Nor'hanger Abbey
A Detective Conan Fanfic
By
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown

Acknowledgements:
All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho.

Much thanks to Ysabet and Ryo Hoshi for their beta-reads, without which I'd probably have far too many spelling, continuity and grammatical errors.

Chapter 3 : Into The Night – In which Heiji discovers the hazards of exploring haunted houses.

I opened my eyes on near complete darkness. In the other bed I could hear small burbling snores, telling me Conan was still pretty deeply asleep. I, on the other hand, was quite thoroughly awake, a little trip being called for. Far too much good food. That'll teach me to drink all that ice tea. Now, where was the bathroom again? I wondered and recollected Heidi pointing out the door on our way through the abbey's darkened halls.

Climbing out of bed, I slid a pair of slippers on and made my way quietly to the door. "Mphm?" Conan muttered, turning over in bed.

"Emergency trip," I muttered back, opening the door.

"Mnhghim," he acknowledged coherently and went back to sleep.

In the darkness of the hallway I waited until my vision had settled, then started towards the door I remembered being pointed at. The bathroom beyond was as opulent as the rest of the house, so much so that its brilliance nearly blinded me when I flipped on the switch. I regarded the elaborate plumbing sourly. Somehow I had a feeling I'd just get myself in trouble trying to figure it all out, so I did my business quickly and left. I was just headed back to my room when I thought I heard something down the hall the other way.

I paused. I was near the head of a large staircase and the sound came from somewhere downstairs. Looking into the hall below, all I could see was shadows, but I could hear something moving around. I hesitated, and cursed myself for doing so. Hattori Heiji of over a month ago wouldn't have paused, wouldn't have even considered going back to bed when something was up. He wouldn't have stopped to think about getting Conan either, but I was doing all three. I refuse. I utterly refuse to let this – problem – turn my life inside out. I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life quivering in corners because I could see ghosts, no matter how tempting it might be. With a snarl, I started down.

At the foot of the stairs was an barrel shaped object filled with sticks. A cane rack of some sort. I slid one out. My 'talent' didn't affect my hearing, after all, so any sound was coming from a non-supernatural source. The creaking that came from down the hall sounded to me like someone attempting to move as silently as possible on floors that weren't cooperating.

Going down the long hall towards the entrance to the building, I peered through bands of moonlight that streamed down from the small windows set into the roof. The moon hadn't been in a position to create the effect before and I again felt - and again cursed – that impulse that made me want to turn around and go back. Another creak ahead decided me, though, and I went forward instead. A minute later a shadow was coming at me from amongst the moonbeams. A shadow swinging something long and heavy at my head.

***

The sound of fighting drew him down the great hall, partly out of curiosity and partly because he'd seen Hattori wandering down that way. He wasn't sure what was up, but if nothing else this would be an opportunity to check the Osaka-ko out further. He got to the fight just in time to realize what was going on and nearly betrayed himself with a fit of giggles.

***

I dodged sideways, the cane I was carrying coming up in a parry automatically. As the sound of wood striking wood rang through the hallway I felt something slap the back of my head. Something that smelled – just faintly – of cleaning fluid. A mop?

"Kuroba Kaito, you jerk! How dare you play" The voice was that of the girl we'd met earlier, "Hey You never fight back" Aoko stepped back and stared at me, the moonlight revealing her dressed in striped pajamas and her expression turning from anger to chagrin. "You you're not"

I stepped further into the light. "Lady, if that's how you treat your friends, gods help your enemies." I paused and added, with less rancor, "Though, admittedly, hitting Kuroba over the head with a mop might just knock some sense into him."

Aoko-san giggled. "Only if I manage to hit him. He dodges."

"Of course I do. You don't think I'm going to stand still for getting a face full of mop, do you?" Kuroba's voice came from amid the shadows and he stepped out a minute later. "Hey, Aoko, I wasn't following er Hey, don't" The mop swung at him sharply. "Honest, I wasn't trying to scare you." He dodged around me, the two dancing to a tune I suspected had been playing for most of their lives.

"Ano Guys!" I tried to interrupt as Aoko's mop thrust past me to nearly strike Kuroba. He laughed and I sensed his motion to the other side. Oh great. I stood stock still, holding my cane at ready just in case Aoko's control of her weapon failed her. Sooner or later one of them was sure to tire. I feel like I'm in some sort of Hong Kong Kung-fu comedy. "GUYS!"

"C'mon, Aoko! I mean it. I was worried. I heard you go out and thought you might get in trouble!" Kuroba's voice was plaintive through the laughter. "Aoko!"

As the fight continued, I felt a surge of something again and I looked further down the hall. Something about the way I did so must have drawn Aoko's attention, because she stopped and turned to look that way as well. Her shriek of terror sent her straight into my arms, though I rather suspected it would have been Kuroba's if I hadn't been in the way. Amid the shadows, entire body radiating rage and fury, was that damned dog again, its image projected so strongly and with such power that even those not normally sensitive was seeing it. "Now I remember," I muttered. "The Black Dog. It only appears when there's going to be a death."

***

He nearly took exception to Aoko ending up in Hattori's arms. If it hadn't been for the undeniable presence of some Thing down the hall, he would have. Fortunately for the status quo, however, he found himself silenced utterly by the sight of a headless dog standing there and watching them with a raging fury so deep that all humor was lost to a moment of terror. Only the fact that he'd spent the last year or so dealing with more mundane terrors like capture or worse allowed him to keep his silence. Not that Hattori's comment, said so calmly and with such chill certainty, helped matters. He's not surprised. Scared, but not surprised. WHY?

***

"Only appears when there's going to be a death?" Conan mused, as he dressed. "And you say Aoko saw it?" Sunlight streamed through our window, lighting the comfortably mundane furniture and banishing the last shadows of last night's terror.

"Kuroba too. It was very solid that time." I settled my hat on my head with a sharp tug and watched Conan get his bowtie in order. "I read about it in one of my readers when I was learning English. Hauntings and Horrors: A Book of British Ghosts.(1)"

"Leave it to you to choose a book of ghost stories as a reader," Conan grumbled. "So, what kind of ghost is it?"

I frowned, shaking my head. "Not like the ones I usually see. Do you know anything about banshees?" At Conan's confused look, I continued. "A family spirit that would warn when there was going to be a death. Except the Black Dog would appear to anyone." I felt a sharp chill and covered it up with a grin. "If it really is an omen, Conan, they're going to stop inviting us anywhere, since no matter where we go there's a murder."

"Not funny," Conan said, but with a lot less sternness than he might have, since he probably guessed how I was feeling right at that moment. "Though I admit, they do follow us, don't they?"

"Yeah." I slipped my new glasses into my jacket pocket. "So, what do you think of Kuroba?"

"Class clown, but There's something" I looked over at Conan and nodded in agreement. There was something that guy was hiding. I just didn't know if it mattered. Everyone has secrets, after all.

A rap on the door made me grin. Kazuha's knock was unmistakable, especially when she was out of sorts with me. I'd heard Kuroba talking up a storm outside, eliciting angry responses from Aoko. Though I swear she's madder about ending up in my arms for a moment than the fact that she was scared by a ghost. When it came to that, I wondered if I'd seen a faint sense of relief on Kuroba's face when she'd slapped me afterwards, more from reaction than real need to reprimand me. "Coming Kazuha," I called. "We're about ready."

My friend's expression was exactly what I expected it to be. Sour and annoyed. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring up at me like a small cat ready to spit. "Hattori Heiji. What's this I hear about you grabbing poor Aoko-chan and feeling her up?" Behind her, Ran was looking nervously around and I hoped Kuroba hadn't exaggerated the Black Dog too much for her.

I scratched the back of my head. Typical of Kazuha to take that approach. "Not arguing about it, Kazuha," I told her. "You weren't there. You don't know what happened." I found myself regretting, sharply, that it hadn't been Kazuha instead and something in my expression made her pause and put out a hand momentarily. "C'mon, let's go get breakfast," I told her, though I didn't brush the hand away quite as quickly as I might have.

***

He watched Hattori and Conan come out without a change of expression, though with a sharpening of interest. What, I wonder, has he been telling Kudo? It was too bad the walls were so thick in this place. He'd have tried for some eavesdropping, if it weren't for the fact that the only places where that would be possible would have been outside the window and at the door. The window would have been easy enough, but not when Aoko had rousted him out of bed at an ungodly hour and knew exactly where he was. He'd have to wait until she was distracted to do anything out of the ordinary.

***

Breakfast was as elaborate and as filling as supper, but I'd lost some of my appetite after last night's fun and games. It was only because I knew Kazuha would worry that I ate as much as I did.

Oddly enough, Maria Toda wasn't at the table, a fact that obviously concerned Heidi. Since the lady's room had been on the other side of the building, though, none of us 'children' could tell her where the fortune-teller might be. It bothered me, though, and I commented, dryly, "Funny, she doesn't look like the sort to miss her breakfast."

Kazuha elbowed me in the ribs, but Conan met my eyes with an understanding expression. Maybe if I hadn't seen the Black Dog, if I hadn't known what its presence usually meant, I wouldn't have worried so much. "Maybe someone should go check on her," Conan said softly. "She might not be feeling well."

"Yes yes, I think so." Heidi headed off in a hurry and I sighed. There really wasn't a good reason to follow her, since my concerns had no basis in common reality. Fortunately for our common interest, Conan had a good excuse for getting the two of us away from the breakfast table. Kids, after all, have pointed butts and it was easy for me to convince Ran that we'd be okay wandering the building together. If that wandering took us to Toda-san's room, well, what a coincidence, right?

***

Curiouser and curiouser he thought, watching the two leave with identical expressions on their faces. The detectives were obviously on the scent of something and while he would admit that Maria Toda's failure to appear at breakfast was odd, their reaction to it seemed a trifle overdone, as if they knew something everyone else didn't. He remembered Hattori's words the night before and a chill touched his spine. It only appears when there's going to be a death. Making his own excuses, he escaped the breakfast table as well and went to follow.

***

Maria Toda's room was upstairs along the west wing, where we'd been in the east, a hall as beautifully decorated as ours was, with mirrors and paintings glittering in the light from the windows. I ignored the furnishings in favor of heading to Toda-san's room and looking in. It was also empty except for Heidi, who looked startled to find us standing at the door. "Sorry," I said. "We just wanted to look around and saw the door open. Is she all right?"

Heidi looked troubled. "She's not here. You really should go back downstairs. Wanabe-san was going to show you all around together." She glanced around the room with a puzzled look. "I wonder where she is? So strange."

I stepped into the room and glanced around myself, letting Conan past to do the same. A large suitcase was sitting on the single bed and the coverlet was pulled up in so neatly that I had to ask, "Does the room look the way it did last night?"

Heidi frowned at the bed and nodded. "Well, yes, it does. The suitcase wasn't on the bed, though." She paused, lips pursing with annoyance at me. "Young man, you are very pushy. I really should make you leave."

"Yeah, well tell me one thing before you do. Do you think it's normal for a guest to wander around all night and not show herself the next morning? Don't you think this justifies a bit of worry?"

"Maybe it does," Heidi admitted. "But that doesn't make it right for you two boys to be poking around in here. Now come along." She herded the two of us out and right into Kuroba. "You too? What a bunch of nosy children you are." She pushed us out with a firm hand and closed the door, locking it behind her. "I'll go and have someone look around for her. You three go downstairs this minute. Shiro, I mean Wanabe-san, is probably waiting for you." Conan and I glanced at each other and nodded slightly. A maid wouldn't refer to the lawyer by his personal name that way. If she wasn't Abe-san I'd eat my hat.

As Heidi waved us off I sighed and shambled down the stairs, Kuroba and Conan close behind. "You can quit imitating my walk, Kuroba," I growled as I did so. "It ain't funny."

Kuroba stopped quickly and blinked innocently at me. "Don't know whatcha you mean," he answered and I was sourly amused by his effort to imitate my Osaka accent. I shrugged, I'd noticed the way he'd shoved his hands into his pockets and his reflection in the mirror as we'd passed. "So, d'you think something's wrong with Toda-san?"

"She's missing, isn't she?" Conan asked in his most childishly innocent tone.

With a shrug and a grin, Kuroba said tauntingly, "Well then, maybe she'll get to be one of the ghosts in this house."

I couldn't help it. I snapped, moving at him with a growl and grabbing the front of his shirt. "That, Kuroba, is about the least funny things I've heard in a long" For the barest moment the skin of my hand brushed his chin and I drew back as if I'd been stung. Something It was too quick, his mind too twisted up in secrets upon secrets upon enigmas, for me to really comprehend flashed through my thoughts and made me realize what a risk I was taking. One image did come back with me. A gem, a brilliant, shining jewel that nearly broke the heart with its depth and ruby color. One image, and a sense of very real pain behind the smiling mask. "Leave me alone, Kuroba. I don't like you and I don't like your idea of jokes." I turned and walked away.

***

He watched Hattori leave with a stunned feeling. The Great Detective of the West had a soft point and it appeared to be ghosts. Yet it was a soft point he hesitated to use, and not just because of the fury it seemed to create. There'd been something in Hattori's eyes, an anguish that instinct warned him would be disastrous to waken further. Just as he knew better than to hint the truth of Shinichi's condition to Ran, he knew this was a weapon best saved only for the most desperate of needs. And why why, why, why do I have a strange feeling he nearly figured me out? How could he? A chill of fear touched his spine, along with an absolute determination to find out what it was Hattori hid, lest that secret end up becoming a risk to his own.

***

Downstairs I paused and leaned against a wall, taking several deep breaths. "You okay?" Conan asked, softly, eyes watchful behind us for our annoying fellow guest.

"Yeah. It was just He has no idea Being able to see them." I clenched my fists and hit the wall. "I was really afraid I was going to see her in there. If I had If I had I think I'd have killed him for that crack."

Conan shook his head. "No, you wouldn't kill him. That's not your style. Punch his annoying lights out, on the other hand" I looked at him and grinned ruefully. "And I wouldn't have blamed you for it, either."

Steps on the stairs told me that Kuroba was probably headed our way so I continued on, hurrying back to the others before the twerp could try another pass at me. Conan trotted beside me, saying softly, "Wonder why he followed us in the first place? I mean, he doesn't strike me as the sort to go poking his nose into other people's business."

I frowned, Conan was right about that. "Don't know. Let's keep an eye on him." Opening the door to the dining room I realized we'd returned just in time. Wanabe-san was just preparing to start the tour. With muttered apologies to the girls, we re-joined the group and prepared to be bored. Though if something has happened to Toda-san then we should be looking out for clues.

***

He joined the tour just as it was leaving the dining room, receiving a glare of irritation from both Nakamura-sensei and Wanabe. Hattori, on the other hand, avoided looking at him in a way that said the Great Detective of the West had decided to ignore him. Which is fine with me, because if he's too busy ignoring me then he may not notice me keeping an eye on him. He wasn't going to depend on that, though. He'd overheard the two boys' conversation when they'd thought he was still upstairs. It was obvious they suspected him. What isn't obvious is what he meant about seeing 'them'. An idea was beginning to form though. One almost as unbelievable as the truth he'd learned about Conan and Kudo Shinichi.

***

The rest of the day would have been a boring one if Conan and I weren't engaged in a combination cat and mouse game with Kuroba along with our effort to determine what had happened to Maria Toda. Without evidence of any foul play, I knew we'd never convince Wanabe to do anything, even though her disappearance raised every alarm bell the two of us possessed.

As we wandered through the halls of the Abbey I felt almost awed by the amount of time and energy Abe-san had put into recreating the lifestyle of a British noble. Time, energy and quite a bit of cold, hard, cash. The place was beautiful, in an overdone sort of way, gleaming with scarlet, dark polished wood and gold paint amid sparkling mirrors. It was gorgeous and overwhelming in a lot of ways and I could see Kazuha's eyes lighting up as each new treasure was revealed. It amused me to note that Nakamura-sensei's eyes held bright hunger as well.

"Ohhh, Ran, Aoko, look!" Kazuha pointed out the window at a maze of greenery. "Isn't that beautiful?" It was, too. An emerald set amid a riot of autumn colors. Somewhere near the center I caught a glimpse of something gleaming white.

As the girls leaned out the window to stare down at the thick walls of hedge, Conan, Kuroba and I glanced at each other and I felt a brief moment of camaraderie as we grinned with amusement. Though the moment passed, I thought I might have more in common with Kuroba than he or I might like to admit.

"The maze. I'm afraid it's off limits right now. The gardener hasn't had a chance to finish trimming the center and it's quite overgrown," Wanabe said regretfully.

"Is that where" Fujiwara-san began and his boss gave him a sharp look that caused the young man to go silent.

A slight movement from Kuroba drew my attention and I realized he was more interested in the subject than he was admitting. I couldn't help testing the theory by asking, "That artifact again?" in as brash and obvious a manner as possible. From the slight wince Kuroba gave, I thought I may well have scored.

"I'm afraid it's not your business, Hattori-kun," Wanabe said condescendingly. "The item in question is quite valuable, you see, and we can't afford to say anything more about it than we already have."

I shrugged. "All right. I don't care if it's the Crown jewels or Betty Burke's sword, frankly." I was a bit surprised that Nakamura looked puzzled. That's the second time he's acted like he didn't understand something I said about England. What sort of scholar is he? Admittedly, his apparent confusion the night before might have been simple surprise at my knowing a bit of old English esoterica, but surely he knew the name Bonnie Prince Charlie used in one of his most famous escapes. I decided not to worry about it just yet. Later, when there was time, I'd have to have Conan contact Agasa-hakase and ask for a background check.

"Come," the lawyer said firmly. "We still have the tower and the dungeon."

***

Drat. Subtlety isn't your strong suit, is it, Hattori? He shoved his hands in his pockets and followed the group, not sure if he was more annoyed with Hattori or with himself. After all, curiosity was a vital part of a detective's personality and the Osaka-ko may have merely been as interested in the secret Wanabe was trying to hide as he was himself, if for different reasons. The trouble was, if Hattori and Conan really did suspect something was up, he may have failed the test. He couldn't help but listen with ears perked momentarily in the hopes of learning the truth about the artifact, after all. Still, the conversation had served some purpose. He now knew Nakamura-sensei had to be there to check the thing out. Which means it must have something to do with English history, the question is, what? And who the devil is Betty Burke?

To Be Continued...

Authorial Note:
(1) Before you ask, I made up the title. Still, you should find the Black Dog mentioned fairly frequently in books about ghosts and hauntings.