Case Closed AU
By: FunahoMisaki
(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)
"Time for dinner Félix!" Angie called to the chubby boy as he came down from a ladder.
"Good timing. It's officially fixed." Félix said taking off his rain coat.
"Thanks a lot." Angie said smiling as everyone sat down at the table.
"Come on Félix! It's getting cold. Wrap it up big guy." Mitchell called up to him a minute later.
"I'm coming I'm comi- Hey! Get away from there!" Félix suddenly yelled as he rushed to the window.
"What is it Félix?" Mitchell asked looking up at the second floor.
"It's him! He's here! He's down by the window!" Félix called back making everyone look at the window except Irene who was looking at the window beside it with a smirk.
"I don't see anyth-"Randall cut himself off as the bandaged man seemed to have run by the window with Jessica in his arms.
"How are we going to find them? It's pitch black out there!" Mitchell said as he and Randall ran to the window and threw it open. Irene answered that question by jumping out of the window with a flashlight in hand.
"Irene-chan wait!" Rachel yelled but it was too late as Irene ran into the woods, the guys hot on her heels and all of them calling for Jessica.
"A leg." Irene said with wide eyes as she shined her flashlight onto a severed blood covered leg. Behind her she heard Félix find an arm as she reached forward and touched the blood.
"It's cold, and the blood is dry. Had to have been at least twenty minutes since it was severed." Irene said while Randall ran off in another direction calling for Jessie until he tripped over something.
"Jessie?" Randall asked picking up the body, only to scream when the head came off.
"It doesn't make sense." Irene said frowning as she and the guys made it back to the house and the guys broke the news to the others.
"What doesn't make sense Irene-chan? The fact that Jessie is dead or the fact that the psycho is still out there?" Serena asked as she clutched her older sisters arm.
"Not that. When we found her I noticed that her blood was completely dry. How can that be when it takes roughly 20 minutes before blood dries at room temperature? It's certainly less than room temperature outside, and we were right behind them. How could the guy have dismembered her without us hearing? How could the blood have dried up so quickly? Most importantly… how could the killer have run by that one window alone?" Irene asked looking up at the grownups confused.
"What do you mean with that bit about the window?" Randall asked confused as he looked down at Irene.
"When Félix called that he was down by a window he didn't say which one. I looked at the one beside where we saw him carry off Jessie, to get to the window we saw him at he had to have run by the other one too but there was no sign of him. Plus… how could you see him in the pitch blackness when he was wearing all black too Félix-san?" Irene asked looking up at Félix innocently.
I-I caught a glimpse of Jessie's earrings flashing in the light from the windows." Félix said causing Irene to narrow her eyes at him while everyone began to lock up the house.
Irene stopped by a door and knocked on it lightly, earning a small knock back that made her smile as she whispered a soft 'goodnight' before going to her room where Rachel climbed into bed with her. A little while after they had fallen asleep Irene felt a light gust blow at her, causing her eyes to snap open only for her to see the ax killer standing over her with his ax raised over h head. Kicking Rachel out of the path of the ax, Irene rolled away and watched at the man went after Rachel.
"Leave her alone!" Irene said tackling the man, causing him to throw her off into a wall, making her ankle hit the head board of the bed on her way down.
Thinking quickly Irene grabbed her bowtie and necklace, turning the volume up to max and beginning to unwind the wire.
"Kaa-chan WAKE UP! Irene yelled into the bowtie which amplified her voice, causing Rachel's eyes to open lazily.
"This isn't a dream. He's really here in our room!" Irene said into the bowtie before launching her wire at the guy as Rachel screamed.
"Oh my god Rachel! Irene-chan! Open up what's going on in ghee!?" Serena demanded banging on the door as Irene caught the guy around the wrist with the wire before he managed to slip free, leaving a deep bruise on his wrist as he ran off into the night.
"Irene-chan managed to save me." Rachel said when the others rushed into the room after changing out of their night cloths, Serena and Rachel wrapping Irene's ankle up in bandages.
"It's not broken is it Serena?" Randall asked as Angie went to Serena and Rachel's sides.
"No it's just sprained." Serena said as she finished wrapping it up.
"Does it hurt Irene-chan?" Angie asked gently while the guys went to investigate the window.
"Nah I've had worse before." Keene said with a small chuckle while the guys investigated the window.
"Looks like he used a glass cutter after climbing up that tree over there onto the balcony." Randall said as he and Mitchell looked around outside.
"He's got balls that's for sure." Mitchell said causing Irene to chuckle slightly.
"You're wrong about how he got up here." Irene said causing everyone to look at her.
"Oh yeah then how do you think he got up here kid?" Mitchell asked turning to scowl at Irene.
"Not by climbing up a tree from in the yard in the pouring down rain. Are you telling me he could do that before walking on a carpet and not drag anything in with him?" Irene asked causing them to gasp as they surveyed the carpet by the window. She was right! There wasn't anything not even a speck of dirt or mud!
"If I had to guess I'd say that our psycho was never outside to begin with. He went through Jessie's room, came out onto the balcony, then used the glass cutter to get into our room so he could attack kaa-san." Irene said causing everyone to gasp as they stared at her wide eyed.
"How about we all go downstairs and I'll explain more down there in a few minutes?" Irene asked causing everyone to nod slightly in agreement as they all stumbled down the hall towards the dining room.
"Ack! I can walk! You don't have to carry me!" Irene protested immediately when Rachel picked her up and carried her piggy back style.
"Calm down Irene-chan. I'm just carrying you piggy back until we get downstairs and it's only because you were injured. No need to be so embarrassed." Rachel said as she opened the door and stepped out of the room after getting changed out of her night cloths, causing Angie who was walking past them to giggle slightly.
"Hey Angie. Isn't that purple thing the thing Jessie was wearing around her neck?" Irene asked looking at the purple choker in Angie's pocket.
"Oh this? Yes it's her choker. Jessie always had it on. I found it by the front door when I was locking up the rest of the house while you all were chasing the psycho." Angie said glancing down at the purple choker sticking out of her pocket.
"Can I hold it? It might contain a clue." Irene asked causing Angie to pull it out.
"Of course but please be careful with it." Angie said handing it to Irene who nodded and gingerly tucked it into her pocket.
"Now I'm sure all of us are wanting to hear more about what you have to say about this psycho, Irene." Randall said as they were all sitting down.
"First off his only actual target was Jessie. But when Rachel saw something off about him when we arrived, he made her his new target to cover his tracks." Irene began only for the lights to cut out.
"The storm must have knocked the power out." Randall said looking up at the lights.
"Or he did this." Félix said sounding panicked.
"I'll go get some candles from the kitchen." Angie said standing up.
"It's not safe to go alone." Randall advised her.
"I'll go with you Angie." Rachel said standing, Irene standing up too.
"I'll go too. I've got a little surprise for the psycho if he decides to strike again." Irene said smirking, not even arguing when she was picked up by Rachel and made to ride piggy back style again.
"There this ought to hold us over." Angie said lighting the candelabras she had found. A smashing sound caused their heads to whip towards the dining room.
"That sounded like it came from the dining room." Angie said worried for her sister and remaining friends.
"Was it the bandaged man?" Rachel asked before something behind her caught her attention, causing her to kick the handle of the ax coming at her… and accidentally sending Irene into a wall.
"Irene-chan are you okay?" Rachel asked as she and Angie rushed to Irene's side worried.
"I'm okay but that was mean of you Kaa-chan!" Irene said pouting up at Rachel.
"Sorry but it was him. The bandaged man!" Rachel said as Irene sat up, only for her to look at the ax embedded in the floor.
"You're right kaa-chan which means he is after you!" Irene said causing Angie and Rachel to gasp before a scream broke the silence as the lights turned on.
"That was-"
"Serena!" Rachel began but Angie finished as she took off towards the dining room to check on her sister, Irene clambering onto Rachel's back and telling her to hurry.
"Imouto-chan are you okay?" Angie asked as she stopped at the doorway, following everyone's line of sight to the window which was smashed in.
"Kaa-chan. To the window." Irene said causing Rachel to nod and hand Angie the candelabra she was holding.
"Hmm the window was unlocked. So be was already inside but then went outside and smashed in the window to make it look like he was breaking in. Ah those grooves…" Irene said before noting the groves on the railing when Rachel stepped out onto the veranda with the guys.
"I see. Let's go back inside everyone. Then I can reveal who the psycho is." Irene said with a small chuckle and causing the three men to look at her shocked.
"You're saying you know who it is?" Mitchell asked causing Irene to nod.
"Yep! It wasn't that hard to figure it out. I'll tell everyone when we get back inside." Irene said causing everyone to nod as Rachel carried Irene back inside and sat her down in one of the chairs.
"You know who the murderer is? Are you sure Irene-chan?" Serena asked causing Irene to nod and smile.
"Yep! With all the evidence it's easy to figure out. Isn't it…Felix-san?" Irene asked with her glasses glinting as she looked at the chubby boy who looked shocked.
"Wh-what are you talking about Irene? You really shouldn't joke like that!" Félix said causing Irene to smirk darkly.
"Who's laughing? To be honest I've suspected you since the beginning and all the evidence only pointed at you." Irene said relaxing with her hands behind her head as she looked at Félix calmly.
"See you said you were on the roof the whole time but who can vouch for that? Angie was in the kitchen, me, Aunt Serena, Jessie, and Kaa-chan were all together in the woods when the guy attacked Jessie the first time. Sure that also goes for Mitchell and Randall who were outside as well but they were with each other. Then when all of us were in the house together after we told you about the ax man. When the phone lines were down, you were the one to panic first and run from the house, making us follow you as you lead us to the cut bridge. Being alone without anyone watching you while you were supposedly fixing the roof was more than enough time for you to attack us, run off, then cut the phone lines and bridge. Before that you had slipped a note under Jessica's door that lured her outside the back door where you chopped her up with an ax and put her body in the woods. Then you rigged up your little illusion with the bandaged man running past that one window where we were sure to see Jessie's head." Irene said calmly as Félix began to sweat.
"Huh illusion? But we all saw Jessie at the same time." Mitchell said confused.
"That's what we were supposed to think. What we really saw was her dismembered head. She was already dead. And the guy who ran past the window… just a dummy and some wire, you can even see the groves where the wire had been tied on the porch railing. It also explains how Angie found Jessie's choker in front of the front door when she must have gone out the back to keep us from seeing her leave. As gross as this sounds, Félix had her head hidden underneath her shirt, and then when we ran slightly ahead of him he took her head and put it back next to her body." Irene said causing Félix's eyes to widen as everyone else looked grossed out.
"But I couldn't have done it!" Félix said making Irene smirk slightly.
"Why because your overweight? Nice try but I can see through that little trick too. When Kaa-chan was looking for our room earlier she stumbled across you all changing, that's when she noticed that you weren't fat at all. She was so embarrassed though that she didn't notice your appearance was off when we all gathered for introductions. That's why you attacked her three times, because you couldn't risk her remembering that little detail. If I had to guess why you did this, I'd say it was for your dead friend Emily. Isn't it?" Irene asked staring straight at Félix, straight into his eyes actually.
"….Yes. I did it. I did it all for Emily!" Félix finally admitted as he pulled open his shirt and let the bandaged dummy fall to the floor.
"Félix!" Angie gasped in disbelief as she backed away from her old friend.
"Jessica's the reason that Emily committed suicide! The day after Jessie won her award is the day Emily hung herself. Jessica stole Blue Kingdom from Emily! I know because Emily let me read the manuscript, Jessie's is such a shameless rip-off. Jessica copied it, adapted it, and then won rookie screenwriter of the year award and got the funding to produce it." Félix said making the others look shocked.
"She called me that day! She was in tears and wouldn't tell me why! 'Oh Félix I'll never trust anyone again!' That's all she would tell me and then you know the rest. That witch didn't even bat an eye! She deserved to die. I avenged Emily… and now I can finally join her." Félix ranted raising a knife to his throat before a door slammed open from the behind them.
"That's a bold faced lie!" A familiar voice said as Jessica stormed into the room murderously, still alive and in one piece.
"Jessie!" Angie said shocked at the sight of her supposedly dead friend.
"I showed that manuscript to a producer I knew and tried to make it into a movie as a birthday present for Emily! No matter what I said though, he thought it was mine even though I tried telling him different! You think you were the only one she called that day? She called me too! I tried to explain to her what really happened but she didn't let me get a word in! Do you know how broken I was over her death?! I cared about Emily more than you'd ever know!" Jessica raved at the shocked Félix while everyone but Irene stared at her shocked.
"Emily and I… we're sisters. Our parents died when we were really little, so she likely didn't remember me but I remembered her. How could I ever forget my only sister? She meant the world to me! We were separated into different foster, and later adoptive, families but I kept track of her the best I could through her life. I lost track of her just before I entered film school, imagine my surprise and happiness when I learned that my baby sister was there too, having skipped several grades. Do you know how utterly lost and destroyed I was over her death?! Especially since it's because of me she died?! Especially since she never remembered me as anything more than a friend much less remembered that I was her big sister?!" Jessica demanded with tears flowing down her cheeks, causing the others to look shocked none more so than Félix.
"How? How are you still alive Jessie? I chopped you up!" Félix demanded staring wide eyed at the nearly sobbing woman in front of him.
"You think you're the only one who can make illusions? What you cut up was nothing more than a corn starch filled dummy that Irene had manipulated with some wires. To make it look convincing we dressed her in my spare set of cloths, gave her my earrings, and then put my choker on her neck. After you attacked her, I stayed hidden within the villa. The only reason no one discovered me was because Irene made sure she was the one to check the spot I was hidden in. She's the one who came up with the whole plan after reading that note you left me!" Jessica said causing Félix to look shocked at being outwitted by a little kid, famous detective or not.
"If you're going to kill yourself then just go ahead and do it." Irene said coldly after a moment of shocked silence.
"You tried to kill Jessica over something that happened two years ago without knowing the full details. Not only that but you also tried to kill my Kaa-chan, an innocent girl who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or right depending on your point of view. Somehow I doubt that Emily would like an innocent girl being murdered in her name." Irene said causing Félix to freeze in place.
"She wouldn't have liked it at all. She hated the thought of violence of any kind. You can call me a thief if you want too but at least I wasn't the one who nearly became an ax murderer!" Jessica said causing Felix to sob slightly.
"You have no right to talk about Emily! No right! If I'm going away…I'll take you out first!" Félix said charging at Jessica with a yell. As soon as he got close enough, Jessica grabbed his outstretched arm and judo flipped him flat onto his back.
"Call me a coward if you like… but for some reason…I don't think my sister would want me to let myself get killed just yet." Jessica said softly as Félix finally collapsed on the floor sobbing.
It was a week later when Rachel, Serena, and Irene next saw Jessica after Félix has been arrested for attempted murder on two people.
"Hey! You three need a lift?" Jessica asked blowing her car horn as she drove into the elementary school parking lot where Rachel and Serena had gone to pick up Irene.
"Jessie!" Irene said running over as Jessica got out of the car, causing the teens and adults nearby to gasp shocked and get out their cell phones to take pictures.
"Are you feeling any better now Jessie? I heard you barely left your room at the hotel for a full week." Irene asked hugging Jessica's legs.
"Yes I'm alright. I went by Emily's grave today and talked to her for a while. For some reason I think she finally forgives me for that large misunderstanding. I'm sorry that I worried you Irene-chan." Jessica said picking Irene up and hugging her, before easily settling the girl on her hip as she looked at Rachel and Serena.
"Nice to see you again Jessica-san but what are you doing here? I thought for sure you would be busy." Rachel said smiling slightly at Jessica who just smiled slightly back.
"Well I took the rest if the month off to not only get over all that happened but to also get to work on that idea I had at the villa. I was hoping to spend time with you two again, maybe try to talk you two into pulling off that movie I was talking about. You can join us if you like Serena. I'm sure we could use you in a movie for sure, especially if you have your sisters' way with make-up and outfits." Jessica said grinning over at Serena who was thrilled at this.
"Oh this is going to be so great! Don't you worry about that Jessica-san. Angie taught me all she learned at film school!" Serena said before she began to babble excitedly, which caused Irene to giggle.
"How'd you know we were here though?" Irene asked Jessica, causing her to smile down at the little girl in her arms.
"Well I didn't have yours or Rachel-chan's number but luckily for me, Angie still has the same number from two years ago. After leaving Emily's grave I had the sudden urge to come talk to and hang out with you three. So uncalled up Angie and asked her where you'd be at around this time, luckily she knew that Rachel-chan and Serena both come to pick you up from school at around this time, so I thought I'd come give you a lift." Jessica said smiling softly down at Irene who looked confused but smiled back up at the purple clad woman.
"Now come on. How about I buy you three some ice cream while we talk about that detective movie? I already called up Randall, Mitchell and Angie and they all agreed to work on the movie with us! Randall will be our cameraman of course, Angie will be with Serena as not only our make-up and outfit experts but also two of the actresses as well, and I talked Mitchell into playing the part of the villain for whichever case Irene-chan solved that we're going to copy. They're all waiting on us down at the ice cream shop!" Jessica said smiling widely at the three and causing Rachel to sigh and nod in agreement, although she smiled a little as Serena and Irene both cheered loudly.
"I know! We can do the moonlight sonata case! That murderer would suit Mitchell-san really well!" Irene said causing Rachel to give her a funny look as the three followed Jessica to her car, Rachel claiming the front seat with Serena and Irene riding in the back seat of the deep purple convertible that had it's hood down.
"Eh but Dr. Adams was a guy pretending to be a girl wasn't he?" Rachel asked looking back at Irene who giggled.
"Exactly why it's perfect for Mitchell-san! He looks so much like a girl already anyways." Irene said grinning widely, Jessica could only throw her head back and give her first genuine laugh in two whole years at hearing that.