Undead Girl Murder Farce – 06

「怪盗と探偵」 (Kaitou to Tantei)
“The Phantom Thief and the Detective”

This was one madcap episode from beginning to end. They hinted last week that Lupin would disguise himself- which he does, before the event, like a peacock strutting his feathers. It was a nice touch giving Mycroft (Bando Naoki) a cameo. Like his brother, nothing gets past Mycroft- including the too-long fingernails that give Lupin away. The funny thing about carefully laid plans is that the tiniest detail can throw them off but for Lupin, this was all just fun and games anyway.

In a comic mishap, Shinuchi loses Aya when leaving her on the bench for a fish and chips break, grabbing the wrong birdcage afterwards. The look on his face when he opened the curtain was priceless. Oh, the gleeful irony that Shizuku lands in the car with Lupin and Erik (ahem, the Phantom – no personal name please) who then assist her in searching for Aya.

The bizarreness of the whole situation- mixing up a severed head with a bird, then a thief, a phantom, and a maid chasing down the kidnapped head lying in the backseat of a car was entirely entertaining. I wouldn’t have been disappointed if the oddity stopped there, but no, they don’t end there. The cherry on top was the fight between two guys (Lupin and Shinuchi) who both lost their marbles (quite literally for Lupin). I’m not sure what the deal with the whole marble thing is, if Prof. M gave him the power or what, but it is cool. Of course, after bragging about being stronger than Lupin, Shinuchi loses- but I have a strong suspicion he lost on purpose, as part of the evening’s “farce”. It makes sense- don’t show your best hand to the enemy.

When we do get down to business, things get really messy. As Holmes points out, the Royce faction spells big trouble. A group determined to exterminate all supernaturals paired with our favorite supernatural detectives on a job to protect the werewolf box- that’s a combination that shouldn’t mix. Forseeably, the Royce will take the box to get rid of the werewolves, using Lupin as the handy scapegoat and while they’re at it, try to kill the supernatural sleuths (the key word being try- they’re probably not going to have much luck with that). I think the Royce are actually the real danger here. Sure, Lupin wants the diamond, but it’s for the thrill of the hunt- he doesn’t have a genocide agenda like the Royce do.

While Holmes thought he was being brilliant in shooting and effectively incapacitating the locks, it was kind of stupid. With his love for the dramatics, I doubt Lupin would go the obvious way and stroll in through the doors anyway. But even more than that, it leaves no emergency contingency- no-one getting in means no-one gets out either. Which turns out to be really bad when the Phantom breaks in the mansion and unleashes the dam water through the vents. If the water gets any higher it’s game over for everyone in the room. Though they don’t seem particularly concerned about that, worrying more over how to protect the locked box underwater. At any rate, I’m sure, genius as he is, Sherlock (and Aya’s crew) surely has an ace up his sleeve.