Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Another day in the life of Mouri Kogoro, another “wonderful” opportunity to pay overdue bills.

The radio buzzed a low, pointless drone throughout the office, trying to keep the mustached detective from focusing too heavily on the stack of bills he was sifting through, and the amount of money he was signing on the cheques.

To say that he, and by extension, his business, was in a desperate financial state would have been a severe understatement. He had not had a case in a good six months now, with the police, going exclusively to that brat Kudo, while regular people just didn’t bother with his services too often these days. There wasn’t even a cheating husband to tail.

Taking another drag from his cigarette, before stubbing it out in the overflowing ashtray, Kogoro signed the check he was going to send to the electrical company. Hopefully, that would satisfy those leeches for a while, while he tried to get some money scraped together. The only reason he was doing it now, was because he managed to get lucky with his bets on the races yesterday, and his daughter, Ran, had nagged him into taking care of the bills while they still could.

Kogoro shook his head. That girl was going to get gray hairs before he did at this rate. He really wished that she stopped worrying about stuff like that; it was his job to worry about their finances, not hers. True, he wasn’t very good at it on most days, especially after four in the afternoon, but still.

Just as he was about to start writing another cheque, the phone rang, piercing through the stillness of the office, almost causing Mouri to jump from his chair, dropping the pen, and hitting his shin on the desk. Grumbling from the pain, Kogoro picked up the phone briefly, before slamming it back down.

“Serves them right, the damn telemarketers,” Kogoro grumbled in annoyance as he tried to sit down, but the phone started ringing again, seemingly more insistent than before. Realizing he could take out his frustrations by shouting at someone, Kogoro picked up the phone and brought it to his ear.

“Now listen here, you dumb piece of-” his rant, however, was quickly interrupted by a calm, and collected voice.

“Really, anata, is this how you greet potential clients?” Kisaki Eri, Kogoro’s estranged wife asked, her tone teasing. Taking a moment to collect himself, Kogoro tamped down on his anger, instead switching it for feigned disinterest.

“Why are you calling me, obasan? I’ve got work to do,” he lied through his teeth, which caused Eri to immediately snap from the other end of the line.

“Oh, please! Ran has told me you haven’t had a case in six months,”

“Damn busybody,” Kogoro muttered under his breath, low enough to not be heard, before turning back to his wife. “I choose my work!” he proclaimed loudly to his wife, only for her to laugh at his assertation.

“Yes, it must be so hard to choose between nothing and nothing all day,”

“I don’t see what that has to do with you, so if you’ll excuse me…”

“I have a case for you,” Eri said immediately, causing Kogoro to pause.

“I don’t need charity, woman,” he tried to protest angrily, but Eri’s voice easily matched his;

“I don’t care what you need, you mustached old man! This is for Ran’s sake!” Eri protested, her voice brokering no argument. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t even bother sending my friend to a washed-up, skirt-chasing, old, boozehound, idiot detective like you!”

“We’re the same age, you damn woman!” Kogoro reminded her with a shout, that could probably be heard from across the street.

“That’s not the point! So, listen closely; my friend will be coming to your miserable little office tomorrow! You will clean up, you will be polite, and you will help her because she is willing to pay you way more than you’re worth!”

“At least someone realizes what I’m worth around here!” Kogoro shouted, before slamming the phone back down, cutting off the call from that damned woman. Implying he can’t get work on his own… Still…

Kogoro’s eyes lingered on the stack of bills that were still left to pay, before picking up the half-empty pack of cigarettes from his desk. He supposed agreeing to one case that his wife sent his way couldn’t hurt.

-DoDo-

“So, Fujimura-san, how can I help you?” Kogoro asked, reclining back in his couch, studying his potential client. Fujimura Naomi was a woman in her late thirties, with a refined air to her, and well off financially, if her clothing and brand-new watch were anything to go by. Her hair was pitch black and tied in a traditional Japanese style, indicating to Kogoro that she was probably a housewife.

“How much has Eri-chan told you about my situation, Mouri-san?” the woman inquired, eyes fixated on the cup of tea that he had given her. It always sucked when he had clients on days Ran had school, but at least he could make a cup of tea without burning the kitchen down.

“My wife was… Not forthcoming with the details,” Kogoro lied quickly, not wanting to reveal that he had simply forgotten to ask anything in order to finish the call faster. Masking his discomfort with a quick cough he continued; “And even then, it’s best to hear the client’s own words, to make sure that nothing is a miss, of course.”

“Ah, yes, naturally,” Fujimura-san agreed readily before taking a deep breath and fished out a photograph from her purse. “This is me, and my husband, Eisei.”

Picking up the photograph, Kogoro raised his eyebrows, looking at the picture of Fujimura-san and her husband, clearly taken not too long ago. His client was clearly the one that aged gracefully between the two since Mister Fujimura was a man of little hair, and plenty of padding all over his body, with small beady eyes, that reminded Kogoro of a mouse.

“And what does your husband do, Fujimura-san?” Kogoro asked, pulling out a pen, to write down the notes.

“He owns a shipping business that operates from downtown Tokyo,” Fujimura-san explained. “The business is moderately successful, and he’s thinking of expanding it soon.”

“And is there trouble with the business?”

“No, Mouri-san,” she shook her head, taking a sip of tea before continuing. “Lately, my husband has been… Nervous? Erratic perhaps is the better word. He also often disappears for periods of time. No longer than a couple of hours, admittedly, but it’s becoming more and more frequent.”

“Can you describe these… Disappearances?”

“The most recent one, the one from last Friday,” Fujimura-san began recounting. “He told me that he was going to the office that day. I wished him a pleasant day and then went about the household, helping the housekeeper with some chores, when I received a call from my husband’s secretary. She inquired if Eisei could come to the phone since he called in with a cold, but she needed his permission for something. She appeared quite confused when I informed her that he had left for the office earlier.”

“And did you ask your husband about this when he came home, Fujimura-san?”

“He claimed that he was there and that his secretary simply could not find him,” the woman shook her head.

“I see,” Kogoro sighed, interlacing his fingers. “You fear that your husband is cheating on you, correct, Fujimura-san?”

“Yes. Though… I suppose I would prefer reassurance that he isn’t,” the woman admitted the statement causing Kogoro to feel pity for the woman. Nobody would ever want the bad news after all.

“And do these disappearances always happen on Friday?” Kogoro asked, picking up the pen again, and scribbled down the timeline.

“Yes, for the last few months,” she confirmed. “At the start it was once a month, but now it’s practically every week.”

“And does your husband smell different when he gets home, or perhaps appear drunk?” Kogoro pressed gently. “Anything that could indicate it isn’t just him taking a few hours to destress?”

“No alcohol, or perfumes that I can recall, no,” Fujimura-san admitted, but quickly added; “Though he does routinely look even more stressed on days where he’s disappeared, so I don’t think he‘s just trying to blow off steam.” Kogoro nodded solemnly at the woman’s words, an idea that was already there, seemingly reinforced now.

“I do not wish to be the one to give you bad news, Fujimura-san, but you do realize that with what you’ve told me, there is every possibility your husband is merely being incredibly careful while cheating,” Kogoro concluded, and his client nodded, bitterly.

“If that is indeed the case, Mouri-san, I would like you to procure proof for me,” Fujimura-san instructed, as she pulled out a thick envelope from her bag. “This is our address, along with 200,000 Yen,” she clarified to Kogoro, who tried his best not to simply snatch the money from her hand, instead taking the envelope slowly and professionally. “Eisei leaves for “work” on Friday around nine in the morning. If you can give me a definitive answer one way or another, I can promise you another 800,000 Yen, along with all the expenses for your investigation,” the woman explained. Trying his best to keep the giddiness out of his voice, for Fujimura-san’s sake, Kogoro coughed a few times, before glancing over at the calendar.

“Given that tomorrow is Friday, I should be able to confirm what your husband is doing by the end of the day, Fujimura-san,” he assured her, placing the envelope on the table, before standing up. “Please, allow me to escort you out,” he offered with a polite bow.

“Thank you, Mouri-san,” the woman smiled at his politeness and stood up to leave, Kogoro holding the door open for her.

As soon as the door closed and Kogoro counted down from ten, to make sure that his client would be outside the building, before diving for the envelope that was sitting on the table and ripping it apart, extracting the crisp Yen bills from it. He quickly started counting the bills, a part of him thinking that maybe Eri sending him clients every once in a while, wasn’t a bad thing.

“Hahahaha!!! Mouri Kogoro is back in business!!!” he shouted loudly to himself, throwing the money in the air like an overly-excited salaryman… Just in time to hear the door open, causing him to freeze in terror that his client had come back. Slowly turning around though, he relaxed, as it was only his daughter, standing at the door, looking disapprovingly.

“Otou-san!” Ran intoned, putting her hands on her hips in a way that was scarily similar to Eri. “Don’t do that! What if a client sees you?!”

“Eh, the lady left already!” Kogoro waved her off. “Anyway, don’t bother cooking anything for me tomorrow, I’ll be out on a case.”

“Oh, that works out perfectly then!” Ran said excitedly, causing Kogoro to immediately grow suspicious.

“The Suzuki girl dragging you somewhere again? It better not be to another college party!”

“No, I’m going out with Shinichi to Tropical Land,” Ran declared cheerfully, as she placed her school bag down on the floor. As soon as Ran said that, Kogoro could feel what little remained of his good mood disappear.

“Oi! Tell that brat not to try and do anything funny to you, if he knows what’s good for him!” he threatened, causing Ran to glare at him.

“Oh please, Shinichi wouldn’t do anything like that,” she said, before starting to gather the money from the floor. “Now come on and help me get all this cash before we step on them, or God forbid another client comes by.”

“Doubt it,” Kogoro rolled his eyes, but obliged his daughter anyway, picking up the scattered bills.

“Don’t be like that, Otou-san,” Ran encouraged him, as she placed a stack of Yen on the table. “You know what they say; ‘If you can find one client, you can find a million!’ Who knows? Maybe your luck is finally changing?”

“Ah, maybe you’re right Ran,” Kogoro concluded, before an idea struck him. “Actually, come on! Let’s go out to eat tonight!”

“But I don’t mind cooking-” Ran tried to protest, but Kogoro interrupted her.

“Nonsense! Think of it as a treat for winning the karate championship last month,” he encouraged her. “I never did give you a present for that, so how about it?”

Ran nodded excitedly.

-DoDo-

The buzzing of her alarm clock roused Ran from sleep and she rolled over in her bed to turn off the noise. Last night was definitely fun, with her Dad being in a good mood for the first time in seemingly forever. She would have preferred if he didn’t drink so much, or if her shoelaces didn’t snap in two, though.

Sighing, Ran picked up her phone and dialed the one person who’d have what she needed this early in the morning. It took almost two whole minutes, but finally, someone picked up from the other end.

“Raaaaaan!” a whiny, tired voice sounded in Ran’s ears, signaling that she had indeed woken up her best friend. “It’s too early!”

“Sonoko, it’s already 6:30,” Ran chided, as she sat up in her bed. “If you don’t get up soon, you’ll be late for school. You don’t want the teacher to berate you again, do you?” the question was met with more groaning and dark muttering from Sonoko.

“Still doesn’t explain why you woke me up before seven you know,” Sonoko pointed out groggily, but Ran could hear sounds of Sonoko getting up in the background.

“I need a favor,” Ran admitted. “You see-”

“Ah, I see,” Sonoko interrupted Ran immediately, adopting a sweet, dream-like voice; “You want me to doll you up for your date with your precious Shinichi-kun, so you can snag him for good this time! Is that right?”

“Wha- No, Sonoko, it’s not that!” Ran immediately sputtered at her friend’s insinuations, feeling her face heat up. “And it’s not a date, Shinichi is just taking me to Tropical Land to celebrate my win at the tournament,” Ran assured Sonoko, though judging by her friend’s voice, it didn’t work.

At least she’s awake now and stopped complaining, Ran thought morosely.

“Yeah, yeah! Whatever you want to call it, Ran,” Sonoko quickly waved away Ran’s protests. “So, what exactly do you need then?”

“Well, my shoelaces tore yesterday and I won’t have time to go grab replacements today,” Ran explained, as she started making her bed. “Can you bring me a pair of sneakers to wear today?”

“I don’t have sneakers,” Sonoko said, causing Ran to raise a skeptical eyebrow, even if her friend couldn’t see it.

“Sonoko, I’ve seen you buy them,” Ran corrected her friend, but Sonoko kept protesting.

“Those are not sneakers, they are fashionable running shoes,” Ran’s friend insisted, her tone sounding smug. “You need to learn the difference, Ran!”

“Just bring me a pair, whatever they’re called,” Ran insisted, burying her face in her free hand.

“Sure, I’ll swing by in an hour or so,” Sonoko promised through a yawn. “And you better fill me in on what happens on your date, Ran!” Sonoko demanded in a sing-song voice, before hanging up.

“I told you it’s… Urgh, that Sonoko,” Ran pouted as she put her phone on her desk. There, a picture of her and Shinichi from middle school caught her eye. They were smiling broadly in the picture, with the mystery geek, in particular, looking like he was on top of the world, a mischievous smile on his lips. The picture caused Ran to smile, her irritation immediately forgotten.

Maybe this could be a date after all?

“RAN!!!” her dad’s loud voice cut through Ran’s little moment of peace. “WHERE ARE THE KEYS FOR THE RENTAL CAR?”

She couldn’t wait to graduate and move out.

Chapter Text

Kogoro was getting to the point of wishing this bastard was cheating on his wife, just to alleviate the boredom.

Much like Fujimura-san had said yesterday, Eisei had gotten into his car and headed out of his home shortly before nine in the morning, and into downtown Tokyo. He obeyed every speed limit, and if anything he was driving just like someone weary of a tail; taking often turns off the major roads, frequent stops to make sure that no cars repeat nearby, and driving in areas with frequent parking spaces, to force those chasing him to either park or drive around, increasing the chances of being spotted.

The reason Kogoro managed to stay a step ahead was that he thought ahead and packed a map of the downtown area, so he could anticipate where Eisei might try and lose him. He was quite proud of himself actually; ten years off the force, and he still remembered the old tricks that his partner, Megure drilled into his head.

Still, the game of cat and mouse continued for only the first two hours, and now Eisei was driving normally, and routinely stopping for either coffee or a snack every now and again, leading to Kogoro’s current state of boredom.

Still, it did lead the private detective to a few observations; first and foremost was that Eisei was ignoring any and all beautiful women that he interacted with in the various coffee shops. Either his Mistress was that beautiful, or he simply had no interest. It was certainly not the behavior Kogoro associated with someone cheating though. He knew for a fact that at several points he was tempted to go and flirt with the baristas himself after all.

The second thing that Kogoro noted in his observations was that Eisei carried a large briefcase with him wherever he went, not letting it out of his sight for a second. Even when several times it made it difficult to pay at the cash register. Between the reluctance to put it down and the clear heft of the case, it didn’t take a detective of Kogoro’s caliber to realize that he was carrying cash and a lot of it.

It could mean that someone else discovered his dalliances and that’s why he’d been erratic as of late. If Kogoro could intercept whoever received the cash, it would definitely clear this up, though one thing was for sure; Eisei Fujimura was in some kind of trouble.

Snapping a quick picture of the man as he exited a restaurant, and got into his car, Kogoro quickly jotted down the name of the place for later, before starting the engine on his rental car, preparing to follow again. It was already late afternoon, and Eisei had not met with a single person or received a phone call. Whomever he was meeting, he had a very specific time and place for the meeting.

-DoDo-

Of all the places Kogoro expected to end up, the amusement park Tropical Land, was hardly it. Then again, it certainly made it significantly easier to hide a meeting in this place than it did near warehouses, or the docks, where someone could easily spot you. Even at the entrance, where Kogoro was, he counted at least a hundred people waiting to buy their tickets or exiting after a long day inside.

Kogoro himself was in the ticket line now, about five or so spots behind Eisei, using the fact he was taller than most to not lose sight of him for a second. Then again, the bald spot certainly stood out amidst the rest of the crowd.

“Enjoy your stay!” the ticket booth attendant wished him with a wide grin as Kogoro paid for his, exorbitantly priced in his opinion, ticket, and started wading through the crowds around him trying to do three things at once; not trip on some kid, keep his target in sight, and not run into Ran, or that wanna-be detective brat. The last thing he needed was those two flagging him down and ruining his cover. Fortunately for Kogoro, Eisei appeared content to walk slowly around, pretending to browse the various confectionary stands, while constantly glancing at his watch. Judging by how much he was sweating, Kogoro guessed that the time was quickly coming up.

Pulling another cigarette out of his pack, Kogoro put it in his mouth, about to light it, just as police sirens blared through the air, startling everyone around. If Kogoro had any doubts that Eisei was doing something illegal, those were dispelled, as the man appeared to almost jump out of his skin at the sounds of the sirens, looking around desperately.

Cursing under his breath at whatever emergency managed to get the police department here, spooking his target, Kogoro started making his way through the gawking crowd in order to keep a closer eye on Eisei. At this point, even if the man spotted him, he couldn’t get any more freaked out.

Unfortunately, whatever run of luck, Kogoro had been having for the last couple of days, seems to have run out, as one of the ridiculous mascots of the amusement park decided then and there to step in front of Kogoro, completely obscuring his vision with its stupid, oversized head.

“Move!” Kogoro growled at the park employee, who quickly shuffled out of the way, but it was too late. Despite being able to see over the head of most people there, Kogoro couldn’t see Eisei. “Damn it!” he growled, tossing his cigarette on the floor and stomping it.

Trying to calm down, Kogoro thought over his options. He couldn’t just wander aimlessly around the park trying to locate Eisei. That was a great way for him to just slip out by the front gate. Smoking him out, by faking a call on the Public Announcement system would also not work, since the guy had no reason to appear for such a summon.

As loathe as he was to admit it, Kogoro’s best shot right now was to quickly make his way to the park entrance and pray that Eisei’s car was still there. While he would lose sight of him, how long the man took to appear would give Kogoro at least some guesses as to what he was doing.

He could only hope Ran’s day with the detective wanna-be was going better than his investigation.

-DoDo-

Ran was very close to kicking Shinichi in the face for all the dumb and insensitive things he was saying right now.

Not only was their fun day at Tropical Land marred by someone’s death, a decapitation of all things, but the Deduction Freak had to go and act like this was perfectly normal!

Oftentimes lately Ran felt like Shinichi was getting far too used to seeing dead bodies. She knew of his reputation, it was hard not to after all, but she always assumed that he didn’t actually see dead bodies too often. After all, the police wouldn’t let him near corpses often, would they? At least not often enough to leave him so… Desensitized to death. Especially in a case like this one.

The fact that the girl, Hitomi, murdered someone out of jealousy didn’t sit right with Ran. After all, if she truly loved her former boyfriend, and was friends with Aiko, wouldn’t she want to be happy for them? It really made no sense to her whatsoever. True, if Shinichi found someone else, she’d be upset over losing a friend, but if he was happy she could live with it. As Ran was wiping some tears from her eyes, Shinichi spoke up.

”Sorry, Ran! You go on ahead!” Shinichi yelled, barely looking back as he waved, already running toward a gap between two of the stands that led behind one of the attractions. For a brief moment, Ran considered simply finding a spot nearby to wait for him, but the image of the decapitated boy sprang to the forefront of Ran’s mind, along with a terrible feeling; the feeling that she’d never see Shinichi again.

Galvanized, by the dreadful image and sensation, Ran took off after her childhood friend, determined not to let him out of her sight. It didn’t take long for her to catch up with him, grabbing his shoulder.

“Ran? What are you doing here?” he asked quietly, surprise evident in his voice.

“I’m-” Ran opened her mouth to protest loudly, but Shinichi waved his hands anxiously.

“Quiet, will you!” he hissed in a low whisper. “I think those guys in black from the rollercoaster are up to something.”

“Then tell the police! Don’t go running off like a hero,” Ran pleaded, matching his low voice, the image of the two terrifying men flashing through her mind. “You’re being an idiot! Again!”

“We need some proof,” he insisted, lifting up the disposable camera he had in his hand. “Couple of pictures and then we run to Megure-keibu, promise!” Shinichi insisted and began inching his way around the base. Ran followed closely, and as quietly as possible. Sure enough, voices soon became clear enough to make out, as they reached the corner.

“-of yourself. Money comes first!” Ran heard a cocky-sounding voice say, probably one of the two men that were on the roller-coaster with them.

“Here! I take it you have no objections?!” another voice said, a desperate edge to it.

“Whoa!” Shinichi breathed next to Ran as the ‘click!’ of their disposable camera sounded. “There’s at least 100 million in there…” the sum washed over Ran, not quite able to visualize it. That was Sonoko’s family amount of money right there.

“This concludes our transaction,” the man in black chuckled.

“Hurry and give me the film then! I did everything you asked!” the other man pleaded, his voice cracking.

“Here,” The man in black said. “This is all the film that shows your company doing illegal weapons smuggling,” he clarified, and Ran couldn’t help but tug on Shinichi’s shirt, to get him to move away. They had the damn pictures already, and she could hear someone running away now. If they stayed much longer, the man in black would find them and-

“That’s enough of your little detective game, children,” a cold voice from behind grabbed their attention, and Ran and Shinichi slung around, just in time to see the long-haired man in black towering over them a good foot, a collapsible baton held high above his head.

“Ran, move!” Shinichi yelled and shoved Ran out of the way as the baton descended on them. While Ran was clear from the swing, the man in black hit Shinichi square across the face hard. All Shinichi managed to do was produce a weak groan, before falling to the ground in a daze.

As the gargantuan man raised the baton again intending to strike Ran in the same way, the girl’s fight-or-flight response triggered, and she assumed a fighting stance, drilled into her from years of karate practice. Despite her faith in her abilities though, she still felt cold sweat run down her back; this was her first time in a life-or-death fight.

The man didn’t even acknowledge her reaction and simply swung down again, aiming for her head. Not hesitating, Ran brought up her right arm to block, her forearm absorbing the shock of the blow. Moving as quickly as possible, she pushed the baton out of the way and swung to punch the man in the stomach, hoping to catch him off-guard. Unfortunately for her, the long-haired man reacted just as quickly, dropping his baton and intercepting Ran’s punch with one hand, easily diverting it. Before Ran could jump back and disengage, he followed up with a quick and precise blow just under her ribcage, hitting her solar plexus.

Upon impact, Ran’s entire body seized, and her lungs stopped working for a brief moment, causing her vision to swim. That proved to be all the time her opponent needed to follow up with a knife hand strike to her neck, the power of which sent Ran’s body into the side of the Ferris wheel, the hard concrete knocking her out.

-DoDo-

“Everything okay, aniki?” his partner asked, as he stepped over the unconscious form of the detective from earlier. Gin scoffed at the question, as he picked up the unconscious form of the girl he just knocked out.

“The little girl tried to fight back,” he explained to Vodka, before unceremoniously dumping her body on the ground. “And the detective here took quite a few pictures, Vodka. You should be more careful.” He reprimanded his partner, who nodded solemnly.

“Won’t happen again, aniki,” Vodka promised as he picked up the disposable camera from the boy. “And these two? Without the pictures, they can’t do much.”

“No, the detective is too good,” Gin shook his head and fished out a small silver case from his inside jacket pocket. “Besides, he saw our faces… And this will be a great opportunity to test out the new poison, Sherry developed for us. I’m sure she’d appreciate two more test results,” He smiled viciously as he picked up two tablets, tossing one to Vodka. “Do the brat. Girl’s mine.”

“Got it, aniki,” Vodka nodded and took to poisoning the detective.

Gin meanwhile lifted the girl’s head high enough for her mouth to open, before roughly shoving the poisonous pill past her tongue, making sure it went down her throat. He then closed her mouth and tilted her head back, forcing the body to swallow on reflex. A quick check confirmed that she had indeed swallowed the poison.

“Done?” Gin looked toward Vodka, who just nodded. “Pick up the cash and let’s move then. Soon enough, the police will have more bodies to deal with,” he chuckled, before giving the boy detective a mock bow; “So long, detective.”

With that little jest, Gin and Vodka started making their way toward the exit of Tropical Land, mindful not to appear in too much of a hurry, lest the cops still milling about stopped them for whatever reason. While he doubted that the kids’ bodies would be discovered for a while still, any delay could be bad. Especially if the police wanted to know what was in the suitcase. Explaining away 150 million Yen was no easy feat, and most of these damnable officers weren’t easy to bribe.

Still, much to Gin’s relief, him and Vodka made it through the exit of Tropical Land without any problems and managed to deposit the suitcase of cash into the hidden compartment of his Porsche 356 A. Even though nobody had followed them outright, Gin couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched by someone. One didn’t get to rise through the ranks of the organization without good self-preservation instincts after all, and Gin had long since learned to trust his.

“Vodka,” he grabbed his partner’s attention. “Anybody in the parking lot?” he asked quietly, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his coat. Mimicking his actions, Vodka leaned against the side of the Porsche. Gin knew for a fact that Vodka was looking over the entire parking lot, using the sunglasses as cover so nobody could see him do it. Taking a drag from his cigarette and dumping the ash, Vodka replied;

“The white Toyota across the parking lot,” he said, not pointing, but Gin quickly zeroed in on the vehicle, the inhabitant pretending to be distracted with the radio. “PSB? Cops?”

“They’d drive a better car,” Gin scoffed, as he threw his cigarette away, before getting into his Porsche. “We’ll see if he’s stupid enough to follow. If so, we’ll nab him and find out what he knows.”

“Racking up the body count today, aniki,” Vodka commented, but Gin only shrugged.

“Not like I’ll remember them, Vodka,”

Chapter Text

Kogoro was really starting to grow concerned now, as he followed the expensive-looking foreign car.

His plan to wait for Eisei outside Tropical Land had actually paid off, as he quickly spotted the man make his way through the crowd, looking no worse for wear. If Kogoro wasn’t mistaken, the man even looked relieved about something, as he was far less jumpy and much more assertive as he made his way through the crowd. The other thing that quickly became apparent to the private detective was that Eisei wasn’t carrying the case he had with him earlier.

That presented Kogoro with two options; either follow Eisei and hope he finds something… Or try and spot whoever had the briefcase.

Kogoro was fairly certain then that whoever had it hadn’t exited yet. After all, while Eisei was clearly an amateur and immediately hurried out of the park, whomever he had dealings with probably knew a bit more about discretion.

Going into his car to appear slightly less conspicuous, and avoid Ran or Shinichi seeing him, Kogoro started paying very close attention to everyone who was exiting, trying to spot the suitcase that Eisei was carrying earlier, and silently berating himself for not taking notes on how it actually looked.

Fortunately for Kogoro, it didn’t take long for two extremely suspicious-looking individuals to exit the park, holding a familiar briefcase. Kogoro smirked, as he leaned down, pretending to fiddle with his radio while taking in the men’s features; both of them wore pure black clothing, but the similarities ended there. The one carrying the briefcase was stout and wide-shouldered, garbed in a meticulous black suit, with a fedora on top of his head. He wore sunglasses, despite it already being way past sundown.

The second man was even taller than the first, wearing a long black trench coat with a loose turtleneck poking out from underneath. His hair showed from underneath his fedora all the way down to the man’s hips. If not for seeing his face, Kogoro would have assumed this was a woman based on the hair, especially given how well the coat was obscuring the man’s body.

The two men quickly stashed the briefcase into their car, before pulling out a cigarette each. Abandoning his fiddling with the radio, Kogoro shifted position and pulled out his cell phone, pretending to be on a call, so that they didn’t get too suspicious.

He did have to pretend long though as the two men quickly abandoned their smokes and got into the car. When they drove Kogoro followed them, which was why he was now turning corner after corner in the small streets of the harbor district of Tokyo.

What unnerved the detective was the clear implication that the two men knew he was there. Everything from their car to their clothes, to the way they moved, spoke of professionalism to Kogoro, and he refused to believe they haven’t spotted him, especially once they got off the highway and other busy streets, and took the small, winding alleys around the warehouses. Still, there was little he could do, if he wanted answers about what Eisei was doing so he could get paid. He just hoped that the two were working alone…

Turning another corner, Kogoro slammed on the brakes, as he noticed the other car had stopped on the opposite end of the alley, the shorter of the two men, leaning casually against the side of the car, watching Kogoro with a smirk. Infuriatingly, he waved Kogoro to come closer, and he quickly weighed his options. The man’s friend was still in the car, his hat visible over the headrest, which meant that he wasn’t in for an ambush… At least not an obvious one. While he could just drive away right now, it was clear the two men knew the area far better than he did. He wouldn’t put it past them to try and box him in somewhere. His best choice now was to play dumb. As he thought that, he swore he heard Eri’s voice telling him how well he’d be able to play that particular role.

Slowly, Kogoro inched the rental car forward, past some garbage containers, until he was close enough that he could hear the man, without having to actually get out of the car. Rolling down the window Kogoro called out;

“Can I help you?” he feigned ignorance, scratching his head.

“Should be my line, that,” the man in black drawled out, his tone cheerful, though Kogoro pegged him as a thug with the way he intoned his words. “You’re the one followin’ me and my buddy after all,” he nodded toward the car, where the other man was.

“Ah, yes, well…” Kogoro scratched his head sheepishly. “I just noticed the great car you had and well… Wanted to take a closer look, that’s all.” He lied, playing off his stumbles as mere bashfulness. Unfortunately for Kogoro, the thug merely stepped aside, gesturing to the car.

“Then by all means, take as close a look as you want, ojisan,” he invited, but Kogoro shook his head.

“I’d hate to impose you see-”

“I insist,” the thug intoned. When Kogoro still didn’t move, he sighed and undid the buttons on his blazer, revealing the red shirt underneath. “See? Not carrying any weapons, right?” he demonstrated lifting his blazer and slowly turning around, obviously realizing that Kogoro was cautious about being mugged. While the lack of weapons didn’t really prevent that possibility, it greatly lowered it, as Kogoro felt confident in his hand-to-hand to at least be able to escape.

There was still something in the back of his mind that kept bugging him about the whole situation however, even if he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Still, he didn’t have any other means of stalling, so Kogoro killed the engine of the rental car and opened the door, stepping out. The thug smirked as he did that, and Kogoro couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a trap of some sort, readying himself for a fight.

“Very generous of you, to let me look over your car like that,” Kogoro pretended to continue the conversation, even as he pulled out a fresh cigarette. “You smoke?” he offered politely, but the man waved his hand.

“I’ll pass this time,” the thug said, and Kogoro spotted the car keys that were in the man’s hand, which was when it clicked for him.

“You weren’t the driv-” Kogoro tried to say, but an arm immediately wrapped itself around his neck, putting him in a choke hold, while a sweet-smelling cloth was thrust over his mouth and nose, suffocating him. Despite his attempts to fight back, Kogoro quickly felt his eyes getting heavier, and his mind drifting away…

-DoDo-

Gin let the man fall unceremoniously to the ground, once he was sure the chloroform had taken hold properly. It didn’t take him and Vodka long to realize that they were being followed and even less time to come up with a plan to trick the oaf. It was clear that he was no professional, but even Gin didn’t expect a simple bait like that to work, with him hiding between the trash containers and luring him out of the car.

“Here you go, aniki,” Vodka said, stepping over the unconscious man and handed Gin his car keys and the hat they had used to trick their pursuer.

“Thanks, Vodka,” Gin nodded as he put his hat back and walked to the driver’s side of the Toyota the man was driving. “Rental, as we suspected,” he told Vodka, who was busy riffling through the man’s pockets. “We’ll have to drive it back later, just in case. Anything in his pockets?”

“Notebook, pen, cheap cigarettes… Ah, wallet!” Vodka announced, pulling out an older leather wallet and flipping through it. “Heh, check this out, aniki; our mystery man is a private detective,” he said, tossing the business card to Gin, who caught it deftly.

“We have an address then, good,” Gin nodded picking up a disposable camera from within the car. “We’ll go to his office and destroy everything that could do with us. Then make a nice little accident,” he told Vodka.

“Think Fujimura hired him to spy on us? Get the money back?” Vodka asked, anger clear in his voice.

“Doubt it,” Gin shook his head. “He’s been disappearing a lot to meet with us lately. His wife probably thought he had a side squeeze. I’ll make a call and deal with them.” Vodka chuckled darkly at that.

“Shame,” he said, even though his voice betrayed no sadness. “The man just got out from under our thumb as well…”

“Then he’ll have a few good hours to enjoy it,” Gin said with a vicious grin, before jerking his head to the downed detective. “Load the poor bastard into his car and drive him to the address. I’ll follow.”

“Got it, aniki,” Vodka nodded.

-DoDo-

“Shinichi! Shinichi! Wake up!” Ran’s voice was calling to him, through his blissful sleep.

“Go-uh-way, Ran!” Shinichi grunted as he tried to force his body to reposition, his limbs sluggish under the heavy blanket he was covered with. He was sure that his friend would give him at least a few more minutes of sleep before… Before… Flashes of memories and sensations rushed through Shinichi’s mind; Tropical Land, the murder on the rollercoaster, the men in black, Ran, pain…Bones melting, flesh burning…

With a start, Shinichi awoke full, pushing himself off the ground on wobbly arms, feeling a massive weight on his shoulders. Everything hurt right, now, but he was thanking whatever deity watched over him and Ran that the experimental poison turned out to be a dud. Quickly clearing his mind of the leftover cobwebs of sleep and pain, Shinichi looked over to his childhood friend, ready to drag both of them to the nearest police officer and alert Megure-keibu about the men in-

As soon as Shinichi’s eyes landed on Ran, all of his thoughts screeched to a catastrophic halt, as he took in what he saw in front of him; on her knees, not two feet away from him, was Ran… Or at least the Ran from when she was seven years old, practically swimming in the clothes she wore earlier. Her face was much rounder and more child-like than before they were attacked, and her arms were completely covered by the long sleeves of her jacket. Underneath the baggy pants, that Shinichi was sure used to be shorts earlier, two stick-like legs poked out, disappearing in oversized sneakers.

“R-ran?” Shinichi asked, blinking owlishly at her, surprised by his own high-pitched voice. He tried to reach out to poke her, half convinced that this was some sort of fever dream, but as soon as he lifted his arms, Shinichi froze for the second time in less than a minute. His arm barely reached halfway up his sleeve, the rest hanging uselessly down to the ground. A quick glance down confirmed that his legs and body have suffered the same fate as Ran’s.

“W-w-what happened?!” Shinichi demanded looking at himself in a panic for a few brief moments before Ran lunged at him, pulling him into a hug, sobbing.

“Shinichi, I am so glad you’re okay!” she managed to say through her tears, but Shinichi was still too stunned by their current predicament to appreciate his friend’s concern… Even if he really enjoyed the hug. Getting a grip on himself, Shinichi managed to pry Ran off himself, though with considerable difficulty.

“Ran, what happened?” Shinichi demanded and Ran only shook her head.

“Last thing I remember is that tall guy in black knocking me out,” Ran said wiping her eyes in her oversized sleeves. “Next thing I felt was excruciating pain before waking up like this!” she waved her pint-sized arms around to emphasize her point.

“I was only dazed so I remember the guy that attacked us saying something about a poison, experimental,” Shinichi added his own bits to the story.

“A poison that turns people into kids?” his friend asked skeptically, causing Shinichi to roll his eyes.

“No, they clearly didn’t know this would happen,” he said, even as he started rolling up his sleeves. “At any rate, we need to get moving!”

“W-why? Shouldn’t we just go to an officer at the park or-”

“Won’t work,” Shinichi shook his head, as he started adjusting his pantlegs. “Even if they do believe we’re two teenagers that were shrunk by a mystery drug, we have no proof of the men,” Shinichi nodded toward the broken disposable camera on the ground. The film from within was also missing. “Besides, we can’t stay here in case those men come back. We didn’t stand a chance against them when we were full-sized.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Ran asked, as she pushed herself onto her feet, a little wobbly in the oversized sneakers. Shinichi closed his eyes for a moment trying to think of what their next step should be. Contacting the police was out, or at least contacting them directly. Shinichi’s parents were somewhere in the US, hiding from his dad’s editors. Ran’s own dad was… An option, especially if he believed them… Then again, Shinichi wasn’t sure what the washed-up detective could do for them. Shelter was one thing, but they needed a way to reverse this first…

“Hakase!” Shinichi proclaimed, slapping his hands together. “He could help us!”

“By blowing us up?” Ran asked skeptically.

“Look, he might be weird, but he might be able to figure something out,” Shinichi threw up his hands in the air. “Because I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like learning hiragana again!”

“Okay, but after that, I am calling my dad,” Ran nodded. “He might be able to help, and he has some clothes that would actually fit back home.”

“Fine, but let’s get going,” Shinichi urged, glancing at a nearby clock to see the time. “It’s already almost closing time and the Professor might go to bed.”

-DoDo-

Shinichi and Ran’s trip back to Shinichi’s house, and by extension his neighbor, Agasa Hiroshi, was a taxing experience. In fact, it was far more tiring than it had any right to be, which only cemented Shinichi’s theory that he and Ran weren’t just miniaturized, but were actually de-aged. It fit; their higher-pitched voices, the roundness of their features, and the seeming underdeveloped muscles.

And underdeveloped lungs… Lungs are a thing, Shinichi thought bitterly as he leaned on a nearby wall, trying to catch his breath from running, with Ran right next to him, red-faced and looking like she was about to collapse.

The fact it started to rain was just fate being cruel at this point, in Shinichi’s opinion.

“Shinichi… Don’t think I can run much longer,” Ran panted, wet hair clinging to her face.

“We’re almost there so let’s just-” Shinichi tried to point to the gate of the Professor’s house before a large explosion startled both shrunken teens enough to fall over. Shinichi blinked in disbelief as a good five-foot section of the brick wall around the house had collapsed, with the rotund form of the Professor emerging from the wreckage, coughing incessantly. Ran’s words about Shinichi’s neighbor blowing them up rang through his head again, and he had to resist smacking his forehead in annoyance. Pushing down his annoyance, Shinichi instead called out to the older man;

“Oi! Hakase!” the shout carried easily through the rain and the Professor looked over to them, as he dusted himself off.

“Hm? Oh, who might you two youngsters be?” he asked, with a jolly smile, despite still being half-covered in soot and pieces of brick.

“It’s us, Shinichi and Ran!” Shinichi gestured to their shrunken forms, but Agasa only scratched his head.

“Are you relatives of theirs perhaps? You do look quite similar…” he muttered, causing Ran to step up.

“No, Agasa-hakase, it is us,” Ran insisted, Shinichi noting the hint of desperation in her voice. “You’ve known us since we were… Well… this age!” she insisted.

“Well, of course, I’ve known those two since they were little and-”

“Damn it, listen to us!” Shinichi yelled, silencing the old man; “Your name is Hiroshi Agasa, age 52. You live next to me and invent odd gadgets that more often than not are useless junk!”

“Now, Shinichi! That’s not nice… Even if it is accurate…” Ran half-chastised him, but he paid her no mind and kept going;

“You also have a hair sticking out of the mole on your butt!” Shinichi finished his presentation, pointing a finger at the Professor, momentarily forgetting that he wasn’t accusing a criminal with his deductions for once.

“How did you know that? I’ve only told Shinichi about this!”

“That’s because I am Shinichi! Some guys forced me and Ran to take some strange drug and we’ve been shrunk!”

A pin drop could be heard in the following silence, despite the rain, as the Professor regarded him and Ran, his eyes wide… Before narrowing down dangerously.

“Now listen here, you little kids! A drug like that can’t exist and I would appreciate it if you don’t play games with-” he started berating them, as Ran whispered in Shinichi’s ear;

“It’s not working!”

“I know, give me a second,” Shinichi whispered back before focusing on Agasa’s appearance, picking out every detail he could about the man’s appearance, before starting to speak in a cocky, sure of himself voice;

“Okay, how about this,” he began with an infuriating smirk on his face; “You just came home from the restaurant ‘Colombo’ and in a hurry! Probably because you remembered something about an invention of yours.”

“H-how do you know that?” Agasa asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Your clothes are wet on the front but not the back, meaning you were running in the rain, while the splotch of mud on your pants means you were near a construction site,” Shinichi continued his deduction relentlessly, the action serving to calm him down a little with its familiarity. “The only road in this area where you could have gotten mud from is the construction site in front of ‘Colombo’.”

“Not to mention you have sauce in your mustache, Hakase,” Ran joined in, her tone disapproving, hands on her hips. “And that’s after you promised me, you’d stop going there last month!”

“You… You two really are Shinichi and Ran-kun!” Agasa exclaimed in pure shock, causing Shinichi to hang his head.

“That’s what we’ve been telling you,”

“Hakase, we were shrunk by a drug and-” Ran tried to explain, but the Professor shook his head.

“Can’t quite believe that yet,” the older man admitted but fished out the spare key he had for Shinichi’s house from his coat. “But we should continue this inside. You two need some dry clothes, and this way nobody will overhear us.”

With a nod, Shinichi and Ran followed Agasa inside the Kudo Mansion.

Chapter Text

“What a dump,” Gin sneered as he rummaged through the document of the ‘Mouri Detective Agency.’

Getting the knocked-out detective back into his office had proven much easier than even Gin anticipated, with the café under the office closed for the day and very little traffic. Even if someone had spotted them, they could probably pretend to be the detective’s friends.

So far, his and Vodka’s investigation had discovered two things; first that there were no further documents on Fujimura of any kind, much less anything that could implicate the organization, and second was that the detective would be easy to dispose of. Within five minutes, Vodka had discovered betting slips in the trash, and a newspaper where every single gambling event for the next week was circled. Coupled with the plethora of bills they extracted from the mailbox, faking a suicide with a convenient fire was going to be easy. With all the alcohol around, they didn’t even have to worry about getting any extra accelerants for the fire.

“Vodka, anything?” Gin called to his partner, after tossing aside another folder. The most recent case this buffoon had was over half a year ago.

“Aniki, you won’t believe this,” Vodka called from the small kitchenette the office had. “The girl we offed in the park today? This guy’s daughter,” he informed Gin, showing him a picture that depicted their current ‘host’ with a girl that reminded Gin a little of his victim.

“Well, guess he’ll be spared the grieving process at least,” he chuckled, as he opened a drawler on the desk, revealing a silver wedding ring. Rummaging further though, Gin couldn’t find a picture or a name that could belong to the wife. “Any pictures of a wife, Vodka?”

“No, aniki,” Vodka said. “Besides, no way a self-respecting woman would let this place look this bad,” he gestured dismissively at the mess around them.

“Divorced then. Probably badly judging by his sorry state. Just means one less loose end,” Gin said as he his cell phone vibrate with a message. “Speaking off…” he trailed, as he flipped it open, seeing a message from Rum:

.The Fujimura Family has been taken care of

.Gas stoves are so dangerous if left unattended

.Wife hired the P.I

.No loose ends to follow up on

“Kir is done with the Fujimuras?” Vodka asked, as he finished his check of the rest of the apartment.

“Yep,” Gin nodded, putting his phone away. “Let’s set up the fire. There’s been one too many complications today.”

“Got it, aniki,”

-DoDo-

Few things could have surprised Agasa Hiroshi at his age. He was friends with a prolific writer and detective, he was an inventor who had met his fair share of genii from all around the world, and created quite a few interesting gadgets himself. Despite all that, the tale that Shinichi and Ran-kun told him, along with their current predicament, was something he’d have laughed off as a fantasy.

And yet, the proof was right there, in front of him and dressed in some of Shinichi’s old childhood clothing. Agasa knew that Yukiko-san had kept old clothing like that, but even he was surprised that clothes from that far back still survived. Shinichi himself had snagged a pair of shorts and a white button-up shirt, while Ran had picked out an old soccer jersey and sweatpants.

“Shinichi, are you sure these were washed?” Ran asked smelling the T-Shirt suspiciously.

“Eh, they’ve been in storage for about ten years, no wonder they smell,” Shinichi shook his head: “Besides, you at least look normal; I think my mom made me wear this for my graduation from first grade.” Shinichi scoffed before turning to Agasa: “So, Hakase, when can you turn us back to normal?”

“I’m… Not sure I can, you two,” Agasa admitted, shaking his head. Even since the two shrunk teens had told him about the issue, Agasa had been wracking his brain for anything he could do for the two, but was so far drawing a blank. He wasn’t a biologist… Or pharmaceutical scientist? He wasn’t even sure what field this would fall under. Poisons, with unknown side effects, people threatening CEOs… Sounded like something out of Yusaku’s novels, if Agasa was honest with himself.

“You’re a genius damn it! Surely you can figure something out,” Shinichi demanded, fear lacing the boy’s voice. Fear that he’d be stuck like this.

“I don’t even know what the drug is made of…” Agasa scratched his head. “I wouldn’t even know where to start and-”

“What about blood samples?” Ran suggested, holding up her arm. “The drug should still be in our systems to some degree, right, Hakase?”

“Even then, I’d need tools and machines I don’t have here,” the Professor scratched his head. “It would take time… And in that time, you two need to hide!”

Even as he said the words, Agasa saw the flash of frustration in Shinichi’s eyes. The older man wouldn’t have been surprised if Shinichi had already drawn similar conclusion. It only made sense to suggest it though, given how quickly the two men were to try and poison two teenagers who simply were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Havens knew what they’d try to do if they learned of Shinichi and Ran’s survival. Family, friends, even Agasa himself might be targeted either to find them, or simply to stop all rumors.

“We have to tell our parents though,” Ran insisted, drawing both Agasa and Shinichi’s attentions. “I know Shinichi’s folks are away, but my dad will look for me.”

“We have a couple of months then…” Shinichi muttered, his frustrations of the situation leaking into the conversation. The remark did earn him a quick punch from Ran, who was looking furious.

“Oh, shut up,” she chastised her friend. “And it doesn’t change the facts; what if he runs into the two men while looking for us?” Ran demanded, causing both Shinichi and Agasa to flinch at the realization. While Agasa knew Mouri-kun wasn’t the greatest detective, he had a habit of attracting a lot of attention. And in this case the attention could be catastrophic.

“As much as I hate to say it, Ran’s right; we need her old man,” Shinichi crossed his arms, looking around the room. “We can’t very well live here while we resolve the situation. Too many questions are going to be asked, and no offense Hakase, but I doubt you have spare beds and clothes for us,” Shinichi asked, to which Agasa nodded.

“Okay, you have a point, but you need to limit the-”

Agasa’s words were interrupted by the sudden ring of the phone in the Kudo library, all eyes and attention suddenly snapping toward the apparatus. Agasa immediately tensed, the two teens next to him not doing much better, as they all observed the continuous ringing for a few seconds, both on edge. Nobody seemed willing to move a muscle as the phone continued to ring, until Shinichi took a step toward it, breaking the trance. Immediately as he did, Agasa, placed a hand on Shinichi’s shoulder shaking his head.

“I’ll do it, you two keep quiet,” he instructed as he crossed the library, picking up the receiver: “Kudo residence, Agasa speaking,” he introduced himself before a panicked voice sounded in his ears, sirens in the background;

“Agasa hakase? Where is Shinichi?” Sonoko demanded, her voice cracking a little.

“Ah, Sonoko-kun,” Agasa greeted loud enough that Shinichi and Ran could relax themselves. “I was just leaving something for Shini-”

“Don’t care! Is he there? What about Ran?” Sonoko pleaded, interrupting him, which struck Agasa as quite abnormal.

“I haven’t seen neither Shinichi, nor Ran-kun tonight, no,” he lied, feeling a little bad about lying to her. “What is this about, Sonoko-kun?”

“Turn on the TV! Now! Channel 3,” the teenager on the other side of the line demanded, the fear in her voice spurring Agasa to act, as he picked up the nearby remote and turned on the big TV in the library. The news were currently playing, the image on screen depicting a blazing fire… One that was taking place in a very familiar location…

“O… tou-… san …” Ran breathed from behind the professor, who was staring transfixed on the screen.

-DoDo-

“So far the Fire Department have only recovered a single body from the fire that started at around 9:15 PM this evening in Belka Town, Block 5, with the fire fighters on the scene declaring that to be a minor miracle given the intensity of the flames,” a young woman reported from the scene of the fire, as in the background, firemen were still trying to contain the fire that had engulfed the second floor of the building. “Given initial reports, the victim appears to be 37-year-old Mouri Kogoro, a private…”

The broadcast droned on, its words ricocheting within the confines of Kisaki Eri’s luxury apartment. The woman herself was staring numbly at the screen, remote discarded on the floor. She had come across the report completely by accident, as she was killing time between commercial breaks and now her world was shattered.

Part of her, a selfish part, wished she could turn back time and stop herself from doing that. That she just watched the mindless commercials about beauty products and fast-food restaurants, just so she wouldn’t have to know until tomorrow morning. If she had done that, then at least in her mind, her useless, chain-smoking, skirt-chasing buffoon of a husband would still be alive.

That way she’d only known when she received the call tomorrow morning.

Despite the woman’s best effort tears prickled in her eyes threatening to spill forth. Just thinking about the last time she heard his obnoxious voice was too much for her, especially recalling the argument they had. She had told him he was worthless… And now she’d never been able to tell him otherwise… Never tell him how much he meant to her, no matter how utterly infuriating he was…

Somewhere in the apartment, a soft, quizzical meow was heard from Eri’s cat, Goro, which proved to be the last little drop in the chalice.

Slowly, Eri removed her glasses, placing them gently on the table, before curling on the couch, head buried in her knees, tears flowing freely down her face, with one single thought coursing through her mind;

Heavens, please let Ran, at the very least, be okay…

-DoDo-

Shinichi didn’t even react when Ran collapsed on her knees sobbing next to him, too stunned by what he had just heard. While he wasn’t on the best of terms with Mouri Kogoro, Shinichi still knew the man. Shinichi had met him often enough when he and Ran had been growing up. Shinichi even respected him, for all the jabs he threw out constantly about the man.

And now he was just… Gone, somehow.

Shinichi bitterly realized that this was the first time that someone close to him had died in such a manner. Dead bodies until now were all strangers; people who simply had the bad luck of pissing off one person too many, or the victims of a bad accident or their own stupidity. This was different. It was raw, burning, hard-hitting. It was too close for him to simply ignore the feeling. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through Ran’s head right now, especially since they were just discussing how they could put their loved ones in danger. Even if this wasn’t connected, Shinichi knew that Ran would blame herself for days or even weeks, for not being there for her dad…

And what if it was connected? the detective in Shinichi’s head immediately supplied, causing the shrunken teen to feel as if he was dumped in ice water. Immediately, Shinichi’s mind raced, replaying everything from the day, anything that could have led the men in black to Ran’s dad. Megure-keibu never mentioned Ran’s last name, only his, and even then, there were dozens of Moruis throughout Tokyo, so that was out. Somebody recognizing her? Made no sense. Even if they did, Mouri Kogoro wasn’t anybody who those men would be worried about…

Bolting from his spot, startling both Agasa and Ran, Shinichi dashed over to their discarded teenage clothing and started rummaging. He quickly found Ran’s wallet and scattered its contents on the floor. He had to be sure, he repeated to himself as he noted everything; several thousand Yen in small change, student ID card, karate club membership, couple of loyalty cards from fashion stores…

It was all there.

“Ran!” Shinichi quickly darted back to his friend, grabbing her shoulders. “Ran, have you told anybody your family name today?” he asked, only for Ran to shove him away.

“Get away!” Ran shrieked, clearly in a state of grief.

“It’s important,” Shinichi tried to explain, but the Professor intervened.

“Shinichi, enough!” he said firmly, placing a hand on his shoulder, placating Shinichi for a moment. “What are you trying to do?”

“I don’t think the men in black found Mouri-san through us,” Shinichi explained. “If it is them at all,” that seemed to catch Ran’s attention, as she wiped her eyes as best she could, looking at Shinichi with hope.

“Ran’s dad didn’t know exactly where we were in Tropical Land. And if he was following us, he would have stepped in when the man attacked us,” Shinichi began to recount, slipping back into the comfortable and familiar sensation of solving a mystery. It helped distract him from the gnarling feeling that someone he knew was dead. “Furthermore, all of Ran’s documents are still in her wallet. If she really hasn’t told anybody her last name-”

“They wouldn’t know who I was, and find my dad,” Ran breathed in relief for a moment, before looking down at the floor again. “Then… Why? What happened to him, Shinichi?”

“I don’t know,” the teen detective admitted, not looking at Ran right now. He couldn’t right now, not without answers. Answers he couldn’t get just from watching the news report. He needed clues, to be on the scene… But that wasn’t possible to do the way he was right now. Even if Megure-keibui believed him, which was a longshot at best, it would basically announce to the world, and the two men, what had happened in the park.

No, they needed a plan, Shinichi decided. A plan and somewhere to stay. Ran needed time to think and gather herself, and Shinichi needed to find out more. Rooming in with Hakase was tempting, if only for the familiarity, but being so close to the Kudo mansion was dangerous. Besides, Shinichi would need a way to get information and second-hand news reports wasn’t it. He needed a more direct link to the police… And right now, there was only one person in Tokyo that they could trust, who could offer that.

Taking a deep breath as he realized what he needed to do, Shinichi turned to Hakase;

“Hakase, we need to stay at your place tonight,” Shinichi explained and his old friend immediately nodded.

“Say no more, Shinichi,” the older man nodded solemnly, placing a hand on Ran’s shoulder. “You and Ran-kun are family anyway.” He added, and Ran sniffed a little, but she leaned into the gesture.

“Good, because tomorrow morning I need you to go out and meet someone,” Shinichi said, hoping that he had read the situation correctly.

Chapter Text

Megure Juzo looked on from the streets at the burnt-out office of his former subordinate, once again feeling the weight of twenty years of police work. The weight of seeing the people he knew get hurt and die.

“Takagi-kun,” Megure turned to his subordinate. “Is the arson division on their way?” he asked with a heavy voice, to which the younger man nodded.

“Should be here any moment, Keibu,” Takagi-kun nodded, as the two watched the fire-fighters start to pack their gear, now that the fire had been fully doused.

“Who’s the team lead?” Megure inquired, though even as he did, he heard more cars pulling up, answering his question; “Of course,” he sighed as a broad-faced man with short-cropped hair exited the vehicle, with a grim look on his face. His eyes quickly zeroed in on Megure and nodded in greeting.

“Megure-keibu,” he intoned, his voice low and grim.

“Yuminaga-keiji,” Megure said, before looking at the reason for both of them being here. “Take it you heard?”

“Yeah, but can’t believe it, that’s why I rushed here from another accident” Yuminaga shook his head. “Mouri Kogoro, committing suicide? Had to do the investigation myself, if only because I needed to see it with my own eyes,” the arson inspector explained, looking over at the remains of the office. “His daughter-”

“Can’t get a hold of her,” Megure shook his head. “Tried several times. Only place I haven’t called yet is Eri-san… Not going to be an easy talk,” the old inspector rubbed his forehead tiredly.

“I’ll get the report done by morning,” Yuminaga promised. “Owe him that much at least.”

“Thank you,” Megure nodded, as he watched Yuminaga and his subordinate make their way to the firefighters, no doubt to start their initial questioning.

“Keibu,” Takagi-kun spoke up, drawing the inspector’s attention. “Anything that we can do here, now that Yuminaga-keiji is here or…” he trailed off and Megure frowned a little at the question. True, this wasn’t a murder yet, hell, it wasn’t even declared arson and yet…

“Takagi-kun, grab a few men, ask some questions in the local convenience stores,” Megure instructed his junior. “Mouri-san was a heavy smoker and drinker. See if he bought anything from them tonight. Just in case,” Megure watched Takagi-kun salute and head off. Alone with his thought again, he looked down to street, trying to tamp down on his emotions.

Always had to make it hard for me, didn’t you, Mouri-kun? He thought ruefully. He’d wait for the report to be finished, before he contacted Eri-san. He owed her that much at least; to try and prove her husband wasn’t a damn coward.

As it stood though, it wasn’t that far-fetched, Megure thought bitterly. He knew that Mouri had trouble with his job, especially since Kudo-kun made his entrance on the scene. Megure himself was guilty of feeding that, as he had steered many a detective from pushing smaller cases onto Mouri-kun, not out of spite, but for the sake of efficiency. Maybe if he hadn’t this catastrophe wouldn’t have occurred?

Clenching his fist to dissuade those thoughts, Megure focused on the now and then, and what he could do in the future; the past was the past, and thinking about it, would change nothing.

-DoDo-

The call came at seven in the morning, just as Eri had expected. She could claim it woke her up, but that would be merely a bold-faced lie. The lawyer had not slept for a single moment last night, her emotions, both grief and panic, allowing her no such comfort.

As soon as Eri had managed to move again after hearing the news report, she had immediately begun calling. Her initial response of trying to call Megure-keibu-ho was quickly dismissed, as he’d have nothing more to tell her besides what the news report had said. She’d have to wait for the report from the fire department and the arson division for that.

No, Eri’s first concern was locating Ran.

The news report didn’t mention Ran at all, meaning she wasn’t there. No way a reporter would miss a juicy opportunity to interrogate a grieving family member. Cruel, but a reporter’s cruelty was always reliable. And that meant Ran was neither in the office, nor anywhere nearby. Perhaps she wasn’t even somewhere with a TV that broadcasted the report. That in itself left very few opportunities; Yukiko’s son, the Suzuki girl, or a karate tournament out of town.

A quick search online revealed that no karate tournaments were taking place now, so that was out. Calling the Kudo mansion revealed even less, as nobody picked up the phone. Even if it was past the time most people would be asleep, Eri found it unlikely that the boy could ignore more than twenty calls. It was entirely possible her friend’s son was away on a case, but the fact he hadn’t bothered to put a message was strange.

Calling Ran’s best friend, Sonoko-chan, yielded some results, though not encouraging, as even the Suzuki heiress couldn’t get in touch with Ran. The best the two of them found was that nobody had seen Ran and Shinichi since they left school yesterday. Sonoko-chan sounded nearly as hysterical at Ran’s disappearance as Eri felt.

There was little she could do but wait, however; even if heavens forbid Ran and Shinichi-kun had skipped town for whatever reason, a case, or just youthful spirited rebellion, they would have seen the news or heard something by now. Not to mention that Ran would have contacted someone for sure.

And so, Eri’s night continued, a mixture of waiting by the phone and trying to keep herself together through means that Kogoro would have approved of, namely draining what little alcohol she had in her apartment, and even lighting a cigarette for the first time in 19 years.

That continued, until she received the call from Megure-keibu asking her to come to the morgue for final verification that it was indeed Kogoro they had found. Eri found it mildly amazing how many things a person could go through automatically if they were in a state of shock; from a conversation, to dressing, to even ordering a taxi and giving directions. It wasn’t until the woman reached the morgue, that she realized exactly what she was about to do.

She was about to identify the body of her husband.

Taking a last, steadying breath, Eri walked through the doors of the morgue, paying no heed to the small yellow Beetle that was parked outside.

-DoDo-

Agasa gripped the steering wheel of his beloved Beetle tightly, as he watched Eri-san enter the morgue, just as Shinichi had predicted. Even now he could hear the lad’s words in his head;

“Megure-keibu will probably call Kisaki-san over to the morgue tomorrow to authenticate Mouri-san’s body. You need to talk with here there and tell her to come here. She’s the only one we can trust right now besides you, Hakase.”

Agasa sighed, as the words did make Ran-kun cry more, but he knew it had to be done one way or another. Excluding the girl would have been crueler in a lot of ways. Her life was just as affected by what had happened… As little as Agasa understood so far.

Immediately after he had pulled out a couple of old guest beds for Shinichi and Ran-kun, Agasa had begun to research both Shinichi’s story about the men, and what he might need to even run tests on the two of them. Even with the most conservative estimates, Agasa would need weeks to gather the necessary equipment, and by then, there was every chance that the poison, whatever it was, would be out of the two teenagers’ systems. Whether that would reverse the effects though was another thing entirely; pulling out old biology texts from his personal storage and whatever information he could find online, painted a confusing, and grim picture for Agasa.

By all indications nobody had even heard of research into such a drug, much less someone coming close to a functioning version. Not to mention that several studies and experiments he found indicated that there was little to no chance that the drug’s effects would wear off once out of their system. If anything, it might make it harder, since the body wouldn’t have any chance to build up any understanding of it.

Unless Agasa enlisted help on this, it would take him years to even start synthesizing an antidote, much less create a permanent one.

Their best chance was for Shinichi to somehow find a dose of the poison, so that Agasa at least had a starting point. Something that Shinichi was very keen on doing, as it would mean catching the people that did this to him…

Agasa sighed, rubbing his temples. As excited and driven as Shinichi was, Agasa couldn’t help but feel that it would be more difficult than his friend anticipated. Just by his descriptions alone, it was clear that these two men were not working on their own, much less underfunded, given the costs associated with their operations. Blackmailing CEOs and illegal drugs spoke of three things; money, power, and anonymity. All things that were dangerous to Shinichi and Ran-kun should they be discovered.

Agasa really felt like Shinichi’s attitude toward this entire thing was far too cavalier and disregarding, especially in light of Mouri-kun’s death, but he also knew that trying to dissuade the teenage detective would be difficult. And with Ran-kun being in a near catatonic state ever since the news, Agasa hoped that Eri-san would take his side in the matter and help him protect the two.

Agasa’s thoughts were interrupted as he saw the doors to the morgue opening again, with Eri-san walking out, inspector Megure with her, looking grim and deep in thought. Despite the fact that he didn’t want to risk the seasoned inspector overhearing them, Agasa couldn’t very well stand aside and risk Eri-san getting into a taxi, or accepting a ride without at least talking to her.

Steeling himself, the older man opened the door to his Beetle and stepped out, his voice catching their attention;

“Eri-san! Megure-keibu!” both of them looked over to Agasa, their expressions a mixture of surprise and confusion.

“Agasa-san?” Eri asked, her confusion evident in her voice.

“Do you know him, Eri-san?” Megure asked, to which Eri nodded.

“Yes, he is a friend of the Kudos and babysat Ran, along with Shinichi-kun, years ago,” Eri explained, though mentioning the name ‘Kudo’ drew the inspector’s attention.

“Kudo? You know Kudo-kun? Where is he?” he asked, his tone somewhat desperate.

“Oh, haha, I know Shinichi, he’s my neighbor actually, though I haven’t seen him in a couple of days, no,” Agasa shook his head, trying his best not to get caught in a lie by the police inspector. Megure seemed to believe him, however, as he sighed.

“The one time I really need him,” Megure muttered. “In that case, Agasa-san, please; as soon as you see him, tell him to call. There are things I need to discuss with him,” Megure instructed and Agasa nodded.

“I will. Though I did come by to see how, Eri-san was doing,” Agasa explained turning toward the woman. “I caught the broadcast last night by accident. I am… Sorry about Mouri-kun. He was a good man.”

“I- Thank you, Agasa-san,” Eri nodded, thought Agasa could tell her heart wasn’t really in it, the loss probably still too fresh.

“If you wish, Eri-san, I could drive you home,” Agasa offered pointing back at his car. “That way you won’t have to deal with taxies and the like,”

“I was going to do that myself, Agasa-san. No need to-” Megure began, but Eri shook her head.

“It’s okay, Megure-keibu,” Eri assured him, a wan smile on her face. “While I apreciate you taking time to inform me of Kogoro’s fate, I know you have your own work to attend to,” she explained, to which Megure nodded.

“Very well, Eri-san. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask,” the rotund detective nodded, before turning to Agasa, “I am sorry I had to meet you under such circumstances, Agasa-san. Please make sure Eri-san makes it home safe.”

“You have my word, Megure-keibu,” Agasa nodded as the other man departed.

“Shall we go, Eri-san?” Agasa asked, motioning toward the car, with Eri following in a much more sedated pace. Once they sat down and Agasa inserted the keys into the ignition, Eri spoke up;

“What is this really about, Agasa-san?” Eri asked, fixing Agasa with her eyes. The professor noted how bloodshot they were, probably from lack of sleep.

“What do you mean-” the professor tried to play it off, but the woman gave him no chance;

“You knew that I didn’t drive here, which meant that you were outside the building before I came and saw the taxi,” Eri explained, her voice suspicious and accusing, making Agasa hang his head. There was little reason to lie at this point, given that the woman was clearly very observant despite her emotional turmoil.

“The truth is, that Shinichi sent me,” Agasa explained, the revelation catching Eri off guard.

“Then you lied to the police, Agasa-san,” she pointed out, making Agasa nod. “I assume there is a reason for that?”

“They asked me to,” Agasa explained, as he coaxed the Beetle to life and pulled out of the parking lot.

“They? Shinichi-kun and… Ran?” Eri asked, hope filling her voice, along with a tinge of fear. “Why? What possible reason do you have for keeping this from the police?”

“I think it’s something best heard from them directly, Eri-san,” Agasa explained. “And somewhere behind closed doors as well.” The professor added, as he kept glancing in the rearview mirror, to see if someone had followed them.

“Agasa-san… I… Just… Are they okay?” the woman pleaded, her voice cracking a little.

“I… Am not sure how to answer that,” Agasa admitted, glancing at the mirror again.

-DoDo-

Megure sat at his desk, glaring at the report that Yuminaga-keiji had left on his desk nearly an hour ago. So far, he had resisted the urge to just toss it into the nearest shredder and demand a second investigation, but only just. It was becoming more and more tempting by the minute as well, especially after his talk with Eri-san.

The report claimed suicide, as Mouri-kun’s body was doused in alcohol, along with most of the desk and surrounding area. The starting point for the fire was in the middle of the desk, right next to the poor man’s hand, with Yuminaga speculating that it was a cigarette that started it. It all fit, especially with the dire financial straits that the business was in, and the fact that Mouri-kun hadn’t had a job in months.

And that is where Eri-san’s words came in; she had found him a case, and a lucrative one at that. A week prior it would have made sense, but now? Especially in combination with the fact that the Fujimuras were also dead in an ‘accident,’ on the same night as Mouri, was too much.

He hadn’t mentioned his suspicions to Eri, not yet at least, as he knew he needed more. As it stood, there was every chance that Mouri-kun had fumbled the investigation in some way and with the thought of losing the money taken his own life. As unlikely as it was, it was still a possibility and his boss, Matsumoto-kanrikan, would not allow him an official investigation.

Which meant that he needed to get a little creative.

Kudo-kun would have been his first port of call, but given how even his neighbor had not seen him in days, that was a problem. He supposed he could have tried and contact Yusaku-kun, thought that was an uncertain thing, given how illusive the man could be. It would take several days for that, and whatever miniscule trail they could find could very well have disappeared. No, Megure needed something started now… And he knew who he could use for that, while other options opened up.

Sighing, the inspector got up from his desk and called across the bullpen to the two individuals he had in mind;

“Takagi! Sato! My office, now!” he ordered, and once he was sure the two detectives had heard him, he retreated back to his office, waiting for them to enter. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long, as Takagi held the door open for Sato, who gave a quick thanks, making the junior inspector blush. Trying not to roll his eyes at the obvious crush Takagi had on Sato, Megure gestured to the two chairs across from him. As he suspected, Sato took the initiative;

“Is everything okay, Megure-keibu?” she asked.

“Do you have any work that cannot be delegated to someone else?” Megure asked, looking at both of them.

“I just wrapped up a burglary case, so no,” Sato shook her head, and Takagi nodded as well.

“Just a couple of reports from me and Chiba questioning some people about the fire at that detective agency,” he said, to which Megure nodded.

“Takagi-kun, get Chiba-kun to finish those reports,” he instructed, Takagi seemingly appreciating the order to avoid paperwork. Megure though, immediately opened a drawler on his desk and pulled out a couple of forms. “You are both to fill these out for the next week,” he instructed, to which Sato raised an eyebrow.

“Megure-keibu, those are for paid leave, I don’t-” the short-haired woman began, but Megure raised his hand to stop her.

“I know, Sato-kun,” Megure nodded and placed to pens on the table. “I have an assignment for you and Takagi-kun, which has to be kept a secret as much as possible.”

“Ah, does it have anything to do with the fire, Keibu?” Takagi asked, picking up the paper and slowly starting to fill it out. Sato followed his lead with a lot less enthusiasm.

“Yes,” Megure nodded. “I received the report and it ruled it a suicide,” he explained pushing the arson report toward the two.

“You think it’s a set up? Why?” Sato asked, questioned, picking up the report instead of filling out the form. Megure grunted at the question, trying to explain his conflicting feelings on the matter as best he could;

“Mouri Kogoro is… Was, a lot of things,” Megure sighed. “He loved to drink, he loved to gawk at women, he loved to gamble, loved to smoke… Wasn’t even that good of a detective, and he was a man that made mistakes… But he was driven, headstrong, and most definitely not a quitter. He was also someone who valued human life. Mouri Kogoro would not take his own life to get out of his problems, even if you gave him a gun on his worst day!” Megure insisted, his anger spilling into his tone. “Anybody who believes otherwise has never met the man.”

“Furthermore, I spoke with his wife today and she told me, he even found work recently, meaning he had no reason for… This!” he continued, pointing disgustedly at the report. After a moment of silence, Sato quickly put the report down and started to fill out the leave form with almost staggering speed.

“Do we have a lead then? The wife?” Sato asked, just as she and Takagi gave back the forms.

“No. They were separated and fought often, but there is no way Eri-san would do this,” Megure shook his head as he signed off on the forms. “I suggest starting with the notes from the fire, and Takagi-kun’s notes from questioning witnesses. Somebody is bound to have seen something out of the ordinary.”

“Yes, sir!” Both of them nodded as they got up from their chairs.

“And remember you two,” Megure added as they turned to leave; “Someone was willing to kill to keep this hidden. Watch your backs out there, and if you get hurt, I’ll demote you back to traffic with Yumi-kun as your boss!” Megure threatened, causing both Takagi and Sato to nod fervently in understanding.

“Good,” Megure waved them off. “Now go enjoy your ‘leave’. If anybody asks, It’s for stress reasons.”

“Got it, Megure-keibu,” Takagi nodded, as he and Sato left the office.

Once the door closed, Megure buried his face in his hands, with a sigh, wishing he could have given his two detectives more help.

“Damn it, Kudo-kun… Where did you disappear to?”

Chapter Text

Shinichi looked at Ran picking listlessly at the bowl of cereal that Hakase had made for her before leaving in the morning… Four hours ago. By now, the cereal itself had completely dissolved into the milk, creating nothing more than a slush. Shinichi wasn’t sure if Ran even realized how much time had passed since the two of them were left alone in the house.

Shinichi had counted, and his best friend had eaten a total of three bites of food ever since they heard the news broadcast about her father. He couldn’t… Blame her, but he wished he knew a way to help Ran. He wished he knew something about what had happened to her father, but so far, every report he had watched, along with a couple of newspaper articles were infuriatingly vague on details. The police hadn’t released an official report yet, which led to a lot of speculation on the media’s part.

For his own theories, without being at the scene, the best Shinichi could figure out was the timeframe; at fifteen minutes past nine, someone had called anonymously to report smoke coming from the agency’s window. Allowing for an hour difference, that left enough time to get from Tropical Land to Mouri-san’s office easily, especially with a car. It wasn’t a definitive connection, but it was something. After that, the fire department arrived about five minutes afterward and started to put out the fire.

Despite easy access to a fire hydrant and their quick arrival, the fire department had taken close to an hour and a half to get the fires extinguished. Given the time, Shinichi knew some sort of accelerant was used. Alcohol was a possibility, but there must have been something mixed in with it, otherwise, it would have neither burned so fast nor been that difficult to extinguish.

It all painted the picture of either a thoroughly pre-planned suicide or a very convincing cover-up.

Furthermore, the way the body was purportedly found caused Shinichi doubt; sitting in the chair, completely unmoved. Shinichi had seen his fair share of burn victims either through his dad or helping Megure-keibu, and none of them looked like this. No matter how prepared someone was to commit suicide, their body would still react naturally to being set alight. There was the option that Mouri-san had medicated himself, but given his suspicions, Shinichi was sure that someone else had drugged the man.

He hadn’t shared his suspicions with Ran just yet. His best friend was hanging on by a thread as it was, and Shinichi desperately hoped that Kisaki-san being here would give her something to latch onto and come back to herself.

 Glancing over at the clock and seeing that it was close to twelve o’clock, Shinichi sighed and got up from his chair, swiping Ran’s uneaten cereal as he did. The sudden action seemed to snap Ran momentarily out of her stupor as she turned toward Shinichi,

“I was still-” the girl tried to protest, but Shinichi shook his head.

“You haven’t taken a bite in over an hour,” he pointed out, tossing out the mushy cereal into the sink. “Going to make us some ramen. Just give me a minute, okay?”

“No, I can do it myself,” Ran protested, but Shinichi looked a little doubtful.

“Ran, you’ve barely been… Well, moving, since this morning,” Shinichi pointed out. “The last thing we need right now is for you to burn yourself or-”

“I want to do it, Shinichi,” Ran insisted, the tone of voice, one that Shinichi knew he couldn’t argue against. Stepping aside, Ran walked into the kitchen and retrieved a chair to help her reach the cupboards where Hakase kept his shockingly large supply of instant noodles. Leaning back against the counter, his head, barely poking over the edge, Shinichi spoke up, more to fill the silence than anything else;

“Annoying to have to grab chairs for stuff like this, isn’t it?” he asked, watching for Ran’s reaction, but just as he suspected, Ran was starting to retreat from reality again, as she was staring at a package of instant ramen, her eyes watering again.

“Otou-san liked this brand…” she muttered, before putting the meal back in the cupboard. Shinichi watched with a worried frown as Ran merely sunk into the chair, eyes brimming with fresh tears. Unable to think of another way to comfort his best friend, Shinichi merely affirmed;

“We will catch whoever did this, Ran. I promise!”

“I… Know, but,” Ran said listlessly. “But that won’t bring him back, will it?” she asked, causing Shinichi to look away from her.

“No, it… Won’t,” he admitted, before taking a deep breath. “But we will make sure that nobody else can be hurt by the people who killed your father, Ran. We will bring them to justice.”

“Justice, huh?” Ran asked, tone still doubtful. “And would that make it… Hurt less?”

“I…” Shinichi paused for a moment, unsure what to actually say. He wanted to say that it would and that it would make everything better, but the fact was he didn’t know. He’d never been in the position Ran was in, so he dared not speak, lest he lie to her. And lie in a way that she wouldn’t be able to recover from. “Maybe it will, Ran. And if it doesn’t… I’ll be here so we can figure something else out.” He promised, which finally made Ran give him a wan smile.

Before they could continue their discussion, however, the front door clicked open and despite knowing that it was probably Hakase, both Shinichi and Ran froze waiting for something to break the silence. And when it did, Ran was the first to react;

“So, Agasa-san, can you now explain to me what happened?” the voice of Eri Kisaki reached both Shinichi and Ran. It was enough for Ran and she bolted toward the door.

-DoDo-

“Oka-san!”

Eri Kisaki froze at hearing Ran’s voice. While Agasa-san had assured her that Ran and Shinichi-kun were both at his house, actually hearing her daughter’s voice sent a wave of relief across Eri. The kind of relief she never thought she’d feel again, after hearing about the fire at Kogoro’s place. Turning toward the sound of the voice, Eri was ready to rush over and hug her daughter… Only for a young child to appear from behind the corner, tears in her eyes, and running toward the attorney.

As the girl collided with Eri’s legs, hugging her tightly, Eri looked down and could not believe her eyes; the girl looked like Ran did back in the day. The hair, face, eyes, and even the voice were the same, but that was ten years ago. It was absolutely impossible and yet Eri was sure this was her daughter. The exact same daughter she saw not a month back just… She was now seven.

Gently pushing the little girl back so she could get a better look at her, Eri knelt down so she’d be on the same level as the girl. She inspected every little detail, trying to convince herself that this was a trick of some sort because she had no way to explain what she was seeing right now. But, even the stubborn tuft of hair that stuck out was the exact same as Eri remembered.

“R-ran?” Eri asked, her voice shaking a little with emotion and disbelief. “How-”

“Some sort of poison, Kisaki-san,” a much calmer male voice supplied, turning Eri’s attention toward the hallway, where a young boy with dark brown hair and intense blue eyes. Very familiar ones at that.

“Shinichi-kun?” Eri stared between the two of them, as the young Shinichi nodded. Taking a deep breath, Eri turned toward Agasa-san.

“I believe you three should start explaining now!” she suggested, and all three of them nodded, as the Professor closed the door behind them.

-DoDo-

“So, if I understand everything,” Eri began placing down a cup of tea that Agasa-san had prepared for her, while the teenager, kids perhaps, filled her in on what had happened at Tropical Land and how they had ended up in their current predicament. “You two followed dangerous individuals to an illicit exchange of money over gun smuggling and got caught doing so, beaten, and force-fed experimental poison,” she recounted, noting that Ran and Shinichi-kun’s expressions were severely downcast.

“And then you ran to Agasa-san’s house where you saw the news report,” Eri tried to keep her voice as steady as possible for this part, despite the fact that she fully shared Ran’s desire to cry. “And decided to remain here until I can be contacted. Did I miss anything?”

“No, Oka-san!” Ran shook her head and Shinichi-kun nodded as well.

“Good, because that brings me to my next point,” Eri adjusted her glasses and took a deep breath. “What were you two THINKING?!” she demanded, her sudden shouts causing everyone else, Agasa-san included to jump up in the air. “You followed people who you knew were dangerous Shinichi-kun!” she accused the boy.

“I-”

“And Ran!” Eri turned her attention toward her daughter who let out a minuscule squeak like a cornered mouse. “If you had a bad feeling, why not just go and grab a policeman or park security for God’s sake?”

“You are teenagers!” she emphasized, not giving them a chance to respond. “This is not your job, no matter how gifted you are!” the last statement was pointedly directed at Shinichi, who at least had the good grace to look ashamed.

“Kisaki-san,” Agasa-san spoke up, drawing Eri’s attention away from the two shrunken teens. “While I understand your anger, especially in light of recent events, there is little to be done now. We need to come up with a plan for how to-”

“I have one,” Shinichi-kun spoke up, drawing attention to himself again, and Eri raised an eyebrow.

“I hope it’s more thought out than your last plan, Shinichi-kun,” She pointed out, but surprisingly, Ran spoke up as well;

“Hear him out, Oka-san,” Ran requested, placing a hand on Shinichi-kun’s shoulder. “He… I think it’s a good plan.”

“Very well,”

“Our first problem is accommodations,” Shinichi began, his voice hard, and clinical. Eri was somewhat surprised at how well the teen was handling this. Eri herself might very well be a mess if she was suddenly turned into a child. “We can’t stay at my house, because someone might come and investigate. Hakase’s is also out, due to sheer proximity. We were considering Mouri-san, but…” Shinichi paused for a moment, giving Ran’s hand a supportive squeeze. “Second problem is information. We need to find the men in black if we can even hope to get a cure. Correct Hakase?”

“I’ve started compiling a list of equipment, but it will take me several months to get all of it,” Agasa-san admitted. “And even then, my specialty is inventions. Not biology.”

“And lastly, we need a believable story as to where Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran are,” Shinichi-kun finished, looking up at Eri. “The answer to all three questions is why I asked Hakase to contact you, Kisaki-san.”

“And not your own parents, Shinichi-kun?” Eri asked, but Shinichi shook his head, while Agasa-san answered in full;

“Finding them might take weeks if not months,” the professor scratched his head. “The issue is with Yusaku-kun who is rather… Elusive when a deadline is looming. Such as it is now.”

“Besides, Shinichi thinks he can find a trail on the men in black from you, Oka-san,” Ran added, to which Shinichi-kun nodded.

“You are hoping to glean a trail to follow from old cases?” Eri guessed, but Shinichi-kun shook his head.

“Old, new, current, anything! If you can get me others from other lawyers all the better,” Shinichi-kun explained, and Eri looked thoughtful for a moment before answering;

“I can see what I can do,” she promised thinking it over. Old cases would hardly be a problem. New ones that come in would be tricky, but not impossible. After all, if children just happened to look at a report every now and then. From other lawyers, it would be nearly impossible unless… “And I suppose that the problem of accommodations ties in with this?”

“You are, Ran’s mother, Kisaki-san,” Shinichi pointed out. “And the chances of someone recognizing us that far out from Teitan High School are very slim.”

“Besides, Oka-san, I don’t think you should be alone right now,” Ran added, causing Eri to glance up at her. Of course, Ran of all people would be more worried about her mother, than herself. “Not after what happened with Otou-san.” She added, causing Eri to purse her lips.

“I agree with all of your points thus far,” Eri admitted, even though she was still unsure about the whole thing. Yes, it made sense, but so did going to the police and arguing until someone managed to get it through their thick skulls that they weren’t lying. “How will you explain your absence? Ran’s friend, Sonoko-chan, has already called me at least four times to ask where you two are,” she pointed out.

“We can leave her a message, tell her that we are tracking a case,” Shinichi explained.

“And she will believe it?” Eri asked suspiciously. “While it wouldn’t have been unheard of if Shinichi-kun did so, Ran following suit would raise a few eyebrows.”

“It is what I did yesterday,” Ran pointed out. “And I will try to tell her myself. Hopefully, if it’s over the phone, my voice will not be noticeably different,” Ran grimaced a little.

“I might actually have something for that, Ran-kun,” Agasa-san added, pulling out a small red bowtie, of all things, from his pocket. Before anybody could ask though, the old man flipped the bowtie over, revealing a series of dials and what appeared to be a microphone built into the attire.

“One of your inventions, Hakase?” Shinichi asked clearly skeptical. A sentiment that Eri shared.

“It’s a voice-changing bowtie, yes!” the professor nodded and quickly brought the microphone to his mouth and spoke. Eri had to resist jumping in surprise when Ran’s teenage voice came from the device, matching Agasa-san lips perfectly. “As you can see it can mimic any voice perfectly, provided one adjusts the dials for gender and age, with some extra input for pitch. Like so!” the man demonstrated as he moved his thumbs over the dial and suddenly Shinichi’s voice filled the room. “The invention never got picked up, but I kept the prototype.”

With his demonstration done, Agasa-san handed Ran the small bowtie, Ran looking a little overwhelmed by the information, while Shinichi and Eri looked impressed.

“Well, I suppose, if Sonoko-chan can be persuaded, your other friends at Teitan will follow suit,” Eri muttered. “What about a cover story for you living with me? You can hardly be registered under your current names,” she pointed out, and Shinichi looked at Agasa-san again who coughed.

“I contacted some of Yusaku-kun’s more… Questionable acquaintances,” he explained, clearly feeling uncomfortable discussing this in front of one of the best attorneys in Tokyo, and perhaps Japan as a whole. “If we can pick out some names, they can have documents made for them in a few days,” he explained and Eri nodded.

“And I assumed we can pass you two off as distant relations? Nephews of cousins, or some such?” Eri asked, and both kids nodded. Sighing at the mess she was about to sign up for, Eri asked: “And have you picked out names?”

“Shinichi… suggested a few, after combing through the family library,” Ran pointed to her friend. “He picked out Edogawa Conan for himself, and for me it’s Komuro Kirino.” She supplied.

“And both references to mystery writers, naturally,” Eri sighed, looking at Shinichi-kun. “The different names will be a little strange, but I do have quite a few cousins, so not impossible. It would be best if you two can wear glasses or something to that effect. We won’t meet too many people that could recognize you admittedly, but better safe than sorry,” Eri admitted, before realizing something. “By law, however, you will have to attend school, at least temporarily.” Both shrunk teens groaned at the declaration, but Shinichi recovered first.

“It would be best if we avoid suspicion,” he admitted, though it was clear by his expression that he hardly enjoyed the prospect of being surrounded by children.

“At least you won’t have to worry about the lessons, Shinichi-kun,” Agasa-san tried to cheer him up, but the boy looked over at Ran, the two of them exchanging a tense look before Ran nodded ever so slightly.

“Kisaki-san,” Shinichi began to speak, his tone of voice grave. “We need to talk about Mouri-san,” a pin could be heard dropping in the silence that followed Shinichi’s question, causing Eri to glare slightly at the boy for bringing it up now. Still, he at least had the foresight to ask for Ran’s permission before speaking, which was better than she expected.

“I would suppose that, as a detective, you have theories, Shinichi-kun?” Eri asked, and the boy nodded, his expression far too serious to be on a seven-year-old’s face.

“I doubt the two men in black found Mouri-san through us,” Shinichi-kun explained. “Nothing in Ran’s possession had her address after all. And if they did a background check somehow-”

“They’d have come for me as well,” Eri concluded grimly, to which the shrunken teen nodded.

“And Ran said he got a case, correct?” Shinichi pressed, but surprisingly Ran also spoke up, even if her voice was a little shaky;

“He told me that you found him a client, Oka-san,” she explained, and Eri nodded.

“A friend of mine thought her husband was cheating on her,” Eri explained the circumstances. “She was a member of my literature club and when she mentioned her problem, I remembered what Ran had told me, about Kogoro’s business being slow lately,” she said glancing over at Ran, who nodded. “Since it was a simple case, I didn’t think much of it, and recommended that Naomi-chan go and talk with him.”

“What was your friend’s full name, Kisaki-san?” Shinichi asked taking a notepad and pencil from the table.

“Fujimura Naomi, she and her husba-” Eri stopped, when they all heard Agasa-san gasp. Ran was surprisingly the first to venture and ask;

“What’s wrong, Hakase?” Ran asked, and the old professor quickly booted up his computer, pulling up a news article from this morning.

“Fujimura Naomi, along with her entire household was found dead last night,” Agasa-san explained. “A gas leak blew their house up, killing her, her husband, and the hired help.” He explained pulling up a picture, causing Eri to gasp as she recognized her friend’s picture, while both Shinichi and Ran shouted:

“That’s him!” they both ran over to the computer, their eyes fixated on Naomi-chan’s husband.

“Him, who?” Agasa-san asked though Eri was already suspecting what the answer to the question was;

“He was the man who paid the two men in black,” Shinichi explained.

“Are you sure, Shinichi-kun?” Eri asked stepping closer to the monitor, confirming that it was in fact a report about her friend.

“Yes, it was him,” Ran confirmed. “I… Does that mean Otou-san got involved with this, Oka-san?” she asked, her expression difficult to read.

“It… Appears so, Ran,” Eri nodded, already feeling the weight of this discovery; if Kogoro did meet the men while investigating Naomi-chan’s husband, that meant that the case Eri put him on was the cause of his death. Much like last night, Eri found herself frozen and contemplating exactly what this meant. This time at least, while shocking, there was a degree of separation between her and the victim, meaning that Eri could look at this more objectively than before; someone had blackmailed the Fujimuras, without too much effort. While Eisei-kun didn’t lead the biggest trading company around, he had enough money to stall any potential legal actions if he so desired. His being involved in gun smuggling was serious, and the fact someone was willing to risk blackmail, was even more so. Combined with the fact that they clearly were not averse to murder and it all painted a bleak picture of who Shinichi and Ran faced.

Eri was going to have to give them as much support as she could, it would seem… And Agasa-san was the perfect man to start offering said support.

Chapter Text

Sonoko Suzuki was not someone who’d describe themselves as easily thrown into panic. Sure, she sometimes worried about insignificant things, but few things could make her genuinely panic.

Not being able to get in contact with her best friend, was one of those few things, however. Normally, not seeing Ran early morning after a date with her precious Shinichi-kun would have made Sonoko’s month with all the teasing she would be doing about why Ran was late.

With the news she saw yesterday, teasing Ran was the furthest thing from Sonoko’s mind, however. Ran’s dad was dead, and Sonoko had exhausted every way to get in touch with her friend that she could think of; calling the Kudo mansion, Ran’s mother, and even Ran’s karate practice. Hospitals also had no records of anybody who looked like Ran, but that didn’t stop Sonoko from worrying.

Years of being in the vicinity of Kudo Shinichi had resulted in Sonoko knowing far too much about how various crimes could be committed against pretty girls like Ran, including kidnappings, murders and much worse.

The thought of Ran being kidnapped terrified Sonoko to the core and she desperately wished that Kudo-kun was around to help her find Ran. At the very least the detective maniac would be able to tell her in five seconds if Ran was indeed kidnapped or not.

The only reason that Sonoko had refrained from calling the police and throwing around the family name to get them to search for Ran, was that her sister, Ayako, had dissuaded her from acting rashly. After all, she had no starting point, meaning that even with the Suzuki name behind her requests, the police wouldn’t be too useful.

And so, here she was; not having slept, endured several mind-numbing lessons, eating lunch alone at school, having no idea where her best friend and her boyfriend were. Her cellphone was literally in her free hand ready to receive a call, from anybody who could find Ran. Sonoko’s money was on Kisaki-sensei since without her dad, Ran had no other place to go realistically.

As Sonoko forced herself to take another bite of her lunch, a vibration ran through her phone and sure enough, a second later the melody played. Despite having waited for the call for what felt like an eternity, Sonoko was still startled and scrambled to flip open the phone, not bothering to look at the number, before answering;

“Hello, Ran?” Sonoko demanded, and for a few precious seconds, she received no reply, before the voice she’d been dying to hear replied;

“Hey, Sonoko,” Ran replied, sounding quite neutral over the phone. The tone of voice seemed to infuriate Sonoko more than anything, however;

“What do you mean ‘hey’?!” Sonoko demanded, ignoring the stares a few of her classmates were slinging her for being loud. “Where are you? Did you see the-”

“I saw the reports,” Ran admitted, voice cracking a little, which stopped Sonoko’s tirade in its tracks. “I… I am going to need some time, Sonoko.”

“Time? What do you mean?” Sonoko asked, puzzled. “Ran, where are you? And where is Shinichi-kun?”

“He’s here,” Ran answered without actually revealing the location. “We… he found a case that he needed to pursue. I… I decided to tag along,” Ran said, causing Sonoko to raise an eyebrow. She might not have been the most observant person in the world, but even she knew when someone was lying to her face. Especially if that someone was her best friend.

“Ran, are you safe?” Sonoko asked, quietly, just in case someone was listening.

“As safe as I can be, promise,” Ran assured Sonoko, but it sounded forced. “Shinichi and I will be back as soon as we can Sonoko, I promise.”

“Ran is this about your dad?” Sonoko asked, waiting for the reply to come. Sonoko could swear she heard another voice and a small sob from the other end of the line, but couldn’t place who it belonged to. “Ran?”

“It’s… Maybe… We don’t know Sonoko,” Ran finally replied, her tone oddly calm now, the words not quite the way Ran would normally talk. “Just… We’ll be okay, so don’t worry. We’ll call whenever we can,” and with that, the line went dead, causing Sonoko to blink blankly at it.

She just got hung up on…

Taking a deep breath, Sonoko closed her flip phone and reflected on the conversation. Ran was okay, or at the very least still alive. Shinichi-kun was with her as well, meaning that they were safe… At least until they started attracting dead bodies as that detective was bound to do. The fact that Ran refused to say where they were though, bothered Sonoko greatly. Also, the fact that Ran followed Shinichi-kun on a case. Given Ran’s disposition toward dead bodies that seemed… Dubious.

There was also that change in demeanor near the end and the other voices. Ran was somewhere with people she could talk to.

But where?

Sonoko needed to know. Because despite Ran’s assurances, Sonoko knew her friend needed help.

And perhaps there was a way to get it to her… After all, Shinichi-kun wasn’t the only high-school detective out there.

-DoDo-

“Are you okay, Ran?” Shinichi asked as he put the phone down, and deactivated the Voice-Changing Bowtie. While Ran had insisted on talking with Sonoko, the other girl’s questions about Mouri-san did prove too much, so he had to swap with Ran near the end. Looking up from where Kisaki-san was consoling her, Ran nodded, wiping away the last few tears from her eyes.

“I’ll… It will take a bit, but I’ll be okay,” Ran assured him. “At least Sonoko won’t go sparse trying to find us,” Ran assured herself to which Shinichi nodded.

“Hopefully,” he sighed. “And one less person looking for us will make hiding easier… I hope.” He concluded rather unsure of himself. After all, while the explanation would work for now, how long would Sonoko actually believe that they were on a case?

It took Shinichi on average a day and a half to solve a case. According to Agasa, it would take months for them to start testing and who knew how long until a cure. The only solution would be to keep Sonoko appraised of the ‘cases’ he and Ran were solving. Finding stories from books around the Kudo library would be easy.

Now all they had to do, was find the men in black.

“Kisaki-san,” he turned to Ran’s mother. “Perhaps it would be best if we go? We wouldn’t want to attract too much attention,” he pointed out, looking at Agasa, who was putting away the bowtie.

“I understand Shinichi,” Agasa nodded. “I’ll keep getting your mail for the time being and see if I can get in touch with Yusaku-kun.”

“Thanks, Hakase,” Shinichi nodded, while Kisaki-san and Ran got off the couch.

“You two go ahead,” Kisaki-san told Shinichi and Ran. “I need to talk with Agasa-san and call us a cab. We’ll buy you guys a few futons for tonight and I’ll get Kuriyama-san to get proper beds for the apartment tomorrow,” she promised. “We can go clothes shopping during the weekend.”

“Okay, Oka-san,” Ran nodded. “Come on Shinichi,” she urged the shrunk teen, but the request did get Shinichi suspicious. What could Kisaki-san need from Hakase right now, he wondered. Still, he followed Ran toward the front door.

-DoDo-

“Spot anything yet, Takagi-kun?” Sato-san asked, drawing Takagi’s attention away from the notes he was reviewing. It had been several hours now since Megure-keibu had tasked him and Sato-san to look into the fire at the detective agency. After a positively harrowing ride in Sato-san’s car, the two of them settled in a buffet restaurant that was apparently a favorite of his colleague. Ever since then, the two of them had read and reread the notes Takagi took with Chiba, but made little progress. Firstly, because there was very little in said notes to use, and second because Takagi himself had been slightly… Distracted by Sato-san being so close.

Takagi had always managed to act professionally toward his colleague whenever at work, but her literally sharing a booth with him at a restaurant was a bit much for him to keep a clear head. Fighting back the blush that was threatening to creep up, he focused on the task at hand;

“Nothing that stands out,” Takagi admitted, scratching his head with the back of a pencil. “Mouri-san appears to have left his office very early yesterday, well before most of the businesses opened. The only person who could vouch for that was the corner store where Mouri-san bought some cigarettes, coffee, and a few snacks.”

“Yeah, nobody appears to have seen him all day, including in the café underneath his office,” Sato-san confirmed pointing at a few of the other notes. “So, we don’t know anything about his morning or day, but there is one thing that I noted from the evening.” She handed Takagi one of the notes, which he accepted.

“I thought nobody saw him during the night either,” Takagi said, even as he looked over the note. “A foreign car? What about it?”

“An expensive foreign car that nobody remembers seeing before,” Sato-san pointed out. “One of the store clerks from across the street spotted it, as he was closing up. Couldn’t get a make and model for it, unfortunately, but it was apparently black and eye-catching.”

“Chiba suggested that too,” Takagi nodded. “But really, what reason would someone who could afford a car like that have to hurt Mouri-san…” a realization hit Takagi just as he said the words, slapping himself on the forehead when he realized the implication; “Unless they had something to do with the case he was working on!”

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Sato-san confirmed with an approving nod. “If we can find this car, we could find someone connected to all this.”

“Did the store clerk spot anybody?” Takagi asked, looking over the notes quickly, but Sato-san shook her head.

“No, he only noted the car and got back to work. By the time he counted the cash registers the car was gone,” the female detective explained. “About thirty minutes later the fire started.”

“Another lead could be the rental car,” Takagi pointed out, as he showed Sato-san the receipt for a rental vehicle that they got from Mouri-san’s financial records. “Someone would have had to return it at some point.”

“Either that or just abandon it somewhere, though it is a good place to check,” Sato-san agreed. “So, Takagi-kun, think we should start with the car or the rental place?” Sato-san asked him, causing Takagi to frown for a moment, before replying.

“The rental place might be better since we’re supposedly on leave,” Takagi explained. “Can’t exactly request camera footage directly, unless you think Yumi-san would bend some rules for us?”

“Oh, she absolutely will,” Sato-san chuckled. “But you’re right, the rental place might raise fewer eyebrows.”

“Good, let’s go-” Takagi started to gather up the notes from the case before Sato-san stopped him with a shake of her head.

“Nope! Not until we’ve gotten our money’s worth!” the pixie-haired detective declared, gesturing to the food they had ignored until now. “We still have an hour before we have to leave.” She reminded him before grabbing her chopsticks.

“Ah… Right…” Takagi chuckled awkwardly at Sato-san’s eccentricities.

-DoDo-

“Hey, Shinichi,” Ran called over from her futon, drawing Shinichi’s attention to herself. “Are you asleep?”

“No,” her friend admitted quietly in the dark room. After a very quiet dinner with her mother, where nobody said much, Ran and Shinichi had retired to what was to be their room for the foreseeable future. Neither of them really said a word as they settled in the newly bought futons, but as they turned off the light, Ran found herself unable to sleep. She had heard her mother heading to bed about thirty minutes ago, but even the absolute quiet of the apartment couldn’t lull the shrunken teen to sleep.

It appeared that Shinichi shared her plight.

“Are you thinking about the case?” Ran asked. For some reason referring to it in this way helped. It helped her not constantly think about her father if she didn’t say the words exactly.

“Amidst other things,” Shinichi sighed and Ran heard him sit up, causing her to look over. It was still disconcerting not to see Shinichi as he was, but a little boy again. To see him as Edogawa Conan, as was his name now. It would take some getting used to, but fortunately, they had a few days before the new documents were made and they had to appear amidst other people. Ran really hoped that she could get used to not accidentally calling him by his real name by then.

“Like what?” Ran prodded further as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

“The situation with Kisaki-san’s friend,” Shinichi replied, causing Ran to frown. The fact that the men in black supposedly killed more people that night was something that Ran could still not comprehend. Perhaps she was truly naïve, but her father had always reinforced how precious life was. And yet those two men snuffed it out apparently on a whim. “Doesn’t make sense,” Shinichi muttered, causing Ran to speak up.

“Shinichi, they are killers,” Ran pointed out. “They tried to kill us! Why wouldn’t it make sense for them to cover their tracks?” but Shinichi shook his head at her words.

“It’s not that, Ran,” her friend insisted. “It’s the timeline that doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?” Ran asked, a bit of worry seeping into her tone. Shinichi turned around and began his explanation, sitting cross-legged.

“The Fujimura residence was reported to have exploded at around 8:38 PM according to the article we read. Time of death confirms that it is around the time the family died,” he pointed out causing Ran to flinch a little at how clinical, Shinichi’s tone was, despite being that of a seven-year-old. “The fire at the detective agency was spotted at 9:15 PM.”

“So?”

“Ran, the Fujimura residence is over an hour by car,” Shinichi pointed out. “Even if the men drove like crazy and broke speed limits, which is not something you’re supposed to do when trying to be unnoticed, there is no way the same two men could have been at both locations.” As the words left his mouth, Ran immediately realized what her friend was trying to imply.

“Shinichi, are you saying there are more of them out there?” Ran asked, her voice hitching a little.

“Yes,” Shinichi confirmed, looking unnerved himself. “Ran, I think we’re dealing with an organization, not just two callous murderers.”

“You… Don’t sound surprised,” Ran pointed out, her voice more accusing than she had hoped.

“I suspected it as soon as I heard about the drug when they tried to kill us,” Shinichi admitted, looking away. “I allowed for the possibility that they merely got their hands on something from an underground market, maybe from the US or Europe, but after the Fujimuras, that theory went in the trash.”

“Do you think it’s just one more person or multiple?” Ran asked, slightly more concerned now.

“At the very least two others… Probably a lot more,” Shinichi said, resting his chin in his hand, eyes narrowed. “The Fujimura family had at least three servants, a wife, and a husband. It would take at least two people to subdue them, and that’s allowing for whoever developed the drug to be a field agent.” Shinichi theorized.

“And if not, that means five people,” Ran concluded.

“Five that we know of,” her friend corrected her, his tone sounding slightly bitter.

“Shinichi…“ Ran whispered. “Oka-san might be right… This is starting to feel far too big.”

“Maybe… But once we have some proof, we can get someone, maybe my dad, to get in touch with some intelligence agencies.” Shinichi suggested. “For now, though, we have to settle our day-to-day lives, and start going through your mom’s cases.”

“You do, you mean,” Ran corrected him. “I’m not that good with investigating, Shinichi.”

“I wasn’t either at one point,” her friend shrugged. “But you’re going to have to learn. I… Don’t think I’ll be able to do this alone, Ran,” Shinichi admitted, his voice sounding fragile for the first time in a while that Ran could remember.

“Shinichi…”

“Stuck like this, forced to hide and not even being able to investigate the way I used to… I… I don’t know what I would have done if I was alone in this, Ran,” he spoke, looking at her with a hopeful smile. “Don’t know if I could stay sane, honestly.”

“Me neither, Shinichi,” Ran nodded, unable to quite stop the tears forming in her eyes. “Especially not after my dad…” Ran sobbed, but Shinichi quickly crawled over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Just remember; we’ll get those bastards,” Shinichi promised, his azure eyes gleaming with conviction. “Together!”

“Yes… Together!” Ran affirmed, trying to fight back her tears. “Always!”

Chapter Text

“Well, that was a wash,” Sato sighed, as she and Takagi-kun made their way out of the rental car company where Mouri-san had gotten his vehicle from. The man at the front office had little to say to them, unfortunately; the car was returned to the dealership after closing that day, so nobody spotted who drove it. The money was left in the car in an enclosed envelope, with late fees included.

“And worst of all, it could mean that Mouri-san could have returned the car himself,” Takagi-kun pointed out, which made Sato frown.

“True, since the office closes at seven,” she nodded looking over her notes. “Mouri-san’s office is also within walking distance from here, about thirty minutes in total.”

“No cameras either, though we could try some of the businesses across the street,” Takagi-kun suggested, but one look across the street told Sato that it might not be all too useful; a café, a drugstore, and two tax agencies. All businesses that closed fairly early and any cameras would be pointed on the inside if they had any. Still, any port in the storm.

“Mind taking the two tax agencies, Takagi-kun?” Sato requested to which her junior nodded quickly and headed out. Deciding to go for the more probable place to get some information Sato entered the drugstore.

As she suspected, the lone camera in the small store was pointed toward the cash register, confirming her earlier estimate. The clerk at the counter looked at her curiously, as Sato raised her badge.

“I need to ask you a few questions about yesterday, sir,” Sato explained, causing the man to blink.

“Has something happened, inspector?” he inquired, stepping from behind the counter. He appeared slightly nervous, but it could very well have been since he wasn’t used to talking to the police.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, mister…” Sato prompted.

“Ah yes, my name is Kazushiro Yamaoka,” he introduced himself and Sato quickly noted.

“Inspector Sato, 1^st Division, Metropolitan Police,” Sato introduced herself. “I need to ask you a few questions about yesterday.”

“By all means, Inspector,”

“Was there anybody here between 7 and 9 PM yesterday, Kazushiro-san?” Sato asked, and surprisingly, the clerk took a few moments to think before nodding;

“I was quite behind on inventory, unfortunately, so I had to stay pretty late to catch up on it,” Kazushiro-san confirmed.

“And were you here in the store or the back room?” Sato inquired and the man scratched his head.

“Started out here, since I had to take stock of everything I had,” he admitted, gesturing to the shelves, and Sato had to admit they were really understocked. “I moved to the back at around 8… Maybe 8:15.”

“And during that time, did you spot someone leaving a car in front of the dealership? Specifically, this person?” Sato asked, pulling out a picture of Mouri-san to show to the clerk. Kazushiro-san took the picture and looked at it for a few seconds before shaking his head.

“No definitely, not him,” Kazushiro-san said handing back the picture to Sato. “The man that left the car was bulkier and wore all black and had a fedora. Even had sunglasses on believe it or not.” Sato noted everything down as she heard it, finding the description quite strange.

“Anything else?”

“Not much I’m afraid,” Kazushiro-san admitted. “As I said, black suit, looked expensive. Oh, and he looked very happy as he left the car there. Sorry, I can’t be of any more help, Sato-keiji,” he apologized.

“It’s okay,” she assured him, putting her notebook away. “Have a nice day, Kazushiro-san,” As she stepped outside she noticed that Takagi-kun was already outside, looking a little dejected. “No luck, I take it?”

“No,” Takagi-kun sighed flipping his notebook open. “Cameras are only looking inward and the offices were empty,” he supplied glumly.

“Well, I did get a description of the person who left the car, courtesy of a clerk who was late on inventory,” Sato smirked. “Apparently a man left the car, bulky and wearing all black, down to sunglasses and a fedora.” Interestingly her words seemed to make her partner pause.

“Black… Fedora… Sunglasses,” he muttered to himself.

“Something on your mind Takagi-kun?” Sato inquired and he nodded.

“Yesterday, at Tropical Land, Megure-keibu and I had a case; decapitation,”

“The one where that Kudo kid helped out?”

“Yeah,” Takagi-kun confirmed. “Two of the suspects there were similarly dressed. One of them even had sunglasses on.”

“From what I heard, it was a friend of the victim that killed her though, right?”

“Yeah, Kudo-kun showcased the trick,” Takagi nodded, recounting the case. “It was impressive, but he dismissed the two men as suspects quite quickly.”

“Still, you probably have their names on file, right?” Sato prodded, and Takagi-kun nodded, flipping through his notebook.

“Let me see…Kurosawa Jin and Uokka Saburo,” Takagi said, finally finding the names. “Uokka Saburo was the one with the sunglasses.”

“Might need to run those names through the system, but that would take a while,” Sato scribbled down the names for herself just in case. “And that’s if they are legitimate as well.”

“I am guessing they aren’t,” Takagi-kun sighed. “Still, I remember how they look, so we can get an artist’s recreation. At the very least these men were associated with Mouri-san enough to drive the car back.”

“I’ll call Yumi and ask her to get us some footage from nearby traffic cameras,” Sato said, picking up her phone. “If we can put the man here, we should have enough for Megure-keibu to open an actual investigation into this,” she smiled.

-DoDo-

“What do you mean there is no footage?!” Sato screamed in Yumi’s face, causing her oldest friend to wave her hands protectively in front of her face.

“Well, you see, it’s not that there is no footage,” Yumi tried to defend herself from Sato’s anger. “It’s just that it doesn’t do you any good… He-he…” taking a deep breath to try and calm herself Sato, asked;

“Explain,”

“Well, as you can see,” Yumi began, pulling up the footage from around the car rental as Sato had requested. “The only time your car has even been spotted was three blocks away, and we can’t even see the driver,” Yumi pointed out, as she stopped the footage and Sato squinted at it. Frustratingly the traffic officer was right. The best they could tell was that the driver had black hair and that could have been Mouri-san.

“Damn it!” Sato cursed under her breath. “This was our best lead,”

“Come on Miwako,” Yumi tried to assure her friend. “I am sure you and Takagi-kun will think of something else.”

As if on cue, Sato’s partner returned from his talk with Chiba-kun and looked just as frustrated as Sato herself felt.

“Nothing on the names?” Sato guessed and Takagi-kun nodded.

“Haven’t existed for a month even,” he explained. “Unless we can get something else, we’ve got nothing we can use to follow them.” Takagi-kun sighed

“Aren’t you two on leave?” Yumi asked suspiciously, catching both of them by surprise. Sato groaned inwardly; of course, Yumi would know, since she was the biggest gossip in the station.

“Just cleaning up a loose end, Yumi,” Sato assured her, but it was clear her friend wasn’t quite buying it.

“Mhm… Well, don’t let me hold you two up!” Yumi waved them off with a singsong voice, which immediately made Sato suspicious. Yumi only acted like this when she smelled juicy gossip and Sato did not want to be part of it.

“So, what now, Sato-san?” Takagi-kun asked as they left Yumi’s department. “Yumi-san is right, we’re supposed to be on leave, which means requesting other resources would be suspicious. Chiba himself asked why I wasn’t at home relaxing.”

“I know, Takagi-kun,” Sato nodded, thinking. “Our only other lead really is the exotic car that was mentioned, but as it is, we might have to wait for that. Or ask around in some dealerships or mechanics.”

“Hm, I do know a guy from a case a few months back,” Takagi-kun admitted. “He mostly deals in American cars, but maybe he could help?”

“Best lead we have,” Sato agreed, desperately hoping it wouldn’t be another dead end.

-DoDo-

“Okan, I’m back!” Hattori Heiji called from the front door as he removed his shoes, slipping into home slippers as he did. Surprisingly, no response came from the house, causing him to frown a little. Quite possibly his mom decided to go out to the shop or something. Sighing, the Osaka teen, hefted the bag that contained all of his kendo gear and headed toward his room. After all, the newspaper had an article he was interested and he didn’t want to waste any more time examining it.

It wasn’t every day that a private detective died under mysterious circumstances after all.

Heiji entered his room and tossed his kendo gear in the corner of his room, before plopping down on the bed, the newspaper opened on the page he needed it.

“Let’s see here…” he muttered as he started to pick out little things from the article. Officially ruled a suicide via fire, several discrepancies were already leaping at Heiji, chief among them being how desperate one had to be to try and commit suicide this way. Painful and dangerous to others. The fact that the man was purportedly a former police officer made it even less likely. The other thing was the way the body was supposedly found, given how it would have been impossible for someone to stay still during all of this.

Restraints? No marks were found though, Heiji reasoned with himself. There was the chance that something had burned out by the fire, but then there’d be marks. Heiji found himself smirking. This was a bit of a brain teaser since he didn’t have all the information. Still, this was in Tokyo, so by all accounts, tomorrow’s paper would be describing how Kudo caught the killer.

It was always a treat to read up on Kudo’s exploits after all. He was probably almost as smart as Heiji was after all and the cases he got involved in were quite tough. Heiji really needed to clear a slab of time after his exams and visit Tokyo, just to see how he stacked up against Kudo and-

The Osaka boy’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and loud buzzing coming from his kendo bag, causing him to look up in annoyance. After all, there was only one person who’d be calling him at this time.

Putting the newspaper away, Heiji reached for his cell phone and opened it, without bothering to look at the caller ID:

“Whaddya want Kazuha?” Heiji asked reflexively, in a somewhat annoyed tone. He left school not an hour ago, what could she possibly-

“Uhm, is this Hattori Heiji-kun?” a voice asked from the other end. True it was a female voice, but it was definitely not Heiji’s childhood friend on the other end of the line.

“You’re not Kazuha,” Heiji stated blankly, before catching himself.

“A keen observation,” the woman on the other end of the call observed, her voice sounding far from impressed.

“How’d ya get this number, neechan?” Heiji asked, managing to compose himself. “Look, whatever you’re sellin’-”

“I’m not selling anything you oaf,” Heiji recoiled a little at the volume, but fortunately the angry girl, by his estimate high school or early college, managed to get her emotions under control. “My name is Suzuki Sonoko. You’re a detective, right?”

“Best high-school detective in Japan,” Heiji proclaimed.

“Yeah, sure,” Sonoko-san dismissed his boasting quickly, and continued; “I need you to find someone for me. A friend of mine.”

“Friend huh?” Heiji raised an eyebrow and fished out a notepad and pen from his nightstand to jot down notes.

“Yes, she disappeared a couple of days ago now,” Sonoko-san said. “She was at Tropical Land with a guy friend of ours. Didn’t hear from them in two days and then I get a strange call claiming they’re ‘okay’ but won’t be back for a while.”

Tropical Land… Tokyo? Heiji found it interesting that this girl was calling all the way in Osaka when Kudo was literally at her doorstep. Something to ask later.

“Just like that?” Heiji frowned. “Ya sure she didn’t have any plans after?”

“Even if she did, something happened to her dad,” Sonoko-san explained, voice hitching a little. “I talked with her mother as well, who got the same message and told me not to worry but… Ran isn’t the type to just bail and leave other people to deal with it,” Heiji noted the lack of honorific attached to the name. Meaning these girls were very close friends. If they were anything like Kazuha was, that meant that this Ran would definitely share any misguided teenage plans. Still, it made sense why she’d call a high schooler like Heiji instead of going to a more legitimate private detective or even the police; with the girl’s mom vouching that she was okay, most would dismiss the case.

“You mentioned a call,” Heiji prompted. “Anything sound strange there? Noises, other people? Subtle hints that she was being coerced?”

“Nothing… I think,” Sonoko-san replied uncertainly. “Just her demeanor changed halfway through; when I mentioned her dad, she started to wobble a bit, but a second later she seemed okay.”

Definitely suspicious then, Heiji thought. The change might have been someone imitating the voice. Though even over the phone it should have been clear if that happened. At least it would be normally, but Heiji had to question whether or not Sonoko-san was thinking rationally regarding her friend… No, that couldn’t be it; mistaking a friend’s voice over the phone was a tall order no matter how distraught one was. There was the possibility of a voice changer, but that wouldn’t make any sense; most of those things were used to mask a voice through distortion, not to mention that even if the girl was kidnapped, the kidnappers would have no need to calm down a random friend.

“You mentioned a guy friend, right? Any chance he did something? Kidnapped or assaulted her?” Heiji asked, only to be greeted by a dismissive scoff.

“Ran is a karate champion,” Sonoko-san proclaimed proudly. “If Shinichi-kun tried something, she’d beat him into a paste.”

While the first part of the sentence made Heiji think of Kazuha’s aikido, but that thought was quickly shoved aside at the second name Sonoko-san dropped in his lap.

“Shinichi? As in Kudo Shinichi?” Heiji demanded, his tone seemingly taking Sonoko-san by surprise.

“You know him?”

“I know of him,” Heiji corrected her. “He’s missing?”

“He’s supposed to be with Ran, but I just have her word to go off of,” Sonoko-san admitted.

“And ya want me to find both of them? Right now?”

“You are supposed to be as good as Shinichi-kun, aren’t you? I can even pay you,” Sonoko-san immediately added, to which Heiji raised an eyebrow. This girl must be really worried.

“Normally, I’d jump at the opportunity,” Heiji admitted. “But it’d take me a week to get to Tokyo,” he explained in frustration since it was exam week. Even if he could evade Kazuha, which was a tall order given how she got around exams, his mom would kill him. Slowly. Probably with a serving spoon or ladle. “And by then any leads would be beyond cold. Especially if someone like Kudo doesn’t wanna be found…”

“So, you can’t do a thing?” Sonoko-san demanded loud enough for Heiji to wince.

“Listen, will ya?!” he countered, matching the girl’s tone. “I can’t do anythin’ now. But that will change! Someone like Kudo won’t be able to resist solvin’ cases. I’ll keep an eye out, and see where difficult cases are solved. Won’t be fast, but I will find ‘em!” Heiji promised.

“How are you so sure?” Sonoko-san asked, her voice striking a chord with Heiji; The girl was scared for her friends. Taking a deep breath, the teen detective tried his best to sound reassuring;

“Kudo’s like me, see? I can’t resist a good case and neither can he,” Heiji explained. “I’ll keep an ear out if he shows up somewhere in Osaka, or anywhere on the West side.” He promised.

“I’ll… Keep you to that, Hattori-kun,” Sonoko-san said, before closing the line.

Heiji looked at his phone for a few moments, before putting it away and booting up his computer. If Kudo was missing that meant something was afoot, and he intended to find out exactly what that something was.

Chapter Text

Shinichi could feel his brain melting into useless slag with every passing second, as he watched the chalk scratch on the blackboard. Every motion mocking him, belittling his very existence and accomplishments.

He had no idea how he would survive this infernal torture day in and day out, but there had to be a way to escape this. Maybe he could pretend to be sick? No, there was no way he could fool anybody with his acting. Perhaps he could simply get Ran to break his leg so he could be stuck in the hospital. Both legs even, the pain would be nothing compared to-

“And so, who can tell me how much is two plus two?” Kobayashi-sensei asked turning back toward the class now that she had finished writing the problem on the board. “How about you, Edogawa-kun?”

Shinichi prayed that an earthquake would disrupt the class just to stop this. Standing up, Shinichi pretended to think for a few moments, before throwing his voice several pitches higher than it normally was and answering;

“Two plus two makes four, Kobayashi-sensei!” he recited in a picture-perfect response for a seven-year-old. Yep, a perfectly normal seven-year-old… And not a seventeen-year-old who should be solving complex equations right now.

“Excellent, Edogawa-kun!” Kobayashi-sensei praised him with an excited clap of her hands, before writing the answer on the board. As Shinichi sat down, he looked over at where Ran was currently sitting, eyes downcast toward her notebook.

The only difference was that, unlike Shinichi, she wasn’t depressed about having to learn basic addition again, but rather, the fact that her father’s funeral was a couple of days ago. Worst of all, because of their cover as being Kisaki-san’s distant relations, they couldn’t actually get exempt from school in order to attend the funeral. Especially since they supposedly didn’t even know Mouri Kogoro. Shinichi honestly wasn’t sure how Ran was managing to function right now.

The official story they gave Kobayashi-sensei about Ran being so down was that she was homesick and needed some time to adjust, but even Shinichi could tell how flimsy that was under scrutiny. Fortunately, their teacher was someone who seemed to take things at face value, so there was that.

Much to Shinichi’s relief, the bell finally rang and signaled the end of another long and tedious day of first grade.

“Okay class, remember to write down your homework. I don’t want anybody forgetting like last time,” Kobayashi-sensei explained, as she tapped the blackboard where she had written the assignment. Even though Shinichi had only been in this class a few days, he already knew precisely to who this reminder was directed.

Still, it hardly affected him. As soon as the teacher stopped talking, Shinichi quickly shoved all of his books back into his backpack and turned toward Ran;

“Kirino, come on,” Shinichi intoned, stressing Ran’s alias. She still didn’t respond to it as easily as he did to his name, after all.

“Yeah, okay,” Ran nodded, listlessly, adjusting the pair of fake glasses she and Shinichi now wore. Getting up from her desk, Ran followed suit with her books, at a much slower pace though. Shinichi wished he could do anything to cheer his friend up, but so far, he was drawing a blank as he got up from his seat. She had lost someone close to her after all, for as much as Ran used to complain about her father day and night. She needed time to get it out of her system right now and the best Shinichi could do was offer support and maybe talk with her when they got home. Kisaki-san might also know what to do, though the poor woman was somedays overwhelmed herself, having refused to take a break from work. Shinichi suspected that Ran’s mother was trying to bury herself in work instead of confronting her emotions… Something he could understand as it was his own coping mechanism.

“Hey Conan-kun, Kirino-chan!” a girl’s voice called out to them, and Shinichi turned around to spot a girl from their class, one Yoshida Ayumi, waving at them as she approached. What Shinichi knew about the girl from their limited interaction was that she was the one person who was friends with everybody in the class and nobody had a bad thing to say about her. Also, every boy in the class, sans Shinichi himself, had a rather childish crush on her.

“What is it, Ayumi-chan?” Shinichi asked as the short-haired girl stopped in front of Ran’s desk, with a cheerful smile on her face.

“Do you two want to come with us on a ghost hunt?”

“Ghost hunt…?” Shinichi looked up in surprise, while Ran next to him flinched. Shinichi recalled Ran was afraid of the supernatural for some reason, even though it didn’t exist.

“Forget it, Ayumi! Bringing those two won’t help us one bit!” a loud voice interjected, and Shinichi spotted Kojima Genta, a boy who was about twice Shinichi’s size in every sense of the word, standing behind Ayumi-chan, hands crossed and with a very displeased expression on his face. Shinichi also knew that Kobayashi-sensei’s earlier warning was directed toward him, as Genta seemed to really struggle academically.

“But, if it’s just the two of us…” the young girl protested, and Shinichi noted in the corner of his eye that Ran seemed to respond to that statement lifting her head in surprise. A little curious himself as to where a ‘ghost’ could be found, Shinichi asked;

“So where is this ghost supposed to be?”

“You know the old western-style mansion in the 4^th District?” Ayumi-chan asked and Shinichi nodded, noting that Ran had leaned in across her desk, listening just as intently.

“It’s said that five years ago, the house owner was brutally murdered, a real mansion of horror!” Ayumi-chan explained, her tone growing more and more fervent, a hint of fear lacing it as well. “The murdered man’s wife and child apparently moved away somewhere but now there are supposedly evil spirits living there instead!” the girl declared, slamming her palms into Ran’s desk, causing the shrunken teen to speak up, her tone a little on edge;

“E-evil spirits?”

”The neighbors say there’re horrific moans in the middle of the night,” Ayumi confirmed, shaking with what Shinichi couldn’t decide if it was excitement or fear. “A stray dog that wandered into the mansion was found as a skeleton the next day… And last night, as I was walking home, I saw it…”

“Saw what, Ayumi-chan?” Shinichi asked.

“In the window, there was a disembodied soul!” Ayumi-chan declared before screaming at the top of her lungs, surprising Shinichi, who jumped a good foot in the air, while Ran flinched back into her chair, still seated. And then, just as soon as the scream was heard, Ayumi-chan continued, her tone breathless with excitement; “Well? Aren’t you excited?” Before Shinichi could reply through his surprised state though, another voice piped up from the side;

“Those stories are just made up,” another boy said.

“Mitsuhiko-kun,” Ayumi-chan turned toward the boy, with Shinichi following her lead and spotting Tsubaraya Mitsuhiko, looking up from a science journal. Shinichi’s observation of the boy so far was that he was one of the smarter kids in their grade, even if he was very formal.

“In this age of science, there’s no way such things exist,” Mitsuhiko proclaimed with a bored expression, flipping a page. “Ghosts and monsters only belong in TV and manga-” before Mitsuhiko could finish his statement, Genta lifted him out of the chair.

“You trying to say that Ayumi’s lying?!” Genta demanded in an outraged tone of voice, and Shinichi did note that Ayumi looked quite downcast from having her story questioned.

“N-no I’m just-”

“Alright, then you’re gonna come too, and prove to us that ghosts don’t exist!” Genta proclaimed cockily. Before Shinichi could try and excuse himself though, Ran spoke up;

“How about we all go?” Ran suggested, catching all of them by surprise, but Shinichi most of all.

“Eh?” he blanched, staring at his childhood friend. There was no way Ran of all people would be okay going somewhere where something supernatural might happen. Nobody else seemed to find this strange, Ayumi-chan immediately rushing to Ran and clasped her hands excitedly.

“Really, Kirino-chan?” the young girl asked excitedly, positively beaming at Ran.

“S-sure,” Ran nodded, Shinichi catching the look of uncertainty and fear in his friend’s eyes. “We can go tomorrow night even.”

“Awesome!” Ayumi-chan cheered before turning to Shinichi; “You’re coming too, right Conan-kun?”

“Can I just talk with Kirino for a minute?” Conan asked, before dragging Ran away to the other end of the room. “What are you doing, Ran?” he whispered using the lack of people to address Ran by her real name.

“I just think it might be fun…” Ran said looking away.

“You ran screaming out of the Suzuki haunted house party last Halloween, and refused to talk to Sonoko for three days after because she placed a fake spider on your back,” Shinichi reminded her with a flat expression. “And now you’re willingly going into a supposedly haunted house?”

Ran was silent for a few moments before answering him, her voice harder than Shinichi could recall it being in a while now.

“I think those kids need help, Shinichi,” Ran whispered, pointing at Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi-chan. “They are going into this without any idea what might happen… Not to mention they can’t protect themselves!”

“And we can?” Shinichi asked. “Ran, just because you remember your karate lessons doesn’t mean they’ll be effective.” Shinichi reminded, but Ran pushed back;

“Maybe, but it’s more than they have to work with,” Ran turned Shinichi’s head around to where the kids were wildly gesturing about something, the scene reminding Shinichi of overly-excited puppies. “Besides, between the two of us, we can probably keep them out of danger.” Ran shrugged, the look in her eyes telling Shinichi she wasn’t going to budge on this.

“Why are you so adamant on this though?”

“After everything that happened last week, do you still have to ask, Conan?” Ran asked stressing his fake name. She didn’t need to do anything else for Shinichi to understand what she meant; Ran was afraid of losing anybody else, even if it was just three kids they were forced to go to school with.

“Fine… But,” Shinichi raised a hand to stop his friend from simply running over. “If this goes wrong, you’re explaining it to your mom.”

-DoDo-

Looking at the abandoned mansion in the middle of the night, Ran was starting to regret her previous insistence that she and Shinichi accompany the kids. It was an imposing structure, even in its current state of disrepair, with a tall wall surrounding the entire structure and a spiked iron-wrought gate serving as the entrance. Every curtain in the place was pulled shut, making it appear even more uninviting than it actually was. The entire place made Ran very uneasy, and she could spot Ayumi-chan, Mitsuhiko-kun, and Genta-kun looking far less excited than before.

Shinichi next to her thought, had a familiar look; like he was solving a puzzle.

“What’s up, Conan?” Ran asked when she saw Shinichi start to stroke his chin.

“Just remembering what I know about the case,” Shinichi explained, putting his hands in his pockets. “The husband was murdered via violent bludgeoning, and the killer was never found. As far as the police were concerned it was a random break-in.”

“You’re not sure?” Ran guessed.

“Don’t know enough, but it sounds suspicious, that’s for sure,” he admitted.

“Oi, stop chatting you two,” Genta-kun ordered. “We’re going in! First though, what did you all bring? I have a steel bat!” he explained, lifting the large implement.

“I have snacks and a rope to tie the ghost with,” Ayumi-chan hefted her backpack. Ran suspected the snacks were mostly candy.

“Flashlights, but only four,” Mitsuhiko-kun supplied and handed the flashlights to everybody, except Ran. “Sorry, Kirino-chan.”

“It’s okay,” Ran assured the boy.

“What about you two?” Ayumi-chan asked, and Ran felt a little put on the spot, but quickly recovered, pulling out the new phone her mom got her;

“A phone with a camera, so we can take pictures,” Ran explained, causing a little bit of a stir among the kids;

“Wow, your parents trust you with a phone like that?” Genta-kun asked.

“What are the specs?” Mitsuhiko-kun pressed, causing Ran to back up a little, shocked at their enthusiasm.

“What about you, Conan-kun?” Ayumi-chan asked, only for Shinichi to pull out a notebook and pen.

“I can take notes,” he said, his bored tone seeming to drain the enthusiasm around him. Ran thought about elbowing him but resisted.

“Awww… that’s lame,” Mitsuhiko-kun concluded, with the other two nodding along.

“Yeah, Kirino-chan is at least cool!” Genta-kun proclaimed, causing Shinichi to shoot Ran an unimpressed look. If Ran wasn’t mistaken it was his ‘Can we just get this over with?’ look usually reserved for his mom’s teasing.

“Anyway, how are we getting in?” Shinichi asked, motioning to the massive gate, which had a sturdy-looking metal chain holding it tightly shut.

“That’s a good-” Mitsuhiko-kun started to ponder, but was interrupted by Genta-kun;

“Don’t worry! I found a secret entrance when I scouted this place out yesterday,” the large boy boasted and started leading the group around the corner. Shinichi though immediately looked on edge and Ran looked over at him.

“Hey, Conan,” Ran whispered, not daring to use his real name in case the kids overheard them. “Why would a house have a secret entrance like this?”

“Don’t know, but something is afoot here,” Shinichi muttered in a worried voice. “Keep that voice-changer ready, just in case.” He motioned to Ran’s ponytail which was held together with the voice-changing bowtie that Hakase gave them. Shinichi refused to wear it since it would be tacky, and Ran had to accommodate. They had set it to the gruffest possible voice right now, with Shinichi’s idea being that they could use it as a distraction.

“Got it,” Ran nodded, as they finally reached Genta-kun’s secret entrance, and Ran had to admit it looked exactly like a secret entrance; a piece of the wall was replaced with a large wooden hatch, big enough for even an adult to crawl through.

“See?” Genta spoke up as he lifted the hatch, letting the kids go in one after the other into the property.

“No creaking,” Shinichi noted, as he and Ran crawled through.

“Meaning it’s maintained?” Ran asked, and Shinichi nodded stopping to look over the hatch.

“That, and it’s very well hidden,” Shinichi said. “Can’t be seen from the street and most people would have no reason to slink around between two properties just like we did,”

“Hurry up you two!” Ayumi-chan called out to them just as Ran saw Genta-kun pushing the door open.

“It’s unlocked!” Ran and Shinichi inched behind the kids peering behind them into the dark insides of the house. As Ran expected from the outside, there wasn’t a single source of light, meaning the kids couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of them.

“It’s a b-bit creepy,” Genta-kun muttered, despite being the one with the bat over his shoulder.

“Yeah, I can’t see anything,” next to Ran, Shinichi sighed at Mitsuhiko-kun’s comment, immediately turning on his flashlight, and pointing it into the dark room… Directly into the grotesque visage of a demon.

“KYAAAA!” Ayumi-chan screeched right next to Ran and stumbled backward, falling unceremoniously on the ground. “Ow…”

Ran herself managed to avoid bolting, but only because Shinichi grabbed her hand, causing her to take a closer look at the ‘demon’ realizing it was a statue. Collecting herself, Ran reached down to help Ayumi-chan up.

“You, okay?” Ran asked, and the younger girl nodded, rather embarrassed.

“My hands just got dirty though,” she muttered, even as Shinichi and the boys made their way inside.

“This place is a mess,” Genta-kun muttered as he shined his light on several more demonic-looking statues.

“Makes sense, since it’s been abandoned for five years now,” Mitsuhiko-kun noted, but Shinichi glanced at the door, examining the doorknob on the inside.

“Kirino, can you take a picture of this?” he gestured toward the doorknob, and Ran pulled out her phone.

“Notice something?” she asked as she snapped the photo.

“No dust on the inside,” Shinichi muttered and wrote it down in his notebook.

“So, someone has been living here?” Ran asked.

“Living or squatting, yes,” Shinichi confirmed as he glanced over at the kids who were looking at the statues. Ran immediately noticed there were only two kids though;

“Guys, where’s Ayumi-chan?” Ran jogged to the two boys looking back and forth for the little girl.

“Oh, she just went to the bathroom to wash off,”

“Don’t be stupid,” Shinichi sighed. “There is no way that there’d be water running here, after five-” his annoyed rambling was interrupted by the sound of Ayumi-chan humming happily, and water running and splashing.

“Conan, you really need to learn to think before you talk,” Genta-kun criticized Shinichi and Ran could see a vein popping on her friend’s head. “Now come on! We’ve got ghosts to find!” the large boy waved for them to follow him, as he headed up the stairs. Ran and Shinichi again hung back a little before following.

“Do you have reception?” Shinichi asked.

“No,” Ran shook her head. “The house must be outside of coverage. Why?”

“There is no way that water would still be running after five years, there shouldn’t even be anything leftover in the pipes,” Shinichi confirmed Ran’s own suspicions.

“We should convince the kids to leave as soon as possible,” Ran suggested, though Shinichi looked skeptical.

“And you think they’ll agree?” Shinichi asked unconvinced, nodding at the kids who from what Ran could hear were discussing something about roleplaying characters.

“Point taken,” Ran sighed. “Guess we’re on babysitter duty then.”

“Guess so,” Shinichi chuckled. “You are handling this quite well though.” Shinichi praised, but Ran shook her head.

“I am scared out of my mind right now, but focusing on keeping those three safe, is helping,” she admitted, as she and Shinichi reached the trio.

“…And Kirino-chan can be a bard!” Ayumi-chan exclaimed, causing Ran to blink.

“And Conan is a villager!”

“Oi! Why aren’t I even in the party?” Shinichi asked, but Mitsuhiko-kun nodded.

“It fits you; you are valuable because you offer us hints!”

Even Ran chuckled at that description and Shinichi’s groan, as the quintet headed deeper into the gloomy mansion.

Chapter Text

Shinichi’s mind raced with questions and has been almost as soon as they made their way into the mansion. And more such questions kept adding themselves the further in they went; from the secret passage to the clearly in-use door, and then the running water.

With all the secrecy, Shinichi was legitimately worried that the kids had somehow stumbled into a smuggling operation by sheer dumb luck, but there were a few things that dissuaded him from outright panicking.

First was the fact that if this was some sort of smuggling ring, there would be at least one guard that would have spotted them by now. Not to mention that a large operation like this wouldn’t leave the house so undisturbed; apart from the door and the secret entrance, not a single other room looked to be in use. If this was a week ago Shinichi would have liked to inspect the basement, just to rule out any criminal organizations, but now he had to be extra careful.

Not to mention there was one other question on his mind;

“Why are you guys hiding behind the ‘villager?’” he asked the rest of the kids, and Ran, who had huddled behind him, clearly scared out of their minds, when a random door had opened a second ago. Ran at least, had the decency to have adopted a fighting stance, while the rest merely used Shinichi as a human shield. It was particularly egregious in Genta’s case since the boy was literally twice his size.

“Go check it out, Conan!” Genta ordered, causing Shinichi to raise an eyebrow at the larger boy. Ran though nodded and stepped forward as well, the two of them creeping up toward the open door. Despite his own assurance that nothing supernatural was involved, Shinichi couldn’t shake the feeling of unease he had.

“Ready?” he asked Ran, who nodded, as Shinichi flung open the door to the room revealing… Nothing. The only thing that was amiss in the room, and the reason for the noise the group had heard earlier, was an open window that was letting a cold breeze in.

“Ah, I see,” Mitsuhiko made his way past Ran and Shinichi, looking at the window. “The wind blew open the door.” The boy explained as he started walking toward the window to close it, but Shinichi stopped him;

“Wait, Mitsuhiko,”

“What’s wrong, Conan?” Genta asked somewhat confused, but Shinichi only pointed to the latches of the window.

“There are no marks on the latches,” Shinichi explained, causing Mitsuhiko to shine his flashlight on them.

“So?”

“If the wind blew it open, there would have been some scratches, or the wood would have been damaged in some way,” Shinichi muttered before an idea struck him. “Is there any dust on the windowsill, Mitsuhiko?”

“Hmmm… yes,”

“The entire house is dusty though Conan,” Ran pointed out, but Shinichi smirked.

“Exactly! Meaning that this window was opened recently. Because if it was open all the time,”

“Wind and rain would have washed away the dust!” Ayumi-chan clapped in understanding, though Ran immediately realized what was the problem with Shinichi’s deduction;

“Guys, we need to leave! Now!” she instructed, but Genta pushed back.

“We haven’t found any ghosts yet!”

“What’s wrong, Kirino-chan?” Ayumi-chan asked, and Shinichi had to give her props for reading the situation better than the two boys.

“If Conan is right, that means someone is living here,” Ran explained, while Shinichi examined the floor around the window. Much to his chagrin the floor was solid wood, so he couldn’t determine if a man or a woman opened the window.

“So not a ghost?” Genta asked dumbfounded.

“Not unless ghosts need a secret entrance to get in and out of the house,” Shinichi spoke up. “Not to mention that the house was never put on sale, even after it was supposedly abandoned.”

“Which means we’re either trespassing, or someone doesn’t want to be found. Potentially someone dangerous!” Ran stressed, grabbing Ayumi-chan’s wrist, and started pulling the younger girl toward the door. “Come on you three!” she called back to the boys, who quickly started following once Ran broke into a run.

“Hey, Conan, your cousin is very bossy,” Genta whispered to Shinichi as they followed the girls, causing Shinichi to roll his eyes. Genta really didn’t know the half of it. Still, Ran’s reaction made sense; the window must have been opened recently, and that meant that they missed whoever was living here by several minutes. Given all the precautions and random incidents surrounding the house, the odds were these people were not benign.

Before the quintet reached the stairwell, however, Shinichi heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming from directly ahead of them. Not wasting a moment, he turned down the nearest corridor. Fortunately, Ran saw him run deeper into the house and followed him, with the kids hot on their heels. Even with them at full run though, Shinichi could hear the sounds of the footsteps approaching, so they needed a new plan;

“Duck into one of the rooms and close the door!” he ordered as loudly as he dared before pushing the nearest door open and slipping in. Ran and Ayumi-chan, who was still being dragged by Ran, quickly slipped in after Shinichi, but Genta and Mitsuhiko dashed past. Fortunately, Shinichi heard another door open, meaning they did hear his order. Closing the door as gently as possible, Shinichi turned around to see where the three of them had ended up.

It appeared to be a living room of some sort, with several comfortable-looking couches, surrounding a small table and a fireplace. Several family pictures hung on the walls, along with various knickknacks on the shelves.

At least it isn’t a cleaning closet, Shinichi thought to himself before turning to Ran and Ayumi-chan. Ayumi-chan looked quite shaken, all things considered, trembling even as she clung to Ran. Ran for her part looked slightly out of breath, but composed, having put herself between the younger girl and the door.

“Try to be as quiet as possible,” Shinichi whispered mostly to Ayumi-chan. “We’ll wait here for whoever it is to pass and then we’ll leave.”

“What about Genta and Mitsuhiko-kun?” Ran asked. “They ran into a different room from us.” Shinichi grimaced at the situation, wishing there was a way to talk with those two somehow and coordinate better. Still, they’d have to improvise.

“Once we get Ayumi-chan out, we’ll come back and-”

“No,” the short-haired girl whispered adamantly, causing Shinichi to frown. “I am not leaving until we get Genta and Mitsuhiko-kun out as well,” she insisted, despite the clear fear in her voice.

“Ayumi-chan, Conan, and I can handle it, you don’t need to-” Ran tried to argue, but immediately clamped her mouth shut, as they could hear the footsteps coming closer and closer. Despite the inherent risk, Shinichi approached the door, thankful for the thick rug cushioning his footsteps as he did. He listened carefully, waiting for the steps to begin quieting down, before daring to push the door open a crack and look at who it was.

The figure was tall, dressed completely in black, with long black hair falling halfway to the floor. In the person’s left hand, there was a candelabra with three lit candles, while the right carried something in front of them. The illumination from the candles was enough to make out that the person was a woman, but that was about it before she turned a corner. The smell of freshly-cooked food lingered in the air for a few moments, before Shinichi closed the door.

“Good news, they didn’t hear us, I think,” Shinichi explained, causing both Ran and Ayumi-chan to visibly relax a bit. “Still, I don’t think we should leave until we hear them go past again, then slowly make our way out, when we’re sure they’re in front of us.” He explained.

“Why not now though? We can just make a run for it,” Ran suggested, but Shinichi shook his head.

“This is their house, remember? There might be a path we don’t know and if they hear us, they could intercept us before we make it out.”

“Not to mention that we still don’t know where Genta and Mitsuhiko-kun are,” Ayumi-chan reminded the two. “We can’t leave them here by themselves. Especially since we have all the snacks.” Shinichi had to resist the urge to laugh out loud at the girl’s assertion but managed to hold it in. Being carefree was something else.

“Don’t worry, Ayumi-chan,” Ran assured the younger girl. “We’ll get the boys and save them from starvation. Right, Conan?” Shinichi rolled his eyes at Ran’s attempt to calm Ayumi-chan down. As he did, his eyes landed on a family portrait that was on the wall. He immediately recognized the father from the case five years ago, with what he assumed was his family. His wife was around the same age, with black hair and traditional features, with a distinct nose shape, while the son looked to be in his early twenties at the latest, with a large mole on the left side of his face.

“Is that the family that lived here?” Ayumi-chan asked and Shinichi nodded.

“Probably, given the clothing,”

“And the one in the middle was the murder victim, right?” Ran asked, gesturing to the man in the middle.

“Yeah, he was found bludgeoned to death,” Shinichi nodded again but found that something was bugging him about the portrait.

Why was it still here, if the family moved out? He found the question rattling in his head. Another thing that struck Shinichi was the fact that the painting itself looked taken care of, unlike most other things in the house. Things were starting to make a little more sense to Shinichi, but there were still several pieces of this puzzle missing and-

“UGYAAAA!!!” Genta’s voice reverberated throughout the house.

“Damn it!” Shinichi cursed under his breath. The two boys had clearly gotten themselves captured somehow. Without even stopping to think, Shinichi ran out of the door, calling after him; “Kirino, watch Ayumi-chan!”

Without sparing the two girls another glance, Shinichi rushed down the hallway toward where Genta and Mitsuhiko had run off to, eyes darting from side to side to try and spot any doors that were opened. The scream rang out mere seconds ago, which meant that there was a very good chance that the boys and whoever attacked them were still there.

Unfortunately for Shinichi, by the time he found an open door and rushed through it, all he found on the ground were a pair of flashlights, turned off and discarded. Snarling to himself, Shinichi turned his attention down the corridor in front of him. He hadn’t missed another path as he was running down, so that meant the person he was looking for was somewhere ahead. Shinichi started inching his way further down the hallway, eyes peeled so that he didn’t get surprised from the side.

Turning another corner, Shinichi stopped dead in his tracks, as he came face to face with a dead end, with nothing but an abandoned serving trolley, flush against the far wall.

“Doesn’t make sense,” Shinichi muttered, kneeling down to examine the floor. Sure enough, despite the carpet he found a few indents that appeared to be footsteps leading toward the wall and then disappearing halfway there. Frowning, Shinichi pulled out his pen and started dragging the tip across the floor. Sure enough, around the spot the footprints disappeared, Shinichi felt the pen dip for a moment.

“There you are,” the shrunken teen muttered triumphantly to himself, toggling the flashlight to its highest setting, which allowed him to easily spot the outline of a trapdoor in the floor. Locating the handle, Shinichi quickly grabbed hold of it and pulled…

But the door didn’t budge one inch.

“Shit…” Shinichi cursed before trying again to lift the door with the same results.

“Ow!” On the third pull, his fingers slipped and he fell backward, hitting his head on the wall. Having the muscles of a child was starting to get quite aggravating.

“Are you okay, Conan-kun?” a voice called out and Shinichi turned to see, both Ran and Ayumi-chan rushing to where he was. Ran looked quite angry, while the younger girl was worried.

“What are you guys doing here?” Shinichi demanded, only for Ran to growl back at him;

“Oh, shut it, Mister Hero,” she chastised him. “What were you thinking running off like this? Again?” she asked, and Shinichi immediately made the connection of how this looked from Ran’s perspective, with him running towards a dangerous situation.

“Right… I… Didn’t realize,” Shinichi admitted, before gesturing toward the trapdoor. “I think Genta and Mitsuhiko are down there, but it’s too heavy to open,” he explained.

“Let me try,” Ran suggested, grabbing hold of the handle and preparing to pull. Much like Shinichi, however, despite being stronger than him, all Ran could do was lift the door a fraction of an inch, before it became too heavy and she had to drop it, falling much like Shinichi did.

“Told you,” Shinichi shrugged.

“What if we all lift together?” Ayumi-chan suggested, but both Ran and Shinichi shook their heads.

“Not enough space for our hands,” Shinichi explained pointing to the relatively small handle. “Kirino and I barely got two hands to hold it. No way we can all grip it.”

“Besides we still can’t lift it enough to- Wait! What about the rope Ayumi-chan brought?” Ran snapped her fingers and clambered onto her feet again and started rummaging through the younger girl’s backpack.

“That could work if we all pull and tie it off somewhere,” Shinichi admitted, silently berating himself for forgetting about the rope. He quickly got to scanning the surrounding walls and did indeed locate a proper hook in the form of one of the wall-mounted light fixtures.

“Conan!” Ran called out and tossed him the rope from Ayumi-chan’s backpack and Shinichi quickly unwound enough of it to tie around the trapdoor handle. Ran meanwhile grabbed the remaining rope and tossed it over the light fixture. “Grab hold Ayumi-chan,” Ran instructed, giving the rope to the slightly confused younger girl.

“Secured,” Shinichi said and ran to grab onto the rope himself. “Okay, Ayumi-chan; when we say pull, we all pull on the rope. If this works the way it’s supposed to, we can lift the trapdoor relatively easily. Ready?” he asked, to which Ayumi-chan nodded with determination. “Kirino?”

“Three, two… Pull!” Ran counted down and all three of them yanked the rope as hard as possible. For a moment, Shinichi was worried that the trapdoor was locked in some way, or simply too heavy, but fortunately, it began to slowly lift off, creaking as it went. Once they managed to get it open enough so it wouldn’t fall back down on top of them, the three kids ran over to see what was inside.

“Okay, didn’t expect that,” Shinichi admitted as he, Ran, and Ayumi-chan stared down a long, winding staircase that led into the darkness.

“It looks scary,” Ayumi-chan admitted clinging tighter to Ran, who looked none too pleased herself;

“This is getting a bit out of hand, Conan,” she muttered and Shinichi nodded in agreement.

“Not much we can do now though,” he pointed out. “Mitsuhiko and Genta are probably down there, as well as answers to whatever is happening with this mansion.”

“You’ve got a theory?”

“Three of them,” Shinichi said, before turning toward the stairs. “One of them is significantly better than the others though.”

“Well, come on,” Ran sighed, undoing her ponytail so she could have the bowtie on hand, just in case.

The trio began their descent into the darkness in front of them, with Conan desperately praying that his first theory was correct and this was tied to the murder that happened five years ago.

Chapter Text

Ran couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that had crept up as they made their way down the stairwell. Between the pitch blackness that they could barely navigate with Shinichi’s flashlight, Ayumi-chan’s constant trembling, and the low, disturbing groans that kept reverberating through the air every now and again.

And Shinichi was stupid enough to want to come here alone, out of some misguided need to protect her. Like she’d ever let him run off again after what happened last week. Part of Ran realized that it was merely because Shinichi was so used to doing things by himself, that he didn’t even think to ask her or Ayumi-chan.

Still, it stung a little that Shinichi didn’t seem to trust her to help out. Especially since he made a big point about how he’d need her help to deal with this whole thing about them being shrunk.

Something to ask him about after we get out of this mess, Ran concluded as the trio reached the bottom of the stairs, and the groaning had become louder, and closer to actual screaming now. It sounded like a feral beast to Ran, and now that they were close, Ran could also hear the clang of metal, like someone was hitting a door.

“Over there,” Shinichi motioned with his flashlight toward a door, that had light streaming from underneath it.

Slowly, the trio crept over to the door, with Shinichi reaching toward the door handle, while Ran positioned herself on the other end, just in case someone attacked them as soon as they opened the door. Nodding to one another, Shinichi twisted the knob and pushed the door forward, squinting at the bright light inside.

The room was long and empty, apart from a single storage cupboard with a bucket on top of it. The entire space was constructed from stone and brick, with a single powerful lightbulb illuminating it. Ran’s eyes immediately zeroed in on the fact that the room was split into two using bars. Prison bars much like if it were a…

“It’s a cell,” Shinichi breathed next to her, flashing his torch into the cell. Ran saw the decrepit-looking bed and table, both covered with old, torn cloth, while the floor seemed to be plastered in old newspapers.

“Conan, do you think these are human traffickers?” Ran asked her best friend, who seemed unsure himself. Before he could reply though, Ayumi-chan spoke up, leaning towards the bars, her eyes wide and terrified;

“S-Someone’s there!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. Shakily she pointed toward the back of the cell; “O-On the bed, there!”

Ran followed Ayumi-chan’s gaze and did indeed see a person curled up in the bed. He was a man, with wild, overgrown hair and beard, who was rocking back and forth in the bed, whispering to himself, as he was curled in a ball. When the light landed on the man, he began to twitch as if agitated.

“Ayumi-chan, move the-” Ran tried to warn the girl, but it was too late as the decrepit-looking man threw his head back and wailed, the sound deafening in the small confines of the room.

Worse still, Ran saw Shinichi’s head whip back toward the stairs in distress.

“Someone’s coming! Hide!” Shinichi hissed as high as he dared before grabbing Ayumi-chan’s arm and dragging her behind the storage cupboard. Realizing she couldn’t also fit behind the small space, Ran darted behind the door, plastering herself as close to the wall as possible, trying to keep her breathing under control, as the sound of steps was now audible even to her.

It took another minute, but finally, someone appeared, walking through the doorframe, and into the room. Once they passed the door, Ran risked a peak and saw an older woman wearing a long black dress, with unkempt grey hair, and a serving tray with food in her hands. Worryingly, Ran also spotted a knife on the tray. Fortunately, the woman didn’t seem to have noticed any of them, and the man was far too gone to rat them out. Still, Ran was uneasy, not least of all, because Genta and Mitsuhiko-kun were nowhere to be found.

“You were having another nightmare,” the woman started talking to the man, Ran immediately noting the nurturing tone in the woman’s voice. “You poor thing… But that was already five years ago. Just forget it already…” she counseled, but the man seemed to be getting more and more agitated with each word.

“A dead person can never come back…” the woman continued, but the man lunged at the bars, interrupting the woman and almost making Ran jump out of her skin. Before Ran could relax, however, she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. Dread built-up in her mind as she saw the bucket fall from the cupboard.

The impact was deafening within the small confines of the room. Ran looked over and saw that the woman was now looking in the direction of Shinichi and Ayumi’s hiding spot, even as she picked up the knife from the tray.

“Looks like some more rats wandered in here besides the two from earlier,” the woman growled in frustration. “Now come out of there… No point in hiding…” just before Ran was about to try and distract the woman though, Shinichi spoke up;

“No point in hiding?” he asked back, his voice gaining a determined, and in Ran’s opinion slightly smug, edge to it. “That’s what we should be telling you, lady.”

“I found it in the study earlier,” Shinichi continued, gaining momentum and Ran realized it was the exact same tone of voice he used at Tropical Land to describe how the murder was committed. “A photo of you with the owner of the mansion. The same one who was killed five years ago.”

Ran risked taking a peek from behind the wall now, and in the better lighting managed to look at the face of the woman. Just as Shinichi stated, the woman had the same nose as the wife in the portrait.

And that would mean… Ran’s gaze turned toward the man in the cage, even as Shinichi continued his deduction;

“And the other person in the photo was likely your son. Your son who is also the man in that cell!” he declared. “Despite the beard and hair, the mole under his eye is still there.”

The man in the cell stopped moving, as now both wife and son were transfixed on Shinichi’s voice, who continued relentlessly;

“Something had been bugging me since stepping foot in this mansion,” the shrunken detective continued; “The family supposedly moved away after the incident and yet electricity and water are clearly still being paid for. Not to mention the entrance that was hidden from view, allowing easy entry and exit from the house. The only thing I couldn’t understand was why,” Shinichi admitted. “Until I just hear you two talking that is…” that proved to be the last drop for the woman who just screeched;

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?” she demanded, Ran, noting that the woman was near hysterical now. And then Ran saw her friend actually step out from behind the cupboard, with a determined expression, and hands casually in his pockets.

“Edogawa Conan,” he introduced himself calmly, despite the knife still in the woman’s hand. “Tantei sa!”

Why must he be such a showoff? Ran lamented.

“There are really only two explanations for all of this. The first is that you killed your husband five years ago and your son was a witness. Or-” Shinichi continued to explain, but the woman had finally regained her bearings and Ran watched her lunge at her friend. Given the confines of the room, there was no way for Shinichi to avoid her, unless he had more time. Lifting the bowtie to her mouth Ran screamed the first thing that came to her mind;

“This is the police! Stop right there!” while a ridiculous gambit in Ran’s mind, it seemed to work, as the woman froze in place and looked back toward the door, spotting Ran.

“Another one…” she muttered, but the distraction was enough and Ran heard a clang before the fallen bucket flew across the room and hit the woman in the arm that held the knife. The knife fell to the floor and Ran seized her opportunity.

Throwing the bowtie away, she dashed out from behind the door and stepped down on the knife handle, preventing the woman from grabbing it again. Ran hoped that it would be enough to diffuse the situation, or at least that nobody would get hurt… Minus the woman who got hit with a metal bucket.

Attacking the elderly now, great, Ran thought to herself, as the small standoff continued for a few more seconds before the woman lunged at Ran, determined to get the knife back. Before Ran could try and kick the woman’s hand away though, another voice brought the room to a stop.

“STOP IT!” a scream resonated through the room again, this one not out of anger, but desperation. Everyone in the room froze, slowly turning back toward the cell room, where the man was gripping the bars, tears streaming down his face.

“I KILLED MY FATHER! I DID AND NOBODY ELSE!” the man proclaimed, his voice hoarse from screaming.

“A-Akio…” his mothered whimpered, having now completely given up fighting. Her son though continued to talk;

“I had failed my university entrance exam again… Third time in a row…” the disheveled man started to recount the incident. “I was already so psychologically unstable, that when my father began to insult me I just…” the man broke down crying, curling up in a ball on the floor of his cell. Despite that, he continued to talk through hiccupping and shaking;

“When I came to, my father was dead… And my mother covered it up,” he managed to get out. “She made it look like a robbery and locked me up here, to wait for the statute of limitations to expire on the crime…”

“BUT I AM TIRED OF LIVING HERE!” the son suddenly lunged at the bars, as if trying to pry them open with his hands. “I want to make up for my crime and be at peace!” as the words left his mouth, the young man slumped back down to the floor, sobbing quietly.

“No! We’re almost there! If we stay quiet until the case expires, you won’t have to ruin your life-” at those words, Ran finally spoke up, her tone firm, but quiet;

“His life is already ruined,” Ran said. “By you! By his own mother, because you locked him away, robbing him of years of his life. Of agency and a chance to atone for his crime!” she accused, Shinichi picking up where she left off;

“Even if you run from the police and hide like this, you won’t be able to run away from the crime your son committed,” Shinichi admitted, before pointing to the man in the cage; “But will you really make your own son carry this burden for the rest of his life?”

-DoDo-

“Do all your cases end like this, Shinichi?” Ran asked him, as the two of them watched the mother and son be taken away by the police.

The mother had called the police herself after the words Shinichi and Ran leveled at her. Genta and Mitsuhiko meanwhile turned out to be left in one of the rooms, with the mother planning to toss them out on the lawn in the morning. The woman was convinced that nobody would believe them and just assumed it was two kids who got too scared and were lying.

Now the kids, along with Shinichi and Ran, were waiting to the side, their guardians having been contacted to pick them up. If the screaming Shinichi overheard from the other side was any indication, there wouldn’t be too many more adventures like this one. He just hoped Kisaki-san wouldn’t be too mad at them.

“Some of them, yes,” Shinichi admitted. “Criminals don’t take it too well when cornered with their crimes after all.”

“No, I guess not… Just, I get what she was trying to do, but in the end-”

“In the end, she just ended up imprisoning him anyway,” Shinichi ventured to guess what Ran wanted to say and she nodded in agreement. When she didn’t say anything else, Shinichi instead prompted with a question of his own; “Ran, what you said to the mother-”

“It does appear similar to our situation, doesn’t it?” Ran asked, listlessly. “Might not be a cage, but we are stuck and we’ll lose… God knows how many years of our lives before things improve…”

“We won’t,” Shinichi shook his head.

“You can’t know that, Shinichi! Not really!” Ran protested, as loudly as she dared, lest someone overheard them. Even so, the anger was clear in her voice.

“I know we won’t because we’ll find those bastards,” he affirmed. “You have the best detective in Japan working on the case after all.” He joked, pointing at himself, trying to lift his best friend’s spirits.

“Oh, how can I possibly forget,” Ran rolled her eyes, just in time for several cars to pull up, including a familiar Mini Cooper. “Oh boy… Oka-san is here…” Ran muttered, while Shinichi sighed dropping his head.

“Just remember, you promised to deal with her,”

“Uh-huh…”

-DoDo-

“We found another haunted house!” Genta proclaimed after school was done for the day, as the three kids had once again gathered around Shinichi and Ran’s desks, excited expressions on their faces.

“Didn’t you guys promise not to do this again?” Ran frowned at the trio, causing them to look away awkwardly and Shinichi to snicker. While Kisaki-san did ask him and Ran to be more careful next time, that was nothing compared to the dressing down the kids got from their parents. Genta’s mom was particularly vicious. Shinichi could clearly see where the large boy got his temper from.

“Ah, but you see, Kirino-chan,” Mitsuhiko replied. “We promised not to sneak out in the middle of the night anymore. If we go during the day, everything will be fine!” the boy explained, with Genta and Ayumi-chan nodding alongside him eagerly.

Shinichi felt his eye twitch at the paper-thin justification.

He and Ran were going to need to keep babysitting these three forever at this rate.

Chapter Text

“So, why’d you call us over, Hakase?” Shinichi asked as he, Ran, and Kisaki-san removed their shoes at the entrance to the professor’s house.

“Well, I’ve made some progress on acquiring the materials I’d need to start my research, and I wanted to update you three,” Hakase explained as she ushered them into his living room.

“And you couldn’t do that over the phone?” Shinichi asked skeptically, but Ran intervened;

“Come on, Shinichi, I am sure Hakase had his reasons,” Shinichi’s friend said, adjusting the glasses that kept slipping down her nose. Unlike Shinichi, she still hadn’t gotten used to them.

“Thank you, Ran-kun,” Hakase nodded as the trio sat down on the couch, while the rotund man settled across, several boxes next to him. It was Kisaki-san who spoke up first;

“So, what progress is there, Agasa-san?”

“Regarding the research, I’ve managed to procure a variety of storage equipment for whatever samples I might need,” Agasa explained. “I will have to get saliva and blood samples from all three of you. I would need Eri-san to serve as another baseline.”

“Of course, Agasa-san,” the woman smiled politely. “And if you need any help covering the costs-”

“Oh, no, no, no!” Hakase quickly waved his hands. “I have accumulated quite the savings for rainy days over the years. Yes… Now, the other reason I asked you three over, is because I finished the equipment, Eri-san asked me to make,” he smiled excitedly, pulling up one of the boxes onto the table.

“Equipment, Oka-san?” Ran asked skeptically as Hakase started pulling out seemingly random things from the box. Shinichi had to admit he shared that skepticism, given how everything looked perfectly ordinary; two new pairs of glasses, a pair of red sneakers, two rather bulky wristwatches, and two red wristbands.

“Since you two seem determined to get into trouble,” Kisaki-san pointed out, and Shinichi recalled their ill-fated night with the kids. “I thought it might be best if you had a few things to protect yourselves, given your physical limitations.” Ran’s mom said diplomatically, though Shinichi picked up on the fact that she felt distraught still.

He hadn’t mentioned anything to Ran, given Kisaki-san’s efforts to hide it, but Shinichi had noticed that the apartment seemed to have a higher turnover rate of wine for the past few days.

Deciding not to pursue that particular can of worms right now, the shrunken detective picked up the sneakers from the table.

“So, what did you make, Hakase?” Shinichi prodded, examining the shoes, quickly noticing a small, touch-dial on the side.

“Those are Power-Enhancing Kick shoes,” the inventor proclaimed proudly, grabbing them from Shinichi’s hands and pointing at the dial. “They use electromagnetic fields to stimulate foot muscles. With these, you can easily achieve your former kicking force, Shinichi. Perhaps even a bit more actually… Using this dial, you can turn them on and adjust the amount of force applied.”

“You’ve tested these?” Shinichi tilted his head. On paper, the shoes sounded incredible.

“I have a bigger pair for me, though I did fall over a few times using them,” Hakase admitted with an embarrassed chuckle, placing the shoes down, before grabbing the wristbands. “And these are for Ran-kun,” he said, handing them to Ran.

“I guess they are like the shoes?” Ran asked, placing them on her wrists, and Shinichi spotted the dial on the inside of Ran’s wrists.

“Yes,” Hakase nodded. “Just turn them on and you should be able to easily punch someone unconscious using your karate expertise.”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, Hakase, but…” Ran began saying, a little unsure as she observed the gadget. “But I have to use my whole body for some karate moves. Isn’t there a way to make this full body?”

“Not safely,” Hakase admitted, scratching the top of his head. “I could fit the device into a belt, but the size and strength of the pulses might cause permanent damage. Especially if your bodies need to grow again.”

“I… See,” Ran nodded, looking a little dejected, but she quickly flashed Hakase a grateful smile. “In that case, I’ll just have to make do.”

“And the tracking device I asked for, Agasa-san?” Kisaki-san asked, and Shinichi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, while Ran looked surprised;

“Tracking device?”

“After not being able to find you for almost an entire day, it seemed reasonable,” Kisaki-san shrugged and Shinichi had to agree, especially if he and Ran ever got separated from one another for whatever reason.

“Those are in the glasses,” Agasa motioned to the two pairs on the table. “I even managed to install a display lens, so they can track one another. I have a spare here at home, and can make new ones.” He explained proudly, before picking one of the pairs and detached the tip.

“And this is an extra tracker and microphone that is attuned to the glasses,” he explained, dropping the inconspicuous piece of plastic in Shinichi’s hand. “As long as you are within 2 miles, you’ll be able to receive audio and can be tracked within ten miles. I figured you could use it if you come across any criminals you needed to track.”

Shinichi had to admit that these glasses sounded impressive. Quickly grabbing the pair still on the table and clicking on the small button next to the endpiece. The left lens darkened slightly and he saw a rudimentary map with three separate blinking dots on it.

“And the watches?” Ran asked, now intrigued as she picked one of the watches, examining it.

“Those are stun-gun watches,” Hakase explained. “If you press the dial on the side, it will pop a targeting reticule built into the glass. Press again and it will shoot an anesthetic dart.” He explained and Shinichi watched Ran follow through, the entire glass popping up rather conspicuously, along with a small barrel rising up.

“Now, there are drawbacks,” Hakase was quick to add. “Each watch can only have one dart at a time and reloading means disassembling the thing. So, aim carefully.”

“Isn’t this a little dangerous, Agasa-san?” Kisaki-san asked as she took the watch from Hakase. Even Shinichi had to admit that while useful, if it ever got stolen, or more realistically someone noticed them using it, it could raise a lot of questions.

“It was the safest I can make it, Eri-san” Agasa promised lifting the second watch. “The anesthetic is perfectly harmless, if fast acting, though best results are if the neck or head are targeted. That and the lack of a quick reload should mean that it’s unlikely that they themselves get knocked out. Also, the button on the other side is a flashlight.” He indicated, clicking it on and partially blinding Shinichi for a moment.

“These all sound quite good, Hakase,” Shinichi admitted, swiping the watch from him, who gave an indignant squeak. “Should help if we get into any problems.”

“Just wish we had them at the mansion,” Ran nodded. “I am pretty sure the kids are traumatized…”

“I saw them planning how to break into my house, Ran,” Shinichi intoned rather annoyed. “Trust me, they are fine.”

“Thank you again for making these so quickly, Agasa-san,” Kisaki-san smiled toward the inventor, who laughed it off awkwardly.

“Not a problem, Eri-san! I want to keep these two safe as well,” he nodded toward Shinichi and Ran.

“That being said, can you see about the samples you need?” Kisaki-san prompted. “As much as I’d like to stay longer, there is one issue that came up at the office that I still have to take care of after.”

“Of course, let me get some swabs,” Agasa nodded.

-DoDo-

“Sorry for dragging you two along again,” Eri apologized, sparing a glance at the back seat where Ran and Shinichi-kun were sitting, still examining the devices that Agasa-san made for them. Eri had to admit to herself that the inventor came through very quickly on his promise of creating these.

“It’s okay, Oka-san,” Ran assured her. “It’s part of your work after all. Besides, the museum will be nice to visit while you finish reviewing those contracts.”

Eri smiled at her daughter’s assurance, but still felt a little guilty. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t clear up her schedule as quickly as she hoped, which resulted in Ran and Shinichi having to spend most days after school alone and entertaining themselves to the best of their abilities. While Eri knew they were teens and probably didn’t care, it still left a bad taste in her mouth, especially after everything that had happened with Kogoro.

Not to mention that despite being Ran’s mother, she couldn’t really be there for Ran. Despite her daughter’s best efforts to appear strong, Eri knew that her father’s death still weighed on her.

Another thing to add to my to-do list, Eri sighed internally as she pulled in front of the Beika Art Museum. What Eri immediately noticed as she turned off the engine of her Mini Cooper though, was the throng of reporters outside.

“Well, that’s intriguing,” Eri commented, as the three of them exited the car. She quickly noted the serious expression on Shinichi-kun’s face.

“Saw in the newspaper there was a commotion of some sort last night at the museum,” the shrunk teen explained. “Something about a suit of armor moving by itself.”

“B-by itself?” Ran asked with a slight tremor in her voice, which caused Shinichi next to her to roll his eyes.

“Come on, Kirino,” he protested as the trio approached the reporters, careful to use her alias. “You weren’t afraid in the haunted mansion.”

“That’s because I had the kids to worry about, Conan!” Ran protested weakly, and Eri headed off the argument before the two could get into it.

“Come on you two; let’s just get the work over with and we won’t have to worry about any cursed suits of armor.” She proposed and the two teens quickly nodded. Taking a deep breath, Eri forged forward, hoping that none of the gathered reporters recognized her. It had been far too soon since Kogoro’s death still, and her being a famous attorney on top of that meant that she still had the occasional reporter asking for statements, or why she wasn’t taking a break from cases during such a ‘turbulent period in her life.’

Fortunately, they managed without any issues, as they walked into the museum’s entryway. Inside, Eri quickly noticed her appointment for the day already waiting for her;

“Ah, Kisaki-bengoshi,” an old man with a pleasant smile, long beard, and truly impressive eyebrows greeted them, Eri bowing respectfully to the man;

“Director Ochiai,” Eri greeted. “I trust we are free to proceed with our meeting?”

“Ah, yes, yes,” the old man nodded joyfully before his eyes fell on Ran and Shinichi-kun. “And are these your assistants?” he jested, his jovial demeanor causing even Eri herself to smile despite the recent stress.

“They are cousins of mine from a distant relative,” she assured the man. “I am taking care of them, and sadly I didn’t have time to drop them off anywhere. I hope we are not imposing-”

“Nonsense, nonsense,” the director chuckled dismissively, before reaching into his coat and pulling a pair of tickets. “The children can roam the museum a bit while we conclude the review of the documents. I am sure they’ll enjoy seeing all the wonderful paintings around-”

“Moldy hunks of trash, is what you mean,” a snide voice interrupted the director, causing Eri to turn around, almost missing the sour expression the director adopted.

“Manaka-san, the new owner of the museum,” the old man explained graciously, but even Eri could hear the strain in his words.

“Soon to be a casino owner, actually,” the short businessman boasted, looking dismissively at the museum around him. “Once I sell off everything and start tearing this relic down to the ground in two weeks.”

“The museum is closing?” Ran asked shocked, perhaps a little too loud, as Manaka-san’s attention immediately zeroed in on the two shrunken teens.

“Yes, you brat,” Manaka-san said dismissively. “If the lawyer here,” he nodded to Eri. “Approves everything in the building contract, we can start tearing it down next month.” He laughed, before turning around toward the other man with him. “Come now, let’s talk designs!”

Eri really wished her job didn’t have to keep her in contact with detestable men like this, but sometimes it was unavoidable.

“O… Uhm, Eri-no-obasan,” Ran tried to get her attention, the appellation stinging a bit, but they were in public. Besides, judging from her expression, Ran liked it even less. “Are you really going to approve them tearing down the museum?” before Eri could answer though, the director stepped in;

“It’s perfectly fine, little ojou-chan,” he smiled at Ran in that way all grandfathers seemed to possess. “While I am saddened, the closing was inevitable.” He sighed sadly.

“When the economic bubble burst, the previous owner’s company went bankrupt,” he began the explanation. “As such, he had to sell the place to Manaka. He did so under the promise that the museum would stay open.”

“A promise he reneged on the next day,” another man approached, with a stack of papers in his hands.

“Ah, Iijima-kun,” the director introduced the newcomer, a short, stocky man, with a broad face, and ruffled appearance.

“He announced his plan to build a hotel with a casino as soon as everything was cleared by his infernal lawyers… Uhm… N-no offense, ma’am.” He quickly stammered when he noticed Eri’s lawyer pin.

“Perfectly fine, I’ve heard much worse,” Eri shook her head, before returning her attention to the director. “Now, Ochiai-san, I think it would be best if we go to your office?”

“Ah, yes, yes,” the older man nodded, handing Ran and Shinichi the tickets. “You two can pick up a guide pamphlet from the ticket office.” He motioned politely. “Make sure to enjoy the paintings. They are very much like my own children you know. I will try not to keep Kisaki-bengoshi too long.”

“Thanks, ojisan!” Shinichi said in a voice far more high-pitched than Eri had ever heard as he took the ticket. The boy was clearly trying to divert attention from Ran who looked down at the news of the museum closing down. If Eri remembered correctly, she and Kogoro took her there a few times when she was a child… The first time.

Ugh, this is getting confusing, she admitted to herself.

“Good, now my office is this- KUBOTA!” the kindly old man suddenly shouted, causing Eri to flinch, Ran and Shinichi next to her jumped in the air. The object of the man’s ire seemed to be an employee who was trying to move one of the paintings. “Wear gloves! Wear gloves when you are handling the inventory! This is the tenth time I’ve had to tell you!” the director ranted, not giving the other man a chance to reply.

“Iijima-kun, take over for this… Buffoon!” the director ordered, before starting to walk toward his office, Eri following with a sigh.

I am going to need a drink tonight, she decided.

-DoDo-

“Ran, are you okay?” Shinichi asked, using the fact that there was nobody around to use her real name.

“I’m fine, Shinichi. Why?”

“You’ve been staring at this sextant for five minutes without moving,” Shinichi pointed out skeptically, causing his friend to shrug.

“It’s an interesting-”

“Ran, I’m a detective,” Shinichi pointed out. “Tell me what’s wrong. Please.”

“Oka-san… Hasn’t really been herself,” Ran admitted, causing Shinichi to raise an eyebrow, which seemed to infuriate the shrunken girl. “Don’t give me that! I may not be a ‘detective,’” she mimed air quotes. “But I do know my own mother, Shinichi… She’s been drinking, hasn’t she?”

“Yes… Goes through about a bottle of wine a night,” Shinichi recounted the number of them in the recycling, which Kisaki-san was adamant about doing by herself. She probably knew it wasn’t fooling Shinichi, but hoping Ran didn’t notice. “She’s probably… Still grieving, Ran.” Shinichi tried to explain, but Ran shook her head.

“If she still is, I wish she’d talk to me,” Ran insisted, her eyes looking hurt behind the lenses of her glasses. “I am grieving as well, but I- I don’t want my mom to start pulling away, Shinichi!” she admitted, causing Shinichi to sigh.

“You need to talk with her about this, Ran,” Shinichi said.

“But she’s always just… Working,” the girl sighed in frustration. “Even at dinner time lately, she’s got a case folder open and-”

“I… Think Kisaki-san is trying to bury herself in work so she doesn’t have to think about it,” Shinichi pointed out. “I am sure she’s thinking she’s protecting you, but you’ll have to talk with her about this, Ran.”

“I know,” Ran nodded turning away from the sextant and headed toward the exit from the ‘Room of the Oceans’. “But she is hardly the only one I have to talk to about something.” She pointed out, shooting Shinichi an annoyed glance, causing him to groan.

“Is this still about me trying to find Genta and Mitsuhiko?” he asked, which earned him a slap over the head with the museum guidebook.

“No, this is about you running off to find them, by yourself!” Ran corrected him angrily. “Shinichi, we’re supposed to be partners in this! And you keep running off on your own!”

“I left you with Ayumi-chan to protect her-”

“And who’s going to be protecting you?!” Ran demanded. “If I wasn’t there, and that woman lunged with the knife, what were you going to do? Get stabbed? Hope that her son spoke up earlier? What was your brilliant plan, Shinichi?!” she demanded, angry tears in her eyes, causing Shinichi to back off, somewhat ashamed.

She did have a point that he didn’t have a plan. He could try to justify it as being the first case he had since he got de-aged. Forgot that he couldn’t protect himself as well as he normally would. But that would be a lie. Shinichi didn’t even consider it when he rushed off, all the stress from the last week forgotten, as he felt back in his element. As he delivered his exposition about the case, he felt a rush of just everything being right.

“Ran, I- Never had someone with me before. On cases,” Shinichi admitted, running a hand through his hair. “Megure-keibu and the police just let me roam free without supervision. The investigations have always been just me. Guess I am still stuck in this mindset.”

“Well, I suggest you get out of it,” Ran crossed her arms menacingly. “Because you are not alone anymore. And if you run off again like this, I will leave the cooking to Oka-san.”

Yeesh, she’s really pissed off… Shinichi thought to himself.

“Okay, okay, I promise to-”

“GAAAAAAAAAH!!!” a pained, horrid scream reverberated through the hall that Shinichi and Ran were walking down, coming from in front of them. Without wasting a moment, Shinichi broke off into a run toward the sound of the screaming, as quickly as his legs would carry him.

“Ran, come on!” he shouted back at Ran, who took a moment, before dashing after him toward the scream.

Shinichi just prayed they weren’t too late.

Chapter Text

As Ran sprinted down the museum corridor after Shinichi, toward the scream, she was both frustrated and relieved in a way. Frustrated because there was clearly another incident the two of them were going to get embroiled in… And relieved because Shinichi appeared to be making an effort to not leave her behind. And hopefully, this trend continued.

Ran noted that they slid past a sign declaring the area ahead closed for maintenance, making her momentarily falter, before going after Shinichi again. Rules be damned if someone was in trouble. If the shrunken teen recounted, the area ahead was supposed to be the ‘Hell Room’ which had various religious paintings and iconography… As well as the suit of knight armor that moved by itself.

Taking a steadying breath as she caught up with Shinichi, Ran’s hands immediately went to the wristwatch that Hakase had just given them. Her friend had already flicked the light on his watch and was peering into the darkened ‘Hell Room,’ eyes straining to make anything out.

“Anything?” Ran ventured, turning her own watch on, and looking at the opposite side of the room to Shinichi.

“Nope,” he admitted, sounding a little annoyed. “And that scream was probably not heard by anyone but us. Let’s go in and see-” Ran grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

“I’m going first,” Ran insisted, turning the dials on her bracelets. The sensation of static traveled up her arms, all the way to her shoulders.

“Ran?” Shinichi asked, slightly alarmed, but she shook her head with a smile.

“It’s okay, just a bit weird,” Ran admitted, pointing her wristwatch light forward and taking a tentative step into the room. “Now come on! Someone might be in trouble,” she reminded him and Shinichi followed, though ran noted he had the tranquilized on the watch primed.

As she made her way around the room filled with carvings of demons and depictions of what she assumed was Hell, Ran was surprised in herself as to just how easily she managed to keep her fear of the supernatural under control; all she had to do was focus on protection someone else… Focus on protections someone else… She kept repeating the words in her head like a mantra, and pointedly not looking directly at the statues.

The two shrunk teens made their way into the room, and were about halfway into it, when Shinichi suddenly jerked his head to the left, Ran following suit, as there was a slight sound coming from that direction. The sound of liquid dripping onto the floor.

Swallowing, Ran lifted her light higher in the direction of the sound and saw a puddle of red liquid starting to pool on the floor, with a slow drip from slightly higher. Lifting her watch more, Ran saw the body of Manaka-san, pinned to the wall by a large sword through the neck.

“Shinichi, is he-”

“We need to get the police,” Shinichi said, turning on his own flashlight and running it over the walls of the room before Ran saw a fire alarm.

“Hit that alarm,” he ordered, while he rushed over to the body.

“Shinichi, what are you-” Ran began asking, but Shinichi was already at the body, examining it with his flashlight, muttering to himself. Frustrated, Ran dashed over to the wall and grabbed the fire alarm switch, flipping it on, the harsh buzzing of the alarm filling the room. As soon as she got that done, Ran dashed over to Shinichi;

“Okay, now what? Shouldn’t we leave this for the police?” she asked, but Shinichi shook his head.

“We have a few minutes before someone comes over to investigate. We can’t risk them missing any clues,” he explained quickly, eyes dashing back and forth taking in everything in the room. “Ran, look around for anything that could be a clue, but don’t touch it.”

“And what exactly is a ‘clue’?” the girl asked, nevertheless starting to look around on the ground.

“Something that doesn’t belong,” Shinichi replied, turning around and illuminating the opposing wall. “Trust your instincts on this, Ran,” Shinichi advised, causing Ran to frown, and return her attention to the floor. The marble looked immaculate… Apart from the blood.

Ran never realized before what a strong smell blood had. Sure, she’d cut herself here and there over the years, but the sheer amount made the scent almost overwhelming. Trying to get away from the smell, Ran walked a few paces away before she spotted a fountain pen on the ground, and next to it a piece of plastic.

“Ran, found anything?” Shinichi called over, now on the opposite side of the room from the body.

“There is a pen here, and it looks like a piece of it was broken,” the shrunken girl replied, turning toward Shinichi. As she did, she saw that her friend was looking at a large painting. One that depicted a very similar scene to what she just saw. “Shinichi is that-”

“’Divine Retribution’,” Shinichi read off from the plaque. “A painting of a knight of justice trapping a demon.”

Before Ran could ask anything else, however, footsteps were heard coming from the hallway. As soon as Ran turned around, she saw her mother barreling down into the room, looking frantically around, until her eyes fixated on Ran and Shinichi.

“Kirino, Conan-kun!” the woman exclaimed rushing over to them, looking them over again and again. Ran noted that she appeared far more concerned with Ran herself than Shinichi though. “As soon as I heard the alarm, I-”

“Someone was killed,” Shinichi spoke up, pointing toward the dead body. Ran’s mother looked at the still hanging body of Manaka-san, her eyes widening slightly at the gruesome sight, but mostly kept her composure. “Raising the alarm was faster than trying to convince someone we weren’t imagining things.” He explained calmly, though Ran could see that the explanation wasn’t going to fly.

“And it had nothing to do with the fact that this way you would be the first to examine the body, Conan-kun?” her Oka-san asked, mindful of the couple of security guards that ran into the room after her, now shocked by the murder. Shinichi at least had the good grace to look ashamed.

“I am just glad that you two are fine,” she admitted, before turning to the guards; “Enough gawking and call the police already!” she ordered them, snapping the two men to attention, even as more and more of the staff were filing in.

-DoDo-

Wataru Takagi was someone who was easily flustered.

He knew that and could admit it to himself. Despite his best attempts, he couldn’t change that easily. It was also a great source of amusement for some of his colleagues, but he tried his best to take it in stride for the team. He knew when he chose his career path that he’d have to look at bodies, talk to grieving loved ones, and stare down criminals. He knew and accepted all that, doing it to the best of his abilities, and strove not to let his personal feelings get in the way. It was very rare that anything about being a detective made him uncomfortable… But having to interview Kisaki-san barely a week after he and Sato-san wound up with absolutely nothing regarding her husband’s death was one of those things.

Along with Sato-san, the two of them spent five whole days scouring Tokyo for any clue about the two men, or the foreign car, but every time they were stonewalled by something; from nobody seemingly recognizing the names to every mechanic that Takagi had come to know over the years not recognizing such a vehicle. Sato-san had even wrangled Yumi-san to look into some things off the books again, but nothing.

In the end, the pair had to report back to Megure-keibu that there was nothing they could find that could be used to justify further investigation. Their superior looked angry but thanked them for the work despite it. To Takagi though, it hardly felt like a job well done, especially since both he and Sato-san could tell something was going on here. The duo had agreed to keep looking into it in their free time as best as they could, but both were skeptical that they could do much about this unless they got exceedingly lucky.

Still, right now he had another job to do; namely interrogate the ones who discovered the body, while Megure-keibu directed the forensics unit. The junior detective swallowed his discomfort as best he could and began the questioning;

“So, Kisaki-san, you were the one to discover the body?”

“Ah, no,” the lawyer shook her head before gesturing to two children. “That was Kirino and Conan-kun. They found the body and triggered the fire alarm to alert the rest of the staff.” Takagi’s eyes drifted toward the two children, one boy, and one girl. They both wore glasses and had bright blue eyes, along with dark brown hair, which led Takagi to guess they might be related.

“Are they relatives of yours Kisaki-san?” Takagi asked, recalling what she knew about the woman, namely that she was supposed to have one daughter, but was in high school. One that was supposedly off with Kudo Shinichi solving cases… Somewhere.

“Ah, yes… They are distant cousins, I am taking care of for a while,” Kisaki-san explained, rather unsure, but Takagi chalked it up to the situation. Instead, he turned his attention toward the two children;

“So, Kirino-chan, and Conan-kun,” he began gently, trying not to spook them, even crouching to be more on their level. “You found the body, correct?”

“Mhm,” Conan-kun nodded, not seeming at all perturbed by the fact they found someone impaled through the throat with a sword. “We heard a scream and came rushing because thought someone might need, help. Right, Kirino?” the boy turned toward Kirino, who nodded, a little shakily.

“Yes, and then we found the body and pulled the fire alarm,” she explained, pointing back at the wall. “We’re, uhm, sorry if we caused a panic…”

“No, no it’s okay,” Takagi quickly assured the girl, with a nervous smile. “But I must stress that children like you shouldn’t run into dangerous situations like these. After all, the killer might still have been here.” He reminded them, trying his best to sound stern and failing at it.

“But we couldn’t just ignore someone who’s in trouble, Takagi-san,” Conan-kun spoke up, sounding a little sad. Before Takagi could reply, however, Megure-keibu approached.

“While your intentions are noble, Conan-kun, next time I would appreciate it if you leave this to the adults,” he explained, before continuing the questioning; “Now, did the two of you notice anything as you came here? Any suspicious persons, or signs someone fled?”

“No… Though we did run past a sign that said this section was blocked off,” Kirino-chan supplied, before pointing in the direction of the body. “And I also saw a pen on the floor there.”

“Takagi-kun, check it out please,” Megure-keibu instructed, before turning toward Kisaki-san. “Now, Eri-san, if the children haven’t seen anything else, you may take your leave-”

“That would not be possible, Megure-keibu,” the woman interrupted, and Takagi stopped to see what she meant.

“Now, Eri-san, there is no need to suspect you of any foul play here,” Megure-keibu tried to assure her, looking a little flustered at the woman’s insistence, but she rebuked him again;

“I don’t really have an alibi for the time of the murder, Keibu-san,” she pointed out, before looking at Takagi, causing him to flinch a little under her stare. “And once Takagi-keiji retrieves that fountain pen, it could very well be mine.” She offered, which spurned Takagi into action to retrieve the pen.

He did indeed find a dark green fountain pen in the direction the little girl had pointed, and next to it a sliver of plastic that seemed to come from the same pen. As he picked up the pen, however, Takagi noted that it wasn’t broken or even chipped… And was also quite a ways away from the body in a seemingly random area, where it would be quite hard for someone to spot it without looking for it. Especially in the dark.

Pushing his suspicions to the background, Takagi picked up the evidence and motioned to a nearby forensics tech to bag them.

-DoDo-

“Do you have a theory, Conan-kun?” Kisaki-san whispered as the trio walked behind the director, Kubota-san, and Iijima-san.

Shortly after Takagi-san confirmed the pen was still there, Iijima-san pointed out the security camera, one of which angled straight toward the scene of the crime. Megure-keibu had declared that the three suspects, plus Kisaki-san were to follow him to the security room, where they’d look over the footage.

“The killer is definitely one of those three,” Shinichi whispered back, his brain already mulling over all the information he had right now. “They are the only ones that could have placed the sign about the area being closed off.”

“If that’s true, they’d know about the cameras though,” Ran pointed out, and Shinichi was forced to agree. “They wouldn’t commit a crime like this when they could be caught.”

“Unless they knew the camera would be out then,” Shinichi muttered, but Kisaki-san spoke up;

“Or it has something to do with the knight,” she proposed. “After all, if one wore that armor, it would be easy to disguise themselves.”

Shinichi smirked at Kisaki-san’s idea because it was something that he had started to suspect himself; namely the connection between the mysterious knight sightings and this murder. The sightings that triggered the rumors were probably a test run for today’s murder, not to mention steer investigators astray.

What Shinichi couldn’t figure out though was who exactly. Kubora-san seemed to have the least motive to kill the new owner, given his apparent caustic relationship with his current colleagues. He might very well be happier working at a hotel than at a museum. If Director Ochiai or Iijima-san were killed, he’d be suspect number one, but right now, that wasn’t the case. Ochiai-san was a possibility, though Shinichi found it unlikely since he was in a meeting with Kisaki-san beforehand. Iijima-san was the highest on the suspect list because of his earlier behavior. Doubly so, if he had no alibi. But then why point out the cameras? Was he that confident in his disguise?

“Very well, everyone, we will now go over the footage,” Megure-keibu announced and motioned to one of the forensic technicians who started to play the camera feed.

Sure enough, the rather grainy image of the owner, looking around in the darkened room appeared on the screen. The man seemed to be annoyed, at least from what Shinichi could gather. The suit of armor was there as well, standing on its assigned display spot. After nearly a minute though, Manaka-san turned around and opened his mouth, calling to someone.

“No sound?” Megure-keibu asked the director, but the old man shook his head sadly.

“Never had the budget to upgrade, sadly,” Ochiai-san said, his tone apologetic.

“Continue,” the inspector nodded, turning his attention back to the video, Shinichi along with him.

What happened next though, Shinichi had to resist the urge to smirk, as it was exactly as he suspected; the suit of armor began moving slowly, as if trying not to draw Manaka-san’s attention, before raising its sword high above the owner’s head. Ran stepped closer to Shinichi, her hand clutching his in surprise.

“What?!” Megure-keibu exclaimed as the sword slashed down, burying itself into Manaka-san’s shoulder, the man fell to the floor on his knees, clutching his bleeding shoulder, yet still alive. The knight walked past its victim slowly, head half-turned and observing Manaka-san.

Shinichi’s eyes narrowed, and he saw Kisaki-san next to him lean in a little, as Manaka-san reached for a nearby piece of paper and pen, quickly starting to scribble something on it. Before he could seemingly finish, however, the knight moved again, grabbing the man by the throat, and pinning him to the wall. Shinichi hissed, half-turning his head away as the final blow was delivered, the knight’s sword piercing through Manaka-san’s throat and impaling him to the wall. Ran next to Shinichi, had her head buried in his shoulder.

“What a flashy way to kill someone,” Megure-keibu shook his head before Iijima-san spoke up;

“That setup is the same as a painting we have,”

“Is that true, Ochiai-san?” the inspector asked, to which the director nodded;

“The painting is called ‘Divine Retribution’,” he confirmed. “It depicts-”

“A knight of justice trapping a demon,” Shinichi finished the sentence, before remembering he was supposed to be a kid and turned back to the director, throwing his voice higher; “Right, ojisan?”

“Correct, my boy,” the older man nodded, sounding surprised.

“Rewind the tape, please,” Kisaki-san spoke up before Shinichi could ask for that, drawing a questioning look from Takagi-san.

“You saw it too, Kisaki-san?” Shinichi whispered. Instead of answering him, Kisaki-san spoke to everyone in the room;

“He seemed to have tried to write something,” Kisaki-san pointed out. “Probably with the fountain pen we found at the scene,” Kisaki-san concluded, which mirrored Shinichi’s own conclusions. What bothered him was why he was given enough time to write. The person in the armor clearly had no trouble just killing him.

“Very well! Takagi-kun,” Megure-keibu turned to his subordinate. “Get the forensics people to scour that room and the body for that piece of paper that Manaka-san wrote on.”

“Yes sir!” Takagi-san nodded before running out of the room.

“In the meantime, I would like to question you four, regarding your whereabouts during the time the crime was committed.” The inspector continued, turning toward Kisaki-san and the three men. Shinichi meanwhile, nudged Ran.

“Kirino, come on,” he motioned toward the monitor behind Megure-keibu.

“What’s up?” Ran asked, somewhat confused.

“I want you to look over the video again,” Shinichi explained.

“Why me?!” Ran demanded, barely keeping her voice down.

“I need to listen to the questioning, and I can’t do both,” Shinichi shook his head. “You need to see if there is anything that we missed.”

“I am not good at this, S- Conan,” Ran hissed in annoyance, but Shinichi raised his hands, trying to placate her.

“Please, just once to make sure there isn’t anything off,” he begged.

“Fine,” Ran sighed and started carefully making her way toward the screens, while Shinichi returned his attention to the three suspects.

Chapter Text

It really amazed Ran, how unobservant people could be; as soon as Megure-keibu started interrogating the suspects and her Oka-san, everyone stopped paying attention to the control panel for the security cameras.

Combined with the lack of audio from the recordings, Shinichi running interference whenever someone as much as dared to glance back, and the interrogations themselves, Ran managed to look over the footage three times.

Every time, the shrunken teen had to stop herself from gasping as she watched Manaka-san get slashed and stabbed. As unpleasant a person, as he was by all accounts, Ran simply couldn’t understand why someone would do something like this to a fellow human being. And worst of all, for these three viewings, Ran couldn’t find a single thing to contribute to Shinichi’s investigation. Every time she watched the video, Manaka-san was attacked, he wrote down something on a piece of paper, tossed the pen away, and was stabbed through the throat. Nothing changed and nothing stood out. The only thing Ran made note of was the fact that Manaka-san looked shocked for a second after picking up the paper.

Hope that’s enough, Ran thought bitterly, as she felt Shinichi approach and turned around.

“How’s it looking, Conan?” Ran asked once she saw Shinichi’s pensive expression.

“Iijima-san, and Kisaki-san, are the only ones with a solid alibi,” he said, crossing his hands in front of his chest, deep in thought. “Iijima-san was directing some workers in the back, while Kisaki-san was in the foyer, waiting for us up until the alarm went off.”

“Conan, did you suspect O- Eri-no-obasan?” she asked, feeling her hackles rise. Shinichi immediately started waving his hands in front of himself defensively.

“Oi, I was just trying to make sure nobody could implicate her,” Shinichi claimed.

“Fine,” Ran frowned, not quite buying it. “What about the other two?”

“Ochiai-san said that he was in a meeting with your mom until about 30 minutes before the murder,” Shinichi explained, glancing back at the discussion the men were having with Megure-keibu. “Nobody could verify where he was though, since he claimed to have stayed in his office.”

“What about security cameras?” Ran asked pointing to the giant security array behind her.

“Only for the exhibits due to ‘budget cuts,’” Shinichi sighed. “Still, at least Ochiai-san has the alibi up to thirty minutes before. Kubota-san doesn’t have anything for two hours. Claims he was doing inventory as instructed by Ochiai-san, but his records have very little to show.”

“So, it has to be him, right?”

“Maybe,” Shinichi muttered. “According to Iijima-san he also sells off museum items on the side, replacing them with forgeries… But that doesn’t give him a motive exactly. If anything, the closing would be a perfect opportunity for him to steal more items.”

“But then, who else could it be?” Ran asked

“Not sure… But something still feels off. The pen Takagi-san retrieved didn’t have any broken pieces to coincide with the one piece you found. Did you see the pen break on the footage?” he asked, but Ran shook her head.

“The knight obstructed that angle, so I can’t say,” Ran admitted.

“In that case, we’ll see when Takagi-san gets back with that note. Speaking of which, did you spot anything?” he nodded toward the screens.

“Well, Manaka-san seemed very surprised when he picked up the paper,” Ran pointed out, gesturing to the one monitor where the murder victim’s surprised expression was displayed. Ran braced herself for Shinichi to quickly dismiss her find, but instead, her friend looked intrigued.

“What could-”

“Keibu-san! They found it!” Takagi-san announced, as he returned into the room, a piece of paper in an evidence bag.

“Guess we’ll have our answer soon, huh, Conan?”

“Yeah,” Shinichi nodded as the two of them, watched as the chief inspector looked over the paper, purposefully keeping what was written away from the suspects. He then turned to Takagi-san;

“Takagi-kun, match the pen please,” Megure-keibu instructed, and Ran panicked for a moment as the detective headed toward the security and spotted her in the chair. Right in front of all the monitors that displayed the murder scene.

“What are-” the confused detective started asking, but Shinichi interrupted him, throwing his voice to a whiny high that Ran had never heard before.

“Kirino! Get off!” he started screaming, weakly trying to pull her off the chair. “It’s my turn to spin on the chair!” he demanded, which drew the attention of everyone in the room.

“This isn’t a place for games!” Megure-keibu scolded them, before turning to Ran’s Oka-san. “Eri-san, can you please get them away from the equipment?” he pleaded, and Kisaki-san nodded.

“Kirino! Conan-kun! Get away from there,” she waved them off, but Ran could see she had an apologetic look for disrupting Shinichi’s plans.

While Ran herself felt a little embarrassed that Shinichi had made it seem that she was the one to cause trouble, her friend, was just as focused as before. In fact, as soon as he saw Takagi-san pull the pen out and open it to compare the ink, his eyes lit up, a smirk spreading across his face.

-DoDo-

Now it all made sense to Shinichi.

If he was correct, he knew exactly who murdered Manaka-san, and more importantly how they made it look like Kubota-san. As soon as he saw that Takagi-san had to open the fountain pen in order to test it, it made sense. A piece of dialogue from the earlier conversation was also put into sharper relief; when Megure-keibu expressed regret that the sword of the armor was ruined, Iijima-san assured him that the armor on display was actually a recreation. Now all he had to do was confirm something with Ran;

“Kirino,” Shinichi whispered, as the two retreated to a corner. “When Manaka-san was stabbed, were there any other paintings or artwork nearby?” Ran frowned at the question, clearly trying to recall the footage.

“I… Don’t think there were any, Conan,” she shook her head.

“Perfect,” Shinichi muttered, his grin widening. “Now all I have to do is get Kisaki-san over here and-”

“Kubota Hiroto, you are under arrest for the murder of the museum owner!” Megure-keibu announced, causing Shinichi to hiss in frustration, looking over the scene. While Kisaki-san also looked like she wasn’t quite buying the accusation, there was little chance she could stop Megure-keibu without causing a scene. Kisaki-san was too far away to flag her down without attracting attention, and nothing a kid could say would force policemen to stop an arrest of all things. Shinichi needed a distraction if he was to stop an innocent man from going to jail. His eyes drifted toward Ran… And the Voice-Changing Bow in her hair.

“Kirino, can you adjust the voice changer to match Eri-no-obasan?” he asked, his own hands going to his stun watch. He hoped that Hakase really made these as good as they were on paper.

“Conan, what are you-” Ran began asking, even as she retrieved the gadget from her hair.

“Just get it done, and hand it over!” Shinichi snapped quietly, before taking aim.

Sorry, Kisaki-san! Shinichi thought to himself, before taking aim at the back of Kisaki-san’s neck and pressing the trigger. He heard a gasp from Ran, but ignored it, instead grabbing the voice-changer and hiding behind his friend.

Sure enough, the needle sunk into Kisaki-san’s neck, eliciting a startled gasp from the older woman, before she started stumbling back. For a moment, Shinichi thought she’d just fall over on the floor, which, while distracting, was hardly what he hoped to achieve. After all, he could hardly pretend to be Kisaki-san if the woman was sprawled face down on the tiles. Fortunately, the tranquilizer seemed to be slow acting enough for Eri to stumble over to the desk in a daze, before collapsing on the chair. Shinichi prayed that she’d just appeared slumped down while talking and nobody would come too close to examine her. Ignoring the repeated elbow jabs to the rib that Ran was giving him, Shinichi raised the voice-changer to his mouth.

“Not so fast, Megure-keibu!” Shinichi said the words that he so loved, and they rang through the room in Kisaki Eri’s voice.

-DoDo-

Megure Juzo had seen a lot of strange and peculiar things in his long career as a police officer, and later a detective. Half his subordinates were technically oddities and peculiar things when he thought about it. His own superiors considered him an oddity sometimes with his refusal to remove his hat.

And yet, watching Kisaki Eri, one of the most respected lawyers in Tokyo, and most of Japan, stumble over as if drunk and fall onto a chair was something else entirely. If Megure wasn’t next to her until a second ago, he’d think that she was drugged. There was always the possibility that all the stress of recent events had finally caught up to her, the inspector could hardly blame her. But then she began speaking, in almost the same manner as Kudo-kun used to whenever he was helping the police.

“What do you mean, Kisaki-san?” Megure asked, speaking more formally than earlier, as this was an official situation. “Manaka-san wrote down Kubota-san’s name during the attack, did he not? Surely that would be enough evidence for a court to come to a verdict?”

“Yes, it would, Keibu-san,” Eri-san admitted, Megure noting a hint of amusement in her voice. “But really, the piece of paper has me somewhat concerned.”

“The pen matched, didn’t it, Takagi-kun?” Megure turned toward his subordinate, and Takagi-kun nodded.

“It did match, Kisaki-san,” Takagi-kun affirmed, lifting the paper from the victim and a fresh sheet from his notepad. “Same color, and thickness of the ink, even accounting for the damage to the paper.”

“And where did you find the paper, Takagi-keiji?” Eri-san asked.

“It was crumpled in the victim’s hand like he was trying to hide it,” Takagi-kun said.

“Or to throw it away,” Eri-san explained. “After all, don’t you find it strange that the killer let Manaka-san write down a name on the note, before killing him?”

“Now, now, Kisaki-san, that’s just speculation,” Megure pointed out, not entirely sure where this was heading.

“Ah, you’re right, I am getting ahead of myself,” Eri-san explained. Even though Megure couldn’t see the woman’s face, there was a distinct mirth in those words. Like that of a stage performer who was about to perform a trick. “Takagi-keiji, could you lift the sheet of paper the victim wrote on to the light?” she requested.

Megure looked over to Takagi-kun and nodded for him to proceed, as he stepped next to him to see what Eri-san had in mind. Sure enough, once the bright light of the lamps hit the paper, Megure had to frown. The light made something on the back side of the paper become more noticeable.

“Did you see it now?” Eri-san asked, and Megure hummed in affirmation.

“There is something on the back of the paper,” the seasoned detective muttered, picking up the evidence from Takagi and flipping it over. There wasn’t anything actually written on that side, but Megure could make out scribbles that looked… Frustrated? It seemed like-

“Someone was writing without ink!” Takagi suddenly exclaimed surprising everyone around, Megure included, since he shouted in his ear. The junior detective seemed to realize that, as he chuckled sheepishly. “Ah, uhm, sorry for that everyone…”

“No, no, Takagi-keiji, that is exactly what it is,” Eri-san explained. “Because Manaka-san was not the one who wrote Kubora-san’s name on that piece of paper!” the lawyer declared, stunning everyone in the room into silence.

“You mean that-” Megure tried to ask but was pre-empted.

“Yes, the murderer wrote this in advance and tricked Manaka-san into trying to write the name on that slip of paper… With an empty fountain pen!”

“But, Kisaki-san, the pen here, is full! I just used it to compare the ink to the note,” Takagi-kun pointed out, lifting the evidence bag.

“Ah, but Takagi-keiji, there is another piece inside that bag, isn’t there?” Eri-san asked, and Megure frowned. Yes, there was indeed another piece of plastic that seemed to belong to the same pen, yet the one they had was perfectly intact.

“Are you saying this isn’t the pen, Kisaki-san?” Megure asked.

“Exactly Megure-keibu,” the lawyer affirmed. “It probably went something like this; the murderer lured Manaka-san into the ‘Hell Room’ as we saw on the video. There, the murderer attacked Manaka-san and after wounding him the first time, said something to the effect of ‘Look at the sign behind you! Your killer’s name is written there!’”

“But that wasn’t the case, now was it,” Eri-san continued amidst the stunned silence of the room. “Ochiai-san?”

“D-Director?” Iijimia-san stuttered.

“Is there any proof of that, Kisaki-san?” the inspector asked.

“Two pieces of circumstantial evidence,” the lawyer admitted. “The first is Kubota-san’s frame-up. If he did indeed sell art pieces illegally, the director would want to stop that. First, for the sake of the museum’s reputation, should the forgeries ever be discovered, and second because the director cherishes the art exhibits so much. Playing into that is the second piece of evidence; the fact that all the paintings around the murder site were removed as if to protect them from the blood splatter. After all, as Iijima-san said, the armor on display was a replica in order to avoid damage from such an open display, correct?”

“Even so, Kisaki-san, you are correct; these are very circumstantial evidence,” Megure said, though inwardly he was impressed by the deduction. It felt like having Yusaku-kun back with him.

“There is one concrete piece of evidence… If the director still has it in his pocket that is.” Eri-san continued. “Namely, the real pen. One with a broken-off piece. The killer retrieved the pen, which couldn’t write, and replaced it with another one to avoid suspicion.” The deduction continued, everything falling neatly into place in Megure’s mind. “The fact it was a pen from the museum made that easy after all. They can literally be picked up at reception.”

With a heavy sigh, Megure turned toward the old director.

“Ochiai-san, I need to ask you,” he began with a grave tone. “What is your alibi at 4:30 PM?”

“Ah, at that precise moment, I was waiting for someone,” the old man began in a solemn tone. “I was wrapped in a suit of armor in the ‘Hell Room’… Waiting for that slimy, rotten devil of a man…”

Megure could swear a pin drop could be heard in the silence that followed the man’s confession.

“The rest was like you said, Kisaki-bengoshi,” Ochiai-san continued, pulling out a fountain pen from his jacket, before turning it to show the broken-off piece.

“And the sightings at the museum?” Megure asked, even though, he already suspected the answer.

“Practice runs,” Eri-san replied. “Correct?”

“The timing of how to show him my identity when on the ground in front of him, the location of the sign, where the pen was dropped, the owner’s personality…” Ochiai-san admitted. “And even how all this would look to the camera was practiced carefully dozens of times. All to make it look just like the painting.”

“We’ll continue this at the station,” Megure nodded heavily, before motioning to Takagi. “Take him away, Takagi-kun.”

“Yes, Keibu!” Takagi quickly nodded, retrieving his handcuffs. The director didn’t resist, as Takagi approached, even offering his hands forward for the handcuffs to be closed around.

“And now the true meaning of the painting is complete,” the director sighed, sounding content.

“What do you mean, Ochiai-san?” Eri-san asked, curiously still not moving.

“The painting represents a demon, destroyed by a knight of justice,” the director explained slowly. “But the knight, bathed in the creature’s blood, has taken the appearance of evil himself…”

Ochiai-san turned to face Eri-san, his voice for the first time sounding truly tired.

“Whatever my reasoning, Kisaki-bengoshi, I am now a murderer. In killing the demon, I have become one myself…”

-DoDo-

Consciousness returned slowly to Eri, who blinked several times, trying to recall what had happened. The last thing she remembered was thinking to consult with Shinichi-kun on her hunch that Kubota-san wasn’t the murderer and then… then she got very sleepy, as if…

They didn’t! Eri thought, waking up fully, and realizing she was sitting on a chair in front of the security monitors. How she managed to not just fall in the middle of the room was a minor miracle, but she didn’t dwell on that, glancing at her watch, it showed she had been out for thirty or so minutes. As she swerved to get up, however, Eri came face to face with Megure-keibu, who was beaming at her.

“Thank you again for your help, Eri-san!” the rotund man congratulated her, grabbed her hand, and started shaking it vigorously.

“Ah, yes, my help,” Eri nodded, trying to keep herself from sounding obviously displeased. Her eyes quickly scanned the room and noted Shinichi and Ran standing near the door. Shinichi-kun in particular looked distressed, and waved his hands, trying to get Eri to play along. Putting on her most professional smile, Eri nodded at the inspector. “You are quite welcome, Megure-keibu.”

“Normally, I’d ask you to come with me to the station, but given how tired you appear, we can do that in a few days.” the inspector explained graciously.

“Very kind of you, Keibu-san,” Eri nodded as she got up, noting that her muscles didn’t appear tired or stiff. “It is quite late and I’d hate to keep the kids from dinner.”

“Of course,” Megure nodded, pulling out a card. “Please, call us as soon as you have the time.”

“I will get in touch with you by the end of the week,” Eri promised, before turning her attention to the two shrunken teens. “Come on you two!” she ordered, as the trio headed toward the car. None of them spoke, until the doors of the Mini Cooper closed securely, and Eri started the engine.

“Are you, okay, Oka-san?” Ran asked, breaking the silence and Eri leaned back in her seat.

“About having to lie to the police or the impromptu nap, you put me in, Ran?”

“Hey, that was Shinichi’s idea!” Ran immediately protested, launching the boy into a sputter;

“I didn’t have a choice! They were about to arrest an innocent man!” Shinichi defended his actions, before taking a deep breath. When he resumed talking, his tone was significantly calmer; “I am sorry, Kisaki-san, but it was the only way I could think of to get Megure-keibu to listen. They wouldn’t stop an arrest on the hunch of children, after all.” He pointed out, and inwardly, Eri had to agree. The fact they listened to her was unusual as it was. Then again, she knew that Megure-keibu in particular had listened to Shinichi’s deductions in the past.

“And what would you have done, if I had just sprawled onto the ground?” Eri asked, partially out of curiosity and partially to enforce how risky the idea was.

“Well, Ran had another dart, so we could have just used someone else…” Shinichi admitted sheepishly. “If nothing else, we might have stalled things long enough for me to figure something else out.”

“I see,” Eri sighed. As usual, it was difficult to argue with the boy, if only because he made sense most of the time. “Still, in the future, please don’t tranquilize me, unless there is literally no other option, Shinichi.” She asked and the shrunken teen nodded.

“Are you sure, you’re okay to drive, Oka-san?” Ran asked, leaning a bit forward in her seat, still looking worried.

“Perfectly fine, Ran,” Eri assured her. “It was actually one of the better bouts of sleep I’ve had recently,” Eri admitted, but quickly realized that she was pushing the conversation dangerously close to talking about Kogoro. Before either of them could ask her about it though, she changed the subjects. “Given the time, we’ll swing by a restaurant to get dinner. Any preferences?” she asked, and Shinichi quickly picked up what she was doing, helping her along, while Ran looked unconvinced.

Chapter Text

As usual for midnight, Eri’s apartment was silent.

Just like Eri liked it, for what she was about to do.

Eri had heard Ran and Shinichi go to bed about an hour ago, with her pulling up her laptop and telling them she was going to be working a little longer. After the day the two had, Eri expected them to fall asleep quickly, while the impromptu nap Shinichi had put her in left her surprisingly rested.

Eri didn’t lie to Ran when she told her it was the best sleep she’d had in a while. After all, dreamless sleep didn’t come easy to Eri these days. Not when every time she closes her eyes she either sees Kogoro again or even worse, Ran’s grave right next to her husband’s.

The first few days after Kogoro’s death, while perhaps the worst in terms of pain, were also the easiest to somehow power pass. She still had energy, and could just work through the night, and then make it through her day on coffee. That method lasted all of a week before it was just too much for her body to take.

And since then, the nightmares would come as soon as Eri’s eyes closed. Eri had quickly begun to dread falling asleep because even if she woke up it’d be an escape that only lasted a few seconds before she fell back into haunting dreams and terrifying possibilities.

It didn’t help that even shrunk to a third of his size, Shinichi still had the pension for attracting either dead bodies or mysteries in general. While Eri knew that he and Ran were perhaps far better equipped to handle such situations than the majority of police out there, that knowledge did little to ease her anxiety. Today it was a controlled space, where police were around, sure, but that wouldn’t always be the case.

It certainly wasn’t the case when the two of them and three children ran off into a mansion in the middle of the night and were confronted by a crazed woman with a knife.

Maybe I should have scolded them more for that one? Eri thought bitterly, running a hand through her hair.

As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn’t sure what to do. For all of his faults, one thing that Kogoro did right, was knowing when to put his foot down with Ran and when not to. Whether that actually worked was another matter, but he at least tried. And now, Eri was going to have to figure that out by herself.

Gently closing the laptop in front of her, Eri stood up and walked behind her kitchen counter, picking up an unopened bottle of wine from under it. At the rate Eri was going, she’d have to buy more the next time she visited the store… And somehow hide them from Ran. The last thing she wanted was for Ran to think Eri was going down the same path as her late father, merely numbing herself to the world.

And yet isn’t this what I am doing? The woman thought to herself, even as she picked up the corkscrew. No, she just needed to get past this part of her grief and she’d stop. It wasn’t too late, and she could control herself. Yes, Eri was sure that she had it under control-

“Oka-san, that’s enough,” a small voice interrupted Eri, halfway to inserting the corkscrew into the bottle cap. Eri felt her breath hitched as she looked up from the bottle and saw Ran, standing in the doorway that led to the hallway, clad in her pajamas, eyes dark with grief.

“Ran, I thought-”

“Shinichi woke me up when he heard you stir,” Ran admitted, shuffling into the room. “I asked him to since I wasn’t sure I’d hear you.” She said, approaching the counter.

“So… You know?”

“I grew up around Otou-san for ten years. I learned to notice when alcohol starts to disappear faster than it should have. Shinichi just confirmed the numbers for me.” Ran explained listlessly, as she hopped onto a chair.

“Ran, you don’t have to worry about me-” Eri tried to assure her daughter, but Ran shook her head.

“Otou-san always said the same,” she said with a sad smile. “Especially on days when the two of you fought.” Ran clarified, causing Eri to look away. “He always claimed to be okay, but I watched him for ten years, Oka-san. No matter what he claimed he was never okay, but he stubbornly refused to talk to me.”

“Ran, I am not your father-”

“Then don’t act like him!” Ran interrupted with a defiant shout, slamming her hands on the countertop. “Don’t… Don’t leave me to take care of another parent… Please… Not now.”

“Ran…” Eri swallowed, feeling ashamed of herself. “I… I just… It’s hard for me, right now to-”

“It is for me as well!” Ran protested, crying freely now. “I know you loved Otou-san, but I lived with him! I had to help him through all of his late-night benders, through the worst of it… I miss him too, Oka-san… I miss him so bad…” Ran whimpered, crumbling into the chair she was standing on, hugging her knees to her chest.

Eri slowly put down the corkscrew and carefully placed the bottle back below the counter.

“Ran, I- You’re right,” Eri admitted, slumping forward, resting her arms on the counter opposite her shrunken daughter. “I haven’t been dealing with this well. I just wanted to… I didn’t want to burden you with my problems as well.”

“Nothing gets better by not talking about it, Oka-san,” Ran countered in frustration. “And by not talking about it, you what? Just stew there, and drink yourself to sleep?” the tiny girl demanded in desperation.

“I-”

“Besides, your suffering burdens me more than anything else, Oka-san,” Ran explained. “Please just… Talk to me.” Ran pleaded. Unable to resist anymore, Eri walked around the counter and pulled Ran into a hug.

“I am sorry for being so short-sighted, Ran,” Eri muttered, into her daughter’s hair. “I just… I tried so hard to be strong for you that… That I forgot how strong you are, I guess.”

“Idiot,” Ran muttered.

Mother and daughter stood like this for what felt like hours, before finally coming apart, tears in both their eyes. Neither of them knew exactly what to say next until Eri decided that she should be the first to break the silence;

“I… The last time I talked with your father, Ran, we fought,” Eri admitted, recalling the acrid words the two of them exchanged. “He chafed at the fact that I was the one to bring him work, even though he desperately needed it.”

“That sounds like Otou-san,” Ran admitted, letting go of Eri. “I… Didn’t fight with him, but the last thing I thought of in the morning, before… Everything,” Ran choked a bit as she recalled the memory. “I thought how happy I’d be when I moved to live by myself in college.”

“I think we’ve all felt that when we were teenagers, Ran,” Eri assured her.

“Maybe, but it hardly makes it better, I…” Ran swallowed back a whimper. “I thought I’d never miss his bumbling and nagging… And now all I can do is imagine it.”

“I know, Ran… I would so love to walk into his office right now and see him act like an absolute fool in front of an Okino Yoko concert on TV.” Eri smiled sadly, but the image did at least cause Ran to chuckle for a moment.

“He always did go overboard for those,” Ran admitted with a wan smile of her own. “We… Should make an effort to keep talking like this, Oka-san. Please, if you ever need anything-” Eri raised her hand, stopping her daughter.

“Same goes for you, Ran. Don’t let me… Don’t let me forget what’s really important to me, okay?”

“Promise!”

“Let’s make time tomorrow after dinner,” Eri proposed. “I… Also wanted to propose something to you and Shinichi, regarding your friend, Sonoko-chan.”

“Really? You don’t mean-” Ran looked up in surprise, but Eri shook her head.

“No, we’re definitely not going to let her in on what’s happening,” Eri corrected Ran, even though she wished she could. Having the Suzuki heiress in their corner would have been a boon, but not one they could use right now. At least not until they were sure that those men couldn’t trace anything back to them. “But I was thinking you and Shinichi could use a… Babysitter from time to time.”

“Eh?!”

-DoDo-

“Long day, Takagi-san?” the question interrupted Takagi’s thoughts, even as a cup of freshly brewed coffee appeared next to his face.

“Ah, thank you, Chiba,” Takagi sighed gratefully, as he took the Styrofoam cup. “And, no, just something that doesn’t quite add up is all.”

“I thought that lawyer lady solved the case?” Chiba asked, sitting down across from Takagi with his own cup of coffee.

“Kisaki-san did, but it’s not what is puzzling me right now,” Takagi admitted, before grabbing a picture from the case file. “See this pen?” Takagi asked, showing Chiba the picture.

“Evidence that you guys found, right?” Chiba asked, clearly not seeing where this was going.

“No, the people who found the body found the pen for us. Two kids, from the first grade,” Takagi explained, flipping over the testimonies he got from the kids. “They found it in a dark room, by ‘accident.’”

“Come, on, Takagi-san, you can’t possibly think the kids had anything to do with this, can you?” Chiba asked, half-chuckling.

“Definitely not, but it’s just weird,” Takagi shook his head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say the kids were actively looking for clues about the murder.” The police detective suggested, but Chiba shook his head.

“If you didn’t just come back from one, Takagi-san, I’d say you need a vacation,” Chiba joked, and Takagi suppressed a wince, covering it up with his trademarked embarrassed chuckle. “Kids are just observant, or maybe they accidentally kicked it away and were too mortified to admit it.” Takagi’s friend suggested.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Takagi admitted, though didn’t quite believe it himself. A motion from across the bullpen quickly caught the junior detective’s attention though. “Ah, sorry, Chiba, just need a minute.” Takagi excused himself and headed in the direction that he just saw Sato-san walk off to. Takagi pointedly ignored the scandalized gazes he was accruing from around the other desks. He often marveled how Sato-san seemed oblivious to the men in the precinct.

“Sato-san,” Takagi called after his colleague, once they reached the elevator.

“Ah, Takagi-kun,” Sato-san greeted him with a warm smile. “What’s up?”

“You heard about the case, me and Megure-keibu had today, right?” Takagi asked, and his colleague nodded.

“Yeah… Did you learn something regarding Mouri-san? I heard his wife was there,” Sato-san asked, her tone immediately dropping to a whisper.

“Not… Exactly,” Takagi admitted, briefly explaining his misgivings about the kids and what they found, along with how Kisaki-san helped them with the case. To her credit, Sato-san listened to the explanation in full, clearly deep in thought from everything that Takagi revealed to her.

“It does seem strange that Kisaki-san would start taking care of these kids right after her husband died and her daughter disappeared somewhere,” Sato-san agreed. “But we can hardly investigate her over something like this. Especially since she claims she talked with her daughter and Ran-chan is out of the country.”

“I know that, but…” Takagi dropped his voice another octave, leaning in to whisper his thoughts; “I know that Megure-keibu vouched for her, but something about Kisaki-san’s actions bothers me.” Takagi admitted his words, causing his colleague to look skeptical.

“It’s not like you to question the inspector, Takagi-kun,” Sato-san pointed out. Takagi did grimace at the accusation since it was correct. This definitely wasn’t like him, but for once his instincts were telling him that something was up.

“No, but I am wondering if Kisaki-san might have misled him somehow,” Takagi clarified, causing Sato-san to nod in affirmation.

“It’s unlikely though; Megure-keibu is a good judge of character…” Sato-san muttered. “Though not infallible,” she admitted.

“So, what do you suggest we do, Sato-san?” Takagi asked, hoping that she’d have a suggestion beyond just bringing this to Megure-keibu.

“For now, let’s just monitor the situation,” the female detective suggested. “See if anything else pops up around Kisaki-san before we bring any findings to Megure-keibu.”

“So, we just hope that Kisaki-san miraculously appears on more crime scenes?” Takagi asked incredulously.

“It kept happening to the Kudo kid the inspector really liked,” Sato-san shrugged.

“I guess…”

“Now come on, Takagi-kun!” Sato suddenly announced, grabbing his arm. “Yumi is organizing a karaoke party after work!”

“B-But I still have a report to finish-” Takagi tried to protest, his words falling on deaf ears as he was dragged into the elevator.

-DoDo-

“Ojisan! Ya got the newest paper in yet?” Heiji asked as he leaned in on the counter of the small corner store on his way to school.

“Ah, yeah,” the man behind the counter nodded, pulling out a paper from beneath the counter and handing it to Heiji. “That’s 250 yen.” He said, and Heiji fished the money out of his uniform pocket, giving them to the man, before opening the paper.

Uncharacteristically, Heiji immediately skipped all articles about Osaka, instead turning to the news from Tokyo. Trained detective eyes immediately began scanning over the articles in question, searching for anything pertaining to murders or other big crimes.

He’d been doing this every day ever since the call he received from Suzuki-san and promised to look for her friends. It had taken him about a day to compile everything he could on Mouri Ran and her family. The girl herself was relatively easy to find information on; a karate champion considered to be an up-and-coming star, winner of over a dozen championships and often talked about in the same breath as Kyogoku Makoto by those who knew the sport. Academically not excelling at anything, but far from just a martial artist who got by on sports excellence alone. She appeared to be a very reserved, kind, and optimistic person from what little interviews she had agreed to do in smaller newspapers.

The girl’s father was a different story; Mouri Kogoro was by all accounts an unremarkable officer, middling detective, and even worse private eye. The man’s sole accomplishments seemed to be his unmatched marksmanship skills and judo expertise. Heiji had found several university pals of Mouri’s who claimed that he was the best they’d seen in a long time when it came to judo throws, but never had the temperament to pursue a career professionally. Discharged after a shooting incident at the Tokyo PD, and disappearing from the public eye, until being found dead in his office.

Ran’s mother though, appeared to be the exact opposite; brilliant, with academic excellence awards tracking all the way to middle school, Kisaki Eri was one of the most well-known defense lawyers in Tokyo. Even outside the city, everyone seemed to have respect for her, as she would routinely give lectures throughout Japan. Heiji found it interesting that the woman not only lived separately from her husband and daughter but also used her maiden name. There were no accounts of why they split up, and every time that someone had tried asking the question, they’ve been stonewalled by Kisaki-san. Heiji had his theories as to the subject, most probable of which being that Mouri and Kisaki-san had a falling out after the former’s discharge from the force. Probably connected to the shooting accident, since Kisaki-san was also at the police station at that time.

What bothered Heiji was the fact that Mouri-san was the one targeted, while by all accounts his wife had a much larger public presence and people who’d like to do her harm. Even his daughter would be a better target, given how many people she’d trounced in tournaments. Heiji knew firsthand how much ego went in a lot of competitions. It didn’t make sense that the least important person in the family was targeted. By all accounts, Mouri-san didn’t even have any active cases at the time!

Shaking his head, Heiji refocused on the paper he just bought, until a particular column caught his attention;

‘Brutal murder at local museum solved by an unlikely detective!’

There ya are, Kudo! Heiji thought triumphantly, flipping to the article in question, only to stop dead in his tracks, as the picture of Kisaki Eri, looking embarrassed, was plastered on the page above the article.

Now this, Heiji decided as he skimmed the article, was certainly getting interesting.

Chapter Text

“Conan, why are we here?” Ran asked him, over the din of the rest of their group.

“I am legitimately starting to believe we’re here to suffer, Kirino,” Shinichi sighed in annoyance, before turning to Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi-chan: “Cut it out already, you three!” he shouted at the trio, who instantly froze, stopping their noise and running around the museum, giving Shinichi a moment’s peace.

God knows he had very few of those moments, ever since their history class with Kobayashi-sensei earlier today. The overly-excitable teacher had told the class about different historical treasures that were discovered thanks to archeologists and prominent historians over the years. This resulted in two things happening; first, Shinichi was pretty sure they were behind on their curriculum now, but second and more important, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi-chan had not talked about anything else for the last three hours. At this point it was so monotonous, Shinichi would have even listened to Kamen Yaiba stories from the kids. Furthermore, as soon as the last bell rang for the day, the three had dragged him and Ran over to a local museum to see the ‘Treasures from Around the World’ exhibit.

“Conan-kun, you’re no fun!” Ayumi-chan protested, but fortunately for Shinichi, Ran stepped in to help;

“It’s not about fun you three” she reprimanded the trio gently, trying to sound more like a big sister to them than anything else, which Shinichi supposed fit rather well. “Just because you’re excited, doesn’t mean you can disturb other people too. Got it?”

“Yes,” the trio muttered toward Ran in a low voice.

“Good, now come on,” Shinichi interjected. “The museum is closing in about twenty minutes, so look around the remaining exhibits, just do it quietly, okay?” he instructed, basically shooing the children away. While the trio slowly started looking at the exhibits around them, giving their excited, but restrained opinions, he turned to Ran; “Good job reigning them in.”

“I like the kids, don’t get me wrong, Conan,” she said, careful not to use his real name whenever the kids were within a hundred feet of them. “Just… Were we ever this noisy and impulsive?”

“Maybe Sonoko was,” Shinichi chuckled at the memories.

“By the way Conan,” Ran spoke up, somewhat unsure. “What do you think of Oka-san’s suggestion?”

It had been a few days since the murder case at the museum, and fortunately, Ran and her mother seemed to be doing better, or at least that was the impression Shinichi got. Both were talking more, Ran didn’t seem as worried, and Kisaki-san had significantly slowed down her alcohol consumption to almost nothing again. The media uproar of Kisaki-san ‘solving’ the case also didn’t last, since Megure-keibu had kept it mostly under wraps, at the lawyer’s behest.

Part of Shinichi was a bit irked that his work wasn’t really recognized, but he supposed it was something he’d have to get used to for a while at least. It wasn’t like the public would accept a random seven-year-old boy cracking cases left, right, and center, even if the possibility of the men in black noticing wasn’t present.

What really surprised Shinichi out of the entire situation was Kisaki-san’s suggestion to have Sonoko of all people babysit them from time to time. Kisaki-san rationalized the idea with two distinct advantages; first, was that Ran could at least stay in touch with Sonoko in a way, that, Shinichi had to admit, would be good for his friend. Second was that Kisaki-san simply didn’t have the time to constantly be with them, and having someone they could rely on if something like with the museum case happened, was a good thing. Personally, Shinichi wasn’t really all that excited about it though; Sonoko and he never saw eye-to-eye that much, and the Suzuki heiress really didn’t like kids.

“I don’t mind it, but you know she’s not going to like hanging out with kids,” Shinichi pointed out.

“I know, Conan, but… I do miss her,” Ran admitted.

“Have you considered calling her again?” Shinichi suggested, but Ran shook her head, rather morosely, clearly remembering the call from yesterday, the second time they had tried talking with Sonoko.

“She’d just ask me when I’m coming back,” Ran replied, rather dejectedly as the two of them walked over to the next exhibit. “And besides, we haven’t had the time yet to talk about the ‘cases’ we’re solving right now.” Ran reminded him, to which Shinichi nodded.

“We’ll raid the Kudo library this weekend and pick a few then,” Shinichi said. “I know this has been hard on you, Kirino.”

“At least me and Oka-san are doing better. That’s something,” Ran admitted with a genuinely happy smile.

-DoDo-

Despite her and Shinichi’s best efforts it still took the staff pointing out that the museum was closing soon for the kids to finally relent and head toward the exit. Said exit was far from silent though, as the trio was still animatedly chatting about treasures, what they could buy with it, and when they could go out to search for some.

Ran had to admire their energy, if nothing else, even if it was misplaced. After all, despite Shinichi and her always stumbling onto murderers as of late, it wasn’t like a treasure map would just drop in their lap.

Hopefully, Ran and Shinichi could get home, where Ran could get some cooking done for everyone. While her Oka-san insisted on doing it most days (despite Shinichi’s protests over quality), they had come to the agreement that whenever there was a difficult case, Ran would temporarily take over. Besides, over the years taking care of her Otou-san, Ran had gotten too used to taking care of the house chores and now it was hard getting out of the habit. Ran’s mother had a difficult case that she had to manage since yesterday, and she always seemed to get home extra late. Still, she and Ran found time to talk, even if it was during lunch break, with Shinichi acting as a lookout if someone got a little too interested. Right as Ran was going to ask Shinichi if he wanted anything specific for dinner though, a commotion from the trio in front of her, drew her attention.

“Hey, what’s that Genta-kun?” Mitsuhiko-kun asked, pointing to a piece of paper that was stuck to the larger boy’s shoe.

“Huh?” Genta-kun picked up the piece of paper and scrutinized it for a few seconds, with both Mitsuhiko-kun and Ayumi-chan doing the same. It took no more than five seconds for the children’s faces to split into massive grins.

“What did you guys find?” Shinichi ventured, Ran noting the apprehension in his voice.

“A treasure map!” Genta-kun announced turning around and showing Ran and Shinichi the paper. It appeared to be a sheet ripped from a spiraled notebook with several crude drawings of shapes on it. From top to bottom, Ran noted a malformed triangle next to a moon, a hat of sorts, an upside-down triangle, a bowtie, a star within a circle, a square that was split down the middle, and a fish. Next to the square was a single word written in Latin letters “ORO.”

Before Ran could say what she was thinking though, Shinichi piped up, his voice bored and dismissive;

“Guys, this is just someone’s scribblings, not an actual treasure map,” Ran’s friend said, placing his hands on the back of his head. The kids however didn’t look dissuaded at all, with Mitsuhiko-kun grabbing the piece of paper from Genta-kun and pointing to the word ‘ORO’;

“Then what about this, Conan-kun?” the boy asked. “Do you know what this means?” Mitsuhiko-kun insisted, Shinichi rolling his eyes.

“Probably an abbreviation of some sort, or perhaps a foreign word,” Shinichi supplied, though Ran could see that he was already trying to figure out what the word meant, his mystery-solving brain involved. If there was one thing that Shinichi could not resist, it was a puzzle, even since he was a kid… the first time around.

“Exactly! And I know what it means!” Mitsuhiko-kun proclaimed and Ran got a sinking feeling in her stomach. “The O stands for ‘ookii’, the R is for ‘rich’ and the last O is for ‘o-takara’! So in other words, it stands for ‘big rich treasure!’” the boy proclaimed proudly.

“That’s amazing! I didn’t know you could read English, Mitsuhiko-kun!” Ayumi-chan started bouncing in place with excitement, and Ran noted that the boy was now a flustered mess. It would have been adorable if he wasn’t fanning Ayumi-chan and Genta-kun into a frenzied chase around the city.

“Hey!” Shinichi tried to get the kids’ attention, but Ran saw they were already too embroiled in daydreaming about what to do with their imaginary treasure. Before her friend could get even more frustrated at the trio ignoring him, Ran patted his shoulder. “Huh?”

“Conan, I’m going to call, uhm, Eri-no-obasan, and tell her we might be late,” Ran explained, pulling out her cell phone. “Can you make sure they don’t run off in the meantime?”

“Fine, but don’t take too long,” Shinichi sighed. “Otherwise, they might start digging here and now.” He joked and Ran shook her head. Taking a few steps away from the rest of the group, Ran dialed the number of her mother’s office.

“Kisaki Law Agency, Kuriyama Midori speaking,”

“Ah, Kuriyama-san, it’s Kirino,” Ran introduced herself to her mother’s secretary. “Is Eri-no-obasan there?”

“Ah, she’s just talking with someone on the phone, Kirino-chan,” Kuriyama-san assured Ran. “Might be a while though. Do you want me to leave a message for her?”

“Uh… yeah,” Ran nodded. “Can you tell her I might be a little late tonight and she should grab dinner somewhere? My friends think they found a treasure map and want to investigate it.” The shrunken teen explained, realizing how ridiculous that sentence sounded. Fortunately, Kuriyama-san seemed to take it in stride;

“A treasure map huh? Kids these days have interesting games,” the woman laughed. “I’ll tell Sensei for you, just promise to be careful okay, Kirino-chan?”

“We will, thank you Kuriyama-san,” Ran promised, before closing the line and pocketing her phone. As she did, motion in her peripheral vision caught her eyes, putting the girl on edge. Turning around, she noticed three men, clearly foreigners, in expensive-looking suits wearing sunglasses. The trio was fervently looking around for something on the ground, and even around trashcans.

Perhaps it was her time with Shinichi and everything that happened to the two of them recently, but Ran immediately became suspicious of the trio, subconsciously checking if her bracelets and stun-gun watch were present, as she made her way toward the kids and Shinichi, who was barely keeping them from just running off. Naturally, as soon as Ran was within arm’s reach, Shinichi noted her demeanor.

“Everything okay, Kirino?” he asked, and Ran shook her head, discreetly pointing at the trio of men.

“I think that paper is theirs,” she explained. Shinichi immediately shifted his attention to look over the men, his eyes widening a little at something Ran had clearly missed. Before Ran could ask what he saw though, he clapped his hands together, bringing the kids’ attention back to him.

“Come on you three! Let’s go to the first clue!” he announced, and Ran saw the three men also take note of the group.

“But Conan… Did you figure out the location?” Genta asked confused.

“Kind of,” Shinichi smirked. “But first we’re going to a library!”

“Huh?” the three kids asked confused, with Ran also failing to realize what her friend was trying to do.

“Is the treasure in a library, Conan-kun?” Ayumi-chan asked, but Shinichi shook his head, instead grabbing the paper from Mitsuhiko-kun and pointing to the word ‘ORO.’

“No, but I don’t think this is an abbreviation,” Shinichi explained. “And without knowing what it means, we won’t be able to solve this map.” He declared, his voice sounding sure of his logic. Ran though, couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something Shinichi was omitting. If anything, she found it strange that he was announcing everything so loudly. The kids though, didn’t seem to notice that Shinichi was manipulating them. Instead, Mitsuhiko-kun pulled out a city map from his backpack and quickly flipped through it, until he found what he was looking for;

“The nearest library is a few streets away!” he declared.

“Right! Let’s go and get that treasure!” Genta-kun declared, raising his fist into the air triumphantly.

“Aye!” Ayumi-chan joined in the cheer, and the three of them took off into a run. Shinichi seemed to wait a few seconds before rushing after them.

“Come on, Kirino!” he yelled, and Ran took off after him, using the opportunity to ask;

“Is a clue really at the library?” she asked, though she already suspected the answer.

“Not the start of the clue trail no. That’s at Tokyo Tower,” Shinichi admitted, casting a worried glance behind him. “But I need to figure out what the word means. Besides, it’s a nice safe spot for us to be right now.”

“The men?”

“At least one of them is carrying a gun,” Shinichi admitted, causing Ran to gasp. While not unheard of, guns were a rarity for Japanese criminals. At least that’s what her parents had told her over the years. “And if you’re right and the map is theirs…”

“They might have tried something with us just wandering around the city aimlessly,” Ran concluded worriedly. “Should we call the police? I can use the voice-changer and mimic a concerned adult,” she suggested.

“If they’re desperate it could end up in a shootout,” Shinichi pointed out, casting a glance at all the people around them. “At this time of day, there are too many potential hostages for them to grab as well.”

“We’re stuck doing this alone again, aren’t we?” Ran sighed, as they caught up with the kids who were waiting outside the library.

“At least we have our gadgets this time,” Shinichi pointed out, but Ran was already having a bad feeling about this.

“What about the kids?” Ran asked. “We can’t bring them with us!”

“I know. Once we find out what the word means, we’ll suggest to them to look for it tomorrow, or something like that. It will buy us time to figure out what to do with the men,” her friend suggested and Ran nodded. It really said something about how used Ran was getting to this since the biggest worry on her mind right now was whether her mother would have a nice dinner or not.

Chapter Text

“Okay guys, remember; be quiet and let’s grab the dictionaries we need,” Shinichi instructed the kids, as they made their way into the dictionary aisle of the library. Getting inside the library was easy and from what Shinichi could tell the three men hadn’t followed them inside, which was good and bad in his opinion. Good because they weren’t desperate enough to cause a scene yet. Bad, because it showed they had at least a modicum of foresight, which could be a problem when it came time to apprehend them.

“But, Conan-kun, we can’t read foreign languages,” Ayumi-chan pointed out, looking somewhat intimidated by the books that Ran was picking off the shelves already.

“Well, you don’t really need to read them,” Shinichi explained. “All you have to do is go to the ‘O’ part and look for how the word ‘oro’ looks. From where it’s just normal Japanese.”

“Japanese kanji though,” Mitsuhiko pointed out, sounding uncertain. “What do we do if we find the word, but can’t read it?”

“Just ask me or Kirino,” Shinichi shrugged, picking up the dictionaries from Ran.

“You guys can read kanji good enough for that!?” Genta asked, sounding utterly flabbergasted. Fortunately, Ran came to his rescue from that particular slip-up;

“My parents are lawyers like Eri-no-obasan, and Conan’s folks are writers,” she explained. “Not important right now.”

“Yes, right! Now Ayumi-chan, you get German. Genta, you’re on Italian. Mitsuhiko, French. Kirino will take Spanish. And I’ll go over Portuguese.” Shinichi divvied up the work, handing each member of the group a dictionary before they could question the ad-hoc explanation anymore.

The quintet quickly made their way to an unoccupied table in the library and quickly began flicking through the dictionaries, the map in the middle of the table between them, so the kids could compare the writing if necessary. As Shinichi worked through his own dictionary, he kept track of the door just on the off-chance that the men might come in and try to swipe the map somehow.

The other thing that puzzled the shrunken teen was the fact that while he already knew the first location, namely Tokyo Tower, from the drawing, the others weren’t coming as easily to him, no matter what he applied to them. They didn’t appear to be any local landmarks that matched the symbols as the Tokyo Tower did, and substituting the shapes with words also made no sense whatsoever, at least in Japanese, and English. There was every possibility that if they found the correct language they could-

“I FOUND IT!” Genta exclaimed, earning their table a bout of shushing, with Shinichi stifling a groan at the large boy’s overexcitement. As the group gathered around, Genta pointed to the kanji symbol next to the word, seeming confused. “It looks like a house.” As soon as Shinichi saw it, he realized what the word meant. And judging by the gasp behind him, so did Ran.

“Gold…” Ran whispered in disbelief. Disbelief that Shinichi absolutely shared. Somehow, they had found an actual map. Or at least something close enough to it, if the trio of men chasing them was any indication. The temptation to have Ran call the police was growing drastically. The only issue was that the police were unlikely to respond sufficiently to a random call given what Shinichi had to work with right now.

There was always the possibility to call Megure-keibu using the voice-changer to match his teenage voice, but Shinichi would have no way to explain his connection to Conan and the kids right now… At least not without leading straight to Kisaki-san if anybody was listening.

Damn it! He thought, wracking his brain for a solution that didn’t involve just waiting. And he wasn’t going to be given the time either by the looks of it;

“Wha-? As in real gold?!” Mitsuhiko gasped, Ayumi-chan next to him looking positively faint, muttering something about castles. Genta’s eyes were also glazed over by what Shinichi could only describe as greed. Shinichi also realized that his chances of convincing the kids to just go home for the day while he and Ran found the treasure just plummeted.

“Maybe…” Shinichi muttered, closing the dictionary and grabbing the map. “But that just means we need to be careful. If this is a real treasure, someone else is looking for it as well.”

“Someone dangerous even,” Ran added, stressing the situation to the kids. Unfortunately, this seemed to have the opposite effect;

“Right! This means we have to find it before anyone else!” Genta declared, earning more shushing from the rest of the library.

“Eh-?” Shinichi blanched at the declaration before Mitsuhiko and Ayumi-chan nodded alongside Genta. So much for him delaying this until tomorrow.

“Yeah, we found this map, so we have to find the treasure,” Mitsuhiko affirmed.

“Guys, this could be dangerous,” Ran said in a panic. “We don’t know who drew this map. It might belong to criminals! Very bad criminals!” she stressed, omitting the men she and Shinichi saw, but Ayumi-chan countered;

“Especially if they’re bad! If bad guys get the treasure, they’ll do bad things with it, Kirino-chan!” the younger girl protested, and Shinichi resisted the urge to slam his head on the table. These kids were hopeless. Shinichi had nothing against solving the riddle of the map. If anything, he was excited about the challenge, even if it led to nothing. The shrunken teen would have loved nothing more than for him and Ran to hole themselves up in the Kudo mansion with some code-breaking books and research into the night. But having these kids with him and Ran, especially when some guys with guns were looking for the map, was not something he could do in good conscious. Still, it took one look at their faces to realize this was a losing battle.

Help me! He mouthed to Ran, who looked just as lost as me.

How? She shook her head back.

“Hey Conan-kun, now that we have the word, what’s next?” Mitsuhiko-kun asked Shinichi, who weighed his options quickly. He could easily lie to them and tell them he didn’t know, which was partially true. He knew just the start of the trail, but from where on he’d have to investigate on site. The first idea of lying and sending the kids on a wild goose chase, while he and Ran investigated at their leisure was tempting. Unfortunately, Shinichi had grown to know the trio in the last couple of weeks; the kids would either get themselves in a bigger mess, somehow, or just try and follow him and Ran around.

This meant that ironically, their safest bet was just having them tag along…

Shinichi really hoped Ran wouldn’t kill him for this…

“The first drawing is of Tokyo Tower,”

-DoDo-

“A treasure map?” Eri asked her assistant, with a surprised voice. She had only managed to get off the phone with a surprisingly thickheaded prosecutor regarding an upcoming case, and this was not what she expected.

“That’s what Kirino-chan said,” Kuriyama-san assured her. “She seemed skeptical that it was real though.” She clarified.

“Ah, with everything lately, I find myself worried never the less,” Eri admitted, fishing for her cell phone in her bag to see what Ran was up to now. When she dialed though, Eri surprisingly got only the voice mail of Ran’s phone. A surge of concern immediately flashed through Eri’s mind and she turned to her assistant;

“Kuriyama-san, please close down the office, and make sure all files are put away properly,” Eri instructed, checking to see if her car keys were in her bag. When she talked with Ran during lunch, her daughter mentioned that she and some kids from school were going to a museum downtown.

“Is everything okay, Sensei?” Kuriyama-san blinked, somewhat confused.

“Probably, but I am going to go check up on Kirino-chan and Conan-kun,” Eri explained. “I have an idea where they might be, so it won’t be too hard,” she explained, only half-lying. After all, Agasa-san did have another pair of tracking glasses just for this kind of situation.

“Very well, Sensei,” Kuriyama-san said politely. “I’ll handle the office for you so don’t worry about that.”

“Thank you, Kuriyama-san,” Eri smiled at her assistant, not for the first time thankful for how reliable the younger woman was.

Trying to call her daughter again as she left the office, all Eri could think of was a single repeating question;

Where are you, Ran?

-DoDo-

I’m going to kill him! Ran thought fervently as she, Shinichi, and the kids were now standing in front of Tokyo Tower. During the bus ride over, Shinichi had explained his reasoning to her. According to him, the kids would just follow them anyway, and if they weren’t close, the three men could grab Ayumi-chan, Mitsuhiko-kun, or Genta-kun as hostages and force Shinichi to solve the riddle. While Ran couldn’t disagree outright with her friend’s logic, since the kids were very persistent, it didn’t mean she had to like it. Especially since Ran could see the trio of men following them, even going as far as to tail the bus the quintet took to the Tower.

She knew that Shinichi was also aware of the trio since he kept casting furtive glances back and forth from the map to the crowd. The one thing keeping Ran from simply calling the police thus far was Shinichi’s assurance that he had a plan.

“So, what now, Conan?” Genta-kun asked, impatiently, looking at the map. “I don’t see anything else that looks like the symbols.” He pointed out.

“Maybe it’s not a building,” Ayumi-chan suggested, pointing at the symbol right under the Tokyo Tower drawing. “This looks like a hat!”

“A clothing store maybe?” Mitsuhiko-kun suggested, but Genta-kun pointed beneath that one;

“This looks like cake though,”

Ran’s attention shifted from the bickering children for a moment to Shinichi, who appeared deep in thought, looking at the surrounding buildings. Ran followed his gaze and saw that her friend was looking straight at the large signs above the shops. Before Ran could ask what he was thinking, Shinichi turned to the kids;

“Mitsuhiko, you have a map of Tokyo, right?” he asked, causing the freckled boy to nod.

“Yeah, I do,” Mitsuhiko-kun confirmed, pulling out the book for Shinichi. “What are you thinking, Conan-kun?”

“Not 100% sure, but I think that the map leads down Tsukimi Road,” he explained, tracing the road on the map. “Because, that café sign matches the second symbol, see?” Shinichi pointed to a café a little way down the road from the tower.

“So, you think this leads down Tsukimi Road to… What?” Ran peeked over Shinichi’s shoulder, looking at the map with him.

“Not sure,” Shinichi admitted. “But I know that if we can find these symbols, we’ll find this ‘gold.’”

“Uhm… What about the moon though?” Ayumi-chan asked, pointing at the symbol next to the tower. “Aren’t we missing a step?” the younger girl asked, which caused Shinichi to hum, while Ran looked around again, trying to see if there was anything that looked like a moon nearby.

“Maybe it just means that we have to face the south side of Tokyo Tower?” Mitsuhiko-kun suggested. “Since the moon rises from the east?”

“In that case, they’d use the Sun,” Ran spoke up. “Especially since you can see the sunrise more easily.”

“You think Ayumi’s right and we’re missing something?” Shinichi asked, his tone sounding agreeable.

“Maybe we need to come back at night?” Ayumi-chan suggested, but Mitsuhiko-kun seemed skeptical;

“If we do that, the signs wouldn’t be that visible though, Ayumi-chan,” Mitsuhiko-kun pointed out, but Shinichi snapped his fingers, causing Ran to jump a little, along with the kids.

“No, it’s genius!” Shinichi proclaimed, beaming at Ayumi-chan who blushed hard at the praise. If Ran didn’t know that Shinichi and her were ten years older, she’d have found it adorable. Even as a kid, Shinichi seemed to attract the attention of girls.

“What do you mean, Conan?” Genta-kun asked, the large boy looking completely lost now.

“It’s not just signs! It’s neon signs that light up at night,” Shinichi explained, pointing at the treasure map. “That’s why the moon. It has to be at night, otherwise, you might miss a sign.”

“So, we need to wait until nightfall?” Ayumi-chan asked, but Ran shook her head. The last thing they needed was to wait until it was night, the streets emptied and the three men could just grab them.

“Not necessarily,” Ran explained. “We could probably see most of the signs that have backlighting. Besides, signs like those-”

“Would only be those on bars, nightclubs, and very big commercial buildings,” Shinichi finished for her. “Right, Kirino?”

“Yep!” Ran nodded.

“How do you guys know this?” Genta asked, but Shinichi just shrugged.

“I read a lot,” he supplied.

“My… Otou-san used to go out a lot to drink, so I picked up on things like that,” Ran admitted, a wan smile spreading across her features. Fortunately for them, only Shinichi seemed to realize it. The three kids meanwhile were looking at the two shrunken teens with something Ran likened to reverence.

“That was so cool!” Genta exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

“Yes! Conan-kun is super smart!” Ayumi-chan praised, bouncing in place.

“Kirino-chan is great too!” Mitsuhiko-kun said, sounding almost as gobsmacked as the other two.

Shinichi meanwhile, had already started flipping through the map that Mitsuhiko-kun had given him, and begun marking the nearby restaurants.

“Okay, we’re going to start from north, clockwise,” he said, pointing in the direction. “The signs can’t be that far apart, otherwise this map would be impossible to follow. Let’s get started!” he prompted the kids, who immediately sprinted forward, leaving ran and Shinichi slightly behind. Using the opportunity, Ran asked the question that had been on her mind for the last five minutes;

“Conan, why would anybody make a map like this? Security?” she asked, Shinichi shaking his head.

“That’s one of the reasons, but I am starting to think there has to be a second reason,” her friend reasoned. “But I think that whoever made the map made it for people who don’t speak Japanese.”

“You’re basing that solely on the fact that there is one word in Italian?” Ran asked, just in time to hear a scream from the kids about how they found the first sign.

“That, and the fact they had to resort to symbols like these, instead of just writing names,” Shinichi explained.

“What are we going to do about the three men?” Ran asked as they reached the trio. Surprisingly, Shinichi’s face split into a Cheshire grin.

“Well, you’re going to go home,” he said.

Chapter Text

“Hey Conan, why did Kirino go home?” Genta asked Shinichi, who fought to keep the smirk off his face.

The group had been following the trail of signs for about an hour now, and the sun was hanging quite low now. Low enough that several buildings were already lighting up their signs, making it even easier for Shinichi and the group to spot the remaining two signs; the Ferris Wheel, which lit up in the shape of a star, and a billboard atop a half-finished apartment building.

At that point, Ran, following Shinichi’s instructions, rushed off, claiming that she got a call from Kisaki-san to get home immediately. While not the best actress, Shinichi’s friend managed to fool the kids who were far too excited about the prospect of gold.

The other thing that was going according to plan was that the three men were still diligently following him and the kids, but not making a move. Shinichi’s hunch that the trio couldn’t read the map and were relying on the kids to solve the riddle to the treasure had paid off. Shinichi hadn’t had the opportunity to figure out their identity, but it hardly mattered at this point.

Right now, he had to figure out what the fish symbol meant. While Shinichi was one hundred percent sure that the treasure was somewhere in the building the fish would probably serve as a way to find where exactly. What bothered the teen detective was the fact that the fish symbol seemed separated from the rest with a line. Whoever made this map wanted the fish to be separated for a reason. Something was special about this fish.

“What now, Conan-kun?” Ayumi-chan asked, causing him to look up from his musings.

“We have the place where ‘oro’ is written,” Shinichi pointed at the map. “Which means that the treasure is somewhere in this building.”

“What about the fish though?” Genta spoke up. “Shouldn’t we look for an aquarium, or fish market or something?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Shinichi groaned. “If that was the case, ‘oro’ would have been written at the bottom. No, the fish is something else, but I am not sure what.”

“Maybe there is a fish sign of some sort inside the building?” Mitsuhiko suggested.

“Possible,” Shinichi agreed looking up the building and noting the fire escape staircase at the side of the building. “Let’s make our way up and look around the top. There’ll probably be something there.” He suggested, and the trio jogged ahead of him excitedly.

Shinichi used that moment to activate his tracking glasses to verify where Ran was. Sure enough, the dot on his radar was doing exactly as the plan called for. A quick glance back confirmed that the three men were also in the opposite direction of Ran’s location. While he, much like Ran, wished they could do this without the children present, they’d taken every precaution they could.

It was time they catch some thieves.

-DoDo-

“We’re here!” Shinichi announced, pushing the door to the still unfinished parts of the building. It took the four of them a good ten minutes to make it all the way to the top of the stairs, forced to walk slower due to the lack of light. Even Mitsuhiko hadn’t thought to bring a flashlight this time, and Shinichi wasn’t going to let them rush, slip and fall off.

“Okay, everyone split up and find that gold!” Genta instructed and Mitsuhiko and Ayumi-chan rushed past Shinichi starting to search at every corner.

So impatient, Shinichi thought to himself, shaking his head, instead beginning a slower, more methodical search, compared to the chaotic energy the trio was bringing to the equation. Still, he really wished Ran hadn’t run off with both watches. Searching for a ‘fish’ amidst piled construction materials and strewn about cables was hardly easy in the dark.

Deciding to search from the outside and working inward, Shinichi began walking the perimeter of the floor, counting out each step. Odds were that knowing the exact footage would be useless, but he couldn’t discount the possibility that there was a mathematical component to the riddle.

The thing that kept bugging Shinichi in the back of his mind though was the choice of location. True, that the construction of the building was paused, according to a sign outside, but that wouldn’t be for too long, which meant that two things were evident; first the treasure, be it gold or something else, was stashed here recently, and was expected to be picked up quickly as well.

Then why did the men not beat them there? Shinichi asked himself. It wasn’t like the code was difficult once he was able to spend ten minutes actually thinking of it. Hell, the children could solve it in a few days if really pushed. Or maybe Shinichi was just severely overestimating the men that were following them.

As Shinichi reached for his glasses to check up on Ran’s position again, a glimmer of light from the outside caught his eye. Looking outside at the river, Shinichi felt himself smile.

“Guys, I found the fish!” Shinichi announced, grabbing the kids’ attention in an instant.

“Where?” Genta was the first to arrive, almost knocking Shinichi over as he did. Fortunately for the shrunken teen, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi-chan were more restrained as they reached the railing and started looking out, trying to spot the fish.

“I don’t see it…” Ayumi complained, but Shinichi chuckled.

“That’s because there is probably only one spot here where you can see it,” he explained, pointing out to the river. “See the lights on the bridge and how they reflect in the water?”

“Yeah… That’s the fish?!” Mitsuhiko exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yep,” Shinichi nodded. “My guess is that the spot where the lights match the drawing is where the treasure is.” He explained, finally hearing the door open again, with three sets of dress shoes striking against the floor. The kids next to Shinichi were surprised, but he turned to face the noise with a confident smile on his face.

“Isn’t that right, gentlemen?” he asked the trio that had just walked in, two of them already pointing guns at him.

-DoDo-

Ran had no idea how Shinichi talked her into this plan, and yet here she was, stalking three grown men, who themselves were stalking four children. As she ascended the stair a couple of floors behind the trio, Ran remembered Shinichi’s words;

“The men still need us,” her best friend explained. “They clearly don’t know how to solve the map, or they would have moved by now, given how much time had passed. I need you to say you were going home, and follow the men from a distance. Once they make their move, incapacitate them and we call the police.” Shinichi instructed her as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

When Ran expressed her doubts that she could take out three men with just her karate in the current situation, Shinichi had simply given her his watch. The idea was that Ran would use the two watches to quickly incapacitate two of the three men, while using her karate, augmented by the bracelets, to knock out the third.

Shinichi’s reasoning for not calling the police was that with the situation as it was, the odds of actually capturing the men were slim to none. If they saw police, the men would run and disappear, being left alone to commit whatever crimes they wanted. Capturing them without any noise was the most important thing.

Ran had protested, pointing out that the time she’d need might put Shinichi and the children in danger, but Shinichi assured her, he could get them to safety. How he’d do that, Ran had no idea, but his assured tone did make Ran believe him.

Looking up from where she was on the fire escape, Ran saw the three men reach the top of the staircase, huddling outside the door. Ran was really tempted to simply try and tranquilize two of them now, but held back, barely. She was several stories beneath the trio, so aiming would be difficult. And even if she did score hits, there was every chance the men simply fell over the edge and Ran wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if that happened.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long for the trio to walk inside the building, which was Ran’s cue to make a mad dash up the stairs, triggering her bracelets as she did. Tingling electricity coursed through Ran’s arms all the way to her shoulders, telling her that the gadget worked. Once Ran reached the last platform, she heard Shinichi talking, in his usual expository voice, stalling for time.

“-And since you couldn’t solve it by yourselves, you decided to let a bunch of kids do your dirty work,” Shinichi finished mockingly, and Ran rolled her eyes at his showmanship. Whatever issues Shinichi claimed to have with his mother’s eccentricities, he was definitely her son.

“Yes, and we really appreciate your efforts,” one of the men said, with a very thick accent and slowly. It was clear that he wasn’t a native speaker.

Pushing the door slowly open, Ran paused when she looked at the situation; the trio was lined up in front of the door, blocking the exit so the kids couldn’t escape. Fortunately for Ran, they seemed to be fully focused on Shinichi and his explanation, allowing her to slip in with no problem. What was less fortunate was the fact that two of them were holding guns, pointed squarely at Shinichi, and the kids were trembling behind him. Prioritizing the two men who had guns out, Ran popped the targeting reticules on both watches at the same time, realizing she wouldn’t have time to fiddle once the first dart flew out.

“I’m sure you do, given how you failed even basic math,” Shinichi continued mocking the trio, while Ran aimed at the neck of the first man; “After all, you can’t even count to five! Right, Kirino?” Shinichi asked, directing her attention to her, giving Ran a clear signal to act.

Not wasting a moment, Ran shot the first tranquilizer, which hit the goon to the left square in the neck, the man falling over instantly, his gun clattering uselessly on the floor. Without the chance to aim as carefully, given how the other two were turning towards her, Ran’s second shot ended up in the biceps of the second man. That seemed to do the trick though, as he started to slump over just as quickly as the first.

No sooner did Ran press the trigger on the second watch, did she rush toward the leader, with a challenging roar. The last man, and his truly awful mustache, turned around just as Ran reached him, his arm already in his jacket, no doubt reaching for his gun.

Ran was quicker though, and used her size to her advantage delivering a haymaker to the man’s knee, the power the bracelets afforded her causing the man’s leg to bend outward, ruining his balance. Once he fell to his knees, Ran struck the man’s arm with a knife hand strike, forcing him to drop his gun. As soon as he yelled out in pain and grabbed his struck extremity, Ran capitalized. Lashing out with a series of rapid-fire punches to the man’s stomach, Ran began to beat the thug down, not letting him even breathe. It took over two dozen punches before he finally bent forward low enough for Ran to elbow him in the face.

The last man landed on the ground with a thud, and Ran kept her stance for a few moments, making sure he was properly incapacitated, before exhaling and relaxing. In that relative calm, the children exploded into chatter once again as they surrounded her;

“Awesome!” Genta exclaimed.

“That was amazing, Kirino-chan,” Mitsuhiko-kun congratulated her, with a starry-eyed look.

“You really showed them!” Ayumi-chan jumped up and down next to her.

“Nice job,” Shinichi patted her back, which caused Ran to actually blush a little. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice as he turned toward the kids; “Now come on! We need to tie these guys up before they woke up. Can’t let all of Kirino’s work go to waste.” He instructed.

“Aye!” the trio shouted before they rushed off to grab some rope from the nearby building supplies. Once alone, Ran, unhooked one of the watches from her wrist handing it back to Shinichi.

“Thanks,” he nodded as he picked it up. “Worked like a charm, didn’t it?” he asked but Ran only cuffed him across the shoulder. “Ow!”

“What would you have done if I was a bit slower?”

“Come on, Kirino, I’ve seen you at tournaments for years,” Shinichi merely chuckled, rubbing his shoulder. “These three stood no chance even discounting the watches.”

“Did you ever figure out who they were?” Ran asked, but Shinichi merely shook his head.

“No ide-” he tried to say before another voice interrupted him;

“They are a band of Italian thieves, who are linked to Dino Cavane,” a female voice explained and both Ran and Shinichi turned around to see a woman with short, black hair, and professional attire, holding up a detective’s badge. “I think you kids did us a great service.” She smiled down at them.

“Thank you miss…” Ran asked, and the lady introduced herself;

“Detective Sato Miwako, Tokyo MPD, Division 1, at your service,” she said. “And you two must be Kirino-chan and Conan-kun?” the detective asked, causing a chill to run down Ran’s spine.

“How do you know our names, Sato-keiji?” Shinichi asked, clearly drawing the same conclusion as Ran.

“Oh, Kisaki-san is the one who told us where you were… And that you were probably in trouble,” Sato-keiji explained casually.

The explanation made Ran reach into her backpack and pull out her cell phone opening it. Sure enough, there were seventeen missed calls from her mother, along with five messages. Ran realized she must have forgotten to turn the sound on after they left the library. Next to her Shinichi looked just as distressed.

Oka-san is not going to be happy with us, Ran thought dejectedly.

-DoDo-

“And then Kirino-chan just beat up the bad guys!” Mitsuhiko-kun finished the summary of the children’s adventure to Eri and Sato-keiji.

Shortly after Eri learned what had happened while she was on the phone, she drove to Agasa-san’s home and used the spare pair of tracking glasses to locate where Ran and Shinichi-kun were. After making her way downtown, the first thing that Eri saw, was her daughter trailing a group of men who seemed in turn were stalking Shinichi and the three children. While Eri didn’t know what exactly was happening at that precise moment, she never the less called the police as the three groups started making their way up a building. At that point, even if the men spotted the police, they’d have nowhere to go.

What Eri certainly wasn’t expecting was for Shinichi-kun to have already come up with a plan for Ran to incapacitate them, before Sato-keiji and a few patrol cars arrived.

Maybe I really should stop underestimating him, Eri thought with a shake of her head. If anything, both he and Ran had again handled everything far better than they had any right to. Something that the female detective seemed to have picked up on as well.

“You kids managed to perform quite the feat,” Sato-keiji praised the kids, giving Ayumi-chan a pat on the head. “Keep it up, and you’ll end up joining the police department sooner or later.” She encouraged, which seemed to light a fire under the three children, while Ran and Shinichi looked concerned at what their new friends might do.

“Conan-kun was awesome as he figured out the clues!” Ayumi-chan beamed, clinging to Shinichi’s arm in a way that made the shrunken teenager appear vastly uncomfortable. If Eri didn’t know the situation, she’d claim that Ayumi’s crush was adorable.

“And Kirino-chan just beat those guys up like an action hero!” Mitsuhiko chimed in, just as giddy, looking at Ran.

“Will you need to take their statements, Sato-keiji? In a more official manner, that is,” Eri questioned the female detective, but she shook her head.

“It’s getting late and we need to get them home,” the detective explained. “We’ll contact their parents, and yourself Kisaki-san, about a more formal statement in the coming days.”

“Thank you, Sato-keiji,” Eri nodded, placing a hand on Ran and Shinichi’s shoulders. “I’d like to take these two home now if that’s okay?”

“Sure,” she nodded and Eri guided the two shrunken teens toward her car. As soon as Shinichi climbed into the back seat he slumped down in the seat, rubbing his temples.

“Urgh, this was exhausting,” he complained.

“What are you complaining about, Shinichi?” Ran challenged. “It’s not like you had to beat up the thugs you know.” Eri’s daughter pointed out, but her friend waved off the complaint.

“You try keeping those kids on task by yourself,” he protested. “I almost had to drag Genta because he wanted to dive into the river to search for fish earlier!”

“And what were you doing with Ayumi-chan?!” Ran asked outraged, but Shinichi looked peeved by the question.

“Oi! Don’t start too! Genta and Mitsuhiko are already on my case for that!” Shinichi said in annoyance. “Besides, you know there’s nothing that’s going to happen, even if I wasn’t ten years older than her!”

“Still, you should try not to encourage the poor girl! You can’t just play with girls’ feelings as you used to,” Ran huffed, and Eri noted that the last part of the comment made Ran blush particularly hard, while Shinichi got extra defensive;

“You can’t blame me for what other people do, Ran,” Shinichi crossed his arms and looked away sulkily. “Besides, Mitsuhiko is practically mesmerized by your every move, especially since you took down the gangsters.“ Shinichi pointed out, causing Ran to huff.

“Well, I just did what you told me to,” she shrugged. “Besides, he’ll get over it.”

“Yeah right,” Shinichi gave a dry chuckle. “Just like they’re staying out of trouble?”

“Okay, that’s enough you two,” Eri interrupted their little squabble from the front seat. “Both of you are right though; you need to not string these kids along, or let their infatuation keep growing. The only thing that will happen is that they’d be crushed when we get you back to normal.” Eri explained, very careful to say ‘when’ and not ‘if’ regarding their situation. Fortunately, both Ran and Shinichi were still convinced that Agasa-san would be able to reverse their problem. Continuing, Eri voiced her other major concern;

“But Shinichi is also correct that these children seem to keep finding themselves in dangerous situations,” she pointed out and Shinichi scoffed;

“They tried to sneak into the ‘Mystery Coaster’ at Tropical Land when I and Ran were there,” Shinichi explained. “I am fairly sure tonight will only exacerbate their recklessness since they were ‘successful.’”

“I agree,” Ran nodded, looking worried. “Oka-san, can you swing by Hakase’s house again?”

“I have to return the extra tracking glasses anyway,” Eri mused. “Why, Ran?”

“I want to ask Hakase if he can build something for us and the kids,” Ran explained, causing Shinichi to look skeptical.

“Ran, you won’t give the kids bracelets like yours, right?” Shinichi asked, a hint of panic entering his voice.

“I am not crazy, Shinichi!” Ran defended herself vehemently. “I was thinking of something we can use for communication and tracking; in case they get in trouble. Because let’s face it, those kids will never be trusted with cell phones!” Ran pointed out.

“And you want Genta to have a way to annoy us 24/7?” Shinichi asked, which was followed by a beat of absolute silence between him and Ran.

“I’ll insist on a mute button.”

Chapter Text

“Someone got strangled with a curtain?” Sonoko asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Ran confirmed, her voice sounding tired. “Fortunately, the killer didn’t have time to change clothes, so Shinichi found a stray fiber in his sleeve.”

“Sounds about right, for Kudo-kun,” Sonoko shook her head, imagining the grandstanding the mystery-solving geek would get up to. Pushing that thought away though, Sonoko asked the one question she really wanted an answer to;

“Ran, when are the two of you coming home?”

Silence followed the question, just like the last two times Sonoko had asked. Ran had called Sonoko exactly three times, counting the first vague call that got Sonoko to sick Hattori-kun on their tail. Not that the Osakan ‘detective’ had come up with much thus far.

It was the silence and evasion though that was driving Sonoko mad. The first time, okay, fine, Ran’s father had just died and she needed an escape. Sonoko could kind of understand it, even if it sounded very much unlike Ran to abandon her mother over a case of all things. The second time, which was a few days ago, early on a Sunday morning of all things, Sonoko pressed harder, and it was Shinichi-kun of all people who ended up explaining that he and Ran were outside of Japan right now. When Sonoko asked what they were doing, the bastard had the gall to tell her not to worry, and that they’d be in touch soon before hanging up.

The fact that Ran wasn’t answering clearly again told Sonoko that she was about to be fed a line.

“Look, Sonoko I just-”

“Don’t ‘Sonoko’ me!” Sonoko exploded at her friend over the phone, probably drawing attention from several people in the house. “Your mom is stuck here babysitting some brats and you’re off galivanting with your boyfriend!”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Ran screeched from the other side of the phone, and Sonoko couldn’t resist smirking, imagining how red from embarrassment Ran was right now. Especially if Kudo-kun was nearby. Still, the amusement was fleeting, and Sonoko returned to her original mission.

“Please, Ran,” Sonoko begged. “You need to come home.”

“I know, Sonoko, but please realize; it’s not what I need to do right now,” Ran pleaded. “I have to go now. I’ll call you as soon as I can, Sonoko. I promise,” before Sonoko could argue her point any further though, the line cut, leaving Sonoko to glare at her cell phone, resisting the urge to snap the thing in two.

“Damn it Ran,” Sonoko exhaled, feeling her anger replaced with a more somber feeling. She and Ran had been close for over ten years now, and yet, Sonoko couldn’t shake the feeling that Ran was cutting her off from her life. And despite it all, it still made no sense to Sonoko that Ran would do this now of all times! When she’d need help, and support, be it from Sonoko, or her mother. It made no sense that Ran would run away with Shinichi.

Sure, the idiot loved her, but he had the emotional depth of a teaspoon.

Was it really that easy for Ran to just abandon everything? People in their class didn’t seem all that perturbed, writing it off as teen rebellion, or perhaps the stress of losing a parent pushing Ran to be reckless. Ran’s karate team, on the other hand, was furious, with talks of beating up Ran, Shinichi, or both for this stunt, since it cost them their number one competitor. Teachers seemed to be ambivalent as well, apart from their new English teacher, who appeared very interested when Sonoko mentioned that Shinichi was a detective freak.

“What is everyone’s fascination with detectives?” Sonoko wondered aloud in her room, as she placed her cell phone on the side.

As she did, the last line Ran fed her replayed again and again in Sonoko’s head;

“It’s not what I need right now…” Ran said. Sonoko scoffed at the assertion.

“What about what I need?” the teen heiress asked gloomily, before glancing at the wall clock.

She’d have to leave soon if she was going to make her appointment.

-DoDo-

“You okay, Ran?” Shinichi asked, and Ran saw that he was standing at the door, looking at her with concern. Taking a deep breath, the shrunk girl nodded, putting her cell phone away.

“I will be just… Feels so odd, lying to Sonoko that we’re halfway around the world when we’re going to be seeing her in thirty minutes,” Ran admitted, looking at the overnight bag that was at the foot of her bed.

True to her word, Ran’s mother had arranged for Sonoko to ‘babysit’ them for a few days. Sonoko, being Sonoko, however, had decided to instead take the kids on a trip to a villa with some friends of her older sister’s. Which meant that Ran and Shinichi would be stuck with Sonoko for a few days.

Ran knew that the news of meeting her friend should have made her excited beyond belief and yet… She hadn’t anticipated that Sonoko would be this persistent with the whole, ‘when are you coming back’ thing. A week of pressure or so, and then Sonoko would have gone on to tease her about ‘spending time’ with Shinichi. That’s what Ran expected and yet…

Maybe I just didn’t know Sonoko as well as I thought, Ran thought to herself morosely.

Sonoko was a really good friend… And Ran wasn’t.

“I am more worried about her recognizing us,” Shinichi admitted as he walked into the room. “She’s one of the few people in Tokyo who remember us from when we were kids. If she ever looks at a picture-”

“I know, Shinichi,” Ran sighed in annoyance. “And I get that logically I should hope that it never happens and yet…” Ran trailed off, but Shinichi seemed to understand what she meant, as he picked up his own overnight bag.

“I wish there was another way, Ran,” her friend sighed. “But it’s safer for her if she doesn’t know.” He reminded her. “After all, I know you trust Sonoko, but-”

“I know,” Ran shook her head repeating the damned word. Of course, she knew; they’d had this conversation multiple times now. “Sonoko is too excitable, and sooner or later she’ll slip up and call us by our real names. Not to mention she’s keeping the illusion going of us being away.”

“I realize that it doesn’t make it easy on you, Ran,” Shinichi assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I just hope it won’t be too long before we can put all of this behind us,” Ran sighed dejectedly. “I’d love to be able to tell Sonoko that we’re ‘coming home.’”

“You will,” Shinichi assured her. “And then she’ll get right back to teasing us.” He added with a fond chuckle, causing Ran to shoot him a skeptical look.

“You’ve never enjoyed that, Shinichi,” Ran reminded him, but her friend shook his head.

“For as much as she and I butted heads, I kind of miss her teasing and aggravating behavior.” He said with a smile.

-DoDo-

Shinichi no longer missed Sonoko’s teasing.

Five minutes after Ran’s friend arrived at Kisaki-san’s apartment was enough time for Shinichi to have his fill of Sonoko, and to begin dreading the next couple of days.

The initial moments of Shinichi and Ran's meeting with Sonoko were tense, especially since their friend’s eyes immediately zeroed in on Ran’s hair and that stubborn tuft that never seemed to go down. In that exact instant, Shinichi thought that their lie was about to be exposed, but then Sonoko broke down in a fit of laughter.

“So, it really is genetic,” she laughed for a good two minutes, before finally calming down to discuss a few things with Kisaki-san. Much to Ran and Kisaki-san’s chagrin, it was about their whereabouts. If anything, Shinichi had to give Ran props for not breaking then and there, at Sonoko’s less-than-kind words. Soon after, the trio left, being driven by a Suzuki family driver all the way to a forest where the villa they’d be staying was located.

That was if they could ever find it…

“Are we lost, Sonoko-neechan?” Shinichi asked, despite already knowing the answer.

“We’re not lost, you brat!” Sonoko snapped, as she scrutinized a map. “We’re just taking a scenic route to the villa, that’s all!” the short-haired girl claimed, and Shinichi couldn’t help but shoot Ran an unimpressed look. Ran though only shook her head, a small smile on her face. Still, just because Ran was enjoying her friend’s antics, didn’t mean Shinichi couldn’t get some jabs in.

“Are you sure, Sonoko-neechan?” Shinichi pressed in a sickly-sweet voice, before pointing to a nearby tree. “Because I am pretty sure that we walked past that tree befo- Urgh!” Shinichi groaned as Sonoko smacked him over the head.

“Shut up, you Kudo-wanna-be!” Sonoko threw back at him, causing Shinichi to look up in confusion. “I swear you’re just as much of an irritating know-it-all as him!”

Shinichi glared as he massaged the top of his head, while Ran shot him an amused look. Before he could remark at Sonoko again though, Ran drew everyone’s attention;

“Maybe we can ask him?” she asked, pointing at a figure up ahead. The only thing Shinichi could tell for sure was that the figure was a man, going by the broad shoulders and height. Apart from that, any features the man had were obscured by a black cloak that covered him from head to toe. Ran must have felt Shinichi’s apprehension because she turned back toward him.

“Conan?” Ran asked, but Sonoko didn’t notice the interaction, instead waving over to the figure cheerfully;

“Good idea! Hey, Mister, can you help us?” Sonoko called out, and that was enough to grab the figure’s attention, as it slowly turned toward them. Immediately Shinichi’s hands flew toward the tranquilizer watch on his wrist, at the sight of the man; his face was completely covered in blood-soaked bandages, eyes bloodshot, with red irises. His entire demeanor screamed of malice, as he stared at the group.

Before Shinichi or Ran could shake off the sudden sense of dread, however, the man broke off into a run deeper into the forest. The action was enough to shake Shinichi out of his stupor. He tried to break off into a run, but a hand grabbed the back of his shirt, hoisting him up.

“Hey!” Shinichi protested, only to be met with Sonoko’s unimpressed face.

“What are you trying to do, brat?” Sonoko asked rather annoyedly, bringing Shinichi up to her face. “Don’t go rushing out like that in the forest, got it?”

Shinichi nodded his head, before his former classmate dropped him on the ground, next to Ran.

“Good! Now come on! I am sure the villa is this way!” Sonoko declared, leaving the two shrunken teens to follow after. Using this opportunity, Ran asked;

“Conan, what were you trying to do?” she asked, clearly somewhat peeved from the perception that he was about to run off into danger again.

“I just wanted to see the spot he was standing on,” Shinichi shook his head. “Nothing more, promise.”

“You think that man was up to something?” Ran asked, now clearly spooked.

“The Suzuki villa is pretty isolated, and there aren’t any towns or campsites nearby,” Shinichi reminded Ran, after going over the map in his head. “While it's possible that someone was just lost, the bandages were concerning.” Shinichi finished.

“Don’t tell me we just happened to run into another murderer,” Ran demanded, causing Shinichi to chuckle uncomfortably.

“I can’t say for sure, but-”

“We’re here!” Sonoko announced, forcing Shinichi and Ran’s attention ahead, where they finally reached the clearing of the woods and spotted the Suzuki villa… And the giant chasm that surrounded it.

“Uhm… Sonoko-neechan,” Ran spoke up. “How are we going to cross?”

“Oh, the old bridge is over there!” Sonoko pointed to her right, where Shinichi spotted an old suspension bridge that spanned the chasm. Possibly seeing the expression of distrust forming on Shinichi’s face, Sonoko piped up again; “Don’t worry about it! My family has been using that bridge for years and we’ve had no trouble whatsoever!”

The assertion didn’t fill Shinichi with any more faith in the rickety bridge, but he followed Sonoko never the less, Ran a few feet in front of him, asking Sonoko something. Shinichi though, couldn’t shake the feeling that the bandaged man was still out there somewhere.

-DoDo-

Ran would never admit it, but going over the bridge, she was scared out of her mind, despite Sonoko’s assurances. Fortunately, they all made it across and to the luxurious villa. Despite being friends with Sonoko for so long, Ran was still surprised at times at her friend’s completely different lifestyle.

The villa they were visiting was a white, three-story building, large enough to potentially host two dozen or so visitors. A balcony wrapped around the entire second floor of the building, unbroken and connecting the rooms on the second floor. A rounded red roof covered the entire thing, reminding Ran a little of a mushroom.

Once the trio made it over the bridge, Ran noticed Sonoko’s older sister waiting for them at the door, a pleasant smile on her face.

“Sonoko! Welcome!” Suzuki Ayako greeted the three of them with a pleasant, homely smile.

“Aneki!” Sonoko rushed forward, hugging her older sister excitedly, with Ayako-san returning the hug in a more subdued fashion. “So, did the others arrive yet?” Sonoko asked, once they finished hugging, Ayako-san nodding.

“They did about an hour ago, Sonoko,” Sonoko’s sister confirmed, before turning her attention to Ran and Shinichi; “And these are Kisaki-sensei’s cousins?”

“Oh yeah,” Sonoko waved vaguely in Ran and Shinichi’s direction; “The girl is Kirino-chan, and the know-it-all brat is Conan-kun!” Ran’s friend introduced them, with Ran waving pleasantly at Ayako-san, while Shinichi shot Sonoko an unimpressed look again. If not for the fact that Ran was introduced to Sonoko’s sister a second time, and their bodies being shrunk, Ran would think this was a perfectly normal day.

It made Ran both incredibly happy and sad at the same time.

“It’s very nice to meet both of you,” Ayako-san greeted Ran and Shinichi. “Now go inside and get settled in. Your rooms are on the second floor to the left.” Ayako-san instructed, pointing up the stairs.

“Right! Hurry up you two!” Sonoko urged the two shrunken teens. “Let’s get all settled up, so I can get to the important stuff… Dreamy, college-age boys!” Sonoko declared her voice becoming honey-sweet and near-mesmerized.

Of course, Ran thought to herself. No wonder Sonoko was in such a good mood, despite having to deal with ‘brats.’ Any chance her friend had to be around boys was a win in her book. Especially older boys. Ran did notice the questionable look, Shinichi was giving her and she merely mouthed ‘later’ to him, indicating that she’d explain later.

As Ran and Shinichi followed the daydreaming heiress up the stairs, Ran managed to get in front of the other two and reached the second floor of the villa first. Much like the outside, and the entrance hall, the entire place was lavishly decorated, long halls on either side of the stairs, leading to a multitude of guest rooms. Turning left, Ran reached for the first door, to open and walk in. Before she could though, Sonoko slapped Ran’s hand away from the door handle.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Sonoko asked hands on her hips, looming over Ran.

“But, Ayako-neesan, said our rooms were on the second floor,” Ran asked confused, only for Shinichi to interject before Sonoko could;

“Yeah, but there are other people here, Kirino,” Shinichi pointed out, in an amused voice, clearly enjoying teasing her a little.

“Use your head a little, Kirino-chan,” Sonoko sighed dejectedly, before, much to Ran’s horror, a mischievous smirk appeared on her friend’s face. Leaning in forward, Sonoko’s eyes shined with glee; “Unless… You wanted to take a peek at the boys here?”

“EHH!?” Ran screeched at the top of her lungs, feeling her face grow so red, it was like it caught on fire. “S-S-Sonoko… Sonoko-neechan!” Ran protested, barely able to catch herself from just screaming her friend’s name without the honorific.

“Oh, come on! You can’t tell me you’re not curious!” Sonoko kept pressing further wiggling her eyebrows at Ran. Not helping the situation was Shinichi’s barely disguised giggling next to her.

Traitor, Ran thought, shooting Shinichi an indignant glance, but that seemed to only egg her friend on, as he broke out into full-blown laughter. Fortunately for Ran, Sonoko seemed to have had enough of teasing her for now;

“Ah, you’re just as fun to tease as your cousin is, Kirino-chan,” Sonoko declared with a melancholic smile, before ruffling Ran’s hair a little. “Just promise me you won’t become stuck pining after a clueless geek, okay?”

Ran’s breath hitched as she realized what Sonoko had just said, and who was right next to her to hear it. Sonoko though wasn’t reading the situation at all, and continued talking;

“Yep, poor Ran, pining for years after that damned Shinichi,” Sonoko lamented. Ran slowly turned around to see Shinichi’s reaction. Much like her, he also stared disbelievingly at Sonoko, though Ran saw the slight blush across his face. “For a detective, he is so clueless though! Your cousin is freaking in love with him for ten years, and he hasn’t a clue!”

Ran was desperately wishing for the ground would open up underneath her and swallow her whole, just to escape the mortification she was experiencing right now The continuous stare Shinichi was giving her only made things worse.

Unfortunately, Sonoko was far from done;

“…And me there, having to listen to all of it,” the heiress continued, with a dejected tone. “Then again, Kudo-kun is hardly any better at hiding his feelings.”

“What?!” Shinichi squeaked next to Ran, and Ran noted he was becoming as red as Ran herself felt. Sonoko seemed to take the protest as encouragement and continued to babble;

“Oh, yeah! Mister ‘I’m such a cool and composed detective’ is absolutely head-over-heels for your cousin,” Sonoko declared with absolute certainty. “Seriously, if you ever see those two together it would take even brats like you, no longer than five minutes to figure it out!” Sonoko declared with absolute certainty.

“Oh, but don’t tell them this,” Sonoko quickly added in a conspiratorial voice. “I kind of promised your cousin not to say anything…” she added sheepishly, and Ran found it very hard to resist smacking Sonoko over the head. So much for not telling a soul…

And it had to be the one person that Ran didn’t want this secret to ever reach. Swallowing hard, the shrunken teenager looked over to her friend with fear in her eyes… Only to see the same panic reflected in Shinichi’s gaze.

Ran knew for a fact that what Sonoko said about her feelings toward Shinichi was true, but… Was Sonoko’s claim about Shinichi’s feelings just as accurate?

Chapter Text

Silence reigned in the room, as Shinichi and Ran were sitting on the bed, refusing to look at one another’s general direction.

Damn that Sonoko! Shinichi thought bitterly, as he resisted the urge to just start screaming at the foolish heiress.

It had been fifteen minutes since Sonoko had ushered Ran and him into their room and closed the door. Since then, the only sound in the room was the clicking of the grandfather clock. Shinichi never realized how deafening a clock could be. And yet for all the sound it made, the clockwork couldn’t silence Sonoko’s earlier words.

And in a way those words were both a great boon, one he wished he had weeks ago, yet now, they filled Shinichi with dread.

Shinichi had loved Ran since they were kids… The first time around. She brightened up his world no matter what happened and no matter where they were. She was a constant source of strength for him, every time he started to falter; be it from the murders that happened around him, or even from trivial things, such as school.

And yet, Shinichi never felt confident enough to confess those feelings to her. After all, he knew that once he did, there was no way that things between them could stay the same. And that was terrifying. While he wasn’t as engrossed in romance as some of his classmates, Sonoko in particular, Shinichi did pay attention to various pairs that formed and broke up around him over the years… And how every time something went wrong for a pair and they broke up they rarely remained friends afterwards.

But now, Sonoko had basically given him confirmation that yes, Ran did love him as well, or at least liked him enough to tell Sonoko about it. While Shinichi wasn’t happy the heiress revealed everything in such a laissez-faire manner, especially Shinichi’s own feelings, it brought up a question though; what were they going to do now?

Despite the assurance, Shinichi still felt the same uncertainty as before.

Shinichi looked over at Ran, who was diligently staring at her shoes, and ignoring everything around her. The only indication that she was still thinking about the previous conversation was the tinge of red that was still spread across her face. Shinichi could never read Ran as easily as some other people, but even he could tell that she was struggling with her own thoughts.

Weighing the options in his head, Shinichi settled on the one that seemed the most logical;

“Ran, what Sonoko said-” tried to break the subject, but Ran reacted instantaneously.

“SHE EXAGGERATED!” Ran screamed at the top of her lungs. The sudden noise made Shinichi jump back, causing him to fall off the bed. Picking himself off the ground Shinichi looked at his friend. Ran though wasn’t done;

“Sonoko exaggerated! She’s just… Uhm, misinterpreting stuff, because you know how she is with romance! Everything is boys and romances to Sonoko,” Ran asserted, blushing madly as she did. “Right? She’s just misinterpreting things?” she asked, a hint of desperation creeping into her voice.

Shinichi opened his mouth to refute the statement, and say that Sonoko had a point. He wanted to express his actual feelings on the subject, but before he could, the niggling doubts at the back of his mind, bolstered by Ran’s rebuttal flared up. After all, what if this was what Ran really felt?

“Ah… Yeah, right, Sonoko is just being weird… He-he…” he threw in an awkward chuckle, as he waved his hands dismissively. “We’re friends, nothing more. Good friends, but just friends, right?”

“Right!” Ran nodded her head, before stubbornly crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Sonoko was just having a flight of fancy and once we get back to normal, we’ll give her a piece of our minds!”

“Yep, we will…” Shinichi managed a smile, even though he was feeling like someone had kicked him in the stomach.

I waited ten years, I can do a bit more I guess, the shrunken teen thought to himself, running a hand through his hair.

“Let’s go down and meet the rest of the group, shall we?” Ran suggested, her voice cheerful, though Shinichi could swear it sounded forced.

“Ah, sure,” he nodded, following Ran as she headed toward the door. Knowing it was probably for the best, Shinichi pushed his emotions as far down as he could.

-DoDo-

“Took you brats long enough!” Sonoko called over at Shinichi and Ran as the two descended down the stairs. Ran observed that besides Sonoko and her older sister, there were four other people in the room, each around Ayako-san’s age. Three men and one woman were sitting around the table. Ran immediately noted how different they all were… And that, of course, Sonoko was cozying up to the most attractive male of the group.

“Introductions!” Sonoko clapped her hands excitedly. “These are my sister’s friends from college. They were all in the same film club together.”

“This is somewhat of a club reunion for us,” Ayako-san explained, with a small smile. “We haven’t seen each other since we graduated after all.”

“First off, we have Oota-san, your typical main character,” Sonoko picked up from her sister, gesturing to a handsome-looking young man, with long hair and a bandana, who waved in a carefree manner at Ran and Shinichi.

“Next, the cameraman and special effects master, Sumiya-san,” Sonoko gestured to the next man. Sumiya-san was holding a camera even now, waving cheerfully at Ran and Shinichi.

“Followed by handyman and props designer, Takahashi-san,” A portly man chuckled somewhat nervously at the introduction, scratching the back of his head.

“You’ve already met my sister, who is currently trying to find me a brother-in-law,” Sonoko continued her introductions, and Ran noted how embarrassed Ayako-san seemed at the description. At least Ran could take solace in the fact that Sonoko seemed to embarrass everyone and not just Ran herself.

“And last, but definitely not least, the writer, director, and head of the group; Ikeda Chikako-san,” Sonoko motioned to a beautiful woman, with short black hair, dressed predominantly in black, with a choker around her neck.

“Nice to meet you,” she waved happily at Ran and Shinichi, and that’s when the name finally sparked something in Ran’s memory.

“Wait, are you the Ikeda Chikako-san who wrote ‘The Blue Kingdom’? The movie that’s sweeping theaters right now?” Ran asked excitedly, causing the older woman to chuckle.

“Got myself a young fan here, it seems,” Chikako-san said with a smile.

“Yes, Chikako wrote the script in college and now it’s turned into her big screen debut,” Ayako-san praised her friend, though interestingly, the praise seemed to make Chikako-san somewhat uncomfortable.

“Stop it, that’s old news by now…”

“Old or not, I keep hearing things about your next movie,” Oota-san said with a smirk.

“Ikeda-sensei, please say something to all your adoring fans!” Sumiya-san joined in the good-natured ribbing of their friends.

“I said stop already guys!” the scriptwriter protested. Fortunately for her embarrassment, the two guys turned their attention to Takahashi-san;

“Hey Ryoichi, did you put on even more weight?” Sumiya-san joked, focusing the camera on Takahashi-san’s stomach.

“I a-am pushing about 100 kg, I think… I kind of lost track,” the shorter man admitted, patting his midsection.

“You’re a pig Ryoichi. A pig!” Oota-san laughed. Ran didn’t feel any ill intent though, as all three men laughed. It never really made sense to Ran how guys can just insult each other like that. Looking over at Shinichi, she saw that her friend appeared profoundly bored. As she was about to ask him if something was wrong though, Ayako-san spoke up;

“This brings back a lot of memories,” she lamented with a chuckle before a tinge of sadness crept into her voice; “I wish Atsuko could be here to see us now…” Sonoko’s sister sighed.

The single mention of the name was enough for Ran to feel the temperature in the room drop several degrees, as all the laughter died instantly. Each club member immediately seemed to retreat into their own world. The expressions that crossed their faces though, were ones Ran had seen before; it was the same expression she’d seen on her mother’s face whenever someone mentioned her dad recently. The face of someone who had lost a loved one.

Looking at Shinichi, Ran saw that he had drawn the same conclusion as her, his expression becoming the same one he usually wore during an investigation.

“Who is Atsuko?” Shinichi asked, turning toward Ayako-san. Before Sonoko’s sister could answer though, Chikako-san slammed her hand on the table, silencing the room as she did;

“Stop talking about Atsuko!” she shouted, with a trembling voice. Closing her eyes, the scriptwriter took a few deep breaths before slowly sitting back in her chair. When she spoke again, her tone was still shaky, but firm; “We came here to relax during a busy time! Don’t start talking about someone who died 2 years ago!” she said with finality to it, clearly not wanting to push the subject.

“Hmmm…” Oota-san hummed to himself, a taunting smile on his face, before turning toward Chikako-san; “You talk differently now that you’re a celebrity…”

“What is that supposed to-”

“Please, just calm down you two…” Ayako-san tried to intervene; “I’m going to go make dinner now, so please everyone take it easy, okay?”

Ran mostly tuned out the rest of the conversation, instead turning to Shinichi;

“What do you make of this, Conan?” she whispered trying not to be overheard by Sonoko who was nearby.

“Something clearly happened two years ago,” Shinichi nodded. “Not sure what, but they don’t appear as close as they once were. If anything, it appears they are very divided on the issue…” he trailed off, as Takahashi-san mentioned something about repairing the rooftop.

“And?” Ran prompted further.

“And what?” Shinichi blinked in confusion. Ran saw Chikako-san and Sumiya-san left the room, Chikako-san seemingly still in a bad mood from the earlier discussion.

“You have your ‘I’m solving a puzzle look’,” Ran pointed out. “Do you think one of them did something?” before Shinichi could respond though, another voice interrupted;

“Did what?” Sonoko asked, looking skeptically down at Ran and Shinichi.

“Uhm… It’s… It’s nothing, Sonoko-neechan,” Ran stammered, trying to keep their discussion a secret from her friend. Sonoko didn’t seem too convinced though, giving them a skeptical look.

“Mhm… Sure…” she drawled out, before pulling out a pack of cards. “If I leave you two here, can you entertain yourselves until dinner?” she asked, tossing the deck at Ran. Ran managed to catch the package of cards, shooting Sonoko a questioning glance. Before she could voice her idea though, Shinichi beat her to it;

“You want to try and go somewhere with Oota-niichan, don’t you, Sonoko-neechan?” Shinichi asked, infusing his voice with as much childish exuberance as possible. Enough to attract Oota-san’s attention, and embarrass Sonoko. Normally Ran wouldn’t support the teasing… But right now, Sonoko wasn’t in Ran’s best graces.

“Don’t question your elders, Conan-kun,” Sonoko huffed, though her cheeks were growing quite red now. “So, can you play Go Fish or something while I do my own thing?” she asked, casting a very dreamy glance at Oota-san.

“Sure,” Shinichi shrugged, grabbing the cards from Ran’s hand. While Ran would have preferred to spend more time with Sonoko, there was little she could do now, besides whining for Sonoko to spend time with them. And she wasn’t about to deny her friend some much-needed fun.

“Have fun, Sonoko-neechan!” Ran wished her friend. Without another word, she and Shinichi retreated to one of the small coffee tables to start playing.

As Shinichi began dealing the cards though, a shuffling of feet caught both of their attention. They watched as Sonoko dragged herself to their table, before collapsing unceremoniously onto a stool, her head landing on the table. Her entire being seemed to exude depression and hopelessness, as she extended her hand toward Shinichi;

“Deal me in!” she demanded, her voice sounding like someone had just destroyed her entire life. Sharing a look with Shinichi, Ran decided to brave the question they were both thinking;

“What happened So-” Ran tried asking her friend, but Sonoko interrupted, frustration clear in her voice;

“He. Doesn’t. Date. Short-haired. Girls,” she said through gritted teeth, before shooting Shinichi and Ran a dirty look; “And if either one of you says anything, I’ll abandon you in the middle of the woods! Understood?” Sonoko threatened.

Ran looked at Shinichi, who was barely containing a smile, but he managed to not break out laughing. Silently, he dealt Sonoko seven cards, though Ran was sure she’d have to keep kicking him under the table all game, lest they get dumped somewhere on their way home.

-DoDo-

“I win again!” Ran proclaimed as she placed down her last cards.

“Damn it!” Sonoko yelled in frustration as she slapped her cards onto the table. “Deal again!”

Shinichi meanwhile only sighed, having known that this would be the outcome of their fifth game now. Ran’s insane luck had always given her an advantage in games of chance and cards. Every question she asked seemed to be the right one, and every card she picked from the pile, was the exact one she needed to finish a set.

The trio had been playing for what must have been a couple of hours now, judging from the delicious smell that wafted through the air from Ayako-san’s cooking. The weather outside had taken a turn for the worst and started raining. Takahashi-san had to come down shortly after the start to grab his raincoat. After he rejected Sonoko, Oota-san retired to his room, followed by Chikako-san and Sumiya-san who returned a short while after the rain started. Shinichi noted that Chikako-san appeared calmer at the very least.

Still, the conversation from earlier lingered in Shinichi’s mind. Whatever happened to this Atsuko person, female if the name was any indication, left a lasting impact on them. A murder perhaps? Or suicide, given that it happened in college? Chikako-san’s reaction was also interesting though. Perhaps she and the victim were close?

“Dinner is ready everyone!” Ayako-san called as she sauntered out of the kitchen, a large pot already in her hands. “Can you kids help me bring in all the plates?” she turned toward Shinichi and Ran.

“Sure, Ayako-neesan,” Ran nodded, putting her cards down on the table.

“I’ll gather up the cards,” Shinichi proposed.

“I guess I’ll go wake up the rest,” Sonoko stood up, stretching as she did. Before Sonoko could start up the stairs though, her sister stopped her;

“Ah, Sonoko, leave Chikako to sleep, please. She said earlier she wasn’t feeling too well,” Ayako-san instructed, which drew Shinichi’s attention.

“Do you think it had something to do with you mentioning that other person?” Shinichi asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. Next to him, Ran sent him a disapproving glare. His friend clearly disapproved of pressing the Ayako-san when she was clearly torn up about it, but Shinichi pressed forward;

“You mentioned something happening two years ago,” he prompted. That seemed to be enough for Ayako-san to finally speak on the story, even as the others were coming down the stairs.

“Atsuko was part of your film club,” Ayako-san explained, her voice somewhat strained. “A scriptwriter, like Chikako. She committed suicide two years ago, shortly before we graduated. After that, tensions rose in the group, since we didn’t know why she decided to kill herself.” Ayako-san continued, looking somewhat wishfully at the group, Oota-san, and Sumiya-san already sitting down on the table.

“I called everyone together because it’s been such a long time,” Ayako-san admitted, before placing a hand on Shinichi’s head. “So please, don’t ask about it anymore, Conan-kun,” she ordered in a gentle tone, Shinichi found himself nodding, despite wanting to know more. Apparently satisfied with that, Ayako-san moved to continue setting the table, as Ran walked over to Shinichi with a displeased look on her face;

“Conan, don’t press people like that,” she chided, but Shinichi just rolled his eyes.

“You were just as interested as me, Kirino,” Shinichi pointed out, causing Ran to huff.

“Before I knew it was suicide, yes,” Ran confirmed. “But you looked like you were about to keep questioning Ayako-san, weren’t you?” she accused, and Shinichi found himself unable to refute the claim. Before he could give a proper explanation though, Takahashi-san’s voice rang out from the balcony;

“WHO ARE YOU?!” he demanded from some unseen person outside the balcony. That immediately drew everyone’s attention.

“What’s up Ryoichi?” Oota-san asked, glancing up at his friend, who appeared to grow more and more frantic.

“T-there’s someone down there! Besides the window!” Takahashi-san pointed down. Shinichi’s gaze, along with everyone else, immediately went to the window, where for a long moment there was nothing, but anticipation. Shinichi felt the hairs on his neck stand up, as he crouched down to activate his power-enhancing shoes.

No sooner than he did, a figure wrapped in a dark cloak rushed passed the windows, a grinning, bandaged visage staring straight at them. And in the figure’s arms was the terrified form of Chikako-san, face frozen in fear. The entire thing lasted less than a second before the figure and victim disappeared from view.

“That was Chikako! He kidnapped her!” Ayako-san screamed. That was enough to break the stupor that had descended over the group, as they all rushed to the window, trying to see in which direction the figure went.

“Damn it, I can’t see anything with this rain!” Oota-san said in frustration.

Shinichi though wasn’t going to be deterred so easily.

“Kirino, come on!” he shouted at Ran and dashed toward the window, activating the flashlight on his watch as he went.

“Right!” Ran called after him, following closely behind, her own light adding to the illumination outside, as the two of them jumped outside. The rain had grown even stronger since Shinichi had last looked outside, adding to the horrible conditions and low visibility.

“Oi! Where are you brats going?!” Sonoko demanded from the villa, but Shinichi and Ran ignored her.

“This way!” Shinichi gestured toward the forest in the direction he figured the man had run off to. As he and Ran broke into a sprint, using their wristwatches to light the way, Shinichi could hear the rest of the group mobilize.

Better late than never, the shrunken teen thought in frustration.

“Conan, I don’t see any footprints to follow,” Ran noted as the duo reached the trees. Flashing his light to the ground, Shinichi saw that there really was nothing to indicate where the kidnapper had gone to.

“Damn it!” Shinichi hissed in frustration, quickly looking around, optimizing the time as best he could, while the three men caught up to them. Yet, for all his efforts, Shinichi couldn’t see a single branch that was broken, or a trail for them to follow.

“Wait up you two!” Oota-san called for them, as he along with Sumiya-san caught up to Shinichi and Ran. “Did you see where they went?” he demanded, moving a flashlight left and right in a panic.

“Somewhere in the forest, but can’t see a trail,” Shinichi explained.

“Well, let’s just get in there! He has Chikako!” Sumiya-san demanded. Shinichi noted the hint of desperation in his voice. Clearly, he was even closer to the victim than the others.

“Right, come on!” Oota-san commanded, and the quartet started to make their way through the bushes, haphazardly. Shinichi also heard Takahashi-san running after them, the rotund man struggling to keep up.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take the group too long, before they stumbled into something.

Something that Shinichi wished they hadn’t found;

A severed human leg in a fashionable female shoe.

Chapter Text

“Chikako is dead?!” Ayako-san screamed as the group made its way back into the villa, with solemn expressions on their faces.

Shinichi couldn’t help but grit his teeth at the situation. They weren’t fast enough and now a woman was dead, chopped to pieces. He, Ran, and the three college men had found the remaining pieces of Chikako-san’s body fairly quickly, the most horrifying of which, was the severed head, frozen forever in a terrifying death visage.

Casting a glance next to him, Shinichi saw that the sight had left Ran looking quite shaken herself, as she was shivering despite the warmth of the villa. Part of him desperately wished he didn’t call for her to follow, but he knew that if he didn’t, she’d have either followed anyway or admonished him for leaving her behind. The one thing he was grateful for, was the fact that Sonoko seemed too shocked to berate them for running off.

“That damned, bandaged bastard!” Oota-san snarled in anger. “I knew I should have done something when I saw him earlier…“ the man trailed off, but it was enough to cause a stir amidst the rest of the group;

“You saw him too?” Sumiya-san asked. “He was waiting by the bridge when I walked here. I never thought he was a killer though-”

“We saw him too, right Sonoko-neechan?” Shinichi prompted his former classmate. The girl nodded mutely at that, obviously still in shock over the news.

“Ayako, is it someone who lives around here?” Sumiya-san asked.

“No, that can’t be,” Sonoko’s sister explained. “There are a few other houses on the far side of the bridge, but you’d have to cross the mountains to get here.” Shinichi listened intently, filing the information away in his head.

“We should call the police though, right?” Takahashi-san suggested, but Ayako-san shook her head;

“The phones are down,” she explained. “I tried as soon as you ran into the forest.” The news seemed to chill everyone in the room. While Shinichi allowed for the possibility that the lightning took out the lines by accident, the timing was too convenient. And he clearly wasn’t the only one thinking this way;

“It’s him…” Takahashi-san muttered in a near panic. “The bandaged man cut them… He did…” Takahashi-san kept muttering before he tried to break off into a run. Fortunately, Oota-san and Sumiya-san managed to grab their friend, before Shinichi was forced to tranquilize him. The last thing they needed was more people running off into the dead of night.

Shinichi ran a hand through his hair, trying to think, when Ran called him;

“Conan,” she whispered in a low voice, the first words she’d said since they found Chikako-san’s body.

“You okay, Kirino?” he asked as the adults were busy calming Takahashi-san down.

“No,” Ran hissed back. “How can you even function after seeing a dismembered body?” she demanded, but Shinichi just shook his head.

“Not the first I’ve seen,” he admitted sadly. “And nowhere near as gruesome as the decapitation in Tropical Land.” He reminded her, causing Ran’s face to turn slightly green.

“You say that like I’ll get used to it,” she muttered.

“Maybe… Look, Kirino, the last thing I’d want is for you to get used to it, but…” Shinichi sighed, not exactly sure what to say. “We need to focus on keeping everyone safe and catching this guy now. And we can talk about it after, okay?” Shinichi implored, grabbing Ran’s shoulders.

“Fine,” Ran sighed before a microscopic smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “We’ve been having to talk about a lot of stuff lately.”

“That we have,” Shinichi couldn’t help but chuckle, before turning to the group, Takahashi-san, now appearing much calmer. Surprisingly, it was Ayako-san who seemed to have taken charge, despite her voice still quivering;

“Right, everyone, split up in groups of two or three,” she suggested. “We need to make sure every single window and door is secure. Come the morning, we’ll head into town and get the police from there.” She suggested, and as the groups started to form, Shinichi nudged Ran;

“Come on! We can use the time to search for clues,” he offered, and Ran nodded in ascent, even if her eyes still looked unfocused. Before they could take two steps though, a hand grabbed Shinichi’s collar and pulled him off his feet. Ran received the same treatment, as both were lifted up and looking at a very irate Sonoko;

“Where do you think you two are going?” she asked. “What were you brats thinking running out after a killer like that? Are you mad, or just stupid?!” she demanded, before dropping them onto the ground, where Shinichi landed on his butt.

“Oooow…” he groaned.

“Come on! You two are coming with me to check the back entrance and some windows!” Sonoko declared, much to Shinichi’s annoyance.

“What now?” Ran whispered as the two followed their ‘babysitter.’

“We’ll just have to examine things as we go,” Shinichi concluded. At least Kisaki-san let them roam around and look for things themselves.

“And if we can’t?”

“We’ll slip out when everyone heads to sleep,” Shinichi suggested. After all, he and Ran had their own room, which meant that the two of them could be very quiet and snoop around the house with no interruptions.

As the trio reached the back door. Immediately, Shinichi’s eyes zeroed in on the one thing that was sorely out of place. Clearly, Ran did as well;

“Are those Chikako-san’s slippers?” she asked, pointing at the pair of fluffy slippers, the same kind the two of them were wearing, right next to the door.

“Must be,” Sonoko said, as she looked around the shoe stand. “No other pairs are taken out.”

“That means Chikako-san left through this door before she was… Before the man got her?” Ran asked, looking around somewhat concerned.

“I’ll check the lock, don’t worry, Kirino-chan,” Sonoko assured Ran. As the teen went to lock the back door, however, Shinichi’s mind raced.

It made absolutely no sense why Chikako would leave through the back door. Especially if she had seen the bandaged man like everyone else seemed to have. It was as if she was trying to avoid being seen by anyone. And it was clear that Chikako-san wasn’t the only one who passed through here lately.

“Umm, it’s really dirty around here. Does someone use it often, Sonoko-neechan?” Shinichi asked in his best ‘curious child’ voice he could muster.

“Probably,” Sonoko shrugged. “Aneki said the gas tap is around the back, so it makes sense. Now come on! We have a few more things to check before we can turn in!” Sonoko waved for them to follow along.

“You think this is where Chikako-san got abducted from?” Ran asked quietly enough for Sonoko not to hear them.

“Maybe… The real question though, is why the murderer ran past the front of the house?” Shinichi pointed out. Before they could continue the discussion though, Sonoko stopped, almost causing Shinichi and Ran to collide with her.

“Huh?” Sonoko muttered as she bent down to pick something up from the floor. The item appeared to be a piece of black cloth, but from his position, Shinichi couldn’t tell much else.

“What did you find, Sonoko-neechan?” Ran asked, but Sonoko merely shrugged.

“Eh, just some sort of cloth someone dropped,” the short-haired girl dismissed, placing the item in her pocket. As she did, the three men turned the corner.

“We locked up the remaining windows on the first floor,” Oota-san assured them.

“And I managed to save the footage so we can show it to the police tomorrow,” Sumiya-san lifted his camera. Shinichi made a mental note that he should try and review that footage later.

“In that case… The only thing left to do is turn in for the night, I g-guess?” Takahashi-san proposed, his voice still shaking with fear.

-DoDo-

“Good night you two!” Sonoko wished them as she slipped into the bed she had commandeered. Ran managed to grumble a quick reply to her friend, as she desperately tried not to think of the position she was in right now.

As Ran and Shinichi tried to go into their room for the night, Sonoko declared that as their temporary guardian, it was her job to make sure they were okay. To that end, Sonoko had moved into their room, taking one of the beds, while making Shinichi and Ran share. Even to Ran, it was clear that Sonoko just didn’t want to stay alone tonight because she was afraid. That being said, this situation, combined with the previous revelations Sonoko dropped on the two shrunken teens made Ran vastly uncomfortable to be under the same cover as Shinichi. As such, Ran was laying almost on the edge of the bed, feeling like she was balancing on a railing. Risking a glance to her right, she saw that Shinichi looked just as stiff and unwilling to move from his spot on the opposite side of the mattress.

“So…” Shinichi muttered, sounding quite unsure of himself right now. “Can’t exactly slip out quietly now…”

Of course, he was thinking about the case, Ran thought, almost amusedly.

“Can’t we just wait until the morning, Conan?” Ran suggested. “Not like we could do much without the police here.” She pointed out.

“Heh, don’t think I’m getting much sleep either way…” he muttered, before quickly backpaddling; “T-that’s because the case, you know! Nothing else!” he defended himself. Despite the darkness in the room, Ran could see he was blushing.

Shinichi’s defensiveness did make Ran regret her earlier denial a bit. While it was a gut reaction to Sonoko spilling Ran’s secrets like this, it was clear from both their reactions that Shinichi did feel something toward her. Ran still wasn’t quite sure it was a feeling as strong as the ones she harbored for him, but it was something at least. While Ran really hated the uncertainty, she supposed it was for the best; the middle of a murder investigation was hardly the time. Sighing, Ran glanced over at Sonoko, who appeared to be fast asleep.

“So, what were you saying earlier?” Ran asked Shinichi turning her back to Sonoko. “About the murderer running around the front of the house?”

“Ah, well, it just doesn’t make sense,” Shinichi admitted, staring pointedly at the ceiling. “We know that Chikako-san exited the building from the back door, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Odds were that she was attacked there as well,” Shinichi continued. “It makes sense, since nobody heard anything, even Ayako-san, who was relatively close to the back. So really, there’d be no reason for the man to drag Chikako-san over for us to see.”

“Could it be that he wanted to scare us?” Ran asked, the thought making sense to her. After all, the man was obviously mad, so it would fit for them to want to scare potential victims.

“Could have done it without risking us catching him,” Shinichi shook his head. “He was fast but still moved with human speed. If I was in my normal body, I could have caught him.” Ran’s friend frowned, clearly annoyed at the situation.

“You can’t know that, Conan,” Ran assured him, her voice softening a little. As she did though, another little detail entered her mind; “What about the footprints though? We didn’t see any. Do you think the rain washed them away?”

“That fast? No,” Shinichi frowned. “There’s something that’s bugging me in the entire thing, Kirino.” He admitted.

“I can tell,” Ran said, stealing a quick glance at Sonoko to make sure she was still asleep. “Think we should call, Oka-san? I had reception across the bridge.”

“Getting across the bridge at night is too dangerous,” Shinichi sighed, clearly not liking the answer. “For all we know the guy is lurking around looking for a way into the villa. And by tomorrow we’re all leaving together anyway.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right,” Ran nodded, pulling the blanket a little higher on her. “So, I guess we should try and sleep?”

“Heh! Try, being the operating- Kirino, MOVE!” Shinichi shouted at the top of his lungs all of a sudden and dove for the watch on his nightstand.

The shout startled Ran, but it was over in a second and she whipped her head around. The bandaged man was inside the room, slouched over their baggage, a large axe in his hand. Shinichi’s voice drew his attention away from whatever he was doing and he grabbed the axe, lifting it high in the air, over Sonoko’s bed.

Not wasting a moment, Ran dove out of the bed herself, managing to tackle Sonoko’s sleeping body to the side, just as the axe came swinging down, slicing into the mattress. If Ran had been a second slower, Sonoko would be dead now.

The thought caused a fire to course through Ran’s veins and she lunged at the man, uncaring that she didn’t even have her power-enhancing bracelets on right now. Ran collided with the man’s waist and that was enough to make him stumble backward. Still clinging to the oversized black clothes with one hand, Ran immediately threw a hook into his kidneys. Small size or not, a kidney shot still hurt, and it did prove enough for the bandaged killer to grunt in pain.

Unfortunately for Ran, the man retaliated too quickly and hit her with the butt of the axe, sending her sprawling on the ground. As she landed, a pain shot through Ran’s leg from her ankle. It felt like a sprain, but it did mean she wouldn’t be able to move right.

Before Ran could get back to her feet, she saw a thin needle impact against the bandaged man’s cloak. For a brief second, Ran believed that they had won, but it didn’t work, as the man wasn’t falling asleep. And worst of all he was lifting the axe to take another swing at Sonoko, who was still asleep somehow.

That’s when the room exploded with noise.

“WAKE UP!” Shinichi’s scream was amplified a dozen-fold by the voice-changing bowtie, or was it a hair tie now, that he had grabbed from Ran’s side of the bed. The scream was loud enough to finally wake up Sonoko, and everyone else nearby, if the shouts from outside were any indication.

“KYAAAAAAAA!!!” Sonoko added her own screech to the cacophony, and fortunately, that was enough for the bandaged man to flee outside into the rain.

Ran looked back at Shinichi, who was lowering the voice-changer away from his face, a relieved look on his face, even if his breathing was labored. Ran nodded, letting out a breath, even as a question was starting to form in the back of her mind;

Why Sonoko?

-DoDo-

Why Sonoko? Shinichi thought to himself as the rest of the group filed into the room, all of them still in their pajamas. Ayako-san was seeing to Ran’s sprained ankle, while Sonoko was curled up on a chair, clearly shaken from having woken up with an axe in front of her face.

“You guys locked the doors, right?” Sumiya-san asked, and Shinichi replied in an annoyed voice;

“Of course, we did,” he gestured to the window; “Just saw a hole in the French window that led to the balcony. He probably cut a hole in the glass from the outside. Easy to unlock it after that.”

“He probably jumped in from one of the trees nearby then,” Oota-san concluded. “We should try and stay together for the rest of the night.” The older man suggested, but Shinichi was tuning him out by now.

While Oota-san’s idea sounded good on paper, Shinichi knew that something didn’t quite fit. Namely the lack of mud and water on the floor. If the bandaged man did indeed come in from the forest, then there’d be plenty of mud, water, and leaves. The only clues left were a few damp footprints though. That meant that the killer probably came in through one of the adjacent rooms onto the balcony and then into their room.

It matched up far too well.

Besides, the killer went after Sonoko specifically. The only people who knew Sonoko swapped rooms were the people in the villa. Even if the killer could somehow overhear them, he’d have no way of knowing exactly which room Sonoko would be in, without prior knowledge of who slept where. After all, Sonoko just said she’d be ‘sleeping with the brats.’ Shinichi knew that the killer couldn’t have gotten in without being seen during the day. Both he and Ran were in the room for a long while, with the curtains opened, and saw nobody lurking around.

And it meant that the killer was one of the three men that were here in this very room.

The problem with that theory was obvious, given that they were all present when Chikako-san was shown to them and the man ran across the front. After his earlier talk with Ran though, that particular stunt started to seem more and more like the misdirect of a magician’s trick. Something for the audience to focus on, while the killer made their move.

The only question in that case remained how they pulled it off?

And why did they switch to targeting Sonoko now? Did she perhaps see something she wasn’t supposed to? Or was it merely the next target for the murderer for whatever reason?

Oota-san’s dislike for short-haired girls sprang immediately to Shinichi’s mind. He knew that sometimes the reasoning behind a murderer’s actions only made sense to the murderer themselves… But it didn’t match with the efficiency that the rest of the crime seemed to be committed with. If he wanted to, Oota-san could have more easily gotten to Sonoko by simply accepting her invitation to frolic around in the forest and then create an alibi.

There was something that Shinichi was missing, but he wasn’t sure what exactly that was. Something that would make everything fit in this case and expose the real killer. But what? The longer he took to try and figure that out, the longer the killer had to plan their next move. And given that the murderer was in this very room, that was a very dangerous position to be in.

Chapter Text

“You okay, Kirino?” Shinichi asked as she helped Ran hobble down the stairs, her sprained ankle causing her some discomfort. It wasn’t necessary, but Shinichi didn’t see a reason to let Ran strain herself unnecessarily.

“Yeah, thanks,” Ran nodded, and Shinichi noted that she seemed to blush a little.

“We need to figure out who the killer is before they try again,” He insisted, as they reached the main room where everyone else was. He had managed to share his reasoning with Ran, that one of the three college friends was the killer earlier when Sonoko got escorted downstairs. To say that the revelations shook her was an understatement, but Shinichi knew that Ran would recover quickly, as long as Sonoko was still in danger.

“Think they’ll try something with everyone here?” Ran asked, glancing worriedly at Sonoko who was sitting on a chair, a blanket wrapped around her, still looking terrified.

“Not sure,” Shinichi admitted. “But it’s not out of the question. They went after Sonoko for a reason.” He reminded her, but Ran frowned.

“The thing is, we were with Sonoko the entire time,” Ran pointed out as Shinichi helped her sit down on a chair. “She hasn’t seen anything!”

A thought suddenly flashed through Shinichi’s mind, recalling their excursion to the back door;

“No, but she did pick up something!” Shinichi whispered urgently. “The piece of cloth!”

“Eh?! Someone is willing to kill her over that?” Ran demanded.

“It’s evidence, Kirino,” Shinichi reminded her, noting that Sonoko had gotten off her chair and was walking toward them. “It shows the killer is inside.”

“Are you okay, Kirino-chan?” Sonoko interrupted, clearly not having overheard them. The short-haired teen had a small, grateful smile on her face, even if her face was still marred by a few terrified tears.

“I’m okay, Sonoko-neechan,” Ran nodded, lifting her leg a little. “It’s just a sprain. Should be good as new by tomorrow.” Ran assured, which seemed to lighten Sonoko’s spirits a little;

“That’s good to hear. Thank you for protecting me! You were very brave, Kirino-chan,” Sonoko praised Ran, patting her head. Despite himself, Shinichi couldn’t help but interject;

“I’m the one who saw the killer, you know,” Shinichi muttered in an annoyed voice. Sonoko merely looked at him annoyedly.

“But you’re not the one with a sprained ankle, Conan-kun. So, zip it!” She instructed, and Shinichi rolled his eyes at her. As he did, he spotted the piece of cloth still in Sonoko’s pocket. Using the fact that Sonoko was talking with Ran again, Shinichi swiped the cloth from the teenager without her noticing a thing.

Holding the piece of cloth closer so he could examine it, the shrunken detective noticed two things. First and foremost was that this was the same type of cloth as the killer was draped in. That confirmed his theory that the killer was someone from inside the house. The second thing Shinichi was sure of, was that this piece of cloth was the reason Sonoko was targeted; it wasn’t something she saw, or how she looked, it was because she held onto evidence.

But it didn’t answer who the killer was. Any one of the three could have done it… Or maybe…

“Hey Kirino, you were super brave jumping on the killer like that,” Shinichi commented loudly, drawing both Sonoko's and Ran’s attention.

“I had to!” Ran protested. “He wasn’t going to stop otherwise!”

“Yeah, but he was such a big man, it much have been scary! And yet you managed to hold him off!” Shinichi continued, hoping that Ran would get his intention to share some information about the killer’s build. He would have preferred to ask directly, but he had no idea how long Sonoko would loiter around, and time was of the essence. After all, the killer could try again at any moment.

“Actually, he was pretty thin,” Ran corrected him. “It felt like I could circle his waist if I tried.” Ran gestured with her arms, creating a small hoop.

“Hmmm…” Shinichi hummed to himself, looking over at the trio. Sumiya-san was the thinnest of the group, but also the one who burst through the door first at Sonoko’s scream. The killer wasn’t gone for even a moment before he entered. No matter how fast, nobody could change that fast and guarantee their things won’t get found. On the other hand, Oota-san and Takahashi-san entered at the same time, but Ayako-san claimed she saw Oota-san come out of his room, which was on the opposite side of the hallway. And Takahashi-san himself was far too large to be the killer…

Or was he? Shinichi thought, an intrusive little gremlin of an idea creeping into his head. It’d be simple if that was the case. Daring, and genius, but very simple. And if it was so, there’d still be evidence on the balcony. He just needed to confirm two things…

And fortunately, Ayako-san was going to give him the perfect opportunity;

“I’m going to make some coffee for us,” Sonoko’s sister announced. “Sonoko, can you help me?”

“Sure, aneki,” Sonoko nodded, as she stood up. “You rest up, Kirino-chan, okay?”

“Yes, Sonoko-neechan,” Ran nodded. Shinichi waited just long enough for Sonoko and her sister to be out of shot before he leaned in to whisper something in Ran’s ear;

“Ran, I need you to check on something for me,” Shinichi explained. “Because I think I know how the killer pulled it off.”

“Okay, how do we do this?” Ran asked immediately, her expression hardening. The attack on Sonoko was clearly very fresh in her mind.

“I need us to go find some evidence,” Shinichi nodded. “I want you to stay here and check something, while I go back into the rooms. And I’m going to need you to leave the voice-changer with me. Oh, and swap watches. I used up my tranquilizer trying to stop the killer,” He smirked. Ran seemed to have immediately realized his intention;

“Sonoko?”

“Sonoko.”

-DoDo-

As soon as Shinichi explained his plan to Ran, he dashed up the stairs to check half of his theory, leaving Ran alone to find evidence of the other half. At least his instructions of what she was looking for were clear;

“If I am right, there should be some marks on the railing of the balcony,” Shinichi explained in a whisper. “I think that the murderer used thin wire, either piano or stunt wires, to make it appear as if bandaged man rushed off with Chikako-san. If that’s the case, there should be a few grooves or scratch marks.”

Moving as quickly as she could, Ran circled the table, where the three college guys were talking, her eyes lingering for a second on the one person Shinichi suspected as the murderer before she continued making her way up the stairs. As Ran had started to expect from most people, her actions were largely ignored, probably attributed to ‘childishness.’ Not like she was complaining, it made snooping around surprisingly easy, but it was a little amazing to Ran. It made her question if she’d just ignore everything if she was in their position.

Once on the second floor, Ran unlatched the French window leading to the balcony. Almost immediately as she did cold air hit her in the face, along with the sound of falling rain.

Hope I don’t get sick, Ran thought to herself as she stepped out, the rain almost immediately soaking her hair and clothes. Flicking the wristwatch light on, Ran began examining the railing for those elusive marks that Shinichi told her about. A few seconds of merely looking, though revealed that it wouldn’t be so easy, and Ran walked forward, close enough to touch the railing with her fingers. Closing her eyes, Ran started walking down the length of the balcony, using her fingertips to feel the wooden railing.

Not ten steps later, a groove hit her fingers, causing them to skip for the briefest of moments. Opening her eyes, Ran leaned in close to the railing, straining her eyes against the darkness and the rain, trying to spot the mark. It took a bit, but sure enough, just as Shinichi said, there were two parallel grooves in the wood.

Despite herself, Ran smirked. If Shinichi found what he needed in the rooms, they had him.

Ran’s celebration was cut short though, as a flash of lightning blinded her momentarily… Right before the lights in the house cut off, while her watch fizzled from a surge of static. Fear lanced through Ran as she rushed back into the house, using the panicked voices to orient herself. As she burst into the main hall, the shrunken teen immediately started looking around the room, trying to spot the men, amidst the darkness. Despite straining her eyes as much as possible, Ran couldn’t make out exactly where the three were from the second floor.

Fortunately, it only took another few seconds, before Sonoko and Ayako-san walked into the room. Sonoko’s sister was carrying a lit candelabra, which illuminated the two of them. Despite Ran’s momentary relief that her friend was still okay, a sinking feeling formed in her stomach as she realized another thing;

The light made them perfect targets!

“Ayako-neesan put out the light!” Ran shouted as loud as she could. While it did get their attention, it was too late, as Ran saw something flying toward Sonoko, her fear making it seem as if it was in slow motion. Before she could shout out another warning for Sonoko to duck, a deafening sound reverberated from the top of the stairs, and two objects collided midair, resulting in a shower of splinters and porcelain, accompanied by a heavy thud.

In the resulting silence, the sound of breaking glass sounded from the first floor, moments before the lights slowly flickered back to life across the house. Once Ran managed to adjust her eyes to the brightness she saw the head of an axe, embedded into the floor, mere inches away from Sonoko. The bottom of a shattered vase lay on the floor next to the two sisters.

“WHAT HAPPENED?!” Ayako-san screamed in terror, as Sonoko collapsed, the tray of coffee landing on the floor. As the rest of the group erupted in chatter and screams, surrounding Ayako-san and Sonoko, Ran’s gaze drifted to the top of the stairs, where Shinichi was standing, panting. A hand was on his power-enhancing shoes, probably turning them off, judging by the vase he kicked. Noticing her looking, Shinichi turned to face Ran, a familiar, smirk on his features. He flashed her a thumbs up, which Ran quickly returned.

Time to nail the bastard.

-DoDo-

Shinichi watched as the older members of their group and Sonoko recovered from the sudden attack. Shinichi himself was very happy that he found what he was looking for quickly, or he honestly wasn’t sure he could have made it in time to kick that vase and save Sonoko. He was also thankful that, unlike the watches, the shoes didn’t appear affected by the surge.

Something to have Hakase look into when we get home, Shinichi ran a hand through his hair, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, where Ran was waiting for him.

“Did you find it, Conan?” she asked.

“I take it you did as well?” Shinichi nodded, before testing to see if at least the tranquilizer dart on the watches still worked. It seemed to work since he suspected it was a simple clockwork mechanism, instead of needing actual electricity.

“I did,” Ran confirmed. “Two grooves, just like you said.”

“Perfect,” Shinichi smiled, as he observed that the three men in the room were gathered around the window, while Ayako-san was trying to comfort Sonoko at the table. “I’m going to knock Sonoko out, and then slide under the table, so nobody sees me,” he explained in a whisper to Ran.

“Don’t peak!” Ran warned him, causing Shinichi to blink for a second in confusion, before remembering that Sonoko was wearing a mini-skirt.

“Eh?! What do you take me for?!” Shinichi demanded, nevertheless feeling a tinge of heat on his cheeks.

“Just remember!” Ran repeated sternly, causing Shinichi to shake his head.

“Fine, I promise!” he sighed, before aiming for Sonoko’s neck. “Let’s do this,” he muttered, before firing the needle into Sonoko’s neck. Much like it happened with Kisaki-san, Sonoko seemed to react with surprise for a few moments, twitching in the chair, before slumping forward. Shinichi supposed that if he squinted, he could pretend that she was resting on the table.

“Sonoko, what’s wrong?” Ayako-san asked, worry in her voice. The sudden outburst seemed to attract the attention of the rest of the group, who moved away from the window and toward the seemingly fainted girl. Shinichi used the commotion to slip beneath the table and bring the voice-changer to his lips.

“Everything is fine, aneki,” Shinichi spoke, Sonoko’s voice stopping the chatter around her. Shinichi still found it quite odd speaking and hearing someone else’s voice, but he’d have to get used to it, by the looks of it. “In fact, I know who the killer is!”

Shinichi’s words seemed to stun everyone in the room for a brief moment, except for Ran herself. Ran immediately played along, throwing her voice far higher than it actually was;

“Really Sonoko-neechan?” Ran prompted, which seemed to snap the rest from their stupor.

“What do you mean, Sonoko?” Ayako-san gasped.

“But we know who the killer is,” Sumiya-san interjected.

“Yeah, Sonoko-chan, it’s the bandaged man,” Oota-san continued. “The one hiding in the forest right now.”

“Hehehe,” Shinichi chuckled, trying to imitate Sonoko as best as he could. “Do you really think he’s in the forest?”

“Huh?” Sumiya-san stuttered.

“Remember; when I was attacked earlier, the man came into the room through the balcony, right?” Shinichi continued, unable to resist putting on a small show.

“Yeah, the boy with the glasses said that he cut a hole in the window,” Oota-san confirmed.

“And then jumped onto a tree or something,” Sumiya-san reasoned, but Shinichi interrupted them;

“Then why was the room so clean after?” he asked them. “After all, there were no traces of mud, right? That means that the killer came from inside the house. Barefoot as well, to make the least amount of noise.”

“He’s inside the house?!” Ayako-san screamed. Shinichi could only hope that Ran would try and calm the woman down. For now, though, he had to push further;

“He probably went through my empty room, or perhaps Chikako’s,” Shinichi explained. “From there onto the balcony and into the room where I was with the kids. Of course, he didn’t plan on Kirino-chan and Conan-kun to stop him, or for me to scream like that.”

“Naturally, once everyone woke up from the screams, he had to run back the same way he came in and then quickly discarded the costume, blending in with the rest of us.” Shinichi continued his explanation, noting how his voice was picking up pace as he went. “And that means, that the man who killed Chikako-san, and attacked me… Is one of us!”

“That’s enough accusations, Sonoko!” Ayako-san shouted, clearly not enjoying the thought that one of her friends attacked her sister.

“Yeah, Sonoko-chan,” Oota-san also spoke up; “Playing detective is nice and all, but don’t forget; we were all inside when the bandaged man dragged Chikako to the forest right in front of us. None of us can be in two places at once after all.”

“Really now?” Shinichi smirked. “Kirino-chan. Please tell us; did you find the thing I asked you to look for?” he prompted.

“I did, Sh-Sonoko-neechan,” Ran spoke up, almost fumbling. “There were two marks on the balcony railing.”

“Those marks, are probably from a piano wire, or similar thin string,” Shinichi explained. “One strong enough to swing a prop from.”

“A… Prop?” Sumiya-san muttered in confusion.

“Yes, a prop. The bandaged man we saw outside, was just a dummy, dressed to look the part, along with Chikako-san’s head. It was after all the only part of her we saw. And you three did say that her body was dismembered right?”

“Y-yeah…” Oota-san confirmed, his voice shaky.

“The prop was swung from the railing for all of us to see, using two pieces of wire; one tied to the railing, and one strung over the opposite side, to act as a stopper,” Shinichi picked up again. “When everyone was gathered for dinner, and the killer had our attention focused on the window, they cut the untethered string, letting the dummy swing pass. Then, while we all rushed to the window, the prop was quickly retracted to the second floor.”

“That’s why me and Conan-kun couldn’t find any tracks!” Ran exclaimed, filling in the story as best she could to make it sound like an actual conversation. “There was nobody who actually ran there, right Sonoko-neechan?”

“Correct, Kirino-chan,” Shinichi smirked. “Now, if I recall correctly… Takahashi-san, who happened to be fixing the roof at that time, was the props designer for the filming club, wasn’t he?”

“Y-yeah…” Takahashi-san muttered nervously. “B-but you’re joking, right? Even if I did do this trick, how did I carry the body out? Do you remember me carrying a body out of the house?” he demanded.

“He’s right Sonoko-chan,” Sumiya-san spoke up. “We were all together, and there was no way Ryoichi could have done it.”

“But we didn’t see the whole body, did we?” Shinichi asked, a hint of smugness leaking into his voice. “We only saw the head through the window. After all, most of you were out of the house in minutes. There is no way that anybody could chop up Chikako-san’s body into pieces that quickly. Meaning that she was probably dead long before we ever saw her being ‘dragged away.’”

“After all, me, Conan-kun, and Kirino-chan found Chikako-san’s slippers out back. Meaning that the killer lured her out back somehow when she was killed.” Shinichi explained his reasoning. “Perhaps a note or a previous arrangement of some sort for her to come there at an appointed time-” Surprisingly, it was Ayako-san who spoke up this time, her tone uncertain;

“Chikako… She found a note under her door earlier. She seemed shaken when she read it…” Sonoko’s sister admitted. That was a piece of the puzzle Shinichi didn’t have until now, yet it all seemed to fit quite well.

“Oota-san couldn’t have done it, because he was in the room with me and the kids,” Shinichi recounted. “Sumiya-san couldn’t have done it because he would have had to come through the hallway, or through one of the other rooms to get to the back of the house. We would have seen him come down, or he would have left traces in the rooms. But you, Takahashi-san could easily use the fact you were on the roof, to simply drop down the other side with nobody seeing you.”

“Even so, I couldn’t have carried a head without anybody seeing me!” Takahashi-san protested. “And… Why would I kill Chikako? Or attack you, Sonoko-chan?!” Shinichi didn’t answer immediately, letting the man continue his tirade, knowing that he’d slip up soon enough; “And there’s no way I could be the murderer! After all I-” Takahashi-san suddenly cut himself off.

“You what?” Shinichi asked, grinning at the man’s slip-up. “Come on, Takahashi-san, just say it; you can’t be the murderer because you and he have different stature, right?” Shinichi fished, his statement followed by utter silence in the room before Ayako-san spoke up;

“That’s right, Takahashi-kun! Kirino-chan said that the man is thin. That means it can’t be you!”

“Yeah, why did you-”

“He choked up because he realized what my next question would be,” Shinichi supplied. “Are you really fat, Takahashi-san?”

Stunned silence followed the question, as Shinichi waited to see if there would indeed be a rebuttal to his statement. When none, came, Shinichi continued;

“I had a suspicion about it, so before the lights went out, I asked Conan-kun to look over some things in your room, Takahashi-san. Can you tell us what you found, Conan-kun?” Quickly after the question, Shinichi put the voice-changer away and slipped out from under the table.

“Yes, Sonoko-neechan!” he announced with childish exuberance. “As Sonoko-neechan instructed, I went to Takahashi-san’s room and looked over his clothes. They were all super big… Except for his underwear. They looked like they didn’t stretch that much… Isn’t that uncomfortable, Takahashi-san?” Shinichi asked innocently, before a mischievous grin slowly spread over his face; “Or were those the only real clothes you brought here?” Shinichi looked at Takahashi-san for a few seconds. Even if he had any doubts that he was the killer, those were quickly dispelled. The cold sweat, the downcast glance, the impotent rage in the man’s frame.

Ducking down under the table again in the confusion, Shinichi pulled out the voice-changer again, continuing his deduction via Sonoko;

“It’s just as Conan-kun said,” he explained. “And since Takahashi-san hid his size from everyone else, he would be able to move freely around, even if he carried the corpse. He could easily carry the head outside, while you were looking around in the forest, and then dump it while drawing attention to where he scattered the pieces earlier.”

“The plan would have cast doubt on some random man somewhere in the woods, sending the police on a wild goose chase,” Shinichi concluded. “He even dressed up earlier, to make sure we all saw the scary figure on our approach here.”

“That was Ryoichi?” Oota-san gasped.

“Yes. He probably arrived before everyone and scared us one by one.” Shinichi concluded. “But he made one mistake. A mistake born out of doubt.”

“The attack on you, Sonoko,” Ayako-san concluded.

“Exactly! When I and the kids found a piece of Takahashi-san’s costume by the back door, he panicked. He thought that we might somehow figure out that it was his. Admittedly, that’s when I started suspecting someone from inside was the culprit… But had he not attacked me and the kids, there’d be no further proof.” Shinichi summarized.

“And while I don’t know what possibly possessed him to attack Chikako-san-”

“It was Atsuko,” Takahashi-san interrupted, his voice sounding broken.

“Atsuko-chan? What about-” Oota-san tried asking, but Takahashi-san’s bitter voice interrupted him;

“I thought it was strange at the time… That cheerful Atsuko,” Takahashi-san began recounting. “The Atsuko I knew, who wanted to be a writer in the future… Who showed me her very own movie script… I found it strange that she’d hang herself in the club room.”

Shinichi lowered the voice-changing bowtie, his mind filling in the pieces, even before Takahashi-san said them;

“But it made sense when I went to see the movie Chikako claimed to have written… ‘The Blue Kingdom’ was identical to the script Atsuko showed me for her work ‘Sky-Blue Country.’” Takahashi-san snarled.

“Chikako… Stole Atsuko’s work?” Ayako-san asked disbelievingly.

“If so, why didn’t Atsuko-”

“Shut up! All of you!” Takahashi-san lashed out at Sumiya-san. “The day before Atsuko killed herself, she called me! Called me and told me that nobody believed her when she claimed the script was hers! She said it in such a faint voice that I still remember…” At the words, Takahashi-san seemed to lose his composure.

“So, I did do it… I called Chikako out into the woods, claiming that I’d expose her secret if she didn’t pay me…” Takahashi-san took a deep breath, before screaming at the top of his lungs; “And then I cut that freaking sow’s head off!”

“The rest is as Sonoko-chan said…” Shinichi peeked under the tablecloth discreetly, just in time to see Takahashi-san dumping the bandaged man costume out from his clothes, revealing his real stature for the first time. “But I guess it’s time to go where Atsuko is now…” he proclaimed pulling out a knife. “Since I avenged her, there’s no reason for me to stay here-” Seeing the man raise the knife to his own throat, Shinichi opened his mouth to speak, but Ran was quicker;

“Attacking Sonoko-neechan wasn’t for Atsuko's sake!”

-DoDo-

Ran definitely surprised herself by shouting like this, but hearing Takahashi-san try and justify the murder he committed, along with trying to kill her best friend, was too much for her.

“Kirino-chan…” Ayako-san tried to put a hand on Ran’s shoulder and pull her back, but Ran shrugged the older woman off.

“If this was really only for Atsuko, you wouldn’t have attacked Sonoko!” Ran continued her tirade. “Killing Chikako-san, that might have been for Atsuko, but then why hide? Why attack others, why the elaborate scheme?” Ran demanded, stepping right in front of the man with a knife, who was now trembling.

“It was fear, wasn’t it?” Shinichi-via-Sonoko interjected. “You were scared of becoming a criminal, weren’t you, Takahashi-san? So, you attacked me! You attacked children!”

“Resorting to murder, when you knew so much,” Ran continued. “You could have helped Atsuko! Be there for her, so she didn’t feel alone! Helped her prove the plagiarism! Helped her get back on her feet! But instead, you did nothing! And then you decided to kill out of guilt… And then didn’t even have the guts to own up to your actions! Do you think that’s what Atsuko would have wanted?!”

The question proved to be the final straw for the killer. Ran watched the knife fall out of Takahashi-san’s hands onto the floor, moments before the man himself crumbled down on the floor, tears streaming down his face.

-DoDo-

Eri rubbed her temples as Shinichi and Ran recounted their weekend. The two shrunken teens had been dropped off by Sonoko-chan about thirty minutes ago and had spent the entire time explaining why their friend had been in such an ecstatic mood. The more she listened, the more Eri wished she hadn’t asked. The fact that Sonoko-chan was almost killed by a madman bent on revenge seemed to have had no effect on the girl was astonishing in a way.

The fact that Ran and Shinichi-kun continued to attract cases like magnets was rather disconcerting to Eri though. It really made her reconsider just letting them hang out with their friend without supervision. For Sonoko-chan’s sake. After all, if this continued, those tranquilizer darts might have negative health effects on the girl.

At the very least, the two shrunken teenagers seemed to have things under control, for the most part.

“-And now she’s calling herself Deduction Queen Sonoko!” Shinichi-kun finished with an exasperated sigh. “I should have just used her sister or one of the other two. The odds of meeting them again were far lower after all.”

“Oh, come on Shinichi!” Ran protested. “It wasn’t that bad, and at least she didn’t question how she entered a ‘mystery-solving trance’,” Ran pointed out, to which Eri nodded along;

“Exactly, Shinichi-kun,” Eri nodded. “If she started questioning it, or drew parallels between my ‘trance’ and hers, we’d be in trouble.” Eri reminded them. Fortunately, the story was only in the newspapers for a day, and Sonoko-chan didn’t strike Eri as someone who routinely scoured the newspapers.

“Oka-san is right, Shinichi. We lucked out, that Sonoko is just playing along,” Ran nodded.

“Guess you guys are right… Besides, if something like this happens again, at least we won’t attract too much attention…” Shinichi-kun sighed.

Eri desperately wished he was right, as now there were two cases solved by unlikely detectives. If anybody pried too deeply, they’d probably easily make the connection that Ran and Shinichi were present at both places. The fact that the villa was in a different jurisdiction was a blessing, no two ways about it.

How long could their luck last though, was the real question.

-DoDo-

“You entered a ‘trance?’ And ya solved a case like that?” Heiji asked, his tone dripping with disbelief.

“Yes, that’s what I’m telling you Hattori-kun” Suzuki-san screamed from the other side of the line.

It had been a while since Suzuki-san had called him for an update on Mouri-san’s situation, so Heiji was ecstatic about receiving more information. A recap of a weekend with a murderer that Suzuki-san, of all people, managed to solve was not what he was expecting. If Heiji hadn’t pulled out information about the case on his computer, courtesy of the morning news, he’d have claimed the girl was making this up.

Piano wire, dummies, years-old revenge plots, theatrical expertise… It sounded to Heiji like one of the cases his dad had Heiji consult on… Or more relevantly, a Kudo Shinichi type of case. And Suzuki-san has somehow solved it without remembering a single thing. While not impossible, since strange things could happen, this was a bit too much for Heiji to swallow. Something was missing here, and he wasn’t sure what.

“And you’re sure nobody else was there?”

“Nobody besides me and my sister’s friend… Well, there were the kids, I suppose,” Suzuki-san admitted, which caught Heiji’s attention.

“What kids?” Heiji asked, opening the Mouri case folder on his computer.

“Oh, I was babysitting some relatives of Kisaki-obasama,” the teenage girl said dismissively. “They were fun, even if one of them is an annoying know-it-all.”

“And what relation do these kiddos have to Kisaki-san?” Heiji asked, pulling up the folder he had on the lawyer.

“Some distant, second or third cousins,” Suzuki-san answered, though her voice was sounding suspicious. “Why are you asking Hattori-kun?”

“Not sure… Do ya have names for ‘em?”

“Komuro Kirino, and Edogawa Conan,” Suzuki-san replied. “Not sure how they’re spelled though.”

Now those were some interesting names, Heiji thought to himself as he wrote them down with the first spelling that came to mind. He could always fix that up later.

“Thanks, neechan,” Heiji replied. “And yer friend, Ran; did she say where in Europe she’s supposedly stayin’ with Kudo?”

“Just Europe,” Suzuki-san said dejectedly. “I’ll see if I can wheedle out a more precise location next time.”

“’Kay, that’d be-” Heiji tried to say, but another call interrupted. “Give me a moment!” he sighed, before switching the call, not looking at the ID; “Hattori ‘ere! Whaddya- ”

“Where da hell are ya, Heiji?!” Toyama Kazuha, Heiji’s best friend since kindergarten, screeched from the other end of the line. The surprise volume made Heiji almost drop his phone. Once he recovered, the Osakan detective replied;

“I’m working on a case, woman! A case!” he shouted back. “Why are ya callin’ me?”

“Case?! We’re supposed to go to a restaurant, you detective freak!” Kazuha yelled from the other end of the line, causing Heiji to blink.

“Wasn’t that tomorrow?”

“No, you idiot! I specifically reminded ya this morning!” Kazuha growled.

“Oh… Uhm… How late ‘em I?” Heiji asked, feeling cold sweat on his forehead. When Kazuha spoke up again, her tone of voice didn’t help Heiji’s worry;

“Oh, not too long,” Kazuha replied in a fake-sweet voice. “Just a mere… HOUR AND A HALF!!!”

I am so dead… Heiji hung his head in defeat, all thoughts of following up on the Mouri case evaporating, as he tried to think of a way to survive the day.

Chapter Text

Shinichi sighed, as he put down what felt like the millionth case folder, from the ones Kisaki-san was able to obtain for him. Like all the rest, it offered Shinichi no further insight into how to find the men in black. Perhaps it was merely the cases he reviewed this far not having anything to do with activities they might have been involved in, but he suspected it was more than that.

Pulling away his glasses, Shinichi rubbed his temples, trying to think clearly. He needed to review everything he managed to learn from the court files, and so far three things stuck out to him;

First was that while Kisaki-san was a renowned attorney, she mostly appeared to take cases pertaining to individuals and not large companies, which appeared to be the men in black’s target. There were a few larger cases, but those all appeared to be clean. The second thing was the fact that all the cases Shinichi reviewed so far were won without any subterfuge. While not always clear-cut, Kisaki-san’s evidence never appeared fabricated. The woman probably wouldn’t stand for it anyway, which brought Shinichi to his last observation; whatever cases the men would be connected to would be shady. As such that they’d have to bend or break rules to keep their interests hidden and out of jail. Kisaki-san was too high-profile to bribe and pressure in such a way.

Hopping off the couch, Shinichi started to pace around Kisaki-san’s apartment, careful to avoid Kisaki-san’s cat, Goro, who was sleeping in the middle of the floor, completely unbothered by him. Frustratingly for the shrunken detective his original plan wasn’t working, nor had he spotted the men again around Tokyo, which further frustrated him. Even with all the cases he and Ran found themselves embroiled in, there was nothing that connected those cases to the duo that shrunk them.

Shinichi supposed that his next course of action would be to ask Kisaki-san for more cases from other lawyers. Potentially from shadier ones, if Ran’s mother even knew people like that. His other recourse would be to ask Hakase to dig up some of his dad’s more questionable contacts as they did for their documents.

Thinking about his parents, made Shinichi briefly consider trying to track them down. Hakase had no luck with that, ever since Shinichi and Ran got shrunk. With everything Shinichi’s old friend had done for them so far though, between the gadgets, running tests on their condition, and just being there to support them whenever necessary it was hardly surprising though. Shinichi supposed that if things didn’t improve soon, he’d have to see if he could predict where his parents would end up. He did hear some rumors that his dad was spotted in Paris last month so at least he had a starting point.

Before, Shinichi could continue his ruminations though, a call from the house phone grabbed his attention, as well as woke up Goro, who protested with a loud meow. Shaking his head at his ‘research partner’ Shinichi picked up the receiver.

“Kisaki residence, Conan speaking,” he introduced himself while kneeling down to scratch the Russian Blue cat behind the ears. Goro seemed to approve if the loud purring was any indication.

“Ah, Shinichi, good! I was looking for you,” Hakase said, his tone an interesting combination of excitement and concern.

“What’s up Hakase?” Shinichi asked.

“Well… I picked up your mail today, and I found an interesting letter in it,” the old professor explained.

“Not another weird fan letter, I hope. Ran doesn’t like when I get those,” Shinichi sighed, now at least better able to realize why that was, thanks to Sonoko’s babbling mouth.

“No, no, those started to thin, since your ‘disappearance,’” Hakase assured Shinichi, and he tried his best not to wince. Not even a couple of weeks, and people were already forgetting about him. Good for his and Ran’s cover, but horrible for Shinichi’s ego. “If anything, it looks like a case. Directed at you.” The inventor clarified.

Shinichi quirked an eyebrow at that. True, the Kudo mansion did get its fair share of case requests, those were often directed at Shinichi’s father, Yusaku. While Shinichi had gotten a few, it was generally small stuff, since people underestimated him. More often than naught the cases were the kind he could leave for the police without worry. Hakase knew that though, meaning that this one looked actually important.

“What did the letter say?” Shinichi asked, grabbing a pen and paper.

“It reads; ‘On the night of the next full moon, the shadows will begin to disappear once more on Tsukikage Island. Please investigate.’ It’s signed by an Asou Keiji.”

“Anything interesting about the letter?” Shinichi asked, scanning the words again. The next full moon was in a few days, around the time of Golden Week. He could probably convince Kisaki-san to take them there once she and Ran were back from shopping.

“Yes, the entire letter is written with newspaper and book clippings by the looks of it,” Hakase explained. “You sure this isn’t a trap, Shinichi?”

“I doubt it,” Shinichi shrugged. “If the men knew something, they’d have already made their move. Anyway, thanks for the news Hakase.”

“Oh, no problem, Shinichi,” the old man chuckled. “If you want, I can look into some things about the island for you?” he suggested.

“Nah, a small place like that probably won’t yield much,” Shinichi declined. “If something comes up, I’ll give you a call though. Later, Hakase!”

“Yes, have a nice evening, Shinichi,”

Once the line went dead, Shinichi looked at the words that Hakase dictated to him, feeling a strange trepidation wash over him. Perhaps it was the wording, or the fact that someone was challenging him in such a way, but Shinichi couldn’t escape the sense of foreboding.

-DoDo-

“This is quite the cozy island,” Ran smiled, as she breathed in the fresh air of the Izu Sea. It was a few days since Shinichi had received the mysterious message from Hakase, but fortunately, Oka-san managed to arrange some time off work in order to bring them there. She had adamantly refused to let them go alone or with Sonoko this time, after the incident in the villa. While Ran understood her mother’s fears, she did hope that they’d get to spend more time with Sonoko soon… Just as soon as the mortification of last time wore off.

“It is admittedly quite the appealing place,” Ran’s mother admitted, as she looked around the small island town. “Shame we have to be here for such an occasion though.” She added, causing Shinichi to offer a wan smile.

“Sorry about that, Kisaki-san,” Shinichi admitted, using the lack of people around to address her properly for now. “But I couldn’t ignore it on the off-chance it wasn’t just a prank.”

“I understand, Shinichi-kun,” the older woman assured him. “Still, shall we start?”

“They should be able to give us, Asou-san’s address at the Town Hall,” Shinichi suggested.

“And if that doesn’t work, there’s always just asking around, right?” Ran suggested adjusting her backpack.

“Right, Kirino-chan,” Eri said, indicating that it was time they all started playing their roles again. The reminder made Ran really wished that Hakase would make some progress soon. Even if it was just a little update that he found something promising. The fact that Ran was becoming so used to being called by her pseudonym by her own mother of all people was getting somewhat scary. As if the real Ran was slipping away from her. Ran shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts out of her head. Shinichi and Hakase would come through for them, that much she was sure of. She just had to bear with it a little longer.

“You okay, Kirino?” Shinichi asked, his tone slightly worried.

“I’m fine, Conan,” Ran waved him off, rather embarrassed. Besides, she was sure that Shinichi had the exact same thoughts and was just better at hiding them. Piling more worries on top of him was not something Ran wanted to do. Especially since they were probably going to have a big case upcoming.

-DoDo-

“I’m sorry ma’am, but there is no Asou Keiji in our island registry,” the clerk assured Eri, who had to take a deep breath. If not for the years she had spent with Kogoro as her husband, she’d probably have a headache by now.

It hadn’t taken her and the kids too long to find the town hall of Tsukikage Island, but that seemed to be the first of many problems. Eri had anticipated that to an extent. As she was quickly learning, there seemed to be nothing easy when Kudo Shinichi was involved. The claim that there was nobody under the name was interesting, but Eri had to admit it was hardly surprising. The entire situation with the letter was suspect enough as it was.

Still, first things first;

“And you are sure nobody under that name has lived here before?” Eri asked, sharing a look with Shinichi, who was probably thinking the same thing. “Perhaps in the last couple of years?”

“Uhm… I am honestly not sure ma’am…” the clerk admitted, rather embarrassed. “I’ve only been here for a few months, but maybe- Ah, Senpai, perhaps you would know.” The young man flagged down one of the older workers behind the register.

“What’s wrong?” the older man asked, adjusting his glasses as he stepped up to his colleague.

“The lady claims that she was invited here by one of our residents, but I can’t find a name on file. Do you know someone with the name Asou Keiji?” The name seemed to be known to the bespectacled man, as his face went ghost white in terror. He even took a step back, as his eyes shrunk in fear.

“ASOU KEIJI!? H-he… That’s impossible!” the man claimed, even as Eri realized that every one of the older people around them, be they workers or residents, began chattering around them. Chattering in the same way, that Eri was used to hearing from old superstitious people whenever she went into the countryside.

“Impossible how?” Shinichi-kun asked, pulling himself up onto the counter.

“He died…” The man stumbled forward, bracing himself on the front desk, his entire frame shaking.

“It happened 12 years ago, on a full moon,” the man continued his story, despite the quivering tone; “Asou Keiji was a famous pianist who was born on this island. After he held a public concert, he locked himself and his family inside their house… And lit a fire.”

No. Eri thought as the image conjured by the words invaded her mind, cold sweat erupting across her body. The man didn’t seem to notice the sudden change in Eri’s demeanor though and continued;

“When people went to save him and his family, thinking they were merely trapped,” the man took a deep breath, clearly still haunted by the story, despite it being so far in the past; “He had stabbed his wife and daughter to death. He then proceeded to play the same song over and over, as the house burned around him… Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata.’”

With every word she listened to, Eri’s breathing became heavier, as the image was painted with staggering clarity in her head, only instead of faceless people she’d never met, it was her and Ran on the floor, while the fires surrounded them. And most damningly, Kogoro playing the accursed piano. Eri felt her legs quiver, as she had to brace herself against a nearby chair to prevent herself from falling over. Nausea swept across her, as Ran and Shinichi noticed her reaction.

“Eri-no-obasan?” Shinichi asked, but Eri didn’t bother replying, instead rushing out of the building, as she recognized that she was having a panic attack, no doubt brought upon by the story.

Ignoring the stares she was attracting, Eri raced outside the building and toward fresh air, only stopping, once she almost ran into a wall. Resting her forehead against the cold brick of the building, Eri tried to focus on the cooling sensation the masonry had on her feverish skin. Calling back on the little training she had with such things, Eri began taking deep, slow breaths, trying to regulate her breathing, even as she called upon whatever boring little things she could find. Mundane, things that could distract her from the story she just heard. Citations, subsections, and potential sentences for various crimes. Small, inconsequential notes she’d taken in her most recent case, anything. Anything but thoughts of fire, or the ones she loved dying.

Eri wasn’t sure how long she stood there, just trying to get herself back under control, but her panic was interrupted by a soft voice;

“Ma’am, are you okay?” someone asked, before pressing a soft, cold compress to Eri’s forehead. The sudden touch made the lawyer recoil for a moment, but she stopped herself from lashing out, the damp cloth alleviating some of her distress. Taking a look to her right, Eri saw who the voice belonged to; It was a young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties, with pitch-black hair tied in a small ponytail, and soft blue eyes. She was wearing a lab coat, over a turtleneck sweater and pencil skirt, which immediately led Eri to guess the woman was either a nurse or a doctor.

“Ah, yes, I’m fine,” Eri assured the woman, taking the cold compress in her own hand. “Thank you miss…”

“Doctor. Asai Narumi, at your service ma’am,” the doctor introduced herself with a pleasant, professional smile. “I noticed that you were having a panic attack as I was escorting out a patient. Are you alone here or-”

“Eri-no-obasan!” Ran’s voice rang through the air, and Eri looked back, seeing both her and Shinichi running toward her, worried expressions on their faces. Ran in particular collided with her, hugging Eri’s legs tightly. Letting out a deep breath, Eri, placed a hand on Ran’s head, trying to calm her daughter as best she could. This was definitely something they’d need to talk about later.

“Are you okay now, Eri-no-obasan?” Shinichi-kun asked. While he didn’t appear as outright terrified as Ran was, still looked troubled by Eri’s sudden outburst. And it certainly wouldn’t take Shinichi’s genius to figure out exactly what had happened.

“I am fine now,” Eri tried her best to smile, Ran’s presence alleviating her remaining symptoms. Her daughter was there with her and alive. “Asai-sensei here helped me out.” Eri bowed to the young doctor, returning the damp cloth. The young woman for her part looked a little bashful.

“No, no! Narumi-sensei is good enough, ma’am. I prefer it better anyway,” Narumi-sensei explained, before turning to the children; “And are these two little ones your, ma’am? They’re very cute.”

“Y-No, these are merely my cousins,“ Eri managed to catch herself, deciding to blame her current rattled state for the slip-up. “This is Kirino-chan and Conan-kun. My name is Kisaki Eri. We came here on some business from Tokyo.”

“Oh, my house is in Tokyo too,” Narumi-sensei said with a bright smile. “But this is a much nicer place than Tokyo. Fresh air, quiet, and I don’t really have to worry about too many patients at once!” she clapped her hands in excitement.

“It does sound nice, Narumi-sensei,” Shinichi nodded. “But can you please direct us to the community center?”

“How come, Conan-kun?” Eri asked. Ran let go of her, and answered instead of her friend;

“After you left,” Ran shot Shinichi-kun a pointed glare. “Conan wanted to know who might know something about the letter. We got directed to the current mayor.”

“Ah, Kuroiwa Tastuji-san,” Narumi-sensei supplied. “He should be in the community center along with the other two presidential candidates.”

“I am guessing there is an election coming up?” Eri asked, Narumi-sensei nodding in ascent.

“Yes, there are three candidates. The current mayor I mentioned,” the doctor counted off on her fingers. “The second man is a representative of the fisher administration, Shimizu Masato-san. The last man is the richest man on the island, Kawashima Hideo-san.”

“An interesting arrangement of characters,” Eri muttered.

“Have there been any problems with the election?” Shinichi asked, causing Nerumi-sensei to pause for a minute.

“Not exactly,” she admitted. “It’s been a heated race admittedly, but there hasn’t been any violence yet. In fact, all three of them are supposed to meet up tonight to commemorate the 3^rd anniversary of the previous mayor’s death.”

Of course, there was more…

“What happened to them?” Shinichi-kun asked.

“It happened shortly after I arrived. Actually, Mayor Kameyama was the first autopsy I did on the island,” Narumi-sensei admitted. “He died from a heart attack three years ago. His secretary, Hirata Kazuaki-san, found him in the old community center. He heard music coming from the center and when he investigated, he found his boss, Kameyama-san, lying face down on the piano keyboard.”

“Piano?” Ran asked, mirroring Eri’s own thoughts.

“The community center houses the piano that Asou Keiji-san played in the concert he held on the day of his death,” Narumi-sensei explained, sounding suddenly very grim. “And most terrifying of all… Was that the music continued to play up until Hirata-san walked into the room.”

“That’s… Creepy,” Ran muttered, fear evident in her voice. Eri remembered that her daughter had quite an acute fear of anything supernatural, no matter how irrational. Still, if there were going to be answers, they would be in that community center. Perhaps, Eri could ask Ran to wait at the hotel if she didn’t mind? It only seemed fair.

“Thank you for the information, Narumi-sensei,” Eri nodded. “Along with the help from earlier as well.”

“It’s perfectly fine, Kisaki-san,” the young doctor shook her head. “Anyway, if you don’t mind, I have to go change. As I said, Kamayama-san was the first person I autopsied, and would like to light some incense in his honor.”

“Of course, Narumi-sensei,” Eri bowed respectfully to the doctor as she walked away. Taking a deep breath, Eri turned to the kids; “I guess our next stop is the community center… Kirino-chan are you sure you want to come with us?” Eri watched as a mixture of emotions played across her daughter’s face, reluctance the strongest among them. Shinichi also seemed to notice what was happening, because he put a supporting hand on Ran’s shoulder. That seemed to help Ran make up her mind, as she took a deep breath before looking up;

“I’ll come!” Ran said resolutely.

Chapter Text

Ran wasn’t one to complain about boredom. If anything, years of karate training had tempered her mind, while years of Sonoko’s antics taught her to appreciate the moments of silence whenever she could get them. But being stuck outside a room, waiting on a couch for two hours now was getting to be a bit much even for her. The shrunken teen almost wished she gave into her fear of the supernatural and accepted her mother’s suggestion to wait at the hotel.

And if she didn’t watch her own mother suffer a full-on panic attack not ten minutes before, she’d have not hesitated one bit. But no matter what her Oka-san said, Ran knew that she was rattled by the story. After all, Asou Keiji died in a fire, much like Otou-san. It didn’t really matter who started the fire in the end. And no matter how scared, Ran would never let the people closest to her suffer if she could help it. Ran was going to ask either Shinichi or the doctor they met, Narumi-sensei, for information on dealing with episodes like that later and in private.

That was all for later though. Right now, all Ran had to do was wait. While she could have tried to talk to her Oka-san, Ran knew that it risked causing more problems. Much like Ran herself, her parents tended to close up when something was too fresh. No, Ran needed to wait at least until they were back on the mainland.

“Tsc… Perhaps we should have just waited until tomorrow, after all,” Ran’s mother suggested, looking at her watch. Ran certainly didn’t expect the memorial to start basically when they arrived. It seemed that pretty much everyone from the island was there. “At this rate, we’ll get to our hotel after most places close.”

“We couldn’t have known there’d be a service today,” Shinichi shrugged. “Memorial services in small towns like this are a long thing.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed on several occasions… Do you have a working theory, Conan-kun?” Ran’s mother asked Shinichi, who sighed.

“For the letter or the murder of the mayor?”

“Both,”

“I have a few theories,” Shinichi admitted.

“You really think it’s a murder, Conan?” Ran asked, somewhat surprised. “Wouldn’t that mean, Narumi-sensei was wrong.”

“Not necessarily, Kirino,” Shinichi shook his head. “There are plenty of ways to fake a heart attack. Besides, after that, someone had to pose the body on the piano.”

“I guess… What about the music?”

“Probably a recording the killer played.” Oka-san supplied. “Though it does mean the killer was close by. But all of that is fairly obvious. What about the letter, Conan-kun?”

“Not sure,” Shinichi admitted, crossing his arms, looking intently at the floor. “Whoever sent it knows who Kudo Shinichi is, and what I do. So obviously they have some foreknowledge of these murders. Either they stumbled onto something…”

“Or the killer sent it?” Ran ventured a guess, and rather unnervingly, Shinichi confirmed it with a nod.

“Exactly,” he said. “Sometimes my Tousan received letters like that. Criminals too sure of themselves who thought nothing could stop them.”

“That sounds stupid,” Ran shook her head. Surprisingly, Shinichi scoffed.

“Maybe to you and I,” he explained. “But to criminals it makes sense. Some of them really think they are that smart. Some just want to be caught after… And my Tousan proposed once that some want to be stopped.”

“That does sound like Yusaku-san,” Ran’s mother chuckled but Ran herself just shook her head.

“Makes no sense to me… But then again, I don’t really understand why anybody would want to be in the mind of a murderer… No offense Shinichi,” Ran said. Her friend merely shrugged.

“Oh, I definitely can’t understand why someone might try to kill a person… But me and Tousan can always find out how they’ve done it.” He said with a self-confident smirk, that made Ran roll her eyes.

“Good to see you’re back to feeling like yourself,” Ran muttered, drawing a curious look from Shinichi and her Oka-san.

“Kirino, are you-”

“Just bored,” Ran admitted, looking up at the ceiling. “Wish we could do something-”

“You two go explore,” Ran’s mother sighed, looking at her watch again. “I’ll come get you once the ceremony concludes.”

“You sure, Eri-no-obasan?” Shinichi asks, barely masking his own joy at being given an excuse to go and stretch his legs.

Hypocrite, Ran thinks with a fond smile.

“Yes, go you two! Just don’t go outside,”

“Come on Kirino,” Shinichi nodded as he jumped off the bench.

“Any idea, where you want to go?” Ran asked as the two shrunken teenagers started walking down the halls.

“Honestly, I would have preferred to find a way into the ceremony, but that might not do us any favors with the people around here,” Shinichi admitted, placing his hands behind his head, looking at the portraits on the wall. “Apart from that, we should look around though. If this is the community center, it would mean something that mentions Asou Keiji might be stashed here.” Even as Shinichi finished the question, a glimpse through an open door, caught Ran’s attention.

“Hey, Conan, is that the piano?” Ran asked, pointing at the room behind the door. Curious, Shinichi pushed the door open, revealing a large, empty room. Across the door the two of them just walked through, Ran saw another door that led outside. In the corner of the room, next to the door, was an old black piano.

“This is a huge room,” Shinichi muttered, looking around, his gaze drifting toward the door on the back. “Looks like that door leads to the water’s edge.” Ran meanwhile edged closer toward the piano.

“This piano is quite dirty,” she said, running a finger over the dusty surface of the keyboard lid. Before she could try an open the lid, she heard hurried footsteps behind her/

“No, don’t touch that piano!” a distraught male voice rang out, causing Ran to flinch away from the musical instrument. Turning around, Ran saw a man in his early thirties, with a broad face and square glasses, wearing a dark funeral suit. He looked to be out of breath as he entered the room, looking at the piano fearfully.

“We were just looking around oji-san,” Shinichi intervened, his voice carefree and innocent. It honestly surprised Ran how well Shinichi played the role of a clueless seven-year-old sometimes.

“That’s the cursed piano Asou-san-”

“Oh, Narumi-sensei already told us about that one,” Shinichi nodded. “And who are you oji-san?”

“Oh, my name is Hirata Kazuaki, I am the mayoral secretary,” the name rang a bell in Ran’s mind;

“Aren’t you the man who found the previous mayor’s body, Hirata-san?” Ran asked, causing the man to look down, sadly.

“Yes… You said, Narumi-sensei explained everything to you?” Hirata-san asked, pulling out a handkerchief to dab his forehead.

“Narumi-sensei said that there was music playing all the way until you walked into the room. Is that true?” Shinichi asked, and Ran noted that his tone was much lower and had lost the innocent edge to it. Ran’s friend was back to being a detective investigating a crime without any of the pretenses.

“Yes, that’s correct, boy…” Hirata-san nodded, looking at the piano. “Kameyama-san was sitting on that chair, face resting against the keyboard, and the infernal melody of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ didn’t stop until I pushed the door open.” Ran swallowed hard at the words, realizing why this piano might be considered cursed. The fact two different people died for this reputation certainly didn’t help. “Ever since then, the locals have been afraid to touch the instrument.”

“And what were you doing here so late, oji-san?” Shinichi asked, even as Ran saw him walk over to the piano.

“Oh, it was a coincidence really,” Hirata-san muttered, his words sounding a little forced to Ran. “I was working late that night. I suppose it could have been anyone from the town.”

“I see…” Shinichi muttered as he lifted the cover.

“B-boy stop!” Hirata-san panicked suddenly, but before he could stop Shinichi, the shrunken teen was already pressing a few of the keys.

“The piano seems well tuned to me…” Shinichi said as he continued to press the keys haphazardly.

“Conan, stop, you might break it!” Ran urged, only half-playing along. She had no idea how much a piano like this might cost, and the last thing they needed was a bill for wrecking a cultural treasure or something similar. Shinichi had the audacity to roll his eyes at Ran’s concern as he slowly lowered the lid on the piano and jumped off.

“Okay,” Shinichi replied with a huge smile on his face.

-DoDo-

Shinichi and Ran were escorted out of the piano room by Hirata-san soon after Shinichi tested the piano. No sooner did they find Kisaki-san, they were asked if they could wait outside the community center by Hirata-san. A request they were unfortunately persuaded into accepting by Narumi-sensei who had appeared with one of the men they wanted to speak with; Shimizu Masato. While Shinichi understood that tourists like them had little reason to be at a gathering like this, it was annoying to be shuffled around like that.

The fact that none of the men wanted to speak with Kisaki-san directly, made Shinichi quite suspicious. While he doubted any of them sent the letter, it was clear there was some sort of connection. Not least of which since they were friends of the deceased man.

Right now, though, with the three of them having waited for close to an hour outside, Shinichi decided to focus on a different issue;

“What was that for, Kirino?!” Shinichi complained, rubbing his shoulder from where Ran punched him as soon as they stepped out of the community center. His friend had also not said a word to him since then, which was becoming frustrating.

“Because you were plinking away at a piano that costs God knows how much, Conan!” Ran shouted back, clearly still agitated. “The last thing we need is for us to get sued or something!”

“Kirino, that wouldn’t have happened,” Kisaki-san assured her daughter. “Things like this are insured for a reason. And I doubt anybody would try and sue a child for their curiosity. That being said,” Kisaki-san’s voice turned intrigued; “Why did you do that Conan-kun?”

“The piano was well tuned,” Shinichi shared. “Someone’s been maintaining it, even if nobody knows it.”

“Do you know to what end? Hirata-san said that people around here thought it was cursed,” Ran reminded him, and Shinichi nodded.

“Which means either someone doesn’t believe in the curse, doesn’t know about it, or-” Shinichi counted off on his fingers. Before he could share his last theory thought, Kisaki-san guessed it;

“They have a reason to do so, correct?” Kisaki-san asked, leaning against one of the pillars near the entrance of the building.

“Something to do with the threat?” Ran asked.

“Since it is Asou Keiji’s piano, and the mystery surrounding him is tied to all of this, I’d wager yes,” Shinichi nodded, recalling the letter.

“You don’t think that the death of the pianist was a suicide, Conan-kun?” Kisaki-san asked. Shinichi could only frown at the question.

“Honestly, I can’t be sure,” he admitted. “On one hand, sometimes people just snap when things don’t go their way. Suicide rates are pretty high in Japan, after all, so it’s not out of the question. That being said… Asou-san appeared to be a successful man with a loving family.”

“Suicide does seem unlikely,” Kisaki-san agreed. Ran though spoke up;

“Asou-san didn’t have any problems on the surface… But we don’t know what might have gone on in his personal life,” Ran pointed out, her tone carrying a little more weight than Shinichi expected. It was rather clear what exactly his friend was thinking about. And the earlier panic attack that Kisaki-san suffered was a perfect indication of this.

“Maybe,” Shinichi admitted, before extending his hand. “Kirino, can I have your cell phone?”

“What for?” Ran asked, nevertheless fishing the device out of her pocket.

“Hakase offered to look into the case for us when he contacted me,” Shinichi admitted, picking up the cell phone. “I said no because I didn’t know that it involved an international pianist. Now, the odds of him finding something are much higher. Especially if Tousan has something in his files back in the mansion.”

“Fair enough, Conan-kun,” Kisaki-san sighed looking at her watch again. “You can go and call, we’ll stay here just in case the ceremony ends sooner than expected.”

“Thanks! You wanna come with, Kirino?” Shinichi asked Ran, but she shook her head.

“No, I’m good,” Ran said with a smile. “Just say hello to Hakase for me.”

“Will do!” Shinichi nodded before walking away a little, to get better reception.

-DoDo-

“Are you really okay, Oka-san?” Ran asked, pretty much as soon as Shinichi was out of earshot. The fact that her daughter wasn’t bothering with their cover story, meant that Ran wanted to discuss the earlier panic attack without any pretenses. Part of Eri appreciated the concern, but another part of her wasn’t sure how to reply to the question.

Yes, she was okay now, but the panic attack did indicate that there were still some issues left over from Kogoro’s death… Not to mention the situation with Ran and Shinichi. While Shinichi hadn’t found anything yet, Eri knew it was probably only a matter of time before the shrunken teenage detective stumbled upon a lead on the men in black. And when that happened, Eri knew that there’d be little chance of stopping Shinichi from getting involved in taking the men in black down.

“I will be okay for now, Ran,” Eri admitted. “Narumi-sensei was there on time to help, and now that I know discussions like this can start up a reaction, I’ll be more aware.”

“Will you look into some treatment? Maybe counseling?” Ran asked, clearly hoping for a positive response to her question.

“If the problem persists, yes,” Eri admitted. “Not much I can do right now though, so I’ll just be more careful. I promise, Ran.”

“Thanks, Oka-san,” Ran sighed. Eri could tell that not all of her daughter’s fears have been alleviated, but it was better than nothing. The one thing Eri was going to have to be careful about though was the optics of her attending counselling. The last thing she’d need is for someone to use it as an excuse to question her competency. She wasn’t going to lie to Ran, it wasn’t in her nature to do so, but she’d have to be careful.

Before mother and daughter could continue their discussion, Shinichi returned, a smile on his face.

“Okay, I told Hakase to look into things for me,” Shinichi explained, handing Ran’s phone back to her. “He said he’ll contact us with what he finds tomor-”

A melody drifted through the air, interrupting Shinichi’s words. As the music began becoming more and more pronounced, a commotion was starting to form inside the building. Eri immediately recognized the notes, and judging by how quickly he paled, so did Shinichi.

“It’s the ‘Moonlight Sonata’!” Eri vocalized the thought.

“Damn it! Come on!” Shinichi swore, and before Eri could stop him, rushed into the building. Ran followed close behind, as did Eri herself, already fishing for her cell phone. She wasn’t sure if there actually was a police station on the island itself, but barring that, she could always contact Megure-keibu since this was still his jurisdiction.

The three of them rushed past several very confused and very frightened-looking townspeople, who were all oriented toward the piano room that Ran and Shinichi mentioned earlier. As Eri made her way through the crowd, trying to keep up with the kids, who were having no trouble weaving between all the adults, the murmurs grew louder along with the music.

Unsurprisingly, it was Shinichi who reached the door first and forced it open. Eri got there a few seconds later with Ran, and saw that they were too late; The body of a man, dripping wet from head to toe, was placed on the pianist's stool, head resting on the open keyboard. The man’s face was turned toward the door, eyes open, mouth frozen in a silent scream, as the haunting melody of Beethoven’s music continued to drift through the air.

“We’re too late,” Shinichi hissed in anger. “We need to secure the scene,” he muttered, just loud enough for Eri to hear him and she nodded. Judging by the pressure of people pushing to see what has happened from behind her, unless they established some order, it was very possible that the crime scene would be trampled over. Taking a deep breath, Eri stepped forward and turned toward the crowd;

“Everyone, I need you to stay out of the room!” she directed, using the same voice she had used on prosecutors in the courtroom. “We can’t risk contaminating the crime scene!”

“Who are you, lady?” a sneering young woman with dark brown hair, and far too much makeup demanded. Judging by her clothing, Eri suspected that she was someone well-off.

“My name is Eri Kisaki,” Eri explained patiently, as she noted that Shinichi and Ran had slipped into the room observing the body and piano. “I am a lawyer from Tokyo, and have some experience with crime scenes. Please, do not enter until the police arrive, or are trained personnel.”

“Very well, Kisaki-san,” a bald man, in an impeccable suit stepped forward, his expression torn between shock and anger. “We will do as you requested. Hirata! Get the police here, now!” the bespeckled man tried to protest, looking quite uncomfortably at the piano, with naked fear;

“B-but s-s-sir… The curse-”

“It’s a tape recorder!” Shinichi-kun yelled from next to the piano. Eri looked over and saw that Ran was currently perched on Shinichi’s shoulders, and looking into the inside of the piano. The words seemed to stun the room for a bit before the man Eri was talking with turned back to Hirata-san.

“Now, damn it!” Hirata-san’s superior barked.

“Yes, sir!” HIrata-san nodded before running away. Nodding in thanks, Eri moved on;

“Does anybody know the man?” she asked and surprisingly, Narumi-sensei stepped forward.

“Uhm, that’s one of the three mayoral candidates, Kawashima Hideo-san,” the doctor explained. “He was at the memorial service for Kameyama-san. He left to go to the bathroom about 15 minutes ago.”

“Thank you, Narumi-sensei,” Eri nodded, before turning toward the bald man; “And I am afraid I didn’t catch your name, sir.”

“Kuroiwa Tatsuji, I am the current mayor,” the man introduced himself, his tone gaining a bit of pomp to it.

“Kuroiwa-san, in that case, can I ask you to organize everyone to wait for the arrival of the police?” Eri asked, trying to remain civil with the man, despite his obvious reluctance.

“Very well, we’ll wait in the meeting hall for now, Kisaki-san,” Kuroiwa-san nodded. Silently Eri was happy that the man didn’t seem to want to cause her trouble over something petty.

“Narumi-sensei, I’d hate to ask, but can you confirm the cause of death?” Eri asked politely. The younger woman nodded, reaching into her bag.

“I have a pair of gloves here just in case. Will that be okay, Kisaki-san?” Narumi-sensei asked.

“It will be for a quick examination,” Eri agreed, looking back at the body.

So much for preventing a murder, Eri thought bitterly, even as people slowly filled away.

Chapter Text

It took Narumi-sensei about ten minutes to finish examining the body and conclude that the man was drowned around thirty minutes before the body was discovered. Shinichi quickly found a large puddle of water leading outside through the door that Ran spotted earlier in the day. It was clear someone had brought Kawashima-san to the edge of the water and then killed him at the beach. When Ran took a look, she even saw the man’s black suit jacket still floating in the water.

What bothered Shinichi though, was the fact that the door had been locked from the inside and that there were a few drying splotches of water leading toward the ceremony room. Sadly, not nearly enough to indicate who it could have been. Still, combined with the fact that the doors and windows were closed from the inside, meant that someone from the ceremony was the killer.

“What does a stuck-up lawyer like you even know?!” the news was not taken well by the people at the community center.

Shinichi sighed, as the woman from earlier, Kuroiwa Reiko, the mayor’s daughter screamed at Kisaki-san. Grabbing Ran’s hand, who was having none of the woman’s screeching, Shinichi shook his head.

“Can’t make a scene,” he whispered. “Besides, Kisaki-san has this.” He smirked, nodding back to the two women.

“While I appreciate you pointing out that I don’t actually have any jurisdiction here, Kuworiwa-ojousan, I am merely listing the facts,” Kisaki-san explained patiently. “Kawashima-san was drowned, and then placed inside the piano room. All the doors were locked, and there was a trail of water leading toward the ceremony. There were also five minutes of blank space on the tape we found, meaning the killer had plenty of time to cover their tracks.”

“Combined with the fact that I and my cousins were standing in front of the main door, the murderer could not have gone out of the building,” Eri finished her explanation, the mayor’s daughter seemingly having nothing more to add. “That being said, it would be best if we can wait here, so the local police can take statements and-” Narumi-sensei interrupted Kisaki-san with a small cough.

“Uhm, Kisaki-san, that might be an issue,” Narumi-sensei said. “You see, since we’re a small island, we only have a single police officer who is a little… Old.”

“What the good doctor is trying to say, lawyer lady is that the man is pushing sixty and is about to retire. Asking him to interview all of us will take weeks.” A young man with sunglasses and a beanie hat stepped forward, interrupting Narumi-sensei. If Shinichi remembered the earlier introduction, the man’s name was Murasawa Shuichi, Kuroiwa Reiko’s fiancée.

Still, the information was troubling to Shinichi. If the situation on the island was as described, that meant they’d have to call the mainland police, which would delay the investigation. Shinichi had hoped that since all the suspects were present, they could wrap this up here and now, but that thought seemed to be a distant dream now.

While there didn’t appear to be any weapon used in Kawashima-san’s murder, that didn’t mean there wasn’t any evidence the killer couldn’t dispose of. At the very least there should have been some traces on their clothes, but there was no way to test them on the fly.

“Very well then,” Kisaki-san sighed, her expression sour, probably realizing the same thing Shinichi did. “In that case, Kuroiwa-san,” she turned toward the mayor. “I’d like to request that you contact the authorities on the mainland. This island is part of the Tokyo jurisdiction if I recall correctly?”

“That is correct, Kisaki-san,” the mayor nodded. “While I have to clear it with Officer Imada, I do not predict any issues.”

“Thank you,” Kisaki-san nodded, before sighing. “If it’s okay, I would like to stay here to make sure that nobody tampers with the scene until Imada-san arrives. Of course, the center will have to close down for that to happen.”

“Otou-san, this is ridiculous!” Reiko protested, but Kuroiwa-san placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Kisaki-san’s requests are thus far reasonable and don’t appear to be motivated by anything beyond preserving the crime scene,” Kuroiwa-san admitted, though Shinichi noted a sense of apprehension in the man’s voice. It reminded him of criminals who were being pushed into a corner. It didn’t make sense though, for this time. It was clear that he didn’t kill Kawashima-san, there simply wasn’t enough time for him to have done it. The only people who left the ceremony were Kawashima-san himself and Nurumi-sensei. While Shinichi did suspect the doctor a little, there was no way she could have done it either; Kawashima-san weighed a good 30 kilos more than her. Unless her clothing obscured far more than Shinichi would believe possible, there was no way Narumi-sensei had that much muscle on her.

So why was Kuroiwa-san worried? Was there a clue that Shinichi was missing?

“What’s wrong Conan?” Ran asked as Kisaki-san continued to discuss events with Kuroiwa-san.

“Not sure,” Shinichi admitted in a whisper. “But I feel they’re hiding something.”

“The mayor and his daughter?” Ran whispered back, but Shinichi shook his head, instead nodding to a lanky-looking man with spiky hair in the crowd. His name was Nishimoto Ken, an unemployed local.

“The mayor and Nishimoto-san,” Shinichi said. “Nishimoto-san’s been fidgeting and he looks like he’s one word away from fainting in fear.”

“Could be that he just didn’t like seeing a corpse. I can relate,” Ran shrugged and Shinichi nodded in agreement.

“Possible, but we should probably keep an eye out for-” Shinichi was interrupted when Hirata-san finally returned with the local police officer… And the shrunken teen had to resist the urge to facepalm. Imada-san, if Shinichi heard the name correctly, looked like an old scarecrow being stuffed in a police uniform, with large opaque glasses and a paintbrush mustache put on the face. The fact that Imada-san looked exhausted just from coming here, made Shinichi promise to himself that he’d never complain about working with anyone in Tokyo anymore.

“We’re doomed,” he muttered to Ran, who elbowed him.

“I believe that this means you won’t have to stay here to monitor the situation, Kisaki-san,” Kuroiwa-san suggested, relief visible in his stance. Shinichi meanwhile almost hissed in annoyance.

Shinichi had asked Kisaki-san to arrange some time for the three of them to scour the crime scene more thoroughly and without attracting the attention of the locals. But whatever Kuroiwa-san wanted to protect was obviously important, even if he wasn’t doing anything overt to stop them.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Shinichi tried to think of a way to get them to stay here… And really didn’t like the idea he came up with. Turning to Ran, he whispered;

“Follow my lead!” he instructed, before taking a deep breath and throwing his voice as high as possible; “Eri-no-obasan! I’m tired!” he declared before plopping unceremoniously onto the floor with the energy of a petulant child. Genta would have been proud… And Shinichi himself was mortified he was reduced to this in order to investigate. Shooting a pleading look at Ran to follow his lead, Shinichi saw his friend roll her eyes before miming a large, very loud yawn.

“Me too! Can we just sleep here, Eri-no-obasan?” Ran asked, laying down on the floor, spearing her limbs like she was about to make a snow angel. Shinichi looked expectantly at Kisaki-san, hoping she also played along. Fortunately, Ran’s mother was a bright woman and suppressed a smirk with a sigh.

“I hope it will not be an imposition, Kuroiwa-san? My cousins can be a… Handful at times,” Kisaki-san asked in a faux-exasperated tone. At least Shinichi hoped it was a faux tone.

“It would hardly be normal-” the mayor tried to push back, but it was surprisingly, Narumi-sensei who spoke up to help them;

“Uhm, I’d hate to contradict you, Kuroiwa-san, but it might be for the best,” the younger woman suggested gently. “I am fairly sure they’ve been traveling all day, and given what happened the children are probably exhausted,” she said, flashing Shinichi and Ran a kind smile.

“Besides, I was planning on staying myself to make sure the body is preserved as well as possible for the mainland authorities. Since we don’t have a morgue, I’d have to keep track of any changes.”

Shinichi smirked, as he watched Kuroiwa-san try to find a way to oppose the suggestion, but was clearly coming up with nothing that wouldn’t either make his interference obvious or sound like a bastard for forcing a tired woman and two kids to walk across town to a hotel. The final nail in the coffin though, was the police officer, Imada-san, who spoke up;

“I will take responsibility for this, sir,” the old man proudly proclaimed. “Besides, some company on during an all-nighter would be lovely.” He smiled cheerfully.

-DoDo-

“I can’t believe that worked,” Ran shook her head, as she, along with Shinichi, started looking around the piano room.

Soon after their embarrassing act, Narumi-sensei and Ran’s mother left to grab some of the blankets that were at the community center in case of an emergency. The old officer meanwhile left to make sure that the entire community center was locked down. Ran felt a little sorry for the man, having to deal with stuff like this at his age, even if he didn’t seem to mind.

Shinichi meanwhile, as soon as he was left alone, had completely recovered and was already looking over every square inch of the windows and doors, trying to find anything that could indicate that they were closed using some sort of trick.

Ran herself, was given the job of checking to see if there were any hidden panels on the floor. When she expressed disbelief that something like that would exist here, because they weren’t in a movie, Shinichi merely asked in a more pleading voice, that Ran found herself impossible to deny. Still, after tapping her foot against the floor for about five minutes, she had made a full round of the room, with nothing sounding out of the ordinary.

“Anything?” Shinichi asked as he jumped down from the windowsill.

“No, but I’m not surprised,” Ran said. “The windows?”

“Nothing as well,” Shinichi grimaced. “The last thing we can check is the piano itself.”

“You’ll be careful this time, right?” Ran asked, to which Shinichi rolled his eyes.

“Yes. You check underneath, and I’ll look around the keyboard again, Kirino.” He suggested, but the use of her fake name caused Ran to flinch a little. She knew Shinichi probably called her that because he was distracted by the case, but it hardly made Ran feel better about the whole thing. She’d really have to talk with Oka-san, about this. Maybe with Shinichi as well. That was for after they caught the murderer though.

Flipping the flashlight of her watch on, Ran ducked under the piano and started examining it, searching for anything that was out of place. Surprisingly, something leaped to her attention almost immediately; a small rectangular panel hidden in the middle of the piano. Curious, Ran pushed the panel in and it slid away, revealing a compartment. Carefully sticking her hand inside, Ran didn’t have to wait long, before her fingers made contact with a plastic package of some sort. Without much hesitation, Ran pulled on the package, and a brick of fine powder, wrapped carefully inside clear plastic fell out of the compartment and almost on top of her head.

“Shinichi…” Ran breathed, almost immediately recognizing what it was. Fortunately, her friend was already making his way under the piano, a sheet of paper in his hand.

“I found a sheet of music that wasn’t here before and- Ran, is that what I think it is?” Shinichi asked.

“I think so,” she replied, prodding the package and seeing the powder inside shift. “I’ve heard my dad talking about drugs, but those are rare in Japan, right?” Shinichi nodded;

“Exactly, though recently Tousan claims there’s an uptick. Still, this piano has been here for over a decade…” Shinichi muttered.

“Do you think it has something to do with the murder?” Ran asked.

“Possibly, though-” Shinichi interrupted his sentence, as he turned his head toward the door. Moments later, Ran heard Narumi-sensei and her mother talking, before the women walked through the door, blankets and pillows in hand. “Eri-no-obasan! We found something!” Shinichi immediately shouted in his childish voice.

“You kids didn’t stay tired for- Is that…” Narumi-sensei’s face went from cheerful teasing to shocked, as she observed the package in Ran’s hands.

“Kirino, where did you find that?” Ran’s mother asked, and Shinichi pointed to the piano;

“There was a compartment underneath it,” Ran explained. “Conan thought there might be clues to the murder so we looked it over. I found this underneath.”

“And I found this on the keys,” Shinichi added, showing a music sheet with notes on it. “It wasn’t there when Kirino and I saw the piano before the murder though.” He quickly added, as Ran watched her mother pick up both items.

“This is certainly troubling,” Oka-san said, glancing at Narumi-sensei. “This piano has been here since Asou-san’s time, correct?”

“Yes, but it- Surely you’re not insinuating that Asou Keiji was a drug smuggler, Kisaki-san?” the young doctor replied, her tone somewhat hostile. Ran noted that it was rather too harsh. Sure, Asou Keiji was a big celebrity on this island, but this was a lot.

“Someone associated with him must have known,” Oka-san pressed. “And I believe this might also have something to do with the murder tonight.” she looked over to Shinichi who nodded. Shinichi opened his mouth to speak but was prevented from doing so, as Narumi-sensei screamed, pointing at the window.

“WHO IS THAT?!” Both Ran and Shinichi immediately turned toward the window and saw the silhouette of a startled person slowly inching back from the window.

“Get Imada-san! Kirino, come on!” Shinichi immediately ordered, not even bothering to pretend to be a child as he rushed to the window flinging it open.

Ran followed suit just as fast, and within seconds both of them found themselves outside the building, right as the person they saw tried to slip into the woods. Fortunately for them, Shinichi was quicker and used his power-enhancing shoes to propel a stray rock at the figure. The figure managed to dodge to the side avoiding the rock, but still stumbled. Acting on instinct, Ran picked up another rock from the ground and tossed it at the figure, hoping they’d fall over, even as Shinichi rushed ahead.

While Ran’s aim proved off by a little, it was still enough to cause another stumble as the figure ducked down, which allowed Shinichi to close the gap enough. While Ran couldn’t see exactly what happened, the way Shinichi moved his hands, told her he probably tried to tranquilize the suspect.

Not wanting to leave Shinichi alone, just in case he missed, Ran broke off into a run as fast as her legs could take her. Even in her small form, Ran still managed to catch up to Shinichi relatively quickly and found that their efforts had paid off, as now there was somebody faceplanted on the ground, snoring gently. Ran turned toward Shinichi who was grinning as he lowered the targeting reticule of his watch. The figure turned out to be a man in a black suit, probably from the funeral.

“Shall we see who we caught, Kirino?” he asked, his voice sounding like a very self-satisfied cat right now. It was rather infectious, as Ran herself couldn’t resist feeling slightly elated by how well this went.

“Sure,” she nodded as they both grabbed hold of the man and with some effort flipped him over on his back. Ran blinked, not quite believing what she saw;

“Hirata-san?” she asked Shinichi who appeared just as confused. “Conan, did we just knock out someone by accident?”

“Maybe,” Shinichi admitted, but even so, he went immediately to rifle through the unconscious man’s pockets. Before Ran could stop him though, Shinichi had already pulled out Hirata-san’s wallet and pulled out several bank notes from it… Very few of which were Japanese Yen though.

“That’s a lot of foreign currency,” Ran muttered, as even she recognized American and Canadian dollars mixed in with several other currencies, she wasn’t familiar with.

“I think we know who our drug smuggler is,” Shinichi said, putting the money back. “It also makes sense that he’d try and dissuade people from going near the piano if that’s the drop-off location,” he concluded, even as footsteps started approaching the two of them.

“Hirata-san?!” an amazed elderly voice asked, and Ran turned around to see Imada-san, along with her mother. Ran noted that her Oka-san looked rather relieved that both of them were okay. Ran only then realized that she had jumped chasing a killer on the same day her mother had a panic attack over losing her. Before she could apologize though, Shinichi spoke up;

“Eri-no-obasan, maybe it’d be for the best to check Hirata-san’s home,” Shinichi said.

“Now boy, surely someone such as Hirata-san would never-” Imada-san tried to speak up, but Ran’s mother intervened;

“Perhaps not, but it’s not a chance we can take, Imada-san,” Oka-san said. “I would like to ask you to take him to the station and then search his premises. If there is nothing there, I will personally apologize to the man tomorrow morning,” she said, and the older man nodded grimly.

“I will, Kisaki-san,” the man nodded, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. Narumi-sensei meanwhile looked at Ran and Shinichi with a warm smile.

“You two were exceptionally brave,” the young doctor praised the two shrunken teenagers. “Going after a murderer by yourself.”

“I don’t think Hirata-san is the murderer actually,” Shinichi interjected, drawing all eyes on him, as he stroked his chin. “After all, killing someone right where you do illicit dealings would just draw attention to the piano. If us two could find the compartment, any half-competent investigation around it would have turned up the stash sooner or later.” He said, pointedly ignoring the hurt look Imada-san shot him.

“Are you saying the killer is still on the loose, Conan-kun?” Ran’s mother asked, and most distressingly, Shinichi nodded.

“We should try and lock up the community center again and take turns keeping watch,” Shinichi suggested. Ran couldn’t help but sigh at the suggestion.

Why can’t things ever be simple? The shrunken girl thought bitterly.

Chapter Text

“Kisaki-san,” someone shook her awake and Eri slowly opened her eyes, the sun making her squint for a moment. Narumi-sensei’s smiling face, greeted Eri, along with the smell of fresh coffee.

“Time for my shift I take it?” Eri asked as she sat up from the floor, feeling the kinks in her neck. She was definitely not young enough to go to all-night parties anymore.

Last night, after Hirata-san was taken away into custody, Eri, along with the kids and the doctor had set up in the piano room of the community center. They had decided to take turns watching over the crime scene, lest they all fall asleep and risk something happening. Especially since Shinichi-kun’s words about Hirata-san potentially not being the killer, fresh in their minds.

Shinichi had insisted on the first watch, with Ran taking the second. Narumi-sensei, being used to late nights from medical school said she had no objections to taking the middle shift and having the worst quality sleep. Eri herself was supposed to take the final shift right before sunrise. Thought the sun already being up told her she might have been too late.

“It’s okay, I just took over your shift, Kisaki-san,” Narumi-sensei smiled.

“It was hardly necessary, Narumi-sensei,” Eri shook her head. “Not to mention, it could be viewed as rather suspicious by people.” The lawyer pointed out, her own tone sounding somewhat accusing.

“It’s okay Eri-no-obasan,” Shinichi’s voice interrupted and Eri looked past the doctor, seeing that the shrunken teenager was sitting cross-legged next to the piano, with a cup of coffee in hand, and the music sheet laid on the floor in front of him. “I kept Narumi-sensei company for most of her shift.” he smiled.

Good to see I’m not the only paranoid one, Eri thought ruefully to herself as she grabbed the mug of coffee that the younger woman offered her.

“Conan-kun proved to be a light sleeper, and I accidentally woke him up when I went to the toilet,” Narumi-sensei explained. “Very sharp boy as well. Spent the entire night asking me questions about the music sheet.”

“Narumi-sensei was quite knowledgeable about it, Eri-no-obasan,” Shinichi-kun confirmed, even if his cheer was a little forced.

“I see,” Eri nodded, making a note to ask Shinichi about it later. Instead, for now, she turned to Narumi-sensei. “And have the police arrived yet?”

“They should be arriving in an hour or so, provided they took the morning ferry,” the younger woman nodded, as Ran yawned while waking up.

“Mornin-,” Ran muttered sleepily.

“How about we get some breakfast?” Narumi-sensei proposed.

-DoDo-

“So, what did you figure out, Conan-kun?” Kisaki-san asked him, as they waited on the peer. The ferry was approaching the dock now, and Shinichi could already see Megure-keibu on it, looking stern.

The trio had left the community center with Imada-san who reported that they did indeed find traces of narcotics at Hirata-san’s apartment. The old police officer looked positively giddy, something that Shinichi had to attribute to Imada-san simply being able to do something after God knows how many years on this island with barely a squabble to intervene in. Narumi-sensei meanwhile had to go prepare a proper report for the police but promised to meet them back at the community center in an hour.

“The music sheet left at Kawashima-san’s murder was a copy of the 1^st movement of the ‘Moonlight Sonata,’” Shinichi answered Kisaki-san’s question, flipping open his notebook where he copied the music sheet. “Interestingly, Narumi-sensei said that it wasn’t the exact text.”

“And she can tell that easily?” Ran asked, sounding dubious.

“Apparently her mother loved the piano and taught her a little,” Shinichi shrugged. “Still, doesn’t tell me what the deviations mean though.”

“Narumi-sensei didn’t know?” Ran asked.

“No, but I don’t think she was lying. She has no reason to,” Shinichi shrugged, but Kisaki-san pressed;

“What if she’s the killer though, Conan-kun?” she asked, but Shinichi shrugged.

“Even allowing for the fact that we suspect a man, given the strength necessary, I observed her throughout the entire night,” Shinichi countered. “She needed help with Kawashima-san’s body, and didn’t exhibit any physical ability that’d be considered outside the norm,” he concluded.

“And she was with us the entire night?” Kisaki-san asked, and this time Shinichi stopped to think for a bit before answering;

“For the last three hours, yes,” Shinichi nodded. “I woke up around 4 in the morning, when Narumi-sensei walked into the room. I pretended to go to the bathroom myself and went to check-”

“You walked into the girl’s toilet?” Ran asked, sounding scandalized. Shinichi did note that his friend seemed to be in a rather sour mood since last night, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why that was.

“Hey, hey! I only looked over the sink. It appeared used if nothing else. And I doubt Narumi-sensei would have anticipated me waking up,” Shinichi waved his hands defensively, to stall Ran’s accusations.

“Makes sense,” Kisaki-san nodded. “Can I see that music sheet, Conan-kun?” she asked, extending a hand.

“Mhm, sure,” Shinichi nodded, as he handed over his notebook.

While Kisaki-san looked over his notes, Shinichi stuffed his hands in his pockets and thought back to the events of the last night. They hadn’t had the time to check in with Imada-san yet about the raid on Hirata-san’s residence, but Shinichi pushed that out of his mind. He was sure enough that the mayor’s assistant was smuggling drugs, and that he wasn’t tied in with the murder.

The problem would be convincing Megure-keibu. Shinichi liked the senior investigator, and yet he knew that the man liked straightforward cases, with the least amount of fuss going on, and the least number of twists. Shinichi had often wondered if there were cases solved wrong because of this attitude, but that wasn’t useful now. Instead, he had to focus on figuring out why Hirata-san couldn’t have killed Kawashima-san and work from there.

The good news was that Shinichi had spoken with Narumi-sensei at length about the ceremony and what had happened during it. Apart from the young doctor herself, there didn’t appear there was anybody who left the ceremony, but that didn’t mean much. All the killer had to do was join the mob that gathered after the body was discovered and blend in. Sure, people would be confused because they wouldn’t have seen them, but nobody could prove anything. Especially if the guest book was signed.

Narumi-sensei was admittedly suspicious since she would have had the chance, she didn’t have the ability to kill Kawashima-san, especially not without drawing attention. Not to mention, so far at least, her reports on the manner of death and time were consistent with Shinichi’s own observation, meaning she wasn’t lying quite yet.

There were two things that bugged Shinichi right now though; the music sheet, and the way Kawashima-san was killed. The music sheet was obviously significant in some way, not only for this murder but in relation to the larger conspiracy about Asou Keiji. The fact that there were some deviations on a musical classic made that all the more apparent. Sadly, Shinichi couldn’t put his finger on exactly, what it was since he never studied piano and was rather tone-deaf himself. Hopefully, Kisaki-san would find something there.

The other thing was how the murder was committed, and more accurately, why the overt display. If the murder really was committed near the water outside the community center as the discarded jacket suggested, it would have been much easier to either leave the body on the beach or push it into the water. It would have delayed discovery and messed up with time of death among other things. And it certainly wouldn’t have attracted the attention of mainland authorities at least for a while.

So, the body was meant to be discovered, and discovered fast, if the cassette tape was something to go off of. But Shinichi didn’t know why and as such, the only thing the body did was serve as a way to convince Megure-keibu that Hirata-san wasn’t the killer, lest he wrap up the investigation too quickly.

“Conan-kun, I figured it out,” Kisaki-san spoke up, giving him back his notebook. “The differences are due to sharps and flats.”

“Huh?” Shinichi asked, but it was Ran who replied;

“They make the notes go up and down in pitch, Conan. The black keys, remember?” Ran pointed out, and Shinichi visualized the keyboard of the piano in his head… And the code clicked into place. Smirking, Shinichi flipped over to a fresh page of his notebook and quickly wrote down the idea he had, applying it to the music sheet.

“I’ve got it,” he exclaimed a minute later. “It was a code!” he explained to Kisaki-san and Ran, as he wrote down the message.

“What does it say?” Ran asked peering over Shinichi’s shoulder.

“It says, ‘Do you understand? You’re next.’” Shinichi read out loud, causing Ran to flinch a little, while Kisaki-san looked thoughtful.

“That means, there will be more murders,” the lawyer concluded. “At least with this, we can convince Megure-keibu to keep searching for the killer.” She suggested, and Shinichi nodded. It was a pretty clear threat if anything.

“Who’d know this though?” Ran asked. “For them to know, they’d have to both read the music and know how to read the code.” Shinichi’s friend reasoned.

“Exactly,” Shinichi nodded. “This was geared toward a very specific person, and definitely someone connected to Asou Keiji, if the choice of music is any indication.”

“Which means we need to talk to Kuroiwa-san. He is connected with this case by associating with Asou Keiji back in the day.” Kisaki­­-san concluded.

“Is it possible Kuroiwa-san is the killer?” Ran asked, but Shinichi shook his head.

“The mayor would have been at the front of the people gathered for the ceremony,” Shinichi explained. “There is no way he could have slipped out without anyone noticing. But Eri-no-obasan is right. We need to question Kuroiwa-san and hopefully, Megure-keibu can help with that.”

“Yeah…” Ran sighed, and Shinichi again noted that his friend looked down. Pushing the thought out of his mind for now, Shinichi nodded at Kisaki-san as the two approached the end of the pier, even as the ferry started disembarking.

-DoDo-

Ran and Shinichi hung back as her Oka-san greeted the incoming police officers, which included Megure-keibu and a few members of the forensic team. Her mother quickly explained the relevant information, while Ran and Shinichi merely added their own encounter with Hirata-san last night and a, heavily doctored, version of how they managed to catch up to the man, involving Hirata-san tripping from a thrown rock and hitting his head.

While mildly amusing, Ran couldn’t quite enjoy the feeling, since it would mean they still haven’t caught the actual killer.

Then again, when have things ever been easy lately?

“And you’re sure that this is connected to the letter you received?” Megure-keibu asked Ran’s mother, who nodded.

“Given everything we’ve learned thus far, I think it’s a safe assumption to make, Keibu,” she said. “That said, I think that the mayor, Kuroiwa-san knows something about all this.”

“In that case, we will interrogate him both concerning this and the drug smuggling,” the mustached detective replied with a nod. “First though, I’d like to talk with the doctor who did the initial exam of the body, and see the crime scene for-”

“Kisaki-bengoshi!” a voice interrupted and Ran, along with everyone else on the peer, turned around to see Imada-san running toward them, looking distressed. Despite his age, the man reached them in what Ran thought was quite an impressive time, even if he was wheezing like crazy.

“What is it, Imada-san?”

“Ku-Kuroiwa-san is dead! Killed in his house!” the elderly officer gasped out. The words were like a gunshot, as everyone seemed to freeze. After a moment, Ran looked over to Shinichi, who appeared shocked by the news. The shock didn’t last long though as he turned toward Imada-san;

“Where is the mayor’s house?” he demanded, ignoring the looks he was getting from everyone. Fortunately for their cover though, Oka-san intervened;

“We need to get there and secure the crime scene,” she prompted to which Megure-keibu nodded. The inspector turned toward his subordinates, quickly splitting them into two groups;

“You two, with me! The rest, find the community center and make sure nothing else there gets disturbed,” he quickly ordered, before turning toward the old policeman. “Take us to the new crime scene. Now!”

“Yes, sir! Right away!” Imada-san nodded and took off in a run, the rest of the police following him. Once they were a dozen or so paces away, Shinichi also broke off in a run;

“Kirino, Eri-no-obasan! Come on!” he prompted, and Ran took off after her friend, quickly catching up;

“You seemed surprised, Conan,” Ran noted as they sprinted after the police.

“I didn’t think someone would attack the mayor in his own home,” Shinichi admitted, and to Ran, he seemed angry at that oversight. “Until now everything was revolving around the community center. I expected the next murder to happen there.”

“Not everything happens according to your expectations, Conan-kun,” Oka-san reminded Shinichi, who seemed to just grimace at the words.

“Maybe, but it was sloppy of me,” he admonished himself.

“Still, we can’t dwell on any mistakes we might have made,” Oka-san continued as they gained on Megure-keibu and Imada-san. “Focus on the case for now, reflect later.”

“Thanks, Eri-no-obasan,” Shinichi nodded as they stopped in front of a large, Japanese-style home. As they approached the door, Shinichi turned to Ran;

“Kirino, can you look around the outside of the house, see if there’s anything?” Shinichi requested. “This murder feels not as well thought out. There might be something left behind.”

“Sure,” Ran nodded. “Do you know where the master bedroom is supposed to be?”

“On houses like these, it’s generally in the back, to make sure there is the least amount of noise.” Ran’s mother supplied before Shinichi could.

“See you in a bit then,”

“Good luck, Kirino,” Oka-san nodded with a smile, that Ran returned.

Splitting off, from the others, Ran started walking around the large property, sticking close to the wall. As usual, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, and she doubted that Shinichi knew either this time around. She was clearly going to have to wing this.

Quickly jogging around to the back of the house, Ran kept her eyes peeled for anything in particular but didn’t spot anything overt. She could take a slower look around on the way back to the front, but for now, she wanted to find the room. Fortunately, the sobs and screams of Kuroiwa-san’s daughter served as a grim marker, for the shrunken teen. As she approached the back of the house, where the voices were, a stray thought reminded Ran of how similar the situation was to her own; a father killed in his own home, while the daughter is left to grieve. As tears started prickling her eyes, Ran slammed her fist into the fence, trying to keep herself on track.

She couldn’t help anybody if she broke down right now after all. She’d deal with this later, after the case if possible.

Quickly wiping the burgeoning tears from her eyes, Ran started looking around, trying to find anything that seemed out of place. The grass had been stamped over, but the trails were wide so Ran couldn’t claim to know what kind of person stomped through here. Still, she took out her cell phone and snapped a few pictures for Shinichi. Maybe his freakish detective eyes could see something she missed.

Next, Ran moved over to the fence, careful not to add her own footprints to the grass. Barring a hole somewhere, or Ran supposed a secret passage, whoever got here must have vaulted over the wall. Unfortunately, Ran herself couldn’t just jump high enough to grab on even if she wanted to. Maybe later she could ask Oka-san to help lift her up from the other side. For now, though, Ran started examining the wall, trying to spot any places where there was mud or any marks from the murderer’s shoes. If she could at least figure out where they climbed out it would be one more clue than they’ve had a minute ago.

If the situation wasn’t so dire, Ran would have congratulated herself on how Shinichi-like that thought was.

After a few minutes of carefully examining the wall, Ran had to give up on that idea as well and was about to just go into the house, when a little glint from a nearby bush along the wall. Intrigued, Ran approached the shrubbery and spotted a piece of plastic caught on one of the thorns. Ran almost grabbed it with her bare hands, but remembered that both Shinichi and her mother cautioned against it lest she destroys evidence. Mindful of that, Ran pulled out a tissue from her pocket and picked up the piece with it, carefully turning it around.

“No blood…” she muttered to herself. Ran folded the tissue in such a way as to preserve the evidence and pocketed it. The shrunken teenager cast one more glance to make sure that she wasn’t missing anything, before taking off to rejoin Shinichi and her Oka-san.

-DoDo-

When Ran approached the crime scene, she could hear voices, ping-ponging back and forth, and accusations flying around. Turning a corner, Ran saw that Kuroiwa-san’s daughter screaming at everyone around her, Megure-keibu and her Oka-san included. Both seemed to be taking the accusations in stride and trying to placate the distraught woman. Two men stood to the side of the door quietly talking among themselves; Reiko-san’s fiancée and the other was someone that Ran had seen at the ceremony, his spiky hair making him memorable. Near the door to the room, Narumi-sensei was discussing something with one of the crime scene investigators that came from the mainland. Interestingly, Ran could not see Shinichi anywhere.

Realizing that her friend was probably at the crime scene, Ran used her small size to slink past the adults and into the room where the body was.

Sure enough, once inside the room, she spotted Shinichi milling around, seemingly ignored by the other investigator. The man appeared too busy taking photographs to notice the seven-year-old looking around. The room itself was on the big end, with a large writing desk and a sofa in addition to a walk-in closet and a lavish western-style bed. The mayor’s body was still on the bed, covered in blood, with a large knife sticking upright from his back. On the ground next to the bed, there was a roll of musical notes written in dried blood.

Shinichi almost immediately spotted Ran and smiled, motioning for her to approach the bed, where he was looking at the corpse. Sighing, Ran slowly made her way around the dried blood and to Shinichi.

“Find anything?” he whispered, not taking his eyes off the body.

“A piece of plastic in the bushes,” Ran supplied, giving Shinichi the tissue with the evidence. “I think it’s from a glove. But there was nothing else. What happened here?”

“They found the body this morning,” Shinichi began explaining, reading off his little notebook. “Nishimoto-san, the man with the spiky hair, had a meeting with the mayor this morning. When he arrived, they heard the second movement of the ‘Moonlight Sonata’ started playing.” Shinichi motioned to a small cassette player next to Kuroiwa-san’s head. “Narumi-sensei examined the body, but couldn’t determine anything beyond that he was killed a couple of hours ago.”

“How come?” Ran asked.

“The room was very cold. Made the body slow down after death, meaning that the timing for rigor mortis was off,” Shinichi explained. “The only thing we can be sure of is that the murder happened while we were at the community center.”

“And the tape was on a delay?” Ran guessed.

“There’s about two and a half hours of blank footage before it started, yes,” Shinichi confirmed. “Narumi-sensei is the one that stopped it after taking pictures for the investigation. Eri-no-obasan confirmed the time alongside Megure-keibu.”

“And I’m guessing you’ve already deciphered the message in the blood?” Ran guessed, the smell still making her a little uncomfortable.

“Yeah, I just have to get it to Eri-no-obasan,” he nodded, flipping to the relevant page. “What troubles me, is that this brings us no closer to figuring out who the killer is.”

“And you don’t think this is the last murder?” Ran guessed, even though she wished that Shinichi would contradict her on this.

“No, it’s not. After all, we haven’t-”

“What are you kids doing here?!” Megure-keibu’s voice interrupted and Ran found herself hoisted into the air alongside Shinichi. Looking back she spotted the mustached inspector looking very angry at them, making Ran gulp. “Children shouldn’t be here! You could mess up the crime scene!”

“I asked Conan-kun to look at something for me, Keibu,” Ran’s mother interrupted, which seemed to puzzle the inspector.

“What for, Kisaki-san?” he asked.

“Conan-kun, did you translate what I asked you to?” Oka-san asked, causing Shinichi’s voice to pitch higher again;

“Mhm! Yes, Eri-no-obasan!” Shinichi showed her the page in the notebook. “Just like you said, the notes match the cipher you figured out and there is another message,” Shinichi explained sweetly, handing the translation to Ran’s mother. Ran supposed that Oka-san could translate it by herself, with it just taking a little longer.

“And what does the message, say, Kisaki-san?” Megure-keibu prompted, letting Ran and Shinichi down on the floor.

“’The hellfire’s grudge has been banished here.’” Oka-san read out, and the words made a chill work its way down Ran’s spine. And yet, that was the most subdued reaction, as everyone around Ran and the police seemed to react with pure fear. And none more so than Nishimoto-san, who started chuckling to himself, as if mad.

“H-he’s alive…” Nishimoto-san muttered before his voice rose to a terrified pitch. “Asou Keiji is alive!!!” he shouted, slowly backing away until he hit the wall.

“Asou Keiji is the man that called you here, correct, Kisaki­-san,” Megure-keibu asked Ran’s mother, who nodded.

“Yes, but from what we know he’s supposedly dead,” Oka-san intoned. Surprisingly, it was Imada-san who spoke up;

“Not supposedly,” the old police officer yawned. “Asou-san died 12 years ago. I was there after all. We found his bones in the ashes of the house… Along with his wife’s and daughter’s… When we checked his dental records, they proved it was his skeleton in that fire.”

“And his entire family was there as well?” Megure-keibu asked as Imada-san yawned. “They were all verified?”

“Yes, we checked the records of his wife and daughter as well,” Imada-san nodded. “The entire house was burned down to its foundation. The only thing that was left was a fireproof safe with some music sheets.”

“Where are they?!” Shinichi demanded, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be a child. Ran saw a fire in her friend’s eyes. The need to know right this moment. Fortunately, for Shinichi, Ran’s mother also spoke up;

“Those music sheets might contain something of relevance,” she reasoned, turning to Megure-keibu. “Given how connected all this is to Asou-san, perhaps even enough to crack this case.”

“Kisaki-san is correct. Where are those sheets, Imada-san?” the inspector asked.

“Oh, they are in the community center… But the key is at the station. I can go get it for you if you wish?”

“Yes, go and return as quickly as possible!” Megure-keibu ordered, with an exasperated tone. Almost as soon as he did, Shinichi tugged on Ran’s shirt to get her attention and motioned for them to follow the elderly police officer. Her Oka-san also seemed to have noticed as she spoke up;

“Kirino, Conan-kun, please make sure Imada-san does get back as quickly as possible.” She instructed them, to which Shinichi immediately broke off into a sprint, leaving Ran to answer;

“We will, Eri-no-obasan!” Ran assured her mother, before dashing after he best friend. What Ran realized only once they made it out of the house though, was that for the first time, she felt no hesitation in using the false honorifics…

Chapter Text

As the two of them were sitting in the waiting room of the police station, Shinichi was barely resisting the urge to have Ran tranquilize Imada-san and search for the key themselves. It had been nearly an hour now since the three of them had reached the police station, and so far, Imada-san hadn’t found anything.

At least during the walk, Shinichi managed to get some information about Asou-san from the old police officer who was stationed on the island even back then. Asou-san was apparently childhood friends with the two victims, as well as the former mayor, Kameyama Isamu, who died two years ago of a heart attack. Furthermore, the three victims, along with Nishimoto-san were the first responders to the fire that killed Asou-san. While that in itself wouldn’t have been enough to suspect them, the fact that they were now themselves being killed was quite damning.

Shinichi was sure that if he dug deep enough in that old case, he’d find quite a few connections. Not just between the men and the fire, but the drug smuggling as well. The drug smuggling would have probably turned out to be the reason for the fire.

It all seemed to fit too well; Asou-san had done plenty of concerts around the world, which would have been a perfect opportunity to buy drugs and smuggle them back in. After all, nobody would have checked a piano of all things for drugs. Especially not over a decade ago. If the other four men were all in on the deals, it would put things about them in perspective; Kuroiwa and Kamemaya-san were both politicians who had lots of funds to throw around in campaigns. Kawashima-san is supposedly the wealthiest man on the island to this day. Shinichi suspected that he was perhaps Hirata-san’s partner in this. Nishimoto-san has also never had a job, yet lived a lavish lifestyle.

And if Shinichi was right, Asou-san invented the cipher that was used in the murders.

The only question was; who it could be? Asou-san and his family were dead for a long time. Imada-san also said they were all accounted for, though. Maybe a fan of Asou-san? But would it really take someone like that 12 years to put things together? And how would they investigate without drawing attention? And then there was the two-year gap between Kamemaya-san and the most recent murders? Why? There was something Shinichi was missing, and it was causing him to run around in circles in his head.

“You okay, Conan?” Ran asked, pulling Shinichi out of the spiral of thoughts that he was going through.

“I’m okay, Kirino,” he assured her, glancing at Imada-san who was still rummaging desperately. “But this case isn’t making much sense right now. It’s like the killer is keeping out of sight constantly and yet knows what we’re doing.”

“I’m still surprised you can keep it all straight in your head,” Ran admitted. “Just the number of names is confusing.”

“Maybe you should start keeping a notebook, like Mitsuhiko?” Shinichi chuckled, remembering how the boy recently started carrying one with him all the time to ‘improve his skills.’

“You laugh, but I just might,” Ran rolled her eyes, before fixing Shinichi with a look; “So? Anything?”

“The murders are connected to Asou-san’s death, no two ways about it. I am also sure that his former ‘friends’ killed him over drugs,” Shinichi quickly summarized his suspicions to Ran, who looked appalled.

“People really are horrible, aren’t they?” she asked in a forlorn tone.

“Not necessarily,” Shinichi shook his head. “I used to think that too, years ago, Kirino.”

“How did you change your mind?” Ran asked.

“I talked with Tousan,” Shinichi explained, recounting the memory. “It was around the time I was learning stuff from him when I got hit with the same thoughts. How can people be so horrible to one another? It was a question that plagued me a lot. Tousan noticed, of course, and told me something.”

“What?”

“’ Just because we see the worst things people can do, doesn’t mean the good things go away.’” Shinichi recited with a smile. “Murderers don’t make up the majority of the population, Kirino. They make up a fraction. And it’s our job, a detective’s job, to make sure the rest of the population is safe from them.” Shinichi watched his friend’s reaction for a few moments before he saw a smile creeping up on her features.

“I think I can get behind that,” Ran admitted.

“I FOUND IT!” Imada-san announced at the top of his lungs, holding up a small key up in the air. Shinichi sighed as he realized the moment was ruined. Still, it would allow them to continue their investigation at least.

“That took a while,” Ran muttered jumping off the chair.

“Did you forget where you had the key, Imada-san?” Shinichi asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

“No, I knew where it was supposed to be little boy,” Imada-san assured him. “I guess one of the people that borrowed it misplaced it.” The elderly officer explained, which caused Shinichi’s eyes to widen. Next to him, Ran’s phone rang, but he ignored it for a moment, instead focusing on the words. If people routinely borrowed the key for different reasons, it would explain how the killer would have found out about the code Asou-san used before.

“Who borrowed the key last, Imada-san?” Shinichi asked urgently.

“Hmm… It was a few months ago… I think one of the janitors that serve the community center, but I don’t recall the name really.” Imada-san admitted, causing Shinichi to gnash his teeth in frustration. And even if Imada-san could remember, there was no telling when the killer actually used the key. After all, these murders were clearly pre-meditated. Adding to this, Ran tapped his shoulder, clearly just having gotten off the phone;

“They had to let everyone go since Megure-keibu finished interrogating them and they all had an alibi,” Ran shook her head. “Eri-no-obasan argued that there could be more murders, but there was nothing else she could do.”

“Damn it… Where’s Eri-no-obasan now?” Shinichi asked.

“With Megure-keibu, at town hall. They are going to look over the pictures from Kuroiwa­-san’s murder.” Ran explained, and Shinichi stopped to think for a moment.

“Okay, in that case, call Eri-no-obasan and tell her to meet us at the community center. If I’m right then there should be-” Another ring of Ran’s phone interrupted Shinichi’s orders.

“It’s Hakase,” Ran explained, handing the phone to Shinichi. Picking up the phone, Shinichi got straight down to business;

“What did you find, Hakase?”

“Ah, Shinichi-kun, perfect,” the elderly inventor greeted, sounding tired. “It took me a while to dig up the information in Yusaku-kun’s notes, but I found it. Your father suspected foul play was involved in Asou Keiji’s murder, but didn’t have the opportunity to investigate.” Hakase explained, and Shinichi could hear the rustling of paper from the other end of the line.

“Well, Tousan was right; Asou Keiji was murdered,” Shinichi explained, ignoring the surprised gasp from Imada-san who apparently heard the words. “Anything else in the notes, Hakase? Anything that could help me find the killer before more bodies drop?” the shrunken teen asked, a hint of desperation in his tone.

“The only thing that Yusaku-kun has mentioned is that Asou-san’s son wasn’t accounted for in the fire,” Hakase explained, which caused Shinichi’s eyes to widen at the words.

“Asou Keiji had a son?” Shinichi asked nobody in particular. “Where is he now?”

“Apparently the boy was in Tokyo for medical assistance due to falling ill around the time of the fire,” the professor supplied. “But the trail goes cold afterward. The only thing Yusaku­-kun managed to find was the boy’s name; Seiji.”

“Seiji…” Shinichi muttered before a thought wormed its way into his mind. If he was right, then it all made sense. “Hakase, what kanji is Seiji written with?” he asked, fighting the urge to grin like a madman. Because this might very well be possible…

-DoDo-

“Conan, that’s mad!” Ran sighed exasperatedly.

“I agree boy; what you’re saying makes no sense! Why would-”

“It does, and if I’m right, then the proof is with those music sheets,” Shinichi insisted, shooting Ran and Imada-san a confident smile. It had been barely a minute since he got off the phone with Hakase and confirmed what he needed to form his theory. Now all that was left was to catch the killer in their tracks.

“You’re sure of this, Conan?” Ran pressed.

“Reasonably,” Shinichi admitted. “That’s why I need you and Imada-san to go and grab the music sheets, while I go talk with Eri-no-obasan.”

“And what, I should just bring the music sheets?” Ran asked, but Shinichi shook his head and handed her his notebook.

“I wrote the code cipher here,” he explained, as Ran opened the notebooks, with Imada-san looking over her shoulder perplexed. “Translate it when you get the music sheets. With Imada-san there, it will prove that it isn’t fabricated.”

“Just… Who are you sonny?” the elderly officer asked, confused.

“Edogawa Conan,” Shinichi introduced himself with a bow. “Tantei-sa.”

“And by that, he means a massive show off,” Ram shook her head with a fond smile, before getting serious again. “Where do we meet?”

“I’ll have Kisaki-san gather the suspects at the town hall. That should give you enough time to get the sheets and figure out the message,” Shinichi explained.

“Okay,” Ran nodded. “Be careful Conan!”

“You too Kirino!” Shinichi returned before breaking off into a run toward the town hall.

-DoDo-

“Your friend is quite impulsive, ojou-chan,” Imada-san wheezed as he and Ran made it back to the community center.

“Yeah, he is,” Ran sighed, having gotten a little out of breath from running so much this morning. “You have the key, Imada-san?”

“Ah, yes, here,” the elderly man smiled, handing Ran the key.

“Thanks, Imada-san,” Ran nodded. “Where exactly is the room with the sheets?”

“Oh, it’s just this one to the rig-” Imada-san tried to say, but a loud thud interrupted him, as something slammed against the door. Ran and Imada-san stood immobile for a brief moment, as muted footsteps sounded from the other side of the door, and Ran realized just what had happened.

No! Ran thought, rushing to the door, not even bothering to take off her shoes. She slammed the key into the lock, opening the door. As soon as she turned the door knob though, Ran felt a lot of weight press against the door, shutting it close.

“Something is blocking the door,” Ran snapped, which seemed to push Imada-san out of his surprise. The old officer, pushed Ran gently aside, before grabbing the door handle. Imada-san proceeded to shove the door open slowly but surely until whatever was blocking the entrance was pushed in enough to allow them entry. Ran slid in first, flicking her wristwatch light on. Immediately as she did, the light shone on Nishimoto-san’s face, contorted in pain, with a length of rope around his neck.

The surprise caused Ran to back up, hitting her back against some stored boxes. Still, while her breathing was heavy, from having seen the corpse like this, she managed to not scream. Part of her suspected it was because she expected this to happen as soon as she heard the thump.

I’ve really been hanging around Shinichi too long, Ran thought, as Imada-san made it inside the room and flicked the light.

“Oh, no…” Imada-san muttered, kneeling down next to Nishimoto-san’s body and checking for a pulse. After a few seconds, the officer sighed. “He’s gone.”

“Okay, we need to secure the scene then,” Ran muttered, trying to imitate what Shinichi would do. “As well as check for clues, and get the music sheets.”

“I’ll open the safe,” Imada­-san nodded, while Ran started looking around the small storage room. There were boxes stacked all the way to the ceiling, all of them covered in a thick film of dust. Even the floor had several dust bunnies moving about, disturbed by their entry. Ran’s eyes zeroed in on the small window at the back of the room. Unless they found a key on Nishimoto-san’s body, it was probably how he got inside the room. Stepping carefully closer to the window, Ran indeed saw that the dust around it was disturbed… As well as a sheet of paper just discarded on the floor.

Ran picked the paper up and flipped it over. It was a music sheet, written in what Ran supposed was the same code. Pulling out Shinichi’s notebook from her back pocket, the shrunken teen began translating the message. It didn’t take her long to do it, with the sheet explaining how Nishimoto-san killed the other three men. The message also detailed how Asou Keiji taught them the code used in the sheets. It would have all fit quite well, if not for Shinichi’s theory.

Given that this was written as a will, Ran suspected that if she and Imada-san didn’t show up when they did, Nishimoto-san’s body would be set up as a suicide and have the murders pinned on him.

“I have the music sheets, ojou-chan,” Imada-san interrupted Ran’s musings, handing her a thick stack of music sheets. Picking them up, Ran started fluttering through the papers, translating the start of each, looking for what she needed. Since the code was written with music notes phonetically, it allowed for only short messages, making reading through them relatively easy. Especially once Ran started to see the code without the need to constantly reference Shinichi’s cipher for every sound.

Soon enough, Ran’s eyes found the words she was looking for;

‘To my son, Seiji’

Ran pulled out her phone and dialed her mother.

-DoDo-

“I see, thank you, Kirino,” Eri said, once Ran explained the situation to her. “Please bring what you found to the town hall. And be careful!” Eri cautioned as she hung up the phone.

“Did she find it?” Shinichi asked quietly, to not draw any attention to himself from Megure-keibu, or the crime scene techs. Under Shinichi’s advice, Eri had requested that Megure-keibu recall all the people involved in the case, and have them escorted, so they couldn’t dispose of any evidence along the way. It stretched the few people he brought with him to the island, but it was a good precaution.

“Yes, and it does confirm what you suspected, Conan-kun,” Eri nodded. “Between the sheets and what I saw in the pictures, it should be enough to get him to confess.” Eri reasoned, recounting her conversation with Shinichi earlier.

Even before Shinichi-kun shared what Agasa­-san had found and his own theories, Eri already found something that made her suspect Narumi-sensei. One of the pictures that the young doctor took of Kuroiwa­-san’s crime scene, was of the small cassette player. Namely, while the device was still on, the ‘reverse‘ button was depressed. After the mainland crime scene investigators took their own photographs of the evidence though, it was not.

It meant that sometime between Narumi-sensei taking the pictures and the crime scene investigators doing so, someone tampered with the cassette player. And the only one who could do that was Narumi-sensei herself since she prevented others from going into the room after she arrived. And adjusting for the extra three hours on the opposite side of the tape, meant that the murder probably happened during the time that Shinichi-kun was still asleep and couldn’t account for the doctor’s whereabouts.

That, combined with Shinichi’s own theories, painted quite the grim picture… A very disquieting one as well. It invalidated all the alibis and technicalities that prevented Narumi-sensei from being the killer… And if Eri was correct, Nishimoto-san’s botched murder would provide them with irrefutable evidence.

“Are you ready, Kisaki-san?” Shinichi-kun asked as the last few people from the island walked in, Narumi-sensei among them. The young doctor had changed into her lab coat and was carrying a folder of some sort.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” the lawyer admitted, taking a deep breath. With that, she stepped forward. “Thank you all for coming so quickly,” Eri greeted the gathered people. As she expected Reiko-san still looked broken up, leaning heavily on her fiancée for support. It had been only a few hours at best since her father had died after all, and the fact made Eri feel like a monster, but she pushed that feeling down. Narumi-sensei herself looked composed, but Eri’s years of experience in the courtroom could pick up a nervousness about her. Her stance was too rigid and despite the attempts to hide it, the young doctor’s eyes kept looking around, keeping track of all the others around them. Shimizu Masato, the last remaining mayoral candidate looked completely flustered, clearly not having expected everything that had happened.

“What’s this about, lawyer lady?” Murasawa-san asked, in his blunt tone. “Reiko and I have things we need to look into regarding the late mayor.” He pointed out.

“And I understand that,” Eri nodded. “But this is in regard to the three murders that happened on this island in the past few days.”

“Three?!” Shimizu-san demanded; his tone shaky. “There’s been another?”

“Kisaki-san’s cousin and Imada-san just discovered the body of Nishimoto Ken,” Megure-keibu supplied with a grim tone. “Fortunately, it was before the killer could set it up to look like Nishimoto-san committed suicide.”

“Poor Kirino-chan,” Narumi-sensei muttered and Eri had to resist the urge to clench her fist at the fake concern.

“Yes, quite,” Eri muttered curtly. “The reason my cousin and Imada-san were there actually, was because we uncovered some information that points to who the killer is.” Eri continued her explanation, only to be interrupted by Narumi-sensei:

“I actually just finished the report on my examination of Kuroiwa-san,” the doctor informed them, holding up the folder. “Perhaps it would be of some help to your investigation, Inspector?” she offered, extending the folder to Megure-keibu, who didn’t move to take it. Taking the lack of reaction as her cue, Eri spoke up again;

“That’s very nice of you Narumi-sensei, but we won’t be needing it… Especially since you are the killer, Asai Narumi.”

Chapter Text

Silence reigned for a few precious moments as Eri’s statement registered. It was Megure-keibu who recovered quickest from the shock of the accusation;

“But, Kisaki­-san, you yourself told me earlier you suspected a man as the culprit,” the inspector pointed out. “You argued that it’d take a lot of strength to commit the murders.”

“That is true, Keibu,” Eri admitted. “And I still stand by that reasoning. But I assure you, I am not wrong. When we came here, I asked Agasa-san to look into some things regarding the case. Conan-kun, care to tell us what Agasa-san discovered?” Eri nodded toward Shinichi-kun who smiled, before stepping out from behind her.

“Sure thing, Eri-no-obasan,” Shinichi began in his childlike tone. “Agasa-san looked over old articles about Asou Keiji and found something interesting. Asou-san had a son. And according to the information, Hakase discovered the name of the boy was Asou Seiji.” Shinichi finished, pinning Narumi-sensei with a glare.

“Seiji…” Megure-keibu muttered for a second before his eyes widened in realization. “But that would mean-”

“Narumi-sensei’s true name is Asou Seiji,” Eri finished the thought, glaring at the young doctor. “My guess is that Asai is the name of the guardian that took you in after the death of your family. Correct, Seiji-kun?”

Megure-keibu turned toward the young doctor, whose eyes were now downcast, arms hanging limply at his side.

“I always had a feminine face, since I was a boy,” Seiji began explaining, his voice almost wistful. “Combined with the fact that my doctor’s license didn’t have a pronunciation on it for my name, it was easy to create the persona of Asai Narumi.” He explained casually.

“But why the murders?” Megure-keibu asked, but Eri answered before Seiji could;

“Your father and family were murdered, 12 years ago. By the men you killed on this island,” Eri stated, and Seiji nodded.

“I had always felt suspicious about what happened to my family,” Seiji explained. “When I came to the island after finishing medical school, I investigated on my own and found the truth from the previous mayor, Kamemaya-san.”

“He called me to the community center to try and seduce me, the old lecher,” Seiji scoffed. “But then he found out who I really was and started to beg me for forgiveness. He explained everything; the code, the drugs he and the other three smuggled thanks to my father’s musical career… How they murdered my father in cold blood once he’d had enough and wanted out!” Seiji snarled at Eri in anger.

“When he died of a heart attack after, I played my father’s beloved ‘Moonlight Sonata’ as a funeral piece,” Seiji explained burying a hand in his lab coat pocket. “And that’s when I had the idea for the murders. And if not for Kirino-chan and Imada-san interrupting, I would have set up Nishimoto-san as the perfect scapegoat,” Seiji sighed, pulling out a small cassette tape player from his pocket. Pressing the play button, the third movement of the ‘Moonlight Sonata’ filled the room.

“There’d still be evidence, Seiji-kun,” Eri shook her head. “At the very least we had evidence of you tampering with the crime scene at Kuroiwa-san’s murder. The pictures you took illustrate that you clicked the ‘reverse’ button on the cassette player. That would have been enough for a more detailed investigation. An investigation that would have turned up your real name, since we’d contact your medical school.” The lawyer explained before Shinichi-kun spoke up again, showing a small piece of latex in the middle of a tissue;

“Kirino also found this behind Kuroiwa-san’s home. I’m sure that if we searched through your medical waste, we’d find a pair of gloves that match perfectly… And are also covered in Kuroiwa-san’s blood.” Shinichi explained with a victorious smirk. “After all, you wouldn’t risk disposing of potentially hazardous medical waste improperly on an island this small. It’d raise too many questions, even without the murders going on.”

“I guess I really did underestimate you… Detective,” Seiji sighed, putting both his hands in the coat pockets. When he did though, Shinichi tensed next to Eri. Before Shinichi-kun could say anything though, Megure-keibu stepped closer to Seiji.

“Asou Seiji, you are under arrest for multiple counts of murder!” the rotund inspector declared and reached to grab the young doctor’s hand.

“No! Step away!” Shinichi suddenly shouted, but it was too late. Faster than Eri expected him to, Seiji tossed a pair of small vials at the floor where they broke apart, spilling their liquid content across the floor. Moments after the liquids collided, they burst into a fire, which started to spread quickly.

Almost as soon as Eri saw the fire blossom in front of her, the exact same symptoms from yesterday flared up, and she stumbled backward, barely able to breathe from fear.

-DoDo-

Damn it! Shinichi cursed in his head, as he watched Asou Seiji run out of the room as everyone had been taken by surprise by the sudden fire. Shinichi should have spoken up as soon as he heard the glass clink together, but even he couldn’t anticipate that Seiji had prepared something like this. Carrying the ingredients of a self-igniting Molotov cocktail in one’s pocket was extremely dangerous in the best circumstances. If Seiji had bumped into anything by accident, with enough force, it would have been catastrophic.

And yet it made perfect sense that the young man would do something so dangerous.

While everyone else scrambled to put out the fire, and Kisaki­-san was hit by another bout of panic attacks, Shinichi raced out of the room and tried to catch up to the escaping murderer. Unfortunately for the shrunken detective, Shinichi had used up his tranquilizer dart last night to catch Hirata-san so he didn’t have a way to quickly incapacitate Seiji. The town hall also didn’t have anything convenient for him to kick just lying around in the corridor; the ashtrays were all mounted on the walls, the chairs were flimsy and awkward, and the large trash cans were bolted to the floor.

Given the difference in size, it didn’t take long after Shinichi started his pursuit for him to start losing track of Seiji, only seeing the fleeing killer for a few brief moments between turning corners, to make sure he hadn’t completely lost him.

Soon enough, Seiji rushed out of the building, with Shinichi hearing a startled yelp, followed by someone falling over. When the shrunken teen finally made it through the town hall doors to the outside, he saw Imada-san lying on the ground, clutching the side of his head in pain, Ran trying to help the old officer up.

“Where’d he run to?” Shinichi demanded as he stopped in front of his friend, trying to catch his breath.

“He pushed past us, knocking Imada-san over,” Ran explained, as Imada-san managed to stand up into a sitting position. “We just got back from the community center and-” the location sparked something in Shinichi’s mind as he realized what was at the center.

“The piano!” Shinichi said. “Seiji is going to his dad’s old piano! Come on Kirino!” he ordered, not waiting as he took off in a sprint. Fortunately, Shinichi heard Ran’s footsteps behind him soon enough.

“He can’t possibly have a way to escape from there, right Shinichi?” Ran asked as she caught up to Shinichi. Shinichi noted that his friend was still clutching a sheet of music

“I don’t think he’s trying to escape, Ran,” Shinichi shook his head. Even as they were running, Shinichi saw his friend’s eyes widen at the realization.

“We have to show him this!” Ran insisted, lifting the sheet of paper. “It’s his father’s will. To Seiji!”

“Let’s hope we’re not too late!” Shinichi managed through gritted teeth, pushing his legs as fast as they could go, ignoring the mounting exhaustion. If Seiji reached the community center, there was no telling what he’d do… And whatever it was, it’d be on Shinichi, for not stopping the killer.

-DoDo-

“No…” Ran breathed next to Shinichi as the two of them reached the community center.

The same community center that was already being consumed by an inferno.

“We need to get inside!” Shinichi said, but Ran shook her head;

“Shinichi, the place is engulfed, we can’t-”

“It’s not yet! This is just on the outside! Seiji must have started it to prevent people from coming in.” Shinichi argued, as he scanned the flames, noting that he didn’t see any on the inside through the window.

“And it’s working!” Ran pointed out in a near panic, as she pointed to the front door and the impenetrable wall of dancing fire in front of it. Inwardly, Shinichi was forced to admit that his friend had a point, but he couldn’t just let Seiji commit suicide. He wouldn’t allow it, as long as there was an option.

“The back door! The one leading to the beach!” Shinichi realized and broke into a run again, cutting through the parking lot on the right side of the building, hoping to get to the door on time, before the fire reached it. If Seiji had used the same trick that he did at the town hall to start the fire, they’d have maybe another five minutes or so before the flames reached the back… And that was if Seiji hadn’t started a fire there as well.

As they turned the corner, Shinichi breathed a sigh of relief, as he saw that there was no fire there yet. Carefully navigating the thin walkway behind the community center, Shinichi made it to the back door, Ran a few steps behind him. Sure enough, he could see Seiji through one of the windows, sitting at the piano, resting his head on the instrument. The double door leading toward the community center was obscured by fire, meaning that Seiji did start a fire inside as well to speed up the process… And prevent people from being able to save him. Grabbing the doorknob, Shinichi turned it, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“Ran!” he stepped aside as best he could, and his friend nodded, understanding what he needed, without another word. Ran triggered her bracelets and took position in front of the door. Closing her eyes, Ran focused for a few brief moments, before unleashing a mighty roar, and her right hand flew forward, striking the door. Sure enough, the door couldn’t withstand the enhanced blow, the lock shattering inward. A rush of hot air escaped as the door swung inward. The sensation told Shinichi that they didn’t have much time. As he and Ran made their way into the room, Shinichi heard Seiji speaking to the piano;

“… Over now… All over…” the young doctor sighed aimlessly plinking away at the keys.

“No, it’s not! Not yet!” Shinichi yelled, catching Seiji’s attention, the young man bolting upright.

“Don’t die, Seiji-san!” Ran immediately picked up, running over to Seiji and handing him the music sheet she’d been carrying. “Look at the message! It says you must live a full life!” she insisted, as the man picked up the music sheet. As he looked over the written notes, Shinichi saw tears well up in the man’s eyes.

“If I had known about this will…” Seiji sighed, placing the sheet of paper on the piano. “I probably wouldn’t have done this… Not killed all those men…”

“Why didn’t you?” Shinichi asked, very much aware of the quickly spreading fire. “You must have found out about the music sheets that survived!” Shinichi noted that Ran was circling around, trying to get to Seiji’s blind side, hand on her watch.

“I did know about them… But I never thought there’d be something like this there…” Seiji admitted. “And by the time I did… Kameyama-san was already dead… I couldn’t turn back then.”

“But you can still atone! Come with us and we can get out-”

“It’s too late… My hands are already soiled,” Seiji said with a smile. Before Shinichi or Ran could react, Seiji’s hands shot out and grabbed Ran by the wrist, around the watch. The sudden motion caught Shinichi completely off-guard, but he immediately realized what the killer wanted to do.

He saw us use the watches on Hirata-san! Shinichi realized in the brief moment that it took Seiji to twist the watch on Ran’s wrist and click the trigger, the small needle embedding itself under Ran’s chin.

“No, Ran!” Shinichi screamed out as he watched his friend collapse from the tranquilizer.

“Seems I’m not the only one who was hiding a name, right, tantei-kun?” Seiji asked, picking up Ran’s limp form with one arm. “It’s too late for me to repent… But perhaps one final act of kindness.” Seiji smiled down at Shinichi, before grabbing him with his other arm.

Not giving Shinichi a moment to protest, Seiji twisted his body and threw both Shinichi and the unconscious Ran through the nearest window. Shinichi grunted as he flew through the glass, subconsciously grabbing onto Ran’s body to shield her from the shards of glass, as the two of them landed on the grass in front of the community center, the building now consumed fully by flames. The two shrunken teens tumbled through the grass, but as soon as they came to a halt, Shinichi disentangled himself from Ran. There was still time for him to-

“Kirino! Conan-kun!” Kisaki-san’s voice snapped Shinichi’s attention to the parking lot, where several people, including Megure-keibu and Kisaki-san, were standing. Ran’s mother looked positively panicked, as she rushed to the two of them. Shinichi supposed that her fear for Ran’s life overruled the panic the fire caused… Or it merely compounded.

“Kirino’s just been tranquilized!” Shinichi explained as Kisaki-san reached them. “I have to-”

“Conan! No!” Kisaki-san screamed, over Shinichi’s words, stunning him into silence. “I won’t let you run into that!” she declared, grabbing his arm.

“I have to save him!” Shinichi protested, trying to escape from Kisaki-san’s grasp, but the older woman wasn’t letting go.

“Conan, it’s too late! Just stop! You did all you could!” she tried to assure him, but Shinichi simply refused to listen. This was his fault. He should have prepared for this. Anticipated it. Made sure Ran was there to stop Seiji from running away.

“If I-” Shinichi tried to struggle, but Kisaki-san yelled at him, the one thing that would make him reconsider each and every time;

“Kirino can’t lose you too!” Kisaki-san reminded Shinichi, and almost instantly, the shrunken teen stopped his struggle. As he did, Shinichi heard a noise coming from the community center; a song, that slowly started to resonate through the air around the community center.

“The code…” Shinichi realized as the musical notes grew louder. “He’s playing the piano… Within the fire…” Listening as intently as he could, Shinichi managed to pick up the message over the roar of the flames. Over and over, the notes repeated, spelling out the same sentence;

‘Thank you, little detectives.’

Chapter Text

It had been a full day, since Asou Seiji died as he burned down the community center, with himself inside it. The building burned until the evening, with the fire department on the island incapable of putting it out, due to the accelerants Seiji had used. Nothing within the community center survived the fire, the piano was reduced to a pile of burned wood and melted strings.

Hirata-san was found to be in possession of large quantities of cocaine, and his bank accounts were full of unexplained transactions. As far as Ran knew, Megure-keibu was interrogating the man, trying to find out as much as he could about Hirata-san’s suppliers. Kawashima-san was apparently one of the people who supplied Hirata-san through international dealings. Imada-san confirmed that the two would often meet at the community center, but he didn’t know about what.

Ran found herself largely uncaring about any of that, instead focusing on Shinichi and Oka-san. Ran’s mother had another panic attack at the fire Seiji started, which meant it was hardly something that was going to go away on its own. Ran had spoken with her Oka-san shortly after waking up from the tranquilizer and made her mother promise to look into therapy of some sort. The older woman agreed readily, and Ran suspected it was because she felt responsible for not helping catch Seiji.

Shinichi though was a different story.

While Ran managed to talk with her Oka-san immediately after the tranquilizer wore off, Shinichi had been actively avoiding everyone or just wasn’t talking after he filled her in on what happened after Ran was knocked out. At dinner, Shinichi refused to answer questions or interact with either Ran or her mother. The rest of the time, Ran’s friend merely walked around aimlessly, never stopping for too long at one place, like he was searching for something. Even now as they were on the boat from Tsukikage Island back to the mainland, Shinichi seemed to spend most of the time looking back at the slowly disappearing island.

Deciding that enough was enough, Ran stepped up behind Shinichi as quietly as she could, before tapping his shoulder. The action seemed to genuinely surprise Shinichi, which told Ran all she needed to know about her friend’s mental state. After all, sneaking up on Shinichi was something Ran could never do under normal circumstances.

“Ah, R-Kirino,” Shinichi almost stumbled and used her real name. Yep, something was definitely wrong. “What do you want?” he asked.

“I want to know what’s wrong, Shinichi,” Ran insisted, somewhat annoyed at how her friend looked around suspiciously for other people when she used his real name. “There’s nobody on the boat but us, Shinichi. The captain is on the other end of the ship. He can’t hear us. Relax, we can use our real names for once.” Ran assured him, a little bit of venom slipping into her tone. Despite his mood, Shinichi seemed to have picked up on her tone.

“Is everything okay, Ran?” he asked, almost causing Ran to snap at him that, yes, everything was perfectly fine… But she resisted. Instead, with a sigh, Ran leaned against the ship railing, looking out into the sea.

“Ever feel like we’re losing something, Shinichi?” Ran asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Us, the old us! It’s just… I don’t know why, maybe it’s because of the case, maybe the fact that we have to still pretend even on an island like this but… I miss hearing my own name, Shinichi.” Ran finished, feeling tears prick at her eyes again. As the words left her mouth, Ran scolded herself a little; she was supposed to be helping Shinichi, not just unloading on him.

“I know, Ran,” Shinichi sighed. “I find myself somedays thinking of myself as Edogawa Conan, more than Kudo Shinichi… Especially at school, with the kids surrounding us constantly. Just like you, I miss hearing my own name… And I miss calling you by your name as well.” He said with a small smile. Despite her mood, Ran felt her cheeks redden a little at the gesture.

“Then why?” Ran demanded, suppressing her blush. “Why do you seem so… Unbothered, by it?”

“I am, just… I keep telling myself that it’s temporary, Ran,” Shinichi explained with a sigh. “I have to, otherwise I might just stop functioning… And then more stuff like yesterday will happen.” Shinichi finished, and this time Ran noticed how bitter her friend sounded.

“Shinichi, what Seiji did-” Ran tried to assure him, but Shinichi shook his head.

“It was obvious in hindsight,” Shinichi insisted, slamming his fist against the side of the railing. “Seiji knew that he’d be found out after he couldn’t fix Nishimoto-san’s suicide. He knew that there was no way off the island. He sent the letter challenging me. He set up Kawashima-san’s murder in such a way that it’d require the mainland authorities. We even caught Hirata-san in front of him, cluing him in about the watches… And I missed everything!”

“So what?” Ran snapped back at Shinichi. “I did as well! Oka-san, did as well! And yet you’re not blaming us, are you?”

“Of course not!” Shinichi said. “You two didn’t have all the information! You weren’t the ones who he challenged to stop him!”

“So, this is about your ego?!”

“No, it’s about me failing to save a life!” Shinichi insisted. “I cornered him! I left him no choice… I am no better than a murderer-” Shinichi’s words were interrupted when Ran’s hands moved on autopilot and grabbed the sides of his face. The motion surprised Shinichi so much that he stopped talking, instead looking at Ran’s hands for a few seconds. “R-ran?”

“Never. Say. That. Again!” Ran pleaded, looking straight into Shinichi’s eyes. “You are not a murderer, Kudo Shinichi!” she insisted, her voice hurting at even having to say the words. The fact that he’d even think that about himself felt like a stab to her chest.

“But I failed to save-”

“And yet you tried!” Ran reminded him, desperately. “You ran into a burning building and tried to save a life, Shinichi. Trying and failing does not make you a murderer. If you did nothing if you just stayed there and watched, then maybe. But what you did do? Point out one murderer, who’d do the same, Shinichi!”

“But-” Before Shinichi could object again, Ran asked the one question that she knew for a fact would make her friend actually consider her words;

“Is Sherlock Holmes perfect, Shinichi?”

The words seemed to die in Shinichi’s mouth as it hung open for a moment. With a deep breath, Shinichi lowered his head, his hair slightly obscuring his face. Despite that, Ran could see that he was fighting with something in himself. When he finally spoke again, his voice was a whisper;

“No, he isn’t…” Shinichi admitted.

“Then why are you trying so hard to be?” Ran questioned.

“Because if I’m not… What if I fail again, Ran? What if I fail when we face the men in black again?” Shinichi asked, vulnerability slipping into his voice for the first time that Ran could really recall. Uncertainty, Ran could recall from time to time. True vulnerability was not something Shinichi had ever displayed to her though. Taking a few moments to really think of what she needed to say, Ran pulled Shinichi into a hug.

“Then I’ll be there to pick you up, so we can figure something else out,” Ran promised him. “And remember that; you’re not alone. Just as we remind ourselves of our names, remind yourself that I’m here to help, Shinichi.” Ran whispered. It took Shinichi a moment to react, but when he did, he chuckled.

“Thanks, Ran,” Shinichi said, returning the hug. The two of them stayed like this for a few precious moments, before Ran realized what position they were in, and pulled away, her face burning. Shinichi seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he looked just as red as Ran felt.

“Right! So, uhm… Don’t forget that! Got it!” Ran snapped, turning away from Shinichi and looking back out toward the sea.

“Uhm… Sure, sure!” Shinichi replied, looking anywhere but at Ran. A few seconds passed before Shinichi spoke again;

“And Ran,” Shinichi said solemnly. “Thank you. I… I still think I could have done more, but I think you’re right; I did do more than anybody else could. And I’ll be prepared for next time as well.”

“I’m glad I could help Shinichi,” Ran admitted with a smile.

“You did… And I have a request. How did the quote from the book go…” Shinichi took a few moments to consider his words before he continued; “Ran, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly…  Just smack me over the head. Okay?” he requested, and Ran nodded.

“Can’t have the Heisei Holmes getting too full of himself after all,” Ran joked with him.

“Keeping my feet on the ground is going to be your job, my dear Heisei Watson,” Shinichi replied with a smirk. Despite the situation, and the heavy discussion before, Ran found herself chuckling at the name she was given.

“Does that make Oka-san, Heisei Adler?” Ran joked, but Shinichi shook his head vigorously, the idea almost appearing to scare him.

“What?! No! We don’t need an Irene Adler, Ran! We’ll be okay just the two of us,” Shinichi assured her. “And… If you ever feel like you are starting to lose your grasp on being Mouri Ran… Well, we’ll just spend the day together, somewhere where we won’t have to use code names. How does that sound?” he asked, and Ran had to fight hard to stop herself from immediately leaping onto the word ‘date’ at the proposition. Instead, she did her best to sound neutral as she replied;

“I think I’d enjoy that, Shinichi,”

-DoDo-

Sato watched the door carefully, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. As she did, the female detective went over everything that she’d need for this operation, making sure it was present; a folder with her most recent case report, a cell phone, a stack of sticky notes, and a pencil. The report she had was finished hours ago but was putting off submitting it to records. She needed the excuse after all. The sticky notes were on the inside of the folder, and her cell phone and pencil were in the inside pockets of her jacket.

And sure enough, the door to Megure-keibu’s office opened, her boss stepping out of it, a report folder of his own tucked under arm. Smiling a little, Sato waited for her superior to approach her desk on the way to the elevator, before standing up, drawing his attention.

“Finished that report, Keibu?” she asked, with a pleasant, professional smile.

“Ah, Sato-kun. Yes, finally,” the rotund man sighed wearily. “Three murders, drug dealings, and two botched older investigations.”

“I heard,” Sato nodded as the two of them headed toward the elevator. “Including an investigation from the Fire Department, right?”

“That one is a bit unclear, I’ll have to run it past Yuminaga-keiji tomorrow,” Megure-keibu admitted, suppressing a yawn.

“Still, good thing Kisaki-san was there to help out,” Sato probed. “Maybe the woman missed her calling to be a detective?” Sato asked, calling the elevator.

“Heh, as much as I would enjoy having her on payroll, the woman is perfectly happy being where she is,” Megure shook his head. “Still, it was nice to have help in such a convoluted case. If not for her, the killer might have gotten away.”

“Perhaps,” Sato admitted, just as the elevator doors opened. “Are you going down to records?” Sato pretended to not know, her hand hovering over the buttons.

“Ah yes, if you would, be so kind?” he prompted and Sato pressed the button. As soon as the doors closed, she put her plan into motion;

“I actually have to leave this report there as well, sir,” Sato said, drawing attention to the folder in her hand. “If you want, I can drop off the folder for you. I’m sure you want to go home and rest.” For the briefest of moments, Megure-keibu looked like he might turn down the request, but much to Sato’s relief, he merely handed her the folder with a broad smile.

“Thank you, Sato-kun,” he said, as she took the folder. “Midori hasn’t been too happy with all the late nights I’ve been pulling lately.” Sato’s superior explained with a chuckle.

“Always happy to help, Keibu,” Sato assured him as they reached the ground floor of the building. “All the best to your wife.”

“Good night, Sato-kun!” Megure replied as he stepped out of the elevator, leaving Sato alone on her trip down to the records office. Counting the floors down to the records level, Sato, pressed the stop button a floor above, and quickly opened the folder Megure-keibu had given her, scanning through the contents.

Part of her hated that she and Takagi had to go behind their boss’s back like this, to obtain information, but the fact was they had very little recourse if they wanted not to attract attention. After all, the investigation into Mouri Kogoro’s death was stopped, and if someone looked at the records, they’d know that someone was still digging. To that end, Sato and Takagi-kun had agreed that every time Kisaki-san appeared somewhere in an investigation, they’d try to get a copy of the report before it was placed in records.

The plan worked well enough when Takagi and Sato themselves did the reports, but in other cases, they had to resort to more underhanded methods. And the case that Megure-keibu just worked on his own was far too big of a target to miss. Since between her and Takagi-kun, Sato was the slightly better actor, she took it upon herself to grab the information.

Pulling out her phone, Sato started to take pictures of each and every page of the report, trying to make them as clear as possible. After that, she’d write down the names of all the suspects and major events on sticky notes. Part of her wanted to just photocopy the entire report, but that’d be far too suspicious.

Even as she skimmed the sections though, several things stood out to Sato; first was just how complex the case actually was. Sato had watched melodramas with fewer twists than this. The second interesting fact was how Kisaki-san managed to attain the relevant information about Asou Seiji; an acquaintance by the name of Agasa Hiroshi. The name didn’t mean anything to Sato, but it was clear that she and Takagi-kun had to look into it.

The last little bit of information that leapt out at the female detective though, was the capture of the drug smuggler Hirata Kazuaki. Something that was done before Megure-keibu even arrived on the island and by two children. The exact same children that Takagi-kun found to be suspicious in the museum case. The children that somehow caught Italian mobsters. The children’s official story was that they merely threw rocks, and that caused Hirata-san to trip and fall, knocking himself out. And yet, Sato knew that there had to be more. No matter how clumsy, there was no way that a mere fall would knock someone out for hours on end.

And yet at the same time, the rational part of Sato’s mind told her that there simply wasn’t another explanation. What could two seven-year-olds do to a grown adult… And yet it was a very similar situation to the time Sato walked in on the children somehow having incapacitated three grown gangsters. At the time Kisaki-san claimed that Kirino-chan knew karate from a young age and used it to trip up the men and knock them out. Something that Sato found questionable, and with the most current incident even more so.

What are you hiding, Kisaki-san? Sato asked herself as she put away the gathered evidence, placing it securely in her pocket. She’d send the pictures to Takagi-kun later and they’d go over it on their day off as per usual. As she closed the folder that Megure gave her, Sato pressed the stop button again, allowing the elevator to reach its final destination at the records office.

Whatever it was, that Kisaki-san was trying to hide, Sato was going to find out.

Chapter Text

“Aha!” Shinichi-kun screamed at the top of his lungs, drawing Eri’s attention off the papers she was reviewing for a recently closed case. Shinichi and Eri, along with Ran had been in the office for the past few hours now, and the sun beginning to set. Shinichi and Ran had been at school for the majority of the day, but almost as soon as they came back, Shinichi started digging in old cases for information. Eri had fortunately found a colleague of hers who was willing to share some case folders with her. Eri had claimed it was in order to help a newer defense attorney, but in reality, Shinichi-kun had been going over them meticulously, trying to find anything relating to the men in black.

And judging by the shrunken detective’s excitement, that search finally yielded something.

“What is it, Shinichi-kun?” Eri asked, closing the documents in front of her, to focus fully on the discovery.

“Well, half a year ago, your colleague was defending an employee of a company,” Shinichi explained, handing the folder over to Eri. “It was a pretty hopeless case, as there was irrefutable evidence, along with a solid eye-witness.”

“Ah, I remember Nomura-san mentioning this case once,” Eri said, flipping the pages. “He won, correct?”

“Exactly, but only after the witness died in a car accident,” Shinichi replied. “And then, the medical examiner who found the proof was discredited with affair accusations. Both within 12 hours of each other.”

“What makes you think it’s not just coincidence, Shinichi?” Ran asked from the opposing chair. Eri’s daughter also had a stack of folders in front of her, but it was clear she was having a harder time sifting through them than Shinichi-kun had.

“Three things,” Shinichi explained, before raising a single finger; “For one, it’s an international company, similar to Fujimura-san’s. ‘Mantendo’ is a video game company that ships internationally and has contacts across the world.”

“Even so, Shinichi, what would the men in black want with a video game company? It seems rather unlikely,” Ran pointed out, but Shinichi shook his head.

“That’s where the second piece of evidence comes in,” Shinichi admitted, pulling out a blurry picture from the case file and handing it to Eri. When Eri picked the photograph, she realized it must have been in the section for inadmissible evidence, given its rather poor quality. The picture was blurry and clearly taken in a hurry, with most of the background completely ineligible. The location appeared to be a parking lot of some description. The only things that were in focus were three figures all dressed in black. The faces though were not in focus.

“Shinichi, are those-” Eri asked, her voice hitching a little as she realized that this was the first time she might be seeing the men responsible for Kogoro’s death. Shinichi though shook his head.

“Can’t tell, the picture is very bad,” the shrunken detective admitted. “But the notes say this picture was taken by a private investigator inside the ‘Mandendo’ garage, three days before the prosecution’s case got decimated.”

“This in itself is pretty conclusive,” Eri admitted, still refusing to let go of the picture or stop looking at it like it would magically become clearer if she focused hard enough. Closing her eyes, against her will, Eri took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “What about the third piece of evidence you mention, Shinichi-kun?“ she asked after a few moments of silence.

“What position Nomura-san’s client used to occupy in the company,” Shinichi said, flipping back to the front of the report; “Head of Human Resources. It’s the perfect position from which they could either insert their own people in the company, find blackmail material, or scout out talent.”

“The real question is, do they have someone there constantly?” Ran asked. “And even if they do and we can somehow make contact like that, how should we confirm this suspicion without tipping anyone off?” Eri crossed her arms, thinking for a moment, before remembering one particular function she was invited to;

“We might have a way,” Eri drew the kids’ attention to herself as she opened one of her desk drawers and started shuffling some papers around. “Last year, I helped ‘Mantendo’ with some information about a game they were developing. Lawyer thing, I didn’t pay too much attention, beyond what they needed,” Eri admitted, before pulling out an envelope. “The game is releasing in a few weeks, and they invited me to the pre-release party. I had intended to decline originally, but-”

“Can you bring guests, Kisaki-san?” Shinichi asked with a smirk.

“And you think we can just meet the head of Human Resources there, just like that?” Ran asked skeptically, but Shinichi-kun shrugged;

“Even if we don’t, we lose nothing,” Shinichi explained and Eri nodded in agreement;

“It shouldn’t be difficult. Events like these have most of the higher-ups there to celebrate and pat themselves on the back. Though we’ll have to-” a knock interrupted Eri’s explanation. “Come in!” she instructed, quickly pushing the envelope with the invitation back into her desk just in case. Her caution seemed to be unnecessary, as it was merely Kuriyama-san with a few papers.

“Pardon the interruption, Sensei,” the young woman smiled pleasantly as she walked into the room, shooting a quick smile at Shinichi-kun and Ran. “I managed to arrange an appointment with a therapist for you. It’s in two weeks, on Friday at 17:00,” Kuriyama-san explained, handing Eri a small note with the time and address.

“Thank you, Kuriyama-san,” Eri nodded appreciatively. “I know it was a little last minute,” Eri admitted as she did send her assistant to get her an appointment as early as possible.

“It was nothing, Sensei,” the younger woman waved off the concern, before turning to the kids; “But I will have to ask Conan-kun and Kirino-chan to step out since there is a client who wishes to see you.”

“A walk-in at this hour is rather… Unusual,” Eri said, quickly pulling out a small hand mirror to make sure she was presentable after a whole day.

“They claimed it was urgent, and that they were working on behalf of someone else,” Kuriyama-san explained, picking up a few stray papers from Eri’s desk. In the background, Eri noticed that Shinichi-kun and Ran were also putting away the folders from the table quickly.

“Very well, Kuriyama-san,” Eri nodded. “Show them in, and please prepare some tea for us. Kirino, Conan-kun,” Eri turned to the two shrunken teenagers. “If you could please wait in the side room, until I’m done. We can go home afterward.”

“Sure thing, Eri-no-obasan!” Shinichi-kun agreed far too enthusiastically, while Ran flashed Eri an encouraging smile.

-DoDo-

“So, Yamagashi-san, how may I help you?” Eri asked the rather harried-looking young man, as he picked up the cup of tea in front of him. “My assistant mentioned that you are here representing someone else?”

“Ah, yes, that is correct, Kisaki-bengoshi,” the man stuttered and took a large sip of tea before continuing. “My client has been accused of murder. Self-defense, but still murder. We posted bail, but the trial looks… Unlikely to clear my client’s name.”

“Client? You work for a company then, Yamagashi-san?” Eri asked, jotting down some notes.

“Yes… Well in a way- You see-”

“Breathe, Yamagashi-san,” Eri raised a hand, to try and calm down the young man. It was clear that whatever the situation, the man had been under a great deal of stress. Taking another gulp of tea, Yamagishi-san seemed to compose himself for a full minute, before he spoke again;

“I am an idol manager,” Yamagishi-san explained more clearly now. “I, and my company alongside, represent Okino Yoko.”

At the mention of the name, Eri couldn’t suppress her surprise. Despite not being that much of a fan of the idol, it was hard not to notice Kogoro’s obsession with her… For better or worse. Still, Eri was positive she would have heard if an idol of Okino Yoko’s caliber was involved in a murder case, especially if she was the suspect.

“And Okino Yoko is the main suspect?” Eri asked, somewhat confused. “I don’t recall hearing any news about that.”

“The investigation was kept a secret, and Yoko herself is currently under house arrest,” Yamagishi-san explained with a sigh. “She was not deemed a flight risk, so bail was set, under the conditions of house arrest, until her trial. The problem is, that we cannot find a competent defense attorney.” The manager finished with a heavy sigh.

“They believe that the case is open and shut?” Eri guessed.

“The victim was found in Yoko’s apartment, stabbed with a knife from her kitchen,” Yamagishi-san sighed, burying his face in his hands. “And while Yoko has an alibi for the time, it’s rather flimsy. Combined with the fact that she was being stalked…”

“I see,” Eri sighed, jotting down the information. “Yamagishi-san, before I take this case, I would like to speak to Okino-san in person, if that’s possible.”

“I- I have all the information here, Kisaki-bengoshi,” the man quickly replied, pulling out several folders from his briefcase. Eri merely shook her head.

“While I appreciate the information, I will still need to talk with Okino-san,” Eri maintained. “I want to make sure, she is not attempting to deceive me in any way,” Eri explained, trying to maintain an unreadable expression. “If I believe she is being truthful, I will take the case.”

Besides, I don’t think I’m the only one who wants to talk with her, Eri thought to herself, even as Yamagishi-san thanked her profusely. She had noticed that Shinichi-kun had left one of the tracking devices from his glasses underneath the chair Yamagishi-san was sitting on. The boy needed to learn how to hide those better.

-DoDo-

“Are you really going to pout the entire way, Shinichi?” Ran asked as the two of them were in the backseat of Kisaki-san’s Mini Cooper. Soon after the little conversation Kisaki-san had with Yamagishi-san they had all gone into the car and followed the haggard manager, as he showed them the way to Okino Yoko’s house. The man had no issue with Kisaki-san bringing him and Ran along. And Shinichi had to admit, that the idea of a case involving a high-profile figure like the most popular idol in Japan, was quite appealing, even if it was a court case now.

What made Shinichi unhappy, however, was the fact that Kisaki-san had found the little bug he left in the office. He was sure he managed to hide it well enough, but he clearly needed more training. No offense to Kisaki-san, she was very intelligent, but she was also not someone who had to routinely check for listening devices. If Shinichi couldn’t place one without her immediately finding it, the men in black would find them in a heartbeat.

Still, this was a problem for another time. Not to mention;

“I am not pouting,” Shinichi retorted to Ran, as he looked away. Despite not saying a word, Shinichi could feel his friend barely containing her giggles at his actions. Deciding to deflect the subject, he turned to Kisaki-san; “Do you think Okino-san is being set up by someone, Kisaki-san?”

“Hard to say, Shinichi-kun,” Kisaki-san admitted, as she took a turn. “On one hand, it is very possible. After all, success like hers attracts quite a few envious people.”

“Speaking from experience, Oka-san?” Ran asked, and Shinichi immediately noted how worried she sounded.

“Nothing I can’t handle, Ran,” Kisaki-san assured her daughter. “That being said, it is also possible, that Okino-san did kill the man.”

“If he was the stalker?” Shinichi asked.

“Yes, that’s the part I want to get the most information from Okino-san about,” Kisaki-san admitted, as Yamagishi-san pulled into a parking lot.

“Wouldn’t she mention that? Self-defense would be a valid defense, wouldn’t it Oka-san?” Ran asked, but Shinichi answered before Kisaki-san could;

“Provided she called immediately, Ran,” Shinichi explained. “Given that there was at least a two-hour difference between the time of death and Okino-san reporting the murder, it just looks like she’s trying to cover it up.”

“Exactly,” Kisaki-san nodded, agreeing with Shinichi. “Any half-competent prosecutor would jump on that fact in an instant.”

“I see,” Ran muttered, looking somewhat disappointed.

“What is it, Ran?” Shinichi asked as the car came to a stop. His friend sighed.

“Just… Otou-san would have been crushed if it turned out his favorite idol was a killer,” Ran replied, looking down at the floor.

“We don’t know anything for certain yet, Ran,” Kisaki-san pointed out as she picked up her handbag. Shinichi had to agree;

“Exactly,” he nodded, putting a supportive hand on Ran’s shoulder. “So, let’s go and see what we have here.”

-DoDo-

We have nothing, Shinichi thought bitterly, as they finished listening to Okino-san’s story.

The young idol explained to them the events leading to the murder in detail; About a month ago she was being stalked, with several occurrences indicating to both her and her manager that it wasn’t just overzealous reporters. Furniture had been routinely moved, pictures taken in secret, and silent phone calls had been a recurring element for a week before the murder. On the day of the murder itself, Okino-san had arranged a meeting with a private detective to try and investigate the situation discreetly. The police were not informed of the stalking attempt in order to avoid a media-feeding frenzy according to the agent. Unfortunately, the detective canceled the meeting when the young woman was about ten minutes from his office, resulting in Okino-san having no concrete alibi.

When Okino-san returned to her apartment, she met with Yamagishi-san at the entryway and then proceeded into the apartment. As soon as they entered though, the corpse of the victim, Fujie Akiyoshi was lying down on the floor, knife in his back. What’s worse, was that the apartment was indeed locked, meaning that someone with a key did it.

During the investigation, which Shinichi learned was done by Takagi-keiji and another junior detective called Chiba, it was discovered that the victim was a former boyfriend of Okino-san before she broke up with him for the sake of her career. The narrative that appeared, that Okino-san killed her former boyfriend over a dispute and was trying to cover it up, definitely didn’t look good. Even Shinichi was forced to admit that it appeared to be a fairly straightforward case, especially since Fujie-san was probably the stalker who had been following Okino-san for the preceding week. It was easy to see how she might have been attacked and proceeded to kill the man in self-defense.

It definitely didn’t look good, yet Shinichi wasn’t getting the impression they were being lied to at any point. Something that Kisaki-san appeared to agree on;

“And you say, you have not met with Fujie-san since you broke up with him, Okino-san?” Kisaki-san asked.

“No, I have not, Kisaki-sensei,” the younger woman shook her head. Surprisingly, it was Ran who spoke up next;

“But you were dating, right? Surely, you’ve at least talked over the phone?” Ran asked, but Okino-san shook her head;

“No, I couldn’t, Kirino-chan,” Okino-san smiled sadly. “If I did, Yamagishi-san said it might affect my popularity. But Akiyoshi-kun seemed understanding… At least at the time…” the young woman trailed off.

“Sacrifices need to be made for a career, unfortunately,” Kisaki-san nodded in agreement, writing something in her notes. “Okino-san, I will agree to represent you-”

“Oh, thank you-” Yamagishi-san tried to launch into a tirade before Kisaki-san raised her hand to stop him.

“I will represent you, Okino-san, but I will be honest; this case looks very well stacked against you,” Kisaki-san admitted.

“But I am innocent, Kisaki-sensei,” the young idol protested.

“And I believe you,” Ran’s mother assured Okino-san. “That being said, if this is a frame-up, it’s rather complete.” Shinichi silently agreed with the statement. So far, only one thing in the entire recount stood out to him, and he wasn’t sure how it could be used in their favor.

“I will leave myself in your care then, Kisaki-sensei,” Okino-san said with a respectful bow.

“For now, you should get a good night’s rest, Okino-san,” Kisaki-san suggested, putting her notepad back in her bag. “We should meet tomorrow again to discuss what options we have.”

“Of course,” Okino-san nodded again and got up to escort them out. Once the trio retreated into the elevator, Kisaki-san sighed.

“How bad is it, Oka-san?” Ran asked, noticing her mother’s mood.

“I won’t lie, Ran, it’s bad,” Kisaki-san admitted. “I’d have to go over the police reports to be sure, but a plea deal for self-defense might be our best option.”

“I am not sure, Kisaki-san,” Shinichi interrupted. “The puddle of water is suspicious.”

“I noticed that too,” Ran’s mother admitted. “You think it somehow explains the frame-up?”

“Not sure… Yet!” Shinichi was quick to add. “But I do believe that Okino-san didn’t kill the man.”

“Of course not; she loved him after all,” Ran was quick to point out, causing Shinichi to roll his eyes a little. Of course, his friend would focus on that.

“She did at one point, Ran,” Kisaki-san pointed out. “But she had to break it off for her career…”

“You sound like you know what it’s like, Oka-san,” Ran quickly picked up.

“After me and your father split, I took up my maiden name for a reason Ran,” Kisaki-san explained, and Shinichi tried his best to appear uninterested in the conversation since it wasn’t exactly meant for him. “After all, married, working women are somewhat looked down upon in Japan. Before your father and I split, I got significantly fewer cases for that reason alone.”

“I… See,” Ran muttered sadly, eyes downcast.

“For now though, we need to focus on how to help Okino-san,” Shinichi suggested, trying to steer the topic away from its current trajectory for Ran’s sake.

“Agreed,” Kisaki-san nodded. “We should go over the reports again, and maybe see if we can request Takagi-keiji and his partner to talk with us before the trial. Some details might have been missed and not added to the reports.”

“And what can we do, Oka-san?” Ran asked, seemingly eager to help.

“Not sure quite yet, Ran,” Kisaki-san admitted. “But perhaps we’ll find something after we look at the files.”

Whatever the case, Shinichi really hoped that they could find something, otherwise this trial would not be a fun time for them.

Chapter Text

“This doesn’t look good, does it?” Ran asked with a big sigh as she put down the copy of the report she was reading.

It was the morning after her Oka-san had agreed to take on Okino-san’s case. Since it was a Saturday, her mother, Shinichi, and Ran herself had arranged themselves around the dining table, each leafing through a copy of the court file about the case. And despite wanting to believe Okino-san wasn’t the killer it was not looking good. Apart from the flimsy alibi the young idol had, since she traveled in disguise, the porter at her building swore that he saw Okino-san enter the building and then quickly exit around the time of the murder.

The private detective that Okino-san had hired did confirm that the appointment was canceled but didn’t have a notation as to why it had been canceled since he was busy on another case at the time. According to her Oka-san, the prosecutor would try to spin it as Okino-san canceling the appointment herself. The fact that the original stalking hadn’t been reported to the police, threw further doubt on the entire situation.

Furthermore, the only fingerprints found on the knife were Okino-san’s, and according to several tests, there weren’t any indications that someone had tried to clean the knife beforehand. The fact that the victim had a tuft of hair in their hand, and the room was a mess painted a very decisive picture.

“No, it’s not, Ran,” Ran’s mother agreed with a tired sigh. “Still, we do have two things that I think are worth exploring.”

“Which are?” Ran asked.

“The taxi driver should have a record of driving Okino-san partway to the private investigator,” Oka-san pointed out. “While not perfect, since she was in disguise, it should solidify the alibi somewhat. And then there is talking with Takagi and Chiba-keiji. I can ask to meet with them and ask questions. Thing is, they are allowed to refuse.”

“I doubt Takagi-keiji would do that,” Shinichi offered. “But there is another thing that bothers me; the water.”

“Yes, that is interesting,” Ran’s mother agreed, leaning back in her chair. “Nothing can really explain it… Unless someone tried to wash the fingerprints away.”

“You think Okino-san or her manager perhaps?” Ran suggested, even though it left a bad taste in her mouth. She didn’t think Okino-san had lied to them after all.

“They would have had the time-”

“If they did, my guess is it would have been the manager,” Shinichi said. “He is desperate to protect Okino-san’s career.”

“Enough to lie to the police?”

“You have to understand Ran, that managers like him could lose everything if an idol they represent gets accused of murder like this,” Oka-san, clarified for her. “People have killed for less.”

“Would water really wipe fingerprints away though? I thought you said it takes something stronger, Shinichi,” Ran recalled from one of the times her friend rattled on about murders before.

“True… And it also wouldn’t make a lot of sense,” Shinichi admitted, leaning forward, interlacing his fingers. “It was a knife from Okino-san’s kitchen. It would have been stranger if it didn’t have her fingerprints on it.”

“So, you think it’s something else?” Ran’s mother asked, and Shinichi nodded.

“It feels like something is missing though,” Shinichi admitted.

“You mean a clue of some sort?” Ran guessed.

“Yeah…” Shinichi sighed. “It sucks that we couldn’t examine the scene when the murder happened. As much as I enjoy helping the police bring people to justice, I am positive they missed something.”

“Would you like to be here when I talk with them?” Oka-san suggested. “I will be sending Kuriyama-san to the taxi agency, but she can do that on her own.”

“Hmmm… No, I’d rather go with Kuriyama-san,” Shinichi admitted, causing Ran to shoot him a questioning look. Noticing it, Shinichi quickly added; “Right now, that taxi ride is our best option to make a solid alibi for Okino-san. I want to make sure that we don’t miss anything there.”

“In that case, I’ll stay with Oka-san,” Ran proposed. “That way there’d be two sets of ears. Not to mention Takagi-keiji might be a bit more talkative since it would appear less… Serious?” Ran offered, looking at her mother nervously, but the older woman just chuckled.

“I think that might work,” Ran’s Oka-san admitted. “In that case, I’ll see if Kuriyama-san can go tomorrow to the taxi company with Shinichi and request that Takagi-keiji and his partner come over to be interviewed at the same time.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Shinichi agreed jumping down from his chair. “I’ll go knock out my homework.” he sighed, causing Ran to groan;

“You still haven’t done it?” she bemoaned. “Even Genta got some of it done,” she pointed out, but Shinichi just shook his head;

“No. Genta copied from Ayumi-chan while she was regaling you with Kamen Yaiba episodes,” Shinichi smirked. “Besides, I didn’t have a reason to rush it. Now I do. See ya in a bit!” Shinichi waved to Ran and her mother, before jogging out of the room.

“Can you help me put these back Ran?” Oka-san asked gesturing toward the piles of papers on the table. “Then we can try and brainstorm some questions.”

Even as Ran nodded to help her mother, the last statement hung in the shrunken teen’s mind. The entire thing felt so far over her head, that it wasn’t even funny. Everything she noticed, was only after Shinichi or her Oka-san pointed it out to her. It legitimately felt like Ran was just… There, acting as a sounding board to the two people who were actually trying to solve the case.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve thought of them already, Oka-san,” Ran said, trying to keep her dejected tone under control. Unfortunately, she seemed to not have done a good enough job of it, since her mother immediately picked up on it;

“Is everything okay, Ran?” Oka-san asked, her tone worried. Deciding not to try and play it off, Ran nodded;

“I just… Feel like I won’t be much use on this one, Oka-san,” Ran admitted with a shrug. “There isn’t exactly anybody to punch, or much I can do, besides follow some instructions. I’m not as… Smart as you and Shinichi after all.”

“Ran, you’re plenty smart,” Ran’s mother assured her daughter. “I am sure you’ll be of great help, be it this case or in the future.” Despite the assurance, Ran couldn’t help but shake her head;

“I… Appreciate it, Oka-san, but I am not someone who sees things like you and Shinichi,” Ran said listlessly.

“Maybe. But I truly believe it’s merely a gap in experience, Ran,” her Oka-san assured Ran, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Besides, just because me and Shinichi have experience, doesn’t mean we see everything.”

“I am not asking you to just believe me,” the older woman assured her. “But simply to wait and see, before you start putting yourself down, just because you’re thrust into something new. Okay?”

“I’ll… Keep that in mind,” Ran promised, even if deep down she had her doubts.

-DoDo-

“Are you excited, Conan-kun?” Kuriyama-san asked as she parked in front of the taxi company. Shinichi had left with Kisaki-san’s assistant that morning with the intent of questioning the taxi company that supposedly drove Okino-san on the night. Kisaki-san had entrusted the case folder to Kuriyama-san so as to not attract attention, but Shinichi had secretly made a copy of Okino-san’s picture. He had an idea how it might have been easier to get someone to recognize the idol if she had traveled in disguise as was the claim.

Still, despite his own assurances, Shinichi couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. No matter what they found here, Okino-san’s position was still quite precarious. They simply didn’t have anybody else who might have killed the man. The porter didn’t report anybody else coming in and out of the building, and most other apartments were either empty at the time, or the occupants had proper alibis. And while Shinichi couldn’t discount the option that someone waited until the police arrived to slip out in the confusion, something told the teenage detective that the answers were inside that room somewhere.

For now, though, he had a role to play.

“I am, Kuriyama-neesan!” Shinichi nodded faking his enthusiasm.

“Good, now just remember; I’ll be doing the talking, and if you think of something, consult me first,” Kuriyama-san reminded Shinichi as they got out of the car. “We can’t make Sensei look bad after all.”

“I understand Kuriyama-neesan,” Shinichi replied, trying not to say what he really thought about the arrangement, as he pulled out a pencil and started writing something down in his notebook. The two of them made their way toward the front desk of the taxi company, which was in a small, two-story building, with a garage on the side of it. Shinichi could see quite a few taxis parked there right now.

As Kuriyama-san entered the building, Shinichi observed a rather standard waiting area. The receptionist, an older man casually leaning back in a chair, stood up, putting away the magazine he was reading to greet them.

“Welcome to ‘Aka Usagi Taxi Services!’ How may I help you?” the man inquired, with a happy service personnel smile plastered on his face.

“Good morning! My name is Kuriyama Midori, I represent ‘Kisaki Attorney at Law’,” Kuriyama-san introduced herself, holding out a business card to the man. “I was hoping to talk with your manager, and perhaps one of your drivers.”

“Are we in some kind of trouble, Kuriyama-san?” the man asked cautiously.

“Not at all,” Kuriyama-san said with a disarming smile, which seemed to put the man at ease. Shinichi had to give Kisaki-san’s assistant props; putting people at ease was not a trick Shinichi himself was that good at. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two. “It’s just that a testimony from one of your drivers could establish an alibi for an innocent person.” The plea seemed to have worked as the man nodded.

“I will talk with Nishimura-san,” the receptionist nodded and gestured to a couple of chairs in the lobby. “Please wait here for a moment.”

“Come on Conan-kun,” Kuriyama-san nodded toward the chairs and Shinichi followed.

-DoDo-

It didn’t take long for the manager of the taxi company to find the driver who had taken Okino-san’s call. Shinichi watched the man’s taxi pull back into the company garage, Kuriyama-san standing next to him, open folder in hand.

“You the lawyer lady?” Wakamatsu-san, the driver asked as he climbed out of the car. He was a broad-shouldered man, with square features, that rather uncomfortable reminded Shinichi of one of the men in black. Unlike the two brutes though, Wakamatsu-san had a dopey grin on his face and much gentler movements.

“Assistant actually,” Kuriyama-san corrected the man. “I was hoping that you could answer some questions regarding a customer you had about three weeks ago,” Kisaki-san’s Assistant explained pulling out a picture of Okino-san and presenting it to the driver.

“Isn’t that Okino Yoko?” Wakamatsu-san asked puzzled, as he looked at the picture. “Are you sure that I was the one who took the call?” he asked, scratching his head.

“According to your company logs, yes, Wakamatsu-san,” Kuriyama-san explained, but Shinichi decided to intervene;

“Didn’t Okino-san say she was disguised, Kuriyama-neesan?” Shinichi helpfully reminded. “Maybe she wore a hat or glasses? Like this,” Shinichi proposed, showing the picture of Okino-san that he had, with a pair of dark sunglasses sketched on it. Wakamatsu-san took the picture slightly confused as to why Shinichi, a child from his perspective, was asking him questions.

“Maybe…” Wakamatsu-san scowled at the picture for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Right! She didn’t have sunglasses on, but she did have a very large hat that covered her features. She also seemed averse to looking directly at me. Just thought she was shy, and didn’t try to talk much. Reading when clients want to talk is a good skill to have for a taxi driver. That was Yoko?”

“Uhm, yes,” Kuriyama-san nodded, sparing Shinichi a glance. “Can you give me any information about what happened during the time Okino-san was in your taxi, Wakamatsu-san? Did she receive any calls or say something out of the norm?”

“Is she okay?” Wakamatsu-san asked.

“She is the defendant in an ongoing court case,” Kuriyama-san explained. “We were hoping that any information you can provide might help us prove her innocence.” The woman smiled, and Shinichi had to admit it was a clever idea. By telling Wakamatsu-san everything, he’d be more liable to help, since he was obviously a fan.

“The only thing that was really unusual was that Yoko asked to be taken back to her building about 15 minutes before we reached the address,” Wakamatsu-san explained.

“Did anything happen beforehand?” Kuriyama-san asked, taking down some notes.

“Hmm… I think she got a phone call?” Wakamatsu-san proposed. “I saw her pull out her phone and answer it. Didn’t hear what she said, but she seemed upset.”

“And did you actually hear it ring?” Shinichi asked, unable to stop himself.

“I don’t… Think I did,” Wakamatsu-san admitted, and Shinichi barely resisted gnashing his teeth. This was barely any better than Wakamatsu-san not recognizing her. Not only was he unsure it was Okino-san until now, but he hadn’t heard either the conversation or the phone even ringing. Any half-competent prosecutor would dismantle this as an alibi with the same three questions.

Shinichi really hoped that Kisaki-san was having better luck.

-DoDo-

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Takagi-keiji, Chiba-keiji” Eri nodded politely to the two detectives, as they sat down in front of her desk. This was the first time that Eri was meeting with Takagi-san’s partner, Chiba Kazunobu. The man looked to be easygoing enough, with a pleasant smile, even if he looked rather chubbier than most other junior detectives.

“Ah, it’s nothing, Kisaki-san,” Takagi-san assured her with a nervous smile, and Eri noted that occasionally the man’s eyes flickered questioningly toward Ran, who was sitting to the side on a chair, trying to appear unconcerned. “We hope to help and bring this case to a quick resolution,” Takagi-san assured her, and Chiba nodded;

“So, we’re more than willing to cooperate with any questions you might have,”

“I see,” Eri leaned back in her chair, interlacing her fingers. “In that case, let’s begin. My normal assistant is off to search for a few leads I have, so Kirino here will be helping me out today if we need any additional documents.” Eri explained, gesturing to Ran, who gave the two detectives a polite wave.

“Ah, I see,” Takagi-san nodded sounding rather unsure, while Chiba-san merely waved back at Ran. Eri noted that as being rather interesting.

“Very well, gentlemen,” Eri drew the attention back to her. “My first question is rather simple; unofficially, do you believe my client is the killer?”

“Well…” Takagi-san began rather unsure. “Off the record? I honestly don’t think it’s her. Even in self-defense. But the evidence supports that claim, Kisaki-san.”

“Most damning is the testimony of the building portier,” Chiba-san added, leaning in. “He says that he saw Okino-san run out of the building.” Eri frowned at that. It was so far the biggest problem in establishing her client’s alibi.

“I see,” the lawyer sighed. “And according to the testimony, she went out and returned about thirty minutes later. Then ran out five minutes later, without as much as a word to the man. Is that correct?”

“That is correct, Kisaki-san,” Takagi-san nodded, pulling out his notes from the case. “Furthermore, the time of death is within that time frame.”

“Admittedly on the edge of it, but still within what the coroner estimated,” Chiba-san admitted. Eri was surprised when Ran raised her hand to attract the attention of the two detectives;

“Which edge?” Ran asked, and the two detectives blinked for a moment before Eri nodded at the question with a smile;

“That is actually something that wasn’t mentioned in the report, Takagi-keiji, Chiba-keiji,” Eri picked up where Ran left off. “Is it possible that the murder happened after, the portier saw Okino-san leave?”

“Possible, but we cannot say for sure,” Chiba-san admitted. “The heat in the room made it impossible for the coroner to determine an accurate time of death.”

“Heat?”

“Yes, Kisaki-san,” Takagi-san admitted. “Fact is, that when we arrived, the room was sweltering. Okino-san said that the heating must have malfunctioned.” Eri’s eyes narrowed slightly, as something started to prod at the back of her mind. There might be something they could do here.

“And was it malfunctioning?” she asked, and the two detectives looked at each other before, Chiba-san answered;

“Not that we discovered,” the rotund detective admitted. “It was just set very high.”

“Eri-no-obasan,” Ran drew the attention to herself again. “Could that have something to do with the water?”

“You mean the drops we found and the dried spots, Kirino-chan?” Chiba-san asked.

“Exactly those, Chiba-keiji,” Eri nodded. “Was there anything that could explain them? A glass that appeared to be spilled, or perhaps a broken bottle?” she asked, and the two police officers looked at each other before Takagi-san shook his head.

“Not that we spotted, Kisaki-san,” Takagi-san admitted. “Forensics did test the few drops just in case though; it was merely water. No additives, or chemicals.”

“I see,” Eri sighed. If she was right, then perhaps, they had a chance. But it still didn’t explain the porter’s testimony. “And was there any furniture near the body? Anything that could have obscured something?”

“Nothing forensics would have overworked,” Chiba-san shook his head.

“I think there was a chair nearby, but given the scuffle, that’s hardly surprising,” Takagi-san mentioned. The furniture in question caused Eri’s eyes to narrow a little.

“And was there anything on the chair?” she asked, but Takagi-san shook his head;

“No, there wasn’t,” the man admitted, flipping over his notes. “Just an overturned chair from the scuffle probably.”

“I have one last question about the victim, Fujie Akuiyoshi-san. Was he the stalker, Okino-san had been targeted by?”

“Not to the best of our knowledge, no,” Takagi-san admitted. “Fujie-san was in Aomori prefecture for work for the past three months. He couldn’t have been responsible for the stalking incidents.”

“The fact that they stopped after the murder though is something that we found strange,” Chiba-san added. “The prosecutor had even expressed a theory that the stalking itself was staged.”

Eri frowned at Chiba-san’s statement, if only because it seemed to contradict what Eri herself knew about her client. True, she had not spent too much time with Okino-san, but the young woman hardly struck her as the typical backstabbing, or fame-seeking celebrity that the media loved to demonize. Perhaps her agent might, but the man was desperate to keep Okino-san out of jail. If anything, he’d have confessed to staging the stalking incident by now.

“Is it possible the stalker killed the man?” Ran asked before Eri could, drawing the detectives’ attention again. Takagi-san answered;

“If that happened, Kirino-chan, the person would have come forth,” the detective explained to Ran. “People like that would have thought that they did Okino-san a favor.”

“I see,” Ran nodded leaning back in her chair.

“In any case, detectives, I thank you for your time,” Eri nodded politely to Takagi and Chiba-san. “I will see you again during the trial, I believe.”

“Ah, if you have any more questions about the trial, do not hesitate to contact us, Kisaki-san,” Takagi-san offered with a polite smile as the two men left the room. As soon as they were out, Eri let out a big sigh leaning forward in her chair.

“Are you okay, Oka-san?” Ran asked, placing a supportive hand on Eri’s lower back.

“I think so, Ran, but we have a problem,”

“Another one?”

“More like an extension of our current one,” Eri admitted. “I’d love to run my idea by Shinichi-kun when he gets home, but… I think Fujie-san might have killed himself. A suicide.”

Chapter Text

“It could be possible,” Shinichi admitted after he listened to Kisaki-san’s theory. “The problem would be proving it.” He pointed out, and Kisaki-san nodded.

“I know, I asked Ran to go over the pictures, but she couldn’t find a single picture of what we need.” Ran’s mother admitted, with a frown. “And we still don’t have an explanation about the porter’s testimony.”

“I’m guessing that what Shinichi and Kuriyama-san found would be inadmissible?” Ran asked glumly, Shinichi noting that their string of setbacks seemed to be affecting his friend negatively. He supposed it made some sense; for all the problems they had in recent cases, it never felt like they were beating their heads against a sheer wall. For Shinichi, and he assumed Kisaki-san, this wasn’t anything new though.

“Not inadmissible, but it will definitely not have the impact we were hoping for,” Shinichi clarified. “Even Kuriyama-san seemed disappointed when we left.”

“And I concur with Shinichi-kun’s assessment; Kujo-san will rip that testimony to shreds in a few sentences.” Kisaki-san sighed. Shinichi had to admit that he was rather unhappy when he learned who the prosecutor for the case would be. Kujo Reiko was notorious amidst the Tokyo District Court, to the point that even Shinichi knew of her, just by association with the Tokyo MPD. Megure-keibu once joked that officers wished to have her as a prosecutor because it was a sure win and a guarantee of a guilty verdict. Kisaki-san had tried her best to dissuade those fears, explaining that while Kujo-san had a drive for justice, she was not dogmatic. Even with that assurance though, Shinichi was far from happy. They’d need something to convince Kujo-kenji first and foremost. From there, things would fall into place easier.

“And our idea for the suicide angle?” Ran asked, and Shinichi nodded;

“Not an angle, as much as something that would be the only available option… If we had the proof on the floor, and explain how Okino-san was at two places at the same time.”

“Just that, huh?” Ran scoffed.

“Never said it was going to be easy, my dear Watson,”

“We have to talk with Okino-san again” Kisaki-san suggested. “We might be able to take a look around the apartment and find what we need.”

“We should also talk with the porter,” Shinichi suggested. “There is something still bugging me about his testimony.”

“I can do that, while you two talk with Okino-san,” Ran suggested. “He might be more talkative if he thinks it’s just a kid being nosy.” Shinichi’s friend reasoned.

“You sure you’ll be okay with that, Ran?” Kisaki-san asked, but Ran nodded confidently.

“It’s a far cry from beating someone up, but I can handle it,” she offered with a broad smile. The declaration seemed to reassure Ran’s mother, and Shinichi figured the two of them must have talked about something while he was out with Kuriyama-san. If it was important, they’d tell him.

“Shall we go then?” Kisaki-san suggested, pulling out her cell phone. “I’ll check in with Okino-san, to see if she’s available. We need to discuss what we found anyway.”

-DoDo-

Getting the porter to agree to talk with Ran was a lot easier than anybody expected. They made a big show of how Ran was supposedly not feeling that well and she was ‘instructed’ to wait down by the porter. The man seemed more than happy to help her mother, as he had a daughter himself.

One that he never stopped talking about apparently…

“And this is little Kaori on her first day of pre-school,” Kusaka-san continued, showing another picture of his daughter. Ran nodded politely with a smile, even if inside she was regretting not giving this job to Shinichi. By now her friend would have probably found a way to shift the conversation to what they needed, not just stay there and listen. Still, the man loved his daughter so maybe…

“Does your daughter get to meet the celebrities that live here, Kusaka-san?” Ran asked, trying to sound curious.

“Ah, well… No, sadly,” Kusaka-san admitted. “Some of the nicer ones, like Okino-san, agree to sign some apparel sometimes, but most of the time I try not to bother them.”

“So, you know Okino-san well?” Ran pressed.

“Well enough I suppose,” Kusaka-san shrugged. “We’re not on first-name basis or anything, but she is a nice person… Always greets me when she leaves and comes back. Sometimes asks about my little Kaori… That’s why I find it a little strange that she’s accused of murder.”

“Eri-no-obasan said Okino-san was disguised when she went out, is that right?” Ran pretended to be confused. “And if so, how did you recognize her, ojisan?”

“Ah, her ‘disguise’ wasn’t much,” Kusaka-san chuckled. “Especially not when she waved on her way out. Okino-san… I was here and I saw her run out the building when the poor bloke was murdered, but even then, I don’t exactly believe that she did it… She’s far too nice, you know?”

“And you’re sure it was Okino-san that time?” Ran asked.

“Looked like her, though I think she was a bit stressed when she walked into the building,” Kusaka-san recounted. “Didn’t greet me like normal and she went straight for her mailbox, followed by going upstairs to her apartment. Funny thing is, she checked the mail earlier that day as well.” Kusaka-san shrugged. “But maybe all the stuff with the stalker got to her more than she was willing to admit.” Kusaka-san proposed.

“And then she ran out again, correct?” Ran reminded the man, who nodded;

“She did, but came back about an hour later.”

“And did she look different?” Ran asked. Most of this info was in the report from what she remembered, but the little details Kusaka-san was providing, were clearly omitted. Ran wondered if that was because of Takagi and Chiba-keiji, or perhaps the court documents were a lot stiffer when written.

“Calmer, if still frustrated, I’d say,”

“I see…” Ran muttered, before noticing that Kusaka-san looked a little confused about the questions. Ran realized that she was probably starting to sound a little too suspicious. “I was, uhm… Just curious is all. Otou-san really liked Okino-san’s concerts and events… Feels wrong that she’s accused…” Ran explained, feeling a little bad that she used her father’s hobbies as a justification. At least if they could prove Okino-san’s innocence it would be worth it. Even so… Ran could feel her eyes sting a little. Fortunately for her, before Kusaka-san could question Ran’s reaction, someone buzzed the door to be let in.

“How may I help you?” Kusaka-san asked, answering the intercom. Ran craned her neck a little to see the person who was at the intercom. When she did, Ran’s eyes widened a little; it was a young woman, with sharp features, wearing expensive-looking jewelry. What struck Ran the most though was the fact that the woman’s hair looked shockingly similar to Okino-san’s down to the style.

“I am here to see Yoko-chan,” the woman indicated with a rather haughty voice.

“Sure thing, Ikezawa-san,” Kusaka-san nodded, opening the door for the young woman. As Ikezawa-san walked past the porter booth of the building, Ran observed the woman, and how she walked. Without a word, Ran pulled out the picture of Okino-san that Shinichi had doodled some sunglasses on earlier. Ran tried to imagine Ikezawa-san with the same getup and shockingly, it seemed to work.

Without a moment to lose, Ran pulled out her cell phone and started typing out a message to her mother.

-DoDo-

“Come in!” Okino-san said from inside the apartment, and Eri pushed the door open.

“Pardon the intrusion!” Eri replied as she and Shinichi-kun removed their shoes. By the time the two of them had put on their slippers, Okino-san appeared to greet them, offering a polite bow.

“Kisaki-sensei, it’s nice to see you again!” the young idol greeted with a smile, but Eri could tell it was strained; a little too wide, a little too much stiffness in the woman’s posture.

“I’m sorry we’re intruding on you on short notice, Okino-san,” Eri offered with a polite smile. “But we might have something that could explain the murder and wanted to confirm.”

“T-that’s great!” Okino-san’s said, genuine happiness spreading across her features. “Sorry, uhm- Come in, come in!” she quickly ushered them in. Shinichi seemed to pick up on the woman’s discomfort as well because he spoke up;

“Is everything alright, Okino-san?” he asked, keeping his voice sounding like an overly curious child, which seemed to put the woman a bit more at ease.

“Ah, it’s nothing Conan-kun,” she waved him off as they walked into the living room where the murder occurred. “It’s just that I have some company coming in a bit,” Okino-san explained.

“Oh, we could reschedule if you wish, Okino-san,” Eri offered, but the other woman quickly shook her head.

“No, it actually relates to the case in a way,” Okino-san assured Eri, gesturing to the couch. “Please, sit down.”

“Thank you,” Eri nodded as she sat down, while Shinichi started wandering around, no doubt looking for the clue they needed. “And what did you mean about your guest relating to the case?” Eri asked.

“Ah, well, since I can’t perform or act in my roles, while under house arrest, I’ve had to find replacements,” Okino-san explained rather dejectedly. “An idol that started out at the same time as me is coming by tonight, so I can offer her a job in a movie that we both competed for.”

“I see,” Eri replied carefully. “The truth is, Okino-san, is that I came to ask you a few questions about Fujie-san. I was hoping your answers might confirm a theory I have.” Eri explained, trying to be as gentle as possible.

“I can try, sure,” Okino-san nodded. “Although, it’s been a couple of years since I’ve actually talked to him in person.” The idol admitted with a frown.

“We’ve all had to make sacrifices for our careers, Okino-san,” Eri said with a rather sad smile. After all, Eri herself had to give up Kogoro’s name, when they separated so she had a better chance of being recognized as a proper lawyer. It also enforced her isolation from her husband… In addition to the man’s general attitude.

It hardly made things easier in the long run, Eri thought bitterly, trying to keep her emotions under control. After all, she was supposed to be helping her client right now.

“I suppose that’s true,” Okino-san admitted. “What do you wish to know, Kisaki-sensei?”

“First, can you tell me what kind of person Fujie-san was?” Eri asked, even as she saw Shinichi-kun crawling on the floor, looking at it intently.

“Akiyoshi-kun was a fairly normal guy, I suppose,” Okino-san answered, her voice reminiscing. “Worked hard, stayed out of trouble as much as possible. Graduated with impressive grades, and got into a college easily. He didn’t have any enemies that I know of.”

“And what about his personality? Was he prone to anger or rashness?” Eri continued.

“I… Don’t think so,” Okino-san frowned. “He took us breaking up hard, admittedly, but he never really blamed me for it… What is this about, Kisaki-sensei?” Okino-san asked, leaning forward.

“I have a suspicion, that Fujie-san was not murdered,” Eri admitted. “There are certain factors that might indicate… A suicide.” She admitted, the words seeming to shock Okino-san.

“S-suicide… But why-”

“Part of the reason I wished to come here today was to look for something that will confirm that theory,” Eri admitted. “As to why he committed suicide, I believe that the biggest clue is the fact he did it in your apartment,” Eri stated and watched the color drain from Okino-san’s face.

“But… That wouldn’t make sense,” Okino-san muttered, clearly in shock. “Why now? Why not when we broke up or-”

“I don’t know, Okino-san,” Eri said, interrupting the idol’s questions. “I wish I did, but I do not. Could I please look around the-”

“I found it, Eri-no-obasan!” Shinichi-kun called from his spot on the floor, pointing at something. Getting up from her chair, Eri saw that there was a small indent on the floor next to the shrunken teenager.

“What’s that?” Okino-san asked puzzled.

“It’s an indent from where a knife handle was hit into the floor,” Shinichi explained in a casual tone. “It confirms that the knife that struck Fujie-san was slammed with extreme force. He probably used a block of ice, which would explain the water that detectives originally found.”

Eri, noticing how Okino-san was staring at Shinichi-kun, cleared her throat pointedly, which seemed to snap the teenage detective out of his deduction.

“Oh, uhm… I-isn’t that right, Eri-no-obasan? J-just like you deduced… Hehe…” Shinichi-kun tried to play off his stumble, and Eri was amazed that this was Yuki-chan’s son. She’d be appalled by his on-the-spot improvisation ability.

“Yes, precisely, Conan-kun,” Eri nodded. “While not conclusive, I’d like to call Takagi-keiji and Chiba-keiji, to see if they could potentially find any fingerprints of the victims amidst your toiletries. If I recall correctly, Fujie-san was holding a few of your hairs in hand. That could cast serious doubt on any murder claims.”

“Does that mean-” Okino-san stopped herself, too afraid to ask the question on her mind. Eri could guess what that question was, however;

“It doesn’t clear you of all charges, unfortunately, Okino-san,” Eri explained. “We still don’t know how to address the porter’s testimony or-” Eri’s phone buzzed. “Pardon me,” she excused herself, noticing it was Ran’s number. Eri flipped her phone open, aware that Shinichi-kun was also near her to see what was so urgent.

There is a woman coming up to see Okino-san.

The two are nearly identical from the back.

That was certainly interesting, Eri thought to herself.

“Okino-san,” Eri turned toward her host. “What can you tell me about the woman who is coming to visit you today?”

-DoDo-

“So, this is the lawyer you hired, Yoko-chan?” Ikezawa Yuko asked with an indolent tone, as she walked into Okino-san’s apartment. Shinichi almost immediately disliked the woman. Her entire being exuded arrogance and vain self-indulgence, from the way she dressed to the way she walked into the apartment, barely even acknowledging Kisaki-san and Okino-san. Ikezawa-san walked around the apartment as if she owned it, completely ignoring Shinichi, which served him perfectly. After all, it meant he could confirm Ran’s observation without attracting attention.

True enough, Ikezawa-san and Okino-san were nearly identical when it came to height, build, and even hair color. If Shinichi saw them on the streets together from behind, he’d have assumed they were sisters. And he wouldn’t be the only one…

Now all that was left was to somehow prove his theory.

“Yes, Ikezawa-san,” Kisaki-san nodded respectfully to the woman. “My name is Kisaki Eri. A pleasure to meet you,” Kisaki-san extended a hand.

“Charmed,” Ikezawa-san replied, not bothering to take Kisaki-san’s hand instead walking over to a nearby shelf and grabbing a small model decoration of the Statue of Liberty. What surprised Shinichi though was the fact that Ikezawa-san pressed on the model’s head and the torch lit up with a small flame, indicating that it was a lighter. As Ikezawa-san placed the model back down, after lighting a cigarette, she turned toward Okino-san.

“So, Yoko-chan, why did you invite me here?” Ikezawa-san asked, unceremoniously dropping into a chair. “You know I prefer my place.”

“You’ve never been here before, Ikezawa-san?” Kisaki-san asked, no doubt picking up on the same hints that Shinichi was.

“No. Yoko-chan has invited me before, but I saw no reason to come,” Ikezawa-san scoffed. “Now, Yoko, what do you want?” the rude woman moved to completely ignore Kisaki-san.

“Ah, well, Yuko-san,” Okino-san started a little unsure, but Shinichi tuned out the conversation. Everything about this woman screamed at him that she had been in this apartment before. And often. If he was right, the evidence of that was inside the woman’s handbag and he just had to come up with a reason to spill the contents. Ikezawa-san had placed her bag next to her on the ground, so it wouldn’t be as hard for Shinichi. Carefully walking around behind the woman, Shinichi untied his shoelace and took a deep breath.

One for the team! He told himself as he threw himself forward.

“Waaaah!” Shinichi pretended to scream, as he fell on his front, purposefully, grabbing onto Ikezawa-san’s handbag, so the content started flying out onto the floor.

“Conan-kun!” Kisaki-san shouted in alarm, but Shinichi quickly made a small circle with his thumb and forefinger indicating that it was part of his plan. Ikezawa-san had a much more profound reaction;

“What are you doing, you stupid, brat?!” Ikezawa-san screeched, lunging at Shinichi, who quickly rolled out of the way, unable to keep a smirk off his face, as he saw exactly what he was looking for.

“Let me help you, oneesan,” Shinichi suggested and started to haphazardly toss things back into the bag before he grabbed the key. “Ah le-le. This key looks just like Okino-san’s key, oneesan.” Shinichi pointed out, the words causing Ikezawa-san to freeze mid-grab. Kisaki-san though didn’t miss the chance and moved to grab the key from Shinichi’s hand.

“You have a point, Conan-kun,” Kisaki-san agreed, grabbing the key from Shinichi’s hand. “In fact, I am sure if we compare it, it will match to Okino-san’s key exactly.” Kisaki-san fixed Ikezawa-san with a glare.

“Yuko-san, why do you have that key?” Okino-san asked, stepping forward, a troubled expression on her face.

“I…”

“You were the stalker, weren’t you, Ikezawa-san?” Shinichi asked.

“What?” Okino-san gasped.

“It makes sense,” Kisaki-san nodded in agreement. “You told me earlier that you took a role that you both applied to, correct, Okino-san?”

“Yes, I did,” Okino-san nodded.

“And the stalking incidents started shortly after,” Kisaki-san continued, and Shinichi walked around to grab the novelty lighter. “It would make sense.”

“But you have no pro-” Ikezawa-san tried to protest, but Shinichi piped up again in a cutesy, childish voice;

“Ah le-le. That’s weird, I thought it was just a decoration,” Shinichi explained, waving the statuette under the woman’s nose. “Strange how you knew exactly what it was oneesan. Especially since you’ve never been here before and all…” he trailed off, giving the biggest smile he could.

“I-”

“Care to explain, Ikezawa-san?” Kisaki-san pressed, crossing her arms. “I need to call the police in order to register new evidence for the case. I am sure that they’d love to talk to you about the situation as well.”

“Fine! Yes, I’ve been here before!” Ikezawa-san admitted, angrily. “I stole the spare key at the studio and I made it look like someone was stalking Yoko!”

“The silent calls, the pictures, the threatening letters,” the woman continued her tirade. “But nothing was working, and Yoko appeared so unaffected! So, I stole her key from the studio. I wanted dirt, a scandal, anything… But on the night that I decided to go in-”

“That was the night that Fujie-san came to see Okino-san, correct?” Kisaki-san interrupted Ikezawa-san’s admission.

“Yes,” Ikezawa-san admitted. “I fought against him as hard as I could and managed to escape. He was momentarily shocked that I would fight him and hit him, and that gave me the chance. But I didn’t kill him! I swear!”

“We know,” Kisaki-san said. “And I think it’s time we contact the police, as well as the prosecutor for the case.” Ran’s mother said with a smile, directed toward Okino-san.

“Does that mean-”

“With Ikezawa-san’s testimony explaining the porter seeing you twice, it confirms that you were indeed not here during the time of the murder,” Kisaki-san explained. “And Conan-kun found the indent from the knife, correct?”

“Yes,” Shinichi grinned as all the pieces fell together. “It might take a demonstration, but it fits Eri-no-obasan’s theory.”

“You’re going to be a free woman soon, Okino-san,” Kisaki-san assured the young idol.

Chapter Text

Kujo Reiko had seen a lot in her time as a prosecutor. From unwinnable trials, to complete wastes of time where the result was known from the first sentence of the defense. She had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with her intellect, or a random stroke of luck. She had lost cases on technicalities.

And yet, Reiko reflected, this had to be the first time she lost a case before it even hit the first trial hearing.

And it had to be such an open and shut case as well. To Reiko it was a no-brainer; the man was found dead in the woman’s apartment, her hair in his hand, her knife in his back. The lack of a decent alibi only added to the woman’s apparent guilt. Reiko had extensively interviewed the detectives tied to the case as well; while they were both green and unsure, it appeared they had done their work diligently and identified all the possible information.

 When the prosecutor had received word that Kisaki Eri had requested a meeting, Reiko assumed that it was to try and negotiate a deal; confession for a lighter sentence. Reiko doubted she’d accept the offer outright since even if this was a self-defense killing, the truth was hidden far too long by Okino Yoko. Still, the prosecutor had agreed to at least listen to what Kisaki-san had to say. Maybe Reiko could finally achieve a victory against the Queen of the Courtroom.

But when Kisaki-san started by saying she’d like to introduce three new pieces of evidence, and two additional witnesses, Reiko felt her confidence drop significantly.

The first new witness wasn’t too bad in retrospect; the testimony from the cab driver who drove Okino-san had several holes she could use to bring it into question. At that point, Reiko believed that she still had a chance if all the evidence was similar.

Fujie Akiyoshi’s fingerprints on Okino-san’s toiletries were a bit trickier, but there was no record of how long the man spent in the apartment before dying. It could have easily been dismissed as something that happened prior to Okino-san’s return and the subsequent struggle.

When Kisaki-san and her assistant presented new crime scene pictures, taken the day before by Takagi and Chiba-keiji, Reiko began to sweat. The first picture was initially confusing, as it was merely in indentation in the floor of Okino-san’s apartment, with no clear meaning. The following pictures that showed the indent matching with the knife that was used to kill the victim was when the significance of the indent became clear. Since the original knife had been confiscated by the police on the night of the murder, and the unique handle of the cutting tool had made it impossible for the indent to be made after the fact.

The second witness, one Ikezawa Yuku, was when Reiko had decided to give up on the case. Ikezawa-san admitted to not only having stalked Okino-san but also seeing the man in Okino-san’s apartment by himself. That not only destroyed the porter’s testimony that Okino-san had been in the building at the time of the murder but confirmed that the man was alive and alone in the apartment.

The last piece of evidence, a video demonstration of the way the victim committed suicide, put on by two kids of all things, with the help of the police was the final nail in the coffin; it showed the victim, represented in the video by a stack of weighted pillows, push off a nearby chair and onto a knife imbedded in a block of ice. The impact was enough to shatter the block of ice, which proceeded to melt, accounting for the water stains from the original report.

It all fit far too well. Reiko knew that there wasn’t a judge panel in Japan that would dispute either the evidence or the demonstration.

“Well,” Reiko sighed, before turning to look at Kisaki-san and her client. “I believe that, given the new information that surfaced in this case, you’d like to request that the case be dismissed, Kisaki-bengoshi?”

“I do believe that pursuing this into a trial, would only lose time for all parties involved,” Kisaki-san stated calmly, despite the fact Reiko knew she was happy. “I trust you agree with that assessment, Kujo-kenji?” Kisaki-san asked with a hint of a smile.

“I do believe that would be most beneficial,” Reiko agreed with a sigh. “After all, I don’t plan on wasting my time on a case that I have no chance of winning.” Reiko turned toward Okino-san. “Okino-san, I would like to apologize for taking up your time with this accusation.”

“It’s perfectly fine, Kujo-sensei,” the younger woman said with a disarming smile. “You were merely doing your job.”

“Thank you, Okino-san,” Reiko replied, before turning her attention back to Kisaki-san. “Shall we go and file the necessary paperwork Kisaki-bengoshi?”

“Before that, there is something I’d like to talk with you about, Kujo-kenji,” Eri replied mysteriously. “In private, if possible,” the defense attorney added, shooting Okino-san a pointed look.

“I’ll wait outside then, Kisaki-sensei,” Okino-san said happily, the giddiness of not having to go to trial clearly making her agree with everything right now. Reiko almost smirked at the exuberance. Almost. After all, whatever Kisaki-san wanted to talk about was clearly important. A suspicion that was almost immediately proven, as no sooner did Okino-san exit the room, did Reiko see a folder being pushed in front of her.

“I take it this folder has something to do with your request, Kisaki-san?” Reiko asked and flipped the folder open.

“You recognize the case?”

“Yes, a colleague from an associate agency handled the prosecution,” Reiko scanned the folder quickly. “He suspected foul play, but nothing that he could prove.”

“I believe there was foul play involved as well,” Kisaki-san stated, leaning forward across the table. “Nothing I can prove either, mind you, but I have my reasons.”

“Even if that were the case, I fail to see what we can do without any evidence,” Reiko pointed out.

“If it were the only case, you would be correct, Kujo-san,” Kisaki-san replied leaning back. “But I think this is one case out of many.” The other attorney said with absolute certainty, making Reiko narrow her eyes.

“Are you saying that someone is messing with court trials?” Reiko asked, the very thought raising her heckles.

“This is big, Kujo-san,” Kisaki-san stressed. “And we need to approach this carefully. Otherwise, people we know will suffer.” The other woman said with venom in her voice. It didn’t take Reiko a long time to figure out what this pertained to;

“Kisaki-san…” Reiko sighed, trying to find the right words. “Is this about your husband?” Kisaki-san didn’t answer immediately, instead merely closing her eyes for a moment, in an attempt to compose herself. Despite that, the small shakes of her shoulders, and tremors that rippled through her face were enough to tell the seasoned prosecutor. When she spoke again, Kisaki-san’s voice was almost hollow;

“I would just ask that if you come across any cases such as those,” she began slowly, before opening her eyes. Her eyes appeared haunted, yet projected what Reiko could best describe as resolve. “Please do not investigate on your own, Kujo-kenji.” She instructed.

“I believe I have your office number, Kisaki-san,” Reiko nodded.

“Thank you,” Kisaki-san nodded, standing up. “Shall we go and finish up the paperwork?”

“Yes, I believe that would be best,” Reiko agreed, as she stood up as well. It would appear she had plenty of work to do, once they wrapped up this case.

-DoDo-

It took nearly two hours for Eri and Kujo-san to wrap up everything they needed to dismiss the charges against Okino-san.

During the entire time, Eri couldn’t help but wonder if she did the right thing by informing the prosecutor about the fact that there might be cases that the men in black have tampered with. On one hand, it was sure to put someone like Kujo Reiko on a warpath to try and uncover more cases… But if she wasn’t aware of the situation and stumbled onto a case like that herself, or even worse, was a prosecutor on one, there was every chance that the men in black might try and take her out. Kujo-san was one of the few people besides Eri herself who was known to be completely incorruptible after all.

Eri had discussed the situation with Shinichi-kun and Ran at length the day before and they both supported the decision to at least warn the other attorney. That was where the three of them were somewhat split though. Ran wanted to bring Kujo-san fully on board and share all the information they had so far, while both Shinichi-kun and Eri herself insisted on them waiting to see what had happened.

Part of Eri had to admit that this was due to paranoia. She had no real reason to believe that Kujo-san would be compromised, but at the same time, if the men in black found any connection that could put both Eri and Ran in danger, and that was not something Eri was willing to do quite yet. Perhaps in a few months, she’d give Kujo-san more information, but not right now.

Besides, it was time she concluded her business with Okino-san.

“Well, you are officially a free woman, Okino-san,” Eri said to the young idol.

“Thank you again for everything, Kisaki-sensei,” Okino-san bowed deeply in gratitude. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Nonsense,” Eri waved off the praise. “Any defense attorney could overturn this case.”

“I beg to differ,” Okino-san shook her head and shot a look behind Eri, where Shinichi-kun and Ran were waiting for her. “Not everyone has your amazing assistants after all.” The younger woman said with a beaming smile.

“I am just glad I could help you, Okino-”

“Nope! Just Yoko! And no honorifics either!” Okino-san stopped Eri resolutely. “And if you ever need any help, be it tickets or anything else showbiz-related, never hesitate to contact me, Kisaki-sensei!”

“I… Thank you, Yoko,” Eri smiled. “And in that case, please, call me Eri.”

“I have no problem with that,” Yoko nodded beaming. Knowing that if she didn’t do it now, Eri would lose her courage, she reached into her bag.

“There is actually one thing you could do for me now. I was wondering if you could sign this for a fan of yours.” Eri asked, presenting a CD with all of Yoko’s most recent songs on it.

“Of course,” Yoko nodded and pulled out a marker from her handbag. “Is it for the kids?”

“Ah, no,” Eri said, trying to get her emotions under control as she prepared to utter the next few words: “It’s for my late husband. His name was Mouri Kogoro.”

Chapter Text

“Definitely a lot of people here,” Ran commented as she, Shinichi, and Kisaki-san slowly made their way toward the cloakroom. Shinichi had to admit that his friend’s observation was on point; there were still nearly fifty people in line behind the trio, with more coming in via elevator, while the conference room itself was a hive of noise.

“It’s going to be hard to spot someone in here, Shinichi,” Ran pointed out, but Shinichi tried not to get too discouraged as he scanned the crowds around them.

“Maybe, but we know what the men look like… And I have a sneaking suspicion that even if they don’t show themselves, we’ll know their associates.”

“Black from head to toe, correct?” Kisaki-san confirmed as she herself was looking around suspiciously.

“Yep,” Shinichi nodded checking his stun watch just in case. After the incident on Tsukikage Island, Hakase had improved the design slightly with a new addition; now, whenever the targeting reticule popped up, an elastic band built into the watch strap would righten, making it impossible to twist the watch in any direction, unless their arm was physically moved. The little upgrade should make it so that situations like what Seiji did, would be nigh-impossible.

“Well, for now, we should just try and enjoy ourselves a little,” Kisaki-san suggested as they moved slightly forward in the line toward the cloakroom desk. Shinichi was about to protest but held his tongue. As much as he wanted to focus solely on finding the members of the organization that were here at ‘Mantendo’ he knew that some time to unwind might be necessary. As it was, he, Ran, and Kisaki-san had been working non-stop either trying to find leads or to wrap up the many cases that kept popping up around them.

“I guess you have a point, Eri-no-obasan,” Shinichi agreed forcing a bit of a smile.

“Still, it’s a good thing they were able to get the invitation extended to us as well,” Ran commented, clearly wanting to take a break herself, looking around the lobby. Shinichi realized that growing up with her dad, Ran probably didn’t have a lot of reasons to attend such events.

“Finding space for two extra guests was trivial really,” an excited, younger voice chimed in, causing the trio to look back. The person who spoke was a young man, with an excited expression, and black, parted hair. Shinichi’s eyes zeroed in on the man’s ID tag that hung around his neck, indicating he was a ‘Mantendo’ employee. “After all, we’d do anything to accommodate the person who made our dream of a realistic lawyer game a possibility.” The man bowed respectfully to Kisaki-san, who in turn seemed to have remembered him;

“Good evening… Nakajima-san, correct?” Kisaki-san asked.

“Ah, yes, Nakajima Hideaki, lead game developer,” Nakajima-san beamed. “So glad you remember me from over a year ago, Kisaki-sensei.”

“I made a point to review some of the information from last year,” Kisaki-san admitted humbly. “Would hate to appear rude.”

Shinichi barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Kisaki-san’s showmanship; she had spent all of two glances at the documents and recalled everything. Shinichi was honestly a little sad the woman wasn’t a detective. The Tokyo MPD desperately needed more competent people.

“Ah, I am glad you did, Kisaki-sensei,” Nakajima-san nodded. “After all, it’s because of you our game will be successful. I am sure you’ll be the talk of the party because of it.”

“I am sure you helped with the programming a great deal more than I did by pointing out a few inconsistencies, Nakajima-san,” Kisaki-san continued to deflect praise. Shinichi noted that to the side, Ran was smiling, clearly happy with her mother’s involvement in something like this. Thinking carefully, Shinichi realized that this was the first time Kisaki-san had been amidst other people in a while without it having to be for work, or a case.

Before Nakajima-san could continue the conversation, another man approached, also wearing a ‘Mantendo’ ID badge, though his hair was styled slightly different, with a patch of curly hair at the front. His expression was also far more condescending than that of Nakajima-san, the fact exacerbated, by the man’s more angular features.

“Nakajima really is a great programmer,” the new arrival interjected with a taunting smirk. “It’d be even more impressive if he was the one who actually planned the game.”

“Ueda…” Nakajima-san muttered under his breath and Shinichi immediately noted the animosity. Something that was confirmed as soon as Ueda-san spoke up again, his tone faux-friendly;

“What a blunder though, mentioning the idea of hiring an actual lawyer for our game anywhere within earshot of you…” Ueda-san sighed dramatically. “And then three days later the boss is congratulating you for your presentation…”

“Ueda, stop it already! This is a party!” Nakajima-san growled, But Ueda wasn’t quite done yet;

“You’re a real genius at stealing stuff, aren’t you Nakajima?” Ueda-san pressed. “Ideas, jobs… Women. Right, Takeshita?” Ueda-san turned toward a third employee, a man with glasses and short, slicked-back hair.

“That’s in the past… I had forgotten about it already…” the man chuckled nervously.

“Your items, ma’am,” the lady at the cloakroom interrupted the brewing debate, asking for Kisaki-san’s coat.

“Ah, yes, here you go,” Kisaki-san handed over her coat in exchange for a number plate. Before Ran and Shinichi could get their turns though, Takeshita-san glanced at his watch and seemed to panic.

“We’re late!” Takeshita-san announced, spurring both of his colleagues to panic as well. “Can we please cut in front, kids?” the man asked.

“Uhm… Sure?” Ran motioned for them to step forward. As all three of the men stepped forward to hand in their suitcases, Shinichi noted that they were the exact same black suitcase with silver hardware and the ‘Mantendo’ logo on them. Something that Ran had also picked up on apparently;

“You all have the same suitcase?” Shinichi’s friend asked, and Takeshita-san answered;

“Suitcases, necktie pin, and wristwatch,” the bespectacled man replied with a peal of nervous laughter. “It was the president’s idea to leave an impression at the release.”

“Please don’t mix them up!” Nakajima-san insisted as he handed his own suitcase, before turning back toward the trio; “It’s as Takeshita said… Though the suitcases are big, heavy, and easy to mix up…” Ueda-san also joined in, whispering to Kisaki-san;

“That’s why most of us end up leaving them here, apart from the president-”

“Sorry about that…” a gruff voice interrupted and all three employees froze in place. Shinichi noted an older gentleman, with thinning hair, carrying the same briefcase as the others, a sour expression on his face. Even before he introduced himself, Shinichi figured it had to be the president.

“P-president, sir…” Ueda-san muttered, nervously. The man seemed to completely ignore his subordinates, instead turning toward Kisaki-san with a happy expression;

“Good evening, Kisaki-sensei,” he greeted with a polite bow. “It’s an honor to have had someone as distinguished as you helping out on this game.”

“As I told, Nakajima-san, it was no bother, Ishikawa-dono,” Kisaki-san replied, bowing in return.

“Ah, modest as well. A virtue that some young people could do well to inherit,” Ishikawa-san muttered under his breath before turning toward the three men who had just received their number plates from the cloakroom. “What are you standing here for? Go prep things inside the room! You’re holding up the line!”  he screamed, causing Nakajima-san, Ueda-san, and Takeshita-san to run into the conference room.

“That was weird,” Ran muttered as she handed over her coat to the lady at the desk.

“Eh, just some random office drama, Kirino,” Shinichi dismissed the scene as he grabbed his number. “Besides, we have our own work to focus on tonight.”

“Lucky 100!” Ran beamed at him, flashing her number plate. “Maybe it’s a good omen?”

“I got 101…But let’s hope at least you’ve got some luck,” Shinichi agreed, as he, Ran, and Kisaki-san entered the main event hall.

-DoDo-

“Should we split up?” Ran suggested as the three of them made their way through the crowd. The main party hall was quite packed, with various employees and guests mingling and talking, around the various games that were set up along the far wall, or the buffet tables. Ran noticed Nakajima-san and his colleagues taking turns demonstrating various games that the guests could try.

“Perhaps we should try and mingle a little as a group first,” Oka-san suggested, her own eyes flickering through the crowd. “That way if we spot something, we won’t have to risk attracting attention by running around to the others.”

Ran frowned a little at the suggestion. It made sense on paper, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that her mother merely wanted them nearby because she was scared for them. Shooting Shinichi a look, he nodded, probably having come to the same conclusion on his own. Well, they lost nothing by making sure her Oka-san had peace of mind, so Ran didn’t voice an objection;

“Let’s go around the games then,” Shinichi suggested. “Most of the people are there, and from the back, we can look at the doors as well.” Ran looked back, spotting several more people trickle in, the line at the cloakroom almost completely disappearing now.

“Shame I can’t do the ‘Test your might!’ game,” Ran noted, as they passed by Nakajima-san who was demonstrating the game, with Takeshita-san nearby, holding his suit blazer.

“Oh please! We can’t have you breaking the thing, Kirino,” Shinichi snickered, causing Ran to shoot him a dirty look.

“Oh really, Conan?” she asked in a sweet voice. “Would you like to explain how I’d break the game?”

“Uhm…” Shinichi gulped, as he began to sweat, eyes flicking back and forth trying to find a distraction of some sort. “Look, they have a ball tossing game!” he quickly pointed out with childish exuberance, trying to distract Ran.

“Well, let’s go and-” Oka-san tried to suggest, before stopping mid-sentence, her eyes drifting into the crowd. Noticing the sudden shift, Ran followed to where her mother was looking and saw him; a large man, easily towering over everyone else in the room, dressed in black. His face was hard, with sharp, rectangular features, with a thin black mustache. His eyes were partially hidden under the brim of a black fedora with a grey band.

“Conan is that…” Ran whispered the question, despite already knowing the answer.

“Must be,” Shinichi nodded, his eyes gazing at the huge man with a victorious glint in them. Their hunch had paid off.

“We need to make sure,” Oka-san reminded them. “We should try and plant one of the trackers on him.” She suggested and Shinichi proceeded to remove the tip of his glasses, activating the tracker.

“If we can put it on his collar somehow it would work best, since we’d be able to hear any phone calls he makes,” Shinichi suggested, causing Ran to frown.

“Even Eri-no-obasan, can’t reach that high without being inconspicuous,” she pointed out before a nearby scream of excitement drew her attention. Looking over, Ran spotted the ball-tossing game, and an idea wormed its way into her head. “We can get it in his fedora! Conan, be ready with the tracker!” Ran quickly instructed and dashed toward the stand where the ball game was being played before either Shinichi or her Oka-san could ask anything further.

Once, Ran made it in front of the game, where Ueda-san was explaining something to one of the guests, Ran made a point of loosening up one of her shoelaces before she innocently tugged on Ueda-san’s arm. Once the man looked down, Ran channeled her best Ayumi expression.

“Can I please have a go?” Ran asked, batting her eyelashes and trying her best to look like a kicked puppy. It worked, as Ueda-san almost immediately handed Ran a small plastic ball.

“Sure,” he said, directing Ran’s attention toward the game ahead. “The goal is to hit the target with the highest value. Think you can do that, little girl?” he explained patiently and pointed to the board ahead, where various flashing targets were illuminated, each with a different score written above them. Ran could faintly see the giant man’s form in the reflection of her glasses.

“Sure,” she nodded, and pulled her hand back, pretending to aim for a few moments. That proved enough for the man in black to approach the various game stalls, just close enough for Ran to have a clear shot. Taking a deep breath, Ran pivoted around, giving a fake panicked scream, as if she lost her balance. As soon as she spun around so that the man was in her field of vision, Ran tossed the ball, aiming straight for the man’s head. As she fell to the ground, Ran heard a startled grunt of pain, followed by a low curse.

Your move, Shinichi, Ran thought to herself, even as Ueda-san fussed over her, to see if she got hurt when she ‘fell.’

-DoDo-

Okay, Ran is a genius, Shinichi thought to himself as he observed his best friend and how she managed to knock the fedora off the man in black’s head without attracting any suspicion.

As soon as he saw the article of clothing be knocked off the giant’s head, Shinichi jogged over and grabbed it, as the tall man looked around to see who struck him. With a flick of his hand, disguised as if he was dusting off some lint from the hat, Shinichi slipped the tracker inside the fedora’s band, near the base. Hopefully, the ridge would conceal the small piece of plastic from a casual glance, allowing Shinichi and Ran to listen in on any conversations.

“Here you go, ojisan!” Shinichi held up the hat for the man, trying to draw his attention before he spotted Ran. While Shinichi doubted the man would do something drastic in the middle of everyone, it was good to be on the safe side. The giant looked down at Shinichi, fixing the shrunken teen with his black eyes, causing Shinichi to freeze. It was the same look that the silver-haired man had back at Tropical Land. The look of an unrepentant murderer.

“Buzz off, brat!” the man growled as he swiped his hat back from Shinichi, his voice carrying a thick Kansai dialect. Without another word, the Kansai man walked through Shinichi, pushing him onto the ground.

“You okay, Conan-kun?” Kisaki-san asked, helping Shinichi up on his feet.

“Oh, I think I’ll be perfect,” Shinichi said with a smirk, as he saw the man put his hat back on. Without wasting any more time, Shinichi triggered the microphone function on the tracker.

“Did we get him?” Ran asked as she caught up to Shinichi and Kisaki-san.

“That we did,” Shinichi nodded and saw that Kisaki-san had also pulled out a pair of tracking glasses. “You grabbed those from Hakase, Eri-no-obasan?”

“At this point, I might just keep them with me, and claim they are second reading glasses,” Kisaki-san sighed as she swapped her glasses out. She appeared slightly inconvenienced by the change though. “So, let’s listen in…” she suggested, triggering the function.

“Urgh, where is that brat?” the man growled under his breath, barely loud enough for the microphone to pick up.

“He’s meeting someone?” Ran whispered and Shinichi nodded. This proved that there is someone on the inside for the men in black at ‘Mantendo.’ It also meant it wasn’t the big guy, which made sense.

“Late on top of everything, let’s see…” the Kansai-man sighed and Shinichi could hear him dialing on a cell phone, probably a burner. “Vodka, it’s Tequilla.”

“Interesting codenames,” Kisaki-san mused, and Shinichi noted that she was already taking notes. Before Shinichi could reply though, his thoughts were brought to a screeching halt, as the tracker, appeared to pick up the person on the other end of the line, probably by dint of being close enough to the phone speaker.

And it was a voice that Shinichi recognized;

“You’re late, old man!” an easy-going sounding voice mocked Tequila from the other end of the line. The exact same easy-going voice Shinichi remembered from that faithful night at Tropical Land.

“It’s him… One of the two men…” Shinichi muttered as he felt cold sweat run down his back.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure, Conan-kun?” Eri asked, as panic entered her voice. If this was indeed one of the two men who were responsible for Shinichi and Ran’s current predicament, then this little hunch of theirs was the biggest find they could have hoped for. And yet… They were very much unprepared for this.

“Yeah, I’m sure…” Shinichi-kun nodded. “I was only dazed, and me and Ran heard them beforehand as well, while they were making the deal.”

“Guys, they’re talking again,” Ran interrupted, and Eri almost cursed herself for potentially missing something. They could discuss their next steps after the phone call was over.

“-yours Vodka!” the giant man, Tequila, growled into the phone. “Unlike you, I have amateurs to work with. Not my fault the whelp hasn’t made the exchange yet.”

The word ‘exchange’ told Eri that Tequila was here to pick something up from an employee. Something that they could perhaps intercept, or trace. Whatever the case, Eri was sure that she couldn’t allow the man to leave the party with his prize.

“Fine by me,” Vodka said dismissively. “I get to enjoy a bit more leisure time before picking you up.”

“So nothing new, huh?” Tequila sneered.

“Just make sure not to screw up, Tequila. Gin’s been extra paranoid lately,” Vodka replied, causing Tequila to chuckle.

“You guys’ screw-ups won’t affect me, Vodka. Talk to you after I get the package,” Tequila said, before closing the line. It wasn’t a lot of information, and while Eri would have loved to have the call recorded, it still offered them something to go off.

“We need to stop him from getting whatever that package is,” Shinichi-kun said resolutely. And while Eri agreed, there were a few problems with that idea;

“While I agree Conan, how do you propose we do that?” Eri asked and Ran nodded next to her;

“We don’t even know what Tequila is supposed to be picking up. It could be a thumb drive, or a CD even.” Eri’s daughter pointed out. Eri was forced to agree, and that was still a better-case scenario than Tequila just receiving some information verbally. Shinichi though, appeared undeterred;

“In that case, me and Kirino will follow him around. Eri-no-obasan, can you get Ishikawa-san?” he asked.

“I probably could,” Eri admitted, quickly locating the president, who was talking with several people near the buffet table. “I am guessing you want me to inform him there might be a corporate spy?” Eri asked, piecing together Shinichi’s idea.

“Yep. If me and Kirino can spot him doing something suspicious, we could get him detained.” Shinichi smirked, but Ran voiced the thought that Eri herself had;

“But that would only work if he has something on him,” Ran said.

“I know, but we don’t really have much of a choice,” Shinichi admitted. “Now let’s go, otherwise we might lose track of him and the handoff could happen without us realizing.”

“Go,” Eri nodded, trying to squash her instincts to keep Ran back. “I’ll inform the president. Just… Be careful! Both of you!”

“We will,” Ran assured her with a smile, before following Shinichi in the direction that Tequila was milling about. Taking a moment to steel herself, Eri schooled her face to not betray any of her fears and misgivings. Replacing the tracking glasses for her normal pair, the lawyer started to make her way toward Ishikawa-dono. Fortunately, it didn’t take her long, to reach the group of chatting businessmen, even though they didn’t seem to notice her quite yet. Gently clearing her throat, Eri attracted the president’s attention.

“Apologies for the interruption, Ishikawa-dono, but there is something I need to tell you,” Eri began, before glancing at the other gentlemen. “In private if possible.”

“Of course,” the president nodded, turning briefly to his companions. “I’ll be a minute, friends,” he excused himself before following Eri a dozen or so steps away to a more secluded part of the room. “I hope none of my employees have been harassing you, Kisaki-sensei?” Ishikawa-dono muttered darkly.

“Nothing of the sort,” Eri shook her head. “But it does pertain to your company, Ishikawa-dono. I overheard a phone conversation earlier, and I am afraid it sounded like corporate espionage.” The words made Ishikawa-dono flinch, his expression darkening.

“Who?”

-DoDo-

Despite only following the man in black, Ran could feel her hands clam up with cold sweat. The shrunken teen couldn’t tell if it was fear or excitement though. Quite probably it was a combination of the two, given how well everything seemed to fit thus far. Not only did they find a connection, a tangible one to the men who shrunk her and Shinichi, but they also had information and a plan. If everything worked out well, they might even get a dose of that poison for Hakase to work on. The mere thought of having their old bodies back was enough to make lightning course through Ran’s body, as she was barely able to contain her excitement.

And despite all that, Ran couldn’t shake the feeling of dread in her stomach. Like something was about to go dreadfully wrong.

Glancing to her left, Ran saw Shinichi casually walking around the room, with a glass of juice in his hand, pretending to be a mesmerized child. All the while, Ran could see that her friend wasn’t taking his eyes off Tequila for a moment, despite how many people tried to ask him where his parents were.

So far, the gargantuan man hadn’t stopped to talk to anyone at the party, or even pick anything up. At most, he ran into a few people, rudely shoving them aside and not even bothering to apologize. Given the man’s size, few of the employees from ‘Mantendo’ or the caterers were willing to even meet the man’s gaze, much less protest his actions.

Ran had to admit it was rather strange, that he wasn’t even trying to be subtle about his movements or hide his utter disdain for those around him. Just as Ran was about to make her way over to where Shinichi was standing to see if her friend spotted anything she might have missed, Tequila ran into Takeshita-san and Nakajima-san at the same time, knocking both people aside. Takeshita-san actually fell down on the floor, but Nakajima-san managed to retain his balance.

“Watch where you’re going, sir!” Nakajima-san growled at Tequila, even as he helped his colleague up from the floor. Tequila merely scoffed, before he started toward the buffet table.

“Anything?” Shinichi approached Ran from behind, startling her a little.

“Nothing I noticed, no,” Ran admitted. “You?”

“I think he’s been bumping into people on purpose,” Shinichi admitted.

“I could tell that much, but not why,” Ran rolled her eyes.

“It’s because he wants people to not question it,” Shinichi explained. “It’s probably how he plans to grab whatever the package is. By pretending to bump into someone and them quickly swapping items, nobody would suspect him.”

“That’s… I never would have guessed,” Ran admitted, but Shinichi shook his head.

“Don’t feel bad. The only reason I could figure it out was because Tousan used this trick in one of his ‘Night Baron’ books,” Shinichi confessed.

“So, we just wait until he heads to the door?” Ran surmised, since even with the explanation, she failed to see another way to just guess when Tequila had something illegal on him.

“Pretty much,” Shinichi confirmed. Just as he did, the man in black started slowly inching his way toward the door, clearly not in any hurry. Ran also found it interesting that he continued his rude behavior, shoving people aside.

“Shall we?” Shinichi proposed, and Ran nodded. It was time to get some answers.

-DoDo-

“Ah-le-le!” Shinichi shouted as loudly as he could, as soon as he saw Tequila exchange a number plate at the cloakroom for a briefcase. One of the employee briefcases to be more precise. “Do you work for ‘Mantendo’ ojisan?” Shinichi asked trying to sound innocent, even as Tequila was staring down at him with what could only be described as murderous intent.

Even so, everything was working exactly as Shinichi expected it to; They had Tequila dead to rights with a briefcase he shouldn’t have, Kisaki-san had the company president coming along with security and Ran was nearby, with her tranquilizer watch in case Tequila tried to make a run for it.

Before the Kansai man could move though, Ishikawa-dono spoke up, his tone carrying a lot more authority than Shinichi would have expected.

“That is something I would like to know myself, Mister…”

“Nakayama Hideyuki,” Tequila supplied a name with a grow, barely even acknowledging the president, eyes still fixed on Shinichi. “And this case is mine. I had the number plate and everything.” He snapped, turning around to leave, but two, admittedly intimidated, security guards stepped forward blocking his path.

“That is all well and good, Nakayama-san, but the number plate can be stolen. I need to request that this briefcase be inspected,” Ishikawa-dono explained.

“Under what authority?” Tequila challenged.

“If there is sufficient cause to believe a theft of corporate assets is taking place on company grounds,” Kisaki-san’s voice carried clearly across the lobby, easily overpowering all the whispers and noise around her. “The president or other high-ranking members of the company may request a search of anybody on the premises to ascertain whether or not the theft is taking place. It’s the law.” She finished her statement, with a smirk. Taking his cue, Ishikawa-dono held up his hand.

“The briefcase, Nakayama-san,” he requested.

“Fine,” Tequila nodded, placing the key on the cloakroom desk. “I have the key in my-” he tried to say, reaching into his suit jacket, but Ishikawa-dono again stopped him.

“No need. I have a master key for these,” Ishikawa-dono explained, pulling out a large keyring from his pocket. “Step aside, Nakayama-san,” Tequila raised his hand in surrender and took two steps back from the briefcase, as the company president approached. Despite his deceptively calm demeanor, Shinichi could tell that the giant was trying to figure out a way out of this predicament. Mindful of that, Shinichi signaled Ran to have her watch ready.

“Appears to be one of ours, yes…” the president scrutinized, examining the hardware of the case for a few moments, before selecting a key. “Guards, please prepare to detain Nakayama-san if this does contain company information,” he instructed as he inserted the key into the briefcase lock.

Shinichi could feel his excitement rising as the briefcase unlocked. They were about to take their first step toward getting back to normal and taking those bastards in black down… A click was heard once Ishikawa-dono raised the briefcase lid. The sound caused everything that Shinichi felt a heartbeat ago to come to a screeching halt as he realized all too well what that noise was.

“Get-” his warning fell on deaf ears, an explosion engulfing the lobby. Shinichi himself was flung back from the shockwave, crashing against the nearby wall, the impact causing his vision to black out for a few moments. His ears were ringing briefly, and the smell of burned wood, metal, and flesh drowned his senses. The hissing sounds of fire extinguishers sounded throughout the lobby served to further confuse Shinichi’s mind. He could feel someone screaming something. A lot of people screaming actually, but two of them were much closer than the others. Removing his sooth-covered glasses, Shinichi blinked a few times and managed to get his vision back to normal, only to see Ran and Kisaki-san standing over him, clearly concerned.

“Conan! Conan are you-” Ran called out to him, but Shinichi ignored it, pushing past the two worried women, trying to get a better look at what had happened. The bomb, whatever it was, was powerful, having blasted most of the cloakroom desk to smithereens. A good ten feet from the site of the explosion, a charred body lay, still smoking from having just been put out with fire extinguishers. Ishikawa-dono was dead, no two ways about it. Shinichi glanced around and spotted Tequila’s body, the giant also having been flung away from the explosion, groaning in pain. It took a moment, but Shinichi’s eyes zeroed in on a large piece of metal having impaled the man’s stomach.

“A-ambulance!” Shinichi croaked out.

“Conan-kun are you-” Kisaki-san tried to ask, but Shinichi interrupted her.

“We need to save him!” he snapped. “Get an ambulance before he bleeds out!”

“Kirino-” Kisaki-san muttered and Ran nodded, pulling out her cell phone. Even as she did though, Shinichi’s mind raced;

Why would Tequila’s informant want to kill him?

-DoDo-

“Paramedics are on site now, Keibu,” Takagi informed his superior as the inspector took a left turn.

“Casualties, Takagi-kun?” Megure-keibu asked as they passed an intersection.

“According to initial reports, one dead, and one seriously injured. The injured man was suspected of corporate espionage before the explosion,” Takagi recounted. “A few minor scrapes and bruises as well, but nothing that requires immediate attention. At least that’s the report we got from Kirino-chan.”

“And that means, Eri-san is there as well, correct?”

“Unless the kids are there alone, yes,” Takagi nodded. The fact that Kisaki-san was once again near a serious crime, two even if one counted the corporate espionage, was really bothering Takagi. While neither he nor Sato-san had found anything yet that could explain the sudden string of appearances the lawyer had around crime scenes, it was starting to become a little more than just (un)lucky coincidences.

Neither Takagi, nor Sato-san had mentioned anything to Megure-keibu yet, since they didn’t have any concrete evidence, but sooner or later something would pop up. Especially since Kisaki-san appeared in more and more crime scenes.

As Megure-keibu took the last turn before they arrived at the address, Takagi glanced outside the window of the car, glancing at the cordon or onlookers that had gathered around the police barricades, gawking at the building where the explosion took place. While Takagi scanned the crowd though, one particular person stood out to him; a stocky man, wearing a black, three-piece suit, with sunglasses and a fedora on his head. The man was talking on a cell phone, a sense of urgency in his posture.

Takagi immediately recognized him as the man who claimed to be Uokka Saburo, from the Tropical Land case.

But what was he doing here? Takagi and Sato-san had spent weeks looking for the two men from the Tropical Land murder and found nothing, only for him to show up randomly at an explosion. There was no way that Takagi could let such an opportunity pass by.

“Takagi-kun, we’re here!” Megure-keibu drew Takagi’s attention to the fact that they had parked in front of the building where the paramedics were parked, along with an ambulance.

“Ah, K-Keibu- I-” Takagi tried to speak up, but was interrupted as the medics rushed out of the building, with a stretcher, fussing over a truly gargantuan man, who barely fit inside the stretcher. His face was contorted in pain, as he appeared conscious, while a large volume of blood was pooling around his stomach. What really drew Takagi’s attention though was how similar the victim was dressed to Uokka-san, right down to the black fedora. Given the two men’s similar style of dress, and Uokka-san being near the location of the explosion, Takagi’s mind almost immediately leapt to thinking that they were somehow acquaintances. While it was a little bit of a leap admittedly, Takagi’s instincts told him it was the right conclusion.

And that meant that he had to ensure either he or Sato-san interviewed the man.

“This is the victim suspected of corporate espionage?” Megure-keibu asked the medical staff, as they loaded the wounded giant onto the ambulance.

“Yes, Inspector! He’s lost a lot of blood and we need to get him to a hospital, otherwise, he might not make it,” the paramedic explained.

“Keep me posted,” Takagi’s superior said, and the junior detective realized this would be the best timing he’d have;

“Ah, Megure-keibu,” Takagi raised his hand.

“What is it, Takagi-kun?”

“Wouldn’t it be best if we place someone at the hospital to guard the man,” Takagi suggested, trying to sound as earnest as possible. “After all, he could try to bail as soon as he wakes up.”

“Hmmm…” the senior officer looked at the ambulance as it was departing, clearly mulling over the suggestion, before nodding. “Fine, if you can get Chiba-kun to-”

“Uhm,” Takagi cleared his throat. “I think Chiba had some reports due by tomorrow, yeah… he-he…” Sorry, Chiba! Takagi apologized inwardly for lying about his friend slacking off. “But I think Sato-san is currently free,” Takagi suggested, trying to make it sound like the most innocent idea on the planet. Despite his attempts though, Megure-keibu merely raised an eyebrow, clearly suspicious.

“And how do you know that, Takagi-kun?” Megure-keibu asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Oh, uhm… I- I overheard Yumi-san and Sato-san talking this afternoon, yes,” Takagi managed to lie as best he could, hoping that the story wouldn’t get too scrutinized. Fortunately for the sweating detective, Megure-keibu nodded and turned toward the building.

“In that case, call Sato-kun and get her to go to the hospital,” Takagi’s superior instructed. “Afterwards, follow me inside, and start taking statements from the guests. Understood?”

“Yes, Keibu!” Takagi affirmed with a salute. He waited just long enough for Megure-keibu to enter the building before he pulled out his cell phone and speed-dialed his colleague. True to form, Sato-san didn’t take more than a couple of rings, before picking up;

“Sato here! What is it Takagi-kun?”

“We might have a lead…”

-DoDo-

“Are you sure you’re okay, Conan-kun?” Kisaki-san asked as Shinichi rubbed the back of his head where his head had hit the wall from the explosion.

“I’m okay, Eri-no-obasan,” Shinichi assured her, though he could see neither she nor Ran looked particularly convinced. The fact that his forehead was bloody probably didn’t help. Quickly wiping the trail of blood with his shirt’s sleeve, Shinichi blinked away the remaining dark spots from his vision, before speaking again; “Besides, we have to figure out who planted the bomb.” He affirmed glancing over at Megure-keibu who was already starting to organize people to take statements.

“Even so, we’ll have to answer some questions first,” Kisaki-san pointed out. It made sense, given that it was him and Kisaki-san who were closest to the victims when the bomb exploded, apart from the security officers. Not to mention Kisaki-san made a strong impression when she gave the reason for them to search the briefcase.

“Okay…” Shinichi thought for a moment. They needed a way to track down the bomber… And he might just have had an idea. “Kirino, can you try and find the number plate Tequila had?” Shinichi asked, turning toward Ran.

“Wouldn’t it be somewhere over there?” she asked, pointing to the center of the explosion, where the forensics team was already working.

“Maybe,” Shinichi admitted. “But I think it’s more likely that it got blasted somewhere further inside. After all, the explosion happened shortly after Tequila gave back the number plate and a lot of things happened that would have distracted the girls at reception. They might not have had time to put it back.”

“That also means it would be fairly warped, from the blast,” Kisaki-san pointed out and Shinichi nodded.

“Further back and warped. Got it! Okay, I’ll do my best,” Ran nodded and turned to walk away, but Kisaki-san stopped her;

“Kirino, also make sure to stay away from other ‘Mantendo’ briefcases, just in case,” Ran’s mother cautioned her daughter. Shinichi supposed that it was out of fear that another bomb had been placed there.

“I’ll be careful, Eri-no-obasan,” Ran nodded before staring toward the cloakroom.

“Time to get to work,” Shinichi said to Kisaki-san with a smirk.

“Aren’t we always working lately?” the older woman sighed.

Chapter Text

Gin was not having a good night.

First, a low-level grunt got into their head that they could try and make demands of their betters. An easy enough thing to correct, but it was bothersome and prevented Gin from unwinding with a drink since he had to take care of the body. If he remembered the bastard’s name, Gin would have cursed him.

And now Vodka had called that Tequila had somehow gotten himself in police custody after an explosion sent him to the hospital. And that was a problem, not only for Gin, but the organization in general. Tequila was positioned highly enough that if he was somehow made to talk, he could compromise quite a few locations and cells, especially on the east coast of Japan. Not unrecoverable, but it would set them back months. Even if they managed to get Tequila out, they’d still have to blow up his base of operations as a precaution.

And getting him out on short notice and unseen was impossible. If they had time to plan, Gin would have entertained the idea, but not like this, especially since they were understaffed in higher-level operatives in Tokyo right now.

This only left the option to eliminate Tequila as quickly as possible, but that presented its own problems; Gin himself would stick out like a sore thumb, even if he wasn’t a three-hour drive away from Tokyo. Vodka would be less suspicious, but they had both had run-ins with the police recently with that Tropical Land decapitation debacle and that left them still a bit too fresh in the minds of some of the inspectors. Gin would have preferred if he could get Chianti or Korn to simply kill Vodka from several blocks over, but there was no way to write this off as a random murder, especially with the high-profile explosion Tequila was involved in.

They could have just waited for a while; Tequila knew the procedures and he’d stall for time, either faking an amnesia or merely stonewalling until an attorney could be brought in… But if someone made the connection between Tequila, Gin, and Vodka somehow, which wasn’t impossible given Vodka’s reports on which detectives were on the scene, it would make the situation bad. Perhaps even bad enough that that person might decide to intervene themself, which would end with a lot of body bags. And Gin’s would be the first among them.

And between the police and that person, Gin was willing to risk Vodka’s safety to clean up the loose end that was Tequila. Having made up his mind, Gin picked up his burned phone and dialed Vodka;

“You’ve got a plan, aniki?” Vodka asked, the sound of an engine in the background.

“Are you following the ambulance?”

“They just stopped at Tokyo General,” Vodka confirmed.

“Good. Find a way inside and deliver him a little severance package,” Gin instructed. “I think Vermouth had a few mask packages in a location near the hospital. Check with Records on that. Sneak in as a janitor and deliver the package like that.”

“Understood, aniki! I’ll call you when it’s done,”

“Good. Maintain radio silence until then just in case. Call phone #3,” Gin instructed before he disconnected the line. Cycling through the other numbers on the burner, he quickly found the one he needed and dialed.

“Good evening, you’ve reached the ‘Cocktail’ bar! How may I help you?” a friendly enough voice picked up the phone, but Gin knew better. The bartender was one of theirs after all.

“It’s Gin. Your location’s compromised. Clear out fully and scrub everything. You have thirty minutes.” Gin gave the curt instructions.

“Casualties?”

“Need a few for an accident. Any non-regulars will do. Pick the most disposable staff members as well. Clock’s ticking,” Gin shrugged, before disconnecting the line. With a flick of his hands, the silver-haired man snapped the burner phone in two, tossing it under the tires of his Porsche to crush it once he set out.

-DoDo-

Ran managed to sneak into the cloakroom with little effort, as the forensics team was focused solely on the spot where the explosion took place. The cloakroom, apart from the reception was actually still in good condition, with the majority of coats and suitcases only covered in a fine layer of sooth. A few bits and pieces of wood littered the floor, and Ran tried her best to not step on them, both not to attract attention and because she didn’t want to be accused of disturbing the crime scene.

As she tiptoed around, Ran could hear Megure-keibu talk with various people, her Oka-san and Shinichi included. They were probably recounting a modified version of what had actually happened, and trying to get the police to detain Tequila. And if the man survived and they could talk with him… Or even just find a sample of that poison…

Getting ahead of myself! Ran shook her head, instead trying to focus on the task at hand. There were several pieces of metal down on the ground, including a warped bell from the desk, and what Ran assumed were pieces of the suitcase itself, a warped ‘Mantendo’ emblem cluing her into that. Taking another few steps, Ran spotted a clump of charred wood, something gleaming inside. Straining her eyes, the shrunken teen saw that it was a bent number plate, half-concealed by sooth.

Grinning, Ran pulled out a handkerchief and grabbed the metal piece, somewhat surprised that it was still warm. Turning it around, and gently wiping the surface, Ran managed to make out the number ’98.’

Frowning a little, Ran reached into her own pocket, pulling out the number plate she received for her own coat, reading the number 100, clear on it. That meant that the person who exchanged suitcases with Tequila was someone who handed their briefcase in before Ran… And the only ones who could have done so were the three men that they met at the reception.

Ran sighed when she realized it meant one of them was not only a murderer but someone willing to sell out their friends for money. It was getting tiring that half the people they met were murderers. Pocketing the burnt number plate, Ran slowly made her way back out into the lobby, where she spotted Megure-keibu taking Oka-san and Shinichi’s statements.

“-didn’t notice who might have exchanged something with the victim?” Ran overheard the inspector ask her mother.

“No, Keibu… But as I mentioned, I overheard the conversation by accident. It’s entirely possible the exchange happened beforehand,” Ran’s mother lied.

“But the man was super rude and kept bumping into people,” Shinichi added in his ‘Conan’ voice. It amazed Ran how easily the role of ‘annoying kid’ came to her friend sometimes.

“Bumping into people? On purpose?” the inspector asked, and Ran added her own voice to the discussion;

“Yes! Very rude, and didn’t even apologize most of the time,” Ran slowly turned toward the three men who were nearby; “Isn’t that right, Nakajima-san? Takeshita-san?” Ran asked, Shinichi’s eyes immediately zeroing in on the two men, while Oka-san nodded slowly;

“Yes, I recall Conan-kun mentioning that the two of you getting into some sort of altercation with the man,” the lawyer scrutinized the two ‘Mantendo’ employees. That action appeared enough for Megure-keibu to also become interested in the men’s answer. Surprisingly, it was Takeshita-san who spoke up, his voice quite shaken;

“Uhm yes, that’s true… I had just met up with Nakajima after we demonstrated some games,” the bespectacled man explained.

“Which games, exactly?” Megure-keibu pressed, and Nakajima-san spoke up, though even Ran could tell that his voice was quite shaky. Even more so than Takeshita-san’s which was impressive;

“W-well… Since we both used to be in the same boxing club in college… Uhm, I demonstrated the ‘Test your Might!’ game while Takeshita assisted… Uhm… Right, yeah.” Nakajima-san managed to say, before stopping to wipe off some sweat from his forehead.

“And have you met the man before?” Megure-keibu pressed.

“N-no, not that I recalled…” Nakajima-san muttered and Takeshita-san nodded along. Ran decided that this would be the perfect time to show everyone what she found;

“Oh, Eri-no-obasan,” Ran began, drawing all attention to herself. “I found that thing you asked me to look for!” the shrunken teen announced, pulling the half-melted number plate.

“Is that-” Megure-keibu tried to ask, but Ran’s mother preempted him;

“I asked Kirino to look around the back, just in case the numberplate ended up there, yes,” Oka-san confirmed as she picked up the charred piece of metal from Ran. As she did, Shinichi must have noticed something, because he piped up again;

“Oh, wow! That’s so close to our numbers, isn’t it Kirino?” he drew attention to the number, and Megure-keibu scrutinized it. “I got 101 and you got 100!”

“9…8?” he muttered his eyes. “So, whoever gave him this number was just before you three, right?” the inspector asked, and Ran saw that her Oka-san realized exactly which three were the suspects.

“Before the children, and after me, yes,” Oka-san explained, raising her own number plate, which depicted ’96.’ “That’s because, Nakajima-san, Ueda-san, and Takeshita-san insisted they hand over their briefcases as quickly as possible, isn’t that right gentlemen?” she asked, and Ran saw all the men take a step back at the accusation. Megure-keibu for his part, merely turned to face them squarely, his grim expression flickering between the three;

“Is that correct?”

-DoDo-

Shinichi watched the three men who were suspected try their best to answer Megure-keibu’s questions. The deduction presented by Kisaki-san had been on point so far and the evidence was solid. It was clear that Tequila’s man on the inside was one of those three, and the check was ridiculously easy to do and even Megure-keibu had realized it; simply have them show their number plates.

And yet, why did Shinichi feel something wasn’t right?

It made sense that someone would want to try and get away from the thumb of people like Tequila and his companions, but this was sloppy and very risky. After all, there was every possibility that Tequila would want to open the briefcase here to check its content. If a bombing happened at their own company’s reveal party, the culprit might get suspected if they weren’t being careful.

And then there was the fact that Tequila clearly had people who worked with him. Even if someone eliminated the giant man, there was every possibility reprisal would be quick to follow. Something Shinichi was all too familiar with. On the very night, Shinichi met them, these men in black killed six people merely to cover their tracks. A single employee would have been child’s play, especially one that was selling secrets. It practically screamed suicide.

Adding all that up, it was almost like Tequila wasn’t the intended target.

“Nakajima-san, care to explain why your number plate is a much higher number than it was supposed to be?” Megure-keibu’s words brought Shinichi out of his realization.

“I- Uhm… It’s probably a m-mistake at the cloakroom…” Nakajima-san tried to defend himself weakly, but Kisaki-san pressed;

“In that case, I assume there’d be no reason for us not to look into your briefcase to make sure everything is okay, correct Nakajima-san?” she asked, and Shinichi could see the man’s composure break completely. But out of the corner of his eyes, Shinichi noticed someone else who was also quite uncomfortable with the idea; Takeshita-san appeared to be inching away from his colleagues.

Could it be that- Shinichi thought for a moment, before a smirk formed on his lips. So, his deduction regarding Tequila’s death was correct. Now all he had to do was prove it… And Takeshita-san looked more than willing to do it for him.

“I-I guess, but I don’t see why-” Nakajima-san tried to deflect, but Kisaki-san cleared her throat;

“The police can inspect the suitcase since there is a reason to believe it could be tied to an active case,” the lawyer explained. “Of course, you are free to deny that request, but in either case, the suitcase will probably be detained as evidence pending the wrap-up of this case.”

“After all, I imagine all the items in the cloakroom will have to be at least checked for fingerprints and if some are perhaps found on the briefcase you claim is yours…” Kisaki-san trailed off, as Nakajima-san hung his head in shame, fists clenched.

“Fine!” Nakajima-san spat out. “I talked with that man. He forced me to sell him a list of programmers from the company. I figured it was for a rival company, but he- He threatened me, I swear!” the employee pleaded with the inspector, but it was clear that Kisaki-san wasn’t going to believe him that easily;

“Really, Nakajima-san?” Ran’s mother asked, crossing her arms. “If he threatened you, then please explain why you tried to set off a bomb in-”

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t kill him! I- I have no idea who planted the bomb!” The man raved. “You- You have to believe me! Why, if the deal didn’t take place today, I would have been-”

“You would have been the one who got blown up,” Shinichi spoke up suddenly, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. “Is that what you wanted to say Nakajima-san?”

“Yes! Yes!” the man nodded fervently. “I… I have no idea… Look, he paid me, okay! The big man, Nakayama, or whatever his real name! He threatened me, but promised to pay me! So I-”

“You did what you did best, didn’t you?!” Takeshita-san screamed, all of his pretense of composure gone. “Just like at college! Just like when you killed Yoshimi!” he lunged at Nakajima-san grabbing the man by the collar.

“Yoshimi?” Megure-keibu asked confused. Surprisingly, it was Ueda-san who answered first, his voice just as bewildered, at watching his friends’ breakdowns.

“She was the manager of our boxing club in college,” Ueda-san explained. “Nakajima and her… They dated for a while but when they broke up. She committed suicide.”

Shinichi watched as the two men were finally separated by the police officers on the scene, a twinge of sadness lancing through him as he realized how the company president was nothing more than an unintended casualty of a years-long grudge. And yet, Shinichi knew there was one thing he needed to ask;

“Where?” he spoke up, forgoing his usual childish tone, instead trying to infuse as much of his teenage self into the words as he could. It seemed to have the desired effect, as it managed to bring all attention to himself for better or worse.

“H-huh?” Nakajima-san muttered, still in shock, even as Takagi-keiji was putting the handcuffs on his hands.

“Where did you meet Nakayama-san?” Shinichi demanded, uncaring for neither the stares he was attracting, nor Ran’s hand trying to pull him back, nor Kisaki-san shocked expression at his brazen disregard for staying unnoticed. Whatever it was though, it seemed to work, as Nakajima-san muttered a reply;

“I- I always met him at a bad named ‘Cocktail’ which is on the topmost floor of the Beika Daikoku building,” Nakajima-san recited.

“Conan-kun what’s this ab-” Megure-keibu tried to ask, but Shinichi didn’t wait, instead breaking off into a dash, slipping out from Ran’s grasp.

He had a location, he had names, he had a target! Those were the only things that ran through Shinichi’s mind as he sprinted as quickly as he could, making his way past all the gathered onlookers. Behind him, Shinichi could hear both Ran and Kisaki-san calling after him, but he ignored the calls, instead focusing on the fact that they were following him. That was good since he’d need Kisaki-san to get him to the location of this bar. And if not, then he’d have to get a cab.

Whatever happened though, Shinichi vowed to himself that he’d make it to that bar.

-DoDo-

Sato Miwako was usually a reserved person when she was at work. Sure, she smiled, made small talk, and enjoyed time with her colleagues, especially Yumi and Takagi-kun, but she still acted with a degree of poise one expected out of a police officer. At home, she could unwind, spend all day lazing about watching dramas, while eating and laughing at the same time… Much to her mother’s mortification.

Right now though, Sato found it very hard not to start bouncing up and down in the elevator as she waited to reach the floor where the man she wanted to meet recovered. It was the first, somewhat tangible lead they’ve had to anybody who might relate to what had happened to Mouri Kogoro and whatever secrets Kisaki Eri held. When Takagi-kun had called her and explained the situation to her, she almost scared every single detective in the bullpen when she ran out of the office, determined to get to that hospital before anybody else.

On the way there, Sato also ensured that the hospital staff were aware that the man must be put under supervision as soon as he was out of the operations room. That call also confirmed that the doctors were reasonably sure that the man would make it. He might even wake up shortly after the operation, as amazingly, there were no life-threatening injuries, the piece of metal having missed any vital organs.

All in all, even with the speed limits and several driving laws Sato broke on her way there, Megure-keibu would not at all be angry once they gave him the good news. Try as he did to hide it, Sato’s superior was shaken by the death of his former subordinate, and finding information that could lead to the arrest of his killers would help.

The elevator finally chimed, and Sato smiled a truly predatory smile, as she made her way past the several other people in the elevator and oriented herself to find room 404 where she was directed to by the receptionist. As she located the room to her left though, Sato felt all the good feelings she had up to this point leave her, as she witnessed several nurses and a doctor come out of the room, with dejected looks on their faces, while a mortified security guard leaning against the wall. Fearing the worst, Sato approached the group, flashing her badge.

“Detective Sato, Metropolitan Police Department! There is a man in that room I need to question,” she explained, but the doctor, an elderly man, with small round glasses, and receding salt and pepper hair sighed.

“I’m sorry, Sato-keiji, but he died, less than three minutes ago,” the doctor explained.

“I thought he was supposed to make a full recovery…” Sato spared a moment to glance at the man’s tag “Hanaoka-sensei?”

“And he was,” Hanaoka-sensei nodded, wiping some sweat from his forehead. “Operation was a success, and the man was in stable condition. In fact, a nurse reported he woke up about 15 minutes ago.”

“Did he say anything?” Sato urged the man, but he shook his head.

“According to the nurse, he asked where he was, and what had happened. He looked disoriented and a bit scared. Classic signs of amnesia.”

“Did you have him examined?” Sato asked, not quite buying the excuse.

“I was going to have him scheduled for tests tomorrow, but… Well…” Hanaoka-sensei looked discouraged. “It was quite unexpected really. Full cardiac arrest, followed by several other major organs simply… Shutting down. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Was anybody in the room besides the nurse?” Sato asked, feeling her frustration rise, as she realized that her lead was now dead, mere minutes before she could question them. Instead of Hanaoka-sensei, it was the lone security guard who spoke up;

“Uhm, no Sato-keiji,” he explained. “I was diligent about not letting anyone in the room after we received your call. The only person who was nearby was a janitor, but he just did his job and left. I didn’t even let him into the room.”

“And he didn’t do anything suspicious the entire time?” Sato pressed.

“Well, he did fall down the poor man, spilling some cleaning supplies, and I helped him gather them up… But he never even made it past the door.” The security guard assured her. Still, Sato had a suspicion that the security guard must have missed something. A thought crossed her mind;

“Was the patient mobile? Could he move his arms and legs for instance?” she asked Hanaoka-sensei, the doctor somewhat confused.

“I, yes, he could, but he didn’t appear to have gotten up, Sato-keiji,” he insisted, but Sato shook her head, barely resisting the urge to slam her fist against the wall;

“He didn’t need to,” she explained patiently. “All he had to do was pick up whatever the ‘janitor’ probably tossed to him behind the guard’s back.” She snapped at the unfortunate man, who looked terrified, as he realized he’d been played.

“I- I never… I never even considered it… But how-”

“I don’t know,” Sato sighed, as she fished out her cell phone. She had to tell Takagi-kun the bad news. They just lost their only lead.

-DoDo-

“Damn it!” Shinichi screamed, slamming his fists into the side of Kisaki-san’s Mini Cooper, as he watched the blazing inferno that had engulfed the top floor of the Daikoku building, as onlookers and the fire department watched. It had taken Shinichi, Ran, and Kisaki-san no more than fifteen minutes to reach the building from the ‘Mantendo’ crime scene, and that was enough for their most promising lead to the organization to go up in literal flames.

While Shinichi had promised Kisaki-san and Ran that they wouldn’t do anything rash tonight, it still hurt. It hurt and made Shinichi furious that no matter how well he played his cards, he was still a step behind the men in black somehow. It didn’t seem to matter what happened, they still won; Mouri-san, the Fujimuras, and now this! He had Tequila right there and then! Proof, the ability to detain him, even new names to pursue. All that and hey still slipped out of his fingers. Even when everything was perfect he still lost!

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” He kept screaming, trying to give some voice to the fury he felt in his soul right now, but it didn’t seem to help one bit. Before Shinichi could continue to scream impotently, Ran placed a hand on his shoulder. Surprised by the sudden contact, Shinichi flinched away, before looking up. Ran also appeared shaken by the sudden change in their fortunes but merely shook her head.

“We should go, Conan,” she whispered, her voice sounding as defeated as Shinichi himself felt. Even though she had been against doing anything tonight, it was clear that Ran herself had been excited by the prospect of finding anything that could indicate this curse of theirs could be lifted.

“But there might be-”

“Conan!” Ran raised her voice barely, before turning slightly toward Kisaki-san. Following Ran’s gaze, Shinichi saw that Kisaki-san again appeared to be hyperventilating. The only reason it wasn’t a full panic attack, was because of the distance between them and the flames.

“Fine… Let’s go home…” Shinichi rasped out, despite the words feeling like a knife in his heart. They had been literal minutes away from getting into that bar. Minutes from maybe finding a way to reverse this purgatory they were stuck in.

-DoDo-

“How did it go, Vodka?” Gin asked as he spotted his partner sitting down on the neighboring bar stool.

“Ah, no incidents, aniki,” Vodka, shrugged, flagging down the bartender for a drink. “Vermouth’s stash proved useful. Nobody suspected I wasn’t an elderly custodian.” The broad man chuckled.

“And Tequila is dead? You’re sure?” Gin asked, his tone carrying a quiet, deadly edge to it. The last thing he wanted was to look for a new partner if Vodka had screwed up such a simple mission.

“I saw him swallow Sherry’s little present before I left,” Vodka confirmed. “Little lady’s going to be very happy for another successful test.” Vodka shrugged as he grabbed the glass of brandy on the rocks he was presented by the bartender.

“I’m sure,” Gin chuckled darkly, knowing the opposite was probably more accurate. Try as she might to hide it, Gin could always tell how much Sherry hated whenever they presented proof of new victims. That actually alleviated the silver-haired man’s annoyance a little; messing with Sherry was always a fun pastime. Still, he raised his glass in a mock salute; “To Tequila. He did good work for the most part.”

“I’m going to miss the old grump,” Vodka laughed before taking a large swing from his drink. “Hm… Weird… Starting to forget him already.”

Both men laughed at the cruel joke, as they continued to nurse their respective drinks.

Chapter Text

As the bell rang on the final lesson of the day, Shinichi sighed, laying his head on his desk in annoyance. It had been a few days since the debacle at ‘Mantendo’ and the shrunken detective’s mood had not improved one bit, despite Ran and Kisaki-san’s best attempts to look on the bright side of things. Try as he might, Shinichi couldn’t find himself ecstatic about stopping the men in black from acquiring the list.

Tequila was also somehow assassinated in a hospital room from what Megure-keibu told Kisaki-san. Sato-keiji’s idea of someone slipping Tequila poison, and how it was done was sound… And it still led them to nothing, as the janitor wore some sort of elaborate disguise worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster production.

And then, the other thing that bothered Shinichi was that if their actions so far were any indication the group, because it was now a confirmed group beyond Shinichi’s simple speculation, was interested in weapons, and pharmaceuticals… Or just anything that could get them money, Shinichi supposed. Programmers in particular could indicate that the men in black were gearing up for something big and yet, he had no idea what it could be and how he could even begin to try and stop them-

“Conan!” Someone shook Shinichi’s shoulder, snapping him completely out of his thoughts. Looking back, Shinichi saw Ran, looking at him worriedly, hand on his shoulder.

“What is it?” he asked, feeling himself get annoyed despite having no reason to.

“Don’t give me that,” Ran frowned. “You were so deep inside your head, you didn’t even notice you were trying to walk into your desk.” Shinichi’s friend pointed out. Looking down, Shinichi noticed that he had indeed bumped into his own desk.

“I- Thanks, Kirino,” Shinichi shook his head, trying to regain his composure.

“Anyway, come on,” She tilted her head toward the back of the near-empty classroom. “Ayumi-chan and the boys are waiting.”

“Right…” Shinichi sighed, remembering the small case that was in his backpack.

True to her word, Ran did ask Hakase about creating a small communications device for Shinichi, Ran, and the kids to use in case of an emergency. Shinichi added his own two cents to the request, pointing out that it would be best if it was something inconspicuous and capable of being tracked by his and Ran’s glasses.

The device the eccentric old inventor settled on was a set of five, small, green, and gold badges. The shape was something that Shinichi found appealing, as it was a stereotypical Sherlock Holmes silhouette on the left, with the English letters ‘D’ and ‘B’ on the right side. Hakase had called them ‘detective’s badges.’ The back of the trinket was a fairly simple interface that could receive or make calls to the other badges. According to Hakase, the badges worked similarly to walkie-talkies.

All in all, Shinichi was quite impressed his old friend could whip up something like this in less than a week.

“What did you guys want to show us?” Genta asked, sitting on top of a desk, looking somewhat bored. “Is it a haunted house?”

“Genta-kun, you should learn to be more patient,” Mitsuhiko chided the bigger boy. “I am sure Conan-kun and Kirino-chan had a good reason to ask us to stay after classes.”

“But we got so much homework from Kobayashi-sensei!” Genta moaned dejectedly. “If I don’t finish it, Kachan won’t let me watch ‘Kamen Yaiba’!”

“Don’t worry, Genta-kun,” Ayumi-chan assured the large boy as Shinichi fished out the box. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Even if it would be best if you stop watching that garbage, Shinichi thought with a slight tinge of annoyance remembering all the times he had to listen to the kids discussing the dumb show. Deciding to get it over with, Shinichi cleared his throat, getting the kids’ attention.

“So, after the run-in we had with the mafia thugs, Kirino and I decided we need a way to communicate if something like this happened again,” Shinichi explained, placing the box on the desk next to the one Genta was sitting on.

“So, we asked a family friend to design these,” Ran picked up where Shinichi left off and opened the box revealing the badges. Just as Shinichi expected, the kids’ eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the trinkets.

“Whoa!” Mitsuhiko gasped, gingerly picking up one of the badges and flipping it around to examine it. “And we can communicate with these?” he asked, as Ayumi and Genta followed suit and picked up their own badges.

“Yep, within two miles,” Shinichi explained grabbing one of the remaining two badges. “Just pull out the antenna, and that activates the badge. If you want to talk, hold the button in the middle and talk into the microphone at the bottom,” he demonstrated the actions quickly.

“The dial can adjust them if we are having trouble getting reception, but they are calibrated for now, so don’t play with it,” Ran stressed, looking at each of the kids in turn. “And take care of them; they can withstand the odd hit or two, but they aren’t unbreakable.” She pointed out. Shinichi made a note of how that remark seemed aimed at Genta.

“These are so cool!” Genta grinned from ear to ear, holding the little communicator like it was made out of diamonds… Or delicious food, in Genta’s case, Shinichi supposed.

“Thank you so much for these, Conan-kun, Kirino-chan!” Ayumi hugged both of them at the same time, catching Shinichi by surprise.

“With these, we can be like real detectives!” Mitsuhiko said bouncing in place.

“Guys these are just so we have a way to find each other if something happe-” Ran tried to explain, but Shinichi, much to his horror, saw that it wasn’t working.

“Mitsuhiko is right!” Genta proclaimed raising his fist in the air triumphantly. “We should get going!” he said, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko immediately cheering.

“Eh? What…” Shinichi tried to ask, but Genta merely crossed his arms with a smug expression.

“We’re going to start our own detective agency!” the kids proclaimed in unison. Shinichi merely blinked at the declaration, before looking at Ran, who had a defeated expression on her face. This was not what they expected. Quickly racking his brain, Shinichi tried to dissuade the kids;

“Guys, you can’t!” he protested, but all three of them looked at him as if he just grew up a second head.

“Why not?”

“You need a business license for a detective agency,” Ran stepped in to help Shinichi. “And nobody will give a business license to a bunch of kids.”

“How about a school club then?” Ayumi proposed with a big smile. “That way we’ll be able to help our classmates!” Shinichi resisted the urge to chuckle at the young girl’s earnestness. Of course, Ayumi would immediately suggest helping people out.

“Ayumi-chan is right! All we need for that is a teacher’s permission to start a club!” Mitsuhiko said, but Shinichi scoffed at the idea;

“Don’t be an idiot! Where are you going to find a teacher who’s willing to sign off on something so dangerous?”

-DoDo-

Ran saw Shinichi’s head hit the door of his shoe box, with a loud, metallic clang. A long-suffering sigh escaped his mouth, as he repeated the action. The reason for Shinichi’s current state was a colorful label plastered on the shoe box next to his, text written in shaky hiragana;

“If you have detective work, leave a note with your name and class number!*

The Shounen Tantei-dan will solve any case for the right price!

*You can also visit us directly in Class 1-B”

Shinichi’s assurance that nobody would possibly approve of a club where kids go out and try to solve crimes was dashed within the span of three minutes yesterday. Kobayashi Sumiko, their homeroom teacher, listened to the kids’ request, asked them to stay safe by not taking dangerous cases, and signed off on the request, going as far as to suggest the name for the group. All of that with absolutely no hesitation, with a huge, dopey smile on her face and eyes shining. The reason for that, was that apparently, she was a very big fan of Edogawa Ranpo’s works and the idea reminded her of his books.

Needless to say, Shinichi was less than happy. Ran for her part, wondered if she should tell Oka-san about the utter disregard her teacher had for public safety. Because while Ran was certain she and Shinichi could keep the kids safe, keeping others safe from the kids was a different thing altogether.

Still, Shinichi’s moping was starting to get to her a little;

“It’s not that bad, Conan,” Ran tried to assure Shinichi, but her friend only rotated his head, still resting against the shoe lockers, and gave her a look of pure despair;

“They commandeered the P.A. system, Kirino!” Shinichi reminded her, his tone one of abject terror.

“Well, I am sure their excitement will dwindle after a few days, where nobody brings us anything,” Ran suggested, but Shinichi was still skeptical. It’d take a lot more than a few days for the newly christened Shounen Tantei-dan to cool off. Sure, they were disappointed today that the cases didn’t just start pouring in like a flood, but it would take very little to light a spark back under them.

“This was so not what I had hoped for when we gave them those badges,” Shinichi sighed, finally putting on his shoes so they could head home.

“Admittedly no, but we couldn’t have known,” Ran shrugged, popping her own shoes on. “Besides, at least they’re focusing on the school and not raiding the police department.” Ran shivered at the thought.

“Small mercies, I suppose,” Shinichi sighed. “Anyway, let’s go before-”

“Conan-kun! Kirino-chan! Wait!” Ayumi’s voice interrupted Shinichi, and Ran saw his shoulders sag. Deciding that letting Shinichi handle human interactions right now would be a bad idea, Ran stepped up with a smile, to greet the kids, who were approaching with hefty stacks of paper in their hands.

“What’s up Ayumi-chan?” Ran asked.

“Well, we wanted to plaster these awesome posters I made all over the school to attract more clients!” Genta explained, showing Ran one of said ‘awesome posters’ which was merely Genta drawing their group in crayons, with him depicted as the leader.

“How did you manage to print out so many?” Shinichi demanded, grabbing a poster for himself as well. If the twitch of his eye was any indication, Shinichi did not appreciate Genta’s artistic skills.

“Oh, I helped out the newspaper club with their computer last month,” Mitsuhiko-kun explained. “They owed me a favor for that.”

“Now come on you two! We have to-”

“Uhm… Are you the Shounen Tantei-dan?” a nasal voice called out to the group, and everyone immediately turned around, spotting the owner of the voice. It was a boy, not from their class with messy black hair, round face, and very prominent lips wearing overalls.

“Yeah?...” Ayumi-chan answered with a slight hesitation in her voice.

“I need your help with somethi-” the boy barely managed to get a few words out before Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi-chan immediately jumped at him.

“What is it? A murder?!” Genta-kun shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Or some kind of fraud?!” Ayumi-chan joined in, practically vibrating with excitement.

“It must be about your parents’ infidelity!” Mitsuhiko-kun assumed. Behind her, Ran heard Shinichi slam his head back against the shoe lockers. Right, she needed to bring in some order in this mess.

“Guys!” she clapped her hands together, silencing the trio somewhat. Even Ran could tell that they were desperate to start on this… And quite deluded, given their guesses. “First, introductions! What’s your name?” she asked the boy with a smile.

“I’m Hiroshi,” the boy shrugged and pulled out a picture from his backpack. “And my cat, Akira, is missing.” He explained, showing a picture of a calico cat, with a pink scarf around its neck. As soon as the kids saw the picture, all their excitement drained out.

“You mean you lost your cat?” Genta asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

“Yeah,” Hiroshi nodded. “I can pay you 10 yen each if you help me find her.” The boy offered holding out the five coins. There was a moment of silence, where Ran could swear that she heard the kids’ hopes and dreams crumble to ashes, even as Shinichi erupted in laughter behind her.

“10… Yen?” Genta repeated, his voice hollow.

“A-Ayumi is sure your cat will come back on its own!” Ayumi-chan quickly tried to push Hiroshi away, while Mitsuhiko-kun simply crossed his hands.

“Yes! We only deal with complicated cases!” the thin boy insisted. Hiroshi though didn’t seem discouraged, instead pulling out five shiny ‘Kamen Yaiba’ cards.

“I thought I might even give you my rare cards if you agreed to help me find-”

“WE’LL TAKE THE CASE!!!” the three kids immediately changed their tune. Ran glanced back at Shinichi, who had recovered from his bout of laughter. Ran couldn’t tell from his expression if he was actually interested though, as the kids started to put on their shoes at truly remarkable speed.

“Are you going to help them?” Ran whispered following suit.

“Not sure yet,” Shinichi admitted. “Let’s see how they do first. If they hit a wall, I’ll help out.”

“You think they can handle it?” Ran asked, watching the kids storm off out of the school, Hiroshi being dragged alongside them.

“It’s a missing cat, Kirino,” Shinichi shrugged. “If they ask the right questions, it will be no problem!”

-DoDo-

“We can’t find her,” Genta announced hanging his head, while next to him Mitsuhiko and Ayumi looked utterly crestfallen, heads hung low. The kids had been searching for Hiroshi’s cat for two hours at this point and Shinichi had to admit that they weren’t doing a half-bad job at it. They had Hiroshi take them to his house, started canvasing the area and asking shop owners if anybody had seen Akira, and searched nearby trashcans.

Still, they missed one question that could have saved them some time. And judging by how Genta was starting to try and weasel out of their part of the bargain for the dumb trading cards, it was time to step in.

“Kirino, can you…” Shinichi gestured toward Genta and Ran nodded, understanding what he needed.

“And we tried our-”

“Genta!” Ran intervened, as the larger boy was trying to get in Hiroshi’s face to argue. Shinichi’s friend moved Genta aside. “Hiroshi-kun’s right. We haven’t done our job. A real detective can’t expect payment if they fail.”

“Besides, there’s one thing you guys forgot to ask,” Shinichi pipped up.

“A question?” Genta asked a little dumbfounded.

“We have the picture, and we know the area…” Mitsuhiko listed off on his fingers, in confusion.

“All good, but that’s mostly visual information. You need more than that most times,” Shinichi explained, stepping next to Hiroshi; “Hiroshi, does your cat have any weird habits or quirks? Something she might do regularly that could help us find her?”

“Uhm… Well, Akira does have a weird meow,” Hiroshi nodded.

“Weird?”

“She goes-”

“GYAAAGO!” a cat screech was heard through the air, the sound making Hiroshi perk up.

“Like that!” the boy nodded. Fortunately, the kids seemed to understand what that meant and immediately rushed off in the direction of the noise, Shinichi and Ran following slower.

“That was lucky,” Ran pointed out, but Shinichi only shrugged in response.

“Eh, can’t complain,” he tried to play it off, placing his hands behind his head in a show of indifference. Ran though wasn’t buying his act;

“Admit it, you enjoyed helping the kids, Conan,” Ran said.

“It was…” Shinichi thought for a second, before sighing. “It’s nice to have a safe case after everything,” Shinichi admitted, memories of the building on fire from the game reveal, flooding his mind unbidden. Almost as soon as it appeared, another burning building and a haunting melody pushed the image out of Shinichi’s mind.

“Everything has been very high-stakes lately, hasn’t it?” Ran whispered and Shinichi nodded.

“Feels that way. Lives were always in danger, either ours or other people,” Shinichi agreed. “Heh. Before we got shrunk, I never would have considered something being ‘too much.’ I wouldn’t even think about the cases after I solved them really,” Shinichi said wistfully.

“Well, we should try and enjoy the-” Ran tried to say before a voice interrupted.

“IS THAT BLOOD?!” Mitsuhiko screamed at the top of his lungs, not thirty feet in front of Shinichi and Ran.

Chapter Text

Shinichi was seriously starting to wonder if these kids were cursed in some way. They couldn’t even take a case about finding a lost cat without something going wrong apparently.

Think about exorcisms later, figure out the problem now! Shinichi shook his head.

“Mitsuhiko, what happened?” Shinichi demanded as he and Ran reached the group of kids who were fussing over a calico cat with a bell around its neck. Even as he asked the question, Shinichi’s eyes were drawn to the still-drying blood on the cat’s whiskers.

“Akira is hurt,” Ayumi-chan said sadly. Shinichi though immediately knelt next to the cat, pushing the rest of the kids out of his way.

“If she was hurt, she’d hide,” Ran told the kids, even as Shinichi gently moved Akira’s head around, the cat interpreting it as time for pets. “Cats don’t like drawing attention to themselves when they’re injured.”

“B-b-but that means…” Genta looked at the animal. “That means the cat killed someone!” the large boy exclaimed, pointing at Akira, who merely chirped at Shinichi.

“Don’t be an idiot!” Shinichi snapped, eyes scanning the surroundings. “Did you see where Akira came from?” he demanded, looking at each of the kids in turn.

“Ayumi thinks she jumped over that fence…” Ayumi-chan pointed toward a house with a high fence and iron-barred gate. Shinichi immediately scanned the front of the house, looking for any open windows from which Akira could have jumped out of. Finding none, he turned toward the kids;

“Kirino, keep them here!” he instructed, before breaking off in a sprint toward the gate. Gaining enough momentum, Shinichi jumped, his hands barely able to grab the top of the gate. As he suspected, it was closed and he had to vault over it, landing roughly in the grass lawn. Not wasting a moment, Shinichi began circling the building in a mad dash, looking for any open window, or a body somewhere in the lawn. After all, Akira couldn’t have opened a door or window by herself, meaning there had to be a way inside. Sure enough, there was an open window in the corner of the house. Judging by the size it appeared to be a bathroom window. Hopping up to grab the window sill Shinichi managed to haul himself up high enough to take a look inside.

As Shinichi suspected, there was a body lying in the middle of the otherwise pristine bathroom. The body was of a large man, lying face down, so Shinichi couldn’t quite make out his features. A blue robe was haphazardly draped over the man, but even then, Shinichi could see a thin line around the neck, indicating some kind of garrote was used to kill him. Another wound that Shinichi could identify was a deep gash on the forehead. Scanning around the bathroom, the shrunken detective found that the edge of the sink was covered in blood.

“Conan! What’s happening?!” Genta’s voice sounded from the Detective Badge in Shinichi’s pocket. Shinichi for a moment debated telling the kids to go away, but another thought passed through his mind as he observed the body; the wound on the head was still slowly seeping blood. The man had been dead for less than five minutes. If that was the case, there was every chance the killer was still inside. Pulling out the badge, Shinichi started giving instructions;

“There’s a body here,” Shinichi explained and heard the gasps from the various members of the group. “The murderer might still be in the house. Listen very carefully and follow these instructions to the letter!”

“You’ve got it, Conan!” Ran replied from her own badge, her voice sounding resolute.

“Good,” Shinichi allowed himself a smirk as he jumped down from the window. “Mitsuhiko, go to the right side of the house! Ayumi, Genta, the left! Kirino, take pictures of Akira. Focus on the blood on her whiskers. After that, run and circle to the back of the house! I’ll take the front. Hiroshi, I need you to find a payphone and call the police. After that go home. If the police need to talk to you, they’ll contact you later. If you spot anybody leaving the house, you hide and remember how they look. Do. Not. Engage! Understood?” Shinichi finished relaying the orders, as he reached the front gate and saw that everyone was already moving.

Shinichi hoped that with a cordon like this, even if the killer tried to escape, they’d have at least a rough estimate of how they looked. Ran herself could take a picture of the culprit on her phone if something happened. Putting the kids in this position was probably something that Ran disagreed with, but surprisingly didn’t protest.

Probably going to get an earful later, Shinichi thought as he jumped over the gate and onto the street, careful to keep an eye on the front of the house just in case. As soon as he made it to the other side of the street, Shinichi pulled out his Detective Badge again and checked in.

“I’m in front. Everyone in position?” he asked.

“Mitsuhiko, here. I am watching the house now,” Mitsuhiko reported first.

“Me and Ayumi are in place,” Genta huffed on his end, the run clearly not agreeing with the large boy.

“There isn’t a back way into the house, Conan,” Ran chimed in. “The back wall leads straight into a steep embankment.” Shinichi’s friend explained.

“Is there a way to walk there? Or footholds?”

“A small ledge, but that’s about it,” Ran answered. “Even you or I would have trouble using it… It’s about… A foot or so wide.” Shinichi filed away the information in his head, frowning. It did seem rather impossible for someone to make it out that way, but until the police arrived, it’d be best to keep an eye just in case.

“Stay there for now, Kirino,” Shinichi instructed. “Once the police come the house will be more secure.”

“Okay… Hey, Conan… Are you sure it’s safe for the kids to be alone there?” Ran asked, sounding a little unsure.

“If anything happens, we can help,” Shinichi assured her before Mitsuhiko chimed in;

“You guys do know we can hear you, right?” the boy asked in annoyance.

“Fine, just don’t put yourselves in danger,” Shinichi sighed, as he saw Hiroshi-kun return.

“I… I managed… I managed to call the police,” the boy panted heavily.

“And now we wait,” Shinichi crossed his arms, fixing his stare on the house in front of him.

-DoDo-

It took the police about fifteen minutes to respond to the call Hiroshi sent out and Ran had to admit, those fifteen minutes were incredibly tense. If not for everything that had happened recently, the shrunken teen might claim they were the tensest fifteen minutes she’d experienced.

It wasn’t so much for herself, but Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi-chan. Even with Shinichi assuring her that they could get to them in time to help if something happened, Ran still didn’t feel that they were safe. It’d be different if she knew for a fact that the three could defend themselves, but she knew better. Looking back, perhaps she should have been more worried when they got approved for their little school club. Then again, who could have expected something like this to come from a cat hunt?

“Are you Kirino-chan?” a voice interrupted Ran’s thoughts and she saw a police officer approach her.

“Yes,” Ran nodded with a smile, before turning toward the back of the house. “I’ve been looking at the back fence the entire time and nobody has come out, officer.”

“Thank you, Kirino-chan,” the officer tipped his hat with a broad smile. “You should join your friends back at the front now. Megure-keibu is waiting to ask you guys some questions.”

“Okay,” Ran nodded, as she left the officer to watch the house and jogged over to the front. Sure enough, even before she reached the corner, she could already hear the kids recounting their adventure today, badly, to the rotund inspector.

“-And the Conan ordered us around to try and capture the killer!” Genta shouted at the top of his lungs.

“No, I didn’t, you idiot!” Shinichi protested, just as Ran came into view. “I merely wanted them to get a description if someone did escape,” Shinichi explained to Megure-keibu, who wrote down everything in his notebook.

“And you kids are sure nobody escaped?” the inspector asked, looking over each of the kids and Shinichi in turn.

“Positive,” Genta and Ayumi nodded.

“Not that I saw,” Mitsuhiko added.

“Not through the front door and… Ah, Kirino!” Shinichi noticed Ran's approach and waved at her.

“Ah, the officer found you alright, Kirino-kun?” Megure-keibu asked with a friendly smile.

“Yes, he did,” Ran confirmed. “And nobody went out through the back either, Megure-keibu,” Ran added her own report, the detective nodding happily.

“Well, if Conan-kun is correct then, the killer should be inside,” Megure-keibu sighed, before motioning to a pair of officers. “You kids best stay here and-”

“No way!” Genta protested, at the top of his lungs. “We, Shounen Tantei-dan are the ones who found the body!”

“Yeah, we should be there to help you!” Mitsuhiko added while Ayumi nodded, trying to put on a fierce expression. Neither Ran nor Shinichi apparently, was going to let them do this, as the two shrunken teens stepped in front of the kids in unison.

“Oi! I was the one who found the body!” Shinichi pointed out. “And while I appreciate you guys helping cordon the house, we can’t just interfere with the police like this!”

“Yes,” Ran agreed, even if she was fairly sure Shinichi had interfered in the past. Still, it wasn’t the time to point out the hypocrisy. “Besides, with the killer inside, there is every possibility of it being very dangerous. More dangerous than the mobsters we dealt with before.”

“But-” Genta tried to argue, but fortunately, Megure-keibu stepped in;

“Look, I really appreciate all you did,” he said with a smile, his mustache quirking a bit. “But Conan-kun and Kirino-kun are right. I can’t put you kids in danger. I and the officers will go in first.”

“Can we go in after you catch the killer?” Mitsuhiko-kun pleaded.

“You wait here, and only come once I tell you,” Megure-keibu insisted. “Understood?” the three kids immediately nodded, but Ran shot Shinichi a skeptical glance.

“Do you think the killer really is inside, Conan?” Ran asked as she watched Megure-keibu and the officers approach the door.

“Positive,” Shinichi nodded as they watched the police knock on the door, announcing their presence. “The blood was still dripping from the corpse’s forehead. Akira had time to lick the wound before we found her. That means Akira found the body within a minute or two, and we found her a minute later.” Shinichi continued his theorizing as he watched the inspector open the door, taking note of the fact that it was unlocked.

“Meaning we would have run into the killer, right?” Ran guessed, and Shinichi nodded as the officers made it inside. The kids next to them waited with bated breath, this being the first time they got to watch something like this. Ran just hoped it would be as safe as Megure-keibu claimed it’d be.

The minutes passed slowly, until finally, shouts of both confusion and mild panic started to come from the house. Not a minute later, one of the police officers who went in with the detective came in and quickly motioned the paramedics to rush in. Their urgency though, told Ran that something was definitely not right.

“Conan, is it possible the man was still alive?” she asked, drawing the attention of the kids as well.

“No, his neck was garroted,” Shinichi protested shaking his head. “It must be someone else. Someone I missed! Damn it!” he cursed, before breaking off into a run.

“Conan!” Ran tried to call, as he dashed into the building. She immediately recognized the look on his face. The same look he had when he realized Seiji was going to die on Tsukikage Island. The look that said he failed. Not wanting to leave Shinichi alone, Ran took off after him, ignoring the screams of the kids behind her, who’d no doubt follow her.

The two shrunken teenagers made their way into the house, and Ran immediately saw the clear signs of a fight; furniture was upturned, mirrors broken, and marks on the walls from missed punches. What Ran, thankfully, didn’t see though was any blood. Hopefully whoever the other person Megure-keibu found was still alive.

Ran followed Shinichi as he ran up the stairs toward the voices of the paramedics, who were talking in quick, muted sentences. Sure enough, Shinichi and Ran stopped in front of one of the rooms on the second floor, where Megure-keibu and the other two officers were gathered. All of them were kneeling in front of a man who was sprawled on the floor, broken porcelain around his body. The man’s hands were covered in blood and cuts, and there was a big splotch of blood on the wall behind him, as well as the back of his head. Ran noticed that despite his injuries though, the man was still breathing, meaning that for once they were not too late.

“Conan, is that-”

“No, though they do look similar,” Shinichi shook his head. Despite the situation, Ran could see that her friend’s mind was already hard at work, from his posture and intense gaze. “And the other man had a mustache… Maybe brothers?” Shinichi proposed, just as Ran heard the rumble of footsteps. Turning around, the three kids stopped behind them.

“Whoa, is that the killer?” Genta exclaimed loudly.

“Did the police beat him up like that?” Ayumi-chan proposed.

“Obviously n-” Mitsuhiko tried to protest, but Megure-keibu had finally noticed them.

“I told you five to wait outside!” the inspector protested, his tone exasperated.

“We saw Conan-kun and Kirino-chan run in and we didn’t want to be left behind!” Ayumi-chan protested, the boys nodding alongside her.

“I thought I didn’t see something and the victim could have been alive, Megure-keibu,” Shinichi admitted, keeping his voice as child-like as possible.

“No, sadly you didn’t mis-see, Conan-kun,” Megure-keibu shook his head. “There’s indeed a body downstairs in the bathroom. And-”

“Keibu-san! He’s coming to!” the paramedic interrupted, drawing attention to the man who grunted several times before opening his eyes. Ran saw his gaze immediately zero in on Megure-keibu.

“Inspector! My brother! Where’s my brother?” the man asked, through a groan, clearly still dazed.

“Huh?” Shinichi whispered, Ran barely managing to catch the surprise in her friend’s voice. Before she could ask him about it though, Shinichi raised a hand to his lips, miming for her to be quiet, all of his concentration on the scene unfolding before them.

“My brother is dead?” the man asked, his head slumping forward.

“I am sorry, mister…” Megure-keibu asked.

“Tanaka Tomofumi,” the man introduced himself. “I… I work for a small investment firm.” Tanaka-san supplied as the paramedics started bandaging his blood-covered hands.

“And your brother? Does he work in the same place?” Megure-keibu asked.

“No, no… My brother, Kazuyoshi, is a writer… Well, claims to be one. He’s mostly loitering about the house as of late…” Tanaka-san explained, grimacing as the paramedics disinfected his hands.

“And why are you home, niichan?” Genta asked bluntly, drawing attention to the children, Ran and Shinichi.

“There is a bit of a flu going around the firm right now,” Tanaka-san explained immediately. The answer though gave Ran a bit of pause, and Shinichi as well, her friend slowly burying his hands in his pockets. “I was staying home when… When I was attacked.”

“Did you see the attacker, Tanaka-san?” Megure-keibu asked, taking down the important details in his notebook.

“Ah… No…” Tanaka-san shook his head. “They attacked me from behind and slammed my head against the wall. I started losing consciousness as I fell… I guess I broke the vase on my way down…” Tanaka-san trailed off, looking at the soaked bandages that the paramedics had applied.

“But you must be really unlucky, ojisan,” Shinichi pipped up, stepping forward. “You just fell down and your hands got so cut up after all,” he commented, a hint of accusation slipping into his tone, though Ran suspected nobody noticed except her.

“Compared to my brother, I feel quite lucky really…” Tanaka-san sighed before his face scrunching in confusion. “Who are these kids, keiji-san?” he asked, the question directed at Megure-keibu.

“Ah, right,” the rotund detective said. “They happened upon your brother’s body when searching for a lost cat, and called us.”

“And the killer is still in the house!” Mitsuhiko shouted, the declaration startling Tanaka-san.

“W-what? That’s not possible!” Tanaka-san insisted. His entire body froze for a moment before he started looking around nervously. “I… If the killer isn’t gone, why am I still alive?!”

“Please relax, Tanaka-san,” Megure-keibu tried to calm the man down, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I am here and several of my colleagues are looking for the killer right now inside the house.”

“B-but… There’s no way that they’re still here!” Tanaka-san insisted vehemently. Before Megure-keibu could explain the situation though, Genta piped up, clearly annoyed;

“Hey! They have to be in here because we watched the house and made sure nobody escaped.” The large boy insisted with a huff.

“Yes, we are the Shounen Tantei-dan! We don’t make mistakes!” Mitsuhiko-kun boasted, which caused Shinichi to chuckle. Ran actually had to elbow him from bursting into full-blown laughter. Even as she did though, Ran noticed that Tanaka-san looked very nervous all of a sudden, like something was very wrong.

Despite his bout of laughter, Ran was sure that Shinichi had noticed the same thing. The difference was that he probably knew the reason, unlike Ran… Or at the very least suspected the reason.

“Please everyone, calm down!” Megure-keibu motioned to everyone in the room, his tone growing harder. “The officers are still searching the house from top to bottom, and we have people outside as well. Nobody is escaping this house, if the killer is still here.”

With the words settling in across all of the room’s occupants, Megure-keibu turned back to Tanaka-san;

“I am sorry to have to ask, Tanaka-san,” the seasoned investigator began with a heavy sigh. “But I will need you to verify that the body is indeed your brother.”

“I- I’ll try, Keibu-san,” Tanaka-san nodded, glancing at the two paramedics. “Uhm… Provided I can of course?” he asked them, with the lead paramedic nodding;

“His injuries aren’t that deep, Keibu-san, and we didn’t see any signs of a concussion either,” the man reported.

“Very well! Please help Tanaka-san up, and down to the bathroom, while I see if the officers discovered something,” the inspector nodded politely as he got up. When he turned around, he fixed the kids with a hard stare; “And you five stay here for now. I get that you are young and excitable, but your safety is important! Understand?” he asked and Ran was glad that the kids seemed to just nod and move aside as Megure-keibu moved past them. When Ran turned around though, she saw that Shinichi was carefully tiptoeing toward the broken vase where Tanaka-san had fallen down.

“Conan?” Ran asked, approaching him carefully. “What is it?”

“I don’t think that Megure-keibu will find the killer,” Shinichi muttered, gently picking up a piece of porcelain from the floor.

“You think they managed to escape somehow?” Ran whispered, not wanting the kids to hear. Fortunately, the trio were talking quietly amongst themselves as well and were ignoring what Shinichi was doing right now. “Do you think the kids lied? They saw someone run away?”

“No,” Shinichi sighed, turning to look at the door that Megure-keibu and Tanaka-san left through. “I think Tanaka-san murdered his own brother,” Shinichi concluded with a sigh.

Chapter Text

Megure listened to the report of the officer with rapt attention, before nodding at the information. He wished he could have taken one of his junior detectives on this case, but sadly, there seemed to be far too much work for everyone as of late. The fact that this case was dropped on them by children with no warning, was quite unfortunate timing. Especially since Kisaki-san’s relatives seemed to have missed the mark this time.

“And you are sure that you didn’t miss a single space where anybody could hide?” the inspector asked, straightening out his mustache.

“Nothing, Keibu!” the officer confirmed. “We even had Tanaka-san show us his brother’s room.”

“Oh, and was something taken?” Megure asked. After all, Tanaka-san, suspected that his younger brother was killed over a monetary dispute.

“Nothing… Which was odd, given that there were several pretty expensive electronics in that room; a full stereo system, DVD players, a full movie system… You name it.” The officer reported a hint of jealousy in his voice. “All looked pretty new as well.”

“I see… So, it was more personal than money,” Megure nodded. “Thank you, Adachi-san. Can you please take Tanaka-san to the station. Maybe some of his brother’s creditors are known faces to us.” The inspector instructed, before sighing and turning to the five children that had dropped the case on his lap.

“I’m sorry to say, kids, but it appears that the killer must have escaped before you managed to surround the house,” Megure explained patiently. What surprised him though was the variety of reactions displayed; Mitsuhiko and Ayumi-kun appeared to be crestfallen. Genta-kun became very sullen, to the point Megure was sure the boy would protest. Conan-kun and Kirino-kun though merely appeared thoughtful. The glasses-wearing boy, in particular, reminded Megure almost uncomfortably of Kudo-kun, his eyes somewhat distant, like he was trying to work out a case.

“Are you sure you guys checked everywhere?” Genta-kun demanded, crossing his hands in front of his chest. “You could have missed something!”

“Genta-kun, don’t be rude!” Ayumi-kun reprimanded the boy. “Ayumi’s sure that Megure-keibu and the nice officers did all they could.”

“That is correct, Ayumi-kun,” Megure nodded appreciatively, before turning to Genta-kun. “One thing you have to remember, all of you, is that no matter how well you prepare for something, things can always go wrong.” Even as the words left his mouth, Megure felt an ache go through the scar on his head, the unpleasant memory of its inception flashing before his eyes unbidden.

“But Conan-kun assured us that-” Mitsuhiko-kun tried to protest, only to be interrupted;

“I made a mistake, Mitsuhiko, it happens,” Conan-kun admitted with a shrug. A shrug that seemed awfully familiar… And one that Conan-kun clearly used to cover up a lie of some sort.

“But, Conan-kun-”

“Nothing we can do Ayumi-chan,” Conan-kun insisted and Kirino-kun came to his support;

“He’s right, nobody is infallible. Besides,” the long-haired girl offered with a small smile; “We found Hiroshi-kun’s cat, Informed the police as quickly as possible, and we did all we could to catch the killer.” Kirino-kun listed off, and Megure nodded appreciatively;

“Exactly,” he said, patting Kirino-kun’s head gently. “If you want to be detectives, real detectives, you have to learn to accept every victory, no matter how small, and not get bogged down by the failures. Otherwise, those failures will consume you.” Megure insisted, looking at each child in turn, making sure that his words registered.

“We understand!” the five kids chorused in reply, and Megure nodded satisfied.

“Uhm, excuse me, Keibu-san?” Tanaka-san’s voice reached Megure’s ears. Turning around, the inspector saw Tanaka-san standing in the doorway, accompanied by a police officer.

“Something wrong, Tanaka-san?” Megure asked.

“It’s just… Uhm, do I have to come with you right now? I… I have to inform our relatives of my brother’s passing and-” the man mumbled, causing Megure to sigh.

“Unfortunately, yes, Tanaka-san,” he nodded. “It’s imperative that we try and find out if your brother knew anybody on our lists. It will help find his killer, and bring you closure.” Megure assured the grieving man, who merely nodded, clearly still in shock.

“I… I understand… Can I at least use my own car to follow you? I’d hate for the neighbors to start rumors,” Tanaka-san asked.

“I see no reason not to, provided the paramedics clear you to drive safely. If not, I’ll ask one of my officers to drive your car to the station and back,” Megure suggested, the man nodding reluctantly.

“Thank you, Keibu-san,” Tanaka-san nodded, before following the officer toward the front of the house.

“We will soon wrap up here,” Megure informed the children. “I would suggest you head home. And thank you for your work today,” he nodded once more to the children, before leaving the room. As hard as it was to visit yet another crime scene, with those kids present, part of Megure, the proactive part, silently wondered if he might be issuing orders to those kids in ten or so years.

-DoDo-

“Are you sure it was a good idea to lie to Megure-keibu, Shinichi?” Ran asked nervously, as the two of them made their way back to Tanaka-san’s house.

After the kids were dismissed by Megure-keibu’s reasoning, and Ran and Shinichi’s own words, the two shrunken teenagers made sure that Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi-chan were all on their way home. Then they circled around the neighborhood in a wide arc, and stalked the house, waiting for the forensics team to clear out. It had been nearly an hour now, and finally, the van was pulling away from the driveway. The sun had long since set at this point, the illumination of the street lamps, making the house seem somewhat eerie since it was the only one in the neighborhood not to be lit.

And if Shinichi’s theory was right, it would stay like that for quite a while.

“A good idea? No… But I don’t think he’d listen to a theory like this. At least not one coming from me,” Shinichi admitted, feeling a little annoyed at that. If he was still looking like himself, Megure-keibu would have ripped the plaster off the walls… But trusting ‘Conan’s’ word on something so preposterous was out of the question. Maybe if Shinichi had time to earn his Conan identity the same level of trust, it would be possible… But not now. Now, he needed actual evidence before he started accusing people of fratricide.

Which was why they were now going to break back into the house and find the evidence that Tanaka-san killed his elder brother.

Shinichi’s suspicions were immediately raised when Megure-keibu had taken so long to find the killer. The house was far too small for anybody to hide there for a prolonged period of time, and Shinichi himself was sure that they were in time to prevent the culprit from escaping. There was the chance that the kids missed something, but that was very low, and for as inept as they could be, Shinichi knew that the three kids would never lie to him or the police. At least not about something like this. The next thing that made Shinichi suspicious was the mere fact that Tanaka-san was at home, and not wearing a mask, or had any medication anywhere visible. The last piece for Shinichi to suspect the man was that he immediately knew that Megure-keibu was an inspector. The only way for Tanaka-san to have known that piece of information would be to have overheard it. Not possible if Tanaka-san was actually unconscious. It would have made much more sense to the man to refer to the inspector as a detective, or merely an officer.

Shinichi was also mostly sure what the murder weapon was, and why exactly Tanaka-san had such excessive wounds on his hands. All he had to do was find the weapon inside the house. To that end, Megure-keibu’s insistence to have Tanaka-san look at mugshots was a blessing; it would give Shinichi and Ran at least three hours during which nobody would be inside the house.

The same one they were standing in front of right now.

“So, we’re looking for fishing wire?” Ran asked as she pushed open the front gate.

“Fishing wire, piano wire, guitar strings, a stripped cable… Anything that’s metal and thin will do the trick really,” Shinichi shrugged. “The important thing is that it will have both brothers’ blood on it.”

“And you’re sure that Tanaka-san didn’t have gloves on?” Ran asked as they made their way to the front door. Ran tried the handle, but unfortunately, it was locked, no doubt by the forensics officers after they finished their sweep. Fortunately, they had anticipated that.

“If he did he wouldn’t-” Shinichi tried to explain but stopped himself, as he heard voices from the other side of the house. Lifting a finger to his lips Shinichi indicated for Ran to keep quiet as he tried to listen to the voices. Sure enough, it didn’t take him that long to hear exactly who it was. Turning around, Shinichi saw that Ran looked just as disappointed, clearly having recognized the voices. Quickly stepping around the corner, Shinichi fixed his eyes on the source of the noise;

“Didn’t you guys go home?” he asked, crossing his arms disapprovingly, as he looked at the frozen forms of Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi-chan. Ran meanwhile looked outraged;

“Guys, what did you tell your parents?!” she demanded.

“Well… We told them we’re going to stay at your place, Kirino-chan,” Ayumi supplied, looking a little guilty.

“You idiots! There’s nobody home right now because Eri-no-obasan is on a business trip all the way in Saitama!” Shinichi snapped at the three. The kids looked at each other, realization slowly spreading across their faces.

“Kachan’s going to kill me…” Genta hung his head in despair. Mitsuhiko and Ayumi-chan didn’t look to be handling the news much better, but seemed to recover quicker;

“But we couldn’t just let this be! There was obviously something fishy about this murder!” Ayumi-chan protested. “That’s why you are here too, isn’t it?”

“Not to mention, we can’t have people thinking we can’t even set up a blockade! How can we call ourselves detectives in that case?” Mitsuhiko insisted, causing Shinichi to hang his head. These kids really were impossible. Looking over at Ran, Shinichi merely shrugged, while his friend shook her head. The conversation between them was wordless, but they both thought the same thing;

There was no way to get rid of them on short notice.

Sighing, Shinichi turned toward the kids, already adjusting his previous plan in his head;

“Do you have your badges?” he asked, and true enough, all three of them flashed the little transmitters.

“We figured we might need them to coordinate searching the house,” Mitsuhiko explained, and Shinichi had to admit he was surprised by the foresight.

“Okay, in that case, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi-chan are coming with me and Kirino inside the house,” Shinichi explained his revised plan. As much as he hated to admit, the two extra pairs of eyes might be useful. “Genta, you go to the front of the house.”

“Why can’t I go inside?!” Genta protested, but Ran stepped in to explain in Shinichi’s stead, her tone far more soothing;

“Because Conan opened a small window in the back of the house,” Ran said, putting her hands on the large boy’s shoulders. “You won’t be able to make it through. Besides, we need someone dependable to watch the house for when Tanaka-san returns.” Ran added with an encouraging smile, causing Genta to blush.

Leave it to Ran to persuade well by merely being nice, Shinichi thought with a chuckle, even as Mitsuhiko butted in, deliberately stepping between Ran and Genta;

“What do you mean Tanaka-san? He’s involved?” Mitsuhiko demanded.

“If my theory is correct, he’s the killer,” Shinichi explained, ignoring the surprised gasps. “Now come on! Genta, get into position! The rest of us need to get into the house. I’ll explain what we’re looking for once inside!” he ordered, with Ran leading Mitsuhiko and Ayumi-chan to the window. Shinichi though, grabbed Genta’s shoulder;

“Genta, there’s one more thing I need you to do, so listen carefully-”

-DoDo-

“Here you go, Ayumi-chan,” Ran said, as she helped the younger girl get inside the house through the window. Using the power-enhancing bracelets made pulling everyone inside the house incredibly easy for Ran.

“Thanks, Kirino-chan,” Ayumi smiled, as she dusted off her skirt. “What now, Conan-kun?” Ayumi asked, turning toward Shinichi, who appeared to consider something for a few moments.

“Okay, we split up,” Shinichi began, flicking his wristwatch light on. “Kirino and Mitsuhiko, take the second floor. Me and Ayumi will be on the first one,” Almost immediately when Shinichi told the pairings, Ran noticed that Mitsuhiko appeared both pleased and displeased at the same time, the boy’s jealousy flaring up for a moment. For her part, Ran appreciated what Shinichi was trying to do. This way, while it might be a little slower, as they’d have to monitor the kids, it ensured their safety as either Ran or Shinichi would be nearby if something went wrong.

“And remember; look for places where you could hide something small,” Shinichi repeated, more for the sake of the kids than Ran herself. “And most importantly, places where you wouldn’t normally think to look in.”

“Come on, Mitsuhiko-kun,” Ran motioned for the boy to follow, as she turned on her own flashlight. The two of them, ran up the stairs, careful not to make too much noise. After all, if someone heard them, they might call the cops on them before they found what they needed.

“Where should we start?” Mitsuhiko-kun asked as the two noticed there were three separate rooms on the second floor.

“Well, I think that the older brother’s room might be a good place,” Ran suggested, shining a light toward one of the rooms, which had its door ajar.

“And you’re sure this is it?” Mitsuhiko-kun asked as they opened the door, stepping into a fairly lavish room.

“I heard the officers mention finding quite a few electronics and entertainment equipment in the room,” Ran muttered, looking around. It was definitely the correct room, as it was practically littered with expensive, brand-new electronics; a flat-screen TV, a home theater system, and a massive stereo. Ran grimaced at the display of wealth. After all, according to Tanaka-san, his brother wasn’t making a lot of money as of late, and yet managed to get all this. A bed was stuffed in one corner of the room, while a cheap-looking folding chair was placed in front of the massive TV.

“Okay, let’s start,” Ran suggested to Mitsuhiko-kun, who nodded, the two of them splitting up to start rummaging through the room. Keeping Shinichi’s words in mind, Ran immediately went over to the entertainment systems and started feeling around the devices.

“Hey, Kirino,” Mitsuhiko-kun called from where he was rummaging in the wall-built closet. “I’ve got a question.”

“What is it, Mitsuhiko-kun?” Ran asked, keeping focus on her task, as she couldn’t find anything around the stereo.

“You and Conan-kun… How do you know so much?” the freckled boy asked, confusion in his voice. “You’re the same age as us, and yet you act like adults.”

Okay, Mitsuhiko-kun was a lot smarter than they were giving him credit for, Ran thought. And that thought made a slight tinge of panic emerge in her mind. It was clear that she and Shinichi were not acting anywhere near as inconspicuous as they had hoped.

“And you seem to be so skilled at everything,” Mitsuhiko-kun continued. “It’s… It’s kind of awesome that you could achieve all that so quickly,” the boy said, his voice a mixture of awe and jealousy. Taking a deep breath, Ran turned to face the boy;

“Okay, Mitsuhiko-kun, first off, your timing isn’t the greatest,” Ran chuckled nervously a little. “But you’re right. Me and Conan, have had a different upbringing than any of you guys. You can’t… Actually, no! You shouldn’t compare yourself to us. It’s just not healthy to do that.”

“But I want to be like you guys,” Mitsuhiko-kun admitted wistfully. “I want to be able to solve mysteries like Conan-kun can and put the bad guys away like you, Kirino-chan,” Mitsuhiko-kun admitted with a faint blush across his face. Looking at the boy, Ran could see the earnestness in his face. He really meant what he was saying.

As she realized just how much trouble she and Shinichi were going to get in with these kids, Ran sighed. If Genta and Ayumi-chan felt even halfway as determined as Mitsuhiko-kun, they’d never stop trying to butt in. While Ran was aware of that, she’d have to be blind, deaf, and stupid not to be, she had failed to realize what kind of example she and Shinichi were setting. They were painting a very deceptive picture of what a child would be capable of at their age. While Ayumi-chan and Genta hadn’t picked up on it, Mitsuhiko-kun was bright enough to have done so. And if all three kids started thinking about it, they’d ask questions. And if they asked the wrong people or news of Shinichi and Ran’s exploits reached too far and wide, it’d be a problem for them.

Ran and Shinichi clearly needed to figure something out to address this.

“In that case, let’s focus on getting this bad guy behind bars first, shall we?” Ran encouraged, causing Mitsuhiko-kun to nod, the two of them returning to their search. Not having found anything around the DVD player, Ran lifted the electronic, to see if Tanaka-san was desperate enough to hide something underneath. As she did though, the shrunken teen felt something within the device rattle. It wasn’t audible really, but more a sensation as something rattled against Ran’s hands.

Putting the player down, Ran turned it on, and almost immediately an error message appeared on the display, indicating that something was blocking the tray. Pressing the ‘eject’ button, Ran was annoyed that the tray only came out halfway, before a screeching sound told her it was stuck. Flashing her watch light inside the DVD player, trying to spot something inside it. Sure enough, the gleam of a metal wire shone from within the device. And unless her eyes were deceiving her, Ran also spotted traces of blood on it.

“Got it!” Ran announced, her excitement slightly startling Mitsuhiko-kun, who fell back from checking the inside of the pillow. Ignoring the stumble, Ran fished out her badge and pressed the button to page the rest of the group.

“Conan, I found the wire,” Ran explained, which drew a round of cheers from the kids. “It’s stuck inside the DVD player. I’m going to smash it and-”

“No! Don’t! If we do that, Tanaka-san can claim we planted it.” Shinichi’s voice interrupted Ran immediately. “Genta, call the polic-” Ran’s friend tried to say, but Genta’s panicked voice interrupted him;

“GUYS! HE’S BACK! THE KILLER’S BACK!” Genta shouted in a panic, almost deafening Ran and Mitsuhiko-kun. Ran resisted the urge to curse quietly under her breath. They couldn’t just steal the DVD player, and if they left things as they were, Tanaka-san would no doubt dispose of the evidence by the time they got the police around.

“Don’t worry you guys,” Shinichi’s voice came through the badges, and Ran immediately recognized the tone of voice; Shinichi had a plan. “Just follow my instructions. Genta! Do exactly as I told you!”

Ran could practically hear the infuriating smirk that was on Shinichi’s face right now:

“Time to catch ourselves a murderer!”

Chapter Text

As far as Shinichi’s plans went, this one felt to Ran like it was very slap dashed.

Still, it wasn’t like they had much other choice but to go along with it, and that was how Ran and Mistuhiko-kun ended up hiding under a dead man’s bead, with their Detective Badges pointed at the room itself, so they could pick up ambient sound. Shinichi proposed one of two scenarios; either Tanaka-san went to dispose of the wire used in the murder immediately, or he left it for a few days from now.

If the man went immediately, Shinichi and Ran would confront him, and try to get him to confess into the badges. Genta had orders to dial Megure-keibu and use his badge to broadcast the confession. If Tanaka-san decided instead to go to bed, the four of them would get out of the house and call the police to look exactly where the evidence was.

It sounded simple, but Ran couldn’t shake the feeling that something was bound to go wrong. Taking a deep breath, to try and calm herself, for Mitsuhiko-kun’s sake, Ran focused her attention on the sounds of Tanaka-san making his way through the house. The man’s footsteps were slow and even, seemingly slightly muffled by the house slippers, as he made his way up the stairs. Ran really hoped that Tanaka-san wouldn’t risk moving the evidence tonight and just go to bed.

Unfortunately for the shrunken teen, that didn’t seem to be the case, as the footsteps approached. Next to her, Mitsuhiko-kun made an involuntary noise, causing Ran to gently nudge him to be quiet. That proved to be for the best, as the door to the dead brother’s room opened, Tanaka-san stepping through it. Ran tapped the transmission button on her badge twice, indicating it was time for Genta to call and Shinichi to announce their presence.

While they waited, Ran and Mistuhiko-kun focused their attention on Tanaka-san’s movements, trying their best to keep the badges trained on the man. There was a chance that Megure-keibu’s voice carried, through the speaker, but it was a calculated risk.

Tanaka-san walked slowly into the room until he stopped in front of the DVD player. Ran couldn’t see what he was doing from the position under the bed, but she could guess, judging from the rummaging.

“Come on, come on…” Tanaka-san muttered frantically to himself, and Ran could hear clunking and metal straining.

“I would wear gloves if I were you,” Shinichi’s voice sounded from the door, his voice surprisingly carefree.

“Y-You’re-” Tanaka-san stuttered, and Ran pulled herself out from under the bed, just so she could react the moment Shinichi needed help. Sure enough, as she climbed to her feet, Ran saw Shinichi standing at the door, hands casually in his pockets, an empty bucket next to his feet. Behind him, stood Ayumi-chan, using Shinichi as a shield, but despite the evident fear in her body language, the young girl’s eyes were determined.

“Then again, you should have worn gloves the first time around,” Shinichi continued. “Isn’t that right Kirino?” Shinichi invited. Taking her cue, Ran slid out from under the bed, and got up, facing Tanaka-san on the other side, trapping the man.

“If you had worn gloves, you wouldn’t have had to cut up your arms on that broken vase,” Ran said, reciting Shinichi’s theory. The way Tanaka-san flinched from her words, served only to confirm the man’s guilt, just as much as the bloodied wire in the DVD player did.

“You- How did you figure it out?!” Tanaka-san demanded, his eyes shifting wildly between Shinichi and Ran.

“Conan-kun figured you out!” Ayumi-chan added from behind Shinichi, the girl’s voice crackling a little.

“Yep,” Shinichi shrugged, continuing his explanation. “Your original plan was probably to dispose of your brother’s body somewhere out of town, where the murder couldn’t be tied to you, or just hope he disappeared. But then we came around and you had to improvise.” Shinichi paused for a moment for effect, before continuing, his tone of voice slightly amused now;

“Not a bad plan for something you were forced to put together in less than ten minutes,” Shinichi admitted. “You hid the piano wire that you used as a garrote in the DVD player, then pretended to be attacked yourself.” Shinichi motioned for Ran to continue, as part of their plan to keep Tanaka-san off balance;

“But you realized just hitting your head against the wall wouldn’t explain the cuts on your hands, so you broke the vase and cut up your hands with it, thinking nobody would notice,” Ran added. “Probably would have worked too, if not for Conan, noticing how unnatural it was. After all, a simple fall on the porcelain might have been one or two cuts… Not dozens.”

“How could you kill your own older brother?” Mitsuhiko-kun asked. “You’re supposed to look up to him and-”

“I DID!” Tanaka-san roared his anger molten fire. The man’s actions immediately put Ran on edge, as she triggered her bracelets. Tanaka-san was looking around left and right, his eyes jumping between all the occupants in the room.

“I looked up to him, and what did that get me?!” Tanaka-san continued to rave, his hands clenching and unclenching. “Being held back by him again and again!” Tanaka-san screamed, and Ran noticed that Ayumi’s badge was still in her hand transmitting the confession.

“He was NOTHING, but a freeloader! A good for nothing, extortionist!” the rant continued, Tanaka-san now breathing heavily, resting his hand on the chair that was in the middle of the room. “He found out I traded stocks ONCE! Once, because I was desperate to keep my home… And he demanded I do it again to ‘take care of him!’”

Ran couldn’t help, but feel a pang of sympathy for the man, but it was quickly squashed as she remembered that he was a killer. Pushed by circumstances or not, Tanaka-san had ways out of this situation without spilling blood, be it that of an innocent or not.

“I was about to get married… But he wouldn’t leave…” Tanaka-san was shaking now, his hands bleeding again under the bandages on his hands, as he was holding the chair that strongly. “AND THEN HE DEMANDED MORE MONEY!!!”

Tanaka-san roared the last sentence, and grabbed the chair, swinging it around, and smashing it into the screen of the TV in the room. The sudden movement and loud noise made Mitsuhiko-kun and Ayumi-chan recoil and whimper in fear, but Ran held her ground, while Shinichi merely looked disgusted. She really wished that she could use her watch to tranquilize Tanaka-san, but she couldn’t. Both she and Shinichi came to the conclusion that if they displayed the watches in front of the kids too often one of two things would happen; either the kids would want ones for themselves, or they’d blabber about them to someone and attract too much attention.

Shinichi had claimed that he wasn’t sure which one scared him more.

“But it doesn’t matter,” Tanaka-san sighed, hanging his head in defeat. “My brother is now gone… And as soon as I get rid of you brats nobody will know!” Tanaka-san reached for the chair again, only to be stopped by Shinichi;

“Ah-le-le… What’s this I wonder,” the shrunken teen mused, holding up Ayumi-chan’s badge, a slow grin spreading on his face. “It looks like some sort of transmitter, isn’t it?” Without letting Tanaka-san reply, Shinichi pressed down on the button to speak into the badge;

“Hey, Genta! Did Megure-keibu get that confession?” Shinichi asked.

“He did Conan! He said he’d be there in five minutes!” Genta’s voice sounded from the badge’s speaker, the words seemingly shocking Tanaka-san into a stupor. Despite that, Ran could still see that he was angry, his frame tense, ready to explode.

“You… Stupid… BRATS!!!” Tanaka-san reached for the chair that was embedded in the TV, but Shinichi reacted faster. Ran saw her friend duck down and activate his power-enhancing shoes before he kicked the bucket at his feet in Tanaka-san’s direction. As usual, Shinichi’s soccer skills were on full display and the bucket connected with its intended target with no problem. The metal container smashed into Tanaka-san’s stomach like a hammer, causing the man to double over in pain.

“Kirino!” Shinichi prompted Ran, but she was already moving, running as quickly as she could toward the TV stand. Even with Tanaka-san doubled over, Ran wouldn’t be able to reach his face with a strong enough blow to knock him off, meaning she needed a different plan. Once in front of the stand, Ran transferred the momentum of her run into a jump, before kicking off the stand and toward Tanaka-san. Mid-air, Ran roared a challenge, the sudden sound enough to shock the killer into looking toward her. As soon as he did, Ran’s right arm shot out, palm flat, striking Tanaka-san across the face. Ran felt the crunch as the man’s nose snapped under the force of her blow, her weight and momentum serving to push Tanaka-san down and onto the floor. The impact of the man’s head was strong enough that Ran felt him bounce back up for a brief moment, before coming to a stop on the floor, knocked out cold.

After listening for a few moments to make sure that Tanaka-san was indeed unconscious, Ran exhaled, stepping aside from the killer. As she did, Mitsuhiko-kun and Ayumi-chan ran up to her, congratulating her on the amazing takedown. Shinichi approached slower, hands back in his pockets, with a pleased expression on his face.

“Wow… If I’d known you would have gone so hard, Kirino, I would have knocked him out myself,” Shinichi joked.

“Well, sorry for wanting to make sure he was really down, Conan,” Ran rolled her eyes at her friend’s teasing.

“Mou, Conan, don’t be mean! Kirino was awesome!” Ayumi-chan reprimanded, Mitsuhiko-kun nodding along.

“Shouldn’t we tie him up though?” the young boy asked, pointing at Tanaka-san on the ground. “Uhm- Not that I am doubting Kirino knocked him out but-”

“No, it’s a good idea,” Ran agreed. “When you knock someone out, you can never be quite sure how long it’d take them to recover. Conan, did you find any-”

“Duct tape?” Shinichi asked, pulling out a roll from his pocket. “Maybe I should start carrying one everywhere?” Shinichi joked, tossing the duct tape to Ayumi-chan. “Do you guys think you can-”

“Leave it to us,” Mitsuhiko-kun nodded before Shinichi could even finish talking. The two kids started to quickly duct tape Tanaka-san’s legs and hands, using far too much in Ran’s opinion. Still, it did give Ran a chance to talk to Shinichi in private about Mitsuhiko-kun’s earlier words.

-DoDo-

Megure had to admit, he did not expect to wrap up Tanaka Kazuyoshi’s murder so quickly, or under such strange circumstances.

Earlier in the day, Tanaka Tomofumi had examined pictures of various loan sharks and other money lenders that operated in the area to see if his brother had any dealings with them. Tomofumi-san had refused knowledge of any of the dozens of pictures the inspector had shown him. The man claimed his older brother probably borrowed money from a friend and it turned sour, or maybe just insulted someone who he shouldn’t have.

The man’s attitude toward the death of a family member irked Megure, no two ways about it, but there was little the inspector could do. The fact that they didn’t have a clear lead, meant that this case would either be solved by a fluke or go into the cold cases storage.

And then, not an hour later, he received word from the very same kids who found the body that Tomofumi-san himself was the killer. While Megure would have been skeptical normally, mere moments after the declaration, he got to hear Tomofumi-san’s confession through the phone. How the kids managed to pull that one off was something that Megure would have to inquire about when he brought them in for questioning. After hearing the confession, the seasoned detective wasted no time rushing with a pair of uniformed officers, especially since he could hear the sounds of breaking furniture.

When he arrived, half-expecting a hostage situation, the inspector was once again greeted with a surprise, as the five children had happily dragged Tomofumi-san out of the house, the man bound head to toe in duct tape and his head sporting a large, purple bruise and bleeding nose.

The explanation for Tomofumi-san’s current condition was a quick, excited, and very disjointed recounting from the kids. And yet, there was something so familiar about it; from Conan-kun’s deduction as to how Tomofumi-san fooled all of them, to the trap the kids set, and Kirino-kun’s rather impressive takedown of the suspect. It was almost like Kudo-kun was there, along with a team of detectives, to set up one of his elaborate deduction shows.

But, Megure thought to himself as he reclined back in his office chair. Kudo-kun never worked well with others. Not in the same way as Conan-kun does with his friends.

And those kids did do good work, having somehow cracked three cases in a very short amount of time. If Mitsuhiko-kun was to be believed, the quintet had also started to seek out cases at their school. Even if it was clear that Conan and Kirino-kun did the majority of the heavy lifting so far, the kids showed promise. And things could definitely change in time. The kids were young, and they could learn a lot. A sense of right and wrong though, and doing the right thing despite the odds being against you, was something that couldn’t be learned. Imitated, yes. But never so earnestly, unless you had it within. And that sense those kids had in spades, and something that Megure would be keeping a close eye on in the coming years.

After all… Promising recruits were hard to come by ten years before they could even apply…

-DoDo-

“What did you guys want to talk to us about, Conan-kun?” Mitsuhiko asked as Shinichi and Ran looked over the gathered kids. It had been a few days since the murder at the Tanaka residence and that gave Shinichi and Ran plenty of time to talk.

Even if Shinichi didn’t quite agree with everything they discussed.

Ran had relayed Mitsuhiko’s words and how she believed that they were giving the kids some sort of complex. Shinichi himself proposed that if they kept a lower profile it would have been easy for the kids to just ignore the situation, but Ran, as usual, was persistent and raised quite a few good points during their discussions. The argument that won Shinichi over was that even without the two shrunken teens, Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi-chan would continue to try and be detectives. And more importantly, the kids seemed to have a very poor judgment of their own competency… Or rather thought that heading off into danger blindly would let them be as good as Shinichi and Ran were.

While Shinichi still believed that it would have been a better use of their time to focus solely on searching for more clues about the men who shrunk him and Ran, he had to admit it wasn’t going to work. The kids were trouble magnets, far more than even Shinichi was at their age, and unlike him, they didn’t have a genius father to bail them out when they got in over their heads. Leaving the kids to their own devices and completely reliant on the two shrunken teens to bail them out also left a bad taste in his mouth… Especially since Shinichi still hoped that their current shrunken state would be over soon.

Which, was why the five of them were gathered here right now;

“You guys really want to continue the Shounen Tantei-dan?” Shinichi asked, fixing each of the kids with the best glare he could, while Ran beside him merely crossed her arms. Shinichi could have claimed that the responses surprised him, but he wasn’t that good of a liar.

“We want to help people, Conan-kun,” Ayumi-chan affirmed, her fists balled up in excitement.

“It’s our job to make sure that criminals get their comeuppance, no matter what,” Mitsuhiko proclaimed, his dedication clear in his tone.

“Of course!” Genta scoffed, crossing his arms, before eyeing Shinichi and Ran. “Why, is it too much for you guys?” he asked dismissively. Shinichi barely resisted snarking at the larger boy, instead only allowing himself a bitter chuckle. Taking a moment to compose himself, Shinichi stuffed his hands in his pockets;

“In that case, me and Kirino are going to teach you some things,” the statement seemed to stun the group, who took a moment to look over each other, mouths slightly agape. Mitsuhiko-kun was the first to recover;

“Teach us, as in-”

“We’ll show each of you the basics of some skills that would be useful,” Shinichi shrugged, trying to downplay things, lest the kids go overboard. “But we think each of you has a particular place to shine.”

“Conan is going to be training you, Mitsuhiko-kun, in how to be a better detective,” Ran stepped up to explain. Shinichi immediately noted the embarrassed blush Mitsuhiko had when Ran said those words. “I think you’ll learn quite quickly,” Shinichi’s friend offered with a brilliant smile, which reduced Mitsuhiko to a stuttering wreck.

“I-Uhm--- I’ll do my best- And- I- I-”

Be it seven or seventeen, Ran will still claim hearts wherever she goes it seems, Shinichi chuckled to himself, while Ran, pretending to be oblivious, continued with Ayumi-chan.

“Ayumi-chan, we can train you how to provide first aid, in case any of us, or someone else, needs it,” Ran promised the younger girl.

“Ayumi gets to be a nurse?” the younger girl squealed, her eye sparkling, the idea instantly winning her over.

“What about me?” Genta butted in, his excitement comical.

“You are going to meet me here, tomorrow, at five in the morning,” Ran said sternly, slipping into her ‘karate champion’ mode. Shinichi had to resist the urge to not fall on the floor with laughter as he watched Genta’s smirk fall off his face completely.

“F-five?!” the large boy protested, but Ran nodded.

“Yep! Five, in your gym clothes!” Shinichi’s friend explained. “Because as a 3^rd dan in karate, I am qualified to train you, and I’ll do just that!” Ran said. “You’ll be the one who’s going to protect the group if I’m not around to take care of the bad guys.”

“B-but…” Genta stared like he was looking at a firing squad, his face blanched. “W-what about b-breakfast…”

“We’ll discuss your new diet when you come tomorrow,” Ran promised, patting Genta’s arm.

“DIET?!?”

Shinichi lost all of his composure there and then, falling on his back and laughing until he started to see black spots.

Chapter Text

“Are you okay, Sensei?” Kuriyama-san asked as she helped Eri into their hotel room.

“Ah, yes, I’ll be fine, Kuriyama-san,” Eri waved off her assistant’s concerns, trying to steady herself as best as possible. And contemplate firing her therapist for this stupid suggestion.

On the surface, it seemed like a decent enough idea. The case with Tequila showed Eri that if she was further away from a fire, it seemed to affect her less. As such, Eri’s therapist suggested that if she could observe a controlled fire from a distance, she could slowly work through her panic attacks, and at the very least control them. It was definitely an appealing prospect since her attacks proved such a detrimental thing during the case on Tsukikage Island… And might be even more of a problem in the future.

As such, the Tenkaichi Festival seemed like a great idea; a yearly tradition, where giant kanji were lit up via bonfires on the side of the mountain, for the amusement of people at the base, where all the vendors and entertainers were. Eri thought that the idea was perfect, as the distance should have been enough…

Unfortunately, the attempt ended in abject failure, as even merely watching the fire from the side of the mountain was enough to make Eri hyperventilate. It wasn’t as bad as the ones Eri had back on Tsukikage Island, but the attack still made it necessary for Kuriyama-san to escort her back to the hotel in order to recover.

“I am just sorry, I had to ruin your enjoyment of the festival, Kuriyama-san,” Eri apologized to her assistant, who merely shook her head.

“It’s fine, Sensei,” the younger woman assured Eri. “We got to enjoy some nice food, and a break from all the cases lately. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t bring the kids with you. I bet they would have enjoyed the games.”

Eri tried not to grimace at the suggestion. While she would have loved nothing more than to spend more time with Ran, the lawyer knew it was unfair to saddle Ran with the responsibility of caring for her during this. Perhaps it was a regression, given the talk the two of them had about Eri’s drinking problem, but to Eri this was different. The drinking was a way to cope, and a rather unhealthy one at that. The recent fear of fire was a direct result of Kogoro’s death and something that would affect Ran as well, every time she saw it. Far more than anything else, in Eri’s opinion. So, to that end, until Eri managed to get things under control, she had vowed that she’d do her best to fix the problem by herself.

“Perhaps they would have,” Eri agreed, finally answering Kuriyama-san. “But school comes first… Besides, I have a feeling, Conan-kun would have just scoffed.”

“Perhaps,” Kuriyama-san laughed, as she sat down on her bed. “The boy appears far too mature for his own good sometimes.”

“You mean the time you took him to that taxi company?” Eri asked, trying not to let her worries leak into her voice. Shinichi and Ran’s safety was dependent on as many people as possible ignoring their unique qualities. If Kuriyama-san started suspecting things, others might as well.

“He just seems to always be reading reports and things like that,” Eri’s assistant shrugged, not quite perturbed by the fact. “He does occasionally ask me about random kanji though, so he’s not quite a genius yet.”

Need to tell Shinichi to be more discreet around Kuriyama-san it seems, Eri reasoned.

“Still, he and Kirino make for a nice breath of fresh air around the office,” Kuriyama-san offered.

“I suppose,” Eri sighed, before turning toward the TV in the room, hoping to change the conversation. “Would you like to watch the remained of the festival via the news, Kuriyama-sa-” Eri’s words were interrupted as the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang throughout the hotel.

“Sensei was that-”

“Kuriyama-san, call the police! Now!” Eri snapped the order, tossing the remote away, and dashing out of the room, still in her festival yukata. Sure enough, as she burst out into the hallway, Eri saw a man with a cap, sunglasses, and a scarf around his face run down the hall toward the emergency stairwell.

“H-hey wai-” one of the other hotel guests called after the man, but he paid no heed as he ran toward Eri, who was standing between him and the exit. Realizing that he’d have to push past her, the man extended a hand forward to shove Eri to the side.

For her part, Eri just took a wider stance and moved to grab the man’s outstretched arm. She was hardly a karate expert like Ran, or even proficient at Judo, like Kogoro was, true. But Kogoro had taken the time to teach her how to defend herself with what was his favorite move.

Once Eri had a firm grip on the man’s sleeve, she pulled him closer, while twisting her body around. The fact that the man was running made it infinitely easier, as he already had plenty of momentum for her to use. Once the man was close enough, Eri bent her knees and started to pull on the pinned arm, taking the man easily off his feet and over her. With a final pull, Eri tossed the larger man onto the floor, where he landed roughly on his right shoulder, the pain causing him to curse.

Damn it, he didn’t hit his head, Eri chided herself on the sloppy execution. Sure enough, the man wasn’t out cold, from hitting his head against the floor, and was now reaching into his jacket awkwardly with his free hand;

“Dumb bitch!” the man snarled at Eri, as he pulled out his gun, a five-shot revolver, similar to the ones used by police officers. Acting on instinct, Eri immediately let go of the man and dove to the side, at the exact same moment the shot rang out. The noise from the shot was deafening this close to Eri, even if the shot missed her. The killer wasted no time as he stumbled to his feet, and fired off two more shots in Eri’s general direction wildly. Both bullets missed Eri, but a scream from behind told her not everyone was that lucky. Glancing back, Eri saw Kuriyama-san collapsed on the ground, clutching her left arm, blood seeping from between her fingers.

“Kuriyama!” Ignoring the fleeing culprit, Eri rushed to her assistant’s side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m- guh… I’m fine, Sensei,” Kuriyama-san insisted, despite the pain in her voice. “It just grazed me. Looks- sssss… Looks a lot worse than it is, I promise.” The younger woman assured Eri, but the lawyer didn’t quite believe her. Glancing around, Eri saw a few more people who were out of their rooms to see the commotion.

“You! Call an ambulance, right now! And make sure the police are on their way!” Eri barked at the man, snapping him into motion as he fumbled for a phone.

So much for Eri’s vacation.

-DoDo-

“So, you attempted to apprehend the suspect after you heard the shots, correct, Kisaki-bengoshi?” the inspector from the local police department asked Eri. Yokomizo Sango, as he had introduced himself was a tall man, with a very square face, and curly, stiff-looking hair. If Eri was less charitable, she’d even go as far as to say his hair looked like a coral reef.

“That is correct, Yokomizo-keibu,” Eri nodded. “Since he didn’t have his gun out and I’ve had training, I believed that I could subdue him.”

“While your efforts are admirable ma’am, I would advise you to leave such tasks to trained personnel next time,” Yokomizo-keibu replied, while noting down Eri’s statement. “And did you perhaps manage to note any distinguishing features?”

“Sadly no,” Eri admitted. “He wore a scarf, dark sunglasses, and a baseball cap. Since his hands had gloves on them, I don’t believe that tests for gunpowder will reveal much either, even if you do find a suspect.”

“I see,” Yokomizo-keibu nodded. “And did you know the victim, Kisaki-bengoshi? Perhaps you’ve seen him in the lobby or around the hotel?”

“Not personally, no,” Eri admitted, placing her hand on her chin. “I have heard of Imatake Satoru as a novelist of course, but have never met the man.”

“And if you don’t mind me asking, Kisaki-bengoshi, why were you in your room at this time?” Yokomizo-keibu asked. “Judging by your clothing you were planning on visiting the festival, correct?”

“I… Have been having panic attacks recently, related to fire,” Eri admitted, rather reluctantly. “I thought I could enjoy the festival due to the distance, but sadly, it was not to be. My assistant helped me back to the room, shortly before the gunshots.”

“Kuriyama Midori, the woman who was taken by the paramedics, correct?”

“Yes,”

“Very well,” Yokomizo-keibu nodded, putting away his notebook. “I don’t have any more questions at the time, Kisaki-bengoshi.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Yokomizo-keibu, do you have any suspects currently?”

“Not at the moment,” the square-faced man admitted. “Judging by the state of the room, it’s possible it was a simple robbery,” the inspector moved aside and Eri saw that the room was indeed ransacked, with the victim sprawled on the floor, a trail of toothpaste foam trailing from his mouth. A single gunshot wound was in the middle of the man’s skull, eyes frozen in surprise.

What stood out to Eri though was the amount of baggage on the floor and the fact that there were two suitcases in the room.

“Did Imatake-san share the room with someone, Yokomizo-keibu?” Eri asked.

“Ah, yes, the front desk did say there was another gentleman with Imatake-san. I have a uniform tracking him down now and-”

“Where’s Satoru?” a voice interrupted the inspector and Eri turned around to see a man light a light tan, wearing a heavy-looking jacket and sweater. Eri immediately noted how stuffy those clothes must have been, given the weather. Eri’s light yukata was already feeling stuffy while she was out at the festival.

“And you are?” Yokomizo-keibu asked, before noting the rank-and-file officer behind the man. “Ah, you must be the man who was with Imatake-san?”

“Yes, my name is Sasai Norikazu,” the man introduced himself. “Now, what’s this about?”

“I am sorry to say this, Sasai-san, but your friend was killed, during a robbery,” Yokomizo-keibu informed the man, with a somber tone. Interestingly Sasai-san’s posture didn’t change much, except for a lowering of his head. Still, it was a far cry from what Eri associated with being given horrific news.

She’d know after all.

“And I am sorry to do this, Sasai-san, but I will have to ask for your alibi during the time of the murder. You were not at the hotel, I take it?” Yokomizo-keibu asked.

“No, I was not inspector,” Sasai-san explained, his voice low, but very steady. “I was at the Tenkaichi Festival, taking pictures for a traveler’s guide.”

“And can anyone confirm that, Sasai-san?” Yokomizo-keibu asked, leaning in, almost nose-to-nose with Sasai-san, his voice quite intimidating. Eri had to admit it looked rather uncalled for.

“Uhm, I met a few families and asked them to take pictures,” Sasai-san admitted, reaching into his jacket. As he did, Eri noticed that the man indeed had a few sweat stains on his shirt. “You can have these developed if you want, in order to check. There’re only one or two photos left on the film, so I don’t mind.” The tanned man explained, pulling out a disposable camera.

“Very well!” Yokomizo-keibu motioned for one of the officers to grab the camera. “Get these developed as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir!” the officer nodded, as he rushed out of the room with the camera.

“Quite fortunate, that you were here for work, Sasai-san,” Eri pointed out, drawing attention to herself for the first time, since the man entered the room.

“Ah, I don’t think we’ve been introduced miss-”

“Missus. Kisaki Eri,” Eri corrected politely, if coldly. “My assistant got injured when the culprit escaped, and as such I have a vested interest in capturing the person responsible.”

“Completely understandable, Kisaki-ojousan,” Sasai-san nodded understandingly. “I too would like to know who killed Satoru. He was my oldest friend after all. We started in the business together after all.”

“Really?” Eri asked while Yokomizo-keibu moved to interview a few other hotel guests.

“Yes, we did. We even co-authored a few books until last year,” Sasai-san explained looking over at his friend’s body.

“Last year, when he won an award for his writing, correct?” Eri prodded, a theory forming in her head.

“That is correct,” Sasai-san nodded. “I was very happy for him.”

“Given that you helped him co-author some of his work, I am surprised he didn’t afford you any recognition,” Eri pointed out and was rewarded with a slight twitch from Sasai-san, before the man coughed suspiciously, before turning toward Eri with a hint of a smile.

“I… Hope you are not saying that I somehow killed my own friend over something so trivial, Kisaki-ojousama?” the tanned man asked. “I was at the festival the entire time after all. The pictures will verify my alibi, I assure you.”

“I do hope you are telling the truth, Sasai-san,” Eri sighed, before returning his smile with one of her own; “After all, a lot of people I’ve met recently turned out to be killers, and I would like to avoid that happening tonight as well.”

Even though it’s already happening, Eri thought bitterly.

-DoDo-

It took an hour for the photographs to be developed and delivered back to the hotel.

And during that time, Eri had managed to find quite a few more inconsistencies with Sasai-san’s story and this murder in general.

The first thing that upon a second look really stood out to Eri was the state of the room itself; it was far too messy for the amount of time the supposed robber spent inside it. Between the time the shot rang out and Eri, herself running out in the hallway, barely a minute had passed. Unless the killer had somehow ransacked the entire room before killing Imatake-san that would be impossible. It pointed to the room being set up as a potential robbery to avoid suspicions of a targeted murder. After all, even if Imatake-san was held at gunpoint by the culprit while they ransacked everything, it made no sense to kill them. The disguise the killer wore was good, as even Eri up close couldn’t see anything.

Secondly, was Imatake-san’s state of dress and what he was doing at the time of death. The forensics officers had found the victim’s toothbrush near the body, meaning that Imatake-san was preparing for something when he was killed. The odds of him doing that and letting a stranger into the room were very slim. It pointed to Imatake-san knowing the killer. And given that he was here with a particular person tonight, all pointed to Sasai-san being the killer.

Last, but definitely not least was the way Sasai-san was sweating. It wasn’t nervous sweat like Eri was expecting, but merely the fact that the man was wearing a very heavy jacket, and was stubbornly not removing it. It was clear that the way he dressed was important in some way.

Unfortunately, Eri had very few ways to prove it. No doubt the man had gotten rid of his disguise, and with it any chance for them to attain proof through examining for gunpowder residue. Not to mention the man’s assurance that his alibi would hold up was strange. It spoke of premeditation to Eri’s instincts.

Perhaps if Shinichi-kun was there, they could compare notes, but for now, she’d have to rely on her own deductions.

Eri would have to treat this just as she would have any other case and find a flaw in the man’s testimony.

“Yokomizo-keibu! I have the photos!” the uniformed officer proclaimed, as he entered the room, a stack of developed pictures in hand. As he started to place them on the table, Eri counted and it was indeed nearly 24 pictures that were developed.

“Hmmm… Let’s see,” Yokomizo-keibu began examining the pictures, putting aside ones that didn’t have Sasai-san in the frame. “Seven pictures in total with you in them, Sasai-san.”

“Ah, this is the one I asked a family to take for me,” Sasai-san pointed to a picture, with a little girl in the background, pointing cheerfully at the mountain, where the ‘Ichi’ symbol was lit. “I met them at the festival.”

“Even so, that particular symbol only lights up after 8:40!” Yokomizo-keibu pointed out unconvinced. “And the crime took place at 8:02 if Kisaki-bengoshi’s testimony is to be believed, and it is the time when we received the call.”

“What Yokomizo-keibu is trying to say, Sasai-san, is that you would have had plenty of time to drive to the festival and take those pictures,” Eri summarized.

“Ah, but I think there was another picture- Ah!” Sasai-san pointed to another picture. “See, this is from earlier during the festival.” Sasai-san pointed to a picture, and Eri could see the letter ‘Ten’ behind him on one of the mountains. “I think this is from about 8:25.” Sasai-san supplied with a smile.

“Is that correct Yokomizo-keibu?” Eri asked, despite suspecting the answer.

“The letters light up about 20 minutes from one another,” Yokomizo-keibu nodded. “Combined with the fact that they stay alight about two to three minutes after the previous one… Let’s say 25 minutes in total per letter.”

“And when does the ‘Ten’ light up?”

“Shortly after 8:00… And it would be impossible for Sasai-san to make it there in time in only 25 minutes to take that picture. Not without breaking a few speed limits and attracting attention.” Yokomizo-keibu admitted.

“And I guess you checked for such violations?” Eri asked, causing the square-faced inspector to cough awkwardly.

“I- Uhm… Haven’t received any reports like that currently, no,” the inspector admitted.

“I am sorry, Kisaki-san, but do you have a particular reason to suspect me?” Sasai-san asked, his tone still polite, though Eri could feel an edge to it. “It was my friend who died and as you can see, I have an alibi,” Sasai-san reiterated, lifting the picture for Eri to see. As he did though, something on the picture caught Eri’s attention, her eyes narrowing. As she did, something clicked in Eri’s head and she figured out how she could turn this around.

“And I apologize for doubting you, Sasai-san,” Eri admitted politely. “Can I just see the pictures for a moment? After that, I promise I won’t accuse you baselessly any longer.” Eri promised holding out her hand.

“I see no harm,” the tanned man smiled and handed Eri the two photographs that were to serve as his alibi. Eri examined the two pictures side by side for a brief moment, to make sure she wasn’t seeing wrong, before turning toward Yokomizo-keibu:

“As promised, I will no longer accuse Sasai-san, baselessly, Yokomizo-keibu,” Eri smiled, handing the inspector the pictures. “These can serve as evidence that Sasai-san lacks a proper alibi for the time of the murder.”

“What do you-” Sasai-san snapped, in disbelief, fear entering his eyes for the first time.

“The little gesture you made in both pictures is quite nice of you, Sasai-san,” Eri continued, slipping into her lawyer persona. “After all, it allows us to clearly see the missing tan line from your watch.”

“What?!” Sasai-san gasped, as Yokomizo-keibu leaned in closer to the picture, scrutinizing it.

“There IS a tan line missing from the picture in front of the ‘Ten’!” the inspector exclaimed far too loudly, causing Eri to flinch a little from the volume.

“T-that’s because-” Sasai-san stuttered, but Eri didn’t let him talk;

“Furthermore, I find it strange that you are wearing such a heavy coat tonight Sasai-san,” Eri pointed out. “It is perhaps possible that last year, during the festival the weather was not as warm as today?” she asked, and one of the uniform officers actually answered;

“Uhm, we had a bit of a cold wave last year… Some people had to wear jackets over their yukatas actually,” he admitted, and Eri nodded.

“Thank you, officer,” she intoned, before turning to Yokomizo-keibu. “I believe this invalidates Sasai-san’s alibi quite thoroughly, and he can again be pursued as a suspect in this investigation, correct?”

“E-even so, just because I don’t have an alibi you can’t railroad me into-”

“You withheld evidence, and provided a false statement knowingly, Sasai-san,” Eri explained patiently, as she walked toward the man. “That is Article 104 of the Penal Code and as such, you are probably looking at several years in prison.” She explained casually before stopping right in front of the killer. “But if you want more definitive, proof, I can provide that as well.”

Before Sasai-san could react, Eri’s hand shot out, gently tapping Sasai-san on his right shoulder.

“Argh!” Sasai-san jerked back from Eri’s touch, causing her to smirk.

“During the killer’s escape, I tried to stop him by performing an ippon seoi-nage, Judo throw,” Eri explained with a victorious smile. “Sadly, I appear to be out of practice and the killer only hurt his shoulder… The same shoulder I now touched.”

“Do you have an explanation for such an injury, Sasai-san?” Yokomizo-keibu demanded, looming over the man to a degree Eri would have assumed uncomfortable. Sasai-san for his part looked down, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“If only I knew that someone as sharp as you, would be here tonight, Kisaki-san, I wouldn’t have neglected to wear a watch,” Sasai-san said sadly. “Yes, the picture was taken over a year ago. On the day I decided to kill Imatake!” Sasai-san screamed suddenly.

“Because a year ago, that man took away my last chance to be an author!” Sasai-san snarled, before spitting at the direction of the body. “Last year, my story was going to be the main attraction of ‘Literature Era’… That is before the editors dumped my story for Imatake’s just because he was more well-known!”