File 3: Listening
Tough times never last, but tough people do!
-Robert Schuller
I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think its hell.
-Harry S. Truman
Ran gave another heaving sob as her father held his only child close trying to provide comfort. But he was having difficultly himself. He had grown rather attached to the little brat. And to have him die, no, be murdered in such a fashion was almost unfathomable.
"I'm sorry," said Megure sadly, "but witnesses say that it looked like he had be shot very close to the heart if not actually shot there. And with him being thrown in the river with that kind of wound?"
Megure could almost feel his heart breaking as he watched Ran sob. He could see even her father was suffering. Megure, in the time he had known Conan, had really begun to think of him as an extension of the police, for Conan and the Detective Boys were so good at ferreting out trouble and assisting in the capture of criminals. And now, the voice of reason for their little group was gone. Killed by a man and no one knew why.
"An intensive search has been going for his bod-," Megure would have continued but Mouri had waved off the information for the moment.
It's just too much, thought Kogoro, please don't continue with Ran around. It'll only make her sorrow and grief worse.
Megure tried to put a comforting hand on Ran's shoulder but the moment he touched her shoulder she bolted up out of hr father's comforting embrace and out of her seat and ran out of the room, her body shaking from sobbing so hard.
Kogoro looked like he was going to follow her but he could not seem to stand up. He turned to Megure and though he was obviously struggling with many internal demons he said, "I'm sorry for interrupting you earlier. Continue, please, Inspector Megure."
Megure had to backtrack to remember what he had been telling Mouri-san. It was always easier for him to break bad news on the first go with a family. And this one was so much more difficult because of his close ties with them.
"Uh, where was I?" he asked himself because he had lost track of his line of thought. "Ah! I remember, we are still searching for Conan-kun's body," he saw Mouri-san wince at that, "and we are also searching for the person, probably a man, who sniped the Watanabe-san."
"Who?" asked Kogoro.
"You don't know?" asked Megure a little surprised.
Becoming exasperated, Kogoro replied, "I wouldn't ask if I knew who you, or what, you are talking about."
"Uh, Watanabe-san," said Megure taking a deep breath, "is the man who shot Conan-kun."
"Whaaaaat?! He was shot, too?" exclaimed Kogoro actually jumping out of his seat in surprise.
"Yes, he was shot with some sort of high powered rifle. The shooter of Watanabe was sloppy though; we found some things he left behind. Either that or he was unafraid of us finding anything of importance."
"Hmmmmm," hummed Kogoro contemplating the whole situation. Shock at all the events snapped him out of his shock over Conan's death.
"I sorry Mouri-kun," Megure said interrupting Kogoro's thought, "But I must go and tell Professor Agasa. I believe he is the one I must inform if we are to contact the Edogawa's and tell them what happened," Megure bowed apologetically.
"Ah, do not feel bad," Kogoro replied, "ah, thank you for coming and telling us yourself."
Kogoro had noticed that Megure was looking unhappy at being the bearer of bad news. He also noticed that Megure seemed to hold a small, deeply buried hope that Conan might actually be found, for not once had Megure used the word dead, despite the way he had delivered the bad news.
Kogoro flopped back down onto the chair he had been sitting on earlier.
"Mouri-kun," said Megure breaking the silence that had followed him to the door of the agency and apartment.
"Yeah?"
"If you like, you can the files in a couple of weeks when they have all been organized," offered Megure.
Kogoro looked a little surprised at the offer. He looked at Megure and saw the kindness of someone wanting to help. He nodded his acceptance.
Megure let himself out down the stairs of the agency and Kogoro got up to go and try to offer comfort to Ran.
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Ran lay on her bed sobbing feeling like a piece of her soul had been ripped out of her body.
Please, God, she prayed, please let all those times I've been shown that Conan is not Shinichi be true. If Conan is Shinichi, I've lost Shinichi. I've lost both!
If they are different then I have lost Conan but Shinichi can return. I can't bear losing both of them forever. GOD! she cried out with all her heart, please don't let that happen! Please!
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knock knock
Megure was not surprised at all to see a frazzled Professor Agasa answer the door. And he felt a twinge in his heart at the bad news he was going to have to deliver the eccentric genius that made more things that did not work than did. This man was a relative of Conan-kun and obviously close to him judging by how much time Conan-kun spent at the Professor's.
"May I come in, Professor?" asked Megure.
"Ah, yes, though this isn't the best time," Agasa said.
Megure made the tale short. The professor reacted with the predictable shock. Though he did not seem too sad. Megure was certain the sadness would come after the shock wore off some. Different people reacted differently to the same situation.
"Thank you for telling me," Agasa said sadly, "I'll try to contact Conan-kun's parents immediately. They can be difficult to locate. They wanted a more stable lifestyle for Conan-kun, that's why he was placed with me, originally." After pausing for a moment he switched topics, "And I'll pull Ai-kun aside and try to break the news to her gently."
"Again, I am sorry, I know you two were related," said Megure as Agasa escorted him to the front door and let the Inspector out.
Haibara came from around the corner. She looked shaken but like she had calmed down, a little.
"They are coming after us," she said with rising panic in her voice.
Agasa knelt down in from of Haibara and put a hand on each shoulder.
"You have told me many times what their modus operandi is. This situation strikes me being different than if they were targeting us specifically," he said trying to calm her.
"You may be correct," Haibara said with her voice growing louder, "but I am still going to take precautions."
"Shhh," hushed Agasa, "we mustn't make to much noise."
Haibara looked a little upset that she had disturbed the quite of the house.
"Do you need anymore help?" she asked.
"Ah, no but thank you for asking," Agasa said gathering some more supplies and went upstairs while Haibara went downstairs to continue her research, as always.
Say hi to me this weekend if you are going to be at A-kon. I'll be dressed up as Kaitou Kid. (Author looks a little embarrassed.) I may even drop a few hints about the upcoming chapters. Fact is I can't shut up about my story. So, you will find stuff out.
It's in my profile but I'll sum it up here, too. For every person that tells me to hurry up with the next chapter I will wait an extra day to post. Sounds harsh? Well, I hate being told to hurry up. It's rude. So, don't do it.
Stupid &%#$%&$ ff.net! It won't let me do certain things. Like do mutiple periods or astericks.
Posted: 6-2-04
