Ecchi Hakone Bath's Murder Case (722-724): Vote for the culp

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

Let me clear things up a little. First waiting is not necessary. The killer could have set up my trap any time between the "closing" time and the time the body was found. They talked about an out side window being unlocked. All the killer needs to do is set it up so he can enter that window anytime he wants. Next We do not know for sure when the victim entered the bath. If the killer was trying to set up a time trick by pretending to be the victim for a possible alibi, then they cross the bridge and then find a way to make the costume disappear.
After the victim has entered the room by the window, the killer only needs to lock the door and then when setting up the time trick unlock it. Again Stream should do the rest. As the Victim was a smoker, it is now more likely they were not in the best of health.
I was first thinking of like a stall as it is possible that they are private baths. But again with the room completely locked that might not be necessary.  You mentioned  ventilation. It is possible also while setting up the time trick they removed what ever they used to block  the vents. 15 minutes might be enough time to make the room less stuffy. Question you mentioned the veranda door could not be locked but if I am right a simple sliding door lock would do the locking part. Again all they then need to do is at the right time is remove it and drop it in the lake. I not completely sure I agree with their time of death. I think it was likely to have been earlier. My though is the killer around 4:43 removed most the clues of how the door was locked.

The death could not have been much earlier. Rigor speeds up with heat which your theory requires there to be an excess of, which, if anything, would push the actual T.O.D. later. Then of course there is still the issue of condensation to deal with. Also there is no evidence of a side window. On three of the four sides, there's a ventilator, the sliding door window, and the main door, but that's it. If the vic was in the bath looking out over the lake, then he would probably see the culprit at the back window fiddling with the door. Also your explanation doesn't account for the matches in the lake. Why would the vic hanging out in the tub dump them in the lake instead of a trashcan or somewhere nearby in the tub room? Why would the murderer have to dump many matches in the water when at most they could smoke a couple cigarettes before the body was discovered? Also there is a critical contradiction in your theory: the absence of heavy dripping condensation that will definitely form on the sliding glass door and will not go away in a short period of time. The air would have to be hot and absolutely saturated with water for this plan to work. The season is currently wintery given the fur collared coats the guests and the DB are wearing, and it is coldest right before the morning sun comes up. That glass will be absolutely soaked and there will probably be puddles around it from where the water runs off. The fact that the glass was not like that when Conan found the body and Mitsuhiko and Genta went around back to check leads me to believe that the screenwriter was not killed the way you have hypothesized.

[Schillok]

Beside, what is the big difference now?

We are still in a similar situation: The victim hid outside, the murderer disguised as Ganji and crossed the bridge, the only difference is that in the "steam" scenario (which I still doubt would work - no matter how much steam it was, either it was way too much so the victim would not enter the bath in the first place [Who would enter a completely saturated room with bad health? And even close the door before trying to open the windows?] or not so much that it would take a bot of time - enough to some something. Locked in the room with steam all the writer would have to do is taking a stone and a towel to break the window once he noticed he was trapped)...

Anyway, looks like I lost track of what I wanted to say. I mean, both scenarios are very similar. Victim hiding outside, disguised murder crossing the bridge - in both cases the murderer had to enter the bathing room, either to kill the writer or to manipulate the crime scene. In both cases he didn't have much time.

It might have been to drink the water. Remember the tea bottle of water and Agasa's bath doll which commented on the water's health benefits when drunken. It would be kind of nasty to drink water right after all the guests got out, but maybe he decided to wait for the water to turn over. It doesn't explain why he would want to wait out all night rather than simply go early in the morning before everyone else though.
As for the pipe, it could be with the new set of clothes the murderer wore and left in the place of the old clothes, or his pipe could be at the bottom of the lake with the old set; it depends how well the murderer searched the old clothes. He didn't have much time after all to look through them.

I am not sure... is it normal that the bathing water is being replaced each time after cleaning an onsen? I heard it is not replaced, which is the reason why you have to wash so thoroughly before entering the hot water. So it wouldn't have been much of a difference when he took the water to drink. Sure, heavy dirt particles would sink to the ground if the water is left undisturbed but at the same time contaminations lighter than water and hydrophobic substances - like soap residues - would be swimming on the top.
So it might be a better idea to get the water when it is still mixed, not directly in the morning.

Another problem is why did he enter the womans bath then... his legs are weak so I think it would have been much easier for him to get into the water to gain his water than to crouch by the pool and filling the bottle there. I know he wanted to meet the actress, but he could also have suggested to meet in the mans bath - it would have been easier for him.

But yeah, it still doesn't explain why he had to hide outside.
It seems like he didn't want the employees to know he was there. And the most likely reason for that is that he was planing to do something illegal.
Killing the actress? He would be the prime suspect the moment that actor guy tells the police about his phone call the night before. And if he did plan to do that, how did he expect to gain a good alibi by hiding? He still would have to somehow return to his room unseen to claim that he never was near the bath at that day. And there is no hint of an motive to kill her either...
Still - using the preparations of a murder to kill him and get a good alibi is an often recurring theme in mystery stories...



Does anyone else really hate Teradou Unpei? He seems like a real arse. I hope he falls off the bridge or something.

There have been a lot of 3 part cases in a row, 3 so far, so hopefully the next case is bigger.

I'm crossing my fingers for Okiya or scar Akai. It's been about 20 chapters -about half a year- since anything regarding them has come up. The beginning of both the Vermouth and Kir plot arcs were slow at first with a lot of unrelated cases between plot points, but then they picked up a bit. Here's to wishful thinking...
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[Tanner-kun]

it was the kappa hes the murderer

[sstimson]

it was the kappa hes the murderer

Wrong thread. Try this one
Water Demon Drowning Case (719-721?): Vote for the culprit!

[caribou]

it was the kappa hes the murderer

lol

It might have been to drink the water. Remember the tea bottle of water and Agasa's bath doll which commented on the water's health benefits when drunken. It would be kind of nasty to drink water right after all the guests got out, but maybe he decided to wait for the water to turn over. It doesn't explain why he would want to wait out all night rather than simply go early in the morning before everyone else though.

hmm ok yeah that does explain the tea bottle. maybe he just waited out all night so he wouldn't get any suspicious questions in case the staff saw him heading for the women's bath instead of the men's?

[Tenken]

Did Haibara put pepper powder in Conan's pants?

[kirite]

Did Haibara put pepper powder in Conan's pants?

To be more specific, I believe it was his underpants xD.

[Akonyl]

Did Haibara put pepper powder in Conan's pants?

To be more specific, I believe it was his underpants xD.

that, or conan goes commando.

[Abs.]

Did Haibara put pepper powder in Conan's pants?

To be more specific, I believe it was his underpants xD.

that, or conan goes commando.

I don't know why the shotacons haven't pointed this out yet (possibly because they don't exist here?) but he definitely does not go commando.

[Tanner-kun]

it was the kappa hes the murderer

Wrong thread. Try this one
Water Demon Drowning Case (719-721?): Vote for the culprit!

i know i was makeing a joke from the prev case lol

Did Haibara put pepper powder in Conan's pants?

To be more specific, I believe it was his underpants xD.

that, or conan goes commando.

conan going commando i like this idea thank god i chose xcommando as my user name