SailorStar9: With Chapter 143 uploaded, I present Chapter 144 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 144: The Target is the Metropolitan Police Traffic Department, Part Four


In the Haido City police station...

"Sato-san, it was a week ago, after all." Takagi confirmed. "One week ago, there was a woman who committed suicide by jumping from the roof of an office building on Second Street in Haido City. Her name is Midorikawa Aiko. Since she worked at the building she jumped from, her colleagues were able to confirm her identity right then and there. She resided in Room 702 of the apartment building. Left at the scene were her shoes and phone. Later, a suicide note was found in her desk as well. In fact..."


In Chiba's car...

"You know who the culprit is?" Chiba exclaimed.

"The culprit is one of the traffic violators they arrested a week ago." Conan nodded.

"They were extremely angry when they were bought into the police station." Chiba recalled. "So, that's the lead we're following."

"They were Aono, who forgot his license and was using his phone while driving, Akamine, who was riding a motorcycle against traffic without a helmet, and Shiroyama, whose inspection expired and forgot to wear his seatbelt, right?" Conan asked. "Most likely, both the first victim Sergeant Momosaki was pointing at and the second victim Lieutenant Yagi was facing a no parking sign. Do you know why signs prohibiting something are a diagonal line? Because the shape is a combination of N and O. in other words, it means 'no' in English. No parking signs are a 'no' layered on a blue sign. Which means blue (ao) plus 'no' is ao-no. The culprit is Aono-san."

"Do you really think they made a lame pun with their dying message?" Chiba was skeptical.

"That's what I thought as first." Conan stated. "But if that's the only thing you saw in the vicinity, wouldn't you do the same? Dying messages can't be noticed by the culprit, but it's also no good if no one understands them. Most people don't know the history of road signs, but it's likely an officer of the Transportation Department would notice. It's the perfect message. Then, there's 7155. The number Lieutenant Yagi left on her phone that doesn't connect to anyone: it probably refers to road traffic law article 71, section 5-5; when operating a vehicle, drivers must not hold their phone in their hand or look at its screen. I think we can assume it refers to Aono-san who was using his phone while driving."

"Aono Kengo's girlfriend killed herself by jumping off the building she worked at?" Chiba gaped, stopping his car suddenly after Sato informed him over the phone. "A week ago?"


Outside the Haido City police station...

"Apparently, she couldn't take the power harassment she was suffering at the hands of her bosses." Sato confirmed. "Aono received a text from his girlfriend that said 'goodbye'. He rushed out of work, got into his car without his license and was caught by Sergeant Momosaki and Lieutenant Yagi while he was on his way to her."

"So, he resented them for stopping him." Shiratori realized.

"He believes he could've prevented his girlfriend's suicide if that hadn't happened." Takagi added.

"According to the local jurisdiction, she called Aono immediately after texting him." Sato continued.

"But Aono didn't answer." Takagi confirmed. "So, she left a voicemail instead. She was using a recording app on her phone, so they were able to confirm the message's content at the scene."

"Speaking of phones, they received a phone call while questioning Aono and he was extremely upset." Sato recalled. "The two of them had a mutual friend named Yumiko who they went to karaoke with. Both of them called her Yumi."

"Did Aono hear that name then plan to kill Yumi-san next?" Takagi gasped.

"Where is Yumi-san now?" Shiratori asked.

"I've been calling her, but she won't answer." Sato replied.


In Chiba's car...

"Conan-kun just sent a message to Takagi-kun's phone." Chiba supplied. "Is the number I just sent him Yumi-san's number? I'm not sure if it was Yumi-san, but I heard four sets of a fingernail tapping a phone seven times. After that, I heard a male voice say 'What are you doing?' before they hang up. I thought it might be..."


Outside the Haido City police station...

"This is Miike's number." Sato recognized the phone number. "Come to think of it, we can't get in touch with Miike, either."


In Chiba's car...

"It's possible the culprit figured out she's a police officer and kidnapped her so he can lure Yumi-san to him and kill her." Conan concluded. "If he plans to call her to him, then he can't be that far. What places are nearby that the culprit would be familiar with? Do you know what Aono does for work?"

Outside the Haido City police station...

"I think he's a remodeler." a startled Sato replied. "By the way, Chiba-kun. How did the sound you heard go?"

"I believe it was... tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap..." Chiba recalled. "That sounds familiar."

"It's 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'." Conan instantly recognized the tune. "She could only communicate using sounds because her mouth is covered. She's being held in the planetarium that's being remodeled."


At the planetarium...

"A kid?" Aono stopped before he could kill Miike. "Why are you here?"

"I brought him here so he could distract you." Chiba threw Aono to the floor with an over-shoulder flip. "Aono Kengo, you're arrest for the murders of two female police officers. 22:54, suspect arrested." he cuffed Aono. "So, you do have your phone with you." he spotted the phone in Aono's back pocket. "The police have been calling you over and over."

"It's not on." Aono snorted. "This phone is full of memories of Aiko. I never let it out of my sight."

"I heard about your girlfriend." Chiba stated. "What happened was tragic."

"It's your fault." Aono glared. "Because you police wouldn't let me go, Aiko is..."

"Weren't you driving without a license while using your phone?" Chiba reminded. "It's only natural that you were arrested. Those are the rules."

"They could've quickly written me a ticket." Aono argued. "They wasted my time by talking about karaoke on the phone and slowed me down. I wanted to get to my girlfriend and convince her not to do it. The police killed Aiko."

"The police didn't kill your girlfriend." Chiba corrected. "It was a coincidence that they received a call. Even if it hadn't happened, they wouldn't have let you go. It was clear from your behavior that you were out of your mind. They thought you needed time to calm down. It's the reason the policewomen you killed did their jobs."

"Talk all you want." Aono snapped. "Aiko still died because you guys stopped me. If that haven't happened, I could've saved Aiko."

"You weren't behaving normally." Chiba insisted. "Your girlfriend left a voicemail on your phone. You haven't heard your girlfriend's message." he pulled out the phone from Aono's pocket. "You don't even seem to know she called you. She called you a minute after she sent that last text. Because you were hurrying to your car, it's possible you didn't notice she was calling. You should've seen this notification on your screen. This important notification was visible to you, but you didn't notice." he showed Aono the 'missed call' notification.

"Let me hear it." Aono sobbed. "Let me hear the message Aiko left for me."

"Do you understand now?" Chiba paused the voice message. "You were too late. You're Yumi-san's subordinate." he walked towards the bound Miike.

"Don't." Miike reacted, pushing Chiba aside when he activated the crossbow trap, the arrow shooting out grazing her stocking.

"Could you handle the rest?" Chiba requested the other arriving officers as he piggybacked Miike to the nearest hospital.


At the traffic junction...

"You shouldn't cross." Miike started, Chiba was about to step onto the road at the red light. "You may think no one's watching, but I'm watching. You're watching, too. Once you go easy on yourself and break the rules, it becomes a habit. Habits are hard to break even if you want to."

"You..." Chiba gaped in realization. "Are you really my childhood friend, Naeko-chan?"

"You idiot." Miike muttered. "Took you long enough."


SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.