Episode 41

A Perfect Murder and Murderer (Part 1) (完璧な殺人と殺人者 (其の一),) is the 41st episode of Bungo Stray Dogs anime series and the third episode of the fourth season. It aired on January 25, 2023.

Synopsis
Kunikida is being held for a murder that Rampo is certain he didn't commit. Meanwhile, Poe is determined to solve a murder mystery that has had the poilce stumped. Rampo has some thoughts on that situation, too.

Summary
After dragging his victim atop a tower, a suited man exalts himself with epithets in the field of crime and kills the victim. Meanwhile, Ranpo visits Kunikida in prison after being convicted of murdering a girl during the cannibalism incident. Despite Kunikida's helpless acceptance of his charges, Ranpo promises to get him out of prison and prove his innocence, believing that the girl would not have died had he stopped Fyodor's schemes in the first place.

While waiting to retrieve an item he won in an auction, Poe encounters and gets tackled by Ranpo, wearing a bear mascot costume as punishment for going against the President's orders during his affliction. Ranpo enjoins Poe to help him find the Rats' evidence suppressor in the tower's observation deck as tipped by Pushkin and hands Poe a photograph of the said suppressor.

Poe soon tells Ranpo about the novelist Kindaichi, who was killed in the same way he described in his novel after finishing the final chapter's manuscript containing the resolution. With the manuscript stolen by the murderer, the public goes in a frenzy to solve the mystery, but to no avail. Ranpo deduces that the murderer and the victim were quite close and that the murderer waited for the manuscript to be finished before killing Kindaichi to make the manuscript more valuable the more the public takes interest in the case and has in fact sold it to Poe, which amounted to ¥20 million.

Found out, Poe proceeds to finish the transaction and looks for someone with a red envelope, which Ranpo spots nearby. As they take the envelope, a man they recognize as the suppressor falls off the tower to his death, piquing their intrigue. With the city police's early arrival hinting being contacted by the culprit ahead of time, the victim's shoe, and his forged face, Ranpo and Poe conclude that the victim is not the suppressor. As Ranpo prepares to perform Super Deduction, Mushitarō Oguri lurks among the crowd and activates his ability, erasing the evidence in the crime scene and baffling Ranpo.

Two months ago, Mushitarō was recruited by Fyodor to aid in the cannibalism operation and issues conditions to the Russian in exchange, including leaving overseas a week after their operation when he finishes killing a certain man. At the crime scene, Poe worries for Ranpo, though the latter nonchalantly leaves to sort things out. Meanwhile, Mushitarō recalls choking Kindaichi to death, getting shocked when Ranpo approaches him and asks where the taxi stand is. He attempts to send the detective away but ultimately fails, with Ranpo even riding in his getaway car and offers to help him land a job if he ever needs one.

Mushitarō entertains Ranpo's small talk inside the car, where the detective tells him about the recent falling murder case. He claims that the murderer is gifted with a reality-altering ability, though he has solved the case nonetheless. He states that the suppressor pushed off a body double upon seeing the envelope taken at the tower. With the envelope and manuscript in the culprit's hands, Ranpo deduces that the murderer took it from the author whom he killed himself, much to Mushitarō's alarm.

Manga and Anime Differences

 * Ranpo originally carries a lollipop when he is talking to Mushitaro but he is not in the anime. He only had it in him when he entered Mushitaro's getaway vehicle in the car.
 * Ranpo originally telling Mushitaro about Tanizaki and Kunikida's current situation is ommitted.