SailorStar9: With Chapter 50 uploaded, this is Chapter 51 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 51: The Scarlet Intersection
The following night...
Jodie had Camel drive her to Raiha Pass.
Flashback to the previous night...
"Camel." the real Jodie ran up with Conan in tow. "Is everything alright? Amuro's a member of the Organization. We saw his car leaving the hospital. He didn't sweet talk any secrets out of you, did he?"
"No." Camel chuckled nervously.
"Too bad he babbled out to the other you." Ami rolled her eyes.
"The other me?" Jodie echoed.
Elsewhere...
"You're late." Amuro picked up his partner. "I thought you weren't coming."
"I had trouble finding a scarf like hers." Vermouth explained.
"So, how'd did it go?" Amuro asked.
"Your man, Kusuda..." Vermouth removed her disguise. "You were right. He shot himself inside his car."
"So, that's what happened after all." Amuro smirked.
At the hospital...
"Vermouth?" Camel echoed in shock after Jodie briefed Ami of their investigation. "The Jodie-san I saw earlier was her disguised as you?"
"Bourbon must have asked you something." Conan nodded.
"But I didn't tell him anything." Camel refuted. "He tried to shake me by saying the info hadn't reached a lowly investigator like me."
"He provoked you so you'd relax your guard and let something slip when Jodie-sensei showed up." Conan scolded. "He manipulated you."
"Hold on." Jodie blinked. "Does that mean the Vermouth knew we'd come here and was waiting for us?"
"Yeah." Conan nodded. "Everything's gone according to Bourbon's and Vermouth's plan. It started with the email you received from Shibuya-sensei. Their scheme started there. You said Shibuya-sensei didn't remember sending that email. Then Borbon probably sent it from Shibuya-sensei's phone. Stealing a phone from FBI investigator sounds difficult. But taking a grade school teacher's phone unnoticed was probably easy. If he'd met Shibuya-sensei several times as a detective, he would've plenty of chances."
"But why would he send that message?" Jodie wondered.
"So, you'd call Shibuya-sensei using Investigator Camel's phone." Conan replied. "If you're going drinking, you'll meet at night. He knew your phone would be dead by then."
"They were watching us." Jodie realized.
"But why my phone?" Camel asked.
"Any FBI investigator would've worked." Conan corrected. "If something happened to Shibuya-sensei that night, the investigator who number was in her history and Jodie-sensei would be called to the scene. What Bourbon didn't expect..."
"Was me." Ami cut in. "Right from the beginning, they intended to get intel from an agent who accompanied Jodie."
"But Natsuko was injured after Kandachi-san pushed her down the park stairs." Jodie pointed out. "What if that hadn't happened?"
"Maybe they meant to hit her with a car." Conan proposed. "Bourbon said he was driving his. Either way, they meant to injure her outdoors."
"Just so they'll know what you were wearing." Ami followed Conan's train of deduction.
"They can prepare a mask from photos." Conan explained. "But that doesn't work for the outfit you're wearing today. It's easier to see and take pictures of you if you're outside than in a building or a car. Once the disguise is ready, they called to say Shibuya-sensei took a turn for the worse, bringing you to the hospital. They drew Camel's attention to separate him from you."
"So, Vermouth, disguised as me, could get information out of you." Jodie turned to Camel. "But, you two, when did you notice?"
"Right when the hospital called." Conan replied. "When Mizuno-san pointed out that only blood relatives are allowed to know about a patient's condition."
"Then, why didn't you tell me?" Jodie chided.
"I wasn't sure." Conan defended. "It was possible she was disguised as Shibuya-sensei."
"What did you tell her?" Jodie asked Camel.
"It was about Kusuda Rikumichi, their spy who infiltrated the hospital." Camel replied. "That he shot himself inside his car."
"That's all?" Jodie pressed.
"Camel only let that slip." Ami confirmed.
"On the way here, Conan-kun drew my attention to it so it was on my mind." Camel explained.
"But how does that information help them?" Jodie wondered.
"If the man they thought was captured by the FBI is dead, they don't have to worry about him talking." Camel reasoned.
"Or could it be something else?" Ami frowned. "Edogawa-kun?" she spotted the completely frightened expression on the boy's face.
"So, about Bourbon..." Jodie prompted the older woman.
"For the time being, I cooled things off with him." Ami sighed. "I'm giving him a second chance to fully explain himself; if he can't, or if his explanation isn't good enough, well..." she shrugged.
In Amuro's car...
"So, who's Kusuda Rikumichi?" Vermouth questioned. "He was a member of the Organization. But what does it matter if a man without a codename shot himself?"
"How would you kill yourself with a gun?" Amuro returned a question, now driving through an underpass.
"I'd place the muzzle against my temple." Vermouth related.
"Leaving a clear bullet hole in your skull even if your body burnt." Amuro agreed. "Don't you remember? When Kusuda disappeared, there was another man who was shot in the head and burned. FBI investigator, Akai Shuichi."
"Impossible." Vermouth gasped. "You're saying he's alive?"
"If I'm right." Amuro answered.
"Sorry, but you're wrong." Vermouth burst out laughing. "His death was confirmed. Confirmed by the Japanese police at the request of the FBI, the autopsy was personally done by your lady friend's predecessor. Didn't I tell you? The fingerprints from Akai's corpse that Kir shot in the head at Raiha Pass and burned along with his car matched Akai's fingerprints left on the detective boy's phone."
"How did you get fingerprints from a charred body?" Amuro inquired.
"Because he burnt with his hand stuck inside his flame retardant jacket." Vermouth answered. "That's the kind of man he is. When he shot me with a shotgun, he had one hand in his pocket."
"Sounds like him." Amuro grinned. "But it's possible the hand was in the pocket so you'd find fingerprints later."
"If you doubt me so much, would you like to see a video of the moment Akai was shot?" Vermouth suggested.
"You mean the movie taken by the hidden camera on Kir's neck?" Amuro wondered.
"You can clearly see him draw his last breath." Vermouth was certain. "Before she shot him in the head, he said 'To think you went this far...' Speaking as a fellow actor, he hadn't planned on saying that. It's what he truly felt. It wasn't a performance. But I'm disappointed you dragged me into this farce. Though, I have to say that lady friend of your is a sharp one; she saw through my disguise in an instant."
"So, that's how it is." Amuro muttered, realizing it had been Conan who was the brains behind the deception. "I'll prove to you whether or not I'm right beyond any question." he declared to Vermouth.
"So, you know where to find his ghost?" Vermouth was intrigued.
"Not yet." Amuro admitted. "But once I get a lead, it'll take me less than a day to investigate."
Back in the present...
"Let's start with the Best Supporting Actor." at the Kudo household, Okiya Subaru poured himself some tea as the Macademy Awards was aired on TV. "Presenting this year's award is last year's winner, Johnny Bip."
Just then, the doorbell rang and Okiya went to answer the door.
"Delivery." Amuro voiced over the intercom. "Good evening." he greeted. "Nice to meet you. I'm Amuro Tooru. But this isn't the first time we've met, isn't it? I'd like to talk. May I come in?"
"But just you." Okiya looked over Amuro's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but can your friends wait outside? I don't think I have enough tea cups."
"Don't worry about them." Amuro assured. "They like waiting outside. But depending on your answer, we may all end up coming in."
Meanwhile...
"Raiha Pass?" Camel echoed. "We're going to the place where they killed Akai-san?"
"I think we'll find something there." Jodie nodded. "That expression he made when he learned they'd learned Kusuda shot himself and the way he lost his cool during the flower viewing incident. There's must be something there."
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
