SailorStar9: With Chapter 41 uploaded, this is Chapter 42 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 the pairing.
Pairing: Established!Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami
Chapter 42: The Comedian Who Turned Himself In, Part Two
The next morning...
"Oji-san, it's time for breakfast." Conan called out.
"Where's Ran?" Mouri found Ran missing from the dining table.
"She left early this morning for a karate match." Conan replied.
"Things really worked well for him." Mouri noted, turning off the TV as Dodonpa's press conference was replayed. "He was thrust into the spotlight and he's the man of the hour."
"Watching him TV, I thought he was an unpleasant man with a strong personality, but he's a really nice guy." Conan noted.
"With his sudden spike in popularity, he must be getting a lot of offers and raking in the cash." Mouri remarked.
"Detective Takagi." Conan returned to the building and finding Takagi at the rear entrance. "Kogoro-oji-san asked me to check out the crime scene. He seems to be really stuck on this case. Did the suspect use this emergency staircase to enter and exit the building?"
"The landlord hasn't seen anyone suspicious." Takagi confirmed.
"He was also wondering about the metal pipe that was the murder weapon." Conan recalled.
"There was a construction site on the way to the Beika Station." Takagi stated. "Apparently, it was brought from there."
"Takagi-san." Chiba ran in. "Everyone spoke highly of the victim, Tendou-san. They said he was not the type to extort someone."
"That's completely different from what Dodonpa-san said." Conan piped in.
"You received a call from the suspect?" Takagi echoed after receiving a phone call.
In the Police Headquarters...
"The police department just received a call from the suspect." Megure stated. "Saying Tendou-san had been extorting her. She called from a public phone and I already sent some investigators there. Based on her language though..."
"It's a woman." Takagi nodded. "Got it."
"The culprit's a woman, huh?" Chiba mused.
"It's a woman?" Dodonpa entered. "I thought I might be able to help you find the murderer."
"I think it'll be okay." Conan assured. "Kogoro-oji-san says he already know who the true culprit is. He said all he needed was evidence."
"Can I believe you?" Dodonpa was skeptical.
"He is a great detective." Takagi pointed out.
"You're right." Dodonpa reached into his breast pocket. "The 'Sleeping Kogoro' is famous."
"Dodonpa-san, you dropped your pachinko parlor tissues." Conan picked up the unopened tissue pack.
"I can understand the suspect being a woman." Dodonpa reclaimed the tissue pack. "She must've been easy to extort." he lit up a cigarette.
At the convenience store...
"He's right." Okamoto confirmed. "It was the same every morning. I even asked him why once. I can see why he liked her so much." he recalled Tendou saying that he had the habit of watching the 8:00 morning program while eating.
At Suda's place...
"Suda-san, you don't really pay too much attention to the time, do you?" Conan asked, now accompanied by Mouri.
"I'm completely indifferent." Suda bragged. "Once I enter my studio, I don't stop painting. When I get tired, l lay down over there." she pointed to the sofa. "That's my life."
"If you don't have a TV, radio of cell phone, that wall clock is your only way to tell time." Conan concluded.
"That alone is enough for me." Suda replied.
"Shut up." Mouri hammered a punch on Conan's head. "I wanted to asl you about yesterday."
"I already told the police." Suda reminded. "Two nights ago, Dodonpa-san called to say he would stop by at 9:00 the next day and he came yesterday at exactly that time."
"Did you confirm the time using that clock?" Mouri asked.
"That's right." Suda nodded. "It was exactly 9:00, just like he said."
"Yesterday, when the police came, it seemed you were sleeping" Conan started. "Do you always take naps?"
"Yesterday was special." Suda replied. "I must've been really tired. When chatting with Dodonpa-san and eating the cake he bought, I started to feel tired."
"One more question." Conan stated. "Do you lock the door to the studio when you sleep here at night?"
"Nope." Suda answered. "There's nothing here anyone would want to steal."
On the streets...
"Thank you." the pachinko parlor promoter handed Mouri a pack of tissue.
"Do the machines pay out well?" Mouri demanded.
"If they could talk, they'll be begging you to stop." the promoter declared.
"Nii-san." Conan voiced, after Mouri ran to the newest pachinko parlor. "Were you handing out those tissues yesterday?"
"I started handing them out just before 10:00 yesterday." the promoter replied.
"Did you give any to someone you recognized on TV?" Conan inquired.
Outside the building...
"I heard he determined the identity of the suspect." Dodonpa ran up to the building entrance, seeing Megure, Takagi and Chiba had also gathered. "I received a call from Mouri-san on my way to work."
In the crime scene...
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mouri-kun." Megure entered the room.
"Inspector, I heard you determined the identity of the suspect." Mouri greeted.
"You're the one who called me." Megure reminded, just as Conan fired his tranquilizer dart at Mouri.
"Now then," Conan took over. "Let's discuss the truth behind the murder of the talent agency president, Tendou Hideki."
"We know a woman is being extorted." Megure related.
"You mean that phone call?" Conan noted. "That was just a trick the suspect pulled to draw attention away from himself. The story about Tendou extorting someone is a lie. Isn't that right, Dodonpa-san? After all, you're the one who killed Tendou-san. You did turn yourself in for his murder."
"We already determined his confession was false." Megure reminded.
"I'm so sad." Dodonpa remarked. "You don't understand my desire to protect Tendou-san's reputation, even if it meant bearing the guilt of a murder didn't commit."
"It's not that I don't understand." Conan corrected. "You didn't even feel a shred of that desire."
"Then, why would I turn myself in?" Dodonpa asked. "I have an alibi for yesterday at 9:00 when the president is murdered."
"You're a vicious man to manipulate a police investigation." Conan stated. "Yesterday morning, you secretly came to Beika City around 80. You stole a metal pipe from a deserted construction site, hid it inside a club case, and took the emergency staircase to arrive at this office around 9:00. After committing the crime, you hid the weapon behind the apartment, hurried back to Akebono City and visited Suda-san's studio at 10:00 am."
"I visited her at 9:00." Dodonpa insisted.
"Even Suda-san said it was 9:00." Takagi agreed.
"What if that clock were running one hour slow?" Conan posted a question.
"That's not possible." Takagi protested. "We checked it ourselves when we went to talk to her."
"He returned the clock to the correct time before the police came to check on it." Conan explained. "Two nights ago, you must have waited for Suda-san to fall asleep before breaking into her studio. Suda-san, who was indifferent to time, wouldn't notice her clock were running one hour behind. You made Suda-san believe you visited her at 9:00. Additionally, you put sleeping pills in the cake you brought for her. Then, you returned the clock to the correct time. Yesterday morning, you got into an argument with someone near Suda-san's studio. It happened just before 10:00. You had art books then, so you must have returned them later. We'll know the truth once we check the fingerprints on the art books: the fingerprints belonging to the person handing out the tissues. His fingerprints could only have gotten on the books when he picked them up after getting into an argument with you, Dodonpa-san. After creating your false alibi, you headed back to Beika City you left Beika Station at 11:00. You made the metal bat appear to be the murder weapon and turned yourself in at the police station at 11:30. After turning yourself in for the murder, you waited for the real murder weapon and your alibi witness to be found, so the police investigation would remove suspicion from you."
"Why would you do that, though?" Megure was puzzled.
"He was trying to kill two birds with one stone." Conan answered. "The press said they learned you turned yourself in for President Tendou-san's murder from an anonymous tip. However, at that time, the only person could've released that information is you, Dodonpa-san. You're the only one who could've done it. You told the reporters who gathered your touching tale. You used your unexpected confession to make the world believe you were a good person and become the center of attention."
"That's right." Dodonpa grinned. "That president is too old fashioned; he thought comedians should only put up comedy shows. Entertainers want to rake in the cash doing anything they can. That's why I had him get out of my way by disappearing. I got exactly what I wanted; the jobs keep pouring in. After all, my popularity is skyrocketing and I'm the man of the hour."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Megure barked. "What do you think a human life is worth?"
That weekend...
"That case really got to you, huh?" Amuro joked, watching Ami flit about her kitchen preparing a batch of cinnamon bun dough. He knew her well enough to know that baking cinnamon buns as a way for her to work out her frustrations.
"I get enough headaches from it." Ami bemoaned, popping the baking tray into her oven toaster.
Amuro just chuckled and lifted the cardboard cake box he bought along. "How about a slice of soufflé cheesecake while we wait?"
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
