SailorStar9: So, with Chapter 113 uploaded, this is Chapter 114 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 114: The Figure of Revenge
Time passes...
"Is that a delivery?" Midoriyama Saki looked up from her incomplete figure.
"It must be Mitsuhiko-kun and his friends." Aoki Keiji corrected. "A boy who lives in the area." he got up to answer the door. "I told him I'd show him our figures."
"I invited them." Mizuhara Naoto added. "They said they like Yaiba."
"We'll barely finish in time for the deadline." Shiraishi Kazuya reminded.
"It's your fault it came down the wire, Shiraishi." Aoki rebuked. "We had to redo it because you got cigarette ash on the figures."
"They're already here." Midoriyama cut in. "Let's not fight."
"It's so pretty." Ayumi gushed over the winged horse in the display glass case.
"Did you guys make all of these?" Mitsuhiko was impressed.
"All the university members here." Aoki nodded.
"A gun?" Genta spotted a model on the side table. Panicking, he stumbled backwards, turning the light switch off by accident.
"What are you doing?" Shiraishi snapped, picking up the luminant gun model.
"The gun is glowing." Mitsuhiko gawked.
"It's just a gun-shaped lighter." Aoki explained after the lights were turned back on.
"Is that even legal?" Fumio wondered.
"Aoki, why don't you show the kids the Yaiba figures you're so proud of?" Mizuhara suggested.
During the tea break...
Mizuhara was sorting through the Yaiba DVDs when an explosion was heard from the workshop and the lights went out.
"Don't." Midoriyama stopped Conan and Fumio from rushing in. "It's dangerous in there."
"Shiraishi." Aoki hurried to the door where smoke was billowing out. "Are you okay? It's locked." he fumbled at the lock. "Mizuhara, bring the key to this room." he shouted. "You guys go outside and call the fire department." he told the Detective Boys.
"Let's go." Conan led the others off.
After Megure's team was called in...
"Where was everyone when the fire broke out?" Takagi asked.
"We were in the living room with these kids." Aoki answered.
"We were eating the ice cream he bought together." Genta supplied.
"Then, there was a loud noise and the power went out." Ayumi added.
"We heard another explosion after that." Mitsuhiko stated.
"We went to the studio to help Shiraishi." Aoki recalled.
"But the door was locked." Midoriyama remarked.
"Is it normally locked?" Megure asked.
"I think he locked it today because the kids were here." Aoki reasoned. "So they couldn't bother him while he was working."
"If only I'd found the key sooner..." Mizuhara muttered.
"What caused the fire?" Aoki inquired.
"There was a lighter in the room." Takagi replied. "We believe he was trying to light up a cigarette or something and that ignited the fire."
"I heard another sound before the power went out." Conan spoke up.
"Inspector, how is Shiraishi?" Mizuhara cut in.
"Unfortunately, he inhaled a lot of smoke." Megure answered. "By the time he was taken away, he was already gone."
After surveying the crime scene and the kitchen, Conan pieced together what had happened.
"Could we have your attention, please?" Megure entered the living room with Takagi. "After examining the scene, we believe it's likely the fire was caused by a person."
"First, regarding the power outrage, the outlet next to the TV stand was burnt." Takagi summarized. "We also found copper wire and a rubber glove on the balcony. We found what we believe are signs someone inserted copper wire into the outlet to deliberately cause a power outrage."
"When the first explosion occurred, there was someone searching for a Yaiba DVD near the TV." Conan recalled.
"Mizuhara-san." the rest of the Detective Boys chorused.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Mizuhara protested.
"Why would he do something like that?" Midoriyama objected.
"All the solutions in that room must've exploded at different times." Aoki pointed out.
"Only the area around the garbage bin and Shiraishi-san were badly burnt." Megure stated. "The rest of the room wasn't burnt much at all. In other words, the solutions didn't explode one after another."
"There was an exploded plastic bottle in the room." Conan recalled. "Someone probably put dry ice inside that plastic bottle and made it explode."
"Why would it explode?" Ayumi was confused.
"If you put dry ice inside a plastic bottle and close it, the accumulated pressure from the vaporizing dry ice will cause the bottle to explode." Fumio explained.
"The explosion signaled what caused the power outrage." Megure nodded. "The power outrage activated the mechanism that caused the fire."
"This bottle of thinner with a nylon thread tied around it was the mechanism." Takagi showed the photo on his tablet. "Mizuhara-san, when you bought the ice cream to Shiraishi-san, you put dry ice inside the plastic bottle containing water you prepared beforehand. You left it and an open bottle of thinner with nylon thread tied to it that you'd also prepared beforehand on the shelf next to the door. You exited the room after attaching the end of the nylon thread to the lock on the door. Later, the plastic bottle exploded. The blast caused the bottle of thinner to fall, pulling the nylon thread and locking the door. The thinner spilled out of the fallen bottle."
"If Shiraishi-san lit a cigarette under those circumstances, the flame will ignite the fumes and cause an explosion." Megure stated. "There was no guarantee he would smoke a cigarette then. So, you listened to the sound of the plastic bottle exploding and caused a power outrage, plunging the room in darkness. Mizuhara-san, in order to guarantee he'd ignite the fumes, you stealthily took Shiraishi-san's phone and lighter so he'd use the gun-shaped lighter coated with fluorescent paint next to the door. Judging by the severe burning around the garbage bin, you must've fill it with a large number of tissues soaked in a flammable liquid."
"I'm sorry." Midoriyama spoke up. "Before the fire broke out, I threw away a bunch of tissues I used to soak up the ethanol I spilled."
"It's not Saki's fault." Aoki defended. "I told her to do it."
"So, this is an accident." Midoriyama insisted.
"That's enough, guys." Mizuhara sighed, Conan making a call to Professor Agasa. "The police is right."
"Why would you do this?" Megure was puzzled.
"I did it for Yuri." Mizuhara answered.
"She was a member of our club." Aoki muttered. "She killed herself last year.
"The other day, Yuri's parents showed me her designs." Mizuhara explained. "Among them, we found the same designs we're working on now that Shiraishi allegedly created. When I asked Shiraishi about it, he admitted he'd been stealing Yuri's designs. Yuri looked up to Shiraishi as someone who'd participate in contests since high school. He took advantage of her pure feelings and betrayed her. She lost hope and took her own life."
"Hold it right there." Professor Agasa cut in, Conan having used the Voice-Changing Bowtie to mimic his voice. "Conan-kun filled me on the details. It almost certainly was Mizuhara-san who used the mechanism to start the fire. Shouldn't it be possible to help Shiraishi-san right away? Mizuhara-san's mechanism didn't work. Detective Takagi, where was the bottle of thinner used in the mechanism?"
"On the floor in the corner of the room." Takagi responded.
"That proves the mechanism didn't work properly." Conan declared. "If the mechanism had worked, the bottle of thinner would've hung beneath the lock and eventually fallen when the thread burned. It should've been directly in front of the door. The blast from the plastic bottle exploding was probably too strong: the entire mechanism, including the thread and bottle must've blasted across the room."
"The door was already locked..." Takagi blinked.
"The two of you realized what Mizuhara-san was planning and that his plan was most likely to fail." Professor Agasa turned to Aoki and Midoriyama. "So, when the first explosion occurred and the power went out, they stopped Conan-kun and Fumio-kun from going to see what happened and waited for the second explosion. Sure enough, the mechanism failed and as Shiraishi-san attempted to flee..." he recounted how Aoki and Midoriyama had kept the door shut.
"We heard you and Shiraishi arguing." Aoki admitted.
"Yuri had shown us her designs, too." Midoriyama added. "When we saw them..." she trailed, recalling how she had commented on Yuri imitating Shiraishi's designs. "What if that's the reason she..." she sobbed.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.