I've had the first part of this chapter done for a while, but life took over and I was too busy to finish it. I sincerely apologize for the wait, but I'm actually going to finish this story before the month is out, hopefully. I appreciate the reviews, more than I probably should. :P Anyways, I put in a lot of thought trying to make this chapter long, interesting, and fun. Not only do you get the conclusion from the last chapter, but I went ahead and started up the finale. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as you've enjoyed all the others! :D

Chapter Ten

"Hold on, Dad!" Ran shouted, running forward and attempting to pry off the Plexiglas. However, it proved an impossible task with just her strength alone. Inside, Kogoro was panicking due to a lack of air. Sera raced forward and tried to help out, but she couldn't do anything, either. The pounding on the glass from the inside continued.

"We have to help!" Sakura shouted to the room at large. She ran for the dunk tank, beckoning at the crowd. Soon she was leading a procession of students and visitors alike. They all heaved on the sheet covering the tank and it slowly rose.

"I'm saved!" Kogoro shouted, jumping out of the tank as soon as he could. The rescuers dropped the glass and formed a circle around Kogoro, who was curled in a ball and looking scared to death, taking in great gulps of air.

"What an unfortunate accident," said Sonoko. "Occhan might have been killed!"

"What accident?" asked Sera, pointing at the glass. "You see how the ropes holding the Plexiglas have all been cut? This was an obvious attempt at murder!"

"She did it!" Kogoro spat, pointing at Sakura. "There's no way a skinny girl like her could've won against the sumo champ!"

"I don't think that's possible," said Sera, "but until we can prove it wasn't you, Sakura-chan, you'll have to stay under guard. Ran-chan, guard her while I investigate. Sonoko-chan, call the police and then take care of Mouri-tantei. Everybody else, DON'T leave the room. Anybody who leaves will be considered an automatic suspect." The crowd muttered irritably, but nobody made for the door.

"Just what I need," thought Sakura, rolling her eyes as everybody set about doing the tasks they'd been assigned. Sakura wanted to investigate, but she knew that anything she did would look suspicious.

"You have a habit of getting into trouble," a young voice piped up suddenly. Sakura and Ran both looked towards the sound to find Minami/Haibara looking at them, arms folded.

"Sorry about that," said Sakura, rubbing the back of her head.

"That was incredible, though, Sakura-oneesan!" Ayumi burst in. "You're as strong as Ran-oneesan!"

"It was probably staged," Genta remarked. "You see it all the time in American professional wrestling."

"Don't be rude, Genta-kun!" said Ayumi, shocked.

"It's more likely she's done a lot of physical training!" Mitsuhiko pointed out.

"Anyways," said Sakura, cutting across the conversation, "I need some help. Would you guys like to help?"

"Of course!" the three kids said at once, completely forgetting the argument.

"All right then," said Sakura, bending over. Ran, who was watching the exchange curiously, was shocked by how much Sakura was reminding her of both Minami and Conan in how she was talking to the kids so easily. "You all can do that, right?" she concluded.

"Yeah!" said the kids, the three real kids all pumping their fists in the air.

XXX

Haibara took a look at the scene once she and the kids had separated from Sakura, who was now juggling a ball while thinking. "One rope didn't fall!" Ayumi said at once, pointing to the rope.

'She's right,' Haibara thought. 'The other three ropes that were holding up the glass sheet have obviously been severed, but why is just that one intact? It goes all the way up to the ceiling. What if…'

"Kojima-kun, could you give me a boost?" she asked suddenly, walking to the edge of the dunk tank.

"Sure," said the overweight boy cautiously, picking her up and putting her on top. "What are you going to do, Minami?" he asked.

'I hope you know what you're doing, Shiho,' Haibara thought to herself. Then she grabbed the uncut rope and began to climb up it. She was instantly glad she'd worn a pair of shorts rather than a skirt.

"Minami-chan!" the kids exclaimed in horror as they saw what she was doing.

"Minami-chan, get down from there!" said Ran loudly, abandoning her post guarding Sakura and running for Minami, her long hair flying behind her.

"Is there a ladder around here?" Sera asked, joining Ran from where she had been questioning people.

"There is in the back," said Sonoko, pointing over her shoulder.

"We'll take care of this Ran-chan," said the tennis coach. He directed several members of the team to assemble below the rope with a tennis net. Several gymnasts then put foam pads under the net. As Ran and Sera ran off for the ladder, Haibara reached the top of the rope.

Haibara was so sore from the climb, she plopped down on the catwalk overlooking the stage and stripped off the latex Minami mask she was wearing, where she wiped her sweating face with a handkerchief. It was then that her detective badge began beeping.

"That was quite a gamble you took," Sakura's voice said. "I thought you would've taken a ladder."

"Sorry for breaking your stereotypical view of me," said Haibara flatly.

Ignoring the jibe, Sakura continued, "What's it look like up there?"

"There's some kind of cutting device pressed against the rope I climbed. It looks like the rope was threaded over the catwalk's handrail and tied off on a sandbag. There are three cut ropes dangling from the sandbag, so the sandbag is probably exactly the same weight as the Plexiglas that fell."

"That was probably to ensure that the glass would still fall even if one of the contraptions failed. Is there something like a fishing line coming from the four cutting devices?"

"No. In fact, there's no evidence at all that there were any other cutting devices. There's just the one that failed."

"Odd. Well, Ran and Sera are coming back with the ladder, so I doubt you can stay up there any longer. Of course, you could go back down the rope…"

"I'll take the ladder," said Haibara, ending the communication and putting her mask back on.

XXX

Ten minutes later, the police had arrived on scene.

"Who died this time?" asked Megure at once upon seeing Kogoro was in attendance.

"Nobody, Inspector," said Sera. "This time someone tried to kill Mouri-tantei, but failed."

"But what is all this?" asked Megure, looking around the room at the sumo ring and the dunk tank on stage.

"It's the prize of the festival!" Sonoko piped up. "It's the 'Dunk the Detective' Challenge. All you have to do is beat a member of the sumo team in a sumo match to get a chance."

'I'm glad it wasn't me up there,' Megure thought to himself.

"What happened, exactly?" asked Takagi, his notebook out. Ran and Sonoko immediately jumped in, relaying what exactly had happened. "Oh, Sakura-san!" Takagi exclaimed once he'd heard who had triggered the trap.

"Who?" asked Megure at once.

"That would be me, Megure-keibu," said Sakura, striding forward, holding Minami/Haibara in her arms and ignoring the death glare coming from the small girl. She put Minami/Haibara back on the ground, where she rejoined the other three kids, who were busy discussing the case amongst themselves.

"And who are you?" asked Megure.

"Kudo Sakura, a detective. I believe you're acquainted with my cousin, Shinichi."

'I've lost count of how many of these guys have shown up in the last year,' Megure thought. "Well, I don't care who you're related to; this is no place for amateurs!"

Takagi piped up, "But Megure-keibu, Sakura-san and Sera-san both solved the paragliding case the other day. She's had experience."

"Fine!" said Megure, clearly annoyed. "Do you know who it was?" he asked Sakura.

"I don't, actually. The contraption could've been set up by anyone that had access to a ladder. The storeroom where the ladders are kept wasn't locked, so anybody could've set it up. The real lead here is the Plexiglas cover. It's very likely that with a little police investigation, we could find where it was purchased, as well as who installed it; no one person could have suspended something that heavy from the ceiling on their own; it took quite a few people to lift the glass off of the tank long enough for Mouri-tantei to escape."

"What…are you saying, Sakura-san?" asked Takagi confusedly.

"It means we're dealing with a gang," Sera concluded. "Either that or someone hired a bunch of piano movers or something," she added sarcastically.

"Don't just stand there; call HQ!" Megure bellowed at Takagi, who jumped before making the necessary call.

"Sakura-chan, do you have any idea who might have done this?" Ran asked worriedly.

Sakura had several ideas, each one more frightening than the last. Leaning over to whisper to Minami/Haibara, she asked, "Do you think it's…them?"

"That's not likely," she replied, glancing around to ensure they weren't being listened to. "There are much quieter ways to for them to off someone without making them into a public spectacle. Besides, I haven't sensed anyone all day. I think it's a group of amateurs with a grudge against Kogoro-san."

Sakura straightened back up, her mind whirring.

XXX

Despite the crooks being amateurs, they cleaned up after themselves fairly well. There was almost no other evidence at the scene at all. Takagi and Chiba had done some investigating around Tokyo and found that four criminals had purchased the Plexiglas wearing ski masks. They had loaded it up in the back of a moving truck, which a follow-up investigation revealed to have been stolen. Other than that, there was no progress made for the entirety of the week that Minami was allowed to be Sakura.

The following Saturday night, however, was different. Throughout the week, Minami had enjoyed being an adult again. She could go anywhere she wanted and do whatever she wanted. It was a little awkward for her having to follow Ran and Sonoko around as a part of the conversation rather than her usual role as a nuisance, but it was enjoyable to her all the same. However, Ran always had the same question: 'When do we get to go look for Shinichi?' Sakura was regretting the lie now, but there was nothing she could do but brush it off.

The next Saturday, her last allotted day, started out just like normal. Well, it was as normal as it could be, what with Kogoro trying with all his might to find the culprits. Despite his ineptness, Sakura was impressed by his abilities. He even called Eri several times for advice, something he never did. Ran had also had an easier week since she hadn't had to spend half her time cleaning the office of empty beer cans and cigarette butts.

"I can't stand being in that office!" Ran said as Sonoko and Sakura joined her. "It's like Dad's become an entirely different person!"

'Trust me; it's an improvement,' Sakura thought to herself.

"Well, I've got an entire day planned to take our minds off the accident," Sonoko declared, pulling out a piece of paper and unfurling it dramatically. Then she stared at it for a minute before saying, "Looks like I forgot to write any of it down! Well, I have it all up here," she gestured to her head, "so we don't need this anyway!" She stuffed the paper back into her purse, but before she could shut it again, some guy in a hoodie ran up and snatched it.

"Hey, wait!" Ran yelled, giving chase. Sakura joined her while Sonoko stood in place for a few seconds in shock.

The thief didn't waste any time. While still running, he rooted through the purse, pulled out all the money, and left the cosmetics, cell phone, and credit cards behind in the purse, which he tossed in front of a passing car. While the three waited for the traffic to clear so they could get back the purse, the thief disappeared.

"Geez, why is it always me?" Sonoko whined as she made sure nothing else got stolen. "Now we have to stop by the bank!"

"I can pay, Sonoko," Ran offered, but Sonoko's face made it clear that Ran would not be paying.

There wasn't any more trouble on the way to Teito Bank, mainly because Sonoko made a point of visibly glaring at anybody that passed them. Right when they were about to walk in, though, Sonoko suddenly spotted the thief again. "Wait, you thief!" she shrieked, giving chase as the thief turned into an alleyway. Ran and Sakura shared a look before following. When they turned into the alley behind the building, they stopped, shocked. Four guys in identical hoodies stood there, all holding guns. One held a pistol to Sonoko's head, who he had in a headlock. Two others were forcing bank employees to transfer cash into a car. The fourth stood guard on the other side of the getaway truck. "Help me!" Sonoko yelled, before she got a mouthful of gag, which shut her up.

"Oh look, more victims," said the guy with Sonoko. "I knew if I took her purse you three would come here. This whole thing was staged! First dropping the Plexiglas on Mouri-tantei was sheer brilliance. That kept him in that agency of his and kept him from bothering us. Secondly, without any cases, you, his daughter, would have more free time, so I staked out the Detective Agency and waited. Now, here you are. The plan went off perfectly, except for one little thing. Where's that little boy with the glasses?"

So I give you a long chapter ending with a cliffhanger. Lucky for you guys I've already written the first quarter of the next chapter when I'm posting this, so the wait should be more like two days rather than two months.

Next chapter will be Sakura trying to cool things off and get these guys behind bars. Of course, nothing ever goes her way, does it? :P I also give Sakura the perfect excuse to...disappear. No more details on that for now.

If you like this story, hit the review button and tell me something good! Or bad, as the case may be. Just let me know if I'm doing something good or if I need to do something else. Thanks!