SailorStar9: With Chapter 22 uploaded, this is Chapter 23 of this fic and I'm officially restarting this. (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?
Pairings: Furuya Rei (Amuro Tooru)/Mizuno Ami
Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and pairing.
Chapter 23: Haibara Ai Imprisonment Case
Time passes...
"Haibara wasn't anywhere." Genta noted, the rest of the Detective Boys, minus Haibara, were strolling down a street.
"She must've finished shopping by now." Conan reasoned.
"What happened?" Ayumi wondered.
"If something happened to her, it must have happened here on her way home." Mitsuhiko surmised.
"Thank you for stating the obvious." Fumio rolled his eyes.
"Was she hit by a car?" Genta guessed, a car passing by in front of them. "Maybe she got into an accident at a train crossing." he mused, hearing the warning bell of a nearby train.
"I don't even want to know how you came to that conclusion." Fumio sweatdropped.
Conan silenced the group when he heard a faint meowing nearby.
"A scarf?" Mitsuhiko blinked, Conan picking up Chiro's pink scarf.
"That's got nothing to do with Haibara." Genta pointed out.
"Conan, isn't this..." Fumio recognized the scarf.
"Yeah." Conan confirmed. "This scarf belongs to the kitten that liked Haibara."
"Hey, kitten!" Genta shouted, the group were in the nearby thicket, searching for Chiro.
"Chiro-chan, where are you?" Ayumi joined in.
"He's in here." Fumio informed, both he and Conan peering into the well.
With Chiro found, Mitsuhiko rang the doorbell of Higaki Mitsuru's house. "No one's home." he reported.
"But we came all the way to return her kitten." Genta complained.
"Haibara's not here, either." Conan noted.
"The curtains are closed, too." Fumio peered closely at the windows.
"What's wrong?" Mitsuhiko looked down at the meowing cat in Fumio's arms.
"He's probably hungry." Fumio guessed.
"All you got as a single kitten." Professor Agasa remarked, once the group returned to his house.
"Where did Haibara-san go?" Mitsuhiko wondered, Fumio having put out a feeding dish with milk and allowing Chiro to feed.
"Maybe she was kidnapped." Genta surmised.
"Okay, got it." Conan was on the phone. "Detective Chiba, thanks. No accidents have been reported in this area since this morning." he informed.
"She would've let us know if something had happened." Professor Agasa noted.
"Haibara, everyone's worried about you." Conan shouted down his Detective Boys badge. "Call us."
"No one's home?" Conan voiced, the group having returned to Mitsuru's place and seeing the sake delivery man pressing the doorbell repeatedly.
"Yeah," the alcohol shop owner replied. "I rang the doorbell six times, but she's not answering. I don't know what to do, she asked me to come around now. I don't have a choice. Let her know I'll be back another time, Chiro." he looked at the kitten in Fumio's arms. "Bye." he left the house.
"It's Detective Chiba." Conan looked at the Caller-ID when his phone rang.
"A curious object was just delivered to the police box in Airport Street." Detective Chiba informed Conan over the phone.
"A Detective Boy badge?" Conan echoed.
"Yeah, a driver fixing a flat tire in that area turned it in." Detective Chiba replied.
"That's pretty far." Genta complained, Professor Agasa was driving them to Airport Street. "We've been driving for an hour already."
"Actually, it's only been fifty minutes." Mitsuhiko pointed out.
"Apparently, it was the police box near the interchange." Conan added.
"We should be there in a few minutes." Professor Agasa assured.
"Did Haibara really come this far?" Genta wondered.
"It's hard to imagine." Mitsuhiko noted.
"It wouldn't have made any sense." Fumio was deep in thought.
"Some new homes have been built near the airport." Conan remarked.
"Apparently, their selling points are their convenience and total soundproofing." Professor Agasa stated.
"I see the police box." Ayumi declared.
"This is it." Detective Chiba headed Haibara's badge over.
"That's definitely Ai-kun's badge." Professor Agasa confirmed.
"Haibara-san probably thrown it on the ground to tell us where she was being taken." Mitsuhiko surmised.
"But we haven't heard from a kidnapper." Detective Chiba pointed out. "We can't assume she's been kidnapped."
"I'm with the police." Inspector Megure shouted at the gate, ringing the doorbell. "Is anyone there? Is this Higaki Mitsuru's house?" he opened the door and flashed his identity badge. "What happened?" he gasped, seeing Mitsuru on the floor in front of him. "The Hokkaido police asked me to check on you." he explained, after settling Mitsuru and Haibara down. "That must have been quite the disaster."
"I'm fine." Mitsuru assured. "Have you arrested Naoshi's... the person who killed my husband?"
"No, unfortunately." Inspector Megure admitted. "An investigator from Hokkaido should arrive to ask you about that."
"I don't know anything." Mitsuru answered. "I was tied up here in my home the whole time."
"I was hoping to ask you about your husband's relationships." Inspector Megure corrected.
"I can tell you about that." Mitsuru spoke.
"That was some bad luck." Professor Agasa looked at his charge, resting on the sofa.
"Do you feel better?" Ayumi asked.
"Yeah." Haibara nodded. "Sorry to make everyone worry."
"Not at all." Mitsuhiko beamed. "I'm just glad you're alright."
"That was some shopping trip." Genta noted.
"A coincidence, huh?" Conan mused.
"Too much of one." Fumio expressed.
"That was an awful coincidence for her." Haibara voiced. "Someone killed her husband while her house was being robbed."
"Yes, I heard about the incident on the news." Mitsuru admitted. "But I couldn't move. I was with Ai-chan."
"Haibara," Conan turned to the girl. "You called it an awful coincidence, right? Is that what you really think? Do you really think it was all an coincidence? Why did the robber drag you inside the house? If they'd just left you alone, you would've thought no one was home. And why were you put to sleep twice? Was the robber really in this house for that long?"
"It took time to crack open the safe." Haibara explained.
"That's what she said, right?" Conan prompted.
"Then, when you were put to sleep the second time, what was she doing?" Fumio continued the questioning. "To be more precise, did you even see the robber and her at the same time?"
"I couldn't have." Haibara replied. "They came up behind me and put a towel over my face so I couldn't see anything. I wasn't in the position to worry about... wait a minute." she realized what Conan and Fumio were implying. "Don't tell me you two... you think the woman and the robber are the same person."
"But why would she do that?" Ayumi asked.
"She used me to create an alibi for the murder." Haibara guessed the reason.
"The robbery and murder." Conan listed the case points. "And Haibara, who was dragged inside this house. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence, but all part of a plan."
"Are you saying she used Chiro so I would corroborate her alibi?" Haibara asked.
"No one would suspect her if she traveled to and from Hokkaido while you were asleep." Conan reasoned. "What if that was her plan?"
"That's impossible." Haibara protested. "There's no way she could have committed the crime."
"A direct flight to New Chitose Airport takes an hour and a half." Fumio stated. "So, how long would it take to get here to the airport?"
"It takes about an hour by car, so that's two and a half hours." Mitsuhiko supplied.
"And if it's two and half hours one way, then a round trip would take..." Fumio prompted.
"Five hours." Ayumi did the maths.
"Waiting for the victim at the airport would have taken some time, too." Professor Agasa added.
"It would take at least five and a half hours." Mitsuhiko concluded.
"I woke up and saw her just after two." Haibara recalled. "I was asleep for just barely five hours."
"Then, explain why your detective badge was found on Airport Street." Fumio stated.
"That's it." Haibara gasped. "The doorbell. Someone came to the door and rang the doorbell. It was around 2.30."
"The liquor store delivery." Genta remembered.
"Six times?" Haibara echoed, after hearing the store owner's statement. "I only heard it ring twice. And it didn't ring continuously. It rang more slowly."
"That settles it, then." Fumio gave Conan a knowing smile.
"Yeah." Conan agreed. "The doorbell and station announcements were recordings set to play by the culprit. Then, it all makes sense."
"There are two houses, aren't there?" Haibara, too, realized the same thing.
"I see." Mitsuhiko's mind started turning. "There wasn't enough time for the culprit to travel to and back from Hokkaido. But if Haibara-san awoke inside a different house near the airport..."
"The Airport Village near the airport?" Genta blinked.
"If Ai-chan was being kept inside one of those homes..." Ayumi mused.
"The culprit wouldn't need as much time traveling to and from the airport." Professor Agasa concluded.
"That would save two hours." Mitsuhiko added.
"The turtle made you think the two homes were one." Conan smirked.
"The whole terrarium can be transported." Mitsuhiko remarked.
"She played the recording of the doorbell at the fake house when the liquor store delivery was supposed to arrive." Genta continued.
"I was put to sleep twice so the culprit could transport me and the turtle." Haibara guessed.
"But how can we prove there were two houses?" Genta wondered. "There are a lot of homes."
"Can you recall anything else, Haibara?" Fumio pressed.
Just then, Chiro jumped onto the table, knocking the empty drink can off the table with his tail.
"What was that?" Haibara suddenly gasped.
"The can started rolling in a different direction?" Ayumi echoed after Haibara recounted the empty can's unusual behavior.
"Yes." Haibara nodded. "When I woke up in the second house, the can didn't budge."
"That's it!" both Conan and Fumio chorused in unison.
"Genta, lift the edge of the table slightly." Conan instructed. "Watch this." he rolled the empty can across the tilted table. "It changed direction, right?" he asked as the can rolled back on the table.
"How does this relate to Haibara-san's story?" Mitsuhiko was confused.
"This is what these two are trying to say." Haibara cut in, showing them the article on the newspaper.
"Apparently, the floors are like a slide." Conan explained.
"I found it immediately in the real estate company's list." as if on cue, Takagi placed a call to his boss. "I'm sending you a photo of the house."
"You certainly are unlucky." Inspector Megure noted, receiving Takagi's photo and showing Mitsuru the picture of the replica living room. "The fake home you purchased and remodeled was poorly constructed."
Cornered, Mitsuru broke down.
"This Haibara Ai girl," Ami looked intently at her son after Fumio recounted the case to his parents after dinner. "You seem unusually interested in her well-bring."
"Well..." Fumio flushed, turning away from his mother's intense stare.
He won't... Ami recognized the tell-tale signs of a crush. Oh no...
"Fumio-kun, go play your PSP. I'll try to see if I can get your mother back to her senses." Amuro excused his son, seeing Ami was still shell-shocked by the sudden revelation in their son's life. "You do realize that this day would come sooner or later." he noted amusedly.
"Isn't he too young for this kind of thing?" Ami bemoaned. "He's growing up too fast!"
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.