"Now, who was it that discovered the body?" Megure asked in his usual gruff manner.
"I.. I did.." The girl replied meekly and reluctantly.
"You knew the victim?" Megure asked.
The girl seemed to pause, looking fearfully up at Soji, her brother, who glared angrily at her, as if telepathically commanding [Don't even think about it..]
"Uh.. W.. Well, I.." The girl stammered nervously.
"She identified herself as the victim's boyfriend." Kogoro broke in.
"Is that true, Ma'am?" Megure needled, walking closer to the girl.
"Y..Yes.." The girl replied just a fraction above a whisper. "My name is Uta Oshiro, and I'm a first year student here.. Kosuke and I had dated for a while.."
[So terrible.. That poor girl..] Ran thought to herself, filled with emotion.
"And you were throwing your life away!" Soji shouted at Uta fiercely.
"And who are you?!" Megure asked aggresively.
"I'm Soji! Her brother!" He informed the Inspector.
"Were you aquainted in any way with the victim?" Megure asked suspiciously.
"Grr.." The young man growled "That... BASTARD put his meaty thug paws all over my sister! Forcing her into things she didn't want to do... Putting her in danger on MULTIPLE occasions! I'm only sorry I didn't get to kick his ass in the tournament!"
"Hmm.." The Inspector hummed as he glowered at the angry young man suspiciously. "Would you have any idea who else would have any ill will towards Mr. Inoue?" He asked.
"How should I know? He had lots of enemies! He was a delinquent!" Soji replied defensively. "Hell, maybe he knew I would humiliate him in front of everyone, so he killed himself!"
"THAT'S A LOAD OF CRAP!" Yoshi suddenly yelled out at the top of his voice, with genuine offense. "I was with him RIGHT before he died! He had EVERYTHING to live for!"
"And who are you?" Megure demanded.
The young shaggy haired student took a deep breath and replied "My name is Yoshi Isobe.. I..I.. was Kosuke's best friend.."
"Were you with Mr. Inoue for most of the day?" Megure questioned.
"Yes.. All throughout school and up to the tournament.." Yoshi informed him.
"Excuse me, Inspector Megure, but I can back this up." Ran interjected, stepping forward. " I was walking to the showers, and I saw Kosuke speaking very energetically and brashly to Soji." She explained.
Conan looked up at Ran with interest.
"Very well, Ran. Thank you." Megure acknowledged, before turning to Kogoro. "Well.. What about you, Kogoro..?" He asked grimly.
"What are you implying, Inspector?! You still think I'm the Angel of Death or something?!" Kogoro asked in an offended voice.
[Hey, at least you'd be good at SOMETHING..] Conan joked sarcastically in his thoughts.
"You'd be too incompetent at your job, anyway.." Came an icy and familiar arrogant female voice.
Conan looked up with reluctance to see the self assured figure of Ran's mother, Eri Kisaki, standing in her usual black business dress, staring at her ex-husband in an almost pitying way.
[Oh, no..] Conan grumbled inwardly. [She's the LAST person I needed to see..]
"Mom! When did you get here?!" Ran exclaimed with a combination of of surprise and happiness.
"I've been here all along." Eri informed her. "Since the beginning of the tournament. You did an exceptional job." She complimented in a way that seemed a tad insincere.
"But where were you? We couldn't see you." Kogoro wondered with an uncaring expression.
"That was intentional. I wouldn't be caught dead sitting next to you!" She snapped, giving her glasses a slight adjustment.
"MOM!" Ran objected angrily.
"ENOUGH! This is a serious murder investigation, and we have to get to the bottom of this!" Megure shouted in general, before turning to Kogoro, specifically, asking "How did you figure out what happened?"
"I wasn't the one who determined that, it was THAT little creep who stepped inside an active crime scene!" Kogoro growled, pointing toward Hiroki.
"WHAT?! What the HELL do you think you were DOING, kid?!" Megure yelling, getting right in the boy's face.
"What I was doing, my dear Inspector, was attempting to solve this case." Hiroki replied quite laid back and sure of himself.
[HUH?! What is this kid's deal?!] Conan thought uncertainly.
"What the Hell are you talking about?! Who are you?!" Megure challenged.
"Funny you should ask.." The boy replied with a subdued, yet arrogant tone. "I'm the NEW Detective of Teitan High, Hiroki Sera!" He announced dramtically, flipping the brim of his hat.
"HUUUUH?!" The entire crowd, Detectives included exclaimed in unison.
[WHAT.. Where'd HE come from?!] Conan thought with disbelief.
[W..What's going on?!] Ran thought in an identical fashion.
"The NEW Detective?!" Megure asked incredulously.
"Well, seeing as how the legendary Shinichi Kudo is missing in action, I figured I'd pick up his slack!" Hiroki boasted.
"That all we need.. Another High School Detective Boy.." Eri thought with a grimace.
[Grr! This guy's looking for a soccer ball to the face!] Conan thought with a snarl.
[What right does HE have to talk about Shinichi that way?!] Ran fumed in her mind.
"Oh, yeah? Well, Mister Detective, how do we know that YOU haven't contaminated the crime scene?!" Megure accused in a harsh tone.
"And what if I told YOU that I basically have the culprit figured out?" Hiroki fired back slyly.
"What?!" Megure yelled. The rest of the crowd was in just as much disbelief.
"However, I do need time to aquire the neccesary evidence, so I'll be off collecting it.." The young man stated matter-of-factly, before strutting off through the crowd. As he passed, he gave a very suspicious smile to Ran who only frowned tensely in response.
[This isn't good! This wannabe is bound to wreck everything! I've got to try to beat him to the deduction!] Conan thought resolutely. Then, taking note of the downcast Uta, he took hold of the hem of her rather short skirt and gave a gentle tug.
"Huh?" The girl said, looking downwards.
"Excuse me, Miss Uta. Was Mr. Kosuke mean to you when you were together?" Conan interrogated in his best unassuming childlike way.
"W..Well.. He would yell at me several times, and.." Uta began to explain, before Soji leaned down and began to yell at Conan with a perturbed expression.
"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
"Conan, please come and stand by me." Ran instructed.
"And STAY OUT of this investigation!" Kogoro reprimanded, bringing his fist down hard on Conan's head, causing the young sleuth to see stars!
"DAD! Leave Conan alone!" Ran admonished, giving her father a brisk slap on the arm, before giving Conan a reassuring massage to his injury.
"What's the matter, Soji? Worried the kid might find out about how you threatened your OWN SISTER?" Yoshi implicated with as much prejudice as he could muster.
Conan, still recovering from Kogoro's blow, suddenly sprang to attention at this revelation!
"ARE YOU ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING?!" Soji roared.
"Soji, please!" Uta pleaded meekly.
"I'm saying that it bugged the HELL out of you that your sister was dating my friend! And that you'd be desperate enough to..!" Yoshi began to implicate harshly, before Sato marched over to the boys and placed her hands firmly between them like a boxing referee.
"ENOUGH, you two! Now calm down or I'll have the BOTH of you locked up for the night!" She interjected firmly.
As the boys reluctantly turned away from one another, Soji protectively hugging his sister close to him, Conan glared at the three, thinking deeply [I wonder.. What purpose does that girl serve in all of this..?]
Megure then turned to the forensics team and asked "Find anything else, yet?"
"No, Sir. There's only one set of fingerprints on the needle, and witnesses leaving the bathroom say that Inoue was alone when he entered. Whomever planned this out was very careful.." One of the investigators explained.
[Okay, then.. Any sort of evidence may still be amongst the belongings of the culprit! I've got to get to it before they or that crazy kid does!] Conan thought with a sense of urgency.
"There seems to be very few trace amounts of residue left in the interior of the syringe itself, Sir. Most of the remainder is actual insulin." One of the forensics experts noted.
"I'd imagine. He injected most of it into his bloodstream." Megure dully noted.
"Uh.. Actually, Inspector, it doesn't take that much cyanide to kill someone. Only about 1.5 milligrams is necessary." Yoshi suddenly interjected quite meekly.
"Really, young man? And how were you aware of this?" Megure asked, taking interest in the statement.
"Oh, I recently had to pass a chemistry exam. Funny.. I.. I didn't realize I'd be reminded so suddenly.." The boy began to explain, before sadly trailing off.
"You wouldn't have happened to learn how to covertly poison someone, would you?" Kogoro needled suspiciously.
"N..NO! Of course not! What are you implying?! He was my friend, dammit!" Yoshi reacted frightened and defensively.
"Yes! Leave him alone!" The quiet, reserved girl Uta suddenly shouted crossly. "He doesn't have anything to do with this!"
"Uta, quiet down! This is no life for you!" Soji reprimanded, grabbing his sister by the arm.
But the girl pulled away, violently. "Be quiet! I'm sick of you bossing me around and telling me whom I can't be friends with!"
"Alright! I said, everyone stay calm!" Sato once again raised her voice authoritively.
[Hmm.. Something else is definately going on here.. And if my intuition is right.. Something more than meets the eye..] Conan thought with a deep look of concentration. [The problem is how I'm going to make the authorities aware of this and gather more clues, before that Hiroki kid ruins everything.]
It was then that Conan looked up at the saddened face of Ran, who watched the torrential scene before her with an uneasy expression.
[I think I've found a way!] He thought with a smirk. With that, Conan quietly sneaked off through the crowd. Once he was out of general eyesight, he quickly and quietly sneaked down the hallway into an empty classroom. Then, in the mostly pitch black hiding place, he extracted "Shinichi's" cell phone from his left hand pocket, and his voice changing bow-tie from his right, and using the illumination from his phone to adjust the voice setting, he took a deep breath and thought quietly [Here we go!] Before dialing Ran's number..
[RING RING.. RING RING.. RING..] Ran's phone suddenly began blaring in her pocket, and the crowd turned to look at the girl as a crimson blush began to pour across her face. "Excuse me a moment!" She exclaimed very quietly, before dashing off towards a quiet place. She then placed the phone to her ear and asked in a rather annoyed voice "Yes, hello?!"
"Hey, it's been a while since we last talked.. I thought you'd be more happy to hear my voice!" Came that familiar, self assured tone.
Ran's eyes widened in surpise, and her heart began to pound rapidly. "Sh..Shinichi..? She asked with fluttering breath.
TO BE CONTINUED...