Chapter 9: Black Feather

"…Well, Kudou-kun? Any idea who the murderer is?"

Shinichi glanced at Inspector Megure, then back at the five suspects sitting around a table at an outdoor café. He frowned and rubbed his chin.

None of them, he was sure, was responsible for the death of the thickset, balding, mustachioed man still lying on the floor between them. In fact, Shinichi was sure, everyone in the café that evening was innocent of foul play.

Behind Shinichi, Inspector Megure and Officer Takagi exchanged glances.

"Ah…" Takagi said nervously. He flipped through his notebook. "The deceased is a mister Tennotsukai Kaji, age fifty-one. A businessman, he apparently kept to himself, and had few friends. No prior run-ins with the law."

Shinichi said nothing.

Megure and Takagi looked at each other again.

"It's okay if you're stumped, Kudou-kun," Megure said. "Happens to the best of us. Maybe Hattori-kun will be able to figure something out when he comes in for his turn tomorrow."

"Hey!" Takagi said excitedly. "Maybe your cousin, Edogawa Conan-kun, could figure it out. That little boy was really smart! Why don't you give him a call, Kudou-kun?"

Shinichi's face tightened. "None of them did it," he said, gesturing at the five suspects. "Not the waitress, not Tennotsukai-san's former partner, not any of them. The killer shot Tennotsukai-san with a silenced gun as he sat at his table, then was already gone by the time the couple at the neighboring table noticed he was dead."

"So you believe their story of a man in a black trenchcoat who walked by?" Megure said.

"For now, yes," said Shinichi. He bent over and reached into the dead man's pocket. "Perhaps his cell phone…"

He withdrew a Blackberry and held it up. Pressing a few buttons revealed that a message had recently been left on the phone. He pressed play.

"Flaming Sword…this is Snake. Just wanted to let you know that your trap failed. Watch your step, or you'll find my fangs in your heel."

Shinichi lowered the phone.

"…Kudou-kun?" Megure said behind him. "Did you find anything on the phone?"
"Yeah," Shinichi said briefly. "I know who the murderer is."

"Ha!" Megure clapped him on the shoulder. "Who is it?"

"…Part of a group I've been after for a long time now," Shinichi said, half to himself. "A pack of black crows…and a white dove."

Megure frowned. "Kudou-kun, if you have any information about this case, you have to tell us. You're not a member of the police or a licensed detective. You don't have the authority to withhold information from the authorities."

"I don't have any information," Shinichi said. He placed the Blackberry into a plastic evidence bag and handed it to Takagi. "…Just an 'uncannily accurate theory.'"

…

"Come, if you dare, to the realm of the night."

"Have ya talked to him recently?" Heiji Hattori demanded into his cell phone. He was sitting at Kazuha's desk in the dorm room she shared with Ran. Kazuha herself was lying on the rug with a notebook on her stomach and her feet up in Heiji's lap.

"Here the good dress in black and the villains wear white," Kazuha continued, reading off the notebook. She shot a critical eye at Heiji's jeans and dark green tee-shirt.

"No? Well where's he been?" Heiji said impatiently into the phone. He frowned in silence for a moment, then slammed his fist on the desk. "Damn it!" Kazuha's legs slid off to the ground as he leaped to his feet. "Whaddya mean?"

"Here the dove stands for theft and the crow for the just," Kazuha read into the silence of Heiji listening intently to his phone.

"Well obviously he's upset, but he's gonna hafta pull himself together if he's going to get this done. And he needs our help. Does he know that? We need to be in on it this time—"

"And here laughter is life when all life turns to dust," Kazuha pronounced.

"Would ya shut up?" Heiji growled. "Naw, not you, Aoko-chan. Kazuha's readin' gothic poetry again."

"I wrote it!" Kazuha snapped from the floor, clutching the notebook to her chest. "It's about Kaito-kun."

Heiji threw himself back down into Kazuha's desk chair. "…I don't care if he won't like it, that's the way it hasta be!"

"Really," Kazuha sighed, crossing her arms over the notebook like a sulky artist. She lifted her feet and placed them back up on Heiji's leg.

"Okay. …Okay. Later." Heiji closed his phone and tossed it onto the desk, then planted his elbow on the desk, his brow furrowed in thought. Absently, his free hand fell to Kazuha's feet and he began to massage them. She kicked him. "Ow!" he cried. "What was that for!"

"You were overdue a smack," Kazuha quipped. She held her foot back out as if to ask that he continue the massage.

Heiji glowered at her for a moment, then sighed and began rubbing her feet with a thoughtful expression. "Kuroba's upset about the last heist."

"Of course he is, you moron," Kazuha said in a voice that could only be described as tender and loving. "People died."

"People woulda died if he'd been there or not," Heiji said. "Prob'ly a lot more if he hadn'ta been there."

"Yeah…" Kazuha looked on the verge of purring. "But there's also that he's havin' a fight with Aoko-chan."

"What?"

"You can talk and rub my feet at the same time," Kazuha said irritably.

"Women…" Heiji grumbled. "Explain."

"Aoko-chan's upset that he won't talk to her in public. He hardly talks to her at all, after the last heist."

"Yeah, I just got that impression—she didn' seem to know any more'n the rest of us do about Kid's next move. Well, he just doesn't want anyone to know they're together."

"That's just it. They're not together." Kazuha arched a slim black eyebrow at Heiji. "Aoko-chan's had it jus' as rough as Kuroba-kun, you know."

"What?" exclaimed Heiji. "I don't see Aoko-chan doin' cartwheels on skyscrapers while being shot at."

"If she could do that she'd be happier," Kazuha said simply.

"What?"

"Yup." Kazuha stretched her arms over her head. "But she can't do a cartwheel for her life so she's stuck at home waitin' for Kaito-kun to come to her. But he never does 'cause he's too afraid to hurt her."

Heiji shook his head despairingly. "Women. I gave up on that mystery a long time ago."

Kazuha smirked at him, her big, wide catty smile that evoked in Heiji an odd mesh of fondness and fury. "Ya haven't given up all the way, have you? Cause, you know, I'd have to kill you if you dumped me."

"You could try," Heiji scoffed. "Moron."

"You stopped rubbing my feet," Kazuha said distantly.

"You could bitch about anything, couldn't ya?" he grumbled. "Anything, at any time—"

Kazuha stretched her arms again. "Eh, things don't look so bad from right here." Heiji rolled his eyes at her.

They fell silent, Kazuha smiling, but Heiji's expression slowly darkened.

"I guess I shoulda investigated Kuroba Toichi's death more vigorously when Kid gave us the tip-off two years ago," he said. "But it looked like an accident! Plenty of magicians've died in stage accidents. There was no evidence whatsoever that it was foul play. Much less that it was connected to the Black Org at all."

"Yeah. Besides, two years ago was when we finally started datin', and I wasn't about to let you out of my sight for too long."

Heiji looked down at her with a grin, and opened his mouth to respond—but his cell phone chose just that moment to go off again.

"Kudou!" Heiji spat, lunging across Kazuha's desk to retrieve his phone.

"See?" Kazuha said irately as Heiji opened his phone. "This is what I mean. It's hard on the people who have to wait, too."

Heiji shot a puzzled frown at her, then said "Great timing, Kudou," by way of greeting.

Kazuha lifted her notebook and began writing again.

"…What?" Heiji gasped into the phone. "You think Snake's behind a murder downtown today?"

Kazuha put her notebook down and watched Heiji's face.

"… 'Flaming Sword…'" Heiji said. "That's not a type of alcohol. What d'you think it means?" He listened, then frowned skeptically. "…Angels?"

"The name 'Kuroba' means 'black feather,'" Kazuha pronounced into the silence.

Heiji raised an eyebrow at her. "…No, I haven't talked to Kuroba lately. But if you're right about Snake, Kuroba's the least of our worries, right?" Silence, then Heiji continued, "Okay, okay, before you start, lemme just make a point. It comes down to this: Who d'ya wanna catch more: the Black Org, or Kid?" Heiji grinned and winked at Kazuha; she smiled back and gave him a thumbs up.

After a pause, Heiji grinned and flashed Kazuha a thumbs up in return. "Right, right," he agreed quickly. "…Aw, Kudou, don't be jealous; you know you're my best pal. …Ack!" He abruptly turned red and glanced at Kazuha, still lying bemusedly on the floor. "We weren't…you don't know what yer…"

Kazuha blinked at him. "What are you talking about?"

Heiji slammed his phone closed. "Later, Hattori," he mimicked, his dark brows drawn together threateningly. "I tell ya, Kazuha, that guy thinks he knows everythin' there is to know, an' that he's the only one who knows it."

"Kudou-kun is really smart," Kazuha said admiringly. "But of course you're even smarter, Heiji," she added quickly as color rose even further in Heiji's scarlet cheeks. "What were you talkin' about?"

"Well, it's Kudou's day to be out with the Tokyo police," Heiji began with a slightly mollified air. "—They won't let both of us out with 'em at once. They make us take turns for some reason. I dunno why…"

Kazuha snorted. "Ha! I do."

"Really?" Heiji said quizzically. "Why?"

"Never mind." Kazuha waved her hand. "Continue."

"Well, Kudou came across a murder he thinks Snake's responsible for. Y'know, the Black Org guy after the Kaitou Kid. Kudou said he found a message on the victim's cell phone in which Snake addressed him as 'Flamin' Sword.'"

"'Flaming Sword?'" Kazuha repeated. "That's not a type of alcohol."

"Well neither is 'Snake,'" said Heiji. "Kudou thinks this branch of the Org gets their names from the book of Genesis in the Bible. Supposedly, after Adam an' Eve were chased outta the garden, an angel with a flamin' sword was sent to guard the entrance to Eden."

"Huh," Kazuha said. "Black feather…Guess it's true that there are good angels and bad angels."

"I hate that you're a religion major," Heiji scoffed. He slid out of the desk chair and sprawled himself on the rug next to her. "It just encourages you."

"…Y'know," she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "I didn't really believe ya when you said Kaito-kun was the Kid. He just doesn't seem like a criminal."

Heiji propped his chin up with his hands and snorted. "Ya, well, that's why I'm the detective and you're just the little follower."

She stuck out her tongue at him.

He continued to glower for a few moments more, then smiled reluctantly and brushed her cheek with his fingers. "God, you're pretty."

Her smile widened. "Wanna hear more poems I wrote?"

Heiji chuckled. "Only if it involves more foot-rubbing."

"Okay!" Kazuha sat up and flung her legs over Heiji's back. "I'll start reading when you start rubbing."

"Geez," Heiji groaned. "That's not what I meant." He rolled onto his back and dragged Kazuha's feet onto his stomach. "All right, I'm listening. You're so weird."

"Okay, this one's called 'The Hawk and the Dove.' It's about Kudou-kun and Kuroba-kun."

"What's with you writin' poems about other guys? What kinda bird would I be then?"

"You?" Kazuha shot him a look. "You'd be a seagull."

"What! No way. I'd be some kinda bird of prey. How 'bout an osprey?"

"How 'bout a toucan?"

"Whaaat…?"

…

…

**Next Chapter: "Class Reunion." Heiji's worst nightmare realized…

A/N:

I imagine the dead guy at the beginning, 'Flaming Sword,' is the mysterious unnamed man for whom Snake was working in Magic Kaito, Volume 3 chapter 6.

HEY LOOK Takagi appeared! I didn't think he was going to be in this fic.

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