Chapter III: Gun and Blade, Page Two

Tae was still, settled on the couch as she stared at the television screen. She watched as Inspector Meguire and her father Richard Moore examine the body for evidence. The blood on the clothes were still fresh, but the wounds didn't spill any. The police presumed the victim was massacred within 30 minutes ago. Those viewing the scene and airing it were unsteadily letting the camera wave around lightly, as if the cameraman was nervous from sighting the corpse. When they resumed the usual news, Tae lunged forth and tackled the television, her hands on the screen, with a burst of, "NO!"

Tae had to tell Conan, and quick. If they didn't do anything...Before she had a split second to react, Conan opened the door from the miniature library with a curious expression. "What is it, Rachel?"

"Jimmy! There's been a murder!"

"Say what?!"

Once Tae explained the location of the murder scene, Conan furiously soun the doorknob and kicked it open, pouncing away onto his skateboard. Tae ran after him at a slightly slower pace, hopping onto the rear. Conan stepped onto the button activating the skateboard and they raced off in a flash. Tae's hair whipped behind her with her clothes flowing wildly while the winds stung Conan more than his companion.

Coming upon the apartment where the murder took place, Conan kicked the skateboard, flying off. Tae followed before the skateboard flipped on her. Sweat streamed down Conan's face and Tae leaned over a bit to notice. He didn't even make an attempt to wipe it away. Was this how serious he really was during crime occurances?

They slammed the door open and Tae pulled Conan upstairs to where the murder was said to be. Before they could bypass the 4th floor, two familiar voices floated down the corridors. "Moore, you don't have a single clue, do ya?"

"No..."

There was then a heaved sigh of annoyance.

"Moore, you'd best not touch anything...we're dealing with two of the most dangerous criminals here. They both attempt slaughter on each other and can harm a lot of innocent lives. We need to subdue them quickly."

"Inspector Meguire!"

It was a new voice.

"No whereabouts of the second corpse yet."

"Hmph. Then it must be a fib. That rumor about a second bloodcurling shriek...and a gunshot at the same time....bah."

Through all this, the young couple approached the room. Peering around the corner, Conan and Tae poked their heads in the room, watching the police, Inspector Meguire, and Richard. As the door slowly opened, a loud creak echoed. It was the door.

"You two again?!" Richard yelled in surprise. "Y-you shouldn't be here!"

"Conan? Who's the new girl?" Meguire asked with curiousity. He knew Conan had seen such scenes before and didn't mind the kid lingering. However he did sometimes mess with evidence, where Richard would whack him or throw him out...

"Tae Niu. She's..."

"A cousin of one of Conan's distant friends!" Tae interrupted with urgency. The inspector nodded, then turned his attention back to the corpse. There was no murder weapon, and there was no trace of any clues. Some blood did trail, but it was in every direction and stopped only a few inches from the doorway. Conan peered over is shoulder at Tae, who merely shrugged with an indistinct "I don't know".

Conan strolled up from behind one of the cops, who was fingering a crate that had fallen apart from a gun blast. Apparently, it only shattered into remnants of wood during the bloody battle. Conan didn't understand why two men had such a grudge against each other--and he found it quite odd that one had a dagger, the other a gun. Why different weapons? He walked over to the corpse that lay in his own puddle of blood. Conan couldn't bear the stench in the room, oddly enough. What was the smell? He couldn't identify. Tae was seen with her hands over her mouth and the others seemed to be holding her breaths. Conan grasped Tae's left arm and exited the room in a rush.

Once three hallways down, Tae removed her hands from her nose and mouth with a burst of air. "God, what was in there? Sure didn't smell like the corpse!" Conan nodded in agreement with a grim expression.

"There's got to be something, though..." Something then occured to him. He remembered laying eyes on something clear yet shining in the light. Conan turned his head. Wasn't it....glass? He ran towards the room again, sweat still streaming down his face. Tae, concerned for her partner, ran after him. "Conan, stop running around! What's got you so worked up?"

"I'll explain later. Follow me!"

In the room where they previously had entered, the police continued their investigation. They were talking to several people who lived in the rooms nearby the one where the victim used to live. Inspector Meguire was currently questioning a young lady with black hair that was left down. She turned her head to see Conan and Tae. "Oh my! Inspector, are these two children allowed here?"

"Well, the boy is fine. He's seen these kinds of stuff all the time. The girl, however, I'm not sure of, but that's the boy's responsibilty."

Conan sighed, glad to be able to linger amongst the room. He gestured to Tae, then strolled to the other walls of the room. He was right--there was glass there alright. Conan looked up. The window was blocked by crates, and the glass was hidden from view from even more crates. This wasn't a warehouse, though!

Warehouse...now that he had thought of the very word, an old warehouse still stood near this apartment. It was abandoned for two years, rumored to conceal a ghastly demon within. Legend say that a deceased spirit hung in the air of the warehouse, and a pair of boys dared to enter. The last thing that soared through the air was their screams.

Two cops, noticing Tae and Conan nearby the shattered glass, called out to Inspector Meguire. Reporting the glass, Inspector Meguire concluded the two had escaped through the window. Richard agreed, but suddenly remembering Conan, whacked him across the head. "Quit messing around, kid!" Conan grasped his hair in pain. Every time Richard hit him, it became even more of a throbbing bruise.

"DAD!!" Tae exclaimed without thinking. Richard looked about wildly, thinking he had just heard Rachel.

"Huh, wha?" he sputtered in confusion. Tae slapped her hands over her mouth, wide-eyed. Richard spun around, looking for the verified location of his daughter. When he was reassured that Rachel was supposedly not present at the moment, he sighed in exasperation and turned to a bystander with more questions. Conan shot Tae an accusing look while she nervously laughed and sweated.

Conan examined the crates again. Was it their way of communication? Through actual items instead of notes, e-mail, or anything written? Conan turned his head to sight Tae, who still had her hands clamped over her mouth. I could head over to the rumored demon-cursed warehouse. But if I did, Rachel would surely follow when she sees me. If she does, I might put her in danger! I can't have that. What do I do? Stand arouunnd all day?

"Inspector, Detective Moore, may I go now? I mean, I have serious business to attend to!" spoke out a young man in a suit--one of the latest fashions throughout Japan. He didn't seem suspicious. No one had anything to do with the rivals, anyway. Did they?

The investigation continued for hours. Conan and Tae had accidentally fell asleep halfway through the case, Conan forgetting to mention the oddity of the crates being in the room. After a full six hours of inspecting the building and room, they exhaustedly decided to turn in for the day. Before they left, Richard unearthed Conan's and Tae's place of concealment--a crate, obviously. He grabbed Conan by the collar and dropped him on the floor. "OW!"

Tae's eyes fluttered open from Conan's yelp of pain. She abruptly sat up, accidentally tilting the crate over, falling on top of Conan. "Ow. Today is NOT 'Torture the Kid' day already, is it?"

Conan's eyes traveled over to the police force leaving. Wait! They shouldn't go yet! "Hey, I wonder why there are boxes in a room that's not a storage closet and is supposed to be a room for someone to live in?" Inspector paused before he even exited, and Richard peered closer at the crates.

"Hey, you're right..." A thought occured to him at the same moment. Hey...last time I mistook Conan for a genius...but he's doing it again! Maybe he really is a genius... Mistakingly, his eyes traveled over to Conan, an odd expression on his face.

I remember that look...Conan thought to himself. Purposely, Conan peeked inside one of the crates. As he did, the boc tilted and made the complete stack fall to the ground. "Oops."

No. He's no genius. Just an annoying twerp. "IDIOT!" Richard yelled, whacking him across the head again. Tae found this a not very fair situation--she and Conan couldn't do anything now they were kids! Especially her, she wasn't a teenager anymore and couldn't help Conan--or should she say Jimmy? Her father's been abusing him since the start of time when he was Conan...

"Yeah, why would crates even be here? It would endanger the two while they were fighting. Anyway, these all look like the old, creaky ones back at that one warehouse that everyone's afraid of," the Inspector stated as he examined one of the crates Conan knocked to the floor. "Wait, the warehouse! Maybe their next fight starts there."

"But what time would they go there?" Richard asked him in disbelief.

"Several sound-witnesses say that they always start a commotion around midnight," he answered flatly. "So, Co--" He hesitated, noticing Conan's lack of presence. He wasn't in the room anymore.

"Now where'd that pest go?" Richard mumbled.