SailorStar9: With Chapter 81 uploaded, this is Chapter 83 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 83: The Detective Boys in a Grove, Part Two
"Ah!" Mitsuhiko suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the mannequin a store manager was carrying up the staircase. "When I saw the culprit, these mannequins were near the fifth -floor stairs. I just remembered I saw the culprit slip between the mannequins as they headed down the stairs.
"Mister, are those really on the fifth floor?" Conan asked.
"About ten of them." the manager responded. "We're holding a children's uniform fair in the sporting goods area, so we're moving the mannequins to the seventh floor from the fifth floor storage room. The fifth floor used to be a toy store that sold children's clothes, too. I moved four to five spare signs up to the seventh floor, too, so I'm exhausted. Even though the service elevator is being inspected, the floor manager told me to hurry."
"I couldn't see the culprit from neck up because the signs were blocking my view." Mitsuhiko recalled. "There were tall and short ones and I don't remember which sign it was."
"Were the mannequins the same as that one?" Conan asked.
"Yes." Mitsuhiko nodded. "Even though they were all kind of white."
"Were the signs white, too?" Conan pressed.
"It looked like something had been pasted to the front at one point, but it was torn off." Mitsuhiko recalled.
"In any case, let's hurry to the toy store on the fourth floor."Haibara reminded. "That employee could be our most reliable witness."
In the toy store...
"You're talking about when I took this girl the stairs, right?" the Detective Boys found the female clerk. "I was running, so my contacts slipped out of place. I only saw a fuzzy image."
"Do you remember anything that happened then?" Conan inquired. "Even something indistinct could help."
"The girl and I waited behind the wall near the stairs for the culprit to come down." the clerk recounted. "When they first appeared, they were back lit by the window and appeared as a silhouette. I doubt she saw them clearly, either. It looked like the culprit stopped in front of the window for a little bit."
"It looked like they were removing something stuck to the bottom of their left shoe." Ayumi nodded.
"The culprit came down the stairs after that, right?" Conan inquired. "Did you see their face?"
"I tried, but a bunch of middle or high school boys came up the stairs." Ayumi replied. "The culprit ran past as they did, so I didn't get a good look."
"How did you know they were middle or high school students?" Conan asked.
"They were all wearing the same clothes. "Ayumi answered.
"Now that you mention it, a group of high school students on a school trip came to buy souvenirs." the clerk remembered. "A few of them were here until a moment ago."
Afterwards...
"Inspector, we found it." Takagi informed Megure over the phone. "We found the helium gas can the culprit used to change his voice when they called the victim's restaurant in the shrubbery next to a phone booth near the department store."
"Then, after calling the restaurant on the tenth floor of the department store using the payphone, they hurried to the stairs next to the restaurant, stabbed Hosogoe-san when he came to deal with the complaint and fled down the stairs." Megure concluded. "Which means we have to wait until the victim regains consciousness."
"It's okay." Conan cut in. "We know who did it based on their testimony."
"But, Conan-kun," Megure voiced. "The suspect who attempted to flee the department store are the small Shikama Mitsuko-san who is wearing light gray clothes and has a brooch resembling the number 6 on her chest. The large Miyadai Masaru-san wearing a dark gray jacket with the Tokyo Spirits logo printed on the back. And the medium-sized Kamaya Takashi-san wearing a neither light or dark gray jacket with the characters Beika on the back. But your testimonies were all over the place. No one had a perfect match."
"Want to try it, then?" Conan proposed. "Then, you'll realize their inconsistent testimonies all point to the same person. We'll start at the seventh floor stairs where the sporting goods are. Genta, you saw the culprit running down the stairs here."
"Who are they?" Megure asked when the high school basketball players arrived.
"The basketball players that were with Genta when he saw the culprit." Conan replied. "We called them and asked them to come. Genta, could you describe the culprit you saw again?"
"They were on the small side, wearing clothes the same gray as Haibara and had the number 2 on their clothes." Genta recounted.
"Detective Chiba, could you go stand by the basketball players?" Conan requested. "Detective Chiba is a little chubby and average height, slightly taller than the Professor. When he's surrounded by the tall basketball players, doesn't he look small? The impression you have on an object is influenced by the size of the objects surrounding it. Even if they're the same size, they look like different sizes. Next, Detective Chiba, could you hold Haibara and hide behind the basketball players? Hide him a little more." he shifted the positions of the basketball players.
"The buttons on Ai-chan's clothes look like the number three. "Ayumi pointed out.
"The basketball uniforms and Haibara's clothes are both gray." Conan explained. "And the area is full of numbers which is why it looks that way. Let's continue." he led the group downstairs. "Next are the fifth floor stairs by the camera shop where Mitsuhiko saw the culprit."
"This time the area's full of mannequin children." Megure noted the arrangement.
"There are a lot of signs, too." Chiba added.
"Detective Chiba, could you stand next to the mannequins?" Conan requested. "Haibara, could you stand in front of that short sign over there?"
"Haibara's clothes..." Genta gawked.
"They look darked than before." even Mitsuhiko was astonished.
"The mannequins and signs are a bright white color, so Haibara's clothes look darker." Conan explained. "Just like the sizes of objects, colors are also influenced by their surrounding colors. This is called 'contrast of value'. Let's continue. Finally, there's Ayumi-chan. She saw the culprit on the fourth floor stairs where the toy store is. After receiving my message, an employee brought her here. Where she waited for the culprit to come down the stairs."
"At first, I only saw a black person shade because of the light from that window." Ayumi pointed to the window. "I had a feeling they were a woman. Then, they came down the stairs, so I knew they were wearing light gray clothes and of average height just a little taller than the Professor."
"How can we help with the investigation?" a couple of high school students also arrived.
"Could you stand around this girl?" Conan pointed to Haibara.
"Haibara's clothes this time..." Genta was surprised.
"They look like a light shade of gray than before." Mitsuhiko stated.
"Opposite to the previous scenario, colors look lighter when they're surrounded by a dark black." Conan explained. "When Ayumi-chan saw the culprit, they were running past a group of students wearing their uniforms, so I asked the basketball players for help. If you exclude the testimony that their sizes are influenced by their surroundings, the number 2 that was mistakenly seen because of the colors and numbers, and the uncertain testimony that the culprit just seemed like a woman, that means the culprit was an average height person slightly taller than the Professor wearing clothes the same gray as Haibara with a masculine run. There's only one person like that."
In the department office...
"Give me a break." Kamaya protested. "Why are you accusing me based on same vague testimony of those kids?"
"There are three certain facts about their testimony." Megure declared. "The culprit is most likely taller than the Professor, wore the same gray as Ai-kun and had a masculine run. Kamiya Takashi-san, you're the only person who matches the description."
"There's no number 2 on my clothes." Kamaya reminded. "And I'm not a woman."
"Mister, there's something on the bottom of your left foot." Conan pointed out.
"It's just gum." Kamaya lifted his foot. "I stepped on it somewhere in the department store."
"He's doing the same thing the culprit did." Ayumi exclaimed.
"When something's stuck on the bottom of his left foot, normally a man brings his foot in front of him and removes it with his right hand." Conan remarked. "Unlike women, men's hips don't bend outward easily. You couldn't use your right hand because of your sprained finger. That's why you raised your left foot behind you and forced yourself to remove it with your left hand. Ayumi-chan saw your back lit silhouette doing that, and intuitively thought you were a woman. Also, try putting that backpack on your back. We'll see the number that identifies the culprit."
"Fine." Kamaya huffed and did as he was told.
"It's a 2." Genta pointed.
"Half of the 'flower' character in Beika was covered by the backpack and looked like a 2." Professor Agasa realized.
"In other words, all your testimonies are accurate." Haibara concluded.
Inspector Megure." Takagi ran in. "We found saliva on the intake of the helium gas can. If we can collect DNA from the saliva, we'll know who it belongs to."
"I thought he'll know who I was if I didn't change my voice." Kamaya confessed. "Even though I quit my job two years ago, that chef still remembered my face. Just the other day, I invited my girlfriend to eat at that restaurant. Because of him, my girlfriend became disenchanted with me and dumped me. I'd finally gotten back together with her, but because of that chef... I didn't mean to kill him."
"He's not dead." Takagi informed. "The hospital just called to say that he's regained consciousness. Apparently, Chef Hosogoe-san asked us not to release the culprit's name until he turned himself in because they used to eat and work together."
"What a total misunderstanding." Chiba moaned.
"I'm so appalled, I'm not even angry." Megure sighed.
Later that night...
"No murder this time round?" Amuro teased, poking his head into Ami's office just as she was switching off her computer.
"Luckily." Ami nodded, packing up.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
