Chapter Text
Part Two: Reckless Impulse of a Wounded Ego
I spotted Inspector Megure’s car parked outside Uncle Kogorou’s office on my way home from school that afternoon, and my heart gave a little leap.
The inspector, here – instead of calling Uncle Kogorou to headquarters?
Something must have happened, something big, and if the Tokyo police wanted Uncle Kogorou on the case, I had to get involved. Sooner or later, I knew they’d need my skills – the keen mind of Shinichi Kudo – even if all they saw was first-grader, Conan Edogawa.
I dashed up the street, my mind already racing with possibilities—
But, someone snagged my backpack, stopping me before I could reach the door.
“Hey!” I exclaimed, wiggling and struggling to slip my little arms out of the straps. “What—!”
“Not so fast,” Professor Agasa said, letting go of my bag so I could face him. “I’ve been waiting all day for you to get back from school! There’s something I need to show you.”
“Does it have to be right now?” I protested. “Inspector Megure—”
“That can wait until you’ve seen my new invention,” the old scientist said, clamping a large hand on my small shoulder and guiding me toward the shadows beside a neighbor’s high fence. He dug in his pocket and pulled out—
“A blue bowtie?” I said. “But, you already gave me a—“
“The red bowtie I gave you contains a voice modulator that allows you to mimic the voices of adults, children, and people you record,” the professor said. “But this new, blue bowtie is even better!”
“What does it do?” I asked, starting to get curious.
“This tie does double duty as an air filter and an oxygen mask,” Professor Agasa said proudly. “The mouthpiece is here, at the underside of the center knot. It’ll filter out smoke and most noxious gases. To start the oxygen flowing, tug the bowtie twice. The compressed oxygen will last you up to fifteen minutes.”
“That’s amazing,” I said, and I meant it. “But, what made you think of this?”
“Oh, of course!” the professor said. “You wouldn’t know yet, you’ve been in school all day, but it’s been all over the news! Some hot-shot, high-powered banker was found dead on Tatadohama Beach this morning.”
I frowned.
“Tatadohama…? But, that’s in Shimoda, well outside Tokyo’s jurisdiction. Why would the Tokyo Metropolitan Police be involved with a case like that?”
“Well, the banker was from Tokyo, for one thing,” the professor said. “So, there could be some link. But, I don’t really know why the inspector came here this afternoon. I just knew, with a high profile case like this, you were bound to get yourself involved sooner or later. And, if you’re going to be poking around the beach where a man drowned—”
“Did he drown?” I asked.
“The news report didn’t really go into the cause of death. It was just a lot of speculation, as usual. But, if you want to go find out, don’t let me stop you. I have my own work to do, you know.”
“Thanks, Professor Agasa,” I said, accepting the new bowtie. “And don’t worry, I’ll keep you in the loop.”
The professor smiled.
“You’re a good kid,” he said. “Try to be careful, OK?”
I smiled back, and raced across the street. The professor’s story and his new invention had only made me more curious about what was going on behind Uncle Kogorou’s office door.
I considered sneaking in through the main house, but after getting waylaid by Professor Agasa, I didn’t want to risk running into Ran. The high school got out earlier than the elementary school and, unless she had a karate club meeting, she was usually home before me, waiting in the kitchen to hand me a snack and prod me into doing my homework. I suppose that would have been nice if I really were seven, but for a seventeen-year-old, the whole ‘big-sister / little-brother’ act I had to keep up with her could be pretty hard to swallow sometimes.
Especially since she and I… That is, she and Shinichi Kudo… Well, we’d grown up together…the first time, anyway… She had always been my closest friend and, just before my transformation, there’d been some signs that…that, maybe she…
Perhaps the best thing would be to enter the office through the front door after all.
*******
The office was its usual disaster area. Despite the overhanging stench of cigarette butts and stale tobacco smoke, the room smelled a little like a school cafeteria. Empty cans and bottles, snack bags, and take-out boxes littered the desks and furniture, and the dustbin (and surrounding floor) was piled high with wrappers and moldering fruit.
Shaking my head, I moved further in, where I saw Uncle Kogorou and Inspector Megure leaning over Uncle Kogorou’s laptop while the assistant police inspector, Detective Miwako Satou looked on.
“Oh, Conan-kun!” Detective Satou said as I walked in. “Is school out already? This day really does seem to be getting away from us.”
The impulse to flirt must be mental as much as anything because, tiny as I was, I couldn’t help noticing how hot the young detective woman looked in her lavender suit. I wanted to impress her, my mind already searching for some cool, clever line, but—
She sees you as a little boy, I had to remind myself. So, think! How would a little boy act right now? What would he say?
“Yep!” I chirped, dropping my backpack on the less cluttered end of the couch. “There’s no more school for the whole weekend! What’s going on here? Can I help?”
Officer Satou smiled.
“Your little nephew is so cute,” she said to Uncle Kogorou, speaking right over my head.
I had to stop myself from gritting my teeth. Invisibled again, just like a real little kid…
“Try living with him,” Uncle Kogorou grunted, and crushed his latest cigarette into the overfilled ashtray. “Always poking his nose into everything… And all those endless questions!”
“He’s just curious,” she said, and beckoned me closer. “Maybe someday, he’ll have your job. What do you think, Conan-kun?” she teased. “Would you like to be a private detective, like your uncle? Or, how about a police officer, like me?”
“This is no business for children,” Inspector Megure protested, and I could tell from his gruff attitude that, whatever case had brought him here, it so far had him stumped. “Tell him to go in the house. We’re wasting time.”
I know I’ve been complaining, but there are a few good things that come with being stuck in the form of a child. One of which is the impunity to act out, and ignore an otherwise blatant dismissal.
“Hey, look at that!” I cried, squeezing between the inspector and Uncle Kogorou to examine the crime scene photos Inspector Megure had pulled up on the screen. “That man has sand in his mouth!”
“Get this kid out of here!” the inspector said – just as Ran entered the office, a tray of drinks in her hands.
“Oh, Conan-kun!” she exclaimed, “there you are! I was waiting for you in the house! You know you’re supposed to come straight home after school. It isn’t fair of you to make me worry like that.”
“But I—” I started, but I could tell from the mood in the room that any protest would be pointless. Uncle Kogorou gruffly shooed me off, and Ran practically dragged me into the main house – highlighting what is possibly the most infuriating aspect of looking like a child.
Nobody takes you, your preferences, or your insights, seriously.
And, that feeling of…of infantilization, of helpless, angry frustration…
Well, it can drive even the most logical mind to do something that, in hindsight, might seem rather reckless.
Even, irrational.
As I did…
To Be Continued…