"You're the one who said he wanted to see what evidence the police had." Danny pointed out.
"Not by breaking into the evidence locker with the security cameras enabled," Conan hissed.
"We're invisible," Danny reassured, "The cameras won't see anything."
The two were currently hovering over the police station. Conan had wanted to see what the police had so far, if there was anything they could use to point the finger as Masters. That was Conan's strategy at the moment, focus on Masters. Plasmius was pretty much untouchable by human law, so they had to be able to place the blame on his human self. Jazz was still at 221 Beika Street, looking into Vlad's history, trying to find some discrepancies in his rise to wealth, in case the murder charge fell through. Agasa was examining the Fenton's anti-ghost tech, trying to duplicate the technology. There was a good chance they'd need a ghost shield very soon.
"We're going in," Danny forewarned as the swooped into the station. Conan shivered as he passed through the solid roof of the station. He wasn't completely separated from the physical world, he could still feel the plaster and metal as he went through. And it wasn't just feeling with his skin, he could feel the solid matter inside him.
"How do you do that?" Conan whispered, deeply unsettled.
Danny shrugged his invisible shoulders. He remembered when this had been new to him too. "You do it enough, you don't even notice it anymore".
"Joy," muttered Conan darkly.
"What's with you?" asked Danny as he tried to find the evidence room. "As soon as this case is over, you're done with ghost stuff".
"Am I?" Conan asked, "I, and I can't believe I'm saying this, know ghosts exist. Which means this is a possibility I have to take into account on all future cases, somehow without people thinking I'm crazy. Not to mention I've apparently made the hit list of one of the most powerful ghosts in existence. Even if we do get Vlad sent to jail, you really think he's not going to order his cronies to come after me?"
"Oh." whispered Danny.
Conan smiled a little. "You don't think things through a lot, do you?"
"No time to. I've barely got time to react much less plan ahead. And I'm not much of a thinker, that's more Jazz's department."
"Well we'll see if we can't teach you a little strategy while you're here," said Conan with a grin. "Oh and the evidence locker's on the other side of the wall."
A few more trips through walls and a quick flight brought Danny and Conan back to the Kudo house, which was quickly becoming their base of operations. Danny fortunately remembered the ofuda, and didn't try to phase through the walls again.
"We're back!" Danny announced to no one in particular.
"They probably can't hear you, the acoustics in this house are horrible." Conan explained, opening the evidence folder. He organized the contents into physical evidence (the post-it note, in an airtight bag), police reports, and autopsy reports and photos.
While Conan started reading the reports, Danny took a peek at the autopsy photos. He then turned a slight shade of green. "Um, I'm going to see if Mr. Agasa needs any help." Not waiting for a reply, he phased through the floor.
Conan barely noticed, already consumed with his work.
"Fascinating" murmured Agasa as he examined the inner workings of the Fenton Peeler. While had certain misgivings about the Fenton's sanity, he couldn't deny their inventive ability. It was amazing how they had managed to fit an entire battle suit in a device about the size of a handgun.
"Hey," said Danny, "Anything I can help with?"
Agasa shook his head. "Not really. I must say though, these inventions are quite brilliant."
Danny smiled shakily, trying to hide how disturbed he felt.
Agasa noticed and frowned. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just a little…shaken."
Agasa's eyes filled with concern. "Did something go wrong?"
"Everything's fine. We got in, got out. Conan's looking at the evidence." Danny gulped. "It's not like TV".
"What's not?" asked Agasa, already having an inkling.
"Everything. Those photos aren't of an actor playing dead. It's someone who died." Danny laughed a little. "You'd think with the ghosts and all, I'd be used to death. But the truth is, I don't think about it that much. I never knew these people when they were alive so I don't think about who they were then, just who they are now. Hell, most people back home don't even think of ghosts as human. What was that Mom called me once, an 'odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness'. She didn't know it was me." Danny explained seeing the look of surprise on Agasa's face. He sighed. "He sees a lot of death, doesn't he?"
"Too much," Agasa agreed. "It seems as though death has been following him around for the past few years."
Danny sighed again.
They met again in the same library they'd held introductions in. Jazz looked proud of herself, if a little unsettled, and Conan was positively beaming.
This time it was Danny who took charge. "Okay people, what have we got."
Agasa went first. "I don't think I can do much in the way of creating new weapons, but based on what I've seen I think I can get one of those shields up and running in very little time. I've also called an old friend of mine at a temple and ordered some more ofuda."
Danny shivered. "Okay sis, how about you?"
"I found a certain pattern in Vlad's rise to being billionaire of the year. Several times he tried to make contracts with companies. Every time he was refused the company president committed suicide less than a week afterwards. And this didn't just happen once or twice. People began to be afraid of saying no to him." She took a deep breath. "It's like I said earlier. Hiro Segawa wasn't the first person Plasmius has killed, just the first we knew about. This isn't enough to make a case, but it is enough to get the police to look closer at Vlad. It also means there are several powerful people who wouldn't be too upset at seeing Dalv Inc go under."
Danny tried to calm himself. "Conan?"
The former teenager had a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. "I think I have physical evidence linking Vlad Masters to the murder of Hiro Segawa."
