SailorStar9: With Chapter 43 uploaded, this is Chapter 44 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: Furuya Rei (Amuro Tooru)/Mizuno Ami
Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and pairing.
Chapter 44: The Detective Boys in a Grove, Part Two
"Hey Conan!" Genta shouted, the group following Conan who was running down the stairs.
"What?" one of the department store's employees blinked when Mitsuhiko suddenly shouted.
"What's wrong, Mitsuhiko?" Conan asked.
"When I saw the culprit, these mannequins were near the fifth floor stairs." Mitsuhiko pointed to the white mannequin the employee was bringing upstairs. "I just remembered I saw the culprit slip between the the mannequins as they headed down the stairs."
"Oji-san, are those really on the fifth floor?" Conan inquired.
"Yeah, about ten of them." the employee confirmed. "We're holding a children's uniform fair in the sporting goods area, so we're moving the mannequins to the seventh floor from the fifth floor storage room. The fifth floor used to be a toy store that sold children's clothes, too. I moved four or five spares signs up to the seventh floor, too." he continued to climb the staircase. "Even though the service elevator is being inspected, the floor manager told me to hurry."
"That's right." Mitsuhiko recalled. "I couldn't see the culprit from the neck-up because the signs were blocking my view."
"Then, can't we determine the culprit's approximate height by looking at the signs?" Professor Agasa suggested.
"But there were tall ones and short ones and I don't remember which sign it was." Mitsuhiko admitted.
"Were the mannequins the same as that one?" Conan pressed.
"Yes, although they were all kind of white." Mitsuhiko replied.
"Were the signs white, too?" Conan inquired.
"Yes." Mitsuhiko nodded. "It looked like something had been pasted to the front at one point, but it was torn off."
"In any case, let's hurry to the toy store on the fourth floor." Haibara reminded. "That employee could be our most reliable witness."
"Sorry." the toy store clerk apologized. "You're talking about when I took this girl to the stairs, right? I was running, so my contacts slipped out of place. I only saw a fuzzy image."
"I see." Professor Agasa noted. "That's too bad."
"Do you remember anything that happened then?" Conan asked. "Even something indistinct could help."
"Well..." the store clerk recalled. "The girl and I waited behind the wall near the stairs for the culprit to come down. When they first appeared, they were back lit by the window and appear as a silhouette. I doubt she saw them clearly either. But it looked like the culprit stopped in front of the window for a little bit."
"Stopped?" Fumio echoed.
"It looked like they were removing something stuck to the bottom of their left shoe." Ayumi nodded.
"Maybe it was chewing gum." Genta reasoned.
"I don't know." Ayumi admitted.
"Even if it were chewing gum, they probably already threw it away somewhere." Haibara pointed out.
"The culprit ran down the stairs after that, right?" Conan asked. "Did you see their face?"
"I tried, but a bunch of middle or high school boys came up the stairs." Ayumi replied. "The culprit ran past as they did, so I didn't get a god look."
"How did you know they were middle or high school students?" Conan inquired.
"They are all wearing the same clothes." Ayumi answered.
"The same clothes?" Fumio blinked.
"Now that you mention it, a group of high school students on a school trip came to buy souvenirs." the store clerk remembered. "They reminded me of the high school cheerleader I liked. In my case ,even flirty students would cover up with stand-up collars and looked like straight-laced cheerleaders."
"Then, those students must've seen the culprit, too." Professor Agasa reasoned.
"Do you know which high school they were from?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"I'm not sure." the store clerk mused. "A few of them were here until a moment ago."
"Hidden but seen?" Fumio cast a look at Conan, both sleuth-in-training sharing a similar smile. "Looks like the mystery is solved."
"Yeah." Conan agreed. "We know why your testimonies were all different. And who the culprit is."
"Inspector, we found it." Takagi reported to Inspector Megure via the cellphone. "We found the helium gas can the culprit used to change their voice when they called the victim's restaurant in the shrubbery next to a phone booth near the department store."
"Then, after calling the restaurant on the tenth floor of the department store using the payphone, they hurried to the stairs next to the restaurant, stabbed Hosogoe-san when he came to deal with the complaint, and fled down the stairs." Inspector Megure concluded.
"Forensics is examining the phone booth and can right now." Takagi reported. "But since the culprit's fingerprints weren't on the knife, we're not expecting to find them there either."
"Which means we'll have to wait until the victim regains consciousness." Inspector Megure sighed.
"It's okay." Conan cut in. "We know who did it based on their testimonies."
"But, Conan-kun," Inspector Megure voiced. "The suspects who attempted to flee the department store are the small Shikama Mitsuko who is wearing light gray clothes, and has a brooch resembling the number 6 on her chest. The large Miyadai Masaru wearing a dark gray jacket with the Tokyo Spirits logo printed on the back. And the medium-sized Kamaya Takashi, wearing a neither light nor dark gray jacket, with the characters for Beika on the back. But your testimonies were all over the place. Nobody was a perfect match."
"Shall we try it, then?" Fumio beamed. "Then, you'll realize their inconsistent testimonies all point to the same person."
"We'll start from the seventh floor stairs where the sporting goods are." Conan recreated the scene. "Genta, you saw the culprit running down the stairs here, right?"
"Who are they?" Inspector Megure wondered, as the group of high school basketball players entered the scene, with their uniforms on.
"The basketball players that were with Genta when he saw the culprit." Fumio replied. "We called them to have them come. Genta, please describe the culprit again."
"They were on the smaller side, wearing clothes the same gray as Haibara and had the number 2 on their clothes." Genta reiterated.
"Detective Chiba, can you go stand by the basketball players?" Conan requested. "Detective Chiba is a little chubby and average height, and slightly taller than the Professor."
"See?" Fumio nodded, as Chiba took a place among the basketball players. "Now that he's surrounded by the tall basketball players, doesn't he look smaller than usual?"
"The impression you have of an object is influenced by the size of the objects surrounding it." Conan explained. "Even if they're the same size, they look like different sizes. Next, Detective Chiba, can you hold Haibara and hide behind the basketball players?"
"Hide him a little more." Fumio shifted one of the basketball players inwards after Chiba picked up Haibara and stood among the basketball players.
"The buttons on Ai-chan's clothes look like the number ." Ayumi pointed.
"You're right." Mitsuhiko blinked. "If you hide both sides of her buttons, it would look like the number 8."
"The basketball uniforms and Haibara-san's clothes are both the same shade of gray." Fumio remarked. "And since the area is full of numbers, it's the reason why it looks that way."
"But I saw the number 2." Genta reminded.
"Next are the fifth floor stairs by the camera shop where Mitsuhiko saw the culprit." Conan led the group down.
"Is this accurate?" Fumio asked, the group entered the scene where the white mannequins and sighs were clustered around the staircase.
"It's more or less how it was." Mitsuhiko confirmed. "The culprit slipped between these mannequins and signs."
"We had a department store employee put them back where they were when Mitsuhiko saw the culprit." Fumio supplied.
"Mitsuhiko, what did the culprit you saw look like?" Conan asked.
"They were a large person wearing dark gray clothes with a masculine run." Mitsuhiko repeated.
"Detective Chiba, could you stand next to the mannequins?" Conan requested.
"Since this is the opposite of the last scenario, I know I look like a larger person when I'm standing in the middle of them." Chiba shifted into position.
"Then, could you stand in front of the short sign over there, Haibara-san?" Fumio pointed to the signboard, Haibara moving in as Chiba moved away.
"Haibara's clothes..." Genta gawked.
"They look darker than before." Mitsuhiko gaped.
"The mannequins and signs are a bright white color, making Haibara-san's clothes look darker." Fumio explained.
"Just like the sizes of objects, colors also influence their surrounding colors." Conan added. "This is what we call 'contrast' of value'."
"So, the clothes Mitsuhiko-kun saw might've been a darker gray." Inspector Megure stated.
"Finally, Ayumi-chan." Conan continued. "She saw the culprit on the fourth floor stairs where the toy store is. After receiving my message, an employee brought you here, where you waited for the culprit to come down the stairs, right? What did they look like?"
"At first, I only saw a black person shape because of the light from that window, but I had a feeling they were a woman." Ayumi pointed. "Then, they came down the stairs, so I know they're wearing light gray clothes and of average height just a little taller than the Professor."
"Sorry, we're late." the high school student arrived to the scene. "How can we help in the investigation?"
"Then, could you stand around this girl?" Fumio pointed to Haibara.
"Haibara's clothes this time..." Genta exclaimed after the high school students moved into position.
"They look like a lighter gray than before." Mitsuhiko gaped.
"Opposite to the previous scenario, colors look lighter when they're surrounded by a dark black." Conan explained. "When Ayumi-chan saw the culprit, they were running past a group of students wearing their uniforms, so Fumio-kun and I had the basketball players help. We told them we're looking for the person who stabbed someone and to tell their male friends wearing their uniforms to come here."
"So, who's the culprit?" Inspector Megure asked the two chibi detectives.
"If you exclude from the testimony that their size were influenced by their surroundings, the number 2 that was mistakenly seen because of the colors and numbers, and the uncertain testimony claiming the culprit just seemed like a woman..." Conan replied.
"That means the culprit is of average height that is slightly taller than the Professor and wearing the same gray as Haibara-san with a masculine run." Fumio concluded. "And there's only one person like that."
"Give me a break." Kamaya complained. "Why are you accusing me based on the vague testimony of those kids?"
"There are three certain facts among their testimony." Inspector Megure corrected. "The culprit was slightly taller than the Professor, wore the same gray as Ai-kun, and had a masculine run. Kamaya Takashi, you're the only person who matches the description."
"But there's no number 2 on my clothes and I'm not a woman." Kamaya protested.
"Onii-san, you have something stuck on the bottom of your left shoe." Fumio pointed out.
"It's just gum." Kamaya lifted his leg to check. "I stepped on it somewhere in the department store."
"He's doing the same thing as the culprit." Ayumi pointed.
"That's right." Fumio confirmed. "When there's something stuck to the bottom of his left shoe, normally, a man brings his foot out in front of him to remove it with his right hand; since unlike women, men's hips don't bent outward very easily. But because you couldn't use your right hand due to your sprained finger, you raised your left foot behind you to remove it with your left hand."
"Ayumi-chan saw your lit back silhouette doing that and intuitively thought you were a woman." Conan added.
"That woman would do the same thing." Kamaya pointed to Shikama.
"Try putting that backpack on your back, then." Conan suggested. "Then, we'll see the number that identifies the culprit."
"How's this?" Kamaya slung the bag over his shoulder.
"It's a 2!" Genta exclaimed. "This is the 2 I saw."
"I see." Professor Agasa realized. "Half of the 'flower' character in Beika was covered by the backpack and looked like a 2."
"In other words, all of your testimonies were all accurate." Haibara stated.
"Will you come to us to the station?" Inspector Megure requested.
"Wait a minute." Kamaya objected. "There's still no proof that I did it."
"Inspector Megure!" Takagi came in. "We found saliva on the intake of the helium gas can. If we can collect DNA from the saliva, we'll know who it belongs to."
"Which means, if the DNA is yours, you'll be able to provide with a plausible explanation, won't you?" Inspector Megure glared. "For why you were changing your voice at a payphone near this department store and why you were calling them."
"I thought he'd know who I was if I didn't change my voice." Kamaya sighed. "Even though I quit my job two years ago, that chef still remembered my face."
"So you stabbed him because you were fired?" Inspector Megure asked.
"I wouldn't stab someone over being fired." Kamaya retorted. "The other day, I invited my girlfriend to eat at that restaurant. I didn't tell her I worked there until two years ago. I watched him cook while I worked there. Since I dyed by hair black and shaved my beard, I called the chef over, thinking he won't recognize me. But the chef... because of him, my girlfriend became disenchanted with me and dumped me. I'd finally gotten back together with her, but because of that chef... but I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted to scare him by threatening him with a knife."
"He's not dead." Takagi informed. "The hospital just called to say that he's regained consciousness. Apparently, Chef Hosogoe asked us not to release the culprit's name until he turned himself in because they used to eat and work together."
"What a total misunderstanding." Chiba sighed.
"I'm so appalled, I'm not even angry." Inspector Megure agreed.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.