Have no rights to this and the beloved characters all right go to Gosho A. hope this makes up for really late chapter. over 4,000 words.
Chapter 16
Conan POV
Previously…
"It's no good he's dead"
"No ojii-sama!" Natsue push her way past her family, rushing forward towards the crime scene.
"DON'T COME IN! No one can come into the room until I say it's okay" Detective Mouri yells at the group. 'So he does have some common knowledge in a crime scene. Usually a disturbance to the crime scene is a blessing to the organization but this is not something set up by them.' Mouri's voice breaks Conan out of his thoughts
"The rigor mortis on his jaw hasn't set in yet, but his pupils have begun dilating and seeing that his body temperature is decreasing leads me to believe that it has been about 40-50 minutes since he died. Now the one who first found was you, Suzuki-san the butler correct?"
'If what he states is true then it could have been any one of the people around us. This room appears to be impenetrable, while suicide could be an option I just have a feeling that his death was not done by his own doings. If so where is the weapon?' I step forward towards the door away from the group to be pulled back on the arm by Haibara.
"What are you doing? This doesn't concern us whatsoever!" She reprimands.
"I'm curious Haibara, while I may have solved and seen pictures of murders before I never seen an actual murder. And if I'm correct then his death was not suicide, like those dim-witted adults are coming to conclude on, and not everyone on the boat will be safe." I jerk my arm, removing Haibara's grip from there and bend down to the doorframe. 'As I suspected'
"No this is murder and once you look it's actually quite simple." I whisper or well at least I thought I did.
"C-Conan-kun?!" Natsue-san rebuke. Everyone turned their attention down to look at me with flabbergasted faces. 'Damn, so much for not drawing attention to myself. Might as well continue or it will take them forever to notice'
"Look right here on the doorframe" my figure pointed down to the door frame. "Are you able to see the blood that has splattered there?"
"Huh" Detective Mouri remarked 'This is a detective that used to work on the homicide department for the police? What happen to his intelligence'?'Shaking away my thoughts I continue.
"If the door was closed when Ojii-san committed suicide then the blood shouldn't be there. It is more logical to think that he was stabbed while the door was open."
I watch how quickly some were able to move their attention to the detective while he continues to talk about how Ojii-san would have been murder but I felt a few gazes still watching me at my slip up of an innocent child.
When I heard the question asked of 'who locked the door?' and the detective mutter 'I wonder' I was about to speak up again when I notice Haibara walk next to the Detective and kick him on the leg. 'I guess she was able to figure it out also that Ojii-san would have locked the door himself.' After watching the detective make the connection I see Haibara joining me to my left.
I continue to look upon the murder scene. 'Something isn't right, but what is it? There's no blood in the hallway! That's what's wrong, someone must have cleaned up after the murder so someone who arrived late to the banquet but nearly all the Hatamotos arrived late.' Crouch down I catch a glimpse of something near the top of the blood. 'What is that?' I reach in to pick out a 'bread crumb? Didn't Natsue and Takeshi banquet have baked bread with the French cuisine? Yet this piece of bread isn't toasted but Ojii-sam hates western cooking so this crumb didn't come from him. So who was able to have untoasted bread before dinner? The butler was with us during the time he was murdered so he's innocent, most likely I would think the Chef, he would have the weapons, his knives, but isn't it too risky to use your own knives for a murder?'
"Making it one of you seven!" Mouri's yell startled Conan. "Suzuki-san was there anything you notice when you first came into the room?"
"Noting in particularly" The butler uttered. "Ah. Yes in front of the door was this flower" 'A flower, that would have been Takeshi but that doesn't make any sense because if Takeshi wiped the floor he would have notice the flower therefore Takeshi is innocent, he's being frame!'
"T-that flower I put on Takeshi-sans jacket" Natsue informed. I jolt myself up 'No, you're all coming to the wrong conclusion' I open my mouth once more only to have it cover and be drag away by Haibara.
"You are going to ruin our covers. I can't afford for you to forget that it's not normal for kids to be that observant." Haibara murmurs. I struggle to get out of her grabs but she then puts her hand on my pressure point on the collar bone threatening me not to move or become unconscious. I stand there behind all the adults unable to watch clearly what was happening but listening to the wrong accusations.
"That's right you were quite late to the dining hall." Akie snidely remarks
"Oh please nee-san I was thinking about something in my room." Takeshi stutters
"You looked very pale when you came out" Ichirous darkly responds
"I, ichirou-kun-" Takeshi says
"You shouldn't try to deny it Takeshi-san. I just happen to hear your argument with Otou-sama! When I passed by this room!" Mariko, eldest daughter of the Matamoto family, shrieks
"An argument?" Mouri asks
"I thought I would faint when I heard that he is the son of Zaiki Isao!" Markio yells out loud.
"Zaiki Isao?" Mouri responds.
"Y-yes he was the president of the Zaki Corporation. He committed suicide after otou-sama took over his company ten years ago. I heard that his only remaining son was placed into custody at some facility somewhere but if that's who Takeshi-san is" Kitarou, husband to Mariko, answers.
"Takeshi-san is that true? Takeshi-san please deny it!" Natsues looks desperately to her husband.
Takeshi looks down "It's true Natsue-san! I am the son of Zaiki isao, Zaiki takehiko! But I, I,-"
"I see in order to avenge your father you sidled up to natsue-san became a member of the hatamoto famiy and waited for a chance to kill Gouzou and you decide tonight you would carry it out!" Detective Mouri bellows out.
"No I didn't kill him Natsue I swear it wasn't me Natsue!"Jouji-san grabs onto Takeshi shoulder preventing him from going to Natsue.
Natsue takes a step towards Takeshi-san "No Natsue-san, let's get you away from that murder" Mariko advises.
"No, Takeshi-san!" Together her sister Akie and Mariko grab Natsue "come on Natsue, he's a murder he murdered Oji-sama!"
"Natsue-san" Takeshi yells
"Put him in the freezer!" Together the Hatamoto men drag away Takeshi to lock him in the freezer and the Hatamoto woman take Natsue away to lock her in her room from acting irrationally and rushing back to takeshi-san.
Conan with Haibara hand still covering his mouth and her other hand on his pressure point leaves him with no other choice but to sticks out his tongue touching (more like licking) Haibara's hand.
Haibara jerks her hands off of Conan mouth and shoulder. "Eww gross, why did you do that for?" she questions with agitation on her face. I begin to open my mouth just to be interrupted by the butler Suzuki.
"Err, Ran-san"
"Yes, Butler-san?"
"Could you watch over these two kids for me? Currently with everything going on I am unable to watch them right now. I have to go inform the crew members of the murder of Master G-gouzou." Butler Suzuki moustache quivered
Ran looks for her father who has seemed to disappear to his corridors when the Hatamoto family drags the newlyweds' hatamotos apart. She looks back at us and smiles "don't worry it's no bother. I can take care of them till we return to Tokyo."
Butler Suzuki replies "Thank you Ran-san." with a bow. He then turns towards us "Mouri-san will watch over you two temporarily, till we reach Tokyo since the hatamoto's and I are unable to take care of you two. Please be good with Miss Mouri-san"
"Hai, Suzuki-san" we replied.
"Such good kids, well I better go mouri- san" he then bows again and walks away to tell the crew members of what happened. Ran walk in front of us and crouches "Hello my name is Mouri Ran but you two can call me ran-neechan. What are your names?"
"Conan." "Haibara Ai"
"You two are siblings correct?"
Haibara and I look to each other. I shrug my shoulders and Haibara or Ai nods her head.
"Come along." she then grabs both of our hands and we proceed to walk to our room.
"Who do you think murdered him" Haibara muttered.
"It wasn't takeshi for sure" I whispered.
Walking down the hallway we bumped into one of the female workers bringing in what appeared to be an art easel and sketch pad. However, she seem to be struggling to open the door while balancing the items.
"Do you need help?" Ran asked the poor worker
"Yes pleases. Could you open the door to ichiour-san room please?"
"Sure"
together We walk into Irchirou room. I look around and see another easel with a sketch pad on it. Walking towards it I notice the front page was shaded black.
"Huh? Why is the whole page shaded in with graphite?" I grab the pencil and twirl it in my hand.
"Idiot, it's not a graphite pencil but charcoal pencil." she puts one of her finger on the page and wipes some of the charcoal off of the page. "The composition of the material causes it to smear easily and is duller compared to graphite. It also is black and while graphite can be dark if it is a different lead it will never give look like this color."
I raise an eyebrow, curious on how she knew that, but aware that we are not alone I do not question where she came to learn this knowledge. However I do ask "still why is the whole page shaded black?"
"Oh Conan-kun, it's because when one draws with charcoal the eraser is the main drawing utensil. You first use charcoal to color the page and then you use an eraser to remove the charcoal and draw the picture." Ran- chan removes the pencil from my hand and sets it gently back on the easel.
" Sometimes a piece of bread is used to erase the charcoal from the page." Haibara mutters to my surprise. I look to her face to only see she put on her bored look hiding whatever emotions she has towards me to my frustration. How am I suppose to guess is she is still angry if she acts as if she isn't?
"Brilliant thought I would have never guessed" I replied with an eyebrow raised in hopes that my word choice will make Haibara tell me how she knows this. She turns her head away from me in response. I take a deep breath and follow the girls back out the door and watch the worker lock the door back up. Ran-chan says good-bye and we are off again.
'Wait a minute bread?!' I look down at my pocket and feel the small bulge of the hankerchief in my pocket rub against my leg. My eyes widen as I look towards Haibara Ai wondering of she can to the same conclusion."Could this mean that the chef could be innocent? Is the murderer really-'
"AAAAARRRRGHH!"
"What was that?" Ran-chans voice was shaking. The dimly lit narrow hallways seem to become darker and become almost narrower.
"It seems as if the murderer isn't done yet" My monotone muse startled Ran-san and she eyed me worriedly but as with any adult I encounter outside the organization she ignored it.
"Kayyyyyy!" the shrill scream sounded from the deck. This time the voice was too familiar for my liking. It was Natsue-san. Without thinking twice I ran towards it only to be join moments later by another sound of pattering feet. From the corner of my eyes I see Haibara running with a crinkle in her brow. Her façade of 'I don't care about anything' cracked. However, as I reach the area of the scream I see on the ground a shaking Natsue grabbing her face in distress looking at the dead bloody body of Tatsou-san.
It seem as if the rest of the family has arrived along with the butler and the two Mouri's. Mouri-san looks with a grave face and walks slowly to the body. "He's dead." Mouri hands move away from his neck and his eyes turns sharply towards the Hatamoto family most likely suspecting which one of us is responsible for this deed. I look around and notice an unease in the atmosphere 'why is it that I have this nagging thought in the back of my head as if I am forgetting something?'
Breaking me from my thoughts was the yell of "Da-darling- HONEY!" then Jouji-san grabbed the now widow from jumping onto the dead husband.
"Who would do such a horrible thing?" Markio murmur under her hands.
"It can't be him again..." One of them said
"No, he's still locked in the -" I leave dashing back inside.
"Hey Kid- Conan come back!" Mouri yelled "Hey brat! Stop!" His yells slowly fade as I push forward my short legs to the location of the freezer.
As I turned the corner I slam into the wall and stared into the empty freezer.
"Brat" a hand pulled me by my collar and I ignored my instinct to remove his arm and listen to his rambles "Listen to your elders, that was dangerous what you did. What if the murderer wasn't lo.c..k...e...d..." I move my head to watch the blood drain from Mouri-san face and then saw the same reaction happen to the chef as he looks upon the door.
He then carries me under his arms, refusing to believe that it is safe for a child to be running around without an adult. Pretty much saying that he no longer trust me after I ignored his warnings and that I am most likely to get myself killed.
We return back to the deck and to my embarrassment I can see Ai put on her blank face that she uses when she refuses to laugh, but then it become solemn and back to a sleepy look of a child. Far to quickly for my liking.
"Oh Mouri-san well? Was he there?" markio asked
Rubbing the back of his neck "Well you see…"
"He wasn't. "I chirped. Mouri-san's face grew red and his eyes began to burn down my neck to my amusement and probably Haibara too. 'we are both kinda sadistic.' Mouri regains his wits when one of the family members asked how he died.
"The cause of death appears to be from brain damages caused by a blow to the head. From looking at the wound, I think he was hit by something like a steel pipe. The thudding noise the boy said earlier was probably the sound of tatsuo-san being hit by the Murder" Mouri rubbed his chin in contemplation surly confused by the turn of events.
However, even a slightly incompetent detective had come to the conclusion that it would be safer if we all returned back into the dining hall till we return back to the ports of Tokyo.
"Oh...hic...tatsuo..." the widowed sobbed.
"one-sama" Natsue hesitantly Replied. Her left hand reach out to comfort her widowed sister.
"It's all your fault"
"Eh?"
"If you hadn't brought him into the family none of this would have happened. WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" She snarled
"Heh, isn't that nice for you? How your husband was killed otou-sama, the inheritance will all go to you." Markio- san said looking at natuse-san in censure
"No, I don't want anything to do with that." Natsue back away sitting back down in her chair in submission.
"Takeshi-san still hasn't been proven as the criminal." I said looking at the table my eyes hidden behind my bangs hidding the intellegence and serious expression from them.
"WHAT?!" the majority of the Hatamoto family replied
"C-Conan-kun!" Ran-chan chided
Ignoring her i continued gathering everybodies attention "See when we ran to the storage room where Takeshi resided the door was unlock correct?"
"Y-yea..."
"Yet the lock is on the outside and could not be open on the inside."
"You're right... there were no signs of the door being broken. It can't be that one of you is an accomplice?!"
"GIVE ME A BREAK! My husband was killed! WHY AM I A SUSPECT?!"
"Hmph. wouldn't you think the person most glad to see Tatsuo-san dead would be you, akie-san?"
"What? HOW DARE-"
"I KNOW ALL ABOUT IT! How you were seeing another man!" markio pointed to Akie-san
'Geez,, that lady knows everybody's dirty secrets, except mine of course"
"You were fighting tatsuo-san again tonight weren't you?"
"That was about the inheritance...BESIDES weren't you the one who made the biggest fuss about the inheritance Mariko Obaa-san? You have the perfect excuse as any to kill ojii-san don't you-"
"Please stop you two. Please!" Natsue once again tries to stop their fight.
"Hmph your son ichirou isn't exempt from this either! Am I wrong? Because his precious painting that was entered in the contest was destroyed by ojii-sama!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mouri slammed his hand onto the wooden table.
"All of you have something against another however argueing won't help." Mouri glares at them.
"Ehem." All eyes look to Ichirou who suddenly gained a blush at the attention. "I'm going to the bathroom."
"Here let me accompany you son-"
"No dad I can go by myself, I'm not a coward that you seem to think, I not you." Jouji-san opens the door widen eyed at Ichirou harsh statement towards his father and everybody watches him leave the dining hall.
"What's his problem "Akie -san remarked.
Markio-san snaps back "What's with you?! think you are deserving -"
I tune out the chatter and only narrowed my eyes at the door. I watch markio -san leave and the adults continuing to talk. Ai gives me a quick glance but turns away to listen to the chatter Ran-chan is telling her.
Then everything goes black.
Screams were heared and I grab onto the small hand next to me.I clutch hard into it as the screams escalated. I close I my and stay still listening to my surroundings. A loud yell was heard from the distance. Then it was over. The light flickered back on and I open my eyes to see everyone scattered in the dining hall. I then turn my face to see the slightly surprise face of Ai and whisper to her. " I promise to keep you safe don't look so surprise. You are the only one that understands."
Another agonizing yell was heard. I then get up at a lesure pace following the trickling Hatamoto's and Mouris out the dining hall. We take a small detour but we quickly arrive with everyone else to see Ichirou on the floor grabbing onto his leg as he drag himself to the dead body of Markio-san.
"My, my OKA-SAN!" he moaned out loud next to Ran-chan. Detective Mouri grave face asked him whom had done it.
"I don't know. Oka-san came in worried about me. I yell at her to leave me alone when all of the sudden the lights went out. It felt like someone was coming out of a stall and then I was stabbed. Ugh" Ichirou again grabs onto his legs, groaning about the pain. "Then I-I saw as the lights flickered back on for me to see the d-dead b-body of m-m-my O-oka-san!" He cries out. Natsue-san quickly rush fowards hugging him and rubbing his back. I walk closer to Ichirou and look at the stab wound on his leg that Natsue and Ran-neechan were now currently cleaning.
'Hmm, the stab was perfect I must say. Straight into the leg. If a hypotheical person was to stab someone in the dark it is very difficult to aim correctly unless they went through personal training like I did but the likelihood that any of the people on board has had knife training with someone like Gin is improbable. So Ichiro... why are you lying? Did you really do it?' I narrow my eyes at him. I look away when I saw his head turned towards my direction.
"What's this? Jouji's knife?"
"Yes it's mine but don't assume I was the attacker. When the blackout happened I was in the dining hall with everyone else, so I couldn't have cut the power and used the darkness of the room to attack Ichirou-kun and murder Markio-san."
"You're right" Akie -san remarked
"There is only one person who could have done it. Who seem to be hiding on this ship? It must be takeshi-kun."
"No. Not Necessary."
"Detective Mouri-san..."
"One of you needs to stay behind and help bandage Ichirou-kun leg up. Everyone else follow me to the power room."
I turn towards Ai "Ai I want you to go to the room for me I will stay here with Natsue, and ichirou-san." Nodding he head she follows the group out the door.
Nastue stands up quickly "I'm going to go get ice for the wound. I will be right back."
I turn around and glare with the most hateful and disgusted look i could give towards Ichirou-kun.
"Ichirou-san you're a very good actor. You have managed to fool the Hatamoto's and the detective Mouri that you are innocent. Yet you failed because of a foolish rookie mistake." I turn my head and glare at Ichirou-san on the floor his mother's dead eyes looking at me in shock.
"Boy what are you saying I am inn-"
"Lies!" I yell. "That wound right there is perfectly straight and nobody would have been able to strike you if the room was dark! Also you left two pieces of evidence at the scene of the crime."
His head lifted up. Confusion, anger, and fear were expressed on his face but his face then settle on the look of confusion when he turned to look at him. "What evidences are you talking about boya? Wouldn't Detective Mouri have seen this 'evidence'?"
"One was a single bread crumb."
"A bread crumb? Hah, that's ridiculous boy you should leave the detective work to the adults. And boya wouldn't that point more to Jouji? He was the cook to make the dinner and none of us ate early so we couldn't have had bread." Ichirou replied
"the bread was untoasted. In the cuisine tHat gonzou hatamoto detest the dinner bread was toasted however this piece was soft . If it was jouji then the crumb would have been harder. Yet, you didn't have any eraser to use for his charcoal drawing why he must have used the popular trick of bread to erase."
"Mistake number one."
"Number 2. You as an artist must have been spoiled to not know how to remove charcoal from fabric. As you know charcoal itself can be a very messy if the charcoal powder makes it to unwanted places. However in your haste to clean up the spilled blood to delay to discovery of the dead gonzou hatomoto you seem to have clean it up in the clothes you wore when drawing with charcoal. So if you never did visit gonsou hatamoto why is there charcoal dust on the dead body of Gonzou Hatamoto?!
A craze look enter his eyes and he grabs the knife out of his mother's chest and twirls it lightly. "I thought murdering my mother would make it seem less likely of me being a suspect but it seem that you can't lie to children."
"what gave me away?"
"the pictures you drew and your hidden hands. Earlier before dinner they were already clean because you were supposably drawing so why wash them again? I didn't believe your 'I need to go to the bathroom' so i thought why you would want to wash your hands and it is to get rid of any blood from your second unpredicted murdering. Which happend becasue he saw you throw the knife in the sea right?"
"Yes. Then there is the obvious fact that i hate my mother, constantly never up to her standard, a disgrace to the family when no one was around. I couldn't handle her or him. Too bad your efforts of being a detecive is short life kid."
To my surprise of his sudden movement I didn't even realize that the jerk used his mothers corpse to trip me by pushing it towards me. I fall onto the ground and he jumps on me ready to dig the knife in my body.
"NO!" The weight of Ichirou body left my body and i look up to see Takeshi-san push and punch Ichirou san in the face.
"You bastard! I love Natsue-san more than my life and came to see all the pictures you drew of her were more than just out of a need of a model. how dare you set me up as murderer! then you try to kill poor Conan-kun also?!
the ruckus of the yells brought the rest of the Hatamotos back into the restroom. I quickly backed up Takeshi's claim and to my surprise he came to almost the same conclusion thanks to the pictures he found while looking for evidence in the ship to prove his innocnece when he hear the screams and followed us back into the restroom where he heard ichirou-kun condession to me.
Natsue returned back with a bag of ice and was quickly told what had happen she pulled me into a hug and jumped into Takeshi-sna arms glad that she believed him to be innocent but looked disturbingly at Ichirou- kuns crouch form held together by Mouri-sab.
ichiro looked around to see what he has done and the look on the face of Natsue caused him to cry.
Ichirou's anguish mad shouts echoed throughout the ship. The horrible tragedy cause by a troubled young man who was unable to convey his thoughts to his mother and his feeling of loves into words because of his lack of self confidence.
This is the end of the first case...sigh... I was not satisfied with it at all. And the next one will only be a transition chapter again. Grr transition chapters are boring to type and hard to think up. Anyway I wrote the chapters after the transition but first I must write the transition and edit it, at rewrite it and re-edit it again and then post it. So much work :'(