"Black Spirit Hotel Murder Case" is the tenth case arc in "The Kindaichi Case Files R" series of The Kindaichi Case Files.
When three part-time workers quit in the midst of film-making, Reika sends a plea via private messaging to Kindaichi for help. Kindaichi agrees at once, with Miyuki, who sees the messages on Kindaichi's phone, immediately imposing herself into the job as well. Together, they meet with the other movie production team members at an old hotel building in the Kanagawa prefecture to resume the film-making, not knowing a murder plot is about to unfold.
Tropes include:
- Apocalyptic Log: Momota Ichidou's diary details the torment Ichidou himself was forced to endure from the actress and the film producer before being Driven to Suicide. The culprit became aware of the abuse Ichidou suffered only after reading the diary, by which point the writer already died.
- Died During Production: Enforced In-Universe by the culprit, resulting in the actress and the producer both falling victim in this murder case.
- Ear Ache: Played for Laughs. After Reika whispers to Kindaichi about their room arrangements before leaving the room, Miyuki pulls his ear to force the truth out of him.Miyuki: (still pulling his ear) What did she say just now?!Kindaichi: Ow, ow, ow! It's nothing, really, I swear!
- Falling Chandelier of Doom: In this case, it's made possible by replacing the screws holding the chandelier up with an electromagnet, so that said chandelier will surely fall when blackout occurs and kills the actress who's in the scene as a result.
- Fatal Method Acting: Enforced In-Universe regarding the actress who falls victim to the Falling Chandelier of Doom during the film production in this case arc due to the culprit's machination.
- Four Is Death: The culprit's trick being used to kill the film producer involves placing a poisonous needle on the door handle of his hotel room in disguise due to security cameras there, taking off the disguise after leaving the hallway and getting out of view from security cameras, returning to his hotel room carrying a lot of items in bags to justify himself opening his room with his elbows and feet to avoid touching the poisonous needle, entering his room and getting out of view from security cameras once again, before putting two thin metallic pieces on the door number sign and a magnet behind the door of his hotel room, which changes his hotel room number in the last digit to trick the film producer into believing the culprit's room is his upon returning drunk to the hotel and touching the door handle where the poisonous needle is, getting him killed as the result. The last digit in question in this trick is changed from "1" to "4".
- Friend on the Force: Kenmochi's brief appearance in this case arc has him vouching over the phone to the police at the crime scene so that Kindaichi can be permitted to function as Amateur Sleuth unimpeded.
- Jerkass Ball: Played for Laughs. After the murder case is wrapped up and the film is released as scheduled, Kindaichi and Miyuki enter a theater for its premier, with Reika showing up with Paparazzi not long afterwards. Upon seeing Kindaichi and Miyuki together, Reika promptly approaches Kindaichi and talks to him in a sweet tone of voice, causing said Paparazzi to crowd around Kindaichi with cameras at the ready, impeding on any potential chance Kindaichi and Miyuki might have in watching the film in peace — and, more importantly from Reika's viewpoint, by themselves. The case arc ends with a panel showing Reika giving a wink and looking pleased with herself.
- Lights Off, Somebody Dies: This trope combines with Falling Chandelier of Doom. In the middle of making a horror film, a chandelier falls down after a blackout occurs and kills an actress sitting below it, making people believe that the culprit is someone not present during the shoot. In reality, the killer replaced the screws holding the chandelier up with an electromagnet. This way said chandelier will surely fall when blackout occurs.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Momota Ichidou turns out to be the illegitimate son of the culprit from a previous, unmarried relationship. It's possibly played with, as Ichidou and the culprit both knew of their relationship as father and son, but few others did prior to the murder case due to the illegitimate nature of the relationship.
- Magnetism Manipulation: Played for Drama, as both murders in this case involve manipulating magnetic items.
- As Kindaichi reveals during The Summation, the culprit replaced the screws holding the chandelier up with an electromagnet, as well as turning the heaters in all of the rooms in the hotel where the filming would take place to the maximum, prior to the filming sequence, making sure the circuit-breaker would be at maximum capacity. Once the actress turns on the lamp during filming, the power surge induced from the light-bulbs of the lamp is enough to elicit a blackout, which cuts off the electromagnetic support that's needed to keep the chandelier up and cause said chandelier to fall onto the actress, killing her on impact.
- The culprit, after entering his own hotel room, puts two thin metallic pieces on the door number sign and a magnet behind the door of the room, changing the last digit of the room number from "1" to "4", which tricks the film producer, who's drunk at the moment, into believing the culprit's room is his and touching the door handle that the culprit had placed the poisonous needle unto beforehand, resulting in the film producer dying from the poison, before removing the magnet upon making sure the poisonous needle had made contact.
- The one example that isn't part of a murder plot involves a trick poker card that a Teen Idol actor uses late in the case arc to impress others, as said trick poker card works by attaching and removing the metallic symbol in the center of said card via a magnet in the back. The reason this is Played for Drama is because witnessing the stunt is enough to evoke a "Eureka!" Moment from Kindaichi into solving the case.
- Mrs. Robinson: The actress who tried to seduce Momota Ichidou, the assistant director who was later Driven to Suicide, is well-known for liking young men — case in point is Kindaichi, whom she comments that he's "kinda cute" upon meeting him for the first time. Unfortunately, it's Played for Drama, as she's also Not Good with Rejection.
- Not Good with Rejection: Played for Drama. As Reika confides with Kindaichi late in the case arc, the actress, who would become the victim of the Falling Chandelier of Doom, turns out to have tried to seduce Momota Ichidou, the assistant director in the previous serial drama that Reika herself also starred, in the past, only to be rejected because rumor had it that Ichidou already had a girlfriend of his own.note Afterwards, the spurned actress gets the film producer, who is in love with her and would later become the other victim in the murder case, to gang up on Ichidou and torment him so much that he became Driven to Suicide.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The culprit having lost his son to suicide was part of the backstory. The discovery of the reason behind it became the culprit's motive for instigating the murders in this case arc.
- Papa Wolf: The motive for the murderer in this case is to avenge Ichidou, who is the culprit's illegitimate son, for being excessively bullied into suicide.
- Parting-Words Regret: As the culprit confesses, he regrets that his last conversation with Ichidou had him telling his son to buck up even as he expressed concern about being able to keep up with the pressure in the entertainment industry without knowing the full picture before his son ended up Driven to Suicide. Even in the present time, he feels that his son hasn't forgiven him for being dragged into show business until Ichidou's then-girlfriend reveals that he expressed words of admiration about his own father to her, meaning that he never hated his father. Hearing that his son actually praised him causes him to tear up.
- The Show Must Go On: The movie director is adamant that nothing, including a murder case, will postpone the film production, much less cancel it, despite most others having misgivings.
- Tears of Joy: The culprit tears up upon learning that his own son had actually expressed admiration about him while still alive, as this absolves him of his worst fear that his son hated him for being dragged into the hectic world of working in entertainment business, even though he wasn't there to hear such words from his son until the latter died.
- Tempting Fate: Played for Laughs when it involves the Love Triangle among Kindaichi, Miyuki, and Reika.
- The case arc starts with Reika texting Kindaichi for help with film-making, with an additional message being "I want us to eat together in secret, or something like that." Miyuki seeing the text while Kindaichi is replying, taking the phone from him, and sending the message "Miyuki says she wants to come, too" before handing it back to him makes it clear Reika won't be able to be together alone with Kindaichi easily, whether to eat "or something like that".
- During the film production while the murder case is also ongoing, Reika whispers to Kindaichi about their room arrangements before changing into a skimpy dress later at night, with the intention of going into his room for some alone time. Unfortunately for her, Miyuki had already suspected that Reika might have been up to something after witnessing her whispering to Kindaichi, and so she insists on switching rooms with him, thwarting Reika's plan as the result.
- Right as the scenario above takes place, Kindaichi, undeterred by Miyuki's action of making the two of them switch rooms, tries to go to Reika's room to join her, but his plan is foiled as the commotion over the discovery of the newly-deceased film producer is occurring right at the same time.
- The girl who was Ichidou's girlfriend when he was alive states near the end of the case arc that he told her he would make films as good as the ones made by his father. Sadly that would never happen because he was Driven to Suicide due to the combination of exhausting workload and relentless bullying he suffered at the hands of the actress he rejected advances from and the producer who helped said actress against him.
- Troubled Production: In-Universe. The horror movie production that Reika is involved with is already rough due to three part-time workers quitting while the filming is still ongoing, which prompts her to send a plea for help, resulting in Kindaichi and Miyuki joining the production in the first place, and the murder case itself only further exacerbates the problem. It's only after the case is solved and the full truth behind not just the murder itself but the backstory as well is completely revealed that the film production is finally finished without a hitch and the movie released to the public in time as scheduled.
- Viewer-Friendly Interface: The text messages being sent to and from Kindaichi's smartphone early in the case arc are displayed in large fonts as to ensure that the readers can see them clearly.
