Hi people ! I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, but I was really busy, with other fanfics but not only. Moreover, writing in english isn't something easy for me, I have to get in « english mode » first by reading and listening english before so I can think and write in english more naturally. Something that didn't help me writing the next chapter quickly is also the fact that I had wrote the beginning of chapter two almost immediatly after I posted the first, but I had it on only and, for an unknown reason, it disappeared, so I wasn't too happy when I saw it. Usually, when I loose a text, either I write it again straightaway or I wait until I have the motivation to re-write what I lost ^^'
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter! =D As usual, if you see mistakes, please tell me but be tactful please ;)
Chapter 2 : An odd murder
Kogoro hurried through the huge automatic doors on the front side of the building, Conan following him closely but almost having to run to keep up with the sleuth's speed. They left so quickly that Conan didn't have enough time to even ask who died, and he soon realized during the ride in the rental car that Kogoro wasn't in mind to answer, which was both odd and disturbing. The old man didn't seem personally affected by the murder, which was still good news, but judging from the serious look on his face, the murdered person was probably someone important or something like that. It was the only explanation Conan could think of with the elements in his possession, which were really few right now. Hopefully, he should be able to learn more within seconds as soon as they'd had reached Megure.
By chance, the portly inspector wasn't far from the entrance. Thanks to the large windows which were covering almost all the hall, Kogoro and Conan had been able to spot the police inspector just after getting out of the car.
Kogoro stopped a few meters from the inspector, his serious face still in place, which was a bit unusual. Well, the fact that Megure was asking his help was already rare, as they usually found themselves involved in cases even before a murder occurred, moreover Kogoro used to greet his former colleague with a smile and some joke while coming to him. Not here. He was more formal, more tense, and after a quick glance at the portly inspector, Conan saw that he saw equally tense. If anything, it confirmed that someone important must have died. Maybe the owner of this building or of the company using it, or a celebrity. The shrunken sleuth didn't see why they'd be so serious otherwise. It had to be a sensitive case.
Megure was about to greet the famous private eye when he noticed Conan. His presence didn't seem to please him too much.
"Why did you bring him?" he asked Kogoro with a disapproval voice.
"Well, I didn't want to, but this brat told me he got near that building earlier, so maybe he saw something interesting or useful. As you didn't tell me the time of death, I brought him, just in case," grumbled the old sleuth, not looking too happy about it either.
The inspector didn't really seem convinced. He reluctantly asked the child, "So, what time was it when you approached this building?"
"Around 4:00 PM. I was with the others, but we didn't stay long. Is that about the time of death?" he asked innocently, trying to soften the portly inspector who was still looking annoyed about him being there. He immediately changed his expression, his glare becoming suddenly aware after hearing what the shrunken teenager had just said.
"4:00 PM, you say?"
"Yes," confirmed Conan.
"What is it, keibu-san, is it the time of death?" inquired Kogoro.
"Well... the time of death isn't very precise, but yes, he likely was killed around that hour," revealed Megure.
"So, can you tell me what exactly happened?" requested Kogoro.
"To summarize, the victim is Miyazawa Takuto, the CEO of this company, owner of this building and a well-known, wealthy man. He was killed in his office, as I said around 4:00 PM, and discovered at 7:00 PM, by his secretary who came because he was late for a meeting. He's probably been tortured judging from his injuries, and we have an idea as to why. His company has experienced a lightning growth recently, due to the fall of his main rival company, and it made him very wealthy, so we can suppose that the murderer wanted to make him give the combination to his safe, which contained some of his fortune, especially since the painting hiding it has been put aside."
"The motive of the murder would be the lure of money, then? But wouldn't the culprit be caught on tape? A place like this must have a good security system," wondered Kogoro. Conan could only agree with him as he spotted a security camera.
"It does," replied Megure. "Tagaki-kun and Sato-kun watched the videos, but it didn't help to find the culprit. Too many people are working here, and some parts of the building aren't covered by the cameras because of building-maintenance which made them useless. Therefore, someone could have entered the building by the back and go to our victim's office without being caught by any camera."
"But someone would have noticed if a stranger was wandering in the building, wouldn't they?" added Kogoro.
"Not necessarily. As I said, a lot of people are working here, they don't know everyone else by sight. Anybody could come in, they'd just have to wear a suit to look like any other person here."
"So, you have a motive, but no suspect, am I right?" asked the old sleuth.
"That's it. We wouldn't have called you otherwise."
"Well, the last time you asked my help I can think of is when that Osakan brat and his friend were there, and you had three suspects at the time", Kogoro reminded him.
Conan remembered that case too, especially because of the bet around it, but it wasn't the moment to recall it. So, he concentrated on the information the portly inspector was giving them about the crime scene and even the victim's injuries, both men had obviously forgot Conan's presence, but not for long.
"Heeeey, Conan-kun!" a voice yelled through the hall. A voice that Conan recognized almost immediately, even though he didn't expect this person to be here.
The three of them turned to see Sera hurry toward them, a bright smile on her face. Oddly enough, she didn't come from the doors but from inside the building.
"What is this tomboy doing here?" mumbled Kogoro.
"She came here during the investigation. She said the victim had hired her, but she still hasn't told us why," replied Megure with a tone clearly saying he didn't like her silence too much.
Sera reached them and, as usual, did at first as if only Conan was there.
"I thought you'd manage to come!" she said, obviously happy about it. "Ready to go to the crime scene?"
"I'm not sure it's a good idea to show him the crime scene, the corpse is still there," said Megure. "By the way... Have you seen it already?"
"Sure I have" replied Sera, still smiling. "The victim was my client after all."
"Why did he hired you?" tried the inspector, but Sera had already turned back to Conan.
"So, are you coming?"
"Sure," answered Conan. He had enough information for now, looking at the crime scene was the better thing to do to move forward in this case right now, especially since Megure had almost finished when the teen came. He didn't need to play kiddie in front of the inspector, he knew him well enough not to be surprised that Conan would want to see the place.
"Wait, you don't need to bring him there," interrupted Kogoro. "If the culprit really entered the building by the back, then the brat can go home, he probably didn't witnessed anything useful."
"We're not sure yet", contradicted Megure. "However..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Conan and Sera were already heading towards the elevators, Sera asking Conan about his story about being a witness. Megure sighed and beckoned to Kogoro to follow them on the crime scene.
To be honest, Megure wasn't keen to have the child on the crime scene because of its gruesome aspects, the victim having been tortured after all, but, well... It's not like if he wasn't used to Conan getting into crime scenes, even if he or Kogoro or another policeman tried to prevent him from doing so. After all of the dead bodies Conan had seen, they didn't really fear he'd be traumatized or shocked by the sight of a corpse. Moreover, Megure just realized that Conan had stayed next to Kogoro the whole time he told the old cop about the victim's injuries, which, if they made the sleeping sleuth flinch slightly sometimes, didn't had any effect of this kind on the boy, or Megure would have noticed him listening. It only accentuated the impression of the inspector that this kid really was odd, but well, as long as Conan was helping them to solve cases without damaging evidences, he didn't see any reason to stop him, knowing the child was stubborn at clinging to a case anyway.
They quickly arrived at the crime scene, with was up in the floors, and entered an office near the elevator area. Straight after he entered the room, Conan looked around to understand what had happened here.
The victim was covered with blood. His own blood. He was tied up to his chair and had cuts all over this body. These wounds were meant to be painful, not lethal... At least at first. Some of the other injuries looked like they'd been done in rage. Same thing with the safe: though the canvas that was obviously covering it most of the time had been pushed aside cautiously, someone clearly tried to break it open at some point. There were marks almost everywhere on it, some of them light mostly around the lock but also others, deeper, which could be seen as much on the combination lock than on the edges of the safe. The deepest marks were equally spread everywhere, as if someone had just lost patience and tried to smash the door to get it open. Obviously, all those marks had been made by a metallic object, probably like a pipe or a crowbar, even if there wasn't any object like this in the room.
"So, what do you think, Mouri-kun?" asked Megure to the famous sleuth.
"Hum? Yeah, it's obviously a robbery that ended up in a murder," confirmed Kogoro.
"I wasn't talking about that, even if it's interesting to know you think it was a interrupted robbery too. I wanted to know if you could see any hint about the culprit here."
"Oh. Well, someone had used some kind of weapon on this safe, and by the look of the marks it left, I think it wasn't a small one. The culprit couldn't walk in this building without someone noticing he was carrying it, even if he hide it with a bag. Employees here usually just have a briefcase. He probably intended to break the safe open alone using some kind of crowbar, but the victim suddenly showed up, so the thief tied him up to force him into revealing his code."
"That's not at all you can tell," interrupted Sera with an assured smile. "Don't you think so, Conan-kun?"
The small sleuth nodded, wearing the same smile than his female counterpart as he answered without even thinking about it.
"It's not an interrupted robbery, it's a premeditated murder."
Well, I guess no one is really surprised by this revelation. =P But I have to go through this first to lead the story where I want it to go, 'cause yes, I have a more precise idea now.
Dunno if I really wrote more than in the first chapter (without counting all my personal comments and author's notes, of course), but well, I hope so. I won't be able to suddenly write a chapter twice what I wrote before just with a click of the fingers, at least not right now, I think. ^^ But as my first chapters for another fanfic I write in French are about that long too and got longer step by step, I guess it's not hopeless ;) I'll probably get used to writing in English (and, hopefully, I'll stop checking or looking for a word every ten seconds on an online dictionary). I just hope words won't be so reluctant to come when writing the next chapter!
So, as you probably noticed, I can be pretty slow to update a new chapter. I'll write the next one as soon as possible, but I can't promise anything, so just believe me; be patient and leave reviews; it will help the next chapter get out faster. =D
Beta-reader of the chapter : dreamingfifi ^^