SailorStar9: With Chapter 69 uploaded, this is Chapter 70 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 70: The Actress Blogger's Locked Room Case, Part One
Time passes...
"I'm counting on you, Professor." Haibara pressed, she and Professor Agasa were in front of a garapon lottery wheel game held by the 'Free Diner Showman' store.
"We have a winner." the announcer rang his bell when Professor Agasa rolled out a silver ball. "Two passes to the Hotel Beika West cake buffet."
On the weekend...
"Those look delicious." Genta gushed at the numerous cakes on display.
"They are all kinds of cakes." Ayumi surveyed the assorted types of cake.
"Professor, you have some incredible luck with lotteries." Mitsuhiko remarked.
"We were actually going for the assorted high-end sirloin cuts." Haibara informed.
"You're limited to two." Haibara served up two cake slices for Professor Agasa. "Well, what happened to that police officer?" she asked Conan as the group walked back to their table. "You sent me a picture asking if I recognized that man with the scary face."
"Section One Chief Kuroda." Conan recalled. "He said a lot of suspicious things, but it was to catch the culprit. I did wonder why he knew so much about me, though. But since he's part of the Nagano Prefectural Police, we'll rarely have any dealings with him."
Genta was about to bite into his yellow frosted cupcake when a toy helicopter flew right smack into the frosting.
"That's one of the Petite Falcons that are popular right now." Mitsuhiko recognized the toy.
"I'm sorry." Kitami Saya cut in. "Did I hurt you? I just bought that at the toy shop in front of the hotel. When I turned it on, it started flying away." she reclaimed the helicopter from Genta.
"Aren't you the actress, Kitami Saya-san?" Mitsuhiko instantly recognized her.
"Keep your voices down." Kitami hushed the kids. "No one knows I'm staying at this hotel. We can take a picture together once I get you a new cake."
"You're as crooked as ever." Shono Kyona rebuked. "You're planning on increasing your blog's popularity by taking a picture with those kids and uploading it, aren't you?"
"That wasn't my intention." Kitami stammered.
"Naturally, I'll win." Shono was confident. "Haven't you seen my blog? I discovered one of your secrets. If you won't want me posting it, you should hurry up and forfeit. Besides, you already have short hair. Shaving your head should be no big deal. I'm going back to my room." she stormed out. "Go buy what I told you to get."
"Aren't you Sakurako-san?" Conan recognized Shono's assistant, Yonehara Sakurako. "What are you doing here? Aren't you a housekeeper?"
"Her manager caught a cold." Yonehara explained. "My agency was asked to look after her until she gets better."
"Why are those two staying at the same hotel?" Mitsuhiko was puzzled.
"Because they're co-starring in a romantic drama set in this hotel that's starting this spring." Yonehara answered.
"I know that one." Haibara supplied. "It's called 'Top Class'. It got pretty good reviews, so they're making a sequel. Two women reveal their true selves to try to bring each other down." she put on a scary look.
"I'd better go." Yonehara remembered she still had chores. "I need to go shopping."
"After you deliver that to her, could you see me in Room 504?" Kitami requested before Yonehara ran off. "There's something I want to discuss with her."
Afterwards...
"It's an emergency." Yonehara told the hotel's front desk. "In any case, open the door."
"Did something happen, Sakurako-san?" Conan asked.
"Kyona-san won't answer the door no matter how many times I ring the bell." Yonehara replied.
"That's really bad." Kitami started. "I don't have any scenes today, but Kyona-san starts shooting in thirty minutes. She needs time for makeup, too. She needs to be on set."
"You heard her." Yonehara turned to the receptionist. "Unlock the door immediately with the master key."
On the sixth floor...
"Kyona-san, what's wrong?" with Shono's door open, Yonehara entered the hotel room.
"They're going to start filming." Kitami reminded, setting her bucket cap on the coat hanger.
"Kyona..." Yonehara peered into the bedroom and screamed when she found Shono's dead body.
After Megure's team was called in...
"I was asked to come wake her at five in the evening." Yonehara confirmed. "But she wasn't answering the door, no matter how many times I rang the bell. I went to the reception to unlock the door and had the bellhop unlock the door using the master key. That's when I found Kyona-san collapsed in this bedroom and bleeding from the head."
"Sakurako-san, aren't you a housekeeper?" Megure wondered.
"I was asked to take care of her until her manager gets over her cold." Yonehara explained. "I can't believe this happened at another one of my jobs. Am I cursed?"
"When did she die?" Megure turned to Ami.
"According to her body temperature, between 4:00 and 4:30 pm." Ami replied. "The cause of death was repeated bludgeoning to the side of the head with a thin rod-shaped weapon."
"Is it true that the key card was here in a hotel without automatically locked rooms?" Takagi wondered.
"Yes." Yonehara nodded.
"Then, that makes this a locked room murder." Megure concluded.
"It doesn't make sense." Yonehara protested. "Kyona-san said she won't open the door for anyone else, so I had to come wake her at five. Why did she open the door?"
"That sounds like a strange way to make a request." Takagi noted.
"It's a stalker." Kitami supplied. "She was almost attacked by a stalker pretending to be one of the staff. Since then, she even stopped inviting acquaintances into her room, except for the person she designated beforehand."
"Aren't you an actress as well?" Megure asked.
"She's Kitami Saya-san." Yonehara answered. "The actress who was supposed to appear alongside the drama with Kyona-san. The drama's set in this hotel, so she's staying here, too."
"I heard at the front desk that Kyona-san wasn't answering the door." Kitami added. "I was worried, so I came in with Sakurako-san. I had no idea this had happened to her."
"We're going to investigate this room more closely." Takagi declared.
In the corridor...
"Saya-chan, is it true?" the screenplay director pressed. "Was Kyona-san really killed in her room?"
"The police are in her room right now." Kitami nodded.
"What about today's shoot?" Director #1 gaped.
"Idiot." Director #2 snapped. "There's not going to be a drama, much less a film shoot."
"Please ask my makeup artist to leave." Kitami requested.
"Your makeup artist was here, Saya-san?" Conan was puzzled.
"The focus of today was Kyona-chan and Saya-chan's reunion in the hotel." the screenplay director retorted.
"Then, why did you say that, Saya-san?" Conan wondered. "You said you didn't have any scenes today; as though you knew today's filming would be canceled anyway."
"I was confused." Kitami explained.
"So, it was a mistake." Conan beamed, now certain Kitami was the culprit.
In front of Kitami's room...
"Is this room right under Kyona-san's?" Conan asked, he, Kitami and Yonehara had arrived to Kitami's room. "Kyona-san's room was Room 604."
"It seems that way." Kitami agreed.
"The room is mostly laid out the same way, too." Conan took a look around.
"What was that thing on your door?" Yonehara inquired.
"It was a prank played by a fan." Kitami replied.
"What are you talking about?" Conan blinked.
"Some weird envelope." Yonehara answered. "It was stuck to Saya-san's door. There was a large black heart drawn on it and taped just below the peephole."
"Do you want anything to drink?" Kitami offered.
"I'll have iced coffee, please." Conan requested.
"I'll have some tea." Yonehara stated. "Conan-kun, what are you looking at?" she asked, sipping her tea when she spotted Conan tapping away on his smartphone.
"Saya-san's blog." Conan replied. "I was thinking yours is really different from Kyona-san's. Kyona-san is in all of her pictures on her blog, but Saya-san's not in most of hers. Even when she's in them, she's really small."
"Unlike Kyona-san, I don't like to promote myself through pictures." Kitami explained.
"What do you do with that?" Conan spotted a selfie stick lying on a nearby counter. "I mean, the Petite Falcon. You were flying it around the cake buffet."
"It wasn't flying right, so I threw it away somewhere." Kitami chuckled.
"What a waste." Conan whined. "Now we can't fly ours together."
As if on cue, the doorbell rang.
"They're here." Conan went to open the door. "My friends can come in too, right?"
"I bought you a Petite Falcon." Professor Agasa handed Conan the toy.
"That thing is really hard to fly." Genta complained.
"Let me see." Conan was already piloting the helicopter. "This is easier than I thought." he maneuvered the toy into the aircon vent and getting it stuck between the rails. It's stuck in the AC. Is there some kind of stick?"
Kitami just stepped on the coffee table and reached to untangle the mini helicopter.
"Thanks." Conan reclaimed the toy. "Then, we're going out to play."
In the corridor...
"Have you figured out how she locked the door?" Professor Agasa whispered.
"Not yet." Conan admitted. "But I know how she got in and what she used for a weapon."
"But she seems so nice." Genta sighed.
"Women are different on the inside." Haibara explained. "The murder victim seemed malicious, vulgar and rude, but if you look at her blog, you'll see she had a surprisingly sensitive and conscientious side. Her nail polish bottles were arranged in numerical order. They're a brand that you have to turn over to see the number."
Conan referred back to Shono's blog again and realized that reason why Kitami murdered her fellow actress.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
