Kaiya POV

"Cafe Poirot seems quite busy today!" I noted.

"It is quite packed." Amuro commented as he made coffee.

"If only we had extra hands to help us." Azusa sighed.

"I don't mind helping you then, as it's the weekend." I grabbed an apron and tied it around me.

"That's very kind of you, but I couldn't possibly ask you to do that." Azusa replied uncertainly.

"It's no trouble at all! Besides, it's a busy day, so you'll need all the help you can get." I smiled.

Amuro and Azuza taught me how to make simple meals at Poirot, and I mostly helped with meal prep. I tried my best to memorize all the tables as well.

**********

"Thanks for your help!" Azusa said after the morning rush.

"My pleasure! It's all thanks to you and Amuro-san teaching me the basics." I replied.

"I'm sure Poirot's owner wouldn't mind having an extra hand at the cafe." Amuro said. Ah that's true... maybe it can be a part time job!

"Oh no! We ran out of groceries, and we'll need more before the afternoon!" Azusa inspected the fridge.

"There's a grocery store nearby that we can go to." I piped up.

"I believe the grocery store is acquainted with Poirot's owner, so we might get discounts as well." Amuro stated.

**********

"We're done with shopping!" I looked at the shopping list. "It was quite a crowd."

"At least we did something productive on the weekend." Amuro tried to stay positive.

"I'm in the mood to just relax today." I explained. After the Murder Mystery Train, I wanted to stay away from trouble for a while.

"Ah how was the Murder Mystery Train?" Amuro asked, seemingly reading my mind. "I heard you and your friends went there... but according to the news, there was an explosion..."

"I didn't end up going since I caught a cold." I lied, trying to be careful with my answers. "But I heard it was really fun although the train stopped earlier than planned."

Before Amuro could reply, we heard a loud commotion due to a traffic accident. I gasped when I saw a circus horse run loose.

Amuro ran in front of the horse and calmed it, stroking the horse's mane gently.

"It was just startled by the traffic accident." Amuro explained.

"Oh!" I cried in surprise as the horse inched near me and munched on the celery in my grocery bag. I stroked the horse and gently fed it.

"You like celery as well?" Amuro asked the horse, who was clearly enjoying the celery.

The horse bent his head slightly at us.

"You want me to ride you?" I asked the horse, who whinnied softly.

"It doesn't hurt to try." Amuro said. "The horse has a saddle anyways, and we can just lead it back towards its trailer."

"Oh alright then." I said, slightly excited at the prospect of riding a horse. Amuro helped me up the horse.

"Pickpocket!" a woman cried as a thief sped through the streets on a motorcycle.

Amuro glanced at the horse. "I'll borrow the horse for a while." Amuro told the owner of the horse, and hopped on the horse, grabbing the reins from me.

"I've never done horseback riding before!" I shouted as Amuro guided the horse through the streets.

"Just hang on tight!" Amuro replied, trying to speak through the wind.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" I asked as Amuro thrust the reins in my hands. I fumbled with the reins but held on as tight as I could.

"There's people videotaping this, and I can't be seen." he explained and ducked, hanging from the other side of the horse. As we caught up to the thief, Amuro retook the reins and borrowed (grabbed) a hose from a bystander, looping it around the thief.

"This has got to be the craziest thing I've ever done." I shook my head as Amuro caught the thief. My heart was still beating fast from that high speed chase.

"I had to end it quickly or we would have stood out too much." Amuro agreed.

We eventually made it back to Poirot Cafe, where Azusa did not seem too pleased that we took so long to return with the groceries.

***********

Taka'aki POV

"There's no mistake. That's Bourbon in the video." Hyoue watched the security camera after a traffic incident was reported. "I must admit, using a horse to catch the thief was ingenious." After all these years... I found you, Rei Furuya.

"The explosion on the Mystery Train was no coincidence then. The Organization was certainly after Sherry." I concluded.

"If Bourbon is as careful as you described, it would be difficult to investigate him." Hyoue remarked.

"Then we investigate those close to him." I proposed, zooming in on the girl with Bourbon in the security feed.

***********

Kaiya POV

(the next day)

"Eh Sonoko? You want to learn tennis?" I held the phone to my ear while walking on the sidewalks.

"Yes, Makoto sent me a photo of him playing tennis, and I must learn!" Sonoko insisted. "So please help me find a good tennis teacher!" she asked.

"Well I could try to teach you but I'm not that good. I thought you were on the tennis team though?" I blinked.

"Ah never mind that, I just have to hone my skills so that I can play with Makoto! He asked me on a tennis date!" she said dreamily. Oh Sonoko...

No sooner did I hang up did someone crash into me, causing me to drop my phone.

"Are you alright, miss?" a voice asked me and handed me my phone.

I nodded and inspected my phone. "Oh, thank goodness the screen isn't cracked." I then looked up to see a man with black hair and a thin black mustache.

"Have we met before...?" I trailed off. He looks so familiar.

"I don't believe we have. I'm Taka'aki Morofushi." he replied and my eyes widened.

************

"Amuro-san. I'm here to walk Haro!" I knocked on his door. "Oof!" I grunted as Haro jumped on me playfully when the door opened. "Hi Haro! Aww who's a good boy?" I ruffled his hair.

"You look like you saw a ghost from the past." Amuro noted.

"Not exactly..." I replied. "I just bumped into a familiar face, but I don't think he's dangerous... at least not from the Organization." I mumbled to myself.

Amuro narrowed his eyes but quickly regained his poker face. "Should I be concerned how you got that information?"

"We all have secrets." I brushed it off before my phone rang. "Sonoko, you want me to go tennis racket shopping with you? I can't hear you very well." I had to speak over the static of the phone.

Amuro motioned for me to be silent and hang up.

************

"What? There was a bug inside my phone case?" I gasped in surprise after Amuro destroyed the bug.

"Could it be that ghost from the past you mentioned earlier?" Amuro wondered.

"But why would they investigate me? I haven't done anything out of the ordinary." I said a half-truth.

"Perhaps someone caught me on camera during that whole chase with the horse." Amuro was deep in thought. "So they investigated everyone close to me."

I bit my lips nervously. "Won't the Organization suspect you?"

"I have an idea." Amuro replied.

***********

"Kaiya!" Sonoko waved at us when she saw me and Amuro at the mall. "Oh, Amuro-san you're here as well?"

"Well, I heard you wanted to learn tennis, and I wouldn't mind teaching you." Amuro explained. "I've played some tennis before."

"Really?" Sonoko asked in excitement. "Then you must teach me!"

"Amuro-san says there's a campsite with large tennis grounds." I told her. Amuro thought the campsite would be a nice place to stay while things cooled down, but I had a suspicion Amuro had another motive for going camping.

"We must go camping then!" she insisted. "I'll invite Ran and the others as a way to make up for what happened at the Mystery Train!"

***********

(at the campsite)

"Sonoko! Ran! Conan-kun! Mori-san!" I waved to them as they appeared at the tennis courts.

"You're at the campsite already?" Conan asked in surprise.

I nodded. "Sonoko asked me to come earlier and check into our rooms at the villa first. I must hand it to you Sonoko, the Suzuki name managed to get us beautiful rooms!"

Sonoko grinned proudly.

"Sonoko-neechan, who did you say was your tennis teacher again?" Conan asked.

"I'll be instructing her." Amuro appeared next to us, sporting athletic clothing. He had a slight sweat from practicing tennis earlier.



"I was impressed when Poirot's owner told me that you were once a Junior champion." Kogoro said.

"Well right after that, I injured my shoulder." Amuro said sheepishly. That much I knew to be true... Shuichi did a whole background check on Amuro... "Ever since then, I couldn't serve as well. But if it's for teaching it shouldn't be that much of a hindrance." Says the person who still defeated everyone else on the court that morning...

Conan looked at Amuro in shock.

"But are you alright?" Ran asked, concerned. "I heard you were ill."

"It was just a slight summer cold." Amuro reassured her. "I'll be back in Poirot starting next week."

"Then let's get started!" Sonoko said eagerly.

Conan tugged on my sleeve. "What is Amuro-san doing here?" Conan whispered, suspicious of Amuro.

"Even I don't know his true purpose." I admitted.

"Watch out!" we heard Amuro shout and I gasped as a tennis racket hit Conan on the head. I caught the racket before it hit me.

"O-ouch." I dropped the racket, inspecting my scratched fingers.

"Are you both alright?" Ran and the others ran to us.

"I'll be alright, but Conan-kun..." I looked at his unconscious form worriedly.

"Stand back!" Amuro ordered, and administered first aid to Conan.

*********

"He's awake!" Ran said as Conan-kun slowly sat up on a sofa.

"He has a mild concussion, so he should be alright in a few days. But if he feels any other symptoms, please take him to the hospital." the doctor who inspected him ordered.

"This isn't Sonoko neechan's house, is it?" Conan asked.

"Nope, it's the house of the woman who hit you with her racket." Sonoko replied.

"I'm so sorry, little boy!" the woman, Kotone Momozono apologized to Conan.

"You should wrap the grip tape of the handle properly next time." another woman, Machi Umejima chided lightly.

"If I had my camera, I would have recorded that." a man named Ishiguri Saburo spoke up. "Imagine the news headline!"

"How can you say that when the boy was hurt!" another man, Takanashi Noburo chided.

Eventually Kotone invited us to have cold noodle salad for lunch, and we helped make the preparations for it.

*******

"Conan-kun?" Ran and I looked around for him to hand him his lunch.

"He went up to Ishiguri's room to rest." Sonoko told us.



"The AC's probably better up there anyways." Ran agreed.

"Ishiguri's missing as well, and it's already 3pm." Kotone looked at her watch. We ran to Ishiguri's room when we heard a thump.

"The door's locked!" Machi tried the doorknob. They discussed climbing through the window from the other room since they didn't have the spare key to his room.

"Allow me to try lockpicking." Amuro said. "I had a friend that used to work in the security industry and he taught me some tricks."

We found some metal wires in the house, and Amuro knelt down in front of the door, unlocking it quickly. As expected of a PSB officer.



"It's open!" Ran and Sonoko cheered. "You're amazing, Amuro-san!"

"Wait, don't open the door!" Conan piped up, as Amuro pushed the door open. "You can't open it because there's a body blocking the door."

I gasped when I saw Ishiguri lying on the floor in a pool of blood, dead from a blunt force trauma to the head.

Inspector Sango Yokomizo came to the crime scene soon enough, and Conan explained it was a locked room murder. The suspects were questioned in the kitchen.

*******

"I did enter Ishiguri's room to ask if he wanted lunch, but he said he was fine since he still had cake leftover from yesterday." Kotone replied.

"And what did you do after that?" Sango asked.

"I took a shower." Kotone recalled, and stated that she was with me, Ran and the others after that.

"By the way, when did the spare key to Ishiguri's room go missing?" Sango asked.

"I believe it was last night. I thought I placed it inside my desk but it was gone." she answered.

***********

"I went with Kotone to check up on Ishiguri and I also went before I showered." Machi told us. "I wanted to let Ishiguri know that I was showering, since he's walked on me before."

"And did you shower after Kotone?" Sango asked, to which Machi affirmed.

"Was Ishiguri-san in his room at that time?" Amuro questioned.

"I didn't hear a response either, but he probably was in there." Machi explained. "The AC was on afterall."

"What were you doing before and after you showered?" Sango questioned.

"I helped prepare lunch and did maintenance on the rackets." Machi recalled.

***********

When it was Takanashi's turn to be questioned, he apologized for the argument he had with Ishiguri earlier during lunch, and explained that they were all gathered here to celebrate their late friend Uriu's birthday. Apparently they found him buried in the snow last year on a skiing trip, after Ishiguri joked that a person could jump from the second floor to the snow and still survive.

"We also unfortunately made Uriu's birthday miserable last year, since we surprised him with confetti. Uriu got so scared and began crying, and to make matters worse, Ishiguri recorded a video and posted it on social media." Takanashi explained.

"So you all three had a motive to kill Ishiguri." Kogoro summarized.

"I only went to check on Ishiguri once, and I was with you guys after that!" Takanashi protested. "Besides, I was the one who suggested that the little kid head to Ishiguri's room to lie down."

"How could the culprit murder someone when there was a kid in the room!" I demanded angrily.

"But the only person who could have moved the heavy body could have been Takanashi-san." Sango reasoned.

"A woman could have done it too if all she had to do was prop the body up against the door." Kogoro countered.

"Excuse me, sir!" forensics reported to Sango. "We were only able to find the victim's key in his pocket, but the spare key is still missing."

"Perhaps it was thrown out with the rubbish?" Kogoro proposed.

"We did take out the trash earlier." Ran remembered.

"We placed it in the back of Takanashi-san's car." I added.

Sango ordered the policemen to inspect the rubbish, but to no avail.

"Did anyone else ask you guys to do favors for them?" Amuro asked us.

"Hmm Kotone-san wanted us to freeze her sports drink since she prefers them that way." I recalled.

"The sports drink she was holding while we checked on Ishiguri-san was warming up, so she wanted it frozen again." Sonoko explained.

********

"The reported time of death was 2-3 hours ago." a policeman said.

"But that was when we were all having lunch." Amuro said, deep in thought.

"Come to think of it, you guys said something weird." Sonoko turned to us. "How did you know the AC was on when you went to check on Conan-kun?"

"Well I felt cold air at my feet." I remembered.

"Me too!" Ran agreed. "So I thought the AC was on."

"You guys used ice to make the noodle salad right?" Conan piped up. "Couldn't someone have snuck ice up and placed it in the fallen vase that was found next to Ishiguri-san?"

"That's right, the ice would have melted, causing the vase to topple over onto Ishiguri-san." Sango agreed.

"Any one of them could have carried the ice since all of them were in their tennis wear, which has pockets." Amuro reasoned.

"But the question of how the body was moved still remains." Kogoro said.

"There was a tennis racket underneath Ishiguri-san." I recalled. "What if they used it to move the body?"

"That could work if they put something slippery underneath it!" Sonoko agreed. "The racket's strings were bent as well, which proves it. But if ice was used, it would have melted though..."

Conan aimed his wristwatch at Kogoro in order to give his deduction, but Amuro looked at Conan curiously and asked him what he was doing. Conan had no choice but to guide Kogoro to the correct deduction.

"What if there was ice that didn't melt?" Conan piped up.

"Like dry ice?" Ran asked. "Since it's composed of CO2, it would disappear."

"But how could dry ice be carried?" Sonoko asked.

"The culprit had Ishiguri-san carry it." Amuro deduced. "Most likely there was dry ice in the ice cream cake box. After the melted ice caused the vase to topple over and kill Ishiguri-san, the culprit placed a tennis racket over dry ice and looped a rope around it to move the body."



"I see. So that eliminates Machi-san and Takanashi-san as suspects. Machi-san felt a chill from the room as well, supporting the dry ice theory, and Takanashi-san was the only one among them who knew that Conan-kun was sleeping in Ishiguri-san's room." Kogoro stated. "That leaves Kotone-san as the suspect."

All three gasped in surprise.

"Then where's the spare key?" Sango asked.

"Ice!" Conan piped up.

"Oh speaking of ice, what about Kotone-san's ice drink?" Sango inquired.

"But you couldn't fit a key inside there could you?" Kogoro said.

"Kotone-san let us drink some of it, but it was really frozen and I couldn't get any of it." Sonoko complained.

"But wouldn't the key be visible at the bottom?" Ran asked.

"If only there was some sort of magical water!" Conan acted childishly.

"It does exist - supercooled water." Amuro explained. "All Kotone-san had to do was wrap a towel around the drink, leave it in the fridge to cool, so that it crystallizes from the top down. Afterwards, she placed the key inside and let it freeze completely before handing it to the girls to drink. If we melted the drink the evidence should be inside."



"How dare you accuse her of that!" Takanashi said. "If the key doesn't come out -"

"It will come out." Kotone admitted. "Not to mention I dropped the key in Ishiguri's blood."

"We drank out of something like that?!" Sonoko and I made disgusted faces.

"I did it to avenge Uriu-kun. That night at the ski-resort, I saw Ishigui digging for Uriu's scarf in the snow. That proves Ishiguri pushed down Uriu into the snow." Kotono confessed.

**********

"Aww I didn't get to really learn tennis!" Sonoko pouted.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get to learn it some other time." Ran reassured her.

"Maybe one of us could teach you then?" I suggested.

"How come everytime I'm with that brat, a murder always happens?" Sonoko pointed at Conan crossly.

"Yeah, he's quite a murder mystery magnet." I teased Conan.

**********

Amuro POV

"Yes, the case was solved thanks to Detective Mori." I reported to Vermouth.

"I gave you support since you thought that detective was connected to Sherry. But some lucky information landed on our lap, and we sent her to her grave." Vermouth said over the phone. "Are you still planning to stick around the detective and those around him?"

"Yes, my interest in him has been piqued more than ever." I replied. Or rather my interest in that boy Conan has been piqued... and Kaiya too. Conan was undoubtly the brains behind Detective Mori, but how did they both get involved in the Organization? "However, you are to leave them alone." I threatened Vermouth.

"Ara what's with the sudden change of heart?" Vermouth replied.

"Don't forget I still know your secret." I reminded her.

"Whatever pleases you, Bourbon." she hung up.