SailorStar9: With Chapter 3 uploaded, this is Chapter 4 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 own absolutely nothing, except this plot and potential pairing.

Pending pairing: Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami

Chapter 4: Detectives' Nocturne: The Case

Sometime later...

"What you are seeing now is footage of the three-man bank robber group." the late morning newscaster reported. "Furthermore, the three robbers are still eluding..."

"Geez, that's been all that's on the news since this morning." Mouri moaned, switching the television off.

"It can't be helped." Ran replied. "It hasn't been a week since the incident. And one of the bank employees was shot and died."

"If I remember right, while trying to be cool, he stood up to the robbers and got himself killed, right?" Mouri asked.

"I don't think he stood up to them." Conan piped in. "According to the customers that were in the bank during the incident, he seemed to be trying to calm them down by raising both hands in the air and saying 'Okay, please stop already.'"

"Same thing, since instead he just made them mad and ended up getting shot." Mouri scoffed.

"But they won't get away with their crime." Amuro cut in. "Most of the 200 million yen that they stole were fresh banknotes that'd just been received from the head office, so their serial numbers were all registered."

"Yeah, they got a bunch of money they can't use." Mouri agreed. "So, it's only a matter of time until the robbers get caught." "And what are you doing here?"

"I bought sandwiches for your lunch, Mouri-sensei, as you're taking care of me." Amuro beamed. "It's my treat, of course."

"Can we have some too." Ran gushed.

"Well, of course." Amuro smiled. "And what kind of case will the client who's coming today be bringing?" he inquired.

"How do you know that?" Mouri was surprised.

"Of course I know." Amuro chided. "On days off, you're usually clenching a horse-racing newspaper in your hand and lazing about, sensei. But today, you shaved your stubble and neatly tied your necktie: the marks of someone who's waiting for a visit. And to add another reason, Okino Yoko's live show is on air right now. Given that you're ignoring it and are still serious, it must be a fairly important case, right?"

Mouri suddenly let out a scream and turned the television back on.

"What's...?" Amuro gawked.

"He delayed the meeting time with the client just so he could watch this show live." Ran sighed.

"I was right about you waiting for a client, right?" Amuro repeated after the show was over.

"Yeah." Mouri confirmed. "But I don't know what kind of person is coming. It's the first time I've had a client request via the internet. Now the live performance is over, it's about time for the client to arrive. A mail?" he opened his flip-phone, the ringtone indicating a new text message. "'This is Kashitsuka Kei, who arranged to see you today. But given some circumstances, I'd like to move the meeting to the 'Colombo Restaurant'. It should be close to you, so I believe we can meet there at the arranged time. I'm waiting to hear from you to know whether or not it's okay.' Geez, what a pain." he complained. "Maybe I should say no."

"You can't do that, Dad." Ran protested. "This is a valuable customer. Besides, Conan and I haven't had lunch yet. So we could just eat at Colombo. Dad, your cigarette ash's about to fall." she reminded, putting the half-eaten sandwiches into the fridge. "Dad, be careful." she rebuked. "What if you start a fire? Though, since somebody doesn't want to work, our family finances are about to go down in flames." she scolded as Mouri cleared the cigarette ash.

"Do you mind if I join you for the meeting with the client, Mouri-sensei?" Amuro requested. "My shift at Poirot ended at noon today."

"I don't really mind." Mouri shrugged.

In Colombo...

"So, it's about a coin-operated locker?" Amuro mused, after Mouri recounted the case details.

"His brother died a few days ago and apparently, that key cam up among his belongings." Mouri replied. "Since he doesn't know what locker they key is for, he wanted me to find it. He wants me to put in his coffin and bury him with it if it happens to be something important."

"But can you find it?" Ran asked.

"Keys typically have the name of the company that created them and serial numbers on them." Mouri replied. "So if we just contact the company and ask them where they delivered the locker, we'll get the general idea of where it is."

"Sounds surprisingly easy." Ran noted.

"Is that all there is to the request?" Amuro was confused.

"He said he'll he'd give me 300,000 yen for it." Mouri nodded.

"The client isn't coming, is he?" Conan wondered, after the plates were cleared.

"Maybe there's another Colombo restaurant in the vicinity?" Amuro suggested.

"There isn't any." Mouri refuted, checking for ant new messages.

"You replied 'okay' to the mail asking to move the meeting here, right?" Amuro asked.

"Right away." Mouri confirmed. "Also, I sent many messages saying 'I'm here waiting for you.' But there's no response. The email addresses the client used last night and today are different." he noticed.

"Maybe his phone is charging or something, so he borrowed a friend's phone in a rush to send today's email?" Ran suggested.

"And then maybe that friend turned off his phone." Amuro added.

"The one I sent the 'OK' response to was today's address." Mouri protested.

"Then, without knowing that you said 'OK', he might still be waiting as originally agreed, back at the agency." Conan deathpanned.

In the Mouri Detective Agency...

"There's nobody here." Mouri noted, the group reentering the agency. "Just in case, I sent an email to the first address saying 'I'll be right back.'"

"Then he'll probably reply soon, right?" Ran remarked. "Do you want some tea while you're waiting?"

"I'm good." Mouri assured. "I drank too much coffee at Colombo. I need to use to toilet."

"Ran-san if you're making tea, I can help." Amuro offered.

"The client just replied." Mouri stopped short in front of the toilet door. "He said, 'I just got to Colombo, please come.'"

"Then we should hurry up and go." Ran urged.

"Then, I'll go with you too." Conan added. "Just wait a second. I need to use the toilet first."

"Another email from the client." Mouri noticed another incoming message. "He says 'Hurry up and come all together.'"

"All together?" Ran echoed. "Does he mean us?"

"Then let's go to Colombo together again." Amuro suggested. "Everyone, please keep quiet." he hushed after he shut the door behind him. "This is probably what's going on: somebody doesn't want the client to meet up with Mouri-sensei. He drove him away using a fake email moving the meeting, and met up with the client at the empty agency, acting as part of its staff. As proof of that, the keyhole has traces of having been picked open, and there was a slightly wet teacup in the cupboard in the kitchen. Considering Ran-san's personality, you wouldn't put a wet cup back in the cupboard as it is."

"Not to mention, the cigarette ash that oji-san dropped before we left was completely wiped off." Conan piped in. "That means someone wiped it while we were out."

"So basically, this means someone invited the client in while sensei was out, wiped the table and welcomed him by serving tea." Amuro concluded. "And since he put the teacup back on the cupboard without drying it properly, it was still wet."

"But why would someone do that?" Ran gasped. "He just came here to ask you to find a coin-operated locker."

"Maybe there's something really important in that locker?" Mouri guessed.

"Who knows?" Amuro remarked. "Shall we ask that person directly?" he reopened the door. "The reply cam just when you, sensei, tried to go into the toilet. And another one came when Conan tried to go in, too."

"And there were some marks that look like something was dragged across the floor in front of the toilet." Conan added.

"For some reason, that person dragged the client inside and is still hiding inside the toilet." Amuro agreed.

The sound of a gunshot alerted the group and Conan flung the toilet door open. "What?" he gaped, dashing to the cubicle and seeing the tied up Kashitsuka Kei and a dead man sitting on the toilet bowl with a pistol in his hands.

Later...

"So, is this what happened?" Megure questioned, after the police were called in, but were met by a man claiming to be his assistant, and were knocked out with a stun gun. "Kashitsuka Kei, you came here to ask Mouri to investigate a coin-operated locker's key. "When you regained consciousness, you were wrapped in duct tape and trapped in the toilet."

"Yes." Kashitsuka nodded. "To make sure I wouldn't run away, my boots were taken off and even the laces were removed."

"And then when Mouri and the rest came back, this man panicked since they found he was confirming you in the toilet, inserted the gun in his own mouth and committed suicide by pulling the trigger." Megure continued.

"Yes." Kashitsuka nodded.

"But why would he want to trap you into the toilet?" Megure was confused.

"He kept asking me the same question." Kashitsuka replied. "'What locker is this key for? If you don't tell me, I'm gonna kill you.'"

"Inspector Megure," Takagi came in. "According to the forensics, there was virtually no gunshot residue on Kashitsuka's body or clothing."

"So he committed suicide." Megure noted. "And Kashitsuka's testimony is true."

"Probably." Takagi agreed.

"First, find the locker as well as what the man who committed suicide wanted." Megure declared. "Still, it doesn't add up. Why would he bring Kashitsuka here? He only wanted her to tell him what locker the key was for."

"I know." Mouri concurred. "Despite threatening her with a gun and interrogating her after forcing her to move, he knocked her out and duct taped her, so it sounds like he was planning on shutting himself in here for a while."

"To sum it up, it was suicide by gun." Megure concluded.

"Since I, Mouri Kogoro, came back earlier than he expected, he probably gave up knowing he couldn't run away." Mouri bragged.

"He looked very impatient." Kashitsuka continued. "He said it'd be bad if he didn't find that locker quickly, or something like that."

"But still, Kashitsuka, have you really never seen him before?" Megure asked.

"Never." Kashitsuka confirmed.

"If his objective was the key in your brother's belongings, then there's a good possibility that your brother knew him." Megure commented.

"I never really met any of my brother's friends." Kashitsuka admitted.

"By the way, how did your brother pass away?" Amuro inquired. "What did your brother die of?" he repeated, seeing Kashitsuka remained silent. "What did your deceased brother die of?"

"He died in an accident four days ago." Kashitsuka replied. "This is my brother." she showed him a photo from her flip-phone.

"Speaking of mobile phones, the mobile phone, belonging to the man who committed suicide, is strange." Megure looked at the bagged mobile phone. "The email he sent Mouri while acting as Kashitsuka, about wanting to move the meeting is in the sent history. But there are no other emails whatsoever."

"He sent those emails after that from my mobile." Kashitsuka supplied.

"But still, the fact that that's the only email that was received or sent and the contract list is empty." Megure mused. "This doesn't look like that a new model. Also, the change and wallet in his pocket with the mobile phone bother me. They were with the key that he stole from Kashitsuka, along with the stun gun, cigarettes and a lighter in his coat pocket, but the change added up to around 5000 yen."

"If he had that much, wouldn't it be heavy and rattle?" Ran gaped.

"Furthermore, there were two 10,000 yen bills and five 5,000 yen bills in his wallet." Megure added. "And there were forty-seven 1,000 yen bills. Don't you find that strange?"

"Excuse me," Amuro spoke. "If it's all right, could you show us the things that were in his pocket?"

"I don't mind." Megure conceded. "This is all of it. The locker key is being investigated by Takagi right now, so it's not here. Come to think of it, Kashitsuka, one of the two towels that fell by the body's feet in the toilet was damp on one side. Do you know why?"

"I'm not sure." Kashitsuka replied. "I was scared and had my head down the whole time."

"Also, underneath those towels, there was a knot at the end of your boot laces and they were caught on your boots." Megure continued.

"That's a habit I had as child." Kashitsuka explained. "My brother always said when you wash fabric sneakers or the like, it's easier to hang them when the laces get like that. Like you'd expect, I don't wash my boots, but the habit just stuck with me. But my brother isn't here anymore."

"Inspector, would it be all right to leave it here for today?" Mouri requested. "It hasn't been that long since she lost her brother, and a man she didn't know killed himself in front of her."

"Then, we'll be questioning you tomorrow." Megure relented. "So can you tell us your address and a way to contact you?"

"I can write it on something." Kashitsuka nodded.

"If possible, if you have any kind of identification..." Megure added.

"I just finished university and am looking for a job, so I don't have a business card." Kashitsuka stated. "If I could go to my house, I could give you my insurance certificate."

"Then please bring that tomorrow." Megure requested.

"If you're going home, shall I drive you there?" Amuro offered. "I parked at a nearby parking lot. There's a chance that an accomplice of his might ambush you near your home."

"By the way, what is he doing here?" Megure was not amused.

"Actually, Amuro-kun is now my top apprentice." Mouri admitted.

"Apprentice?" Megure echoed. "So you have another detective around you. There's another one besides you." he turned to the younger man. "A detective girl who's recently been showing up and wandering around crime scenes with Mouri."

In Amuro's car...

"Kashitsuka, is this the right way to your home?" Amuro asked.

"Yeah." Kashitsuka nodded.

"Come to think of it, this car's a different color to Sato's, right?" Ran noted.

"Most importantly, why did you guys come along too?" Mouri snapped. "It's kind of cramped here."

"And why did you have to come along, Dad." Ran fired back.

"Because I'm worried about Kei-san." Mouri defended.

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