A/N: The next chapter is here! Yay! Thank you all the reviews, they made my day whilst cleaning my room. XD The responses are on the bottom this time. I let you straight into the story. It's still only in the third person PoV.

Chapter 24.

"Another kind of paperplane?" Sonoko asked. "One with different markings?"

"Yes. They reported on the news that around 100 paper planes were scattered and collected in the metropolitan area yesterday morning and the day before it." Okiya explained.

"Thus it's more than likely that today there are new planes too." Tsukiko nodded.

"And if the messages drawn on the planes yesterday and the day before are different, then maybe we can narrow down the number of places where the guy sending these SOS messages could be." The man continued. "I wish I had watched the airplanes more closely when I first was the news but even I thought it was just a prank."

"Don't beat yourself over it, niisan. Maybe it was meant to look like a prank. I mean… Why would someone use such an elaborate and complicated code to ask help? The paperplanes are bound to attract attention anyways, why didn't he write 'HELP' to them?" Tsukiko reasoned on his right, making him think about it too.

"…By the way, when was this paper airplane found in your garden?" Subaru asked instead of continuing his other train of thought Tsukiko had given him.

"We found it the day before yesterday." Sonoko replied. "But can you first tell me why does this paper plane have to be an SOS?"

The answer came straight away, like Subaru had been waiting for the question. "The markings drawn on its body. See, the sizes of the circles on the front and back are almost the same." The paper plane was twirled around. "The three bars are three times larger and the circles."

"Not to mention that the space between every two circles is about the size of one circle." Tsukiko pointed out when her 'brother' wrapped the plane open.

"R-Right! It seems to be some kind of code." Sonoko admitted as she got better look on the markings.

"This is Morse code, which is often used as a means of communication. The circle represents the 'dot' while the bar represents the 'dash'." Okiya told them all except Ran seemed to be paying more attention on the explanation she got from Shinichi.

"Morse code… You mean the code that appears in old movies?" Sonoko asked.

"Yes, although usually they write the dashes horizontally like this, but maybe this is a kind of message in which the three dots and bars are separated and linked vertically. In morse code, three dots is 'S' and three dashes is 'O'."

"You must've heard it sometime in those movies you mentioned. Ya know: da-da-da, daa-daa-daa, da-da-da." Tsukiko clarified when Ran finally payed a bit more attention on them than a moment ago.

"So, it's an SOS! A distress signal to ask for rescue, that is!" The long haired karate champion declared.

"Eh?"

"That's what he wrote in his message." Ran told Sonoko.

"No way! Shinichi-kun solved it too?" The brunette seemed to be completely stunned.

"Yeah… And he said to send him a picture of another type of paper airplane once we find one."

"'Shinichi-kun'?" Okiya repeated. "Speaking of whom, the landlord of this house was also Shinichi, wasn't he? Have you consulted him as well?"

"Ah, you don't know him?" Sonoko asked. "He's the high school detective, Shin-…"

"Ki-Kinichi!" Ran interrupted. "I consulted a boy named Kinishi in our class who loves deduction!"

"Oh… Not Shinichi-kun, but Kinichi-kun?" Subaru asked. Tsukiko decided to stay quiet. It was much more fun to observe everything from the sidelines. Just like she had done at the hospital back then. Oh, the funny reactions and stammering words.

"Y-Yeah! The Shinichi who lives here is just a high school student with no special ability. And we were asked to clean his house while he's absent from school."

"Just a high school student? That never occurred to me… After all there wasn't a single trace showing that he used to live here…"

"Eh? Really?"

"Yes. There weren't any clothes, journals or albums… Well, I'm just saying what I noticed…"

"Maybe he put them away somewhere because he thought it was embarrassing for us to see them when we come to clean…" Ran thought aloud.

"Speaking of 'putting away', when we were at WB, the shop manager told the assistant to get rid of the paper plane that got stuck on the bill board, didn't he?" Sonoko remembered suddenly.

"Then let's go now to get it!"

"Ah, wait!" And the two girls were gone again.

"Roles reversed indeed." Tsukiko chuckled when they were out of the door. "Usually it's Sonoko dragging Ran around."

"So what was this 'Kinichi' thing?" Subaru asked when he walked to the library window to watch after the other two. Tsukiko gave him an amused glance.

"You noticed?"

"It wasn't exactly a convincing lie."

"Nah, it wasn't but I rather not to tell you anything that would disturb the Plot."

"The Plot? You still talk about it." The man looked back at her.

"Yes. I prefer not to change things too much so you have to figure it out on your own." The girl shrugged and sat on the sofa. "It's much funnier that way." She turned to look at the wall clock before looking at Subaru again. "They'll take their time. You can eat your salad now, niisan!"

"A symbol of an antenna? On the cell phone?" Sonoko asked once she and Ran were back and Okiya had gotten the first look on the yesterday's paperplane.

"That's right… They're identical!" Ran noticed, comparing the two pictures.

"So if we combine the antenna with the five dashes on the body, we get 'radio waves are zero'. And if we consider the first SOS, the meaning becomes 'I'm being held in a place out of reach from radio waves, please help me'." Okiya explained.

"That's amazing! Detective Subaru-san!" Sonoko praised the man.

"But we only figured out that he's out of the cell phone's service area." He pointed out. Before the girls could begin the guessing game, Tsukiko cut in behind her book she was reading on the sofa.

"A tower block house." They all turned to look at her but she didn't lift her gaze from her book. "The mountains are out because they are too far away and the planes were collected only in the city. Underground is out because the planes need to fly to get around. High building is the only option. Besides in very high places the cell phone is constantly looking for a better service thus the situation is like no service at all. I've noticed it back… home." Tsukiko hesitated a bit with the last word because she couldn't tell the girl's that she was living with their ex-English teacher who turned out to be an FBI-agent. After all, the woman was supposed to be back in the States. At least that's what the girls thought. "But more important is to know if there have been more planes today."

They switched on the TV and right on cue the news were running there.

"Earlier this morning, the kidnapper committed suicide by jumping off a building while escaping from the police. He hasn't been identified yet, and the whereabouts of the shipbuilding company president, Daita Ikuo-san remain unknown… The police are considering any grudges against Daita-san, in order to find out the identity of the kidnapper and resume the search for Daita-san…"

"All the channels are talking about this…" Ran stated, Sonoko agreeing with her. "They said on the morning news that Daita is a hard-working man who used his previous experience as a sailor to make his business big…"

"Eh… Let's leave this for now, and search for news about the paper airplane." The brunette grumbled.

"Shouldn't we instead put one on one?" Tsukiko asked, looking at the TV screen thoughtfully. "It seems that this news isn't that unrelated at all."

"If Daita was kidnapped and imprisoned somewhere, then is makes sense that he's flying all these SOS airplanes every night while trying to avoid being noticed by the kidnapper." Okiya told them.

"Then this Daita-san is the paperplane guy?!" Sonoko realized.

"Yeah… I find that very likely. And since he was a sailor it's no wonder how he knows Morse code. Since it's used as a means of communication during ship emergencies."

"But why didn't he just write where he was imprisoned directly in the letters instead of this code?"

"He was probably told that his family would be harmed if he did anything incriminating, and he believed it. I guess he still thinks that even now, after that kidnapper committed suicide."

"I see! That's why he used these markings!" Ran was looking at the two planes they had. "With this, even if the kidnapper found one of them, he would think it's a kid's prank."

"Like I pointed out earlier." Tsukiko grinned.

"And since the two airplane collected yesterday and the day before it were both made from pages of the same magazine, I guess Daita-shacho is tied to something and can't move much so he can only reach that magazine…" Okiya added.

"Th-That's cruel!" Ran seemed really worried by this point.

"And now a follow-up report on the paper airplanes…"

"Oh, here it comes!" And their attention was once again glued on the screen.

"Right now, I'm in a park in front of Beika Tower mansion, where a paper airplane was just found…" A reporter told them. "First of all, this time there are no markings on the side of the fuselage. But on the other side, there's one circle plus four half-circles on the right and left. Moreover…" The paper plane was flipped around. "There are strange folding lines on the plane this time… The mystery thickens more and more. In addition, occasional strong wind gusts are blowing across the metropolitan area, widening the field of search…"

"Folding lines?" Sonoko repeated.

"I can't see them well from the TV…" Ran muttered. Okiya stayed quiet and just dug out a notebook from his pocket and ripped a page off.

"Niisan?" Tsukiko questioned, like supposed to in the situation. She didn't want to give out too smart impression after all.

After several unsuccessful attempts to recreate the original airplane, Ran finally decided to ask Subaru what exactly he was doing. Sonoko in the other hand had a some sort of idea of what was going on and said: "Speaking of paper airplanes, there are lots of different ways to fold them, right?" Thus giving Subaru the idea of what he needed to do. Tsukiko smirked behind the two girls. Conclusion almost reached.

"BE?" Sonoko asked Subaru. "Those three black circles mean 'BE'?"

"Yeah, possibly…"

"Then this is morse code for 'B' and 'E', right?" Ran guessed.

"No. This is a Japanese Morse code, not an English one." Okiya explained while holding the miniature paperplane. "One dot represents 'HE', while two dots represent voiced consonant marks. If we combine them, we get 'BE'."

"But what kinda message does 'BE' stand for?" Sonoko frowned.

"Can't you tell from the shape?" Tsukiko asked them, not bothering to hide her smirk now.

"The shape?" Ran repeated.

"A squid?" Sonoko's answer seemed a bit uncertain but was correct anyways.

"Squid is 'IKA'. Add it to 'BE', and it becomes 'BE-IKA'." Subaru explained. "In the other words, this paper plane is telling us about Beika Town."

"Is that a joke?" Sonoko half-chuckled.

"No, I don't think so." Tsukiko crossed her arms and walked closer by measured and slow steps. "We need to combine all the facts we know now. If this really is Daita-san who flew the planes, he counted this on the fact it would look like a prank and the kidnapper wouldn't connect the planes on him."

"Combine what we know?" The girl with hairband asked.

"Yes, we have an SOS, a 'zero radio waves' and 'Beika'. What can we deduce from that, Deduction Queen?"

"We'd get 'I'm in Beika town at a place that's outside of cell phone's service area'…" The brunette thought aloud.

"Is there a place like that in Beika town, other than underground that Okiya-chan ruled out?" Ran pointed out worriedly.

"A skyscraper." Subaru stated. "The base-station antenna for cell phones is aimed at the earth's surface, which has high population density. So it's difficult to make a call from high locations. But even if you got the signal, you'd pick it up from multiple bases due to the height. The cell phone would switch to the radio wave with the strongest signal, therefore going into 'roaming'… In the end, it'd be out of service."

"Which is basically what I said earlier." Tsukiko pointed out with a huff. Why didn't these people listen to her? Or then they did but had to stick in the Plot anyways. Hmm… She probably should look into that. Nah! Too much work, this was no Doctor Who with fixed points in time! "But now we need to figure out what is the place where Daita-san is being held. I mean, there're kinda many skyscrapers and other tower block buildings around here."

"Well, it's difficult to imprison a person in a hotel, since so many outsiders come to do things like 'make up the bed'." Okiya said immediately. "That would mean that Daita-shachou is prpbably imprisoned in Beika Tower apartment building."

"No way! That's really close!" Sonoko exclaimed. Geez, she seemed to be doing that a lot.

"Well, the 'out of reach' hint only suggested that he was imprisoned in a high-rise condominium."

"Yea, his cell was most likely taken away by the kidnapper." Tsukiko added.

"We should tell the police about this…" Okiya suggested right when Ran's phone rang. The girl answered to it and judging by her face it was Shinichi calling to her. And despite the fact that the other three occupant of the room could only hear Ran's end of the conversation, the entirety of it was quite easily deciphered by her answers.

"I'm still at Shinichi's house… Eh? So you solved the paper plane code? … But can't I only see one side of the building from there? … Okay! I got it!" The call ended. "Sonoko! I leave the rest to you!"

"Eh? Wait!" The brunette shouted after her best friend who was already gone. She turned to talk with Subaru. "Should I leave calling the police up to you, Subaru-san, and go with Ran? It's kinda hard to explain a code like this to police."

"No, it's probably better that you call them, since you have police acquaintances…" The man replied.

"Yeah, I'm sure Mouri-senpai will do just fine with Kinichi-kun's instructions." Tsukiko nodded enthusiastically. Damn, she was turning into a stereotypical anime character. She could just imagine the heroine of the story nodding her head with a determined expression on her face and her hands in fists by her chest while expression her faith in someone… Oh, wait, Tsukiko was in an anime now! Oh great… Please note the sarcasm. "And if you have troubles with the code explaining, I'm sure Subaru-nii will help you out."

"O-Okay…"

Suddenly Tsukiko's cell phone started to ring. She smiled faintly at the ring tone which was the Detective Conan theme (the same one than in the beginning of the DC movies).

"Moshi, moshi? … Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was visiting niisan. We stumbled upon a case but it's solved now… Yeah, I'll come now. I can't wait to tell you about the case! … Yes, bye!"

"You need to go?" Subaru asked.

"Yes, I gotta go home now." The blonde girl went to pick up her school back by the sofa and pushed her glasses on her face in the process. "See you tomorrow, Suzuki-senpai, good luck with the phone call. Bye, niisan, I'll leave you alone for a couple of days now. Thank you for the help with my exams."

"Uh, thanks…" Sonoko waved while Subaru merely smiled.

"See you."

And with a blur of blue and light brown, the younger teen was gone.

"A case you say?" Jodie asked while pouring tea to cups on the kitchen table. Tsukiko nodded.

"Yes, you know the paper planes that have been flying around the past two days? We solved the codes written on them with the help of Mouri-senpai and Suzuki-senpai." The girl took the other cup Jodie offered and drank it gratefully. "Kami-sama, I'm hungry… I didn't eat anything since that lunch salad I made for Subaru-nii and myself. The case truly took us with it."

"What happened with the case then?" Jodie smiled as she took a seat opposite the girl.

"Oh, that. I don't know the final conclusion yet but I can tell you what we deducted from the planes and news…"

On the next day Tsukiko relayed the information on the case to Miyoshi too who listened with rapt attention and was truly interested in the reasonings behind each plane and what that all lead to.

"If Suzuki hadn't gotten the paper plane in the first place, Daita-shachou could've easily died." The bespectacled girl stated. "It's entirely possible that Ran-senpai came in on the last minute."

"True." Tsukiko nodded before looking ahead of them. "Hey, isn't that Mouri-senpai and Suzuki-senpai? And Edogawa-kun too!"

"It is, let's catch up with them." And the two ran to catch up with their school mates(+one kid).

"Suzuki!" Miyoshi clapped her hand on the rich girl's shoulder to hold her up a bit and get her attention while Tsukiko did the same to Ran.

"Mouri-senpai! Ohayoo!" The blonde grinned.

"Ohayoo, Okiya-chan, Miyoshi-chan." Ran smiled while Sonoko was disgruntled by the sudden stop.

"Ohayoo, Ran-senpai." Miyoshi smiled. "Tsukiko-chan just told me about the case you worked with her brother yesterday."

"She did?" Sonoko asked.

"Yes, Mai-san was really interested in it." Tsukiko grinned before turning to greet the elementary school student with them. "Ah, ohayoo, Edogawa-kun."

"Ohayoo, Tsukiko-neechan!" The boy chirped while having a mental battle with himself. A brother? Tsukiko had a brother? No, wait! Hadn't they been solving the case at his house? Then that meant that…

"Ne, something wrong Edogawa-kun?" Tsukiko tilted her head.

"N-No… Why should be?"

"Good." The girl smiled and faced the rest of the high schoolers. The moment of distraction gave the detective moment to think about the newly obtained information.

"She couldn't have known about the Plan. And there's no way Akai-san would've contacted her just like that or told the plan beforehand… So how? They didn't even know beforehand. No one knew her beforehand. And she couldn't have just figured out our plan like she did with the vans nor did she know Akai-san's new name. So how on earth…"

"Were you talking about the case when we interrupted you by the way?" Miyoshi's voice cut into Conan's thoughts.

"Yes, Ran just told me how Shinichi-kun got impatient and yelled at the rescues personel. And the policemen." Sonoko snickered. "That's not like him at all, is it?"

"I don't know Kudou-senpai that well so I can't say." The class president shrugged.

"He did it even after giving me very accurate instructions…" Ran confirmed.

"Oh, I see it now! It's because his beloved woman was in a crisis!" Sonoko practically decided.

"That's can't be! It's not in his character…" Ran was quick to deny it while Miyoshi and Tsukiko snickered. "And I'm not his woman."

"Well, one can't know for sure since he is not here, right?" Tsukiko offered.

"Say, Tsukiko-chan, why didn't you use your glasses yesterday?" Sonoko pointed out suddenly

"Eh?"

"You didn't wear them at all when we were there and saw perfectly. At first I thought you were just wearing contact lenses once again but then you put them on when leaving. You resemble more your brother with them on though…"

"I can see surprisingly well even without them but I in some occasions I prefer using them." The blonde smiled but Miyoshi was the only one to see how strained it was. Tsukiko didn't need to worry about the question much longer when Sonoko raised up another question.

"Okay… By the way, who was the winner of Shinichi-kun's and Subaru's deduction match?"

"Beats me… It was a tie, wasn't it?" Ran suggested.

"Nuh, Subaru-nii won for sure." Tsukiko pouted.

"A deduction match?" Miyoshi asked.

"Yes, it began as such." Ran nodded.

"Well, Daita-shachou left the hospital safely, and I guess Subaru is drinking in celebration right now!" Sonoko declared.

"Drinking?" Conan was immediately grasping threads of information.

"On the shelves of the kitchen, there was some alcohol that wasn't there when we came to clean before!" Ran answered.

"Well, niisan is an adult. Adults drink. But niisan knows how to drink moderately so it'll be fine~!" Tsukiko smiled, like reassure Conan that nothing bad would happen to the house. Sure, the chibi detective already knew it but it was fun to tease him a bit.

When Conan was at his school, Tsukiko decided to ask a question that had 'bugged her for a while'.

"Ne, Mouri-senpai… What was this 'Kinichi'-thing? I decided not to question it while there but it has been bothering me a bit…"

"It's just that Shinichi asked not to tell anything personal to Okiya-san so I improvised on the spot." The karate champion explained a bit sheepishly. "Could you also keep it as a secret from your brother please?"

"Okay… I trust your reasoning since I don't know Kudou-san. But you owe me for keeping this from Subaru-nii." Tsukiko said mock-seriously. "Like cooking something really good for me someday!"

"Sure!"

Miyoshi waited until the upperclassmen were out of sight before stating: "He is not your brother really, is he?"

"What are you talking about, Mai-san?" Tsukiko asked in confusion while internally sweatdropping and panicking. What to do, what to do, what to do…

"You try really hard to emphasize that you have a brother. Maybe a bit too hard. You gush over him and act a bit like you aren't used to having one. Your use of glasses is another thing. You look completely different when you use your glasses and when you don't. Your eyes are open without them and you take them off like the tire your eyes. Sometimes you even forget to put them on which just proves my point… Were you adopted? Do you use glasses of wrong perception just to look like your brother?"

"You caught me, Mai-san…" The blonde sighed. "We aren't related by blood but I've always wanted an oniisan… Please don't tell anyone." She clasped her hands together, making sure not to link her fingers like westerns did. "Please, please, please… I don't want any more troubles. I already have enough of them."

"It's alright. I don't have anyone to tell your secrets to." Miyoshi smiled. "And I doubt anyone else will figure it out either. After all you haven't told that many people about your brother, right? And I figured the glasses thing only because I use them for real. I'm sure you'll be fine." The class president clasped the blonde's hand reassuringly. "People aren't that aware of their surroundings like I am."

"Thank you, Mai-san…"

A/N: Oh, crap, Miyoshi figured something out from Tsukiko. But ended up to a wrong(but plausible conclusion)! And Conan is suspicious. Uu...

But now to the review answers:

-zXFallenAngelsXz: Thank you for your review! I probably waited it the most since it was actually re-reading your fic since the beginning that gave me the spark to check out this one and continues. Thank you for the opinions too. By the way, I do read your fic I'm just too lazy to review with my phone. I love it anyways. 3

-Littlebirdd: Yay. :)

-chibianimefan26: Yes, I'm back! Well, I didn't really leave, just left this fic andf wrote others... But now I'm here again and here is the next chapter. Did you like it? Yea, 2nd person PoV is not me either. I like it when reading Reader-Inserts but otherwise no.

I try to update as soon as possible. Not tomorrow though because I'm going to sleep now. Night-y night! Please review! They're nice to read in the morning! (6am...)