Part 9

The young murderess cried out as her purse suddenly seemed to explode. It was then that she became more aware of her surroundings. Kid was gone and the police, Heiji and Conan were closing in. Her only escape route was blocked by a Kid Otaku armed with a sign.

They deserved to die, they had to die. I shouldn't have to pay for it. I was doing what was right!

"Get out of my way!" she commanded Christie.

"No way!" Christie barked. "A word of advice, if you're going to do something so bad you don't want your name attached to it, DON'T DO IT! You killed two people and tried to frame my precious Kid. If they ever caught him, he'd be sent away for life, or given the death penalty. The legal system would believe a thief. I love him. Yeah, every girl loves him, but I do to. He means something to us. And I will NOT stand aside so the MURDERER who tried to frame him can escape."

"Then you leave me no choice." The girl pulled a gun from her pocket. "I didn't want to use this in a crowd, in case I hit the wrong person, but if you don't step out of my way right now..."

The only thought that crossed Christie's mind was: Darn.

---

Inspector Nakamori, his men, the teenaged Osaka-jin detective, and the curious little child behind him suddenly rushed towards where Sonoko thought she heard the previous strange noise. She stood, staring, still trying to figure out what to do. She was not the type to sit around and watch everything happen, after all. But what? Sure, she was the second daughter of the great Suzuki family, and she had solved a crime or two in the past---supposedly, anyway---but what did that amount to right now?

"I want to see what happened---" Sonoko commented, but stopped short in her tracks when a wide range of gasps were head.

The girl in white stood, flashing around a gun in front of her. And by the look on her face, she seemed intent...

---

Breaking through the branches and bushes, Heiji peered through and saw the two girls---and one was now pointing a gun at the other. "Uso! By the time we reach there, it'll be too late!" he exclaimed, clenching his teeth.

But Conan already had it covered. He clicked his belt, and a soccer ball popped out. The great force from his shoe kicked it, and it flew towards the girls in a blur, breaking branches and leaves. The gun was knocked out of the girl's hand. "NO!" she shrieked, trying to catch it. But Heiji had run over and picked it up first.

"It's over," he said firmly.

The girl fell on her knees, sobbing loudly. "I'm sorry, Yota! I-I tried! I made those murderers pay, but I...I did it for you! Please forgive me! YOTA!!!..." Her wail filled the silenced air.

Heiji looked at Conan. "Murderers?" he whispered.

"The accident a year ago," Conan replied, "they said the boy was supposedly lured off by his two friends as a joke, but somehow..."

Jodie, who was beside the loud-mouthed inspector, smiled as she viewed the action. As the police took care of locking the murderer up, she patted Conan on the back, cooing, "Good job, Cool Kid!"

Conan jumped. "It---It was a lucky shot," he said with a nervous laugh, looking up at Jodie. How long has she been standing there?

Heiji noticed something on the ground near the girl's purse. He picked it up and realized that it was a card. "Well, looks like Kid was the one who lighted up the truth," he said with a grin, waving it. "Not bad for a thief." He stood up, stretching. "Well, the excitement is over. Even though we haven't caught Kid yet...but he'll turn up soon enough. Time to go home...school tomorrow..." He yawned, apparently exhausted from the case.

"Come on," Kazuha said, pulling Heiji by the arm. "It's very late already. I've had enough tonight."

Conan agreed with a nod, yawning. He hurried up to Ran.

Elizabeth was silent. Nobody seemed to notice she was there. She was still standing by the group of girls, the three Japanese girls and the girl that looked like her. Elizabeth was a very shy person, so she didn't say anything to them, but she did look at them every now and then, and noticed they were all younger than she was, probably still in high school.

She looked towards the woods. It seemed that the person that framed Kid was found. Nakamori-keibu's men started to lead the murderer away.

---

Over here! You're getting closer!

Hakuba was stumbling as he kept following the voice. He examined his surrounding as if he were paranoid, until suddenly, Hakuba tripped over a tree stump. Rubbing his head, he realized the voice had disappeared altogether. "Wh-what happened?" His eyes suddenly lit up.

KID!

---

"Aoko! Have you heard?" Keiko exclaimed excitedly, running up to Aoko. "The real murderer was caught! Kid is safe! And I heard he helped to catch the murderer too! It's great, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but the heists won't stop," Aoko said with a sigh. "Well, if that what Kid wants to do---Hakuba?" she exclaimed in surprise when she saw Hakuba running out in disarray. "What happened to you?"

Hakuba didn't respond. He was panting very hard. He laughed. "Kid, even if you're not the murderer, I won't give up on you! You have my word!" Aoko and Keiko looked at him as if he was crazy as some reporters ran up to Hakuba for an interview.

END

Author's Note: That's all! A sequel will be coming up soon, look forward to it! ;)