"What about items did the victim leave anything in the bar before he left."
"The bartender said he left a jacket in the bathroom?"
" Pick up from there."
I walked into the bar and asked the bartender if he still had the jacket. He went in the door on the back wall of the bar where its extra storage was. I looked around waiting for the bartender. The walls were filled with signs and decorations from serious signs like "no smoking" and gag signs such as "its five o'clock somewhere". On the other side of the bar three men and a woman sat at a table. All of them looked distressed but the woman looked much more compared to the men at the table. I approached them listening in on what they were saying.
"I know he had some habits that kept him down, but I didn't think him going to the bar would lead to this. I should have just made him stay home."
"It's not your fault the police could have said it was an accident." The ginger man tried to reassure the woman.
"He was set on fire! How can it be an accident?" The woman cried out.
"He didn't break his ...ummm more destructive habit."
"What do you mean he would have told me if he didn't quit-" the woman grew angry.
"Hello!" The woman was startled at my interruption.
"ah, hello?" the woman greeted back confused."
One of the men began to lead the conversation, "Hey, kid you shouldn't be in here."
"Oh, my bad just got curious," I said.
"You should find your parents," the black haired man suggested.
"Oh ok, Hey did you see the thing in the ally, apparently some dud got chard alive!" I said with excitement.
The woman seemed to be angered by this, " Listen kid you should go home and learn a little respect."
" Why? I heard the dude was a deadbeat drunk and had it coming." The woman stood from her seat and approached, "apparently he was so drunk he couldn't even hold a drink or stand."
"You shut your mouth you brat!" the woman yelled at me, she grabbed me by my shirt.
"He wouldn't be like that! He promised he'd stop!"
"He also promised he'd quit the smokes but look at where we are now." The blonde man mumbled.
"Shut it! Dont you dare accuse my husband of lying to me. He wouldn't even have started if it wasn't for you!" The woman yelled, directing her anger at the man instead.
The bar tender returned to the scene jacket in hand. "Ma'am I'd suggest you take your hands off the detective, especially since your a suspect for this case."
The let go of me and mumbled with shock and fear, " Detective?" The man with black hair found the concept popostrous. "You can't be serious! Look at her she's just a kid!"
"What can I say? My mind is much beyond my peers!"
"Are you serious?" The man asked exhausperatedly.
'This is how Ranpo always acts maybe I should get into his mindset when solving a case'
"But of course! It's only expected that a brilliant detective to have such an advanced mind such as mine!"
'Oooh this is fun no wonder Ranpos always like this!'
"Oh my lord- listen kid our friend died, ok. Were all tired and grieving right now. Can you just go out there and let the police finish up so we can go home." said the ginger haired man.
"Well since you asked so nicely." I took the jacket from the bartender and exited the back door of the bar. I sat back down next to Ranpo. I searched the jackets pockets. " Ahah!"
"What?" Ranpo asked bored.
"I found Mr. Maehara's more hidden bad habit." I pulled out a box of cigarettes. I shook the box and I heard the remaining cigarettes slide around. In the other pocket I found a clean box of matches with one missing. I then locked at the burnt back of the victim facing up.
"I think I have an idea on whats going on!"
"Well you gonna share or are you gonna sit there staring at a box of matches!" Ranpo said frustratedly.
"Oh, can I do it how you do it? You know have everyone at the scene of the crime when I reveal the killer." I asked excitedly.
"Oh my god fine, I just wanna go back to the agency this is so boring!"
"Yay!"
Time skip
With everyone in the alley it was time to reveal the truth behind the crime. Police officers and suspects alike surrounding the body scene of the crime.
"I have deduced the answer to the crime!" I said.
The blonde man interrupted. "How do we know it was a crime and not an accident though. Maehara was a smoker, what if he had an accident with his cigs and some alcohol."
I explained my reasoning to counter his points, "Although Mr. Maehara was a smoker, he death was no accident. Even with the Alcohol spilled on him, him catching on fire simply wasn't possible."
"But why not?" The woman asked.
"Because its clear from the way he was burned the fire started from his back. How could his match get behind him or his cigarette ash get on his back?"
"Well what if he was doing the stop, drop, roll thing and it spread to his back," the blonde asked.
"Still not possible" I dismissed. "But you good at making excuses I'll give you that."
"What?!" The man shouted taken aback.
"The bartender the ginger gentleman left the earliest out of you all and the black haired gentleman left to grab a replacement shirt for his friend after you tripped and spilled some wine on him." The man seemed on edge from my explanation his friends were too as they started backing away.
"Maybe you could have gotten away with it, maybe we could have chalked up the most frequent burns misplacements to be because of a freak accident. But I have just one question for you?" The man stood in silence, "How in the hell did he light the match without the box?"
"Okay so what, how does this all connect to me? How do we know chabishira didn't kill him when he was "going to get him a new shirt" huh?" The man countered.
"Because he wouldn't have the means to set him ablaze. If he entered through the entrance of the alley he would have been noticed no matter how intoxicated Maehara was, and if he came back through the bar he would have been seen by you and the bartender but he wasn't."
"It can't be."
"Your not serious, are you Himura?"
"Well great job Y/n, I could have solved this in a fraction of the time but you know, your learning."
"Geez thanks for the encouragement." I deadpanned.
"Your welcome." Ranpo said as he left the alley, "We leave the rest to you officers."
"Bye!" I said before chasing after Ranpo to make sure he didn't get lost. "Oh, by the way they all don't smoke except for the blonde man, if you smell them, or check them. So he'd be the only one who'd reasonably carry a box of matches or a lighter."
Officers POV:
"Well as obnoxious as they are they now how to do their jobs." The first officer said.
"Yeah I guess your right, I still hope not to get stuck on cases with them ever again."
"Thats fair."
Wrote this once I got the shit scared out of me in the middle of the night from a loud ass thunder storm and couldn't fall back asleep.