Chapter 1

The walls were a weary gray around her, the sun only barely peeking over the horizon. Haibara Ai had once again woken up before dawn, as she usually did. Throwing the covers off her body, Haibara stepped out of bed. She was covered in a thin layer of sweat and her eyes were wide open and she headed for the bathroom.

Locking the door behind her, Haibara looked at herself in the mirror. She softly murmured to herself, as she looked fearfully at her reflection, "A- am I a good person?"

Though spending her days among eight year olds (and Conan) had dulled the old memories a bit, they still appeared in her dreams. Her sister, telling her to be happy; her bosses, telling her to kill; the mice, collapsed after tasting just a drop of her handiwork; the human test subjects, faces scarred with pain. But it had all been science…all detached from her. But now the scenes came back, more real and vivid than even when she had first seen them.

To have ventured into such forbidden realms in biochemistry and to have caused misery to so many people, how could she live like this, in the midst of such good: Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, Genta…so innocent…and Conan, the paragon of justice and truth?

Next to them, she was the genius chemist, which had developed a toxin which had ruined one boys life and ended scores of others – a veritable devil. She had tried to kill herself after her sister died, and even that she couldn't pull off properly. All she could do to atone now was try to make an antidote, so she could at least give Shinichi his life back. But that wasn't enough. 'Nothing ever is,' she thought to herself.

Tears leaked out of her eyes and she fell onto the bathroom mat and sobbed quietly to herself. 'Neechan…what would you do? Help me…'

She sat in the bathroom for nearly an hour, until she heard the low series of grunts, which meant Professor Agasa was close to waking up. Slipping out of the bathroom, she went back to her own room and slipped herself under her blankets. She shivered a little and gave a little hiccup. Her eyes were puffy and pink. Hopefully, she'd have a semblance of normality by the time Agasa came to call her to breakfast.

Meanwhile, Agasa hummed blearily as he brushed his teeth and washed his face. Slogging downstairs, he threw on a lab coat before heading for the refrigerator. Taking out some bread and eggs, he began to cook breakfast. It was nearly an hour before he went up to call Haibara and by then, she had pretty much settled down. She ate the fried eggs and buttered toast expressionlessly; her walls were up, her gates were closed, and the moat was filled with alligators. She was ready to face the world.

Suddenly, there was a series of knocking at the door. From outside came a muffled, girlish squeak, "Professor! You promised to take us to beach today!" A slightly deeper, gravelly voice added, sounding rather annoyed, "And Conan already left with the Mouri's! He's gonna get there a head of us!"

Opening the door, Agase smiled, "Now, now, settle down. We'll head out in just a few minutes." The three kids waiting outside, Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko ran inside and into the garage. Agase opened the garage door and got inside the driver's seat in his Beetle. Haibara, after wiping her mouth, followed the ground into the garage and got into the backseat along with the other children.

The Beetle revved up and backed out of the garage door. Closing the garage via remote, Agasa maneuvered the car onto the street. Soon, the little yellow Beetle was buzzing toward the coastline.

Ayumi looked out at the highway excitedly and soon, an idea popped into her head. "Hey! Let's play a game!"

Genta and Mitsuhiko turned to her in unison while Haibara closed her eyes, feigning sleep. "Every time you see a red car or truck, you call it and you get a point! Every car can only give one point though."

Mitsuhiko nodded, excited, while Genta grinned and added, "And the losers buy the winner eel on rice!"

Ayumi and Mitsuhiko stared at him flatly as Genta's smile drooped. "No?"

Turning to Haibara, Ayumi inquired, "How 'bout you, Haibara-chan?"

Haibara didn't even bother opening her eyes. "I'll pass."

Ayumi's sparkling eyes dimmed, but she was soon distracted when Mitsuhiko shouted, "I see one! I get the first point!"

Genta , Mitsuhiko and Ayumi soon got very caught up in the game.

"I see one! That point is mine!"

"No, I saw it first"

"No, I did!"

Giving a slight frown, Haibara opened one eye and looked out at the sky. She usually rejected their invitations to their more inane games, 'But,' she thought to herself, 'am I doing this because these games are too simple for me? Or is it because…I don't want to disturb their perfect, sacred, childhood with the likes of me?' She sighed. The sun was shining, the sky was a nice deep blue, and the clouds were light a puffy. It was a beautiful day, and it was unworthy to be enjoyed by her.

Resting her cheek on her palm, Haibara glumly looked out at the scenery whizzing by her, as the land around her changed from being covered in buildings, to being covered in trees, to being covered in grass, and finally to being covered in sand. As the car neared the resort they were going to be staying at, Haibara suddenly heard police sirens. 'Looks like Kudo beat us,' she thought to herself sardonically.

The car coasted to a stop; Agasa rushed out and asked the nearest police officer, "What happened?"

"There was a murder; you won't be able to enter the hotel until the police can guarantee it's safe."

"But Officer Tagaki! Conan's in there!"

Officer Tagaki's eyes widened when he saw the four Dectective Boys and Professor Agasa at his feet. "Y-you guys!"

Genta stepped up, shoving out his chest, "Ha! We'll solve this mystery in no time! Let us through!"

Not even a step behind him, Mitsuhiko backed him up, "Yeah! We're the Detective Boys!"

Tagaki smiled uncomfortably, "But orders are orders, I still can't let yo-"

He suddenly felt someone tapping his shoulder. Turning around slowly, he saw stammered, "O-Officer Satou!"

The woman looked at him with the eyes of a hawk. "Jeez, Tagaki, no balls at all, hm?"

Tagaki laughed sheepishly. Beckoning the ground with her finger, Satou said, "Come on, I'll take you to that Sleeping Kogoro and his group. I'm sure we can make an exception…after all, you're that meitantei's friends."

Haibara concealed a smirk at the huge injection of sarcasm that Satou had put in the word 'Meitantei'.

The group followed Satou through the open area in front of the resort. The effect of the colorful flags on top of the building, the crisply cut lawn surrounding the building, and a sparkling ocean in the background, was ruined by the dark clothed police sentries posted all around the building.

When they reached the front door, Satou turned around. "Alright, I have to return to patrolling." Kneeling down, she patted Ayumi on the head, "Be good, kids!"

"Thanks, Satou-san!" Ayumi chirped back.

The moment the group entered the resort, they were accosted by a clerk.

"Customers?" he inquired. Agasa nodded. Shaking his head, the clerk told him, "Sorry about this, but we're closed for the rest of the week. The beach is closed as well. The owner who owned all of this land was just killed, so we'll be closed up until things settle."

The clerk bowed and said, "We're really sorry about this", before shuffling away. The ground of children groaned in collective disappointment when Genta perked up. "Look! It's that old man, Kogorou!"

Looking in the direction Genta was pointing, Mitsuhiko exclaimed, "And Conan!"

Haibara followed as the group ran over to the group of police, who included Inspecter Megure and Officer Shiatori, and the meitantei, Kogouro, his daughter, Ran, and as Kogouro introduced, the leecher, Conan. In front of the group stood the three suspects, a bulky, short man wearing overalls, a tall, elegant lady in a summer dress, and a medium sized scientist who wore glasses, a lab coat, and gloves.

Kogouro strutted in front of his audience and, with a grin that told everyone he knew something they didn't, announced, "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for, when I, Mouri Kogouro, will reveal to everyone here, the murderer! Hokota puppeteer, age 43; Kei, age 38, environmental scientist, and Jennie, age 25, American model…Ha, among you three, it is obvious! Hokota! You did it! You're the one who killed the owner of this resort about an hour ago in his office using a knife!"

"You're a puppeteer! I bet you heard that the owner was looking to sponsor a new animated TV show! Angry that your ancient art was being shunned for newer technology, you decided to defend your pride. You are well muscled, strong enough to overpower a man like the owner and afterwards, you took out your knife and you slashed him on the back of the head! Then,you hid the instruments you used in your puppets! That why we couldn't find them! Then you –"

Hokota protested, "But I don't even have any puppets with me! I'm on vacation!"

Kogouro scoffed, "Ha! Nice try, but what kinda puppeteer has no puppets?"

Inspector Megure shook his head, "What Hokota said is true. We found no puppets in his room or in his luggage or in the premises of this resort. Or weapons."

Considering this previously ignored fact, Kogouro laughed sheepishly before becoming serious. With eyes as hard as flint, Kogouro exclaimed, "In that case…you must also be a sword swallower!"

Inspector Megure stared at him in disbelief, "Uh alright, do you have any solid proof of his guilt?"

"Uh…about that…"

Conan's right eye suddenly developed a twitch. 'Alright. We're done.'

He opened the targeting screen of his stun watch and took aim at the great "Sleeping Kogouro". Indeed, as soon as Conan's dart hit his neck, Kogouro lived up to his name, spinning in a circle before collapsing on the sofa behind him, unconscious.

Inspector Megure nudged Officer Shiatori standing beside him and whispered, "Here it comes!"

Putting his mouth to his voice altering bowtie, Conan said in Kogouro's voice, "Ahaha! Just…kidding?"

The assembled group of both suspects and police blinked at the detective in shock. One thought ran through their minds: "…Kidding? At a time like this?"

Undeterred by his stunned audience, Conan continued, "The issue at large is what happened to the murder weapon. Each of the suspects had entered their room once in the thirty minutes before the murder and each had left with a bag. While this normally would not be enough to determine anything, I've not only figured out what the murder weapon was and the method used, but also the culprit. Kei! It was you!"

Kei laughed uneasily, "You – you gotta be joking! I'm just a scientist! I was doing some research on this region's ecosystem! And I'm only staying here one night! I was supposed to leave today when this happened!

"Kei, I've noticed your bag is insulated, like a cooler."

"S-so?"

"The only way to transport dry ice and to keep it from melting for more than a couple hours is to keep it in such a bag, which was found stuffed with newspaper – no doubt an additional insulator. Additionally, in the security video, you were seen leaving your room wearing thick gloves. To be able to handle dry ice without getting burned, you would need gloves such as these. Lastly, dry ice is actually very dense, twice the density of wet ice; that means it's perfect as a weapon. The fact that you're only staying at this resort for a short period of time also makes sense because while you can slow down the natural sublimation of the ice with insulators, it would still melt if you stayed or waited too long. You are a scientist and getting something such as chunks of dry ice shouldn't be difficult at all. You no doubt sharpened the ice into a blade shape before the murder – this is where the slash marks came from. You cut the back of her neck instead of the front because you were aiming for the nerves leading to the brain, not the blood vessels on the front of her neck – not only is this method quieter, there is also minimal blood loss from the victim. You didn't want blood getting onto your gloves as you couldn't easily dispose of them. In any case, after the murder, you probably rinsed the blood off of the dry ice, dried it, and threw the blades out of the window. Upon hitting the ground, the ice would disperse instantly. Your motive is probably the fact that the owner has been maltreating the land that he owns, disrupting local ecosystems by bringing in invasive tropic species for the benefit of tourists, as well as damaging the coral reefs lying offshore by allowing motor boating in this area. His damage to the Earth, which you had dedicated your life to studying, defending, and preserving, you judged to be unforgivable – so you killed him. "

Kei stammered, "T-that's entirely speculation! Coincidence and speculation." Realizing there indeed had been no proof presented, Kei adjusted his posture before grinning triumphantly at Kogouro. "Detectives and scientists are a lot alike, without the data to prove your hypothesis, "Sleeping" Kogouro, I'm afraid that your hypothesis is simply just a wild guess. However, I admit your logic is interesting."

Conan smirked. The suspect was getting kind of arrogant. Putting the bowtie to his mouth again, Conan called, "Alright, bring the bag in." A member of the crime scene investigation squad entered the room.

"Here you go, Mouri-san." The man gave Kei's insulated bag and a sheet of statistics to the unconscious Kogouro. Manipulating Kogouro's arm, Conan had the unconscious man look at the sheet before dropping it – letting him have a look.

Conan continued, "You're right. I need evidence. You should know that dry ice is made of carbon. Putting dry ice in a warm environment will obviously cause it to sublimate, and your bag is such an environment. As the bag is normally zipped up, I had a feeling that if my hypothesis, as you say, is correct, that the air inside the bag would have an unusually high concentration of carbon in it. And according to the analysis of an air sample taken inside the bag, the air inside is composed of over 4% gaseous carbon. The usual amount is about .2% carbon. There was clearly something emitting carbon inside your bag. Where is it now?"

The two other suspects stared as Kei fell on his knees, mouth open. 'To think that I was out analyzed by him…truly a great detective.'

Looking up at the seated "Sleeping" Kogouro, Kei smiled wryly, "Ah, there's one thing wrong with your theory. I threw the ice from the balcony. Not the window."

Inspector Megure nodded grimly, "Excellent, Mouri-san! Alright then, Shiatori, you know what to do!"

Conan, peeking around the corner of the sofa, smiled to himself as Shiatori placed handcuffs around Kei's wrists. 'That's the way the cookie crumbles.'

Suddenly, Haibara stepped behind the crouching detective. "Kudo. I need to talk to you."

Conan's head bounced up and his breath seemed to get stuck in his throat. Whipping around, he sighed in relief, "Oh, it's just you, Haibara. So? What do you want?"

A shadow of hesitancy crossed over her face. "It's just that, that…how do you know what you're doing is so RIGHT all the time?"

Conan's eye brows lifted in surprise. "What do you mean? Well, my deductions are always supported by evidence. That's how I know I'm right, I guess."

"No, no, not that. How do you know what you do is correct? How do you know you're a good person?"

Conan laughed, ruefully. "Oh, well if you put it like that, then I can only answer…that I'm not. Justice is a cruel thing, Haibara. To send someone to prison is never something anyone should enjoy and after all, two wrongs don't make a right… But to assault others and to kill them – now, that's over the line. And it's my job to stop them and uncover the truth so that the perpetrator can be held responsible."

After considering his answer for a moment, Haibara asked sharply, "You say you do bad to do good. How do you justify that?"

Conan looked up at the ceiling and gave a small smile, "I asked myself these very questions before, you know. Two wrongs don't make a right, but intention is important. I've promised to always intend to protect everyone, even from themselves. Sometimes I fail, like in the Moonlight Sonata case, but…I can't let this go. Even if I have to witness the most gruesome murders and confine the criminal to a life in a cell, as long as they-", Conan nodded at Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta, who were listening to the suspect's confession, "don't have to suffer, I'm willing to bear it.

His discourse having finally ended, he blinked and looked at Haibara suspiciously. "Wait a sec. Why do you ask?"

Ai closed her eyes and gave a half-smile. "No reason."

'Wrong, right….Good, bad…Truth, lies. What are they? Does goodness even exist? In the end…not even you, Kudo, can call yourself a good person.'

Haibara quietly started walking away. As soon as Conan couldn't see her face any more, the smile dropped instantly. 'Not even you.'

'I don't even know what I was hoping for....'

Conan could only watch as she treaded out of the room. Just as she disappeared around the corner, Sleeping Kougoro woke up., yawning, "Mmph, eh, Whahs go'hn aw?"

The Detective Boys, minus Conan and Ai, rushed over to the detective. Ayumi gushed, "That was amazing." Nodding Mitsuhiko added, "The sublimation of the dry ice would've meant that no trace was left! The fact you managed to solve it…"

Genta, was less enthusiastic. "I could've done it too, if I wasn't so hungry."

Kougoro, even with his limited deduction skills, soon managed to figure out what happened, of course, excluding the rather important part of being shot by a stun dart. "Haha! Of course! No criminal is safe when the mighty Sleeping Kougoro is around! Whaha!"

'…I'm more worried about the innocents.,' Conan thought to himself dryly. 'Hehe. But…Haibara, that was strange earlier. Is something troubli – no... Something's definitely off. I should talk to her."

Switching off his bowtie, Conan ran after her. He could hear his other friend's disappointment behind him though; the case had distracted them for a while, but it was nothing compared with not going to the beach. Secretly, he was a bit disappointed too. 'Ran…swimsuit…'

Fiercely shaking his head, Conan looked around him for a sign of Ai. Although he had run in the same direction Haibara had, the girl had disappeared. 'Strange.'

Shrugging, Conan ran back to the group, who, having changed tack already, was instead planning their next camping trip.

'I'll find her later. She'll be alright. After all, she's Ai Haibara...a regular Thornmallow. Prickly on the outside but...-'

'Hm...' He frowned slightly.

----------

A/N: My first story in this fandom; take a few moments of your time and review. I'm very estatic that the number of views of this story has finally reached 80 (eh, I guess its a slow fandom and not having Ran in it probably alienates even more people), but I've gotten two reviews so far and I'm eager for feed back. Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think! I'm always eager for constructive criticism.