The Case of the Midsummer Beach Hut Drowning Pt. 1

**The Case of the Midsummer Beach Hut Drowning Pt. 1** is the 28th chapter of the *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga.

## Summary

After complaining about the hot weather, Toto notices a moving truck in front of Ron's apartment building, and a lot of coins dropped onto the sidewalk. When Toto looks up from helping, he finds Mofu, who broke her savings jar. She tried to grab a five-yen coin when she bumped the jar and broke it.

While in Ron's living room, Toto learns that Mofu has discovered and developed a medication to counteract Ron's compulsion to pressure culprits. However, it requires that he takes various medicines as a dangerous combination, thus she is opposed to it. But Ron says he still wanted to hear it anyway, and got permission to take it whenever the doctor was around. Toto asks if that was why Mofu is moving into the apartment, but Mofu says no with some embarrassment. The other day, her clumsiness caused major damage to her condo unit, and thus she was kicked out. While Toto wonders greatly what she did, Ron just says he suggested that she move into one of the vacant apartments until her new place was ready, and she could also be around when he takes his medicine. Her assistant Shikada worriedly calls, wondering where she is, and reminding about a scheduled surgery. Mofu then takes her leave.

Ron and Toto talk about the decision to take the medicine, with Toto thinking that relying on a potentially dangerous medicine is going too far. Ron emphatically says: The M. Family will not stop killing people because it is inconvenient for him. As long as he has that body, he could not solve cases freely, and the mysteries he knows he can solve, the people he knows he can save, will pass before his eyes. He does not know if the medicine will fully cure me, but he wants to get it out of his body, even for a moment, then catch them all and take back his right to be a detective!

Toto asks him to calm down, saying he just thinks Ron needs to let himself relax. Ron brightens up, asking if Toto brought a case that will help him relax, and Toto exclaims that there is no such thing. He just means he wants Ron to take a break from solving cases and relax, and asks if there is something summer-related on Ron's bucket list. Ron says there are 13: watch fireworks while pulling fibers off green beans, and go in the ocean while eating brown sugar ice. Toto interrupts and suggests the beach, not wanting to hear the other plans, encouraging ice and brown sugar at the beach. Toto says he will go get ready, and begs Ron not to bring the medicine, because he does not trust. Meanwhile, Ron wants to bring it "as a good luck charm." They hear another protest of "No way!" from Mofu. Her surgery was cancelled so she headed back to take a nap. Ron invites her to go to the beach with them, and she brightens up. Toto is concerned, but Ron says that if she is doing microscopic surgeries every day, she needs to relax more than anyone.

The three are happy when they reach the beach because it not as crowded as expected. Ron, as usual, brought brown sugar syrup, but when asked if he was going to add it to shaved ice, he said he was going to dip the ice in brown sugar. Unfortunately, the beach hut owner says they already sold out, since it is their most popular item. Toto is confused since there is hardly anyone on the beach. Meanwhile, behind them, Ron topples backward, splitting a watermelon in his disappointment.

The other two wait for Ron to come to, placing him on a beach chair under an umbrella. When Mofu asks if there is anything else he wanted, and all Ron says is he wants a difficult case. Toto, concerned about Ron, asks what Ron wanted to do in the ocean while eating brown sugar ice. But Ron is still despondent, saying he does not feel like swimming anymore. Mofu offers to help, so Ron lets her borrow something. When she reappears, Mofu is wearing her swimsuit with a duck bill, platypus tail, and platypus flippers, which were what Ron lended her. Ron actually wanted to wear that platypus swimming costume while swimming and holding a brown sugar ice in one hand. Toto is rather relieved it did not happen, but thinks the costume looks cute on Mofu.

When Mofu goes off to swim, Ron and Toto overhear several people arguing. The beach hut owner is arguing with two young men, and he warns that he will call the police if they interfere with his business. Ron cheerfully drags Toto to the young men, saying he is a police officer and he will help out if they have trouble. When Toto asks why Ron brought him to the young men and not the shopkeeper, Ron says he figures that the ones with the problem are the two young men.

The young men explain their problem. They had been in the area since yesterday to go surfing. But yesterday their friend got a stomachache after eating something from the beach hut, and he got into a fight with the beach hut owner. Last night, the friend left to settle things with the owner, but he never came back. The two young men also could not reach him, and the friend has not gone back home. Toto recommends to contact the local police, but they see Mofu waving from a distance in a worried way.

Ron and Toto rush to where Mofu is. They find her in a rocky area. She says her foot got stuck in some rocks and she could not get it out. But more importantly, she shows them a dead man, the missing surfer. The two young men arrive and recognize their friend Manba. Mofu guesses that the surfer drowned. When Toto guesses that the surfer maybe went in the water last night and accidentally drowned, Ron says it was not an accident: The young man was murdered.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Totomaru Isshiki
* Mofu Usaki
* Ron Kamonohashi
* Shikada
* Beach hut owner
* Two unnamed surfers
* Taku Manba