Villainous blackmailer Umeda
Umeda was a villainess from "The Photo Mail from the Clown", episode 14.35 of Case Closed (airdate December 19, 2005). She was the editor-in-chief of a women's fashion magazine, and the episode began with her in the process of preparing for a costume party with three of her friends/co-workers: photographer Jiro Ishikawa, model Yoko Nakamura, and make-up artist Minoru Kijima, with the party serving as celebration of Jiro and Yoko's engagement.
Upon arriving at Umeda's apartment, however, the trio were shocked to find their host dead, having been strangled to death with a rope. While it initially believed that a man Jiro, Yoko, and Minoru ran into on their way to her house (later identified as Masatake Shimizu) had broken in and killed Umeda to rob her, Conan Edogawa deduced the truth: Minoru killed Umeda, and later sent a photo of her in her clown costume to Jiro and Yoko and used a doll lookalike of her to give himself an alibi and cover his tracks.
The investigation had revealed that Umeda and Minoru were romantically involved, and after confessing to his girlfriend's murder, Minoru posthumously revealed Umeda as a villainous blackmailer. As a result of their relationship, Umeda gave Minoru benefits regarding their work, a gesture Minoru was happy with. But when Minoru began trying to pursue another relationship, the evil Umeda threatened to destroy her boyfriend's career if he broke up with her, driving Minoru to kill Umeda to escape her stranglehold.
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