I never keep my promises huh...Welp here's the last part of this Hella long episode. I got a plot in mind for M/n's next target, along with the 14th Feb special within it...though let's not make any promises.
_Conan's thoughs_
'Ran's thoughts'
-Mouri's thought-
M/n's thought
"Conan speaking through his voice changing bowtie"
Continuation of the last chapter,
A little recap:
Conan's POV
Ran, Mouri, and I attended the Izu Mystery Tour in place of Professor Agasa, his friend, and his friend's granddaughter with M/n joining on his own interest.
Whoever determines the organiser's identity gets to stay for free and receives floppy disks containing a certain program.
But then Ebara-san (dressed as the Night Baron) fell to his death! It was clearly murder!
A Night Baron then knocked out a karate expert guarding the body and appeared before us as the Night Baron! Ran's kicks were useless. M/n couldn't catch up to him. Could the killer be-
The Night Baron Murder Case
«ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵒˡᵘᵗⁱᵒⁿ»
Third person's POV
"Was the policeman really a karate expert?!" Conan asked right after they exited the elevator after he processed everything he heard.
"Yeah, third-level black belt." One of the forensics answered.
"For real?!" Conan asked but was ignored.
"Who could've done that?" Said forensic asked his coworker beside him.
"Well he did manage to dodge all of Ran's attacks and escape my grasp." M/n added, once the two forensics were further enough. "I think we both know who the Night Baron is..."
"...The karate champ, Maeda Satoru!" He whisper-shouted. "So that's why neither of them ran after the Night Baron like you... They both realised it was him!" Conan hit the spot, but not quite the jackpot.
"Well that explains why she was crying. Can't imagine the devastation she felt when she realised it." M/n said of pity, while also being a total hypocrite. Thought even like those two he realised who the dressed Night Baron was when he was chasing him. And laziness just made him stop chasing.
Ran was in her room resuming her contemplation about the recent realisation on the Night Baron. Tears were present once again. 'What would Shinichi do in this situation?' She thought for a bit before she remembered what he said.
"If I know the culprit?" Shinichi asked again.
"Yeah. Like what if it was Professor Agasa?" Ran asked, genuinely curious.
"I'd turn him in." He said, with zero hesitation.
Hearing this, Ran was surprised. "You would?!"
"Yeah. I'd flat out say, "You did it!"" Shinichi said as he continued the walk to school.
"So you can look cool, huh?" She asked as she stopped walking. That sentence made Shinichi stop and look back at her.
"Nope. I'd probably be dead tired by then..." He paused. "I'd have tried my utmost to prove that they didn't do it first..." He said, sadly smiling at the sky, silently hoping that would never come true.-
Remembering that memory, she now found her motivation, finding an alibi for Maeda, to prove his innocence. "Alright!"
In the room, Satoru Maeda and Sayama Akiko are staying. "Sorry, Satoru. If only I hadn't recommended this tour..." Akiko said as she folded towels.
"It's okay. I came along because I wanted to. This is all the Night Baron's fault..." He said as he brushed his teeth, though with a slight glare.
"Satoru. Don't tell me you-" She started in a quiet but serious tone. That made Maeda hummed as a question, looking back at her. "No, it's nothing!" She said quickly, smiling as she slammed the wardrobe shut. "I'm going to bed. Good night."
"Good night." Right as she left Meada stared at his reflection.
Currently in the interrogation room, the two forensics, Conan and M/n had arrived.
"Detective Yokomizo." Said detective answered with a hum of acknowledgement. "We noticed a little bit of cellophane tape on the ends of the security lock."
"Are you sure it wasn't the tape Satsujin-san used?" Mouri asked.
"100% certain, the cellophane tape that he used was coloured, the one we found was transparent."
The thing that they all didn't notice was Conan doing his trick while in M/n hold for height again.
Knock Knock
Knock Knock
The knocks caught the people's attention. When Yokomizo tried opening the door, before he found out that the security lock was set. "Huh?" Looking out he saw Conan and M/n outside.
"You guys!"
"Hehehe." Conan let out a childish laugh.
"Alright, who set the security lock?!" Yokomizo shouted at the people inside.
"I locked it from the outside!" Conan shouted. That caught the detectives' attention even more. "Using this cellophane tape!" He said, showing the tape. Now, up for demonstration.
"First, you cut yourself an appropriate length, and then fold it in two, leaving a few centimeters of the sticky part.
Then you align it (with the security lock) perpendicularly, place the tape on it, and close the door. One tug of the tape and-" snap
"It locked!" Both detectives shouted in surprise.
Conan continues his demonstration. "Pull it more, and... the tape comes off and the evidence disappears. See?" He said, as he opened the security locked door.
"I dunno...Don't these rooms have auto-locks?" Mouri thought.
"That's okay!" Yokomizo yelled. "You can use a room key to see if a room is locked or not, and you can peel the tape off if need be! The tip would've been in the killer's blind spot! So he must not have noticed the tape left behind!" Yokomizo exclaimed.
"Wasn't the room key lying with his clothes near the door?" M/n swiftly added.
"Oh, yeah! That's right!" To M/n it was fun to see Yokomizo deducing the method used all with just hints unlike a certain someone in the same room. "After the killer took his key, dressed him up, and threw him over, he left the room and set the security lock using this trick!
Then, after double-checking the lock, he tossed the key into the room!
That would seal the room and make it look like an accident!" The smile on Yokomizo's face while he deduced it correctly made M/n chuckled, the face he made was too much of a puppy knowing what the owner is telling them to do.
"How'd you figure out that trick?" Mouri asked Conan, who's now finally out of M/n's hold.
"I saw it on a mystery show. M/n-niichan's trick made me remember it!" Conan mentioned pointing at the said male, who only deadpanned at the lie.
Back to the now excited detective. "So the issue now is in the alibis of our six suspects!
Maeda-san, who was with Ran and Conan...
Sayama-san who was watching TV...
Konno-san, who was in his room reading his email...
Kamijo-san, who was in the pub with Mouri-san and Satsujin-san...
Lastly Kaneshiro-san and Hayashi-san, who were in the outside restaurant." Yokomizo finished.
"I know Sayama-san's alibi." Conan casually added, and Yokomizo listened. "She said she called the front desk at 10:00." Conan filled in.
And so they all went to the front desk. "Yes, she did ask for a wake-up call at 10:00." The receptionist confirmed before he continued his statement. "I remember her call well. It was right after I heard people screaming." The receptionist inquired.
"Hmm...the victim was in Room 2101. She couldn't have done it..." Yokomizo thought out.
"Plus she was with Ran, Conan and M/n when they ran into the Night Baron. She's in the clear." Mouri added.
"But why did the killer do that? Or even steal the costume?" Yokomizo asked no one in particular.
"They were probably worried when we realised it was a murder!" Mouri exclaimed with a grin. "That's gotta be it!"
Meanwhile while those two adults were conversing, Conan, who's back in M/n's hold, was in his inner monologue.
"Do you have records of Konno-san in Room 2002?
He supposedly used the phone for online access until after 10:00." Yokomizo suddenly asked the receptionist.
"Yes. He used it from 9:45 until 10:06." The receptionist answered.
"But that doesn't mean he spoke with anyone! Sounds suspicious to me..." Mouri concluded.
"Kamijo-san is suspicious too." Conan suddenly added. Now they're off to the emerald pub.
"She put pills in my drink?!" Mouri exclaimed as he heard what the bartender said.
"Yes. You fell asleep afterwards... I think this boy can confirm it too, he was looking at you the entire time you were here." The bartender said, pointing to M/n. Making Mouri look at his direction.
_I knew it! Those were sleeping pills she had! Did she drug him to create an alibi?_ cue Conan's inner monologue.
"What about her?" Yokomizo asked. Hinting at what Kamijo did after she drugged Mouri.
"She went to the restroom and returned five minutes later." The bartender answered.
"So she was here when the murder occured?"
This time M/n was the one answering. "She was here when that happened, she only left when there was a commotion." With that they went to the open air restaurant to ask about Kaneshiro and Hayashi.
"Were those old folks really here?" Mouri asked the waitress, it was not the waitress that was harassed by the recent deceased.
"Yes. They rushed to the front of the crowd after hearing someone fell."
_The front?_
"Darn! I suspected them!" Mouri scoffed.
"It's okay. We've narrowed it down to two suspects now!" Yokomizo cheered.
"That's true. The only ones with unconfirmed alibis are Konno-san and Maeda-san." Conan started talking, in a low voice for only M/n to hear. "Maeda-san was with Ran and I in the observation lounge, but he's the one who checked the time, so he could've lied. And considering that the knocked-out officer was a karate expert, Maeda-san must be the one who-" before he could finish his thoughts a voice yelled out.
"Conan-kun! M/n-kun!" Ran was the one who yelled, out of breath, beside M/n. "Ran-neechan!" "Oh, Ran-chan." Both of the males answered.
"Where's Dad?" She asked.
"Over there." He pointed in the direction he was in before asking. "What happened?"
"I found an alibi for Maeda-san!" She yelled as she reached her accomplishment. "After he left us, he met some fans at the lounge entrance! They asked for the date and time with his autograph! The time was 10:03! They're sure of it, because they even checked their own watches!" She exclaimed, excitedly.
"Great job Ran-chan," M/n congratulated, petting her head, before continuing. "But you should bring them here." He suggested.
"Right! I'll go get them!" She said excitedly as she ran back to the direction she came from.
"Ah! So Maeda-san wasn't the killer! Wait a minute! Then why didn't he mention it when he was questioned?! It's an airtight alibi!" Conan said loudly, good thing the others were further away and only M/n heard it.
"My guess is that he's not the killer, but he's the one that stole the costume. If that's correct then, he knows the real killer." M/n said this while he walked around and kicked something. Dropping Conan down.
"It's the pen you made me drop." Conan said. "It's leaking ink from the shock... Not surprising; it did fall from Ebara-san's room on the 21st floor..."
"Shouldn't the pen be directly or very close to the crime scene, are we sure that the pervert fell from his balcony? I checked around it and there's no ink marks anywhere." M/n told, he checked around the statue and only found blood traces. "Man it's so windy."
_The wind?!_ With that hint, Conan ran to the waitress. "Hey, waitress lady!"
"Yes?"
"Was the wind blowing when that person fell?" Conan asked
"Come to think of it, there was a strong wind..." The waitress trailed off. "It constantly blows at night time this time of the year. From the left of that statue to the right. It's our famous 'Princess Wind'!" She said before looking up. "It's a lot stronger higher up, though!" She mentioned.
_Hold on a second! There's one place where the wind is-_ He looks off before smiling, hence a bit smugly. _I can't believe I didn't realise something this simple. No question about it! That person is the killer!_
Ahh...so he didn't fell from his balcony then, looks like we need a lot of test dummies. M/n sarcastically thought.
"What?! The knocked-out officer was a karate expert?!" Mouri shouted as he grabbed the officer that informed him of the matter. Quick thinking was what he did and..."Okay! Now I know who did it! I will now begin my explanation! Gather all the suspects here!" He shouted to the two officers standing behind him.
"R-Right!" One exclaimed. The two officers followed by another two ran off to do what they were told.
_Not good..._
Impeccable timing...
"Officers!" Conan ran off to chase said officers. "The detective wants you to do this stuff in the suspects' rooms" He lied, giving them a piece of paper.
"What is this?"
"Says it's an experiment! And that it'll prove who did it!"
As were told, all suspects gathered where the death happened. It was now the part where deductions happen.
"Concerning your alibis for when the victim fell at 10:00...
The alibi of Kaneshiro-san, Hayashi-san, Sayama-san and Kamijo-san have been confirmed." Mouri stated.
_Darn it! Where's the signal?!_ Conan thought as he looked at the hotel skyscraper.
Looking at his notebook, Mouri continued. "The only ones with vague alibis are Maeda-san, who was at the observation lounge, and Konno-san who was in his room, but after murdering the victim, the killer stupidly stole the costume from the officer where the body was and then ran into Sayama-san and others...
...Unaware that the officer he knocked out was a karate expert!"
"A karate expert?!" Kamijo exclaimed.
"Yes." Mouri confirmed, thus continuing, "The only one capable of knocking such a person out in one blow...
... is the former Japanese Karate champion, Maeda Satoru-san-" right as he said this, he was interrupted.
"Wait, Dad!" It was Ran and it caught Mouri's attention. "Maeda-san didn't do it!" She said as she brought the two fangirls that can vouch for Maeda.
"He was with them when it happened!" She said out of breath.
"It's true!" The two fangirls shouted.
"No way..." And with that, Mouri is stumped. "Then who did it?"
"Will you get serious?!" Kamijo yelled.
That made Mouri do the dumb move of blaming the other one. -Ah.. That's it!- "The killer is the alibi-less Konno Shiro!" Mouri yelled, pointing at the said perpetrator.
The way M/n just sighs of disappointment is... saddening to say the least.
"Don't be fooled by his looks, everyone!" Konno was shocked at the accusation, but turned deadpanned not a moment after. "Hide it as he may, this man is actually a karate expert!" And Mouri....punch the guy in the head, with Konno taking the hit. "Or not..." Mouri said deliberately.
"Quit fooling around!" Kamijo yelled at him again. While Konno held the part where he was hit.
All the while, Conan noticed the flickering light that he was waiting for. _There it is! The signal!_ Conan got his watch ready, while M/n sat down at the nearest seat for a show.
"Who's the killer?!" Kamijo pestered Mouri as he duct and sat down from the loudness.
"Mouri-san! Can you tell us already?" Yokomizo now pestered him too.
"Hahahaha." Mouri laughed awkwardly.
"Are you really a skilled detective?!" Kamijo yelled again, questioning his authenticity.
He's not... M/n scoffed
"L-Like I said, the killer is-" as he said this, Conan used his watch. And as usual, Mouri fell unconscious.
"Mouri-san?!" Yokomizo yelled worriedly.
Conan quickly adjusted his voice changing bowtie and fixed up Mouri's posture going unnoticed by others, except for M/n who sat right behind him.
"Well, enough of this foolishness." 'Mouri' said.
"Will you ever get serious?!" Kamijo yelled yet again.
"Hold on. This is the pose he takes when he starts analysing. Right, Ran-san?" Yokomizo defended. "Yes!" Ran acquired while M/n snickered.
"Before I begin, please step away from the statue and out of harm's way." 'Mouri' warned, as the others all turned to the statue he mentioned.
"What are you going to do?" Yokomizo asked.
"An experiment." Conan said as he stepped up a bit to make Mouri's hand point up, hence everyone looking up said building.
Right as they see 5 dummies, wearing capes falling down and hitting the ground.
Yokomizo ran up to one that fell closest to him. "What are these?!"
"Blankets that I had dressed up as people and dropped from above. Dropped from each of the suspects' rooms, with their numbers on them." 'Mouri' informed.
Yokomizo looked at the dummy he's holding. "Room 2101! This is from Ebara Tokio-san's room, where the murder occured!
But he fell directly onto that statue! It couldn't be carried this far by the wind."
"Oh but it was. By the 'Princess Wind'. This strong wind blows past the hotel at night this time of the year...
From the left of the statue to the right. It was also blowing when the victim fell. Correct, Miss?" 'Mouri' said the Miss is the waitress that witnessed the death.
"Yes! I think it was blowing even harder than it is now!" The waitress said.
"Moreover, he was wearing an outfit with high air resistance. If he had been pushed off his own veranda, I doubt he would've fallen directly below. Even the blankets dropped from Kaneshiro-san's room one floor below are lying far off to the side." Mouri mentioned.
"Now I see... We were fooled by the glove on the veranda and the locked room trick! Those weren't meant to simply make it look like an accident-
They were also traps to make it look like that's where it happened!" Yokomizo deduced.
"Correct. The killer didn't lock the room after the murder; they locked it before committing the murder in their own room!"
"Meaning the most suspect are... the blankets lying by the statue!" Yokomizo ran to said dummies and read the numbers aloud.
"Room 2102's Kamijo-san, Room 2002's Konno-san, and-" he paused to look where the last dummy was and see it pierce atop the statue's sword.
"--Room 1901's Sayama-san!" Yokomizo said with a glare towards Sayama.
"It's just a coincidence! After all, everyone else's are by the statue, too!" Ran waved it off awkwardly.
"It's indeed a coincidence that it was pierced, but it's no coincidence that it fell there! Besides, the killer is neither Kamijo-san or Konno-san! Their windows are off to the side of the victim's veranda. Looking at the point of impact, it would be instantly obvious that he didn't fall from there." 'Mouri' explained.
"But Sayama-san's room is directly below theirs! Her room blanket must've just happened to land there-" Yokomizo tried to argue but was cutted off.
"It didn't just 'happen to'." 'Mouri' mentioned. "There's a spot... One directly below the victim's veranda where there's no wind!
The call she made to the front desk to create an alibi, conversely proves that she was in the room at the time of the murder."
"So then the killer is-" Yokomizo looked at the couple's direction, Maeda's sweating profusely as he announced.
"No! I did it! I pushed him off! She had nothing to do with it! She even ran into the killer...
...me, dressed as the Night Baron!
Yes, it was me! I did it all alone-" But before he could convince the detectives that he was the perpetrator, the one he protected intervened.
"Satoru.
So it was you who did that to cover for me..." Sayama said, hence in a more serious tone.
'Cover for you?!' Yokomizo thought.
"Indeed. Maeda-san stole the Night Baron costume and ran into her to rid her of all suspicion. But he was not an accomplice.
He did it of his own accord when he realised who the killer was.
Yes. Upon seeing the necktie's knot, for example. It's unclear if that was the killer's own style or not, but Maeda-san did find something in his room.
Something... that was floating in the pool later..." Mouri gave the hint.
"T-The wig!" Yokomizo shouted.
"Yes. He was likely convinced when he found it among the killer's things... Convinced that she was the killer!"
"That can't be!" Ran said in denial.
"The wig was in the room because Ebara-san and the Night Baron happened to have the same hairstyle, making it unnecessary!"
"So that's why he risked running into her with the stolen costume and the wig on!"
"Yes. And he was prepared to be caught. The reason he kept quiet about having people to vouch for his alibi was because it would cause problems if he was caught. He planned to take the fall in place of Akiko-san if it came down to it!"
Now this is what I call, love makes you blind to everything.
"Hmph. Don't make me laugh." The true Sayama was revealed. "Thanks to you, my perfect crime was ruined!" She said with a smile.
"Akiko.." Maeda was shocked to hear this.
"That's right, I did it! I killed him!
To avenge my brother who he murdered three years ago!" Sayama announced.
"Murdered?!" Yokomizo repeated.
Oh damn, I I had known that, I'd probably not want her to get caught. M/n silently sat by the side, sighing.
"Humph. Pretty much! He hacked the 'Workshop' software my brother bet the company on!" She revealed.
"Workshop?!" Kamijo shouted, surprised to hear what Sayama revealed.
"You know about it?!" Yokomizo asked.
"Yes, it's the software Ebara solde me three years ago! Had I known it was stolen, I would've taken it off the market!" Kamijo said
"My brother jumped off the company building before that!" She said as Kamijo looked down in sympathy. "I've lived to avenge him ever since..."
Nevermind...I take everything I said about not wanting her to get caught back.
"...and then I came up with this Mystery Tour. My lure was the infamous 'Night Baron' virus. He immediately took the bait...
unaware that it didn't exist...
Yes. After I drove Satoru off, the bait I used to lure Ebara into our room was once again the virus.
He rushed over immediately, once he got a whiff of the virus's location.
Then I put sleeping pills in his drink, locked his room as planned, then sent him plummeting from my room!
Just like my brother!" The look on Sayama's eyes were pure rage and insanity.
"My only oversight was that you, Mouri Kogoro, would be on this tour!
But you didn't even blink after I pushed Conan-kun into the pool. M/n-kun was the one rushing to save him.
Satoru.
This is the kind of woman I am. So hurry and forget about me! Hahaha hahaha!" She laughs maniacally, as she is cuffed, and escorted out. Though she stopped as tears were present, Conan saw it.
"I'll be waiting." Maeda said. "I'll be waiting until you get out!"
'You dummy...' She thought as as she was escorted.
Yeah...I don't think she'll be out.... Homicide is punishable by death or life imprisonment... M/n thought out. Right...now that reminds me to not get caught... ever.
Conan's pov
_After that, Akiko-san slightly nodded and got into the police car. Maeda was taken into another car for police obstruction, but Detective Yokomizo says he may get off on mitigating circumstances.
As we watched the cars leave, only the Princess Wind cried sadly around us._
Omake
Currently at the hotel, where all attendees of the Mystery Tour are checking out.
"Heh.... so that's why you drugged his drink..." Conan said.
"Yes. I figured I could check his notes to find out who the Night Baron was.
But his notebook was blank." Kamijo revealed.
"Why would you go that far?" Ran asked.
"I only wanted the virus so I could make the vaccine. It looks like they want it for bad reasons, though." Kamijo mentioned the 3 attendees, Konno, Kaneshiro and his butler.
"How uncouth." Kaneshiro paused before continuing.
"I only wished to punish the owner of the virus that ruined my beloved software 'son' four years ago!"
"And you even faked your bad eyesight?" Conan casually asked.
"Oh, you knew?" Kaneshiro took off his sunglasses a bit to look at Conan. "I had hoped to keep people off guard..."
"What kind of software was it?" Ran asked.
"I'm also curious." M/n butted in.
"I believe it was-"
"-'Project: High School Girl Paradise', Sir." Kaneshiro was cutted off by his butler.
"Oh! That's right!" Kaneshiro said aloud. The old man is also a pervert.
And here I thought it was useful software.... M/n deadpanned. Ran also did so as the butler mentioned it.
"That reminds me, I heard you scoured the entire hotel to prove Maeda-san's alibi!" Kamijo teased.
"I really looked up to him!
Plus 'he' taught me that you can't ever give up..." Ran mentioned with a blush.
"'He'?" Conan asked.
"Oh? You called your boyfriend?" Kamijo teased again.
"No, that's not what I mean!" Ran shakes her hands frantically.
"Who is 'he'?!" Conan shouted, out of jealousy. As he did M/n carried him and said.
"That 'he' is a crush of her's, come on you know him Conan-kun" M/n snickered at his jealousy. "It's Shin-chan, of course!" M/n said aloud. And that made both Ran and Conan flustered. And as such, M/n and Kamijo continued to tease Ran and the shrunken detective.
Man... procrastinating really hits me hard huh? Doing this when I still have a project to finish...
Hopefully this suffice.
4215words
-Shedo