SailorStar9: With Chapter 188 uploaded, I present Chapter 189 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 189: The Red Sheep's Eerie Game, Part One
Time passes...
"A red sheep?" Mouri echoed after Beppu Ryota recounted his girlfriend's kidnapping to him in the Mouri Detective Agency.
"My girlfriend is kidnapped by a red sheep." Beppu related. "Please save her, Detective. I'm talking about this." he showed Mouri the red sheep photo on his phone. "I don't know who he is. But my girlfriend told me before her ex was a scary guy. It could be him." he pulled out the photo of the threatening letter he had taken. "Ami's my girlfriend. We work together at a place called La Mucho."
Later that night...
With Mouri and Beppu finding out that the kidnapping was a hoax, Conan and Ran found a stabbed Wakabayashi Tetsusaburo under a bridge.
After Megure's team was called in...
"Inspector, has there been a murder?" Mouri entered the crime scene.
"Ran-san and Conan-kun found the body." Megure confirmed.
"Did you see the culprit?" Mouri asked.
"I don't know if they did it, but we saw a red sheep." Ran replied.
"They were wearing a costume." Conan clarified. "Someone wearing a sheep costume ran away from the body. Their horns left a mark where they rubbed against the ceiling." he pointed to the drag marks on the bridge's roof.
"Who's the victim?" Mouri inquired.
"Wakabayashi Tetsusaburo-san, 45 years old." Takagi referred to his notes. "He's the owner and head cook of a restaurant called La Mucho."
"That couple..." Mouri twitched. "Inspector, allow Mouri Kogoro to handle this case." he requested.
The next morning...
"This knife is the murder weapon." Takagi informed Megure, the detectives having gathered the La Mucho's personnel for questioning.
"That's the head cook's knife." Mukai Kokichi, the assistant head cook, gave the knife a closer look.
"Who are you?" Takagi asked when Hirasawa Motojiro entered the restaurant.
"I'm Wakabayashi-san's partner, Hirasawa." Hirasawa replied. "Is it true he was murdered?"
"Where were you last night around midnight?" Megure pressed.
"Working at my office." Hirasawa answered. "My primary business is spatial design. You think I did it?" he realized.
"We're just asking everyone." Takagi assured.
"We're in the same boat." Mukai added. "The store was closed yesterday and I was home all day. But Kamio and I are single, so we don't have alibis."
"Inspector, maybe you should ask them about the red sheep." Conan suggested.
"Kamio-san, do you have anything to say?" Megure spotted Kamio Daiki's frantic look.
"It's just that people have been talking about a red sheep on a video sharing site recently." Kamio replied. "This is it." he showed everyone a video. "Since a few weeks ago, videos were updated of a red sheep scaring couples on dates and running away."
"Who is this red sheep?" Megure inquired.
"Nobody knows." Kamio shrugged. "They were uploaded anonymously."
"You two?" Hirasawa blinked when Mouri dragged Beppu and Takigawa into the restaurant.
"Who are they?" Megure asked.
"They work on the restaurant floor."Hirasawa answered, "Beppu Ryota and Takigawa Ami.
"These two dragged me into their red sheep game when the murder occurred." Mouri informed. "A lowbrow game in which someone sends their boyfriend a fake threat in order to test him."
"Head cook Wakabayashi was killed by a knife." Hirasawa explained.
"The culprit is a red sheep." Mouri added.
"Where were you last night around 12?" Takagi asked.
"At Beika Park with this detective." Takigawa answered.
"Why would we kill the head cook?" Beppu inquired.
"We've never spoken to the chef." Takigawa added. "I doubt he even knew how we looked like."
"I doubt it did." Hirasawa agreed. "We have over ten floor staff and Wakabayashi was only interested in cooking. He hardly ever left the kitchen."
"Inspector, apparently a threatening message was sent to the computer at Wakabayash-san's home." Takagi got off the phone. "At 10pm. The sender was the red sheep."
"I think they probably met on a dating app." Mukai commented after Takagi played the voice message.
"I recommended it to him a month ago." Kamio admitted. "The chef didn't have many opportunities to meet women."
"Maybe he wanted to keep it a secret." Mukai suggested.
"Now, we have a clear picture of the whole case." Megure declared. "Wakabayashi-san's girlfriend, Anri-san, was taken hostage and he was instructed to bring a 50 million yen ransom to that tunnel.
"Ran-nee-chan, that red sheep was carrying a black bag, right?" Conan asked. "Maybe the ransom money is inside that bag."
"Which means the culprit stole the money and killed Wakabayashi-san." Mouri concluded. "Kamio-san, how was your relationship with the head cook? You told him about the dating app. It sounds like you two were rather close."
"He yelled at me every day." Kamio chuckled. "So, I recommended the app to him because I thought getting a girlfriend might soften him up."
"Could I see that video again?" Conan requested and Kamio handed his phone over. After seeing Ran's startled expression when she viewed the video for a third time, he realized Ran had seen the red sheep figure at a festival when they were just kids. Running out of the restaurant, he headed towards the abandoned costume rental storeroom. Entering through the back door, he found the red sheep costume he was looking for. Using a step ladder, he climbed up and verified that the costume in the storeroom was indeed the one used in the murder.
In the rental company's office...
"That red sheep, huh?" Iwami Hideto mused after Mouri explained. "I thought you came to borrow it again. For the past few weeks, I've noticed signs showing it's been removed from the store a few times during the night. Since it's always back by morning, I wasn't sure I should report it to the police. It was only rented out once three weeks ago. It was returned the very next day. I still have the records. Found it." he pulled out Hirasawa's name from the spreadsheet.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.