SailorStar9: With Chapter 11 uploaded, this is Chapter 12 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 12: Froth, Steam, and Smoke, Part Two


"Like Conan says, if the room temperature is low, the steam lasts longer, but..." Megure peered at Tsukihara's coffee cup.

"This room is set at 27°C." Takagi looked at the air-con remote.

"When we came into the room earlier, I never touched the Ac remote, right?" Tsukihara reminded.

"That's true." Takagi confirmed.

"No matter how many times we try, the steams disappeared after eight minutes." Megure noted.

"When you hear the scream and left the room, did you notice anything?" Takagi questioned. "For instance, did you see anything suspicious or hear any strange noises?"

"Not really." Tsukihara recalled. "It seemed the people on the floors above were also trying to sue the elevator, but it wouldn't come. So I took the stairs to the first floor, but I didn't see anyone suspicious. Just before I left my room, I heard the sound of a bell coming from Ogino's room next door, but..."

"It's that alarm clock next to the bed." Ogino supplied. "When I'm not waiting for work, I always wake up at 7:30 am. I woke up in the middle of the night, so I watched a broadcast of an international soccer game. So, how's it coming with the foamy froth on the beer?"

"We tried numerous times, but the froth disappears at around six minutes." Megure remarked.

"By the way, when you left your room, did you see or hear anything?" Takagi directed the similar question to Ogino.

"When I was descending from the stairs, I heard Sodesaki going down the stairs below me." Ogino recalled. "That guy always has a bunch of keys on his hip which jangle when he runs."

"I have them here." Sodesaki showed his keys. "This bunch of keys. These are the keys to my house, car, office, bike and safe."

"The cigarette butt burns out completely in about nine minutes." Megure mused.

"When we saw your cigarette, it was on the verge of burning out." Takagi pointed out.

"If that's the case, that means you were out of your room for about nine minutes." Megure concluded.

"Of course." Sodesaki fended. "Since the detective arrived to inspect my room last."

"Then, when you came out of your room, did you see anything?" Megure asked. "Like sounds or people."

"When I arrived on the scene, I heard Tsukihara's ringtone in the middle of the road." Sodesaki recalled. It seemed like from an investigative cameraman. The call seemed to be about a scoop photo."

"Inspector, what do we do with those three?" Takagi asked his superior after they left Sodesaki's unit.

"They all have a motive." Megure started. "Let's take them into custody for further questioning."


In the Police HQ...

"An alarm clock, a key ring and a ringtone." Conan mused, after Takagi filled him in. "That's what those three said?"

"Right now, we're questioning them individually." Takagi confirmed.

"So, how did the experiments go?" Conan inquired.

"The beer lasted around six minutes, the steam was around eight minutes and the cigarette smoke was about nine minutes." Takagi recalled.

"Detective Takagi, you look tired." Conan noticed Takagi's yawn.

"Kinda of." Takagi admitted. "I was up all night on a stakeout, so I didn't get any sleep. If I use the eye drops Chiba always carries, I can give the appearance of being lively, but he's still on a stakeout. More importantly, are you okay, Conan? Shouldn't you be heading home soon? Need me to drive you back?"

"I'm okay." Conan replied. "They're parked outside, waiting for me. Besides, once you hear what I have to say, you'll want to go back. To that apartment complex, I mean."


Later that evening...

"Come on, it's past 7:00 pm." Ogino complained. "No matter how many times you try, it's a waste of time. Before we left for questioning, you guys already tried countless times. Immediately after the incident, when the detective and I returned to my room, the beer that I was drinking still had froth in it."

"There was still steam from my coffee." Tsukihara reminded.

"My cigarette was still smoking." Sodesaki stated. "Isn't this evidence that the three of us were in our rooms, right before the incident?"

"By the way, why are you guys experimenting in my room?" Tsukihara twitched.

"I was also wondering, but Takagi said..." Megure started.

"Because if you're here, you'll know who the culprit is." Conan piped in. "The first ones to enter each of their rooms were Detective Takagi and I, so we noticed it."

"I don't know what you're planning, but 'by being here, we'll know the truth.' means that, surely you don't think I'm the culprit who killed President Katsumoto?" Tsukihara demanded. "The culprit avoided the elevator's security cameras and used the stairs. If I had pushed President Katsumoto off the twenty-sixth floor, getting to the front of the building before these two would have been impossible."

"When I arrived, Tsukihara was already there with the crowd." Sodesaki confirmed.

"Then, Sodesaki, why did you come later than her?" Takagi asked. "You also heard a scream and rushed over there."

"I was in the middle of writing an article, so stopping there would be bad." Sodesaki explained. "However, even if I was late, it was only by a minute or two."

"Then, how about Ogino?" Takagi turned to the cameraman. "You arrived after Sodesaki."

"Because it was a scene I couldn't miss." Ogino stammered. "I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. You know, I was watching soccer on TV."

"What kind of scene couldn't be missed?" Takagi pressed.

"I forgot..." Ogino replied. "Someone did a superb pass or corner kick; there was a lot of action, you know."

"So, Ogino was intently watching the soccer match, right?" Conan asked.

"That's right." Ogino nodded. "I was so focused on the match and didn't pay attention to the commotion outside."

"If that's so, wasn't that annoying?" Conan inquired.

"The alarm clock?" Megure realized what Conan was referring to.

"Now that you mention it, before the commotion, I heard it before I left the room." Tsukihara remembered.

"It just turned 7:30 pm." Megure looked at his watch.

"You told us that you wake up every morning at 7:30." Takagi stated. "Why is it ringing now? That's because you ignored the alarm and let it stop automatically, when the time had passed. In other words, it's proof that you weren't in your room. If an alarm is annoying enough that it can be heard from next door, it would be impossible to watch a soccer match comfortably. If you heard a commotion and rushed outside, it's reasonable to think you might have ignored the alarm. If that's true, then you should have been at the scene before Sodesaki."

"I remember." Ogino backpedaled. "Right at that time, I was using the bathroom. I thought 'The alarm clock is ringing but I couldn't do anything to stop it.' After I went to the bathroom, I heard someone yelling that someone had fallen. It made me curious, but I couldn't hold it any longer."

"So, by the time you finished using the bathroom, the alarm had stopped." Megure added. "So then, you went to the scene?"

"After I watched a little more soccer." Ogino remarked. "Besides, what was that you said, Detective? If I were the culprit and I went up twenty-three floors to push the president and rushed to the first floor afterwards, by the time the Detective came to my room later, ten minutes would have already passed. After ten minutes, then the froth on the beer would have been long gone, like those beers right there. However, when the Detective came into my room, there were plenty of froth. Or what? Are you saying I did some kind of magic to make more froth?"

"How strange." Conan picked up a glass of frothing beer. "More froth appeared."

"The froth should have disappeared by now." Megure gaped. "Why?"

"I got this salt from the kitchen and sprinkled some in." Conan replied.

"If you put salt in beer, it makes froth?" Megure blinked.

"Any granule, like sugar or sand, will do the same." Takagi added. "When you sprinkle a bunch of granules on the beer, it exposes more surface area, allowing the carbon dioxide to condense and escape easily, leading to more froth foam."

"So, check it out." Conan offered a glass to Megure. "The glass of beer with no froth. If you sprinkle in some salt..."

"I'm surprised you know such a thing, Conan." Megure gawked.

"I asked Kogoro-oji-san before." Conan replied. "He was poor during college, so to prevent anyone from noticing he was drinking a flat beer, he occasionally sprinkled salt in it."

"By the way, this method is also used when taking pictures of beer." Takagi added. "If there is a frothier head of beer, it looks more appetizing."

"As a cameraman, you would know this trick." Megure turned to Ogino.

"But I didn't have any salt at the time." Ogino protested.

"But when you came into the room, Ogino, didn't you know over a bag at the entrance?" Conan reminded. "That was a gift from a funeral. If so, the bag should contain some of that as well: purification salt."

"You spilled some tea when you knocked over the bag, so you put it back." Takagi continued. "Right then, is when you secretly took out the purification salt, stashed it in your pocket, ripped that bag and pinched some salt. Just before you showed me the beer, you sprinkled some salt, and then showed me the beer with froth. Since you thought of the trick on the spot, even if you threw the wrapper away somewhere, there should be quite a bit salt left in your pocket. Besides, if you pushed someone off the veranda, you probably struggled a bit. Let's assume a scenario where you had to leave the room as soon as possible: President Katsumoto had new carpet installed last night. If we thoroughly inspect that, it would probably appear. There's evidence that you kept calling since last night until this morning. And we'll find evidence that you went to the President's room."

"If it went to court, we would have had a high chance of winning, the layer said so, too." Tsukihara spoke up. "First of all, Ogino, you even said, 'The memory card that contains those multi-shots images has the president's fingerprints on it. So it can be used as evidence that the president had created those photos'. If we can win that court case, there would be no reason to murder the president."

"It disappeared." Ogino sighed. "This morning, we got that text from the president, so I felt uneasy and I went to check. The memory card wasn't in my camera bag. I figured out who the culprit was instantly, so I went to his room and it was just as I expected."

"Classmate?" Sodesaki echoed after Ogino related what had happened.

"When we were in middle school." Ogino admitted. "That's why I knew the other person was her half-brother. Furthermore, those photos weren't taken secretly. They wanted me to send it to them, so I took those photos up front. My assistant misunderstood and he showed them to the president without my permission. That's why she my have thought that I submitted those fake photos and it may have led to her suicide. I could no longer bear it. When I came to me senses, the president was at the bottom, flat like a frog. Even though it was a crime without any preparation, I thought I could trick you guys with the beer froth. To think this thing would cast suspicion on me and become evidence." he dug up the remaining salt from his pocket.

"I've had my eyes on you since I heard you were a cameraman." Takagi spoke up. "That's because you were the only one holding your cellphone and nothing else, when I rushed to the scene. That's why from the beginning, I suspected you."

"But if you heard a commotion, coming empty-handed is plausible." Megure pointed out.

"No, a news reporting cameraman wouldn't forget it." Ogino refuted. "For scene that could become a hot topic, one wouldn't forget their tools of the trade: the camera."


SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.