SailorStar9: After taking a break for a week, I present Chapter 139 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 139: Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya's Detective Notes 3
Time passes...
"What's your problem?" Yuida Makio demanded. "You're always complaining about something. What are you so unhappy about this time?"
"You're always causing trouble for me whatever you want." Yuida Kozo snapped.
"I never want to see your face again." Makio retorted.
"Right back at you." Kozo fired back.
"They're fighting." Genta blinked.
"What do you suppose they're fighting about?" Mitsuhiko wondered.
Afterwards...
"That was my older brother, Makio." Kozo revealed to the kids. "It was just a sibling quarrel."
"It sounded a little too intense to be a normal sibling quarrel." Fumio pointed out.
"The two of you came to audition, didn't you?" Mitsuhiko noticed the casting announcement on the community center's wall.
"How did it go?" Ayumi asked.
"I'm glad you asked." Kozo brightened. "I was chosen the moment I walked into the room."
"That's strange." Fumio frowned. "Mitsuhiko, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a story in canon Sherlock Holmes about the 'Red-Headed League'?"
"Ah, that." Mitsuhiko recalled. "One day, a shopkeeper hears about a 'Red-Headed League' that only allows people with red hair to join. Belonging to the league can get you good work, so the red-heard shopkeeper whose business wasn't doing too well decides to visit them and he was immediately accepted. But the league's goal was to get the shopkeeper out of his store."
"Why'd they want him to leave his store?" Genta was puzzled.
"The league was actually a group of thieves and their real target was the bank near the store." Fumio explained. "They needed the shopkeeper out of the way so that they could dig a tunnel between the store's basement and the bank's subterranean vault."
In Kozo's house...
"Everything looks alright." Fumio noted, Kozo had taken the kids to his place for them to look for anything strange.
"No problems here, either." Ayumi confirmed, the sound of the wooden floor was solid.
"It's been a while since I last had guests." Kozo smiled, treating the kids to snacks. "It sure is fun."
"Have you and Makio-san always had a poor relationship?" Mitsuhiko inquired.
"Since a long time ago." Kozo nodded. "Every time we see each other, we get into a fight."
"But only friends would go audition together." Genta pointed out.
"He just came to keep an eye on me." Kozo responded. "He's probably worried about the deal."
"Deal?" Fumio echoed.
"Makio and I both received the same pot from our dad and we received a letter from someone, saying they wanted to buy both as a set." Kozo explained. "This is it." he showed the kids the envelope. "They made a generous offer and the both of us were eager to jump on such a great deal, but we were arguing over who should be the point of contact. Makio does not trust me."
"How did the person who sent the letter know you had pots at home?" Ayumi asked.
"They probably saw this." Kozo dug out a magazine interview.
"Then, this is a strange letter." Mitsuhiko noted.
"Iokida Mayu-san." Fumio turned over the envelope to see the sender's details. "Wait a minute, the envelope has a Tokyo postmark, but the address is in Kyoto. This letter is mailed from Tokyo. Kozo-san, I think this deal could be a scam."
Meanwhile...
Conan and Haibara were trailing Makio with the disguised Detective Nakamura also following their target.
"Conan-kun, Ai-chan." Ayumi called out.
"I'm just glad we ran into each other." Fumio stated.
"The Detective Boys have a job to do." Mitsuhiko declared.
After being kicked out of Makio's apartment, the kids went next door to Kimura Ami.
"I only speak to him occasionally on the veranda." Kimura remarked.
"What do you normally talk about?" Fumio asked.
"About how he's going to the hospital today or how's he's going on a trip." Kimura recalled.
"What are you looking at?" Conan noticed Kimura scrolling through her smartphone.
"An article about a theft." Kimura replied. "It happened nearby, so I got scared and decided to look into it."
"Onee-san, are you a mange artist?" Ayumi beamed.
"Why?" Kimura was surprised.
"You have pen calluses, and you wear gloves so your hands won't get dirty." Ayumi pointed.
"Consignment store struck by serial thieves." Haibara found the article after questioning Kimura. "The culprits target antiques, and brand-name goods, taking only valuable items in a short amount of time. The thieves were arrested three days ago. Only the leader hasn't been arrested yet."
"That car..." Conan spotted Detective Takagi's car from the corner of his eye.
"This is no good." Detective Chiba sighed at the wheel.
"Do you think Yuida Makio-san is the thieves' leader?" Conan went straight to the point.
At the stairway in the building opposite Makio's unit...
"What made you think Makio-san is the thieves' leader?" Conan inquired.
"He goes out more than any of the residents." Detective Takagi replied, concentrating on Makio's unit via binoculars. "He probably realized we were staking out the place and is waiting for his chance to flee. His apartment doesn't look lived in either."
"There's even less stuff on the floor below Makio-san." Haibara pointed out.
"Now shoo, kids." Detective Takagi sighed. "Be careful on your way home."
Back at Kozo's house...
"It could be tonight." Kozo admitted, after the Detective Boys informed him about Makio. "I just received a second letter from that collector. They said to come to Kyoto tonight if we were going through with the deal. They even sent me a ticket. Tonight, I'll stay home and be on my guard."
That night...
With Detective Hirota and Detective Sogawa acting as lookouts outside Kozo's house, Mitsuhiko dragged Fumio off, entering the house via the side door.
"Kozo-san?" Mitsuhiko blinked, the two boys seeing Kozo run out from the back door.
The boys followed Kozo to find him near Makio's apartment, the younger brother had to see with his own eyes the truth about his brother.
With Conan and the others...
"Something bothering you?" Haibara noticed Conan's thoughtful look.
"The case should be solved." Conan frowned. Recalling the items he saw in Makio's house, he finally pieced together everything.
Outside Makio's apartment...
"He's taking a while." Detective Chiba noted.
"Could he be plotting something inside because he realized the police are here?" Mitsuhiko wondered.
"I'll talk to him." Kozo offered. "It's me." he spoke through his flip-phone.
"It's you, little brother." Makio responded.
"Did you really do it?" Kozo pressed.
"I needed the money." Makio replied. "My lifestyle had debts attached. I have no more moves to make. Don't come in. I'll come back out instead."
"When you spoke to Makio-san this afternoon, he called you 'Kozo'." Mitsuhiko recalled.
"But he called you 'little brother' on the phone just now." Fumio stated. "As if he's explaining your relationship to someone standing beside him."
"You mean his accomplices are in that apartment?" Detective Chiba realized what Fumio was implying. "But we were watching the building the whole time. How did they get inside?"
"Are they really his accomplices?" Kozo was skeptical. "'Attach' is a go term; it means to be side-by-side with your opponent."
"So, he asked for help in code?" Detective Chiba echoed.
"What else did he say?" Mitsuhiko pressed.
"'No more moves to make.'" Kozo remembered. "That probably means what it sounds like. 'I'll come back out instead.' doesn't sound like a go term."
"That means what it sounds like too." Mitsuhiko cut in, recalling the temporarily closed sign at the back of Makio's apartment building.
"'Back out' as in the back door." Fumio followed Mitsuhiko's train of thought.
"Kozo-san, Detective Chiba, go help Makio-san." Mitsuhiko pleaded. "We'll watch the back door."
After Detective Chiba broke into Makio's unit, the detective was stunned to see the elderly man knocked out on his unit's floor and the sliding window was open, suggesting the culprit had fled via the window.
"But, how did the culprit escape?" Detective Chiba pondered, letting the two brothers reunite. Spotting the fire escape ladder, he figured out the culprit's escape route.
On the streets later...
"Hold it right there." Mitsuhiko and Fumio cut in on the culprit's escape route. "Kimura-san."
"You're those kids from this afternoon." Kimura recognized the two. "I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry right now."
"We won't let you escape." Fumio stood firm. "You're the thieves' leader, aren't you? We have proof: you just came down from the second floor, even though the soba restaurant was closed. We already figured out how you escaped."
"You're mistaken." Kimura scoffed. "I'm just a manga artist."
"Then explain why your gloves are spotless." Fumio demanded. "If you used them to draw, they should've been dirtier. The reason why you wore gloves regularly is to avoid leaving your fingerprints behind. Moreover, the pendent on your necklace is actually a magnifying lens. Since the thieves are able to identify the most valuable items to take, that would explain why you had it with you at all times. Furthermore, your calluses aren't from a pen, but from frequent use of the magnifying lens."
"I can't believe you two figured it out." Kimura laughed.
"We just happened to figure out your escape route." Mitsuhiko retorted. "That's why we knew you had to be the culprit."
"It wasn't coincidence." Conan corrected. "You observed your surroundings closely, like true detectives."
"Give yourself up." Detective Takagi demanded.
Popping out a soccer ball from his 'Anywhere Ball Dispensing Belt', Conan powered up his Power-Enhancing Kick Shoes' and sent the ball flying towards Kimura's arm, making her fall to the ground and letting Mitsuhiko and Fumio slip past her.
"You are under arrest for multiple thefts and battery." Detective Chiba arrived to place Kimura under arrest.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.