Pursuance: Part 6: The Haunter and the Haunted – In which a murderer is forced to face the truth.
A Detective Conan/Hattori Heiji Fanfic
By
Deborah J. Brown

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

Much thanks to Icka M. Chif for her beta-read. Not to mention reviewing even after being Beta Reader.

HEIJI:
"NO!"

Before I could stop him, Toshini was on his feet and running towards the man about to kill his sister. Only one thing saved him. The shock of seeing another blood stained version of his long ago victim caused the murderer to hesitate. It wasn't very long, but it was just long enough. I continued my own attack, yelling, "Damnit, Toshini, I told you to stay put!"

The oar I'd grabbed struck the killer's forearm, forcing it down just before the gun fired. I spun, as quickly and as hard as possible, striking my opponent amidships and knocking him to the ground. Somehow, through all this, however, he managed to keep hold of the gun.

He rolled sideways, trying to get to his feet. I could hear a shout and running feet but they weren't going to be in time. I spun the oar around and struck again. I'd break his wrist in the process but I had to disarm him. This time I was rewarded with the clatter of metal on wood as the pistol spun off to the side.

As the weapon spun towards the railing I cursed. We had eyewitnesses enough to provide evidence against the killer, but the hard evidence of a gun with his fingerprints would have made the case a lot tighter. Then a foot came down on the spinning weapon, stopping it just before it went over the edge. "Sorry to be so late," Shiratori said, panting. "I'm afraid I injured my ankle jumping down from the upper deck." He'd had to stay up there to keep out of sight, there not being enough cover down where we were.

"What the hell is going on here?" The Captain's voice was an angry bellow only mitigated by his gasps. "What the hell"

I looked down at the man. "Simple, Captain. It may or may not be possible to prove you killed Toshini Yuji but it's pretty damned obvious you just tried to kill his daughter."

He pulled himself to his feet. "Nonsense." Drawing himself up, he glared at Akemi-san. "I was playing along with her little drama. It was obvious she'd decided to make things more interesting by using her father's death as part of her theatrics."

"You were going to kill me!" Akemi shouted at him and her brother tried to quiet her. If I couldn't see the real thing, watching those two, in their 'blood' soaked outfits and made up scars, would have been a lot more unpleasant. As it was, their father behind them, watching the proceedings with a distant air of interest, made their theatrics all the more obvious and pathetic. Nothing like the real thing to make the imitations unimpressive, I thought.

"I was playing along. If this brat hadn't hit me with the oar I wouldn't have pulled the trigger at all. He's lucky no one was killed."

***

KAZUHA:

I felt a surge of anger as I hurried down the stairs to the lower deck and listened to the proceedings. It was obvious Yamamori was guilty but he had such a plausible story. A good lawyer could get him off if they worked at it. One of my father's biggest disillusionments with the police had always been the inability to actually convict someone they knew for certain to be guilty. It looked to me like this was going to be one of those cases.

Noticing two men approaching, I moved in to stand beside Heiji. I couldn't prevent Uncle Heizo from being angry at him but I could hope that my presence would keep him from making that anger public. Nothing upset Heiji more than being reprimanded in front of everyone for his efforts.

The other man was Doctor Makashino, looking about the most sour and irritated I'd ever seen him. Which is saying some, he's been one long grouse throughout this trip. He looked at the Captain but said nothing, obviously waiting.

Yamamori smiled at his shipmate. "You can tell them, Makashino. Tell them what I told you. That the girl was playing fool's games and I'd just wanted to scare her a little. Right?"

Makashino was silent a long moment and it occurred to me that he was probably as deeply involved in all this as the Captain. They were probably in it together, both involved in the smuggling operation and both involved in Toshini's death.

"True. I could tell them that," Makashino agreed grimly. "But I'd be lying."

Yamamori's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I see. You're the one. You're the one behind those poor people in the bilge tank. You're covering up, trying to pin the crime on me!"

With a sigh, Makashino turned to Uncle Heizo. "As I told you, sir. Starting fifteen years ago this man and I were assisting illegal Chinese immigrants in getting to America. Thirteen years ago, however, the weather was so incredibly hot that I'd told him it wasn't safe, that I'd blow his cover if he took anyone on. He assured me he wouldn't." He glared angrily at the Captain. "He lied. Put those people in the bilge tank while I was off ship. I didn't find out they were there until it was far too late."

"LIAR!"

Makashino shrugged. "I have evidence and I fully admit my own part in this. I kept things secret I had a wife to protect and the victims were dead already. I was wrong to do so, but I didn't want her hurt anymore than she already had been. We quit then, though. It would have been impossible to clean out the bilge tank without risking someone finding out."

Yamamori was practically frothing with denials but Makashino continued, inexorably. "It wasn't until this cruise that I began to realize that Toshini's death wasn't the accident I thought. Yamamori was behaving strangely and all the phone calls and peculiar incidents that started after the troupe came on board made me realize that something was up. When Miss Akemi was injured I confronted him and he told me that I was too deeply involved to reveal what he'd done."

With a howl of laughter, Yamamori shook his head. "Oh, of course. Try and pawn your crime off on me. I confronted you, you bastard! You were the one who tried to kill the girl! That's why I wanted to scare her off this game!"

I couldn't help but put my hand on Heiji's arm, ignoring that stupid shock I always got from him nowadays. It's all going wrong, somehow. We can't prove a thing.

***

HEIJI:

Kazuha's thought was so strong it went right past the Professor's devices, sure sign of how agitated she was. She didn't like a murderer getting away with it anymore than I did. Fortunately, I had an answer. I coughed for attention.

My father looked at me and I returned the gaze with interest. For a long moment he met my eyes, a question in his expression that I could only answer in one way. This was what I was and there was no getting around it. At last he nodded and I looked at Yamamori. "There's just one thing. Whomever it was who tried to kill Akemi-san used some sort of device to melt the rope from the inside so that it would break at the right moment. Something long, pointed and very hot."

Yamamori laughed. "Then there's your answer right there. Makashino works with electronics. Even with that left arm of his gone he could use a clamp to force the twist apart enough to let him get a soldering iron to the core."

Kazuha stiffened and I nodded at her. She knew what I was thinking and I let her speak. "But that wasn't a twisted rope. It was braided. There's no way he could have worked the threads apart with one hand and a clamp, not without melting the outside of the rope, too."

I continued. "The Doctor handles his prosthetic arm pretty well, but there are limits. You need two good hands to force a braid like that apart enough to get at the center." As the Captain stared at me, I smiled. "Then there's the fact that while both his soldering iron and your wood burning stylus has burnt plastic on the tip, your stylus is the one that shouldn't have anything of the sort on it. It's not possible to work with electronics without getting some plastic on the soldering iron, and it's pretty damned hard to clean off." Before he could object I added, "Oh, yes, and then there's that bit of ash on your pants yesterday. I rather think it was from your efforts with Akemi-san's rope."

Slowly, angrily, the Captain glared at me, then at my father and Superintendent Shiratori. "Are you going to believe this brat?"

"My son may be an interfering nosy pain in the ass," Dad said quietly, "But he's a smart interfering nosy pain in the ass. We may not be able to prove your involvement with Toshini Yuji's death, but I think there's more than enough evidence to book you for the deaths of those immigrants. Makashino showed me where you keep your books – in your cabin. We also have two other witnesses who may well be persuaded to assist us in that matter. As for your attempt to kill Akemi-san being part of a joke. Well, I don't think anyone watching, my son, Kazuha-chan or Superintendent Shiratori, were laughing."

***

KAZUHA:

I could feel the tension in Heiji's arm lessen as Yamamori seemed to melt into uncertainty. He had a plausible story but we had a lot of evidence against him and he was beginning to realize his position. He turned a hate filled glare at Akemi-san and her brother. "Stupid fools," he growled. "You and your stupid little ghost game. Did you really think I was fooled?"

Akemi-san looked ready to speak, but Heiji shook his head at her. He had a peculiar look on his face, as if he were steeling himself for something. I felt him brush his left hand against his wristwatch. Then he reached out and put his hand on the Captain's shoulder in what looked like a friendly gesture. "You're right, Captain. They look nothing like real ghosts, do they? Nothing like the man you pushed over the railing to his death. Nothing like a man chopped up into itty bitty pieces by your ship's propellers. Nasty way to go, really. I nearly died that way myself, once. Still get the shudders sometimes. Doesn't the thought of it scare you?"

Yamamori ignored him, staring off to one side, face going white as a sheet. I glanced that way myself, unable to resist looking at whatever it was he thought he saw. For the very briefest moments I thought there was a man there, dark haired, pale, covered in blood and staring coldly at Yamamori. Then he was gone. Yamamori choked, wheezed and fainted, much to Superintendent Shiratori and Uncle Heizo's annoyance.

As the adults dragged Yamamori away, followed by Doctor Makashino, I turned startled eyes on Heiji. He raised a brow at me. "What is it, moron?" he asked and I realized I'd gone pale too. "Stop staring into space like you've seen a ghost."

"I" I couldn't say anything. I didn't dare say a word. I didn't want him to laugh at me. Heiji was always so grounded, so utterly certain of the world as it was, that I was sure he'd never believe what I'd thought I'd seen.

Akemi-san sighed. "Thank God. Thank God it's over."

Rounding on her, Heiji glared angrily. "Yeah, you stupid fool. No thanks to you."

The woman's jaw dropped and she stared at Heiji angrily. "But."

"You could have been killed. You'd be dead right now if we hadn't figured out where you were going and what you were doing." Heiji shook my hand off his arm and turned to face her. "What good do you think dying would have done?"

Taking a deep breath, Akemi-san shouted into Heiji's face, "I was avenging my father! He would have wanted."

"The hell he would have wanted it!" Heiji's voice was lower, but all the more frightening for the sheer intensity of rage he put into it. "Your father died a horrible death. All the more horrible because he loved you and would not have wanted to leave either of you. There's no doubt about that. But if his spirit isn't resting, it's because you won't let it. Because you won't let go of him. Not because that bastard killed him!"

"I."

"He loved you. Both of you. The last thing in this world he would have wanted would be for you two to die over him. He would have wanted you to live. He would have wanted you to be happy. That's what a father is, damnit. So screw your head back on, clean that crap off of your faces and live damn you!" I blinked at him, stunned at his seeming acceptance of something that seemed so very spiritual. It just wasn't his style. He might believe, superstitiously, in my little luck bags but he didn't really want to, either.

As Akemi-san and her brother stared, Heiji swung around on his heel and stalked away, muttering angrily to himself.

***

HEIJI:

It took me almost half an hour to walk around the deck. Somewhere a bit behind me was Kazuha, trailing behind me the way she always did. It was a comforting feeling, her presence, all the more comforting because she seemed to know I didn't want words, didn't want conversation. Just wanted her there, near me.

At last I stopped, gazing out over the sea. The moon was just rising, glittering on our wake. Somewhere in those waters, sunk deep, were what little might be left of Toshini Yuji's mortal remains. His spirit, though, was at rest, or at least I thought it was. I glanced over at Kazuha and managed a smile. "My gracious silence," I whispered.

"Eh?"

"Oh, nothing." I grinned a bit more broadly. She'd read Shakespeare too, but not nearly as much as I had. "Thanks, Kazuha."

She raised an eyebrow. "Hmph. For what, moron? For not bopping you over the head when you fully deserve it?" Then she smiled a bit too. "I'm glad it's over. This was a rough case on you."

Thinking about it, I had to agree. My new abilities had made everything that much harder to stand, but I had to. I think I'm going to be practicing that redirection technique a lot in the near future. My ability isn't going away. If anything, I think it's getting stronger. I wondered if I'd made a mistake, attempting to force Captain Yamamori to see the result of his deeds that way. It'd worked the way I thought it would. Aoko and Kaito hadn't seen Franky until they were practically touching me. My watch and wristband probably interfered with that normally, for which I was glad, but I was pretty sure switching the one off allowed me to transfer what I saw to the Captain. Who well deserved the sight.

"Heiji?"

I glanced at Kazuha, who was gazing pensively out at the sea. "Hmmm?"

"Something's changed, hasn't it? You've changed. Something big."

I laughed, a bit nervously. "Of course, not, moron. I'm still Heiji. Still the same person I have been." Just a bit more so.

She looked up at me and her expression was so kind and gentle it hurt. "It's okay, Heiji. I don't need you to tell me. Just remember. I'm here. Whatever it is, no matter how much it's hurting you. You don't have to tell me. Just let me be here for you."

Swallowing, I turned my eyes from hers, but I couldn't help but let my right hand, the one she'd injured trying to keep me from dying with her, touch hers. "I didn't let you fall, moron," I muttered. "I fully expect you to return the favor."

To be Concluded

Author's Notes:

I couldn't quite get the Captain to do the usual collapse and tearful admission of guilt, but at least he got a good view of the results of his handiwork. He should probably be glad they weren't down in the bilge tank area.

Ke: Heiji and his dad's way of getting along is inspired by my own relationship with my father. It's probably because they're entirely too much alike.

Mystic: I started "Pursuance" last year. The next one will probably take about that long as well, since I'm going to need some help from the Kaito fans to get it right.

Lady_Neria: Thanks!

I'm posting the conclusion tonight It's an epilogue more than anything else, but it should tie up the loose ends.