Recap / The Kindaichi Case Files Murderous Intention Under Freezing 15 Degrees

"Murderous Intention Under Freezing 15 Degrees" (or "Murderous Intention At -15 Degrees ") is the first case in the Short File Case series in The Kindaichi Case Files.

Kindaichi and Miyuki arrive at a ski resort at Tsugaru for ski training sessions, but things take a different turn when Kindaichi finds the equipment maintenance personnel under snow.

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Tropes include:

• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: On the first night with others inside the ski resort, Miyuki drinks more than she can handle, which causes her to take off her bra. She nearly takes off her shirt as well, causing Kindaichi to drag her away from others before she actually becomes topless.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • After Kindaichi takes Miyuki away from others due to her Alcohol-Induced Idiocy, Miyuki gets her bra back on and leans close to Kindaichi... and promptly falls asleep on his shoulder.
    Kindaichi: Mi... Miyuki? Hey! Miyuki! Sigh... you're always causing me trouble!
  • Upon discovering the actual reason behind the skier's injury and resultant hospitalization, the equipment maintenance personnel, who's justifiably angry because the truth not being revealed earlier led to him almost becoming a murder victim, advances on the culprit... and then the next panel shows him taking the phone from the culprit to talk to the skier (well, "SHOUT" would be a far more appropriate word here).
• Career-Ending Injury: The equipment maintenance personnel's introduction involves Kindaichi noticing him dragging his right leg while walking. It turns out he was a skier himself in the past, until he suffered a complex fracture in a competition a year ago, which explains his limp. Since then, his role has been exclusively behind-the-scenes, namely in helping the skiers adjust and maintain their skis.
• Continuity Nod: The ski team manager, a former Mystery Club member at Fudou High School, mentions the "Seven Mysteries Murder Case" that had been solved by Kindaichi, soon after meeting him and Miyuki.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: It's revealed that the culprit attacked the equipment maintenance personnel because the culprit believed said personnel did an improper job of ski-binding readjustment for her boyfriend, a skier who's training for the Olympics event and is currently recovering in hospital after suffering a skiing accident. Shortly thereafter, the culprit receives a phone call from her boyfriend, who confesses to readjusting his own ski-bindings, which led to his own accident. He then concludes his own confession by saying that he didn't dare to tell the truth right off the bat because he was afraid to do so. Upon learning the whole truth behind the accident that nearly led to him being a murder victim, the equipment maintenance personnel reacts by giving the skier a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Cut Himself Shaving: The equipment maintenance personnel claims to the police to have fallen and hit his head when he was outside for the purpose of Taking the Heat.
• Everybody Lives: This is one of the cases where everyone survives through the events entirely.
• Facepalm: One of the members of the ski team reacts to the skier's confession of a DIY ski-binding readjustment that turned out to cause his own skiing accident by placing a hand on her own cheek, possibly knowing that This Is Gonna Suck once the equipment maintenance personnel finds out.
• Happy Ending: The case is concluded this way. Everybody Lives, the attacked person ends up Taking the Heat to maintain the team's morale, Kindaichi manages to convince the police detective not to arrest anyone or press charges (it helps that Kindaichi knows him and helped him solve cases in the past), and the skier rejoins the ski team for training again.
• No Indoor Voice: The equipment maintenance personnel delivers his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the injured skier by SHOUTING it. Quite a few listeners within earshot, including Kindaichi and the skier (the latter of whom is on the phone), cover their ears through the whole spiel.
  Kindaichi: That's... very loud...
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The injured skier reacts this way when the equipment maintenance personnel announces his presence in the phone conversation. Sure enough, what happens next is a "The Reason You Suck" Speech delivered with No Indoor Voice.
  • Right before the aforementioned scenario, the skier's girlfriend (the culprit of the attack) has this reaction after the skier mentions that his DIY ski-binding readjustment caused the accident and that he was too afraid to tell the truth sooner, which isn't helped upon seeing the equipment maintenance personnel's justifiably angry expression.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The equipment maintenance personnel reacts to the realization that the skier's own stupidity not only got himself injured but nearly got him murdered as well by lashing out at the skier in one such speech that has No Indoor Voice.
  YOU BASTARD! I WAS EXTREMELY CAREFUL IN ADJUSTING YOUR SKIS AND MADE SURE THEY WERE PERFECT! YET YOU DECIDED TO SCREW AROUND WITH THEM AND GOT INJURED IN THE PROCESS! YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST BROKEN YOUR NECK AND ENDED YOUR CRAPPY LIFE AT THE SAME TIME!
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: The reason behind Kindaichi and Miyuki's trip to the ski resort is to improve their skiing skills, but the case unfolding there puts the stop to their training sessions through the rest of their trip.
• Suddenly Shouting: The equipment maintenance personnel's reaction towards the revelation that the skier's accident happened because he had readjusted his own ski-bindings, which, in turn, caused his girlfriend, who didn't know of the truth at the time, to attack him and nearly got him killed, is undeniably justifiable anger. He manages to keep a relatively calm tone while speaking despite showing visible rage, right up to taking the phone to talk to the skier, before letting loose a very LOUD "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the skier with absolutely No Indoor Voice about his carelessness.
• Taking the Heat: After the entire truth is revealed, the equipment maintenance personnel claims to the police that he fell and hit his head. He states after the police leave that the only reason he covers for the culprit who struck him is to prevent the case from demoralizing the ski team for their own training sessions for the upcoming Olympics event.
• You Bastard!: The equipment maintenance personnel's "The Reason You Suck" Speech starts with him calling the injured skier this trope word by word.