SailorStar9: With Chapter 55 uploaded, this is Chapter 56 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 56: The Queen's Weather Forecast


Time passes...

"It's going to stop drizzling soon?" Mouri was a guest on Sekine Yasumi 's weather forecast program at Nichiuri TV station.

"We've calculated the wind, temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure." Sekine nodded. "The results say the skies should be clear in an hour."

"That's a bold claim." Mouri noted. "It's no wonder they call you the 100% accurate beautiful weather forecaster. I'm impressed."

"Don't you solve cases in a similar fashion?" Sekine inquired.

"In order to expose the ingenious trips of criminals..." Mouri started. "Trips...?" he cut himself off. "Tricks." he recalled the right word. "I will solve any trick and any suspicions within an hour."


During the break...

"'Solve any trick and any suspicions within an hour?'" the fuming Ran quoted. "I know she's beautiful, but you need to calm down."

"Where did the kid go?" Mouri noticed Conan was missing.

"An hour might not be enough for the old man." Conan joked, buying a bottle of oolong tea from the vending machine.

"What did you say?" Sekine snapped in the pantry.

"I heard it with my ears." Kodama Yukio assured.

"Got it." Sekine snorted.

"I'll send you the proposal for your next show soon." Kodama stated.

"Shinohara-san, did you check the stage?" Sekine asked the assistant manager at the top of the staircase.

"Everything looks good." Shinohara Hiroko beamed. "We're restricting access to the stage so no one can get near it. Would you like to check?"

"I trust you." Sekine walked off. "Mouri-sensei, I hope you'll appear on my show again." she addressed Mouri in the lounge.

"Yasumi-san, we start shooting right after the break." Kodama informed, entering with Yamaguchi Takuya.

"Oji-san, I brought you a drink." Conan handed the oolong tea over. "Yasumi-san still has work?"

"She's shooting a video next door." Yamaguchi nodded.

"This is what she is shooting." Shinohara showed them the colored sketch.

"She's appearing on a misty stage as snow falls steadily all around her." Mouri observed.

"It's meant to invoke images of a weather forecast." Ran realized.

"I bet she's quite popular." Mouri noted when the group heard a loud thump and a scream. "Yasumi-san!" he spotted the dead Sekine on the first floor. "Don't move." he ordered the TV crew back. "Stay where you are."

"Oji-san, look at that." Conan spotted the hexagonal shape Sekine had written on the floor.

"Is this a dying message?" Mouri realized. "Which means... get the police."


After a while...

"She died immediately after the fall." Mouri stated, he, Megure and Takagi were standing around the broken railings of the second floor.

"Why, though?" Kodama wondered when Shinohara informed him she had checked the stage. "Was there something wrong with the set? You were the last one to check it."

"I was, but nothing stood out." Shinohara replied.

"Producer Kodama Yukio-san, victim Sekine Yasumi-san's manager, Yamaguchi Takuya-san and AD

Shinohara Hiroko-san." Takagi introduced the three suspects. "The three of them were near the scene. According to the staff, this structure was deteriorating and they planned to tear it down next year."

"Inspector, I got it." Mouri declared. "After meeting with me, Yasumi-san took a break. Then, she had plans to shoot a video. But before her break, she decided to come check this stage. She leaned against this railing, but a section had deteriorated, and she fell to the first floor."

"So, it was an accident?" Megure concluded.

"Yes, most likely." Mouri nodded.

"Then, what about Yasumi-san's dying message?" Megure pressed.

"She scratched it on the floor with her bloody hand while writhing in her final moments." Mouri answered.

"Ow!" Conan cried out. "I pricked myself on the roses' thorns. Now I'm tangled in the tinsel." he tried to get the white garland off his foot. "There's a popped balloon over here." he spotted the tattered remains of a blue balloon on the floor. "Come to think of it, didn't we hear a popping sound before she screamed?"

"You can't fool Mouri Kogoro." Mouri bragged. "This might look like an accident, but it's not. Someone set a trap for Yasumi-san. Look at the stage's decorations. First, you tie this tinsel to one of the stage's supports, then, you tie this end to the opposite side of the stage. Ran, walk across the stage. Right here." he pointed. "Didn't you hear this sound before Yasumi-san's scream?" he asked, proudly, Ran's feet having tangled across the tinsel and popped one of the balloons with the roses' thorns. "She came to check the stage, but fell for this malicious trap. Shocked, she staggered to the railing and..."

"Which means this is murder." Megure concluded.

"This isn't enough to make her fall." Mouri refuted. "The trap was simply set to frighten her. And it led to this tragedy. When did you finish setting up the stage?"

"Yamaguchi-san, you said you'd be here until the early morning." Kodama reminded.

"Is something wrong?" Mouri noticed Yamaguchi's hesitance.

"I actually fell asleep." Yamaguchi admitted. "By the time I work up, they had just started recording. But I couldn't tell Yasumi-san."

"Who was the last person to check the stage?" Conan asked.

"I was the last one." Shinohara blinked. "But I didn't notice anything."

"The truth is this was stuck to the tinsel." Mouri pulled out strip of duct tape.

"You can find that anywhere." Shinohara snapped.

"Shall we investigate the fingers and footprints left around the trap?" Mouri challenged. "We may find definitive proof of who did this."

"Just confess, Shinohara." Kodama warned. "I know you did this. I overheard your conversation in the kitchen yesterday. I couldn't say anything because I thought it would embarrass our company."

"That's right." Shinohara snarled. "I set up that balloon. I hated her. She acted like a selfish queen. Even Yamaguchi-san... she was arrogant and selfish. I wanted to make a fool out of that arrogant woman in front of everyone. But I never thought this would happen."

"We'll accompany you to the station." Megure took Shinohara into custody.

Sensing something did not add up, Conan searched through the rose bushes and located a smoke machine hidden. With all the pieces put together, he tranquilized Mouri.

"There it is." Takagi gushed when 'Sleeping Kogoro' appeared. "Your reasoning until now was wrong, right?"

"No, unusually, I was right." Conan refuted. "There's more to my reasoning. There are a few mysteries left. Conan told me Yasumi-san said she wouldn't check the stage. However, in reality, she did and fell for the trap. Don't you find that odd? But if you think of it this way, it all makes sense. Yasumi-san already knew of the trap. The true culprit told her: the person who told her beforehand about the balloon trap. They advised her to pop it before filming to make a fool out of Hiroko-san. Yasumi-san meant to torment you even more. Additionally, the culprit told her she would be safe if she stood oof to the side near the railing. Yasumi-san did as she was told and triggered the balloon trap. Naturally, she wasn't surprised. But in the next moment, she triggered the second trap set by the true culprit. Conan. The snow falls steadily and the scene fills with mist." he stepped out from behind the pillar. "The queen of weather forecast." he brought out the drawing. "That was the stage set by Yasumi-san. There's a machine over here." he pointed to the hidden smoke machine. "A smoke machine." he hid himself back behind the pillar and took on Mouri's voice again. "The other mystery left behind was the whooshing sound heard after the popping balloon. When the culprit heard the balloon pop, they turned on the machine. It was set to maximum power. Detective Takagi, please turn on the machine. The culprit covered Yasumi-san with the carbon gas mist at great intensity. Unable to open her eyes, she was forced to back away. However, the dilapidated railing was right behind her. It must have been broken beforehand. Then, she fell. The gas evaporated immediately. But only the left side of Yasumi-san's hair was disheveled. Additionally, her hair accessory fell to the far wall. A blast of air from her left must have disheveled her hair and blew off her hair accessory. The culprit set their own trap behind Hiroko-san's trap and used her to avoid suspicion."

"Mouri-kun, who is the true culprit?" Megure asked.

"It was someone who knew of Hiroko-san's plan." Conan answered. "Kodama-san, you said you overheard it."

"You're saying I did it?" Kodama mocked. "Eavesdropping makes me a murderer?"

"Not only that, but you told Yasumi-san about it to lead her into your trap." Conan added. "You're wearing a marvelous brown suit today. Paired with your brown shoes, you look truly fashionable. Did you polish them this morning? Because it's drizzling and humid today, your shoe polish didn't dry. The mouth of the smoke machine was pointed towards the dilapidated railing. After the incident, the culprit had to turn the funnel back to its original position. You left your brown shoe polish on the machine. Shinohara-san, how do you turn on the machine?"

"Manually or wirelessly." Shinohara replied.

"Takagi-kun." Megure gave his subordinate the go-ahead.

"I found it." Takagi found the remote control in Kodama's back pocket.

"She was a terrible woman." Kodama sneered. "She realized I'd been embezzling the program's funds. She threatened me with the proof she found. She made me set up new programs for her and hand over the production funds. I refused to be her slave. I can't believe the drizzle gave it away."

"The drizzle" Conan echoed. "You're wrong, Kodama-san. I thought it was you for another reason: before she fell, Yasumi-san realized you had deceived her. She used her remaining strength to leave a dying message using a special symbol so you wouldn't notice. The weather symbol for snow. Kodama Yukio-san, you're the only man with 'snow' or 'yuki' in his name."

"Damn that woman..." Kodama sunk to his knees.


Later that evening...

"I never took you to be someone to believe in using healing crystals." Amuro remarked, amused, as he watched Ami rotate two snowflake obsidian shards in her palm.

"It's relaxing." Ami stated. "You should try it."

"Much better than anger management at the shooting range?" Amuro teased.

"Hush you." Ami pouted.


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