Hello again!

Well, I must say I'm a bit proud of myself (narcissism? Where?), as I've finished to translate this chapter the day after the first one! I post it a day later 'cause I wanted to take some advance in translating the first chapter. Don't get used to have that much updates ^^'

Anyway, thanks a lot for the reviews, favs and follows! It's really great! I wish a bit more people would let a review but I probably ask a bit too much =P I guess it's not too horrible to read, as no one mentionned my writing nor mistakes, but again, don't hesitate if you have anything constructive to say about that! Thanks again to the ones who let a review ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 2 : Initiative

"So Conan-kun had been abducted."

It was several minutes later, after the high school teen had sumarized what happened. The two women were still standing more or less in the middle of the room but had moved to the living room. Ran was near the phone. Eri caught the TV remote to switch it off so the noise coming from it wouldn't disturb them, even if the music and gunshot seemed pretty accurate with the ongoing case.

"Yes. Dad says he doesn't see why thieves would have kidnapped him, so..."

"... they probably intented to do this from the beginning", the lawyer ended. "Well, I think he's right, and you can call the police from here. The line should be available now."

Ran nodded and took the handset. While she was dialing the number, her mother walked away slowly, lost in her thoughts. She wasn't so sure that calling the police was a good idea, as the criminals had let instructions about this. But she also agreed, without knowing it, that catching the culprits would be hard without their help. They were probably going to ask for a ransom or something similar. So their best chance would be during the exchange, but they'd probably manage for them not to meet.

"Hey, mom! Are you listening?"

Eri raised her head and understood that Ran had been calling her for a bit. She had a sorry smile and answered :

"Sorry, I was thinking. So, could you talk to police chief Megure?"

"Yes. They say they're going to come here first, just to be safe. Inspectors Sato and Takagi are around and should arrive first."

"Perfect." Eri approved. "Ask Kogoro to come too, then."

"Okay mom!"

Her daughter's sudden enthusiasm didn't went unnoticed by Eri, but she didn't mind. Of course, the situation wasn't to her arguments with the moustached sleuth, and Ran was probably hoping this could get them closer, or at least reconcile them. Eri couldn't blame her for that, coming here was the most logical choice, as they had spent the evening together.

Sigh. She could manage Kogoro's presence if he behaved a bit.

"Ding dong!"

Eri was surprised by the ringing. They've been fast! Ran rushed to the door and seconds later, inspectors Sato and Takagi were coming in, already discussing with Ran.

"Did you ask Mouri-san to come along here?" Sato asked the two woman.

"Yes. You called him Ran, right?" Eri checked.

"I've sent him a message, he's coming as quickly as he can."

"Perfect", Sato concluded.

The lawyer noticed Ran seemed to hesitate to say something. She turned toward her and asked :

"Do you have something to tell us? Go on, it can help."

"Well... I have an idea, but I'm not sure..."

"What is it?" Takagi wondered.

"I was thinking... Maybe Conan isn't in the same room than his captors. I mean, if he's alone, I could try to call him. He may tell us usefull stuff..."

"It's risky", Eri began. "Most of the time, kidnappers are near their victim, but yes, they can be in another room for example. But does Conan-kun have his phone with him? Even if he had it tonight, they probably took it now. But if they didn't think about it, or tied him up and gagged him and therefore thought they didn't need to take his phone... I don't know. It might actually offer us some interesting informations, even if all he can do is pick up the call, with the surrounding's sounds. You could also pretend you didn't know about his kidnapping because you came here to get back something you've forgot."

"We can still suggest the idea to Mouri-san and Megure-keibu", Sato said. "Better do this from here, but you'll have to be very careful so the abductors don't understand you've called the police."

"What would they do if they notice?" Ran asked, worried.

"Not kill him, that's for sure", Takagi affirmed firmly in a reassuring tone. "Maybe jostle him a bit roughly, but that's all. They need him. Anyway, we can't do anything until your father and the backup coming with Megure-keibu arrive."

"Indeed", Sato agreed. "It would be stupid to try anything for now. But we can still plan the call. Before that, Ran, please tell us from the beginning with more details please. Anything could be a decisive clue."

"Alright..."

"So, the only thing you don't understand is why Conan-kun's shoes, that you found near your room, where there, is that right? You say they were tidy when you left, and that Conan may have put them on when he went to lock the office's door and forgot to remove them. Are you sure about this?" Megure asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. The brat would have put them out properly, and not in the middle of the house. And I don't see him taking the time tu put them off to throw them at the criminals, don't you? Moreover, his slippers were in place, tidy. I think he had his shoes on when his kidnappers entered, and that they removed it when they caught the brat, but I don't see why. It won't prevent him from trying to escape. As there was still a risk someone would come, or us getting back earlier, they wouldn't have taken the time to do so if not for a reason. Or the brat tried to tell us something witht that but I don't see what it means." Kogoro explained.

The policemen nodded, thinking. This point was the only thing they didn't get. Everything else seemed pretty explanable, but that... If Conan had done it himself, what did it mean? If the culprits did it, why? They couldn't picture the response...

"Megure-keibu?" Sato stepped in. "Should we try Ran-chan's idea?"

"I'm not sure about this" Megure confessed. "But it could indeed be interesting. Either we speak with Conan-kun, which would ensure he's fine, and he definitely could give us very useful informations, either we talk to his captors, which will happen at some point, and we would have the advantage of the surprise. Yes, it could help... If he indeed has his phone with him."

"Well, the only was to know is to try", Eri suggested. "Kogoro isn't going to get back to check for the kid's phone, it would take too long."

Megure nodded and shot a glance at the technician who was working on the tracking system linked to the phone. The technician asked for some more minutes to finish his installation.

They all agreed that Ran would be the one to call. She was younger, could be less suspicious, and could tell the captors she did this without telling her father. Of course they'd be a bit sceptical, she was Kogoro Mouri's daughter after all, but it seemed a lot less risky that way.

They gathered around the phone, still giving Ran advices, waiting for the technician to give them the green light to call. But before that, Eri's phone rang, surprising everyone. Without thinking, Eri, who was also close to her daughter to reassure her, picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"It seems Mouri-tantei has some trouble reading", a threatening voice began. "Do not worry, I think I have a good way to help him with that..."

I'll try to update as soon as I can! As I didn't start school (well, university in fact =P) yet, it should help, but from next week, dunno... We'll see!
Again, don't hesitate to let reviews and all.
Small spoiler of the next chap : you'll hear about Conan in it ;)

Translation done on the 14th of september, 2017, or 14-09-2017 in French order (I suck at writing dates in English).