SailorStar9: With Chapter 24 uploaded, this is Chapter 25 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.

Pairing: Developing!Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami

Chapter 25: The Treasure Chest Filled with Fruits, Part One


Time passes...

"It's definitely the tropical strawberry parfait." Ran insisted, she and Sonoko were watching the 'Which Sweets Show' on TV one night at the Mouri Detective Agency.

"No, today'll be the gorgeous strawberry chiffon cake." Sonoko was certain.

"I will now announce it." Kenzaki Osamu read from his cue card. "The winner of tonight's strawberry battle is the creator of the tropical strawberry parfait, Kurimura Shuuhei, the pâtissier: the defending champion."

"I thought the champion was going to lose today." Sonoko whined.

"Isn't he amazing." Ran gushed. "He's been the champion for six weeks in a row."

"Now then, let's meet again next week on 'Which Sweets Show'." Kenzaki ended the show.

"Delinquent girl." Mouri looked up from his newspapers. "Don't you have to go home? It's almost eight."

"Preview." Sonoko replied. "The preview. Next week, from the show galley, Ran and I are going to watch. This was thanks to my father's connections, but do you want to come?" she offered.

"Who would want to go on such a mushy, lame food show?" Mouri scoffed.

"How unfortunate." Sonoko started. "Apparently, Okino Yoko-chan is appearing as a guest judge."

"Please allow me to go, Sonoko-ojou-sama." Mouri immediately change his tune.

"With your rental car, would you escort us?" Sonoko requested.

"As you wish." Mouri bowed.

"But I need one more since I was asked to invite five people." Sonoko mused.

"My mom said she had to work, so..." Ran trailed.

"Then, how about..." Conan spoke up.


Meanwhile...

"I can't be the only one who thinks this literally screams 'rigged', right?" Ami deathpanned, after the 'Which Sweets Show' ended on her plasma television set.

"Is that so?" Amuro wondered, setting the dining utensils.

"Kurimura has been winning for six weeks straight, Amuro-san." Ami rolled her eyes.

"You may have a point." Amuro conceded. "I don't even want to know how you came up with recipes like this." he looked down at the two plates of roast yuzu chicken with Japanese slaw on the dining table.

"Google is your best friend." Ami grinned, bringing out two sake cups and a three-quarters full bottle of Umeshu Choya.

"I thought you don't touch liquor." Amuro quirked a brow, recalling their Police Academy days.

"You aren't the only one who changed after seven years." Ami reminded.

"Yokan, huh?" Amuro looked at the jelly squares Ami had set as dessert. "Am I designated as a lab rat for this new creation?"

"I don't recall the five of you complaining about test-tasting my foods back at the Academy." Ami teased.

As to how this development came about, we flash back to the weekend after the Bell Tree Express case.


Flashback

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you're stalking me." an unfazed Ami stated, her bowl of tofu salad was in front of her with a cup of espresso.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." a grinning Amuro took the empty seat across her, before calling for a waitress to place his order for salmon salad. "Mizuno, give it to me straight." he looked sternly at the younger woman. "Do you hate me?"

"What brought this on?" Ami asked, swallowing her bean curd cube.

"You haven't been exactly cordial." Amuro answered.

"I don't hate you." Ami replied, matter-of-factly. "What I despise is the situation that led us bedding each other seven years ago." at Amuro's confused look, she added. "How much of that night do you remember?"

"Not much, I'm afraid." Amuro admitted. "I do recall being completely out of it."

"You were." Ami rolled her eyes. "I'd like to think it's Hagiwara-san's idea to pile you with alcohol. Matsuda-san, on the other hand, slipped me a roofie, which also doubles as a mild aphrodisiac."

"Those guys..." Amuro's eyes widened at the implication. "They won't..."

"They did." Ami confirmed.

"Well," Amuro winced, as he recalled their conversation the following day. "Is there any way I can make this up to you?"

"Five years." Ami started. "My verbal agreement with Chief Kuroda is for five years. Convince me to stay."

"Challenge accepted." Amuro smirked.


The next day...

"I can go with you guys?" Sera gaped after Ran informed her.

"Conan-kun insisted." Ran nodded.

"Don't stand out too much and catch Judge Takeki-san's attention." Sonoko warned.

"Takeki-san?" Sera echoed.

"You don't know him?" Sonoko grinned. "He's the leader of the pâtissier group in Japan. The Legend of Sweets: Takeki Shoutoku."

"Does something happen if he catches your attention?" Sera wondered.

"During the show, Takaki-san will choose from the gallery one person and give that person a taste of one of his homemade sweets." Ran explained.

"And if you correctly name the fruits he uses, you get to eat the winning sweets." Sonoko added. "If you guess wrongly, you're removed from the studio."

"The current champion won six times in a row, but Takeki-san's scores are always stingy." Ran noted. "By the way, the champion, Kurimura-san, is opening another store."

"But you know, don't you find that champion suspicious?" Conan pointed out. "Like yesterday; he coincidentally brought ice cream and jelly that suited the strawberry theme."

"What are you saying?" Sonoko glared. "The champion is cheating is what you are saying?"

"I don't think that's true." Ran remarked. "Even before opening the chest, the TV staff doesn't know what the themed fruit is."

"By 'chest', you mean that archaic iron chest that opens at the beginning of the show?" Conan questioned. "Can't a TV staff member just peek in without getting caught?"

"It's designed so that you can't." Sonoko insisted. "Every time, an expert fruit selector fills the chest up, but after filling it, he temporarily locks it and sends it to the TV station. The director who receives the chest then places a different lock on it and sends it back to the expert's home. The expert then unlocks his lock, and again, he sends the iron chest back to the TV station, where at the beginning of the show, the producer entrusted with the key opens it. That's when we all find out what the fruit is."

"A pastime trick, huh?" Sera noted. "Unlike now, when there aren't any communication devices in the past, that's how they relayed secret messages. With that method, only the ones with the key can see the content. Anyway, what should I do to be unnoticed?"

"The gallery is filled with girls." Sonoko stated.

"How about you wear some girly clothes?" Ran suggested.


The following week...

"Excuse me, but are you the Great Detective Mouri Kogoro-san?" Furuya Wataru voiced, beside Mouri. "I have something to ask you backstage." he led Mouri backstage.

"Welcome to my cooking arena." Kenzaki started his usual opening. "Please enjoy tonight's sweet nightfall. Before I introduce tonight's fruits, I shall introduce two guests to my arena. One of them is a returning visitor, Okino Yoko-san. And the other one is the great detective who silences crying kids, Mouri Kogoro-sensei."

"Is it true that Takeki-san is missing?" Sera thought to ask.

"The staff were saying they couldn't get in touch with him at all." Ran nodded. "He hasn't come to the studio, nonetheless the TV station."

"He's going to open the chest." Sonoko pointed to the stage.

"Now then, challenger pâtissier Enokido Claire and champion pâtissier Kurimura Shuuhei." Kenzaki introduced the two pâtissiers. "Will strip the fruit that'll be revealed tonight. As always, Producer Taruoka-shi would hand me the key that was sealed away in a safe at Touto Bank." retrieving the key, he knelt before the locked chest. "And I'll open this chest containing the forbidden fruit."

"Such a padlock can probably be forced open by anyone." Sera scoffed.

"Looks like it, but an electric chip is embedded and it's custom-made." Ran explained. "If you insert a foreign object into the keyhole, a buzzer will ring. I also heard the key is difficult to duplicate."

"Now then, let's have a look." Kenzaki declared. "Today's fruit is..." he pulled the chest open to discover Takeki's dead body in the midst of the apples in the chest.

"Isn't that Judge Takeki-san?" Sonoko stammered.

"Wait, Conan-kun." Ran called out, Conan pushing his way through the audience and made his way onto the stage.

"Stay back." Sera held Ran back. "From here on out, it's our job."


On stage...

"No good." Conan checked Takeki for a pulse. "He's already cold."

"Looks like it." Sera agreed, lifting Takeki's head. "The cause of death is most probably the wound behind his head. Judging by the degree of rigidity, he's been dead for more than half a day. There's blood on the inside of the chest, which means when the chest was open, he must've passes away after bumping against it. He was then packed alongside with the apples."

"Is Takeki-san really dead?" Kenzaki asked.

"Yeah." Sera nodded. "So, contact the police right away. Also, it would help if you have the audience wait in a separate room. Someone may have seen something."

"If that's the case, I'll call Detective Mouri here, who's in a different room." Kenzaki suggested. "Is that alright with you, Conan-kun?"

"Are you two acquaintances?" Sera blinked.

"Kenzaki-san acted as Detective Samonji." Conan supplied. "I met him in a previous case."


Later...

"Is that so..." Megure noted. "In other words, inside the chest full of fruit using during the cooking showdown, was Chief Judge Takeki-san's corpse?"

"It looked like nobody was able to contract him." Kenzaki supplied. "Who would've thought he was placed inside the chest."

"The chief judge was missing yet you started recording?" Megure questioned.

"As his replacement, I, who just happened to be here, was selected among the gallery, Inspector." Mouri piped in.

"Is the rumor I heard about the chest key true?" Takagi asked. "I believe you guys placed two locks on it or something."

"Yes." Taruoka Toshihide confirmed. "First, the food coordinator, Kasuga-san, fills the themed fruit in the chest. Then it's sent to Nichiuri TV. I, who received the chest, attach another lock and send it back to Kasuga-san. Kasuga-san unlocks his lock and sends it back to us. Kenzaki, the MC, gets the key from me at the beginning of the show. He then unlocks it and we find out what the themed fruit is. That's the gist of it. To perfectly conceal the themed fruit, this method was brought up by Takeki-san himself."

"That means, the corpse was placed in the chest when Kusuga-san first locked it, or when you last had the key." Megure concluded. "It could be either of you."

"I hand the key to the MC during the show." Taruoka explained. "Until then, the key is stored in a safe at Touto Bank. So, I didn't have it at hand. As for the lock, I store it inside my desk and have my AD put it on."

"Who's the AD?" Megure inquired.

"The person right there, Furuya-kun." Taruoka turned to Furuya. "I always have him lock it and leave him in charge of the chest."

"So, he delivers the box, too?" Megure wondered.

"Even though I'm in charge, that doesn't mean I constantly keep watch." Furuya protested. "I leave the carrying to a younger AD and I just chaperon. I sometimes go alone to the storage room and check if the lock is broken."

"Then, if you sniff the chest, can't you tell what the themed fruit is?" Takagi asked.

"That's impossible." Furuya insisted. "On the lid, similar to the fridge doors, there's a seal installed."

"Then the only option is the first person to put a lock on it, which is Kusuga-san." Mouri mused.

"Come to think of it, a different staff heard Takeki-san asking for Kusuga-san's address last night." Takagi recalled.

"Then, he might've went to Kusuga-san's place..." Megure gaped.

"It's true that Takeki-san came to my place last night." Kusuga confirmed. "It was soon after I finished filling the fruits and before the staff came to pick up the chest."

"Kusuga-san, why are you here?" Taruoka wondered.

"I was called over by Takeki-san." Kusuga replied. "He told me he was finally going to capture the snitch and expose them on the show, so I should come here as soon as possible."

"So, the reason Takeki-san went to your place was to..." Takagi prompted.

"He came to check the lock I put on and to nail me, I believe." Kusuga replied. "The only one who knows what's inside the chest is me. He accused me of leaking it to an outsider."

"What was Takeki-san doing at that time?" Megure inquired.

"He missed the staff who came to pick up the chest and left." Kusuga answered.

"Two young ADs saw him, so there's no doubt about it." Taruoka confirmed.

"Furthermore, I don't understand Takeki-san's actions." Takagi pondered. "Why did he go so far in checking the chest?"

"It completely looks as if he knew the content was already exposed." Megure agreed.

"Maybe he thought the content was exposed by the six-time champion, Kurimura-san?" Conan piped in. "It looked like the champion always brought ingredients matching the themed fruit. So maybe he thought the champion already knew what was inside the chest."

"In the past, Takeki-san used to say 'Luck is also talent'." Taruoka added.

"What bothers me more is that Takeki-san, in addition to the studio, didn't come to this TV station." Sera started.

"If that's the case, when did the corpse actually get put inside?" Megure was puzzled.

"Inspector Megure." Chiba ran in. "Apparently, Takeki-san mixed in with the extras of yesterday night's historical play and snuck into the TV station. The historical play's director and Takeki-san were acquaintances. I heard it was to lower his enemies' guard."

"He made us think he wasn't at the TV station to prevent the enemy from getting away easily." Kenzaki followed Takeki's thought train.

"If that's the case..." Mouri stated.

"Takeki-san might've hidden in the room where the chest was stored but got ambushed by the culprit, which is very likely." Sera pointed out. "The portion where the lid is aligned and the inside have traces of blood wiped off." she pointed to the chest. "Doesn't that mean the place where the chest was is the crime scene? Takeki-san was murdered there. The chest was secretly opened by the murderer."


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