Recap / The Kindaichi Case Files Tower Mansion Madam Murder Case

"Tower Mansion Madam Murder Case" is the second case arc in the "The (37-year-old) Kindaichi Case Files" spin-off series of The Kindaichi Case Files.

When Momoka Morishita, Kindaichi's single-parent next-door neighbor, is short-staffed for her catering service for a party inside a high-rise building, Kindaichi takes a day off work to help her out, with Marin joining in after finding out what Kindaichi is doing. They step inside the building in preparation for the private party that is set to take place, just as a murder plot is also underway.

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Tropes include:

• Actually Pretty Funny: After the yoga instructor has been cleared of any suspicion and Kindaichi has finished The Summation exposing the culprits, the instructor asks the culprits why they'd commit the murder, under the assumption that the culprits and the victim were close friends. The culprits start chuckling at once, much to the bewilderment of said instructor, before disclosing to others of the misery that they suffered from the victim that caused them to lash out in such a murderous way in return.
• All Women Hate Each Other: Zigzagged. The women who plan on and carry out the murder focus on only one woman, the Rich Bitch who had wronged them enough to make them exact revenge on her in such an extreme way. Otherwise, they're friendly to other women they interact with, including Morishita, the caterer for the party, and look out for one another, up to and include stating "we all did it together" when one of them claims to be the mastermind behind the murder.
• Bad Review Threat: The Rich Bitch, who would be the murder victim in this case arc, cajoled Morishita into agreeing to the catering service at the tower mansion despite Morishita herself being shorthanded by threatening to discredit her on SNS unless Morishita complied.
• Broken Pedestal: Two of the culprits used to adore a single, young yoga instructor in the past, but the image of perfection was shattered when they witnessed him having sex with the victim, who had slept with said culprits' husbands as well.
• Clear Their Name: When the police inspects the victim's residence in the building, one of the culprits happens to place an incriminating piece of evidence at the time and ends up putting it inside a jacket, which turns out to belong to the yoga instructor. Realizing that they're in a pinch and remembering the sex scene they witnessed between him and the victim, the culprits decide on the spot to go with it and have him pinned as The Scapegoat, and Kindaichi ends up having to prove his innocence.
• Cope by Pretending: Each of the three culprits in this case does her best at keeping the misery the Rich Bitch inflicted hidden from everyone else by pretending everything in their lives is perfect, acting as a Stepford Smiler to keep up the facade. One of them says so outright while confessing to the murder.
  While I still acted as that woman's friend until today and kept socializing with her like nothing happened, my head was always filled with the intention of murdering that bitch! ALWAYS. ALWAYS! In order to keep my life in this tower mansion secure, I had to let everything go and pretend that my life was perfect like the others'. There was a sizzling void in my life deep down, though.
• A Deadly Affair: Played with regarding two of the culprits, who have already suffered because of the victim's lies and affairs with their own husbands. What drove their resolve to murder was not finding out that their husbands had slept with the victim, but after seeing her having sex with a young, single, and handsome yoga instructor, whom they both admire.
• Disapproving Look: After two of the culprits confess that seeing the victim having sex with the yoga instructor drove them to murder, Kindaichi, Marin, Momoka, and Makabe stare at him with a look of disappointment. All the instructor can do in response is to apologize feebly as he is reduced to Shameful Shrinking.
• Disney Villain Death: The way the culprits carry out their murder is to have their target, unconscious after being struck on the head via a hammer, tossed over the balcony inside her residence. While no visible external bleeding is shown on the victim afterwards, the fact that she was thrown out of her apartment, which is at least twenty floors above ground, insures that she would NOT survive from it, even if her body lands in the shrubs outside.
• The Dog Bites Back: The culprits exact murder on the Rich Bitch who had wronged them.
• The Door Slams You: Kindaichi notices a door with a note "ENTRY TO AUTHORITIES ONLY" at one point while serving as a caterer and decides to take a peek inside the room (unbeknownst to him, the victim is hidden in it at the moment). Unfortunately for him, one of the culprits is about to leave the room at the time, resulting in her accidentally slamming the door in his face.
• Flashback B-Plot: The earlier sections of the case arc have some flashback sequences peppering the otherwise linear storyline and giving the readers some more ideas about how the culprits plan and carry out their eventual murder.
• Forbidden Fruit: Kindaichi decides to take a peek inside the room after noticing the door into it has a note "ENTRY TO AUTHORITIES ONLY" taped on it at one point while serving as a caterer.
  Kindaichi: Since there's a note that tells us not to enter, it makes me want to take a peek even more!
• Frame-Up: When one of the culprits plants an incriminating item inside the jacket of the yoga instructor by accident while the investigation is ongoing, they seek to have him pinned as the victim's murderer, necessitating Kindaichi to clear his name.
• Gossipy Hens: The culprits act this way (in part) to mask their whispered discussions among themselves for their planned murder.
• Graceful Loser: After Kindaichi finishes The Summation about murder plot and explains to the culprits the reason behind his suspicion, one of the culprits outright compliments him about his prodigious deduction skills.
  You're astonishingly good!
• Green-Eyed Monster: At first, it seems that the culprits were just petty bitches who plot to murder the victim out of jealousy at her beauty and success, and the fact that she manages to snag the handsome yoga instructor they had their eyes on. However, when their crime was uncovered, it's revealed that the victim had harmed them in far deeper levels (she had slept with two of the culprits' husbands — driving one into debt, and giving STD to the other — and ruined the third culprit's son's life by sabotaging his acceptance to the prestigious high school he was aiming for), and the affair with the yoga instructor was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
• Hikikomori: The son of one of the culprits has dropped out of school, withdrawn from society, and isolated himself within the mansion building after being bullied in public school, only playing games on his own.^note  His mother claims that he was in reserved status for a famous school years ago, but a lie told by the victim at a crucial moment sabotaged his chance. She didn't find out until half a year ago, and seeing the closed door at her son's bedroom door has always reminded her of how differently his life might have turned out ever since, which, in turn, made her want to murder the victim as retribution for the lie.
• Human Mail: Part of the scheme in the murder plot involves having the slimmest person among the culprits pretend to be the victim and go to her apartment, before contorting herself into a suitcase that is placed on the hallway right outside said apartment for the orderly to pick up and deliver to the storage room on the ground floor, where she would enter a cardboard box being prepared beforehand that was four smaller ones being combined to make it large enough to let her fit inside that another one of the culprits would pick up and deliver to the party room, in order for the culprit pretending to be the victim to not be seen before arriving at the party room.
• I'm Standing Right Here: After two culprits finish their own respective confessions, the last one asks whether Kindaichi is ready for her own confession, seemingly not noticing that a professional detective is around. Then again, Kindaichi is the one who manages to outwit them...
  Makabe: I'm the detective here...
• Internal Reveal: The culprits reveal their murderous intent for the readers to see shortly after the case arc starts, which they hide from the other characters like Kindaichi.
• Karmic STD: Zigzagged. One of the culprits turned out to be chlamydia-positive, which has rendered her infertile because it was detected too late and she's in her upper 30's. She confesses that she and her husband were both tested STD-negative prior to their marriage and that she has had sex only with her husband, before disclosing to others that she discovered her husband's infidelity with the victim from his phone log, where her husband and the victim confessed to each other about the chlamydia infection, while he was asleep. And that's just one of the stories that cements the victim's status as an Asshole Victim.^note  The yoga instructor's STD status isn't revealed, but the confession from the chlamydia-positive culprit left him nervously clutching his legs much more tightly together in its wake, realizing that he had already had sex with a sexually-active, chlamydia-positive woman.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: One of the culprits is infertile due to being chlamydia-positive in her late 30's. She tried to conceive during the past two years with her husband, who, unbeknownst to her, had cheated on her with the victim, who turned out to be chlamydia-positive herself, and this ended up giving a good reason for her infertility, if a rather dark one.
• Motive Rant: The culprit who would knock the Bound and Gagged murder victim out via a hammer delivers one such spiel before striking.
  [in impassive tone] I know everything... that you slept... with my husband, but I can still... look past that. But then, you had to go and touch something you never should have touched! I... saw... everything! Until now, we always turn a blind eye to all the arrogant things you did. We knew it was you, but we did not say a word all the same. [wraps a hammer in a handkerchief] BUT... EVEN OUR PATIENCE HAS LIMITS! [raises hammer] IN ANY CASE... JUST DIE! [strikes and knocks out the victim]
• Never Suicide: The culprits' murder is to knock the victim out and throwing the latter off the building where they hold the party while trying to make it look like the victim was Driven to Suicide.
• Nice to the Waiter: The victim, who called Morishita for the catering service, was rude and bossy to Morishita even while talking on the phone. The culprits, meanwhile, treat the caterers better.
• Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: The victim, aside from having no day job, proved herself to be this in a flashback sequence detailing her calling Morishita for the catering services, in which she reacted to Morishita being shorthanded by DEMANDING that Morishita found some way on her own to make the catering work or she'd discredit Morishita on SNS. Thankfully, Kindaichi and Marin decided to help out.
• Rage Breaking Point: Seeing the yoga instructor having sex with the promiscuous Rich Bitch pushed the anger of the two culprits whose respective husbands already had an extramarital affair with the victim over the edge, which they also outright state in their confession late in the case arc.
• Really Gets Around: Played for Drama. The victim in this case is a Rich Bitch who has slept with many men, including the husbands of two of the culprits and a young yoga instructor, the latter of whom is adored by said culprits. In fact, it's seeing the victim and said instructor having sex that drove said culprits into a murderous resolve.
• Rich Bitch: The victim is the wealthy wife of an IT company director working in the Silicon Valley. She also Really Gets Around, lies to others for what (or whom) she wants, and is an Obnoxious Entitled Housewife who's not Nice to the Waiter at all. Once the culprits' backstory and motive come to the surface, her Asshole Victim status is secured without a doubt.
• Shameful Shrinking: Happens to the yoga instructor twice.
  • After two of the culprits confess that witnessing the sex scene between the victim and the young yoga instructor was the straw that broke the camel's back, and especially following everyone else present staring at him in a scrutinizing manner, said instructor is left shrinking in shame and embarrassment while apologizing feebly.
  • Once everyone who's involved in this case is out of the building, Kindaichi comments about living in a wealthy community like the tower mansion. The yoga instructor follows up with his own comment, only to shrink again when Marin chews him out.
    Kindaichi: Tower mansion, eh? It might look like a proud castle from the outside, but each and every place that people reside in has the same problems.
    Yoga instructor: Like a sand castle, right?
    Marin: You've lost the right to talk that way.
    Yoga instructor: [visibly shrinking with Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat] Sorry! Sorry!
• Small Role, Big Impact: The yoga instructor has no direct role in this case (except possibly being made The Scapegoat by the culprits before Kindaichi proves his innocence), but he nonetheless triggered the murderous resolve in two of the culprits after they witness him having sex with the victim, whom they knew had slept with their respective husbands as well prior to that moment.
• Stepford Smiler: The culprits maintain a friendly facade to others while feeling depressed (during the time of the backstory) or murderous (in the present) inside.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: When one of the culprits places a piece of incriminating evidence inside the jacket of the yoga instructor within the victim's residence by accident as the police are inspecting the place, the culprits decide on the spot to have said instructor pinned as the murderer because it's easier for them since they're in a pinch at the time and they still feel angry about the sex scene between him and the victim that they saw.
• Tap on the Head: The intended murder target falls unconscious after being struck on the head by a hammer — the attacker wrapped a handkerchief around it to prevent any visible sign of physical damage to the skull or bleeding.
  One of the culprits: Well, that was quick. One hit and she's already out cold! I actually wanted to smash your head in until you croaked, but that's a big no-no!
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: This case marks the first time Kindaichi and Makabe meet since the Time Skip. Apparently their mutual dislike towards one another during their high school days has lingered right up to the present day, as they are only superficially tolerant towards each other, and Makabe is initially unwilling to let Kindaichi help him with detective work until he remembers that Kindaichi has Friend on the Force and could jeopardize his career as a police detective if he refuses, at which point he authorizes Kindaichi's assistance, if reluctantly.
• This Is Unforgivable!: The culprits whose husbands had affairs with the victim outright claim that seeing the victim and the yoga instructor having sex was what secured their resolve to murder.
  To think she snatched away our yoga instructor... unforgivable!! By then, our killing intentions had reached the boiling point!
• Two Dun It: Or "three dun it", in this case, since there are three women who help each other to plot and carry out their intended murder.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The yoga instructor manages to fulfill this role via one simple act of succumbing to the victim's seduction into having sex with her, for it cemented the murderous resolve for two of the women in this murder case.^note  He also might have doomed his own career since he'd be fired from his job by the company employing him should he be accused of having sex with a yoga student, which he confides during the investigation. And given what his one act of having sex resulted in, the truth of such an act is unlikely to stay hidden from his employers.