File 4: Talk, Conjecture and Discovery
Talk doesn't cook rice.
-Chinese proverb
Our deeds are like stones cast into the pool of time; though they themselves may disappear, their ripples extend to eternity.
-Author unknown
Takagi walked into the police break room, visibly dragging his feet.
Sato grunted up from her coffee all blurry-eyed with what could be a construed as a greeting when he sat down with his extra black coffee.
Sitting for a few minutes sipping his coffee, Takagi thought about the turn of events a couple of days ago. Pausing for about half a minute, he stared into his coffee cup, unaware of his surroundings as his mind put together the pieces of a puzzle that had been bothering him.
Finally he spoke, "I think it was a message," said Takagi, making Sato jump slightly at the unexpected sound of his voice.
"What?" said Sato giving Takagi a rather blank and bleary-eyed look over a cup of coffee in the break room.
Takagi turned in his seat and looked straight at Sato and said, "I think the?the? murder of Conan-kun was a message to Mouri-san." He looked down sadly when he said Conan's name.
After a long and exhausting evening shift, Sato's brain took a little while to catch up to what he said.
"What do you mean by a 'message'?" snapped Sato. But just as she said that she realized what Takagi was saying. His comment had made the pieces fall into place for her. She had known that she was not the only one on the force severely bothered by what happened.
"Well," said Takagi, taking a breath to prepare, "the Detective Boys said that the man who killed Conan had started following them right before they got to the bridge. What if he had been waiting for them to arrive? After all, they do take that bridge a lot when they go to that park. It is something that can be predicted. Another important point is that witnesses say that they had seen a man a lot like him hanging around the bridge for a couple of days. All these things speak of it being premeditated."
Takagi paused for a moment. Explaining everything that had been running around in his head for a couple of days and putting it into a coherent fashion was tiring. But he had to tell someone, and Sato was his first choice. Not just because they had been partners but because he knew she would listen and understand what he was trying to say even if he couldn't say it correctly.
His instincts were going crazy telling him that this murder was a message to stay out of...whoever's business it was the Mouri-san was getting to close to.
Getting back to his deductions he continued, "And then, the murderer. Someone made extra sure he would not speak to anyone after he did it. Even to the point of shooting him in broad daylight only yards from Conan-kun's murder. Genta-kun said he heard the man say to Conan-kun something like 'nothing personal kid but I have to do this or else they'll kill her.' Genta-kun was probably paraphrasing...but still...the context of that line indicates blackmail or something along those lines."
He stopped talking for a moment; the next comment was spoken more for himself in contemplation than for Sato. "Desperate parents are known to do anything to free a family member, particularly, a child if they are being held under the threat that they will kill the family member if they don't do what they are told."
"That is an interesting theory that supports the evidence we have found, so far," said Shiratori startling both Sato and Takagi. Both had been so into the explanation that they had not noticed Shiratori or the other members of the force come into the break room.
"It agrees with evidence we've located at Watanabe-san's house. Among those items included a journal, which he wrote everything down in," continued Shiratori.
Inspector Megure, who had walked in not long after Takagi began talking to Sato, sat down at the end of the table with a cup of coffee in one hand, "That is true and the gunman who shot Watanabe-san was careless and left some evidence behind. But what I think would be worse was if he didn't care about leaving evidence behind. He dropped a box of pills. Or we at least assume that it was him because the case the pills are in excellent shape despite the recent weather."
Megure paused for a few moments, "I don't know how they'll help with our case but we should have them tested. Unfortunately, the national testing lab will take months to get around to testing them. I have phoned ahead to Professor Agasa. He has assured me that he can do the testing and have it done within the week."
Megure stood up and looked at all of the officers with a sad look in his eye. "This case is very personal to all of us, ladies and gentlemen. Let us not fail Conan-kun and find the person or group responsible," then the impromptu meeting in the Beika police break room ended. Megure went off to deliver the pills to Agasa and the rest of the officers dispersed, each having their own task to complete, all hoping to catch the young and bright boy's true hit man.
Takagi was at his desk thinking, again, about everything. A sad realization hit him. He never would have the assistance of the bright boy again. He would never be able to be around the boy that disarmed a bomb with a cocky grin. He would never get to solve the mystery of Conan's enigmatic words, 'I'll tell you in the afterlife'. Takagi sat, staring at some reports, looking at them as they became blurry in his vision.
Later, no one commented on the occasional smudges on the reports. Takagi's reports were not the only ones like that. Everyone who had known Conan was feeling his death. The impromptu meeting had brought forth the personal feelings of the members. It gave them all renewed vigor in the investigation.
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Agasa sat at his lab desk looking at one of the pills under a microscope as a thin section. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. He had been working on the testing for the past couple of hours and was relieved that Ai would be taking over soon.
Though, switching tasks won't be easy, Agasa thought, but it has been said a change is as good as a rest.
A buzzing sound informed him that the chemical analysis of another one of the pills was done.
Too many more pills to test, Agasa thought with a growing headache. Is it too much to hope that Ai-kun will finish testing them all?
"Professor?" he heard, "I believe it is time we switch."
Haibara walked over to the table to see the tests he had run so far.
"Ah, yes, Ai-kun, I was just thinking that myself," replied the professor.
Turing his head to face Haibara he said, "How are things upst?" his voice trailing off as he got a good look at Haibara.
She was trembling and gripping one of the printouts tightly enough to crinkle the paper to the point that a new printout would have to be made.
"Ai-kun? Ai-kun? Are you alright?" asked Agasa kneeling down on one knee in front of her.
"Pro, Pro, Pro," she tried saying.
Then clearing he throat she looked up at the professor, her normally controlled face covered with shock and hope.
"Professor," she said with a voice strung high with emotion, "this is the Apotoxin."
Not entirely happy with this file but I had to write it. I may come back and rewrite it sometime.
Posted: 6-9-04 (in the evening)
