Perilous Danger
Chapter 1:Perilous Revelation
"Where've you been, boy?" came the annoyed voice of Mouri Kogoro from the couch when Conan entered the office. "Supper's almost ready, but Ran says we'll have to wait for about ten more minutes."
"That's fine, Kogoro-ojisan," Conan replied, heading to the couch to sit down as well. He stopped, however, when he noticed that a large number of photos were scattered across the desk. His brow furrowing, Conan changed his course and walked towards the desk. "What are the photos on the desk?" he asked. Instantly, Kogoro's bad mood seemed to get ten times worse.
"I told Ran to get those out of here! Ran!" There was no response, and he turned with moodily to Conan, who was scrambling up onto the chair to get a better look. "Someone came today—she got photos of some men blackmailing some others. Apparently, they saw her, so the photos end abruptly where she had to run away. I can't do anything with only that much evidence! You can't even see the faces of the people in the photos clearly…" As Kogoro trailed off in a depressed tone of voice, Conan got his first good look of the photos. Instantly, his blood ran cold.
They were photos of Gin and Vodka with another man. They were almost exactly identical to what he had seen on the day that his body had been shrunk, except for the fact that they appeared to be in some sort of ruined building rather than an amusement park. Perhaps when the man came again, Conan could find out what they had been saying… Perhaps that would lead him to them!
"Conan? What is it? You're completely white!" Kogoro's voice knocked Conan back into the present. He looked up at him, faking a careless smile to the best of his ability.
"Sorry, ojisan, I just realized that I forgot to meet Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta today—I'll just go and call them." Conan jumped off the chair and ran out the door and up the stairs, dialing his cell phone as he went.
"Hello?" came the cold voice on the other end when the rings stopped.
"Haibara, get the professor! I've got to talk to him!"
"I see that something quite important has come up. You were the one who told me that he'd be gone for a while, remember?"
"Oh, kuso(1)!"
"It's the Organization, isn't it?" A touch of worry had entered her voice, but it was so subtle that Conan failed to notice.
"What else?" replied Conan. There was a pause before Ai spoke again.
"What did you hear?"
"Someone came to occhan(2) with photos of a blackmailing scene. Gin, Vodka and another guy, presumably the guy being blackmailed, were in those photos."
"You mean to say that this person got away with that?" This time, the surprise that entered her voice was impossible to miss.
"Apparently. According to occhan, the woman was spotted half way through, and she ran for it."
"A woman? I can't believe it."
"Do you want come over and look at them? They're as real as anything!" Conan's annoyance was crystal clear, but Ai did not appear to be phased.
"This must be a trap."
"What do you mean? You actually think that they would risk being exposed to catch me?"
"They know who you are and where you stay, remember? It's the same with me. You know much more about them than just blackmail. If you revealed what you know, they'd be in much deeper trouble than a few people knowing about blackmail."
"How would you know?"
"Kudo-kun! You're too excited at this revelation! Calm down and think for a moment. How many people who've witnessed blackmailing go running to private detectives instead of the police? Did you even ask what this woman looked like? I think that you know who I think it may have been."
She was right, Conan instantly knew. He took a few measured breaths, his eyes shut. When he opened his eyes, everything seemed much clearer.
"Thanks, Haibara. Tell the professor to call me as soon as he gets back." Conan switched off the phone before Ai could even reply.
Conan slid down the wall to sit on the floor. He had intended to discuss with the professor what the best course of action to take would be in this situation. However, since that was obviously out of the question, he was going to have to think up some other course of action. Sitting and waiting for the professor to return was something that he definitely didn't want to do.
Standing, he decided to go back downstairs and interrogate Kogoro—though he doubted that there would be anything else worth knowing.
"Supper's ready!" came Ran's announcement from the kitchen just as he was beginning to head down the stairs. Conan was just wondering if he should go down and call Kogoro in case he hadn't heard, when Kogoro came out of the downstairs room and began to moodily ascend the steps. His eyes were fixed on the floor, so he apparently failed to notice Conan. Shrugging to himself, Conan went back through the door, leaving it open for the man behind him.
As they ate their supper, they were consumed in silence. Usually they watched the television during supper, but today Kogoro's mood was so bad that neither Conan nor Ran wanted to do anything that could disturb him any further. Suddenly, when they were nearly finished, Kogoro's head snapped up to stare and Conan.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Conan's eyes widened in shock, and then his brow furrowed in confusion. What had brought about this question? Surely Kogoro wasn't intelligent enough to figure out Conan's secret on his own…
"C, come on, ojisan! You know who I am—Conan Edogawa!"
Detective Mouri's eyes narrowed sharply.
"That's not what I see. Whenever I can't solve a case, you say something that leads to the solution! You know much more than any boy of your age should be able to know! On top of that, now my clients seem to think that you know more than I!" Saying that much, he stood, slapped an envelope down on the table, and crossed his arms. "The woman who came today told me to give that to you. She said that you would understand entirely if I said a certain word to you." Conan, who had reached out and just picked up the envelope, looked up at Kogoro cautiously.
"What word?" He tried to make his voice sound like an innocently confused and curious child, but knew that his heart was beating too fast—the confusion and curiosity were there, but his voice sounded much more like a man who is dreading what he will hear than a little boy who has no idea what is happening.
"Vermouth."
Conan's eyes, narrowed in concentration and confusion, snapped wide open. He stared at Kogoro in disbelief.
"Are you sure?" All childishness forgotten, he asked his question in a sharp, serious voice.
"Positive," said Kogoro. All anger was gone from his demeanor, and he instead seemed completely startled at the change that the word had brought about in the child.
"What did she look like?" Conan was on his feet, and his hands trembled where they were placed flat on the table, one on top of the envelope. Ran watched him worriedly through her confusion and surprise.
"Well, she came with a large hat and sunglasses, but when she took them off, she looked familiar… A foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes, but those eyes were really extremely sharp…"
"Occhan, do you know Chris Vinyard?" Kogoro's eyes widened, forgetting to scold the boy for his lack of respect in address.
"Of course! That's who she reminded me of!"
"Conan-kun, what's wrong?" Ran finally spoke. At her words, Conan realized for the first time that his body was covered in sweat and that the trembling of his hands had increased. He picked up the envelope once again, and tried to cover up his actions.
"Wow, ojisan, it's amazing that such a famous actress came to you!" He inserted a small pause, and then widened his eyes in a faked realization. "Oh no! I promised the professor that I'd go there tonight! I'd better go now!" Before he could run out, however, Kogoro grabbed his arm. The suspicion was back in his eyes, stronger than ever.
"Oh no you don't. You'll sit here and tell us exactly what that letter says."
"Dad, don't do that! He's just a little boy!" Ran jumped up and tried to loosen her father's hand on Conan's arm.
"Ran, don't interfere. Something's happening, and this kid knows what it is. Now read that letter!"
Conan slowly sat as ordered, and slit open the envelope, knowing well that Ran and her father would read it over his shoulder. Knowing Vermouth, she would have addressed him as Shinichi Kudo on the inside. He opened the letter, taking as long as possible. To his relief, it was not so. He began to read slowly, trying to read ahead and hide the letter from the view of Ran and her father as he did so, for fear that something written there would give him away.
"My dearest Edogawa Conan," Conan began to read, only vaguely aware that his voice was hoarse and his heart was beating so rapidly that he could hardly breath, "if you have interrogated Detective Mouri already, as I am sure you have, then you will already know who I am. I dare say you must have been quite jumpy as of late, knowing that I had disappeared for the last six months. Now, there is something that I need to get—or rather someone—apart from yourself, of course. You know exactly who I am talking about."
Conan's voice faltered as he stared at the paper in disbelief. She actually expected to get Haibara through him? That was ridiculous!
Kogoro did not press him to continue. Though Conan had done his best to hide the note, he had still read some key words, and had the gist of the message. As he slowly recovered from his shock, he stared at the little boy, whose expression was nothing like that of a little boy at the present. Who was this boy, who was so mature for his age, and who received threatening notes despite his seeming insignificance, and young age of eight?
Ran's eyes narrowed. The expression on the boy's face was much too familiar to ignore. True, it was similar to the expression Conan wore when concentrating, but the panic and cold calculation blended in his expression, causing an old familiar face—yet not so familiar as of late—to leap before her eyes. Shinichi…
But Conan paid neither Detective Mouri nor the calculating Ran any heed as he reread the second half of the letter.
Tell her that if she wishes you, and all others around her, such as the professor and the children, to remain as they are, then she would do well to do as I say: to go alone to Tokyo Tower on the night of the full moon at midnight. You are not to 'forget' to inform her, for I know where to find the person who you hold most dear.
XXX
Vermouth
Conan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He calmed his racing heart, and then steeled his emotion. Thinking coldly and rationally, he made his decision. When he opened his eyes, there was a hard resolution filling those orbs that had not been there before.
"Conan-kun?" Ran asked cautiously, slightly nervous about using what she now was, once again, theorizing to be fake. The steel hard resolution in the boy's eyes faded, Kogoro noticed. Had it been deceivingly strong, that it should fade so easily?
No, he realized as the boy smiled up at Ran, assuring her that he was alright, but that he had to go and see the new game that the professor had made him. The resolution had faded from sight, but it was not gone. He had simply hidden it with practiced skill.
As he watched the boy run out of the apartment, a bright smile on his face, he was almost fooled himself—until he noticed that the boy had carefully tucked the note into his pocket.
'kuso' – this word is the Japanese equivalent of the word 'shit', although is used differently at times.
'occhan' – a not-too-polite way to refer to a man, usually older than and well-acquainted with oneself.
Author's Note: Not spectacular, I know. The plot is underdeveloped and not very engaging either. But if you want me to continue, review and tell me so. I'd be grateful for tips, ideas, comments, criticism… Anything. Like I said, the plot is underdeveloped—in other words, I only have a vague, blurry picture of the whole thing in my mind. It sort of makes itself up as it goes along. If I get seven positive reviews for this story, I'll continue it.
