SailorStar9: With Chapter 144 uploaded, I present Chapter 145 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 145: The Secret of the Search for his Wife


Sometime later...

"Excuse me." Higuchi Masaki was handing out missing persons flyers on the streets. "Your help is appreciated. I'm looking for my wife. Tomomi..." he muttered as it started raining.

"May I take a flyer?" Ran asked, using her umbrella to shield the drenched Masaki.

"Could I see one, too?" Conan requested.

"This woman..." Ran started, seeing the photo.

"You know her, Ran-nee-chan?" Conan asked.

"She works at the florist in the shopping center." Ran nodded.

"That's right." Masaki confirmed. "That's her. Have you seen her anywhere? I don't know where she's been since she came home from the florist three days ago."


At the Mouri Detective Agency later...

"So, this is one of those flyers." Mouri remarked.

"Please find Tomomi – my wife." Masaki pleaded.

"He was desperately finding her in this rain." Ran supplied. "At least do something for him."

"Easier said than done." Mouri complained. "It's only been three days since she went missing, right? Maybe she'll return if you wait a little longer. People run away from home all the time. Are you sure you didn't do anything to upset her?"

"No." Masaki refuted. "She was the one who didn't show up that day. It was our wedding anniversary. I made a reservation at a restaurant. She was genuinely excited since it wasn't the type of restaurant we could normally visit. So, she couldn't have run away. Besides, her phone and wallet were left in the living room."

"Have you told the police?" Mouri asked.

"Of course, I told them." Masaki replied. "But they couldn't say for certain a crime took place. I'm worried she was kidnapped or got caught up in something."

"I'll take on your case." Mouri relented.


The next day...

"Please leave." Masaki demanded Takagi and the two policemen with him. "Who are you people? You said you were with the police, so I thought you came to investigate Tomomi's disappearance."

"Is something the matter, Higuchi-san?" Mouri cut in. "What's all the fuss, Takagi?"

"We just received an anonymous tip." Takagi explained.

"This officer is saying I murdered Tomomi and buried her body in the yard." Masaki retorted.


In the house...

"Higuchi-san, may we begin?" Takagi requested.

"Just get it over quickly." Masaki agreed.

"Go ahead." Takagi gave the go-ahead. "Get started."

"You won't find a body." Masaki was confident. "First of all, Tomomi isn't dead."

"We found something, Detective Takagi." one of the officers reported. "A woman's body."

"No..." Masaki gaped in horror. "Tomomi!"

"Don't." Takagi held him back. "I understand how you feel, but please stay away from the body. Get forensics. The victim is Higuchi Tomomi-san, twenty-nine years old." he reported to Megure. "She's a housewife who lived in this house. According to Mizuno-san, the cause of death is most likely severe blood loss due to being stabbed in the abdomen with these pruning shears buried along with the body. The man over there is Higuchi-san's husband, Higuchi Masaki-san. At Mouri-san's recommendation, we've had several of the neighbors come to serve as witnesses."

"Higuchi-san, according to the tip, your murdered your wife and buried her in your yard." Megure started.

"There must be some mistake." Masaki insisted. "I would never murder Tomomi."

"You can tell us all about it at the station." Megure declared.

"According to your neighbors, you and your wife had a terrible relationship." Mouri stated. "They said you fought about whether or not you'd kill her."

"Wait a minute." Masaki protested. "We never fought."

"Over the course of making inquiries, I became certain you did it." Mouri stood firm. "I was completely fooled by your act."

"Hold it right there." using his Voice-Changing Bowtie, Conan took on Mouri's voice, having found out what he needed among the rose bushes and tranquilized the detective seconds later. "I've figured out the true culprit who murdered Tomomi-san."

"Didn't you just say you were fooled by Higuchi-san's acting?" Megure pressed.

"It wasn't me who was fooled by his acting; it's those three standing over there." Conan revealed. "These people are the neighbors who testified that Higuchi-san argued with Tomomi-san. All three of them clearly remembered what they argued about."

"I remembered because their argument sounded so ominous." the male neighbor living behind the Higuchis explained. "After all, she was screaming 'let me live tonight' and 'kill me tomorrow'."

"Me, too." Tsutsumi Sakie agreed. "I heard her screaming 'forgive me' and 'don't kill me' in the middle of the night."

"When I heard them arguing, she was saying 'send me away'." another female neighbor living behind Higuchis added.

"'Kill me tomorrow - but let me live tonight'." Conan repeated the quote. "They're lines spoken by Desdemona in Shakespeare's 'Othello'."

"We weren't arguing." Masaki concurred. "We were rehearsing."

"It's all written here." Conan handed Takagi the theater flyer.

"Tomomi-san was part of a community theater.' Takagi blinked.

"It's the first time she'd been given such a big role." Masaki recalled Tomomi showing him the 'Othello' script. "She was so excited."

"So, you went to the river and park to rehearse together." Conan concluded.

"We couldn't speak loudly at home." Masaki explained.

"Does that make things a little strange?" Conan wondered. "Sakie-san's testimony, which claimed she heard you rehearsing at night..."

"I just made a mistake." Tsutsumi stammered.

"It wasn't a mistake." Conan refuted. "You deliberately gave false testimony, because you were the true culprit who murdered Tomomi-san with the pruning shears."

"What are you talking about?" Tsutsumi asked. "She just lives in the house behind mine. I didn't have any motive to kill her."

"The flyers made by Higuchi-san gave me the answer to that." Conan corrected. "This photo was taken the day before Tomomi-san went missing. Look closely at the picture. Notice anything? Look behind the fragrant olive tree behind Tomomi-san. See how the branches are currently shorter than they are in the photo? Tomomi-san cut them, using the pruning shears used as the murder weapon."

"She said she wanted to cut them because they cast a shadow on her kitchen garden." Masaki recalled. "How is that a reason to kill Tomomi?"

"it's perfectly plausible." Megure corrected. "Neighborhood disputes over whether or not to cut branches can become quite serious."

"But Tomomi-san cut the olive branches without realizing it." Conan added. "Sakie-san, you became furious and stabbed Tomomi-san with these pruning shears. "

"I cut those branches." Tsutsumi protested.

"But all the flowers in your yard are dead." Conan pointed out.

"Judging by the state of your yard, it's hard to imagine that you gardened at a regular basis." Megure agreed.

"That's right." Tsutsumi spat. "She's the one who cut the branches. But so, what? That doesn't prove I killed her."

"Furious at having your branches cut, you didn't go to the trouble of using the gate to enter the yard." Conan stated. "You climbed over that rose bush. The scratches on your legs; did you not get those then? When I looked at the bushes earlier, there was just one area unnaturally devoid of roses. There's something that looks like blood on these thorns." he supplied.

"Go get the forensics team waiting outside." Megure instructed.

"If examined, I'm sure it'd match your blood." Conan stated. "Will you tell us why you climbed over the bushes to enter another home's yard?"

"There was blood other than the victim's on the weapon." Megure added after an officer reported the test results.

"It's almost certainly it's your blood." Conan reminded. "You can wipe away fingerprints, but the blood remains."

"Did she call in the anonymous tip?" Takagi had a sudden thought.

"She wouldn't have been exposed if she hadn't reported it." Conan commented. "She probably thought she could frame Higuchi since we were questioning the neighborhood."

"That's right." Tsutsumi snarled, turning to Masaki. "I was going to frame you. I was sick and tired seeing you happily fiddling with your garden day after day. You even ended up messing with another person's tree. You're always looking down on me."

"In any case, we'll hear what you have to say once we return to the station." Takagi cut in.


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