"Sommelier Kengo Akechi Case File" is a case arc in "The Kindaichi Case Files R" series of The Kindaichi Case Files.
When the sommelier, the waitress, and the dishwasher in a high-end wine bar are ill, Miyuki and Kindaichi take up the duties of the waitress and the dishwasher, respectively, while Akechi, a wine expert himself, serves as sommelier substitute at a private wine party, whose atmosphere becomes marred by the death of one of the party attendants.
Tropes include:
- A Day in the Limelight: Akechi is the star detective in this case.
- A Fête Worse than Death: The private wine party turns out to have been intended to get a Jerkass Miser Advisor killed — on the culprit's own birthday, to boot.
- Batman Gambit: As Akechi details in The Summation, the culprit is able to get the victim killed by exploiting the flaws of the victim after injecting poison into wine while minimizing the risk of getting anyone else in harm's way, due to the victim's tendency to crash into parties where expensive wines are served and his lack of knowledge about wine connoisseur etiquette.note
- Birthday Party Goes Wrong: Self-invoked. The private wine party is already less than perfect due to the presence of the Jerkass Miser Advisor whom no one among the other party attendants likes anyway due to his notorious reputation as a cheapskate, and it gets From Bad to Worse when said cheapskate dies as the party is starting to wind down. After the whole truth comes out, it turns out that the wealthy wine collector, who provides the bottles of wine for the party, is the culprit in this case, as he planned to use the wine party to get the intended target killed for his loss of fortune in ruined wine at the victim's hands. The part about the party being held on his birthday is not brought up until he mentions it late in his confession.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Zigzagged. While Akechi does say "All the mysteries are solved." and "The killer is among us!" at the appropriate occasions, his equivalent of "I swear it in the name of my grandfather!", which Kindaichi utters, in this case, is this:I will solve this case, in the name of Dionysus, the god of grapes and wine in Greek mythology!
- Demoted to Extra: Kindaichi is stuck as the dishwasher throughout the entire case, and it's solved by the time he finishes his duty. He's quite indignant about it after the fact.Kindaichi: Miyuki! There was a case, and yet you didn't call me?!Miyuki: Well, the case was quickly solved... and also... I forgot you were here...Kindaichi: MIYUKI!!!Miyuki: Sorry, Hajime-chan!
- Fatal Flaw: The victim has two: Greed and lack of knowledge about wine connoisseur etiquette. The culprit takes advantage of both to get him killed.
- Flaw Exploitation: The culprit takes advantage of the victim's Fatal Flaw (two, in fact) to ensure his death without accidentally causing harm to anyone else.
- Gratuitous French: Akechi greets a native French speaker (a French model) with fluent French before the latter, after reacting appreciatively, clarifies that she has stayed in Japan long enough to be able to communicate well in Japanese, after which point all conversations are carried out exclusively in Japanese.
- Greed: The victim in this case is a Jerkass Miser Advisor who is well-known for wringing as much money from others as possible while paying others as little as he can get away with despite being a wealthy company executive himself and for crashing into parties that serve expensive wines just so he could drink to his heart's content without having to spend money buying any. It's a Fatal Flaw of his that the culprit exploits to ensure his demise.
- Internal Reveal: At the start of the case arc, Miyuki expresses concern that she might not be up to the task of serving wine, only for the chef hiring her and Kindaichi for the night to voice assurance that the sommelier for the upcoming party is a handsome wine expert who's well-acquainted with the bar manager. The audience is already clued in about who the sommelier in question might be (it's in the title "Sommelier Kengo Akechi", after all), but Miyuki and Kindaichi aren't made aware about him until later — Akechi reveals himself to Miyuki when he arrives in time to serve the welcome champagne, but Kindaichi, who's stuck in the backroom as the dishwasher throughout the case arc events, doesn't know of Akechi's presence (and vice versa) until the end of the case.
- Miser Advisor: The victim in this case is one that is a Jerkass due to letting his Greed get the best of him. Despite being the president of an air-conditioning repair service company, he charges much more than standard market prices while insisting on paying others as little as possible. And he's also notorious for crashing into any parties where wines are served, all so that he could drink to his heart's content without having to spend money buying any wines he's wealthy enough to be able to afford. That's not mentioning him pilfering expensive-looking coasters from the bar into his own bag, even though he's more than wealthy enough to buy them himself.
- Serious Business: Wine collection and wine preservation are treated very seriously in this case.
- The culprit turns out to be a wealthy wine collector, who lost hundreds of millions of yennote worth of wine because the victim turned off the air-conditioner in the wine cellar without consulting with his client beforehand while checking the cooling system there. Angry at his loss, the wine collector concocts a deadly scheme to get back at him.
- After the backstory and the motive are revealed, Miyuki privately wonders whether it counts as Disproportionate Retribution since the victim didn't sabotage the wine collection on purpose, only to witness the other wine party attendants expressing words of condolence, support, and/or sympathy towards the culprit.I completely understand how you feel!If I were in your position, I would have also...I feel bad for the wines...It's divine retribution!That guy [the victim] deserves everything!
- Speak Ill of the Dead: The victim gets NO praises even after his death, as every other party attendant speaks about him in unflattering terms — even the French model, who never met the guy prior to the party, has no love for him after noticing him filching expensive-looking coasters from the bar and placing them into his bag. And that's before his inadvertent sabotage of a large volume of wine collection, which is Serious Business to the party attendants who are all wine connoisseurs themselves, gets revealed.
- Spoiler Title: Anyone who knows what a "sommelier" is or does can probably guess who would serve wine in this case arc based on the title "Sommelier Kengo Akechi Case File".
- Tampering with Food and Drink: As Akechi notes, the poison that's responsible for the victim's doom was inserted into a bottle of wine that has been served to the wine party attendants, though it's one that reacts only to gastric acid, which means it's harmless while it sits with other sedimentary substances such as grape residues at the bottom of the bottle when injected into wine.
