The Young Shinichi Files

by Thy Angry Hollow

Shinichi at the age 14, a Freshmen in high school is one of the world's greatest detectives. His logic of thinking and deductions help him solve cases leaving everyone appalled. Join Shinichi in where it all began, in The Young Shinichi Files.

The Young Shinichi Files

"You detective geek," Ran snapped, "your always on cases, you usually miss at least a day or two from school now that you've become a private detective." Shinichi looked over at Ran and smacked her in the back of the head. "Don't be such a fool, you know I have to. Being a detective is hard work, and it's also my job! I can't quit just because you get lonely when I'm not around," snickered Shinichi. "Oh yeah right!" said Ran with a blush, "in fact, I'm glad you're on more cases! I hope you're gone from school even more!" "Yeah, yeah," said Shinichi with a whimsical smile.

Before Ran could beat him with her backpack, a "ring" from a phone was heard. Shinichi pulled out his phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Shinichi? It's Inspector Megure. Sorry to bother you, you must be on your way to school right now. But you were just called in today for a case.

"Hey Inspector, that's great. Who is it from?"

"A man named Steve Palmer."

"Is he American?"

"Yeah, he came in from Florida yesterday afternoon. He must really need your help."

"I wonder why he didn't go to a detective in America, why come to Japan?"

"I don't quite know, but you are a world recognized detective after all."

"When did he get to the station?"

"He arrived last night at about 9:48 p.m., he didn't tell me anything too specific of the case, and I think he'll fill you in on more information when you talk to him."

"You have his contact number?"

"Of course. He's staying at the closest hotel to the station, its about fifteen minutes away."

"Great. Contact this Mr. Palmer and tell him I'll meet him 3:15 p.m. at the police station today."

"Will do Shinichi. I will see you then too."

"Bye Inspector."

Shinichi hung up the phone turned to Ran's direction and noticed a frown on her face. "Ran?" Shinichi put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be back as soon as I finish this case." Ran looked up at Shinichi and gave out a long sigh. "Fine, but Shinichi. You're always leaving. I wish I could go on some of your cases. I've only been on one of your cases, and that was because I witnessed the murder too, that was over two months ago. Ever since you became a private detective in the beginning of the school year, I really don't see you that much. You've been on over a dozen cases now, and I'm never there. I do feel a little left out." Shinichi blushed and scratched the top of his head in thought. "I know, and if I have the chance, I'll let you come on one of my cases someday, but I have the feeling I'm going to have to take a plane to America for this case, so it can't be this one. Okay?" Ran nodded and they were silent for the entire walk to school.

After school ended, at 2:30 p.m., Shinichi rushed to the police station. He walked in and was greeted by everyone. "The great high school detective is here!" and "The kid genius is here" he heard statements like that a lot when he got into the station. He walked into Inspector Megure's office and greeted him and Mr. Palmer.

"Good afternoon, gentleman," said Shinichi. He pulled a chair out in front of him, may I, Inspector?"

"Please, have a seat," encouraged Inspector Megure. "As you can see Shinichi, this is your client, Mr. Palmer."

"Hello Mr. Palmer, its nice to meet you," Shinichi greeted as he shook Mr. Palmer's hand. "Those cuts on your left hand look painful."

Mr. Palmer looked at his hand. "Oh yes, I have a cat that cut me up good a few weeks ago. The cat was really a pain."

"You also speak Japanese very well."

"Yes, thank you. I took Japanese in college several years back."

It was quite a moment until Shinichi spoke, "so Mr. Palmer, let's here your story."

"Very well," he said as he pulled out pictures of a woman. "This is my wife, she disappeared over a month ago, and the police in Florida couldn't find her. They suspect she's dead somewhere, but I hope she's still alive."

"Did the police find anything that would lead them to believe your wife is dead?"

"Nothing, but she hasn't been seen anywhere for the past month. That's why I came here. I want your help to find her. I hope she's okay…"

"And the police didn't find the car?"

"Not yet. No."

"Mr. Palmer, what was your wife's name?"

"Laura Palmer."

"Tell me about your wife."

"Well, she's 37 years old. She's Caucasian, like myself, and is about 5' 4", she weighs about 130 pounds I'd say. She has very blonde hair—suddenly Shinichi stopped him. "How long were you and your wife married?"

"It was our thirteenth anniversary last week… but I didn't even know her whereabouts. That's when I decided I had to see you about this."

"You were smart to come to me, I will make sure I find your wife."

"Great, I will arrange a flight for tomorrow afternoon. That will be fine won't it?"

"It will be fine, and I trust Inspector Megure will come too, right?"

"The flight tickets are expensive… I'm not sure."

"Inspector always is a big help to my cases. I would feel much more safe being with him in America, since I know him well."

"I understand, I will get Inspector Megure a flight ticket to Florida as well. Thank you for your time gentleman, and I will see you tomorrow then."

"Goodbye," said the Inspector and me as Mr. Palmer left.

"What do you think about the case, Shinichi?" asked Inspector.

"It seems like a normal missing person's case so far. But something did seem a little strange…"

"Strange? Like what?"

"I can't quite describe it. Perhaps it's all in my head. I'll see you tomorrow Inspector Megure."

The next day, after school ended, Shinichi made his way to the airport. He met Inspector Megure and Mr. Palmer there, and within two hours of arriving to the airport, the three were off to Florida.

"It's been a long time since I've been on an airplane," claimed Shinichi.

"It will be a long time before we get to New Orleans," said Inspector Megure.

"Over a 24 hour flight I believe," added Mr. Palmer.

Shinichi lie back in his seat and put his hands behind his head. "Wake me up when we get there."

Finally, the plane had arrived in New Orleans, and we got our own baggage and a taxi drove Shinichi Inspector Megure and Mr. Palmer to his house. And once they arrived the huge house Mr. Palmer had owned amazed them.

"You sure have a nice place," said the Inspector. "It's right next to the ocean!"

"Why thank you," smiled Mr. Palmer. "Laura and I moved in here just nine months ago. The mortgage for it is very expensive, as you can imagine."

"Do you pay all the bills, Mr. Palmer?" asked Shinichi.

"I pay the most expensive bill, the mortgage, while Laura was paying the smaller bills, like the electric and water bill."

"Have you gotten into debt from having to pay all the bills?"

"No, Laura and I still had a large sum of money from savings in the bank. But two weeks ago I had to pay the bills myself. It was really expensive."

"What is yours and Laura's job?"

"Laura was a Lawyer, and I am a computer engineer at the Florida State Computer Corporation."

"Wow, you and her must bring in a lot of money."

"Yes, we had enough to pay off our bills here, and still have some for important matters, so we here living nice, not to gloat."

"Not at all, Mr. Palmer. But I had a few questions I wanted to ask you. Did your wife act strange the day she disappeared?"

"No. She seemed just as she always did. Nothing unusual about her."

"Tell me exactly what happened that day, Mr. Palmer."

Mr. Palmer started, "It was on a Saturday, and Laura was going to meet a new client at the office. The police talked to the women, and checked her house, car, everything. They say she's clean."

"I'll decide who's clean and who's filthy. Tell me about this women, her name and address, do you still have them?"

"Yes," said Mr. Palmer as he reached in a drawer and pulled out a card and handed it to the detective Shinichi. "Her name is Shelly Waltz."

Shinichi glanced at the card. "This is her business card. She owns the Troffee Cakes shop."

"Yes."

Shinichi handed the card back to him. "How much longer are the police working on this case?"

"If the police can't find anything, then they will stop the search in about a week…"

"Well then," Shinichi stood up, "I guess we'll have to find her by before then."

"Excellent," said Mr. Palmer. "I'm really glad I have you helping with the case."

"It's not a problem at all." Shinichi peeked at the floor and noticed the messiness of the room. "For an expensive home, you don't vacuum very much."

"Ah, no," said Mr. Palmer. "I must do it at once." Mr. Palmer ran to the other room.

Shinichi knelt down and looked closely at the floor. "This is interesting."

"What is it?" asked Inspector Megure.

Shinichi looked on the floor and crawled on the floor examining it.

"All I see are bread crumbs, Shinichi."

Shinichi stood up. "There's more to it than that."

"Like what? Are you suspecting Mr. Palmer?"

"I don't know yet. I'll tell you later, if my predictions are correct."

Mr. Palmer came into the room with a vacuum and started to clean the floor.

"Mr. Palmer," said Shinichi. "Do you mind if I look at a few more rooms in the house?"

Mr. Palmer turned off the vacuum. "Well, is it quite necessary Shinichi?"

"I believe so. It won't take very long."

"Be quick please detective, I only want you to help me find my missing wife."

"Follow me Inspector," whispered Shinichi.

Inspector Megure and Shinichi searched the master bedroom, all four bathrooms, and the closets. Shinichi only looked at the floors of the rooms.

"I don't understand why you were looking at the floor Shinichi. What was so important?"

Shinichi gave a smirk and put his hands in his pocket. "One thing is for certain…"

"What's that Shinichi?" begged the Inspector to know.

"You'll know soon enough."

Inspector Megure and Shinichi walked into the living room and confronted Mr. Palmer.

"I'm afraid we must leave for now," said Shinichi. "You know mine and the Inspector's cell phone number, so call if you find out any information. The Inspector and me will check into a hotel. Goodbye Mr. Palmer."

After the Inspector and Shinichi checked into the hotel, Shinichi lay on the bed and closed his eyes. He was thinking. He stayed like that for twenty minutes until the Inspector asked him a question. "Shinichi, tell me the truth, what were you checking on the floors in Mr. Palmer's house?"

Shinichi opened his eyes. "You're still pondering that Inspector?" Shinichi sat up from the bed. "I'm going to take a shower, hear for calls Inspector."

"You better tell me soon Shinichi," smiled the Inspector.

After about ten minutes, the loud banging on the bathroom door interrupted Shinichi's shower. "Shinichi! Shinichi!" The Inspector yelled.

He turned off the water and covered himself with a towel and opened the door. "What is it Inspector?"

"Mr. Palmer just called, he said to meet him at the junkyard on 25th street, quickly!"

"What for?"

"They police just called, and told Mr. Palmer. The police found Mrs. Palmer's car, and her corpse!"

"Her corpse? She's dead?"

"Yes, we must leave quickly, and meet him there."

"Right," said Shinichi as he ran into the bathroom and put on his clothes.

Inspector Megure and Shinichi left the hotel and arrived at the junkyard on 25th street, and saw the police cars and Mr. Palmer.

The Inspector went to check the crime scene out, while Shinichi went to Mr. Palmer. "Mr. Palmer, I am sorry for your loss."

Mr. Palmer wiped tears from his eyes and his nose on his sleeve. "I don't understand how someone could have done this…"

Shinichi put his hand on Mr. Palmer's back, "Don't worry, I will find out the culprit, and throw them in jail."

Mr. Palmer gave a tearful smile. "Thank you."

Shinichi nodded and joined Inspector Megure at the car, with the dead Mrs. Palmer inside. "Has anyone tampered with the body?" asked the young detective.

"Not since the murdered killed her," replied the Inspector.

Shinichi opened the car door and observed the body. "There is a small compact mirror and lipstick on the floor of the car next to her feet. The cause of death… is suffocation. The murderer was inside the car with Mrs. Palmer, and she felt at ease with their presence. The murderer choked Mrs. Palmer just as she was about to put lipstick on and once they grasped her neck she must've dropped the lipstick and mirror." Shinichi looked at the fingertips of Mrs. Palmer and touched them to feel around.

"Wonderful Shinichi, you're a genius," complimented colleague. "What do you see on her fingers?"

Shinichi looked closer at Mrs. Palmer's fingers. "There is blood on her nails. When the murderer put his or her hands around the victim's neck, she quickly dropped the lipstick and mirror and put her hands on the murderers—trying to stop the murderer from choking her. That means this case was easier to solve than I thought," laughed Shinichi.

"Why's that Shinichi?" questioned his colleague.

"Unless I'm mistaken," replied Shinichi as he stood up. "I can tell by the looks of Mrs. Palmer's fingers, she also recently went to a nail saloon before she was killed. Her fingernails are sharp. Because my dear Inspector Megure, an amateur should never challenge a pro."

Shinichi searched the car glove department and found a receipt for the nail saloon Mrs. Palmer went too. "This must be it. The date on the receipt is October 9th and she was missing on the 12th. Mrs. Palmer has been missing for thirty-two days now, since today is November 13th. It makes sense that they would still be sharp. Now if you'll excuse me Inspector. I must check the perimeter." Shinichi walked to Shelly Waltz, Mrs. Palmer's client. "May I see your left hand?" asked Shinichi.

Shelly Waltz held out her left arm. "Why do you need to see my left hand?"

"It could help out the murder case."

"You think I am the killer mister detective?"

"I've no idea yet." Shinichi grabbed Shelly's hand and looked at every inch of it. In Shinichi's amazement, he grasped tighter to her hands. "Don't tell me you also have a cat?" asked Shinichi.

"Yes actually, I do. How did you know?"

Shinichi let go of Shelly's hands. "Do you mind showing me your cats?"

"Why? I live pretty far from here."

Shinichi glanced at Shelly's black shirt and noticed white cat hair on it. "Never mind the cats for now, I believe you. I want to ask you, where were you on October 12th?"

Shelly looked confused. "That was over a month ago, I can't remember. I will have to look at my schedule to see if I worked that day." Shelly pulled out her calendar. She glanced at it and turned to Shinichi. "No, I wasn't working that day. But I was probably sitting at home watching TV."

"Do you have anyone to confirm that?"

"No, I live by myself and my cat. No one was there."

"Thank you," said Shinichi as he ran over to Mr. Palmer.

"Mr. Palmer, I wanted to ask you a question."

"What is it?" asked Mr. Palmer.

"Did your wife keep receipts anywhere? I suspect that your wife got her nails done a few days before her murder and she kept the receipt somewhere.

"No, she doesn't keep receipts," replied Mr. Palmer.

Shinichi reached in his pocket and pulled out the nail saloon receipt. "Are you sure? She had this in the glove department along with a dozen other receipts from various stores."

Mr. Palmer shrugged. "I never knew."

"Can you tell me this, where you were on October 12th?"

Mr. Palmer answered in a low, nervous voice. "I was at home, waiting for my wife to come."

Shinichi smiled. "Oh Mr. Palmer, your such a bad liar." Shinichi made hand gestures to the Inspector to call him over.

Inspector Megure walked over with two police officers to Shinichi and Mr. Palmer. "What's the problem Shinichi?"

"Mr. Palmer is the murderer. He murdered his own wife on October 12th."

"What?" stuttered the Inspector.

"That's right," replied Shinichi. "Mr. Palmer told us he had a cat, but didn't you notice anything weird at his house Inspector?"

"Wait, is this why you kept looking at the floor?"

"Precisely, Mr. Palmer hadn't cleaned his floor for days, maybe weeks, yet there was no cat found, or cat hair on the ground. So if you really take a good look at Mr. Palmer's left hand, he has scratches on it from a "cat". But that's false, and he knows it. It is a strange coincidence that Miss Waltz also had scratch marks on her left hand, but by looking at the cat hair on her black shirt, its clear that she does have a cat. That's more you can say than about Mr. Palmer. But on with the point, Mr. Palmer's scratches look different. If you look closely at Mr. Palmer's hand, you can see five deep marks in his hand. That must have been where his wife's sharp nails broke through the skin as she desperately tried to stop him. He later must have cut himself somewhere to add marks, making it seems like he got scratched by a cat. That's why he also lied about the receipts just now. Face it Mr. Palmer. I can see right through you, you're just a filthy murderer."

The Inspector was amazed at what he had witnessed. "You really do amaze me Shinichi. You heard him boys, take Mr. Palmer away."

Before the police could take him away, Mr. Palmer quickly jumped on Shinichi and began to choke him. "You asshole! You ruined me! That bitch got what she deserved! I'll kill you too!" Mr. Palmer choked Shinichi hard, and he couldn't get away.

"Stop!" yelled the police as they pulled out their guns, but Mr. Palmer made no attempt to stop.

Inspector Megure rushed over and kicked Mr. Palmer in the face. But, Mr. Palmer hardly budged. Mr. Palmer grabbed a razor from his pocket and swung at the Inspector's right knee, and the Inspector fell to the floor. The instant Mr. Palmer cut the Inspector, the policemen fired, and after two shots, Mr. Palmer fell down—dead.

Shinichi rose from the ground holding his neck as the Inspector got on his left knee and looked at Mr. Palmer. "What a stupid guy. Are you okay Shinichi?"

Shinichi nodded.

The next day, Shinichi packed up and left Florida with the Inspector back to Japan.

The next day Shinichi met up with Ran after school. "How was the case?" asked Ran.

Shinichi dug his hands in his pockets. "It was a pretty easy solve, but my client, Mr. Palmer was actually the murderer."

"The murderer?"

"Yeah, he murdered his wife. There was just one thing the police would most likely have looked over, but it was the most important clue of all. The case would've gone cold if I wasn't there."

"That's terrible. I also saw the Inspector limping at the airport; I didn't bother to ask though. What happened?"

"After I solved the case Mr. Palmer—thinking he had nothing else to loose at that point, choked me and sliced Inspector Megure in the kneecap. If the police hadn't opened fire, he'd have cut my throat with the razor for sure." Suddenly Shinichi turned around and noticed Ran crying. Shinichi walked back to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "what's wrong?"

Ran sniffled and cried, "see Shinichi? You almost died then. I never would've seen you again… its because of these cases you take."

Shinichi wiped the tears from her eyes and looked her in the eyes. "Ran, It's ok. I know you're concerned about me, but I'm still here aren't I? And just because I almost died doesn't mean I'm going to stop being a detective."

Ran helped wipe the tears from her own face. "I know. I just worry about you is all, you're my friend Shinichi."

Shinichi crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "C'mon, lets go get some ice cream. My treat."

Ran smiled, "I'd like that."

End

A/N: Hello. I am the writer for the FanFic "The Young Shinichi Files". I really enjoy the Detective Conan (Case Closed) books, and Sherlock Holmes short stories as well. I'm no Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or Gosho Aoyama, so I did the best I could on this story. I hope whoever read this enjoyed my story (even if a little). I'm not sure if I will make more "Shinichi Files", but I don't know yet.