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Masasuke Inokawa (猪川将佐) is a police inspector from Ishikawa Prefecture in charge of the Black Butterfly of Death Murder Case. He's notably one of the few detective who cooperates (initially) and has a rivalry with Kindaichi similar to Kengo Akechi.
He is a good-looking man with a nihilistic personality, and despite he's not from career path, he was promoted to inspector at the young age of 30. He has a different type of charm from Kengo Akechi, so he is very popular with readers.
Appearance[]
Inspector Masasuke Inokawa have a long black hair that almost reaches his collar, a black eyes and in the anime is wearing a dark blue suit with dark blue and yellow striped tie.
Appearances[]
Black Butterfly of Death Murder Case[]
He got to know Kindaichi and others when he was in charge of the incident that occurred at Butterfly Mansion in Kanazawa.
However, when he first appeared, he made remarks as if he was trampling on the heartbreak of the bereaved family who were grieving after their family was killed. During the subsequent questioning, he acted as if he had known that Kindaichi's grandfather was Kosuke Kindaichi for a long time, but he may have just thought so when he saw Kindaichi's surname, so he would like to know more about it.
After that, he will thoroughly mark one of his people, and proceed with the investigation while interpreting the unnatural evidence left at the scene as convenient for his reasoning as mentioned above. As a result, sparks were scattered in confrontation with Kindaichi who was also suspicious of other people.
In the solution chapter, he urges Hajime, who disagrees with his reasoning, to "show proof that the person is not the culprit," and has a debate with him. However, Kindaichi refuted all of his own deductions that he had confidence in, and when he vividly clarified the tricks used by the true criminal, he was reminded that it was a mistake. And after the real culprit was exposed, he listened to his reasoning without interfering. After the case was resolved, he reconciled with everyone, and he began to call him a "great detective" in recognition of his deductive powers.
Six months after the incident, when Kindaichi and his friends visited Kanazawa, he drove them to the ceremony hall in his car.
Young Kindaichi's Trip of Death Preparedness[]
He appears in the grand finale of Young Kindaichi's Trip of Death Preparedness among police inspectors from other prefectures. As usual, he smoked a cigarette and said sarcastically, " You're the only civilian who has police contacts all over the country. " He was willing to cooperate with the first bicycle trip campaign.
Personality[]
He has an investigative style that tries to clarify the truth by assembling inferences based on realistic arguments that are grounded. However, he also has the drawback that once he suspects that the culprit is this person, he will not hesitate to bend his thoughts and rush through.
In the first appearance of the case, in response to Kindaichi pointing out that the evidence related to the person he suspected as the culprit was "unnatural," he replied, "It is also possible that he deliberately left unnatural evidence to exonerate himself. '' he argued. After that, an arrest warrant was issued without any evidence or support, and they tried to arrest the person, but the person's innocence was proven by Ichi's hand just before, and a large false accusation case was avoided. Although he has gone too far, he doesn't seem to be such a bad person at heart, and even if he is invited to a wedding by someone he suspects of being a murderer, he dares to refrain from attending, saying, " How can such a villain show his face at such a happy occasion!" and generously took Kindaichi, who was also invited, to the ceremony hall. He also a heavy smoker who often has a cigarette in his mouth. However, such depictions are cut in the anime version.
Trivia[]
- Although the Sorrowed Ghost Legend Murder Case is set in Ishikawa Prefecture, for some unknown reason Inokawa didn't made a reappearance.
- His hairstyle is similar to Naoki Furuya.