SailorStar9: With Chapter 141 posted, I present Chapter 142 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 142: The Ranpo Mansion Murder Case, Part One

Time passes...

"What's wrong?" Kobayashi-sensei looked down worriedly at the Detective Boys. "You kids seem down."
"We planned to see a movie because it's our day off, but..." Ayumi answered.

"We were really looking forward to the new Gomera movie." Mitsuhiko sighed.

"I'm sorry." Kobayashi-sensei chuckled. "I was told the only available time was this afternoon."

"At least, those two seem really excited about it." Haibara looked at Conan and Fumio.

"That's it." Conan dashed towards the Ranpo Mansion. "That's the old Edogawa Ranpo mansion."

"Born in 1894, Edogawa Ranpo has been reading mysteries since grade school." Conan started rattling out Ranpo's facts. "Although at that time, they were known as detective novels. Then, in 1923, his debut short story, 'The Two-Sen Copper Coin' was published in a popular magazine. Up until his death in 1965, he had released tons of mysteries. His stories about the great detective Akechi Kogoro were particularly famous."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Professor Goto opened the gate for the visitors.

"That's okay." Kobayashi-sensei assured. "Thank you for letting us come today. Everyone, this is Goto-sensei. He manages the Edogawa mansion."

"Hello." the kids chorused.

"Hello and welcome to the Edogawa mansion." Professor Goto returned the greeting. "This is Okumoto." he turned to his assistant. "He helps me manage the collection. This way. Please come in. Ranpo moved here in 1934 and used this storeroom as a library." he led the group to the warehouse.

"Wow." Kobayashi-sensei gushed in amazement at the bookshelves filled with detective works.

"Professor Gato, you're pretty harsh." Ayumi noted, the group having overheard Professor Goto reprimand Okumoto for bringing a lighter to the warehouse.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Professor Gato remarked. "Did you find any books you recognized on the shelves?"

"Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen?" Conan instantly recognized two of the mystery writers.

"The Boy Detective series is here too." even Kobayashi-sensei was amazed.

"Arsène Lupin is over here." Haibara added.

"Edogawa-sensei sure is a fastidious person." even Fumio was in awe at the number of repaired books.

"That's true." Professor Goto concurred. "He would mend torn books himself. Feel free to check out the second floor."

"Look, everyone." Kobayashi-sensei turned to Edogawa Ranpo's portrait on the wall. "It's Edogawa Ranpo-sensei."

"Normally, this portrait is displayed in the drawing room." Professor Gato explained. "But we're keeping it here until restoration is finished."

"Do you not open the windows?" Conan asked.

"In general, we don't open them." Professor Gato replied. "We can't let it affect the books inside. Yes?" he answered his ringing phone. "What?"

"Is something the matter?"noticed Professor Gato's shocked expression after he ended the call.

"I'm sorry, but it seems the police are here." Professor Gato informed and stepped out.

Outside...

"Sorry to interrupt your busy schedule." Sato apologized. "What are you kids doing here?" she noticed the Detective Boys poke their heads from the warehouse door.

"We're here touring the warehouse."Kobayashi-sensei answered.

"Can I help you with something?" Professor Gato turned to the detectives.

"A man was found murdered in the nearby park this morning." Takagi informed.

"This block of wood was found among the victim's belongings." Sato added. "It seems to have come from here."

"That's..." Professor Gato gasped.

Inside the warehouse...

"I knew it." Professor Gato returned to the warehouse to check for a missing bookend. "One is missing. I belielve it came from this shelf. The writing on it was written by Ranpo-sensei himself. Ranpo-sensei took great care of his books. He even chose the order they were placed in."

"That block was a certain book's placeholder." Conan realized. "When lending out books, he'd write the title and the borrower's name on one and place it in the book's stead."

"But why did the victim have something so valuable?" Takagi inquired.

"The victim is Mizohata Ken, 30 years old." Sato supplied.

"Mizohata?" Professor Gato took the photo Sato handed to him. "He's the victim? He's a member of the Ranpo Association that visited yesterday."

"The Ranpo Association?" Conan echoed.

"They're a group of people who love Ranpo-sensei's works." Professor Gato explained. "Okumoto is actually a member as well."

"Including the victim, we've herd there are six members." Takagi stated. "You're certain they came to visit yesterday?"

"Yes." Professor Gato nodded.

"We heard you had quite and argument with the victim then." Sato pointed out. "Could you tell us more about it?"

Outside...

"Mizohata had a lighter." Professor Gato led everyone outside. "It happened right around here." he pointed to the outside of the side house. "He was a pretty heavy smoker. When I asked him to leave the lighter in the office, he yelled at me, so I lost my temper too."

"So, about this wooden block..." Sato prompted.

"Mizohata must've stolen it during the tour." Professor Gato reasoned.

"Where were you and what were you doing around midnight last night?" Sato questioned.

"I was at home." Professor Gato answered.

"You were seen by security cameras at a convenience store near the crime scene." Takagi informed.

"I went near the park before midnight." Professor Gato admitted. "I received a phone call. They said they have an unpublished Ranpo manuscript. I was told to come by the park at that time because they wanted to show me in secret."

"And you went along with that suspicious phone call?" Takagi pressed.

"I couldn't help myself when I thought it might actually be true." Professor Gato sighed.

"Did you meet the caller?" Sato asked.

"No," Professsor Gato replied. "They never showed up. I waited for a while before going back home. If you doubt me, check my call history."

"Either way, you'll have to come down to the station." Sato informed.

"We're talking to all the members of the Ranpo Association, too." Takagi added.

"I'm hungry." Genta heard his stomach growl.

"If you're hungry, you should visit the university cafeteria." Okumoto suggested, the warehouse keys in hand. "It's time for us to close up here."

In the university cafeteria...

"That's why Professor Goto was taken away?"Imai Nanako set her glass of cola on the table Okumoto was sitting at.

"His alibi was shaky, too." Okumoto confirmed. "I doubt they'll be letting him go anytime soon."

"There's no way Professor Goto would do anything to Mizohata." Tajima Rika insisted.

"You don't know that."Oguruma Shunji pointed out. "They really got into it yesterday."

"What's that on your hand?" Tajima noticed the writing on the back of Okumoto's hand.

"Yesterday's plans." Okumoto replied. "I wrote them on my hand so I wouldn't forget, but this ink won't come off."

"What is it, kid?" Imai noticed Conan at their table.

"Are you members of the Ranpo Association?" Conan asked.

"Yeah." Imai replied. "Who are you?"

"He's one of the kids who toured the warehouse today." Okumoto explained. "Do you need something, kid?"

"We're the Detective Boys." Conan introduced his team.

"Sorry about that." Kobayashi-sensei hurried over. "Edogawa, you can't just suddenly start talking to people."

"But they're called the Ranpo Association." Conan pointed out. "So, I figured they like 'The Fiend with Twenty Faces' and the 'Boy Detectives' series."

"I've still got work to do, so I'd better head back." Okumoto excused himself.

"He's become less sociable." Oguruma noted. "He doesn't come to a lot of Ranpo meetings, either. Maybe what happened to Katsumine still bothers him. Sorry." he noticed Imai's hand tighten around her glass.

"Actually, what does the Ranpo Association do?" Fumio wondered.

"We used to meet a couple of times a month to read, but we've all gotten busy recently." Imai replied. "I'm a cameraman. I just started, though." she pulled out her camera.

"I'm an office worker." Tajima added. "I studied to be a librarian, but it didn't work out."

"I'm currently studying to become an author." Oguruma stated. "I was once a final candidate for a newbie award, but lately, I've been off my game."

"What about Mizohata?" Conan asked. "Wasn't Mizohata a member of the Ranpo Association, too?"

"He didn't particularly like Ranpo." Tajima replied. "He was just looking for valuable books."

"Some old books are very valuable." Oguruma agreed. "He'd look for books like that to buy cheap and sell for a profit."

"Then, why did Mizohata join the Ranpo Association, then?" Fumio was puzzled. "Did he want to use the Association to find valuable books?"

"Spot on." Taijima nodded.

"Mizohata had a wooden block, right?" Oguruma reminded. "He stole it yesterday and was trying to sell it."

"Maybe Professor Gato figured out what he was doing." Imai mused. "I'm going to go around and take some pictures." she excused herself.

"Should we go, too?" Kobayashi-sensei prompted, only to be interrupted by Mizumori, the university's guide.

Kobayashi-sensei then decided to take Mizumori up on her offer and have her guide her and the kids around the university.

Later that evening...

Kobayashi-sensei and the Detective Boys met up with the Ranpo Association members at the university gates.

"Hey." Imai noticed the lights in the warehouse were on. "What's that?"

"Something's not right in the storehouse." Conan hurried over to the ajar gates. "There's a light in the warehouse." he ran in and saw the lit room.

"The windows and doors are open, too." Haibara pointed out.

"Didn't Professor Gato say they don't open the windows?" Fumio reminded.

The kids ran in, with Conan taking the lead and he found Okumoto slumped on the table with candles around him.

"Watch out." Imai caught the falling Ayumi, her scarf having been caught on a stuck-out nail on the staircase.

"Isn't that Okumoto?" Taijima recognized the body at the table.

"What is he doing here?" Oguruma wondered, walking towards Okumoto, only to gasp when he saw athe rope tied around Okumoto's neck.

"Fumio." Conan turned to his second-in-command.

"On it." Fumio nodded.

"Another murder two days in a row." Takagi remarked, he and Sato were called in. "Someone strangled him from behind with that rope. But what were the candles for? The power wasn't out.

"Any fingerprints?" Sato asked.

"They're all over the place." Takagi admitted. "Identifying the culprit's would be difficult. But only one set of fingerprints were found on the handle of the open window. They probably belonged to the victim."

"The victim was strangled from behind." Sato remarked. "He likely felt completely safe around the culprit."

"Which means it's likely the culprit was an acquaintance or a friend." Takagi concluded.

"From the circumstances, it seems it was the victim who let the culprit inside, too." Sato agreed.

Conan looked carefully at Okumoto's injuries on both his hands and realized who the culprit was.

SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.