SailorStar9: With Chapter 48 uploaded, this is Chapter 49 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 do not own Sailor Moon or Detective Conan, I only own this plotline and the pairing.
Pairing: Established!Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami
Chapter 49: The Scarlet Prologue
Time passes...
"Hello?" Shibuya Natsuko took the phone call as she was working late one night in the teacher's lounge of Haido Elementary School. "Oh, Jodie? What's wrong? Did we say we'll go drinking tonight?"
"Have you gotten used to your elementary school teaching job?" Jodie asked.
"Yeah." Shibuya was busy marking her students' test papers. "Everyone loves their beautiful teacher who returned from aboard is what I'd like to say. But it's a lot of hard work. I'm supposed to meet some parents after this." she gave herself a stretch.
"I see." Jodie noted. "I guess you can't go drinking today."
"Yeah, sorry." Shibuya sighed. "Anyway, why are you still in Japan? Your undercover investigation is over, right?"
"I invited you for drinks." Jodie chided. "I've got my reasons."
"Official secrets, right?" Shibuya chuckled.
"That's right." Jodie nodded. "I'll call you later." she hung up the phone.
Outside Beika Café...
"Was that your friend?" Camel asked.
"Yes." Jodie handed Camel his phone back. "She got involved in a case while studying aboard in America. And I saved her. We've known each other since."
"I'm glad she's fine." Ami sipped her pink lemonade. "I was worried she couldn't get over what happened to her from that case."
"That case?" Camel echoed.
"The missing body parts serial murder case." Ami prompted. "You know, the one the spanned over close to three years which started from Oregon before ending in Utah?"
"Oh, that case." Camel recalled.
"She and Ami taught me Japanese and helped me go undercover as an English teacher." Jodie supplied. "I guess Natsuko and I were teacher friends."
Elsewhere...
"So, who are we waiting for?" Vermouth asked her partner.
"Shibuya Natsuko, twenty-eight years old." Amuro showed the older woman a photo. "Elementary school teacher."
"Who is she?" Vermouth was not impressed.
"My client and someone who might help me fill in the last piece I'm looking for." Amuro answered.
"And what piece is that?" Vermouth sighed. "Did someone fall down the stairs?" she and Amuro heard a tumbling sound from the back of Amuro's RX-7.
Amuro looked through the rear window and saw a shadowy figure on the top of the staircase. Waiting for the moon to reappear from the clouds, he left his car after the figure fled the scene.
"Let's go." Vermouth had also left the car. "We can't draw attention to... this woman..." she noticed it had been Shibuya who had fallen from the staircase.
"I think I'll complete the puzzle soon." Amuro grinned.
The next day...
"Kusuda Rikumichi?" Jodie echoed, after Conan informed her, the FBI agent having picked up the boy after school. "The organization spy who infiltrated Mizunashi Rena's hospital. He ran when his cover was blown. Once Shu cornered him, he shot himself in the head. What about him?"
"Tell the FBI to keep it a secret." Conan requested. "The organization's man, Bourbon, Amuro Tooru, is conducting an investigation."
"Did you make me pick you up just to tell me that?" Jodie rebuked.
"Cell phones are easily tapped." Conan reminded. "Besides, there's something else. Maybe Amuro is... wait..." he blinked when Jodie pulled up beside a cemetery. "Why are we here?"
"To pick someone up." Jodie answered and Ami knocked on the driver's seat window.
"Sorry for the inconvenience." Ami took the backseat.
Just then. Jodie's phone rang. "Natsuko's gravely injured?" she gaped. "She fell down the stairs at Haido Park? Which hospital? I'll head right there."
"Actually, we'll like you to come to the crime scene." Takagi spoke over the phone. "We're at the scene where she fell. The history on her phone we found at the park showed she spoke with you before eight last night."
"I called her then." Jodie confirmed. "Did she not fall by accident?"
"According to the person who reported it from a nearby public phone, someone pushed her." Takagi responded.
"Anyway, I'll be right there." Jodie replied. "I'll meet you at the stairs at Haido Park."
At Haido Park...
"Jodie-san." Camel noticed Jodie had exited her rental car.
"Camel, what are you doing here?" Jodie ran up.
"You called her from my phone last night." Camel reminded. "Yours was dead. That's why the police contacted me first."
"Her history showed you called one hour before it was reported." Takagi added.
"One hour?" Jodie echoed. "Natsuko didn't fall today?"
"It happened at nine last night." Megure supplied. "She didn't have her wallet or phone with her. We couldn't identify her until this afternoon."
"But we know she was a teacher." Takagi stated. "We followed the lead and discovered the victim was Shibuya Natsuko-san. Later, we found her phone abandoned inside the park and asked you to come."
"How is Natsuko?" Jodie pressed.
"She dented her skull." Takagi read off his notes. "She made it through surgery but she's still unconscious."
"Natsuko-san was probably attacked because of her money on her way home from work and was pushed down the stairs." Camel reasoned.
"We're investigating that possibility." Takagi agreed.
"How did you know she was a teacher?" Conan spoke up.
"There was a bunch of answer sheets inside her bag." Takagi replied. "Wait, Conan-kun? What are you doing here?"
"They picked me up at the cemetery." Ami supplied. "Takagi, were those answer sheets blank without anything written on them?"
"Actually, they were filled in and graded." Takagi answered. "I think some even scored 100 points and had flower circles on them."
"Then, this isn't the first crime scene." Ami concluded.
"Kobayashi-sensei said you're supposed to take home completed answer sheets." Conan explained. "The school don't want anyone's personal information getting out. Some teachers grade tests at home. But if they'd already been graded, she couldn't have been doing that."
"Which means she was attacked at school?" Jodie pondered.
"The culprit stuffed the papers in her desk inside her bag to make it look like she was attacked on her way home." Camel realized. "They accidentally included the answer sheets."
"If her skull was dented, it's possible she was struck by a blunt object." Megure agreed.
"They must've thought they could trick us by pushing her down the stairs." Takagi concurred.
"Come to think of it, Natsuko said she was going to meet a student's parents that night." Jodie recalled.
"Look through her call history and emails again." Megure instructed. "Anyone who plans to meet her could be important to this case.
In the Haido Elementary School teacher's lounge...
"Inspector Megure, we found it." the forensics officer shone his black light touch on the victim's desk. "There's a luminol reaction on the victim's desk.
"So, this is where it happened." Megure noted. "What about the weapon?"
"We haven't found it." the forensics officer admitted. "The culprit probably took it with them."
"Last night, did any other teachers stay late?" Megure turned to the other teachers on scene.
"Sugamoto-sensei, didn't you say you'd give Shibuya-sensei a ride?" a younger female teacher asked.
"It's dangerous for a woman to walk around at night by herself." Sugamoto Yoshiharu explained. "But when I came to the faculty office, because I thought she'd be ready to go, she wasn't here."
"What time was that?" Jodie asked.
"After 8:30, I think." Sugamoto answered. "I asked security to lock up and I went home."
"What were you doing before that?" Jodie pressed.
"I was organizing the gym's equipment closet." Sugamoto replied. "I'm a PE teacher."
"Sugamoto-sensei, do you have a car?" Conan inquired.
"I do." Sugamoto nodded. "It's engine is acting up, so I came by train today."
"Inspector Megure." Takagi reported in. "I brought them. These are the people who were supposed to meet Shibuya-sensei." he brought Ueno Akiyo and Kandachi Fumiyuki in.
"What's going on?" Kandachi demanded. "The police barged into my office."
"I don't know what's going on, but I need to get ready for dinner." Ueno argued. "Let's hurry this up."
"Last night, a woman was struck here, transported to Haido Park and pushed down the stairs." Megure informed. "It was the woman you were supposed to meet last night, Shibuya Natsuko-sensei."
"Is she all right?" Ueno asked.
"Fortunately, the surgery was a success, but she's still unconscious." Takagi supplied.
"Do you suspect us?" Kandachi realized what this was about.
"In any case, will you tell us why you were meeting with Shibuya-sensei?" Megure cut off all protests.
"I just came to tell Shibuya-sensei to stop seducing my son." Ueno commented. "I don't care if she's from America, her skirts are too short. It's no wonder the children love her and her skimpy clothes."
"But Natsuko's fashion is pretty plain." Jodie pointed out.
"He says he's going to marry Shibuya-sensei." Ueno retorted. "I had to do something. Your skirt seems rather short as well."
"I'm not a teacher." Jodie objected.
"What time did you meet Shibuya-sensei?" Camel asked.
"After eight." Ueno answered.
"What did she say?" Megure questioned.
"She smiled and said she'd be careful." Ueno replied. "I left after about ten minutes. I can't leave me son along for long."
"I came to complain about that irresponsible teacher." Kandachi revealed. "She marked my daughter's answer wrong because her handwriting was poor. I came before nine, but the lights were out and the gate was closed, so I didn't see her."
"Was it really because of her handwriting?" Takagi questioned.
"All her wrong answers were actually correct." Kandachi retorted. "She should've scored 100 with a flower circle, but she gave her a 60 instead."
"Natsuko won't do something so unfair." Jodie protested.
"Want me to show you my daughter's answer sheet, then?" Kandachi challenged. "And she even hired some weird detective. I followed her so I could talk to her at home when he grabbed me by the collar."
"I didn't have a choice." Amuro cut in. "She asked me to investigate her stalker. Sorry I'm late, Inspector."
"His number was in her call history." Takagi informed his superior.
"I really shouldn't be surprised by this, should I?" Ami gave her boyfriend a side glance. "Is this the reason you ditched me last night?"
"I told you I was working." Amuro reminded.
"I thought you were referring to your other job." Ami shot back.
"You two..." Camel blinked at the banter between the couple. "Whatever happened to Ackerman, Ami?"
"I dumped that cheater idiot before I came back." Ami replied.
"But weren't the two of you together for three years?" Jodie was surprised.
"Two and a half, Jodie." Ami corrected. "He cheated on me with someone else for the last six months."
"I didn't know you knew English teachers." Amuro was surprised at his girlfriend.
"Actually, they're FBI agents." Takagi explained. "They're helping us with the investigation."
"FBI?" Amuro snorted. "The USA's Federal Bureau Investigation, I saw you guys in movies and TV shows all the time. Their investigators show up at crime scenes to steal all the credit, smugly interfere with the investigation, offend the local police and annoy the viewer. I'm not talking about you." he backtracked, sensing Ami's glare at him. "That's the story I happen to see."
"You're the one who reported Shibuya Natsuko-san's incident?" Megure gaped.
"In addition to investigating her stalker, she asked me to serve as her bodyguard." Amuro explained. "I meant to watch her take her usual shortcut through the park. I wasn't expecting her to fall down the stairs."
"You said someone pushed her in your report." Takagi reminded.
"Did you see who did it?" Megure pressed.
"I did." Amuro nodded. "The silhouette of the culprit standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at Shibuya-san. Unfortunately, I saw them from inside the car, and they fled immediately. I didn't see their face. Later, I heard the sound of a car starting from above the stairs. They probably put the unconscious victim in their car, brought her to the parking space in the park near the stairs, confirmed that no one was watching, and pushed her down the stairs. They probably didn't see my car at the bottom since it was hidden by the trees."
"But why didn't you wait at the scene until we arrived?" Megure asked. "The investigation would've gone more smoothly."
"I had another client in my car." Amuro explained. "They didn't want to get involved."
"So, you left Natsuko injured at the steps?" Jodie demanded.
"Of course, I only left when the ambulance arrived." Amuro related.
"Investigator Jodie and Shibuya-sensei were friends." Takagi cut in.
"Then, it could be the work of someone who resented the FBI." Amuro shrugged.
"More importantly, let's try questioning everyone again." Conan piped in. "So far, those three are the only ones who met or planned to meet Shibuya-sensei last night."
"We need to find the culprit first." Jodie agreed. "We need to find the person who knocked Natsuko unconscious in this faculty office before taking her to the park and pushing her down the stairs."
"I'd like to hear every last detail of what you did last night, too." Amuro turned to the three suspects.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
