Case Closed AU
By: FunahoMisaki
(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)
"This has to be the villa Serena was talking about. What do you think Irene-chan?" Rachel asked smiling down at Irene as the two were walking towards a villa after being lost for an hour or two.
"I think you should have let me hold the map, then we might have gotten here on time. Aunty Serena probably isn't happy that we're this late to her get together." Irene said blandly although frankly she was a little happy at being away from the city. If it wasn't the paparazzi trying to stalk her, it was the Junior Detective League following her or her 'Eva-baa-chan' squealing and demanding to spend time getting to know her new pseudo granddaughter. While she was used to the paparazzi, she wasn't used to three grade schoolers following her, or Eva being so happy to spend time with her. The fact that Eva quickly got used to being called a 'baa-chan' and tried to spoil Irene just added more to the weirdness factor.
"Hey there's nothing wrong with my sense if direction." Rachel said indignantly, only making Irene snicker slightly.
"Oh…you're actually being serious? Bwahahahaha!" Irene said stopping her snickering when she saw the serious look on her mom's face, only to bust out laughing. She quickly stopped laughing though when she saw a strange man in a black trench coat wearing a black hood over his head, and his face was covered in bandages like a burn victim when he turned to peer back at them.
"Who was that?" Rachel asked nervously, causing Irene to shrug but her eyes narrowed.
"Who knows? I doubt he's someone Aunty Serena invited. Keep an eye out, kaa-chan." Irene said causing Rachel to nod in agreement as they continued to walk towards the villa, Irene narrowing her eyes at the direction the man had ran off in. She could literally feel the murderous aura the man had been excluding.
"Hey! You're late! What were you doing?" Serena said opening the door as soon as the two females made it to the front steps.
"I let kaa-chan hold the map and give directions." Irene said causing Serena to jaw drop slightly.
"In that case it's a miracle you two even made it here!" Serena said causing Rachel to sweat drop.
"Hey hey. My directions can't be that bad can they?" Rachel asked causing the other two to just look at her blankly, before they turned away without answering the question.
"Well I'm glad she brought you along. Now I can introduce you to my sister, and you can help me set your kaa-chan up with someone. She just might find love after all." Serena said to Irene who blinked up at Serena for a minute.
"Find love? But what about tou-san?" Irene asked tilting her head slightly, earning a squeal and glomp from Serena.
"Well you're tou-san's been gone for a long while so why don't we try to find you a new tou-san?" Serena asked even while hugging Irene, causing the little girl to smile slightly. To tell the truth Jimmy hoped Rachel would find someone else to love instead of waiting on him to return to being a teen… and a guy. He just didn't feel the same about her anymore. I mean sure he still loved her but not in a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of way. He loved her more like a mom or sister.
"Hai! Time to find kaa-chan a new love and me a new tou-san." Irene cheered with a big grin causing Serena to grin widely while Rachel just looked at the two in disbelief and shock. Oh crap! Now they were double teaming her!
"Good girl! There's a bunch of cool guys here to try and hook your kaa-chan up with!" Serena said grinning widely as she carried Irene into the house with Rachel trailing behind them.
"Hey does one of them have bandages around his face like a burn victim?" Rachel asked suddenly causing Serena to look at her confused.
"No why?" Serena asked confused and curious.
"There was a man outside in a ling black trench coat like robe with a black hood and bandages on his face. He ran towards the villa then off to the side into the woods. I was wondering if he was one of your guests." Rachel explained causing Serena to frown.
"No it doesn't sound like anyone I know. Must be a random lumberjack or hunter. They come through this area sometimes." Serena said before pointing upstairs as she looked at Rachel.
"Now go unpack your stuff. I'll watch out for Irene-chan for you." Serena said causing Rachel to sigh slightly as she began trudging up the stairs.
"That's not reassuring at all." Rachel muttered as she went upstairs with both bags in her arms.
"…How many rooms are there up there?" Irene asked with a smirk after Rachel was out of earshot.
"Plenty, and all but one of them are taken already. Think she'll learn to knock?" Serena asked smirking right back as she switched the way she was carrying Irene slightly.
"Maybe… what shall we do while waiting on dinner?" Irene asked after a second causing Serena to grin.
"What else? Go raid the freezer for ice cream and chat about who to set your kaa-chan up with." Serena said with a small grin as she carried Irene into the kitchen, only to be stopped by her sister Angie. Irene however had an idea as she was set down so that Serena could argue with her sister.
"Neh? Onee-chan? Can I please have a snack or something to drink? Kaa-chan and I hadn't eaten ever since we left the house, and we've been lost in the woods for a while! I'm really hungry and thirsty onee-chan." Irene said with her bottom lip quivering and her eyes watering slightly as she gently tugged on Angie's dress.
'My 'niece' is a genius!' Serena thought watching wide eyed as Angie melted in the face of such a sad adorable child.
"Why didn't you say so to start with? Come here little cutie. Let Angie-nee fix you a small snack before supper." Angie said scooping Irene up and magicking her off into the kitchen.
"Thank you Onee-chan! Are you one of Aunty Serena's guests? You're really nice, and pretty too!" Irene said childishly as she hugged Angie's neck.
"You're welcome little one, and no I'm not a guest. I'm Serena's older sister. Thank you for the compliment though, little cutie." Angie said as she fixed Irene some juice and a little bit of fruit salad to nibble on. It wasn't long before everyone sat around the table that had some snacks on it.
"So all of you were in the same club in college?" Rachel asked looking at the group of people in front of her, Irene sitting beside her happily nibbling on a piece of fruit.
"Yeah they were all in the movie making club when my sister was in college." Serena explained.
"These five were great friends but it's been two years since they've seen each other. I'll start with the one next to you Rachel. That's Mitchell-san who used to play the lead roles a lot." Serena said introducing the guy with long hair and a cigarette.
"Yo." The guy said blowing out a smoke ring.
"Next is Randall-san who was their cameraman." That was the guy with the camera in his hands.
"Hey." He said smiling.
"Next is Felix-san who made the sets." He was the short rather chubby guy with glasses.
"Hi. Nice to meet you." He said rubbing the back of his head.
"Next is my sister, Angie, who was in charge of make-up and costumes. She's also looking for a husband." Serena said smirking at Angie who wasn't fazed about her introduction.
"Hey hey. Nice to finally meet you." Angie said smiling at Rachel who smiled back.
"Last is Jessica Star-san who was the screenwriter, director, and head of the club." That was the woman with short hair, a smirk, and a purple choker on her neck.
"Nice to meet you." She said politely.
"Sorry about earlier everybody." Rachel apologized sheepishly, causing Serena and Angie to look confused while the others just smiled.
"Don't mention it." The three guys said while Jessica merely smirked wider.
"Hope you enjoyed the view." She said causing Rachel to blush a deep red color, much to everyone's amusement.
"What happened earlier?" Angie asked curiously.
"Judging by the look on kaa-chan's face she didn't knock while trying to find our room and walked in on the four of them, most likely while they were changing." Irene said smirking as she crossed her arms behind her head, earning surprised looks from all but Serena.
"Sounds like you alright, Rachel." Serena said snickering and causing Rachel to sink down into her seat some.
"Everyone let me introduce you to my best friend Rachel. She's in my class and don't let her appearance fool you, she's very good at karate." Serena said causing the others to blink while Ikeda merely smirked wider and leaned forward.
"Oh? I'd love a demonstration sometime. It's not often you find a girl interested in Karate. I prefer Judo myself." Jessica said causing Irene to perk up slightly.
"Cool! Jiji and baa-chan are good at Judo and are trying to teach it to me." Irene said causing everyone to look at her surprised except Rachel and Serena.
"Huh. That explains how you were able to flip that one friend of yours over your shoulder when he tried sneaking up on you from behind." Serena noted before turning to the others.
"This adorable little genius here is Irene-" Serena began before being cut off by Jessica as she looked at the little girl wide eyed.
"Irene? As in the genius child detective that lives with her mother, and her grandfather the famous detective Richard Moore?" Jessica asked causing the others who weren't aware of this to gasp and look shocked.
"Oh yeah Serena never told you our full names. My name is Rachel Moore. Irene-chan here is my daughter, Irene Edogawa-Moore." Rachel said causing Irene to wave at them all happily as she sipped her juice while they just stared at the two in shock.
"My my what interesting friends you have Serena. Tell me Irene-chan. Do you mind if I write a movie based off of you and your adventures? You'd be welcome to be an actress in it, starring as yourself of course. Of course, since you're such an important role in young Irene-chan's life you'd play a lead role as well Rachel-chan." Jessica asked causing Rachel to look shocked while Irene just grinned widely.
"Yeah! I wanna be in a movie! Can I kaa-chan? Please?" Irene asked, acting like the little kid she was pretending to be.
"Well an exclusive inside scoop on two new actresses and Jessica-sensei's new movie in the making!" Randall said standing up and aiming his camera at Jessica, then at Rachel and Irene.
"Randall still loves his camera." Jessica said looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Yes time marches on but we haven't changed all that much have we?" Mitchell said around his cigarette and causing Randall to laugh slightly.
"True some of us are the same but some of us are different. Like fifty pounds different." Randall said pointing his camera at Félix who looked down at his enlarged belly.
"Not too flattering huh?" Félix said sadly.
"Don't worry I'll just shot you in close-up." Randall said causing Félix to grin.
"Thanks Randall." Félix said gratefully.
"Being with everyone again brings back so many memories… both good and bad. I think Emily would have liked to be here too." Angie said sadly, causing the other fours eyes to widen.
"We all promised not to bring her up again Angie!" Jessica said slamming a palm down on the table, making Irene's juice tip over and spill on her shirt.
"Ah! Sorry about that Irene-chan. Here let me help you get cleaned up." Jessica apologized as she grabbed some napkins and began to dab at the stain on Irene's shirt.
"I'm sorry guys… but I came here to unwind and relax not talk about an old friend that's been dead for two years." Jessica said softly as she helped Irene try to get the stain out of her shirt.
"That's something only a famous person would say." Mitchell said causing Jessica to glare at him before Irene took matters into her own hands by throwing her spoon into Mitchell's face, hitting him right on the nose.
"She's obviously stressed and upset about it as it is. Leave her alone!" Irene said glaring darkly at Mitchell who had sworn and rubbed his nose as he glared back at her.
"You little-"
"Take one step towards Irene-chan and Jessica-san will get that demonstration of karate she wanted with you being the punching bag!" Rachel said standing and glaring darkly at Mitchell when he stood and made as if to go after Irene.
"Everyone just calm down. I should have dinner ready in just a few more minutes. Until then why don't you all relax?" Angie said standing up and trying to keep the peace while Serena was glaring at Mitchell as well. No one threatened her 'niece' and got away with it!
"I think I'll finish patching up the roof. The weather man called for rain and I wanna get it done before dark." Félix said making his escape while Angie called after him to be safe.
"If you weren't such an expert set designer I'd offer to help you Félix. Anyone up for a game of cards?" Randall asked helping try to diffuse the tension while Serena and Rachel were still glaring at Mitchell who was glaring at Irene.
"I'm going to go for a walk. Would you like to come with Irene-chan? It might help dry out your shirt faster." Jessica asked as she stood back up to her full height again, causing Irene to nod happily.
"Here I'll grab the umbrella and catch up to you. I stay around this jerk much longer and Irene-chan will be in investigating his murder." Rachel said smiling at the two, causing Irene to smile back as she slipped her hand into Jessica's much bigger one much to Jessica's surprise.
"Serena can you show me where you keep thru umbrellas?" Rachel asked as Irene and Jessica left hand in hand.
"Yeah sure. They should be right over here." Serena said leading Rachel away from Mitchell while Randall looked around.
"Huh that's strange someone moved them. Hey Angie! Where'd the umbrellas go?" Serena called for her sister who was in the kitchen.
"They should be in the first floor supply closet Serena." Angie called back.
"What are they doing there?" Serena asked earning a laugh from her sister.
"Mitchell tripped over the umbrella stand when he arrived. I put them in there because I didn't want anyone else t trip as well." Angie called back with a small laugh while Serena and Rachel snickered as Mitchell flushed in embarrassment.
Meanwhile with Jessica and Irene.
"It's going to take a long time for kaa-chan to find us if we wonder too far from the house." Irene piped up after a minute or two of walking with Jessica.
"What makes you say that?" Jessica asked curiously as she looked down at the little girl beside her.
"Because kaa-chan has a horrible sense of direction! We would have been at the villa two hours earlier if I hadn't let her give the directions." Irene said causing Jessica to look at her in disbelief.
"We'd better stay close to the villa then." Jessica said with a sweat drop when she saw that Irene wasn't joking. A drop of water hit Jessica right on the head causing her to look up at the sky for a minute as rain came pouring down followed a few minutes later by a flash of lightning which caused Irene to whimper. As a teenager she had gotten over her fear of lightning but now that she was a kid again… yeah she was as scared of lightning as Rachel was.
"Hey what's wrong?" Jessica asked hearing the whimper and looking at Irene worriedly.
"I don't like lightning." Irene whimpered, clinging into Jessica's leg when there was another flash of lightning.
"Hey. There there. It's okay Irene-chan. I've got you and your mama should be here soon. Then we'll all head back to the villa together." Jessica said picking Irene up easily and softly cradling her.
A flash of movement behind her caused Jessica to glance over her shoulder and jump out of the way as an ax swung down into the ground right where she had been standing a minute ago.
"What the? Who are you? What do you want?" Jessica demanded holding Irene closer protectively as she glared at the bandaged up man.
"That's the bandaged man me and kaa-chan saw on the bridge earlier on the way to the villa!" Irene said peeking out at the man who raised the ax to eye level before running off when Rachel and Serena came into the clearing, Rachel a good foot in front of Serena who was holding a pink umbrella. In record time the group of four girls were back at the villa with Jessica still holding Irene close protectively.
"Of course we are serious. The guy was a freak! All four of us saw him! He nearly cut Jessica-san and Irene-chan in two with an ax!" Serena said while Jessica was trying to sooth an on edge Irene.
"How awful." Angie said shocked.
"Didn't any of you see him?" Serena asked causing Randall and Mitchell to look at each other.
"We had gone out into the woods to find you four when it started raining but we didn't see anything out of the ordinary did we?" Randall asked looking at Mitchell who shook his head.
"No but it sounds like we've got a deranged psycho on the loose." Mitchell said with a smirk, causing Rachel and Irene to gasp slightly as everyone looked at him.
"Sis did you see anyone running by here? When he took off from us he was running in the direction of the villa." Serena asked her sister who shook her head.
"No. I was in the kitchen. What about you Félix? Did you see anyone?" Angie asked turning to the chubby guy.
"No but I was up on the roof the entire time. I think I would've seen him if he ran by here. I do remember seeing an eerie looking guy by the bridge when I first arrive, but I just assumed he was a hired hand. I didn't get a look at his face, he was wearing a dark overcoat that looked kind like a cape." Félix said causing Irene to unbury her head from Jessica's shoulder.
"That's him. Me and kaa-chan saw him when we first got here. He's the one that attacked me and Jessica-san, isn't he Jessica?" Irene asked looking up at the woman holding her, causing the woman to nod in agreement.
"I saw him too but I just figured he lived somewhere nearby." Mitchell said while Randall agreed.
"Could be. Do you have any neighbors that might have gone off the deep end?" Randall asked causing Angie to shake her head.
"That's not possible. There are only two other villas in this whole area and we know both of the families that own them. I don't know who could do something like this." Angie said causing Irene to snort.
"Really? I've dealt with murder cases before so I know that just about anyone is capable of doing this. Although I didn't get a good look at him I'm certain our ax wielder is a male. Given how quick he is and how in shape he must be to wield that ax like a professional I'm guessing that he's not an old man, he can't be any older than thirty I would say. He also exercises regularly due to how easy it is for him to run and swing the ax. I'd bet he also another weapon on him in case something happens to his ax or someone gets too close for the ax to be effective, my guess would be a knife that's easily hidden." Irene said causing almost everyone to stare at her in surprise before Jessica smirked slightly.
"I'd expect nothing less of the great child detective." Jessica said smiling down at Irene who just blushed in embarrassment.
"I think we'd better call the police." Angie said after she was done staring at Irene shocked, turning and going towards the only phone in the house.
"There's no dial tone." Angie said softly as she put the phone back on its hook.
"It's possible that the lightning knocked out the phone line." Randall pointed out.
"Yes that's true… or the psycho cut the lines himself." Irene said bluntly causing Félix to panic and run out of the villa towards the bridge with Randall, Mitchell, and Irene hot on his trail to try and calm him down when he suddenly stopped at the bridge.
"Is something wrong?" Angie asked joining them after a moment.
"The bridge collapsed." Randall said staring at where the bridge used to be, not even looking at Angie who gasped at this.
"It must've been old. Good thing we weren't on it when it gave away." Mitchell tried to theorize.
"The ropes didn't give away, not on their own at any rate." Irene said calmly as she looked at post, causing the adults to all look at her, Mitchell gasping when he caught onto the little girls thought.
"Look at these marks, and they're fresh. These ropes didn't give away. They were cut." Irene said putting a hand on the post.
"She's right but why would anyone do this?" Jessica asked as she joined them outside.
"I could give you a list of reasons. Right at the top of that list would be if they wanted to isolate us. They didn't want anyone coming or going." Irene said solemnly.
"We're all going to die!" Félix panicked, causing Jessica to intervene before everyone else panicked too.
"Have a little backbone! This isn't a horror movie this is real life. We're dealing with a person not a monster!"
"Some people can be worse than any monster you could name." Irene said causing Jessica to look at her before resuming her speech.
"I don't know why he's doing this buy I know what he's trying to achieve. He wants to see us squirm like worms. Well I'm not letting him get under my skin. He can get his thrills somewhere else." Jessica said before picking Irene up and carrying her back into the house, Angie following them quickly.
"I finally take a weekend off and the boogeyman shows up. I hope I didn't make the boys too mad down there but I think they needed a little pep talk. After all, aren't the men supposed to be the brave ones. Isn't that right?" Jessica said sighing as she carried Irene to her room.
"You're too much. What's the matter?" Angie asked when Jessica found a note under her door and read it, looking shocked when she was through.
"Nothing I'm just exhausted. I think I'll pass on dinner good night Angie. Want to take a nap with me before dinner Irene?" Jessica asked although she was acting weird and already going into her room while she was talking.
"I wouldn't go to the meeting if I were you. That's probably when the ax psycho is planning on killing you." Irene said causing Jessica to look at her shocked for a minute, before setting her down and laying on the bed.
"I know." Jessica said with a small sigh.
"I have to assume that Blue Kingdom is the reason he wants to kill you. I'm guessing your deceased friend Emily wrote it back when you were in film school. If the article I read was right, she committed suicide via hanging herself in her room although no one could figure out why…I'd wager it's because of Blue Kingdom." Irene said laying down on the other bed with her arms crossed behind her head.
"Blue Kingdom was originally Emily's script. She had let me read it one day and I thought it was genius, so I showed it to a producer I knew to see if he could make it into a movie. It was going to be a birthday present for her, but no matter what I told the producer he thought it was my idea. When Emily found out she probably thought that I stole it for myself and felt betrayed, she didn't even give me a chance to explain what really happened. That's why she hanged herself." Jessica said after a moment of dead silence causing Irene to nod slightly.
"The guy with the ax must know it was Emily's script too, and think you stole it which caused her suicide. That's why he sent that note, to lure you away from everyone else in order to kill you as revenge for Emily." Irene said causing Jessica to nod, she figured as much.
"That also means that the ax wielder is one of your friends from college. Like I said earlier, the psycho is a guy which means that there are only three possible suspects. Add in all the other things, the cut lines, the bridge, the note, and how no one else saw him… leaves just one suspect left. Don't go to that meeting. Not on your own and not without a plan." Irene said causing Jessica to sigh slightly.
"What do you suggest I do then, Irene-chan?" Jessica asked looking at the young girl who smirked as she sat up.
"Give me a hand. I have a plan."