SailorStar9: With Chapter 90 uploaded, this is Chapter 91 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 91: Just Like a 17 Years Old Crime Scene, Part One
Time passes...
"Haneda Koji." Conan was in Professor Agasa's house, looking up on the late Haneda Koji. "Seventeen years ago, the four-crowned shogi master took his crowns and went to America to participate in a chess tournament which he played as a hobby. But during the night before the tournament, someone attacked and killed him in the hotel room where he was staying. The room was ransacked, and Haneda seemed to have resisted his killer, but the actual cause of his death is unclear. The cause of death of Amanda Hughes, a wealthy old woman killed on the same day in another room of the same hotel, is also unknown. Because Amanda was a fan of Haneda and interacted with him, and the bodyguard who was accompanying her vanished after that day, the bodyguard Amanda named 'Asaka', has been sought as the prime suspect in the case, but he's still missing. Furthermore, the identity of 'Asaka' is shrouded in mystery. None of Amanda's family or friends know how she came to hire him. Wouldn't you know who Asaka is?" he turned to Haibara.
"Who knows." Haibara shrugged. "I've never heard of him but if Handa Koji's cause of death is unknown, and he's on the list of persons administrated APTX-4869, then it's likely Asaka is a member of the Organization."
"Don't you think it's strange?" Conan wondered. "If Haneda Koji was killed seventeen years ago, why is his name two rows below mine?"
"Whoever kept the list didn't list the names in the order they were killed." Haibara explained. Maybe they were grouped according to their blood types."
"And if that drug was around seventeen years ago, then how old are you?" Conan teased.
"How rude." Haibara pouted. "I told you, I'm eighteen. It was probably the drug my parents made. All I did was scrape together the data that survived the fire and recreated it. My parents' lab caught fire. The two of them burned to death along with their data. The Organization told me it was an unfortunate accident."
"Why would they kill a Japanese shogi player?" Professor Agasa mused.
"He probably just happened to witness them killing that wealthy woman who got in their way." Haibara suggested. "Apparently, Amanda had clout with the FBI and CIA."
"It's true that Amanda visited Haneda Koji's room." Conan confirmed. "Apparently, Amanda's fingerprints were on the doorknob, sofa, teacup, plate, and fork in Haneda's room."
"Maybe they ordered tea and cakes through room service for afternoon tea." Haibara suggested. "Looks like the dishes were smashed when the room was ransacked, though."
"Shards of plate and cups with 'Juke', the hotel's name on them were scattered all over the room." Conan added. "There are some glass mixed in with the utensils." he noted. "Was it a mirror? There are letters on it too. PTON?"
"It probably spelled 'PUT ON MASCARA'." Haibara supplied. "Right around that time, there was a cosmetics company selling mirrors along with mascara. It was a huge hit. They contained the words 'PUT ON MASCARA'. My sister kept those mirrors from my mother."
"Why would that mirror be doing in Haneda Koji's room?" Conan frowned.
"The wealthy woman who was murdered was over 80 years old." Professor Agasa supplied.
"Maybe Haneda Koji got it from his mother, too." Haibara suggested. "As a shogi player, he probably minded his own appearance. Anyway, I'm more interested in the room that was left ransacked. The Organization never would've done that. They always leave things as though nothing had happened. That's what the murdered woman's room looked like."
"It says the sink in the bathroom was left running, too." Conan noted.
"How do you know he resisted?" Professor Agasa wondered.
"There are defensive wounds left on Haneda Koji's arms from being punched or kicked." Conan replied. "In his right hand were marks left by him holding the small scissors that came with the room."
"He was holding scissors?" Professor Agasa echoed. "There was a murder in Okuho City this morning. The victim died holding some scissors I invented, so Inspector Megure asked me to come to the crime scene this afternoon to explain how they work."
"You mean those stupid scissors that say 'snip' when you close them." Haibara deathpanned.
"Would it be alright if I accompanied you to the crime scene?" Okiya requested, bringing in a pot of stew. "There's something about that case that interests me."
At the crime scene...
"Agasa-san, we've been waiting for you." Takagi greeted. "You didn't come alone?" he spotted Conan and Subaru.
"I was actually involved in the development of those scissors." Okiya explained. "Will we be in the way?"
"If that's the case..." Takagi blinked.
"So, the crime scene is in the annex." Okiya noted.
"The victim has been spending most of his time in the annex lately because he felt the main house was insecure." Takagi explained.
"Agasa-san."Megure greeted when Agasa entered the crime scene. "Thank you for coming all the way out here. Allow me to explain the situation. The victim is the president of a real estate company and the owner of this house, Hiyama Kunihisa-san, sixty-one years old. According to Mizuno-san, he was bludgeoned to death with a blunt object. He was attacked in another room of the annex, and fled into the changing room of the bathroom, but the culprit broke through the door and finished him off. The victim was holding these scissors with your logo on them. What do they do?"
"They..." Professor Agasa started.
"Wait." Okiya held him back. "You'll hurt yourself if you're not careful. Can we assume the victim threw this cup at his killer when he entered the room? Then the victim attempted to defend himself with these scissors invented by Professor Agasa that he used to trim his mustache?"
"Probably." Megure blinked.
"Then, don't you think it's strange?" Okiya wondered. "The mop behind the victim. The long-handled mop would be far better for defending oneself against a killer with a blunt object, so why would he use scissors? I'm Professor Agasa's assistant, Okiya Subaru. I came here to help explain the scissors."
"Apparently, these scissors make a sound when they're closed." Megure recalled. "But can they record noises?"
"They're not nearly as useful." Okiya stated.
"I thought he was holding them because he recorded the killer's voice." Megure sighed.
"But there's blood on the shards near the entrance." Conan pointed out. "The culprit must've stepped on them. Won't we know the identity of the killer if we compared this blood with the blood of the people who came to the house?"
"It's among the first things forensics did." Ami supplied. "Actually, the blood..."
"It belongs to the person who discovered the body?" Professor Agasa echoed outside the annex. "Not the killer?"
"His name is Senba Kazunori-san." Takagi nodded. "He ran a candy shop in this neighborhood, but his wife and son sold the property to President Hiyama without his approval, so he came by this morning to complain."
"Then, he didn't do it?" Professor Agasa asked.
"It's not possible." Takagi concurred. "As you can see," he led the trio to the back of the annex. "There are iron bars on all the windows of the annex. Those two bodyguards were the only entrance, and they were frisking everyone who entered. They would've known immediately if someone was carrying a blunt weapon. They were even using a metal detector."
"Is it not possible they used something that was already in the annex as a weapon?" Okiya suggested.
"President Hiyama had a lot of enemies because of his dishonest business practices." Takagi supplied. "To avoid being attacked by his visitors, the only thing that could serve as a weapon was that mop. Nothing else was kept in the annex. Naturally, we didn't find any blood on the mop."
"Was the old man already dead when he entered?" Conan asked.
"Yeah." Takagi replied. "After being frisked, Senba-san entered the annex and called out to him, but there was no answer. The bathroom door was open, so he went to look. He saw President Hiyama on the floor and bleeding from the head. When he ran to the body, he stepped on a shard of glass near the door. Then he returned to the entrance and told the bodyguards what happened."
"Where is he right now?" Conan inquired.
"He was being treated by a police officer in the main house." Takagi responded.
"Excuse me if I'm wrong," Okiya spoke up. "But was the sink in the changing room left running?"
"It was." Takagi nodded. "How did you know?"
"Akai-san." Conan tugged Okiya's sleeve. "Is there something going on with this case?"
"You must have noticed, too." Okiya agreed. "It's very similar to the murder of Haneda Koji seventeen years ago: the case that inspired me to join the FBI. It was my father who was directly involved: he wasn't in the FBI, though. If I'm going to tell you about my father, I wish you'd tell me about your identity."
"Not until everything's been resolved." Conan stammered.
"What in the world is going on?" Senba stormed in. "I thought you were going to let me leave once they were finished treating my cut."
"We still have questions for you." Takagi explained.
"That's Senba Kazunori-san, the person who discovered the body." Chiba confirmed.
"Excuse me, but did you step on the glass with your right foot?" Okiya inquired. "It looks like you were favoring your right leg as you walked."
"I hurt my left foot today." Senba replied. "My right foot is feeling the aftereffects of when I broke it in a traffic accident last month. I ended up in the hospital until last week because of it."
"Would you be willing to recreate the circumstances under which you found the body?" Okiya requested. "I have a few questions."
"About those scissors," Conan spoke up. "They have another special feature. If you performed a certain action near the body, that feature may be activated."
"First, I was frisked by these bodyguards at the annex entrance." Senba reenacted. "Then, I opened the door and went inside. I waited for a while, but he didn't come out. So I entered the annex and called out to him, but he didn't answer. Then, I noticed the door to the bathroom changing room was open. When I looked inside, I saw this."
"Then, you saw Hiyama-san bleeding from the head and lying on the ground, so you ran to him." Okiya stated. "Even though there were clearly pieces of a cup all over the floor?"
"When I looked inside, the door was only cracked open." Senba backtracked. "So, I didn't notice the shards. Then I punctured my foot when I ran to the body."
"That's weird, though." Conan spoke up. "If the door was mostly closed, then when you opened it to enter the room, most of the shards should have been pushed to the other side of the door. If the culprit closed the door, there should be more shards closer to the entrance."
"I made a mistake." Senba stammered. "The door was wide open. I was distracted by the body and didn't look at the floor. If I hit someone hard enough to make them bleed, I'd have blood on me." he unbuttoned his coat to show his pristine white shirt. "There isn't any blood on my clothes."
"Ojii-san, the bottom buttons of your shirt are in the wrong holes." Conan pointed out.
"The back isn't tucked into your pants." Professor Agasa added.
"Your necktie is tied neatly, but the rest of you is a mess." Okiya stated.
"It's just a coincidence." Senba muttered. "I don't have a blunt object that could serve a a weapon. That proves I didn't do it. I've had enough. I'm leaving."
"We've finished taking photos." the forensic office noted. "Let's collect the pieces of the cup."
"Did Senba-san step on the glass barefooted?" Okiya inquired.
"He was wearing slippers." Ami responded. "Boys, show them."
The forensics officer then showed Okiya and Conan the shard embedded in the bathroom slipper.
"This broken cup is the same as the one on the counter, right?" Okiya asked.
"Apparently, the Fusae brand collaborated with a tableware maker to make those cups." Megure responded.
"Excuse me, body coming through." the forensics officers carried the body out.
"I smelled a strange smell coming from the body." Okiya noted.
"There was some kind of honey-like paste on the wound of the body." Megure replied.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
