A.N. Hello peeps! Welcome to my first Detective Conan/ Case Closed fanfiction! I've only stumbled onto the show recently and am still working on getting into some of the characters heads. So, if I mess anyone up, let me know, kay?

Oh, and I'm trying to think of a better title, idea's welcome!

Update: 3/18 - Sorry for being gone so long guys. But I'm back and chapter four is almost finished (YAY). I've said before that I was working on changing the dubbed names to their Japanese names and here it is. Not much else has changed except for a word here and a phrase there. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan/ Case Closed. And no, that isn't Kaito Kid tied up in my closet (shifty eyes).

Alcohol's Hunt

Chapter One

The banquet hall was almost silent. Only scattered whispers were heard from people wondering what could have happened to the late Yamaha Kazuo. The man had just hung himself to death from the balcony floor in the middle of a party he and his wife Hitomi were holding.

"I don't see why we have to stay here if it's obvious this was a suicide," Shiokawa Jiro said, sticking his nose in the air. His girlfriend, Chino Miya sat in a chair nearby rubbing her aching feet, nodded in agreement with the statement. Various other guests murmured their wishes to leave as well.

Inspector Megure gritted his teeth in frustration at the guests. Why was it always like this? Every time someone died, everyone wanted to scatter so not to be blamed, even if it was a suicide. But Megure had to look into it incase there was some sort of fraud in the case. Rich men didn't hang themselves every day and every possible viewpoint had to be taken.

Luckily, there was a detective looking in to the whole situation. Too bad that detective wasn't Kudo Shinichi. Megure turned to glare at the now famous Detective Mouri Kogoro, whose luck seemed to change the moment Shinichi got called off to that mysterious case he'd been working on for months.

"Have you found anything yet, Mouri?" Megure asked somewhat impatiently as well. Mouri had brought his good luck charms with him. Ran, his daughter, must have come to keep an eye on the troublesome Conan. Megure stifled a chuckle. He liked the boy. Reminded him somewhat of Shinichi with the way the boy could point out clues that no one else had noticed. The inspector wondered if all the cases he was brought to, or involved with had somehow affected him in anyway. Seeing so many dead bodies at such a young age couldn't be healthy.

"Well," Mouri said, looking down at the body, "this definitely is a suicide. That's the only way that this is possible."

"Hey, Inspector," Conan yelled, "why do his pants look so funny?" Intrigued, Megure looked to where the boy was pointing. The dress pants Yamaha was wearing had small indention marks and a crease in the middle of them.

He was about to dismiss what the boy pointed out when Shiokawa pushed his way past Conan to look at the body himself. "I don't see why we have to stay here. The detective said it was suicide." The man pointed a finger at Mouri.

"Actually, I've just changed my mind." Both Megure and Shiokawa whirled around to face the now seated Kogoro Mouri. "Yamaha Kazuo was murdered."

A collective gasp was heard by the crowd of guests and people started talking at once.

"Who did it? Who killed my husband," Hitomi's small voice was barely heard above the noise. She took a frantic step toward Mouri before falling back to where she stood. Her hands clasped around her necklace.

"How was he murdered, Mouri?" Megure shouted above the noise of the crowd who was instantly silenced to hear the detective's answer.

"Take a closer look at his pants," said Mouri. "As Conan said, there is something off about them."

The inspector nodded and folded his arms, "Yeah, they look as though they had clothespins attached to them. What's so important about that?"

"That's right. The pants had a clothespin attached to them. But what's off about this case is not only how many indentions there are but the direction they face."

Mouri's audience was gravitated to the story he was telling. They had heard about the Great Detective before and were rather excited about what he was going to come up with.

Megure looked back down at the pants and noticed something, "Hey, there's only one set of indentions!"

"Don't you think it's a bit odd for someone to hang clothes to dry by only one clothespin? And in that direction as well. Normally when a person hangs their clothes to dry, the pins would be place vertical so the clothes will stay on the line. This pin, however, was place horizontal."

Shiokawa's impatience got to him again. "What does that have to do with anything, detective. So the guy was drunk, spilled something over his pants and hung it to dry in a weird way. So what?"

"Actually, Shiokawa-san, it has everything to do with the hanging."

Ran tapped Megure on the shoulder, "Hey, have you seen Conan-kun?" He looked around and shook his head. The boy must have seen a butterfly or something and wandered off.

Mouri continued, "But that's only the first clue in many. Let me back track.

"Yamaha-san is an avid drinker. During the party, he got not just drunk but extremely tired. The reason for the weariness he was feeling was because the murderer put poison in his scotch after he got drunk enough not to notice the difference of taste. The poison is what killed him. He was dead before he fell off the balcony. Obviously the murderer was hoping the body would not have an autopsy or at least be far enough away that they would not be blamed."

"But Detective," Chino Miya said standing up, "if he didn't jump, how is it that he fell when I opened the door." She twirled a finger around one of her long auburn curls.

"He didn't fall when you opened the door. He fell when you turned on the fan."

The woman looked shocked, "But what does that matter?"

"When we were in the room investigating what happened, I noticed something strange about the fan. Without anyone turning off the fan, the blades stopped turning and there is the clothespin still wound around it. The murderer intended to get the fishing wire back before anyone noticed, but things obviously didn't work out the way she planned."

Megure banged his fist against the low-rise bookshelf he was standing next to, "Alright Mouri, out with the name already!" he shouted.

In a dramatic voice, Mouri said, "The murder is…"

"You shouldn't go running off like that Conan-kun," Ran lectured at the second grader who was currently looking happily out the car window. She suspected everything she was telling him was going in one ear and out the other. Luckily, she knew how to get his attention. After all, his mother did say he had a crush on her, "You had me really worried."

His blue eyes me hers, "I'm sorry Ran-neechan, but do you know how big that guy's game room was?" Those blue eyes that reminded her so much of Shinichi pleaded for her to forgive him.

"Well next time tell me. I don't mind going with you," she said before facing the front of the car again. She glanced at her father who was still gloating about the case. "Dad, how did you know that Yamaha-san killed her husband? I know it had something to do with the fan, but how did you know she was the last one to mess with it?"

"I told him!" Conan chirped from the back seat. Obviously he was quite proud of his accomplishments.

Kogoro glared in the rearview mirror at his forced charge, "And what exactly was it you told me?"

Ran could hear the small groan before Conan answered, "Remember? We were in the bedroom and I said-"

"Oh never mind!" Kogoro cut him off.

Ran giggled as her father glared out the window. She turned to look at Conan and was caught by his facial expression. The pursed lips, narrow eyes and the single raised eyebrow looked exactly like the expression Shinichi wore whenever he thought someone was an idiot for various reasons. Ran turned back in her seat and watched the scenery pass, old suspicions rising anew. But it was impossible for Shinichi to have turned into Conan.

The rest of the ride home resumed in an uncomfortable silence. At least, she thought so. Her dad just glared at the road, sulking somewhat and Conan happily kicked the backseat with little kid energy. Ran sighed. No, he couldn't be Shinichi.

By the time they reached the house it was well past Conan's bedtime. Like all other children, he refused to admit he was tired even though he was yawning and could barely keep his eyes open. Ran laughed.

"You are to tired," she said tucking him in and smiled. "I promise. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner the sun will come up and you can wake up!"

Conan nodded sleepily and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out. Ran's smile faded. So much like Shinichi, just younger. She sighed, closed the door quietly and walked to her father's office where she heard the door open and close. The last customer of the day had just arrived.

As soon as his door was closed, Shinichi threw off his covers and rushed to the door, opening it silently. Ran's retreating figure turned the corner to walk down the stairs. He had heard the car pull up to the building and knew that there was another client Kogoro needed help with.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, and watching out for the creaking one near the bottom, Shinichi peered through the crake in the door and saw something he had hoped to never see.

One of the men in the black clothes, Gin, was standing in front of Kogoro's desk with a case. This could not be good! Did the Black Organization find him? Were they here to collect him and finish him off like they thought they did all those months ago?

Calming his racing heart, Shinichi silently told himself he did not have all the facts and would have to know why the man was here before he jumped into action. Having learned from past mistakes, Shinichi glanced around the hall to make sure there was no one sneaking up behind him before he focused on the interaction between Kogoro and Gin.

"How can I help you?" Kogoro shouted happily.

Gin held out a picture to show the detective. "I'm looking for this kid."

Kogoro stared at the picture, his jaw hanging open in shocked belief. After a moment, he pulled himself together and gawked at the man before him. "Why?"

Sitting down to make himself more comfortable, Gin gave his answer. "He was working on a very important case for my company for the past few months. Last week, he told us he had a very important lead and needed some key information to take with him. We trusted him knowing that he had his reputation as a detective to worry about and he had been working for us for quite a while, trying to solve the case for us. We gave him the information he wish for and we have not heard from him since. It is imperative that we find him. Even if he no longer works on the case for us, we need that information."

Shinichi gulped, fearful of who was in the picture, knowing who it had to be. Don't assume anything! You don't know who is in the picture yet! He screamed to himself.

"What was the case he was working on for you?" Kogoro asked.

"Unfortunately, I cannot disclose that information to you until we have what he took."

Kogoro nodded in understanding, still staring at the picture. Shinichi caught movement somewhere else in the room and noticed a curious Ran step behind her father to look at the picture as well. Just like her father, her jaw dropped and her face blanched at the photo. She gaped at Gin, opening and closing her mouth a few times before finally asking her question.

"Shinichi's been working for you?"

The man nodded and fear gripped Shinichi's heart. How much did they know? Did they know what the poison they gave him did? Did they know that he had shrunken to the size of a second grader? Did they know that Haibara had grown small and they suspected he did too?

Again, he had to reel in his runaway thoughts. It could be that they just wanted to find his body to make sure he was dead and wouldn't run to the police with information. After all, it wasn't like his death was ever reported and as famous as he was, it would have been. As bad of news that was, it would be better than knowing he was masquerading as Conan Edogawa.

"Yes, I'll take the case for you," he heard Kogoro say.

"I appreciate your help and I promise you will be paid generously for this."

Suddenly, Shinichi saw a pair of very nicely shaped legs step into the doorway and looked up to see Ran glaring at him. "Conan-kun, what are you doing out of bed?"

Thinking fast, Shinichi lowered his eyelids and stared dazed at her, "I was thirsty," he replied.

Ran sighed and grabbed Shinichi's hand to lead him to the kitchen just as Gin walked out the door and spotted them. His cold eyes lingered on Shinichi for a while before he smirked "You should listen to your big sister and get some sleep kid. Otherwise, you won't be the top of your game. And then what could happen?"

Scared that the man might figure out who he was if he wasn't careful, Shinichi just let his "tired" expression turn more confused. Gin's smile grew as he grabbed the brim of his hat in a salute to Ran and left the office.

Ran led Shinichi to get his drink of water and put him back to bed. This time around, Shinichi played the act of a sleepy child that didn't have his bearings too well.

As she tucked him in for the second time that night he truly wondered how much the Black Organization knew about him.

This was bad!

A.N. And thus concludes the first chapter of Alcohol's Hunt. I want you to know that when I get reviews, I read them and treasure them. They boost my ego and make me spit out chapters faster. Also, what you say can affect the story. If you want something to happen tell me and I will take it into consideration. I have another story that has drastically changed (for the better, I think) because of reviews. In other words, please review. They make me happy.

Until next time!

-Yinnie