that it is part of his bucket list: hula hoop at an observatory. As Toto complains that he just cannot understand that list, Jumonji says that the evening is a standing buffet party, so he can talk to the chef about a brown sugar dish, and Ron can hula hoop if he likes.

After arriving on the island, Jumonji presents "the pride of the island": the Nandan Observatory. He also says that the guests who have arrived early are resting in their rooms. He presents the first floor, which is the lobby and dining hall.

Toto notices a pistol in a glass case, and Jumonji says it is a model gun, for repelling evil spirits. While Toto admires who well made it is, Ron asks into the legend. Jumonji says that the people of the island would display a matchlock gun as a charm to protect the sugarcane, and the present pistol is a vestige of that tradition.

Jumonji then leads them to the second floor, and the entrance to the observation dome. But as Jumonji opens the door, they are met with loud screaming of "I'll kill you!". It is observatory chef Minami Unno. She says she is just releasing stress. When the dome is closed off, it is perfectly soundproof, so whenever something annoys her, she comes over to scream. Unno then explains why she was screaming: even though she is busy, one of the guests, Donzawa, said he wanted coffee, but when she brought some, he said the stars drawn on the mug were weird and scolded her. Further, what is a brown sugar dish? Ron says it is for him, and Unno quickly apologizes, on realizing he is a guest, as Ron also says sorry for the strange request.

Meanwhile, Eisaku Donzawa, the astronomy chairman, himself arrives asking about the ruckus. Toto is surprised at Donzawa's odd hairstyle, and is too late to catch himself saying it out loud. Donzawa explains that the hairstyle is designed to not get in the way when he is looking through a telescope. Donzawa then says that there are some impure guests here.

When Ron asks, another guest, the astronomical photographer Kayoko Onodera, appears, saying they have a pure love for astronomy. She explains that Donzawa says there are some people here who are not astronomy fans and do not appreciate the value of a meteor shower, such as the next guest that enters.

Ron immediately recognizes the guest as BLUE's "closed circle" instructor John Grizzly. Ron never got a chance to take one of his classes, but he is one of the few instructors that he acknowledged as superior. When Grizzly asks why Ron is there, Ron just says he is on a gourmet trip. Jumonji meanwhile is happy they finally get to meet, and introduces Grizzly to Toto, as the famous detective and famous officer who is there to ensure there is no trouble at the party. Ron asks why someone of Grizzly's status is around as "bodyguard," but Onodera explains that he is necessary, considering the repulsive case from the past that is still unsolved. Ron begs that they do not talk about cases to him, that he is not interested, but Toto knows that his words and actions do not match.

Ron deflects and says if Toto tells him to listen, then he guesses it is okay. Grizzly then says that just like now, the conditions for viewing the meteor shower in the constellation of Leo were ideal ten years ago. A similar viewing party was held at Nandan Observatory. But the director and six guests were killed with a gun in the observatory dome. Jumonji adds that the director at the time was his father. Grizzly continues that a large-scale investigation was launched, but the gun that was used was never found and the culprit is unknown. Toto asks if that is why he was invited. Jumonji said they thought about closing the observatory, but his father loved space and the observatory from the bottom of his heart. That is why he believes it was his father's wish that they hold a viewing party for the same meteor shower, to overcome that tragedy. Donzawa and Onodera agree, and Toto also says they will make the event a success.

Another guest enters, saying the story made her cry. She introduces herself as the Orion constellation idol Princess Ori. As Toto admires her, saying it is his first time seeing an idol in person, Onodera sneers and says now he looks like a pure astronomy fan.

The observatory dome begins to move, and Jumonji asks who flipped the lever to open the dome. Rom admits it was him, saying he could not resist the lever's charm. The dome fully opens and the telescope turns along with it. Jumonji says that it is computer controlled and can automatically follow and record the selected stars. Onodera remarks they will not be using the telescope to view the meteor shower. Ron explains that meteor showers look the most beautiful when viewed through a low-magnification telescope or with the naked eye. Jumonji says they will be able to view it on the roof at 11pm. Until then, they have prepared some food on the roof for the standing buffet party.

That evening, the standing buffet party begins, but Ron is seated at a table all to himself with a spread of dishes all covered in brown sugar syrup. Donzawa meanwhile is completely fascinated by Ron, saying that he is a pure astronomy maniac. Onodera adds that there are not many people who can talk so delightedly about brown dwarf stars. Ron then explains that his ancestor from five generations ago was a detective who did not know about the heliocentric theory of the solar system. He got interested in astronomy in reaction to that. Toto then realizes that Ron's ancestors were detectives as well, and also realizes that he does not know much about Ron's past. He wonders if Grizzly knows about Ron's student days and if he knows about killing culpulsion, as well as some kind of hint for how to cure it.

Toto, therefore, approaches to talk to Grizzly. Grizzly immediately asks if Ron has not engaged in any forbidden detective activities, and Toto says no, because he pressures the culprit. Toto then says he does not know the details, so could Grizzly tell him if he does not mind?

Grizzly gives the details: Ron was going a practical exercise at BLUE. It was a class in which students worked with police officers to catch criminals. Thanks to his genius, he succeeded in discovering the hideout of seven murderers. But when the police entered the hideout, Ron was found holding a deadly weapon, covered in blood, while completely calm, and standing in the middle of the corpses of the seven murderers. It became known as the Bloody Field Trip Case. Toto if Ron killed the murderers, and Grizzly said it is 99% certain. But investigators accepted that Ron had no memories of the period 30 minutes before and after the incident. They considered it a case of temporary insanity. Thus Ron avoided the death penalty and just had his detective license revoked. Toto was prepared for the story to be bad, but it is worse than he expected. Ron is lucky, Grizzly says. If Grizzly had been in a position to judge him, he would have given him the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Princess Ori arrives, asking Toto to stop Ron. He seems painfully full, but would not listen about the hula-hooping. But Ron finally end the hula-hooping, saying that was a demonstration of the a planet's orbit around the sun, as Onodera and Donzawa applaud. Ron says he is satisfied as he yawns. He accomplished his goal, but he is tired, and heading back to his room to sleep. What about the meteor shower? Toto asks. Ron says he will see it in his dreams.

Later, Toto does appreciate the meteor shower when it appears. He did not have any interest in stars, but he is glad he came, with some tears in his eyes, which Princess Ori sees. Donzawa dislikes it when people are like that though. But Toto notes that he has not seen Onodera in a while. Donzawa says she went back to her room earlier, saying she needed to get some photography equipment. Toto notes that was two hours ago.

Then, all of them find the observatory dome moving, then they hear a loud gunshot from inside. Donzawa is afraid that the tragedy of ten years ago is happening again, as Toto and Grizzly start running to check.

When they reach the observatory room, Toto finds the door locked. Jumonji runs off to fetch the key, as Donzawa says he has not seen Onodera this whole time, and Grizzly begins pounding at the door asking if anyone is inside. But there is no response from inside.

Jumonji returns saying the key should have been in the office, but he could not find it. Grizzy says they have to break down the door, and begins by knocking his body onto the door, but complains that it is sturdy. Toto and Jumonji help in pushing open the door, and eventually manage to open it. They find the observatory dorm pitch-black and there is no power. Unno brings in some flashlights.

Jumonji finds someone on the ground, and Toto gasps. The room is filled with glass shards. They find Onodera face down with a wound at the level of the heart. They also find Ron face up, barefoot, and a gun near his left hand.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Totomaru Isshiki
* Ron Kamonohashi
* Takumi Jumonji
* Minami Unno
* Eisaku Donzawa
* Kayoko Onodera
* John Grizzly
* Princess Ori

## Trivia

* In *A Study in Scarlet*, John Watson states that Sherlock Holmes' knowledge of astronomy is "nil" and that he is even unaware of the heliocentric theory of the solar system. Holmes says that he only has a finite capacity for information storage and, thus, does not want to learn about anything "useless." In later stories, e.g. in "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter," Holmes shows that he does possess at least some knowledge of astronomy. Holmes' attitude toward "useless information" was also retracted in later stories.

## References

1. ↑ "The Greek Interpreter" notes — Standford University
2. ↑ Wikipedia:Sherlock Holmes#Knowledge and skills