SailorStar9: With Chapter 15 uploaded, this is Chapter 16 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 16: Kudo Yusaku's Cold Case, Part Two


"Although we never saw the culprit, perhaps he hid in a police uniform?" Sera mused.

"Is that true?" Sonoko exclaimed. "Like in the movies? The killer is amongst the highest rankings in the police?"

"But you know, Shinichi's dad, I don't think he left the case because of that." Ran pointed out.

"If that's the case, why didn't he talk?" Subaru wondered. "I mean, your famous classmate you talk about."

"You can consult him, can't you?" Sera asked. "That high school detective is your boyfriend, right? Although, he's chasing a case apparently."

"So the landlord is that high school detective." Subaru mused.

"Surely you knew that before living here?" Sera gaped.

"I was told the Shinichi lived here is an average high-school student with not much merit." Subaru confirmed. "Or so I've been told by Ran. I got wind of a rumor that Kudo Shinichi, the high school detective, came back but then died, because he disappeared after solving the mystery. That why I thought Shinichi was a different person."

"I guess he's probably not dead then." Sera reasoned. "I've been involved in two cases with him so far. He was on the phone, anyways."

"But why is there even a rumor that he's dead?" Sonoko was confused.

"I'm sure it's because he's always involved in some sort of case, but he constantly asked for his personal involvement to be withheld." Ran remarked. "He doesn't want to raise suspicion."

"That guy's like a ninja hiding in the enemy's castle." Sonoko scoffed.

"Then why don't we call him now?" Sera suggested. "He doesn't know it's been deemed a theft."

"I need to use the toilet." Conan hurried out.

"If you're going to call him, do you mind passing on a message for me?" Subaru requested.


In the toilet...

"If it's about that case from this morning, that kid with glasses just texted me, that the police want to process it as a theft." Conan, using the Voice-Changing Bowtie took on Shinichi's voice.


In the kitchen...

"In that case, I'd like to bring something else up." Ran voiced "Subaru said Shinichi reminded him of the shinobu Kirigakure Saizou. That's what he said."

"Because he's hiding his whereabouts?" Sera blinked.


In the toilet...

"I got it." Conan finally realized what it was all about. "The mystery of the case. Right now, head to the scene from this morning. If my deduction is correct, then it should match." he exited the toilet, unaware that Subaru was hiding in the corner.

I see. The disguised Akai smiled knowingly. That's how it is.


In the kitchen...

"What'd Kudo say?" Sera asked.

"He'd figured out the case, and we should hurry to the scene to see if his deduction fits perfectly." Ran replied.

"So that means he's also solved that 10-year-old case, and he found out why his ad threw in the towel." Sera mused.

"He didn't throw in the towel." Conan piped in. "Shinichi-nii-chan said, he figured it out but didn't tell anyone else. He texted me right after."

"Anyway, if you're going to the scene to see if the deduction is correct, then there's no getting out of it." Subaru leaned down to Conan's height. "Isn't that right, high-school detective Kudo Shinichi? He said that, right?" he added after a dramatic pause.


Back at the vending machine...

"Just as I thought, not even a police officer." Ran noted, the group had returned to the crime scene.

"It seems like they're so set on it being a theft, they even withdrew from the scene." Sera agreed. "But you weren't expect the corpse to have written that. Since there's a bloody character, it's not weird to consider this a murder."

"Ran-nee-chan, did you bring your wallet?" Conan asked. "Shinichi-nii-chan said that in that text, if you were to line the coins up with the bloody imprint," he laid out six coins. "It matches perfectly, doesn't it? It's not a character written by anybody, the coins fell and the blood poured on top of them, just like this."

"But what about that long skinny gap?" Sonoko pressed. "Are you trying to say the blood didn't cover that?"

"That's likely where the cigarette fell." Sera reasoned. "It became all covered in blood that way. So when he slumped over, his wallet, change, and cigarette fell and he happened to cough up blood onto them. The wallet makes the finishing piece. In short, the corpse of the man we found: he attempted to buy a beer last night, but he ended up falling down after coughing up blood due to his cirrhosis. At that time, everything: the wallet, change and cigarette, fell out. Someone must've come by and taken his wallet and moved everything about. That's why only the bloody kanji is left."

"But surely, could the person who took the money have killed him?" Sonoko questioned.

"I don't think so." Sera replied. "If they didn't take the wallet or change, there would be no fuss about the bloody character. Conan, you figured it out pretty nicely."

"It wasn't me who figured it out, it was Shinichi-nii-chan." Conan chuckled. "He found it crystal clear after what Subaru said. "Kirigakure Saizou was part of the Sanada Ten Brave. So if you think back to the Sanada flag, it has six coins on it. That's how I figured it out that the character wasn't made purposefully, but with six coins."

"So, the death from six years ago: the nursery principal who tripped on one of the stones on the pavement and fell down, shattering the glass fishbowl and piercing his heart with a shard. Are you saying that is a theft, too?"

"But at the scene 10 years ago, there were flowers from the park placed as an offering by the little boy who found the body, but no cigarette." Ran reminded. "Plus I never heard Shinichi say anything about a missing wallet."

"So that case from 10 years ago was a murder?" Sonoko gaped.

"Nope." Sera refuted. "That case, too, had to do with six coins. The first person to find the body, little Nishimura Ryosuke: he thought he was dead, upon finding that he had collapsed on the floor and was not moving. He placed the flowers alongside the body as an offering, along with the six coins that were the toll fee for crossing the river Styx."

"But he's five years old." Ran reminded.

"But he's religious, right?" Sera fired back. "His parents must've told him:; if a deceased person doesn't have those six coins, Datsu-ba near the river Styx would strip you of your clothes nad drag you to hell. The kid probably heard that story and left the coins there and hiding the coins with the flowers used offerings."

"But, even if he is a religious child, I highly doubt he'd be carrying six coins with him." Ran pointed out.

"Then, it must've been something else." Sera reasoned. "Remember he was holding them in the picture?"

"The candy drops with the hole." Ran and Sonoko exclaimed.

"He used them in place of the coins." Sera explained. "They were hidden by the man's left hand and the flowers. Flowing from elsewhere on the body, blood came underneath his palm and it created the ominous bloody character of death. That's why until the y moved the body, nobody noticed the blood character. That's why, even though there is no blood on his left hand, there were still some on his palms and fingers."

"So the long skinny gap is caused by his thumb by covering it." Sonoko realized.

"But there was no candy drops in the picture, though." Ran reminded.

"The dog that kid was taking care of gobbled them up." Sera chuckled. "And scattering the flowers at the same time. In the picture, the dog had no collar and there were candies in his bowl."

"Then why didn't Shinichi's dad just tell the public that it wasn't a murder?" Sonoko wondered.

"That bloody character caused such an uproar amongst the media about it 'being the start of a new string of murders'." Sera stated. "It might've been misconstrued as a bad young boy's prank and he'd be chastised for something he didn't intend to end up as. That's why he must've been convinced to keep it a secret. Seems like as soon as Inspector Megure saw the same imprints as the coins, he figured out the truth. It's likely the inspector at least was told."

"It's not just the inspector." Conan cut in. "At that time, dad was talking to the little boy while smiling throughout. I was just reading the text Shinichi-nii-chan sent me." he explained.

"It's a shame." Sonoko moaned. "We went through this entire investigation without finding who the thief is."

"As far as clues go, I found a 10 yen coin with blood on the underside here." Sera picked up a coin that had rolled underneath the vending machine. "It was underneath the vending machine. If this is a coin that slipped through the culprit's hand, a fingerprint analysis might turn up a criminal record."

"Assault." one of the three robbers interjected. "Infliction of bodily injury. Blackmail. Add the three of us and you get our criminal record." the three thieves cornered the group. "Add theft to that and you got four."

"Think you can return that?" the second robber asked. "It's just a 10 yen coin, after all."

"Catch." Sera grinned and flipped the coin upwards. Side-stepped the first robber who had struck out a punch at her, she leveled a backhanded fist on his face, knocking a tooth out.

Ran's roundhouse kick knocked the second robber to the ground before he could attack Sera with a baton.

The third robber was taken out by Conan's soccer ball when he held Sonoko hostage.

"Case closed." Sera grinned, snatching the falling coin.


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