Eri's Misfortune Case (709 - 711?): Vote for the culprit!

[mizumi]

Someone's a liar... that thing looks nothing like James Dean's car  >:(
maybe the wife broke the side mirror b/c she wanted to make the car look like James Dean's porsche

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

Okay, how's this for a quick (ha!) translation...

Nice Job Abs.!!! Three cheers and a pint of your favorite fizzy beverage. The translation sure casts things in a different light. Lol at Yokomizo thinking naughty thoughts about what Kogoro was doing to Eri. I wondered what that blush of his was about.

I have a hard time seeing how raising the bed would be an issue. I didn't anticipate it being a problem... can't the person just slide the body under it because Conan fit just fine? As for the raising the bed, a bicycle pump and something inflatable perhaps? I don't think a bike tire would be thick enough, but the tread could also create that strange blood pattern if you lay the tire on its side after it got in the blood. The son didn't have a pump with him for his biking trip as might be expected... Confusing.

Edit: Ooh, dumb idea that would explain the tracks! The husband took four of his cars. He lifted the bed up at each of the corners, set the bed down on a car, and then rolled it over the body! He then lifted the bed up at each corner, and then removed the very likely damaged cars. One car was by the blood stain so it made tire tracks when it rolled over it. Sounds a bit stupid since it seems likely that the feet of the bed would fall off the cars and the cars wouldn't roll too well on carpet, unless it is very thin carpet..... Seriously can't the murderer just slowly rock the bed over the body by sliding one side of the bed a little and then moving the other side a little, back and forth until it's atop the body? Even someone as pathetically weak as me can move a huge bed that way...

Someone's a liar... that thing looks nothing like James Dean's car  >:(
maybe the wife broke the side mirror b/c she wanted to make the car look like James Dean's porsche

I was wondering about the car. I have no idea what Dean's car looked like. Could you post a picture?

[Abs.]

I have a hard time seeing how raising the bed would be an issue. I didn't anticipate it being a problem... can't the person just slide the body under it because Conan fit just fine?

Nope, bloodstains.

Edit: Ooh, dumb idea that would explain the tracks! The husband took four of his cars. He lifted the bed up at each of the corners, set the bed down on a car, and then rolled it over the body! He then lifted the bed up at each corner, and then removed the very likely damaged cars. One car was by the blood stain so it made tire tracks when it rolled over it. Sounds a bit stupid since it seems likely that the feet of the bed would fall off the cars and the cars wouldn't roll to well on carpet, unless it is very thin carpet.....

Yeah, that doesn't sound plausible.

Seriously can't the murderer just slowly rock the bed over the body by sliding one side of the bed a little and then moving the other side a little, back and forth until it's atop the body? Even someone as pathetically weak as me can move a huge bed that way...

You would think the murderer would have done that instead of whatever the trick was...

Someone's a liar... that thing looks nothing like James Dean's car  >:(
maybe the wife broke the side mirror b/c she wanted to make the car look like James Dean's porsche

I was wondering about the car. I have no idea what Dean's car looked like. Could you post a picture?

Well this is what the model car was supposed to look like:

Spoiler:

[PopcornMaker]

Seriously can't the murderer just slowly rock the bed over the body by sliding one side of the bed a little and then moving the other side a little, back and forth until it's atop the body? Even someone as pathetically weak as me can move a huge bed that way...

I just got an idea while reading this. The bed doesn't seem to be very heavy because Yokomizo could lift one side of it. So after the victim was killed, instead of sliding the bed, the killer raised one side of it, moved it a little, and set it down again. Then he pushed/pulled the other side as it was against the wall. This had to be done several times, so that there wouldn't be too much noise made. As for the blood tracks, the bed was lifted and set down several times over a distance, and a corner of the bed's leg touched the blood spot near it. The killer probably didn't notice it, and continued to move the bed, and that's how the tiny tracks were made. The bed was probably moved back the same way.

Edit: Looking at Conan's words at the end and how the son and husband were carrying items with wheels, it's more likely that the killer somehow attached wheels to the bed and moved it.

[mizumi]

Well this is what the model car was supposed to look like:

Spoiler:

the porsche has one side mirror on the left but no mirror on the right I think

Spoiler:

btw
porsche wasn't even James Dean's favorite car, he didn't bought this car until the day he died in car crash, and he was driving the porsche when he died

[Misztina]

I think a key to solve this mystery lies in the refrigerator. Eri's coke could have never spilt out like that, unless the cola was heavily shaken beforehand. Now t is hard to imagine that the coke itself was the weapon, rather its container, the fridge. Or something similar, but I just can't figure this out. >.<

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

I think a key to solve this mystery lies in the refrigerator. Eri's coke could have never spilt out like that, unless the cola was heavily shaken beforehand. Now it is hard to imagine that the coke itself was the weapon, rather its container, the fridge. Or something similar, but I just can't figure this out. >.<

Perhaps the criminal somehow knew Eri was going to take a soda, so he/she shook all the sodas up so they would explode and make Eri take a shower when she tried to open one. The problems with this include:
1) How would the murderer know Eri was going to bring soda with her in the first place? - this point probably doesn't matter since the whole victim-sleeping-in-Eri's-room was spur of the moment so the crime wasn't premeditated.
2) Why would the murderer rifle through Eri's minifridge?
3) How could the murderer be sure Eri would actually take a soda after dinner?

If the murderer used the cola as a weapon, perhaps he used the whole sixpack? Also we have seen Conan deal heavy damage to a criminal with a cola, so if you hit the victim with the bottom edge of the cola where the aluminum is thickest... However, wouldn't Eri notice dents in the can or a missing can? I suppose the murderer could dump the can down the sink and put the victim's fingerprints on it to make it look like the victim raided the minifridge, but that is not what happened.

[mizumi]

Edit: Ooh, dumb idea that would explain the tracks! The husband took four of his cars. He lifted the bed up at each of the corners, set the bed down on a car, and then rolled it over the body! He then lifted the bed up at each corner, and then removed the very likely damaged cars. One car was by the blood stain so it made tire tracks when it rolled over it. Sounds a bit stupid since it seems likely that the feet of the bed would fall off the cars and the cars wouldn't roll to well on carpet, unless it is very thin carpet.....

Yeah, that doesn't sound plausible.

Probably, the roof of the cars can be removed- that way they look just like James Deans car- if there roofless they'd be able to support the bed

[Abs.]

GUYS THE CLUE WAS A BALL (see RAW cover page for File 709)

SO THE CRIMINAL MUST HAVE USED A BALL (see cover page for File 709)

THE ONLY ONE WITH BALLS WAS THE MOTHER (lolz did you see what I did there hurr hurr)

SHE MUST HAVE HAD GOLF BALLS

......................

Anyway, the one who was acting the most suspicious was the husband.  "What?  Why wife was killed?  By whom?"  DUDE she was being STALKED... why the hell are you surprised, and not angry at her stalker? 

Not to mention... why did he call the room - Eri said she'd leave it open, so if he didn't call, there wouldn't have been a problem with her screaming, "Even if you come, I won't open the door for you" because 1) the door would have been open anyway, and 2) she wouldn't have known that the door wasn't closed.

.......................

Of course, the #1 question of all time is: WHY THE HELL ARE ARE THESE PEOPLE STAYING AT THE HOTEL TOO?  Did Eri schedule the meeting time for like 5:00 a.m. or something??  I thought both parties lived in Shizuoka anyway.

[Rellik]

Seriously can't the murderer just slowly rock the bed over the body by sliding one side of the bed a little and then moving the other side a little, back and forth until it's atop the body? Even someone as pathetically weak as me can move a huge bed that way...

thought of that too and definitely the most plausible way to move a bed - except not sliding but lifting like what PopcornMaker said more clearly

Edit: Looking at Conan's words at the end and how the son and husband were carrying items with wheels, it's more likely that the killer somehow attached wheels to the bed and moved it.

if you use wheels or model cars you will make skid marks... and it wouldn't make broken lines of blood stains - and besides will he actually be willing to commit a crime with his precious cars (one of them being his favourite)?

and i think the golf clubs might be the murder weapon - aka the mother or the stalker is the culprit

but man what dream was kogoro having? 'you have to lower it and then raise it in order to feel the excitement' 

[GinRei]

but man what dream was kogoro having? 'you have to lower it and then raise it in order to feel the excitement'   ;)

My theory on this:
Lower Eri's guard (by being seemingly uncaring, saying she should wear a collar to look like a cat, etc), and then raise her spirit by giving her the gift.

[Tenken]

It's interesting, the part when Conan's subconscience talked to him "Would you look at this ... there's something under the pillow"!!

[mizumi]

1) How would the murderer know Eri was going to bring soda with her in the first place? - this point probably doesn't matter since the whole victim-sleeping-in-Eri's-room was spur of the moment so the crime wasn't premeditated.
2) Why would the murderer rifle through Eri's minifridge?
3) How could the murderer be sure Eri would actually take a soda after dinner?

Eri didn't bring soda with her, the soda and minifridge are part of hotel service. 
He KNEW Eri would drink soda b/c they only had soda in fridge (probably murderer filled fridge with soda and shake all of them )

[Abs.]

I don't know about you, but I don't normally drink stuff out of those fridges.  Expensive.  Also, didn't she just come from dinner?

The trick would have to be something that can be done extremely quickly. The murderer had enough warning to do the trick, but not enough warning in order to escape without being seen by Eri.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

I don't know about you, but I don't normally drink stuff out of those fridges.  Expensive.  Also, didn't she just come from dinner?

The trick would have to be something that can be done extremely quickly. The murderer had enough warning to do the trick, but not enough warning in order to escape without being seen by Eri.

No kidding on the minifridges. Worse are those $5.00 bottles of water the hotels like to leave on your tables that aren't complementary... Once a room I stayed in got charged for drinking one of our own water bottles we brought. Irritating to sort that out.

The person committing the crime had plenty of time to plan even if it was spur of the moment. Eri left for dinner at 9:00 (I think...) and only came back at 11:00. The person most likely had a plan by the time Eri came back to the room at 11:00 to ensure they could escape. I also assume the criminal knew Eri was coming back at 11:00 by either being the one called (the husband) or eavesdropping (stalker and his mom).

As dumb as the idea sounds, if the husband put cars under the legs of the bed, the bedspread would hang down low enough to cover the cars so they wouldn't be noticed by Eri. I suppose pushing the bed and taking away the cars would only take a couple minutes. A long bathroom break on Eri's part might suffice for the completion of the trick. (Ex lax in Eri's food?)
While the idea of picking up the alternate sides of the bed and slowly "rocking it" over the body is more sensible than cars under the legs, rocking the bed wouldn't make those evenly spaced dashed line marks...

if you use wheels or model cars you will make skid marks... and it wouldn't make broken lines of blood stains - and besides will he actually be willing to commit a crime with his precious cars (one of them being his favourite)?

I am not sure those are his cars. Remember the wife was part of a pit crew. Those might be HER cars and the husband just parroted back something she said about which one is her favorite and why.

You could get a dashed line mark with the tires. All you have to do is get blood on only part of the circumference of the tire and as you rolled it, part of the clean part of the tire would contact, then the bloody part would contact, alternating and creating a dashed line effect. If you have any toy cars lying around, paint a little paint or white-out on just part of the tire and see for yourself.

I also assume he hid the cars he used for the crime. None of the cars Conan saw were missing their side mirrors. Also he seemed to grab for a different car. (He gets a little ding when reaching for the car like he changed his mind in mid grab.)