SailorStar9: With Chapter 81 uploaded, this is Chapter 82 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 82: The Detective Boys in a Grove, Part One
Time passes...
"Meal tickets?" the Detective Boys echoed after Professor Agasa informed them of his newest lottery prize.
"Did you win them in a lottery again?" Genta asked.
"I thought we could go to the high-class restaurant on the top floor of the Beika Department Store." Professor Agasa chuckled. "Don't celebrate yet. You've got another good thing waiting for you."
"Tell us." Genta urged.
"it's a secret." Professor Agasa laughed.
In Beika Department Store later...
"It's amazing." Ayumi gushed at the giant Christmas tree right in the middle of the reception area. "The department store is decked out for Christmas."
"The elevator is over there." Professor Agasa pointed.
In the high-class restaurant...
"I'm stuffed." Genta moaned in happiness after lunch. "I couldn't eat another bite."
"The portions were just the right size." Mitsuhiko agreed.
"The six of us did share three adult-sized meals." Haibara pointed out.
"What is it, Professor." Genta pressed.
"Something good's happening after this, isn't it?" Mitsuhiko was also excited.
"I actually won a gift certificate to this department store, in addition to the meal tickets." Professor Agasa declared. "It's almost Christmas, so I thought we could use this ten-thousand-yen gift voucher to buy presents for you. Where did they go?" he noticed Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi had vanished.
"Over there." Conan pointed to the entrance where the trio were heading towards.
"I'll go check out the new Fusae brand clutches." Haibara stated.
"Did call me, sir?" Hosogoe Ujiyasu approached a table.
"Are you the chef here?" an elderly man asked.
"Yes, I'm the head chef here." Hosogoe replied. "Is there a problem with the food?"
"Actually, my husband is insisting the secret ingredient in this soup is miso." the wife spoke.
"Yes, it's Haccho miso." Hosogoe confirmed. "I'm impressed that you noticed."
"Chef," one of Hosogoe's subordinates whispered into his boss' ear. "We received another call from that customer. They said they're here at the department store today and want to speak to you in person."
"We can't let them start a commotion here in the restaurant." Hosogoe decided. "Tell them we'll talk in the stairway next to the restaurant in thirty minutes.
After lunch...
"I guess we should go look for those kids." Professor Agasa remarked.
"There's no need for that." Conan checked his message inbox. "I've been receiving tons of messages telling us to come right away because they found what they wanted. They all sent pictures, too. Genta's on the seventh floor where the sporting goods store is. Mitsuhiko's on the fifth floor where the camera store is. Ayumi-chan's on the fourth floor where the toy store is. Haibara's on the first floor where the bags and brand-name items are."
Just then, the pair heard a pained scream.
"It came from the stairs." Conan sprung into action.
"Isn't he the chef of the restaurant we were just at?" Professor Agasa recognized the stabbed Hosogoe at the stairway.
"The culprit... ran downstairs..." Hosogoe winced before passing out.
"Professor, call an ambulance and the police." Conan instructed. "Guys, can you hear me?" he contracted the others via his Detective Boy Badge as he took off down the staircase. "Someone was just stabbed at the tenth-floor restaurant area. The culprit is currently running down the stairs. If you're near the stairs, check to see if anyone's running down them. Haibara, explain the situation to the department store reception desk and tell them to stop any customers who are short of breath from leaving. The rest of you just look for the culprit. Remember their face, clothes and distinguishing characteristics. They tried to kill someone. There's no telling what they'll do if they think you know. Whatever you do, don't try anything."
After Megure's team was called in...
"So, at Conan-kun's direction, these three are the ones who were caught at the exit in a hurry to leave." Megure noted, the three Detective Boys having brought in three suspects. All three of you seem rather sweaty."
"I was looking for a bathroom." Kamaya Takashi protested. "The bathrooms on every floor were full. I was stopped while trying to go to a nearby convenience store so I could use their toilet."
"I was looking for my wallet." Shikama Mitsuko explained. "I thought I might've left it somewhere, so I've been running around all the shops I stopped at today. When I took a closer look, I found it in my bag."
"I had Thai food at the restaurant area here." Miyadai Masaru stated. "I'm a chef, so I was here to study the flavors. The sauteed vegetables I had was particularly spicy. I couldn't stop sweating, so I was hurrying home to take a shower."
"That leaves the testimony of the three kids who say they saw the culprit." Megure pondered.
"They didn't see their face, but they say they remember the culprit's distinguishing characteristics." Conan assured.
"They were pretty small." Genta recalled. "They had the number 2 on their clothes, which were gray. It was the same color as what Haibara's wearing."
"You're wrong." Mitsuhiko corrected. "They're on the larger side and they were wearing dark gray clothes. They had a masculine run, too."
"They were small." Genta insisted. "They probably just looked big because you're so small."
"I'm sure of it." Mitsuhiko was confident. "It was a large man."
"I thought it was a woman." Ayumi piped in. "They were wearing gray clothes so light they were almost white. They were average height, just a little taller than the Professor."
"This is a problem." Haibara sighed.
"To summarize what you told us," Takagi cut in before the argument could escalate. "The culprit who stabbed Hosogoe-san around these stairs on the tenth floor of the restaurant area: according to Genta-kun, who was on the seventh floor, was a smaller person with the number 2 on their clothes which were a gray color similar to Ai-chan's clothes. According to Mitsuhiko-kun who was on the fifth floor, it was a large man with a masculine run, wearing dark gray clothes. According to Ayumi-chan, who was on the fourth floor, it was a woman slightly taller than Agasa-san, wearing light gray clothes."
"All three of the people who were stopped from leaving the department store are wearing gray." Megure pointed out.
"Although the shades are different." Takagi agreed. "Kamaya-san, you are wearing a gray similar to Ai-chan, like Genta-kun described."
"You can't be serious." Kamaya protested. "I seriously was just looking for an empty bathroom stall."
"What's this?" Megure spotted the bandaged fingers. "You seem to have injured the fingers of your right hand."
"I sprained it." Kamaya explained. "I was in a hurry and hit the bathroom door. The other two kids said it was a darker and lighter gray. That fat kid said they had the number 2 on their clothes. I only have got Chinese characters on mine."
"Then, the person wearing light gray like Ayumi-chan described..." Takagi trailed.
"Wait a minute." Shikama cut in. "Didn't I tell you; I was running around the shops I visited while looking for my wallet."
"The wallet was in your bag." Takagi reminded. "Then, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
"I was in a hurry because I remembered the TV drama I missed is airing a rerun tonight." Shikama replied.
"There's no number 2 on your clothes either." Megure noted. "The brooch on your chest does resemble a number: not a 2, but a 6. Miyadai-san, that leaves you, who's wearing dark gray clothes like Mitsuhiko-kun described."
"I wasn't lying when I said I was sweating because of the spicy food I ate and was in a hurry to leave so I could go home and take a shower I actually came here because I heard rumors that the Thai restaurant here serves a soup that tastes like ours. I tried it, but didn't think it tasted that similar, so I left without saying anything." Miyadai objected.
"There seem to be something written on the back of your jacket." Megure pointed out.
"It's not a number." Miyadai turned his back to show Megure the logo on the jacket.
"Then, there's the reason why Ayumi-kun thought the culprit is a woman." Megure noted.
"I just thought they were a woman." Ayumi replied.
"Inspector Megure." Chiba called out. "We just learned the victim Hosogoe-san has connections with these three." "Kamaya-san worked at a restaurant where the victim was the head chef until two years ago. His attitude during work was bad, so he was fired. Shikama-san lives in the apartment next to the victim's. Apparently, they frequently got into arguments because her dog barked too loudly. Three years ago, Miyadai-san created a commotion when he claimed the victim ripped off his food. The local police had to show up."
"It sounds like we'll need to question the three of you more thoroughly." Megure decided.
"Before you do, can you ask the three of them if they had gloves?" Conan requested. "The culprit's fingerprints weren't on the weapon. If the culprit wore gloves and the victim's blood got on them, I would've thrown them away if I'd done it."
"I have some." Miyadai showed his gloves.
"So do I." Shikama took hers out.
"It is cold out." Kamaya pulled his out.
"There doesn't mean to be blood on any of them." Megure inspected the gloves.
"According to Mizuno-san, the victim was bleeding because he tried to remove the knife himself." Chiba supplied. "It's possible the culprit didn't get much blood on him."
"How is the victim doing?" Megure inquired.
"He's out of surgery." Chiba answered. "But he's still not awake."
"We'll be questioning the three of you in a separate room." Megure informed the three suspects.
After being barred from the interrogation...
"Genta, are you sure the culprit you saw was small, had a number 2 on their clothes and was wearing clothes the same color as Haibara's?" Conan inquired. "Then how come you didn't see the culprit's face?" he pressed after Genta nodded.
"I was in the sporting area where some basketball players taking the stairs got in the way." Genta answered.
"That was the Haido High basketball team." the clerk from the sporting goods store confirmed. "Their new uniforms were just completed today, so the entire team came to pick them up. They're all so tall, so they looked like adults."
"Do you know what the uniforms look like?" Conan asked.
"I took a picture with them to commemorate it." the clerk showed Conan the photo.
"They're the same gray as the clothes Ai-kun is wearing." Professor Agasa noted.
"The culprit was wearing the same gray." Genta insisted. "They quickly passed in front of the basketball players heading for the stairs and went down."
"Could the basketball players have seen the culprit, too?" Conan wondered.
"Maybe not." Genta admitted. "I shouted at them to move, so they were all looking at me."
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
