SailorStar9: With Chapter 9 uploaded, this is Chapter 10 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?
Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and potential pairing.
Pending pairing: Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami
Chapter 10: The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love: Enter the Scene
In the Police HQ...
"I see something like a timer too." Detective Sugita noted.
"Is is a time bomb?" Chiba gasped.
"Shiratori, do you know the time that Natalie committed suicide?" Matsumoto asked.
"I think the estimated time of death was 10am." Shiratori recalled.
"Tomorrow will be exactly a year since then." Megure reminded. "What if it's set on a timer to explode at that time?"
"So no matter what we do here, Takagi will be blown to bits in less than 18 hours?" Matsumoto referred to his watch.
"Wait a minute." Chiba spoke. "The packet tape securing the bomb came unstuck and it's about to fall."
"He put it on top of the plank." one of the officers exclaimed when Takagi moved the bomb on top of the wooden plank.
"What're you doing, Takagi?" Detective Okumura chided.
"There's somebody there." Conan realized. "Detective Takagi heard someone's voice from below, so he didn't want to drop it. That tablet doesn't carry audio, right? Yet Detective Takagi;s mouth is still covered with packet tape, which means he's in a place where people could pass close enough to hear him."
"Then, in order to protect whoever is there, Takagi..." Sato gaped.
"We should limit our search for Takagi to Hokkaido?" Megure echoed after Conan made his suggestion.
"That crow that showed up with Takagi is most likely a Western Jackdaw." Ami explained. "This species of crows are normally found in Europe, and are found in Japan only twice; both times are in Hokkaido."
"But to decide on Hokkaido from just that is a bit much..." Megure mused.
"What's that light?" Sato noticed a pillar of light on the screen.
"This here." Chiba pointed the streak of light to Megure. "A thin pillar of light in the sky behind Takagi."
"The sun pillar phenomenon." Conan recognized. "At sunrise and sunset, if sunlight reflect off diamond dust in the atmosphere, it can be seen as a shining pillar. According to the internet, you can only see it in cold places, like Hokkaido."
"Do you know the temperature at which diamond dust forms?" Matsumoto asked.
"I think it's 20 degrees below freezing." Shiratori replied. "It looks to be quite far away, so we can't say for sure that Takagi really is somewhere that cold."
"But he's certainly near somewhere that is." Sato noted.
"It's Hokkaido." Matsumoto made the decision. "Takagi has been determined to be in Hokkaido. Ask the Hokkaido Police for help in the search and contact every construction and demolition contractor in the prefecture. Demand that they check again. Megure, fly to Hokkaido with Sato. The suspect mentioned friends in his emails, so there's a chance that accomplices may be lurking at the scene. Don't forget to carry your handguns."
In Shiratori's car...
"Mitsuhiko." Conan suddenly called out. "You recorded some of the footage of Detective Takagi, right?"
"Some of it." Mitsuhiko nodded.
"Let me see." Conan demanded.
In the Police HQ the next day...
"Megure, haven't you located Takagi yet?" Matsumoto questioned.
"We've having helicopters from Hokkaido Police HQ help search, but if we don't narrow down the location..." Megure responded. "Have you received any reports on your end?"
"As soon as dawn broke, we had them check again." Matsumoto confirmed. "But it seems they still couldn't find Takagi at any four-storey building site as shown in the video. By now, we have to start considering places other than Hokkaido. What happened?" he heard Megure gape.
"It just started snowing." Megure reported.
"Superintendent, how about over there?" Sato asked. "Is there snow in the video of Takagi?"
"There's snow here, too." Chiba replied.
"Check with the Meteorological Agency." Matsumoto barked. "Hurry."
"Superintendent, it's only snowing in Hokkaido." Detective Hirota reported. "It seems it started snowing everywhere in Hokkaido at once."
"But how?" Matsumoto frowned. "Every four-storey building site in the prefecture's been checked. But why hasn't he been found?"
"Because it's not four storeys high." Conan spoke. "The kidnapper used a trick to make it seem like a four-storey site."
"Conan said he figured something out from yesterday's footage, so I brought them in." Shiratori explained.
"I analyzed the footage all night at my house and finally found proof." Professor Agasa stifled a yawn.
"But us police have watched through all of the footage and we didn't see anything." Detective Nakamura protested.
"Did you check the blurred image?" Haibara asked.
"This footage, from where the crow landed on the pole or whatever the camera is fixed on." Conan clarified. "When shaking, the angle of the camera shifted, so if you look at it frame-by-frame. Look closely at this image. Next to Detective Takagi's left shoulder, something's there, right? What looks like a hook."
"Isn't that the hook at the end of the string of the police notebook?" Ami peered closely at the image.
"But isn't it at an odd place?" Detective Nakamura wondered.
"It's almost like it's floating." Detective Ida agreed.
"It's not floating." Conan corrected. "It's just sitting on top of the mirror. That's why Detective Takagi dropped his police notebook. He wanted you to notice the mirror trick. Though, unfortunately, it fell under the plank. He dropped the sheet that was on the plank for the same reason."
"In other words, the lower half of the straight-on footage is a reflection and it's actually only about two storeys high?" Matsumoto echoed.
"What proves it is that Detective Takagi is still alive." Conan nodded.
"The sun pillar phenomenon only occurs below -20ºC." Ami explained. "In places so intensely cold that you can see one, someone abandoned wearing just a business suit would freeze to death within a day."
"Then, why is Takagi still..." Chiba gaped.
"Some sort of heater is laid underneath the mirror." Ami surmised. "So, in case snow fell, the heat would melt it so that it won't pile up and give away the mirror trick. I suppose since the heat raised the temperature a bit, ti's considered a blessing for Takagi."
"The search target is now a two-storey building site." Matsumoto changed his orders. "If it's two storeys, it's likely a detached house. Inform the Hokkaido Police HQ to include renovation contractors in the search, too. Megure, the location is likely a detached house with the roof removed." he informed. "It'll be easier to find from the skies. There's likely forty minutes left before the bomb explodes. So find him before then any way you can."
"Superintendent, Takagi caught the edge of the packet tape covering his mouth on the pole next to him." Chiba responded.
"Now he can call for help." one of the officers was relieved.
"Why isn't he calling out?" Chiba was worried.
"He can't." Ami answered. "He's too exhausted to even talk. Remember, it's been over two days since he drank anything; his throat is too dry."
"Wait a sec." Conan spoke up. "Those things in the skies behind Detective Takagi, aren't they kites? And it's not just one or two of them."
"Shiratori, find out where it is." Matsumoto ordered.
"Today, kite-flying contests are being held at three places in Hokkaido: Ikeguchi Town, Komamae Town and Hibai City." Shiratori reported.
"Then quickly inform Hokkaido Police HQ." Matsumoto instructed. "Can't we get it down to one place? There's less than five minutes until the bomb explodes."
"Superintendent, his mouth..." Chiba started. "Takagi's moving his mouth to try and say something. But it's not straight-on footage and with the snow, blocking the view, it's hard to read his lips."
"Komamae." Conan expressed. "The only consonants that can't be said without closing your mouth are 'm', 'b', and 'p'. If he's trying to tell us where he is, then out of those three places, the only place with those two letters in is is Komamae."
"Megure, Komamae Town." Matsumoto barked down his phone. "Hurry to Komamae Town. Takagi's there."
In the police helicopter...
"I see him." Sato shouted. "Right of the helicopter, straight below."
"Takagi spotted." Megure relayed back. "The location is near Komamae Town's third district. No accomplices visible. There's less than two minutes."
"Inspector, evacuate the neighborhood and any passers-by with the megaphone." Sato ripped her headphones off her ears. Flinging the helicopter's door open, she jumped off. "Takagi!" she barked, her handgun in her hands. "Move your head left and keep still." taking aim, she fired her shot, the bullet cutting the rope around Takagi's neck. She then leapt at the weakened Takagi and tackled him onto the glass below right before the bomb went off.
In the Police HQ...
"The video cut off." Chiba blinked when the footage was interrupted. "He seems fine." he noted, the image coming back on and a kissing Takagi and Sato was seen onscreen.
"Takagi..." the rest of the detectives growled. "He should've just died..."
"By the way, the information that just came in from the Hokkaido Police HQ, the illness that the suspect Fuemoto has was terminal cancer." Shiratori reported. "And the house used in the kidnapping had been brought under a fictitious company name. Renovation contractors had been called in to install a skylight to give the entrance an open ceiling, but it seems they were ordered to stop working for three days."
"Shiratori, please read the atmosphere." Ami deathpanned.
"Nobody's listening." said Inspector sweatdropped.
"Shiratori, I'm leaving the rest to you." Matsumoto instructed. "Megure, they're both fine. You go meet up with Hokkaido Police HQ."
About a month later...
"You still play?" Amuro raised a brow at the viola case Ami brought with her.
"Don't you?" Ami returned the question back at him.
After laying a toothpick at the Date family grave, Amuro stepped back just as Ami opened her viola case and tuned up the string instrument. With her fingers on the strings, she started playing Wada Kaoru's 'Reunion'. Rest in peace, my friend. He deleted Date's last message on his smartphone, he and Ami hid in a corner as Takagi and Sato paid their respects.
Are you alright with this? Ami cast a look at her companion when Amuro pulled her off.
"I'll be." Amuro nodded.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
