Hi everyone! I'm sorry for the hiatus I moved to a different state so I haven't had enough time to think about this story or write anything. And it doesn't help that I keep getting different ideas even about other animes and I keep thinking of them instead. Anyway I'll go on with the story since you've been waiting so long.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot and Vicky nothing else.
All was silent before screams of three children and one adult turned child rang throughout the streets. The rest of the group just stared wide eyed at the body of a girl that lay before them. The light of the street lamp illuminated the lifeless corpse casting off dark shadows in areas creating an eerie atmosphere.
Shinichi was the first to snap out of shock and rushed to the body, Heiji wasn't far behind. Shinichi checked the girl's wrist finding the body to be warm but no pulse to be detected. He checked the time on his watch: 7:32 pm
"Ah! Somebody's on the roof!" Ayumi exclaimed pointing up in the direction upon which her eyes were fixated.
Shinichi and Heiji both followed her finger and saw a silhouette of a person hanging hallway over the edge before darting towards the center of the building. Without needing to be told, Heiji rushed into the building and made his way upstairs. Shinichi stayed behind to make sure, if the killer were near, the others wouldn't be harmed.
Shinichi pulled out his phone and handed it to Ran who was nearest to him and told her to call the police while he examined the corpse. The girl had worn all white clothing with what looked like a mountain climbing harness strapped over it. Attached to the harness was a rope that looked to be frayed at the end.
"So have you figured out the cause of death?" Came a young familiar voice from behind the teen. Shinichi glanced back for a just second to recognize the voice as Haibara's before answering her.
"Judging from the warmth still left in the body and the lack of rigor mortis, she died on impact," he answered matter-of-factly. "There's no ID on her and judging from her looks, she's in her early twenty's."
Ran came back, giving Shinichi his phone back. "The police are on their way."
"Thanks," Shinichi replied, pocketing his phone after taking it.
The sound of crashing footsteps and voices yelling resonated from the building. Sensing danger, Shinichi leapt to his feet and stepped in front of Ran and Haibara ready to face whatever was coming their way. Within seconds a woman burst through the door, followed by slightly winded Hattori Heiji, and collapsed to her knees next to the body.
"AMI! No Ami please! Please wake up!" The woman screamed, grabbing the lifeless girl's hand in between both of hers.
"Hey get away from there!" Heiji yelled. He ran at the crying girl, grabbing her by the arms and yanked her back, but not without a fight.
"No! Let go! Ami! Ami!" the girl cried out fighting against her restraints to no avail. She finally stopped fighting and slumped to the ground burying her tear stained face in her hands.
"Did you know the victim?" Shinichi asked cautiously stepping toward her.
"Yes," replied the girl raising her head out of her hands. "She's-
"A ghost!" cried out three young voices.
"Huh?" the two older looking teens answered, confused as they stared at Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi as the three watched the crying girl with wide, fearful eyes.
"Sh-she looks just like the d-dead girl!" Mitsuhiko quivered nervously. "Th-therefore -"
"She's the dead girl's ghost!" Genta yelled. Ayumi nodded in agreement.
"She's not a ghost," Shinichi answered smiling encouragingly at them to ease their fear. "She must be the victim's sister," he then turned to said girl. "Am I correct?"
The girl looked up at Shinichi with her tear stained cheeks and watery red eyes. "Yes, she's my twin."
"And her name is Ami?" Shinichi asked. Ami's sister nodded and turned to watch for any sign of life from her sister. "May I ask what your name is?"
"It's Rei," said the girl, a single tear falling from her eye as she pulled her long blonde hair back behind her ear and looked up at Shinichi once more. "Kotoyo Rei."
"And how old are ya?" Heiji asked blatantly.
"We both turned twenty last month."
"I see," Shinichi muttered quietly.
The sound if sirens began quietly echoing in the air grabbing everyone's attention. Then flashing lights appeared down the street and the sirens grew louder. Everybody turned toward the commotion to see police cars zooming down the street and meet them at the curb. The sirens were silenced immediately when the cars came to a stop. Megure – keibu stepped out of the closest vehicle and greeted everyone followed by Takagi and Sato.
Shinichi and Heiji gave the police the information they obtained and left after the police finished questioning Rei. It turned out that Ami was the younger of the two and she and Rei were planning on starting a painting company for buildings and houses. They made their own paint and were testing them out on the old building when the rope snapped.
Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta were taken home by an officer somewhat, reluctantly. Genta wanted to stay to see what was going to happen, while Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi wanted to see Shinichi and Heiji solve the case. But everyone else knew that they needed to be home, and so with a promise to tell them all about it and how the teen detectives solved the case, the three children left.
Now Shinichi, and Heiji were headed to the roof of the building, followed by the three other 'children'. Shinichi was still thinking about the tattered end of the rope. Something wasn't right about the fraying and he couldn't figure it out. He brought his hand up to his chin in his trademark thinking pose with a troubled expression, Ran noticed this and raised a question.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked, no longer climbing the stairs.
Everyone else heard and also stopped to look toward Shinichi in curiosity. "There's something about the rope that's bothering me."
"Wha' about it?" Heiji asked.
"The end seems wrong."
"How so?" Haibara inquired bored yet curious.
"Some of the strands look too clean to just have snapped." Shinichi turned to his audience. "As if the rope was cut into before it snapped."
"So this could possibly be a murder," Heiji stated matter–of–factly. Shinichi nodded his answer.
"You know there was something that I noticed too," Ran thought aloud. All eyes were on her now. "The victim's hand seemed a bit strange."
"Her hand?" Shinichi asked.
"Yeah," Ran continued. "Her hand was like this," she held her hand up in a fist with her index, and middle finger laying atop her thumb. "I saw it after Hattori-kun pulled Kotoyo-san off the victim."
Shinichi and Heiji looked to each other wearing the same expression of revelation on their faces, gears in their head turning at a quick pace. If the victim's hand was lying like that, then Ami must have still been alive long enough to leave a message behind and the only reason anybody would leave a dying message is if they had been murdered. And the only one who could possibly do it….was Rei.
Now the only questions were…what does Ami's dying message mean, and what motif could Rei possibly have for killing her own sister. Both Shinichi and Heiji figured they would find answers if they continued to the roof top; and so they did.
Upon reaching the roof they found two duffle bags full of painting supplies and mountain climbing equipment. There were also a few crime scene investigators inspecting the area. Most of the group walked toward the bags to further examine any details that may have been missed. Kaiyo stayed behind, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Haibara noticed and fell back to talk to her sister.
"What's wrong?" Haibara asked as Kaiyo began walking in the opposite direction of the group. "Nee – chan are you okay?" Haibara continued as she followed her sister to the other side of the roof away from the investigators.
Kaiyo kept walking until she reached the edge where there was a half wall that surrounded the roof and leaned her back against the thick concrete. She crossed her arms and legs with her head bent down and staring at her feet. Her expression was one of worry and desperation. Haibara could see she was feeling uncomfortable.
"C-can I ask you something?" Kaiyo spoke quietly, looking at her younger sister out of the corner of her eye.
"What is it?" Haibara laid her hand on Kaiyo's shoulder in comfort.
"When," Kaiyo paused and turned her head fully to Haibara. "When you were around the police, you know, the first time, did you feel like this?"
Haibara thought about it before she answered. Working in a top secret lab, she never had to worry about the police being close by, but Kaiyo was different, she worked in the field, having police around meant danger and the possibility of the Organization being known. Which meant her life would be at risk.
Kaiyo grew up being wary of the police, with the feelings of panic and desperation to run, ingrained in her very being, whenever they came near. Ever since the first time she stepped out on to the battle field, when she was only sixteen.
But this only happened when Kaiyo was involved in a crime set upon her shoulders by them. When she was free until her next mission, she was cool and calm. So why was she acting like this now? She didn't cause the death of the victim down below.
Haibara contemplated the reasons for her sister to be feeling nervous. Her eyes widened when realization dawned upon her. Even though she wasn't the one to commit the crime Kaiyo was still involved. The body dropped in front of them ultimately tying them to the case.
"I don't know why I feel this way," Kaiyo said uncertainly, worry dripping from every word she spoke. "There's no reason why I should be."
Haibara watched her sister with a kind expression. "If you want, I can take you home," came her soft, smooth voice.
Kaiyo stared at her, slightly wide eyed, before she turned fully to her younger sister with her eyes now half lidded and a relaxed smile of relief gracing her lips.
"Thanks Sh-" the older Miyano sister quickly stopped before she exposed Haibara's real name and corrected herself by saying: "I mean thanks, Ai-chan."
"You're welcome nee-chan," Haibara said suddenly wearing a gentle smirk. "After all, what are sisters for?"
Kaiyo gave a quick smile and jumped at her sister, wrapping her arms around the other tightly. Haibara stiffened in surprise before she did the same, retuning the hug. They stayed linked together for a few more seconds before Haibara pulled away.
"I'll go let Kudo-kun know that we're leaving," she said, turning away and walking towards their group as they finished inspecting the duffle bags.
Ran noticed Haibara coming and alerted the other two. They headed in her direction and met her in the center of the rooftop. Kaiyo watched as Shinichi crouched down and somewhat stared intently at her younger sister as she explained the situation. Shinichi glanced up at Kaiyo in understanding for a split second before nodding in agreement. He then stood straight and walked away with Heiji in the lead and Ran trotting behind to keep up, all three waved good-bye to both Miyano sisters. Haibara began walking back to Kaiyo when a voice rang up from down below.
"Inspector! I think we found something!"
Haibara and Kaiyo both heard the voice and rushed to the stairs to tell the two teen detectives about what they heard. And upon hearing the news, the teens rushed down the stairs, becoming winded as they reached the crime scene. When they arrived, they saw Megure – keibu talking to a member of the forensics team, discussing a pair of scissors now held in an evidence bag. Shinichi and Heiji eyed the evidence and recognized it as part of a sewing kit that was found in one of the duffle bags. The boys asked if they could look at the pair of scissors. Megure complied and handed the evidence bag over to them.
When holding the bag and staring at its contents, Shinichi and Heiji had a strange feeling that the pair of scissors were the most important in solving the case. All of a sudden an idea came to Shinichi.
"When playing rock paper scissor, how do you fold you hand to make scissors?" He asked Heiji and Ran looking to both of them.
"Like this," Ran answered holding her hand up. She had her index and middle fingers up while her ring and pinkie fingers were pinned down by her thumb.
Shinichi bent down and took her hand in in the same way Rei did to her sister, (making Ran blush a tiny bit) and folded her two extended fingers over her thumb. Heiji caught on and smirked knowingly at Shinichi as Shinichi straightened. They both looked at each other and shared the same look. They had solved the case.
Moments later found Rei in hand cuffs being escorted inside a police car. Turned out she used the pair of scissors to saw at the rope to weaken it enough to snap on its own. After Ami fell Rei quickly climbed back up and threw the scissors across the roof on her way down stairs. Ami had just enough time to leave her dying message before she died. Rei saw this and tried to cover it up by holding her hand and bending her fingers into something that resembled a fist.
Ami had always copied everything Rei did her whole life and matched every aspect of her life to fit with Rei's. Rei believed her sister was doing this so she could take over her life and boot her out existence. Rei tried to stop her from doing this to the point where she would do things that Ami hated; but nothing worked. She had finally had the last straw when Ami would steal her friends and boyfriends especially her last boyfriend whom she loved with all her heart. This was her motif.
Rei also made clothes (secretly, so her sister wouldn't find out) and always had a sewing kit (hidden) on hand for when someone had a tear or a hem that needed fixing.
By the end, everyone was exhausted, the Miyano sisters had left before Rei had confessed to the murder leaving Shinichi, Heiji, and Ran to walk home alone. The walk back to the Kudo mansion was a long one. Heiji decided to stay with Shinichi and Ran for the night and leave first thing in the morning so he wouldn't be in trouble with Kazuha. When they walked through the front door, they immediately went to their respective rooms to go to sleep.
This seriously takes too long to finish. I really need to speed things up.
Anyway, yay! I finished this chapter. :D The next one is going to be exciting and I can't wait to write it! I'm close to finishing this story, I'd say two or three chapters left possibly. I've already started on chapter nine of Side Effects so that should be coming out soon hopefully. :) I also hope this murder was to your liking. I'm not really good at things like this.
Please review! I'd gladly appreciate it! And thank you for the favorites and follows and the alerts and also the reviews! They make me so happy!