File 2:  For Whom the Bell Tolls?

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Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, Morieris.

Now this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.

            -Meditation 17, John Donne   

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            Conan dragged his feet as Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi ran and skipped along ahead of him.

            Why do I have to go to the park again? he thought.  Oh, wait, I know why.  I just had to tell them about this park a couple of weeks back and now we have to go there a couple of times a week.  I could just kick myself.  I'm a detective.  I should have figured out what would happen when I told then about that park.

            "What's with the long face Conan-kun?" chirped Ayumi leaning forward looking directly into Conan's face.

            Conan jumped back startled.  He had not noticed that the Detective Boys had stopped and were looking right at him.

             "You know it'll freeze that way if you keep making it?or that's what mommy keeps telling me?" said Ayumi looking thoughtful.

            "Yeah, Conan-kun, Ayumi's right.  Unless of course you want to walk around like that for the rest of your life," said Genta.

            Mitsuhiko pointed across the bridge on the way to the park, "Look!  The ice cream truck is entering the park.  It'll only be there for about ten minutes, so stop yakking.  Let's go!"

            The Detective Boys turned as one and began a quick trot to cross the bridge quickly and in order to make it to the park in time.

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            Akira Watanabe stood next to the building like he had for the past three days.  He wore the look of a man who had lost all hope for himself and only wanted the anguish and desperation he was feeling to go away.

            Keiko, my dear little Keiko, don't worry daddy is going to make sure that you are going to be okay, Watanabe reflected.  I'll pay for my sins but why does my little Keiko have to pay for them, too? 

            Looking up suddenly, seeing someone only familiar through the photograph he held in his hand.

            Ah!  There he is!  He is so short that I nearly missed him, he thought.

            Watanabe moved quickly from the spot he had occupied every afternoon for the past three days and followed like he was supposed to, almost having to resort to jogging to catch up. 

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            Conan was listening to the Detective Boys chatter on about another possible haunted house they could visit.  The last one they had went to had been a bust. 

            Yeah, I wonder why? thought Conan sarcastically, after all it is only my house.

            As he began to cross the bridge he noted that the river was swollen more than usual due to the recent rains and that it was moving very swiftly.

            I wouldn't want to fall in there.  I'd probably get swept all the way out to sea, he thought with a sardonic grin lighting his youthful face.

            He felt a presence behind him and then heard a voice say, "Excuse me, but do you happen to have the time?"

            Conan stopped and turned around to face a man who looked like he was on the last straw and about to snap. 

            I wonder why he is so badly off? thought Conan.  He looked closer at the man and saw that he had a watch on.  How curious, he has a watch on; perhaps it is broken.

            Putting the cute kid face he said, "I sure do, mister.  But what is wrong with your watch?"

            The man looked down at his wrist as if he had forgotten that he had a watch.  He looked panicked for a second and then said, "It's broken."

            "Okay, mister," said Conan and he looked down at his wrist watch, "its 3:37."

            Conan blinked and looked up as he felt the man step closer to him and saw him bend down.  The man grabbed the front of his shirt with a firm grip.

            "Whaaa?!" said Conan eyes widening in surprise at the action.

            "Forgive me, child, but what I am about to do is nothing personal.  If I don't they will kill her," said Watanabe quietly, lifting Conan on to the railing's edge.

            "Hey!!" yelled Genta, "What are you doing with Conan-kun?"

            The Detective Boys had gone ahead but stopped when they noticed Conan was not following them.

            Mitsuhiko yelled, "Hey!  Leave Conan-kun alone!"

            "Yeah!  What do you think you're doing?" said Ayumi, placing her hands on her hips and putting her two-cents in.

            The man continued, having completely tuned out the world around him heard nothing now that the end of his suffering was near, much less the Detective Boys yelling at him.

            The man, Watanabe, still holding on the front of Conan's shirt, pulled out a pistol from inside his jacket.  He placed the pistol to Conan's chest and fired.

            BANG!!

            Conan's body jerked from the foreign object passing through his left lung a few inches above the heart and exiting out of his back.

            "CONAN-KUN!" yelled the Detective Boys as one and began to run to their friend. 

            Before anyone could react, and paying no heed to his fingers burnt by how close they had been to the gunshot, Watanabe threw Conan over the bridge into the rain swollen river.  He did not even pause to watch Conan's body be swept rapidly downstream before he sprinted away, dropping the pistol in the process.

            He made it not more than a few yards from where he had shot Conan before another shot rang out.  The  shot was the sound of a high powered rifle going off at a distance.

            CRACK!!

            Akira Watanabe's head, immediately following the sound, showered an eruption of blood from the back of his skull as the bullet went through his head.  His body fell to the ground with a dull thud.  Blood began pooling around his head though in a little while it stopped because the heart was no longer pumping blood through the body.

            Screaming and yelling were occurring all around.  The police arrived shortly to the gruesome scene.  They were baffled as to what happened.  One level headed person told what he had witnessed.

            "Officer, I don't know if that boy is still alive but you need to look for him," he said.  "Think of his family."

            A few of the traffic officers, the first police on the scene, were trying to comfort the young protégés of Conan.  But to no avail.  The Detective Boys were crying and wanting to know about Conan. 

            Searchers were immediately sent along the river banks looking for Conan and patrol units further down the river were advised to look for him in hopes they might see him further downstream.  However, the search was not proceeding well because the swollen river was hampering search efforts.

            One pessimistic officer told Inspector Megure, who also had come to assist in the search, that, "I don't think we are going to find that kid dead or alive, Sir"

            Megure leveled a glare at the officer.  "We are going to keep searching.  An absence does not mean he's dead." 

            The other officer shook his head as Megure turned away.  I almost wish I could blind myself to what has happened, he thought.  I may have only met the kid in passing but I still like him.

            Days of searching for Conan's body proved fruitless.

            Conan's body could not be found. 

            He was gone.

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            Unfortunately, Watanabe-san belongs to me.  Poor guy, I feel somewhat sorry for him.

Posted:  5-26-04