File Forty-Seven: A Shocking Revelation
"Here, hold on," Haibara stared back at the boy's stretched hand, who was gently smiling at her, with a blank look of her own. "You must be a bit disoriented, right?"
The smile faltered, however, when she stood up on her own. "Don't patronize me," she said, in a severe whisper, making her point across perfectly well. "Just move out of the way."
"Yes."
Conan could only roll his eyes at the sight of the stubborn scientist stumbling out the car, clearly dazed by the fever that was attacking her body. These will the longest two hours in my life, he decided.
The only reason they were there was to waste time, since the clinic where they wanted to take Haibara to was completely filled, so they only managed to get an appointment in two hours.
He saw Haibara suddenly freezing on her spot, a terrified expression taking hold on her face, eyes fixed on the Porsche parked right in front of them. Conan didn't need to ask to know what was going through her mind.
"That one is green," the boy pointed out. "Gin's car is black, isn't it? Besides, even if it was black, I would be able to tell it apart, so don't worry."
Haibara seemed to be genuinely confused at that. Amused by her unusual puzzlement, Conan's hands slid inside his pockets and a cocky grin drew itself on his face.
"Shinjuku 54, Mi 43-68," he stated easily, causing Haibara to blink some more. "That's Gin license plate. Which doesn't resemble this car's at all, does it?"
"... You memorized Gin's license plate."
"It's kind of an habit I've always have. Everytime I pass by a car, I always take a look of its license plate. Only those that are relevant stuck with me, though," the boy shrugged at her, before his smirk turned into a fond smile. "My brother said that, when I was younger, we used to play a lot with numbers and wordplay. I guess I got into this habit from looking for hidden meanings into license plates back then."
"That's... unusual," she conceded him. "Unusual, yet useful, I suppose."
"Not to mention," he continued, as if she hadn't said anything. "There are three Porsches parked near each other. It's highly likely that a group of Porsche enthusiasts are hanging around at this department store."
Just as he was saying that, another porsche, Porsche 911 this time, parked right in the middle of the rest of its kind. Three people, two men and a woman, stepped out of it, leaving another of their friends sleeping inside, definitely drunk.
Conan watched, with mild interest, as the woman went to the blue Porsche, claiming that she had left her wallet inside. One of the men did the same thing.
"Hey, Ojisan," so the child approached the one that was left alone. "Do the four Porsches parked here belong to you?"
It turned out that every single one of the cars belonged to one person in the group. The Porsche 356A belonged to Hotei Eiji, the Porsche Boxster to Taiyama Kaoru, the Porsche 928 belonged to Bamba Yukiya ─ the person passed out from drinking too much ─ and, finally, the white Porsche 911 was Kureko Yoshihito's, the man Conan was currently talking to. Apparently, they had all gone together to play some golf and left the last three cars there in the meantime.
The group left not long after that.
"Well, Ai-kun," Agasa turned to the girl, who seemed to have a staring contest with the floor. "We should get going too."
"I'll pass," she didn't even hesitate. "I'm not feeling well."
Without any further word, the girl climbed up into the Beetle, closing the door behind her. Agasa seemed to want to get her to come with them, but Conan simply gave him a stern look and shook his head, clearly stating that it was best to let her be.
"Having been followed by those people whose intentions we don't know, it's natural to be apprehensive."
"Then, you mean..." Agasa went pale. "The people trailing were with those guys in black?"
Conan frowned, arms crossing in front of his chest as he leaned against the old yellow car. "It's possible, but not definitive," he said. "While we don't know if their mark was actually Haibara-san, there isn't much we can do."
Frankly speaking, Conan wondered if the very famous Tarugatei egg porridge was actually worth it. Or, at least, worth waiting in a long, long line filled with dozen of people eagerly wanting to try it.
I mean... It's just porridge, right?
But Agasa had said that it might make Haibara feel a bit better, and they really had anything else to do, so Conan could only shrug. It couldn't be that bad, could it...?
"Hey, Cool Kid!"
Apparently, yeah, it could. Since behind him was none other than that particularly suspicious English teacher, Jodie Saintemillion. So, because of the shock, he didn't give out any other reaction but a surprised blink of his eyes.
"Jodie-sensei," Agasa smiled. "Oh, Ran-kun and Sonoko-kun, too!"
"Hello!" they both greeted.
Conan had still not recovered from his shock. "But why?" yet managed a barely coherent sentence.
Which got its answer right away, in the form of a very annoyed Sonoko, who leaned over him, a scowl prominent on her face. "We're here to try the Tarugatei egg porridge," she stated. "Problem?"
"Several, actually," like magic, his stunned expression vanished at the sight of the older girl, leaving a blank, plain stare on its place. "Not that I have the time to explain every single one of them, though. Especially, to you."
And that's a lot to say, considering it will take us a least two hours to get to the restaurant with this amount of people.
Before Sonoko could even answer, Ran's hands pressed against her best friend's shoulders, fingers gripping into them tightly as she gently pushed her aside. "We've heard how good this place is," she said, hoping for the argument to settle down. "So we invited Jodie-sensei along."
"I see..." Agasa nodded.
"Speaking of which, what are you doing here, Conan-kun?" the boy hoped nobody had noticed the violent twitch his body gave. "You said you went to visit Ai-chan today because she had a cold."
"... Ai-chan?" he definitely didn't like the way Jodie's eyes fixed on him, awaiting an answer.
"See, Ai-kun was actually-" Agasa, however, remained unaware of the child's discomfort.
"-going to come here!" so he, naturally, didn't expect him to complete for him. "We were thinking about bringing her here to try the egg porridge, but since it was impossible with her bad cold we didn't invite her."
The professor simply went along with his poorly fabricated lie, letting out a forced laugh that hardly convinced the teacher ─ Conan was painfully aware of the way Jodie's gaze narrowed.
He was too busy with the English teacher, however, that he didn't even notice the slight confused frown on Ran's face.
Eventually, and with a lot of struggling from the kid's part, the conversation drifted to more friendly waters ─ and that was saying, away from Haibara ─ causing Conan to mentally sigh in relief.
This should be enough for now. Ran-neechan and the others are probably going to eat inside, so if we just ask for take out we can leave and nobody will...
"Boy, can I bother you for a moment?"
It looked like destiny itself was feeling like messing with him today.
Because he found face to face with a camera as soon as he turned around. "Boy, have you come to this department store especially for the egg porridge too?" the reporter kneeling in front of him asked, with a gentle smile, that did not waver even if he just stared blankly at her, mind running and searching for a way out.
She probably was mistaking his attitude with shyness. Which he probably would have felt if he wasn't in that situation.
"A-Ah, yeah," he decided to play along. "But since so people are in line, I might give up."
"Oh, is that so?"
Offering him another gentle smile, the reporter stood up and left right away ─ probably noticing his uncomfortability ─ taking that cursed camera with her. As soon as she was far from them, he turned to Ran and her companions. "That's it," he stated, not letting his fear show. "We're going to go."
"Eh?" everyone, including Agasa, blinked.
"Come on," he tugged from the old man's jacket. "Let's go, Professor."
"Ah, wait-!" Ran tried to stop them.
But no avail, Conan dragged poor Agasa with him, running so fast that the pair was gone the next second. So, she could do nothing but to wonder.
Meanwhile, the child did not stop, nor did he release the older man following after him. Not bothering to answer the panicked questions that the professor managed, he just focused in hurrying out and get out of there before they could be seen by people he definitely didn't want to see them.
The distinctive yellow Beetle was coming into view. Just a little bit longer...
Having hearing steps, Haibara opened her eyes and, slowly, sat down. Dimly, she realized it was the guy from before opening the door of his own car.
But Conan didn't even notice, just kept on moving. Just ten feet left...
Her eyes fell on the boy and the old man that tagged around, and froze. For some reason, he felt her heart beating faster and panic to pump through her blood.
She focused her gaze on Conan.
Why?
Five feet away.
Why does he have such a scared look on his face?
Three feet.
Agasa was calling him, but he paid no mind. The car was so close.
Just two feet more to go and...
"Aaah!"
Or maybe not.
"Ba-Banba-san!"
No, Conan growled on his mind as he, without even stopping, steered away from his direction towards the white Porsche, where Yoshihito was standing, frozen by shock beside the door he had just opened. Not now!
Yet it seemed like, yeah, it did happen now. "He's been strangled," the child noted, while crawling into the driver seat. Then, with a long sigh, he stepped out and stared back at Yoshihito, who was looking at him in turn, unblinking, probably surprised about how easy he was dealing with seeing a dead body.
If he only knew...
"Well?" Conan's eyebrow raised, feeling more than a bit annoyed at the moment.
Yoshihito just blinked.
"Are you going to wait for your friend's body to decompose or are you actually going to call the police?"
With a shaky nod, the man clumsily gathered his phone from his pockets before rushing out, far from the crime site. Agasa, in turn, just walked closer to the child, whose eyes hadn't left the body in front of him.
"Hey, Conan," the old man tried. "You could've been a bit less harsh. That man just-"
"We don't have time for niceties, Professor," Agasa actually flinched at the hard look he received. "I'll stay here. You get in the car and get Haibara-san out of here."
"E-Eh? Why?"
"My image just got broadcasted by a television camera. Those guys who were following definitely saw my face the other day... If they are really with those men in black..."
As in a vain attempt to reassure the young boy, the professor managed an awkward smile. "Don't worry, that was just a lunch-time talk TV show..."
One look from the child and he knew Conan was aware. The possibility of one of them seeing it was still extremely high.
No other word was spoken, and Conan took it as enough proof that he had made his point across. So his gaze fell on the yellow car parked not far from where they were, more specifically, in the little girl sitting on the back seat. Sweat was soaking her hair, plastering it against her forehead, and her mouth was slightly open, so that it was obvious that she was breathing raggedly. The boy's eyes narrowed at the sight.
"If you look around the city, you should be able to find a hospital that's open on a Sunday. Haibara-san is not well. She's just been acting strong for us until now."
"Then, what about you?"
"Don't worry," he forced a reassuring smile to the professor. "Ran-neechan must still be around, so I'll go back home with her once everything is over. I'll think of something."
"What do you mean you can't leave?" the boy felt a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead, fingers holding tightly the phone pressed against his ear.
"That's what they said," he could hear the worry in the professor's voice. "Until they catch the criminal, we're stuck."
He should have expected that outcome, the young boy reminded himself, rubbing a hand all over his face. "We have no choice," but managed to remain calm, despite it all. "Find an empty space and wait there quietly."
There was a pause. The professor was clearly hesitating.
"But what if those guys show up?"
Now, it was turn for the little boy to stop, picturing in his mind, without meaning to, the multiple scenarios where the men in black found Haibara. And all that followed.
He shook his head when he realized he was practically imagining a bloodshed. Which he wouldn't allow to happen.
"Don't worry," he forced a smirk. "I'll solve this quickly."
"Wait, Conan-"
"Don't make any moves until then."
Without waiting for any kind of answer, the young detective hang up on him and rushed back to the crime scene, determined to solve this case in record time. By the time he got there, Inspector Megure and Takagi were just beginning to interrogate the three suspects.
So, he took a deep breath.
Let's do this, then stepped up.
When Megure saw him, he didn't even try to look surprised. At this point it would be weird if he did, Conan figured.
Like that, the child relied to them everything he had seen upon their arrival.
"Well, let's get the questioning out of the way first," Megure said after he had finished, before turning to the three friends. "Please give us your name, the nature of your relationship with the victim, the order in which you left your car and exactly which one of these vehicles belong to you."
"I was the first to get out," Yoshihito explained. "I became acquainted with Banba-san at the Porsche Debut Exhibition. My car is-"
"This one, right?"
All heads snapped at the sound of the young voice and everyone gasped, shocked to see the young boy already inside the car, not minding the dead body that sat right beside him. His innocent blue eyes blinked behind his glasses, completely disregarding the box he held in his hand ─ thankfully, he was careful enough to use a napkin.
"Takagi," the inspector sighed, deeply, massaging his forehead in anticipation for the incoming headache. "Just take Conan-kun out of here."
Takagi seemed to hesitate for some unknown reason.
"Takagi!" naturally, his superior grew impatient. "What are you waiting for?!"
"W-Well," he stuttered, with an nervous smile on his face. "I was actually wondering something..."
"What?" Megure's eyebrow raised.
"Wouldn't it be best if we just let Conan-kun be?" he tried not to flinch at the outraged look he was receiving. "Just this one time."
"... What in Earth are you talking about?!" he seemed to be even more frustrated than before, if possible. "How can you possibly believe that it's okay to let a child walk around in a crime scene as if it was his playground?!"
"It's just that...!" Takagi tried, then paused to let out a long sigh, before continuing, a lot calmer this time. "It's just that... That kid..." his eyes focused on the little boy, who was looking at the music box in his hands with a thoughtful look. "I couldn't help but notice... Whenever Conan-kun points out something, it usually turns out to be crucial to the case."
Megure blinked, confusedly. "Is that true?" then turned to glance at the child, who just grinned amicably at Toshihito, before heading for the second car, Hotei Eiji's, without even giving a single side look at any of the officers surrounding the area.
I can't believe I'm allowing this, Megure lamented, as he decided to continue his work.
"Oh, do you like fishing?" asked Conan, childishly, while looking through a mallet filled with all that stuff and the fishing pole beside it.
"Yeah, I like to fish as well."
His eyes then fell on the automatic reel. Before he could do or say anything about it, however, a gloved hand came from over his shoulder and held it in front of its belonger's eyes. "This could be used to remotely strangle someone," Megure pointed out.
"Don't say that!" Hotei argued. "It was in the bag, wasn't it? I haven't touched it in the time since Kureko-san called me down here."
He does have a point there, Conan hummed, before stepping out and heading towards Taiyama's car. "Could a woman like me actually have the strength necessary to strangle a man?" she pointed out to the inspector, as the child simply crawled inside.
Inside her car, there was one single thing. In the passenger seat, there was a Porsche model car, which supposedly was a gift for her nephew.
"This couldn't strangle someone to death, could it?"
No, definitely not, Conan scowled slightly while inspecting the box, realizing that none of the items in either of the cars could actually be used as a murder weapon. Then, his eyes fell on something written on it. Those batteries... Aren't those the ones that last only a little over ten minutes?
That actually explained...
Well, it actually didn't explain anything.
Conan felt lost. Lost and terribly frustrated.
It wasn't long until they decided to head to the security room, since Conan pointed out that there was a security camera there. Hoping that everything would make a bit more of sense, the boy was about to follow them suit.
But a familiar yellow car stopped right next to him.
"What do you think you're doing?!" in no time, he had moved closer to the diver's window and hissed at the professor. "I think I told you not to move!"
"But..." Agasa glanced over his shoulder, briefly, concern evident on his eyes. "Ai-kun's condition..."
It didn't take Conan long to understand the source of the worry. Deathly pale face and angry red cheeks, along with an uncomfortable amount of sweat and difficulty in breathing, all that was enough for the child to comprehend.
"We need to hurry and get her to a doctor," the old man continued.
And Conan sighed, loudly. He didn't like this situation one bit.
"I'll ask Detective Takagi to get his patrol car and get you out of here quietly... But those guys might ambush you outside..." he passed his hand through his hair. Damn it...
I really, really need to solve this case right now.
"Hi!" the English whisper next to his ear made his blood run cold. "Who are 'those guys'?"
Slowly, the boy turned around and paled, considerably, at the sight of Jodie standing right behind him, Ran and Sonoko beside her, unaware of the internal packing the child was going through.
"Conan-kun," Ran said. "You really are involved in this case, aren't you?"
He didn't find his voice to answer, internally wondering how they got there, before answering his own question. Detective Takagi must have let them though after been told that they were going to fetch me.
"Huh?" his eyes went wide with fear when he saw Ran peeking inside the car through the window. "Ai-chan is here, too."
And Jodie was watching, as well.
"Sonoko-neechan," he forced the conversation topic to shift. "Shouldn't you be bragging about your amazing deduction abilities right now?"
Sonoko blinked.
"They are in their way to security room to see the footage. Let's go!" then, in a obvious, poorly thought attempt to get the teacher's attention away from the scientist, he started to run, dragging Jodie along from the hem of her sleeve. "Sensei, you too!"
As they headed towards the security room and away from the yellow Beetle, Ran's eyes did not leave the young boy.
Conan-kun, what's wrong? she frowned. Why are you acting so strange?
If she didn't know any better, she would have said that it looked like he didn't trust Jodie. But that just couldn't be...
Could it?
There was nothing that relevant in that video that could help Conan solve the case. As he had seen them do before, Hotei, then Taiyama went to their respective cars to collect their wallets before leaving with Yoshihito, who merely stood right in front of the car, talking with Conan and Agasa.
None of them did anything suspicious when they left the car, the child studied every single of the suspects, a few steps behind the group. There weren't any suspicious movements.
He watched one of the officers bringing a few photographs that had just been revealed and leave them on top of a small table. Silently, the young boy moved closer and, without gathering any attention, took a look of them.
There were three pictures. The inside of each of the suspects' cars.
I don't get it, Conan groaned. How did the culprit strangle Banba-san and how did they retrieve the weapon?
His teeth gritted. Damn it, I have to hurry, his eyes focused on Jodie, who seemed to be strangely in deep thought. To get Haibara-san out of here, I have to solve this now!
... The problem is... How?
Quite honestly, he wasn't finding the answer he was looking for, and he didn't think he was going to get it anytime soon.
And time was ticking by so quickly.
He needed the answer. He needed it now.
Slowly slipping away from the room, and successfully managing to stand outside unnoticed, he slid a hand inside his pocket.
I have no choice, he decided to swallow his pride.
Next thing he knew, he was anxiously waiting for the dialing tone against his ear to end.
"Conan?" the voice on the other side of the phone sounded confused and concerned all the same. Probably because it so was rare for the child to call, instead of the other way around.
"I need your help," he said, a bit too quickly as he, without realizing it, paced back and forth in the hallway. "There is this case that simply doesn't make any sense, and the police investigation is getting nowhere. I can't figure it out and I-"
"Conan," Shinichi's stern tone actually caused the little boy to come to a halt. "Conan, calm down. This isn't like you. You are rambling."
He let out a long, tired, sigh, pressing a hand against his forehead. "I can't, Oniichan," he admitted, with an humorless chuckle. "I can't. I have to solve it, right now."
Shinichi paused at that, seriously worried about what was making this child to be that distressed, but pushed those thoughts to the back of his head. "If you rush, you aren't going to accomplish anything," the older brother pointed out, figuring that questions could wait. "Take a moment. And breathe."
For a couple of seconds, Shinichi didn't say anything else, just listened to Conan's shaky breathing gradually slowing down, to the point if became as close to normal as possible.
"Now, Conan," he said, gently. "Tell me what happened."
"... Murder."
"No surprises there. If you could, please, elaborate further..."
Rubbing a hand against his face, completely exhausted, Conan began to tell his brother everything that had happened. About the body, the fact he was strangulated, everything about the suspects. By the time he had finished, Shinichi was humming, deep in thought.
"Now, what seems to be the problem?" Shinichi asked him.
"Oh, I don't know," Conan's eyebrow twitched, irritably. "Maybe the fact that this case doesn't make a bit of sense?"
"Ah, but it does."
Conan merely blinked at that.
"You need to focus. Push away any other thoughts that are pressuring you at this moment," his brother continued. "I'm sure you have single-handedly solved several cases that were much more difficult that this one."
"Even if you say that..." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "None of them could've strangled Banba-san... He was alive when everyone left, and Yoshihito-san locked the doors after leaving. He was dead when he returned."
"Then he was killed in-between, right?" he could basically see Shinichi's smirk. "The thing is, how did the murderer kill him without being present?"
His fingers went to his chin. "A mechanism?" he was unsure. "Something strong enough to strangle a grown man with a wire... A fishing line?"
"Alright. Now picture yourself inside a car, is there anything you can use to make it happen?"
"... Something that...? A power window?" his eyes widened dramatically, realization hitting him hard. "Ah! That is it!"
"You're welcome," came the amused chuckle from the other side of the line.
Conan rolled his eyes. "Thank you," he let out in an annoyed mumble.
"Now, run along. Solve the mystery, little Holmes. We will talk later."
Without saying anything else, the child ended the call and quickly went back into the room, where Sonoko was still humming, seemingly thinking hard but unable to figure the case out. Taking advantage of that, Conan suggested to go back to the car in hopes of finding out something. As they did, he let his childish grin vanish and his sharp gaze fall on Jodie.
Megure, noticing the entire exchange, just blinked.
Not that Conan realized he was being watched, far too busy with the case to look at the inspector giving him weird looks. So, upon arriving at the scene, he went directly to Sonoko, who just stared back at the cars with a clueless look on her face.
"You know," Conan raised an eyebrow. "The truth isn't going to magically dawn on you if you just stare at Yoshihiko's car."
"Then," she crossed her arms in front of her chest, definitely annoyed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Oh, I don't know. Look for clues inside?" he teased her. "I'm not Deduction Queen Sonoko, I'm just an ordinary grade schooler."
"Not ordinary," she mumbled, passing by Megure as she stomped that way. "An exasperating arrogant little jerk with a terrible set of genes..."
Inspector Megure was confused. Genes? but didn't let it show. He just watched as the kid skipped ahead and opened the door of Taiyama's car for the teenage girl, a condescending smile etched on his face.
"So?" the kid asked, having climbed right after her, sitting on the seat next to the girl. "Does anything come to mind?"
"W-Well..." she tried. "Aside from it being so expensive... There doesn't seem to be anything strange about it."
Conan seemed to hum, then look some more. "Ah, look, Sonoko-neechan!" he exclaimed. "A power window."
"Ah, is that so?" she shrugged, not even giving it a second thought.
"Now that I think of it, none of the other two had one of them, did they?"
"Yeah. This car's model is newer, after all."
Then, silence.
Conan stared, blankly, at the teenage girl, who seemed to look through the trunk, looking for any clue that the child knew was not there. So, realizing that the young heiress was not understanding the clues he was giving her, his childish look dulled into plain annoyance.
"Did you solve it yet?"
"Of course not," she huffed. "But it's a matter of time until I do so shut it, kid."
He didn't have that much time. And Sonoko didn't seem to be close to understand it either.
If I had more time, I would be able to get her to solve it, but...
"Seriously," the kid rolled his eyes. "How is that you don't get it yet?"
"Listen, brat," her eyes narrowed, irritated. "Unless you magically know who the murderer is-"
"Oh, I know who the murderer is."
At that sentence, every single gaze was fixed into him, and he struggled not to flinch at the sudden attention. There is no helping it, he paused for a moment to take a deep breath. This investigation needs to end right now.
His innocent blue eyes adopted a piercing glint as they fell in one of the suspects.
Megure couldn't take his eyes away from the young boy, whose finger rose in the air, pointing at someone through the windshield.
"The criminal is you," his lips curved into a knowing smirk. "Taiyama Kaoru-san."
At the sight of it, the inspector was rendered speechless, as a result of his mouth suddenly going dry. Those eyes... That look... The way he talked and that smirk that he had only seen in the faces of two separate people...
"Detective Takagi," he turned to the man, who flinched in turn. "Could you please get into the driver's seat of the Porsche 911, next to Banba-san's body?"
... Kudo-kun... Yusaku-kun...
"Hey, Conan-kun..." Ran tried to get him to stop.
After all, Takagi seemed to be terribly distressed and hesitant at the request. Holding his hands up, he was about to decline, until another voice joined in.
"Just do as he says, Takagi."
Nobody, not even Conan, understood why Megure had that solemn look on his eyes, but no one questioned it. The child simply stared at him for a long while, as if analyzing him, then continued fished out the wire from his pocket, which he had gotten a hold of not long ago.
Everyone watched, confused, as he opened the door to the car Takagi had just sit on.
"You might want to place your hands between your neck and this," Conan pointed out, as he put the line around his neck.
"Eh? Why?"
The kid took his time to wrap it around the head-rest, before giving the officer a plain look. "Because nobody wants to be charged with your murder, right?"
Takagi went pale at that, but Conan paid no mind, as he stepped out the car, closed the door, and walked towards the blue Porsche with the wire on his hands, passing it under the red one, that was parked between the other two.
Then all he had to do was to put the line in the gap on top on the window, climb back inside and get back in the car, lowering the power window before tying the ends around the gear level.
"All it's set now," he said, with a mischievous smile.
"Eh? How so?" Sonoko's glare came back. "Hey, squirt. You better not be playing around. Listen, you need a lot of strength to get someone from behind, do you really believe Taiyama-san has-?"
Not breaking eye contact with her, he pressed the switch again. The window went up.
And Takagi started giving out panicked yelps, until he lowered it again.
"If you use this model car, and tie the line to the real wheels of the car, you can retrieve the wire," he finished his explanation. "The battery only lasts for ten minutes, so there was no noise when the body was found."
Being cornered by the young boy's perfect deduction, Taiyama had no other choice but to confess she had killed Banba, because he had ran against a yellow Ferrari, killing his brother in the process, and he didn't seem to be bothered by it.
As soon as she was taken away, Conan was gone, hiding against the car as he pressed his phone against his ear. Agasa wasn't replying.
"Ah, Ran," then, he heard Sonoko say to Ran. "Where's Jodie-sensei?"
"She left. She suddenly remembered something urgent."
No... No, no, no, she didn't...!
Heart pounding heavily against his chest, Conan took off running towards the yellow Beetle. His face pressed against the cold window, feeling dread washing all over him upon the realization that it was completely empty, the professor's phone lying in the passenger seat, completely forgotten.
Could it be... Could it be?!
Pushing all those negative thoughts away, he finally decided to call Agasa's home. With a bated breath, he waited for anyone to reply.
"Oh, I was waiting," he could have sighed in relief at the sound of the old man's voice.
"What do you mean with 'waiting'?!" he settled for an angrier response, however. "Weren't you supposed to wait?!"
"Don't be so loud. Araide-sensei is here with us."
Conan frowned at that.
"He's looking after Ai-kun now. Even though you said he wasn't in, he was when I called," Agasa explained to him. "When the case was preventing us from getting out, he said 'Professor, since you know the police, if you claim the girl you had with you suddenly fell ill they should let you leave.'"
Resting his back against the yellow car, Conan willed his heart to slow down, even as the professor told him that Jodie was with them, and that she had taken them home. If they are still alive, he tried to convince himself. They should be okay. Maybe she hasn't figured Haibara-san's identity yet.
"I see," he tried to sound as convincing as possible. "I'll be there in a bit. Keep an eye for Haibara-san until now."
A long, exhausted sigh was released once the call had ended. This isn't good, he decided, rubbing his temples, mind running to figure out a solution for the problem in hand.
"Conan-kun?"
At the male, gruff voice, Conan instantly looked up, completely confused. A big man he knew very well met his eyes, but it did not help in explaining what was happening. "Inspector Megure?" he blinked twice. "I thought you left already."
"I told Takagi to wait for me for a moment," he let out a friendly smile as he kneeled down in front of him. "There was something I wanted to ask you."
Still unable to understand, Conan said nothing, just staring back at the inspector, whose eyes narrowed lightly, smile vanishing into thin air into a focused frown.
"Are you... Could you be, by any chance... Conan-kun?"
"Inspector, I'm pretty sure I'm still myself."
"No, no, no. I don't mean Edogawa Conan-kun."
Something passed by his eyes, and Conan didn't think he would ever understand what it was.
"Are you Yusaku-kun's youngest son, Kudo Conan-kun?"
Eyes widening behind glasses said everything that the inspector wanted to know, so he mirrored his expression. "No," through the shock, Conan still noticed the way the inspector seemed to grow pale, even paler than he was, his entire body shaking. "No, that can't be..."
"... Why is that?" asked Conan, in a small voice, nearly afraid of what the stunned, almost terrified, expression the man in front of him was wearing actually meant. "Why can't I be Kudo Conan, Inspector Megure?"
It didn't sit well with the boy the way he seemed to let out a shaky, quivering sigh. His eyes were still wide and shocked.
Almost as if he was seeing a ghost.
Before long, Megure managed one single, blood-chilling sentence:
"Because you were supposed to be dead, Conan-kun."
A/N:
ajjr12: Ah, Yamamura! Sorry, my bad. I don't think he's going to appear much, since he isn't particularly one of my favourite characters. About the OVA you mentioned, that's a nice idea. She might mention it sometime.
GhostDespair: I don't think I'm going to do all movies, since they are a lot of them. I may do one or two more, I think, but I haven't completely decided on anything yet.
Asahina Chihaya: That sounds better now, thank you!