SailorStar9: With Chapter 145 posted, I present Chapter 146 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 146: The Detective Boys and the Two Leaders, Part One

Time passes...

With Wakasa-sensei and Okiya as chaperons, the Detective Boys arrived at the beach where a Kamen Yaiba event was being held.

"I dropped mine." Genta whined, after Ayumi accidentally knocked his coiled sausage on a stick onto the beach-hut's floor.

"Excuse me." Wakasa-sensei turned to Menda Sakura who was clearing another table. "Could we get another sausage?"

"I can't get this stain out of the towel blanket." Genta tried to wipe the ketchup and mustard stain.

"I'm sure it'll come out of the wash later." Mitsuhiko assured.

In the kitchen...

"Takaki, I've got a problem." Kayaki Maika whined, the knot of her halter top coming undone.

"Honestly," Kooriyama Takaki sighed, turning off the grill he was frying yakisoba on. "It's your fault for wearing such flashy clothes."

"Make it tighter." Kayaki insisted, after Kooriyama retied the knot.

"If it's too tight, it'll be hard to untie later." Kooriyama reminded.

"You'll just have to do your best, then." Kayaki pointed out. "I thought you were confident in your grip strength."

"Then, could you open this jar of jam, since you're so strong?" Menda slammed an unopened jar on the counter. "Stop flirting in front of your ex." she chided.

"Sorry." Kayaki gaped.

"It's fine." Menda assured. "I'm the one who dumped him for your younger brother."

"But, my brother, Reisuke..." Kayaki added.

"He screwed up and got himself killed, right?" Usui Katsunori, the beach-hut's owner suddenly hugged the two women from behind. "It's on you guys to make up the loss of his screw-up by working this job, so we can pay the leader. We're out of pineapple juice." he opened the ice box where the packet drinks were stored. "I'll have this instead." he took out a grapefruit juice pack. "It's almost time for our afternoon break. I'm gonna take a nap in the back room."

"I need to deliver my grandmother's medicine to her." Menda informed Kayaki, the two women followed the two men out. "Could you get the pineapple juice?"

Afterwards...

"We're coming in." Menda called, knocking on the backroom door and receiving no response. "It's just Takaki?" she noticed the snoozing Kooriyama on the sofa.

"Where's Usui?" Kayaki shook Kooriyama awake.

"He was sleeping on the sofa across from me." Kooriyama replied. "Maybe he woke up and went to the store."

"We were looking for him because we couldn't find him." Kayaki rebuked.

"What's this bundle?" Menda spotted a wrapped bundle on the ground. Untying it, she was horrified to find the dead Usui.

After Inspector Yokomizo and his team arrived...

"The deceased is Usui Katsunori, 40 years old." Detective Tsukumo reported to Inspector Yokomizo. "He was the manager of this beach hut. Cause of death is asphyxiation by pressure on the neck."

"So, it's safe to say he was strangled to death." Inspector Yokomizo concluded. "The question is the weapon, though."

"Judging by the mark on his neck, it was probably some kind of cloth." Detective Tsukumo suggested.

"I think he was strangled using the towel blanket the body was wrapped in." Conan supplied.

"Conan..." Inspector Yokomizo gawked. "What are you doing here?"

"We came for a swim, but then we heard the scream." Fumio explained.

"So, we took a quick look around inside the room before the police showed up." Conan whispered.

"So, why do you think the towel blanket is the weapon?" Inspector Yokomizo asked.

"By the marks on his neck." Fumio pointed.

"He unconsciously scratched himself with his nails while being strangled." Conan added. "Those are called Yoshikawa lines. The gaps between the marks and the gaps in the blood on the towel he was wrapped in match perfectly. In other words, the culprit wrapped part of the towel around his neck like his apron and either strangled him from behind or lifted him on their back."

"And provided the culprit isn't wearing gloves, you'll likely find their fingerprints." Fumio supplied.

"It sounds like Usui was killed while napping in the back room." Haibara cut in. "Wouldn't that make your suspects these three, who had keys to the room?" she turned to the three beach-hut employees.

"Why do you have the keys?" Inspector Yokomizo inquired.

"We work at this beach-hut." Kooriyama replied.

"We keep extra ingredients and equipment back here." Kayaki added. "We were given keys so we could get in anytime."

"What's your relationship with the victim, Usui?" Inspector Yokomizo continued his interrogation.

"We were just acquaintances." Kooriyama stammered.

"Once we've taken your finger and palm prints, we'll question each of you separately." Inspector Yokomizo informed.

Later...

"Usui was killed while he was napping when the shop was closed between 15:00 and 16:00, right?" Kayaki confirmed. "During that time, at Usui's request, I was buying pineapple juice at a vending machine far away from here. Usui's favorite pineapple juice wasn't sold at the nearby convenience store."

"Did you forget to buy enough or did you sell a lot of pineapple juice?" Inspector Yokomizo asked.

"We probably sold it." Kayaki guessed. "All of our juice is 200 yen. We don't check how much of each kind has been sold."

"So, who found the body?" Inspector Yokomizo inquired.

"When I came back from shopping, although it was almost time for the evening, Usui and Takaki were missing." Kayaki explained. "Sakura and I went to wake them. We found Takaki sleeping but didn't see Usui. There was something odd wrapped in a towel blanket and when Sakura unwrapped it, we found Usui's body inside."

"You can ask what I was doing when the crime took place," it was Kooriyama's turn. "But all I can say is that I was asleep in the back room. I only woke up when Sakura and Maika came to wake me."

"So, you also went into the back to nap with Usui when the store was closed?" Inspector Yokomizo queried.

"Actually, I thought I'd cool down in the air-conditioned back room while playing games on my phone." Kooriyama replied. "But I suddenly felt sleepy after drinking juice and eating snacks. Come to think of it, that's happened a few times before. Maybe grapefruit juice doesn't agree with my body."

"Between 15:00 and 16:00, I went to my grandmother's house, which was a 15-minute walk from here." then it was Menda's turn. "I was delivering her medicine her doctor prescribed for her. She doesn't have pharmacy near her house."

"Were you able to give your grandmother her medicine?" Inspector Yokomizo asked.

"I forgot the key to my grandmother's house at home." Menda admitted. "So I came back without giving it to her. My grandmother always naps then, and I feel bad ringing the doorbell and waking her. Normally, I quietly enter and leave her medicine in the entryway."

"So, what did you do after you returned?" Inspector Yokomizo pressed.

"Maika came back while I was getting ready to open." Menda answered. "Then, we went to the back to wake Usui and Takaki."

"In other words, none of you have anyone to verify your alibis." Inspector Yokomizo concluded. "So, any one of you could've killed him."

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