okay! this is the LAST chapter! this was really hard to write, cause...well, ending something just seems so hard, doesn't it? and i feel sad for ending this story. awww...well, this is it. enjoy!
disclaimer: yeah, i don't own Detective School Q. i wouldn't bother to make fanfics if i did own DSQ.
Chapter 7: A Burglar Unmasked! A Treasure Found.
The night had come.
"It's time," the burglar said to himself as he checked his watch.
Hashimoto manor towered above him as he walked towards it.
Taking out a key, he opened the front door and opened it noiselessly.
He looked left and right to see if anyone was around. No one was in sight.
Good, he thought to himself.
He had had to hide in the passageway once while the maid was on one of her trips to the kitchen, and another time while Mr. Hashimoto was on his way to the bathroom.
Not that they had noticed, of course. Why, they even considered him a phantom, for crying out loud.
Those fools, he thought smugly to himself. They'll never catch me.
Using a thin penknife, he slipped it into the crack between two panels above the living room fireplace. The hidden door there slid open quietly. Climbing in, he shut the door without a sound. He crept down the passageway.
Before he knew it, he was in the library again. Darkness surrounded him. That didn't matter. First he had to make his usual stop for cash. He reached for one of the books on the shelf.
All of a sudden, two people tackled him from behind!
The lights went on. "Hold it right there, phantom!" a voice said sarcastically.
"What the heck?" the burglar managed to sputter.
A blue-haired boy and a girl wearing glasses were holding him by both arms. A kid in a black jacket was standing by the light switch, grinning next to a pink-haired girl in pigtails.
The intruder struggled for a second, then broke free of the two teenagers holding him. They fell to floor next to each other. He made a break for the hidden door, but all of a sudden a big guy leaped out of the passageway and blocked his path. "You're not going anywhere this time, you phantom!"
Knowing he was trapped, he fell to his knees in a sign of defeat.
Kyu yelled, "Kazuma! You can bring Mr. Hashimoto and Yuriko here now!"
Ryuu was helping Shizuko to her feet. "This is starting to become a habit," said Ryuu.
"Sorry," said Shizuko.
Within a few seconds Mr. Hashimoto and the maid were in the library.
"What has happened? Is that the thief? Wha—?" He stopped short as he saw the open passageway over the fireplace.
Kazuma appeared behind Mr. Hashimoto, grinning and unfolding his laptop.
Kyu began, "Mr. Hashimoto, we've caught the burglar for you. He's masked right now, but we know who he is."
"Well, then, who is it? I want to know!"
Kyu waved three fingers in the air. "There are THREE clues! The first was the information about the former owner that Kazuma found. The second was when we discovered the hidden passageway. And the third was the piano in the music room upstairs."
He retracted two of his raised fingers, leaving only one. "And there can only be…ONE ANSWER!"
Kyu began explaining. "Clue number one was about the former owner, the one who owned this house before you did, Mr. Hashimoto. Kazuma, tell them."
"We began our investigation early on, when we searched for information regarding the person who owned this house before Mr. Hashimoto," said Kazuma, typing furiously on his computer, and then turning it to face them.
"This is Mr. Fukujima, who died a year ago. He was an inventor, a very unusual one, for that matter. He apparently specialized in making booby traps and he installed most of them in his home—in this very house. We were convinced at the beginning that this case was connected to him, and knowledge about his inventions would be one of the things that the burglar would definitely know, using it to his advantage as well."
"Then, there's clue number two: the secret passageway. Thanks to our new classmate, Shizuko, we were able to find that passageway. This was the trick that the burglar used to get into the room without having to use the door, or even the windows," continued Kyu.
"Well, after finding that secret door, the suspects were narrowed down to anyone who had access to the front door," said Kinta.
"But that discovery wasn't enough. The method was clear, but it didn't lead to the burglar's identity," said Kyu.
"Those secret doors were a creation of Mr. Fukujima, which further supported the theory that someone connected to the former owner was behind all these comings and goings," said Ryuu.
"That brings us to hint number three, the piano in the music room," continued Kyu.
"Finding the piano in the music room upstairs was an important clue. There was a mechanism in it that prevented the piano from being played. I was able to find my way around that and play the instrument. This was another one of Mr. Fukujima's inventions," said Shizuko.
"Hearing Shizuko play the piano, Yuriko told us something important. She told us that Toya was the only other person besides Shizuko who was able to discover the secret behind the piano. And she also said that Toya seemed to know a lot of things about the house, even though he said that he had only been here for the first time," added Meg.
"Now, how would Toya know so much about his house? That made me suspicious. The only possible conclusion was that Toya had been here before, maybe even lived here before. This means that he had an ulterior motive in coming to work for Mr. Hashimoto in the first place. Since he would have access to the front door, he could slip in quietly at night, then use the passageway using the door above the living room fireplace. He would come out of the secret door over the library fireplace, and then he could do all his burglarizing and not leave a clue to how he got in or out," continued Kyu.
He turned to the burglar. "You can remove the mask, TOYA!"
Kinta roughly jerked away the mask, revealing Toya's disorientated and dejected face.
"But one question still remains unanswered," said Kyu.
"Tell us, Toya, why did you do it? Why would you abuse your employer's trust this way?"
Mr. Hashimoto looked upset. "Please explain, Toya."
Toya sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I broke into your house, sir. But, I couldn't think of asking you for anything this personal."
"As a boy, I knew the person who owned this house before—Mr. Fukujima. His only son, Yamato, was my best friend. We spent all our days in this house, pretending we were explorers, or even treasure seekers."
"Mr. Fukujima was always happy to have us over. I admit, it first he scared me out of my wits, but he told such wonderful stories of adventure, and even told us a funny story about how he got that scar on his cheek. I came to love him like my own father. He told us:
'So, you want to be treasure seekers, don't you? Well, there's a little something in this house that I want you boys to share. Find it, and it's yours. It's not much, but it's a small token I want to give you for giving me so much happiness in my life.'"
"Well, we searched high and low for our 'treasure'. We never found it, and when we begged him to tell us where it was hidden, he would laugh and tell us, 'Just look in the right spots and you'll find it!' "
"Well, as you know he died last year, carrying his secret to the grave. Yamato and I had stopped looking for the 'treasure' long ago. But then, Yamato got into a terrible car accident. I ran to his side at the hospital, and, before he died, he said, 'Toya, I want you to find the treasure that dad promised us. Do whatever it takes. I want you to have it. It's yours, whatever it is.'"
"Without Yamato, the house was sold to Mr. Hashimoto. I took the chance and told Mr. Hashimoto that I was looking for work and offered to do odd jobs for him. He agreed, thankfully, and gave me the key to the front door so that I could come and go as I pleased. I didn't really know what I was looking for, so I thought of the books that were in the library, wondering whether they held some sort of clue. I began doing research in the library—as the phantom, of course—and accidentally left some books messed up."
"Mr. Hashimoto thought a ghost had done it, and I was relieved that I wasn't accused. But I had to keep up the charade."
"I discovered the safe soon after. I thought that maybe this was where the treasure had been hidden. After I had cracked the combination, though, I was disappointed that what I found wasn't at all what Mr. Fukujima had left for me.I took several coins out of the books, to see what I could get for them. But I felt guilty. I never sold the coins, but I never put them back, either.I hid the coins in the passageway."
He bowed in shame before Mr. Hashimoto. "I'm sorry I abused your trust over so small a thing. Can you forgive me, sir?"
Mr. Hashimoto sighed. "Toya, I can't believe that you would stoop this low in order to find this treasure, whatever it is. But you could have asked me. I wouldn't have minded."
"But since you're sorry, and you explained everything to me, I won't press charges against you for breaking into my home."
Kyu suddenly became cheerful. "Everything is settled, then. Toya, we'll help you look for this treasure, then, if it makes you happy."
Toya brightened. "Really, you'd help me?"
"Oh, sure. Heck, we'd be happy to. Right guys?"
"Right!" chorused Class Q.
"This is pointless," grumbled Kinta a couple of hours later. They were in the upstairs hallway. "They couldn't find it then, and we can't find it now."
"I think that what Mr. Fukujima said is a clue to where it is," said Kyu. "'Look in the right spots.' I wonder what it could mean."
"Spots," muttered Ryuu. He looked into the taxidermist room as Kyu entered it.
Kyu's gaze fell upon the crouching leopard in the corner. Spots…
He looked away for a second as Ryuu entered the room.
Wait a minute.
He looked at the leopard again. It can't be that easy!
He turned around again and met Ryuu's gaze. They looked back at the leopard.
All of a sudden, he knew.
And so did Ryuu.
"Guys?" Kyu called. "I think you might want to take a look at this!"
The rest of Class Q, Mr Hashimoto, Yuriko and Toya came into the room. "What is it?" asked Shizuko.
"I think I know where your treasure is, Toya," said Kyu. He pointed to the leopard.
"What? It's inside the leopard?" said Toya in disbelief.
"Look in the right spots, Toya," he said with a grin.
A sudden burst of understanding came to Toya. "Of course. It makes sense. When we were children we were afraid to go into this room because of the stuffed animals!"
Ryuu reached into the leopard's open mouth. He groped about for a second. He winced as the leopard's teeth pricked his shoulder. But then the expression on his face changed. He gave a small smile and pulled out something from the mouth of the stuffed feline.
A small, clumsily wrapped package rested in Ryuu's hand. He presented it to Toya. "I think this is for you."
Tears were welling up in Toya's eyes as he accepted the package from Ryuu. He unwrapped it carefully.
Inside was a pair of gold pocket watches, delicately engraved. Opening one of them, Toya found a photograph of him, Yamato, and Mr. Fukujima, smiling happily.
A note was nestled inside the package, underneath the watches. Toya read it aloud.
"Well done, boys. So you've found the treasure at last. I want you both to cherish these watches that I have made especially for both of you; as much as I have treasured the happiness, and company that you have given me over the years. The time that you spent with me is incredibly priceless. May your friendship be strong enough to last forever."
Overcome with emotion, tears fell down Toya's cheeks. Meg's eyes were brimming with tears, too, and the rest of Class Q was moved by the message of Mr. Fukujima. Even Ryuu was showing a little more emotion than usual.
Mr. Hashimoto put his hands on Toya's shoulders "Well, I believe this calls for a celebration."
He turned to class Q. "Why don't you all have dinner here? Think of it as my way of saying thank you for all the detective work you've done."
Kinta whooped for joy. "Yeah! Boy, investigating sure gives me an appetite!"
"Thanks very much," said Kyu happily.
"Of course!" said Meg.
Ryuu just smiled.
"All right then," said Mr. Hashimoto contentedly. "Yuriko, will you please make the preparations in the kitchen?"
"Of course, sir," said Yuriko, bowing and leaving the room.
Everyone trooped downstairs, chattering away.
Later that night, at the dinner table, Mr. Hashimoto proposed a toast. "To Class Q of DDS! Thank you for helping me."
"You're welcome, sir," said Kyu, grinning sheepishly.
"It was no problem," said Kinta offhandedly.
"It was a very interesting case," said Kazuma.
"Yeah," said Meg.
"Well, it saved us from boredom, to quote Sherlock Holmes," said Shizuko, grinning.
Everyone laughed. "That is true! Without these cases to keep us busy, what use would Class Q be?" said Kazuma.
Later that night at Nogisaka inn, Class Q began packing their things, preparing to leave in the morning. Kyu was waiting outside again, because Meg had tossed him out so she could pack her underwear without any witty comments from Kyu. Other than that, everything else went smoothly, and without any trouble.
When they arrived back at DDS, Mr. Hongou was waiting for them. Apparently, he hadn't missed them while they were gone, and resumed his lessons in his usual cantankerous, irritable manner, yelling at them once in a while and barking orders.
As soon as class was over, and Mr. Hongou had finally walked out the door, Class Q collapsed in their seats, with the exception of Ryuu, who was cool and collected as always.
"That lesson was so tough!" complained Kyu.
"Doesn't he ever get a sore throat from all that yelling?" muttered Shizuko.
"Apparently not," moaned Kazuma.
"I wish I didn't have a photographic memory, all that information was too much," groaned Meg.
"You're telling me! Half the time he was complaining about me," griped Kinta.
"Don't disturb, me, you guys, okay? I wanna relax," said Shizuko, leaning back in her chair and placing a book over her face.
"How'd you get that book, Shizuko? That was one of the books in Mr. Hashimoto's library, I remember it," said Meg.
"I asked it from Mr. Hashimoto. I noticed it first when we were cleaning up. It's a book full of mystery novels," replied Shizuko, her voice slightly muffled by the book on her face. "Needless to say, he let me have it."
Kyu snatched the book off her face.
"Hey! I thought I just told you not to bother me," said Shizuko grouchily.
"Masterpieces of Mystery. Selected by Ellery Queen," read Kyu.
"I want to read that, Kyu," said Shizuko.
"You don't seem to be reading it at the moment," said Kazuma.
"Well, I was going to read it when deduction-genius over here snatched it off my face," muttered Shizuko incoherently.
"Well, it looks like you are all getting along," said an amused voice from the doorway.
Kyu dropped the book. "Principal Dan!"
They all stood up as Ms. Katagiri wheeled him into the room.
"Hello everyone," said Ms. Katagiri.
"Class Q, I just came by to congratulate you on another job well done. You've made DDS proud again, and you've proven once again how much you deserve to be in this class."
"Well, Principal Dan, Shizuko was a good help on the case, too. We think that she deserves to be in this class, with us," said Kyu.
"Then it's settled. Shizuko seems to have been well-placed. You'll remain in this class, Shizuko. Unless, of course, you would like to switch to another?" asked Principal Dan.
"No, sir. I'm perfectly happy here. I'd like to remain in Class Q," replied Shizuko.
"All right then. Class Q, are you ready to take whatever case comes to you, even with a new member at your side?" said Principal Dan.
"Yes, sir!" chorused Class Q.
"There's only…ONE ANSWER!" cried Kyu.
end of episode
rants: finally the insanity is over! does anyone know the japanese word for "the end"? i'll use that instead whenever i finish an anime fanfic.
PLEASE REVIEW!
and please tell me whether you want Shizuko to be back in my next DDS fanfic! i am thinking of making a murder mystery. what do you all think?hehehe. i would like to thank all the people who reviewed me, and all the DSQ fanlistings and fansites that i've been visiting. thank you all!
