The murder mystery in Magical Girl Raising Project Restart gathers momentum in Episode 5, as the characters look beyond motive and ask how the killer could have carried out the crime. While any magical girl could have struck Masked Wonder with a rock, changing the candy count displayed on Cherna Mouse’s terminal appears to require a different ability—and the culprit had to alter two terminals at once.
Gamemaster Keek initially seems like a likely suspect, but she tells Fal she was not involved, and Pfle agrees. Keek’s games, Pfle argues, include ways to avoid their traps: Magical Daisy might have survived if she had bought the monster manual, and no one would have died if everyone’s candy totals had matched. Pfle is nevertheless furious that someone keeps killing participants despite her attempts to outmaneuver Keek.
Shadow Gale stands out as a suspect if the others judge only by the apparent range of magical powers. Her ability to use broken robot monsters to transform a wheelchair into a giant robot might seem to make altering a terminal straightforward. But viewers know she was not near Masked Wonder at the time of the killing, and her machine-altering power takes time and produces a visible glow.
The other magical girls do not know those limitations. Pfle has told them Shadow Gale can “make robots,” concealing that her real ability is to alter machines. She does so to protect Shadow Gale, whom she has cared for since childhood; Shadow Gale, in turn, equips her giant robot with an automatic ejector seat to protect Pfle.
That lie becomes a clue. Based on the powers Pfle has described, no one else should have been able to tamper with the terminal display. The episode therefore suggests that another magical girl may also have a broader ability than she has admitted. As Cherna Mouse’s former team breaks apart, Detect Bell identifies Lapis Lazuline—whose casual manner seems out of place—as her own suspect.
Sources: Anime News Network.