Yusa ignored the curious stares she was receiving from the party guests as she dashed through the ball room, making a beeline for the front desk. Then again, she was bound to catch a least some weird glances. After all, here she was, a famous actress, running barefoot at top speed, leaving wet footprints behind her.
She skidded to a stop in front of the front desk, stopping to catch her breath. The young woman seated behind the desk looked rather startled. “Um---may I help you, Miss Rowland?”
“Call----call the police!” She gasped, out of breath.
“Huh? I’m sorry-----what?”
“Nevermind, just dial the number and hand me the phone!”
The woman gave Yusa an extremely confused look, but did as she was asked. She then handed the phone to Yusa, who grabbed it and held it to her ear.
The police department answered on the third ring. “Hello? This is the Tokyo Police Department. How may we help you?”
“Send the police over right away. There’s been a murder at the Red Venus hotel and restaurant!”
“Of course. Officers will be there in a few short minutes.”
Yusa hung up, and let out a breath she had been holding. Seriously, who would’ve expected a murder case to happen right in this hotel? And the victim being none other than the hotel owner?
Turning on her heel, she made another sprint, this time to the medical desk. She flung open the door to the office, where a middle aged man sat, flipping through some documents. He glanced up at her entrance. “Yes?”
“We’ve got a girl with an injured knee on the thirteenth floor. Could you please go check on her; she can’t walk on it.”
“Yes, I will, right away. Please, lead the way.” He picked up a medical kit lying beside his desk and stood up, following Yusa all the way back up to the thirteenth floor.
Eri turned to face Yusa as the latter approached. “Well?”
“The police are coming in a few minutes, and the doctor’s right behind me.”
Eri relaxed, her shoulders sinking. “That’s good.”
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the doctor said. “But where is this injured girl?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. She’s down the hall, third room to the left.”
“Thank you.”
The doctor left, and Eri addressed Yusa. “I apologize for this, but could you do me one more favor?”
“Sure.”
“Could you go and keep an eye on Ran for me? I’d go myself, but I have to keep my womanizing fool of a husband in check, especially at a crime scene.”
Yusa nodded. “Got it. I’ll see you around, then.”
“And does this hurt?” The doctor asked, gently straightening Ran’s injured knee. Ran winced and nodded.
“And how about this?”
Another nod.
Finally, the doctor sat back in a chair opposite to where Ran perched on the side of the bed. “Hmm, it doesn’t appear to be anything serious. Your knee probably just absorbed too much of the shock for it to handle. Put an icepack on it, and you should be fine.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Ran.
“No, don’t mention it. And please, call me Doctor Haru.”
“Thanks, Doctor Haru.”
Dr. Haru inclined his head to Yusa as he left the room. “Miss Rowland, would you make sure this young lady lays off her injured leg, at least for the rest of the night?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then in that case, I’ll be off.” He walked out of the room and down the hall. Yusa could hear the soft ‘ding’ of the elevator doors opening, and a ‘hiss’ as the doors closed and the elevator descended, back down to the first floor.
Yusa focused her attention back on Ran, who was pressing the icepack to her knee. “You okay there?” She asked.
“Mmhm, I’m fine. I’m sorry for all of this, Miss Yusa.”
Yusa sighed, taking a seat in the chair Dr. Haru had pulled up. “You can just call me Yusa. We’re the same age, you know, so there’s no need for all the ‘miss’ and whatnot.”
“Oh, okay, Y-Yusa.”
“That’s much better.”
The two girls sat in silence for some time, until Yusa’s ears picked up the sound of sirens, and she walked over to the window. Drawing aside the curtains, she peered down at the streets thirteen floors below, where several police cruisers were parked at the hotel entrance, lights flashing red and blue.
“Ah, it looks as though the police have finally arrived,” she remarked.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, she heard the sounds of heavy footsteps outside in the hall. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Ran. Ran nodded.
Yusa stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind her before walking over to where the police were gathered. As she drew closer, she could see a round, middle aged man with a trenchcoat and matching fedora speaking to Kogoro and Yusaku.
“Yusaku! It’s been too long, hasn’t it?” The man said.
“Yes, it indeed has, Megure.”
Yusa slid through the officers and up to Yukiko. “Excuse me, but who is he?”
“Him? Oh, that’s Megure. He’s the Chief Police Inspector of the Tokyo Police Department.”
“And what about them?” Yusa asked, gesturing at the three officers who stood behind Megure: two young men and a woman, all probably in their mid twenties.
“They’re all police detectives. The young woman with the short bobbed hair is Miwako Sato. Standing to her left is Ninzaburo Shiratori, the man with the poof of hair. And the awkward looking one on her right is Wataru Takagi.” Then Yukiko leaned closer to Yusa, a mischievous smile on her face. “From what I heard, Sato and Takagi are dating each other right now.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Yusa was still busy scrutinizing the four officers when the young woman, Sato, caught sight of her. Her eyes lit up, and she rushed forward. “Excuse me, but are you perhaps Yusa Rowland, the girl who plays Cleo in Black Star?”
“Um, yes, that’s me.”
Sato’s face practically glowed with excitement. “Really?! Oh wow, I never thought I’d get to meet you face to face! Could I get your auto-----”
Megure cleared his throat loudly, and Sato turned a brilliant shade of scarlet, blushing in embarrassment as she backed up to join her fellow police detectives behind Megure.
“And, so? Who’s the victim?” Megure asked.
“Akitoshi Aogi, age fifty-two, and the hotel owner,” answered Kogoro.
“Cause of death?”
“That’s yet to be determined, although we believe the fatal wound was the slit throat.”
“Where’s the scene of the crime?”
“This suite’s bathroom. The body is still there. Be careful though, it’s rather wet.”
“Wet?”
“You’ll find out in a moment.”
Megure gave Kogoro a wary glance, but walked over to the bathroom and pulled open the door. The police detectives also looked inside. Sato’s face paled a shade, Shiratori looked away after a few seconds, and Takagi appeared to be sick in the stomach.
Megure stepped back, closing the door just enough so that the body was blocked from view. “What a gruesome murder. And? Do we have any suspects?”
Kogoro shook his head. “No. We’re still investigating the scene.”
“Are there any other party guests who know?”
This time, Yusa spoke up. “Apart from us and Aogi’s secretary, no one else should know about the murder. Although the front desk clerk should be suspicious, since I asked for her to dial the police department.”
“Pardon me,” Shiratori interrupted, “but how exactly are you all related to this case?”
“The kitchen staff were still waiting for Aogi’s orders, and were getting agitated, so we came up here to get him. The water leaking out from underneath the front door made us worried, so we broke in and found his body,” Yusa explained in the shortest way possible.
“I see,” Megure murmured under his breath. “And do we have any clues to the culprit?”
Kogoro shook his head again. “No, nothing as of-----”
“Hey, I wonder what this is!” Conan’s voice came from within the bathroom.
Kogoro’s expression immediately changed to one of extreme annoyance, and he yanked open the door. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Haven’t I told you not to mess with the crime scene?”
“But Uncle Kogoro,” Conan whined, “I found something weird!”
“Brats like you find everything weird!”
Conan wriggled around in Kogoro’s grasp. “But look, doesn’t the blood on his hand look weird? It’s all smeared.”
Megure’s eyes narrowed at this, and he walked forward, kneeling beside the body and examining the left hand, which hung down to the ground at the body’s side. “Hmm, Conan-kun is right, the blood really is smeared. And what’s this? There’s some sort of marking in the blood, like a stamp or imprint.”
Standing back up onto his feet, he cleared his throat before addressing the police detectives. “Alright, bring in the lab team. I want the body thoroughly examined for any possible clues or pieces of evidence!”
“Yes, sir!”