SailorStar9: So with Chapter 90 uploaded, this is Chapter 91 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 91: The Case On the Opposite Shore
Time passes...
"Found a heron." Haibara reported, peering through her bird-watching binoculars.
"That's a sandpiper, isn't it?" Genta spotted a sandpiper by the rocks.
"Those are mallards." Mitsuhiko trained his binoculars on a flock of mallards swimming on the river. "There're a bunch of them."
"Look." Ayumi piped in. "There's a kingfisher."
"Now, that's a rare find." Fumio whistled lowly.
"That's a thrush." Conan cut in, instead of bird-watching, he was people-watching. "A woodpecker, maybe? And a turtle dove. Just kidding."
"Why do I get the feeling you're not doing what you're supposed to do?" Fumio deathpanned, nudging Conan by the ribs with his elbow.
"People watching..." caught in the act, Conan stammered.
"Just as I thought..." Fumio sighed.
"But it does seem pretty interesting, too." Haibara noted. "People watching. Looks like they're arguing." she trained on an arguing couple in the park on the opposite shore.
"'I'm sorry. Please cheer up.'" Mitsuhiko relayed what he thought the man was saying.
"'Tell me. What's more important: me or your job?'" Ayumi took up the woman's role.
"'I don't know what to say.'" Mitsuhiko continued the role-play.
"'I don't like men who don't communicate properly. Hmph.'" Ayumi blabbered back.
"I don't think what this is about." Fumio sweatdropped.
"What is it about, then?" Haibara asked.
"Basically, for example..." Conan started and trained his binoculars on the man by the slide. "See that man in the white polo shirt playing with the child by the slide? You observe him and guess his profession."
"That's impossible." Mitsuhiko protested.
"Not really." Fumio tsked. "First of all, take a good look at the watch on his left arm; it's a luxury watch that costs at least several million yen. While all the clothes he is wearing are plain, they are of designer brands. And based on that, we can correctly infer that he works a high-paying job. And more importantly is the red strap on his neck and what's on the end of it: a cell phone for medical use. In other words, that man is..."
"A doctor." Conan shook his head.
"A cell phone for medical use?" Ayumi echoed.
"Because the waves they transmit are weak, they're widely use for internal communication systems within hospitals." Conan explained. "Additionally, that red strap indicates that he's a healthcare worker. You guys can do it, too." he encouraged. "When you observe carefully, you can figure out all kinds of things. Okay then..." he tried to pick up the next target. "Let's look at the woman in the light blue dress carrying that big bag."
"She's a singer-songwriter." Ayumi guessed.
"A makeup artist." Mitsuhiko piped in.
No, she sells eels." Genta argued.
"You're al wrong." Conan chuckled. "You should focus on her unique way of walking and her large bag."
"So, that's how it is." Fumio focused on the woman's legs. "She's a ballerina. The basic position in ballet is called 'en dehors', which means turning your feet outwards. Therefore, even when walking, she points her toes outwards and maintains a straight posture. Well, you can consider this an occupational habit."
"Not only do ballet use a lot of costumes and equipment, but most people have to carry their own things." Haibara added. "So they tend to carry large bags. Hey, Edogawa-kun." she spotted something happening. "Look at the hedges to the right of the water fountain."
As one, the others focused their attention to the water fountain.
"Is that..." Fumio zoomed in on Detective Takagi hiding behind the hedges in disguise. "Detective Takagi?"
"And look at the cardboard box behind the fountain." Haibara added.
"Wow, Detective Chiba sure plays the role of a vagrant pretty well." Fumio muttered. "Are they on a stakeout?"
"Let's see if we can find their target." Conan suggested.
"In front of the fountain." Ayumi followed both detective's gaze and locked onto the man standing by the fountain.
"I see." Conan nodded. "He's delivering the ransom in a kidnapping case."
"What should we do?" Ayumi asked.
"One thing's for sure, we can't go over there and cause confusion." Fumio sighed.
"Let's watch from here." Conan agreed.
"Two guys are coming down the stairs to the middle." Genta reported.
"They're probably construction workers building houses in the area." Conan guessed. "They're unrelated to the case."
"One person is coming from the left." Mitsuhiko added.
"Are you serious?" Fumio deathpanned. "Which kidnapper would be dressed in a sailor uniform?"
"What's that?" Conan blinked when a boat crossed over the water.
"That running woman is heading towards the fountain." Genta supplied.
"No, it's not her." Conan objected. "She's merely meeting the man by the river."
"Edogawa-kun, how about the man by the swings?" Haibara suggested.
"He does look the part." Fumio agreed. "He's very obviously looking at his surroundings and behaving rather suspiciously. Is he the kidnapper?"
"Bingo, that's him." Haibara nodded, her eyes trained on the man walking towards the kidnapee's father.
"They got him!" Genta beamed when Detective Takagi placed the culprit under arrest.
"Case closed." Mitsuhiko nodded.
The culprit's been arrested, but something's not right. Conan frowned.
"Just as I thought." Fumio looked at the struggling culprit. "It's not him."
"Fumio's right." Conan agreed. "He is a culprit, but not of this case. He's probably a communications fraud con artist.
"I definitely thought it was strange for a kidnapper to behave so apprehensively." Fumio mused. "He was probably quite shocked to hear the charges against him."
"I need to let them know immediately." Conan dug out his cellphone.
"I don't think that'll be necessary." Fumio corrected. "Take a closer look." he peered into his binoculars to see Takagi have his subordinates lead Tanaka off and have the others regroup. "Still no movement." he spoke after a while.
"I wouldn't say that." Conan smirked. "Take a look. The police officers are on edge. The kidnapper should make his move soon."
"If the police officers are on edge, that means it's nearly the time scheduled by the kidnapper." Fumio reasoned. "That also means the kidnapper is already in the park."
"It's an emergency!" Genta shouted, his eyes were focused on the man drowning in the water.
With the police distracted, another man dashed towards the elder Shibata and snatched away the bag containing the ransom money.
"Yes!" Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi cheered when Detective Takagi slammed his handcuffs on the runner. "This time, the case is closed."
"You're wrong." Conan cut in. "That's a decoy. There's another culprit. That's definitely him." he closed in on the man reading on the nearby bench. "He's the culprit."
"He's not answering..." Fumio stated, Conan's call to Detective Takagi went unanswered.
"Then, how about this?" Conan used the sun's reflection from his watch to catch Detective Chiba's attention. "There's no time." he spoke into the oversized detective's phone. "Listen quietly. The kidnapper isn't that man, it's someone else. Run to the swings immediately. The man who fell into the river and the man who came to get the ransom money were probably just hired. They shouldn't know anything about the case. Since time is short, I'll start from the conclusion. The culprit is the man wearing the gray jacket. The kidnapper first had a hired man jump into the river to distract you. While that was going on, he had another man attempt to seize the ransom money. The kidnapper himself isn't going to receive the money because he's cautious of the police. Normally when a person falls into a river, everyone would look in that direction in surprise. If after that, if anyone attempted to steal an old man's bag, you'll look at that, naturally. But the man in the gray jacket wasn't surprised at all. The kidnapper is attempting to flee the park. He's surely mad at the victim for breaking their promise. If you don't arrest him here, the kidnapping victim's life could be in danger."
"But Conan, he's not here." Detective Chiba looked around. "The man in the gray jacket is gone."
"That's not possible." Conan gawked. "How? He was there until a second ago."
"A reversible jacket." Fumio realized. "He flipped his jacket inside out."
"Did he have any other distinctive qualities?" Haibara pressed.
With Detective Chiba...
"Those are nice sneakers." Detective Chiba stopped the kidnapper from fleeing. "Are they limited edition? Could I ask you a few questions about the kidnapping of Shibata Mika?" he flashed his badge of the kidnapper. "You're under arrest for the kidnapping of Shibata Mika." he cuffed the culprit.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.