SailorStar9: With Chapter 197 uploaded, I present Chapter 198 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 198: 'Til Death Do Us Part
Time passes...
"Hey!" one of Nagashima Hiroko's assistants was chasing after Yokoyama Shinpo's chihuahua who had escaped its leash.
"That was a cute incident." Nagashima chuckled. "Let's put ourselves together and proceed with the ceremony. Thank you for waiting." she referred to her planned out schedule on her tablet. "It's time for the bride to make her appearance."
On cue, Imamura Sayoko appeared at the back of the aisle and walked down the aisle to her groom. Halfway, she let out a startled gasp and dropped her bouquet of white roses, before kneeling over and grasping at her throat. Vomiting out blood, she fell over onto the carpet.
"Calm down, Shinpo." Yamada Gakuto held the groom back. "Oji-san, call an ambulance." he told Yokoyama Nobuteru, Shinpo's father.
"It's no use." Mouri inspected the bride. "She's dead."
After Megure's team was called in...
"How did you end up at the scene of the murder this time?" Takagi asked Mouri.
"I met the groom's father at a bar I frequent." Mouri explained.
"He ended up inviting you to the wedding because you were having so much fun." Conan piped in.
"Yet another incident occurred at the ceremony." Takagi sighed.
"Something always seems to happen around you." Chiba added. "I'm beginning to see why Mizuno-senpai said you've been touched by the Shinigami."
"I don't see any obvious injuries." Conan noted.
"The victim is Imamura Sayoko-san, 24 years old." Takagi referred to his notes. "She was a housekeeper. As you all witnessed, her time of death was 13:22 today. According to Mizuno-san, the cause of death is poisoning."
"What kind of poison was the bride given?" Mouri wondered.
"Mizuno-senpai found matter from poisonous mushrooms from the blood sample she took." Chiba answered. "She then explained that ingesting even a small amount can paralyze one's entire body and cause death within an hour."
"Then, anyone who gave her something to eat or drink is a suspect." Mouri concluded.
After interviewing the suspects...
"I've uploaded the data." a forensics officer informed Chiba.
"Takagi-san, we have the results from forensics." Chiba told his senior. "They found nothing in the plastic bottle and flask. But mushroom poison was found in the chocolates."
"Why did you give the bride chocolates?" Conan asked.
"Sayoko-san said she loved Mativa chocolates during the wedding rehearsal." Nobuteru recalled. "I bought chocolates at a departmental store and gave them to her."
"Why was there poison in chocolates you bought from a departmental store?" Takagi wondered.
"Would he really poison the chocolates he gave her when he knew he'd be suspected?" Conan pointed out.
"If the groom's father was against the wedding, he would've found another way to oppose it." Mouri agreed.
"Looks like we'll have to keep investigating." Conan suggested. "I'm going to the bathroom." he excused himself and headed to the waiting room to visit the chihuahua when he spotted the cut-off leather leash. After requesting Nagashima to let him see the schedule, he headed out to reorganize his thoughts when the chapel bell rang and he finally realized what happened.
Afterwards...
Conan tranquilized Mouri after everyone was gathered back in the chapel. "The key element in this case is the culprit's powerful thirst of revenge against the victim, Imamura Sayoko-san. A murder on the day of someone's wedding is shocking enough on its own, but the culprit intended to take her life at the most dramatic moment possible: probably when the couple kissed. In fact, they failed. However, the culprit had calculated backwards, so that would happen. Consuming even a small amount of the poisonous mushroom used in this case causes death within an hour. A fall from the height of happiness is the perfect revenge. Isn't that right, Kawasu Alex Harutoshi-san?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." the priest insisted.
"You're the only person who knew about the Mativa chocolates and could've swapped out their contents." Conan revealed. "Nobuteru-san learned the bride liked chocolates during the wedding rehearsal. You, too, were also at the rehearsal."
"Nagashima-san, the wedding planner, was there as well." Kawasu pointed out.
"Nobuteru-san, when did you purchase the chocolates?" Conan inquired.
"I bought them today at a department store in Beika City before coming here." Nobuteru answered.
"He knew the brand, but in order to purchase the exact same chocolates, he needed to see the moment you bought them." Conan reasoned. "So, you followed Nobuteru-san. After seeing Nobuteru-san buy the chocolates, you purchased the exact same product. You poisoned the chocolates using the poison you brought and waited for an opportunity to swap yours with Nobuteru-san's. Then you watched Nobuteru-san feed the chocolates to the bride and attended the ceremony. Take a look at this. Conan." he came out from his hiding place with Nagashima's tablet in hand.
"It's such a precise schedule." Chiba was impressed after Conan handed the tablet to Takagi.
"The victim ate the chocolate t 12:45." Conan continued. "The groom lost his shoe and the chihuahua interrupted the ceremony, delaying the schedule roughly by ten minutes."
"If you add ten minutes to this schedule, one hour after she consumed the poison at 13:45..." Takagi frowned.
"That's when the couple kisses." Chiba gaped.
"It was also Kawasu-san who manipulated the leash so the dog would interrupt the ceremony." Conan revealed. By delaying the schedule a little bit at a time, he made it match up with when the bride would collapse."
"Why would I do that?" Kawasu questioned.
"At Mouri-san's instruction, I looked into something." Takagi took over. "You apparently had a son. He attended the same university as Sayoko-san. Your son was also dating Sayoko-san. In his fourth year in university, they had a terrible breakup. Several months later, he died in a traffic accident."
"When you take into account the testimony concerning the victim, it's too easy to imagine the difficult time your son must have had." Conan added. "That's an adequate reason to seek revenge."
"After toying with my son and driving him to his death, that woman didn't even come to his funeral." Kawasu admitted. "I couldn't allow that she-devil to happily get married after the evil she committed. I poisoned her so she'd die during her happiest moment. But she died before their kiss. The poison was supposed to take effect after an hour."
"You said initially that it was too soon." Conan reminded. "You quickly added more to what you said; by 'too soon', you meant that she collapsed too soon. When I realized what you meant, I became certain you were the culprit."
That night...
"Hey, Rei." Ami started, the couple were cuddling on the sofa in Amuro's living room, Haro was already sound asleep in his basket cot.
"Hm?" Amuro mumbled, looking up from his mixed fruit frozen yogurt.
"Have you ever thought about marriage?" Ami asked.
"What brought that on?" the undercover operative was surprised by the question.
"Just a passing thought." Ami answered.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.