Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"Hips Don't Lie"

A pair of patrolmen wrestled a disheveled young man in through the door. His blue uniform was a perfect match to the one worn by the killer, except that it was torn open in several places. Recently bandaged injuries showed through the gaps. "Hey, watch it! I can walk on my own, ya know!"

"Officers, how many times do I have to tell you he's been hurt? Please try to be gentler with him…" A girl in a blue skirt followed the trio through the door.

"Careful of the floor!" the Inspector cautioned them, pointing to the prints. "We haven't taped up that area yet!" Hmm… I've seen those two somewhere before…

"Yeah, yeah." The officer on the boy's left wrenched his captive's arm behind his back. "Kid, you're not helping here! The more you struggle, the tighter we have to hold you!"

"Yeowch! Get offa me, ya creeps!"

"Quit yer squirming, punk!" The other officer viciously sucker-punched the boy.

"Hey, that's taking things a bit too far!" Rachel protested.

"I agree!" McGuire bellowed. "Let him loose, now!"

"Sorry, sir… this killer's been trying to escape ever since we left the station!"

"Small wonder, given that it's you two they picked to escort him! Didn't both of you get suspended for unnecessary brutality by the tribunal just last month?" The pair's silence confirmed his suspicion. "Get out of here, both of you. My men will make sure he doesn't escape."

The pair released the boy, who promptly collapsed in a fit of coughing. "And tell your superior Mr. Keinan that I don't want him poking his nose into this crime scene any further!" he yelled at their fleeing backs. I don't know what in the world they're doing back on duty so fast… I smell something rotten… "Hey, you ok, boy? Er…" he flipped through the sheaf of papers the officers had dumped on the counter, "Yusuke Urameshi?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. Thanks for getting those guys off my back." He winced as he tried to push himself off the floor.

The girl was at his side in an instant. "Oh, Yusuke! Where does it hurt?"

"What do you think, Keiko? It hurts all over…"

Rachel scurried over. "Here, let me help. Keiko, is it?"

"Mm-hm. Keiko Yukimura."

"I'm Rachel Moore, pleased to meet you. Ok, up you come, Yusuke!"

The two girls helped Yusuke to his feet. Rachel looked him over, aghast. "Those men did all that to you?"

"No. He was in a fight in a back alley this morning before school," Jimmy stated calmly.

Keiko spun and gaped at Jimmy in astonishment. "Who are you, and how did you know that?"

"The name is Jimmy Kudo, Detective, and it was easy. His skinned knuckles tell me he was fighting back, not just taking blows. The bruises on his face and arms tell me when it happened. And the mold slime on his uniform says it was somewhere damp and deserted. That doesn't necessarily exclude him from being a suspect, though." Jimmy gently led the other boy behind the shop counter and pointed to the body, which was still uncovered in a pool of blood. "Yusuke, have you ever seen that man before?"

Yusuke's face turned ghostly white. "Mr. Yamaguchi… no way!" He spun around, seemingly seeing the devastated store for the first time. "I didn't recognize the place at all, since it was so trashed. Yeah, I've been here dozens of times!" Last time, he caught me sneaking out with some comics, and gave me a whipping for it… I still have the bruises to prove it, but I don't think Keiko would want to see them, given their particular location… His train of thought halted as he caught the calculating look in Jimmy's eyes. "Hey, look, sure I'm a regular customer, but I'm telling you, I didn't kill him! He was one of the few decent guys in the neighborhood!"

"Inspector," Rachel broke in, "perhaps if we show them the recordings, they might spot something we missed. Or at least they'd understand why the police picked him up."

"Agreed." McGuire's fingers clamped down on Yusuke's shoulders firmly, but not unkindly. "Jimmy here will figure things out. You'll spend the rest of your life in prison if he proves you're guilty, but until then, you're innocent to me."

"… Thanks." I lucked out! Most cops would've tossed me in a cell to rot by now.

Jimmy wandered about the store, pondering, while the newcomers watched the surveillance tapes. What am I missing?

"The shooter sure does look like you, Yusuke… right-handed, same uniform, same height," Keiko commented when the footage ended. "But I've never seen that cap on you before."

"I don't. Wear. Hats. Don't like 'em. You know that."

"It's not him."

"WHAT?" McGuire's head whipped around, his face displaying his shock at Jimmy's almost lackadaisical announcement.

Jimmy was carefully studying the floor in the center aisle. "The murderer is shorter than Yusuke."

"How can you tell?"

"Well, there's two factors. First, there's the fact that Yusuke typically slouches. Stand up straight, please."

Yusuke straightened his back. It added a full three centimeters to his height.

McGuire tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, maybe… the video doesn't show the best detail, though. It probably wouldn't stand in court."

"Definitely wouldn't," Jimmy corrected him. "At least, not by itself. However, there is another aspect the tape left out, due to the position of the camera. Look at the murderer's footprints."

The Inspector and the girls carefully clustered around the not-yet-taped-off region.

"I don't see anything special about 'em," McGuire groused.

"The distance between them is a bit long for someone of Yusuke's height, wouldn't you think?"

"Well, maybe…"

"Quite right. Unfortunately, there's just too much variation in the human population. It could simply have been someone with extremely long legs relative to their overall height. But that's not the most interesting thing about them."

"Then what is it, already?" Rachel pried impatiently. I hate it when he gets like this…

"These footprints here are pointed inward."

"So? Lots of people's toes point inward!" Keiko rebutted.

"True. But how many people's toes point inward when they walk… and outward when they stand?" He indicated a fainter pair of prints where the murderer had stood when he was talking with Mr. Yamaguchi.

"Hmm… you're right! That is rather strange, come to think of it. But what does it mean?"

"It means, Inspector, that Yusuke is not the culprit, because he doesn't walk like the culprit."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The only way someone's toes could point outward when they stand, but inward when they walk, is if their hips are swiveling a great deal more than a typical man's. If you look closely at the videos again, I think you'll see the murderer's shoulders swiveling along with their hips."

Yusuke looked up from the screen, one eye swollen shut. "He's right, Inspector. It's faint, but his shoulders are swiveling."

"Exactly. Now, Yusuke, if you would please do me a favor?" Jimmy asked politely.

"What is it?"

"I want you to walk for me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Just walk down this aisle, normally. Back and forth a few times. You too, Keiko, please? Make sure you stop before you reach the footprints."

"Okay… how's this?"

The pair began pacing back and forth like models on a catwalk – minus the ludicrous outfits and strobing flashbulb lights, and plus about twenty pounds apiece.

"That's just fine," Jimmy approved. "Do you see it, Inspector?"

He scrutinized the duo for a few turns. "Err… just what should I be looking for?"

Jimmy smirked. "You don't see it because what you're looking for isn't there. Pardon me one moment, I need another volunteer." He strode out the door, returning a few moments later with a middle-aged woman wearing a navy business suit, tortoise-shell glasses, a pearl necklace and high heels.

"Oh my, what happened here?" she asked innocuously, gazing about the store. "This place sure is a mess!"

The Inspector was flustered by the sudden appearance of the mature beauty. "Well, ma'am, I'm afraid there's been a m – "

"Just your typical break-in, ma'am," Jimmy interrupted. "Now, if you wouldn't mind walking up and down this aisle, same as these two youngsters?" Jimmy asked her.

"Certainly. Anything to help the police!" She flashed Inspector McGuire a winsome smile.

"How did you find someone to help so quickly?" Rachel whispered to Jimmy.

"Well, any crime scene draws a crowd," he whispered back. "I just picked the person who would best suit our needs and looked the least hurried." She's probably with the media, but that's okay. She can't see the body from anywhere in the main part of the store. He raised his voice. "Well, Inspector, do you see it now?"

"I'm afraid I'm still lost, Jimmy."

Jimmy sidled up to the Inspector and dropped his voice again. "You're looking in the wrong place… you need to watch her hips."

The Inspector flushed briefly, but complied. Jimmy sighed. He never has been able to handle the ladies very well…

As the woman, Yusuke, and Keiko paced past each other up and down the aisle, stopping just short of the footprints left by killer, inspiration finally clicked – just like the woman's footwear. "It's her heels! They make her hips sway!" McGuire declared.

"Precisely," Jimmy confirmed. "Thank you, ma'am, that will be all." He smoothly led her to and out the door.

Once he was sure she was well and gone, he turned to the others. "Our murderer simply cannot be Yusuke Urameshi… because our murderer is a woman."

A/N: Did you see it coming? He he… I've actually had this chapter more or less complete for some time, but forgot to publish it! (It's a good thing, too, because I've had to edit it somewhat…) For some time since then, I've been fully absorbed in work, family, and my Inuyasha AU fic, "A Twist in Time" – check it out if you get the chance!

I'll try to update this again ASAP.