SailorStar9: With Chapter 59 uploaded, this is Chapter 60 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 60: The Woman With White Hands, Part One
Sometime later...
"The folding screen!" Wakasa-sensei exclaimed in horror, the dirtied water she was about to change to clean water had splashed onto the painted tiger.
"Oh no." Kobayashi-sensei gaped at the destroyed paper. "What should we do?"
"I'll repaint it immediately." Wakasa-sensei assured. "But I took the photo of the tiger I used for reference home."
"I know it's a lot ask," Kobayashi-sensei started. "But could you repaint it once you get home today and bring it in tomorrow?"
"But then, I won't be sure if the tiger is the right size for Conan-kun's body." Wakasa-sensei pointed out.
"In that case, want me to come over to your place?" Conan offered.
"We'll help you color it." Mitsuhiko added. "How about we have Fumio come with us, too? He's really a great sketcher."
That evening...
"You live in a high-rise apartment, Wakasa-sensei?" Mitsuhiko gushed once the group was traveling up the elevator.
"It's just like Fumio and Ayumi-chan's place." Genta noted, once the lift stopped at the right floor.
"Mizuno-san and Yoshida-san live in a high-rise, too?" Wakasa-sensei wondered.
"Yeah." Ayumi answered for the two of them.
"This way." Wakasa-sensei led the kids to her apartment unit.
"She's wearing a lot of makeup." Mitsuhiko noted, seeing the long-haired blond woman storm off after ringing the doorbell of Wakasa-sensei's neighbor and not receiving any response.
"Looks like she had some business with Wakasa-sensei's neighbor." Fumio remarked.
"What does your neighbor do?" Conan asked the assistant TA.
"I think he's some kind of sports athlete." Wakasa-sensei replied. "I've only seen him a few times, so I don't know him well."
"It's done!" Ayumi declared, putting the finishing touches on the redrawn tiger.
"It's even better than the last one." Genta remarked.
"Now we just have to glue it to cardboard once the paint dries." Haibara stated.
"In that case, to thank you for helping me, I'll make you some omu-rice." Wakasa-sensei stood up to prepare the late night snack.
"Your neighbor is awfully loud." Haibara deathpanned, hearing the blaring music from the other side of the wall.
"I hear it all the time." Wakasa-sensei replied. "Apparently, he plays music on a timer instead of setting an alarm."
"It's not stopping though." Conan pointed out.
"That's odd." Wakasa-sensei noted. "Normally, it stops pretty quickly."
"Could something have happened?" Fumio wondered and springing Conan into action.
"It's unlocked." Genta turned the door handle. "So, he is home. It must that that stereo." he ran into the living room. "How do you turn this thing off? I'll just unplug this." he pulled the stereo plug out of the socket.
"What's wrong, Genta?" Conan asked, seeing the over-sized boy's shocked expression and turned to the direction Genta was looking at and saw the bludgeoned Iiyama Kurumi and Banno Teigo.
"Damn, that's loud." Banno winced, sitting up. "Who are you kids?" he spotted the Detective Boys. "And you shouldn't come barging into people's home uninvited."
"Next to you." Mitsuhiko pointed.
"What is this?" Banno stumbled back, seeing the dead Iiyama on the floor.
"Looks like someone bludgeoned her to death." Fumio rested his fingers ton Iiyama's neck to feel for a pulse.
"Wakasa-sensei, call the police." Conan looked at his teacher.
"Come to think of it, a strange woman zapped me in my doorway." Banno voiced.
"You have something on your right cheek." Haibara pointed out. "See?" switching her phone camera to selfie mode, she showed Banno the additional drawing on his face. "It's written in red."
"'I love you?'" Banno gaped.
"Did you make the dead woman write that?" Mitsuhiko demanded.
"This isn't Kurumi's handwriting." Banno protested. Spotting two Polaroid photos near his feet, he picked them up. "It's her." he stammered. "She did it. Look." he turned the photo to the children. "This woman with white hands wrote it. After knocking me out and killing Kurumi."
"It's true." Banno insisted, after Inspector Megure's team arrived to the scene. "You have to believe me, officers. A strange woman suddenly showed up at my place this evening. The moment I opened the door, she zapped me with a stun gun and knocked me out. When I came to, these kids were in my apartment and yelling. They told me to look next to me, so I did. That's when I saw my girlfriend, Kurumi, on the floor, bleeding from her head."
"I see." Takagi noted. "By the way, what about those red letters on your right cheek?"
"That strange woman wrote this." Banno replied. "This Polaroid that was on the floor next to me proves it. Look." he pointed to the photo. "This woman with white hands is writing on my cheek." "Kurumi was supposed to come to my place at 6.30pm. She must've entered without realizing that strange woman was inside. And that woman killed her when they ran into each other."
"An imaginary girlfriend." Haibara stated. "I've seen it on TV and magazines. Men put foundation and nail polish on their hands and take selfies to make it look like they have girlfriends. Maybe that's how you took that photo."
"What are you talking about?" Banno retorted. "Look closely. My right hand is behind my head. And I couldn't write this clearly on my own face."
"Then, maybe you made that woman write that on your face before killing her." Mitsuhiko insisted.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Banno snapped. "There was another photo. Look. She took a photo before she wrote on my face. Kurumi couldn't have written it. Anyway, officers, can I erase this writing on my face? It's creeping me out."
"Once forensics have taken photos." Inspector Megure assured. "Do you remember what the woman who knocked you out with a stun gun looked like?" he questioned.
"Yeah, but since I lost consciousness almost instantly, I only got a quick look at her." Banno replied. "She was wearing a broad-brimmed hat and sunglasses. She was wearing a lot of makeup."
"We saw her standing in front of the door to this apartment." Ayumi voiced.
"She rang the doorbell a bunch of times." Genta confirmed.
"When she realized he wasn't home, she banged on the door and clicked her tongue." Mitsuhiko supplied.
"Come to think of it, she had a scrunchy on her right hand like the woman in the photo." Haibara added.
"That's it." Banno agreed. "That's her."
"She was relatively tall." Conan remarked.
"Right about your height." Fumio stated.
"Did you recognize the woman?" Takagi asked.
"I had my first win the other day and published a photo collection." Banno recalled. "I've had a sudden increase in weird fans."
"First win?" Takagi echoed. "Are you the professional golfer, Banno Teigo-san? Then the murdered woman is the model you were rumored to have been dating..."
"Yeah, Iiyama Kurumi." Banno confirmed.
"Is she famous?" Inspector Megure asked.
"Yes." Takagi nodded. "Her father's a lawyer; she was being promoted as a socialite model."
"By the way, why did the murdered Iiyama-san come here?" Inspector Megure inquired.
"She was just coming here to hang out." Banno replied. "She's my girlfriend. Nothing wrong with that, right?"
"You were breaking up." Wakasa-sensei cut in. "Right?"
"I've been wondering, but who are you?" Takagi blinked.
"I'm their assistant homeroom teacher, Wakasa Rumi." Wakasa-sensei introduced herself.
"And what's their assistant homeroom teacher doing here?" Inspector Megure asked.
"I actually live next door." Wakasa-sensei replied. "Today, the children helped me paint the screen we're using in a play tomorrow. We herd loud music coming from next door. Normally, it stops immediately, but today it kept on playing. So when Fumio-kun suggested that something might have happened, we came to check things out and found the door unlocked. And that's how we ended up here."
"What do you mean by breaking up?" Inspector Megure was more interested in Wakasa-sensei's previous statement.
"This morning, on my way to school, I passed by this apartment." Wakasa-sensei answered. "I heard the two of them arguing. I think he said he wasn't taking her with him on his international tour. And she demanded he pay her damages for breaking up with her. He said he'd cook for her so they could talk about it tonight. So she asked him to make paella. And he said it would be their last supper."
"Their last supper?" Inspector Megure gaped.
"Excuse me," Wakasa-sensei gasped. "I may have misheard them."
"You haven't cooked anything, though." Conan noted, he and Fumio were going through the items in the refrigerator. "We don't smell any food when we entered the apartment. The refrigerator is empty, too."
"I was just about to go out to buy ingredients when the strange woman knocked me out." Banno voiced. "And stop messing around in my kitchen."
"But when the strange woman rang your doorbell, you were out, right?" Conan inquired, backing off to let Fumio close the refrigerator door. "You should've bought the ingredients on your way home."
"I do what I want." Banno retorted.
"In any case, see if any of the other residents have seen the woman." Inspector Megure instructed. "And Wakasa-sensei, could you return to your apartment with the children?" he requested, after sending Takagi off.
"What is this smell?" Haibara took a whiff of the air.
"It smells like the cosmetics section of a department store." Ayumi noted.
"Did Wakasa-sensei spill some of her cosmetics?" Haibara wondered. "It's coming from Kojima-kun's right hand." she followed the scent trail to Genta's hand.
"I knew it." Conan ran over and sniffed Genta's hand.
"Knew what?" Genta gaped. "I'm not wearing any makeup."
"I'm talking about the culprit." Conan corrected. "The culprit who killed the model Iiyama Kurumi-san is the professional golfer, Banno Teigo."
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.