SailorStar9: With Chapter 25 uploaded, this is Chapter 26 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 26: The Treasure Chest Filled with Fruits, Part Two


"Right there." Takagi voiced, he and Megure were viewing the security footage in the security room. "Isn't this Takeki-san?" he pointed to the screen. "Looking around as he goes inside the storeroom."

"The question is who'll come next." Megure noted.

"Like I said earlier, it was me." Furuya replied.

"No, the person who came was Producer Taruoka?" Megure frowned.

"Just in case, as a producer, I went to check if the chest had arrived." Taruoka explained. "Because he also warned me 'If the contents leaked out, it'll be your responsibility.'"

"Even so, it was a long time." Takagi noted. "You were inside for 30 minutes."

"I completely forgot where the chest was usually placed." Taruoka stammered. "So, I was searching around for it; the storeroom was spacious and messy."

"The next person was AD Furuya-san?" Megure stated. "You have two young ADs with you. You were also in there quite long, it seems."

"Actually, I quickly finished checking the chest." Furuya admitted. "So, I was smoking. The station is mostly a no smoking zone, and on top of that, there's a lot of AD work, so I don't have the time to smoke. I checked my texts for 3-4 minutes while smoking. Of course, the storeroom is a no smoking zone as well."

"You came out." Megure stated. "You were also in there for about 30 minutes."

"If no one enters after this, you two are the only suspects." Mouri droned,

"Actually, I also entered the storeroom." Kasuga spoke up. "Because I was worried about what Takeki-san said. I had confidence in having locked mine on, but I didn't properly check the TV station's lock."

"It's true." Takagi confirmed. "Kusuga-san did come."

"Like the other two, I was also in there for about 30 minutes." Kusuga confessed. "Because I have to make a thorough examination. I took several pictures to show Takeki-san later. As it was fully locked, I left it at that and went home."

"After Kusuga-san left and before the staff members come to take the chest the next day, it doesn't seem like anyone entered the storeroom. In other words, Producer Taruoka-san, AD Furuya-san, and food coordinator Kusuga-san, among you three, is the culprit that killed Takeki-san."


On stage...

"The suspects have been narrowed down to three." Mouri stated. "But who in the world is the culprit?"

"Moreover, how it was unlocked is a mystery." Sera added.

"By the way, why is there so much filled inside?" Mouri looked at the overflowing chest. "The champion and challenger, just those two alone wouldn't use more than ten during the show."

"You don't even know something so trivial?" Sonoko scoffed. "A full chest is visually more appealing. The excess fruit, after the recording is finished, is given out to the gallery by lottery every time. To prevent it from being too heavy, the chest has a false bottom, they say."

"That's because, every time, they're hard-to-get, rare fruits." Ran supplied. "For that reason, it seems there are many people who apply to be in the gallery."

"So, how is it?" Sonoko prompted.

"Not at all." Sera shrugged. "Not even how they unlocked it."

"Compared to that puzzle, this is not nothing." Mouri spoke.

"That puzzle?" Conan echoed.

"You really haven't noticed?" Mouri rebuked. "Something this important; how could you not have noticed it?" he whined. "It's Yoko-chan's hair. Even in her last live broadcast, it was quite short. Today, it's long. That growth speed is not normal."

"That's probably an exten." Ran supplied.

"It's slang for 'hair extensions'." Sonoko rolled her eyes. "It's hair that you attach."

"In Yoko-chan's case, I think her hair tie hid them well." Ran mused.

"We've taken the pictures." the forensics photographer told his superior. "Shall we take the chest back with us and do a thorough check of it?"

"Are those all the apples that were in the chest?" Conan asked the two forensics officers. "There were some that fell out of the chest and lots on the lid, I thought."

"We put everything inside." the forensics officer replied. "They probably just spilled out after being opened."

"You said the chest is always filled with the themed fruits, right?" Sera frowned.

"Enough for two to three to spill out of the chest." Ran nodded.

"Also, host Kenzaki-san's catchphrase is 'Feast your eyes on these bountiful fruits.'" Sonoko supplied.

With that particular fact confirmed, both Sera and Conan dashed backstage.


Backstage...

"Why don't you let us in?" Sera complained. "It's fine, isn't it? Just for a bit."

"No." Takagi insisted. "This storeroom was where the chest was kept, and it's a murder scene."

"Did you find anything in the storeroom?" Conan asked.

"As of now, nothing related to the case has been uncovered." Takagi answered.

"Then, did anything change inside?" Sera inquired.

"Now that you mention it, when we entered to inspect the storeroom, a young AD was being scolded." Takagi recalled. "He said that a kitchen prop that was to be used for a drama wasn't properly washed. It doesn't seem to be related to the case, though."

"Those three suspects are still here, right?" Conan turned serious.

"We're holding them in a room and all three are insisting that we hurry up and release them." Takagi sighed. "If I remember correctly, Producer Takuoka-san said there's a press conference about this case. AD Furuya-san hasn't eaten anything since this morning and is asking us to let him go out and eat. Food coordinator Kusuga-san wants to go home and feed his dog; I believe."

"Then, we should start soon." Sera declared. "Just a small magic show." she winked.

"Magic show?" Megure echoed as Takagi led the others to the waiting room. "Just to show us that, you called me and the suspects over?"

"Moreover, that person doing it is that tomboy." Mouri scoffed.

"It's here." Takagi led them to the waiting room.

"Welcome to Sera Masumi's House of Magic." Sera sat on the opened chest.

"Don't tell me the thing you're sitting on is the chest the victim is in?" Megure gawked.

"Pretty much." Sera replied. "Incidentally, this chest's lock and key have been assorted."

"I asked the props manager to prepare a similar chest." Takagi assured. "Although, the key is real."

"First off," Sera stood up. "Please confirm that there's nothing inside the chest."

"It looks like there's nothing." Megure drawled.

"Alright then." Sera shut the lid. "Close the lid, fit the iron padlock bar through the holes on the chest, and firmly lock it. With this, you shouldn't be able to open the chest without the key. Then take this key and leave the room for a moment." she handed Mouri the key. "Once you finish listening to Detective Takagi, you can come back in." she pushed the adults out.

"Let me explain. "Takagi took over. "The key, ironically to this case, is the locked chest. Food coordinator, Kusuga-san, locked the fruit-filled chest with the padlock and sent it to the station. The person who received it, Producer Taruoka-san, instructed AD Furuya-san to attach yet another padlock to the chest and send it back to Kusuga-san. Then Kusuga-san removed his padlock himself and once again, send it to the station, where, until they started recording, it was kept in the storeroom for safekeeping. 'How is that Takeki-san's body was in the chest?" is the question. Of course, when Kusuga-san first attached the padlock to the chest, it was confirmed that Takeki-san was not inside by the person who came to pick it up from the TV station, AD Furuya-san. Furthermore, that key has no duplicates and is one-of-a-kind, making the lock difficult to pick. Of course, without a secret door on the chest, how did the culprit..."

"Enough with the introductions." Megure fumed. "Will you hurry up and tell us the answer?"

"Rather than me saying it, showing you would be faster." Takagi chuckled nervously. "The answer is this." he reopened the waiting room door.

"Conan-kun..." Ran gaped. "Where were you?"

"Hiding behind the chest." Conan replied, standing in front of the locked chest.

"Rather, where's Sera-san?" Sonoko wondered.

"Where you do think she is?" Conan grinned.

"Inside the chest?" Mouri fumbled at the lock. "Impossible, it's properly locked."

"Then, why don't you open it and see? "Conan suggested.

"Tada!" Sera shot out from the chest once Mouri opened the padlock.

"We used this." Conan held out a rubber tubing.

"A rubber tube?" Mouri blinked.

"Looks like it's painted with the same gold color as the padlock." Megure added.

"Earlier, we had the props manager make one for us." Conan supplied. "Let me show you. When attaching the padlock, slip the rubber tube over the end of the bar and push it into the hole of the padlock." he demonstrated.

"In that case, with just a twist, you can easily remove the padlock." Mouri stated. "Moreover, the bulge created by the tube next to the holes the padlock goes through is covered by the chest, so it's not noticeable."

"In other words, with that tube, I made it seem like I had locked it, then I removed the lock and hid inside." Sera explained. "Conan-kun, who was hiding behind the chest, removed the tube, and this time, he really locked it. The point of this trick is to show that the padlock, even without the key, can still be 'locked'. Kusuga-san, who knew the chest's contents from the beginning, had no reason to do this trick to open the chest. Producer Taruoka-san, who instructed AD Furuya-san to attach the padlock, also had no opportunity to use this trick. Which means, the remaining one who was instructed by Taruoka-san to attach the padlock and return it, AD Furuya Wataru-san, I think you're the only one capable. At any rate, in order to get the reward for telling the champion what the themed fruit was, you probably opened the chest in the storeroom every time. Last night, Takeki-san hid, caught you red-handed, and it turned into a quarrel. From the force of the fall, he was killed, and in a panic, you hid him in the chest."

"Where's your proof?" Furuya stammered.

"We have it." Conan spoke. "AD-san, it's in your stomach. AD-san, after you put that oji-san in the chest, you drank about ten apples that wouldn't fit in the chest by using the props blender. Displayed on the security camera footage was you, AD-san when you came out from the storeroom holding nothing."

"Even if it's true, they would've been digested in my stomach already." Furuya reminded.

"You don't know?" Conan asked. "Apple seeds contain toxic compounds and if you eat a lot, it can get serious. AD-san, when you put the apples in the blender, you didn't take out the seeds."

"It's okay." Sera shrugged. "If it's just ten apples worth of seeds, nothing serious will happen. However, if you haven't eaten anything since morning, you shouldn't have gone #2 yet and when you do, they'll come out then: the smashed and broken rare apple seeds, that is."


A little later...

"So, you were right about the contest being rigged." Amuro stated.

"It's like Ian Fleming said 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.'" Ami shrugged, serving up her apple tart.

"Goldfinger?" Amuro noted amusedly.

"Hey, I like that movie." Ami pouted.


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