The Kindaichi Case Files Volume17: The Undying Butterflies by Yozaburi Kanari and Fumiya Sato

Hajime Kindaichi is the grandson of a famous detective well-known for his skills. Ever since getting involved with the murder of classmates at an old theatre, Kindaichi has been solving the murders he gets drawn into with seemingly increasing frequency.

Kindaichi is asked to investigate a party thrown by a famous butterfly researcher, Shimon Madarame, who had rediscovered a long-thought extinct butterfly 25 years ago. Now, after many years of breeding that same butterfly species and ensuring their survival, he is ready to show them off to the world. But in the picture that accompanies the article stating this is his assistant- Eiji Touno! Eiji was responsible for the murders in a previous case of Kindaichi's set at Lake Hiro.

At the end of that case, he was presumed dead, his body destroyed by fire. But now he seems to have survived, and Kindaichi knows he must investigate, and determine the truth of how and why Eiji Touno survived. He takes Miyuki with him, and the man who alerted him to the article, Itsuki, another survivor of the Lake Hiren murders.

Shimon's palatial estate is guarded by two high walls and airlock doors like those in a submarine, making it impossible for anyone to get in from the outside. Inside the house, they meet Ruri, the professor's youngest daughter, who is playing with her ball. But when the professor hands it to her and tells her to play elsewhere, she waits until he is gone and throws the ball away, claiming she doesn't want it anymore if he touched it. She calls him a bastard. Ruri has an unusual feature, one brown eye and one green eye.

Later, as they are introduced to Shimon's wife, they realize that she has the same feature, one brown eye, and one green. For the party, the professor dresses his wife and daughters in Kimonos that mimic actual butterflies. He also shows his visitors the butterflies he has been protecting and bringing back. The butterflies glow white in the dark, like spirits, delighting the guests as they wing around like points of light.

But Ruri, the youngest daughter, sees something the others don't, a butterfly, pinned to the wall with pins, yet somehow still alive. It is a black and white butterfly that a professor at the local university knows as the Butterfly of Death. Ruri is frightened of it, and is afraid that she, too, will die like the butterfly, even though there seems to be no reason for that fear.

The other guests at the party, including the professor's other two daughters, his eldest daughter's fianceé, the professor and the photographer, along with Eiji, whom the professor introduces as his assistant, Hikage Miyama. He doesn't appear to recognize or know Kindaichi, and Kindaichi and Itsuki can't tell if he is just a lookalike or is very good at faking.

But not long after the party, Ruri turns up dead, dressed in the butterfly Kimono from the party, and pinned to the ground in a similar fashion to a butterfly. She ia near a pile of dead leaves and butterflies known as "the Butterfly Tomb", but no one seems to have seen her being put there. This means that, since someone passed the tomb at 7AM, and the body was discovered at 8AM, that the body must have been placed there sometime during that time frame. The only one who doesn't have an alibi for that time is the man who Kindaichi thinks is really Eiji Touno, Hikage Miyams! But would a man who was so meticulous in his earlier murders really have chosen a time when he alone had no alibi? The police who are summoned think that this makes him the most likely suspect, but Kindaichi isn't so sure.

Kindaichi notices something else awry. While Ruri's mother is very obviously grieving for her daughter, her father, Shimon, doesn't even seem to care that she is dead. Instead, all he seems to care about is that his one daughter with one green eye and one brown is gone. All he seems to care about is that he will never see that feature again! This is very unnatural, and raises Kindaichi's suspicions. But who is the "Undying Butterfly" that claims to be responsible for the killings?

As more people in the house die, more police suspicion falls on Hikage Miyami. But when the middle daughter, Ageha, is nearly killed by extremely poisonous spiders in her bath, it's Hikage who wades in to save her... with bare feet! Would a killer who knew how deadly the funnelweb spider's poison is take such a chance? Kindaichi believes not- it would be foolhardy in the extreme. But can he find out who the killer is and prove it beyond all possible doubt?

Another long story, but one with lots of bite (no pun intended). Red Herrings abound and the largest one is Eiji Touno/Hikage Miyama. Even Miyumi, so often menaced by killers in cases past, is in the background here, reduced to getting Kindaichi the information he needs to solve the murder of Ruri, and thereby the others.

Sometimes the author allows us to have the same information as Kindaichi, and thus lets us compete against him to see if we, the readers, can solve the murders. But here, as in other cases, the information is hidden from us, and we must rely on Kindaichi to reveal it, at the reveal, where he exposes the murderer for who he or she is. But that isn't the only secret revealed, and the ending to the case is sad as an injustice is revealed, and the reason for the murders exposed. But there is also a happier ending for two of the characters, one that absolves the bad feelings of the past.

I really love this series, and this has been the best story yet. It's long but exceptionally good, and with every case, Kindaichi's skill and detecting acumen grows. While occasionally we are able to test our wits against Kindaichi's, here we don't have that chance, we just get to be thrilled by his brilliance. But still, almost a perfect murder case. Highly recommended.