Recap / The Kindaichi Case Files Gentleman Thief The Killer

"Gentleman Thief the Killer" is the thirteenth case in the File Series of The Kindaichi Case Files.

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Tropes include:

• Actually Pretty Funny: On the way to the wealthy painter in Aomori, Kenmochi shows a photo album of the list of things the Gentleman Thief has pilfered. Kindaichi starts laughing at the photo image of a tree being cut to resemble the top-hat-and-mustache Calling Card symbol, and even Miyuki can barely contain herself.
• The Alcoholic: A sympathetic example. A rival painter of Gozou Gamou, the wealthy painter in this case arc, used to be a successful artist, right up until Gamou upstaged him by Stealing the Credit, pushing him into heavy debt, a much more cynical attitude, and a drinking habit. While he's justifiably unhappy with Gamou, he acts civilly enough, bouts of Brutal Honesty notwithstanding.
• Almost Kiss: At one point during the case arc, Sakura and Kindaichi take a walk in the garden and Sakura leans close to Kindaichi for a kiss. Kindaichi is on the verge of obliging it, only to back down when the dreadful thought of Miyuki catching him at it to emerge, resulting in him pointing at a distance and shouting about a UFO. Sakura looks towards the direction Kindaichi points at... and so does Miyuki, who appears behind Kindaichi right at that moment to look for him.
  Kindaichi: *thinks to himself* Phew! Close call!
• Balloonacy: A hot-air balloon is the Gentleman Thief's escape tool of choice.
• Butt-Monkey: Gamou's nephew, who's one of the participants in this murder case, serves this role.
  • His first taste of misfortune comes when he gets caught for trying to steal a painting, which gets him caned by Gamou himself.
  • He tries pilfering a painting yet again later, only for Kindaichi to catch him in the act and knock him unconscious accidentally when Kindaichi trips over another painting, which ends up getting him detained by the cops.
  • Finally, after the case concludes, he tries to take the painting(s) with him, culminating with him having a tug-of-war against Kenmochi and arguing with him withal.
    Kenmochi: Hey! What the Hell do you think you are doing?! Do you wanna get locked up again?! Let go!
    Gamou's nephew: This belongs to me! The owner is dead, so his assets are all mine, right? So I'm supposed to inherit it anyway!
    Kenmochi: That might be true, but these paintings are stolen property, and they don't belong to Mr. Gamou! And now, the police will be taking it as evidence!
    Gamou's nephew: *in a desperate tone of pleading* Noooo!
    Miyuki: Oh my, that guy doesn't give up...
  • The one time he doesn't get into trouble due to his mishaps involves him sneaking out of police detainment for the sake of stargazing, with the worst outcome for him being Kindaichi making fun of the Stealth Clothes he's wearing.
    Kindaichi: You look like a Panty Thief in that getup.
• By "No", I Mean "Yes": An initial exchange between Kindaichi and Kenmochi regarding the Gentleman Thief goes this way.^note  The use of male-specific third-person pronoun when talking about the Gentleman Thief is due to none of them three knowing yet that the thief in question is a woman.
  Kindaichi: So, let me guess, you want my help to catch him? And I thought you were the devil of your department.
  Kenmochi: No, not at all! Actually, the thing I wanted to say is... yeah, you're right.
• Clear Their Name: The Gentleman Thief claims to have not been the murderer before leaving, and Kindaichi spends the rest of the case arc proving it.
• Cynicism Catalyst: For The Alcoholic who was once a successful painter himself, being the victim of Gamou Stealing the Credit from his work drove him into a far more cynical attitude, which he shares willingly via bouts of Brutal Honesty throughout the case arc. Case in point is when he talks about artists competing in the circles to Kindaichi:
  Kindaichi: Talent is enough to be famous, right?
  Rival Artist: You're way too naive, kid... you don't have a single clue of how the art world works! Listen up! In the art world, *hic* if you don't have any connections, you'll never be famous! *hic* 'Cause in open-art competitions, the judges will mostly be well-known artists, and it pays to get close to them in social gatherings and the like.
  Kindaichi: Isn't that unfair?
  Rival Artist: Yeah, well, that's how the world works, kiddo. If an artist excels at mingling with his peers, he would go to the top in the blink of an eye, just like that bastard, Gozou Gamou.^note  He then follows up by divulging the full story of Gamou Stealing the Credit from his work.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Sakura Izumi delivers this to Kindaichi before finally dying from the stab wound she inflicts on herself.
• Eye Scream: As Kenmochi informs Kindaichi, Gamou's eyes had been severely injured shortly before his demise. Kindaichi soon figures that his eyes being blinded is an essential step for the culprit to trick Gamou and build up an alibi for oneself.
• Family Relationship Switcheroo: Sakura's parents turned out to have adopted her when she was young, and she was told about this only when her mother was dying. Gamou made a public announcement of her being his daughter due to the fame the painting of Sakura garnered, but in truth he doesn't really care for her and only made the gesture in order to conceal his Dark Secret, and Sakura plays along only for her own sake. Gamou's butler, in the meanwhile, believes that he is Sakura's biological father himself, but he keeps quiet about the truth because he feels Sakura would be better off living in a rich man's household instead of with a butler who left her behind before she was even born.
• Food as Bribe: Upon Kenmochi practically begging Kindaichi to help him catch the Gentleman Thief, Kindaichi agrees... with the caveat that Kenmochi treat him for dinner first.
  Kindaichi: Since you're practically on your knees, I'll do it as a special favor!
  Kenmochi: Really? Ha, I knew you would accept it, Kindaichi!
  Kindaichi: You're gonna treat me to sushi tonight.
  Kenmochi: Of course, of course, it's all on me, don't worry!
  • This incident gets brought up once more upon Kindaichi helping to deduce a crime scene that Kenmochi couldn't figure out.
    Kenmochi: *patting on Kindaichi's shoulder* Treating you to sushi worth 23,400 yen^note  230 in USD or so was worth it after all...
    Kindaichi: You ate, like, half of it yourself, Uncle...
• Go Look At The Distraction: At one point during the case arc, Sakura and Kindaichi take a walk in the garden and Sakura leans close to Kindaichi for a kiss. Kindaichi is on the verge of obliging it, only to back down when the dreadful thought of Miyuki catching him at it to emerge, resulting in him pointing at a distance and shouting about a UFO. Sakura looks towards the direction Kindaichi points at... and so does Miyuki, who appears behind Kindaichi right at that moment to look for him.
  Kindaichi: *thinks to himself* Phew! Close call!
• Happily Adopted: Sakura was told that she was adopted by her mother back when her mother was alive, but she always considers her adopted parents as her real parents and never bothers looking for her biological ones.
• He Knows Too Much: Downplayed with an overlap to You Have Outlived Your Usefulness, as Gamou has the unknown painter drugged and sent away into a mental hospital when the latter confronted him for having been exploited while Gamou got richer and richer by Stealing the Credit in order to prevent said painter from revealing the truth. That being said, Sakura still considers Gamou a murderer, more or less, as said unknown painter is her father while she was growing up, and Gamou's actions led to him no longer being able to return home and, when she did manage to find him, the reunion only lasted long enough for him to finish making his final painting and briefly showing recognition towards her before dying.
• The Hermit: Gozou Gamou is no fan of traveling, as his butler informs Kindaichi and Miyuki.
• Interrupted Declaration of Love: After being saved from the bullying girls at the beginning, Sakura goes to Kindaichi to thank him for his heroism and tell him that she'll soon transfer to another school. She's on the verge of saying something else (most likely a love confession), only to back down and leave when Miyuki arrives to compliment Kindaichi at that precise moment.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: After Kindaichi agrees to Kenmochi's plea for help, part of the conversation on the way to Gamou's mansion goes this way:
  Kindaichi: Well, you were present when Uncle asked me, but... why are you even here?
  Miyuki: Hajime-chan, aren't all detectives supposed to have a sidekick with them?
  Kindaichi: You've gotten good at making excuses.
  Kenmochi: I don't mind. It's actually weird if she's not with you.
• Long-Lost Relative: Played with. Gamou makes a public announcement of Sakura being his long-lost daughter after a portrait of her was submitted to the judges in art competition, but neither of them really believes it and they play along only for their own purposes. After the case concludes, the butler confides to Kindaichi and Miyuki that he might be Sakura's actual biological father who left her behind before she was born, though he never had the courage to tell her.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: As everyone is about to leave the mansion behind, Kindaichi lingers at the lavender field one last time, as Sakura described the time of playing in a lavender field with both of her parents being alive as the happiest moment in her life, and seems to witness the younger version of her joining her parents and leaving with them, right before Miyuki beckons him along.
• Moment Killer: Two of Sakura's attempts to advance romantically with Kindaichi never succeed. The first one ends with an Interrupted Declaration of Love, while the second one ends with an Almost Kiss. Her only successful confession comes in the form of a Dying Declaration of Love.
• Not What It Looks Like: Played for Laughs. After Kindaichi thwarts two girls from bullying Sakura, she goes to him as he's done washing his face to compliment him and is on the verge of saying something (most likely a love confession) but backs down and leaves when Miyuki arrives at that very moment, and then Miyuki spots him with a panty in hand.
  Miyuki: What did she do to you?
  Kindaichi: Nothing. She was just saying she was transferring to another school.
  Miyuki: *with a shrewd look* Hajime-chan... is that what I think it is?
  Kindaichi: Hm? *notices he's holding a panty in hand* Holy shit! I can explain! It's not like it was a present from her or something!
• Panty Thief: Kindaichi manages to steal the bullying girls' panties as he thwarts their bullying against Sakura. It's not known whether he actually shows his "souvenirs" to the male students who witness the bullying and his ensuing stunts when they notice a bulge in his back pocket since he's last shown rebuffing their demands, but he gets busted when he unwittingly uses one of the panties to dry himself after he washes his face and Miyuki sees him at it.
• Phantom Thief: The Gentleman Thief proves to be this upon setting the sights on the latest painting in the wealthy painter's archive, Calling Card included.
• Revealing Hug: Sakura had a detached emotion that was hidden from the others when she and Gamou embraced each other during his public announcement about her being his real daughter. On the other hand, Gamou only took her in to keep up the charade of lying about the paintings being his own work.
• Samus Is a Girl: Due to her name and her Calling Card symbol (a top hat and a mustache), most people assume that the "Gentleman Thief" is a man. Discovering that it's actually a woman is what clues Kindaichi in about the identity of the fake Gentleman Thief who has committed the murders.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Despite managing to score a heist and evade capture by police withal, being tricked into filching a fake painting counts as a loss for the Gentleman Thief.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Downplayed since much of "cleaning up" boils down to replacing her glasses with contact lenses, but Sakura looks more beautiful than her previous appearance, much to the shock of both Kindaichi and Miyuki upon their reunion.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The butler claims, as the case arc is concluding, that he might be Sakura's real biological father, as he left his then-pregnant wife behind for personal reasons, who ended up with Death by Childbirth, and he spent years not knowing what had happened to his child, but the painting that was nominated for and won in the art contest shows signs that Sakura might just be the child he left behind, and he worked as Gamou's butler without telling her the truth in the hope of watching her living a rich life from afar, believing that she'd be better off with a wealthy guy as her father instead of a butler who left her behind before she was even born. He's quite guilt-ridden about his decision after the case ends the way it has.
• Smoke Out: The Gentleman Thief throws a smoke bomb before making her escape.
• Sneeze Cut: The result of two participants, one of whom is a reporter, gossiping over the Aomori inspector nearly arresting the wrong person for a painting theft.
  Reporter: If it weren't for Mr. Kindaichi, you would have been sent to jail by that orangutan cop!
  [the panel shows the cop sneezing suddenly]
• Stealing the Credit: Gamou is actually guilty of this.
  • Much of the murder case stemmed from him having an unknown painter doing the painting for the work he proceeded to claim as his own five years ago, only to have said unknown painter subdued with a drug injection when confronted before sending said unknown painter off inside a mental hospital a year before the present time. The unknown painter turned out to be the father of Sakura, who had his final painting nominated into art competition as part of the revenge murder plot. Sure enough, Gamou took the bait and announced her as his daughter in public, and the murder plot proceeded All According to Plan.
  • Fifteen years ago, he claimed the credit for an artistic motif of one of his rival painter's pieces, which propelled him to the elite level within the artist circle while pushing said rival into heavy drinking, a more cynical attitude, and a lot of debt. After Kindaichi reveals Gamou's scheme as the backstory behind the murder case, the rival painter doesn't miss a beat in saying he Knew It All Along.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: The case arc begins with Kindaichi thwarting two girls from their bullying Sakura for her lunch money, one month before the case itself starts.
  Bullying girls: K-Kindaichi, you gotta understand, we weren't bullying her or anything!
  Kindaichi: Oh, don't worry, I won't be reporting you girls. But, how odd. I never said you girls were bullying her in the first place. Why would you even say that I thought that, hmm?
• Troll: The Gentleman Thief proves to be a big one. One example here includes stealing one motif (a tree) from a painting she stole beforehand by cutting the tree to resemble her logo, and her way of payback after getting tricked by Kindaichi involves tying him up with a basket full of heavy rocks in the middle of a busy street.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: Sakura's father was once able to be present for his family, but it all changed about five and a half years ago, when Gamou started recruiting him as his personal ghost-painter, whose work Gamou would claim as his own, and Gamou confined him inside his mansion under tight security to keep him trapped there. It only went From Bad to Worse when Gamou decided to cut him loose when confronted about his scheme.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Gamou had Sakura's father drugged and sent away into a mental hospital when confronted about his scheme of having the latter paint for him and then Stealing the Credit.