Disclaimer: (insert generic 'I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed characters' disclaimer with a witty side remark irking the reader's sense of humor)

Also, since I am so cool, I will recommend a song every chapter that I think you all should listen to! I'll put one from a different band every chapter.

Chapter 1 Recommended Song: Pink Floyd - The Trial

Anyway, enjoy the story ;)

Chapter 1: The Exposition

"Dad, Conan, breakfast is ready!" Ran yelled from the kitchen into the air, projecting her voice as to reach Conan's and Kogoro's rooms.

Conan arose sleepily from his bed in the guest room, which was now permanently his since he lived with the Mouri's. Rubbing his eyes, he slipped out from under the covers and, while yawning, jumped down from the bed onto the floor. He began to slowly get dressed when he heard Ran's voice throughout his bedroom.

His sleepy state was overwhelmed with hunger, and he immediately became energized, hopping into his shorts. He ran out the door and made his way to the kitchen, sniffing the bacon and pancakes aroma into his nostrils, his mouth watering.

Ran's cooking was always good, and he looked forward to the wake-up from her voice, summoning him and Kogoro for breakfast. Kogoro was not at the breakfast table, oddly, since he would always beat Conan to get the 'freshest portion', or so he claimed.

"Where's your dad?" Conan asked Ran as he sat down, who was facing the opposite way cooking eggs.

"I don't know...I'll go check in his room. He probably didn't hear me." She headed towards his room and looked back, "Oh, and Conan, make sure my eggs don't burn!" Conan replied with a nod and a muffled 'okay' through his stuffed mouth.

"Dad?" Ran said, knocking on his door. When there was no reply, she cautiously opened the door and slowly peeked in. His sheets were messy and his pillow was on the floor. Clothes were out of their drawers and his robe and slippers were hastily tossed in the middle of the room. Rachel feared for the worst and panicked, running back into the kitchen.

"Conan! Dad's gone!" she screamed, and was appalled to see him look at here with a smile. He simply pointed over to the television, which he had apparently just turned on, since Ran had not turned it on.

Much to Ran's surprise, Kogoro was being announced on the news. "Nice of him to tell me..." she sighed now that her fear had been erased, and her sense of humor snuck back into her mind. "Why would they want Dad on T.V.?"

"Looks like an interview." Conan said, signaling with his hand for Ran to come over and watch. She turned the stove off to let the eggs cool, and then hurried over to the television.

"We have a special guest today to comment on the recent tragic event. Kogoro Mouri," the news reporter began to ask the infamous detective, who foolishly bounded in front of the camera holding a microphone. A cheap smile was plastered onto his face, and his inexperience showed as he stared directly into the camera.

"What do you have to say about the van that exploded early this morning?" the reporter finished the question, waiting for Kogoro's answer.

"Well, if you'll look at the tire tracks on the street, you can clearly see that the car swerved into that parked Mitsubishi." Kogoro started, still staring into the camera although he was citing images that were behind him. "We know that the van had exploded because of the testimonies from some witnesses that heard and saw the results of the explosion. Knowing this, we have to realize that something flammable had to be loose that might have caught aflame and eventually have caused an explosion.

"This is where it gets tough. You can come up with many theories, but there seems to be no solid proof. There was no information on the van or no visual description. The features of the van can only be deduced from the scattered debris.

"Maybe a gas leak or maybe the van was carrying cargo that would explode on hard contact. Nobody can be sure. I mean, there were no companies that had sent out a van of this kind, not even a shipping company that was delivering to a town company. It's strange indeed. All that we know is that the van was armored and black."

"Hmm...that was an excellent summary Detective Mouri. I knew I wouldn't regret getting you for the show. Let's look at some of the debris that still lies on the street. The police department and the special investigators have not arrived yet, so this is an exclusive chance at getting a view of the original debris." The reported motioned for the camera to come over and look at the potential evidence.

"Now make sure not to touch anything," Kogoro said to the reporter and the news crew, the first time he sounded professional. He put on a pair of white gloves and picked up a piece of charred black metal. "Here we have a piece of the armored van." The detective said, narrating his own investigation.

"Ah, and over here," he said carefully moving over to a piece of glass, "we have what seems to be a window from the van." He turned it from one side to the other, observing the glass.

Conan also observed the piece of glass carefully, and noticed a big detail that no one else caught. "Hey Ran, do you see that small hole in the middle of the window?"

"What? The window?"

"Oh, let me explain. The piece of glass is obviously the side window. You can tell it's from the passenger side by the curvature at the top of the glass."

"That's very good of you to notice something like that, Conan. But how can you tell it's a side window in the first place?"

"Well, do you see at the bottom of the pane of glass there is a thin line of dirt buildup?"

"Yes, I see it. And that must be because of the place of the window where it rests in the door!"

"Exactly." Conan said, proud that Ran was able to figure that part out. "Now, about the hole. It is a very neat-cut little hole and I can see that it wasn't made by using a sharp blade because of the tiny cracks around the hole."

Ran looked closer at the television and saw the hole. She also observed the cracks Conan was talking about, which circled the small hole, making the hole and the cracks look like the sun and its rays.

"Then where did this hole come from?"

"That's easy...a bullet." Ran was taken aback by Conan's abrupt statement and she gaped at him, looking for further explanation. Conan continued, "It seems that this mysterious explosion might turn out to be more than just an accident.. What I still can't figure out about this whole ordeal is how the window remained intact through the explosion. Even if the explosion didn't destroy the window and sent it soaring, the window would still have broken on the ground or a wall. Looks like I'll have to think about this more."

Conan was surprised when Ran giggled after he was done speaking. "You put too much pressure on yourself for such a young boy. Now don't worry about it...let's clean up."

Conan heartily agreed and he thought about what she said, knowing that he was not a young boy at all.

Kogoro had just finished his ridiculous talk about the glass on how it fell from one of the surrounding buildings because of the blast, and, when asked how the glass was still intact, mentioned about the angle of the fall and how everything was perfect enough so that it wouldn't break. Sometimes Conan wanted to just blurt out what he thought, and it was torturing that he had to keep it inside.

Kogoro was just so ridiculous sighed and grabbed a sponge, soaped it, and began to wash the pots, pans, and dishes from breakfast. Ran wrapped up her father's dish and put it in the fridge, knowing that would be the first thing on her father's mind.

Detective Mouri, the famous detective known all around Tokyo, opened the door to his house to see Ran and Conan sitting in the living room, Ran watching the television and Conan hovering over his pad, his pencil avidly writing things onto the paper.

'That boy,' Kogoro thought to himself in disgust, 'he's always up to something. Why doesn't he act like a normal kid and play hide and seek or something?'

He hung up his coat on the hanger and wiped his feet on the doormat, then took off his shoes. He walked into the living room to receive a cold gaze from Ran and barely a glance from Conan, who was deep in concentration.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going? You had me panicking for a bit this morning!" Ran yelled to her father, not even saying a polite greeting first.

"I didn't want to wake you up, and plus, I wanted my new television fame to be a surprise to you guys!" Kogoro explained stupidly, his reasons still not making up for how he made Ran feel in the morning.

"Ugh, sometimes you're just so ridiculous," Ran said, and she changed the channel and readjusted the pillow behind her neck, getting ready for her show.

"So, uh, got any food for me? I didn't have a bite to eat all day, ya know. I'm starving!" Detective Mouri exclaimed despite getting on Ran's nerves.

"I wrapped up your breakfast. You can heat it up and eat it even though it's one o'clock already." She said, not looking up from the T.V.

Conan smiled and looked at Ran. "Hey, you were right! Food was the first thing on his mind!" He smirked and looked at Kogoro, knowing that he had bothered him.

"Why you!" Kogoro threw the wooden stirring spoon at Conan, hitting him in the head. Conan quickly recovered and continued jotting in his pad.

Kogoro walked over and picked up the wooden spoon, throwing it into the sink. The beeping of the microwave signaled that his food was ready, and the familiar smell made Conan hungry again.

"Hey Ran, when are we having lunch?"

"Ya hungry? I'll make some grilled cheese for the three of us." She turned off the T.V. and went into the kitchen and started to cook.

Meanwhile, Conan still sat at the table in the living room, writing and drawing about the morning's van explosion, putting all of the possibilities of the van's origin, its purpose, and why it had exploded. The window was an especially confusing variable in the equation, and he was pondering over the subject throughout the entire day, his serious face often worrying Ran.

That night, though, when they had all retired to their respective bedrooms, Conan decided where he would be spending his time tomorrow morning; the van explosion site.