A/N: Hey, sorry this has taken such a long time but I've been completely dead after work lately. And I wasn't in town last weekend. But thank you anyways for the replies and favourites and subscribings. I'm happy.
Now, here is the Red Wall case. I thought about making this a two parter but after getting to the end of the first chapter of manga I noticed this was this long already and decided to make this a three parter. Now when I look at it, it sounds good. I can better cut the remaining story into two parts now. (And I can already publish this for you to read. I'm going out of town today and I'll be back on Monday. Easter Hols, folks.)
But enough of it now. I let you to read this chapter now!
Chapter 36.
Tsukiko frowned at the message she had just received from Miyoshi. The message had a video clip about three youngsters breaking into a large mansion like house in order to light it on fire. According to them it's 'to test how fast the firemen would arrive in the middle of forest'. Idiocy in Miyoshi's opinion and Tsukiko had to agree. The video had been put on the class posting list last week by Morimura whose relative from somewhere else than Tokyo was one of the guys in the video.
"That mansion looks familiar…" The blonde mumbled while watching the video. Miyoshi had stated the video was a fake one and the boys had exaggerated their reactions in the last room before running out of the house.
The camera was led through the front doors which were open for some reason to a large area in the middle of the house. It was empty. Only the stairs led to the next floor and ripped up colored papers where stuck on the doors surrounding the area.
"That place looks disturbingly familiar…"
The trio run the stairs up and peeked to every room in the second floor. Then they came to the door which was blocked by a cart full of boxes. Two of them, Tsukiko noted they were using gloves to they wouldn't leave prints and then get arrested for the arson they planned.
"God, this is not the Red Wall house!" The girl almost toppled off the bed when she came to that realization. The camera was past the cart now and the door was being opened… The three guys with the camera were silent when they met the sight. The body of Akashi Shuusaku sitting on the white chair and the red wall in front of him. Then they began to scream and ran out. They only closed the doors and pushed the cart on its place before hurrying to their cars and driving away. What Tsukiko understood from their panicked words was that they would not put the video on the internet.
"Well, some common sense they have then… But why to send this to Morimura then?" The blonde sighed and got up from her bed, putting her bag on it. She should go and return a couple of books to the Kudou library that had become about the main source of her reading.
"But it would be nice to get there anyways… Without the body there. This was one of my favourite cases after all. Hmm…"
On the way to the 2nd district of Beika Town, Tsukiko typed up a message to Conan.
- I got an interesting video and I don't think it's fake despite what Mai-san says.
I'd like to investigate it but all I know is that this place is somewhere else than Tokyo.
I'm no good at recognizing different dialects so could you please help me? If you want to
you can also come with me to investigate this. We were such a good team last time, right?
Reply soon, okay? I really want to get out of Tokyo and investigate this case I've named
the Red Wall case. I'll send you the video if you're interested, Tantei-chan.
Tsukiko
"And send."
Inspector Yamato Kansuke and detective Uehara Yui had just introduced the case they had been working on with for a while to the residents of Detective Agency Mouri when Conan's cellphone beeped. The boy took it out in puzzlement and opened the mail he had got. When he read the message, he almost dropped the phone. Okiya had a video about the Red Wall.
"Yamato-keibu… How many people are known to have visited the crime scene?" The boy asked.
"Apart from officers no one. At least not to our knowledge…" Yamato answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Tsukiko-neechan has a video about something she calls the Red Wall case… She says it's outside Tokyo but doesn't know anything else." Conan showed the message to the two police officers.
"Do you think it could be…?" Yui began.
"It can be anything. Would you call her, kid?" Yamato gave the phone back. "And put a speaker on."
"Okay!"
"Utsumuku sono senaka ni… Itai ame wa tsukisasaru… Inoru omoide mite ita…"
"That was quick…" Tsukiko mused closing the door of the Kudou mansion behind her. She had only dropped the books on the coffee table of the library and left then. No need to linger any longer when Subaru was half-asleep anyways. (She got in through back door which she lock-picked open. No need to tell Conan. She didn't do it anyways that often. Only when she knew that Subaru was finally resting properly and didn't want to disturb him.)
"Moshi, moshi, Tsukiko speaking…"
"Ah, Tsukiko-neechan, it's Conan."
"I can hear that." This was weird. Why would the boy call her 'neechan' in the phone? Unless there was people around. People who listened the conversation.
"I just wanted to ask where you got the video. The one you want me to check out."
"It has been going around our class during this week. One guy of our class, Morimura, got it from his cousin or something who lives somewhere… somewhere. Many people didn't pay any specific attention on the vid though and even Mai-san says it's a fake. Too exaggerated reactions or something like that. But I'm curious though and it's quite a good excuse to get out of Tokyo, what do you think?" Tsukiko turned around a street corner and began walking towards the Detective Agency. She had a feeling what day in the DC timeline was in question now.
"Well… Maybe… Could you send me the video?"
"Possibly. Would you be interested then? I can't really say anything about the dialect the guys on the video were talking with. I only know that the video was taken about ten days ago."
"Two days before the body was found." Was heard on the background. Tsukiko frowned as she arrived to the end of the street along which the detective agency was. Yep, there was the car of Uehara Yui.
"Say, tantei-chan…" She picked up a small pebble and hurried in front of the house. "I'm not in a speaker phone, am I?"
"No… Why do you ask?"
"Because you're a bad liar." She threw the pebble in one of the middle window panes of the agency.
Tink.
Everyone in the detective agency turned to look at the window behind Kogoro. There was a small mark of something hitting the glass. Ran went to open the window.
"T-Tsukiko-chan!" The long-haired girl exclaimed.
"It's rude to eavesdrop, ya know!" Tsukiko shouted back, her arms crossed on her chest but an amused smile on her face. Inspector Yamato limped to the window.
"It's rude to butt into other's investigations." He remarked.
"But I haven't done it yet! And if you invite me, it won't be butting in. Someone else will gladly do it for me." The girl grinned. "So… Am I guessing that the location of the Red Wall is in Nagano then?"
The car ride was long and the end of it was a bit bumpy since they took a shortcut through a forest. On the way there Tsukiko showed the video she had received to Inspector Yamato who confirmed it was the place they were going to.
"We need to find these brats to make sure they didn't decide after all to spread this around. And make sure they aren't related to this…" He muttered in irritation. He seemed to be on a bad mood and Kogoro's complaining about the road didn't improve it.
"Well… Isn't it about time you tell us about the bloody red wall hint?" Conan asked. "Tsukiko-neechan didn't even show me the video."
"Could it be that the wall that was dyed deeo red with human blood is somewhere in the forest?" Ran panicked.
"No, no! Actually the blood smearing that Kan-chan talked about was…" Uehara was about to calm the girl but Yamato got ahead of her.
"Hey, don't go that far…" The man said. "We don't want preconceptions interfering with your deductions."
"So you let them be in the dark with your dramatics?" Tsukiko scoffed in amusement.
"Well, it's why we drove to Tokyo to bring you guys here and let you have a look at the scene yourself." The inspector seemed to ignore the fact that Tsukiko hadn't been originally invited. "Moreover…" He added to Uehara. "I'm higher-ranked that you. Stop calling me 'Kan-chan'."
"Yes, yes, Yamato Kansuke-keibu!"
Tsukiko muffled her laughter into her sleeve.
"At any rate, can you at least priviledge us with exactly where we're headed?" Kogoro asked.
"To an old house built inside this forest. Its name was 'The Mansion of Hope'." Uehara told.
"'The Mansion of Hope'… What a charming name!" Ran smiled a bit nervously.
"Charming name yes. But considering that we're headed there I can only guess that this 'wall of blood' is there…" Tsukiko muttered.
"Yes, it was only called that until three years ago." Yamato continued the story. "Three years ago, the miserable-looking dead body of a woman was found in the warehouse of that mansion. Since then that locals haven't called it 'Hope'… They've been referring to it as 'The Mansion of Death'."
It was already dark when they arrived to the old mansion. Tsukiko looked up at it. Yep, it was the same than in the video…
"It's become a bit old but it's a splendid house. Originally, it was a vacation house for the rich…" The inspector explained to Ran and Kogoro. Meanwhile Conan talked to Uehara.
"Yamato-keibu seeking help from Kogoro-ojisan, it's not like him…" The boy whispered.
"Ah, that's because the person that he really doesn't want to lose to is also participating in the investigation of this case!" Yui answered with a wink.
"Then, that person is a police officer as well?"
"Yeah! But we're officers with the Nagano Prefecture Police Headquaters, while he's an officer of this area's jurisdiction station."
"But, isn't it true that local policemen don't work with those from the headquarters?"
"To be honest, that person was Kan-chan's classmate since elementary school, and it seems like they competed with each other in whatever they did. Although he graduated from the Law Department of Touto University with a top grade, he didn't take the career test and went into the prefectural police… However, for some reason, he decided to work in the jurisdiction station…"
"Decided… or demoted?" Tsukiko thought aloud near them, not taking her eyes off the mansion in front of her.
"Eh?" Yui looked up at the girl.
"If those two were competing in everything possible and he – despite graduating with top grades from the most prestigious universities in Japan – decided to become a police officer just like Yamato-keibu… One would think his relocation to the jurisdiction station wasn't by his own choice. Unless he did something against orders when he had a chance not to and that caused the situation now." The girl stated simply. "And what I caught from the conversations earlier, you were away for a while, right, Uehara-keiji? A lot of things can happen during that time." She shrugged.
"So, they were colleagues at the same Nagano Police HQ?" Conan confirmed.
"That's right! I guess it was because of Kan-chan's strategist-like name…" Uehara nodded.
"Hey, Uehara!" Yamato called from the stairs. "Let's go inside!"
Tsukiko went to follow the man while Yui continued discussing with Conan a moment longer. Nothing on the man's face indicated whether or not he had heard the girl's 'deductions'. But she guessed it didn't really matter. At least not yet.
They went inside and inspector Yamato climbed the stairs leading to the second floor half-way up from where he explained the situation while the rest of them stayed in the first floor. It was actually quite lengthy explanation from the situation originally to the time when the locals began to call the house The Mansion of Death. Their group wasn't shown the photos of the previous residents of the house, telling only their names and occupations. Not a word of who had died and which two were married.
"Umm… I just noticed something…" Ran said uncertainly. Tsukiko looked up from the photos which Kogoro was still observing.
"What is it?" The blonde asked.
"There are marks of unglued colored paper on the door…"
"You're right, this door has similar marks…" Kogoro noticed.
"Aah, perhaps they are…" Uehara began.
"They're for color classification, right?" Conan asked. "I guess they stuck colored paper on the doors to their rooms to make signs. Since all the names of those six people have colors!"
"Ah, like nick-names!" Tsukiko snapped her fingers. She remembered when she had read the manga chapters how she had realized it even before Conan. And guessed that the murderer was Midorikawa only because green was the complementary color of red. The clue in the chairs had confused her then.
"Idiots! Their names are printed on the photos, and no one has a name with the kanji of color…" Kogoro rifled through the photos.
"Dummy, it's the pronunciation! Even I got it and I suck at kanji-writing." The blonde girl huffed.
"You do?" Ran asked.
"Yeah, why to use kanji when you have two other perfectly working writing systems. Heck, the westerns work with one and they do just fine. Nothing too complicated." The girl failed to notice Conan's narrowing eyes and then a smirk on his face. They were wiped away soon though when he also pointed out to the 'famous detective' how it was the sound, not the kanji that made the nick-names. Ran got it immediately and Yamato agreed with the observation.
"They used colors to distinguish not only the room, but also themselves. Look!" He lifted up a calendar page which had a color-kanji on each day. "This cooking duty rotation table we found in the store room. What's written on it are not their names but colors. They might even call each other by color…"
They all walked the stairs up to the next floor and to the door of the atelier of Akashi Shuusaku. All that time Inspector Yamato explained the circumstances of the death. Outwards opening door, cart full of books…
"Then, that room is…" Kogoro began while stepping past the cart.
"Yeah, when we arrived he was really thin, and had died of hunger." Yamato opened the door. "In this disgusting room with the Red Wall."
Ran and Kogoro panicked immediately when they saw the room but Tsukiko kept her cool with Conan. The detective duo stepped into the room. The boy walked immediately to the spray paint bottle on the floor while the blonde girl stepped closer to the wall.
"It's paint." Conan stated, calming Ran down. "Look, the spray can lying on the floor, the nozzle has the same red color paint as on the wall."
"Stench of paint… The room is obviously ventilated properly by now but it was a closed space for a long time so some of the smell is still lingering…" Tsukiko remarked after sniffing the wall a bit.
"But what are these? These black and white chairs…" Kogoro asked when he and Ran finally dared to step into the room. "Looks like they've been painted and nailed to the floor on purpose."
"The body was upright on the white chair." Yui told them.
"C-Could it be a message left by the culprit?" Ran asked.
"No, it isn't. Because in this room a listening device was installed." Yamato told the girl.
"And the culprit would've taken the spray bottle and disposed it somewhere else." Tsukiko added while looking at the painting tools on the table by the white wall.
"I… I see… The culprit eavesdropped on this room, and determined the condition of the person inside through the sounds… After the sounds stopped, if the culprit came to this room to check if that man really died he'd have retrieved the bug. But since the bug is still here…" The not-sleeping detective thought aloud.
"Yeah, only the victim was locked in here… The culprit never entered. That is to say, the red wall, and the black and white chairs are really a dying message left by the victim." All occupants of the room turned to look at the wall at the Inspector's words. The limping man asked then Kogoro's opinion of the case and predictably the dozing smoker guessed Akashi Shuusaku.
"Wrong!" Tsukiko butted in, making the adults look at her. "He was the victim. And no, I'm not saying it because of the video." She added when Inspector Yamato was about to mention the clip. "I'm saying it because of the obvious facts in this room and otherwise. This Akashi-san was an artist. This is his atelier… or workspace. Then, there is a signature in the right bottom corner of the red paint. He signed this dying message as his own piece of art. Besides… isn't 'Red' a bit too straightforward. It even ignores the painted chairs."
"She is right. The shriveled-up person in this room was that Akashi Shuusaku." Yamato agreed.
"However, she passed away three years ago in the storeroom of this house." Uehara was telling about the fate of Kobashi Aoi.
"Don't tell me she was also murdered!?" Ran panicked.
"No, her heart had always been rather weak. She was searching for something in the storeroom when she had and attack, and well… Her husband Shuusaku-san was completing his work in this room. It was already half a day later when he noticed his wife had collapsed."
"No way…"
Kogoro threw in another wild guess which truly irritated Yamato then.
"Steps in the stairs." The blonde stated just when…
"Trying to meet a worthy man in the wrong way… is as bad as closing the door on an invited guest." A new male voice stated from the doorway. Inspector Morofushi Taka'aki had taken the stage now. "I see… When it comes to dealing with a famous detective, you brought him here yourself instead of just calling… Not bad… However, your attitude towards Mouri-tantei right now is exceedingly impertent. Friends of ancient times would've been ashamed of you, Kansuke-kun…"
"Why are you here?" Yamato fumed. "This is none of your concern!"
"No no, this is under the jurisdiction of my Arano-sho department… How could I shirk my duty?"
"Yep, someone else will definitely do the butting in for me… At least when one takes Yamato-keibu's point of view." Tsukiko grinned to herself. Yui glanced at her, remembering the girl's words before they had left Tokyo. Behind them Kogoro and Ran discussed about the proverb Morofushi had said when stepping into the room.
"I've heard it a bit differently… 'If the prophet does not come to the mountain, the mountain will come to the prophet'." Tsukiko smiled. "The meaning is about the same right? At least it fits to how mister… rival elaborated the meaning of his words. I like that proverb. Unfortunately it's very religion coated. One can't really use it without people looking at your way." She shrugged before stepping closer to the two inspectors.
"…That sealed window was broken from the inside… The drawing tools like the brushes and paints were all thrown out from there. The only one left in this room was this red spray can…" Morofushi talked. "Also, the victim bit his own finger… and used his blood to sign his name at the edge of the wall. Based on these clues, I'd like to hear the opinion of a famous detective… Of course, that would be done in front of me… At any rate, when the body was found, a number of drawing tools were scattered outside… I've always felt suspicious of that…"
"Isn't is obvious? They were thrown out by the victim in the case the murderer would come back and try to mess up with the dying message…" Tsukiko muttered, sitting down on the black chair. She looked at the white wall and had to squeeze her eyes shut immediately. "Guh…"
"Tsukiko-neechan, are you alright?" Conan asked next to her. The girl took of her glasses and pressed the fingers of her right hand on her eyelids.
"Fine… My eyes just hurt from staring that red wall for such a long time…"
"Even if we're colleagues, if you continue to treat me with contempt…" The conversation was still ongoing.
"Ah, I know, I KNOW! I won't appear beside you before you draw your last breath! KOUMEI!"
"Ko-Koumei!?" Conan, Kogoro and Ran asked simultaneously. Tsukiko chuckled into her fist.
"Ah, I forgot just now, how impolite of me… My surname is Morofushi and my name is Taka'aki… It can also be pronounced as Koumei…" The 'intruding' inspector introduced himself. "In the future… Please look after me."
Tsukiko could just see Conan sweatdropping.
A/N: Okay, I probably should explain a few references in this chapter.
-The Italics in the beginning of the story: Yes, they are Tsukiko's ring tone. and Yes, it's still the theme from the movies.
-Solving the case: yes, it happened. I guessed the murderer correctly.
-Mountain-proverb: it's how the line was translated to the Finnish edition of DC(Salapoliisi Conan). It had the mountain thing. When I was writing this I checked the English translation I noticed how everything I got referenced to Islam... *facepalm* Why?
Replies to Reviews:
-Shuichi Akai:
Oh, I see. Sorry, no. I'll follow the Plot as much as possible. But Tsukiko won't stay passive to everything too long though... You'll see in some chapters. ;)
Thanks.
-Hikari:
Yes, a refill. I couldn't come up with a better name.
It's alright. I guess everyone else did so too.
Yes, they're both smart. Mai even more than Tsukiko. Tsuki's smartness comes more in how she puts her words to make it sound like she deducted things when she actually knew everything beforehand. Or then I'm being modest... :)
Tsuki kicks ass. and soon maybe more when she has bugged Subaru to teach her a bit more hand to hand combat. Happens behind the scenes though.
The next chapter is here!
-chibianimefan26:
Some of them are clever though. Like the CDEFG-murderer(vol46). Or the fifth soul/ghost/dead guy(vol48 where the twins were the murderers). Moonlight sonata case was good too.
Mai has solved all kind of cases. Takuya would be in trouble without her. XD I like to think that Mai is smarter than Shinichi at that age(okay, one year age difference but who cares...). She just doesn't go around bragging with it. She keeps away from the papers and solves things when they interest her. And pretty much she can solve them by getting the basic description of the situation and circumstances. I'm reminded of Nero Wolfe or Mycroft Holmes.(hehe, Shinichi is Sherlock and Mai is Mycroft. Their names even match!)
Tsuki is far from tsundere. I think that character type is overused anyways. Draw fluff then. I wanna see!
It's alright. :D Uhh... Red Robbery is 677-679.
-Hanako875:
I was just working with this last editing when your review came to my e-mail. Thank you. BTW you're my 100th reviewer. Congrats!
Yes, she has to watch her back. :)