Recap / The Kindaichi Case Files Murder In Mirror Labyrinth

"Murder In Mirror Labyrinth" (aka "The Mirror Maze Murder Incident") is the seventh case in the Short File Series of The Kindaichi Case Files.

Kindaichi and Miyuki (with Fumi in tow) enter an amusement park for fun on a holiday, where they encounter a group of four young women, who are all aspiring news anchors. When Kindaichi, Miyuki, Fumi, and three of the four women enter the mirror maze, they discover the dead body of the fourth woman within said labyrinth.

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Tropes include:

• All Women Hate Each Other: Played with. The group of four young women initially appears to be close friends with each other. After one of the four women is found dead within the mirror maze, however, each of the other three starts providing testimony incriminating one of the other two. This, in conjunction with their respective locations, all of which are rather far away from the body when the fourth one is found dead, makes it tricky to identify the actual culprit until Kindaichi steps in to help with the investigation.
  Kindaichi: Oh boy, this could be a problem! They're all just pointing fingers at each other!
  [...]
  Kenmochi: They appear to be friends but tried to stab each other in the back...
  Miyuki: And all that triggered this murder incident in the end... *sigh*
• Doting Parent:
  • Komine's father, if his willingness to withhold a loan for the company of a struggling businessman unless said businessman agreed to prevent his daughter from vying for the same job position his own daughter was pursuing and Komine's own statement about her father are any indication.
    Komine: My dad will do anything I ask him!
  • Akimoto's father is a more tragic example. Forced to choose between a loan keeping his struggling business afloat and his daughter's job prospect, he outright refused the loan. Unfortunately, the strain of keeping a struggling business eventually drove him to a fatal heart failure.
• Moment Killer: Despite Hajime and Miyuki being in a relatively empty amusement park, their hope of spending time alone in this story is ruined because of Fumi's persistent presence as the third wheel.
• Spoiled Brat: As the backstory reveals, Akimoto and Komine both were vying for the same news anchor job, but Komine resorted to asking her father, a bank manager, to withhold a loan for the business owned by Akimoto's father unless Akimoto's father agreed to prevent Akimoto from going to the interview at the TV station for the job Komine was also pursuing.
• Tag Along Kid: Fumi, who serves as the third wheel in this trip. Hajime had hoped for some alone time with Miyuki for this trip, but Fumi's persistent presence makes sure that such wouldn't be the result.
• With Friends Like These...: Komine's "friendly" relationship with two of the other three women is like this at best. She stole the boyfriend of one and caused resentment as the result, and she and Akimoto only became more friendly with each other because the two of them had the same goal and Komine's father is an influential bank manager. This was before the job-hunting competition drove Komine and Akimoto into becoming Friendly Enemy with each other, followed by Akimoto throwing away the "friend(ly)" part of the relationship out the window after learning about the full backstory behind her father's death.^note  As for the other woman, she's been Komine's friend since high school, though Akimoto claims that she's more like Komine's sidekick due to Komine's father's position.