Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.
This chapter I offer you the detectives' reactions for their thief gone missing and some unexpected revelations later on…
Well that was a long break… I am very sorry you guys – I never planned for this, but my life just decided to turn hellish and I had neither time nor strength to write anything. It didn't help that this chapter was by itself really unappealing for me to write x) Anyway – to make it up, I decided to mold two chapters together – so the next one should be very interesting – for more information look up the end notes :)
As per usual - special thanks to my wonderful beta - madelita :)
So time for review reply~ And it seems that I did get quite a few this time – thank you – I cherish each and everyone deeply :)
Boogum - I'm glad you liked it so much :D Unfortunately you will have to wait a little longer to have your questions answered - but fear not! I will get to this soon~
Eve Of The Stars - And that is exactly how the detectives have reacted ;) Well I think you might be underestimating our dear detectives :D They simply need a lot more time and data to put things together about Kaito ;)
Cerlinfia - well~ All the answer I can give to you is - *grin* (but yeah – in all honesty you hit the mark ;) )
DaLantis - I'm glad that you did~
Kensy Echo - such a nice and long review again~ Well you can't argue that Heiji does have guts xD Yes unfortunately you are right about Kaito mostly trying to convince himself, so he will be able to push forward with his quest... I'm glad you feel like he is that strong :) I did hope to achieve that :) Oh come on~ Can't a guy go a little vacation~? *snorts* I promise the truth will be reveled soon enough ;) Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long...
Mists - I'm glad you liked and lived the chapter so much ;) I do try to bring out the detectives' view for Kaito in different ways~ Glad you think I managed it :)
KingKagura - Sorry... Ended up longer than expected - hope you will manage to continue reading :)
bobbyneko - Yeah... I know I have a tendency to repeat myself - but I'm glad you like it anyway - I am trying to improve, but sometimes find repeats inevitable - especially when I want to stress something ;)
My dear Guest - now you have the chance to see :D
So without further delay…
Please enjoy and review! :)
Chapter 29: Out alone in the cold
Both Heiji and Shinichi snapped out of their daze at the same moment.
"Say what...?" The shrunken teen whispered, but the Osakan's reaction was louder.
"What do you mean 'dropped him at the airport?' And what's with the photo? You're joking, right?" He added with a suspicious glare.
With an apologetic gesture, Aoko clapped her hands with her phone between her palms. "Sorry about this~ Kaito asked Aoko to take a picture of Hakuba-kun when Aoko broke him the news! Hope you guys don't mind?" She asked, eyeing the trio from underneath her joined fingers.
Saguru shook his head, ignoring the grumbling from Heiji. "It's fine, Aoko-kun, but more importantly, is that true? And where did Kuroba fly off to?" He asked with caution, noticing the redness around the girl's eyes, undoubtedly indicating recent tears, making him doubt it was just a prank.
She gave him a too cheerful smile. "Weeeell~ Aoko is not sure if she should tell you~"
"He went to Las Vegas." Nakamori cut in with a grumble and blew some cigarette smoke to the side. "Sorry to butt in, Aoko, but I need to go to work, so if you want me to give you a lift to Keiko-kun, you'd better hurry."
The girl jumped and was already turning towards the house. "Oh right! Sorry dad! I'll talk to you guys later, ok?" And without waiting for an answer, she rushed inside the building to fetch her notes.
Ginzo blew some more smoke and eyed the detectives. "Sorry about that, boys. You want me to give you a lift to the station?"
Conan shook his head and spoke up first. "No, thank you, inspector, we might come in later, but I now need first to put this away first." He pointed with his head at the nicely warped present.
The man raised an eyebrow at the package. "Huh? You got something for Kaito-kun? Why didn't you give it to him yesterday?"
"Didn't want to do it in front of Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko, since they didn't have anything for him. And I never suspected today it might turn out impossible..." He said with a pout, recalling that a child would probably be sad about a situation like this.
The inspector sighed with a compassionate expression, while Hakuba asked with curiosity. "Do you happen to know when Kuroba will be coming back?"
"Apparently not before the end of Summer break. He's having an internship with some professional magician," Nakamori replied helpfully, his expression revealing that he was both proud and worried. "Well, guess it was bound to happen eventually," he added while Saguru took his time recovering from the news.
"But what about the mock exams at school..?" the Brit blurted out the first unsuspicious thing that came to his mind, not expecting his classmate's absence to be so long.
The inspector waved a hand. "Said he got it covered and honestly speaking, I don't want to know the details." When he saw his daughter rushing out of the house, he put out his cigarette in his portable ashtray. "You sure you don't want a lift anywhere?"
Hakuba looked at his friends and shook his head, stepping away from the vehicle. "No, thank you. But one more thing..." Nakamori paused before getting into the car, giving the teen some of his attention. "Just out of curiosity… Do you know if KID returned his target already?"
"Didn't get any calls about it, so apparently not yet. At least it wasn't discovered yet that he had," he added with a grimace, recalling a few situations where the priceless jewel apparently waited for a while after being left by the thief in an unexpected place. "Don't get into any trouble, boys. See you later," he said before closing the door.
Conan shot Saguru a glance as the car was moving from the driveway. "Do you mind if I left this at your place? Don't want to worry Ran."
"Not at all," he replied with a polite smile.
The detectives started walking back towards Hakuba's manor as the Nakamoris drove off. They wanted to take some time to process the new information first before deciding on their next move anyway.
Heiji shot a glance at the present under his friend's arm. He kept his curiosity at bay till now, figuring he would see what's inside when Kaito opened it, but it didn't seem that would be happening anytime soon. And since neither spoke, it would be a good starter anyway.
"So what did you get him?" he asked out loud, pointing the package with his chin when Shinichi cast him a questioning glance.
"Ah…" Conan gave a small smirk, taking the present in his hands. "It's just a small kit to grow your own crystals. Saw it on a shop display some time ago and figured it would be a safe tease~"
"Definitely safer than an amateur magic kit…" Saguru commented with a smirk of his own, recalling Hattori's gift and Kuroba's reaction to it.
The Osakan scowled at him. "Oi… The point was to get him have some fun. And I think I accomplished it."
"While risking traumatizing all the guests," the blonde replied with a snort.
Heiji rolled his eyes. "You're exaggerating. He's not that bad. It might have been intense, but fun too~ It is enjoyable to see what he can come up on the fly~"
Saguru turned back to the road before him, recalling Kaito's tricks from the night before and other occasions. He smiled with sentiment. "Yes, you are right about that." He gave a sigh. "You guys don't think he left the country really, do you?" he asked, looking at his friends.
Hattori shook his head with a thoughtful expression. "Don't think so. Nakamori-keibu said that he still didn't return the necklace, right? So most likely he's still somewhere around."
"He doesn't necessarily have to be around to do that. In the end he never shows up while returning his target." Hakuba argued softly. "He could have set up a device to uncover the gem at a specific time, or simply have somebody else deliver it."
Shinichi nodded, agreeing with the Brit and sighed, tucking the present back under his arm. "It could be either way really. First of all, we have no clue about the reason for his disappearance. Could come up with a dozen, really… But I doubt we will see KID doing an international heist during this time. Although it is possible that he could be making preparations somewhere far, or just an especially complicated one around here. Anyhow, I have a feeling it's not the case…"
"Hm? You got an idea to why he might have left?" the Osakan asked curiously, seeing the familiar expression on his friend's face.
"Hopefully not to finish paying his debt…" the Brit mumbled worriedly.
Conan shook his head. "While it is possible, I don't think so. I might be reading too much into it, but he visited me after the last heist. Thought at first it was just to whine that we weren't present there, but at the end, it turned out that he wanted to ask me to wait, promising to help me the next time we meet…"
"Help? With what?" Hakuba asked while frowning, having an ominous feeling about it.
The shrunken teen gave a small shrug and a grimace. "Didn't say and I didn't see point in asking, but there was only one thing I've been asking of him lately…"
"Oi, oi…" Heiji stopped in his tracks, staring at his small friend. "You don't mean to tell me he went to investigate those guys?"
"I don't know for sure. Don't know even if he has enough intel to do that. It's more likely, if that's the case at all, that he's checking out a lead." he sighed, turning his gaze to his shoes. "But I don't really want to get my hopes up about it. I'm not even sure how I should feel about him digging for information like that for me," he said while ruffling his hair on the side with one hand. "All in all, I think I'd prefer him to just prepare a heist now."
Sure, it would be great to get his hands on any information that might move him at least a step towards destroying the Organization, or acquiring a permanent antidote, but he didn't like the idea of Kaito risking his life to get it. Even with KID's skill, the risk of getting captured or killed were high. And even if he managed to avoid it, there was always the even higher possibility of getting discovered and the thief already had a lot on his plate. He definitely didn't need more deadly pursuers than he already had. The kaitou might not have been a stranger to taking on high risks, but Shinichi would prefer if he didn't take any unnecessary for his sake. He didn't want that kind of debt, especially if something happened to Kaito in the process. He would be far happier to just receive some unverified information the kaitou might have stumbled on by accident. They could do it with a bit slower pace, with the detective taking on the highest risk himself, when it was necessary.
Saguru nodded and sighed. "Well, it could always be just a diversion to keep you off his tail, while he is gone. It's obvious that he planned for this some time ago. Most likely even before the heist at the opera, or soon after. At least, thanks to this we know that he does indeed intend to return." He smiled. He was a bit worried when he heard the news, thinking this might have been Kaito's way of getting permanently off their radars.
"So what now? We're leaving him do his schemes?" Heiji asked as he made a face, tucking his hands in his pockets.
"At least until we get a lead on him, there is not even a choice to consider. He could be anywhere in the world now really. I doubt we would find any leads even if we tried investigating the airport or his house…" Shinichi hummed and continued with a slight grimace. "I guess could have my parents check if he doesn't actually land in Las Vegas. But it would be hard to explain them why should they do it in secret and no point really to it anyway. Even if he went there, he is out of our reach, with no guarantee he will stay there."
Hakuba sighed. "Unfortunately the best thing we can do now is wait for him to surface again. Anyway, I do have a bit of digging to do around the robberies. I'd like to know if he really had a hand in this and get to the bottom of this whole case. You are, of course, welcome to help if you want."
The other two detectives smirked, accepting the invitation. "Sure. I would like also to do some digging in the Division 2 archives, if you could lend me a hand with it. I want to put together as much as I can from KID's story before we meet him again." Shinichi narrowed his eyes and recalling pieces he already had. He still had too many gaps to fill.
"Of course. And I'll gladly compare notes with you afterwards."
Before they managed to reach their destination, Conan's phone rang announcing an incoming text. He frowned at the brief text.
*Come to Agasa's. Want to talk with you.*
Heiji raised an eyebrow seeing, his friend's expression. "What is it? Nee-chan's summoning you already?"
Shinichi cast him a warning glance, in case he was mocking him again. "Nah, it's from Haibara. Mind if I leave you guys to go and see what is it about?"
The Osakan raised his other eyebrow, but refrained from asking about it, while Saguru just shrugged. "I don't mind. You can contact me when you're finished in case you'll want to join. Maybe you want us to drop you off there?"
The boy gave him a grateful smile, but shook his head. "Nah, thanks. But, if you could take this?" he asked, passing the Brit his present, who took it without hesitation.
"Not a problem at all. See you later, I guess." He did note how impatient Shinichi seemed, but refrained from asking about it.
"Yeah, bye." He replied with a wave and took out his skateboard, driving off on it.
Saguru turned his attention to Heiji. "You know, I won't mind if you'd prefer to go with him, Hattori-kun…"
The Osakan gave him an unimpressed glare. "Huh? You want to get rid of me?"
The Brit waved his hands defensively. "Ah! Not at all! Sorry-"
Heiji smirked and cut him off. "Good~ Let's get going then. By the way…" he added, with hesitance that was unusual for him. "You can skip the honorific, if you want. Would be easier."
Saguru smiled at him. "Gladly, but only if you'll do the same for me."
"Hoped you'd say that~" he admitted with a grin.
They proceeded to Hakuba's manor in comfortable silence afterwards. When they got there, Saguru called his father to get the privilege of taking on the robbery cases and gain access to the scenes and reports. In the end, Shinichi failed to join them throughout the day.
It was a good choice for the detectives to refrain from waiting for the heist target to be returned. After the midday prayers, the head priest apparently found "the Morning Shine" left lying on his bed. Since the man didn't enter the room since early morning, there wasn't a way of telling when it was actually returned. With no evidence of breaking-in and nothing missing, the case was left alone (they didn't even bother opening a case related to heist target retrievals anymore, since there wasn't any point in it).
It was already getting late and Heiji was wondering about giving Shinichi a call, when the latter called.
"Oi Kudo, where are you?" he complained to the receiver, instead of a more regular greeting.
"Sorry…" the boy replied, sounding a little subdued, making the Osakan frown and stop in his tracks. "Guess you'll be headed to the train station soon?"
"Don't have to yet. What happened?" he asked somberly, complaint completely gone from his tone.
"Eh… I'd rather… Where are you? You're still with Hakuba-kun?" he asked, clearly unsure how to proceed.
Heiji casted Saguru a glance, who raised an eyebrow in response. "Yeah. We're on our way to his house now, but can meet with you somewhere else if you want."
"No need. Meet you there soon." he replied and hung up without waiting for response.
The Osakan frowned and tucked away his phone, wondering what it was about.
"Something wrong?" Hakuba asked seeing the other's perplexed expression.
Heiji shook his head slowly. "Not sure. He said he'll meet us at your house, hopefully he'll clear this up for us there."
Saguru gave an acknowledging hum in response and refrained from asking further questions. It was hard for him to stop himself from wondering what might have caused Kudo's unusual behavior and apparently Hattori had a similar problem. Hakuba looked down at his notepad. At least they managed to clear some of the questions around Kuroba. It wasn't very comforting what they found out, but at least they were slowly solving the puzzle.
Worried about their friend, the conversation was going heavily and they were already finishing their second serving of tea and coffee when finally Conan managed to join them. Heiji nearly jumped off his seat and met the boy at the entrance, eager to confirm that he was alright. He did seem physically fine, he only had a very tired expression.
"So what happened?" the Osakan demanded, before the boy could speak up.
Shinichi rolled his eyes and waved a hand towards the room, from where Saguru emerged. "Let me sit down first, will you?" he grumbled, already walking in that direction.
It was funny how comfortable he grew in that place. He smiled at his thoughts sadly. Another sanctuary where he didn't have to bother with his child façade. And that was what he needed now…
He climbed on an armchair and sank in it. Heiji was impatiently stepping from one foot to another, wanting to know what it was about, while Saguru sat in an adjacent armchair, also with worry on his face. Finally Shinichi sighed heavily and spoke up quietly with pained voice.
"Turns out I'm gonna have to disappear eventually…" he mumbled with his eyes closed in pain.
"What?" The Osakan demanded, more harshly than intended, moving a chair to sit directly in front of his friend.
The shrunken teenager sighed, his small shoulders dropping. "I'm not growing, Hattori… This poison… It didn't make me younger apparently. It just shrunk me. And teenagers don't grow anymore. At least not as much as kids do…" He drove a hand through his face, taking off his glasses and gaining his composure back. "According to the growth chart for children, I should have grown over 10 centimeters since I've gained this form. And apparently I haven't grown nearly at all. The scient- ah whatever..." He waved a hand, figuring there was no more need to hide it from Saguru. Most likely he had his suspicions about her anyway. "Haibara found it bizarre and made a few tests on our blood samples. She tested out a few other tissue samples of her own body to make sure, but it seems we lack the required growth hormones." He explained turning the glasses in his hand and focusing his gaze on them, before putting them away on a tea table.
Heiji spread his arms helplessly and grabbed the easiest solution he found. "Well, can't you start supplementing it?"
"It's not that simple, Hattori. There is a reason you don't see people twice the normal height, despite taking lots of different hormones and steroids. Also…" Shinichi mumbled and dropped his gaze to his clenching and relaxing his hands. "Even if this was possible, it's not just that I am short. For some reason, we have different proportions than adults and have no way of knowing how a synthetic hormone would work. It's no good if it will just make us grow, because we could end up with disfigured bodies or develop internal organ failure. Haibara probably would be able to develop a hormone that could make our proportions right eventually, but..." He cut himself off, biting his lip.
"But it would take time." Hakuba finished sympathetically and sighed heavily.
Conan gave a small nod. "Not only that… It's basically as hard as making the antidote itself, more so because there won't be immediate results. And she can work on only one thing at a time. Also, since neither of us has much knowledge on child development, it would be very hard to tell if we're growing fine, requiring constant tests to notice as soon as possible if anything was going wrong. Leaving very little time for other projects. We don't even know how the APTX in our systems would react to the hormone. " He swallowed thickly. "Another problem is that people are already questioning why I'm not growing as fast as other children. It's still neglectable, but it will be a problem when the school nurse will want to make sure everything is fine. Or the Mouri's will decide to take me to a doctor. I..." He swallowed hard, refusing to raise his gaze to meet his friends'. "I've talked with Haibara over this and decided that she will continue working on the antidote. In the long run, it seems like a safer solution. Anyway, since it is getting suspicious already, we decided that unless she will manage to figure this in a year from now, then 'Conan' and 'Ai' will have to disappear."
Heiji paled, understanding what it meant. "Oi, oi... you can't be serious? You don't need to-"
"And do you have a better idea, Hattori?!" The shrunken teenager snapped at him. "There is no telling how many years it will take her to get a breakthrough!" He sighed and drove a hand through his face. "I can't risk it…" He added painfully.
The detectives fell silent, understanding what that all meant. Finally, after a few minutes, Shinichi spoke up very quietly.
"I've made a decision. If I don't get my hands on the antidote in a year, I'll..." He swallowed hard. "I'm going to give up on Ran as well."
"But Kudo..." Heiji started weakly, but Conan cut him off, continuing with a bitter tone.
"I won't be able to look after her anymore, not even like this. And it is already unfair to make her wait for so long. If I will have to start moving, to avoid getting attention as an unchanging child, it will get harder to hunt the Organization, meaning my chances of returning are going to be even smaller." He raised his gaze at them with a bitter smile on his lips. "This way at least she'll get to move on with her life. She deserves it…"
Saguru slowly let out a breath. There wasn't much he could say to the crushed genius in front of him. Logically speaking, Shinichi's decision was the best he could make, but he didn't need it confirmed. The Brit struggled to search for another solution, a less painful one, but it seemed in vain. And he just hated seeing another of his friends being forced to abandon his life. The best he could do was to try and comfort him for the time being.
"Don't give up yet. We still have time, it might turn out fine."
Shinichi smiled at that, appreciating the attempt. "I know. Just wanted to tell you where we stand." He replied softly and failed to add: 'And vent it out', but the other two understood it anyway.
"Hell…" Hattori grumbled, ruffling his hair. "Well, seems we're gonna have to hurry up now. No more slacking off."
That made the boy chuckle. "Yeah, you're gonna have to move your lazy ass to work~" He cast a glance at the clock on the wall. "You probably should head to the station now…"
Heiji waved a hand. "Nah, I'll stay and bother you guys with my presence some more."
Shinichi rolled his eyes. "You missed enough of school already and it's not like your presence will change much as long as there is nothing happening here anyway."
"I'll keep Kudo-kun company and we'll give you a shout in case something comes up. Also, it would be probably best if you continued your search in Osaka, Hattori." Saguru reasoned.
Conan noticed the lack of honorific with some surprise, but didn't question it, instead he smiled at his friend. "Thanks for worrying, but I'll be fine. And Hakuba-kun is right, who knows what you might stumble on over there. It's never a bad idea to stretch our line of search."
The Osakan sighed, but decided to not argue with them. "Alright, if you want to get rid of me that badly." He got up from his chair and they followed suit. "Just make sure he doesn't overwork himself, Hakuba," he said with a glare aimed at the Brit, who smirked in response.
"Will do my best, but no promises."
The two Tokyo residents escorted their friend to the train station and waited for his ride, before heading back. Shinichi declined Saguru's invitation to stay with him for the night, since there was no need to worry Ran again.
Saguru didn't get much sleep that night, thinking about Shinichi's situation and other ways of solving it, but came up empty. How exactly did one proceed with looking for the root of a secret organization in a limited period of time? He sighed heavily. It wasn't comforting to think that most likely neither of his fellow detectives managed to get much sleep either that night. There was only one thing he could try to do now, so he got up and prepared for school.
Later, in the classroom he approached Aoko and asked her about a way of contacting Kaito. He did try both calling and texting him, but was yet to get a reply and somehow doubted it would come anytime soon. She told him that the magician said he would keep his phone turned off, but would call her later at night. Aoko promised Saguru to ask Kaito to give him a call as well, so they could talk. Hakuba didn't hold high hopes for it, but figured it was worth a try and thanked the girl for her offer, accepting it.
It was already midnight and Saguru was mindlessly staring at the screen of his computer. He did try focusing on a case file, but simply had too much on his mind to really be able to read into it. He tried watching a movie, but felt only mildly annoyed by it and was never much into computer games. Absently he wondered if either of his friends really bothered with those. Maybe Kuroba, but then again, did he have time for it?
His musings were interrupted with an incoming call. He looked at the icon slightly surprised before answering. Honestly speaking he didn't suspect Kaito would call and definitely not so soon.
The magician's face that appeared on the screen didn't look impressed as he glared into the camera. In the background Hakuba saw a neatly made bed and a creamy color wall. In the corner he could partially see a window and morning light seeping from it. If this was a set up, it was pretty well made. Not that he expected any less.
"Finished with your inspection, detective?" Kaito asked with a mocking tone, smirking at Saguru's focused expression.
Hakuba cleared his throat and cast an apologetic glance at the magician. "Sorry, habit…"
Kuroba snorted and stretched, leaning more comfortably on the chair he was sitting on. "Don't fret, you had me used to it anyway~ Aoko mentioned you wanted something from me? By the way~ Your reaction didn't disappoint me~" He chuckled. It took a moment for Saguru to recall the photo the girl made a day before.
He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Well, glad to have improved your mood-"
"You sure did~"
Saguru gave him a glare for interrupting him again, but Kaito's grin only widened. "Well anyway… I need to speak to you more privately. Could you arrange that?" he asked, getting right to the point, in case Kuroba tried to distract him more.
The magician raised an eyebrow. "Thought we are talking now? Don't know at your end, but I'm alone here," he added with a shrug, acting completely oblivious to what the detective could have meant.
It wasn't anything Hakuba didn't expect though. "I am alone, but I don't believe this line is secure, is it?"
Kaito grinned. "What do you mean? It's the internet~! Of course it's safe~"
Of course… "So? Could we meet to talk?" Saguru asked, unflinching from the mock.
"Not unless you intend to take the flight," he mused, focusing his gaze somewhere above the camera. "Then again, I wouldn't put it past you to actually do it." He shrugged. "Well, if you do, try to keep in mind that I am busy with my internship."
"Of course…" Saguru replied dryly. "Well, I do hope you're having fun there, but-"
"Yeah, I am having fun realizing my dream."Kaito cut in a bit harshly. "So you have to find some other distraction for the time being. Sorry, but can't really fill that position at the moment~ Anyway, I'm sure you can find some case worth your time or something like that~"
Hakuba decided to ignore the words, knowing full well that they were just another tool in Kuroba's hands and focused on the tone and slight bags under his eyes. The magician did seem slightly on edge. And it was worrying that the detective could see it.
"Something wrong, Kuroba? You seem tired…"
Kaito waved a hand dismissingly. "Surprised really? I'm not immune to jetlag, you know. And it was a long flight. Didn't get much sleep at night either and it's morning here now," he said while rubbing his eyes, but grinned despite it. "Still have high hopes for today~ But I will sleep like a log afterwards without a doubt~"
It didn't seem like he would be giving any hints to the detective this time. Maybe he was too tired for it? Or just decided to keep him away? Either way, it didn't seem like there was any point in pushing. Especially through the 'safe internet'.
"Well, I do hope everything will go according to your plan. So you'll be returning after Summer break?"
"Yeah, something like that. Would be a waste to come back sooner," he answered with a shrug.
"Alright. Got anything you want me to pass to anyone?" he asked, giving the magician an opening if he needed it.
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Not really. Told everything I wanted to Aoko myself." He cast a glance to the side for a moment. "Well, if that's all, I'll be taking my leave…" he stated, lingering there in case the detective wanted to ask anything else.
"Alright. Sorry to have kept you. Call me again if you change your mind."
The magician smirked. "Nah, I don't think I will. Sorry. So...? See you when I get back?"
Saguru nodded slowly, accepting the hint to leave him alone. "See you then, take care."
"Bye~" Kaito replied with a flawlessly cheerful smile and disconnected the call.
The conversation did nothing to help with Hakuba's worry. He saved the file with the chat to look through it later on. Not that he really expected to find anything off there, but it couldn't hurt. He checked the tracking program, which he had turned on beforehand. He expected it to point at some hotel room in Vegas, so he was slightly surprised to see that the call came from a national park in Somalia. Absently he wondered if you could even connect with the internet from there, but dismissed the thought as soon as it came. It was more than obvious that Kaito set it like that to give a hint that he did not wish to be found, so most likely there wasn't much point in searching. He sighed heavily and gave another glance at the video from their conversation. The room behind the magician seemed as any other neat hotel room and even with the window it didn't seem to be anything off. Then again, would it help him really if he noticed that the light was in reality artificial? Probably not…
With thoughts like that he headed back to sleep, wondering if there was any point in telling about his conversation to his fellow detectives.
The three weeks that followed didn't bring much revelation. From what Saguru knew, Kaito stayed in touch with Aoko every other day, but he didn't call the detective anymore, and he didn't ask him through the girl to do it either. She did however happily supplied Hakuba with a few videos and photos taken during the internship. Pretty well prepared, but Saguru did notice bits and pieces off, hinting that those were most likely not the originals. It was worrying that the magician didn't apparently have time to make them in more detail. Or maybe he was just overthinking it?
Hattori had little trouble with coming over as often as he did, due to the mock exams and his parents' displeasure with his constant voyages, so with Shinichi's approval, he decided to stay in Osaka for now. Instead he focused again on his research, making very little progress as it was. He didn't neglect his friends or Kazuha, but couldn't help it and felt slightly guilty for having the opportunity Shinichi lacked.
As for Kudo… Well, he did stumble on a few cases that needed solving during the time of course. Besides that, Haibara returned to school, so most of the time he didn't spend in archives or taking shelter at Hakuba's, he roamed with the Detective Boys playing in the park or solving minor cases – like searching for pets or objects. As mind numbing it was, it was also distracting, so he didn't try to avoid it too much. However, he had a harder time talking with Ran as his teenage self through the phone, painfully aware of the ticking clock and how little he could do to stop the passage of time.
Nothing indicated that Monday 13 July would be different than any other day. School came and passed in lazy hours and Shinichi was on his way with the rest of the kids to the park, when his gaze lingered on a news stand and his eyes widened at a site of the familiar white cape on the front cover. He rushed closer to take a look. The article announced that KID had sent a heist notice for Friday. He felt his heartbeat hasten and barely noticed the children gather around him and peek at the newspaper he was holding.
"Oooh~ There is going to be a KID heist? Hope it's not very late…" Ayumi chirped at his left.
Mitsuhiko hummed with displeasure. "Ahh… it seems it will be held at a private party… I doubt we can go…"
"Bet Conan will get an invitation…" Genta grumbled with jealousy and poked the bespectacled boy. "Oi, take us with you Conan, will you? We want to get a shot at catching KID. We were so close last time we tried…" He whined, recalling the 'Kirin Horn' heist.
Shinichi chuckled dryly. Somehow he didn't recall any close calls for the kids at catching the kaitou back then and it was more like they helped him with it, but he wasn't about to point it out.
"Yeah… Will you try, Conan-kun? Pleaseeee~!" Ayumi pleaded, pulling on his arm.
"Give him a break. It's not like it's up to Edogawa-kun to pick who he takes with him. More like he might get dragged there." Unexpectedly, Ai defended her favorite guinea pig.
"Yeah~ Sorry, guys. But I will try?" He offered with a sheepish smile, which was thankfully enough for the Detective Boys.
They went on forming a tactic which they could use against KID and Shinichi took the first excuse he could to slip away and call Hakuba about the heist. Apparently the Brit already knew about it and was going to make sure with his father that he would get an extended passage to the event, so he could take his fellow detectives with him. He called Hattori next, whom he managed to surprise with the news, as the Osakan was busy that day and didn't get to read the news yet. He promised to make arrangements to come, glad that he had his mock exams done the week before, with the last one coming on the next day.
They weren't sure if they would manage to talk with KID during that event, as it was still before the Summer break and he could be simply forced to make the heist. Their suspicions were somewhat confirmed when they looked into the target, which turned out to be quite the catch. 'The Dresden Green Diamond' was a 41 carats natural green diamond, incorporated into an extremely valuable golden hat ornament, surrounded by two large and 411 medium-sized and small diamonds. Usually it was displayed in the 'New Green Vault' at Dresden Castle in Germany. Most likely it was rented specially to lure the kaitou to add glamour to the 13th birthday daughter of a rich philanthropist. It did undoubtedly look like an irresistible chance for the thief.
Despite the little chances they had for a talk, it was worth to give it a try, especially since Shinichi felt a very strong need to know what the magician wanted to offer him.
But a bigger surprise came two days later, on Wednesday. Jirokichi Suzuki liked to do things grand. And apparently he wanted to make sure that the kaitou got his message, so he used an army of commercial strapped cars and planes pulling banners bearing an invitation to a showdown with KID later that evening at his new build facility, just a short drive from Tokyo. The prize (lure) was a Hungarian encrusted dagger with sheath called 'Karmazsin Tőr' – 'The Crimson Dagger'. It had three 21 carat rubies on the handle and two red 23 carat diamonds on the sides of the sheath, accompanied by 290 smaller, white diamonds. It might have seemed like a smaller catch, but unlike 'The Dresden Green', this was a part of a private collection, usually not shown for display, so it could be harder for the kaitou to get a chance to get his hands on it later on. It wasn't evident yet if Suzuki managed to buy it, or only rented it, but it didn't matter as the commercial said that it would only be displayed only for two days at the grand opening of a new military museum.
Conan just rolled his eyes at it and to called Heiji to pass the news when he managed to get back to Mouri's agency.
"WHAT?!" The Osakan shouted in shock after Shinichi explained him why he was calling.
The boy rubbed his ear. "No need to shout, Hattori…" He grumbled, displeased. "Anyway. Just wanted to tell you about it, but you don't have to come. It seems to be some kind of a bunker-like building, so I really doubt we will get any chance to talk to the guy, even if we do get to go inside." He explained, reading the information from a website. "We also don't even know if he will show. Might not be able to."
"Like hell I'm not coming! And you know he will come. Anyway, I told you I'm already finished with the exams here. Just need to convince my mom, so she would pass it to father and the school and I'm off. Should be in Tokyo around… 5 PM. When was the challenge scheduled?"
"7 PM. Should be enough time to get there, even if the traffic will be heavy. I'll pass the word to Mouri-no-ojisan, to make sure we pick you up. We'll meet Hakuba on the site later on," he offered with a soft smile. It would be nice to see the Osakan actually.
"Ok, thanks~ See you there then! I'll send you a text when I'll get on the train."
"Alright, bye," he replied and disconnected the call.
He pocketed his phone and smirked to himself. Well, at least the evening would be interesting. Jirokichi was bound to make a show out of this one, as he usually did. He had to stop his musings, as Ran called him out for dinner. While eating, he broke the news about the Osakan coming over, which had Kogoro grumbling and Ran asking about Kazuha.
Will there be a Suzuki heist next chapter? YES! :D I really hope I will make it grand enough for you :) And to make things more interesting – a chapter afterwards will be the scheduled heist at the philanthrop's party, so look forward to it! :D
By the way – "The Dresden Green Diamond" is a real thing and I'm sure you can admire the clasp ornament it is incorporated into on the internet with ease, if you want ;) As for the dagger – it is totally made up ;) With the original name brought to us with madelita's help – thank you~
See you next chapter *grins*
