SailorStar9: With Chapter 138 uploaded, I present Chapter 139 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 139: Mouri Kogoro's Grand Lecture, Part Two
"I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience." Megure told Tsukinogi. "But we appreciate your co-operation."
"I'm in a bit of a bind, though." Tsukinogi admitted. "I'm honored I was invited to appear on the panel. But I have plans immediately after this. I can't accommodate a one-hour delay. And you verified my alibi, didn't you?"
"But that alibi applies only to Inokoshi Kenichiro-san's murder." Megure pointed out. "Reizei may have confessed to Hishida Junko-san's murder, but we haven't even determined the time of death."
"Inspector." Takagi ran in. "Mizuno-san just finished her initial examination and she has determined the time of death."
Aside...
"I just couldn't accept it." Reizei confessed, Chiba was talking down his statement. "Disregarding the achievements of the late previous owner, rather her father, was her style. I wanted her to understand, so we continued our conversation there. But..."
In the security room...
"Wasn't Inokoshi's time of death 2:50?" Megure looked at the time stamp of the recording.
"That's the time the victim's pocket watch broken by the weapon was stopped at." Takagi confirmed.
"Which mean Inokoshi-san wasn't killed by Reizei-san." Megure concluded. "In other words, there is another culprit. I know this is a coincidence, but this isn't good."
"That's not all that's not good, Inspector." Mouri reminded. "The two murders took place at practically the same time. Aside from Reizei-san, the people whose alibis we verified for Inokoshi's death were all innocent."
"Not a single person doesn't have an alibi." Megure realized.
Later in the meeting room...
"What is this?" Mouri scoffed, Conan having brought in the two suspicious photos he had taken at both crime scenes.
"I thought it might be some kind of message." Conan related.
"From who?" Mouri pressed.
"I don't know." Conan admitted.
"You went off and found something trivial instead." Mouri scoffed. "I'm sure it's just a prank. I'm busy over here. Inspector, and?" he turned back to Megure.
"We thought you solved the trick used to create the locked room." Megure noted. "But if Reizei-san's cane wasn't used to prop the chair up with the body in it, then what was? We can't proceed with your investigation if we can't solve that mystery."
"Mister." Conan voiced.
"Maybe it's wrong to assume it was a long object like a cane." Tsukuba mused. "Recently, they sell telescoping canes, too."
"This is why I can't stand amateurs." Mouri snorted. "Stay out of..." he stopped himself suddenly and exclaimed. "I've figured it out, Inspector."
In Tsukinogi's room...
"Tsukinogi Hideki-san." Mouri started. "You're retired from bodyguarding, but you still carry your gear with you. That." he pointed to the end of the telescoping nightstick gutting out from Tsukinogi's belt. "I'm talking about your telescoping nightstick."
"It's a habit I developed over the years." Tsukinogi replied. "I feel anxious without it. What about it?"
"Don't play dumb." Mouri chided. "You extended your nightstick, pressed it against the back of the chair supporting Inokoshi's body, tilted it, and withdrew it while gradually closing the door, creating the locked room."
"Would you hand over your nightstick, Tsukinogi-san?" Megure requested.
"We'd like to see if the end of your nightstick matches the mark left on the chair." Takagi explained.
"That's fine with me." Tsukinogi replied. "But this was actually stolen from me. I went to the bathroom immediately after arriving. I took it off and left it in this changing room, and it went missing. When I just checked, it had been returned. I don't know who it was, but I thought it was strange. Besides, don't I have an alibi? I was with several others when the murder took place. Weren't you the police, the ones who verified it?"
"About the time of the crime..." Conan spoke.
"Wasn't that the time shown on the victim's pocket watch that was broken by the weapon?" Tsukuba finished.
"They broke it beforehand and set the hands pointing to 2:50." Mouri realized.
"Then, they put it in the breast pocket of the victim after they killed him." Megure added.
"In other words, the murder actually took place earlier than that." Mouri concluded.
"Takagi, Chiba reconfirm their alibis immediately." Megure instructed.
"At the originally determined time of 2:50, Tsukinogi-san met with event company president Tsunohazu-san and staff member Amagi-san." Chiba reported. "No one saw Tsukinogi-san during the ten minutes before that."
"We spoke with the others and they all gave the same answer." Takagi added.
"I simply didn't encounter anyone else." Tsukinogi stated. "That doesn't mean I did it."
"Then, what's that shining on your lapel?" Tsukuba demanded. "Maybe it's a piece of glass from the pocket watch broken by the weapon. If it's a match, there's no way a piece of glass could've gotten on you if the pocket watch was inside the victim's jacket was broken, so it must have been broken beforehand. The pieces could only have gotten on the person who broke it."
"I couldn't forgive him." Tsukinogi broke down.
With the two murders solved, Mouri's lecture proceeded.
"Thank you for waiting, everyone." the MC, Hanai Rika, took the stage. "The HISHIDA Hall renovation commemorative lecture, presented by Sleeping Mouri, Mouri Kogoro himself, 'The Great Detective Mouri Kogoro Reveals His Secrets' will now begin. I'm Hanai Rika, Nichiuri TV announcer and I will be your MC today. Now, let's bring the star of the day onstage."
"Thank you for waiting." Mouri took the offered microphone. "As I was just introduced, I am the great detective, Mouri Kogoro. The subject of today's lecture is a great detective's secrets." he took his seat on the armchair. "As such, I will be telling you all about my abundant experience. That's enough from me." he ended the lecture.
"After a short break, we'll move onto the panel." Hanai informed.
In Mouri's changing room...
"Sounds like you had some trouble." Kisaki arrived to the venue. "I just heard the news."
"Thanks to Mouri-sensei, the cases were solved." Ujimori informed. "I know the circumstances are unusual, but everyone loved the lecture. Keep up the same energy during the panel, Kisaki-sensei."
"Sure." Kisaki stated. "But, doesn't that mean it'll just be the two of us going onstage?"
"Actually, about that..." Tsunohazu started and produced an updated itinerary, indicating Tsukuba Mei as the third participant in the second part of the lecture.
"I'm Tsukuba Mei." Tsukuba introduced herself. "I look forward to working with you."
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
