SailorStar9: So with Chapter 89 uploaded, we hit Chapter 90 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 90: The Target is the Metropolitan Police Traffic Department, Part Four

In the Haido Police Station...

"Hello, Sato-san?" Takagi made the call. "It was a week ago, after all. One week ago, there was a woman who committed suicide by jumping off the roof of an office building on Second Street in Haido City. Her name was Midorikawa Aiko. Since she worked from the building she jumped from, her colleagues were able to confirm her identify right then and there. She resided in Room 702 of the apartment building. Left at the scene were her shoes and phone. Later, a suicide note was discovered in her desk as well. And in fact..."

In Chiba's car...

"You know who the culprit is?" Chiba exclaimed. "You know who killed Sergeant Momosaki and Lieutenant Yagi?"

"Yeah." Conan nodded. "The culprit was one of the traffic violators they arrested one week earlier, right? They were Aono who forgot his license and was using his phone while driving, Akamine who was riding a motorcycle against traffic without a helmet, and Shiroyama whose inspection expired and forgot to wear his seat belt, right? And most likely, both the first victim Sergeant Momosaki was pointing at and the second victim, Lieutenant Yagi was facing a no parking sign. Do you know why sign prohibiting something are a circle with a diagonal line? Because the shape is a combination of the letters N and O. In other words, it means 'no' in English. No parking signs are a 'no' layered on top of a blue sign. Which means blue (ao) plus 'no' is 'Aono'. The culprit is Aono."

"Do you really think they made a lame pun with their dying messages?" Chiba sweatdropped.

"That's what I thought as first." Conan insisted. "But if that's the only thing you saw in the vicinity, wouldn't you do the same? Dying messages can't be noticed by the culprit, but it's also no good if no one understands them. Most people don't know the history of road signs, but it's likely an officer from the Transportation Department would notice. It's the perfect message. Then, there's 7155: the number Lieutenant Yagi left on her phone that doesn't concern anyone. It probably refers to road traffic law article 71, section 5-5: while operating a vehicle, drivers must not hold their phone in their hand or look at its screen. In other words, I think we can assume it refers to Aono who was using his phone while driving."

"What?" Chiba gasped after Sato relayed to him what Takagi had found out. "Aono Kengo's girlfriend killed herself by jumping off the building she worked at? One week ago?"

At the crime scene...

"Apparently, she could not take the power harassment she was suffering from her bosses." Sato confirmed. "Aono received a text from his girlfriend that said 'goodbye'. He rushed out of work, got into his car without his license and was caught by Sergeant Momosaki and Lieutenant Yagi while he was on his way to her."

"So, he resented them for stopping him." Shiratori reasoned.

"He believes he could've prevented his girlfriend's suicide if that hadn't happened." Takagi spoke.

"But according to the local jurisdiction, she called Aono immediately after she texted him, right?" Sato asked.

"Yes, but Aono didn't answer, so she left a voicemail instead." Takagi confirmed. "She was using a recording app on her phone, so they were able to confirm the message's contents at the scene."

"Speaking of phones, they received a phone call while questioning Aono and he was extremely upset." Sato recalled. "The two of them had a mutual friend named Yumiko who they went to karaoke with. But both of them call her Yumi."

"Did Aono hear that name then plan to kill Yumi-san next?" Takagi realized.

"If you're looking for someone named Yumi among their acquaintances, it's certainly possible." Shiratori greed. "Where is Yumi-san now?"

"I've been calling her, but she won't answer." Sato replied.

"A text?" Takagi received a message on his phone.

In Chiba's car...

"Conan just sent a message to Takagi's phone." Chiba supplied. "Due to certain circumstances, I'm driving him home right now. Is the number I just sent him Yumi-san's number? I don't know if it was Yumi-san." he admitted. "But I heard four sets of a fingernail tapping a phone seven times. After that, I heard a male voice say 'Hey, what are you doing?' before they hung up. I thought it might be..."

At the crime scene...

"This is Miike's number." Sato confirmed.

In Chiba's car...

'Miike?" Chiba echoed. "Yumi-san's subordinate?"

At the crime scene...

"Come to think of it, we can't get in touch with Miike either." Sato realized.

In Chiba's car...

"It's possible the culprit figured out she's a police officer and kidnapped her so he can lure Yumi-san to him and murder her." Conan suggested. "If he plans to call her to him, then he can't be that far. What places nearby that the culprit would be familiar with? Do you know where Aono does for work?" he shouted.

"Yes..." Sato nodded. "I think he was a remodeler."

Without a moment to lose, Conan consulted his online map for remodeled buildings.

"By the way, Chiba." Sato voiced. "How did the sound you heard go?"

"I believe it was..." Chiba recited the taps he overheard. "That sounds familiar."

"It's 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'." Conan recognized the tune. "In other words, she's being held in the planetarium that's being remodeled."

In the abandoned planetarium...

Using Conan as a distraction. Chiba flipped Aono to the ground. "Aono Kengo, you're under arrest for the murders of two female police officers." he declared. "22.54, suspect arrested." he cuffed Aono.

"Damn!" Aono screamed in frustration.

"So, you do have your phone with you." Chiba spotted the phone in Aono's back pocket. "The police have been calling you over and over."

"It's not on." Aono snorted. "This phone is full of memories of Aiko. I never let it out of my sight. But since that day, that moment, I haven't looked at the screen. I can't look at it anymore. Since that moment Aiko died, no matter how often I look at it, Aiko never says anything to me."

"I heard about your girlfriend." Chiba stated. "What happened was tragic."

"It's your fault." Aono snapped. "Because you police wouldn't let me go, Aiko is..."

"Weren't you driving without a license while using your phone?" Chiba fired back. "It's only natural that you were arrested. Those are the rules."

"There it is." Aono glared. "The rules. They could've quickly written me a ticket. But they wasted my time by talking about karaoke on the phone and slowed me down. I wanted to get to my girlfriend to convince her not to do it. The police killed Aiko."

"The police didn't kill your girlfriend." Chiba corrected. "It was a coincidence that they received a call. Even it hadn't happened, they wouldn't have let you go. It was clear from your behavior that you were out of your mind. They thought you need time to calm down. No one can remain calm under all circumstances, especially not if their loved ones are involved. Not even me. It's the reason the policewomen you killed did their jobs. So a driver like you who's lost their cool won't take the life of someone else's loved one."

"You're lecturing me?" Aono retorted. "Talk all you want, but Aiko still died because you guys stopped me. If that hadn't happened, I could've saved Aiko. Besides, I was calm. They had no reason to keep me there."

"No," Chiba chided. "You weren't behaving normally. Your girlfriend left a voicemail on your phone. I knew it." he retrieved the phone. "You haven't heard your girlfriend's message. You don't even seem to know that she called you. She called you a minute after she sent you that last text. Because you were hurrying to your car, it's possible you didn't notice she was calling. But you were looking at your phone while driving after that. You were so preoccupied that the police stopped you. You should've noticed this notification on your screen then." he showed Aono the missed call pop-up window. "This important notification was visible to you, but you didn't notice. I know exactly how shaken you were."

"Let me hear it." Aono sobbed. "Let me hear the message Aiko left for me."

Chiba nodded and played the voicemail. "Do you understand now?" he put the phone on the ground. "You were too late."

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