Case Closed AU
By: FunahoMisaki
(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)
It was a week later and right now Irene was walking with Amy to the dentists office.
"Ah. You're that child detective I've heard so much about. I heard you were working with Jessica Star on a movie about your cases. Is that right?" The dentist, Karen Keeler, asked smiling kindly down at Irene.
"Y-yeah that's right. It'll be more like a series of short movies or long cartoons though since the cases don't usually last long." Irene said scratching the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Ah really? I can't wait for the first one then? I follow all of yours and your grandfathers cases in the paper." Karen said causing Irene to blush slightly and dig into her pocket.
"Eh really? Then here. You can have this." Irene said with a small smile as she took out a card like thing and handed it to the dentist.
"Huh? One free showing to the first one, half off the second, and a free tour of the set when it's being filmed? Thank you very much little one but is it really okay for me to have this?" Karen asked looking down at the card shocked.
"Yeah. Jessie gave me some to give to my friends, and I have a few left over. Since my friends tell me that you're really nice, and you're looking forward to the movies so much I thought it'd be okay to give you one!" Irene said with a grin and causing Karen to squeal as she glomped Irene, who was taken by surprise before merely sighing.
"I am wayyyy to used to this. At least this time it wasn't by a professional assassin or a crossdresser." Irene said sighing from within what she commonly called the 'hug of death'.
"What do you mean Irene?" Amy asked curiously as Irene was released from the hug by a confused dentist.
"A crossdresser?" Karen asked confused.
"You'll see in the first movie, Moonlight Sonata." Irene said causing the two to exchange looks and shrug.
"Well I'm sure you're busy and I thank you for the wonderful surprise, Irene-chan, but you probably have to be going now." Karen said sighing as she looked at the young girls in front of her, Irene's eyes narrowed slightly when she caught sight of sorrow and regret in the dentist's eyes for a brief second before it vanished.
"Ah, actually I don't have much else to do today so I was planning on walking Amy home when she got done." Irene said causing Karen to smile at her, with a twinge if sadness Irene noted.
"That's very kind of you Irene-chan but I plan on driving Amy home in my car. You probably have a bunch of cases or scripts you could be working on so don't worry. I'll watch after her for one night. I promise." Karen said causing Amy to look at Irene slightly worried, only for Irene to smile slightly at her.
"It'll be okay. I'll see you at school tomorrow okay Amy?" Irene asked with a reassuring grin and causing Amy to nod and smile back reassured.
"Bye Irene." Amy said waving at her friend as she began to enter the office.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, and thank you again Irene-chan." Karen said causing Irene to bow slightly.
"Pleasure was all mine and you're welcome, it's no problem really." Irene said smiling and causing Karen to smile at her softly in return.
"Be safe on your way home." Karen called after Irene as she began walking towards the entrance of the back lot.
"It's not me you have to worry about, it's everyone else. I'm better protected than most think but thank you for your concern." Irene called over her shoulder with a smirk and a wave of her hand.
The next day an exhausted Irene was on the playground with Amy, Mitch, and George when George bought up the murder that had happened yesterday.
"Yeah I know. I was up all night and early this morning because of that case. We're still working on it. Sucks that Dr. Keeler is the prime suspect but she has an airtight alibi thanks to that dentist appointment Amy had with her." Irene said with a slight yawn.
"Well let's talk about something else then. How about that fight Masked Yaiba had last night? Totally awesome right?" George asked causing Mitch to grin widely.
"Yeah I was on the edge of the seat the entire time! What about you Amy?" Mitch asked looking at his crush.
"I missed it!" Amy yelled angrily and upset.
"What? But you told me and the police that you watched it with Dr. Keeler?!" Irene asked snapping to full attention in an instant as her head swiveled around to face Amy.
"The beginning if it yeah but then I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the end! I missed the whole thing!" Amy wailed almost causing Irene's eyes to narrow.
"Start from when I left and tell me everything that happened Amy!" Irene ordered causing Amy to sniffle and nod.
"She led me to the waiting room to rest for a minute while she prepared her work station. There was a masked yaiba deck of cards on the table so I took out the ace of hearts cause it's my lucky card and put it in my shirt pocket. I felt sleepy after the operation and she said it was okay for me to go to sleep and that she'd wake me up in time to see Masked Yaiba." Amy began while Irene was writing all of this down in a police standard notebook that Sato had given her one day after Irene started solving mysteries.
"She probably gave you an anesthesia to keep from you feeling the pain, unfortunately it also makes a person feel drowsy." Irene said calmly as she wrote it down.
"When she woke me up she had moved me to the waiting room couch and Masked Yaiba was just coming on. She gave me something a bit like gum and some water to drink, she said that the anesthesia would be wearing off soon and it'd start hurting so I should take some painkillers before it happened. I took them and swallowed them, then handed her the glass back. She ruffled my hair and went to put the glass in the kitchen I think, cause she left the room. After she closed the door I remembered the card in my pocket and put it back in the deck, it's around that time that I fell asleep again. I didn't wake up again until Dr. Keeler shook me awake and by that time Masked Yaiba was ending." Amy explained.
"That's the problem. You put the card back into the deck before the show finished." Mitch said sighing slightly.
"Don't worry I'm sure someone taped it. We'll find you a copy Amy!" George said optimistically.
"Yeah we'll ask around class for you." Mitch said while Irene was deep in thought.
"There's no need for that. Kaa-chan and Jessica-san got into a habit of recording all the new Masked Yaiba episodes for me in case I missed them for some reason. You can come over and watch it later, maybe after I solve this case." Irene said sighing as she put her notebook back into her pocket. Although she probably should have known better, she was still taken by surprise at the loud happy squeal and hug this got from Amy.
"I'm ho-oh Inspector McGuire!" Irene said a while later as she opened the door to the agency, only to pause slightly at seeing McGuire sitting in the couch.
"Hey Irene come on in. We were waiting on you, and how many times do I have to tell you? You can call me 'uncle' if you want to!" McGuire said smiling at her as she closed the door behind her and walked over to the couch.
"I came because I needed to confirm something about yesterday's case. Come and take a seat." McGuire said smiling and patting the seat beside him and causing Irene to nod as she sat in the couch.
"So why did the good doctor go the victims apartment with the manager anywats?" Richard asked after Irene had taken her seat.
"According to her: when she came back from her office at about 8:30 the TV in the stiff's room was very loud. She went to the managers office to ask him to turn it down. They went to see the stiff but of course he never answered the door. The manager let himself in and they found Mr. Barnes lying on his back as dead as a doornail." McGuire said causing Irene's eyes to narrow.
"The way she found the body was innocent enough. The fact that we had to check her alibi however means you believe she has a reason to kill him that you haven't shared with us yet." Irene said causing Richard to lean forward.
"Is that right Inspector?" Richard asked causing McGuire to nod.
"26 years ago the stiff was arrested in a different county as the prime suspect in an abduction-murder case and the victim was a small child." McGuire said causing Rachel and Richard to look shocked while Irene's eyes narrowed.
"Let me guess. That child is related to Dr. Keeler in some way?" Irene asked causing McGuire to nod solemnly.
"The victim was a nine year old paper boy. Barnes was released and the charges dropped due to lack of evidence. He was survived by his parents and seven year old sister, her name was Karen Keeler. Dr. Karen Keeler." McGuire said crossing his arms.
"That's plenty enough for a motive alright." Richard said with a sweat drop.
"Yeah. But Dr. Keeler claims that she had no clue that Bert Barnes, our stiff, is the same man that was suspected of killing her brother back then." McGuire said causing Irene's eyes to narrow even further. There's no way someone would forget the face of the person who was suspected of killing a member of their family, especially a close relative like a brother or sister no matter how much time has passed. Hmm she needed to investigate this but in her own time…
"Well you guys can count me out of this one. I promised Amy I'd take her the tape recording of the Masked Yaiba episode from last night since she had fallen asleep again thanks to the anesthesia at about 7:40 and missed most of the episode." Irene said hopping off of the couch and going to grab the recording.
"That's it! Inspector take me to the good doctor's office! I know how to see through her alibi trick and want to reveal it right to her face! Bye Irene." Richard said causing him, McGuire, and Rachel to jump up.
"Come on Irene-chan. Amy-chan's house is on the way back from the dentist's office. I'll drop you off when we're done." McGuire called causing Richard to grumble while Irene smiled and pretended to be excited.
"Alright! Another ride in a police car!" Irene cheered as she grabbed the tape and her solar powered skateboard before she raced after the three adults. Irene sat in the sitting room and sighed as she heard Richards theory on a VCR recording.
"That's not true Jiji even if it's a good theory. If she let Amy watch a recording then she would have let Amy watch the whole thing to give her a rock solid alibi. Besides does Dr. Keeler even own a VCR?" Irene asked leaning back in the sofa with her arms crossed behind her head. A quick look revealed that she didn't own one.
"Even if she did own one and managed to kill Mr. Barnes at 7:30 how was she able to do that, get back, watch the whole show and then have Amy home by 8:05 when Amy's house is at least ten to fifteen minutes away and the show is half an hour. She'd get Amy home between 8:10 and 8:20 in that case." Irene said sighing and causing Richard to admit defeat as he and McGuire repeatedly apologized to Karen who just waved it off.
"Bye bye!" Irene waved as she climbed out of the car in front of Amy's house.
"Oh Irene-chan are you here to play with Amy?" Amy's mom asked answering the door when Irene rang the doorbell.
"No. I told her I'd let her watch my recording of the Masked Yaiba episode so I bought it for her. I'd stay to watch it for her but I've got a case I'm working on." Irene said shaking her head as she handed the tape to the kind woman who smiled down at her.
"I understand, and I'm sure Amy does too. We all know how busy you can be, here why don't I get you some cookies for the trip? George and Mitch are here too so I have a fresh batch. I'll just be a moment." Amy's mom said smiling while she disappeared into the house with Irene calling a 'thank you' after her. Amy's mom returned a moment later with a small Ziploc bag filled with pineapple jam filled sugar cookies and two juice boxes.
"Here you go. I heard from Amy how you sometimes work for hours on end so I thought you might get a little thirsty too. I hope you take care of yourself and wrap this case up soon." Amy's mom said handing her the Ziploc bag.
"Yummy thanks! Pineapple filled sugar cookies are my favorite! How did you know I liked orange juice?" Irene asked happily as she accepted the bag and put it into a safe spot in her back pack.
"Amy talks about you a lot. She knows what your favorite sport is, your favorite cookies, your favorite juice, even your favorite hobbies. You be safe on your case now dear." Amy's mom said causing Irene to nod.
'I didn't know Amy paid so much attention to me.' Irene thought as she waved goodbye to Amy's mom then took off towards the condo Dr. Keeler lived at to take notice of everything.
"Hmm. Fresh tire tracks near the back entrance where no one would see you entering. I wonder…"Irene trailed off as she looked up from the construction sight beside the condo and then walked across to the condo itself.
"Those curtains look exactly like! That's it! That'll how she did it! If it weren't for Amy's lucky card she'd be perfectly in the clear!" Irene said her eyes widening slightly as she looked at the curtains belonging to Dr. Keeler's apartment.
"Hen. Only one truth prevails." Irene said closing her eyes with a smirk as she made her way up the back entrance stairs, resting her skateboard against the stairway railing. She got up the back stairway and crossed her arms behind her head just in time for Karen to get home and unlock her door before seeing her.
"Irene-chan it's you. What are you doing here?" Karen asked smiling slightly as she opened her door while Irene walked towards her.
"I was just riding by on my skateboard but I was hoping to talk to you real quick about something though." Irene said smiling up at Karen disarmingly.
"To me?" Karen asked for clarification before opening the door wider when Irene hummed an affirmative.
"Of course then. Come on in." Karen said guiding Conan to her sitting room in the condo.
"Here we are. Please make yourself at home Irene-chan." Karen said opening a door and turning on the light.
"Thank you." Irene said as she walked into the room and looked around, spotting the similarities between this room and the sitting room at her office. Her eyes honed in on the Masked Yaiba playing card deck on the table.
"How about something to drink? Would you like some juice?" Karen asked smiling down at Irene who just smiled back up at her.
"Sure." Irene said innocently, waiting until Karen turned around before she smirked.
"I see you got rid of the fridge already." Irene said causing Karen to turn to her caught off guard.
"You also took down the calendar and changed the clock. You probably would have gotten a new TV by now if it wasn't so big and hard to move." Irene added causing Karen to turn towards her completely with a small confused smile on her lips.
"I beg your pardon?" She asked confused, but not liking the smirk in Irene's face.
"People would get suspicious if you got rid of the table and sofa. Yeah it's probably best to wait a little while on the furniture but you could have at least changed the curtains." Irene said causing Karen's eyes to widen slightly.
"What are you saying?" Karen asked dropping her smile.
"Well if you want me to put it simply, I figured out your trick doctor Keeler. You made this room look exactly like the waiting room at your office to give Amy a sense of false location. While she thought she was at the waiting room in your clinic she was actually here." Irene said simply.
"What an amazing theory. Please go on Ms. Detective." Karen said staring at Irene without blinking, Irene staring back at her as well.
"After putting her to sleep with anesthesia you took Amy to your car and drove it here and parked in the abandoned construction sight out back. Then you carried her up the back entrance and laid her down on the couch. After that you ran next door and murdered Mr. Barnes. The. You ran into his apartment and turned up the volume on the TV so that someone would discover his body soon, that way there was an accurate time of death which is what you needed for your alibi to work. Then you returned here and woke Amy up, letting her watch the beginning of Masked Yaiba before using sleeping pills to put her back to sleep and driving her back to your clinic to wake her up again to see the ending of Masked Yaiba which made your alibi flawless. Although when you returned you noticed that no one had discovered the body yet so you went to get the manager, you were prepared to become a suspect at that time thanks to your alibi." Irene said calmly.
"It's an incredible story but it's just a story. I haven't heard you back it up with any proof, Irene-chan." Karen said calmly, as if she weren't talking about a murder case in which she was the prime suspect.
"See that's where you're wrong. If I'm right then there should be proof. Right here in this deck of cards." Irene said pointing at the deck of cards on the table and causing Karen to blink.
"Eh?" Karen asked confused as Irene picked up the card and began to shuffle through them slightly.
"You have a deck of cards just like this at your office. You had no way of knowing this but before the operation Amy took a card out of the deck because it was her lucky card, the ace of hearts. After the operation when you woke her up for the show she put the card back into the deck before falling asleep again." Irene said watching at how Karen's face turned shocked and she gasped aloud.
"That means if I'm right and she was here when you woke her u there will be two Aces of Hearts in this deck, but if she were at your office like you say then there will only be one. What do you say Dr. Keeler? Do you feel lucky?" Irene asked giving the woman a small smirk as she began to look through the cards while Karen watched with wide eyes and twitching hands.
"There's one." Irene said after searching a bit, laying the card on the table for Karen to see as she looked for the second.
"There's the second!" Irene said after a few minutes, laying the card down and causing Karen to gasp in shock and horror. Her perfect alibi ruined by a little girl and a deck of cards!
"If I were allowed to gamble I'd wager Amy's fingerprints are on one of these cards Dr. Keeler." Irene said calmly as she sat down the rest of the deck on the table.
"I'm sure you would. Who else did you tell about this Irene?" Karen asked darkly, glaring slightly at the cards on the table but not Irene herself.
"I haven't told anyone doctor. Outside of this room not a single soul knows you killed Bert Barnes, no one even knows I'm here." Irene said calmly as Karen began walking forward, her hands reaching upward slightly. Irene didn't flinch as Karen walked right towards her before going past her and opening the curtains on the windows.
"You win Irene. You're right about it all. It's just as you said." Karen said sighing as she rested her head against the window.
"You remembered Barnes from 26 years ago, which means he is the one that kidnapped and killed your big brother. Being that you were only seven at the time they couldn't get a conviction off of your evidence alone so they dropped it and the case went cold. You waited so long to get your revenge." Irene said turning slightly to look at her.
"That's completely right as well. Maybe… maybe if you had been around back then Irene, then you could have brought Bert Barnes to justice…so that I didn't have to do it myself." Karen said sighing slightly before she smiled ever so slightly as she looked up at the night sky outside of the window.
"Not only did he kill your brother but he also took away your peace… and it took you twenty six long years to get it back. I can't imagine how angry you must've been all these years." Irene said softly as she walked over and hugged Karen's legs. The woman looked like she could use a hug to her.
"Probably not little one… but tell me. Why did you come here alone without telling anyone? How do you know I wouldn't have hurt you? That's very reckless of you to do!" Karen said kneeling down and looking Irene straight in the eye.
"I didn't know! Like I told you before though, I'm more protected than you think. My kaa-chan's been teaching me some of her karate recently, my baa-chan and Jiji have been teaching me judo, and Mia-san gave me a little something to protect myself with as well before she got arrested. If you had tried to hurt me then I could have subdued you easily. Here you look like you could use a hug and a cookie." Irene said smiling innocently up at Karen as she dug her Ziploc bag of treats out of her back pack and gave Karen a cookie.
"Amy's mom made them and gave me some when I went by her house earlier to give her a recording of the Masked Yaiba episode she missed. Amy probably told her about how I don't eat like I'm supposed too if at all while busy with a case, that's why she gave me some cookies and juice and there's plenty to share. So here. Have one." Irene explained smiling as she gave the cookie to Karen who laughed a little.
"Too many sweets are bad for your teeth… but I think a few of them every once in a while is okay." Karen said, adding the last bit with a wink as she took the cookie. The two of them sat together on the couch and enjoyed the cookies and juice as they talked for a while, often finding themselves laughing.
"You're not going to turn me in?" Karen asked surprised when Irene said that she wouldn't turn Karen over to the police.
"No. If you want to turn yourself in that's your choice. I was thinking more along the lines of getting you to star in what's probably going to be the third case Jessica-san films, and maybe even more after that depending on your schedule and the cases!" Irene said grinning up at the woman who was surprised at this.
"Third case?" Karen asked confused.
"Yeah. This case! I already got a title for it in my head! I thought you might not have a lot of business in the clinic for a while since the police wrote about how you were a suspect in the murder case, but unless you turn yourself in then there won't be any evidence against you so they'd have to drop it after a while. That would leave a lot of time for you to help us don't you think? We're almost done with the first one anyways since it was easy enough and we've already gotten the script written for the second! So what do you think?" Irene asked looking excitedly up at Karen who gave her a surprised look.
"I think you've had a little too much sugar… but I think I'd like that. I have just one question though?" Karen asked smiling down at Irene, the girl was so adorable and excited she jut could say no, not to that face.
"Eh? What's that?" Irene asked looking curious.
"What was the title you thought up?" Karen asked curiously.
"Wrong Place at the Wrong Time! I thought it sounded good what do you think?" Irene asked with her head tilted to the side slightly.
"I think it fits… and you are so adorable!" Irene sweat dropped when she was suddenly struggling for air within Karen's substantial bosom. If she were a teenaged guy again she'd love this but right now she was dying damnitt! Irene had only thing to mumble out.
"This happens way too much! Air! I need air here!"