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Indiscriminate murder would be one thing if with 〜ならともかく

Grammar Explanation: It might be one thing if with 〜ならともかく

Manga panel from 名探偵コナン showing example of Indiscriminate murder would be one thing if with 〜ならともかく.
名探偵コナン » Volume 5 » Page 110

Sonoko is invited to a band’s after party. During the get-together, the band’s singer Tatsuya eats a rice ball only to collapse and die. The police are called in, and Inspector Megure discovers the victim was poisoned. He accuses the man who prepared the food, but Conan bites into a rice ball to show it’s safe. The victim’s manager, Mari, agrees.

麻理(まり):
「無差別(むさべつ)殺人(さつじん)ならともかく、たまたま達也(たつや)が食(た)べたオニギリだけに、あらかじめ毒(どく)を仕込(しこ)むのは不可能(ふかのう)じゃありません？」
“If it were indiscriminate murder, that's one thing but since it was just the rice ball Tatsuya happened to eat, wouldn't it be impossible to poison it beforehand?”
目暮(めぐれ):
「た、確(たし)かにそうだが…」
“Th-that's true.”

Key Points

  1. 〜ならともかく = that would be one thing, but

    • Mari presents one scenario as imaginable and contrasts it with the actual case.

    • Here it means “if it were indiscriminate murder, that would be one thing…”

  2. だけに narrows it to that one rice ball

    • オニギリだけに means “in just that one rice ball”.

    • That makes the method sound implausibly precise for a pre-planted poisoning.

See Also