Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.

After a few days have passed, the detectives are finally able to meet again in order to ask Kaito a few questions. If only it was that easy…

I admit – I enjoy writing the boys teasing each other too much, so it's hard for me to get to the point xD This is why this chapter ended up (again) far longer than it should be… Oh well xD

Unfortunately with the little time I have – and a trip abroad I have to make to my sister, I decided to divide the chapter in two, so I would be able to post sooner. I'm flying off today and will return home in April. Most likely will end up too busy to write the moment I get back, so to not leave you for too long without a chapter – take this part and treat it like prelude? :) Worry not, however – this chapter is by no means short and shouldn't leave you without anything to mull over ;)

But let's get on to business – starting off with review reply section~

winxander - Haha~ No - I can assure you that I am in fact not trying to murder my readers xD Although I am glad to read that you like my story so much that you read it a couple of times over ;) Hope this chapter will make it up for the wait~
Oh yeah... 2016 was the worst so far... Makes me fear this year, but I try to stay positive xD I'm glad you liked the chapter~ It's high time for the detectives to see just how seriously Kaito takes his 'job'.

LadyShadow26 - I'm very happy to have one of my stories included in your favorites :D Haha... You have no idea how many times I re-wrote the interior of Kaito's lair xD I honestly hate writing descriptions and I'm thrilled that you liked it! :) Huh... I honestly didn't think about Shinichi taking photos (maybe he just got baffled with the cuteness of the scene as well? XD). I'm pretty sure Kazuha would love to see it (and blush wildly while viewing it - because 'gosh! Heiji is showing his cute side!')
Would you expect anything less form Kaito? ;) They do have a lot in common... Actually, when I think about it, it's funny how many other characters Kaito has a lot in common
with xD
As for the 'saving the wild bird' scene - well, if the pigeon escaped the room, they wouldn't go out their way to follow and capture it, but as it was within their reach? I really can't imagine them just ignoring a suffering creature when they can help it.
Huh... You're right xD Funny - I never noticed how similar I've made Chikage to Yukiko - oh well, still had lots of fun with her ;) I'm very pleased you liked the 'auto-pilot' concept here~ I'm always a little anxious before introducing new ideas to the characters here, but it just made sense for me :)

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX - To be fully honest - I'm not sure. It's hard to make plans with how random my muses like to act and I just try to keep up and type down what they're doing xD But I do think that it is probable.

Mists - I'm glad I could help you with that~ I can assure you that I was giggling like crazy writing it and imagining the cute and needy birdies xD I hope this chapter will meet your expectations as well! :D

Kensy Echo - As if I weren't constantly late with my updates xD But I was very glad to see your review :) I really can't see Kaito managing it for a longer time, if he wasn't careful xD Especially with Hakuba sniffing closer and closer. Oh yeah - Kaito would have loved to see Hei-chan cuddling his doves (but you are right to suspect that it would hurt him as well ;) ). Did you really expect the boys to keep their hands to themselves while in a kaitou's lair? xD
Whoever said that he doesn't get nightmares? Truth is that he is killing himself with it all... Too bad he sees it as a way to strenghten himself... :/
Unfortunately, you will have to wait for the full conversation a bit more. Hope you will forgive me that~ And I did enjoy reading your review~!

YourLocalAlchemist - Managed to turn you speechless~? I'll take that as a praise~ Hope you will continue liking this story as it goes on :D

lupsss1412 - Your wish is my command~

This chapter was as per usual corrected by my lovely beta – madelita~

So without further delay…

Please enjoy and review! :)


Chapter 36: Calm before the storm


It was early Wednesday afternoon when Conan and Heiji managed to get some free time without the girls and strolled over to Agasa's. They didn't feel good with the thought that they were forced to leave Hakuba, Professor and Haibara alone to tend to the recovering magician, but there wasn't much they could have done about it. Thankfully, Kuroba was cooperative enough to undergo the treatment, but knowing him, he was still bound to have been a handful.

When they reached their destination, Shinichi didn't bother knocking and just opened the door, calling out their greetings with Heiji. However, they didn't expect to hear a reply only from Kaito. They quickly discarded their shoes and followed the voice. They rushed into the kitchen only to notice Kuroba, dressed in a shirt and sweatpants, balancing the IV on his head, while busying himself with cooking. He grinned at them happily and waved with a spatula, as he noticed them rush into his view. A brief glance around the place told them that there wasn't anyone else in sight. With a heavy sigh, Shinichi stuffed his hands in the pockets and strolled over to the counter. Heiji on the other hand glared at the magician, who in the meantime managed to focus back on what he was doing. The tanned teen charged over and slammed his fist next to the stove, getting only a brief glance from Kaito, who otherwise seemed to be ignoring him and instead spun the spatula in his hand and drove his other palm over it - changing it into a spoon skillfully as ever, without them actually noticing how he made the switch.

"What do you think you're doing, you ahou?" Hattori growled at the kaitou, while Conan calmly climbed on a high chair next to the counter.

Kaito spared the detective another brief glance, before turning back to the frying pan. "Lunch. Seriously Tantei-han, I thought your deductive skills were better than that~" he added with a sly smirk and poured a bit of sauce into his own waiting palm.

"Ahou!" The Osakan snapped with annoyance, pointing at the magician's head, while Kaito kept on ignoring him and popped out a saucer, which he apparently had hidden previously in his hand, taking a sip from it. "I was talking about the IV! It doesn't work unless you hang it!"

That at least caught Kuroba's interest, as he looked back at Hattori only to look upwards, then snapped his fingers, disappearing the saucer out of sight and reached for the medicine bag on his head, while absently stirring the vegetables on the pan with a spatula (when did he switch it from the spoon again?).

"Huh… It seems you're right…" he mumbled with unhidden surprise and no apparent concern, while looking around for a place he could hang it from.

Heiji muttered something under his breath, but Shinichi chose that moment to cut in. "Anyway, where's Hakuba?" he asked curiously. It was more than a little unusual for the Brit to leave his classmate running around freely with the IV on his head. This was especially suspicious since they agreed to come over today and he didn't notify either of his fellow detectives about his absence.

Kaito shrugged, casting one last glance at the hanged medicine bag, hanging now off the cupboard handle, and apparently pleased with the result, returned his attention back to the meal he was preparing. "He left a while ago, but I think he should be back soon," he explained, as if it wasn't anything strange.

Having said that, the magician curled the fingers of his free hand to a fist and blew at it, before moving it with a broad move over the pan and besprinkling the meal with something, most likely salt by the looks of it.

"Huh?" Well, that was odd, Shinichi thought, frowning, without paying much attention to the trick. It might have been possible, but only if there was some dire emergency involved. Which he doubted was the case here. Meaning… Kudo clicked his tongue and asked with a bemused tone: "What did you do to him..?"

Kuroba made an offended gasp, putting hist fist to his chest. "Why would you think I did anything? You wound me, Tantei-kun~!" He didn't even bother to hide the amusement in his tone and snickered. "No, seriously~ That wasn't my doing. Apparently Baaya called him and asked him to drop by," he explained and blew on his fist again, before repeating the broad movement from before and besprinkled the dish with a dark powder this time – undoubtedly pepper, Shinichi figured absently.

Sure, it was possible that because Hakuba was away for a few days now, Baaya could have indeed wanted him to show himself for whatever the reason. Still, it didn't explain why he didn't at least try to contact either him or Hattori. Could the kaitou have done something to prevent him? But then he would have been even less likely to leave him unsupervised. Meaning Saguru was probably certain that he had in fact contacted his fellow detectives. Kudo narrowed his eyes, solving the trick behind it in the privacy of his mind.


Meanwhile, Heiji sat on another chair, next to Shinichi's, and was currently closely observing Kaito's hands, as he performed his little tricks. The detective wanted to spot the moment the switches were being made. He obviously figured out how and what, but he just couldn't see it happen, despite the magician repeating it for the third time. He snorted with amusement, muttering quietly, "Show off~"

Kuroba looked back at him, cast a short glance at Kudo, who wasn't paying any attention to them and leaned over the hot frying pan, gesturing the Osakan to come closer. "Psst~"

Not thinking it through, Hattori leaned towards him and wanted to ask what he wanted, but before he could do that, the kaitou brought his fist to his mouth, opened it suddenly and blew at it towards the Osakan's face. Heiji almost fell off the chair and just barely caught Kaito's hand, as the magician reached towards him.

"Crap! Watch it, you ahou!" the detective snapped, pulling himself back upwards with the laughing kaitou's help and let his hand go, when he was steady again. But aside from the external anger, he was mostly just surprised that no spice grains flew into his eyes, as he would've expected.

"Pff~ Sorry, but you were asking for it~" the magician explained shamelessly with a grin and returned to stirring the meal. "And I'm not showing off~ It's called practice!" He swirled the spatula in his hand, tossing it, spinning into the air and caught a spoon, which he pointed at the Osakan. "Although I do admit it is more fun with an audience~" he added with a wink and scooped some sauce, pouring it into his palm and the hidden saucer again.

Heiji snorted, letting go of his brief anger, internally glad seeing that Kaito was acting more like himself again. The teen still didn't look very healthy, with dark bags under his eyes, pale skin and too shallow breaths, but he obviously was doing steady progress with his recovery. When he first saw him at the stove, the Osakan wanted nothing more than just drag him back to bed. But watching him doing his little tricks again, with the carefree air around him made Hattori reconsider it. He didn't seem to be overdoing it and by the looks of it, it did look like he would be soon finished anyway, so it wouldn't do much harm to let him have a little more fun.


Kuroba smiled, pleased by the taste, after taking a sip from the saucer. "That's better~" he muttered to himself and put away the small plate, looking back at the detectives, while stirring the dish with a spatula. "Anyway, guys, I wanted to thank you for helping me out with my birds," he said with a sincere smile.

"No problem. It was actually a little fun, to be honest," Shinichi replied, glancing at the Osakan with a smirk, who hid his face in his arms, mumbling unintelligibly something that sounded like a vague confirmation. Kudo was pretty sure that the tanned teen was still perplexed by how he had to act with the attention seeking birds.

The magician grinned at Heiji. "Oh, I'm glad to hear that you liked my girls~ Am I right to guess that they liked you back?"

There was something in his tone that made Hattori look up at him and groan in annoyance, realizing what it meant. The guy apparently knew all along how the pigeons would have acted. "Che… you could have given me a heads up, you know," he growled, ducking his face back into his folded arms, refusing to look back at Kuroba. With how tanned his skin was, it was hard to tell, but Conan was pretty sure that the Osakan's ears had a bit of red tint to them.

"I had my faith in you~ I knew you'd figure it out by yourself~ Besides… it would ruin the surprise and I wouldn't get to see this expression on you~!" Kaito admitted with a shameless chuckle.

The Osakan sunk deeper into his arms, hiding his face completely, while grumbling something unflattering about the magician.

Shinichi didn't bother to hide his own amusement, but before he could say something, he was cut off by a merry shout.

"Kaito-kun~!"

The detectives swirled around just in time to see Agasa, cheerfully running in their direction, with a large metal contraption in his hands that was completely obstructing his vision.

Thankfully, he didn't collide with anything (this time) and set his invention down with a huff, while explaining. "You were right about the capacitor, all it needed was-" he cut himself off, noticing the two guests and scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Uh-oh, hello Shinichi, Hattori-kun, ha-ha..."

"Ha-ha…" the shrunken teenager echoed him, slightly bemused, while Heiji chuckled in the background. "So you knew Kuroba was here by himself, Hakase?" Truth be told, he did expect the magician to win the old man over fairly easily, but the way the man called the magician was surprising. He never expected it to progress so fast.

Chuckling, Agasa rubbed his cheek, clearly unsure about what he should say. "Well…"

"Maa, don't blame Hakase, Meitantei." Kaito smoothly cut in. "I told him that I was bored with lying around all the time and that he wouldn't be able to force me back there anyway." He smirked at that. "So instead, he opted to check up on me more often than reasonable~" he added with a warm tone and winked at the old man.

The scientist got flustered. "So you noticed..?"

All three boys snorted at that. "Hakase~ I'd be surprised and frankly worried, if you could slip his attention. He does get enough of practice with people trying to catch him at heists, you know~" Shinichi explained with amusement.

Agasa shifted uncomfortably, glancing away from the kaitou. "Um, right…"

The shrunken detective clicked his tongue quietly, displeased with himself for not predicting this. He should have known better, that his old friend would have forgotten that Kaito was in fact an internationally wanted criminal and that he would be still uncomfortable about the fact. He opened his mouth to try and fix the atmosphere, but Kuroba spoke up first.

"Well anyway-" he cut himself off at the sound of bells chiming. "Uh-oh…" he muttered and before anyone could react, he grabbed the edge of the stove as he jumped over it, scooping the hanging IV with his free hand.

"Wha-" Stunned, Heiji got up from his seat and tried to reach out to the magician, who landed before him and pressed the spatula into his hands.

"Take over," Kaito muttered, as he swirled out of the detective's grip with grace and was already breezing up the stairs. Before Shinichi managed to land on the ground from his chair, the magician had all but disappeared from sight.

"H-hey!" Having regained his voice, Hattori called out and stumbled after Kuroba. "Ahou! What the hell are you- Ugh! Kudo what the-" he snapped at his friend who kicked him painfully on the calf, but cut himself off, as he noticed the bemused tiny scientist in her lab coat, raising an eyebrow at him. "Uh-oh… H-hi, Nee-chan~" He greeted her with a sheepish smile, while rubbing his sore leg with his free hand.

"Hey. And what are you guys doing here?" She looked at the frying pan and back to the spatula in Heiji's hand.

"Um… lunch~?" The Osakan offered with a sheepish chuckle under her suspicious glare, after casting a short glance at the cutlery in his hand.

As if it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the teen to come over and prepare a meal. Shinichi wanted to facepalm, but instead just chuckled sheepishly as well.

"Right…" She agreed, bemused, and glanced at the others, who were doing their best at playing innocent. "You should consider going to the right side of the counter then and…" She sniffed and smirked. "Prevent the dish from burning, maybe?"

Hattori swirled towards the frying pan and cursed. He dashed to the right side of the counter, nearly trampling the professor and vigorously started stirring the vegetables… Scattering most of the contents out of the pan and cursing some more.

Haibara shook her head and turned her attention to Kudo, while Agasa pushed Heiji away and did his best to save the food. "I'd like you to pass to that idiot that I am going to use the needle I showed him before next time."

Conan chuckled with pity, sympathizing with the magician, knowing all too well which one Ai meant, since she had threatened him with it before. "Heh, sure, I'll tell him." There wasn't much point denying the obvious.

He felt his phone weighing in his pocket heavily, as he recalled the photos saved on it. Initially, he intended to ask her about the men on them the first opportunity he got, but now he decided against it. Apparently Kaito's cheerfulness affected Ai as well, as she seemed to be in far better mood than she had been in lately. Shinichi figured it could wait a little more. He had yet to recall what the file he saw the face in was about, but he was pretty certain that it was one that Hakuba showed him. So he decided it would be better to talk to the Brit first, before asking her.

Unaware of his internal struggle, she gave him her devilish smirk and took a bottle of water, before heading back to her laboratory. Shinichi glanced back at Heiji, noticing that he was being scolded by the professor, who apparently intended to teach the Osakan some of the basics of cooking. Deeming it impossible, the shrunken detective just shook his head and decided to check on Kuroba. Walking up the stairs, he fished out his phone and dialed Saguru's number.

"Hello? Hakuba Saguru here, who is this?"

Kudo chuckled at the receiver, having his suspicions about what happened more or less confirmed. "Hey, it's me. I was just wondering when you'll be coming back."

"Kudo?" The confusion in the Brit's tone was apparent. "Why? Did something happen over there?"

"Nah, everything's fine. We were just surprised that you didn't say anything about leaving," he explained with amusement.

"What..? But we texted…" Saguru cut himself off with an annoyed growl.

Shinichi had to hold himself back not to chuckle. "And let me guess, you didn't have this number saved~?"

"No… I haven't…" He sighed heavily. Conan was pretty sure that the Brit was in middle of pressing his eyelids, like he usually did when Kuroba irritated him. "I should be back in about 25 minutes, or so."

The shrunken detective snickered, stopping on the stairs and leaning over a wall. "No rush, take your time. And Hakuba?"

"Yes..?"

"Just out of curiosity, was it really Baaya who called you?"

"Apparently yes and it doesn't seem like Kuroba had any influence on her decision, but I'll ask her to make sure. Just tell me that he is still there… I've been out for over an hour."

"Don't worry, he's here. Hakase was keeping an eye on him. I doubt he left at all. When we came over, he was busying himself with cooking and from the looks of it, he was doing it for quite a while. Before that, he apparently was sharing ideas with Hakase."

There was a relieved sigh and a quiet chuckle on the other side of the line. "I can only wonder what will come out of it…" The Brit muttered with mild amusement, which Shinichi actually shared. Probably the last thing the world needed was for KID and the crazy professor to invent anything together.

"Yeah~ Anyway, mind if I ask what happened over there that made you leave?"

"Not at all. It was just my father wanting to see me. He apparently wanted to make sure that I didn't get too caught up in searching for KID after the last heist," he added with a hint of amusement and Shinichi snorted at the irony. "Anyway, I'll have to be going now."

"Sure, and like I said, take your time. We'll look after Kuroba in the meantime."

"Thank you, Kudo. I'll see you soon."

"See ya." He disconnected the call and pushed himself off the wall, stepping towards the room Kuroba was staying in.

The room didn't change much, from the last time he was there. There was only an additional chair, by the window, currently occupied by the magician. He had an open book on his lap, making it seem as if he was reading it up until now. Apparently he took Heiji's remark to heart, since the IV was currently hanging above his head, somehow attached to the curtain rod. The detective didn't bother to see how he managed that.

Seeing the shrunken detective close the door behind him without anybody else entering the room with him, Kaito slumped on the chair, hanging his head back and stopped acting as if he was breathing normally. Apparently he had yet to recover from his dash.

"You ok?" Shinichi asked with concern, eyeing the kaitou and the book he was holding. It seemed to be the one he borrowed Hakuba before.

"Yeah, just give me a moment… Man, this is annoying…" he added muttering more to himself, undoubtedly meaning his current limitations.

Conan hummed, acknowledging, and cast a glance at the bed. It would obviously be more comfortable for Kaito to rest on it, so the detective had to wonder why he chose a chair instead. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it and the bedding was neatly folded. Was the magician so fed up with lying around that he chose the chair, despite that it wouldn't do him any favors in fooling Ai? Shinichi smirked, as this train of thought made him recall something.

"By the way, Haibara asked me to tell you that she will use 'that' needle on you next time~" He might have had some pity for the magician, but it still would be appealing to see his reaction.

Disappointingly, the kaitou merely snorted, waving off the issue. "No, she won't~ Ai-chan said that she would use it only if she ever saw me downstairs. Which I don't think she did~"

Shinichi's eyebrow rose at the way Kaito called the shrunken scientist. He could only wonder if she knew about it… Then again, knowing the cocky thief, she did and more so, he somehow he made her agree to it. It would also explain her lightened mood, if he used his charms and tricks on her.

"That would explain your rush~" He shook his head and eyed the book on Kaito's lap. "Anyway, I don't think the book would have fooled her, you know."

"Oh~?" The magician raised his head a little to glance at the boy with a grin. He picked up the book and waved it. "Want to question me about it~?"

There wasn't much point in doing it. Kuroba could have read it anytime beforehand. Then again it could be a little fun. "Alright, what page are you now on?"

"237."

"What had occurred 10 pages back?"

"Easy~ Anna crossdressed as a man and slipped out to join the conference and see how her discovery faired." Kaito replied with a confident smirk.

"And what was page 56 about?"

The magician hummed and tapped the cover lightly, before grinning and replying. "It was when she and her sisters moved to the countryside~"

Shinichi raised an eyebrow, wondering whether Kaito was making it up and was bluffing, or he actually remembered the whole thing. Knowing him, either was possible. The kaitou grinned at him, silently offering the book. The detective shook his head with a lenient smirk.

"You don't learn, do you? People don't usually remember things like that. It's unnatural when you know answers like that." He grinned, recalling the first time he matched wits with the elusive kaitou. The question of whether Kuroba's answers were correct were starting to nag the detective, but he didn't want to play into his hands so much. Maybe he would check later.

The magician grinned back. "Aaa, I remember~ But right now I'm not disguising as anyone. I'm me and I do remember things like that~"

"Fair, I guess~" Kudo sat on the edge of the bed and asked with a sly smirk. "So? Care to tell me what you had in stock for Hakuba that you switched my number for yours on his phone~?"

"Oh~? Figured it out so soon~?" the kaitou asked with the silky tones, which the detective was more used to hearing during heists. "You certainly are a fun challenge~"

Shinichi snorted. "That was easy, you know. And all it took to confirm it was a short call to Hakuba~" he added with a grin and this time wasn't disappointed to hear Kaito groan at that.

"Now he's not going to let me hear the end of it…"

"Well, you should have thought about it before~"

"I did~" the kaitou admitted shamelessly, "but figured it would be worth it anyway~" He waved a hand, adding, "Also, you can't really blame me for wanting to get a breather from him."

Did that mean that something happened? "Hm? What did he do?"

Kaito raised an eyebrow with an amused expression. "You mean just being 'Hakuba' isn't enough~?" He chuckled and waved a hand. "Nothing much, really. As per usual, he came up with something and decided to be stubborn about it." He explained with an eye roll. "He just doesn't know when to let his delusions go!"

That caught Shinichi's interest. "Huh? Delusions..?" Most likely it was something influenced by Kuroba, so Shinichi hastily rephrased his question. "What did you do this time?"

The magician pointed at himself with a hurt expression. "Nothing! I was just being my plain self~"

Which usually was more than enough to make people want to strangle the nervy teen… The detective sometimes had to wonder which one of them looked more like a child.

Kaito rolled his eyes, under the unimpressed glare he was receiving. "Alright, alright. It's nothing big, Hakuba just convinced himself that I was leaving the house when he wasn't looking and didn't believe me denying it."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. The Brit did worry about that through the phone, but he didn't pay it much attention. "And what made him come to that conclusion?"

The magician shrugged. "His delusions~?" Conan gave him another eyeroll. "And me giving Ai-chan a rose that might have helped him come to this deduction."

Now that wasn't expected. "Where the hell did you get a rose?" He was sure that there weren't any flowers in his suit and Hakuba would have most likely asked Hakase, if he didn't supply Kuroba with it.

Kaito scoffed with a mix of annoyance and amusement. "Detectives…"

Shinichi wanted to reply to this, but Heiji barged into the room, complaining about leaving him to clean up the mess, successfully distracting them from the topic. Conan was less than pleased seeing how surprised KID was to learn that the detectives didn't know how to cook. He was certain that somehow, someday the kaitou was going to exploit it to tease them…


Before they knew it, there was a bell at the door. Expecting it to be Saguru, Shinichi went down to greet him, leaving Heiji and Kaito to amuse themselves a little more. He was hoping that the Osakan would manage to encourage the magician to get back to bed before he returned with the Brit, but he wasn't betting on it.

After opening the door, he was surprised to see Hakuba carrying a neatly packed present in his hand, which Conan vaguely recognized as his own. It was the gift for Kuroba he left in Hakuba's care nearly a month ago. Somehow now it felt like a life-time ago, with everything that happened in the meantime.

Saguru greeted his shrunken friend back and handled him the parcel. "I noticed it when I got home and figured you might want it back," he answered the silent question and added, grumbling. "Although, I'm not sure whether that idiot deserves any gifts… Where is he anyway?" he asked, casting a curious glance around.

Shinichi snorted and stepped away from the entrance, with the present in his hand, allowing Hakuba to get inside and take off his shoes. "He's resting upstairs with Hattori."

The blonde detective chuckled. "Kuroba resting in Hattori's company? That sounds like an oxymoron~" Despite what he said, his posture did seem to relax a little.

Conan had no arguments there and chuckled back. These two did get along surprisingly well. However, he dropped his smile soon after, as he recognized his chance to speak privately with the Brit. Looking away from Hakuba, who was taking off his shoes, Kudo reached into his pocket to fish out his phone. He started browsing it, tucking the present under his arm.

"I wanted to ask you to take a look at something before we go to them…" he mumbled and tapped on the crossed out picture to enlarge it, before showing it to the blonde. "You know this guy…" There was no need to form it as a question. Not with the stern expression Saguru made.

"It does ring a bell, yes," he replied grimly and took the phone from Shinichi, sliding through other images. "Where did you take these?"

"Hattori found a second secret room in Kuroba's apartment. He had these boards attached to guns he's apparently been using for bullet dodge training," the boy explained with a serious tone, carefully observing Hakuba's expression.

The teen grimaced, in an obvious sign of discomfort. "I wonder how much Kuroba knows about them." He took one last glance at the pictures, before returning the phone to Shinichi, who pocketed it, without dropping his gaze from the other detective. "Only the crossed out one looks familiar. And I believe this guy is one of the men responsible for hunting KID."

There was something about how he said it that made Conan narrow his eyes. "And you don't mean just the current one, do you?" He phrased it like a question, but it didn't feel like one.

Saguru shook his head slowly. "No."

"Why didn't you say about this anything before?" the boy demanded harsher than he intended to.

But apparently the Brit didn't mind, as he just shrugged to it and took a step towards the couch in the living room, replying with a heavy tone. "There wasn't much to say, honestly. As things are, all I know leads to a dead end." He winced at the phrase, making Shinichi think of Toichi and added. "And I've already told you everything that could be of any importance."

Conan didn't comment on it. Hakuba showed him so many files that it was no wonder that he didn't remember details from all of them. Especially given that he had his mind occupied with his own case as well. He just sat on the couch, beside the teen. "Care to remind me what was in the file?"

Saguru took a moment, gathering his thoughts, before coming to a decision and spoke up again. "I believe that the man, with his picture crossed out, was arrested in January this year. Unfortunately the picture in the police files wasn't the best quality, so I can't be sure. But he does look rather discernible. The arrest occurred during a KID heist. Neither of us was present at the scene." He cast a glance at the boy, who gave a little nod in reply. Both of them silently wondered if it was pure coincidence. "From what I've heard, it was actually KID who caught the man. A few officers ran into him, tying the guy up. It wasn't actually said in the report, but I asked one of the officers about it and he admitted that KID seemed to be on edge after seeing them. I don't think he expected them to turn up so soon."

"You didn't mention the guy's name," Shinichi noted quietly, slowly recalling the thin file's contents.

Hakuba shook his head slowly. "Because it wasn't mentioned in the report either. The police never had any opportunity to question him. He never reached the station. While they were on their way, a tire suddenly burst and the car went out of control, driving right on tracks next to the road, under a passing train. The rear part was practically minced. There was nothing left of the prisoner to help with recognition of his identity and the DNA testing didn't help much either." He swallowed thickly.

Conan closed his eyes and sighed quietly. He recalled looking through the file. He didn't pay it much attention, as it provided very little information and thus wasn't as interesting as a few other cold and suspicious cases Hakuba gathered. Even the sole picture included in the file was actually just a strip cut out of a paper. An unexpected shot made by a random reporter, hoping to get an interesting story connected to KID. The file didn't have any pictures of the accident itself. Knowing Saguru however, there might have been some in the original and he just excluded them from his copy, after confirming that there wasn't anything suspicious about them. Or he just spared Shinichi from seeing them. It didn't matter much actually. As he remembered the case lasted a short while, before it was ruled out as a horrible accident.

He licked his lips, chasing the grim thoughts away, focusing back on the matter at hand. "Was there anything else you managed to find around this case?" There had to be more to it.

Saguru sighed, leaning on the backrest. "Nothing to really grab onto. Only rumors." That was a start, but from how he sounded it wasn't anything promising. "As I was digging around KID, I managed to overhear from a bitter and drunken officer that there were a few significant heists where Nakamori's plans weren't followed to the letter." The detective made a slight pause, swallowing. "Could be a coincidence, or KID's doing, of course." He snorted, bemused. "I'm pretty sure that some of them are in fact Kuroba's machinations. And unfortunately, I found nothing indicating that there was much out of the ordinary in any cases." Shinichi pursed his lips at the word 'much'. "But the fact is that when you look closer at it, at a very few heists, some escape routes that should have been normally covered weren't. The first and most notable case like that was the 'Blue Birthday' heist. After which KID focused nearly purely on stealing big gems."

Vaguely, he recalled Saguru telling him about the report regarding that particular heist. 'Blue Birthday' was suspicious even without it, since it was the breaking point. Shinichi suspected before that it was around that time Kuroba made contact with people who were hunting him. Only that he rather thought it had happened before it. He tightened his grip over his cell phone, wondering if either of the men shown on Kaito's boards were the ones he saw that day. Maybe it was the crossed out man?

"And let me guess…" Conan spoke up with a grim tone. "The last case like that was in January."

"Yes."

Kudo clicked his tongue. He didn't like what he heard obviously. But aside from the irrelevant details, it wasn't anything new really. When they started working together, Saguru did say that he suspected foul play influencing the police and later on shared vague evidence pointing at it. The problem was that all could be brushed off as coincidence, plain human error or the work of the kaitou. After all, when Shinichi met KID for the first time face to face, he heard him controlling the whole police squadron with ease of a skilled puppeteer.

"Why did you say that you think these guys were hunting the previous KID as well?" There was something in the Brit's tone that made Shinichi believe that there was something more to it than just mere suspicions. Or was it just him hoping that there was something more?

"Well, as you might have suspected, I managed to get my hands on a copy of the films made during Kuroba Toichi's last performance." Conan was a little surprised that Saguru never told him about it before, but didn't comment on it. There probably wasn't much to share in the first place. However, he didn't like the Brit's tone as he spoke.

"There were two particularly interesting cameras spared from the fire, recording from before the show started. Sadly, both of them left very poor quality footage. It's nearly impossible to make out the details with how grainy it was. One camera was set on the backstage. At some point, it showed a man dressed in dark clothes. All I could really tell was that he had a heavy body structure and very distinct facial hair, which with little good will could have resembled a horseshoe moustache, walking around there. After some time, he showed up again, with another person. Judging from the clothing, I'm pretty positive it was Kuroba Toichi. They were most likely talking when the man pointed at the audience. After a short while, from what I could tell, it seemed that Kuroba-san gave him a nod and the man left. Kuroba-san stood still there for a longer while, still seemingly staring at the audience. Sadly, it's impossible to recognize what expression he was making, or anything else for that matter."

Shinichi was nearly sure he knew where this was leading. But for once, he wanted to be wrong. "And the second camera was pointed at the audience, I assume?"

"Yes." Saguru sighed and cast a glance at the stairs, as if to make sure that nobody was listening to them. "With how grainy the record was, it really should have been harder for me to recognize anyone on the footage. But the seats reserved for family weren't far from the camera and it seems that even back then Kuroba had a pretty springy behavior," he added with a sad smile, before continuing. "He was in the company of what I guessed was Nakamori-keibu, Aoko and a woman who now I assume was Kuroba Chikage. Behind them was a man, dressed in dark overcoat. I have a few blurry close ups on him, but sadly he didn't have any recognizable features. With the quality as it was, I couldn't even define the age and I'm only assuming they were a male by the way the coat looked." He shrugged helplessly and Kudo wondered how many hours did Hakuba spend on watching the record over and over again. "At some point of the record, which I managed to align with the backstage footage, the stranger leaned over to Kuroba and picked him up. He seemed to have exchanged a few words with Nakamori-keibu, but didn't protest for too long. The woman wasn't there, as she left from her seat a while before and didn't return for a few minutes." He raised his gaze to meet Shinichi's gaze. "This is what I believe Kuroba Toichi saw, a few moments before his last performance. His only son in, what I can assume, hands of men gunning at him."

Conan sighed as well, having his suspicions more or less confirmed. He wasn't sure if he wanted to imagine what the original KID was going through at that moment. But even with how gruesome and grim everything Hakuba told him was, he was right… It was all a dead end.

It was no surprise that Saguru didn't bring it to his attention before. Aside from a horrible truth behind how Toichi's show got sabotaged, it didn't bring any revelations to what they already knew. The man who could have had the answers they needed was already dead. And from what Hakuba got, it seemed that he died without even KID being able to question him. They would have to ask Kuroba to confirm it, but without it, they had nothing to go on. Shinichi held back from chuckling grimly. A few months before, he would have never thought that a time would come when he would mentally curse Nakamori for stepping up his game and making things harder for the kaitou during his heists.

His gaze was lured up the stairs. The detectives could only hope that Kaito never saw the footages, or, if he did, that he somehow didn't notice the fatal moment captured there. Shinichi wondered grimly whether the magician remembered the 'nice man' who offered to lift him, so he could see the stage better. He doubted it. Even most the vivid memory had to be blurred out by nightmares that must have haunted the child who witnessed a gruesome tragedy. And even if he did, it was highly doubtful he knew what role he played in his father's murder. No matter how smart, the young boy shouldn't have been capable of making such a connection. Conan wondered, whether it was worth a shot to try and ask him to recall the man's face. It could be useful, but there was a chance that the bright magician would somehow combine the facts, if they pushed him. And despite his usual principles, Shinichi found himself hoping that Kaito would never discover the truth. Not when all it could bring was grief.

"I'd like to see those footages later on, if you don't mind…" he mumbled quietly. It wasn't like he didn't trust Saguru's skills, but there was always a chance that a fresh view could reveal something new. Anything.

"Of course…" the Brit replied, equally quietly, without any hesitance.

They both sat quietly there for a few more moments to compose themselves. Much later would come the time when they would try to search the police files in search of other men's faces, which Shinichi's photographed in KID's hideout. Conan wondered again about asking Kuroba about it, but he was still reluctant to admit that they broke the kaitou's trust. There was still the slim hope that he would show them the room and boards himself later on and as for now, they had a lot to question him about anyway. He decided to leave it be for a little longer, unless the topic surfaced naturally somehow.

As they tried to avert their thoughts from the grim topic, they faintly heard Heiji's laughter upstairs. Without a doubt, the magician did something to cause it. Shinichi pursed his lips hearing it, hoping that Kaito wouldn't end up walling up during the upcoming conversation.


Since we ended prematurely, I couldn't help myself but to leave it with a tiny bit of a cliffhanger – you can start hating me again xD

And yes – I killed off Snake off-screen, as you most likely suspected before. I have little sympathy to idiot criminals and figured that he wouldn't have lasted long anyway xD

See you next chapter *evil laughter*