"No, no, no, you don't understand! That's Sophie Devereaux!" Kaito tugged on his arm, trying to get him to lower it. "There is no chance she's the killer!"

The woman in question continued to look surprised, one hand brought tight to her throat and the other looped by her waist. Nearly textbook perfect defensive posture.

"She's just as much a suspect as everyone else in here, so she's not allowed to leave," Shinichi relented, lowering his arm but not relaxing. Kaito was too trusting, looking for fellow kind-hearts.

Shinichi looked out at the crowd around him, Kaito stepping around him to introduce himself and apologize to the woman. He tuned them out, eyes lingering over the rest of the ballroom. Sophie Devereaux's companion nodded to him and joined her, smiling a little at Kaito as he introduced himself.

Shinichi looked at the other groups in the room, narrow-eyed on the guests who refused to back down from his challenging stare.

A brother and sister sitting at the far table, her dress liquid gold and her brother's jacket a very dark blue.

A group of three, a blonde woman, a man who didn't even twitch the entire time Shinichi held his gaze, and another man who only seemed like he was absorbed in his smart phone, but would glance up at Shinichi with a little nervous look.

Another group of three, all men; one in a traditional Japanese kimono, another smoking a cigarette despite the very clear no smoking signs in the lobby, and another man with a teasing smirk and tailored red suit.

A woman alone, an off white dress trimmed in red and white with a heart neckline.

Two women, one light brown hair and a dark bronze dress and the other dark haired in a blood-red suit, by the bar, watching him with faint smiles.

Another pair on the opposite end of the bar, a blonde woman and a brunet man, both still blithely chatting and giggling with each other. They didn't seem aware of anything else going on in the room.

The room was mostly empty at this point, but that's likely due to the fact that Hakuba was inspecting the guests who'd chosen to leave and pass through the metal-detecting wand wielding policemen at the exit. These were the ones who'd chosen to stay and watch the floor show, apparently.

"No harm done. I'm certain Kudou-san is only doing what he believes is best for catching the thief." The man with Devereaux offered his hand. "Nathan Ford."

"Hello, Mr. Ford," he answered, shaking the man's hand after a moment's hesitation.

"It's very wonderful to meet you," Kaito said, offering his own hand to the man. "I believe you worked with one of the insurance companies over that Burmese jadeite statue only earlier this year."

"Well, most of those cases tend to blur together," he deflected, "Can't imagine what the thief was thinking in this situation. The Eugénie Diamond certainly won't go back into obscurity without a fuss."

"Never thought I'd get to see it in person," Devereaux said, "Quite a beautiful piece."

"Not worth dying for." Shinichi ran his eyes over the remaining guests. Hakuba met his eyes across the room and shook his head slowly, and Shinichi nodded back. He was only certain of the three of them, no matter how nicely Kaito spoke with their suspects.

Kaito, not as blind as he pretended to be, took his arm and squeezed. "I think the police will start questioning us soon, so we shouldn't take up all your time."

Shinichi let Kaito pull him away, more towards the bar, and Shinichi watched how many people turned to keep them in their sights. The woman in gold waggled her fingers at him, dark hair slipping to hide her smirk.

He was going to solve this.