SailorStar9: With Chapter 142 posted, I present Chapter 143 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 143: The Ranpo Mansion Murder Case, Part Two

"After speaking to the Detective Boys, the three of you parted ways?" Sato questioned the three Ranpo Association members.

"I thought I'd take some pictures, so I wandered around." Imai replied.

"I left the university campus and took a walk around the area alone." Taijima stated.

"Like Tajima, I wandered around the area." Oguruma admitted.

"In other words, none of you have an alibi." Sato concluded.

"So, who's the culprit?" Haibara followed Conan to the warehouse with Fumio in tow.

"You have that 'I figured out who the culprit is' on your face, Leader." Fumio grinned.

"I found a comfy looking room." Genta informed. "There's even a sofa."

In Ranpo's drawing room...

"This is it." Genta led the group into the room.

"Is this the Ranpo mansion's drawing room?" Kobayashi-sensei gasped in astonishment.

"What's that mark on the wall?" Ayumi noticed the faded out rectangular shadow on the wall.

"Isn't it where the portrait we saw in the storeroom used to be hung?" Fumio pointed out.

"It probably looks different in the drawing room because there are lights here."Kobayashi-sensei noted.

"When we were talking to the Ranpo Association members in the cafeteria this afternoon, did you notice when they started acting strange?" Conan asked.

"When that Katsumine person was brought up, everyone started becoming awkward." Fumio recalled. "Shouldn't we tell the police about this?"

"Sounds like this is a job for me."Kobayashi-sensei proceeded to step out.

"There's something bothering me." Conan admitted.

"I ran into Detective Takagi nearby." Kobayashi-sensei returned a few minutes later. "I should've known better; the police already investigated them. Katsumine was a member when the Ranpo Association was formed. He was an aspiring author who submitted his work to all kinds of newbie awards, but but he died in an accident two years ago."

"Is this it?" Haibara immediately pulled out the news article. "Someone called Katsumine fell into a river."

"That's the accident." Kobayashi-sensei confirmed. "He was drinking with his friends right before his death. He was pretty drunk when he fell into the river. The police ruled it as an accident. But later, the local station received a bunch of letters. They claimed Katsumine was murdered and insisted the police reopen the case."

"Do they know who Katsumine was drinking with that day?" Conan inquired.

"It was Mizohata and Okumoto." Kobayashi-sensei replied.

"The two murdered men." Conan gasped.

"But according to the investigation at that time, those two had solid alibis for the time Katsumine fell." Kobayashi-sensei informed.

"There you are." Detective Takagi located the group. "It's late, so we'll interview you tomorrow. We'll give you all a ride home."

"Detective Takagi," Conan spoke. "There was a bit of blood on the nails of the victim's right hand. Did you figured out whose blood that was?"

"Forensics just let us know it was the victim's own blood." Detective Takagi answered.

"I have something to discuss with you." Conan pulled Detective Takagi aside.

Later...

Imai stopped Oguruma from strangling Tajima with a rope before declaring him Katsumine's murderer; as it turned out, the work Oguruma submitted the previous year had been stolen from Katsumine and Oguruma had enlisted the aid of Mizohata and Okumoto.

"Why don't you stop what you are doing?" Conan rebuked, the police spotlights turning on one after another, stopping Oguruma from strangling Imai. "I'm Edogawa Conan." he stepped into the light, only for Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta to cut him off with their own introduction.

"Oguruma, could you go down to the station so we can talk?" Sato requested.

"Detectives, arrest this man." Imai shouted. "He's the responsible for all the murders."

"I'll admit I killed Katsumine." Oguruma confessed. "But I didn't kill Mizohata and Okumoto."

"I can explain that." Conan spoke. "I first noticed something was off when I saw that the rarely opened storehouse window was, in fact, open. It was Okumoto who opened it. Then, let's try changing our perspective; consider the rope mark around Okumoto's neck. Based on the marks, we assumed the culprit was strong and taller than him. But Okumoto could've been kneeling when the rope was wrapped around his neck."

"And with an additional force from pulling upwards, even a weak person could've done it." Fumio's eyes widened. "Is that why the candles..."

"Spot on." Conan nodded. "The candles fulfilled several functions in this case; firstly, they were a tool to make Okumoto kneel. The moment he did, the culprit attacked him from behind. So, the question is, how did the culprit enter the storehouse with Okumoto?"

"With candles and a lighter no less." Haibara pointed out.

"They must've an important reason to light candles in the storehouse." Conan nodded.

"The lighting." Fumio realized. "Recall what the inside was like when we found the body." he reminded the others.

"Ranpo's portrait was illuminated by candlelight." Mitsuhiko recalled. "The atmosphere was perfect."

"That was the second function of the candles." Conan revealed. "The lighting; the properties of the light illuminating the space. Using the candles, Okumoto illuminated Ranpo's portrait that was moved to the second floor. I think the culprit told Okumoto, 'I really want to take pictures of the portrait in the storehouse. Could we uses candlelight only?'. Is that right, Imai Nanako, the photographer?"

"And what's the third function of the candles, Leader?" Fumio asked, knowing Conan wasn't done. "Why was one of them knocked over?"

"There was blood on the nails of Okumoto's right hand." Conan reminded. "When I saw it, the blood hadn't hardened completely yet; the blood got there just before he was killed."

"He was trying to leave a dying message as he was being strangled." Fumio realized.

"How could he do that while being strangled?" Haibara wondered.

"Using this." Conan showed the back of his hand.

"The words on the back on his hand." Fumio gasped. "Did Okumoto scratch the back of his hand to leave a clue about the culprit's identity? His second line was... 'the photographer'..."

"But the culprit noticed his message and tried to erase it." Conan added. "They knocked the lit candle onto his left hand and deliberately burned his skin in order to erase his message."

"Were the police able to confirm this dying message of yours?" Imai asked,

"No, but there are other evidence." Conan admitted. "Fingerprints. I doubt the culprit was wearing fingerprints during the crime and your fingerprints have been found in the storehouse."

"That's natural." Imai shrugged. "I entered the storehouse the day before Okumoto was killed."

"What about the candles?" Conan pressed. "If you moved a candle to erase his dying message, I bet your fingerprints are on that, too."

"My fingerprints weren't found on the candle." Imai declared confidently.

"Your fingerprints weren't found on the candle, but why not?" Conan posted a question. "Was the culprit wearing gloves at that time only? At the second-floor crime scene, the gloves Okumoto had brought were found like this." borrowing Fumio's smartphone, he showed Imai the crime scene picture that was taken. "I began to suspect you when I saw this. Can you show us the picture from your campus tour again?" he requested. "Okumoto stuffed his gloves into a pocket without folding or rolling them up." he showed them the photo. "But the gloves at the crime scene were neatly rolled up. You borrowed Okumoto's gloves when you moved the candle. After removing them, you rolled them up out of habit and placed them on the floor."

"That's not evidence." Imai insisted.

"The evidence isn't on the gloves." Fumio corrected. "It's on your hands; Okumoto's hand moisturizer, that is. So, Imai, if the police were to examine your hands right now..."

"That's too bad." Imai declared. "I washed my hands with soap earlier, just in case."

"That's alright." Conan grinned. "The evidence is still there."

"On Ayumi's scarf." Fumio supplied. "The moisturizer on your hands would've been transferred to the scarf as well. And since the scarf has been in Ayumi's backpack this entire time, that means, Imai, you're the last person to touch it."

"You killed Mizohata here yesterday so that Professor Goto would be a suspect." Conan continued. "While Professor Goto is being interviewed, you could kill Okumoto in the storehouse. Finally, you invited Oguruma here to kill him, making it look like self-defense and frame him for everything."

"I was so close..." Imai sank to her knees. "I was so close to pulling it off."

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