A/N: I'm aware last chapter was slow, I had to cut it there or else I'd be making some huge first chapter, and I noted that few people with a passing interest wish to read an extra long first chapter. So, now, let the plot thicken! (and feel free to guess who the culprit is in your reviews)

---------------------------------------------

It wasn't long before the plush limousine pulled up to the entrance of the C.E.S. building, a ten story skyscraper that dwarfed many of the other smaller buildings clustered around it. The building itself was a dull gray corporate office building, all its lights dimmed and looming silently above the sleek town car.

A nervous, skinny and pale chauffer quickly stepped out from the vehicle, moving to the passenger door of the limo to open it up quickly, making a slight bowing gesture as Aku Himidei pushed his large frame through the small opening. Rachel, Richard, and Conan followed suit.

It wasn't until they had all piled out of the car that they realized they weren't entirely alone. Next to the main entrance was a nervous looking man with several wrinkles, a large nose, bald pate, and stout of size and body. He paced nervously in front of the door, his hands wringing themselves slightly, his lips moving inaudibly as he visibly muttered to himself.

Another man leaned against the building, smoking the remains of a cheap brand of cigarette. He flicked the half finished paper cylinder to the ground and promptly rubbed his heel over it, smearing its contents across the immaculately cleaned sidewalk. The middle aged, salt and peppered lanky man slowly began to approach the group when they had exited their lavish vehicle.

"Himidei." the approaching man greeted and nodded to him, his squinting eyes hidden behind thick black rimmed glasses. His eyes swept over the rest of the group in a quick appraising glance. By the curl of his lip, he hardly seemed impressed.

"Mo, I'm glad you could make it." he said quickly, his tone seeming to indicate the exact opposite. "Everyone, this is Mo Eikou, one of my personal financial advisors and close friends." he stated gruffly, not even turning to the people behind him, his eyes locked on the slightly taller man's.

"Pleasure." Richard muttered, obviously knowing he was ignored, his words picked up on only by Rachel and Conan who didn't bother responding.

They seem awfully at odds to be 'close friends' Conan thought wryly, positioned between Richard and Rachel as the trio picked up the rear, following Mr. Eikou and Mr. Himidei toward the man who had been frantically pacing just a few moments ago.

"And this is my company physician, Dr. Maikeru Komon." Mr. Himidei remarked absently, pushing past the rotating doors and into the building, followed by a stalking Mr. Eikou. Dr. Komon, not the least put off by his employer's rudeness, smiled at the trio and extended his hand to Richard.

"Pleased to meet you, Detective." he said, his kindly features widening into a smile as Richard shook the doctor's hand in return.

"So Doctor, if you're the corporate doctor, I could presume you're adequately acquainted with the staff. Do you believe as your employer does that this could have been an inside job?" Detective Moore asked after a brief handshake, his hands finding their way back into his jacket pockets.

"Oh, no, I've not the faintest clue. Not many employees have any major problems with the company. Despite how he condescends, Mr. Himidei pays his employees reasonable salaries." Dr. Komon remarked as himself and Richard pushed through the rotating doors, followed by Rachel and a closely listening Conan.

"Actually, I've not the faintest clue why Mr. Himidei is so paranoid. This has been the first major break in for several years, almost a decade." Dr. Komon commented to Richard with some offhand gestures, handing his brown leather jack et to a smiling young woman.

"Oh, and this, Detective, is Eileen. She's the company vice president." The blonde haired woman beamed at Moore, extending her delicate hand to his in a quick, but surprisingly firm, handshake.

While Richard drooled over the tall, attractive, and shapely businesswoman, two more figures pushed through the rotating doors. One was relatively short, wearing light brown gloves and a matching color windbreaker. Trailing behind him was a taller man with blue eyes and a light brown hair with a green blazer on.

Eileen excused herself from Moore and took the pair's jackets, placing them in the small closet where she had placed all of the various coats. The smaller man just stuck his leather gloves in his back pocket before he hugged Eileen, the other drifting toward Himidei and Eikou.

"Uh, Doctor Komon?" Conan asked as he sidled up the bald doctor, he was standing with a watchful eye on the man who seemed to be desperately clinging to Eileen and the woman herself, his expression unreadable.

"Oh, hello there young man. What is it?" he asked kindly, his expression melding back to a cheerful one again, his hands clasping behind his back.

"Who were the two who just came in?" Conan asked in his highly pitched child voice, adjusting his glasses for effect.

" Well, that," the doctor began, discreetly pointing a finger to the man who had just finished hugging Eileen, "Is Eileen's brother, Luke. He's a nice boy, a few years Eileen's junior." Dr. Komon nodded appreciatively at the two who were seemingly deep in conversation, followed by another back breaking hug.

He seems either really affectionate or desperate for something. Conan thought dryly, as Dr. Komon had already begun speaking about the other man.

"…..is Terrence Martin. He used to have Eileen's position until Mr. Himidei wrenched his grip from his own company away from him. Terrence only owns a few shares of stock left. Mr. Himidei legally ruined his entire life, so I'm not sure why he's here. It might be to beg for his company back. I feel sorry for him, but he carries on about Mr. Himidei every chance he gets, it's really annoying sometimes." Dr. Komon's voice hinted of distaste as he seemed to speak more and more to himself and less to Conan.

"Now that everyone is here, shall we proceed to the scene of the crime?" the fat Himidei asked, not even waiting for everyone's compliance as he trudged into the elevator, accompanied by Mr. Eikou. The rest noticed that lack of room in the small mechanical compartment would force an embarrassing situation, and decided to walk up the five flights of steps to the fifth floor, reaching it just before Mr. Eikou and Mr. Himidei.

Moore went immediately to work, looking closely at the small safe and the fully functioning numbered keypad next to it. He closed it and hit several random numbers, his eyes narrow as the outside of the safe showed no signs of forced entry and the security keypad showed no signs of hacking.

"Well, this was either the work of some really high tech burglar or an inside job. From the small amount stolen, I'd have to say someone inside the company probably did it. Someone who knew the password to the safe." Richard declared calmly, his brows furrowed as he gave the small metallic box embedded in the wall another once over to be sure.

"Then, Detective, you have all your suspects in place." Luke said slowly from close to Eileen's side, his face widening into a slight smile.

"All of you? This might be a long night…" Richard's voice dropped slightly as he realized exactly how much work he'd have to put into this one.

"In that case, would everyone like some coffee? I'll go make some." Eileen's suggestion of coffee was met with more than one appreciative nod. Luke followed her as she briskly walked out, nearly stepping on her black high heeled shoes.

"Which sort of reminds me, I got to go to the bathroom then." Terrence said, walking quickly out after Eileen and Luke disappeared down the steps.

"Detective Moore, I trust you will update me when you find out something new." the fat company head said gruffly, moving to the elevator as a silent Mo Eikou followed in his footsteps, the duo heading into the elevator and disappearing behind its sliding metallic doors.

Dr. Komon opted to stay with the trio, standing over Richard as he moved to every angle to examine the small safe for a clue. Rachel took a seat at a padded chair in the office and waited silently, a burglary in a corporate building was hardly an exciting case, especially if there was no Serena to talk to in the interim.

Conan took the time to examine the room more closely. The eastern side of the room was covered with small six by six cubicles, all a dull gray, and none facing toward the sun, not that employees would see it through the thick plastic walls of the cubicles.

The other half of the room was separated into large spaces occupied by massive mahogany desks with comfortable clack leather seats. Mountains of paperwork seemed to clutter on some, while other looks perfectly neat with only a leaf or two of paper laying upon it.

Conan finally noticed that Richard and Dr. Komon seemed to be talking seriously, and Conan began to inconspicuously move closer to the pair, intent upon hearing any sort of evidence that would help him solve the case. Since, so far, there was hardly any evidence and only one person who seemed to have a credible motive. Conan glanced at a computer clock, 8:00 PM. It would be a long night.

Just as the teenager turned child began to near the two, the lights suddenly blinked out and Conan ran headlong into Richard's legs, falling backward onto his backside, startled at the sudden black out.

"Ah crap, what happened now?" Richard asked, his tone clearly voicing his annoyance at the black out, and the child who had collided with the back of his knees and nearly sent him sprawling.

"I wouldn't worry Detective, it looks like a storm has started up and it knocked out the power. The back up generator should kick in in five or so minutes." Doctor Komon replied unconcerned, his darkened form outlined with a sudden flash of lightning as he moved to the thick glass windows. He was right, it had just started raining into a downpour.

"Oh wow, that was a big one." Rachel remarked as a long streak of lightning arched across the sky, illuminating the room for a moment. The rolling thunder after it was so monstrous that it was loud even deep within the building as they were.

I'm not sure how they can be so calm, every time there's been a black out, there's been a murder. the diminutive detective thought with some wry humor, placing his hands in his pockets and adjusting his bow tie as he waited.

"It seems the lights have been out for a long time, shouldn't we see if something's wrong?" Richard finally asked, his frustration at waiting getting the better of him after nearly ten minutes of standing around wordlessly in the dark. The lights suddenly burt back to life as the last word left his mouth. The clock that Conan had been examining early showed 8:00 PM, still blinking from the power outage, it'd have to be reset.

"I told you Detective, the back up generator." Doctor Komon said matter-of-factly, but smiling in some amusement at Richard's lack of patience.

Before Conan could finally bring up the nagging fear in his mind about their obvious lack of company as their absence had grown to nearly ten minutes, Eileen and Luke suddenly rounded in, Luke's face somewhat red as Eileen swiftly put the tray of coffee cups down on a nearby desk.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to try and navigate up the steps with a tray of coffee and delicate china." Eileen apologized immediately, standing and urging the rest of them to take a cup, Luke declining wordlessly and sitting at a nearby desk.

A quick door slam announced the entrance of Terrence, smiling at Eileen sincerely as he took a cup of coffee from the sterling silver tray, wording his thanks soon after taking a sip.

"It's no problem" Richard said, as he took a cup. Unfortunately, he didn't see Conan who was behind him again, examining the safe, and he feel backward, spilling coffee on his clean white shirt.

"You little brat! Geez, that is hot!" Richard said, effectively giving Conan a good knock over the head while grabbing another cup of coffee. Rachel quickly rushed to Conan's rescue, berating her father for not seeing Conan then blaming his fall on him.

"So Detective Moore, any leads on who might have stole the money?" Terrence asked, sipping his piping hot coffee, and seeming genuinely concerned with it.

"No, none at all. There's no forced entrance and after two days of having countless PIs turn it over, I doubt we'd be able to pull a print off of it." Richard remarked with a sigh, he wanted to finish this case, get paid, and go home already.

"Maybe you should talk to Mr. Himidei, Detective. He might be able to give you more information." Doctor Komon offered politely.

"That's a good idea, let's go then." Ricard said quickly, rising from his seat and shuffling toward the elevator, followed by everyone else, all of them squeezing into the small elevator.

Eileen was the first to exit the elevator, going down past the empty reception desk and throwing open the door to the penthouse office. The others were mere feet behind her when they heard her sudden intake of breath.

Richard and company ran forward, pushing past a pointing Eileen to look at the sprawled body of Aku Himidei, face down in his plush green shag carpet, a pool of blood forming under him.

"It looks like he's been killed recently, his corpse is still bleeding." Richard said, Terrence's face twisting in slight disgust, a weeping Eileen burying her head into Luke's shoulder and bawling at the sight.

"Hey, where's Mr. Eikou?" Conan asked suddenly, to which everyone looked at each other quickly.

"If Mr. Eikou did it then he's trying to get away!" Richard proclaimed quickly, and began raced out of the room, the patter of his feet suggesting he had opted for the stairwell. Everyone else followed quickly in pursuit, Doctor Komon picking up the rear and, breathing heavily as he tried to move his stout body quickly down the steps.

Conan was right on Richard's heels as they barged into the main waiting area of the first floor, where they had all gathered. There was Mr. Eikou, pulling his arm back from the jacket closet, holding a Walther P38 pistol.

Richard lunged at Mr. Eikou and tackled him, putting him easily into the headlock, the lanky man not possessing much in strength in the least, his gun rattled onto the floor which Terrence quickly scooped up and examined.

"Let go of me! This is an outrage!" Mr. Eikou howled as Richard finally released his grip, getting up to whisk the gun from Terrence's hands. Mr. Eikou dragged himself to his feet, his face red with anger but making no move, Dr. Komon moving to block the entrance with his large frame.

"This gun is missing two bullets." Richard said finally, as he unloaded the small ten bullet clip and realized there was room for at least two more bullets.

"So he did killed Mr. Himidei!" Eileen finally exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Mr. Eikou, who very suddenly began to pale.

"H-He's dead?" Mr. Eikou stammered, his rage at his sudden manhandling utterly forgotten at this point.

"Yeah and don't act all innocent!" was Terrence's quick outburst as Mr. Eikou began to shake his head in denial.

"It might not be best to jump to conclusions. Better to examine all the evidence in Mr. Himidei's office first, and call the police while we're at it." Richard said, followed by a quick approving nod of Conan, at least Richard knew when to get the police involved.

"Wait, before we go up, look at this." Conan said suddenly, pulling out Terrence's sopping wet green blazer jacket. Terrence had a sudden face fault at the new evidence, suspicious glared aimed at him as they made their way up to Mr. Himidei's office.

-----------------------------------------

Everyone had gathered in Mr. Himidei's office, Rachel was standing over by the beautiful Eileen and still completely morose Luke. Terrence talked to Dr. Komon by the door as Mr. Eikou stood with his arms crossed in the corner, eyeing the dead body with a narrowed eyed glare. Richard was talking with Inspector Megure over a speakerphone, Conan standing next to him with his arms behind his back, listening.

"….Sorry Richard but we just can't get out there. The streets are flooded or blocked and we wouldn't be able to get through until the rain has stopped for a little while. Since that's the case, I'll have to temporarily deputize you in an emergency such as this. Solve the case and hold whoever is responsible there until we can come." Inspector Megure's voice ended with a sound click, he had sounded very busy when they had called.

Richard simply shook his head as he kneeled next to Mr. Himidei's body, observing the entry wound and massive exit wound, accompanied by a curious Conan, his mind reeling as he began to go over possibilities.

After a quick search, Conan and Richard had discovered that there was a bullet hole in the far wall, and two holes who slightly differed in diameter were placed in the thick massive window of Mr. Himidei's office. There was also an ominous hand gun, still hot and missing a bullet, clutched in Mr. Himidei's hand.

"Well, it seems that Mr. Himidei was trying to fight someone off, probably drawing his gun to fire but being shot before he could take proper aim and putting a hole in the wall there. The killer took two shots, one hitting Mr. Himidei in the chest and the other missing. From the angle of the entrance and exit wounds, I'd have to say that someone taller than him shot him. We probably didn't hear the shot because of all the floors between us and the thunder storm." Richard commented, everyone but Conan turning to look at a now sweating Terrence, who was the tallest among the suspects.

Conan, however, was pressed up against the cool glass of the window, stooping down so that his face was next to the two large but dissimilar holes three quarters of the way down to the sill. A cool breeze wafted up against Conan's cheek and his eyes suddenly widened.

Just as Richard went to take a seat at Mr. Himidei's massive rosewood desk, Conan quickly sprinted behind the massive piece of furniture, aiming his watch at Richard's neck, and firing just as he began to speak.

"I think the murderer…..damn bugs…" Richard's voice trailed off, his eyes closing and his head bowing, so that his chin touched the top of his chest. Everyone turned to look at Richard, a confused look on their face.

Conan quickly pulled his bow tie up to his mouth and began speaking, Richard's voice filtering confidently out of it. "Like I was saying, I know who murdered Mr. Himidei and how!"

Everyone gasped.