SailorStar9: So with Chapter 85 uploaded, this is Chapter 86 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?

Pairings: Established!Furuya Rei (Amuro Tooru)/Mizuno Ami

Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and pairing.

Chapter 86: Mouri Kogoro's Grand Lecture, Part Three

"We've been waiting for you, Detective Boys." Conan greeted the group outside the lecture hall, having summoned Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi via the Detective Boys Badge.

"What's going on?" Mitsuhiko asked. "Is it true that there were two murders here?"

"Just come inside." Fumio urged.

"We found three of these in different locations." Conan showed the group the photos he had taken. "Two were at crime scenes and the other was in Kisaki's changing room."

"What is this?" Genta wondered.

"Probably some kind of code or message." Fumio suggested.

"Which mean there must be a code book for deciphering it." Conan concluded.

"We're looking for the magazine these pages were torn from." Fumio explained. "It should be some place visible."

"And if we don't hurry, I have a feeling something terrible will happen." Conan stated. "So, let's find that magazine first."

Meanwhile, back at the panel...

"My friend asked me about a murder that happened at a college about a year ago." Tsukuba voiced when the microphone was passed to her. "The victim was a professor at the college. The police arrested the professor's assistant, who was also the older brother of my friend. Allegedly, his motive was the professor claimed a paper he had written was plagiarized from his own work, and threatened to ruin his career."

"Come to think of it, that did happen." Mouri recalled that case. "The suspect confessed his crime, and he was found guilty in court. I don't think there was any problem with that case."

"That's a huge problem." Tsukuba objected.

"I found it!" Fumio pulled out the magazine from Tsukuba's locker.

"This is definitely it." Conan confirmed, comparing the pages to the photos he had taken.

"Caseweek, huh?" Fumio read the magazine cover. "This is a famous news magazine from America."

"But this is in Japanese." Genta pointed out.

"In other words, this is the Japanese version." Fumio related. "The American version and the Japanese version.."

"I've cracked the code." Conan beamed.

"And there's also this." Fumio flipped open to the two page spread in the magazine that featured the murder of the university professor. And that." he pointed to the loudspeaker when Mouri's voice echoed through it.

"The murder of the professor at that college isn't over yet." Tsukuba insisted. "There's no doubt that Ashida Hiroto, who's currently serving time, was the murderer even by my deduction. But my friend can't believe he would steal another person's paper, much less kill someone over it. But ultimately, he offered no other testimony at his trial and no appeal was made. Why would he do that? I'd like you to determine that, Mouri."

"I'm not sure you expect me to do." Mouri admitted.

"Of course." Tsukuba snorted. "You couldn't possibly know. After all, you are a hack who couldn't even decipher the mystery message left at the crime scene. Why didn't he make an appeal? Because he lost hope; he was betrayed by his irresponsible court-appointed lawyer who quit his case."

"Could it be?" Mouri turned to Eri.

"Yes, she's talking about me." Eri admitted. "And you're Mei, the younger sister of Ashida Hiroto, the man currently serving time in prison. In other words, you're not talking about your friend; you're talking about yourself. I believe Tsukuba is your mother's maiden name. And you're studying criminal psychology at an American university. I remember now that I heard you've been studying aboard since two years ago. When did you return?"

"A week ago." Tsukuba answered.

"Why didn't you contact me?" Eri inquired.

"Because I don't want to hear your excuses." Tsukuba snapped.

Sneaking in backstage, Conan took aim and fired his tranquilizer dart on Mouri's neck. "I've deciphered the coded message, Mei." using his voice-changing bow-tie, he played the 'Sleeping Kogoro' role. Don't do anything hasty. I just received word from someone who found the code book. The layered pages torn from the Japanese edition of Caseweek were pages 11 and 9, 19 and 1 and 11 and 9, again. When applied to the alphabet, 11 corresponds to K and 9 corresponds to I, spelling KI. 19 is S, and I is A, spelling SI. Finally, the last code is the same as the first, spelling KI. When read all together, they spell KISAKI."

"In other words, I was her target." Eri noted. "But in that case..."

"She could've acted anytime." Conan agreed. "But she didn't. She deliberately left a message, even had us find the code book, which featured an article on the case. Conan, where did you find the code book?"

"I'm here!" said boy ran onstage. "The Detective Boys will answer that. Fumio."

"It was in her locker." stepping on stage and facing the audience, Fumio pointed to Tsukuba.

"Why did she leave it in someplace so obvious?" Mouri asked. "Because she wanted me to reveal her brother's true motives. And perhaps, if possible, stop her from doing what she was about to do."

"So, you figured out his true motive." Tsukuba stated.

"Not even I know it." Mouri asserted. "But I can identify someone who does know. First, as far as I know, she may have been appointed by the court, but Kisaki-sensei would never step down from a case. She was probably dismissed by your brother, because she identified his true motive. In order to plead extenuating circumstances, it would have to be revealed in court. But your brother refused, so he dismissed her. However, even after she was dismissed, rather than moving on, she continued investigating the case. She was probably searching for documents demonstrating extenuating circumstances that didn't touch on his true motive."

"You're lying!" Tsukuba snapped. "That's just an excuse." pulling out a flip-switch knife, she dashed to attack Eri.

"Kisaki-sensei, unless you reveal his true motive now, she won't put down the knife." Mouri advised, the lecture hall was now almost cleared of the audience. "At first, she only joined the staff of my event so she could get close to you. But by chance, two murders occurred. She decided to use them to confront you more effectively. So she tore pages from the magazine featuring an article on her brother's case that she always carried and left a coded message; all so, she could use me to reveal the truth about the case and tell it to the world."

"But I'm a lawyer." Eri reminded. "I'd never do anything to harm a client."

"However, the one truth will be revealed." Mouri expressed. "Is that not natural as well?"

"Your brother's motive was you, Mei." Eri relented.

SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.