"Murder At 10,000 Meter Altitude" is the thirteenth feature case in the New Series of The Kindaichi Case Files.
Hajime, Miyuki, and Kenmochi take a domestic flight back to Tokyo, during which they meet up with Akechi. What they expected to be an uneventful flight soon gives way to panic when smoke fills the airplane before things become grimmer when the pilot captain is found dead in the cockpit.
Tropes include:
- All Up to You: Due to the way the murder case develops, Akechi is the only person among all survivors who are on board the flight with any competence on how to operate an airplane despite not being a certified pilot, and so he steps up when the need to get the plane to descend safely arises, revealing the origin of his knowledge on such a subject after leaving the plane.Akechi: Back in Los Angeles, [pilot captain] taught me how to fly a cessna and a passenger plane. It was only on simulation, though.
- Connected All Along: Akechi and the deceased pilot captain actually have known each other since many years ago, back when Akechi was studying and living in Los Angeles.
- Continuity Nod: Akechi makes a mention of the island where the Alchemy Murder Case, which directly precedes this one, took place in his brief dialogue with Hajime.
- Face of a Thug: The professional photographer, one of the passengers, has a rough-looking exterior, and a scar on one side of his face doesn't make him appear any less intimidating, either. That being said, Kenmochi vouches for him to Kindaichi, claiming that he and the photographer, who sits directly behind, had a friendly chat during the early part of the flight.
- He Knows Too Much: The first culprit has the pilot captain on the hit-list after the pilot captain had caught the first culprit smuggling drugs.
- Here We Go Again!: Played for Laughs. Hajime and Akechi have an argument during the criminal investigation over who came up with the potentially conclusive deduction, and so Miyuki and Kenmochi suggest for each of them to write their own personal deduction on a piece of paper, swap them, and read the contents withal. Kindaichi and Akechi comply, apparently coming to the same conclusion... and argue briefly about who solved it earlier, much to the exasperation of both Miyuki and Kenmochi.
- No Honor Among Thieves: After Kindaichi and Akechi expose both of the culprits in the pilot captain's murder, the first culprit immediately tries to deflect all of the blame on the other, even after the other culprit recounts being recruited by the first culprit into doing the deed. This, in turn, causes the second culprit to stab the first culprit out of sheer rage, resulting in a One-Hit Kill due to the stab piercing the first culprit's heart.
- The Prima Donna: One of the passengers is an actress with an entitled attitude, as illustrated when she demands to the flight attendant she talks to to allow her to smoke within the airplane despite the illegal status of such a move, which Kindaichi and Kenmochi happen to witness by accident.Flight attendant: I'm sorry, but smoking is prohibited on board.
Actress: In that case, I'll just go to the toilet.
Flight attendant: Sorry, but the toilet is also off-limits.
Actress: Hey, don't you know who I am?! - Two Dun It: This is another case in the franchise where two people are responsible in the murder case.
