SailorStar9: With Chapter 156 uploaded, I present Chapter 157 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 157: Kyogoku Makoto the Understudy, Part Three
"Conan-kun." Takagi called out. "Do you have a minute? You were nearby when Odori-san was poisoned and collapsed, right? Could you give the Inspector a detailed account of the incident? He wants to confirm if Odori-san poisoned himself."
"The director just handed him his shake." Conan reiterated. "The two didn't talk much. They intended to discuss who'd fill in for Tokuzono-san, but because I interrupted them, they tabled the discussion."
"Did he hand him any food, like a snack?" Takagi inquired.
"He was walking around with ramune candies." Megure recalled.
"He didn't hand him anything." Conan replied. "Odori-san received a message on his phone, though."
"But there wasn't a phone among Odori-san's belongings." Takagi was confused.
"I'm pretty sure the footage of Tokuzono-san's fall captured Odori-san holding a phone." Conan insisted.
"Check the footage again." Megure instructed.
"Right." Conan pointed out the green smartphone Odori had in his hand when they reviewed the camera footage.
"Did you notice something, Conan-kun?" Megure noticed Conan's startled expression.
"I'll write it down." Takagi took out his notebook. "I left the cap on, so it won't write anymore." he realized the ink of his pen had dried out.
That sentence gave Conan the spark of inspiration and he realized how Odori was poisoned.
"Your car is ready, Jinmei-san." Aburai drove the white van in.
"Officers, is it all right if we left?" Tomioka asked. "Tokuzono-chan fell from the fourth floor because of a practical joke device. Odori-kun pranked him. It was an accident."
"You won't find anything by keeping us here any longer and Hideka-chan and I need to head to my gravure shoot." Jinmei stated.
After luring Sonoko from the group, Conan tranquilized her to start his solution. "Looks like I have no choice." he took on Sonoko's voice. "Sera-chan seems distracted, so why don't I solve this serial murder instead?"
"Serial murder?" Tomioka echoed.
"First, there's actor Tokuzono-san's fall to his death." Conan explained. "Everyone gathered to film the action scene in the classroom where he fell. The crew went on break and everyone on the fourth floor returned to the first floor. Later, Makoto-san headed to the fourth floor ahead of the others for his stunt. AD Hoegi-san was still down below. Tokuzono-san came to the fourth floor before him. Tokuzono-san said he couldn't find his favorite phone and called it using another one. Because there wasn't a scratch on the phone, we know it wasn't dropped by accident. It was placed outside the window to lure Tokuzono-san out there. From the beginning, the police assumed the phone had been tampered with in some way. If a loud ringtone were set to a sound when a certain number is called, the culprit could've startled Tokuzono-san. But that number would remain in the phone's call history and more than anything, nobody heard a loud noise at that time. The only sound anyone heard was the quiet fluttering Makoto-san heard on the fourth floor; the practical joke device found in Odori-san's belongings flew then. The phone was unscathed because it had to be placed carefully on top of the butterfly."
"Tokuzono-san hated bugs." Sera added. "But Tokuzono-san immediately letting go of his phone, which meant it remained unscratched, was unexpected. The butterfly flew inside through the fourth floor window by chance. Odori-san entered the classroom after the fall and secretly took it with him. That's how he determined the method used by the culprit."
"Odori-san was killed because he tried to use that as evidence to threaten the culprit." Conan continued. "While checking the footage of Tokuzono-san's fall, Odori-san laughed. Odori-san laughed because he saw a certain person from the footage: decisive evidence of the true culprit's guilt. Look closely: there's someone behaving strangely even though a person just fell. They took no notice of Tokuzono-san's fall and kept staring up at the fourth floor. Makeup artist, Aburai Hideka-san, you're the culprit. you were watching to see where the practical joke device went. You intended to retrieve it while everyone was distracted by Tokuzono-san. Unfortunately, it flew into the classroom. You decided to kill Odori-san after he threatened you. Odori-san's phone was missing from his belongings because you swiped it to hide your conversation."
"You can't expect me to sit quietly and listen to this." Jinmei defended her makeup artist. "If Hideka-chan is the culprit, then how did she poison him? There wasn't poison in Odori-san's shake or his straw."
"Aburai-san used that straw to poison him." Conan revealed. "She removed the straw's tip, made a vertical cut in it and attached it to another straw like a cap. Aburai-san coated the cap with poison beforehand and said she couldn't take her allergy medicine, so the Ad would go buy drinks. Naturally, she had already confirmed that the nearby store would have the right shake. Then, she pretended to help distribute drinks and swiped the straw she needed. All that was left was to give Odori-san the straw with the cap. After killing him, she waited for an opportunity to remove the cap, creating the mysterious murder in which no poison could be found anywhere."
"Then, show us the proof." Jinmei retorted.
"Aburai-san, did you take your allergy medicine?" Conan questioned. "It's dangerous to carry a poisoned cap around against your bare skin. If it were me, I'd roll it up and hide it inside a capsule after committing the crime. And that's what you did; because you hid it among the other capsules, you can't take them anymore. If that capsule was found, that would prove it was you. There was just one problem. Shakes typically come with straight straws. It would immediately be obvious if one had a cap."
"It was insurance in case I failed to kill Tokuzono-san using the practical joke device." Aburai admitted. "It wasn't meant of Odori-san. Tokuzono-san doesn't drink shakes. I was lucky nobody found the straw type suspicious because the director handed Odori-san his shake."
"Was it because of Nishibe?" Hoegi guessed.
"Tokuzono-san's prank reminded him of how he hurt Jinmei-san." Aburai answered. "He didn't get any sleep that night. The next day, he said he was heading to the filming location. He said he'd get into more trouble if he didn't go and took his car. I spent so much time wondering if I should kill him. I kept telling myself that more than one thing caused the accident. But... after hearing those words today, I made up my mind. I had to make him apologize to Nishibe-kun in the afterlife." she spat and dashed back into the van. Starting the vehicle, she stepped on the accelerator pedal, driving the van into the school wall.
Kyogoku burst into action, chasing after the runaway van and stopping it by lifting the rear bumper. "Ran-san, hurry." he shouted.
Ran shot towards the driver's seat window, slammed a palm onto the glass and unlocked the driver's door, rescuing Aburai from her intended suicide.
"Why did you stop me?" Aburai wailed.
"To save you from earning any more guilt." Ran replied. "Lives don't belong to anyone. They're something precious that should never be taken away."
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.
