SailorStar9: After taking a break for a week, I present Chapter 138 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 138: The Suspected Infidelity of the Triple Collab, Part Two
In Professor Agasa's car...
"I see." Conan nodded as Yumi related further details via mobile. "A few spots were touched by poisoned hands, but you haven't found where the poison was first applied. And none of the three suspects had a container of poison. So, when the dessert was brought out, what did each of them do? Let's confirm the facts. Aijima-san, who brought out the dish, placed the plate on the table, Kokonoe-san rotated the plate while taking pictures and Toya-san used tongs to serve the dessert onto other plates. Could you let me know what spots were touched with poisoned hands?"
In the Danny's restaurant...
"The poison was found in three places." Yumi replied. "The first was the top of the backrest of a chair. The second was the bottom of the front right side of the seat of a chair. The third is... I think it was a damp towel."
In Professor Agasa's car...
"Couldn't the victim have touched the poison after leaving her seat to possible use the restroom?" Conan inquired.
In the Danny's restaurant...
"She didn't leave her seat even once, after sitting down." Yumi clarified. "We checked the security camera footage, so we're certain of it. It's possible she had poison on her hand before she entered the restaurant, but before eating the dessert, she ate fries with her hand."
In Professor Agasa's car...
"Could you send the restaurant's security camera footage to the professor's phone?" Conan requested.
In the Danny's restaurant...
"I have it." Kobayashi-sensei piped in, pulling out her book calendar. "I asked him the other day and wrote it down."
"A heart." Miike gasped, noticing the heart shape shaded in red ink beside the Saturday column.
"On the 7th of this month, no less." Yumi added.
In Professor Agasa's car...
"Conan-kun," Ayumi voiced. "That fat lady; at first she was leaning back in her chair, but after that, she was leaning forward the entire time." she pointed out.
"Were the other two having an engrossing conversation?" Haibara wondered.
"The screen went black." Ayumi blinked.
"If I remember, this was around the time the staff brought out the birthday cake." Fumio thought back.
"It came back on." Mitsuhiko stated.
"The lady is sitting back again." Ayumi noticed.
"Did the culprit secretly poison her while it was dark?" Professor Agasa suggested.
"Yumi-san, you said the women took photos with their phones before they sat down, right?" Conan asked. "I'd like to see all of them."
"Nagasu-san... she's always in the left most side, isn't she?" Fumio noticed the similarity in all the photos.
At that comment, Conan pieced together what had happened.
In the Danny's restaurant...
At Conan's instructions, Kobayashi-sensei, Miike and Yumi started prepping up their stage.
"What are you three doing?" Shukichi noticed the three women shifting three chairs into place.
"We're getting ready." Yumi gave her boyfriend a deathpan look. "I'm about to reveal how Nagasu Tokumi-san was poisoned at this restaurant."
"Have a seat at this table next to the crime scene." Miike gestured.
"Facing the table, could Toya Mao-san sit on the right, Kokonoe Sumika-san sit in the middle and and Aijima Yasuko-san sit on the left?" Yumi requested. "Once you've taken your seat, bring your chair closer to the table. I had some of the dessert in question made." she had a waitress bring in a plate of fruit maritozzi. "Now, could you eat one?" she asked. "Take any one you like."
"Tokumi died eating one of these." Kokonoe winced.
"Come on, if you're not going to eat..." Yumi sighed. "Miike."
"It's delicious." Miike squealed, taking a bite. "You all have some, too."
"What's this, Yasuko-san?" Yumi turned a look at the hesitating waitress. "You're not going to have any? It's not like you can. After all, there's poison all over your hands; the poison you used to kill Nagasu Tokumi-san."
In Professor Agasa's car...
"How is that possible?" Mitsuhiko was shocked, after hearing Yumi over Conan's phone's loudspeaker.
"You guys saw the restaurant security camera footage, too." Conan launched into his explanation. "The victim, Tokumi-san, was leaning forward instead of sitting back against the backrest. The culprit, Yasuko-san, loosened a screw beforehand so that the chair would wobble. Not realizing that, Tokumi-san assumed she broke the chair because of her weight. So, she leaned forward instead of sitting back."
"And when the birthday cake was brought out, Tokumi-san took the chance to swap chairs." Fumio reasoned. "While remaining seated, she grabbed the middle of the sides of the seat so that chair legs won't scrape against the ground. So, that's where the poison was put. And when she brought back the new chair, the poison was transferred to the backrest of the chair and the front of the bottom of the seat from her hand."
In the Danny's restaurant...
"A photo?" Shiratori echoed.
"I believe they took a photo together before every girls' night out." Chiba confirmed. "How does that determine where everyone sits?"
"Nagasu Tokumi-san is on the right side." Yumi pointed to one of the photos.
"If they took the photo before sitting down, she'd naturally sit one the closest chair." Shiratori realized.
"I know you noticed the moment you sat in that chair." Yumi turned to Aijima. "That chair wobbles and you got something all over your fingers. But you didn't ask for a different chair or a damp towel. If you'd brought our attention to that chair, we'd discover that that's the poisoned chair you used in your trick. But don't worry; that's a fake chair. Forensics already examined the real chair and found the poison. Don't bother trying to play dumb. When we went back far enough in the restaurant security camera footage, we found clear footage of you swapping the chair of the victim right before she arrived."
"If we consumed the poison, we could've died too." Kokonoe snapped.
"I wouldn't have care." Aijima admitted. "I don't care what happens to the people who got Kenya killed."
"Kenya?" Shukichi echoed.
"She probably means the former member of the popular band, Knight Hearts, Shibami Kenya-kun." Kobayashi-sensei supplied.
"He quit the band when people found out he had a girlfriend." Miike added.
"The Knight Hearts sing that they're your knight and no one else's." Yumi noted. "He got a lot of negative attention for a photo with his girlfriend. I heard he got hit by a car while walking around drunk. Were you his girlfriend?" she gasped at Aijima.
"We've been dating since their indie day." Aijima confessed.
"That breaking photo was taken by a regular person." Kokonoe pointed out. "It had nothing to do with Tokumi."
"That's what I thought, too." Aijima whispered. "Until I did everything I could to find the person who took the photo and met and talked to them in person." she then revealed that Nagasu had spoken to the photographer beforehand and that was how that incriminating photo was taken.
On their way home...
"So, what about the infidelity between those six?" apparently, Haibara was still concerned about the supposed 'infidelity'.
"Putting together what they told me, Kobayashi-sensei, Yumi-san and Naeko-san said to keep Saturday night of the 7th this month open because they had a surprise." Conan replied. "Each woman told their boyfriend; Kobayashi-sensei told Inspector Shiratori, Yumi-san told Taiko Meijin and Naeko-san told Detective Chiba. After hearing that, each of them discovered a heart drawn in their girlfriend's calendar or notebook. Thinking it must be an important day, they felt that they should get surprise gifts for their girlfriends."
"And since they're men, they couldn't think of a unique gift." Fumio sighed, already guessing where this was going. "So, Inspector Shiratori asked Yumi-san for help as she seems knowledgeable about brand-name products. Taiko Meijin enlisted Naeko-san's help and Detective Chiba had Kobayashi-sensei's help. So, to thank them, they treated them to dinner at that family restaurant where they quite unfortunately ran into each other."
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.