Youko Mihane

**Youko Mihane** (三羽 葉子, *Mihane Yōko*) is Juntaro Mihane's wife and Kiyotaka's mother.

## Biography

### History

Seven years ago, Youko's husband Juntaro Mihane bought the Moon Prison and shut himself inside "to connect with space." Not long afterward, Juntaro disappeared, and his family filed a missing person report, but he was not found and eventually declared dead. His corpse was found seven years later in the Moon Prison by his famil.

Two weeks before the corpse's discovery, Youko, her son Kiyotaka, her brother-in-law Junji Kaji, and her husband's servant Kaki Sakanoue went to the Moon Prison because they wanted to liquidate Juntaro's estate. Because the door was locked, Kaji suggested to break the prison's sole window to get inside, but Youko reminded him that its glass is unique and breaking it would reduce the Moon Prison's value.

Later, Kiyotaka contacted the Sun Prison's owner and asked them if he could borrow the Sun Prison key to unlock the Moon Prison. The Moon Prison key was damaged in a house fire seven years ago, shortly after Juntaro was reported missing. As the two prisons are twin buildings, their keys are identically shaped and, thus, the Moon Prison can be unlocked with the Sun Prison key as well. The Sun Prison's owner agreed, and the key arrived two weeks later. Juntaro's family opened the Moon Prison and found his corpse lying inside. Curiously, when they were there weeks earlier, they had not seen Juntaro's corpse through the window.

### Twin Prison Locked Room Murder Case

After finding Juntaro's body, Youko, Kiyotaka, Kaji, and Kaki call the police. When the police arrives, they are questioned by an officer, and later observe Amamiya, Ron Kamonohashi, and Totomaru Isshiki inspecting the Moon Prison. Youko gets angry and asks if he thinks they are lying when Toto remarks that Juntaro's family could not have possibly overlooked his body the first time they went to the Moon Prison. Kiyotaka comes to her aid and shows Toto the picture he took through the window. And, indeed, it shows an empty prison.

Later that day, Fin Fennec, a locked room expert who has arrived in the meantime, solves the locked room mystery. She then gathers everyone to tell them what happened: The culprit never entered the prison in the last seven years—and neither did the corpse. Juntaro's body was in the prison for all these years, hidden behind a dummy wall made of foamed styrol. The block were likely connected via a cord which was threaded through the chimney; its end was stuck out of it and fixed to ensure that it did not slip back inside. The culprit never wanted anyone to discover Juntaro, but when they learned his family asked for the Sun Prison key to be delivered to Japan, they went to the Moon Prison and pulled on the string, lifting the blocks through the chimney and removing the dummy wall. This is the reason why Fin found pieces of foamed styrol in the fireplace. She also suspects that the dummy wall held some kind of clue that pointed back to the murderer.

She deduced that there must have been a dummy wall because, in the photo Kiyotaka took, the sunlight is striking a larger area of the wall than it does now although Kiyotaka's and her picture were taken around the same time, from the same location, and with the sun at the same height. Therefore, two weeks ago, the wall was closer to the window than it was now.

The murderer can, thus, only be someone who knew the Sun Prison key was being delivered to Japan. This brings the spotlight to Youko, her son, her brother-in-law, and Sakanoue. However, Fin does not reveal the culprit as her only goal was to solve the locked room's mystery; she leaves the rest to the Metro Police and returns with Shachi to the guesthouse where they have been staying, the Moon Lodge.

The next day, Youko, Kiyotaka, and Sakanoue return to the Moon Prison to verify that Kaji was really killed. Toto confirms this.

Kiyotaka wants to see his uncle's body, but Toto denies him the access. He also testifies that Kaji was fixated on finding Juntaro's killer; Kiyotaka had tried to talk him out of it, but he did not want to listen. Youko tells Sakanoue to stand back and adds that Kaji was furious about Juntaro's estate allocation because Juntaro left him nothing. Kaji wanted to find evidence that would prove Kiyotaka as his father's killer so that he would get the money. This makes Toto believe that Kaji came to Moon Prison to search for evidence, but neither Kiyotaka, Youko, nor Sakanoue say anything about this.

Totomaru then asks Youko if they could break the window, and she agrees. The window is broken and everyone can now enter the prison.

Later, Sakanoue yells through the window at Ron, Fin, Shachi, and Toto, saying that it is their fault that Kaji died because they did not arrest the culprit yesterday. After Toto wholeheartedly apologizes to her, Youko notices Sakanoue by the window and leads her away from the prison.

Afterward, Fin and Toto gather Youko, Kiyotaka, and Sakanoue to question them. Fin apologizes for still not having apprehended the culprit and informs them that the current case is a replica of a seventy-year-old case from England. Kiyotaka immediately realizes that she means the Sun Prison Murder Case and says that Kaji found out about that case when he researched the Moon Prison following Juntaro's disappearance. Youko timidly asks if it is okay to say that.

Toto says that, just like seventy years ago, the prison door was sealed with a brass bar from inside. It is possible that it was stored somewhere until now because of its good condition and asks Sakanoue, Kiyotaka, and Youko whether they have any ideas about that. When Youko ponders what to say, Kiyotaka yells at her that she is a coward and Sakanoue becoming senile; because of that, Kaji pushed everyone around and did what he wanted. Kiyotaka then reveals that the bar was stored in the shed at their home. Hearing this, Fin tells them they are all suspects as they all had access to the bar. Youko scolds her son for saying all that and putting them under suspicion before she starts to panic and sinks shaking to the ground; Sakanoue tends to her. Kiyotaka remarks that she always acts like that to get away when things get tough and reminds her of that one time she called the ambulance.

While Fin, Shachi, and Kiyotaka go to the shed, Totomaru and Ron talk to Youko who is feeling better again. Ron allows her to have some of his homemade brown sugar sweets, and Youko confides them that Sakanoue has become sticky-fingered when it comes to her treats. Because of that, Youko looks whether Sakanoue is around before she takes anything. Sakanoue also gone a bit senile, but Youko will not fire her because her late mother hired her and paid her in advance for the next ten years. Futhermore, Sakanoue can still decently cook, so firing her would be a waste; Kiyotaka does not like her cooking though. Youko also admits that she wished they had never opened the Moon Prison. Then, it would have been like nothing happened. If the others had been on her side, she could have lived in peace.

Hearing this, Ron solves the case and suddenly stands up in realization. Sakanoue then goes to confront him, asking if he wants to scare Youko again. He only tells her that Youko was praising her cooking skills though and asks her who has made a cooking mistake lately if Kiyotaka cooks for himself. Sakanoue replies that she has not made a mistake in thirty years. Totomaru scolds Ron for making her angry and Ron tells him that "guilty people make people guilty."

A moment later, Fin and Shachi return, and Fin says that there were no clues in the shed and they have to start anew. Ron then announces that he has solved the case, and Fin stares at him.

Youko, Sakanoue, Kiyotaka, Amamiya, Fin, and Shachi gather in front of the Moon Prison to hear Toto solve the case: Fin did not find anything in the prison because the culprit knew about her Phoenix touch ability and found a way to destroy a clue's material properties. The clue was a powerful neodymium magnet. The murderer inserted it into the brass bar and concealed it with a brass cover which they polished to get rid of any evidence that the bar had been tampererd with. They attached the magnet to the door, a bit above the bar bracket, and then left the room. Afterward, they used a blowtorch to heat the door and the bar until the bar was heated to 330 degrees—neodymium's Curie temperature, the point that has to be reached for the material to lose its magnetism. The bar then dropped into the brackets and locked the door.

Because the culprit used a blowtorch they were not familiar with, they hurt their left hand—and Sakanoue has been suspiciously covering her left hand. Until yesterday, when she clutched her hands, her right hand had been on top, not it was her left one. Sakanoue claims that she burned her hand when a pot boiled over, but Youko points out she said she never made a cooking mistake in thirty years. Sakanoue then replies that she was simply careless once; she also has no motive to kill Juntaro and Kaji.

Amamiya says she cannot see a motive, but Ron can: Sakanoue was trying to protect Youko. She cooks meals with many vegetables and hides Youko's treats because she worries about her mistress' fragile health. Youko defends Sakanoue, saying that she would never considers that; she also cannot employ a murderer, so she cannot get wrapped up in this. Then, Sakanoue confesses. Totomaru points out that she only looked out for Youko though, not Kiyotaka because she does not care about what he eats, and asks why.

Sakanoue tells everyone that she promised Youko's mother to protect her daughter. Youko's mother did not like Juntaro as she realized he would only bring trouble, and because Sakanoue felt indebted to her mistress as she saved her life when she was young, she agreed to take care of Youko. Juntaro had been squandering the Mihane fortune for his religious group, and Kaji had tried to pin his brother's murder on Youko and Kiyotaka to get his hands on the fortune. Sakanoue had to kill them to protect Youko and the fortune; she imitated the Sun Prison Murder Case because she hoped if she copied an unsolved murder, her murder would never be solved too. She also learned about Curie temperature on television and created the bar in case she ever needed it.

And although she was caught, Sakanoue is happy because she could fulfill her promise. She will die soon anyway, and with her promise fulfilled, she can face her first mistress in heaven. Youko remarks that Sakanoue must have really gone senile but Kiyotaka replies this is not just senility.

## Etymology

* The name "Youko" means "leaf, plane, lobe, needle, blade, spear, counter for flat things, fragment, piece" (葉, *you*) and "child" (子, *ko*).
* Her surname "Mihane" means "three" (三, *mi*) and "feather" (羽, *hane*).

## References

1. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 8-9
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 6-7
3. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 2-3
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 9-12
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 51, pages 7-12
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 53, pages 3-13
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 54, pages 8-12
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 54, pages 14-16
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 55, pages 1-6
10. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 55, pages 10-18
11. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 56, pages 2-13