SailorStar9: With Chapter 128 posted, I present Chapter 129 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 129: Stakeout 2

Time passes...

"You think Fujiki Kazuma will show up?" Chiba inquired, he and Takagi was on another stakeout.

"I'm sure he'll show up at Yoda Satomi-san's place." Takagi confirmed.

"Another stakeout?" Conan guessed

"What are you guys doing here?" Takagi gawked.

"We saw a window with open blinds." Mitsuhiko beamed.

"How do you know it's a stakeout?" Takagi was confused.

"Call it a hunch, I guess." Fumio shrugged. "Is this him?" he peered at the photo Chiba had.

"So, what's the case about?" Conan asked.

"We can't have them wandering about." Chiba sighed.

"Someone was injured during a robbery this morning." Takagi relented. "Not much was taken."

"The victim was a middle-aged man." Chiba took over. "He was knocked unconscious when stuck on the head with a rod-like object."

"We immediately determined the culprit was Kazuma Fujiki, 25 years old, unemployed." Takagi supplied. "But he hadn't returned home and we couldn't determine where he had fled to."

"That's when we got some useful information." Chiba added, recalling the bartender whose bar Fujiki frequented mentioned Yoda just two days ago.

"Which is why we're conducting this stakeout." Takagi nodded. "There's nothing for the Detective Boys to do this time."

"Are you really sure about that?" Fumio frowned. "He could very well have fled here and is hiding inside."

"We considered that possibility." Takagi related. "But when we visited, there were no signs of anyone hiding."

"That makes it even stranger." Haibara pointed out.

"Fujiki-san seems like he'd immediately run to his ex,Yoda-san, for help." Conan agreed.

"Then, why didn't he?" Fumio pondered. "She looks like she's trying desperately to stay calm." he noted, peering through the pair of binoculars Chiba loaned them.

"It's been three years since they broke up." Takagi explained.

"She's taking a phone call." Fumio reported, the group turning back to Yoda who was answering the incoming call.

"She's going out." Chiba spotted Yoda run out.

"Hold the fort." Takagi instructed and headed out as well.

"I'll go with you." Conan offered.

Behind a building...

"She's heading towards the station." Conan noticed. "I wonder who called her."

"It might be Fujiki Kazuma asking her to meet somewhere." Takagi reasoned.

"So, she left the house to go shopping." Conan noted, the pair were trailing Yoda.

"High-grade steak, assorted sashimi, and top-quality broiled eel." Takagi made a list of the ingredients Yoda brought. "All potions for one, too."

"Now, she's bought wine and two shortcakes." Conan added. "What are they doing?" he grimaced, seeing Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi approach Yoda. "What do you think you're doing?" he cut in, before the other three could escalate things.

"The presence of children will create a genial atmosphere, increasing the chances of Fujiki Kazuma-san showing up." Mitsuhiko pulled Conan aside.

Back at the stakeout building...

"Fujiki Kazuma will appear soon?" Chiba echoed.

"That call was from Fujiki." Takagi clarified. "He probably said he'd visit soon. Yoda Satomi-san still has feelings for him. If he was so desperate for cash that he robbed someone, then he must not be eating properly, so she prepared a feast for him. She even withdrew a large amount of cash. She probably intends to give it to him as getaway money."

"But don't you just need to apprehend Fujiki-san before Yoda-san does something stupid?" Fumio wondered. "Like help him get away?"

"Maybe Yoda Satomi-san has realized she's being watched." Conan suggested. "Don't you think it's too convenient? We almost lost her following her, but we found her again."

"This is Takagi." Takagi took the incoming call three hours later, only to have Yoda request him to come over to her apartment.

In Yoda's apartment...

"The truth is, just after you left this morning, I got a call from Kazuma." Yoda admitted. "He'd committed a crime and came to my apartment in hopes I'd hide him. But the police happened to be there, so he fled in a hurry." she then related how Fujiki ended the call after saying farewell.

"We'll call off the stakeout and follow Fujiki Kazuma's trail." Takagi decided.

Outside the apartment building...

"There's something off about Yoda Satomi-san." Conan voiced. "She even cried tears as she made that confession. It smelled like an act to me."

"What's the matter, Conan?" Fumio turned to their leader, Conan spotted Yoda's smile after Takagi and Chiba drove off.

"Her confession is an act, after all." Conan concluded. "There's a reason Yoda Satomi-san was inconvenienced by being watched by the police."

After having security camera confirmation that Fujiki did head to Yoda's apartment that morning, Takagi and Chiba decided to widen their search area.

Meanwhile, the Detective Boys made their own investigation into Yoda; Genta and Ayumi reported that Yoda had been a cheerful person until three years ago after breaking up with Fujiki. Fumio and Mitsuhiko also brought back news that Yoda was apparently engaged to the cDiscount' general store owner.

"Being secretly watched is inconvenient both when you're secretly receiving a guest and when they're leaving." Conan pondered.

After Ishinabe Daisuke left his delivery van with Yoda...

"Yoda Satomi-san, can you show us that box you loaded into the van?" Conan requested.

"Don't lock the truck." Genta stopped Yoda from locking up the van. Lifting the back door, he let Conan climb into the back of the van.

"I knew it." Conan whispered, removing the box cover aside and finding Fujiki's dead body. "Fujiki Kazuma-san, who injured someone in a robbery this morning, fled to your apartment." he began. "He didn't want to be arrested, so he asked you to hide him. You couldn't forgive him for selfishly begging for help after dumping you, so you killed him. When you came to your senses, you realized the gravity of what you'd done; if the crime was discovered, your engagement would be called off. So, you decided to abandon Fujiki's body. But then, the police paid you a visit and began their stakeout afterwards, so you couldn't move the body. That's when you came up with the fake confession. You probably meant to leave Fujiki-san's body somewhere and lead the police to believe he got involved in some kind of trouble while on the run."

"You're mostly correct, but you got one important thing wrong." Yoda refuted. "I didn't kill Kazuma. When he came to my place, Kazuma said something." she recalled how Fujiki had came to her apartment and demanded beer. Partially drunk, he requested to get back with her, only for Yoda to reject him and order him to leave. Fujiki proceeded to stumble out, only to slip over the beer bottles he threw to the floor and hit his head on the corner of the counter-top.

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