File 793-??? (Private Eye)

[Black Demon 466]

I agree with Kyuu that it would be easier if Ran just uses his fingerprint(s), rather than DNA. But I'm not even sure whether she does have a suspicion or not. Her emotional expression at the time is hard to judge. And once again, if Ran really is taking an interest, it would be much wiser of her not to tell Conan.

[Yuenex 0]

Hey guys!

What did you think of the latest addition?

I knew that there were two detectives at the end of 793.

Wondering why Conan asked how tall the victim was.

Why it has a sad truth? Maybe they're actually blood related? hmm.......

Can't wait until the next one!!

Yuenex.

[Kyuu Nye 425]

There is already a case discussion thread here.

Please always check for official discussion threads. Thank you.

[Yuenex 0]

to be honest i don't think those two detectives are going to continue on through the arc, just there for that case. and i don't think Ran is suspicious either, just another quote 'joked' by gosho

[Dean Moriarty 1]

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I'm still not sure, if this is suicide or murder, but Banba and Kamon are not only siblings - they are identical twins. That's why Conan asked about her height, she has Turner Syndrome.

[Kyuu Nye 425]

  On 10/28/2011 at 1:45 AM, Dean Moriarty said:

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I'm still not sure, if this is suicide or murder, but Banba and Kamon are not only siblings - they are identical twins. That's why Conan asked about her height, she has Turner Syndrome.

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Also, identical twins = identical DNA. But as stated, Gosho still messed up. They are most likely fraternal twins. Twins with non-identical DNA. Also, the height is the only symptom she has of Turner, there were no other indications.

[AJ M. 204]

My thoughts about the last 2 chapters:

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The bride and groom are probably fraternal twins. In the first chapter, the couple indicated that they have the EXACT birth date and blood type and have the ability to know what the other is thinking. In the second chapter, both of which were rescued from a burning building with whom their parents died in (shared parents). The idea that fate brought these two people, with striking similarities, together is a misconception. Furthermore, the sad truth in the end of the second chapter is probably referring to the fact that a twin murdered a twin.

Upon seeing the groom kneeling over in the second chapter, Conan was most likely analyzing the groom's shoes to check for cake remains on the bottom. If not, he either washed them off in the bathroom or the shoes naturally cleansed itself outside in the rain and wet ground (the more viable option). He somehow exited the bathroom window without leaving footprints, attacked his fiancee, left her body in her car, and returned to the bathroom with an exchange of clothes prepared before hand. Maybe Conan realized the cake stains were absent on the groom's pants and shoes. Although, the murder trick still remains unknown. How did he manage to escape through the window with footprints? What triggered the car explosion? What made the wife say "Sayonara" to him on the phone?

There are still some unanswered questions that the reader cannot answer objectively. There's just not enough given info in these two chapters that will help the reader figure out the WHOLE truth behind this case.

  On 10/27/2011 at 6:28 PM, Kyuu said:

There is already a case discussion thread here.

Please always check for official discussion threads. Thank you.

You do realize that this is the official discussion thread, right? Unless I'm misunderstanding something...

[Kyuu Nye 425]

  On 10/28/2011 at 3:35 AM, AJ M. said:

You do realize that this is the official discussion thread, right? Unless I'm misunderstanding something...

Threads were merged... That was originally in response to the poster above me creating a new topic for file 794.

[Charala97 23]

I wonder how Conan is gonna expose the sad truth........ if he uses Kogoro as usual, then he might be inviting trouble in the form of Amuro. But if he tries to give hints to Amuro, then it can get worse. So far, Conan hasn't given much importance to Amuro, so I think he gonna use Kogoro again...... which will help Amuro become a recurring character in the series.

[Black Demon 466]

If Amuro = SA than he has already witnessed "Sleeping Kogoro" once, but we can assume that he didn't pay much attention at that moment, since he was in a rush.

[Charala97 23]

  On 10/28/2011 at 9:23 AM, Black Demon said:

If Amuro = SA than he has already witnessed "Sleeping Kogoro" once, but we can assume that he didn't pay much attention at that moment, since he was in a rush.

And if he saw sleeping Kogoro again, then he might start to suspect Conan......

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

  On 10/28/2011 at 9:23 AM, Black Demon said:

If Amuro = SA than he has already witnessed "Sleeping Kogoro" once, but we can assume that he didn't pay much attention at that moment, since he was in a rush.

I'm pretty sure he paid attention because there was nothing else to do while the floor was hostage. The floor wasn't freed until Kogoro finished. That said, I don't think Scar Akai noticed how "Sleeping Kogoro" really works.

----

Amuro totally pissed Banba off on purpose just to trip him to see the bottom of his shoes. Heck, Amuro even tried to get Mouri to notice. ("Mouri-san, please hold his legs!") I wonder if Amuro will notice that Mouri never looked at the bottom of the shoes if Conan does a sleeping detective show.

----

I'm with everyone else that Banba and Kamon are brother/sister or fraternal twins. I'm not sure what the height has to do with it, because as far as I know only identical twins have height issues.

As expected, the cake on the bottom of Banba's shoes vanished. I wonder if the trick is just really simple for this case.

Kamon calls Banba out (to tell him the marriage is off because they're related)

Banba rolls up his trousers/took off his socks to prevent them from being splashed and jumps out the bathroom window.

Kamon tells Banba the marriage is off. She doesn't make it to the part that they are related before Banba attacks her.

Banba attacks Kamon and put her unconscious body in the car.

He uses a slow burning technique to set up the arson, like his other cellphone so it would spark (apparently that's easy to do), or a cigarette or something of that fashion

He goes back through the bathroom window, fixes his trousers and socks and washes off his shoes

He goes back into the restaurant and attacks Amuro to cover up a scratch on his hand he got when Kamon tried to fight him off.

He makes up a phone call from Kamon when he thinks the arson is about to start.

[AJ M. 204]

  On 10/28/2011 at 12:52 PM, Chekhov MacGuffin said:

I'm pretty sure he paid attention because there was nothing else to do while the floor was hostage. The floor wasn't freed until Kogoro finished. That said, I don't think Scar Akai noticed how "Sleeping Kogoro" really works.

----

Amuro totally pissed Banba off on purpose just to trip him to see the bottom of his shoes. Heck, Amuro even tried to get Mouri to notice. ("Mouri-san, please hold his legs!") I wonder if Amuro will notice that Mouri never looked at the bottom of the shoes if Conan does a sleeping detective show.

----

I'm with everyone else that Banba and Kamon are brother/sister or fraternal twins. I'm not sure what the height has to do with it, because as far as I know only identical twins have height issues.

As expected, the cake on the bottom of Banba's shoes vanished. I wonder if the trick is just really simple for this case.

Kamon calls Banba out (to tell him the marriage is off because they're related)

Banba rolls up his trousers/took off his socks to prevent them from being splashed and jumps out the bathroom window.

Kamon tells Banba the marriage is off. She doesn't make it to the part that they are related before Banba attacks her.

Banba attacks Kamon and put her unconscious body in the car.

He uses a slow burning technique to set up the arson, like his other cellphone so it would spark (apparently that's easy to do), or a cigarette or something of that fashion

He goes back through the bathroom window, fixes his trousers and socks and washes off his shoes

He goes back into the restaurant and attacks Amuro to cover up a scratch on his hand he got when Kamon tried to fight him off.

He makes up a phone call from Kamon when he thinks the arson is about to start.

I do agree with your proposed trick for the most part. But how do you explain the missing footprints outside the bathroom window? And would no one really notice his wet clothing after his return from the bathroom (if he used an umbrella, the scuffle that the couple supposedly got in should have exposed him to the rain). The trick must be more complex than rolling up pants and socks.

[Black Demon 466]

  On 10/28/2011 at 12:52 PM, Chekhov MacGuffin said:

I'm pretty sure he paid attention because there was nothing else to do while the floor was hostage. The floor wasn't freed until Kogoro finished. That said, I don't think Scar Akai noticed how "Sleeping Kogoro" really works.

I know, but what I meant is that maybe at the time, Scar Akai was still busy trying to figure out who'd been watching him (Okiya) and what was he up to, therefore he might not have cared much about Kogoro (after all SA did text-message him so there was not many reasons to pay much attention to the case/deduction).

But of course I also believe that no one on that floor noticed Conan in action (maybe except Okiya), even though Gosho's drawing made him do it too openly.

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Amuro totally pissed Banba off on purpose just to trip him to see the bottom of his shoes. Heck, Amuro even tried to get Mouri to notice. ("Mouri-san, please hold his legs!") I wonder if Amuro will notice that Mouri never looked at the bottom of the shoes if Conan does a sleeping detective show.

Wait, so he actually asks Kogoro to "hold his leg" ? I thought that it was just DCTP's way of translation for "Please hold him back!" or something like that. Because asking a person to hold another one's legs literally is pretty... weird, unless he really wants Mouri to take notice of Banba's shoes like you said.

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I'm with everyone else that Banba and Kamon are brother/sister or fraternal twins. I'm not sure what the height has to do with it, because as far as I know only identical twins have height issues.

I don't know anything about the height thing. But the most important clue about it is that the victim is much shorter than Ran.

[Dean Moriarty 1]

  On 10/28/2011 at 2:04 AM, Kyuu said:

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Also, identical twins = identical DNA. But as stated, Gosho still messed up. They are most likely fraternal twins. Twins with non-identical DNA. Also, the height is the only symptom she has of Turner, there were no other indications.

Well, identical twins = identical DNA is not entirely accurate. The result may be exactly the same in forensic profiling (if the gender is the same). But they develop differences due to epigenetic modification.

And in this case... if I’m correct, one twin is a female with Turner Syndrome - no exact match. Also, fraternal twins only share about 50 percent DNA, I wouldn’t even call that an approximate match (but as you mentioned, it's a bit messed up anyway).

Kamon doesn’t show any other symptoms of Turner, but shortage of height is the cardinal symptom of Turner, the others can vary widely. And maybe she has a habit of wearing fake nails, because she also has nail dysplasia, which would be another symptom, but that’s only a guess.

[Stopwatch 36]

Hmm... for the height, either the Turner Syndrome thing (*googles*) or it'll be relevant to the trick, I think...

[Kyuu Nye 425]

  On 10/28/2011 at 2:38 PM, Dean Moriarty said:

Well, identical twins = identical DNA is not entirely accurate. The result may be exactly the same in forensic profiling (if the gender is the same). But they develop differences due to epigenetic modification.

And in this case... if I’m correct, one twin is a female with Turner Syndrome - no exact match. Also, fraternal twins only share about 50 percent DNA, I wouldn’t even call that an approximate match (but as you mentioned, it's a bit messed up anyway).

Kamon doesn’t show any other symptoms of Turner, but shortage of height is the cardinal symptom of Turner, the others can vary widely. And maybe she has a habit of wearing fake nails, because she also has nail dysplasia, which would be another symptom, but that’s only a guess.

You are basing a huge assumption on very little evidence. Yes, that I'd the cardinal symptom, but it usually presents with others. Also, it depends on what DNA profile you are doing. But either way fraternal twins share more than 50% DNA match, especially considering that they don't match based on genes (which is where the 50% comes from) but STRs or RLFP (for former being more common). If it was a full gene analysis, you would be entirely correct though. But that is a moot point any way because hair was used to match, which is mtDNA. That is passed down maternally, so it trends to be either matching or extremely close no matter the sibling.

Also you bring in epigenetic modification which could be possible if their upbringing was radically different. Otherwise differences would be minimal. Epigenetic modification occurs slowly over time and is fairly rare because it causes mutations (usually in the unnecessary introns as the exons would damage genes) And depending on the genetic sequence targeted during PCR gender might not even be a factor in the match. Though, again, moot point mtDNA. This is all not to mention the fact that is more advanced molecular cell biology, far past the abilities of the majority of the readership of DC Detective Conan, so Gosho would not do that. He would not do that and keep it basic. Hell I didn't want to go this in depth because Gosho would not do such things. He would keep it identical = 100% match and fraternal = approximate match, or so I would assume to keep his readership not completely confused. Granted... Them being identical with turner syndrome is possible as that is the leading cause of varying sex identical twin births, and would account for genetic variation as well.

We could both probably argue the science all we want. I personally could see any of the three scenarios being possible, in fact probable. I'm not sure if Gosho will throw such a curve ball as to have Turner syndrome being the reason for the difference in height. But it I'd possible based on the height question posed by Conan, and the fact that is the only reason why identical twins would be differential sex. Though... that would make it even more tragic... Hm... Actually... going through all the science more in depth... yeah... I could see the Turner Syndrome scenario being more likely than the other two...

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

  On 10/28/2011 at 1:16 PM, AJ M. said:

I do agree with your proposed trick for the most part. But how do you explain the missing footprints outside the bathroom window? And would no one really notice his wet clothing after his return from the bathroom (if he used an umbrella, the scuffle that the couple supposedly got in should have exposed him to the rain). The trick must be more complex than rolling up pants and socks.

Thanks for the critique. I don't know if spoilers have hit yet because I haven't looked.

Some basic facts for anyone interested in trying to solve the case.

In terms of setup, the if we arbitrarily call the entrance with the that Kogoro initially used of the restaurant as the south facing side, the parking lot is to the west. Based on their view of the parking lot and the large windows, Kogoro and friends are sitting on the west side of the restaurant. The restroom appears to be on the North side based on the side of the room Kogoro and Conan are sitting. (as long as they didn't change benches). That means the alley outside the bathroom runs along north side of the building and to the parking lot. The wind was blowing to the west and maybe slightly south based on the flag and how Kogoro and Ran were holding the umbrella. This means anything in the alley will be blown towards the parking lot. There is a door on the west side to the parking lot, but it apparently wasn't used. The fence on the north side of the lot might have given a little protection from the rain if the wind was blowing.

Hatsune parked on south side of the lot a few (inconsistent number) cars down from the restaurant itself. The umbrella was found against the westmost car on the north side of the lot.

Banba's right pants leg above the knee was coated with cake, as was the bottom of his left shoe. He is wearing tennis-shoes by the way which normally are relatively non-absorbent and easily washable. The state of his pants haven't changed when Amuro knocks him over but the cake is no longer on the bottom of her shoe.

The picture and text from the Kamon on the cellphone is probably legit based on the nails. This was made at 8:18. At this time, the wife said she was set to return in thirty minutes. Banba went to get a report right after so he has ~30 minutes to setup the crime ahead of time of Kamon arriving. Banba's Sayonara call came in at 8:54, 6 minutes later. This is a very short amount of time which limits trick complexity which is presumably enough time meet Kamon, knock her out, organize and light the very simple slow burn mechanism (~5 minutes or one cigarrete), come back in, clean up, and rejoin the restaurant. Ran managed to connect her call to police at 9:21, 27 minutes after the fire started approximately.

Banba probably wouldn't have done any killing before he heard the results of the investigation.

Hatsune parked on south side of the lot a few (inconsistent number) cars down from the restaurant itself. The umbrella was found against the westmost car on the north side of the lot. Contrary to the police evaluation, The wind was not blowing when the arson occured. That means the position of the umbrella is strange, because the car where the umbrella in found is Northwest which is not quite the West and slightly south direction of the wind earlier. It also means that the umbrella was dropped before or after the time of the arson, likely before as someone might have noticed it skittering across the lot afterwards. It's also kind of strange the nail was caught in the umbrella in the first place of it was open...

There are tables as chairs outside the restaurant but require going close the the brightly lit window to retrive which makes it unlikely.

------

Basically I think Banba took off his jacket, flipped his shirt inside out so that when it got wet, he could flip it back and cover it up, rolled up his pants, took off his socks, but kept his shoes. Banba jumped out the bathroom window. The side door was locked and someone would have noticed the front door, so the bathroom window is all we have. Banba's shoes and legs would have gotten dirty and he noticed he made prints. Banba waited for Hatsune to return about 30 minutes later somewhere it would be somewhat dry (under one of the tables outside where no one could see him?). He attacked her by her car when she opened the car door. He was scratched in the struggle causing the two nails to drop, one on the ground and one into the upside-down umbrella. He put her unconscious body in the car and headed back towards the restaurant after setting the burn mechanism.

At this point I'm not really sure what Banba did. He could have grabbed Hatsune's umbrella, carried it upside-down to the alley, and then walk-rolled it to the window by walking on the inside of the open umbrella so that he destroyed his earlier prints and kept his shoes mostly dry so as not to leave shoe prints on the wall by going back in the bathroom. He could have also taken his shoes off in the umbrella, stood in the umbrella, climbed the wall with dry bare feet, grabbed the umbrella handle from the window, and pulled the umbrella with his shoes up, then threw the umbrella back to ground where the wind blew it to the lot. Banba also could have used supplies from inside the car to make cardboard shoes and not used the umbrella. In any case, the umbrella wound up in the parking lot with an undamaged fake nail somehow.

Regardless of what happened, he went back through the window. He reversed his shirt, put on his jacket, cleaned himself and especially his shoes, which were muddy, as best he could, he rolled back down his pants, put back on his jacket and socks, and then reentered the restaurant looking mostly normal. He tripped Amuro not only to disguise the blood, but to get himself a little wet as well.

Problems include why the 2nd fake nail didn't fall out or wasn't damaged when Banba used the umbrella (if he used it at all.), and why the umbrella got hooked on the last car in the parking lot instead of a closer one. If the umbrella was an important clue as it would be in my scenario, why weren't we shown it? Also, there is a lack of any wetness corresponding to shoe or footprints climbing the wall.

I feel like we really don't have enough clues to really solve the case. I wish Takagi was a bit more clear on the conditions of the back alleyway, like what the ground was made of, and if the rain would have damaged evidence.

===============

Re Kyuu and the height issue: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17612860

Summary twins (Japanese at least) are shorter than single births at final height.

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

Sorry for the double post but spoilers are spoilers.

There are some amazing spoilers this week. Conan48:69 posted the raw spoilers.

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コナン 「炎へと回帰する運命」

席に座り今の状況を話す毛利と伴場。毛利「ヘアブラシ…誰かに使わせた事はないか？」

伴場「覚えはねーけど…半年前から初音と住んでたから…俺の留守中にどっかの探偵が使ったかもしれねぇけどな…

（安室「家に行った事はありませんよ！？」） 探偵ってのも怪しい…俺が雇った探偵さんをまくぐれーの切れ者なら…

家に来た時に、ヘアブラシから俺の髪を取り除いて…別人の髪を仕込み、俺に罪を」

安室「あ、いや…僕にそんなスパイのような真似は…」

目暮「それはないよ…たった今、鑑定結果が出て…ヘアブラシの毛髪は、伴場さんの髪だと断定された…」

安室「…という事はやはり…～～」　高木「署まで任意動向して頂けますね？」 伴場「わかったよ！」

高木「パトカー少し遠くに停め直したので傘がないと濡れるかも…」 伴場「また降ってきたのかよ…」

高木「ええ…かなり強く…」 伴場「別に濡れるぐらい構わねぇけど…」 （外に出ようとする２人）

コナンがテーブルの下から小吾郎を眠らせる。毛利（コナン）「いいのか？伴場！本当に…」

伴場「しゃーねぇだろ？こーなったら警察で無実なのを…」

毛利「そうか…だったらお前は…犯人じゃねぇよ！！」 安室『え？』 目暮「おいおい毛利君…」

毛利「思い出してください…店から駐車場に出る扉は～～トイレの窓からも～～

…となると正面の扉から出るしかないが…主役の彼が店から出たなら誰かが見てるはず」

安室「フッ…誰も見ていないではなく、気付かなかったと…僕なら推理します…

（どういう事か聞かれ） トイレで変装したんです…服をあらかじめ隠しておいて…

例えばニット帽と丈の長いウインドブレーカー…」 伴場「車が燃える直前の電話は！？「サヨナラ」って泣いてたんだぞ！？」

安室「本当に燃える直前にかけていたんですか？本当は～～」

伴場「デタラメだ！本当に初音は…初音の電話を調べてくれよ！」 高木「たとえデータが復元できても会話までは…」

目暮「変装に使った服は？」 安室「ハサミやナイフとかで細かく切り刻んでトイレに流したんでしょうね…」

毛利「靴はどうした？そう簡単に切り刻めねぇぜ？」 安室「履き替える必要ありませんよ！歩き続けてれば判別できませんし…」

毛利に「犯人じゃない証拠だ」と言われて、伴場が脱いだ靴の裏を見る高木。裏の溝にはクリーム

蘭「ケーキを踏んだから…（「いつだね？」） 初音さんが店を出る前です！」

高木「雨の中濡れた路面を歩いたのなら～～彼が車に火をつけて急いで店内に戻ったんならなおさらに！」

目暮「つまり、彼は店から出ていないという事か…」 毛利「最初は伴場が仕掛けたフェイクかと思いました…

本当は何らかの方法で履き替え～～だが、ケーキはそこの若い探偵が落としたが故に偶然踏んだ物だし…

伴場は靴の裏のクリームの事を全く私に言い出さない…しかもあろう事か、雨の中 店外へ出て大切な証拠を台無しにしようとしている…

だから確信したんですよ…クリームはフェイクじゃなく…伴場の無実を証明する証拠だとね…」

安室「で、でもDNAは！？彼女の付け爪の～～」 毛利「彼女本人の皮膚だったって考えねぇのかよ？」

安室「な、何言ってんですか？血縁者でない限りほぼ一致は～～だいいち女性にはＹ染色体がないからすぐにわかりますよ！」

毛利「問題のその皮膚が雨や泥で汚染され、性別の部分が不明だからほぼっていってるかもしれねぇだろ？」

安室「…だとしても…そんな２人が偶然～～」 毛利「出会ったのは偶然かもしれねぇが…惹かれ合ったのは必然だったと思うぜ？　双子だったんだからな…」

ホテル火災の事を伴場に話す毛利。安室が異性一卵性双生児の説明。伴場に彼女の身長が140後半と聞き

安室「異性一卵性双生児の女性の方はターナー症候群で低身長になりやすい…」

伴場「でも…何で付け爪に本人の皮膚が！？」

毛利「同じ火事で助け出された事を聞き、「後は自分で調べる」と言ったんなら…内容は自分達が双子か、DNA鑑定以外考えられねぇ…

恐らく車を降りたその時に…依頼した業者からの電話で結果を…結婚する事が許されない…血のつながった双子だって事を…

付け爪に彼女の皮膚が付着してたのは恐らく…結果に愕然とし…付け爪が外れる程顔をかきむしり泣きじゃくった為…

その時落とした傘の内側に入って風で飛ばされた付け爪を今、調べてもらってるから…その結果が出れば…」

目暮に電話が来て、性別を示す部分以外は伴場のDNAとピッタリ一致し、彼女の遺体からかろうじて取れたDNAとも一致、付け爪の皮膚は彼女のと断定。

高木「じゃあやはり彼女は自殺を…」 目暮「業者も間が悪い…」 高木「明日結婚と聞いて、早く知らせたかったんですよ…取り返しがつかなくなる前に…」

コナン『伴場さんの絶叫が雨音を切り裂き木霊した…彼女がなぜ焼身自殺を選んだかは定かではないが…

もしかしたらやり直す為に戻りたかったのかもしれない…２人をこんな運命に導いた　あの炎の中へ…」

後日…喫茶店ポアロでバイトする安室に弟子にしてくれと言われる毛利。

安室（耳元で）「授業料として事件1つにつき…「～～ほど」お支払いするつもりですけど…」

毛利「マ、マジで！？　採用～！！私の事は先生と呼びなさい安室君！」 安室「はい、毛利先生！！」

コナン『また面倒臭い奴が…』

Conan#1 Had this to say on the Cbox:

File 795 title 「炎へと回帰する運命」(The Fate of Returning From Flame) コナンの周囲に探偵続々！？ 次号、衝撃の新シリーズ！！(Last page sidenote: The detectives are around Conan!? Next issue, the impact of new series.)

毛利「マ、マジで！？　採用～！！私の事は先生と呼びなさい安室君！」 安室「はい、毛利先生！！」(Look like Kogoro taking Amuro as his disciple)

コナン『また面倒臭い奴が…』 (Conan said another troublesome person, look like Conan jealous that Amuro may become his love rival)

From my own translation glossing:

Really Rough translation here...

Kogoro accuses Amuro.

Amuro "So you're saying I left clothes for disguise in the bathroom, say a long wind breaker and knit cap, and I phoned Banba just before the car starts burning, saying 'Sayonara' in a weeping voice...."

Anyway it was a suicide. Kyuu was right, she was an identical twin to Banba with Turner syndrome so she came out looking female, she got the results back on the phone, and was upset. She immolated herself.

Did Amuro just start working part time at the Poirot!?!?!?!? That could be problematic. Especially if Haibara or Sera visit.

[Dean Moriarty 1]

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And I was just about to post, why I finally thought it has to be suicide... too late

[AJ M. 204]

  On 10/29/2011 at 1:42 AM, Chekhov MacGuffin said:

Thanks for the critique. I don't know if spoilers have hit yet because I haven't looked.

Some basic facts for anyone interested in trying to solve the case.

In terms of setup, the if we arbitrarily call the entrance with the that Kogoro initially used of the restaurant as the south facing side, the parking lot is to the west. Based on their view of the parking lot and the large windows, Kogoro and friends are sitting on the west side of the restaurant. The restroom appears to be on the North side based on the side of the room Kogoro and Conan are sitting. (as long as they didn't change benches). That means the alley outside the bathroom runs along north side of the building and to the parking lot. The wind was blowing to the west and maybe slightly south based on the flag and how Kogoro and Ran were holding the umbrella. This means anything in the alley will be blown towards the parking lot. There is a door on the west side to the parking lot, but it apparently wasn't used. The fence on the north side of the lot might have given a little protection from the rain if the wind was blowing.

Hatsune parked on south side of the lot a few (inconsistent number) cars down from the restaurant itself. The umbrella was found against the westmost car on the north side of the lot.

Banba's right pants leg above the knee was coated with cake, as was the bottom of his left shoe. He is wearing tennis-shoes by the way which normally are relatively non-absorbent and easily washable. The state of his pants haven't changed when Amuro knocks him over but the cake is no longer on the bottom of her shoe.

The picture and text from the Kamon on the cellphone is probably legit based on the nails. This was made at 8:18. At this time, the wife said she was set to return in thirty minutes. Banba went to get a report right after so he has ~30 minutes to setup the crime ahead of time of Kamon arriving. Banba's Sayonara call came in at 8:54, 6 minutes later. This is a very short amount of time which limits trick complexity which is presumably enough time meet Kamon, knock her out, organize and light the very simple slow burn mechanism (~5 minutes or one cigarrete), come back in, clean up, and rejoin the restaurant. Ran managed to connect her call to police at 9:21, 27 minutes after the fire started approximately.

Banba probably wouldn't have done any killing before he heard the results of the investigation.

Hatsune parked on south side of the lot a few (inconsistent number) cars down from the restaurant itself. The umbrella was found against the westmost car on the north side of the lot. Contrary to the police evaluation, The wind was not blowing when the arson occured. That means the position of the umbrella is strange, because the car where the umbrella in found is Northwest which is not quite the West and slightly south direction of the wind earlier. It also means that the umbrella was dropped before or after the time of the arson, likely before as someone might have noticed it skittering across the lot afterwards. It's also kind of strange the nail was caught in the umbrella in the first place of it was open...

There are tables as chairs outside the restaurant but require going close the the brightly lit window to retrive which makes it unlikely.

------

Basically I think Banba took off his jacket, flipped his shirt inside out so that when it got wet, he could flip it back and cover it up, rolled up his pants, took off his socks, but kept his shoes. Banba jumped out the bathroom window. The side door was locked and someone would have noticed the front door, so the bathroom window is all we have. Banba's shoes and legs would have gotten dirty and he noticed he made prints. Banba waited for Hatsune to return about 30 minutes later somewhere it would be somewhat dry (under one of the tables outside where no one could see him?). He attacked her by her car when she opened the car door. He was scratched in the struggle causing the two nails to drop, one on the ground and one into the upside-down umbrella. He put her unconscious body in the car and headed back towards the restaurant after setting the burn mechanism.

At this point I'm not really sure what Banba did. He could have grabbed Hatsune's umbrella, carried it upside-down to the alley, and then walk-rolled it to the window by walking on the inside of the open umbrella so that he destroyed his earlier prints and kept his shoes mostly dry so as not to leave shoe prints on the wall by going back in the bathroom. He could have also taken his shoes off in the umbrella, stood in the umbrella, climbed the wall with dry bare feet, grabbed the umbrella handle from the window, and pulled the umbrella with his shoes up, then threw the umbrella back to ground where the wind blew it to the lot. Banba also could have used supplies from inside the car to make cardboard shoes and not used the umbrella. In any case, the umbrella wound up in the parking lot with an undamaged fake nail somehow.

Regardless of what happened, he went back through the window. He reversed his shirt, put on his jacket, cleaned himself and especially his shoes, which were muddy, as best he could, he rolled back down his pants, put back on his jacket and socks, and then reentered the restaurant looking mostly normal. He tripped Amuro not only to disguise the blood, but to get himself a little wet as well.

Problems include why the 2nd fake nail didn't fall out or wasn't damaged when Banba used the umbrella (if he used it at all.), and why the umbrella got hooked on the last car in the parking lot instead of a closer one. If the umbrella was an important clue as it would be in my scenario, why weren't we shown it? Also, there is a lack of any wetness corresponding to shoe or footprints climbing the wall.

I feel like we really don't have enough clues to really solve the case. I wish Takagi was a bit more clear on the conditions of the back alleyway, like what the ground was made of, and if the rain would have damaged evidence.

===============

Re Kyuu and the height issue: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17612860

Summary twins (Japanese at least) are shorter than single births at final height.

You never fail to amaze me Chek! :mrgreen:

Though, I still have some problems with your deduction but only a fraction of it.

THE WIND: You claim that the wind was blowing towards the west, and slightly south. But I believe that the wind was headed in a northwest direction and I have a few reasons as to why.

In the picture above, Ran and Kogoro are walking with the umbrella facing the south; thus, the wind is blowing AGAINST them (heading north, not south). You can also consider their facial expressions and body positions. When walking against stormy winds, your face would tense up and make a "semi-frown-like" expression in order to resist the powerful breeze. You would also lean your body forward in order to prevent yourself from falling backwards. As for the flag, maybe the wind was blowing so strong that when it settled down a bit, the flag slightly whipped back to the south, then resumed waving NW. It can also explain how the umbrella hooked onto the car at the end of the parking lot. While Hatsune was being attacked, the umbrella was release from her hands and departed northwest towards the other car.

THE FOOTPRINTS: I believe that walk-rolling on the umbrella is too far-fetched for a "return to the restaurant" method. Examiners should have seen mud or footprints on the umbrella, unless Banba really did walk barefoot. But regardless, it would be too troublesome to use such a complicating method. I don't even think the umbrella was used in his attempt to go back inside the bathroom window since my first argument stated that the wind was heading due NW (the wind would have little effect on the umbrella if it were to be placed back outside). I do, however, believe it is possible that Banba used it for his murder trick. Not sure how though... But like you said, in order to obscure his footprints, he probably used the supplies in the car.

CALLING OUT BANBA: In your other post, you claimed that Hatsune probably called out Banba (to tell his that the marriage is off and that they're related). But in the manga, someone called Hatsune upon her departure from her car. Right after she answered her phone, there was some explosion of noise (Hatsune was attacked?). You could say, "Maybe she called him beforehand?" But if that were the case, then she would have time to explain, then and there, that the two were related. I think we both believe that Banba doesn't know the circumstances yet at this point since Conan pointed out that a "sad truth" will soon be revealed. So for what other reason did Banba have to kill the bride? I'm sure if Hatsune called Banba and told him that the marriage was off, Banba would question why first, rather than hang up the phone and have the urge to kill her before she could explain that they are fraternal twins.

There is still a problem I am flustered with... How did no one manage to see Banba attacking Hatsune in the first place? Her car is right outside the restaurant and there are multiple large windows inside the building. There should have been onlookers that would have seen, if not heard, the attack. The windows don't have one-sided glass (people in the restaurant could see through it perfectly). Were the guests that occupied with themselves? Was there some distraction used by the culprit? I'm so focused on this problem that I can't even concentrate on other important ones...

By the way, I liked that article you posted. The study, about how the height of twins and singles differentiate, perfectly explains why Conan asked Ran about Hatsune's height. I applaud you for finding this article.

(Sorry it took me so long to post this. I accidentally closed my browser, so I had to type up this post all over again from scratch )

EDIT: Nevermind... Saw the spoilers...

[Black Demon 466]

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Is it mentioned in the spoiler how the case is solved ? Is there any "Sleeping Kogoro" ?

[Chekhov MacGuffin 1089]

And here comes the English courtesy of the amazing Zenthisoror from the DCTP cbox

Title: A Fate that Returned to Fire

Mouri and Banba sit on some chairs and discuss the situation.

Mouri: "The hairbrush...did you ever let anybody else use it?"

Banba: "I don't think so...I've been living with Hatsune for about half a year now. Although maybe some detective might have used it whilst I was out..."

Amuro: "I have never been inside your house!"

Banba: "The fact that you're a detective makes you suspect...if you're skilled enough to dodge the guy I hired... then when you came to my house, you could've taken some of my hairs off the brush and replaced it with somebody else's and then put the guilt on me."

Amuro: "Ah..no, I wouldn't ever do such a spy-ish sort of thing..."

Megure: "I'm afraid you're wrong in any case. I just received the results from forensics. The hair on the hairbrush is definitely Mr Banba's."

Amuro: "So that means that..."

Takagi: "Permission to escort you to a police station?"

Banba: "Fine!"

Takagi: "I've parked the car a little bit far so you'll need an umbrella, or else you might get wet..."

Banba: "It's raining again?"

Takagi: "Yes...quite heavily..."

Banba: "I don't mind getting a little wet."

They start to make their way out. Conan puts Mouri to sleep from under the table.

Mouri (Conan): "Are you sure about all this? Banba? Did you really..."

Banba: "Well what can I do? It's come to this so I'll just have to show I'm innocent at the station..."

Mouri: "I see...in which case...you are not the murderer!"

Amuro: "Eh?"

Megure: "Oh come off it, Mouri..."

Mouri: "Recall this...in terms of doors going out into the carpark...there was also a way via the toilet window... in which case the only way to go is by the front door...somebody would have certainly seen if he, Banba, the main man of the show, went out that way."

Amuro: "It might be the case that it wasn't that he wasn't seen, just wasn't noticed. He could've disguised himself in the toilet, if he'd hidden his clothes in their beforehand... like, a knitted cap or a long windbreaker..."

Banba: "What about the phone call before the explosion? She said "Goodbye!"

Amuro: "Did she really call you just before the car caught fire? Maybe what actually happened was that - "

Banba: "That's all just words! Hatsune really did... Check her phone!"

Takagi: "Well we could put back together the data but a whole conversation - "

Megure: "And these clothes that were used for the disguise?"

Amuro: "He could have flushed them down the toilet by cutting them into lots of tiny pieces with a pair of scissors and a knife..."

Mouri: "What about shoes? You can't easily cut up those..."

Amuro: "He wouldn't need to change those! If he kept on walking in them then it wouldn't make any difference anyway."

Mouri: "The shoes are evidence that he is not the murderer."

Takagi looks at the soles of the shoes that Banba had taken off. There's cream from the cake in its grooves.

Ran: "Because he trod on the cake..."

"When?"

Ran: "Before Hatsune left the shop."

Takagi: "If he'd walked on the wet pavement...Especially if he'd been in a hurry to get back into the shop once he'd set the car on fire!"

Megure: "So, do you say that Banba never went out of the shop..."

Mouri: "I thought it was trick that he'd pulled off at first. I thought, by some way or other, he'd changed his shoes...but the cake in question was some that this here young detective dropped and then got trodden on just by chance... Banba never mentioned the cream on his soles to me...he is even now willingly leaving the shop into the rain outside, risking his previous 'evidence'...That is how I realized that the cream isn't a part of a trick...it is real affirmative evidence that he is innocent."

Amuro: "But, but, what about the DNA? On Hatsune's false nail - "

Mouri: "Couldn't it have been her own skin?"

Amuro: "What...what are you saying? Two people would have to be relatives otherwise a close match would indicate...In any case, women don't have y chromosomes, so you should be able to work things out quite quickly!

Mouri: "The fact is, the skin had been corrupted with all the mud and the rain...it could be that because the sex chromosomes were undiscernable."

Amuro: "But even still...that the two of them...coincidentally..."

Mouri: "Their meeting might have been a coincidence...but what drew them together might have been necessity, because they were twins..."

Mouri talks about the hotel fire incident. Amuro explains about monozygotic but dual gender identical twins. He hears from Banba that her height was around the higher 140s.

Amuro: "In the case of monozygotic (identical) opposite sex twins, the female has Turner's syndrome and so is prone to shorter statures."

Banba: "But...why was there her skin on the ends of the nail?"

Mouri: "When she'd heard you were rescued from the same fire, she said, 'I'll investigate that myself'. The only conclusion possible is that she would use DNA sequencing to find out if you two were twins. We could surmise that when she got out of her car, she got a call from the company with her results...there was no way they could get married...being identical twins... The skin on the false nail was probably a result from her scratching her tearing at her face as she cried, to such an extent that the nail fail off...it fell into the umbrella that she'd dropped and was blown away...and that we're now investigating and awaiting the results of."

Megure gets a phone call

Megure: "Apart from the sex chromosomes the others matched Banba's exactly and it also fitted the DNA from the corpse." It is confirmed that the DNA is hers.

Takagi: "So it was suicide..."

Megure: "The timing of the company was pretty bad."

Takagi: "They heard it was the wedding tomorrow, so they probably wanted to get in their news as quickly as possible...before it was too late."

Conan narrates.

Conan: "Banba's cry cut split through the rain and echoed all around...it wasn't clear why she had chosen to die by fire... perhaps in order to restart everything she'd wanted to go back to the beginning...into the midst of the flames that set the pair of them towards this fate..."

The next day

Amuro works part time at Poirot, and asks to be made Mouri's apprentice.

Amuro: (whispers in Mouri's ear) - "As tuition fees, I was thinking of paying about................per case...."

Mouri: "Are you serious?! Indeed! In which case, young Amuro, call me, "Master Mouri"!"

Amuro: "Yes, sir, Master Mouri!"

Conan: "And here's another troublesome one..."

end

[Detective Rohit 38]

That was amazing Chek

[Kyuu Nye 425]

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Why did Conan need to put him to sleep? For once he was right about it being suicide.

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