Hello, ladies and gentlemen! Here is the new chapter of A Second Chance! I hope that you will enjoy Haruka's second case with Hattori and Conan.
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan and I am awaiting the Scarlet epilogue!
"Talking"
Thinking
"Talking in English only"
Chapter Nine - Japanese Mummy Killer
Saguru-senpai had barely left when Heiji-senpai called me for a case. No, it did not concern the Organization. Yes, he invited the Mouri family and Conan as well. No, he wasn't doing it for kicks. Oh, and he's going to send someone to pick me up.
All in all, nothing unusual.
Then, the car stopped in front of a luxurious mansion with a familiar architecture.
"So much for another simple case…" I sighed as I got out of the car. I only had the time to change out of my uniform and grab a quick snack before leaving, without forgetting to warn Hinata-nee-san, of course.
"Would you happen to be Satou Haruka-sama?" asked the butler.
"Yes, Hattori Heiji called me here, sir," I bowed.
"The young detective is inside with his father," the old man told me. "Let me introduce myself: I am Take Nosuka, butler here for many generations now."
"Yoroshiku," I smiled as we entered the building. I immediately noticed the number of security guards and two particular people among them.
"Ah, Haruka-chan, ya made it!" Heiji-senpai waved when he noticed me.
"Heiji-senpai, you haven't changed at all," I shook my head with amusement. "Conan-tachi wa? They're still not here yet?"
"Nope, but they should be here soon enough," the dark-skinned teen grinned broadly. "Let me introduce you. This is my oyajii, Hattori Heizo, Chief Commander of tha Osaka Police Force."
"Dozo yoroshiku," I bowed. "Watashi wa Satou Haruka, kookoosei tantei desu."
The strict man nodded in approval. "Heiji told me 'bout how you solved the Sherlockian case and how you refused ta let your name leak out to tha papers. Yer humble for one so young."
"I'm still a greenhorn compared to the Heisei Holmes of the East and West," I replied. "So? What is this case you wanted me to help solve, Heiji-senpai?"
"Well, ya see…" he grinned the same way Kaito-senpai did when planning a prank. "We've gotta help tha owner of this mansion ta find his first love. The name is Akagi Kotomi. She got married when she was 29 years old and had a son called Yamato Kohei. 5 years later they left their hometown and… Pof! Disappeared without a trace!"
"Heiji-senpai, you must be joking," I deadpanned. It certainly didn't help that I knew exactly what he was talking about and that if I had a computer, I would be able to find the woman with relative ease. But truly irritated me was that Hattori Heiji, meitantei of the West, believes, for some unknown reason, that I would fall for his trick.
"No, I'm not," he denied with that knowing grin.
"If you persist, I'll call Mouri-tantei and tell him that this new case of his is actually a hoax by a high schooler," I threatened, cellphone in hand. Ever since the Sherlock Holmes incident, Hinata-nee-san and Saguru-senpai forced me to take my phone with me everywhere. Not that I'll be able to contact them if I'm out of range, which, by the looks of things, will probably happen more than they would like.
"Okay, okay!" the dark-skinned boy admitted defeat. "I'll tell you…"
oOOo
"…and that's why all of us have been gathered for Nagato-san's birthday party," I told Conan as Ran scolded her father in the hallway.
"Strange footsteps, banging sounds from the balcony…" the child said pensively. "It certainly sounds like a burglary, yet…"
"Doesn't it sound a bit like a planned murder?" I suggested. "There were a few such cases where there had been strange sounds the days preceding the murder."
"If that's true, then we'll have to unmask the culprit before the crime is committed," the shrunken detective declared.
"Tha murder will probably take place 'round tha owner's birthday party," Heiji-senpai lowered his baseball cap. "So we still have a few hours."
"Mitsuaki-san would certainly have a motive for killing Nagato-san, if he is after the company," I began. "The eldest daughter, Nagato Nobuko, would probably kill Hyuuga Miyuki-san for becoming so close to the Nagato family. Hideomi-san would target Mitsuaki for whatever grudge he has against his brother-in-law… The only one who doesn't seem to have anything to do with this at first glance would be Yasue-san."
"We can't rule her out yet," Conan warned me. "Sometimes it's the less suspicious ones who end up being the murderer."
"Why don't we each watch a person?" Heiji-senpai suggested. "I'll take over Mitsuaki-han, Kudou can watch Hideomi-han and that leaves Nobuko-han to you."
"We shouldn't follow them since it would be suspicious, but we should at least note down anything that's out of place," I declared.
"We should also pay attention to our surroundings," the shrunken meitantei added. "We just might find the source of the banging sounds."
oOOo
Since Nobuko-san was in her room more often than not, I had decided to look for Hideomi-san's room instead. I didn't want Hyuuga-san to kill her "future" brother-in-law, but I cannot unmask her without proof. Unfortunately, that proof is hidden so that it will only be easily uncovered after the murder. If I warned Mitsuaki-san, he would kill Hyuuga-san, but if I warn her instead…
Damnit! Is there really no way but to follow the Plot?
Dring-dring!
"Moshi moshi?"
"How are you, my little assistant?"
I smiled as I leaned against the wall. "I'm doing quite well, detective. I've had quite a few cases on my hands since you left. In fact, I'm in the middle of one now."
"What kind of case?"
"I can't tell for certain yet. It can escalate to either burglary or murder. My two detective friends are also on the case, and we're trying to unmask the culprit before the murder is committed, if it turns out to be the case. However, so far, we cannot find any incriminating proof without attracting attention and the most likely time of murder is quickly approaching."
"Well, if that's the case, I won't be disturbing you any longer," I could hear him shuffle through papers. Probably files from the cases he had solved. "I'll be checking up on you soon, Haruka-chan."
"Come back soon, Saguru-senpai. I can't make Kaito-senpai suffer as much as you can."
He broke in a fit of laughter. "I'll see what I can do. If there is a particular case that needs my attention in Japan, I will fly over as soon as possible."
"And in the meantime, all Japanese cases addressed to Hakuba Saguru are mine to solve," I concluded. "You've left me quite a workload here, you know."
"You'll gain experience from this, Haruka-chan."
"Whatever you say, Brit. Ja ne."
"Ah! Haruka-chan, there you are!" I heard Ran exclaim as I pocketed my cellphone.
"Nanda? Did something happen, Ran-san?"
"The party's going to start soon," she told me. "Hattori and Conan-kun were looking all over for you!"
"Wakatta," I smiled. "Ikimashou."
oOOo
After getting a discreet scolding from the two kookoosei meitantei, I looked around the room. Mitsuaki-san had left earlier to disguise himself as Hideomi and Nagato-san was slowly but surely falling asleep. The food was pretty much finished and everyone else was preparing to retire. The phone call should be coming in soon enough…
Dring-dring!
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
"Moshi moshi?" the butler picked up the phone. "… The Master is asleep, sir! Everyone is also about to retire for the night," he replied as Yasue-san gestured for him to speak more quietly. "What's that?..."
A loud scream came from the phone.
"Mistuaki-sama!"
Mouri-tantei quickly took the phone in his own hands. "Mitsuaki! Where are you?!"
He then headed towards the balcony where he kept repeating Mitsuaki-san's name over and over again. That was when a bandaged man, dressed just like Hideomi, appeared on the balcony below. As the culprit returned in the room, everyone else, except for Hyuuga-san, who remained on the balcony, ran back inside to stop him from escaping.
We all hurried to the room as fast as we could, but the room was locked. The butler rushed to get the spare key as Heiji-senpai went to get the security guards.
I was half-tempted to return to the master bedroom, despite knowing that it will be too late by the time I arrived. Just then…
"Aaaaaah!"
"Mitsuaki's voice!" Yasue exclaimed.
"Here's the key, detective!" the butler returned.
"Hurry!"
However, there was not a single soul in the room. At the balcony, there was a hook with a long rope, still swinging from side to side. And below…
"Mitsuaki-san must have either fallen or been thrown off," I declared as I took in the sight of his body impaled upon the spikes of the fence. Seeing it in person is so much more gruesome than in a manga, especially since the latter was in black and white.
oOOo
"Are you certain the killer was Hideomi?" asked Megure-keibu.
"Yeah, we could see him clearly…" Mouri-tantei replied as he thought back to the bandaged man with a knife between his teeth.
"I'm sure you'Re mistaken!" Hyuuga-san exclaimed. "Hideomi would never do something like this! I'm positive! There must an explanation!"
"It's obvious that Hideomi murdered my husband!" Yasue exclaimed in tears. "And yet you're still vouching for him?"
"Hideomi couldn't have done this!" the secretary repeated. "Even though… He has errored before… How can you be certain that the murderer was Hideomi?"
"That's exactly right!" Heiji-senpai added. "We only saw a face completely covered in bandages… But who's to say that underneath was really Hideomi?"
"Bandages?" Megure-keibu repeated.
"Hideomi had burn scars all over his face, scars that he covers with bandages in such a way that there is no telling whether it is really him," I explained.
"We saw the killer shortly after 10:00 PM, when everyone happened to be in the 3rd story bedroom," the Osakan detective added. "Let's start this story over from the beginning, which is when Mitsuaki- called to tell us that a stranger attacked him with a knife in the room below us at the time…"
Once the timeline of the murder was clear for the inspector, he began asking for details and the whereabouts of Hideomi. Just as he presented the knife, beanie and bandages that were now pieces of evidence, Conan exclaimed in surprise.
"On the back of the victim's right hand, there's a small mark…" he lifted said hand for everyone to see. "Exactly as if something had been stabbed into it! Please take a look."
"Nonsense!" retorted Mouri-tantei after hitting the boy on the head. "His hand probably hit the spikes when he fell down!"
"Are there any other marks, officer?" I asked the chief of the forsenics team.
"Yes, miss. On the left side of his chest there is a stab wound 5 cm deep!"
"That's the killing blow!" the Sleeping Kogorou declared smugly.
"Compare that with the knife found at the crime scene!" instructed Megure-keibu.
"Yes sir!"
"You!" he called out to two other officers. "Go back to the station and identify those footprints!"
"News, sir!" another one ran towards us. "We've looked at the footage on the security camera outside the fence. But from the time the murder occurred… no one has set foot outside these grounds!"
"WHAT?! But that means…!"
oOOo
Luckily, Nagato-san, Ran-san and Nobuko-san were all safe. The murderer is obviously one of the previous suspects, but just about everyone had an alibi. At the time of the murder, Mouri-tantei, Ran, Yasue-san, the butler, Heiji-senpai, Conan and I were together at the second floor. Nagato-san is eliminated as a suspect as his health would not permit him to leave his bed, not to mention that he was the one who sent for the police and Mouri-tantei. That only leaves Nobuko-san, whose alibi is shaky compared to Hyuuga-san's. However, Nobuko-san had no motive to kill Mitsuaki-san.
"…But ain't it strange?" asked Heiji-senpai. "We've arranged policemen in tha garden surroundin' tha house. Inside there are three brilliant detectives, one not-so-brilliant detective… yet tha murderer still treat us like trash, openly committing tha crime then leavin'."
"The criminal has a very daring nature… quite unique nowadays," I commented.
"Not necessarily," Conan declared. "Maybe for some reason or another, they couldn't change the plan that was set down."
"I wonder if the murderer has some grudge against Hideomi-san. He framed the man by showing us a bloodied bandaged face and left the bandages, the beanie and the knife behind…" I frowned. "The culprit probably ensured that none of his hair or fingerprints are on the evidence, whether it's Hideomi-san or not."
"If those pieces of conviction have Hideomi's hair and fingerprints all over them, then it's highly possible that the culprit framed him," the shrunken detective concluded.
"Hey, Kudou, Haruka-chan, don'tcha think that Nobuko woman is very suspicious?" asked Heiji-senpai. "She was the only one ta leave tha room when everyone else was crowding around Nagato-san's bed."
"Don't be so quick to find a conclusion," Conan told him. "We don't have any evidence yet! And if there was something noteworthy, I'm sure that Haruka would have told us already."
"Uh… Right…"
"That's odd…" Ran-san commented from behind us. "Hey there! When did you three become such good friends?"
"Ah, talkin' ta this brat helps relieve tha boredom!" Heiji-senpai patted the boy's head. "We're not very close at all!"
"Having him around is like having a little brother," I smiled. "Two of my friends back in America have one who is quite annoying, unlike this little one."
"Hey, Hattori, Haruka-chan, do you think the killer is Hideomi?" she asked nervously.
"Ah… Uh…" the teen stuttered. "At the moment, he's tha most suspicious one!"
"Heiji-senpai is right, but I can't believe that the murderer would show his face to us so daringly," I told her. "Other than him, I still can't see who could have possibly done it though."
"Well, I'll leave you two alone to deduce the culprit's identity then," Ran-san decided.
Once she was out of earshot, I sighed. "This is going to be a long weekend. I can just feel it."
ooOOoo
I quietly walked through the mansion's hallways, careful not to be seen or heard. Just a couple of minutes ago, the corpse of one Nagato Hideomi was found inside the pond around which holes were dug for planting new trees. According to the autopsy, the man died 36 to 48 hours ago. Furthermore, he did not die from drowning, but from a lethal poison he indigested beforehand. There were also stones in his pockets to prevent him from floating to the surface and since the water was quite filthy, no one would have ever noticed him had Hyuuga-san not insisted on getting back her pen which had fallen into the pond.
There was also a suicide note that goes: "My dearest Miyuki, I cannot marry. With the sin that I have committed, only death can be my release. Hideomi."
In other words, if he truly is the culprit, then he first killed his brother-in-law before committing suicide out of guilt despite the fact that he's hated Mitsuaki-san ever since the fire incident 20 years ago…
Of course, the fact that Mitsuaki-san was stabbed with the knife and the blood on the bandages were his was not in Hideomi-san's favour. The hair in the beanie also belonged to the scarred man, condemning him even more.
Curiously though, a 1m long fishing line had been found in Mitsuaki-san's clothing and the wound on the back of his hand was not made by a knife but another object. There wasn't any saliva on the knife either.
That was without mentioning how it was virtually impossible for Hideomi-san to write his suicide letter after the murder as he's been running away from everyone.
To sum it up, as Conan had declared, the murderer was definitely not Hideomi-san.
And I am going to confront the real murderer, alone.
oOOo
I found Hyuuga-san in Hideomi-san's room, rummaging for his scripts so that the police can compare the handwriting. No one else was around, and the door was enough to hide me from view. If she comes out, then I should be able to hide in one of the nearby rooms before she notices me.
I clenched my hands as my heart beat faster and faster due to nervousness. It was time to see the results of my lessons with Kaito-senpai.
"Hyuuga Miyuki."
I heard a gasp from the other side of the door and the sound of a stack of papers falling on the floor.
"D-Dare? Dare da?" she asked nervously.
"It matters not," I replied in her own voice. "What does matter is your part in both Nagato Hideomi and Nagato Mitsuaki's murder. I know how you did it and when you did it. I suggest you to give yourself up to the police, before someone else gets hurt."
"H-How?" I could hear the fear in her voice. "What are you planning to do?"
"Nothing in particular," I shrugged. "I just don't want you to do any more things that you will regret. Though Nagato Dosan-san gave you an alibi, it can be shattered to pieces. Even if you do not turn yourself in, your role in this case will be revealed. I suggest you to think about this, Hyuuga Miyuki."
I quickly left, turning at the corner and entering a room. The secretary must have gotten over her shock then, for I heard her frantic footsteps outside my hiding spot. After a while though, she gave up on finding me, probably deciding that she must have had a hallucination and went back to Hideomi-san's room to gather the papers she dropped earlier. Once I was certain that she had left, I snuck out of the room and quickly went outside to where I knew Heiji-senpai will bring Conan.
oOOo
"Oh, so you found that too, Haruka-chan!" Heiji-senpai exclaimed as he came outside with Conan.
"You mean the marks under Mitsuaki-san's bedroom and Nobuko-san's?" I gestured towards them.
"Yup, that's what I mean," he grinned.
"Strange…" noted Conan. "The marks under Nobuko-san's balcony are much clearer than Mitsuaki-san's…"
"It must have something to do with the banging noises, correct?" I spoke our thoughts aloud.
"Let's go check it out!" Conan declared as he ran back inside.
During our search, Nobuko-san didn't return to her room even once. However, the phone did ring, giving us her solid alibi.
"Leaving a bunch of half-hour messages before 10:00 at night, huh?" I repeated. "She cannot be the culprit then."
"So we return to the original suspect: Hideomi," Heiji-senpai decided.
"We need to search his room," Conan agreed.
The search itself wasn't that eventful… The room was covered in books and papers, many of which had gathered dust. However, under a pile was an answering machine. I thank kami that Mitsuaki-san and Hyuuga-san didn't know about it. If they did, they would have erased the decisive evidence against their framing Hideomi-san as a culprit.
"Bip. Hello Nagato-san. Yamada here, editor for "Modern Litterature" Publishers… I'll meet you at the same place 1 PM tomorrow to talk to you about your script. Bip. Message received at 1:28 25th March."
"March 5th is the day before the murder," I said before the second message was played.
"Bip. This is Yamada! I'm at the usual coffee shop. Bip. Message received at 3:04 PM 26th March."
"Bip. Bip. Yamada here, I've waited for six hours. I guess you can't come, so I'm going… Bip. It's been 2, 3 days…"
"Say can it be that Hideomi was…" Heiji-senpai declared.
"No way! His estimated time of death was…" Conan objected.
"But since his corpse was inside the pond..." I reminded them.
"I've got it!" Heiji-senpai exclaimed. "Tha killer used that method ta hide Hideomi's body!"
"If so, then the killer can only be that person and no one else!" Conan declared.
"The evidence must still be in that room!" I told them.
oOOo
Within an hour, not only have we found the missing sheets, the swimming cap and the needle, but we have also sedated Mouri-tantei and completed our deduction. Once we had the evidence as well, everything was set to go. Heiji-senpai hurried downstairs whereas I remained in the room with Conan, waiting for everyone else to arrive for our deduction show.
"We're all here!" Megure-keibu announced as he opened the door. "What do you want to tell us, Hattori? Huh? Where is he?"
"I told Hattori to ask everyone to come up here!" Conan said wiz Sleeping Kogorou.
"So it was you, dad!"
"What is it, Mouri-kun?" asked Megure-keibu.
"I'd like to tell you all that I have found…" the shrunken detective smirked. "The person who killed Mitsuaki... and threw Hideomi into the pond!"
"Hey now! It was Hideomi who killed Mitsuaki!" protested the officer. "Then he poisoned himself in the pond! Even the handwriting on the letter matched up with…"
DRING!
"The phone…"
"If Megure-keibu would please pick up the phone, the tragic night Mitsuaki died on the fence will play out once more," I said ominously.
"Moshi moshi?" the inspector said hesitantly. "Hattori? What the heck are you starting?"
I heard Heiji-senpai scream through the phone at that point.
"What happened?... Where are you now?... The room b-below?" asked the inspector as he arrived at the balcony. "Wha- ? What?!"
"What's going on?" asked the butler as Megure-keibu hung up the phone.
"Shiranai! Anyway, we have to save him!"
"Stop it right there," Conan instructed. "This was how the killer drove everyone out of the room… So that this room's…" A hook grabbed onto the balcony. "Terrifying truth… would be hidden."
Just then, a bandaged man, much like Hideomi-san climbed onto the balcony behind the Sleeping Kogorou.
"Who are you?" asked the inspector as the person undid his disguise.
"It's just me…"
"Hattori?!"
"What are you doing?" asked Megure-keibu.
"This was ta show "tha murderer's" plan… Tha alarming ohone call, tha knife and bandaged face… were all an elaborate act by Mitsuaki in order ta frame Hideomi!"
"That's absurd! The killer was covered in Mitsuaki's blood… plus there were cuts on Mitsuaki's body!" Megure-keibu exclaimed.
"He made those cuts himself," Conan explained. "Mitsuaki only needs a syringe to withdraw his blood beforehand and spray it on the bandages. The bandages and hat likely belonged to Hideomi, so he wore a swimming cap to hold down his hair."
"A swimming cap and a syringe were found in his room just earlier," I show the items inside a plastic bag.
"But Mitsuaki's the murdered one! Why would he do all that?"
"Most likely to kill Nagato-san. That's why he lured everyone downstairs while he climbed up here!" Conan declared.
"Nagato-san?!"
"Yes, the same man his accomplice drugged."
"An accomplice?!" Meigure-keibu couldn't believe his ears.
"Right – tha plan was probably for Mitsuaki ta kill the president and return below while his accomplice kept everyone downstairs," Heiji-senpai revealed.
"Yet, at the last minute the accomplice betrayed him," I declared as I looked at Hyuuga Miyuki in the eye. "The only one who could kill Mitsuaki-san is the one who was left behind… Hyuuga Miyuki, it was you!"
"Mitsuaki probably never expected for things ta end so horribly," Heiji-senpai continued. "His partner-in-crime… waitin' for him up here ta push him off the balcony!"
"But then the knife should have fallen with Mitsuaki?" asked Megure-keibu.
"He likely tossed his knife, bandages and hat outside before his climb," Conan replied. "Furthermore, a knife wasn't needed."
"Mitsuaki had a grappling wire ready in his jacket ta kill Nagato-san!" the Western detective declared.
"Of course, Hyuuga-san's only target was Mitsuaki-san," I crossed my arms. "Since everyone saw the bandaged man on the balcony and Mitsuaki-san's body was found shortly afterwards, no one would have suspected that it was actually the victim's trick!"
"Then what was that swinging wire?" asked Megure-keibu.
"He had tha wire pulled up, then, grabbin' the weight on tha opposite end, let it hook onta tha railing below…" Heiji-senpai demonstrated. "It'll hit tha balcony and stop on its own. Tha weight will make tha rope swing back and forth as if someone had just climbed it! As proof, there are numerous markings made by that weight on tha underside of Nagato-san and Nobuko-san's balconies. Miyuki probably tested it tha day before ta see."
"Nobuko-san is often blind drunk so she wouldn't hear anything," Conan added. "But Nagato-san clearly heard the sounds.
"Nagato-san?"
"He even heard their footsteps running in the hallway. That could have been Hyuuga-san measuring the time it takes to get from Mitsuaki's room to the storage room where the spare key was kept. That would be the length of time she needed to stall everyone while Mitsuaki did the deed. In other words, she had planned the murder the day before!"
"Are you saying she killed Hideomi too?" asked the inspector. "And what about the will? The autopsy stated that Hideomi died at least 6 hours after Mitsuaki. But at the time Mitsuaki's body was found, the security guards increased their surveillance in the grounds and around the pond. Hyuuga-san didn't have the chance to do anything!"
"I already told you, keibu. Her only target was Mitsuaki."
"What?!"
"The handwriting in that letter really is Hideomi's," Conan revealed. "He left it for Hyuuga-san before he drank the poison. Which is a day before Mitsuaki was murdered!"
"The… The day before?!"
I watched Hyuuga-san the whole time Heiji-senpai explained how it was that the coroner mistook the time of death and the real identity of "Hideomi". What did she feel, I wonder, having all of her crimes exposed in such a manner? Was she reliving the moments we are describing for the others? Was she regretting her act? Or simply regretting that she left so much evidence?
I felt bad for the poor woman to be honest. Though it is somewhat of a standard to fall in love with the one who saved you, to fall in love with the one who killed your parents… How conflicted she must have been…
Once Heiji-senpai and Conan finished explaining Hyuuga-san's lack of a watch and how her pen was bent, I stepped up to explain the cause of everything. The cause of the bad feelings between Mitsuaki-san and Hideomi-san, the reason why Hideomi-san didn't want to have plastic surgery and why he couldn't marry the girl he saved.
"Why did you make Nobuko angry so we'd find Hideomi?" Heiji-senpai asked. "Did you do it on purpose? The police would've found him soon enough… So why?"
"Because that person…" Hyuuga-san lowered her face. "I didn't want to leave him in the cold water any more…"
She suddenly took the big flask on her table and took out a lighter once she put it on the floor. "All of you, stay back! This flask is full of petrol!"
"Hey, hey," Megure-keibu reached out. "Don'T be so foolish!"
"I'm serious!" Hyuuga-san lit her lighter.
"Hyuuga-san…"
"The detective's right. His will explained everything about the fire! They had to pay… that carefree Mitsuaki… and Hideomi, who never said a word about it! But… But I… couldn't help falling in love with him!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "He risked his life to save me… He always came and took care of me, walked with me, and comforted me so much… and he even accepted my proposal!"
She opened the flask.
"But Hideomi is gone now… I'm all alone again. I have to hurry to him…"
"Don't!" Ran-san exlcaimed.
"It's no use, Hyuuga-san, I took out all of the petrol," I told her sadly.
"WHY? Hideomi's fire lit so easily! Why won't mine?!"
"Stay back!" she exclaimed as two officers went to restrain her. "I want to be with Hideomi… Hideomi… HIDEOMI!""
"Maybe we should've let her die…" Heiji-senpai declared as he watched her struggled against the policemen.
"Fool," Conan lectured him. "A detective who corners someone with logic, but lets them commit suicide… is no different from a murderer."
"Such a pain to my ears…" Heiji-senpai sighed. "To hear the perfect one say such a line…"
"There's no such thing as a perfect person," I told him. "Even he… Even I… am just one person."
"Besides, that person can save Miyuki-san," Conan added as she continued to cry in the background.
"That person?"
"That's enough, Hyuuga-san," Nagato-san declared as he arrived with the help of an officer. "No more foolishness about following Hideomi…"
"Ah! Goshuujin-sama!"
"Your mother wasn't this sort of person," Nagato-san told his secretary.
"What? What are you saying? What do you know of my mother?"
"Of course I would know," the president smiled. "That pen you have is a present I gave her when she transferred to my grade school."
"What?"
"It seems you thought it was your father's…" he chuckled. "I won't ask you to forgive Hideomi, but you're still young, your life's just begun. Live strongly for Hideomi also. I'm certain that your mother wishes that."
oOOo
"What?" Heiji-senpai exclaimed. "So Nagato-san's first love was Miyuki's mother?"
"I guess that Nagato-san loved her like his own daughter, so he covered up for her," I told him.
"Huh, I thought he said, "Miyuki was with me the whole time" as atonement for his son," the Osakan detective said pensively. "But I guess it also has another meaning!"
"I bet he wanted to see his first love because he saw her in Miyuki's face!" Conan added.
"Alright, Kudou, don't tell me you knew the whole time?" he asked, annoyed.
"Ah, you said "Kudou" again!" Ran-san exclaimed. "Could it be Kudou…"
"A-ah, I said…" the dark-skinned high schooler sweat-dropped. "Kudoi, kudoi! This guy kept asking me about the incident, so I said he's too much!"
"Huh…"
"You're sure from Osaka," Conan deadpanned.
"And best in Japanese theatrics," he grinned.
"Kimi-tachi…" I shook my head. "Absolutely hopeless…"
And voilà! It's kind of short, for a case, but there will be cases that take up to two chapters of this length in the future.
To chibianimefan26: Thank you so much for your reviews! Don't worry, this fanfiction isn't about to end anytime soon, and with us still in the beginning of the story... I'm glad that you think it is unique; we authors try to make our own works different from the others, even if there are similarities, some more glaringly obvious than others. As for having read White Phoenix, Blue Moon... I can kind of understand where you're coming from. On Fanfiction, it can be easy to stumble across stories from the same author without realizing, though it usually occurs when said stories are from the same fandom and have the same basic idea.
As for the rest of you who have been reading this, I'm very happy to see that there are people out there who are interested in this story.
Please leave a review so I can know what you think about it!
Next Chapter: A Stellar Party