Detective Kobayashi – A Visual Novel: Chapter 3 Guide

Your goal is to escape the room by obtaining the key to the left door. To get the key, you need to find all 12 constellation coins to open the box that is in front of the bloodied window.

Note: The game itself actually provides a way for you to get more help about getting an item. To get 3 hints, keep interacting with the TV after you have enabled “Simple Riddle” options in the settings. Make sure you save your game before you use the hints though! After you have used the TV 3 times, it will no longer respond. By using a save file and reloading, you can use the TV as many times as you want!

After the short initial dialogue, your first puzzle is to find a 3-digit code in order to unlock Murata’s ankle chain. Turn around to the west side of the room and you will see a bloodied window.

The goal is to rearrange the window so that a 3-digit code becomes readable from the bloody writing. Before you do that though, there are two items for you to pick up first. First, pick up the Purple ball that is sitting next to the empty suitcase. Once you’ve picked up the ball, slide the right side of the window to the left and you can pick up your first Iron cross that is placed behind the window.

After you’ve picked up both items, slide the windows around until you can make out a 3-digit code from the writing. If done correctly, you will be able to read 215  from the bloody writing. Send the code to Murata. After some messages back and forth, you will be prompted to call Matsuda for help. For reference, her phone number is 662-737-884.

You should now have the following in your inventory:

• 1x Iron cross
• Purple ball

Now that Matsuda is on the case, it’s time that you start making some progress yourself.

Face the southern side of the room and pick up a Yellow ball next to the table and a second Iron cross under the table. After you’ve picked up those items, inspect the plant. The plant itself gives you no clues, but if you interact with the leaf that is pointing towards you, you will discover a bloody drawing of a wrench with 7-5 on it. Keep this hint in mind, as this will be important for when we check the wrench at the cupboard.

Interact with the hourglass on the table and drain the sand by flipping the hourglass and clicking the sand. The hourglass reveals the Yellow key and this key can be used to open the second drawer of the table where the hourglass was sitting on. After you’ve unlocked the drawer, open it and collect a Screwdriver. Now equip the Screwdriver and interact with the red hand of the clock. You will get a Second hand for your trouble, which will be useful later in unlocking one of the safes.

On top of the desk, there’s a pencil holder with an Utility knife sticking out of it. Grab the knife and move away from the table. You should now be able to interact with the painting that has “SAVE ME” written in blood. Use the knife and click on the rope part of the painting, which will reveal the Gemini coin. After you’re done with all this, it is now time to head over to the cupboard.

The cupboard is located at the eastern side of the room and is placed between two doors. Before you interact with the cupboard though, check the shadowy area around the chair to find a Red ball. Ignore the right side of the cupboard as it doesn’t help us in any way and focus on the left side. On the left side of the cupboard, you will find a third Iron cross and an Aries coin. After you’ve collected the items, inspect the wrench and solve the puzzle using the clue from the plant earlier.

The solution to this puzzle is to drag the adjustable part of the wrench so that the bottom number 7 and the top number 5 matches. Once you’ve solved the puzzle, the wrench will automatically turn backwards and a scrap of paper can be retrieved, which is the Mysterious pattern.

Remember the bottom drawer at the table that is protected by a password? The piece of paper you’ve obtained earlier contains a pattern that actually reveals the password to the safe. As a hint, there’s actually no pattern to the colors, look at it from a different viewpoint. Each group of blocks form a letter if looked from a top view. As a result, you will get “SAEK” and that is the password!

Once you’ve discovered the password, use it to unlock the bottom drawer of the table. Inside the drawer, you will find a Minute hand.

You should now have the following in your inventory:

• 3x Iron cross
• Mysterious pattern
• Second hand
• Minute hand
• Screwdriver
• Red ball
• Purple ball
• Yellow ball
• Gemini coin
• Aries coin

At the northern side of the room, there is a wall full of safes, each with its own constellation marked on it. Aside from the Sagittarius safe that is already open, each safe can only be opened by using a coin that matches the constellation or by using a password. The middlemost safe is the exception, as that one is shaped as a clock and can only be unlocked by solving a puzzle using three clock hands.

Before you touch any of the safes though, interact with the top left corner of the carpet. Doing this will reveal the Blue key, which will be useful later. After you’ve collected the key, it’s time to open the safes using the coins you’ve collected so far.

First, open the Aries safe and collect the Aquarius coin inside. Use the newly acquired coin to open the Aquarius safe, you will find an Empty water bottle. After that, open the Gemini safe and you will find the Hour hand. You should now have all three clock hands in your inventory and should be able to unlock the clock safe.  Place all three clock hands on the clock safe and turn all hands to match the time that is displayed on the alarm clock on the table. Keep in mind that the clock on the safe is reversed! For reference, the time is 3:50:31.

Once you’ve solved the puzzle, retrieve the Taurus coin and open the Taurus safe. Inside this safe is another puzzle involving colors. The color of the middle one can be changed by clicking on it. To solve the puzzle, you must make the equation logical through the use of colored balls you have found so far. The only secondary color ball you have is the Purple ball, so this puzzle shouldn’t be too hard. Place the Blue ball back in the left slot in case you’ve removed it. Change the middle color to red. Finally, place the Purple ball at the right slot.

Once you’ve solved the puzzle, a hidden compartment will open up. Collect the Wire cutter and with this, you can finally cut down the chains on the right door! Before you exit though, don’t forget to pick up the balls you’ve used to solve the puzzle, you will need them later! Go through the door and after a series of exchanges with Murata, Matsuda requires you to answer some questions for her and also provide a 4-digit password in order to unlock a lock that has a Gemini engraved on it. Don’t worry about the questions, you can retry if you get them wrong.  Check the Gemini coin and you will see that there is a 4-digit code scratched on it.

You should now have the following in your inventory:

• 3x Iron cross
• Mysterious pattern
• Wire cutter
• Screwdriver
• Empty water bottle
• Blue key
• Blue ball
• Red ball
• Purple ball
• Yellow ball
• Aquarius coin
• Gemini coin
• Taurus coin
• Aries coin

Exit back to the first room and go back to the side where all the safes are. You will get another message from Matsuda with some bad news. Investigate the crime scene and once you’re done, you will have to duke it out with Ryu.

• Pick “No suspicious traces of anyone else were found at the scene.”, Present “Footprints from inside the room”
• “This evidence can prove that Murata was imprisoned at the time”: Present “Unlocked ankle chain”
• Choice is irrelevant, take your pick.
• “The doubts about the scene of the crime that have not yet been discussed are”: Choose “Height of the room”
• “In order to reach the necessary height, Murata must have used this”: Present “Wooden chair”
• “It would have been impossible for Murata to stand on this chair. This clue can prove it”: Present “Crack in the chair leg”

  Ryu will finally relent and tells you to take care. Matsuda then interrupts and tells you that she found a 4-digit code with a Capricorn sign. The code is 8533  and you should be able to use this to unlock the Capricorn safe. Collect the Virgo coin that is inside the safe and use it to open the Virgo safe. Unlike the other safes, this safe contains a “Green Essence Machine” instead and the instructions tells you to insert something cylindrical in it. You currently don’t have anything that matches the description, so you can come back later. For now, head back to the second room.
  

Upon entering the second room, there will be a sink, a bucket and a giant hammer in front of you. Collect the Hammer and equip it to smash the cracked tile in front of you, revealing a Capricorn coin. Now, approach the sink and interact with the water tap. Water should be flowing out now and you can use the Empty water bottle to get a Water bottle. Inside the bucket, there is an Animal horn you can collect.

Turn your direction to the north and interact with the table with a map on top of it. You will find a coin there, but you’re unable to pick it up due to some ants that are crawling all over it. Use the Water bottle to promptly get rid of the ants while also washing away whatever there was on the coin that attracted the ants. Pick up the Leo coin. Ignore the contraption on the left side for now.

Turn your direction this time to the south and you will see some tubes with some colored liquid inside. Grab your fourth Iron cross first, then collect the Orange test tube and the Yellow test tube. Use the Yellow test tube on the blue tube and it will turn into a Green test tube. After you’ve collected the Green test tube, go back to the wall with constellation safes.

Remember the essence machine inside the Virgo safe? That is where we will be putting this green test tube in in order to create a green ball. Interact with the Virgo safe and place the green tube inside the machine, then press the red button. The liquid will be drained and a Green ball will pop out for you to collect.

After collecting the ball, open the Leo safe using the coin you’ve obtained from the ant pile. Inside the safe, you will find your fifth and final Iron cross. Once you’ve obtained all the iron crosses, go back to the second room and approach the table with the test tubes.

On the table, next to the beaker, you will see a box with square holes patterned 3 by 3. The iron crosses you’ve collected so far are used as pieces in a game of tic-tac-toe and beating the box will unlock it. It is impossible to lose against the box, so don’t worry about being terrible in tic-tac-toe. Once you’ve defeated the box, the box will open up and you can grab the Libra coin.

Head back to the constellation safes and use the coin to open the Libra safe, containing a Scorpio coin and a number you can call for the fun of it. Use the coin to open the Scorpio safe and inside you will find another Blue ball, albeit the color of the ball itself looks more green than blue. Head back into the second room.

Turn your direction to the east and use the Blue key to unlock the furnace. Open up the furnace and throw the Orange test tube inside the furnace and close it. Once you’ve closed it, re-open the furnace again and you will find an Orange ball and also the final ball on top of the ashes.

You should now have the following in your inventory:

• Animal horn
• Mysterious pattern
• Wire cutter
• Hammer
• Screwdriver
• Orange ball
• Blue ball
• Red ball
• Purple ball
• Green ball
• Yellow ball
• Blue ball
• Aquarius coin
• Capricorn coin
• Scorpio coin
• Libra coin
• Virgo coin
• Leo coin
• Gemini coin
• Taurus coin
• Aries coin

With all 7 balls collected, you can now summon a dragon use the contraption on the wall found at the northern side of the second room. Place all 7 balls inside the contraption and spin the wheel. You will receive a White ball. After you’ve collected the ball, head back outside to the main room.

Remember the bull’s head on the cupboard? Use the Animal horn and the White ball to complete the bull’s head. After that, you should now be able to pick up the Telescope that was stuck between its jaws. After you’ve collected the Telescope, equip it and face your direction towards towards the bloodied window. You will get a message from Matsuda hinting that you can use the signs outside to find out where exactly you are trapped.

Open one of the windows and interact with the opening using your telescope. You won’t be able to find any information about the name of the building, but you can find a pizza store with a phone number displayed. Once you’re done viewing the other side, use your phone to message 927-279-729. Once you’ve messaged the pizza place, Matsuda will contact you again, revealing some interesting relevations that makes our protagonist sad.

Once you’re done messaging, it is time to unlock the Pisces safe. Like the Capricorn safe, it is also protected by a password. Believe it or not, you actually already have seen the password while using the telescope, although you probably never realized that it is the password. The hint I’ll give you is that Pisces means fishes.  The password is the sign at the opposite building where two carp flags are hanged on the balcony, which is “Propecia”. Once you’ve unlocked the Pisces safe, you will find the Pisces coin and a Red disc.
First, change the pattern until all 3 layers at the top is Aries, which is the first sign in the zodiac. Placing the Red disc now will reveal that the combination from outer to inner is Cancer, Gemini and Capricorn. Now, remove the Red disc and turn the constellations around until the constellations shown with the Red disc are at the top.

With the Red disc on hand, head over to the southern side of the room and check out the constellation box on the table. This puzzle is hard, but the idea is that the Red disc will reveal the constellations that should be on top. Keep in mind the Red disc only becomes useful after you’ve reset the constellation box to its actual original state!

After solving this puzzle, the box will open, revealing a Cancer coin.

Use the Cancer coin to open the Cancer safe and collect the Magnet. Head to the second room for the last time and use the Magnet on hole in the sink to find the last coin, the Sagittarius coin. Make sure the valve is closed, as you cannot interact with the sink hole if the water is still flowing. Once you’ve collected the final coin, head over to the main room.

Now that you’ve collected all the coins, head to the direction with the bloody window and interact with the box that is on the table. Put all the coins inside the box and your reward for your journey is the Door key. Use the Door key on the left door to finally get out of the secret room. Congratulations, you’ve just beaten chapter 3!