SailorStar9: We are finally back with Chapter 101 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 101: The Whistling Bookstore 3
Time passes...
"This is pretty well written." Omura Kosuke praised, giving Mitsuhiko's draft a look-over. "The solution is solid. It's impressive that a first-year grade schooler came up with this."
"Why'd you have to make me the pudding thief?" Genta fumed. "I never did that."
"Who cares?" Mitsuhiko refuted. "It's my novel."
"You're right." Omura agreed. "This isn't a test. You can write whatever you want."
"Read mine next." Genta insisted. "I wrote a story about eel bowls raining from the sky."
"Read mine, too." Ayumi handed Omura her draft. "My story's about shrinking and making friends with dolls."
"Now, now." Omura calmed the two kids. "I'll read them one at a time. Just relax."
"I can't come up with anything." Conan sighed, looking at his empty manuscript. "I'm impressed they could. Sorry for getting in your way, Michiko." he looked at the bookstore Café worker who seemed to be also struggling.
"It's not like that." Michiko chuckled. "It's no trouble at all. I'm the one who invited you here. I'm just a little jealous. It's been a few weeks since I started writing novels, but those kids get far more praise than I do."
"Maybe children have an easier time coming up with original stories, thanks to their flexible imaginations." Haibara suggested.
"By the way, Michiko, why did you decide to begin attending a writing class?" Conan though to ask.
"I've always liked books." Michiko admitted. "But I begun reading even more after I started working at Tamaki Book Cafe. It made me want to write one of my own. My goal is to have my own novel on the shelf. No, that's not all." she corrected. "I want to write a best-seller that sells a million copies and win a award, too."
"How's it looking?" Nojima Ryoji asked, entering with Takeuchi Nagisa.
"Nojima, everyone's written solid stories." Omura assured.
"I'm glad to hear that." Nojima gave the drafts Omura had in a look-over. "I'm more interested in having you write a hit novel, Omura-sensei. Otherwise, you'll never be able to stop teaching this writing class."
"Omura-sensei's a real author?" Conan blinked.
"He is." Michiko confirmed. "He's already published three books."
"Then, who's that man?" Fumio looked up from his manuscript, which was a retelling of the Jeanne d'Arc myth with additional mystical elements.
"That's Nojima Ryoji." Michiko replied. "He owns this building. I heard he's something like Omura-sensei's sponsor."
"Rubbish." Nojima scoffed, tossing Genta's manuscript away.
"What was that for?" Genta demanded. "That's my novel."
"You haven't got the fundamentals of storytelling down." Nojima chided. "I bet you haven't even read the classics."
"Nojima, you're speaking to a child." Omura soothed.
"Once someone has taken up the pen, it doesn't matter if they're a child." Nojima snapped. "There will be no half-assed writing in this classroom. Looks like you need a little educating. I'll show you what a real story looks like. Nagisa, we're going down to the basement."
In the basement...
"It's even air-conditioned." Conan gawked. "He takes really good care of his books."
"Be careful." Nojima warned as Genta reached for a book. "That book is worth six million yen. You should begin by reading these for reference." he gathered everyone around a table and placed several books in front of them.
"Are these rare books as well?" Michiko wondered.
"The cheapest one is worth about a million yen." Nojima answered.
"I'm too scared to read such an expensive book." Mitsuhiko gaped.
"It doesn't matter if they get dirty." Nojima assured. "Books have value when they're read. And only first editions should ever be read."
"Thank goodness I brought these." Fumio slipped on a pair of cotton gloves he had brought along.
"Put them back on the shelf when you're done reading." Nojima instructed and sat on a nearby chair with a book in his hand.
"I'll be upstairs." Omura informed Takeuchi.
"That's not where that book goes." Nojima rebuked, seeing Genta slide his book into an empty space. "It goes over there. And how dare you place it upside down? Who raised you?"
"Sorry." Genta stammered and put the book back into its rightful slot.
"Are you hungry?" Nojima heard Genta's stomach growl. "Nagisa, prepare us some lunch."
In the dining hall...
"Thanks for the food." the kids chorused and dug into the sandwiches.
"Michiko, what's wrong?" Fumio noticed the older woman suck her finger.
"It's nothing." Michiko replied. "I seem to have cut my finger on a book."
"I've got band-aids." Ayumi pulled out a plaster.
"We'll keep reading once you're finished eating." Nojima informed.
"Nojima, these children are still in class." Omura reminded.
"Do you presume to order me around, thief?" Nojima snapped.
"Don't bring that up here." Omura pleaded.
"Silence." Nojima barked. "How dare a lowly author talk back to me?"
"Sir, it's not good for your health to get so excited." Nagisa chided the coughing Nojima.
"Don't tell me what to do." Nojima glared. "I'm..."
"Michiko!" Fumio yelled out, when the older woman suddenly collapsed on the ground.
"Detective Takagi?" Mitsuhiko voiced, after the police were called in. "Is it true that Michiko was poisoned?"
"Detective Takagi." one of the forensic officers on duty reported. "We didn't find poison in the food or beverage the victim consumed."
"Then when and how was she poisoned?" Detective Takagi wondered.
"Detective Takagi," Conan spoke. "Maybe the poison was on a book. Michiko said she cut her finger on a book and sucked on the cut. Maybe that's when it happened."
In the basement...
"We didn't find any poison on these books." the forensic officers reported. "But we did find a highly-concentrated poison on this one."
"Then it must be because she touched that book." Detective Takagi reasoned. "Nojima, how is this book stored?"
"It was simply left here." Nojima replied. "But the entrance was locked."
"Who had access to this library?" Detective Takagi inquired.
"Nagisa and I have the keys." Nojima responded. "But since we'd unlock it for anyone who asked, Omura-sensei as often here as well."
"Which means all three of you had the opportunity to poison the book." Detective Takagi concluded.
"Come to think of it, wasn't it Nojima who handed her the book to read?" Mitsuhiko recalled.
"Which means, Nojima, it's likely that you poisoned her." Detective Takagi turned to the book collector.
"Wait a minute, I handed out novels as writing references." Nojima protested. "But that book is an encyclopedia. I didn't hand that to anyone."
"Paris green..." Conan made the connection. "Isn't the color of that book Paris green? We'd know that for certain if we asked an old book expert."
"There's no mistaking it." Tamaki was called in. "Like Conan said, this is Paris green."
"I knew it." Conan nodded. "I felt like I'd seen it in an online new story before."
"So, what is this Paris green exactly?" Detective Takagi asked.
"Paris green is the artificial pigment used in this book's bindings." Tamaki explained. "Until the second half of the 19th century, a powerful poison was used to produce this vivid green color. According to one theory, Napoleon was killed by a poison exuded from Paris green wallpaper."
"In other words, the book itself was a poisonous book." Detective Takagi noted. "Nojima, were you aware of this?"
"No." Nojima shook his head. "I had no idea it was such a dangerous book."
"Which means it seems likely that this was an accident that occurred when the victim unconsciously touched this book." Detective Takagi mused.
Still not convinced that it was a mere accident, Conan wandered around when he spotted the book Genta had been using. Looking down, he saw a long scratch on the wooden levee. Flipping open the book, he then spotted traces of blood in the middle of the book. A suspicious indentation inside the book finally had him realize what had happened. "Don't lick that." he warned Nojima after confirming something with Michiko in the hospital.
"What do you mean, don't lick it?" Nojima asked. "Is this book...?"
"No, that book isn't poisonous or anything." Conan corrected. "But if you lick your finger, what happened to Michiko will happen to you. Isn't that right?" he turned to Omura. "You rigged the book and poisoned Michiko."
"What are you talking about?" Omura feigned ignorance. "I simply found the book Nojima was looking for."
"Then, what's this doing here?" Conan questioned, lifting the book and shaking it, causing a shard of razor to drop out.
"What is that?" Nojima asked.
"A box cutter blade." Conan answered. "Omura hid this poisoned blade inside the book. He planned to poison you when you cut your finger removing the book from the shelf. Since there are poisonous books in this library, he could make it look like an accidental death."
"Omura." Nojima glared. "Michiko wasn't enough? You had to poison me, too?"
"You're wrong." Conan corrected. "You were Omura's only target. Michiko had the bad luck of falling for Omura's trap."
"How did he plan to make me pick up the poisoned book?" Nojima inquired.
"Probably by doing this." Conan answered. "Nojima, you scolded Genta this afternoon, right? By placing the poisoned book upside down..."
"He thought I'd notice and pick it up." Nojima concluded.
"Right." Conan nodded. "It caught Michiko's attention because she works at the book café, so she picked it up without realizing the book was poisoned. The scratch on the shelf from the blade that was made when she flipped the book over proves it."
"But Nagisa couldn't fallen for that trap, too." Nojima pointed out.
"That's why he used a German book." Conan explained.
"Even if Nagisa can't read German, she'd at least notice if a book was upside down." Nojima reasoned.
"There are books from all over the world, right?" Conan stated. "When placed right side up, the titles on the spines of American books are read from top to bottom, but European books are read from bottom up. Because there are Western books in this library whose spines are read from the top down and the bottom up, at a glance, it's hard to know which ones are upside down."
"But Omura-sensei, why poison me?" Nojima asked. "I've always supported you."
"Supported me?" Omura echoed. "Don't be absurd. You've worked me like a dog. I'm sorry for stealing your books and selling them when I was broke. But you worked me like a slave because of that. I had reached my limit." he sank to his knees.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.