Part 7

Nakamori-keibu was furious when he got the message that the Kid in the air was a dummy. "IDIOTS!" he bellowed as he stormed back to the fountain. "I'M DEALING WITH IDIOTS!"

Aoko was watching him with narrowed eyes, feeling that her father was embarrassing her that way. Then she realized that Kaito had disappeared. "Kaito?! Kaito, where are you?" she called, looking around.

---

Hmm...the size of the body looks roughly the same as the other. I wonder. "Excuse me, do you know who Mitsui Hirota is?" he asked the girl, referring to the first victim.

"Mitsui Hirota? He's on the track team with Akira," the girl replied in surprise.

"Really? Was there any odd thing in the past that involved both of them?" Heiji asked.

"Well...there was something that happened a year ago. I heard that a runner died in a car accident. I think his name was Yota, who used to be Akira's mate too. I don't really know how it happened, and I only started dating Akira two months ago."

Then it must have something to do with that, Heiji thought. Oh, come on, this is Tokyo, I don't really know what's happening here. Where's Kudo when I need him?

---

Hakuba impatiently clicked his pocket watch open, and close. Open, and close. He had told them that the Kid floating in the air was a fake, but since Nakamori was apparently on a higher rank, they listened, instead, to him.

Someone was trying to frame Kid. He knew that much. He knew he should not jump to conclusion (which he was, though he knew he had to be right), but how many heists has it been already? Why start murdering NOW?

He knew he had to be wrong. Kaitou never killed...

---

Kaito was panting already after running a long way. He finally halted, catching his breath. Where did he go? This is not working!

With amazing jumping skill, he jumped onto a branch in the tree and stayed until the branch stopped wobbling. There, I can see better now, he thought in satisfaction. Eh? He could see Conan running in the distance. He came too! Oh yeah, maybe if I stick with him, I'll find the criminal easier. But he runs slow, he thought with narrowed eyes as he started to hop from tree to tree.

Then he came upon a white cloth hanging on the branch. He stopped and picked it up. Was here, and now not anymore. He looked up to the direction where Conan was coming from. Hmm, I'll leave you a clue then, he thought with a smile as he left the cloth on the branch and jumped down. He ran some more until he arrived at the crowd again. Right, now what should I do? he wondered. Become Kid to lure the criminal? No, I'll endanger myself instead. Go home? No, I have to find out who the real murderer is...

In the forest, Conan breathed heavily. The minus side to having a child's body again: you could not run as far or as quickly. He slowed down to a halt beside a tree, leaning against it with a hand to catch his breath.

Looks like someone was here recently, he thought, idly examining his surroundings. After catching his breath, he leaped up to the nearest tree branch, swinging himself up and barely catching his balance before he fell. His mind was on the case rather than his safety.

His eyes stood transfixed on the white cloth. Someone was here. He glanced around, trying to look for more clues, but he found nothing. He examined the only clue left. The cloth was torn, most likely came from an article of clothing, but the torn edges did not correspond with where it current was, meaning---Conan glanced around again. Someone moved it.

He lifted the white cloth and examined it more closely. While it was obvious it was torn from someone's cape, it was not the silk that many people believed the Kid wore. Feels more like cotton. Whoever was running around in this must be getting pretty hot by now.

After a double check of the scenery (noting the marks on the branch nearer to the trunk of the tree), Conan leaped down with what little evidence there was in hand. Better get back to Hattori. Wonder if he found out anything new. He started to head back.

---

"Kaito, you idiot! Where are you?!" Aoko shouted, walking mostly in big circles, craning her neck to see in the crowd. "KAITO!"

Kaito heard Aoko calling in the distance. Darn, I don't have time to deal with her. Better hurry--- "AIK!" He ran into someone immediately after he turned, and both of them fell over. It felt more painful to Kaito, considering how many he had fallen that day.

"GOMEN NASAI!" he heard a girl's voice exclaiming. He looked up to see the girl getting up, brushing herself. It was odd---she was wearing a white shirt and cream-colored pants that were slightly dirty, but a little too bright for the night.

Kaito scrambled up quickly. "Er, are you okay?" he asked. The girl nodded lightly, her head lowered. But Kaito thought she had a sad look on her face before she walked off without another word.

---

Meanwhile, Heiji was waiting for Conan. Where did Kudo go? he thought in frustration. Leaving me here to do the body examination...it's done anyway, and I even got some good clues! But now, the problem is on the whereabouts of the weapon used...

"Any leads?" Conan stood near the body, right across from where Heiji was. His eyes quickly ran over it, examining it himself.

Heiji looked up. "There you are. Well, the murders connected somehow. Both victims were on the track team in high school, and a year ago, one of their mates died in a car accident. I believe there's a connection with it, but the problems with solving this case are, we can't find the weapon and there're like millions of people out there."

"Connected?" Conan idly wondered what in the world two track team members had to do with Kaitou Kid's heist---but clues were clues. "I see...and while we're here..." He brought out the white cloth he picked up earlier, handing it over to Heiji. "What do you think of this?"

Heiji took the cloth and examined it. "Hmm, looks like what Kid wears on the outside, only dirtier. But it's still impossible that Kid is the murderer," he said. "You found this in the forest?"

Conan nodded. "It was on a high branch. But someone, I'm guessing the framed person himself, moved it. As for the weapon, it's probably still on the person. The weapon found at the first crime scene was a knife, right? Is it still there?"

"It's at that stupid Inspector's," Heiji replied with a sigh. "But I don't see anything odd about it. Er, sumimasen," he called to the girl who was still standing not far from them. "Can you tell us more about the accident a year ago, if possible? We need every little detail of it."

The girl looked thoughtful. "Well, I heard that it somehow involved Akira and Mitsui, but I don't know how. Some students accused them, and there was also this one girl who broke down because Yota was her boyfriend, but I don't know what happened after that."

"Just like that?" Heiji scratched his head in frustration. "Okay, so it did involve the two victims..."