SailorStar9: With Chapter 26 uploaded, this is Chapter 27 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 27: The Figure That Was Too Good


Time passes...

"Look at them all." Mitsuhiko spread his arms, the Detective Boys, along with Professor Agasa were at the Tokyo Big Site where the figure model festive was held. "All of these fabulous figures. A bunch of beautiful dioramas."

"This looks amazing." Ayumi gushed, looking at a miniature nearby.

"Isn't that right?" Mitsuhiko nodded excitedly. "The creator is Kitajima Masahiro-san. He's currently the most popular modeler."

"It's all tiny and stuff." Genta noted. "I don't get it."

"How saddening." Mitsuhiko sighed. "To not know the skills behind it. Conan-kun, what about you?"

"I don't know about railways, but the diorama is amazing." Conan conceded. "One by one, the branches are beautifully reproduced."

"As expected from Conan-kun." Mitsuhiko cheered. "Kitajima is known to be a genius when it comes to reproducing nature. Also, he decided which piece to enter this year's world tournament. It's Kitajima-san." he spotted the star modeler. "You're Kitajima Masahiro-san, right? How do you make such amazing figures?"

"Imagine, I guess." Kitajima replied. "The richer the images you imagine are, the better the figures will turn out."

"Masahiro-san." Kameyama Reika called out.

"Reika, you came?" Kitajima turned to his girlfriend.

"Because this is your big moment." Kameyama grabbed his arm.

"Stop it." Kitajima chided. "People are looking."

"You kids." Morishita Shunichi gestured. "Come look at my figures, too."

"Pretty." Ayumi gushed, when presented with the robot figurines. "The colors are pretty."

"I'm sure you all know, but these are from a really popular robot anime." Morishita stated. "I stayed up all night to make them."

"Mitsuhiko, let's go home." Genta whined as Mitsuhiko entered a model shop to select a model he wanted. "I'm hungry."

"Hold on, please." Mitsuhiko proceeded to pick out his paints. "The Kamen Yaiba I'm making... which color should it be?"

"Someone!" a female clerk suddenly screamed.


In Kitajima's break room...

"This person..." Conan instantly recognized Kitajima as the stab victim.

"Kitajima-san?" Mitsuhiko gaped.

"Hold it right there." Conan shouted, spotting Hiroto Kenji run out of the room from behind the door.

"Out of my way." Hiroto barked, his path blocked by the incoming Haibara, Ayumi and Professor Agasa.

Haibara pulled Ayumi behind her and stuck out a leg, tripping Hiroto.


Sometime later...

"After hearing a clerk cry for help, you guys rushed over and found Kitajima-san on the floor." Megure pulled back the body bag shielding the body.

"We found him." Genta confirmed.

"The victim is Kitajima Masahiro-san." Megure continued.

"He was going to represent Japan: he's a top modeler." Mitsuhiko supplied. "A professional who makes models."

"Got it." Megure sighed. "You kids, go on home now."

"You can't do that." Genta protested. "We even captured the culprit."

"Inspector Megure." an officer reported in. "I've brought Hiroto-san."

"This is the person." Mitsuhiko pointed to Hiroto. "This person is definitely the culprit."

"His name is Hiroto Kenji-san." Takagi read off his notes. "He's a reporter on pro-modelers."

"Is that true?" Megure asked.

"Like I've been telling you." Hiroto insisted. "I just came here to get an interview with Kitajima."

"Then, why did you run away?" Takagi inquired.

"I was surprised." Hiroto looked away. "So, without thinking... above all, it's because Kitajima was like that."

"Isn't he the one?" Professor Agasa whispered to Megure.

"He didn't have any weapons." Megure nodded. "Besides that, Professor Agasa, at any rate, this kind of scene for the kids is..."

"I understand." Professor Agasa took the hint. "Okay, let's go." he heralded the Detective Boys out.

"Detective Takagi." Conan voiced in the corridor. "After Kitajima-san passed away and before we found him, how much time passed?"

"About a few minutes." Takagi replied.

"The murder weapon was a sharp object?" Conan pressed.

"We believe it to be a type of knife." Takagi confirmed.

"You still haven't found it?" Conan inquired.

"We've been looking this whole time, too." Takagi sighed.

"Did you also check the clerk who brought tea?" Conan reminded.

"She wasn't carrying anything like that." Takagi stated.

"That guy's definitely the culprit." Genta insisted.

"I wonder about that..." Conan mused. "Only a few minutes passed between the time Kitajima-san's murder and discovery. So, the possibility of him carrying the weapon is high. Or he might've hid it someplace nearby. But it's not appearing anywhere."

"I wonder where the weapon went..." Mitsuhiko pondered.

"Detective, what am I supposed to do?" Morishita walked up.

"The Inspector wants to talk to you, so please hang on." Takagi requested.

"You guys were here, too." Morishita spotted the Detective Boys.

"What are you doing here?" Ayumi wondered.

"I was in the waiting room the whole time." Morishita remarked. "Then I heard a commotion outside. when I went out, I saw a clerk. She told me something terrible happened to Kitajima-san."

"You were with the clerk the entire time after that?" Conan asked.

"He was with the clerk the entire time." Takagi spoke.

"Was a sharp object near Morishita-san?" Conan whispered.

"Nothing on him or from the waiting room." Takagi answered.

"Isn't that Morishita?" Hiroto stepped out of Kitajima's waiting room.

"The person who did it, isn't it Hiroto-san?" Morishita glared. "You gave awful reviews. You steal figures. When we tell you not to touch, you touch. Kitajima-san went around telling his modeler friends to not get an interview with you."

"Looks who's talking, Morishita." Hiroto scoffed. "You're suspicious, too. I heard you borrowed quite the amount from Kitajima. You couldn't repay it for years, I heard you were crying to him."

"Mashiro-san!" Kameyama ran in. "Is it true? Mashiro-san was killed? Why did this..." she looked on as the forensics personnel took Kitajima's body to the coroner's office.

"Here comes the real show." Hiroto snorted.

"I wondered who you guys were." Kameyama turned. "Morishita-san, Hiroto-san. Aren't you guys the culprits?"

"Give me a break." Hiroto rebuked. "I heard you were having a tough time because of some breakup.

"Breakup?" Kameyama echoed. "As if. Mashiro-san and I promised to get married." she showed off her engagement ring.

"Sounds fishy." Hiroto mocked. "Morishita, you heard the rumors, too."

"Everyone." Megure growled. "Professor, the kids."

"Let's go." Professor Agasa herded the Detective Boys off.

"Where's Conan-kun?" Mitsuhiko noticed the bespectacled boy was missing.


In Kitajima's waiting room...

"Kameyama Reika-san." Megure continued his questioning, not knowing that Conan had hidden by the wall to listen in. "When the incident occurred, where were you?"

"I was outside." Kameyama replied. "After seeing Mashiro-san, I got a text from him. 'Please wait outside at the plaza next to the hall and the river.' However, he didn't show up, no matter how long I waited. When I headed towards the waiting room..."

"From Kitajima-san's cellphone, there was a text sent to Reika-san." Takagi confirmed.

"11:25am." Megure spotted the time. "That's ten minutes before the incident. That means after Kitajima-san sent this text, he was murdered."


Outside...

"The officers?" Conan echoed when Genta pulled him off.

"They're doing something over there." Genta responded.

"Officers, what's wrong?" Conan called out, seeing two police officers bent over a vending machine.

"Between the vending machine and wall, there's something on the ground." one of the officers pointed. "We can't get it."

"I'm small, so I might be able to get it." Conan offered. Squeezing himself into the space, he pulled out a detached brooch with blood stains on the edge.


In Kitajima's waiting room...

"Kameyama-san, have you seen this before?" Megure showed her the bagged brooch. "This brooch."

"That's mine." Kameyama replied.

"A bit of blood was in it." Megure informed. "According to forensics, there's no mistake it belonged to Kitajima-san."

"No way..." Kameyama gasped. "Since yesterday, that brooch... I couldn't find it since yesterday."

"Since what time yesterday?" Megure inquired.

"Since nighttime." Kameyama replied. "I bought a celebratory bouquet. Ever since then..."

"I just remembered." Morishita spoke up. "Actually, I saw it." he related overhearing the argument between Kitajima and Kameyama.

"Is that correct, Kameyama-san?" Megure pressed.

"I did say that." Kameyama nodded. "But I didn't do it."

"I knew you were the culprit." Hiroto laughed. "So, is this how it went? After receiving the text, you didn't want to hear about breaking up, so we went into the waiting room. Ultimately, you two had a fight. Soon after, you went outside the venue and pretended to wait for Kitajima but actually threw the weapon into the river."

'Kameyama-san, it seems you need to explain yourself more in detail." Megure noted.


In the exhibit hall...

"Nice footwork back there, missy." Hiroto praised. "I've no intention of fighting." he pacified Genta. "I may not look it, but I'm depressed. I even missed the scandal."

"You mean on Kitajima-san?" Mitsuhiko echoed.

"Nothing that concerns you kids." Hiroto walked off. "See ya."

"Please wait a minute." Professor Agasa spoke up. "For these kids, Kitajima-san was a hero. If he had a hidden secret, would you mind telling them?"

"It's best to keep dreams as dreams, you know?" Hiroto snorted.

"Knowing the truth will be for their sake." Professor Agasa corrected.

"I guess it's okay." Hiroto relented. "To tell you the truth, Kitajima has a substitute: there were rumors about it. His models on nature stood out among the others. However, he used to be an average modeler before that. But then, he rose up out of nowhere in just a few years. As a bonus, he also never shown anyone making figures himself."

"That's why you came to confirm it and tried to sneak into his room." Conan concluded. "Is this it?" he brought out Morishita's paint set. "Mitsuhiko, is this color similar to the one from Kitajima-san's diorama?" he pulled out a bottle of green paint.

"The Yaiba I'm making has the same color." Mitsuhiko confirmed. "So, the finished pieces should be... there's no mistake about it. It's the same color." he compared the green paint to the green on the trees in the diorama.


In Kitajima's waiting room...

"Professor Agasa." Megure sighed. "Why did you suddenly gather everyone?"

"Sorry, on such short notice." Professor Agasa entered the room. "On the current case, there are a few things bothering me." Conan used his voice-changing bowtie to emulate the professor's voice. "First, Reika-san's brooch that was in the hallway. The brooch had Kitajima-san's blood on it. However, please look carefully at her clothes. There's no blood on her anywhere. When you stab someone, can you pinpoint that the blood would splash on only the brooch?"

"Then, in order to frame her, someone put blood and it and placed it there." Megure realized.

"There's another strange thing." Conan continued. "Morishita-san, it concerns you. When we first met, since you worked all night on your figures, your shirt was smudged with paint. Yet, please take a look at these robots." he had Genta and the others bring in Kitajima's diorama and Morishita's robots. "Those are made by Morishita-san. The colors are vivid. They're totally different colors from his shirt. In Morishita's case of paint, there are paints the same color as the ones on his shirt. That color is oddly similar to the one used in Kitajima-san's diorama." he added, Mitsuhiko bringing out a bottle of red paint and comparing it to the red on the diorama's electric tram. There's a rumor saying Kitajima-san had a sub. Morishita-san, isn't it you who's the sub?"

"I was being used." Morishita broke down. "My mother was sick and I borrowed money from Kitajima. Because of his outrageous interest, my debt inflated. I couldn't repay it."

"Additionally," Conan added. "Kitajima-san, with your figures, was going to enter the world tournament. That would make anyone angry and it's be unbearable. That's why you murdered Kitajima-san."

"No." Morishita snapped. "That and this incident are unrelated."

"But if we put it this way," Conan stated. "Everything would make sense. Last night, you accidentally saw Kitajima-san and Reika-san fighting. When Reika-san ran off and dropped her brooch, you picked it up. Next, you came here today and murdered him. You put his blood on the brooch and threw it next to the vending machine in the hallway. So, you can frame Reika-san. Needless to say, you texted Reika-san to go out; you didn't forget to leave her without an alibi."

"Give me a break." Morishita chuckled. "You're not listening to his stupid story, are you?" he turned to Megure. "I didn't do it. The weapon, where's the weapon? I was carrying no such thing."

"With respect to the models on nature," Conan started. "Kitajima-san was known as a genius. But the truth is that it was actually meant for you, the sub. In your case of paint, this color was inside."

"Natural light green." Mitsuhiko held up the paint bottle. "I use it for my Kamen Yaiba, so I would know."

"In this room, there's a natural object that has the same color." Conan pointed out. He ran over to the bouquet of flowers in the vase on the table and laid out the tulips. "Kitajima-san was saying it; when making figures, it's important to imagine beautiful things. So Morishita-san also tried to imagine it, while looking at the flowers Reika-san bought."

A metal clang was heard when Conan placed a tulip on the table and he handed the colored knife to Takagi, who used a sheet of paper to test out the weapon.

"He painted the weapon beforehand and then committed the crime." Megure noted. "This is Megure." he took the incoming call.

"Inspector, Tox found something rather interesting around the deceased wound." Ami reported in. "Green paint."

"I see." Megure nodded. "Thanks, Mizuno. That was from our coroner." he informed the others.

"It's all Kitajima's fault." Morishita stammered. "Because he told me to make them... I'm not at fault."


That evening...

"Matcha powder?" Amuro quirked an amused brow when he saw Ami pick up a pack of matcha powder and put it into the shopping cart.

"I'm all out." Ami shrugged. "Besides, it's a great topping on ice cream."

"Whatever you say." Amuro snorted. "Speaking of matcha powder, I'm thinking of making matcha cake roll."

"I'll find the recipe for you." Ami rolled her eyes.


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