SailorStar9: With Chapter 45 uploaded, this is Chapter 46 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 46: Teimuzu River Kite Flying Case, Part Two
"You think I drew Renno-san to an area without a rope and made him fall in the river?" Yatsukoshi echoed. "You must be joking. I shouted 'watch out' and tried to stop him. You kids saw it, didn't you?" he turned to the Detective Boys.
"He shouted just before that man fell into the river." Genta nodded.
"He seemed pretty worried to me." Mitsuhiko agreed.
"But we don't know if Renno-san heard his voice." Conan pointed out. "The people around them were shouting instructions to their teammates, too. They were pretty far apart."
"I thought he could hear me, at least a bit." Yatsukoshi admitted. "But after that, I backed away from him, too."
"Even if he couldn't hear you, you could still guide him using gestures." Takagi reminded.
"I didn't do anything like that." Yatsukoshi insisted. "If you think I'm lying, you can watch the video the event operators took to make sure no one was cheating."
"Why do you have to stand so far away?" Megure asked.
"Because I noticed while watching the other kites, that the wind seemed stronger higher up." Yatsukoshi explained. "I thought we could send our kite shooting up by standing far apart. Each team has a limited amount of time to fly their kite, so we had to get it in one try."
"By the way, what is your relationship with Renno-san?" Megure inquired.
"I'm an employee at the café Renno-san manages." Yatsukoshi replied. "I came today so we could win our class event using a kite with our café's logo. The winners' kites are displayed at the city hall, so it's good advertising. We'd have pride when we attended neighborhood association meetings, too."
"Renno and I talked a little just before he fell into the river." Kakura admitted. "He had a relationship with my sister, even though he had a wife. He drove her to attempt suicide, so I asked to speak with him after the event. He was probably punished for his sins."
"Then, you had motive to make Renno-san fall into the river." Megure reasoned.
"Doesn't Yatsukoshi have motive, too?" Kakura stated. "He'd been in love with my sister since high school. His wife, who was furious when I told her about him and my sister, must've had plenty of motive, too."
"Is it true that Renno-san had been speaking to his wife on the phone the whole time?" Megure inquired.
"It seemed that way." Kakura agreed. "If I had led him falling into the river, wouldn't his wife had heard me over the phone? He and I were flying the same type of kite. I doubt anyone would listen to the advice of a rival."
"But you saw Renno-san fall into the river." Conan reminded. "You didn't think to stop him?"
"I was pretty far away when he fell." Kakura explained. "I thought he had approached the river to litter. He was carrying a empty plastic bottle under his arm."
"By the way, what was your relationship with them?" Megure inquired.
"Renno and Yatsukoshi were my juniors on our high school baseball team." Kakura replied. "Even after I graduated, I visited the club to help them out. That's how I knew Yatsukoshi even though he's younger than me."
"Wait a minute." Takami protested. "Why would you suspect me? I was speaking with him over the phone from home using my house phone."
"But the person he was speaking to on the phone is the only one who could have led him between the posts." Takagi indicated.
"If you lived in a tall apartment building, you could see the area from there." Megure added.
"I live in an ordinary two-story house." Takami retorted.
"But if you were video-chatting, you could see a little bit." Conan expressed. "Like the location of the posts."
"If his wife at home told him over the phone to go farther back or move a little to the left, there's no way he would listen." Takami countered.
"Did you hear Kakura-san's voice through the phone?" Takagi questioned.
"He's the brother of my husband's mistress." Takami shrugged. "I could hear him clearly. I already know my husband is having an affair with his sister, though."
"Did he say anything to direct your husband?" Takagi enquired.
"Not really." Takami replied. "My husband I busy using excuses to me. But maybe they spoke secretly. He did tell me to hold on and moved the phone away from his face."
"Maybe he had a call waiting." Conan suggested.
"I didn't hear a hold tone." Takami refuted. "I did hear some rustling as my husband is doing something, though."
"Could he have received an email from someone?" Megure questioned.
"He had a call on the line." Takami snapped. "He couldn't view his messages. I threatened to divorce him if he hung up on me."
In the organizer's tent...
"Just as he said, Yatsukoshi-san's not making any overt movements." Megure noted as he and Takagi viewed the recording.
"He's just drinking his beverage." Takagi agreed.
"We can see Kakura-san just after Renno-san fell into the river." Megure remarked.
"Just like he said, he's pretty far away." Takagi confirmed. "I can't imagine he led Renno-san between the posts."
"Then, that leaves only his wife who called him." Megure concluded.
"But like she said, isn't that impossible?" Takagi reminded.
"That would mean the culprit is someone other than those three." Megure mused.
"You seem troubled." Haibara remarked. "You eavesdropper."
"Ayumi-chan spilled the beans." Conan realized what happened.
"It seems you're being punished for it." Haibara glared. "Your phone disappeared somewhere."
"Ayumi-chan, don't you have it?" Conan gaped.
"I dropped it in front of the bathrooms and someone picked it up." Ayumi replied.
"Shouldn't you try calling it, then?" Conan asked.
"We tried calling it." Professor Agasa answered. "At first, it rang a few times before the call ended. After that, the phone was powered off and we couldn't reach it, no matter how many times we called. Since it's off, we can't look for it by GPS, either."
"Do you remember anyone who was standing nearby when you dropped it?" Conan inquired.
"Someone tripped behind me, but I didn't see their face. "Ayumi recalled.
"That's why I think they mistook it for their own and took it with them." Haibara reasoned.
"Professor, when was the first time you called?" Conan queried.
"After the ambulance left." Professor Agasa remembered. "Because of the incident, I had forgotten all about your phone."
By the river bank...
"We've been telling you, it was impossible for any of us to make Renno fall into the river." Kakura insisted.
"Like you said, it's possible someone manipulated the rope between those posts." Yatsukoshi added.
"But just because my husband was backing up and holding a kite..." Takami argued.
"None of us could have led him between the posts and made him fall into the river." Kakura stated.
"But the rope seems to have been manipulated quite recently." Megure reminded. "I can only imagine it was done to make Renno-san fall into the river."
"Then, how do we do it?" Takami challenged.
"How do you think we led Renno-san between the posts?" Yatsukoshi barked. "I was working with Renno-san to fly our kite, but when he fell, I was far away enough that he couldn't hear me. You didn't' see me make any gestures to guide him."
"I was pretty far away when he fell into the river." Kakura added. "If I had shouted something to him, his wife on the phone would've heard it."
"I was on the phone with my husband until he fell." Takami remarked. "But it wasn't possible for me to guide my husband from the phone. Why do you still suspect us?"
"But there must be some way..." Takagi turned a look at the Detective Boys.
"Maybe there isn't." Conan piped in. "They might have been able to do it if they had psychic powers, though."
"For today, you can leave after we conduct a pat-down search." Takagi turned back to the three suspects.
"You can't be serious." Takami snapped. "Why do we have to be searched? I refused to be searched."
"It's okay." Conan shrugged as the trio walked off. "Once Renno-san regains consciousness, we'll know immediately who did it. Maybe he'll even tell us how they led him to the posts."
"Conan-kun, have you found your phone?" Ayumi thought to ask.
"Not yet." Conan replied.
"Maybe whoever picked it up threw it away somewhere." Genta guessed.
"Don't worry." Conan assured. "We'll probably know who threw it away; my phone was set to record. It'll recorded the voice of whoever picked it up."
"What are you going to do if they take it home to destroy it?" Haibara questioned.
"I'll find it before they do." Conan was certain. "I had the Professor install a special transmitter in the phone. We'll know exactly where it is once we check the computer at his house."
"But what if they erase the recorded data?" Mitsuhiko panicked.
"Don't worry about that." Conan ascertained. "It's locked. It's a four digit code you guys will never crack."
Outside the portable toilets...
"So, it was you." Megure greeted the culprit who had exited from the toilet stall. "Yatsukoshi Takeshi-san."
"What are you talking about?" Yatsukoshi stammered.
"You have Conan-kun's phone, don't you?" Takagi questioned.
"You mean this?" Yatsukoshi pulled out the red cellphone from his breast pocket. "I thought it was mine and picked it up. It's the same model and color as mine. It has a different PIN and I thought I hadn't brought mine today." he handed the phone back to Takagi. "So I thought it was strange."
"It's all clear now." Megure declared. "The person who plotted to make Renno-san fall into the river was you."
"What are you talking about?" Yatsukoshi demanded. "I told you, it wasn't possible for me to lead Renno-san between the posts. How could I have guided Renno-san without any overt gestures when he was standing so far away he couldn't hear me?"
"You called him." Conan cut Yatsukoshi off. "You can call people who are far away with a phone."
"Hello, Ayumi-chan." Mitsuhiko voiced over the makeshift string telephone. "Can you hear me?"
"I can hear you." Ayumi returned.
"A string phone." Conan clarified.
"We found all the materials for a string phone." Takagi supplied. "A long string used to connect the two people and plastic bottles to use as receivers. You wrapped kite string around the bottles, and pretended to drink while issuing instructions to Renno-san."
"That's impossible." Yatsukoshi insisted. "How could I tell him to use a string phone if he couldn't hear me?"
"You agreed some simple signal." Takagi replied. "Like using the string phone when you pull twice on the kite string."
"What proof do you have?" Yatsukoshi demanded. He was taken aback when Conan played the recording on his retrieved phone.
"Because you put my phone in your breast pocket, I was able to record everything." Conan pressed the pause button. "The voice of the demon."
"A voice pattern profile would reveal whose voice it is immediately." Takagi spoke.
"It seems Renno-san just regained consciousness." Megure supplied. "We can ask him directly. I suspect your motive is related to Kakura-san's sister, as well."
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas...
One Niel Ackerman was drowning his sorrows in a pub near the Las Vegas Crime Lab. The CSI gulped down his seventh mug of hard cider, the alcohol kicking into his system as Ami's former boyfriend was brought down memory lane.
Flashback
Snatching up the last piece of his clothing, Niel buttoned up his shirt and looked back at the young woman laid upon the bed. Strands of blond hair plastered to her forehead as she tried to catch her breath. A delirious giggle escaped her lips as she recalled the intense sex she just had.
Saddened to see her lover leaving again, Usagi pouted, "Niel, why don't you stay?" she whined.
"You know I can't." Niel finished dressing. "Ami is waiting for me."
"Oh please." Usagi shrugged. "She spent all of Valentine's alone, who cares?"
Niel stilled at the realization: he had left his girlfriend alone on their third-year anniversary; the one day Ami had specially taken leave on from work, just to spend the entire day with him. "This is the last time, Usagi," he declared.
"What..." Usagi stammered.
"It's over." Niel snarled. "We're done."
Usagi was almost speechless; he was just going to drop her? As if she was nothing? Oh hell no. "Is this about Ami? Niel, she's not good enough for you." she smirked seductively as she made her way over to him. Her hands ran down his back as she planted fluttering kisses on his shoulder. She leaned into his ear and mumbled, "We're meant to be together…"
Niel stood in Ami's now sparse living room with Usagi hanging on his arm, looking from the woman to the suitcase she had with her, then back at her.
"I was never good enough, was I?" Ami asked, seeing Usagi's smug smile. Pulling off the sterling silver promise ring Niel had given her on New Year's Eve, she dropped it on the floor, signaling the end of their relationship. "I'm going back to Japan. There's no need for you to worry about me any longer; I'm freeing you to be with her. Just answer me one last question: how long?"
"Six months." Usagi bragged proudly.
"Then, I hope you two will be happy together." Ami pushed past the new couple and out of her door.
The honeymoon period of Niel's and Usagi's relationship skidded to a halt shortly after Ami returned to Japan and Usagi dumped Niel unceremoniously when she found another hunkier lover.
As to what had happened with Mamoru, after the reincarnated Earth Prince returned from his graduation from Harvard University, he and Usagi had broken off amiably when the rose-tinted glasses were taken off and they realized they weren't as a match in Heaven as they thought they were.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
