Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions – Episode 7 Recap & Review

The Case of the Observatory Murder (Part 1)

Episode 7 of Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions opens with Ron and Isshiki on their way to watch the meteor shower. The host, Jumonji, mentions their presence is more of an insurance and Kawasemi recommended Isshiki. Ron’s mind wanders towards what the case could be but he focuses on the black sugar syrup instead.

Ron and Isshiki arrive at the observatory. They find a pistol in a glass case in the lobby, and Jumonji says that the gun is a replica and it is kept to ward off the evil spirits. Traditionally in the past, each household on the island kept flintstone to do just that.

At the observatory, they meet Ms Unno, the in-house chef. Since the observatory becomes soundproof when the dome is closed, she often visits the place to vent her anger and shout to her heart’s content. Donzawa, one of the guests, orders coffee and yells at her when the stars on the cup are wrong. She also asks about the black sugar syrup meal and Ron says it is for him, prompting her to apologize for the rudeness.

Donazawa soon joins them. A semi circular patch is cut out of his bowl shaped hair to aid his telescope viewing. He remarks there are impure guests amongst them. Onodera, a celestial object photographer, says that by “impure” Donazawa means the ones who are not true astronomy fans.

Just as she finishes her explanation, BLUE’s closed circle theory instructor John Grizzly joins them. Ron and John are both surprised to see each other. John Grizzly is one of the few instructors whom Ron acknowledged as his senior. The host interjects that he invited Isshiki and Grizzly to avoid any trouble.

Onodera alludes to a case and Grizzly launches into a short flashback. Ten years ago on a similar Leonid meteor shower viewing party, the then director of the observatory and six guests were shot dead. The ex-director was Jumonji’s father. The killer or the weapon were never found and the case went cold. Jumonji expresses his desire to keep his father’s love for astronomy alive by not shutting down the observatory. The ongoing party is also an attempt to repair its image. Everyone chimes in to support Jumonji.

The last guest of the party is introduced. She is Orihime, the idol of the Orion constellation. Ron opens the dome and the telescope adjusts to capture the images. Jumonji mentions that the telescope is computerized when Isshiki remarks its automatic movement. Onodera pitches in saying that they won’t be using the telescope to view the meteor shower. Ron says that watching it with low saturation or even the naked eye is the best experience.

Jumonji announces that the viewing party will begin at 11pm at the rooftop; the standing buffet is currently open. Ron, though, is nicely sat down with a spread of dishes covered in black sugar syrup. Donazawa and Onadera chime in with praises for Ron’s astronomical knowledge. Ron says he only learnt it because someone in his previous generations did not know astronomy.

Isshiki spots John Grizzly and thinks that he might know about Ron’s actions of pressuring the culprits to die. Grizzly mentions an incident from five years ago which was dubbed as the Bloody Training incident. It was a hands-on training experience with students of BLUE and detectives working in tandem. Ron found out the hiding base of seven killers but before the armed forces could reach it, Ron had allegedly killed them all. He was found dazed, standing with a bloodied knife in his hand and corpses all around. Ron has no memory of it, but he was deemed unfit and barred from sleuthing after that incident.

Omihire just then asks Isshiki to stop Ron from hula hooping. Ron sports a pot belly to show that he has overeaten. He heads to bed and says that he will look at the meteor shower in his dreams instead. Onadera looks at him rather warily.

The meteor shower soon begins. Isshiki enquires about Onadera and Donazawa tells him that she had gone to her room to gather some equipment. Isshiki remarks that it has been over two hours. The dome opens and a gunshot is heard. Everyone rushes to open the observatory door but it is locked from the inside.

Jumonji rushes back from the office and says the master key is missing. They break open door and find Onadera lying dead on her stomach and a gunshot on her back right at the heart. Ron is on the other side of the room, lying unconscious. There is shattered glass everywhere. Ron is the immediate suspect.

In his defence, he says that he woke up when he heard Orihime screaming. He has no memory of events after he lay down on his bed earlier. John Grizzly announces everyone as a suspect and takes over the investigation with Isshiki joining him. The gun next to Ron is the same one from the lobby earlier.

Considering the circumstantial evidence, Ron is dubbed as the culprit. The missing master key is also found in his pocket. Ron is arrested. This crime is similar to the Bloody Training incident from five years ago. A locked room mystery.

Ron has lost hope but Isshiki knocks some sense in him. Isshiki says that Ron has only ever pressurized murderers to kill themselves, Onadera was a regular person. Just then Ron mentions to Isshiki that he never passed a marksmanship test. Isshiki considers this a strong clue and runs out to investigate the others. Ron is relatively calm since he has Isshiki as his aid now.

The Episode Review

We finally know what happened five years ago with Ron! It is interesting to see that the current case would help solve not one but two mysteries. The verdict of Bloody Training incident was also 99% accurate. That 1% chance might just be the thing that was holding Ron responsible. His blackouts are also a mystery but hopefully we find out more in the next episode!