I'm so sorry for not updating this fanfiction for so long! But don't worry, no matter how long I am, I always update one day or another!

Thanks a lot for the reviews, favs and follows! It helped me continue this fic.

I'll try to be faster for the next chapter!

Enjoy ;)

Chapter 3 : Revelations

"Eh ? What are you talking about?" Grumbled Kogoro, not at all convinced by Conan and Sera's looks even if each time one of them was discrediting a theory of him, they ended up being right and proving it.

Speaking of which, Conan pointed the duct tape used to tie Miyazawa Takuto up and began his explanation, his childish face back.

"See what he's been restrained with? It's not something you'd find here, in a CEO's office, don't you think? Probably, the murderer was planning from the beginning to do this. Duct tape is easier to carry and to use to bind someone than a rope. What is more, he has been tortured with a knife, not with a crowbar or anything like that, so the murderer likely brought a knife because he had planned to torture him even before getting here."

Noticing he was letting his deduction skills be seen a bit too much, Conan added with an even more childish voice "At least that's what I saw on TV lately."

"Rubbish", assured Kogoro. "He surely brought the duct tape and knife by precaution, just in case someone saw him, and when the owner of the safe presented himself, the culprit jumped on the occasion, thinking it would make things go faster. But it didn't, our victim was too stubborn or too proud to let this scoundrel get his money like that, money he earned through hard work. Not the best choice, but it's the better reason as to why he has been tortured to open his safe."

"I'm not sure about the true reason behind this, but I think Conan-kun's right", said Sera. "First, it's really stupid for a thief to come at such an hour. If Miyazawa-san was killed around 4:00 p.m., it means our culprit had arrived before. What kind of thief would be stupid enough to come at a time it's obvious all the employees would be here working, which means chances were high someone would discover him while he was trying to break the safe open? Moreover, I know Miyazawa-san kept most of his cash in another safe at his home. If the culprit knew where the safe was, it makes sense he knew it didn't contain a lot of cash too. Therefore, the victim's house would have been a better target, with less possible witness and consequently less chances to be discovered. Despite this, he went here at such a bad time, which I can't explain even if his goal wasn't valuable things. Speaking of which, your CEO here had some expensive things on him you can easily resell for a really good price, but the culprit didn't take them. Yet, some of them are obviously valuable goods."

Before Kogoro or one of the police members could answer, Conan added : "Furthermore, it's highly likely that Miyazawa-san would be in his office at this time. I don't know his working habits, but if his employees has been so long to realize he was dead, it must mean he likes not to be disturbed when he's working, isn't he?"

Conan had turned towards Sera so she could confirm his theory or not. She nodded and resumed his deduction where he had stopped. "As you said, Miyazawa-san likes to work alone, without distractions such as phone ringings or people knocking at his door all 5 minutes. That's why there's no phone in his office and that the secretary he hired to take care of calls for him has its own office in another corridor, so he's not bothered with sounds from people working in surrounding offices."

"But it means he was isolated from his employees", noticed Megure. "In that case, the culprit probably knew about his working habit as, like you said, he knew where to find the safe."

"It doesn't eliminate the risk of being discovered", replied Sera. "We don't know if the culprit knew Miyazawa-san's schedule, and even if it was the case, it was both dangerous and stupid. Dangerous, because her secretary or someone else could have walked into his office for an unexpected reason, with no way for the culprit to hear anyone approach because of the very good sound insolation, and stupid because he's usually one of the last person to leave the building. Coming later would have been a lot wiser."

Megure seemed to take the reasoning seriously, but Mouri looked more sceptikal, mostly because it came from kids he wasn't taking as seriously as he should.

"Why did he hired you in the first place? I don't get it", Kogoro grumbled.

"That's a good question", Megure admitted. "I'd thought a man like him would ask help from Mouri-san rather than a high school teenage detective."

"Are you implying I'm not as good as Mouri-san?" Sera asked.

"Yes!" Kogoro snapped. "You have less experience! Not only, that, you..."

"Hum! I think it will be enough" Megure interrupted.

Conan didn't know if he was amused or annoyed. Obviously, being younger than Kogoro, even if talking about his true self, didn't prevent him from being a better sleuth in a pretty objective point of view. But it wasn't the topic.

"I must admit I don't know why he hired me", Sera said. "I have one or two ideas though. But my client's death won't help me to check if it's true or not."

Conan frowned at this, but before he could ask more details to the teen, Megure had jumped on another subject.

"Anyway, his secretary is in her office, if you want to go and ask her some questions, Mouri-kun."

"Good idea, I only saw the crime scene and hadn't had the opportunity to talk to her yet about this", Sera answered even if she wasn't the one the inspector asked.

The portly man only looked more annoyed, as Kogoro, but they indeed headed to the secretary's office, including Conan.

On the way, he noticed two employees speaking and, judging from their expressions, it probably was about the case. He didn't pay much attention until he caught a part of their discussions.

"Do you think he did it? He came here today after all, and it's obvious he resent the CEO about what happened."

"But it may also be Yamada-san, don't you think? He didn't seem to get very well along with Miyazawa-kaichou those days."

"Hello! Could you tell me more about those people please?" Conan's voice suddenly interrupted them.

Both men looked down in surprise to the small kid.

"Boy, what are you doing here?"

"I'm with the detective who came to investigate the murder. He's busy right now but he heard your conversation and want me to learn more. I'll tell him later."

They didn't seem convinced, so he added :

"The police will probably question you anyway, won't they?"

"I doubt they'll ask to all the employees, we're a lot", one of them noted.

"They'll probably ask the ones who have their office close to the CEO's. Is it your case?"

"No one's around the CEO's office. He's at the top to be alone, and for the view I guess. The other rooms on the floor are for his break, a bathroom, and some storage rooms. His secretary is on the level below, along with us."

"You're indeed going to be questionned by the police", Conan confirmed. "So, that are you doing here, at his level? Did you see anyone go to his floor this afternoon?"

"We only came because everyone heard about what happened. Well, the ones who are still here. We were late in our work and had to come back because I forgot something, that's why we're still there, so we came at this floor to know more about what happened."

The small sleuth asked several more questions about the men they had mentionned juste before and then left. Sera and the others were nowhere to be seen. They had probably reached the secretary's office by now, but he didn't know where it was. Well, thanks to these guys, he now knew he had to get down to the floor below this one.

He was looking for stairs or elevators when he noticed someone in suit walk quickly. He looked like this Yamada person the employees told him about. He was kind of the second in command here, but had a lot less power than the CEO despite they had apparently created this society together, and it seemed to be the reason why they were arguing those days.

There wasn't much people in the corridors, but Yamada didn't notice the child. The small detective was intrigued to know what he was doing. Was he trying to hide something before the police questionned him?

He then spotted another person following Yamada-san. Someone wearing a long coat, which could easily hide an iron bar, a pipe or, more likely, a crowbar, like the one used on the safe. Conan froze, frowning. Didn't he passed that man this afternoon, around here? Plus, his attitude was really suspicious. If he was right, the employees had talked about him too. Inoue Akiyashi, the CEO of the society rival to this one, which hadn't resisted the competition.

The child began to follow them both.

Sera blinked in surprise, seeing Conan was no longer following. Did he found something interesting? She smiled. Well, she was taking the secretary's interrogation in charge, she'd just have to exchange informations with the kid when he'd be back. He was probably on his way to find interesting stuff.

They went downstairs until the right office. The interrogation began, providing interesting informations, and it was only when Megure asked Sato and Takagi to keep questionning the employees here this afternoon and at this floor, and the security guards, that they noticed Conan wasn't there.

"Where did that brat go?" Kogoro complained.

"No idea!" Sera smiled.

"Do you know when he left us?" Megure asked. "I thought maybe hearing all that would help him remember something."

"He wasn't with us for the whole interrogation of the secretary", Sera informed them.

"What? And he's still not there?" Kogoro shouted.

"Maybe he got lost?" Megure suggested.

"Then I'll go look for him!" Sera offered.

She left them and went back upstairs. She couldn't be sure he was still there, but it seemed like a good beginning to find him.

Yamada entered a room, followed by Inoue. Conan approached the door and leaned against the wall near the opening to hear, but trying to stay out of view while keeping an eye on what was happening inside.

"Yamada-san." Inoue said.

The man in suit suddenly turned to the other.

"You! How did you get there? You murdered Miyazawa-san didn't you?"

"He didn't want to release the proofs of his illegal actions", Inoue answered, taking a crowbar from under his coat. "I guess this is what you're trying to destroy before the police get it? But you'll have to handle them, if you don't want me to kill you."

I hope it doesn't seem too rushed. I find it harder to settle the elements when I write in English, so I decided to go in a writing register I master better, as it's my first time ever writing a simple murder case without putting anyone in danger x)

Spoiler alert : it's going to change.

14-09-2017 (French date)