Chapter Twenty-Six
Heiji patted Conan on the head, telling him to rest, and gave him one of the pills. Finally, he thought as he put on his jacket, it is time to catch the serial killer! He felt slightly bad about leaving Conan while he went "hunting," but he knew Conan would also feel grateful for the extra sleep.
The owner of the hotel laughed when he saw Heiji leaving so early. "I see you're busy again…"
Heiji nodded. "I am going to finish this case today," he said before walking out the door, leaving the owner surprised.
For some reason, his hands were shaking when he placed them on the steering wheel. Could it be… am I nervous about making this deduction? Am I worried about this guy? He's no worse than any of the others; they are all murderers! But… maybe I should have told him that this is my first serial murder case… Maybe then he could have made this easier—No. I never did want it easier; I'm the one meant for perplexing challenges! His thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang.
"H-hello?" His voice shook even though he thought he wasn't nervous anymore.
"Ah, Heiji-kun! How is the case going? More importantly, how is Shinichi?"
Heiji took a deep breath before replying. "They're both fine. Well, Kudou is always tired for some reason, and I'm actually going to confront the killer now…"
"Ah! Good luck! And please make sure Shinichi doesn't do too much…"
"Don't worry; I left him at the hotel room to rest."
"Good… well, should I drive up to Beika City to pick up the two of you?"
"No, that's fine… This shouldn't take too long…"
Professor Agasa laughed. "Alright…" They said their goodbyes and hung up, leaving Heiji with a nauseous feeling in his stomach.
Come on, Heiji; you can do this! This is just like any of the other cases… But he knew he was lying; this case was more personal than any other. He felt anger fill his veins as he began driving to an apartment complex in downtown Beika City.
"Hello, who are you seeing?"
Heiji said the killer's name and was let in the complex. He rushed to the door, but found it… unlocked. He swung the door open, and his nose was filled with a stench he can never forget: that of a dead body. He rushed to the bedroom and found a single body: Kousei Kieran, aka Doctor Tanaka.
Kousei was troubled as a child. His father died when he was young, so his mother became depressed, leaving her young son to fend for himself. Luckily, a boy named Tamaki Izumi found him crying outside in the rain.
"Hey… are you okay?" Tamaki held out his hand to Kousei, who took it and began to cry to Tamaki, "My dad's dead, my mom doesn't care about me… The world hates me!"
Tamaki laughed and hugged Kousei. "The world doesn't hate anyone," he whispered, "It just likes some people more than others."
Little Kousei was taken in with Tamaki's group, where he was treated like a normal child. His grades soared, and he found a love for reading. He was thankful to have someone like Tamaki to help him; he would have died without him.
Then came high school. They asked the principal to form a karate club, and she surprisingly agreed, saying it would be nice for some recognition for the school. They all trained hard in karate and school. They sometimes used their karate to fight each other for which guy would take a girl to prom!
At the end of their final year of high school, they made a promise to stay equal and not get ahead of each other. So they all strived toward the business industry… except Kousei. He wanted to write novels, but sadly could not afford publishing. To make him more depressed, his mom died from a terminal illness the previous year. He began to feel something he never did before toward the members of the karate club: hatred.
He wanted them all to die and suffer what he's had to. However, he knew that wouldn't solve anything; they would just get out the easy way. So he lured their daughters in different ways, from writing a name to showing family ties to reminding of past memories, and killed them with cyanide and a stab wound in their right arm.
Kousei thought of these memories as he held a gun up to his mouth. "I regret nothing," he said as he fired, blowing his head apart into many pieces and scattering all over the room.
Heiji gasped in horror as he saw the scene. "What…? Why?" He couldn't say anything more; he was in shock that all of it… all of the searching was for nothing.
"H-heiji?" A shaky voice interrupted his thoughts. "Is that you, Son?"
Heiji gasped again. "Dad?" He opened the closet door and found his father tied up against a pole. "You're okay!" He collapsed next to his father as tears streamed down his face. "I was worried… that you wouldn't make it…"
Heizo Hattori laughed. "You should know better, Son!" he exclaimed, rubbing the wrist that was hand-cuffed for all this time. "In case you forgot, I am the Superintendent Supervisor of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters! I knew this case way before anyone else!"
Heiji shook his head and helped his father stand. "Come on; let's go home."