A/N: After over a month's wait, I finally finished Chapter 12. As you may have noticed, it is considerably longer than previous chapter. Truthfully, I have no idea what happened. I was just going along and looked up at the calender and noticed that it wasn't July anymore. I did slow down a bit to see the latest case in the Detective Conan Anime where I heard that Yukiko and Vermouth meet up after so long. That is definitely something that I am looking forward to watching as it is perfect for Naruto in this story given the history he has with both women. I am also having trouble deciding on Naruto's nickname for Ai.
The next chapter of The New Deviluke should be posted tomorrow or late tonight (For those in the Pacific Time Zone). For now, enjoy this extra long chapter as it was a pain to write this much. I don't see how others write chapters twice as long on a regular basis.
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed or Naruto
"Talking"
'Thinking'
The Demon and the Detective
Chapter 12
"So the victim's name is Katahara Suzume, age 44," Megure said as he and the other homicide officers stood around the body of the dead woman that lived across from the Mouris' new home.
"Cause of death is blunt trauma most likely caused from falling from the second floor veranda that exits from her bedroom," Takagi continued. "A cell phone was found clutched in the victim's hand. It was broken in the fall, but our analysts are looking in to see when and from where the last call was placed. Katahara-san was the owner of a company that bought profitable, but in-danger-of-failing companies that is rumored to have ties with yakuza, using intimidation in order to get owners to sell their companies."
"Yes," an average height man with short hair and narrow framed glasses, one of the men who initially found the body, said. "She bought the company we belong to about three months ago and is having us install a new security system in her house."
"And the one that just happened to be moving into the house directly across the street…" Megure continued, scowling at Kogoro who grinned sheepishly.
"It's just a coincidence, Keibu-dono," Kogoro said.
"You should have told me that you were moving, you idiot!" Megure exclaimed, grabbing a surprised Kogoro by the collar. "We could have already had offcers stationed o prevent anyone from dying from your curse."
"I don't think that it is that detective's presence or curse that caused that wench to die," another of the security company employees, a short, heavy set bald man, said causing everyone to turn toward him. "Someone was bound to off her anyway. It's a shame that she went by herself before someone else could do it."
"You are right, Toshimaru," the third man, a tall, muscular man, with shoulder length black hair tied in a ponytail said. "I guess we should consider this a rather fortunate accident."
"Hey!" Kogoro exclaimed. "Someone has died and you are treating this as if it is some kind of blessing?"
"Because it is," the bald man said. "If I weren't so afraid of going to jail, I would have done it myself ages ago."
"Hey!" the childish voice of Conan called suddenly, causing everyone to snap to the direction of the body where Conan was kneeling by her right leg. "What is this scar on this lady's leg? It looks like something has been wrapped around her ankle."
"You stupid brat!" Kogoro exclaimed, hitting Conan on the back of the head before grabbing him and tossing him away from the body towards the Detective Boys. "Stay out of the way!"
"Keibu!" Takagi exclaimed, kneeling where Conan was moments prior, "He is right! There is a fresh scar on the victim's ankle. Ii's weird though. The scar is only on one leg."
"It looks like she was wearing an ankle bracelet," Kogoro said. "It is possible that it was caught on something and while she was trying to free her leg, she fell over the railing and died."
"Alright! Search around for an ankle bracelet that looks to have broken or fallen off." Megure ordered with most of the officers dispersing in search of the piece of jewelry."
"What' wrong, Conan-kun?" Mitsuhiko asked Conan in a whisper as he and the rest of the Detective Boys gathered around Conan who was in his signature thinking pose.
"Something doesn't add up," Conan replied, speaking mostly to himself. "If an anklet broke off as she was trying to free her leg, the scar would only be on one side of the ankle, the part that was being pressed against the skin. Here, however, it is around the entire ankle. Someone tied something else on her leg for some reason."
"So you think that someone killed her?" Genta asked. "But how will someone tie something around her ankle without her noticing it?"
"It would be simple if the culprit is a professional killer," Conan said through gritted teeth as he glared at where the three men were talking amongst themselves.
"You think that this is his doing?" Ai asked in a tone where only Conan could hear.
"Yeah," Conan replied. "I heard someone whisper to me, 'The game has begun.'"
"After meeting him myself, it's hard to imagine him as that incredibly dangerous monster that your father described," Ai replied.
"That is true, but you cannot deny that taking people's lives and treating it as a game isn't evil," Conan replied.
"On that same note, though, you detectives are the same," Ai replied. "Don't you enjoy solving cases, especially when someone is killed? The more complex and difficult the case is, the better. IT's just like a puzzle to you, am I right, Tantei-san?"
"You are defending him?" Conan asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Of course not," Ai replied. "I was just pointing out the similarities that the two of you share. Though he is considerably more laid back than you are about his 'game'"
Conan was about to retort when he heard an officer yell, "Found it!"
The group turned to see the officer that was searching the veranda holding up a small, silver chain. He brought it down to the crime scene where the other officers, Ran, Kogoro, and Eri gathered to match the size of the anklet to the wound on the victim's leg.
"It looks like a perfect match in size and shape to the scar," Megure said as the officer that found the anklet held it close to the scar. "Good work, men."
Conan's frown deepened. 'So he planted that anklet there to misdirect us,' he thought. A look of confusion suddenly came across his face. "That's weird," he said aloud. "Why is she only wearing one slipper?"
"It doesn't matter you stupid brat," Kogoro said. "She probably lost the other one when she fell."
"Then where did it go?" Conan asked. "If she fell right over the railing, shouldn't the other slipper either still be on or close to the body? But, if she was thrown from the veranda, it might have gotten kicked off while she was flailing."
"We did see notice a slipper that was turned over in her bedroom," Takagi said.
"Also," Conan continued, "That anklet looks pretty expensive. If I was the one wearing it and it got caught, I wouldn't risk breaking it by trying to force it free, I would unhook it with my hands and slip it free safely."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. "That means this must be a…" Megure stuttered.
"Exactly," Conan said, "A murder. The culprit has to be one of the only ones in the house while the victim was there; one of those three." Conan pointed to the three men and everyone turned to face them.
"We will go right ahead and do individual questioning," Megure said. "Mouri-kun, would it be alright to use a room in your place?"
"It's not a problem, Keibu-dono," Kogoro replied. "Right this way."
Before the two left with the bald man, Conan tripped and landed in front of Kogoro.
"Heh, heh, heh, sorry," Conan replied, attempting to quell Kogoro's rising anger by flashing a cute, childish smile. An attempt that…"
"Get out of the way brat!"
…utterly failed as Conan was kicked out of the way by an angry Kogoro. Conan just muttered angry curses under his breath as he rubbed his aching side.
"Are you alright, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked as the man was led to the Mouri Home by Kogoro, Megure, and a pair of officers.
"I'm fine, Ayumi-chan," Conan said, giving the girl a reassuring smile. He turned a dial on one of the ends of his glasses' frame. "I got what I wanted anyway.
Questioning Room
"So your name is Kuneshita Toshimaru," Megure said as he and Kogoro sat on a pair of cardboard boxes across from the bald man.
"Yes," the man replied. "I am the one responsible for installing the equipment."
"What do you mean," Kogoro asked.
"In our company, our guys are dispatched in three man teams," Kuneshita replied. "Each man is specialized in one aspect of the job even though we are trained to do all of them if someone is running late or is sick. There is the installations guy, the wiring guy, and the computer guy. We used to have ten teams, but when that wench blackmailed the president into selling the company to her, it was cut down to just three. Junpei's younger brother was one of the ones that she cut. She claimed that she was saving the company by cutting down on labor costs, but we were doing fine before she took over."
"But, it is true that profits have increased greatly since she took over," Megure stated.
"Yeah, her profits," Kuneshita said bitterly. "Because of that, Junpei's brother, who was about to get married, killed himself."
"Suicide!" Megure and Kogoro exclaimed.
"Yeah," Kuneshita replied. "Because he lost his job, he couldn't afford a wedding. He had already taken out loans to cover the cost before and was in a good deal of debt. His fiancée, figuring that he wouldn't be able to support them both, called everything off. He moved in with Junpei, but eventually killed himself a couple of weeks ago in his grief."
"Is there a reason why he was cut?" Kogoro asked.
"Kuneshita just scoffed. "That woman was the devil. She just chose the people who seemed to need their jobs the most," he said bitterly.
"So, when she fell, what were you doing?" Kogoro asked.
"I was setting alarms on the kitchen window," Kuneshita replied. "I had finished setting up the camera there, so all that was left was the sensor. I saw Junpei right across the hall in the living room hooking the cameras up to the TV. He had a perfect view of the woman as she fell. Since I was outside, I never had a chance to watch it. I'm so jealous."
"You really hated her, didn't you?" Kogoro asked.
"Of course," Kuneshita said through gritted teeth. "That… that… wench made me massage her feet whenever we had a company run. She didn't even wash them before she made me do it. Each and every time the smell…. The sweat… Her feet were so…"
"That's quite enough," Megure said, cutting Kuneshita off. "You can go now." He then turned to the two officers guarding the door. "Please call Takahara Junpei so we can question him."
With the Detective Boys
Conan went up to the victim's room as he listened to Megure and Kogoro question Kuneshita through his glasses and the transmitter that he placed in Kogoro's shoe. He didn't notice that the kids were following him until he suddenly, getting run over by Genta.
"What are you guys doing here?" Conan demanded angrily.
"What are you talking about, Conan-kun?" Mitsuhiko asked. "We are the Detective Boys. A case has happened right in front of us and you expect us not to investigate?"
Conan just groaned, muttering something about stupid kids getting in the way all of the time.
"Why did you stop anyway?" Genta asked.
"I was thinking," Conan replied. "Katahara-san seemed to be a pretty fit woman, right?" The others nodded in response. "Then don't you find it odd? Even the strongest of those three would have had to fight her to throw her from the window if she was grabbed inside the room like the dropped slipper suggests."
"I see," Ai replied. "There isn't anything in here that points to there having been a struggle."
"And even if there was, the other two would have heard it," Conan said. "There is something else that bothers me."
"What is it, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked.
"We heard the victim scream," Conan said. "The only way that is possible is if she was outside. She could have started screaming inside, but again, there doesn't seem to have been a struggle and no one else heard anything or else they would have rushed to the room instead of outside to the body."
"Which means she screamed only a few seconds before she hit the ground, when she realized that she was falling," Ai finished.
"Correct," Conan replied pacing the room. "But that doesn't make sense. That would be consistent with an accidental fall, but not in a murder like this. Even if she was caught by surprise, she would have yelled as she was lifted."
"Couldn't she have already been on the veranda?" Ayumi asked.
"That isn't possible," Conan replied. "Remember, that other slipper was found by her desk. The killer definitely attacked her when she was…"
Conan paused when he noticed that he couldn't lift his foot. After pulling a few times, he freed his foot. His eyes widened when he looked down to see what his foot was caught on. He ran out of the room to the crime scene, a surprised and confused group of kids trailing behind him. He went up to one of the forensics officers.
"Hey, about that slipper that was found in the room," Conan started. "Kogoro-ojisan wants to know…"
Questioning Room
"So I understand that your brother killed himself after he was laid off because of cuts that the victim made when she bought the company," Megure asked as he and Kogoro sat across from the talk, muscular man, Takahara.
"Yes, but it his getting cut was expected when she told us that a few teams were getting fired," Takahara replied. "She chose the lowest rated teams and cut them. Mashiro's team was the second lowest."
"Lowest rated?" Kogoro asked.
"Yes," Takahara replied. "Each client has to fill out a survey that talks about how the team performed and their satisfaction with the job. Before that woman took over, it was mainly a sort of friendly competition in the company. She used the ratings to see who to get rid of."
"I see," Megure said. "I thought that she just cut those that seemed to need their job the most."
"Is that what Toshimaru told you?" Takahara said, laughing. "He really hated her after she made him massage her feet after that company run. Her feet were so sore, she never went on another one again."
"But, he said that it happened after each one," Kogoro said.
"She only took over three months ago," Takahara said. "Do you expect us to have a run every day? No. Still, the woman may have been a huge bitch, but she was good at what she did; almost a master in doing underhanded things and increasing profits. She would never do anything as stupid as cutting peole at random. She only kept those that would make her money."
"Let's talk about your brother," Megure said. "If understand, it was about three weeks since his suicide?"
"Yes," Takahara replied, solemnly. "After his fiancée left him, he moved in with me. After I got back from work one day, those three weeks ago, I found him hanging from my living room ceiling fan. Since the fan wasn't broken under his weight, the investigators concluded that he wasn't there long before I arrived. If I had gotten there earlier, I could have saved him."
"So the victim held you up and kept you from saving your brother," Kogoro stated.
"No," Takahara replied. "We were held up by Naota. He's our team's programming specialist and an absolute perfectionist. He won't let us leave until everything is perfect. If he sees that there is a blind spot in the camera feed, he will make us rearrange them until all of the blind spots are covered. Still, I don't blame Naota. His perfectionism is the reason why our team is the highest rated and why we still have our jobs."
"I see," Megure said. "We understand that you were in the living room when the victim…landed."
"Yes," Takahara replied. "I was hooking the cameras that were already installed to the recording box downstairs which can connect to the internet and play the feed from any device that has the access code and can connect to the internet like computers, cell phones, and even TVs. Naota was upstairs watching the feed of the second floor cameras that we set up yesterday."
"So Kuromara Naota was upstairs at the time," Kogoro said, mostly to himself.
"Alright, you can go now," Megure said.
"Keibu-dono," Kogoro said after Takahara left. "It looks like we have found our killer."
"Right, Mouri-kun," Megure replied. "Kuromara Naota was the only one upstairs with the victim at the time of the murder."
"Right," Kogoro said. "Let's go arrest a criminal!"
Crime Scene
'You guys are wrong,' Conan thought to himself as he heard Kogoro and Megure coming to a conclusion. 'It looks like I have to take care of this the usual way. That guy knows everything anyway and I already have the room prepared. Now, I just have to get everyone up there.'
Moments later, Megure and Kogoro arrived, joining everyone else at the crime scene.
"You are ready to get my testimony now?" the last man of the three asked.
"That will not be necessary," Kogoro replied.
"What are you talking about?" the man asked.
"I mean that I, the great detective Mouri Kogoro, have already solved this case and figured out who the murder is."
"That's amazing, Oji-san!" Conan exclaimed in his childish tone. "We should go up to the victims room so you can reveal the killer and he can't run away. Most of the evidence was found there anyway."
"Of course," Kogoro replied. "You have a good point, brat. I should let the suspense build up before I make the big reveal. Let's go to the victim's room. It is there that the great detective's reasoning show will begin."
"I see he still has a love for theatrics," Eri whispered to Ran.
"Yeah," Ran replied, her eye twitching.
Kogoro led the group upstairs to Katahara's bedroom. He and Megure were surprised to see that the mattresses from the bed were blocking the door to the veranda. They also noticed that a chair was leaning against the bed. Before Kogoro could say anything about the change, Conan discreetly shot him with a tranquilizer dart from his wristwatch. Kogoro stumbled into the room and somehow landed perfectly on the chair. As everyone gathered in front of him, Conan snuck away to crawl under the bed.
"Now that I have gotten comfortable, it is time for my show to begin," Conan said using Kogoro's voice. "If we were to go by the two testimonies, we can conclude that the killer is the one person that was upstairs with the victim. In other words, you, Kuromara Naota."
"No!" the man with glasses exclaimed. "I didn't do it!"
"I never said that you did," Conan said. "That is just what the conclusion would have been if I hadn't discovered the trick the killer used to throw the victim out of the room without actually being in the room himself."
"A trick?" Megure asked. "You never said anything about that earlier."
"Because I wasn't entirely sure at the time," Conan replied. 'Actually it's because I was doing the actual investigating while you two were playing around,' he thought to himself. "The culprit used a simple and primitive, but highly effective trap."
"A trap?" Eri asked.
"Yes," Conan replied. "As you can see, I have a spot near the desk marked with bright, yellow tape."
"That's near the spot where we found that slipper," Takagi exclaimed.
"Yes it is," Conan replied. "Now, look just ahead of that spot. What do you see."
"Hey!" Takagi exclaimed when everyone looked over to see a black book on the floor. "That's my officer memo book." Takagi rushed to retrieve his book. When he tried to turn around, however, he found that his foot was stuck.
"Now, Chiba-keiji!" Conan exclaimed holding up a cell phone.
Suddenly, Takagi, who had just got his foot free, was pulled by the leg by a cable into the mattresses that blocked the door to the veranda. After he hit the ground, the cable was jerked up and slipped from around his ankle before being pulled between the space between the two mattresses.
"If those mattresses weren't there, Takagi-keiji…" Conan started.
"He would have be thrown out of the window!" Megure exclaimed.
"Which is exactly what happened to our victim," Conan said. "It is a modified trap used to catch animals. A bait was set down with a cable lying on the floor tied like a noose. The other end of the cable went out over the railing, into the house, and was held by the killer. To make sure that the foot was kept in place, a very strong adhesive was used which is why Takagi's foot was stuck. The forensics team found traces of the adhesive on the bottom of the victim's slipper that was left in the room."
"Hold on, Mouri-kun," Megure said. "How would the killer know when to pull the cable?"
"The answer to that question lies in the bait that was used for the trap," Conan replied.
Eri's eyes widened. "The cell phone!" she exclaimed.
"Exactly," Conan said, with a smirk (though no one could see it). "The culprit placed the victim's cell phone there and called it. When the victim answered it, the culprit pulled the cable, pulling the victim out of the veranda door, over the railing, and onto the ground below, killing her instantly."
"So who is the killer?" Megure asked.
"The culprit *cue dramatic pause* is you, Takahara Junpei."
Everyone turned to face Takahara who looked more amused than surprised. "That's an interesting theory, Tantei-san," he said. "But, it is only that; a theory. Besides, what proof do you have that I was the one that killed her? Don't tell me that it is because cables were used. We were all trained to be able to do each others' jobs if necessary. The others could have used this trick as well."
"First is the phone call," Conan said. "We have checked with the phone company and found out the last call placed to the cell phone came from the house phone here just before the murder. The only phone outside of this room is the one in the living room where you were."
"It's a cordless phone," Takahara replied. "Toshimaru could have used it as well. Since we both use gloves to do our jobs, you wouldn't have fingerprint evidence to know which of us did use it."
"There is an interesting fact about the security cameras at your company that make them the best on the market as well as being the most expensive," Conan said. "They have a built in recording memory as well as an internal, backup power supply. This means that one can record even when not connected to the main box. This is especially useful when criminals try to cut the power to cover their break in. Up to an hour can be recorded and stored until the memory fills up."
"So you checked the cameras and saw me pulling the cable?" Takahara asked. "That's impossible."
"I know that it is impossible," Conan replied. The only ones that are installed are on the second floor hallway and outside of the kitchen."
"So how is that proof?" Takahara asked.
"You were not recorded pulling the cable," Conan replied, "But Kuneshita-san and Kuromara-san were both recorded not pulling the cable."
Everyone's eyes widened at that statement. After a moment, Takahara began to chuckle.
"So, you did want revenge for your brother," Conan said.
"Not at all," Takahara said. "If I did, she wasn't the one to kill to do it."
"What are you talking about?" Megure asked.
"I don't believe that my brother committed suicide," Takahara replied. "The president had him killed."
"What are you talking about?" Megure asked. "Why would he do that?"
"You already heard that that woman blackmailed him into selling the company even though there was only a slight danger of it failing," Takahara said. "The material that she used to blackmail him was proof of his affair with my brother."
"What!" everyone in the room exclaimed.
"I'm not sure what led to the affair, but the two occasionally met each other and went to a hotel in Ni- Chome[1]," Takahara said. "The woman used her yakuza ties to have the president followed. This was how she discovered the secret and used it to blackmail him."
"Then why did you kill her?" Takagi asked. "Did the president ask you to?"
"The woman pretty much forced me to be her personal, free escort," Takahara said. "If I declined, she would have had me fired. I wouldn't have been able to support myself and my brother. Toshimaru and Junpei would have lost their jobs as well since we are a team. It was during one of the nights she forced me to be with her that I found out about the affair between the president and my brother. I confronted my brother about it, but a few days later, I found him dead. After he died, the woman also found some dirt on me that would have ruined me, so I had to get rid of her."
Two officers came in and placed the handcuffs on Takahara's wrists. He just smirked and allowed them to lead his to the door.
"What was it that she found on you that could have been so bad," Conan asked.
Takahara stopped and turned his head slightly to where Conan was hidden. "That's a secret, Little Detective," he said in English before being taken away.
Conan's eyes widened. After a moment's hesitation, he rushed out just in time to see the still smirking Takahara being put in a police car.
Later that Night
The Mouri Family (and Conan) sat in the living room, finishing their unpacking when Kogoro's cell phone rang.
"Hello, this is Mouri," Kogoro said. "Ah! Keibu-dono. Is there another case you need my help on so soon? What! Alright, I will be there right away."
"What happened?" Eri asked.
"Takahara escaped his holding cell and was found dead in his apartment," Kogoro replied. "It seems to be a suicide."
Conan's eyes widened before they narrowed. "Oji-san," he said in a dark tone that surprised the other occupants of the room. "Were there any officers killed during his escape?"
"No," Kogoro replied. "An officer was found unconscious and stripped of his uniform. Megure-keibu believes that Takahara used that to escape unnoticed."
"Ah!" Conan exclaimed. "I just remembered that Hakase wanted me to pick up something for him for one of his inventions. I won't be out too long. I will see you later."
With that, Conan left the room in a hurry, leaving the others even more surprised.
"I'm surprised that he didn't try to come with me to the scene," Kogoro said.
Uzumaki Mansion-Study
Naruto stood in the dark room with a glass of his favorite Remy Martain XO in his hand as he stared out the huge window at the moon. He sensed someone nearing the room and smirked.
"You did an excellent job today, Chibi Tantei," Naruto said without turning around as Conan entered the room with a scowl on his face. "I never thought that not being on camera would be my downfall."
"You didn't kill any officers in your escape," Conan stated simply, glaring at Naruto's back.
"You won the round fair and square," Naruto replied. "I didn't see the need to put an incident like your father's on your conscience, especially being as young as you are. Six years old is a delicate age, after all."
Conan clenched his fists at Naruto's jab at his condition. "You killed them all, didn't you?" he asked. "Both Takahara brothers and the woman, Katahara. That company president hired you to kill them, didn't he?"
"Amazing, Chibi Tantei!" Naruto exclaimed. "You are absolutely right. The younger brother told the president that the elder Takahara had found out about the affair. He then came to me to come up with plan to kill all three of the ones that knew of his secret. It's probably bound to get out anyway since I revealed it earlier." Naruto took a sip from his glass. "Ah! Before I forget. Did you come by to transform now?"
"No," Conan replied. "It's too soon since my last transformation. Just give me the pill and I will use it on my own time."
"I'm afraid that that is not possible," Naruto replied. "You see, these pills are only a catalyst for a process that I have to be directly involved in. That's why, even if you had the pill and took it, you wouldn't be able to do anything unless you knew the process to make you grow; a process that only I have knowledge of. Well, when you are ready, just come to me any time."
"I will have you put away," Conan said, clenching his fists before turning toward the door.
"I look forward to it, Chibi Tantei," Naruto said, still watching the moon. "Until then, let's get along, shall we?"
[1] Shinjuku-Ni Chome is well known as Tokyo's hub for gay culture and houses the highest concentration of gay bars in the world. (Though I don't know if there are actually any love hotels for gays in the district.)
