"Um, Satou-san?"

"Shush Takagi-kun," Satou interrupted before her partner had the chance to say what she knew he was thinking. "Let me finish my coffee."

"But Satou-san, I…"

Satou leaned across the table and placed her finger against Takagi's lips, effectively shutting up both his mouth and his brain. "I said shush. No talking." She waited for his nod of agreement before she retreated to her side of the table, oblivious to the faint blush crawling up Takagi's neck and cheeks. She nodded triumphantly and took another sip of her coffee.

The next ten minutes were spent in silence, both of the young officers occupied by there own thoughts. Takagi was trying desperately to stop thinking of his partner such an unprofessional way. The clock on the wall was suddenly very interesting. It was neat, no numbers, just a black rim, simple hands and a blank face. It was placed just above center on an otherwise unadorned wall. The black against red made a sharp contrast that drew the eye, and seemed to create space. Takagi focused his attention on the seconds ticking by, part of his mind recognized the genius in the simple design, and he made a note to try something like it himself. His apartment could stand to appear larger.

Satou was contemplating their good luck for finding a 24 hour café so near the Kudo residence. No doubt Kudo Shinichi himself had frequented this place in the past. Satou made a mental note to come back. It might be worth questioning the employees and guests later in the investigation.

And the coffee is good, she admitted to herself. Her work found her in this general area either very late or very early to often for her tastes. The clean lines and simple layout appealed to her, and the color pallet of red black and grey, was almost as stimulating as the beverages, no dozing would be permitted here. She raised her cup to her lips only to discover that there was nothing left to drink. Glancing across the table she noticed Takagi looking at her silently and expectantly. She sighed.

"Okay Takagi-kun. What were you saying?"

"Do you really think it was a good idea?" Takagi cut to the chase, just in case his partner decided to indulge in another cup. "Leaving Ran-san alone, I mean."

"What else was there to do? She just shut down. Wouldn't answer any questions, or even respond at all. That girl desperately needs some time to process. The best thing we can do for her right now is give her space."

"But still, shouldn't we have stayed? We need her co-operation. Murder investigations are difficult at the best of times. Ran-san would want us to catch whoever did this."

"Takagi-kun, she needs this. It's not easy to hear that your important person is gone. Trust me." Satuo's kind smile did not falter, nor did the quality of her voice, and yet Takagi couldn't help but feel the smallness of her words. There was pain behind that innocent statement, but neither of the officers where ready to face it, so neither of them acknowledged its presence.

"I promise we'll go back soon, but for now," Satou continued, flagging down the lone waitress, "relax and drink your coffee. You'll definitely need it."

Tanaka Hoshiro was a simple man with simple goals, simple values, simple needs. He wanted to live happily, retire comfortably, watch his family grow around him. He valued truth, justice and fair play. He needed the frenzied activity of an open case, the thrill of the chase and the satisfaction of catching the bad guy. His life as head of security allowed him to earn an honest living, stay busy, keep out of trouble; it left him feeling empty.

Detective and police work had suited him perfectly. Everything that he could ask for had been there. The mix of certainty that your partner would back you up and the uncertainty and thrill of the job, the feeling of independence when working a lead combined with being part of a close knit team, knowing that they were making a difference in the world. He had never been happier than when he was on the force. But things change.

He sighed, refocusing his attention on the case at hand. No use dwelling on the past when he could help someone right now. And Megure defiantly looked like he could use some help. He was standing within the taped off area, but as far away from the chalk outline as possible. To the few cops still on scene, he looked as composed as ever. To Tanaka, his old partner looked like he was coming apart at the seams.

"Hey," Tanaka greeted as he walked up to the inspector.

Megure turned to look him directly in the eyes. "Tanaka-kun. I have to thank you again for calling me."

"I knew you would want this one."

"I don't just want it. I need it. I need to personally get this guy. And I don't trust anyone else to do it properly."

"Oye, you're not thinking…"

"No." Megure cut him off. "I admit that I had entertained the idea, when I got here and saw…Anyway, I've seen to much death in my life to hold on to ideas of revenge."

"…You're a good man, Megure. It took me a lot longer to reach that conclusion." Tanaka admitted softly.

Megure looked squarely at his old partner. It had been so long since they had last seen each other he couldn't not notice the lines on his brow and the grey in his hair. He looked old. As old as Megure was feeling now. "Your loss was a lot more personal. No one would have blamed you if you had…"

"I would have blamed me." This time Megure was cut off in mid sentence.

The following silence was both awkward and comfortable. Neither man knowing just what to say, both content with saying nothing at all. They let themselves relax enough in each other's familiar presence that the ringing of Megure's cell phone nearly had them jumping three feet in the air.

"Ah, um, ahem." Megure fumbled at his jacket pocket. "This is Megure" he answered.

Tanaka took a few steps back, not wanting to intrude. He saw Megure nod a few times, and gesture, as if the person he was talking to could see.

"What do you mean you LOST her!?" Megure almost yelled. "Hmpf, ok, I'll be right there." He hung up the phone with a snap.

"Two of my best officers just lost a key witness." He said, somewhat disgustedly, in response to Tanaka's questioning look. "I'll be back as soon as we find her."

"Best of luck." Tanaka called after Megure as he practically stalked off the crime scene, leaving behind a single officer to maintain the barrier.

"Ran is missing?" Shinichi was snapped out of his reverie by the inspectors annoyed and disbelieving almost-yell, and by the pulse of irritation accompanied by it. It didn't take him long to realize who the inspector was talking about. After all, there was only one witness so far.

"How can she be missing? I remember hearing Megure-keibu say she was at my place. Wouldn't the officers have stayed with her? How could they lose her?"

Shinichi started to pace, er, float back and forth, chasing down various possibilities in his mind. Did she leave? For home, or somewhere else? Was she taken? Who might take her? Why weren't the police watching her? Back and forth he tossed ideas through his head, but without more information, wasn't able to narrow it down at all. "Where are you, Ran?"

It wasn't until latter, until the lone police guard had hurriedly left for the bathroom, until Tanaka Hoshiro retired for a short nap, until the sun had almost started to peek over the horizon, that he finally got an answer.

AN: So much for regular updating. And I don't even have a good excuse. Awell, hopefully I can keep on it this time.

And by the way, I'm somewhat regretting making Shinichi loose his memory at the beginning. It just complicates things and doesn't really add anything to the plot. My original conception was that he would have to investigate his own identity, but that didn't really work out. so between you and me, lets just forget it ever happened :)

Oh, and once again, please feel free to point out any grammar or spelling mistakes. It seems the more glaringly obvious it is, the more likely I am to miss it.