"That's right. Whomever painted this message was MORE than willing to carry the deed out on Miss Okino, and now stands culpable of the penalties for such an offense!" Kogoro continued his theatrical charge against the unknown culprit.
"How horrible.." Ran moaned in disbelief.
Conan, looking up towards her sympathetically, called "Ran.."
The girl looked down at Conan's warm smile, "Please don't worry. Uncle Kogoro should be able to find this out. Besides, It's a good thing that nothing actually happened to Miss Yoko, right?" He said in a gentle voice.
Ran gave Conan an almost clandestine smile in return, and replied faintly "Oh.. Y.. You're right, Conan. You always manage to cheer me up."
Conan felt somewhat embarrassed by her response. Blushing, he looked away, thinking [Why do I always feel like she means more than what she's saying..?]
Kogoro then approached the young security staff member. "Which employee was the one responsible for bringing this basket into the dressing room?" He asked.
"W.. We honestly don't know, sir. It just suddenly showed up in the room earlier this morning, and we just assumed that it was a member of the staff." The young man replied earnestly.
"Hmm.." Conan suddenly wondered aloud, looking back and forth from the basket, to the mirror. "That's strange.. You'd think that the person wouldn't want to warn Yoko, if they were going to hurt her." He observed, only to have Kogoro yank him up by the very hair of his head!
"Get the HELL away from there! You're tampering with the evidence!" Kogoro growled with anger, as Conan squirmed in his grip.
"Dad! Leave Conan alone! He doesn't realize what he's doing!" Ran reprimanded him, pulling Conan from his grasp.
Tempting as it was to revel being held close to his love's warm bosoms once more, Conan resisted his affections long enough for a better look at the crime scene. Sure enough, there was a faint golden mark on the grey marble makeup table.
"Wow! Look at that pretty color!" Conan exclaimed with as much false childish wonder as he could muster.
"Huh?!" Both Kogoro and Ran asked.
"There's some pretty gold paint on the table!" Conan elaborated, pointing at the streak of color in question.
"You little dummy! That's just some of Yoko's nail polish!" Kogoro abrasively corrected, before very quickly switching to a sweeter disposition and turned to Yoko with an almost terrifying "nice" expression. "Isn't that right, Miss Okino?"
Yoko walked over to the table and carefully inspected it. "Mmm.. No, I'm sorry. I'm not wearing any gold nail polish in my performance. Besides, I don't remember seeing this here earlier this morning." She said nervously.
"AH! THAT'S it! This mark was most likely made by the culprit!" Kogoro exclaimed with a start.
[That's it, old man, you've got it!] Conan thought excitedly.
"AND THE KEY IS FINDING WHO OWNS THAT NAIL POLISH!" Kogoro shouted triumphantly.
[Ugh.. Knew I should've learned by now..] Conan thought to himself, slapping his forehead in frustration. [Wait a minute!] He thought, suddenly taking note of the suspects.. Each one of them had at least one peice of gold jewelry! Mr. Tomohiro had a gold signet ring, which he seems to be fondling, Mrs. Wakahiso had a gold bracelet, which she seemed to be pushing up into her grey jacket sleeve.. and Mr. Nakano was practically covered pin gold. Necklaces, rings, an earring, the works! [If he's guilty.. He's certainly not trying to hide it..] Conan remarked to himself. He then turned back to a still calculating Kogoro, wondering [Now how am I gonna have the old man take notice..?] It also didn't help that Toru seemed to be eyeing Kogoro admirably the whole time, making it hard to divert unwanted attention to himself, so he simply decided to return to individual questioning..
Conan cautiously slinked up to Mrs. Wakahiso and stared intently at her somewhat concealed jewelry. "Gee! That's a pretty bracelet, Mrs. Wakahiso! May I see it?" He asked admirably.
"Huh?!" The sad looking woman suddenly turned her surprised attention to the boy, before adopting a gentle expression. "I'm sorry, dear, but that's a very delicate present my daughter bought for my birthday.." She continued, her voice trailing off sadly.
"Oh, did something happen to her?" Conan asked, sounding aloof.
Wakahiso seemed reluctant to speak for a moment, before disclosing uneasily "She.. She died, dear.."
Conan adopted a sympathetic demeanor. "Oh, I'm very sorry.."
A slight smile returned to the woman's face. "Oh, that's alright, dear. It's not your fault.." She smoothly replied with a natural maternal warmth, which melted away just as soon as it had appeared.
[Hmm.. What could she mean by that?] Conan thought with a hint of conjecture, before focusing his attention on Mr. Tomohiro, still daintily carressing his large signet ring. With the same sense of inquisitiveness, Conan wandered over to him and began gazing at the jewelry as if in awe.
"Wow! That's a cool ring, Mister! May I see it?" He asked enthusiastically, grabbing at the man's wrist!
"HEY! LET GO OF THAT!" The older man shouted in alarm, brushing Conan's hands off with such vigor that there was a sudden *click* and the expensive looking blue jewel that sat right in the middle came clattering off! "AH! MY RING! You little brat!" He shouted furiously, grasping for the jewel on the floor.
"CONAN! What on Earth have you done?!" Ran demanded, becoming quite livid as she stormed up to him.
"Ran, I thought I told you to.." Kogoro began to growl in frustration.
"W..Wait, Ran.." Conan explained attempted to calm the girl's notorious temper "I just wanted to see that cool spy camera he has under his ring!"
Those involved all turned to Tomohiro with astonished faces.
"You're just like James Bond, Mr. Tomohiro!" Conan enthusiastically complimented the frightened looking man.
Suddenly, Toru yanked Tomohiro's wrist up to his eye level. "Let me see that!" He exclaimed.
"NO! WAIT!" The old man feverishly protested.
"A-HA! Take a look at THIS, Detective Mouri!" Toru boldly announced, giving Kogoro a close look at the ring. Sure enough, the space where the jewel stood was occupied by a miniature camera lens! "Just like the kind my fellow P.I.s use on really tough surviellance jobs! I believe we've found our culprit!" He arrogantly declared.
Kogoro found that hard to argue with. He gave a menacing stare at the man and questioned. "Well, Mr. Tomohiro, have anything to say to that?!"
"NO! NO, HONEST! I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! I Was only going to peep on her! I MEAN IT!" Tomohiro practically erupted with the confession.
"HUH?!" The crowd wondered aloud at this.
"T..This building has been struggling for money for the last five years.. No matter WHICH act performs here.. I wasn't willing to give that up.." Tomohiro painfully explained to everyone, his voice beginning to trail off into a sheepish whisper "I.. I thought if I secretly sold pictures of Miss Okino... Un.. dressing.. to a tabloid.. It might give me an extra boost.."
All involved were horrified at this revelation. Particularly the women, but most especially, Kogoro.
Grabbing Tomohiro by the lapels, he proceeded to shout indignantly "As if this young lady hadn't already been through ENOUGH, you were going to sell nude photos of her?! I believe she'd like an APOLOGY!"
"I..I'm sorry Miss Okino.. I honestly am.." The old man muttered with a slumped posture. Yoko refused to even look at him. She just glanced away in an angry fashion.
"Security team, I think you know what to do with this depraved individual!" Kogoro barked, shoving the sheepish old man towards the officers.
"We sure do, Detective Mouri! This Scrooge has been docking our pay for every silly little thing!" One of the Officers affirmed, giving the man a vengeful glare.
Kogoro then turned to Toru with a cross between a smile and a sneer. "Well, kid. I.. I'd like to congratulate you for your help.." He said with as much grit as he could muster.
[HIS help?] Conan thought with resentment.
Toru simply beamed at this compliment, not seeming to pick up any of Detective Mouri's aggression. "Why, thank you, Detective Mouri! I learned from the best, after all!"
[Wait a minute.. Something's not right, here..] Conan suddenly thought to himself in a troubled way. [Why would Mr. Tomohiro bother to take nude pictures of the woman he was about to murder and risk being suspected and exposed.. That must mean.. OF COURSE! THAT'S how it must have happened!] He realized to himself! [The question is, how do I prove it? AH! I've got it!] Conan then tapped Ran on her bare leg.
"Conan, that's getting really annoying!" The girl reprimanded.
"But, Ran. I really want something to drink!" Conan whined.
"Oh, don't worry, Conan, I'll take you to the restaurant area!" Mrs. Wakahiso gently intervened, placing her hand on Conan's shoulder.
"Yay! Thanks, Mrs. Wakahiso!" Conan expressed his gratitude.
"Y'know, Detective Mouri, I'm quite parched myself. How about I buy you a drink?" Toru asked Kogoro.
The Detective gave a bit of a shrug and replied "Fine by me.. As long as the lovely Miss Okino would care to join us!" Becoming overtly aimiable again,
"Uh.. Y.. Yeah, sure.." Yoko replied somewhat nervously, yet polite. "Um, Ran, would you care to come along?" She asked.
"Of course, Miss Okino!" Ran replied with glee, before adopting a glare at her father "I'll be sure that Dad behaves himself!"
Kogoro simply muttered under his breath in a huff.
The (now empty) restaurant area was ritzy, a bright white room filled with red circular tables and red curtains. A snazzy red bar area stood at the side.
"Wooow! This place looks so pretty! Like something out of Alice in Wonderland!" Ran exclaimed with delight.
"Well, this is our White Rabbit and Red Queen restaurant, after all!" Mrs. Wakahiso explained, before turning to the space where Conan stood and began to ask "Now, Conan, what may I get..?" Only to see that he was no longer there! "HUH?! CONAN?!" She and Ran shouted.
To their horror, Conan was perched at the edge of the bar table near the soda taps!
"That's okay, Mrs. Wakahiso, I can get it!" He declared as though he were simply walking across the room.
"Ah! Conan, wait!" They both shouted as they rushed over.
"Mmm! This is my favorite!" Conan said with seemingly unaware satisfaction.
"Conan! Please get down from the..!" Mrs. Wakahiso began to plead, leaning up on her heels and reaching for him, then suddenly lost her balance, slipping and sliding her arm across the table! "WHOA!" She shouted.`
"Conan! Look what you've done!" Ran reprimanded Conan.
Then, acting as though aloof, Conan pointed with interest at the red countertop, "Ooh! There's that pretty color again!"
"Huh?" Ran asked, looking down.
Sure enough, the same gold streak was just visible enough! "Hey, Dad! Come over here!" Ran shouted.
Kogoro, Toru and Yoko came rushing over immediately, and Kogoro looked down in the direction Ran was pointing. "AH!" He exclaimed. "It's that same mark!" He then looked over at Mrs. Wakahiso, who was beginning to recoil in unease. "Let me see that bracelet!" He exclaimed, taking hold of her wrist!
"HEY!" Wakahiso protested.
"Dad! What are you..?!"Ran began to shout.
"THERE!" Kogoro exclaimed, viewing Wakahiso's gold bracelet. There was a distinctive demarcation wear across the chain. He then turned the bracelet around, and sure enough there was yet another sign of the worn off gold.
Ran gasped in surprise!
[Now you've got it, old man!] Conan thought encouragingly.
"W.. What are you accusing me of?!" Mrs. Wakahiso shouted defensively. "You've already exposed the culprit, and besides, that other mark could have come from anywhere!"
Conan noticed Kogoro beginning to cower nervously, he looked down, and sure enough, the same small black scuff marks were there plain as day! "Hey, Detective Mouri! There's those funny black squiggles again!" He pointed out.
All involved looked down to see the marks in question. Kogoro looked up and into Miss Wakahiso's startled eyes as arrogantly as possible. "MY, now isn't THAT a coincidence, Miss Wakahiso! The same kind of gold print on the countertop, and the very kind of black scuff marks upon the floor! Almost as if, say, someone were leaning forward to write a threatening message on a mirror! You slipped and left the very same type of marks with that necklace and those high heels! Just as you did right here, right now! I'm sure a simple chemical test will prove me right! So, DO tell us all, Miss Wakahiso, WHY did you attempt to KILL MISS OKINO?!" He explained before concluding with a roar of such intense fury, that the glasses at the bar practically shook!
Needless to say, everyone in the vicinity was spellbound and slackjawed, even Conan. [Wow. I didn't think he had it in him!] He remarked in thought.
Mrs. Wakahiso then slowly bowed her head out of contrition. "You know.. I never actually liked wearing these damn high heels.. I could never walk that well in them, and I should've known better than to attempt to reach the mirror in them.." She remarked nearly under her breath.
"W..Why..Why would you try to do this to me?!" Yoko demanded with a horrified and betrayed expression.
The woman leered up at the pop idol like an angry bear. "Because.. You killed Kyoko, you heartless,spoiled little BITCH!" She growled.
"What?! Your daughter?! But I didn't kill her! She committed suicide!" Yoko responded in disbelief.
"LIAR! IT was YOUR stealing of the song she had written with her OWN TWO HANDS that drove her to suicide, you brat!" Wakahiso shouted back.
"I stole her song?! How is that possible?!" Yoko asked with confusion.
"HMPH! As if you don't know! Kyoko had long wanted to be a pop star herself! She admired you! She actually took the time to write out the song "Emotion Sensation" and submitted it to your record company, and then TWO WEEKS LATER, it was your latest HIT! Not only THAT, it was accredited to YOU!" Wakahiso explained through her angry tears.
"WHAT? I didn't know that! My manager said that my usual arranger had written it!" Yoko earnestly replied.
At that same time, Ran looked in time to see Toji the manager attempting to sneak away! In a moment, she was on him in a moment, performing an expert takedown! "You're not going ANYWHERE, Buddy!" She reprimanded with righteous fury.
Turning her attention back to Yoko, Miss Wakahiso continued her accusation. "You couldn't believe how heartbroken she was! She couldn't believe that the woman she looked up to would just spit in her fan's face like that! She knew no one would believe her, and she just couldn't take anymore, so she committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills..No mother of such a PERFECT.. TALENTED child such as that should EVER have to go through that! Then.. That GLORIOUS day came when I learned that you would be appearing here... An opportunity for revenge.. The plan was hatched.. I set the situation up where I send Yoko threatening letters to seem like a stalker, then, in disguise, I leave the fruit basket supposedly from the staff in the lobby early in the morning. After showing up for work, I set an alarm on my phone to make it appear that my husband had called, sneaked to the dressing room, used some stage paint on the mirror to tie it to the letters.. Then drove off to dispose of the evidence.. My only mistake was wearing bracelet my daughter gave me herself.."
"NO!" Yoko suddenly countered with a furious shout that knocked everyone for a loop. "Your MISTAKE was becoming an attempted MURDERER without even bothering to look into what had happened! I treasure each and every one of my fans and would NEVER steal ANYTHING from ANY of them.. YOU soiled the memory of your daughter simply for a taste of misguided revenge! How wold SHE have felt about THIS?!" The famous young woman fired back with tears beginning to well up in her own eyes.
All Wakahiso could do is lower her body to fall to the floor, and begin sobbing relentlessly.
"Are.. Are you sure that you really want to go on with your show after all that, Yoko?" Ran asked with a sense of apprehension as she, Conan, Kogoro and Toru stood backstage with her.
Yoko, now dressed in her frilly pink performance dress, simply gave Ran a warm, reassuring smile. "Like I said, Ran, I treasure each and every one of my fans! I wouldn't let them down for the world!" She then turned to Kogoro with a gratetful expression. "But I never would have been able to do so in the first place thanks to you, Detective Mouri!" She expressed sweetly.
"Oh, you're quite welcome, Miss Okino.." Kogoro replied in the most sultry voice possible, beginning to make an obnoxious kissing motion with his lips, which Yoko reacted to in a confused, nervous manner.
"There you are, you jerk!" Came the gruff, loud but youthful voice that Conan knew all too well. Sure enough, he turned to see Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi standing in the doorway with extremely cross expressions.
"AH! H..How did you guys get back here!" Conan exlaimed with a mouth so wide, his uvula was practically visible!
"We said we were friends with Detective Mouri.. And AAAAH!" MItsuhiko began to sourly explain, before catching sight of Yoko! "LOOK, GUYS, IT'S YOKO OKINO!"
Genta and Ayumi's angry expressions immediately rose to unabashed star struck glee! "WOOOW! YOKO!" They wailed with elation.
"H..Hello, everybody!" The idol singer giggled nervously with a friendly smile and wave.
"Why didn't you tell us you were visiting Yoko at her big concert?!" Ayumi asked vivaciously.
"Well, I didn't want to.. Uh.. spoil the big surprise about getting us all a backstage view of the big show!" Conan spontaneously explained.
"Conan!" Ran reprimanded.
"Oh, that's alright, Ran. Friends of Detective Mouri are friends of mine! Right, Detective Mouri?" Yoko graciously responded with her hundred thousand yen smile.
"R..Right..Yoko!" Kogoro replied with gritted teeth in one of the frightening fake smiles as he resisted the urge to pound Conan atop his head.
"Oh, Conan! You're the greatest!" Ayumi squealed with excitement, and gave Conan a large smooch on his cheek! Conan blushed so red that his face could be mistaken for a cherry. Genta and Mitsuhiko weren't the least bit jealous this time, as they were enarmored with Yoko's prescence.
"Hey, guys, where's Haibara, by the way?" Conan asked.
"Ah, she went back home.. Something about wanting to keep an eye on things or somethin'!" Genta casually replied over his shoulder.
"Huh? Now what could she have meant by that..?" Conan said to himself.
Toru then turned with a humbled expression towards Kogoro. "Detective Mouri, I am most terribly sorry for my incorrect deduction.. My poor sense of judgement nearly led to the culprit getting away with her crime.." He apologized, bowing his head with a sense of regret. "I should never have attempted to match wits with such a skilled and brilliant investigative mind such as yours!"
[Let's just remember who HELPED him come to those conclusions..] Conan mocked in his mind.
"Well, young man, the more you practice, the much more experience you recieve.." Kogoro muttered in Toru's direction.
"Heh.. Funny you should mention that, Detective Mouri.. Because I would like to propose to study under you for on the job P.I. training, as YOUR APPRENTICE!" Toru brazenly proposed, lifting his head again with a boyish smile.
"What?!" Ran exclaimed in confusion.
"HUH?!" Conan gasped with a deep sense of concern.
Kogoro was just as perturbed. "Forget it, Kid, I don't give lessons!" He balked grouchily.
"Oh, don't worry.. I don't require any food or living arrangements, and if you're concerned about money.." Toru vigorously assured him, before leaning over and covertly whispering into his ear.
The Yen signs that practically filled Kogoro's eyes couldn't have been any bigger! He immediately threw his arm around the young man's shoulder, braying loud and elatedly. "Well, Amuro, my fair pupil, I'd be MORE than happy to take you under my wing and teach you the finer points of crime solving under MASTER DETECTIVE, KOGORO MOURI!"
Ran was bemused to say the least. But Conan was even more wary.
[This isn't good.. What's this guy's deal, and why's he's so eager to be the old man's apprentice? How am I going to be able to lay out clues for him with THIS guy on my back as well..? I have a bad feeling about this whole thing..] Conan thought with a look of alarm in his eyes.
Ai Haibara stood in front of the window in the bedroom she shared with her guardian, Professor Agasa, her eyes staring with wide inspective disquietude next door at the house formerly owned by High School detective Shinichi Kudo.. Out of the corner of the bedroom window, she could swear to see the silhouette of the current occupant.
"So.. This is how it is.." The girl said quietly to herself, her eyes returning to their usual cold glare. "Subaru.. Okiya.."
TO BE CONTINUED...