Kaitou Shinku
a Meitantei Conan fanfic
Hattori Sei: Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait on this chapter!
Kuroba Shin'ichi: She was just being lazy.
Sei: Was not Shin'ichi-kun! I had a lot of other stories I was working on!
Shin'ichi: Then were you doing 'research' by reading all that fanfic & manga? And don't forget the anime you were watching...
Sei: U-Urasai!
More Confrontations
Kaito found Shin'ichi curled up on himself in the corner of the gym. "We've got to stop doing this." He half-heartedly joked as he sat down next to him.
"..."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"..."
He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I was around eight or so when it started. I was at the beach with Aoko, okaasan, and otousan. I remember that it was a week before his death.
"I swam out a little farther than the rest of the people there, trying to show off even then I guess. I could see them gesturing for me to come back, and otousan was swimming out to get me, but I couldn't hear a word any of them were saying. Wondering what was going on, I started to swim back when I became aware of a large shadow coming over me.
"When I turned around, there was this giant blue marlin coming at me, mouth agape. Before I could move, it swallowed me. The next thing I knew other than a burning darkness was otousan's voice, calling for me to hold on and a bright light as the fi-finny thing was split open.
"Since then, even the name of those things scare me. I've tried to get over it, but nothing's ever helped."
The two sat in silence for several more minutes before Shin'ichi spoke.
"I was seven. It was Girls' Day, and I was visiting Ran. Everyone left for dinner, but I complained enough that they let me stay behind.
"Ran had a lot of dolls, her parents each buying two every year making it double the usual amount. One caught my eye as being odd as I was roaming around the house, so I went to investigate it.
"I had always been short for my age, and it was up high on the shelves that held all the dolls, so I had to do a bit of climbing to get to it. But before I could look at it, the shelf I was sitting on broke. To save myself, I reached up for the next shelf, but it too broke under my weight. All of the shelves ended up breaking on my way down. As I lay stunned on the carpet, all the dolls fell on me, and the shelves kept me pinned.
"It was two hours before they came back and found me. By then I was starting to panic, from my lack of oxygen and blood, since I had gotten a large cut on my way down and was slowly bleeding out for a while. Since then, small human-like dolls remind me of that time I almost died. Usually it's not an issue since people don't just randomly pull out a doll in public, but there have been other cases like this."
There was a minute more of silence before Kaito sighed.
"Mendokuse. Our lives suck, don't they?"
"Un."
After a while, the two got up and left the school, telling the nurse they weren't feeling well.
As they were on their way home, though, a scream was heard. Instantly, Shin'ichi switched to detective-mode, his earlier scare forgotten momentarily. Before he started running off though, he remembered his brother and looked back.
Kaito laughed. "Go on. I know this is a part of you, and it'll help. Don't worry about me." Shin'ichi gave him a look of gratitude and ran off towards the source of the earlier scream.
"The victim is Tsuchi Maiyuri, age 23, a student at Tokyo University, and part-timer here at the Shining Koi. Time of death is approximated to be, taking into consideration the surrounding temperature, about nine o'clock last night" Takagi stated, standing next to Megure at the crime scene, the corpse laying a fewfeet away in a pool of bloody slush, several wounds in her chest.
"Who are the suspects?" Shin'ichi asked, seeming to suddenly appear crouched next to the body. The two officers jumped.
"K-Kudou-kun!" Shin'ichi barely spared a glance for the Inspector.
"Hello Megure-keibu. The suspects, Takagi-keiji?"
"A-Aa. The first suspect is Hyourama Shizuru, age 22. She's also a part-timer at the Shining Koi, and also Tsuchi-san's roommate. The other girls in the dorm say that the two have been fighting lately.
"The other suspect is the owner of the Shining Koi, Kazeyoshi Minato, age 26. He was the first to discover the body, when he came down to the freezer to put in today's fish stock.
"Neither of these two have an alibi for the time of death. Hyourama-san says she was taking a walk in the nearby Ekoda Park, but there are no witnesses. And Kazeyoshi-san says he was in his apartment a few blocks away cooking dinner after closing down the store half an hour earlier."
"Hmm..." Shin'ichi looked over at the two. Both were distraught, the male more than the female, though, she was distraught as well. The two were standing at the far wall, a few feet apart, and he was simply staring at the body while she looked eveywhere but at it or him.
"Has the weapon been found?" He suddenly asked, making Takagi jump again, and fumble with his notebook, nearly dropping it.
"N-no. All we can say is that it was a short blade, maybe a small dagger. It was rather blunt though, so it may be some sort of spike as well. There seem to be a few irregularities with the wounds, almost as if it were both." Shin'ichi just put his chin to hand and walked off in thought.
"K-Keibu-san, is...is that normal for Kudou-kun?" Takagi asked his superior, not being too familiar with the boy. The only case he could really remember with him deducing something in front of him was the plane case two years or so ago.
Megure, having spent his time watching Shin'ichi, took his eyes off the detective and sighed. He looked at Takagi, his many years visible in his eyes. "Maybe not before, but I can tell he's changed. Maybe it was that big case he was telling Ran-kun about, but something is different now. If it's for the best or not has yet to be seen."
Shin'ichi suddenly stopped his pacing, turning their attention to him once again. His grin told it all.
"I know who did." This brought the attention of the suspects as well.
"You know who killed her?" Shizuru cried.
"Yes. The murderer wanted revenge on her for something she did to them. Hyourama-san, it was you!" This took everyone present aback.
"Wh-why would I want to kill her? She was my best friend!"
"Was that all she was? Weren't you also until recently lovers?" Everyone blushed, excluding Shin'ichi, and Shizuru gaped. "Yes, you were lovers, up until you two took up jobs at this restaurant and she met Kazeyoshi-san. From there on, she started going out with him, correct?" Minato nodded.
"Now we come to the actual murder. So Hyourama-san was angry with Tsuchi-san for abandoning her for a man. And so, she invited her to this restaurant a few minutes after it closed. The two entered using a spare key azeyoshi-san had given Tsuchi-san. Bringing her down to the freezer, Hyourama-san shanked Tsuchi-san to death."
"Wh-where's the weapon?" Shizuru sputtered.
"Ah yes, the weapon. It had me puzzled at first, but when I walked over by the thermostat, I understood."
"The thermostat?" Takagi asked.
"Yes, the thermostat. We've been thinking of this room as a freezer, but really, what temperature is this room set for, Kazeyoshi-san?"
He blinked. "Um, 0 degrees evenly. It keeps the fish chilled without freezing them." Shin'ichi nodded.
"Yes, 0 degrees. That is, 0 degrees Celcius. Freezers are set for 0 degrees Fahrenheit. So this is nothing but a big fridge. How, in that case, is Tsuchi-san's blood partially frozen? The freezing point of blood is less than water's of 0 degrees Celsius." Takagi's eyes lit up.
"I get it! An icicle! It's cold enough that the icicle wouldn't melt if stored here. But if stabbed into a warm body, it would melt, mingling with the blood. Then the mixed liquid would only freeze a little at this temperature."
"But Kudou-kun, all of this has been conjecture. Where's the proof?" Shin'ichi smirked.
"Where's the key that belongs to Tsuchi-san? The doors were locked when Kazeyoshi-san arrived this morning, which means they were locked by Hyourama-san on her way out. She must have it on her, or it'll be somewhere around here, both her fingerprints and Tsuchi-san's blood on it." All looked at Shizuru.
"He, so I've been caught." Minato stared at her in shock.
"So...you did kill Mai-chan?"
"Of course I did!" Shizuru yelled, going into a frenzy. "She left me for...for...a male! I could never forgive her! We'd promised to be together forever, but then she started talking about marrying you! I couldn't take it anymore!" She fell to her knees, tears finally falling from her eyes.
"Well, that was a job well done." Shin'ichi said, standing outside the Shining Koi, watching the police put Shizuru into a car.
"Kudou-kun, it's time we talk." He sighed and turned around to face Megure and Takagi, both with serious looks on their faces.
"Yea, I suppose it is."
