SailorStar9: With Chapter 19 uploaded, this is Chapter 20 of this fic and I'm officially restarting this. (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: Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami
Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and pairing.
Chapter 20: Teimuzu River Kite Flying Case, Part One
Some time later, at Professor Agasa's house...
"All right." Genta cheered, holding up the finished kite. "It's done."
"Amazing." Ayumi beamed.
"It looks fantastic." Mitsuhiko agreed.
"The design is the same as our Detective Badges." Haibara noted.
"Aren't we missing something?" Fumio wondered.
"Every kite need a tail." Conan inputted. "Without a tail, it'll just spin in circles."
"I've already made some." Professor Agasa cut in, holding out two rolls of cloth. "And they contain a message. Look." he unraveled the two long pieces of cloth.
"'If you've got a case in your hands, contact the Detective Boys of Teitan Elementary School Class 1-B.'" Haibara read the first strip of cloth.
"Isn't it a good idea?" Professor Agasa beamed.
"What about the other tail?" Conan asked.
"I was planning on unrolling this one once we get there." Professor Agasa admitted.
"'If you're looking for useful inventions, contact Hiroshi Agasa of Beika City 2-Chome, 22-Banchi'." Haibara read of the second roll of cloth Agasa had accidentally unraveled.
"He even wrote his website address on the back." Fumio peered at the other side of the cloth. "Is this what we call 'shameless plug'?"
"Why not?" Professor Agasa sweatdropped. "I helped make this kite. I deserve at least this much."
"But would it be alright?" Mitsuhiko wondered, the children had boarded Professor Agasa's yellow Beetle and was heading towards the kite-flying site.
"What do you mean?" Professor Agasa asked.
"A kite's tails flaps in the wind." Mitsuhiko stated. "No one will be able to read the messages."
"We just have to win an award at the kite-flying event we're attending." Professor Agasa explained.
"What do you mean?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"Kites that win for flying the highest or have the most unique design are hung in the city hall for a month." Fumio looked up from the information pamphlet.
"It would be be super-effective form of advertisement." Conan added.
"Let's do our best, Ai-chan." Ayumi turned to the other girl in the shared back seat. "Ai-chan?" she blinked, seeing Haibara had on her earphones and was bobbing her head to the tune that was being played.
"Sorry." Haibara removed the earphones. "What?"
"Let's do our best to fly our kite." Ayumi encouraged.
"Sure." Haibara nodded.
"So, how is it?" Fumio looked over. "Godmother Michiru's solo single?"
"Kites!" Genta exclaimed, cutting off Haibara's answer.
"They look magnificent." Professor Agasa agreed.
"It's almost time to fly your kite." Professor Agasa ran over to the children.
"Next up are Team Detective Boys and Team Cafe Renno." the announcer voiced over the loudspeaker. "Teams Detective Boys and Cafe Renno, please get ready."
"It's our turn." Genta noted.
"Let's do this." Fumio stretched his arms.
"How's this?" Mitsuhiko asked as he and Genta positioned the kite.
"Bring it a little farther back, so the wind hits it from the front." Fumio gestured, with Conan holding the line spool. "Now!" he gave the three boys the go-ahead, Genta and Mitsuhiko releasing the kite. With Conan steering the kite, the kite took to the air.
"Oh no!" Conan gaped when the force of the wind tore off one of the kite's twin tails.
"It's falling." Mitsuhiko exclaimed as the kite started falling back to the ground.
"Seriously?" Genta whined as he and Mitsuhiko ran after the falling kite.
"Our kite!" Mitsuhiko hurried over the to fallen kite.
"It's no use." Conan sighed, giving the torn kite a look-over. "The frame is broken."
"Even if we reattach the tail, it still won't fly." Mitsuhiko pouted.
"Damn it." Genta cursed.
"What are you doing?" Yatsukoshi Takeshi's shout diverted the boys' attention from the damaged kite. "If you keep going..."
"Huh?" Renno Ryōta continued backing backwards and falling into the river as a result.
"That old man!" Genta exclaimed as Renno fell backwards into the water.
"He fell into the Teimuzu River." Mitsuhiko added.
"Mitsuhiko, call an ambulance." Conan instructed as he and Fumio hurried to the incident site.
"This isn't good." Kakura Yuitoshi realized, seeing Renno struggling in the water. "He can't swim!"
"Someone help!" Conan yelled.
"Someone get a life preserver!" Fumio shouted.
As if on cue, two of the contestants jumped into the water and a red-and-white life preserver was also tossed into the water.
Was it an accident? Conan wondered as he and Fumio knelt by the broken rope that held the fence together. No, this... he realized, after hearing Renno's wife shout over the dropped cellphone. Was not an accident. He watched as the two contestants held Renno's head above the water and use the life preserver to swim back to shore.
"He swallowed a bunch of water, and now he's unconscious and in serious condition." Inspector Megure remarked as the ambulance took Renno to the hospital. "So, who fell into the water."
"He's the manager of a nearby cafe." Takagi referred to his notebook. "Renno Ryōta-san, thirty-nine years old. According to witnesses, when Renno-san was holding his kite and backing up, he had the misfortune of slipping between the posts where the rope was cut and fell into the river."
"I see." Inspector Megure surveyed the crime scene. "The ends of the rope are old and worn. It probably broke apart a while ago and was left this way. It looks like this was just an accident. We'll let the appropriate authorities handle the rest."
"I don't think this is an accident." Conan cut in.
"Conan-kun?" Inspector Megure gaped at the boy behind him. "What do you mean, it wasn't an accident?"
"Detective Takagi, please try tying the two ends of the rope together." Fumio requested.
"Huh?" Takagi blinked when the two ends of the rope fell short.
"See?" Fumio prompted. "They don't reach."
"But if they were exposed to the elements for a long time, it makes sense they'll get shorter." Inspector Megure pointed out.
"Yeah, but the rope on the bottom is so long, there's some left over." Conan peered at the bottom rope securing the fence. "Even if these are connected, the rope would just hung down uselessly, right? On top of that, one end of the rope has been bleached by the sun, but the other side hasn't. That's probably the rope from the post on the very end. The tip of the rope on the end should've been worn by exposure."
"Then, someone must've untied it, matched the length and tied it back on here to make it seem like the rope broke a long time ago." Fumio concluded, following Conan's reasoning.
"Mitsuhiko and Genta went to check it out." Conan added. "We'll know for sure soon."
"Conan-kun, you and Fumio-kun are right." Mitsuhiko reported as he ran back. "The rope attached to the post next to the one of the very end had a brand new cut on it and wasn't attached to the post next to it."
"The post on the other end didn't have a rope on it, either." Genta had also returned.
"But who would do this?" Inspector Megure was puzzled.
"And for what purpose?" Takagi mused.
"We're just kids." Conan beamed, noticing the two officers looking at him and Fumio. "We don't know."
"But maybe," Fumio stated. "Someone did it to make the man who nearly drown fall into the river."
"That can't be." Inspector Megure remarked.
"He slipped and fell." Takagi agreed.
"But that man was holding his kite and backing up, right?" Conan pointed out. "People don't usually pay much attention to what's behind them when they do that."
"Yeah." Genta concurred. "Besides, he thought there was a rope behind him."
"You might watch your feet to make sure you don't step on your kite's tail, though." Mitsuhiko reminded.
"Then, if someone drew him to this spot between the posts without a rope, wouldn't it be possible to make him to fall in?" Conan prompted.
"Which means the culprit is..." Takagi blinked.
"The most suspicious figure is that fat man who was helping the man who nearly drowned fly his kite." Conan pointed at Yatsukoshi. "If they were on the same team, it would be possible for him to tell the other man where to stand, right? Also, there's that large man talking to him." he turned his focus on Kakura. "He was speaking to the man who nearly drowned just before he fell into the river."
"All right." Inspector Megure narrowed down their suspects. "We'll question them."
"Also," Conan added. "Speaking of conversations, before the man fell into the river, he was speaking to someone on his cellphone."
"Do you know who he was speaking to? Inspector Megure asked.
"From his phone..." Fumio frowned. "Maybe it's his wife."
"We should contact his house immediately." Inspector Megure instructed Takagi.
"But when I answered the phone and told her her husband fell into the river, she rushed here." Conan cut in. "She rode in the ambulance with him."
"Call her back here immediately as a material witness in an attempted murder." Inspector Megure ordered.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.