A/N: Is this too long of a time? Maybe, maybe not. But hey! At least I updated, right? I really hope that you'll like this chapter. And I hope you liked the previous chapter too... I mean, it was the Mystery Train chapter! The one so many of you were waiting for. That you were asking whether or not am I doing it or skipping entirely! And I got only one review from it. I thank you Tsuki-guest for it.
Oh well, I hope I still have my touch in writing and you like this chapter too. Tsukiko is treading on thin ice.
Chapter 65.
Tennis? Yeah, count her in. Tsukiko grinned when Amuro asked if she'd like to join him and the Mouri group(+Sonoko) at one of the tennis courts in… Shizuoka was it? The invitation was actually from Sonoko in a roundabout way since Tsukiko had been at Bell Tree Express and sort of in the middle of the mess there. Tennis to make up terrorist incident in a train. Tsukiko get the impression that only Sonoko and Amuro would know she was coming along but replies affirmatively to the invitation anyways.
"Hell yeah." The girl had sighed. She needed to get out. For some reason she really couldn't stand being near Subaru and Jodie and Masumi much longer. For obvious reasons really. Jodie had been fussing around her ever since she heard what had happened at the train. ("A carriage got cut off and exploded? What if you'd been in there?") Mai had been much the same. Subaru and Masumi were both being avoided for the same reason between them. Guilt. Less said about that, the better. No matter what Subaru had told Tsukiko about the circumstances being out of her control. Kaito's place was no option as a hidey place. The master thief was still slightly pissed at being used as a decoy and almost being blown up. ("At least my bad guys stick to snipers and I can count on their bad tempers!") Tsukiko didn't fancy being his sounding board in this matter.
And thus Tsukiko seized her first opportunity to change scenery. (Gaining an amused glance from Amuro but whatever.)
Weekend rolled in thankfully quickly. Tsukiko had gone after school to shop for her own tennis racket and sports clothes on the day previous. It was a nice pair of t-shirt and shorts, both of which were deep violet with white sides and the two colors were separated by thin stripes of strong pink. Tsukiko also got a swimsuit of the same colors and brand. After all there would be that case at Masumi's hotel at some point. And if Tsukiko's instincts were correct, Masumi just might invite her and Conan. Just might. But the shopping itself went overall just fine. To her surprise, Tsukiko had an own bank account now. Yamato had given her a credit/debit card a bit after the Mystery Train incident. Though where he'd gotten the money for her, Tsukiko didn't know and frankly didn't want to either. It was just a relief that she didn't need to use Jodie's money on everything anymore. (Or mooch from Subaru. That had happened too, though usually by slipping some snacks in during grocery shopping.)
The car ride in Amuro's white RX-7 went amicably. Tsukiko found the man's company pleasant. Even though he suspected her of having a connection with Vermouth and probably knew she was with the FBI, it didn't stop him from treating her like any other person he met. Tsukiko was no different from Ran or Sonoko when it came to Amuro. There was no expectations. And since Jodie didn't know just yet that Amuro was Bourbon, Tsukiko was safe on that front too. So the two of them chatted of this and that and eventually the topics turned to Mystery Train.
"I'm just relieved that nothing bad happened to me this time. Saves me from hovering Mai-san and Jodie-san." The girl chuckled whilst taking off her glasses and putting them into their case. "They really… Well, I do admit that I have gotten injured quite often lately, warranting even hospital visits but really, in the end I'm fine."
"You did end up in… trouble last time a discussion like this happened between you and Miyoshi-chan. Something about an Aegis warship?" Amuro glanced at her with arched eyebrows. Tsukiko simply chuckled.
"Ah, yes… Hotaka. Ran fell into ocean and I jumped after her. We had to be checked over at hospital later when we were rescued but I was fine. A case of hypothermia was all I got."
"…Did she really get you drunk at some point?"
"Yeah… I was upset after she, Masumi-nee and Suzuki-san got my hair dyed. So she took me home and raided her father's liquor cabinet for some Bourbon. I drank one glass and spilled my guts. Eventually fell asleep and then… Then Mai-san went and hacked my phone open to call Jodie-san."
"And this Jodie-san… Who is she?"
"She… I don't know really how to describe her." Tsukiko frowned to herself. "It was through happenstance that I ended up living with her. I'd sort of left home without telling anyone and then ended up in hospital. I met her there and when I was released, she offered me to stay with her. I heard she used to be an English teacher at Teitan."
"Hospital? Is this the car accident case? When you were in coma?"
"Yeah… I sort of feel bad that I'm still living with her even though I've managed to reconnect with Subaru-nii but in the other hand I can't really just move in with him 'cause he is living on a rented house…"
"What about your parents then?" That was genuine sympathy in the man's voice and made the girl smile.
"Which ones? The ones that I don't even know if they are alive or not? Or the ones that are always busy with work?" A glance to her direction. "I'm adopted. Have been for almost ten years." Tsukiko shrugged. "I dunno what's going on with my biological family. Or with my other brother."
"I'm sorry." Amuro frowned. "I didn't mean to dredge up unpleasant memories."
"It's alright, you didn't know. I remember Mai-san was surprised when she heard I was adopted since I resemble Subaru-nii somewhat. Especially with these glasses and my original hair color." Tsukiko wasn't sure whether or not should she be telling this all to Amuro but what the hell. He was an ally. More or less.
Amuro Tooru wasn't sure what to make of the girl sitting on the passenger seat next to him. She was full of mysteries. Had been since he met her for the first time.
At first it had seemed weird. The girl had ran from an alley moments after the car exploded and was let into the investigation. Case which she promptly solved.
Second notion was how Okiya Tsukiko was well connected to people in Beika's circle. She was in the same school with Mouri's daughter and apparently friends with her too. She knew Miyoshi Takuya and his cousin that was her classmate. She was living with one of the FBI agents in Japan even though she had no other obvious connections to FBI aside from the possibility that she'd known Akai. She had some weird information based relationship with Vermouth. One which seemed to annoy the girl greatly.
Third was her intuition. Amuro had seen it displayed once before but Midorikawa Shugo had been fourteen back then. Maybe it was coincidence. After all Edogawa Conan seemed too smart for his age too.
Sometimes the undercover agent entertained the possibility that Okiya Tsukiko was sort of agent in training. Maybe for FBI or CIA, maybe an undercover operative from the Organization. But she seemed too genuine for it. Amuro would know, he worked with Vermouth and her numerous disguises so often that he could detect genuine curiosity and kindness in the girl. Besides she attracted too much attention to herself to be an actual undercover operative. Whether it was FBI's after her coma-period (He'd asked Vermouth about it after hearing about the incident. Apparently it had been Chianti who'd landed the girl in the hospital.) or threatening a bank robber with a nonexistent gun, she was too visible on occasions. Alright, so was he but he could avoid certain situations. Unlike she had.
Right now though… Some questions rose up.
"Original hair color?" When Edogawa Conan had been kidnapped by Urakawa Serina, Tsukiko wondered during the aftermath how Vermouth had recognized her. The statement had been accompanied by a gesture that indicated her hair had been previously different. The statement now, only strengthened the impression. And Tsukiko looked like deer in headlights when looking at him following the question.
"Well…" The girl chuckled. "I'm not black haired naturally?" She scratched the back of her head nervously. She then went to dug out her cellphone from her jeans pocket. "This is how I looked on my first day at Teitan."
The picture showed Tsukiko with sandy blonde hair in Teitan High school uniform in front of the school building. She was smiling sheepishly with closed eyes and shoulders drawn almost to her ears. But what was more important was the drastic change between her and the girl sitting next to Amuro. Different levels of confidence were basically visible between the two.
"Some weeks later I had my hair cut in the way it's now. And a bit before I met you for the first time it was dyed, like I mentioned previously."
"I see." Well, that solved it then. But there was another question that had risen lately. "Do you… Do you anyone named or called 'Kage'?"
"Kage?" Tsukiko was obviously surprised but Amuro wasn't sure how much of it was feigned. "I…" And now she was pondering how much could she say. "I know one. He goes by Kagemiya Boshi. He… is a friend. I keep something safe for him but we haven't met in ages. Why do you ask?"
"I met a person named Kage awhile back. He told me to stay away from you and your brother."
"He did?" There was genuine surprise on the girl's face. "I wonder why… Where did you meet him?"
"Around town. But he sort of reminded me of you… Or rather you remind me of him. I met him before you." Deflect, but give information in appropriate doses so you can get more.
"Oh…" Tsukiko seemed puzzled and seemed reluctant to say much more. "He was okay though?"
"Yes."
Silence. Amuro let the girl gather her thoughts in peace while doing the same on his own.
Fact one: Okiya Tsukiko was connected to Kage, the alleged leader of the Hunters. She knew him as Kagemiya Boshi.
Fact two: The two resembled each other greatly so much that he could easily drew connection between the two even before the confirmation of fact one.
Fact three: Okiya Tsukiko was adopted. She didn't know what was going on with her biological family. Family which included a brother too.
Fact four: By comparing her appearances before and after dying her hair and then combining the image, left decidedly surprisingly non-Japanese features. Amuro had noticed that Tsukiko could see quite well even without her glasses and while she had a certain Asian tilt, her upper eyelid had the fold seen on Western eyes. When she was squinting from behind her glasses, the fold disappeared and thus combined with her now-black hair, she could fool people around her thinking she was full-blooded Japanese.
Conclusion one: Okiya Tsukiko was at least half-blooded Westerner if not full-blooded one. Judging from the lack of questions aimed at her about living abroad (like some aimed at Sera Masumi), other people around her hadn't cottoned on it.
Conclusion two: Resemblance between Tsukiko and 'Kage' might be familial. She was uncomfortable in talking about him and probably didn't want people to know their connection. She hadn't lied though since he could've detected it.
Amuro frowned to himself. Could it be… that Kage was the biological brother that Tsukiko didn't know his whereabouts of? It could then make sense why he wanted Amuro to stay away from Tsukiko and her adoptive brother. That was pure speculation though…
Other thing that was bugging him, was the fact that according to Miyoshi Mai, Tsukiko had been involved in Tanabata-case. Chianti said that Kage had been killed by Irish but then had risen to shoot at the Organization's helicopter. The NOC-list had been allegedly destroyed but now Hunters were killing people from that list. Irish, Chianti and even Gin had referred to Kage as 'he'. Vermouth said 'she'. What Amuro had seen of Kage, both right outside of Teito Department Store and then at Mouri Detective Agency, one couldn't discern their gender. If Tsukiko worked with Kagemiya Boshi and he was the 'original' then they could fool people trying to find out the mastermind's identity. Tsukiko could've had the opportunity to switch the memory cards. She could've gotten information about it either from Hibiki or then from Vermouth. Amuro really needed to find out what the woman wanted from the girl. And whoever had been 'Kage' at Touto Tower had also the opportunity to steal Irish's cell phone. Not to mention the fact that Tsukiko admitted of keeping something safe for Kagemiya. Like the memory card.
For now, the man would go with the theory that Kage was the biological brother (older, younger, twin?) of Okiya Tsukiko but not lock onto that. He needed to see if any evidence came to counter it.
Tsukiko twirled her brand new racket and tested then its strings by bouncing one of the tennis balls. While her mind was still halfway in the conversation she'd on the road with Amuro, ultimately she wasn't worried. While she'd revealed things, it wasn't enough to use against her. And by claiming Kage was male… Well, it just fit into the expectations. Besides, Tsukiko had a feeling that she could get a proper ally from Amuro eventually. Someone she could work with without asking permission every damn time. Like she had to when working with Conan and his group. And Hunters were Kage's territory.
Tsukiko pocketed one of the tennis balls in her hands and glanced to the other side of the net.
"Ready?" She called.
"Ready." Amuro smiled back. Tsukiko tossed the remaining felt ball in the air… And hit it to the other side of the net. The man was ready, already moving to return the ball. It was a good way to spend time while waiting for Mouri group and also to get a good feeling in playing again. Last time Tsukiko had played… Was back home as Jade. And even that was years ago. On a dirt road. With a children foam ball. Against a brother who was four years younger. And with only a line on the ground to indicate the place of the net. And at school they'd only had badminton which was nothing like tennis.
But despite all that Tsukiko was alright. And Amuro was obviously going easy on her but it didn't matter. This wasn't serious tennis like what Sonoko would demand once she arrived.
Audience gathered at the court and Tsukiko was able to pick up the pace Amuro was setting on their mock game. Mostly they just continued making passes but apparently it didn't matter for the people around.
Finally, at the end of one of the longest ball rallies Tsukiko had ever participated in, she let the ball past her… guard so to say. The tennis ball bounced away, to the recently arrived Team Mouri. Tsukiko whipped some of her sweaty black hair out of her face and then waved at them.
"Heya! Got to come in time?"
"Tsukiko-chan, that was amazing!" Ran was the first one to recognize her, what with the lack of glasses and hair gathered on a high ponytail. "I didn't know you'd be here too!"
"Yeah, Suzuki-senpai invited me and Amuro-san offered the ride." Tsukiko shrugged. "And I like tennis."
Ran and Sonoko went to gush over Amuro's skills next and Tsukiko's eyes slid over to Conan. The boy was staring/glaring at the man. Decision made, the girl walked to the boy and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Conan jumped in surprised, then glaring at her.
"What?"
"The problem with you… is that you can't be objective when needed." Tsukiko said calmly. "I understand that in the light of recent revelations, you don't trust Amuro-san. You don't want him anywhere near Ran-san… But you have to remember that right now, Amuro-san has no motive to hurt her or anyone else of us here. He doesn't know how we are connected to the grand scheme of things. The only passing is how Mouri-tantei was in suspicion of being connected with Sherry, but that blew over months ago, thanks to Akai-san. Moreover, Amuro-san thinks Sherry is dead so there even less of a motive. He doesn't have that mission on him anymore."
"And?"
"And organization isn't thus breathing down on him to investigate the matter. What's left, is his own curiosity so let's not make him more suspicious of things that are not there, alright?" Tsukiko gave a one final squeeze on Conan's shoulder and went to pick up the tennis balls littering the court. She didn't fancy being anywhere near when the kid was hit by the stray racket.
"LOOK OUT!" Amuro shouted. Tsukiko's head whipped to look over her shoulder. There, in a nice, clean arch, a tennis racket was descending on the boy's head.
Thunk.
Conan went down. Ran and Amuro hurried toward him. Tsukiko watched the scene, completely frozen.
The doctor was called and Conan was taken to the house of one Momozono Kotone. The lady who the lost the hold of her own racket and who'd kill the asshole of the week. Tsukiko decided to just stick to the sidelines this time. No need to attract the attention of yet another police officer in another prefecture more than necessary. While Tsukiko might've made an impression big enough on Yokomizo Juugo that he'd briefly mentioned her to his brother Sango, she didn't fancy every police officer she got in contact with to know exactly how smart she was or how she drew conclusions.
"Hiyashi Chuuka? What is that?" Tsukiko asked, looking up from her latest sketch, she'd been drawing while doctor had tended to Conan, when the matter of food was brought up.
"You have never had them?" Sonoko asked in wonder while Kogoro replied his affirmative of joining for the lunch.
"Well… They are apparently some noodles but aside from that…" Tsukiko shrugged sheepishly.
"You have to taste it, Tsukiko-chan. They are delicious!" The rich girl was gushing before following Kotone and her friends (Umejima Machi and Takanashi Noboru) out of the room. The asshole of the week had already retreated to eat his ice cream cake.
"You are really are weird one aren't you?" Conan muttered to Tsukiko who came to pick up her backpack from next to the couch he was sitting on.
"Huh?" The girl blinked up from her half crouch/bow.
"Your favorite fish is European Zander, you suck at reading kanji, you've been at revolving sushi restaurant exactly once and you've never had Hiyashi Chuuka? Are you sure you are Japanese?" The boy joked weakly. It seemed that headache was making itself known to him.
"Or then I prefer making food myself and haven't really expanded it because there hasn't been any need. For example, have you even tried homemade okonomiyaki? I made it for the first time when I was thirteen and lemme tell you it was delish!" Tsukiko grinned, internally sweating though. She really didn't need Conan digging into her past. Which was strange since she seemed to have no problems with Amuro finding things out. Maybe it was the boy's damn paranoid attitude to everything. "Anyways, just because I have different taste in food, doesn't mean I'm not Japanese."
Conan nodded slowly. It must be the concussion that got him making idiotic conclusions. The boy muttered something about taking a nap on the couch. Tsukiko replied to the statement with a sympathetic smile, unaware of the pair of eyes boring onto her back and the pair of ears that had picked on the conversation and added it to the growing list of her inconsistencies.
Hiyashi Chuuka was relatively good but Tsukiko had to admit she preferred her noodles warm. That's why she never ate macaroni salad either. It was just weird to have something boiled, cold.
After the lunch, Tsukiko, like Sonoko and Ran, took up the offer to shower at the house. Washing away all the sweat from the earlier workout felt refreshing and relaxing.
Thunk.
Everyone in the downstairs looked up at the ceiling.
"And so it begins once again…" Tsukiko thought and went with others to find the owner of the house and suspects two and three.
"About that… I haven't seen the spare key for Ishiguri-kun's room since yesterday evening…" Kotone was telling Machi. Convenient, huh?
"It can't be helped… It's a bit dangerous but we could try getting to his room from the veranda." Noboru spoke up. "If his window's open we'll be able to get inside, and if it's closed at least we'll be able to see what's going on inside his room."
"I guess you're right. And we've done it before…" Kotone replied reluctantly.
"But it was quite a gap between the verandas… It was impossible for me to do." Machi added, obviously informing others that she definitely wasn't going to do any climbing.
"Yeah, you were scared of the height, weren't you?" Noboru asked. By which Amuro took his cue to step into the conversation.
"In which case, may I try unlocking the room? I consider this sort of thing as something of a specialty."
"Ah!" Tsukiko blinked in realization. Ran and Sonoko turned to look at her.
"What is it, Tsukiko-chan?" Ran asked.
"Wait a sec! I just remembered!" And she turned on her heels to rush back to her bag, which was left to kitchen this time. After rummaging it a bit, she found what she was looking for from a side pocket. She then hurried back and tapped Amuro gently on the shoulder. "Here!" Tsukiko smiled, offering the slim metal cylinder to the man.
"What is…"
"My lock picks. I don't go anywhere without them even though I'm not that good with them." Tsukiko grinned.
"Thank you." Amuro smiled as he took the offered item, which he recognized as the one the girl used to threaten the bank robber back in February.
Snik.
The door opened. Sonoko and Ran were immediately gushing at Amuro's skills but Tsukiko just shook her head amusedly. The conversation flowed to form where Amuro had gained those skills and why Tsukiko had lockpicks with her.
"I got once locked into my own hospital room. I had to break myself out of there with a hair pin. Afterwards I decided better safe than sorry. Tsukiko merely replied when Amuro went to open the now-unlocked door.
"Don't open the door!" Conan screamed from the room. The boy continued then calmer, "You can't open it."
"Co-Conan-kun?" Amuro spoke. Tsukiko went to peer past his shoulder to the gap between the door and the door frame.
"What's going on, tantei-chan?" She asked.
"Because it's the body that's blocking the door." The boy replied.
The following routine was way too familiar to Tsukiko. Call the cops, Conan starts making deductions, cops either believe him or brush him off. Nowadays it was more likely to be the latter one. Especially if there wasn't one Mouri Kogoro to disregard him. Well, the smoking drunkard could always try and do it later…
"How come it's a murder if you just found the body fallen by the door as though blocking it?" Kogoro asked.
"Eh? But… Conan-kun in the room said that…" Poor Yokomizo. Being torn apart by his awe on Conan's deductions and staunch belief that Sleeping Kogoro is right no matter what.
And so on and so forth. Tsukiko tried her best to tune out the conversation. In a way she could go to the kitchen or somewhere where Ran and Sonoko were… but frankly, she wasn't on a mood for girly gossip or horrified exclamations that there was a murder, again.
"Life is quite monotonous sometimes." Tsukiko thought, while leaning against the wall of the hallway. Surprisingly, neither Kage nor Red Moon commented. After a moment of mental searching for them, Tsukiko concluded that the former was plotting while the latter was sleeping. Considering the recent events, she wasn't surprised. Kage needed to prepare for every possibility and most likely had listened in on Tsukiko and Amuro's conversation at the car. Meanwhile Red Moon was taking a well-deserved break. No heists for a while and she didn't especially care about murder investigations either.
The suspects were being interviewed. The spare key for Ishiguri's(the victim/asshole's) room was being looked for. Ran and Sonoko's observations about the house and the people were listened to. Kogoro… tried his best. Forensics came with results and findings to Yokomizo. Conan made deductions. Amuro kept an eye on everything. And Tsukiko… Tsukiko sat in the corner of the kitchen and kept drawing on her sketch book as soon as the statement was taken from her too and she'd reclaimed her lockpicks from Amuro.
It was time for the deduction show. One were people were actively making deductions instead of Conan just lecturing them.
"What are you doing, Conan-kun?" Thank you Amuro. Thank you.
"Er… My watch lid is broken…" The boy stammered, beginning to think hard about an alternative way to let others know the truth about this case. He walked slowly to Tsukiko. The girl lifted her gaze from her notebook at the sound of his footsteps.
"No."
"What?"
"I'm not going to play your mouthpiece like Agasa-hakase does."
"Why not?"
"Well, first of all, my lip-sync most likely wouldn't match, especially when I do not have thick moustaches to hide any mistakes. Second of all, I haven't been active enough during this case that me solving it would be believable. Don't forget who's in the room with us. Not to mention… I like to see you suffer." Tsukiko grinned down at the kid who proceeded in glaring at her. "Good luck, tantei-chan. I might pitch in at some point."
Conan scampered away, right in time to butt into the conversation between Ran and Sonoko.
"Speaking of Hiyashi Chuuka… You need ice to make those right?"
"Y-Yeah… You'll need icy water to chill the boiled noodles." Ran answered. So that's why they were tasty despite being cold noodles.
"Didn't you also help with getting out the ice cubes because we had so many people here!?" Sonoko spoke next.
"Yeah! Weren't there a lot of ice cubes in the freezer?" Conan asked.
"Oi, cut the idle talk now!" Kogoro barked at the teens.
"But you know… Ice will melt, won't it?"
"Of freaking course it's gonna melt!"
"So I was thinking if that vase were made of ice, surely it would've melted and fallen by itself, wouldn't it?"
"Baka! That vase is made of copper and you even touched it!"
"Now! Wait just a second here…" Yokomizo interrupted before Kogoro would start a tirade. "If someone stacked up a lot of ice cubes inside one side of the vase and strategically balanced it on the edge of the shelf… As the ice melts with time, wouldn't the vase lose its balance and fall?"
"T-That maybe true, but…"
"Not to mention we found water in the vase. So if we assume it was melted ice…"
"But if you put all that ice in a container for carrying, wouldn't people notice?"
"You could carry those emptyhanded." Amuro pointed out, coming up behind the inspector. "While making the chilled noodles, all three of them were still in their tennis wear. Men's tennis pants have larger pockets in order to contain tennis balls and as for women's tennis wear, they do sell skirts with ball pockets too."
"B-But then again, even if you managed to let the vase fall, you still couldn't move the body near the door, right? There wasn't any trace marks on the floor, after all…" Kogoro was once again in the role of punching holes to the deduction. Ironically it was usually either him or Sonoko if it wasn't one of the suspects or a police officer of the day. Well, at least he wasn't suggesting that Ichiguri had been killed by the vase when he was lying on the floor beneath the shelf.
"Come to think of it… Ice is slick and slippery, right?" And the truth once again came from the mouth of a child. Not that Kogoro agreed, but who was actually listening to him?
"I see! I think I figured it out!" Sonoko exclaimed in joy of revelation. "See, there was racket under the body's hip, right? Someone could have placed ice under the racket and slid the body around! The proof is the racket strings that were bent out of shape in a few places!"
"As expected of Sonoko, well done!" Ran chirped. Tsukiko looked at the two girls. And then glanced at Kogoro. Yeah, they all were smart in their own merit too. Kogoro just was a bit too impatient with his deductions and Sonoko didn't have the real life experience of solving murders. But they still were both brilliant yet put down regularly either by Shinichi or then by fans. While admittedly, the sleeping detective shows boosted the expectations, sometimes they could live up to them if just given the chance.
"But, if that's the case…" Yokomizo spoke again. "Residual water from the melted ice would be on the floor like that inside the vase. And the victim's pants would get wet, but we failed to detect any signs of that, you know?"
"What? Really?"
Tsukiko's turn! Tsukiko's turn! Screw you chibi-chan!
"What about dry ice?" The girl asked. "That's used in special effects. It has the properties of regular ice but when it melts, it disappears with smoke, sublimates. That's why it's so handy in movie industry and magic shows."
"But here's the thing, you can't carry dry ice easily, you know?" Kogoro was speaking again. "Unlike ice, you can't touch it directly."
"They used Ishiguri-san to carry those!" Amuro spoke up. "There was probably dry ice in the box of ice cream cake Ishiguri-san said he would be eating for lunch.
"The culprit, after killing Ichiguri-san with the vase, likely laid the racket over some dry ice cubes and slipped it under the body and upong exiting the room, they pulled a cord or something they had passed through the racket frame beforehand and caused the body to slide close to the door. Leaving the cord untied for easy retrieval, of course.
"All they had to do was bonk him down near the door beforehand. When they left the door slightly ajar in order to exit, they only needed to slide his body a short distance." And thus the mystery number one was solved.
"I get it!" Ran blinked in surprise. "That's why I felt a chill on my toes when I went near the room. Because the dry ice cubes were immediately behind the door."
"That reminds me Machi-san, you also said something similar, didn't you?" Yokomizo turned to speak with the suspects.
"Yes, I also felt something cold with my toes. I thought Ishiguri-kun turned on the air conditioner or something." Machi answered.
"But Kotone-san and Takanashi-san you two didn't feel a chill when you went to his room?"
"Correct…" Kotone nodded.
"Neither did I… I left the room immediately, thinking I shouldn't bother the kid who was sleeping in the room." Noburo told the detectives in the room.
And pin, pin, pin! Kogoro has it figured out now.
"I see… I've finally figured the culprit out." The detective spoke smugly. And without the sleeping act induced by Conan. Tsukiko was excited by this. "First of all, we can exclude Machi-san from the suspect list since her testimony supports our theory that dry ice was used. Same goes fro Takanashi-san who knew the brat with glasses was inside Ishiguri-san's room. Because who would be ridiculous enough to commit murder if they knew a kid's sleeping there?" Well, the culprit apparently. Conan's presence obviously didn't stop her plans. "That leaves only one person, the one who went to Ishiguri-san's room earlier than the other two and had plenty of time to allow the ice and dry ice to melt.
"Momozono Kotone-san, no one other than you could be considered the culprit! Now… am I wrong?"
Tsukiko closed her notebook and slipped it back into her bag. Let Yokomizo question the Sleeping Kogoro act in peace. It'd provide Amuro enough of a clue despite him not witnessing the act at Sundayrino back in the day.
And wasn't it interesting that both Kogoro and Yokomizo had addressed the females of this case by the first names while the males were by their last names. Just one more twist in Japanese conversational rules.
"Maybe I should pay better attention on things that matter in everyday life rather than just the plot timeline which is inaccurate as it is…" Tsukiko mused to herself. "And maybe I should finally address the kids by their first names. Even Honda Tooru of Fruit Basket called the younger kids by their names despite being almost awkwardly polite…"
"Ahem… In other words," Kogoro was speaking again. "Kotone-san's crime agenda went like this:
"First, in the middle of making chilled noodles, she stole some ice cubes and put it inside her skirt pocket, saying 'I'm like, gonna ask Ishiguri-kun is her really doesn't want lunch!' Or something like that and went to his room. And after clubbing Ishiguri-san to death near the door, she filled the murder weapon vase with ice, left the room, and used the trick described earlier to slide Ishiguri-san's body in order to block the door! Without noticing the glasses-wearing brat sleeping in the room!"
Ah, yes, if she didn't actually notice Conan-then the matter was completely different. But to not mention it in the testimony after finding out about it… Well, who cared.
"Upon returning to the kitchen, Kotone-san said 'Oh my, he doesn't want Hiyashi Chuuka after all!' Or some similar lines, and thus completed a locked room murder while dining!"
While Kogoro was congratulating himself of the successful deductions, suspects two and three raised up the matter of missing spare key. Time to solve mystery number two!
"Oh, right, about ice…" And Conan to the rescue! Everyone turned to look at him in a way that was almost comical. Tsukiko barely could suppress her chuckles. "Do we call it ice (koori) because it's frozen water (kooru)?"
And the conversation turned to sports drinks. And instantly freezing magic water.
"Damn, tantei-chan, you aren't really inconspicuous you know…" Tsukiko cringed internally while making her way to the freezer where the sports drink had been afterwards stashed. With a handkerchief, she fished it out of the freezer and gave it to one of the forensics. Meanwhile Amuro was explaining the super cooled water and the method Kotone had most likely used to hide the key. Machi and Noboru protested, naturally since it was their friend being accused.
"It's no use. It's going to come out. The spare key with my finger prints on it. Not to mention I dropped the key atop Ishiguri-kun's blood in panic…" Kotone confessed. Sonoko was naturally disgusted at the thought of drinking from the sports drink with something like that in it. And then the motive came to light too. Asshole of the week really had it coming this time. Didn't they always have?
Tsukiko blinked confusedly at her own thoughts. Was she already this desensitized to death? Although in the end other characters weren't that bothered either. And the only one noticing the bodies dropping like flies, seemed to be Inspector Megure and Toyama Kazuha. Or did she?
"I've already experienced these cases through reading them as a manga. The only ones affecting me seem to be the ones stemming from misunderstanding and tragedy where the culprit realizes that they did a mistake after all…" The girl mused while taking out her phone and calling Jodie. She needed to know that she'd come later than agreed due to the case happening.
Tsukiko was sleeping during the car ride when Amuro called Vermouth.
"Yes, the case has been solved thanks for the great detective Mouri." The man spoke to his Bluetooth device whilst driving.
"Oh, is that so… But, how much longer do you plan to stick with that detective?" Vermouth asked. "Ever since that Kir incident, you've been saying you wanted to monitor that detective who might be suspiciously related to Sherry… And I've been giving you plenty of support. But that business is over, isn't it? Lucky coincidence allowed information on Sherry to fly into our hands and we were able to send her to her grave, after all."
"No, my interest had just been piqued." Amuro smiled smugly. "In the detective known as Nemuri no Kogorou that is…"
For a moment the man considered of asking the woman about the girl sleeping on the seat next to him but decided otherwise. There were certain cards that needed to be played closer of chest than others after all.
A/N: I understand that I skipped quite a lot of this case. But you can always pick the manga and see the suspect testimonies and such. No need to add them if Tsukiko isn't actively contributing to the scene nor is she mentioned.
Oh, btw, Amuro drove Tsukiko to Jodie's place. Tsuki figured that since Vermouth was aware of the addresses of several agents(Halloween) it isn't much of a leap to assume that Amuro could easily find them on his own too.
Fruits Basket is a wonderful manga, one of the first I read(right after Inuyasha, Naruto and Ranma) and I admit that most of my knowledge of how to use suffixes after names comes from that one.
Reply to Review:
-Tsuki(guest):
Thank you! I was happy to update. And I'll continue to do so as often as I can.
()
Next case will be the Blush Mermaid one. It's time for Red Moon to take the stage once again!