Cold..
[The cold, biting wind that matches this sorrowful feeling in my heart..] Jodie Starling, the attractive, yet despondant young American FBI agent pondered as she shuffled at an even pace down the bustling side walk in downtown Beika, Japan. She tried her hardest to hide the tears that were already starting to stream down her face, hoping they would go unnoticed amongst the flakes of snow now beginning to descend from the heavily grey overcast sky. No, drawing attention to herself, especially someone in her position wouldn't do..
She couldn't help it.. That moment in the liquor store.. Andre had meant well, but the mention of Bourbon.. Shu.. Shu's favorite drink..
[Shu.. Shu.. Why..?] Damn! She couldn't stop them now.. Flowing like rainwater down a curb. Instinctively, she began trotting at a somewhat faster pace to avoid attracting any concerned looks.. She hugged her wool coat closer to her body, but now, those painful emotions were starting bite at her skin harsher than any wind chill..
[I just have to help Reggie out.. Then, I've got to ask James to let me go back home too.. Too.. Too many memories here..] She began to think, motivating herself. Hoping that thought might take her mind off things.. No.. Reggie only made her think of work.. Work only made her think of Shu.. The tears continued as she gritted her teeth.
As she approached his apartment block, Jodie tried her to wipe away her tears and compose herself as she tried to evaluate the task at hand.
Reggie Caufield was a fortysomething fellow agent who played an integral part in surviellance during the Kir debacle at the Haido City Hospital. Despite the crows feet at the corner of his eyes, and around his face, his healthy, smooth tan skin and wavy, light blonde hair more than made up for it.
About a week ago, Reggie's wife, nine months pregnant had phoned him from the States, letting him know that, she had just had given birth to a healthy baby boy, and asked to fly home as soon as possible to see him for the first time. After expressing regrets that he could not have seen the event personally, he got the go-ahead from Quantico, and had made plans to head back home. It was Jodie's responsibility to drive his rental car to and from the airport.
[Children.. Family...] The thought left Jodie's mind almost as soon as it had entered, lest she begin to tear up again..
She turned the corner, and there was the building, a modest, two story low rent affair. Rust around the handrail going to the upper level. Faded, chipped brick exterior, ect. Reggie's white Honda Accord sat in its usual spot, awaiting its driver.
Jodie walked up to the pastel green door on the ground level, sloppily repainted with very obvious brush strokes, and gave a couple of quick raps upon it with her knuckles. A moment or two.. Silence.
[Probably caught him sleeping.. Honestly..] Jodie muttered in her thoughts. She proceeded to knock a little harder "Come on, Reggie! That plane's not going to wait forever!"
Nothing. No thuds of him getting out of bed, sleepy moans, no "Coming! Hold on a second!" Not a peep.
Now, Jodie's natural "possible danger" detector began to kick in. This wasn't like Reggie. In every meeting or summons, he was punctual. Johnny on the friggin' spot. He'd even had to explain the speeding ticket given him by a Japanese officer when he arrived a few minutes later than expected by James for an emergency meeting when it was believed that a seemingly unconcious Kir (now known to be a CIA mole) had opened her mouth half a fraction while laying in her hospital bed.
No, something had gone wrong and it was time to investigate. Jodie quickly went for the spare key Reggie had leant her in case she had needed to get back in his room after he had gone. She very carefully and quietly inserted it in the lock and turned it. [CLICK] Placing her other hand gently on the knob, keeping her other hand near her chest area where her shoulder holster lay, just in case..
With a somewhat noisier than necessary creak on its rusted hinges, the door opened to a dark empty room.. No Reggie, no bags packed on the bed or counter. Nothing! Its as if he hadn't planned to leave at all, or had already vacated the premises!
Jodie was stunned! [No use in trying to hide now, that damn squeaking may as well have said "I'm coming in!"] She thought bitterly as she took two cautious steps forward onto the worn, tattered carpeting. "Reggie?! REG?! You in here?!" She called out.
Nothing. No answer. Save for the bird twittering its head off somewhere outside.
Jodie already knew this wasn't good. Something had happened to Reggie. He wouldn't have just up and left with someone else without letting her know. And besides, the rental car was still parked out front. Assuming he left of his own accord that is..
As much as she wanted to continue investigating, her instincts told her to avoid tampering with the crime scene. She immediately got her cell phone out and selected James' number.
"Yes, Jodie? Everything all set?" The kindly old British voice asked upon answering.
"No, James! Something's very wrong! Reggie's gone! His car is still here, but his apartment's empty! I think something's happened to him!" She replied in an urgent tone.
"Stay put! Camel and I will be right over!" James ordered authoritively.
"Uh.. Ye..Yes, Sir!" Jodie affirmed, just as James hanged up. The young woman then felt a very uneasy sensation in the pit of her stomach, as if a forboding of something terrible that was to follow...
"AH! N-No kidding?!" Ran Mouri asked out loud, an astonished look on her face.
"YES! Yoko told the audience she needed someone to help her sing her next song, and then Yuko Ikezawa suddenly walked out and they performed on stage together!" Her wealthy friend Sonoko Suzuki explained giddily.
"WOW! No way! So do you think the rivalry is over?!" Ran asked, becoming somewhat more eager.
"I don't know, it may be too close to say.." Sonoko began to respond, before prattling on about the politics of music rivalries..
Something that young Conan Edogawa had no interest in, whatsoever. [Heh.. Girls and their passtimes..] He thought with a slightly sour look. Although being shruken down to child size had its advantages.. It did also have a great series of opportunities for tedium as well..
"Conan! Isn't that lovely? Two people who used to be unfriendly towards each other putting their differences aside?" Ran asked him with a gleeful bit of optimism.
"Huh?! Oh, yeah! It's really nice that they seem to be friends, now!" He said, attempting to sound as naive and childlike as possible. Having been this way for several months, he was really starting to get the hang of it. As Ran smiled pleasantly back at him and resumed her discussion with Sonoko, Conan's thoughts drifted back to the tense mood of his previous inner monologue, namely the whole Kir incident.
[Okay, so for now, Hidemi's out of danger. She's back undercover in the Org. and none of the members seem any the wiser.. However, at such a high cost.. Akai.. Plus, that Bourbon agent that she said had been dispatched to look for Shiho.. Still, even supposedly posessing "the mind of a detective", there's no way he would figure out that Ai has shrunk like me, right?] He deeply pondered, before adopting a somewhat confident expression. [Nah, there's no way he would even consider that.. But, when will be the next time I'll hear from THEM again..?]
As if to possibly answer him, a car that Conan could clearly see containing the senior FBI Agent James Black in the driver's seat, came swerving around the corner, towards a residential area. [AH! James! What could he be up to? Better check it out!] He thought with a sense of instinct.
Immediately racing off in his direction, Conan turned back to Ran and called out "Sorry, Ran, I just remembered the Professor wanted me to try out a new game! Excuse me!"
"That kid must really love video games.." Sonoko mumbled with a bemused expression.
"He's acting way too suspicious today.." Ran reflected aloud before beginning to give chase, calling back to her friend, "Sorry, Sonoko, we'll have to go to a movie some other time!"
The young heiress could only stand in the cold climate, stewing with annoyance.. "If that kid were as old as Ran, they'd be made for each other.." She grumbled.
Conan's sneakers rythmically tapped the sidewalk as he bolted off after the direction of James' car. [These little lungs are about to burst! Hopefully, I haven't lost.. AH! There it is!] He thought between gasping pants, before coming across the very welcome sight of his dark green rental car about to pause at a red traffic signal! [Alright!] Conan thought, blessing the convience, as he removed a piece of gum from his jeans pocket, unwrapped it, stuck it in his mouth and began chewing, with time concious intensity. At the same time, unscrewing one of his glasses' ear holders' that contained a tracking device, he then took the wad of gum from his mouth, placed the tracker inside, and quickly slapped the moist, sticky mess onto the vehicle's back bumper just as the signal turned green!
With a smile of achievement, Conan adjusted the tracker's reciever on the side of the spectacles' frame, revealing a transparent radar image on it's right lens! The now tracked vehicle's signal appearing as a blinking light green dot.
[I know Jodie would get in touch with me if there was anything serious occuring, but it's best to just do a little investigating to be sure!] He thought somewhat arrogantly as he began to follow once again, at a less intense rate of speed.
Conan followed the car's signal. It took a couple more right hand turns, before coming to a rest, Conan closing in closer and closer.
[Ah! Here we go! It must've parked! Good thing too, my legs were killing me!] He concluded gratefully.
Conan came upon the car situated in the parking lot of the apartment, James and Andre had already exited and were already beginning to advance towards Jodie in the parking lot, where she was already conversing with officer Takagi and Sato. A number of other people had also started to group around. [Jodie! Sato and Takagi are there too! Just as I thought, something's up!] Conan thought in a concerned manner, before concealing himself in a small bush on the property and listened in.
"And you said there was no sign of his clothes, bags packed or any indication inside the apartment, yet there was no chance he would leave his car at the building and go with someone else?" Sato asked firm and business-like, whilst Takagi scribbled down information on his notepad.
"Yes! I was supposed to be the one to drive him to the airport, and he wouldn't have taken a ride from someone else on such short notice! Nor would he have left his car here! That's why I'm certain that something's happened to him!" Jodie explained, Starting to lose control.
Sato, her face still firm and serious, placed her hand reassuringly on Jodie's shoulder. "Please, calm yourself, Miss Starling. We shall get to the bottom of this as soon as we can, don't be upset." She instructed in a calm, measured voice.
"I can vouch for her, Detective." James announced as he approached.
"You knew of this occurance, Sir?" Sato turned, asking him.
"Yes, all of us in this small group, have." James replied in a controlled and concealed manner.
"I see.." Sato replied, catching the hint. She then turned to Jodie and said in a quiet way, mindful of the crowd. "If indeed your friend in the FBI was involved in the Haido City Hotel case, there is some possibility of some suspicious activity.."
Jodie's eyes went cold, as if in shock. "No.. N-No.. I.."
Now, Sato's emotional armor had suffered a massive amount of damage, she placed her free hand on Jodie's other shoulder, looking at her in a sympathetic manner. "Please, Jodie! Don't despair, we'll find out who's responsible for this, and we'll try our hardest to bring Reggie back safe, we promise you!"
Conan, hiding behind the bush, now had a look of righteous anger upon his face, gritting his teeth as he thought [It's THEM! It's got to be! There's too much of a coincidence! They've got to be targeting FBI Agents after what happened! I knew I had a reason to follow James! The motive must be related to Kir, but the question remains.. Their Goal..]
Conan's thoughts, however, were suddenly interrupted by the sensation of a powerful hand grabbing the collar of his winter coat and yanking him off the ground! [AH! They.. They've FOUND ME!] He thought with a petrified expression..
Then, the sound of a very familiar girl's voice..
"CONAN! What did you think you were DOING, racing off like THAT?!"
Conan turned his head with a nervous smile, and sure enough, Ran stood there, holding him up, a perturbed look in her eyes.
"The last time I checked, Professor Agasa doesn't live HERE! Do you understand how frightened I was? I had to keep flagging down cars asking if they'd seen you! Don't you EVER do that again!" The young lady said with a combination of anger and concern, before hugging him tight. Conan's adult sensibilities couldn't resist the arousal of her bosoms pressed against his chest as he blushed.
Ran then glanced up with a start, a look of surprise and recognition on her face. "Ah! Miss Jodie! Detective Sato, Takagi! What's going on here?!"
"ULP!" Conan gulped with the sudden realization of his actions. [Oh, no! What have I gotten Ran into?!]
Sato walked up to Ran with a look of apprehension "Well, Ran, one of Jodie's foreigner friends here in Japan seems to have gone missing suspiciously from his apartment room while she was attempting to take him to the airport.." She explained.
"Huh? Oh, my.. Does that mean..?" Ran asked with a worrisome shudder.
"We don't know yet.. We're trying to investigate.." Sato replied neutrally.
Takagi then turned to the smatter of residents, asking "Did anyone here happen to see anything suspicious during twilight to early morning?"
Mitsuru Tsukuda, a balding, middle aged man with thick glasses and a very thin, ugly moustache replied somewhat resentfully. "Nope, I was asleep like most decent people.."
"Same here.." Chiyoko Matsuoka, A sad looking middle aged woman with drooping eyes and stringy black hair concurred, before adding "I awoke to go to the bathroom once or twice during the night, but I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.
The Landlady, Momoko Ito, a rather frumpy, joyless soul with longish, very dry light brown locks that didn't help her appearance, puckered lips that barely concealed her crooked, rotten teeth, gave a short grunt and shrugged her shoulders. "I saw very little of this man.. He was very suspicious and would ALWAYS insist that I come down from my office personally to collect his rent.. He gave me the creeps, quite frankly.." She disclosed rather bluntly.
"If you ask me, these foreign types are all suspicious.." Tsukuda grumbled aloud rather rudely.
"Thank you, Mr. Tsukuda, that's QUITE enough.." Sato said, rasing her voice a tad after noticing Jodie's expression growing more sorrowful.
Two more police cars then entered the parking lot, Chief Inspector Megure and forensics team emerged from the vehicles.
"Well, looks like the investigation can really get underway, now.." Takagi commented, walking over to his superior to give him the skinny.
"Oh, Conan, I hope Miss Jodie's friend is okay.." Ran remarked, adopting a troubled expression.
[I wish I could tell you he was, Ran..] Conan thought somewhat despondantly.
"Alright, boys, check the room out, and be careful.." Megure ordered in a weary way. "The rest of you, check the car out.."
An affirmative nod, and the forensics team entered the empty room, Whilst Sato and Takagi crept cautiously around the stationary Accord.
"Careful, Takagi.. Check for any signs that the door is wired.." Sato quietly instructed her partner.
"Right.. I don't see any signs of tampering.." He affirmed. Cautiously, he used the keys provided by Jodie, tested the handle, and opened it.. Nothing.. He breathed a brief sigh of relief. Sticking his upper torso in the vehicle, his hands protected by latex gloves, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just basic, clean surfaces, rather impressively clean, actually.
Ran, who was doing her best to take in what was happening, walked over to Jodie, standing next to James and Andre in an attempt to help with comforting her.
"Hello, Miss Jodie.." She greeted in a reserved fashion.
"Oh! Uh.. Ran, Conan! Hello! It.. It's good to see you both again.." Jodie answered in a sheepish, quiet way.
Ran's sights then turned to the somewhat imposing figures of James and Andre. "Oh, hello, Sir! I've seen you before in the hospital when you were visiting Jodie!" She said, giving a quick respectful bow.
"Yes, My name is James Black. You must be Miss Ran Mouri. It's a pleasure.." The old man greeted in a sad, yet gentle way.
"So.. I'm guessing that.. You must be her boss in the FBI.." Ran whispered as quietly as she could.
"Yes, that's right." He warmly affirmed.
"And.. And this gentleman here is another.. Agent..?" Ran asked somewhat reluctantly, given Andre's somewhat menacing appearance.
"Why, yes. My name is Andre Camel, Ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." Camel, aware of her timid reaction to him, as most people were, did his best to act as gracious and polite as possible to put her at ease.
"Oh.. Y-yes, a pleasure.." Ran replied, still somewhat nervously, giving another bow. It was then, upon taking a sideways glance at James' rental car that she noticed something.
"HUH?! Conan!" She exclaimed indignantly.
Conan, who was in the midst of peeling the gum off of the bumper, froze as if he were a statue.
"So THAT'S why you were trailing this man's nice car! I thought you gave up naughty behavior like that!" Ran admonished him, snatching him up by his arm. "I ought to give you a spanking for that!"
"N-No.. Please, Ran, you don't understand!" Conan begged with genuine fear, knowing how hard she could hit when she was angry..
"Oh, please, don't trouble yourself, Miss Mouri! I was the same way at his age!" James explained, walking up to the two with a more pleasant expression.
"Well.. Alright.. But I want you to apologize to Mr. Black and promise to never to that again!" Ran relented, before firmly instructing Conan.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Black. I didn't mean to.." Conan obeyed, putting on his best sheepish little boy voice.
"Oh, no harm done, young man!" James answered in a forgiving, grandfatherly way, before whispering. "I'm certain it was no accident, though.." With a sly smile under his bushy grey moustache and a covert wink.
Ran then turned her attention to Jodie "I honestly hope your friend is okay.. If my friend, Shinichi were here, he'd be able to figure out what happened, immediately.." She began.
[But I am, Ran, and it's about time I did get down to it..] Conan thought with certainty to himself, and with a determined expression, sneaked off towards the room under investigation.
James, noticing this, made a subtle movement to block him from Ran's sight, thinking somewhat cheerfully [Don't disappoint us, Cool Guy..]
TO BE CONTINUED...