Chapter 4: The Jet-Black Briefcase
"Nickkkkkkkkkkkk!" Maya whined, stretching out the last syllable for as long as possible to express her frustration to her partner, "You're a mess! Don't you exercise at all?"
Phoenix didn't have the strength to answer her question. He continued to pant in agony at the torture that he had just been subjected to.
"Nick, it was just a couple flights of stairs," she continued when she saw Phoenix's state of exhaustion. "Look at yourself! You're almost crawling on the floor. You'll dirty your suit at this rate! Don't act like you just ran a marathon."
"Says you," he shot back, annoyed. "Try running up and down the stairs over and over again and see if you don't feel like dead weight after."
"You were the one who was running about all the time. Maybe if you had paced yourself better, you wouldn't be panting like a dog right now."
Irritated, Phoenix gave Maya one of his 'cut it out' looks. "Well, excuse me, but I was trying to find—" he cut himself off when he laid eyes on the very person he was trying to locate.
Humming while skipping down the stairs was his daughter, Trucy!
"Trucy! Over here!" Phoenix called out, grabbing her attention. He couldn't keep the look of relief off of his face, thanking his lucky stars that nothing had happened after all.
"Daddy! What's wrong?" she asked upon seeing her adoptive father's very worried gaze.
Phoenix ignored her query, pulling her into a hug, "Don't worry me like that ever again!"
Trucy broke away from the embrace, brushing her cape to smoothen any creases. "Daddy, I'm old now! You don't need to carry on doting on me like I'm still a child!"
Phoenix beamed at his feisty daughter, before sighing at her stubbornness. "By the way, where's Pearls?"
"Pearls? When I was walking up, she saw someone she knew and went over to talk to them." She put her finger to her lip, pondering, "I think she's still with them. I don't really know, to be honest."
Someone Pearls knows? Here, halfway across the world? Phoenix racked his head trying to think of anyone who fit those criteria. Who could it be? That's such a coincidence, them meeting in a place like this.
Just then, Phoenix heard a suppressed giggle. Uh oh, he thought, that was Maya. Game over, man. It's coming…
"See, Nick! Someone else who knows Pearly is here, in Japan! I told you that this concert was a huge deal!" Maya was practically jumping up and down, feeling vindicated after being armed with this new knowledge. "Why else would they travel to Beika City, all the way in the middle of a foreign country? To watch the epicness that is a live-action Steel Samurai concert, of course!"
I knew it. I knew she'd bring it up. The day Maya stops gushing about the Steel Samurai is the day the world stops turning. I seriously think she's more interested in it compared to her Kurain Master duties sometimes.
"I get it, Maya." His face remained blank and guarded as he continued, "You just want me to feel embarrassed for somewhat liking the show, don't you?"
"Come on! Don't be shy! It's alright to like the Steel Samurai!" Maya cheered with glee.
"Yeah, Daddy! You have loads of DVDs for the movies!" Trucy grinned while tipping her hat, adding fuel to the ever-raging fire.
Phoenix slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Alright, fine. I admit that it's not the worst thing in existence and decently okay as a show. Now let's change the topic, please." At least this way the conversation won't head down a disastrous route. "Can we please find Pearls, perhaps?" he asked.
"Don't worry, Nick!" Maya winked. "I know my Pearly. She's well-behaved, so she'll follow instructions. I bet she can't be that hard to find."
Yeah, she's so well-behaved to the point where sometimes I wonder who's the older one between the two of you. After rolling his eyes, he resigned that Maya was at least right about the mild-mannered Pearl being easier to locate than a reckless Trucy. "Trucy, which floor did you see Pearls last?"
"8th floor," Trucy started, before she took out her phone from her pocket and bluntly stated, "But I could just call Pearls to ask she is now, y'know."
"What?!" Phoenix yelled, flustered. "You can c-call Pearls…?" he said slowly with wariness in his voice.
"Daddy, my phone's on roaming. Of course I can contact her!" She looked at her father with a concerned look. "What's wrong? You look faint."
Phoenix decided that it was for the best that he not tell her that the reason he was so panicked earlier was that because his phone couldn't make any calls. "N-Never mind, you call Pearls." After this, I'm gonna get myself a new SIM card for coverage to save myself from heart attacks!
Shrugging, Trucy entered the number and put the phone to her ear. "Hi, Pearls! Um-hm, oh, okay! Thanks, bye!" Ending the call, she started to hop up the stairs excitedly. "Well, looks like I was right. 8th floor it is! See ya there, Daddy!" she yelled.
Phoenix rose his hand up before Maya could get a word in. "I'm taking the elevator." He wasn't running up and down the stairs again.
"You lazy bum, Nick!" Maya frowned as Phoenix entered an open elevator and pressed the button for the 8th floor. In response, Phoenix simply smirked and jabbed down the "door close" button, shutting the elevator door on a cross Maya.
"Nickkkkkk! You traitor!"
Phoenix couldn't help but snort in amusement at hearing Maya's shrill voice from behind the doors before the elevator made its ascension up the shaft.
Payback was a little sweet sometimes.
Over a million dollars of cash in a foreign currency, stuffed into an unlocked briefcase? Yeah, this would scream "suspicious" even if he had happened to be an actual seven-year-old.
Conan continued to stare impassively at the contents of the briefcase. Recomposing himself, he hurriedly darted his eyes around to make sure that no one was in the vicinity before trying to gather his muddled thoughts. He needed to make some sense of the predicament that he had been thrust into thanks to that mischievous magician.
"Heh… is it bad that I've seen weirder things than this happen to me over this past year?" he asked himself with a snarky expression as he examined the briefcase. "The fact that I'm getting used to stuff like this happening to me all the time is… very unsettling. Definitely very unsettling."
At least now he was able to rule out a couple of things. Namely a certain white-caped magician's presence, for starters. Kaitou Kid never, ever went for petty cash. He was a phantom thief with style and legions of adoring fans, which was probably the reason that he only ended up stealing the most extraneous of gems in the most fabulous of ways. Something like a briefcase full of money? Only old-fashioned robbers would go for it.
Not to mention, Nakamori-keibu was significantly absent this time. Ever since Conan first found out about Kid, at every heist he attended after, Nakamori would be there. The green-suited inspector was a Kid fanatic and would always attend every heist without fail. Nakamori was probably the only one even nuttier about arresting Kid than him, besides maybe Advisor Jirokichi.
Furthermore, Trucy hadn't even reacted when he tried to out his identity earlier. Well, to be fair, she hadn't reacted in the way he expected. Her move was to throw the freaking briefcase at him and continue to act as though nothing had happened. While throwing the briefcase into his face was in-character for Kid, not shredding the disguise for an obligatory taunt afterwards was most definitely not.
Normally, when he revealed to Kid that he was in the know, the thief would toss away his disguise. It most likely out of honor… or because that damn thief had an incessant need to taunt his favorite "Tantei-kun", and he couldn't very well do that while he was in disguise.
From the start, things this time were unusually different from the norm. Was Trucy really not Kid after all? He frowned. It looked as though it really was a coincidence — they really were two different people after all. Maybe he was a little too hasty in assuming they were one and the same.
Conan shook his head with a small sigh. Just what the world needed… another person who had a similar attitude to the cocky thief. He made a mental note in his head to never ever let the two magicians meet if possible, for the sake of preserving his sanity.
Getting that mental possibility of disaster out of his mind as quick as possible, he focused his attention towards the cash in the briefcase. He put his hand on his chin, boring his eyes at the money as though they were the answer to the week's reality show quiz.
Something seemed off about the whole concept to him. Why was the money here? Forgery? Not likely, the money appeared to be real at first glance and nothing about the notes screamed counterfeit. Blackmail? If it was blackmail, then Trucy wouldn't have the briefcase unless something went terribly wrong, and for things to go that wrong and not get covered up when it came to the Organization was unheard of. They were never that careless.
And lastly, if Trucy wasn't Kaitou Kid in disguise, that would mean that she was most likely Nick's actual daughter… which he simply could not visualize as an option. The Black Organization always put their mission over family. That was the whole reason Ai had defected from them in the first place — they had ruthlessly killed her sister without mercy. That was enough proof to him that there was no way that someone like Nick would bring his legitimate daughter over to a place like this if he was an agent. It was simply an unacceptable risk.
And that right there, was a contradiction. The only course of logic from here is to assume that Nick most likely wasn't with the Black Organization. But he had a few problems with that hypothesis as well. For one, Haibara had all but confirmed that They were here, and Nick suits the bill as an agent at first glance thanks to his suspicious behaviour. Not only that, but if they were indeed a normal family, then why was he suspicious of him from the very start? No one were usually immediately suspicious of his identity—despite the fact that the whole charade was pretty obvious if one paid very close attention—so the fact that he was on to him in a single conversation bugged Conan to a certain extent.
Had they met somewhere before, when he was still Kudo Shinichi? Was that why Nick was wearing the blue suit that used to be his standard go-to attire? As some kind of a warning message?
Conan heaved a sigh, shaking his head. He was definitely thinking about this too hard. He needed more clues before he could conclude about Nick's allegiances. Regardless of whether that guy was part of the Black Organization or not, he had to find out more about why Nick was so suspicious about his identity.
Not to even mention the whole deal about the briefcase…
He was almost 99% sure that the briefcase was not originally owned by Trucy. He hadn't seen her with the case when they first met at the hotel lobby, and the very fact that she gave him the briefcase—albeit in an annoying manner—implied that she wasn't interested in it.
So then, the obvious question was how someone like Trucy got ahold of a briefcase that was filled with money. Was it related to Nick? He couldn't discount their relationship as father and daughter at the moment.
Whoever had the case before had unlocked it and purposefully left it unlocked. But if that was so, then Trucy should have seen the money inside. Why didn't she call the police? Any sane person would either have called the authorities, or if they were greedy, make off with the money like they had struck the lottery. Twice in a row.
There was also the matter of how the case came to be unlocked in the first place. Conan jerked his head up as a sudden thought hit him. Since Trucy didn't seem surprised by the contents, did she perhaps pick the lock? She was a magician, and lock-picking was a skill that some magicians used for their tricks.
Conan knelt down on one knee, peering closely at the metallic area of the lock. He grimaced as he found no scratches or obvious signs of forced entry. Without any signs of forced entry, that posed a problem to his lock-picking idea.
Not only that, but he remembered that the case had swung open automatically when he had pushed down on the unlock catch earlier. Since it opened and wasn't locked, it meant that when the briefcase was last closed, the password itself hadn't been scrambled to prevent any unauthorized access.
There were four separate rotors on the briefcase password dial, each numbered with the digits 0 to 9, which made for 10,000 possible combinations in total. It would have taken a person an absolute eternity to crack the password via brute force, unless he or she guessed correctly by some miracle, or more likely, by deducing and analyzing number patterns if they knew the behavioral patterns of the original owner of the case.
Conan smiled, remembering the time where Ran had tried to unlock his phone in the same way. Trial-and-error still took way too long though, so until he had definite proof, he just filed this line of thought away and focused on the most important matter at hand.
What was the money doing in a place like this in the first place? He had an idea, but man, was it leading down a path he didn't want to go down. The color of the briefcase suddenly gave Conan a very uneasy feeling. An inky cold, harsh black, just like the same color of the Organization that he was chasing after.
There was one clear moment where he had seen a black briefcase full of money that he would never forget — when he had caught Vodka blackmailing the man back in Tropical Land.
How could he ever forget that? The whole reason he was turned into a kid in the first place was because he had tried to record that secret deal and hadn't noticed Gin behind him.
It wasn't the last time the he had seen the Organization with briefcases. Every other time he'd seen briefcases related to Them after that had resulted in massive explosions. That wasn't even an exaggeration. The bullet train, the accidental briefcase swap at Mantendo… seriously, those guys loved their money deals to go out with fireworks.
To put it bluntly, the whole damn thing just smelt of trouble. It didn't even seem like Organization fare, even though Haibara swore that They were here. Even he couldn't be sure if this really was the Organization in action. But it wouldn't hurt to take a chance. Because if this really was Their work…
Conan smirked predatorily at the thought. If it was Them, then he was going to enjoy taking another shot at the ones who'd ruined his life. Now that Ran and Haibara were in a much safer position since someone who had suspicions about his identity didn't appear to be with the Organization, he could go after them with everything he had.
He slipped in one of his transmitters in between a wad of cash, where it was unlikely to be found, before flipping the lid of the case shut again. He glanced down to remember the password combination of the case just in case. The password dial read "2-0-1-0". Interesting combination, Conan thought. I wonder if it means anything.
He decided against scrambling the code, leaving it as it was to avoid raising any suspicions. Gripping the handle, he strained his arms to lift the case back to the elevator. "Gah!" he complained as he waited for the elevator to return to the ninth floor. "This thing is really heavy!"
At the very least, he didn't need to wait long. One of the elevator cars had conveniently stopped on the eighth floor, so it only took a few seconds to arrive. As Conan lugged the stupidly heavy case into the elevator and waited for it to descend to the first floor, he reassessed the plan that he had just come up with.
All he had to do was to take the case back to the hotel reception desk at the lobby and see who picked it up. With a lost-and-found report being made, surely the original owner of the case would try to get it back. And when they did, the transmitter and receiver, along with his Tracking Glasses, would lead to some invaluable data of the original owner of the cash. A simple trap, but it worked. He highly doubted that the transmitter would be discovered in its hiding position, wedged in between a wad of cash, out of sight.
Ding!
As the elevator doors opened, Conan walked briskly in the direction of the main lobby. The moment he reached the receptionist and handed the briefcase over, he would be home free, out of danger!
He was however, unaware that he was being watched, until it was too late…
"Hey! Halt right there!" Conan felt his free hand firmly pulled back with a grab. Startled, his leg slipped and he fell to the carpeted floor, the briefcase in his other hand following suit.
"Where the hell did you get that briefcase?!"
Conan gasped, his mouth open in shock. Crap! He had been caught out! He struggled, trying to see if he could squirm enough to break free of the grip and use the anesthetic needle in his watch to get away from his captor.
Alas, it was to no avail. The man's arms were planted firmly on him and he didn't have the strength to break out of his vice-like grip.
He cursed and tried to think of a backup plan. The Ball Dispensing Belt? No, that wouldn't work either. He would need to turn around at his captor to get a good shot, which wasn't possible with his dominant hand being held down. Worse still, in such an open lobby, he couldn't kick the soccer ball to a wall and deflect it back with a tricky shot. The angles needed for such a ricochet were impossible.
That left just one option. Thankfully, being a kid at the moment, this one wasn't out of character for him at all.
"Help!" he yelled out in the most panicked voice he could muster. "Someone-mmph!" His screams for help were cut off when his assailant muffled his mouth with a gloved hand.
"Pipe down, boy! Shut your damn mouth!" As a flailing Conan was thinking of a way to get out of this sticky situation, the man continued speaking with a deep voice. "Listen up, kid. You're under arrest. The police have been hunting for you for quite some time."
Huh? Conan's face fell in confusion. The police? They… what? His face then grew irritated as he realized what appeared to be the situation. Oi, oi. Don't tell me they confused me with someone else. That's impossible, right? I doubt there are many children who are criminals and look like me at the same time.
"Officer, arrest this child at once!" the man barked, signaling a nearby police officer on standby. "He's got the briefcase! That boy's the culprit behind the theft!"
He's a officer?! Conan glanced towards the approaching officer with mild concern. I thought that guy in blue was a hotel security guard!
Wait… theft case? His eyes widened as he finally understood why the man was acting the way he was. The man who was holding him down must be the owner of the case. But that meant… it was nothing more than a simple theft case!
Of course, it was obvious in retrospect. The reason there was so much money was because it had been stolen, and to top it off, this definitely had nothing to do with the Organization. There was no way They would report a theft to the police. Such a screwup would never see the light of day.
But the briefcase being stolen property led to a brand new problem for him.
Damn it! Since I'm the one in possession of the briefcase, that makes me the prime suspect! Conan grit his teeth as he tried to formulate words to protest his innocence. But what could he really say? 'Sorry, officer! I randomly found this briefcase on the ground!' Haha, that was a good one. He'd be thrown to the detention center.
As the police officer continued to approach him, Conan realized he was out of options. "Alright," he said out loud to the officer, "I will come with you willingly." There wasn't really much else he could really do anyway that wouldn't result in him ending up in serious trouble.
I don't believe this, Conan rolled his eyes. I'm actually getting arrested. I never thought this day will actually come. Has the world gone mad? He chided himself for his own recklessness.
He brought his hands up to his front, watching as the officer looked at him quizzically. After a few seconds of nothing happening, he got annoyed and began to prod the officer. "Oi! Aren't you going to handcuff me or something?" he frowned with a look that would probably look out of place on a child. "At least follow proper protocol if you're going to go all the way! Cuff me already!"
The officer stared at him as though he was mad before hesitantly bringing out a pair of handcuffs and slapping them on his wrists.
Conan couldn't help but flinch at feeling the cold metal on his wrists. Was this what a criminal felt like after he'd discovered all their tricks and led justice to them? Well if so, it looked like the joke was on him now. He swore that his hands could possibly slip through the cuffs if they were just a teeny bit smaller. Ah, the universe was taunting him again.
It'd definitely hurt his pride a lot to end up feeling like a criminal, but he had no other way to prove his innocence besides turning himself in and sorting the matter out with the police. With the angle his hands were in, in the worst case scenario he could still reach for his watch or his glasses since he had offered his hands towards the front instead of them being forced behind his back against his will. It certainly paid to be cautious. He had to let the officer cuff him this way to avoid the other scenario.
"Ha! The kid's turned himself in?"
There came that menacing voice again. Ever since he had been handcuffed by the officer, the one who had caught him earlier let go of him as there was no chance for him to escape now. Without the grip on his arm, Conan could finally turn around to see his captor from earlier.
He was very unamused to realize that he recognized him. After all, he'd just seen him on TV.
When his brain finally started to work again, he finally managed to stutter out words in a stunned voice, "You're… the Kamen Yaiba?" He couldn't even process what he had just said.
The man immediately stood firm, changing his tone to act in character upon being recognized. "Yes! I'm the warrior of justic—hey, wait a minute!" The costumed Kamen Yaiba broke character, tone turning low as he turned to the officer, "Make sure he can't get away."
"But, I don't think he can escape in cuffs. Plus, h-he's just a kid…" Conan looked to his left to see the officer meekly respond.
"Don't let go of him! I'm taking back the money!" He opened the briefcase, only to freeze in shock. "Take him away," he muttered, shutting the briefcase.
"B-but!" The officer tried to fight against doing something against his conscience, but he kept quiet when the costumed Kamen Yaiba shouted in anger.
"NOW! Take him to Megure-keibu now!"
Megure? Conan's face grew curious as he recognized the name. Why would Megure-keibu be in charge of a theft case? Isn't he in the 1st Division?
Oh well. He smirked at his good fortune of Megure-keibu being here on a non-homicide case. He could basically relax now. He knew Megure and the officers under him well enough to know that he wouldn't be in this situation for too long if they were here. In fact, while he was at it, he might as well put on his best childlike face and guilt them the whole time they put him in custody.
"Alright… but I'm taking the briefcase," the officer told the costumed man. "You'll have to come with me and follow the boy when I report to Megure-keibu."
"Fine! Let's just go already! Make sure that boy gets his just desserts!"
Conan resisted rolling his eyes at the angry man. He didn't have the heart to tell him that he would most likely get off without a charge since he knew Megure quite personally.
As he was being led away, one extra thought that concurrently flashed across his mind caused him to scowl.
That magician girl Trucy is quickly becoming as much of a nuisance as the actual Kaitou Kid!
Which of course, naturally led to another thought that made him chuckle.
I wonder if I can kick a soccer ball at her as payback for that briefcase stunt she pulled earlier, just like I would do to that "other" annoying magician…
Not knowing about the scenario Conan was painting in his mind, many hotel patrons were confused as to why the Kamen Yaiba and a police officer were leading a boy in handcuffs with a very, very sinister grin on his face across the lobby.
That definitely wasn't on the concert schedule.
As the elevator doors opened on the eighth floor, Phoenix immediately heard Pearl's distinctive voice. "Mr. Nick! There you are!" Pearl waved cheerily, walking towards Phoenix. "Where's Mystic Maya?"
"She's taking the stairs," Phoenix answered with a broad smile. Either that or she's taking the next lift after I shut the doors on her.
"Daddy!" Trucy shouted as she literally jumped up the last flight of stairs up to the eighth floor. "You're a cheater! You should have taken the stairs so I could race you fairly!"
"No thanks," Phoenix replied with a soft smile at his daughter. "I'll lose that for sure."
"Niiicccckkkkkk!"
Whup, it was only a matter of time. Here came the cavalry, in the form of spirit medium Maya, who practically ran so fast that she wiped around the turn on the last flight of stairs. The moment she was within visual range, she rounded onto Phoenix. "You left me behind!" she whined. "How could you, Nick!"
Before he could reply, a booming voice came from around the corner, "Now that's a voice I haven't heard in a while." The person who spoke turned around the corner and Phoenix saw a man dressed in a flashy orange tuxedo, smiling like he was on the moon. "It's been a long time since we've met in person, Mr. Wright."
Will Powers! So that's who Pearls recognized. She knew him because she met him in person at the Gatewater Hotel, from that case.
"Mr. Powers?!" Phoenix managed to greet the man after he got over his surprise, reaching out to give a handshake. "Is that you?"
"What a surprise to see you all here!" Powers took Phoenix's hand and shook it firmly. "Ah, I should have known that you and Maya would have been here. After all, you two are always with Pearl." The man then relaxed his handshake and gave a warm smile to the group around him. "Needless to say, it's been a while! I'm glad to see you too, Mr. Wright."
"Daddy?" Trucy looked at Powers with a confused expression. She wasn't quite sure how to react to him. "You know this guy?"
"Yep! The man over here is Will Powers," Phoenix answered his daughter with a nostalgic smile. "He was the original actor of the Steel Samurai, and a client on a very old case of mine." He remembered that case fondly. It was his first case together with Maya and held quite a few fond memories to him.
"Oh?" Powers peered towards Trucy, "And who's this lady over here? I recognize Maya and Pearls, but…"
"Trucy," Phoenix helpfully supplied. "She's my daughter, Trucy Wright."
"Huh, really?" Powers looked mildly uncomfortable. "She looks really old to be—"
"She's adopted." Geez, every time he mentioned to others that Trucy was his daughter, he'd have to add that statement or else he got weird looks.
"But enough about that!" Maya butted into the conversation—quite literally—by squeezing towards Powers. "How've you been, Mr. Powers? It's been forever!"
"Yeah," Phoenix agreed, before he sprouted another nagging question, "And what are you doing here of all places, Mr. Powers?"
"You haven't heard?" Powers snapped his fingers before grinning. "I was promoted to be the assistant director of the Steel Samurai show awhile back thanks to my role as the original actor."
"Really?!" Maya exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock. "I didn't know that! That's amazing!"
Phoenix narrowed his eyelids at Maya's reaction. I thought you were the massive Steel Samurai fangirl. How could you not know?
Pearl smiled upon seeing her cousin happy. "Looks like you managed to achieve your dream after all, Mr. Powers!"
"You're right there. The Steel Samurai has grown to be a massive franchise, after all! It's probably more famous than it ever was back in my heyday," Powers said.
"People are nostalgic for the old seasons," Phoenix commented. "I guess that's why the opening day of this concert has such a huge reaction. Did you see the crowd at the lobby?"
Powers laughed. "Oh, that's not the only reason that there are so many people around. Surely you've noticed that this live concert also happens to be a crossover with one of the local Japanese action shows."
"Wait, this is a crossover musical?" Phoenix turned towards Maya. "I heard no such thing!"
"Well, apparently they're crossing the Steel Samurai over with this new random Japanese series, Kamen Ya-whoever knows what." She blabbered the last part when she realized she didn't know the name of the second show.
"Again with the crossovers?" Phoenix moaned. "Didn't they already do that with the Pink Princess?"
"Oh, this is different. The Pink Princess was also written by Sal, you forgetful dummy!" Maya pouted with an annoyed expression that said 'why aren't you a bigger Steel Samurai fan'. "Since both shows were produced by Global Studios and written by the same person, they eventually combined the canon of both shows together and had the Pink Princess cameo in the Steel Samurai, and vice versa."
"Why would they even do that?" Phoenix directed his question at Powers instead of Maya to save himself from hearing a pointless response. "Was it even established that both shows take place in the same world?"
"Nope, not officially… but the fans combined the canon of the shows anyway," Powers confessed.
Surely Powers wasn't being serious? "Really?" Phoenix blurted out.
"Well, the draft ideas for them both are similar enough anyway. Besides, everyone loves those crossover episodes!" Powers pumped his fist with vigor. "They score us high ratings! Fans love 'em, networks love 'em, and they net us good reviews! What more can you ask for?"
"I guess that makes sense," Pearl nodded her head. "So what's the show that Steel Samurai is being crossovered with?"
"Kamen Yaiba," Powers reached into his pocket and showed a promotional poster for the show. "It's a local Japanese show that's very similar to the Steel Samurai," he elaborated.
Similar to the Steel Samurai? Phoenix bit his lip as he peered at the masked superhero on the poster, trying his best not to giggle. This guy looks like the Jammin' Ninja! How is that supposed to be similar?
Briiinnggg!
"Excuse me for a moment," Powers reached into his suit pocket to take out his vibrating phone. "I need to pick up this call." He put the phone to his ear and began to speak. From his position, Phoenix could hear Powers' end of the conversation.
"What? You found it?! Well, uh… that's great news, Inspector Megure. I'll be right over."
He hung up the call and walked towards the elevator lobby. "I gotta say, it looks like the police of this country is pretty competent. I'm sorry, but I'll need to take my leave, Mr. Wright."
"Wait! You can't just leave me on a cliffhanger!" Phoenix ran to intercept Powers, blocking him from entering the elevator. "What happened? Why are you involved with the police again?!"
"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Wright," Powers reassured the nervous lawyer. "It's nothing quite as serious as what you normally deal with. You don't need to concern yourself over it."
Phoenix gave a deadpan stare back at Powers. "I would think that you aren't exactly in the best position to make a statement like that. Maya, Pearls, Trucy, come on!" he gestured towards the others, who collectively nodded.
As the group approached, Powers began to look apprehensive. "I'm guessing I can't change your mind, can I, Mr. Wright?"
Phoenix folded his arms with a grin. "You should know how stubborn I am, Mr. Powers."
"Ah, well! It can't hurt." Powers relaxed, giving in. "Come along," he said, closing the elevator doors after the group followed him in.
"So, what's this about?" Pearl asked Powers, who appeared to be tapping his foot nervously.
"It's pretty serious," Powers replied, keeping his face neutral, although his stiff posture betrayed his worriedness. "I'm sure the inspector in charge can inform you about what's going on."
"Sounds like trouble to me," Trucy pondered. "Are you in any trouble?"
"Not really, I mean, not exactly…" Powers trailed off, walking out to the ground floor lobby as the elevator arrived at its destination. "But the studio won't be happy if I don't settle this."
"They won't be happy if you won't settle this?" Phoenix furrowed his brow.
"There's no need to worry though, the situation had just been settled. All I need to do is meet the inspector to finish up." Powers' frown was replaced with a smile as he caught sight of someone. "Inspector Megure! Over here! It's me, Will Powers!" he shouted, raising his arm up.
"Inspector Megure?" Phoenix repeated the name before he saw the person in question.
From one glance, Megure looked like one of the police officers that were often seen in the stereotypical police dramas that were broadcast on TV. Brown overcoat, brown shoes, a bowler hat, bushy mustache… for crying out loud, even his stoic face screamed 'police' to Phoenix.
"Huh," Powers raised his hand down upon seeing that Megure wasn't responding. "It appears he's busy talking to… hey, wait a minute! That's the Tohto Studios employee on set!"
Phoenix double-taked upon seeing the costumed man closely. He's dressed like the guy I saw on the promotional poster, the Kamen Yaiba. So he's the actor for the concert?
"We can close this case once and for all, Megure-keibu!" the actor in the costume muttered with distaste. Despite being in costume, Phoenix could almost feel the glare behind his mask. "It's obvious that the kid was the one responsible! Why are you even defending him?"
"Now, there. Please calm yourself." Megure held up his arms to keep order. "I know him quite well, and stealing is something that I highly doubt he is capable of."
"If you're not going to prosecute the little brat, then at least give me back the briefcase!"
"You can't do that," Megure stayed firm, not backing an inch. "Forensics are still dusting for prints."
"There's no time for that!" the man basically all but snatched a black briefcase from the forensics officer. "I'm taking this back to the studio!" he called back as he stormed away.
Megure sighed upon witnessing his departure. "What an unpleasant man."
As that was happening, Phoenix snapped his fingers to grab Powers' attention. "Psst, that guy was the Kamen Yaiba right? This means that you have something to do with this. You better explain yourself."
Powers finally relented. "Yesterday night, a briefcase containing three million US dollars was stolen from the possession of Global Studios."
"T-T-Three million dollars!" Phoenix yelled out at hearing the number. That was an unbelievable amount of money. He had never even seen that kind of money in his entire lawyer career — although that was namely because he often had to go pro bono for them… and also because Maya often spent whatever little he had left, especially when she was his assistant in the past.
Powers nodded his head grimly. "That's a big sum of money. Naturally, we informed the police. Here in this hotel, there are security cameras all over the ground floor lobby. It captures anyone who leaves and enters the hotel. Since the money was stored in a black briefcase…"
Trucy suddenly twitched with a weird expression, but before Phoenix could even tap into his paternal instincts and react, she smiled like nothing had happened.
Phoenix eyed her carefully. What could have prompted that, I wonder…
Not to mention, a black briefcase… that seems familiar somehow.
Powers didn't notice Trucy or Phoenix's reactions to his speech, so he carried on without a pause, "…we concluded that we had to focus on anyone leaving the hotel with it. They've been monitoring the footage ever since the theft was reported. Since no suspicious personnel left the hotel with such a briefcase, we deduced that the case containing the money is still in the hotel. They've continued to scour the hotel since yesterday, searching high and low for anyone who was carrying a briefcase like that."
It suddenly clicked for Phoenix after Powers finished elaborating. "Wait! Wasn't that actor from earlier holding the briefcase?" He looked at Powers with a puzzled expression. "I thought you said it was stolen?"
"That's why I told you the situation has been settled, Mr. Wright. The inspector called me to say that it was recovered. More specifically, the stolen money was in the briefcase that you saw my concert colleague took away earlier."
"Powers-san."
Powers turned around and beamed. "Inspector! Thank you so much for recovering our stolen money!"
Megure nodded in response before turning to Phoenix. "Ah, so you are Powers-san's good friend. He has told me about you," he said with the stiffest smile Phoenix had seen, if it can even be called one. The man must never smile, Phoenix thought. "I'm Inspector Megure from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Wright-san." The police inspector reached his left hand out for a handshake before he suddenly withdrew his hand.
"What's wrong, Inspector?" Phoenix asked, surprised by Megure's action.
"No, it's nothing…" Megure made a dismissive gesture with his arm. "It's just your blue suit in particular. You just happen to remind me of someone I know who helped me with police investigations a lot in the past."
"Well, I kinda do help with police investigations quite a fair bit. Maybe it's just a coincidence."
"Really? You like investigations too, mister?"
Phoenix almost felt his eyes bulging out when he heard the newcomer to the conversation.
That voice.
As if he'll ever forget that high-pitched tone, piqued with curiosity. Phoenix jerked his head around, and sure enough…
It's him again! That boy… Edogawa Conan!
"Pssst!" Maya whispered as she tapped Phoenix on the shoulder to grab his attention. "Isn't that the kid who we met earlier on?"
"Edogawa Conan," Phoenix mumbled back a response, "It's definitely him all right." He had not expected to see the boy again so soon, and most definitely not like this.
Noticing the handcuffs on the boy, his eyes widened. Why the heck was Conan in police custody?
"Hey you! Officer!" Megure clucked his tongue at the police officer that had brought Conan over to the group. It looked like he wasn't the only one curious as to why a goddamned kid was in custody. "Was it really necessary for you to handcuff him? Conan-kun's just a child! Let him out at once!" he ordered.
"Megure-keibu! Believe me, it wasn't my idea." the policeman tried to defend himself as he took out the keys and unlocked Conan's handcuffs.
Conan rubbed his wrists, clearly uncomfortable from the short time his hands were in cuffs. The boy was so dazed that he didn't realize that he could move freely for a while, and when he began to move, he did it apprehensively, constantly eyeing Phoenix.
"Mr. Wright… are you related to this kid?" Powers questioned, pointing at a clearly annoyed Conan. Clearly he had noticed that Conan kept staring at Phoenix.
"Do we really look alike?" Phoenix grumbled. "With the exception of that suit—" he said, pointing at Conan's blue tux, "—we don't look the slightest bit alike at all!"
Conan gave him an almost imperceptible nod in agreement. Phoenix couldn't help but grin at the boy's approval. See, even he agrees with me, Maya!
"Maybe if you were about twenty to thirty years younger, you might!" Maya commented. For some reason that Phoenix couldn't fathom, Conan had cringed at that statement. Was it that unfunny? "Look, even his hair is spiky like yours," she added as she looked closely at Conan.
"Huh?" Phoenix looked closely at Conan's hair to try to see what Maya was talking about and noticed that the boy had a distinctive clump of hair protruding out around the back of his head. "That's a cowlick," he muttered to Maya, "It's practically nothing compared to my spiky hair."
"Maybe his hair is specially cut and held up with hair gel, just like yours," Maya teased, hands on her hips.
Phoenix snorted. "Maya, for the last time, this hairstyle is natural!" He patted his pointy hair to get his point across to Maya's stubborn face, "See! Does this look gelled to you? Also, I'm certain that I mentioned this to you before!"
"But I still don't really believe that, Nick," Maya said with a mischievous grin, hoping to get a rile out of him. "That's like saying Pearly's hairstyle is natural."
"You mean it's not?" Phoenix turned around to Pearl, gazing carefully at her pretzel-shaped hair pinned to the back of her brown hair. "It looks natural to me…"
"Actually, it is natural," Pearl clarified, "My mother was the one who pinned my hair up like this." She reached her hands up, idly touching her hair as she reminisced the past. "Ever since I was a kid, I always had to tie it up this way. That's why my hair can maintain this shape."
"See, Maya. You can have nice hairstyles naturally!" Phoenix couldn't resist gloating. "I bet that boy's hairstyle is natural too! Not everything is maintained with hair gel like a fashion model on display—"
"Will you few stop gossiping about me like I'm not here?" Conan finally spoke up warily, interrupting Phoenix. "I can hear everything you say, you know."
"Oops!" Maya clasped her mouth, feeling guilty.
"Also, if you must know…" Conan mumbled softly while brushing his bangs to one side. "This clump of hair is natural," he admitted, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Phoenix grinned in victory, seeing Maya huff annoyedly. "See, Maya! I told you!"
"I still think he looks like you, Nick!" Maya argued.
"Well, I still think he's more similar to Edgeworth," Phoenix retorted. "Just look at him! Imagine him glaring at you grumpily while folding his arms and tell me you don't picture Edgeworth in your head!"
"So you think I'm a grumpy child?" Conan asked with a suspiciously sweet voice. The question seemed like an innocent query, but what Phoenix saw in his eyes told a much different story.
The child was glaring daggers at him behind those glasses.
Phoenix decided to play it safe and not anger the boy any further. Avoiding Conan's angry glare, he tried to play innocent. "Woah, woah, woah! I never said that! I was just comparing you to a friend of mine… who's always grumpy… and kinda acts a bit like you, and…" he trailed off as Conan folded his arms. "I'm not helping my case, am I?"
"Nope. It almost seems like you're digging your own grave," Conan said in that deceptively childish tone of his.
Powers then coughed, grabbing both their attention. "Well… I guess I can safely say that you two don't really know one another, do you?" He had taken a guess after seeing the interaction between the two.
"Um, yeah…" Phoenix hurriedly said, thankful for the distraction.
"Ahem!" Megure coughed. "Sorry to bother you, but can you please be quiet? I need to settle something." He leaned towards the officer who had brought in Conan and spoke in a quiet but hard tone, "Tell me, why did you handcuff him? Conan-kun's seven years old, for goodness' sake! If the public gets wind of this…"
"Oh no, there is a legitimate reason we cuffed him. He practically demanded to be cuffed!"
"Excuse me?!" Megure felt himself clenching his fists. "You did exactly what a child said?! You cuffed him just because he said that he wanted to be cuffed? What is wrong with you?! That's dangerous, why would—"
"No, Keibu! Please don't misunderstand!" the officer flailed about, trying to clear the confusion up. "I didn't cuff him for fun! The boy willingly turned himself in when we found him red-handed with the money."
"He—" Megure started.
"—what?" Phoenix finished. If Conan had the money and willingly turned himself over to the police, then that meant…
The officer nodded, before gesturing to Conan, who for some reason had a wry grin on his face. "T-T-That child…" the officer stammered, before finally managing to spit out the conclusion, "He's the prime suspect for the theft case, Megure-keibu!"
"Whhhhaaaattt!"
Megure wasn't the only one who was shocked into yelling without restraint. Phoenix couldn't believe what he had just heard. Neither did Maya, the shocked expression on her face showing her thoughts as clear as day. Pearl was gasping in shock, and Trucy was swaying uneasily on her feet.
He knew that he had a bad feeling about Conan, but this was ridiculous. The kid he'd met earlier wound up being a thief who had stolen three million dollars?! And not only that, but he had the guts to gracefully turn himself in when caught with the money?
That couldn't be right, there had to be more to it than that!
As Phoenix looked into the boy's eyes for any confirmation or denial of the officer's claim, he was shocked to find that Conan was smirking, as though he, the kid who was in freaking police custody, was the one in control of everything.
This isn't over, he realized as he stared at the owner of those confident blue eyes. Far from it, in fact.
"It's only just begun…" was what Conan's composed expression seemed to imply, finishing the thought in Phoenix's head.
Needless to say, the defense attorney did not like where this was going at all. Not in the slightest.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the wait! The first draft of this chapter ended up being so ridiculously long that I ended up having to split it into two separate chapters.
By the way, in the reviews I've got a few people giving me feedback that Shinichi/Conan is a little out of character for the past two chapters and that he should catch on to the situation faster. I have to apologize, I have to say that I'm not quite used to writing a character like him yet. But thanks for telling me because I hope to rectify this soon! If he still acts off to you guys, feel free to continue yelling at me.
