SailorStar9: With Chapter 19 uploaded, this is Chapter 20 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 20: The Jet-Black Mystery Train: Destination


"But Detective, some of your deductions are hard to believe." Noto remarked. "It's not easy to add links to a chain lock. And if the lamp above my room had been working, the conductor wouldn't have to come to my room in the first place."

"And I called the conductor because the alarm rang on a watch that just happened to be in my room." Idenami added.

"Conductor, you said it yourself earlier, right?" Conan asked. "One of the conductor's uniforms was missing. That was probably Ando's doing. If he wore that uniform and snuck aboard the train amidst the pre-boarding checks. Then he could add a link to the chain lock of the crime scene, replace the bulb for Noto's room with a broken one and hide the watch in Idenami's room. And he remotely made the watch's alarm ring while Idenami was arguing with the conductor to distract him, then Ando, hiding in Room B, wouldn't be noticed using the fishing line to open the mirrored Room C door. The after locking Room B's chain lock under cover of the mirrored door, then all he had to do was close the mirrored door as though he's just come out of his room and approach Idenami and the conductor. This way, you managed to create a situation where though the conductor never left the corridor, he never saw anyone going in or out of the crime scene. Unluckily, just before you opened the mirrored door, Komino and her maid left their room and could've discovered the fishing line, but in the darkness of the tunnel, it probably slipped their notice. At least, I hope they didn't just pretend not to know anything to avoid getting involved in the case."

"But why would Ando kill Murobashi?" Idenami wondered.

"Weren't you two friends who escaped the fire together five years ago?" even Noto was confused.

"I thought so too, until two years ago." Ando confessed. "When I saw a painting at an auction that should've been lost in the fire. When I traced back the ownership of the painting, it eventually led back to Murobashi."

"I see." Amuro realized what happened. "Murobashi stole the paintings from the mansion and set it on fire to hide the theft, causing a lot of victims in the process."

"If he, like the rest of us, boarded this train in memory of the magnate's family and the others who died in the blaze, then I was planning to just force him to confess." Ando sighed. "But while we were waiting together as murderer and victim for the children playing the detectives in the fake mystery quiz, he told me..." he related how Murobashi had bragged about the fire. "And he said it so joyfully, his face flushed in excitement. To think my wife suffocated in that fire in front of me."


With Yukiko and Vermouth...

"You seem to want to cast a smokescreen over us, but your chances of winning..." Vermouth remarked.

"Are huge." Yukiko cut in. "Because Shin-chan got a hold of your weak point, Sharon."

"Could that weak point be something that you being my friend, and therefore, untouchable?" Vermouth inquired.

"Your partners don't know, do they?" Yukiko tsked. "That Shin-chan and that girl were de-aged by that drug. "Despite the fact that if you narrow the search down to primary school age children, finding them would just be a matter of time. Shin-chan told me that there's probably a reason for you to hide that they became children again from the drug. And then there's Itakura Suguru: the CG creator who we actresses all knew from his work in movie special effects. I was shocked when Shin-chan told me that you'd ordered some kind of system from him. I'd heard from my actor friends that you clashed with him on some film set and had bee at each other's throats since. You being you, you probably changed your voice when talking to him over the phone. But that system you put so much effort into ordering; does that have anything to do with why you're hiding their de-aging?"

"That's enough, Yukiko." Vermouth trained a shotgun at her friend. "Just give up. I've already seen through your ridiculous plan."

"Whatever do you mean?" Yukiko chuckled.

"When she learns that we're on board the train, there's only one thing she'll do." Vermouth was certain. "She'll take the antidote and go back to her normal body. If she was killed as a child and found on board, those kids would cry and kick up a fuss. But if she went back to her normal form, even if they found her corpse, then to the children, she'd just be a woman they once happened to meet. They'd be more worried with finding their missing friend and would therefore be more likely to escape the Black Organization's notice. Of course, your son and that Dr Agasa will know otherwise, but they'd never dare say that the corpse was their friend, as she looked before she became a little girl. You must've predicted how she'd react and you were going to take her in before she took the antidote. Then you would've disguised as her and appeared to die in front of us, thus letting her escape the Organization's eyes. But the fact that she isn't in this room means you haven't been able to take her in yet."

"What are you talking about?" Yukiko feigned ignorance, having been maneuvered to the washbasin. "You looked into my suitcase before you threw it out. Did you see any disguise kit in there?"

"Sorry, but I already got rid of it before I dealt with the suitcase." Vermouth corrected. "The disguise kit you'd hidden in this wash basin as well as the bulletproof jacket set up to release fake blood."

"But you haven't found her yet, so you haven't won either." Yukiko insisted.

"No problem." Vermouth assured. "We've already made preparations to smoke her out." pressing a button on her smartphone, she activated the smoke machine inside Car 8 Room B.


In the corridor of Car 8...

"Ando, let's leave the rest to the police." Noto stated.

"What's all that smoke?" Idenami gaped, seeing the rising smoke emitting from Murobashi's room from the corner of her eye.

"I'll check." Amuro hurried over. "Fire?" he winced, opening the door. "There's a fire. Everyone, we have to evacuate to the front of the train."

"Wake up, oji-san!" Conan barked, waking Mouri. "You too, granny, hurry."

What the hell are you playing at? Ami leveled a skeptical look at the tanned blonde.

"This is an emergency announcement." the Car 7 conductor reported over the intercom. "A fire has been reported in Car 8. For your safety, the passengers in Cars 6 and 7 should evacuate to the Cars in the front of the train."


In Car 6, Room B...

"Just as we thought." Vermouth chuckled, taking a peek outside and seeing the flustered passengers flee to the front when another smoke machine activated under the conductor's chair. "All the passengers in Car 8 are pyrophobic. They've stirred the place into quite a panic. So here's the big question: in this situation, where do you think she'll go?"

"She'll run to the front of the cars, of course." Yukiko replied.

"Just the opposite." Vermouth refuted. "What she'll do is most likely..."


In the corridor of Car 8...

Miyano Shiho had snuck back into Car 8.

"You really are Hell Angel's daughter." Amuro stated, appearing behind the younger female. "You look just like her. A pleasure to meet you. My codename is Bourbon."


In Car 6, Room B...

"Knowing her, she'd go straight to Car 8, the source of the fire." Vermouth declared, after overhearing from Mouri that Haibara was missing. "She'll realize the fire is a trap laid by us to draw her out."

"She thought you'd be waiting for her at the front of the train." Yukiko noted. "So she went to the back instead."

"You don't get it at all." Vermouth tsked. "Her friends will also be evacuating into the front Car. If she, who's being targeted, goes there, they might end up getting involved. That's why she'd decide to head into the fire instead. Even if she knows we'll be waiting, as she would prefer to die alone."

"My phone..." Yukiko blinked, when her smartphone rang. "Shin-chan..." she noticed the caller in the screen.

"What's wrong, Shin-chan?" Vermouth took the call, using Yukiko's voice and silencing Yukiko with one hand.

"Mum, we're in trouble." Conan voiced from the other side of the line. "I can't find Haibara anywhere. Is she with you?"

"She didn't come to my room." Vermouth replied. "Maybe she evacuated to the front of the train? It'd be easier to hide herself in a crowd."

"I'll check the front." Conan responded. "Mum, you stick to the plan."

"With that, your son will also head to the front Cars." Vermouth ended the call. "And here's an email from my partner. Seems we've found her in Car 8. Looks like we win."


In the corridor of Car 8...

"Bourbon," Amuro repeated. "Do you recall hearing this codename before? I've met your family before."

"I've heard of you." Shiho replied. "You're a member of the Organization and rival to my sister's boyfriend, Dai Moroboshi. From what my sister told me, there was a lot of antipathy between you two."

"Indeed." Amuro agreed. "Just as I suspected, he turned out to be an FBI dog. I couldn't believe the reports that he'd been killed after betraying the Organization. So I disguised myself as him and wandered around people close to him, to watch their reactions. But all I could figure out from that is that he is really dead. Anyway, my partner who helped me make that disguise is the one who's now disguising him in my place. The fact that you appeared before me shows how much she terrifies you. Would you out your hands up and slowly walk backwards? We'll go to the luggage car behind Car 8." he poised a shotgun in front of Shiho. "Please open the door and head inside." he herded Shiho into the luggage car. "Fear not, I intend to take you back to the Organization alive. I'm going to destroy the link between these two Cars with an explosive and break off the luggage car." he set the bomb on the connection plate. "After it stops, my partners will come and collect you. Until then, I'm afraid I'll have to knock you out. But don't worry, you'll be sleeping at a safe distance from the door, so you don't need to worry about getting caught in the explosion."

"Apparently, I do have to worry." Shiho cut in. "This luggage car is filled with explosives. Looks like there was a slip up in your preparations."

"Guess I have no choice." Amuro relented. "How about you come this way?"

"Sorry, but I decline." Shiho shut the luggage car door.

"You're as difficult as they said." Amuro snorted. "I might have to get a little rough with you. Vermouth?" he turned, hearing the car door open. "Sorry, but she's coming with me. A grenade?" he gaped when a live grenade was tossed into the luggage car. "Who's there? Who are you?" he demanded. "Damn it." he cursed, the explosive he planted exploded, breaking Car 8 off. Moments later, the stilled cars exploded on the bridge.


In Car 6, Room B...

"That's the end." Vermouth smirked. "I waited for the sound of my partner destroying the link to the luggage car before I detonated the bomb, so the train won't derail."


Upon reaching the nearby station...

"But I was so surprised." Mitsuhiko gushed. "I had no idea Haibara was in Car 7, Room B."

"It was free because of it was that dead guy's room." Genta added.

"Quiet." Professor Agasa chided, with the unconscious Haibara on his back. "Mizuno-san gave her some flu medicine, so she's going to have to sleep off her cold."

I see. Vermouth realized. They figured out if she'd run to a room, it's be that one, so Yukiko was waiting for her there and hid her. So that kid's phone call back then... it was an act trying to keep me stalled in Yukiko's room. But wait,then who was that? Who was the girl who blew up in front of Bourbon? Don't tell me it was that special guest?

"This sucks." Sonoko complained. "Now Kid-sama won't be able to come on board the train."

"Sorry, sounds like things heated up a bit." Conan apologized over the phone.

"I didn't sign up for this." Kid snarled, having fled on his glider. "What was that with those dangerous guys? If I hadn't hidden my hang glider in the luggage car just in case, I'd have been fried."

"Since it's you we're talking about, I just figured you'd be prepared." Conan waved off the thief's concerns. "Consider yourself out of my debt. And remember to return that phone to the Detective Agency."

That damn kid... Kid glared after Conan hang up the phone, recalling how the boy had roped him into his plan.

I see. Vermouth smiled. That was indeed the ultimate cast, Yukiko. She turned to see her fellow actress walk out with Ami.


Later, in the Noritake Garden's Chimney Plaza...

"It's been a while since I've seen you do a carbon drawing." Amuro poked his head over Ami's shoulder, momentarily startling her in mid-sketch.

"If I didn't know any better, I'll say this isn't a coincidence." Ami drawled.

"Whatever do you mean?" Amuro beamed. "By the way, I saw you leaving the station with Kudo Yukiko." he recalled.

"Didn't you know?" Ami grinned. "I'm Kudo Yosaku's novelist illustrator."


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