"Vampire Legend Murder Case" is the pilot case arc in the New Series of The Kindaichi Case Files.
A month after Hajime takes off to accept Yoichi Takato's challenge, he sends a letter to Miyuki and Inspector Kenmochi to meet in a ruin-like inns in an abandoned village famous for its various ruins architecture. Once a small tourism village, it was abandoned after a rumor of a blood-eating vampire start circulating around and a corpse with almost dried-up blood was found. The happy reunion doesn't last long however, because Miyuki is soon found in a room alongside a dead body with a fang-like wound on her neck and very little amount of blood in her body, as if she's sucked dry by a vampire...
Tropes include:
- AB Negative: The killer finds out she's siblings with the old mansion owner's daughter because they share Bombay Type blood type. Also, despite being considered a very rare blood type, four people in this story conveniently have Bombay Type.
- Amateur Sleuth: While Hajime qualifies in every case, it's worth mentioning in this case because the killer tries to assume an amateur detective role to gain control over everyone's movements. Too bad our protagonist is one and is friends with an inspector who also stays at the inn.
- Blood Transfusion Plot: What becomes the source of the killer's motive. The victims tried to take advantage of an emergency patient with Bombay Type by giving a high price for the blood knowing that two of their acquaintances, one of the doctors in the hospital and his girlfriend who was the killer's sister, have the same blood type. The doctor agreed to donate the blood until the maximum donor volume limit and he blacked out after that. However, unbeknownst to the doctor, his girlfriend voluntarily gave all of her blood to save the patient because she knew she wouldn't last long anyway. The killer thought the victims were taking her sister's blood by force, so she exacted revenge.
- Choke Holds: The first victim dies from being choked by hands, as shown from Miyuki's point of view and later discovered during inspection.
- Clear My Name: Poor Miyuki becomes the primary suspect after there's a fang-shaped wound found on her neck.
- Dumbwaiter Ride: How the killer moves the victim and Miyuki's body from basement to upper floor for her alibi.
- Ghost Town: Buran village where the inn is located in is filled with modern ruins that tourists often visit. Aside from the inn itself, there seem to be no life found anywhere else in the village.
- Hell Hotel: Invoked. The inn where everyone stays, "Ruin," is really just a remodeled ruins of a mansion. While there are plumbing and electricity access, the outside still look like a haunted house. The current owner preserves the building's appearance to attract ruin maniacs and, on a more sentimental side, to honor the previous owner's daughter who died unnaturally.
- Locked Room Mystery: A relatively easy one. The second victim is found in Miyuki's room with blood spilled on the floor when Miyuki is sure there's no dead body inside when she goes for breakfast. The solution is that Miyuki only finds the pool of blood first and then runs away to find help. The killer takes this chance to transport the second victim's body inside and place him on the door hall's blindspot.
- Otaku: More than half of the supporting casts are ruin maniacs.
- Screaming Woman: It's not necessarily the screaming itself, but the condition the screamers are found is the important part in this case. Miyuki who screams because she's attacked by bats is found unprepared with towel barely wrapped around her, but one of the people in the inn who screams after looking at a bloodied bath is found with towel neatly wrapped in a sitting position like a trained performer. Hajime suspects the person due to the contrast between her and Miyuki.
- Toilet Horror: The inn's public bath is filled with blood. This immediately makes people realize that two of the hotel guests are missing; Miyuki and the first victim.
- You All Meet in an Inn: The main cast reunites in an inn. It's also the start of the reserialization for Kindaichi Case Files.
- Your Days Are Numbered: The killer's sister and doctor's girlfriend has a heart condition that makes her lifespan short. During the transfusion drama, she was deemed by her boyfriend that she only has 6 months left to live. This motivates her to donate all of her blood.
