The Darkness Inside

Chapter 7 Solving the puzzle

Aoko was worried. Things were not going according to plan. They still weren't any closer to figuring out when things will take place or who the targets were. She had the feeling that time was running out and she didn't like it one bit. Also, it was making Ran rather nervous and while she could often calm her down enough, she couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness herself.

It's been two weeks now, only a few days until Christmas. She wondered if she'll be alone this Christmas. She had no time to plan a party this year and she barely talked to Kaito so he probably wouldn't come. She thought about asking Keiko because between solving the case and studying for exams, she had practically no time to spend with her friend she'd neglected.

Aoko didn't like that, either, but it couldn't be helped. The case was more important. At least once a week they'd meet Chikage who'd advise and teach them more about the Art of Disguising and Aoko felt they were getting far very fast. They had no trouble disguising as each other and looking alike. Disguising as some random person was fine, too, but they were not even a little good with observation, they'd have to improve on that a lot.

They had gotten phones with untraceable numbers and mostly used those now. Aoko got no new messages from the criminals and so the time went by.

It was rather late and a really cold December night when Aoko went back home from a rather exhausting meeting with Ran. Their research was fruitless and they were both getting restless, thinking about giving up after all. But Aoko didn't want to give up, not now, not yet. She had gone through many companies, through many combinations of numbers. She was rather sure that those letters stood for locations – it must be different locations, probably cities and not just districts which meant that there would be an event where people from all of Japan would arrive and not just Tokyo.

That made things harder because she had to figure out what company operated in different locations and why they would all meet at the Asakasa Palace. Maybe a company event? For Christmas? She dreaded the possibility because if that was true then they were out of time. They wouldn't be able to save anyone right now because they lacked both the knowledge and the preparation.

She had wanted to infiltrate the Palace but Ran was against it and somehow her studies had kept her from going solo against Ran's wishes so she didn't know anything about the interior and didn't have the plans for the building yet, either.

It was frustrating, things had been progressing fast and now they just stopped. Nothing was working and they were getting nowhere and wasn't this just a joke after all? She just hoped the event wasn't on Christmas. Time was all they needed right now.

Exhausted, she opened the front door and entered the house only to be greeted by her very grumpy father.

"Tadaima, Otou-san. What a surprise to see you home so early." Maybe it was because she barely saw him lately that she missed all the signs or maybe she was simply too frustrated and tired to look at him.

"Where have you been, Aoko? Do you know what time it is?"

The girl looked up in surprise at the sharp tone and bit her tongue hard not to blurt out what she'd like to tell him. Instead, she blinked innocently and pouted. "I was out studying with Ran-chan. Tomorrow will be the last exam. We studied for that."

Her father just gruffly nodded and turned around to go back into the kitchen. Aoko followed him silently.

"Fine, just next time tell me if you go somewhere, especially if you decide to come back late."

Aoko sighed internally and rolled her eyes. As if he could control her if he was never at home. It wasn't like she deliberately disobeyed him, she'd have loved telling him everything but he was never there and whenever she wanted to tell him something, he never acted like he cared. Once word got out that there was another heist note or worse if there was none then he'd be off, forgetting about her immediately.

Maybe she was too hard on him, maybe it was only her impression. Maybe she was absolutely wrong about him but that was how she perceived him and the air around him. That was how she felt treated by him.

Sitting down at the table, she slumped a little. Today's session was really strenuous and she wanted nothing more than eat something small and go to bed. It was true that tomorrow she'd have her last exam. Ran's was today so she had helped Aoko to study today.

"Would you like to eat something? I guess the selection is rather small today."

Aoko sighed. "I guess I'll just have some cup Ramen then."

She stood up and went around the table to prepare her meal, when she noticed a letter lying on the table. Curious, she picked it up and looked over its contents.

"Alright, I'll have some, too. What flavor do you want, Aoko?"

The girl froze.

Nakamori-keibu turned around when he got no response and saw Aoko with the letter in her hand. "Ah that. Would you like to come, as well? It's an invitation for the upcoming ball. Every high ranked police will be there, probably all the lower ranked, as well. It's supposed to be the event, since they'll be celebrating the union's 20th birthday. It'll be a very formal event but I'd appreciate it if you went, too. Maybe you could ask Kaito-kun to accompany you, how about it? Aoko?"

Aoko blinked, frozen in shock and dread.

Name: Nakamori Ginzo

Police ID: 53345670T02356356

She went over those two lines over and over again, not able to process what the letters meant. Because those couldn't be the same ID numbers which she was desperately trying to figure out and decode. No, those had to be some other numbers. Her father wasn't on the hit list. It couldn't be. There was no way. No way in hell.

Suddenly, her father put his hand on her shoulder and she jumped in fright. This, though, got her out of her thoughts successfully and she looked at him with wide, scared eyes.

"Aoko? What's wrong?" He wasn't an inspector for nothing even if his jurisdiction wasn't homicide he was still an inspector. Besides, this was his daughter and the way she acted even a blind person would know that something was not right.

Aoko shook her head, trying to sort her thoughts and make her father stop to worry. She put on a forced smile because that was all she could do right now.

"Ah, nothing, really, I just remembered that I forgot my note book which I still wanted to revise for tomorrow's exam. Now, this is really inconvenient."

It was a lame excuse, she knew that, but her thoughts were too scattered to be able to come up with anything plausible. She couldn't let him know about this, now could she? Should she? Should she tell him that someone was trying to kill him? Would they try to anyway?

Her breath hitched when she realized that her father's name was on a hit list. He was a target for whatever reason. If they didn't kill him during that event would they try later? Would they try to kill him on another event?

"Aoko."

She looked up, looked into his worried eyes and she had the worst urge to simply tell him. She couldn't possibly let him live in ignorance, waiting for his imminent death he never knew about.

"What's wrong? Aoko? Talk to me!"

The girl swallowed hard, dread was filling her. Things just got personal and she didn't know how to deal with them. She was no officer, she was still just a 17-year-old teenager. She'd never even seen a corpse, how was she supposed to know what to do in this kind of situation? Frankly, she wasn't stupid, but this? This was way above her head. This was somewhere in the sky while she was still drowning in the sea and just what was she going to do?

"Do-do you have enemies, Otou-san?"

Well, stupid question, wasn't it? Of course, he had more than enough enemies. All those Kaitou Kid fans were enemy enough. Anyone out of those people could have a really bad grudge, right?

Stop, stop. There are more people on the hit list. It's not just Otou-san and if I am right, those people probably aren't on the squad. Then it cannot be solely because of Kaitou Kid.

"Where did this come from? Of course, every police member has possibly enemies. There are many people not happy with our work. Why are you asking?"

He watched her with a scrutiny she didn't like. She couldn't tell him. Not now. If she found out who the culprits are, she could easily protect everyone. She could tell someone and have them imprisoned. It was possible.

"I – ", she laughed nervously. "There is a topic in English literature which is about criminality and there was this case during a ball – and this kind of reminded me of it – I just – it's nothing really."

She scratched her head in nervousness and her father frowned but otherwise didn't say anything else. "Anyway, let me take a photo of this so I don't forget the date of the ball. I will accompany you, don't worry. I can ask Kaito, too, but I don't think he'll want to come with us. But I'll ask."

She took out her phone and hastily took a photo of the invitation and the letter explaining how important it is for him to attend the ball.

Aoko turned around and was about to head to her room, her mind already racing with all the implications and problems and choices she had now when her father grasped her shoulder and stopped her from moving. She turned around, more dread filling her and tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Aoko, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

She nodded vaguely. "Is it a boy? Do you have boy troubles? Someone who is not Kaito-kun?"

Aoko raised her arms in a placating manner and looked at him dumbfounded. Well, he couldn't be more wrong.

"N-no. It's nothing. Really. I am stressed beyond belief, though. You can't imagine how stressful school is and I think I should go to bed, Otou-san. I'm actually really tired and should be trying to get some sleep for tomorrow."

After scrutinizing her for a moment longer, Ginzo nodded and let her go. "Just let me know if something bothers you. I know I cannot replace your mother but I don't want you to think that you cannot talk to your Otou-san about everything."

Aoko nodded in appreciation and left for her room.

She had sat in her room on her bed and stared into the darkness. She was still shaken that her father was on a list which was meant to kill him. Kill. In just four months her father was supposed to die and she'd be an orphan, not to mention losing every last bit of her family and security she still clung to.

She couldn't let that happen. Not on her watch. She wouldn't let it happen. There was no way she would let some criminal take her father away from her. Not, when she knew about it and could prevent it. In the very worst case she could still tell him and they'd find a way to save him and the other six victims. She had all the strings in her hands. She just needed to play them right.

She couldn't even bring herself to text Ran about this revelation because this changed everything. This was no longer a game, nothing they could just try to solve. Now, they had to do everything in their might to stop this from happening and apprehend the criminal. There was no way they could lose now.

Every last piece of doubt left her mind, all that was left was determination and dread. There was an all-consuming fear in her that she would fail but all the doubts about if it was the right thing or not were gone. The police might not take it seriously, but maybe they would because such an important event was to be bombed and they couldn't have that, now could they?

But getting the police involved harbored a lot of riskfy factors. Of course, they had experience, they had experts. They could save those people but what if it got out that they knew? Those people would try to look for the snitch, they would find another way to get the targets and no one knew how that would end. It was best to stay quiet and wait for the Ball night and stop them then.

But the stakes suddenly rose sky-high and Aoko bit her lip. They wouldn't need just a thousand plans and two thousand back-up plans, now they needed 10000 plans and even more back-up plans because if something went wrong now, it would be over – for everyone. And that, she couldn't have. Wouldn't have and wouldn't let happen.

That was why, since she couldn't grasp a single thought, she decided to sneak into the station and find out who those other targets were. She needed to know to be able to find out the motive. Why would someone want to kill different people? What was their connection? If she knew that maybe it would get her farther. Maybe it would give her a direction to look in to find the criminals. So far, she had nothing and Ran didn't either. So far, they had nothing, nada, zero. They had a location and some numbers and now even a date but it was still nothing. She didn't know who wanted those people dead or why and what they'd do if they didn't succeed this time.

She needed to start putting the puzzle together and their legal ways wouldn't get them anywhere which was why Aoko didn't tell Ran about it, either. She wanted to tell her, to have backup but Ran would try to dissuade her, wouldn't she? And right now she didn't have the mind to argue with the girl. Right now, there was a single thought inside her head and that was the names of the other targets. She needed to know so she could piece together their connection. The motive. She needed to know. Now.

She had waited until her father decided to go to sleep and only a few minutes later she heard his loud snoring. She had made her way downstairs, took his keys and card with which she would get into the station, put on a dark cap, dark scarf which she wrapped half her face in and in her dark clothes she made her way to the station.

When she arrived, it was way past midnight and she knew she'd probably regret it tomorrow because she would so fail her exam, but what did it matter if she passed or failed when her father was dead? She wouldn't be able to focus anyway, much less to sleep right now so that was that.

She knew the station had one back door which was unguarded and seldom anyone ever patrolled those halls. She was glad that Touichi-ojisan had taught her how to pick locks, not that he ever imagined she'd use it to break in somewhere (probably, she couldn't for the life of her fathom why the man would teach a 6-year-old girl anyway) but it came in handy sometimes. Besides, Kaito always used that ability and she'd be stupid if she didn't either.

She would have disguised as her father but she wasn't that far yet because he was much taller and broader than her. Also, she couldn't imitate voices yet and she wondered if she'd ever be able to. There was one woman on his squad she could have disguised herself as, but she didn't know enough about her and she was in no state of mind to pull it off perfectly, so sneaking in it was and making sure no one noticed her.

Unfortunately, the door she went in through was on the other side of the station and she'd have to go through Division 1 to get to Division 2. Fortunately, most officers were at home during the night so sneaking around wouldn't be too hard. Also, as far as she knew there were no cameras so she just had to make sure no one saw her and there would be no evidence she ever broke in somewhere. And even if someone caught her, she could say her father sent her or she was looking for him and didn't know he was at home, yet. She had been out late and wanted to pick him up. It was a reasonable excuse because he was often working very late. She could say she was late out because she was studying so hard and forgot the time. Maybe someone was following her on the street so she came here to have someone take her home.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest when she opened the door to the hall ajar. No one was there and she hastily entered the hall, closing the door behind her silently. She kept close to the hall and walked quickly to the nearest door.

She still remembered that one time Kaitou Kid tried to break into the station and she had staked out all the possible entryways and exits he could take. So, she was quite familiar with her way to her father's office through the whole station. Sometimes she was thankful for what Kid did. But only very few times. Once. Yes, she was glad just this once.

Stopping in front of the next door, she heard footsteps and briskly hid behind a wall close to the door. The door opened and a rookie officer walked into the room. Aoko held her breath and prayed to God he wouldn't turn her way and discover her. Before he could, though, Aoko quickly slipped through the closing door and immediately hid behind a table. There was no one in the next room, thankfully, but it didn't help to calm her racing heart. Maybe it was better, anyway, since her senses felt heightened and she kind of liked it. She was hyperaware of her surroundings and she'd never before acted as fast as now.

Not hearing or seeing anyone she crouch-walked to the next door and listened in. She heard some voices but they were strangely distant and nothing else. Opening the door just a tiny bit, she peeked inside and saw some officers one the other end of the gigantic hall. It was the main hall where all the officers had their desks. Well, the lower ranked ones. The higher ranked had their own offices.

It would be rather hard to get past those two and she cursed her luck. But they'd have to leave their spots sooner or later, right? They needed to take bathroom breaks or smoking breaks.

Silently, she made her way into the hall and hid behind the first table when suddenly the closest door opened. She ducked under the table and held her breath. Adrenaline was rushing through her veins and she heard the person sigh, possibly in frustration – she wasn't sure. Risking a tiny peek, she looked around the corner of the table and found Megure-keibu looking towards the two police at the other end of the hall.

Jackpot.

If she could make it into his office, she'd be able to find out some things, right? She might not know his password but she could try and find out, right? It would be a lot better than searching for those IDs with her father's user. She had an inkling that the IT department tracked all logins and searches and limited them. What if she gave away what she knew? What if she used her father's user and got him into the mess he didn't even know about?

Megure, though, he wasn't on the list and he was part of the homicide department. No one should bat an eye if he searched for IDs, right? It wasn't unusual behavior – not like if it was her father. Maybe it wasn't unusual for her father, either, since he had to make sure Kaitou Kid didn't disguise as someone from the Force. But she'd rather not risk anything.

When Megure started moving towards the two rookies, she scooted close to the edge of the table and once he wouldn't immediately see or hear her, she hurriedly slipped into his office.

His table lamp was still on and there were papers and files scattered across his desk. She sat into his chair and found the computer still on. Moving the mouse, she realized he hasn't locked the screen.

Double jackpot.

Quickly opening the database system, she typed in the IDs.

38573220T01356812 – Nagaya Akiro

53345670T02356356 – Nakamori Ginzo

6005005DTXS356030 – no match found

49870310OSX356906 – Toyama Ginshiro

58763330TD1723809 – Sato Miwako

60003590T03723027 – Muraki Atsuno

7780735NN01723715 – Yumitawa Yumiko

51500360OK1356136 – Asamoto Daisuke

She checked the third ID again but again the same error showed and she gave it up. She hastily scribbled the names into her phone and shut it close. She closed the window and looked through the inspector's desktop. Maybe the last ID was some external police? It would fit since his ID was slightly different but she wasn't able to find any other program which could give her the answers.

When she heard footsteps, she froze in fear. She jumped up and scattered some papers in her hurry to get away. With shaky fingers, she tried to arrange them as they were before someone caught her but her gaze fell on a particular piece of paper and she stilled.

Well, this changed everything.

She quickly took a photo of the paper and ran for the door when it suddenly opened in front of her and Aoko nearly wet her pants.

But while Megure-keibu wasn't looking inside the room and consequently not at her, she looked wide eyed into the eyes of her father and stilled her whole body. He made eye contact with her but didn't say anything, instead he continued talking to Megure-keibu, who still had one hand on the handle of the door. He kept his back to her and Aoko hurriedly scrambled behind the door.

What the hell was her father doing here? He was supposed to be in bed at home. She was so sure that she heard him snoring and once he did that there was nothing which would wake him. And it didn't take her so long that he'd wake up, find her gone and come here. And wait. Why was he so calm, anyway? If he found out she sneaked out, he would be freaking out, screaming and making an uproar. But not like this.

That was when she realized that those eyes weren't her father's but some else's she falsely mistook for his because for a second she just saw the head and the face and the posture which were her father's but those eyes weren't.

What the hell was Kaitou Kid doing here and why was he helping her?

She shook slightly when she realized she now had the international criminal knowing about her nightly activities. Kaito knew.

She bit her lip in panic and counted to ten to calm her down a little again. Her whole body was shaking like leaves in the wind and she was sure they could hear her heavy, panicked breaths a thousand kilometers against the wind.

Closing her eyes, she tried to calm her violently beating heart.

She succeeded when Kid successfully got Megure-keibu to release the handle and follow the thief into the hall again.

Thinking hard, she immediately dashed out of the room and hid under the same table as before. Taking a few deep breaths to slow the blood rushing through her veins, she peeked around the corner and looked straight into Kid's eyes. He nodded slightly and she took it as her cue to dart as quietly as possible out the same door she entered before.

Inside the room, she froze because she remembered the other officer but when she slowly walked through the room she found him unconscious on the floor. Probably Kid's work with his sleeping gasses huh? Well, whatever floated his boat, right now it was to her advantage and he never hurt anyone before, so it should be fine, right?

She made her way to the entrance she came through and dashed out.

Letting out all the breaths she kept holding, she slumped against the wall, once she was outside again. It was way too exciting for her tastes (her poor heart wouldn't be able to take much more). How Kid could do this multiple times a week was beyond her.

The door opened a few minutes later and Aoko shrunk into the darkness as best she could, but of course one Kaitou Kid would see her anywhere. He was back in his trade mark white suit and she couldn't help but scoff at him.

She was grateful he helped her out there but she would have been fine on her own.

He looked her up and down with an indistinguishable look on his face. "I hope you found what you were looking for, Nakamori-san. You do know that what you did was basically breaking and entering and whatever you were doing in that office? You could get imprisoned for that."

"Says the internationally wanted criminal."

He laughed lightly. "Well, I won't snitch on you but imagine Megure-keibu had caught you during the act. What would you have done?"

She scowled. "I would have been fine. Why did you even help me? I never wanted your help."

"A simple thank you would be enough, Ojou-chan."

She shook her head and walked around him but of course, he grabbed her by her arm and stopped her from going any further.

She turned around sharply and ground her teeth. "Let go! What do you want?"

"Nakamori-sa – no, Aoko-san. I don't know your incentive but this is unlike you. What's going on?"

She shook her head. "That's none of your business." They started playing a game of staring the other down but when neither of them backed own, Kid sighed.

"Will you tell someone, if I don't tell you? It's not like anyone would believe you anyway. Besides, I don't think they'd hear you out before trying to capture you."

He nodded. "You are right. My justice is a different one from yours. I just want to understand what made you do all these things. It would break your father's heart, wouldn't it? If he knew, that is."

"That's why he mustn't find out. Easy as that."

Aoko wouldn't lose this staring contest and she wouldn't tell him, either. She couldn't. He had his share of troubles and enemies. She didn't need to add onto that pile and make him another target. She simply couldn't tell him or she'd have to take care of him, too and she just couldn't do that. And he wouldn't let her, either.

"Then at least let me accompany you home. It's late already. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"It's none of your business and I most likely don't need you to take me anywhere. I don't trust you, you're a criminal. In the end, you decide to kidnap me and we can't have that, now can we?"

There was a tick above Kid's left eye, Aoko was sure, and his frustration was palpable but she had another incentive today. She couldn't go home, yet.

"Nakamori-san. All the public transportation is down for today since it's already past one o'clock. How are you going to get home? And what is this about your disguise? Let me tell you that you look much more like a criminal than inconspicuous."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear that from you. And I'll call a friend. He has a motorbike, he can pick me up."

Kid watched her with visible doubt on his face but she didn't care. Sighing again, he let her go and nodded, probably finally realizing that if she called him now, he'd give himself away and he couldn't have that, now could he?

"I can call him right now. Let me do it real quick."

She took out her phone and dialed Kaito's number and when she looked up again Kid was gone. Finally.

Sighing a deep sigh, Aoko slumped and dialed Ran instead. They had a lot to talk about.

When Aoko was sure Kaito wasn't following her any further she made her way to the Mouri Tower. She told Ran to meet her there and while it could probably wait until the next day, Aoko didn't feel like she could keep it in any longer.

Things got a lot more complicated and she needed to know what Ran thought and how they would proceed now.

She knew what persons the targets were, but they had no connection so far beside being fellow colleagues. She'd need to look into all of their files to find something but right now nothing came to mind. And then the last person, she didn't know what to think of it. Would it be better, after all, to let the experts handle the situation? Did it just get out of control? Maybe. But that was why she needed to talk to Ran and hear what her thoughts were on it.

She didn't have to wait very long for Ran to arrive and the girl looked wide awake, startled to have been woken up at such an hour and then made come all the way here.

"What happened, Aoko-chan?"

She must have sounded shrill even to her own ears but none of them noticed. Aoko just shook her head and made her way around the building to the back entrance she knew no one was watching. They would be able to take the staff elevator to take them up.

Ran looked with disdain as Aoko tried to open the door with things she's never seen her friends use before.

"Aoko-chan, are we breaking in? I refuse to break in somewhere. Let's talk somewhere else, please."

"This is possibly the only place no one will listen in on us or find us for that matter. No one will get hurt so what is the problem? Either way, Ran, there is no time to argue."

It shut the girl up, hearing Aoko call her without any endings. Something must have shaken her up really bad and now Ran didn't know if she really wanted to know but her treacherous feet followed after the criminal girl.

They were both silent all the way up and Aoko opened the door to the platform with ease and made her way to the viewing platform. It was cold, freezing in fact, but she still sat down on the wooden bank and took out her phone. When Ran sat down next to her she gave her the phone and waited for the girl's reaction. It didn't take long before Ran gasped in shock and dread spread like lead through Aoko's body.

"That – that's Shinichi." She sounded hoarse, breathless. Pained.

Aoko closed her eyes. "That's his ID. But – that can't be. Why would Shinichi be on the hit list?"

"Otou-san's name's on the list, as well."

"But that's – I don't understand."

Aoko sighed and opened her eyes again to take the phone out of Ran's hands. "I know I promised you to tell you if I do anything, right? But I couldn't wait for your approval or anything, so I broke into the station and found out the other target's names. I'm sorry I did it without letting you know beforehand but you would have been against it and I just needed to know. I – I am sorry."

Aoko was sure Ran must feel betrayed but there was no way she could have told her. Things were different now, but Ran would have stopped her before.

"What if someone saw you, Aoko? I could have helped you! Acting as a distraction or something."

Aoko sighed. "But would you have?"

Ran wanted to argue but shut her mouth. "Maybe not."

There was silence for long moments, only the wind freezing their cold bodies.

"You have an exam tomorrow. We should talk tomorrow."

Aoko shook her head. "I don't care. Someone's trying to kill Otou-san. I couldn't sleep anyway."

"And Shinichi."

"Otou-san got the invitation for the Ball today. It's a formal event, a ball that will take place in April next year in the Akasaka Palace. We'll have about four months to figure out everything and prepare."

"What kind of event?"

"Otou-san said that there's some anniversary for the police force and every high and low ranked police will be there."

"I wonder if Otou-san got an invitation, as well. And why Shinichi would get one. I mean he's not with the force. He's just a high schooler. A detective, sure, but he's also but a 17-year-old boy."

"He must have gotten an invitation, as well."

"I can't have him go to the ball, Aoko. It'll be impossible for us to work if he watches us all the time." And because she couldn't live with herself if they failed, but that went unspoken.

"I can't have Otou-san attend, either. We'll somehow need to make sure they cannot attend. But we cannot tell them outright. Maybe have them break their legs or something."

"That's too violent. And too suspicious. There is also Kazuha-chan's father. And Sato-keji. I don't want them to attend, either."

"This is a mess. What are we going to do now?"

This time it was Ran who didn't doubt anymore. "Well, we're this far in already, we can't stop now. I won't let Shinichi attend, no matter what. I'll see if Otou-san got an invitation as well and think up something to make them stay at home or better even, get them out of the city. There must be a plausible way, after all."

Aoko turned her head to look at Ran and frowned. "I guess we can now safely say that it's not a joke and we didn't make a mistake decoding the messages, right? It adds up too well."

Aoko nodded and went through the messages, as well. "I wonder how the culprit got the IDs. It's not public knowledge and I don't think some lower ranked police has access to these kinds of information. And unless there was a breach of security those IDs couldn't have gotten out. And I'm pretty sure something like that would have gotten public or at least Otou-san would have told me."

Ran bit her lip in realization what it meant. "Do you mean there is someone inside the police who's behind all of this?"

Aoko shrugged. "It would make sense, wouldn't it? With this kind of inside knowledge it's hard to imagine it's someone from outside. At least, there has to be someone inside giving out information. We can look but I'm fairly sure that this event hasn't been made public, yet, either. So how is someone supposed to know about this so far ahead if they aren't inside?"

"But if what you say is true, then it's not just some officer, either, but someone high ranked one. Would really someone like that be corrupted? But I guess there is the possibility since we only have police targets. It fits too well, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Maybe those people were involved in a case together. Maybe they saw something they weren't supposed to see. I don't know but we need to find out. What if we save them this time but those criminals try to kill them later? We can't just stop it, we also need to figure out who is behind all of this."

Ran swallowed loudly. "So, in addition to solving this case we also need to watch over the seven targets, right? I think it'll be rather hard since there are some from outside of Tokyo. I can have Kazuka-chan watch over her father but the other two – I don't know."

"We shouldn't include anyone else, Ran. We can't risk anyone else's life. We'll figure out a way to make Toyama-san stay at home. Right now, we still have time."

Ran sighed and deflated. "I never would have thought things would come to this. What if this is part of another case? What if Shinichi is on the list because whatever case he's on, is linked to this one?"

"Then we'll have to find out. We have no other choice and find out if it has anything to do with it."

"Alright. I'll think of something. We both will. Now, how about going home? I'm as shaken as you but we won't figure out anything more right now, anyway and it's cold."

Aoko nodded and stood up slowly. The sky was rather cloudy, just like her mood. "You're right. Let's go."

"Let's meet tomorrow and discuss things then."

Aoko nodded and walked to the elevator.

Everything was different now.

Everything changed with just two names.

Everything became personal and Aoko wouldn't let anyone live in peace who tried to kill her father. Never.

I'm so into this story, we're finally through with the beginning and transitioning to the middle. Finally, things are clear and we can start planning things :D I'm so super excited for what's to come :D

Thank you for your reviews! Maybe I'll be able to update once or twice before going to Japan, we'll see.

Anyway, I hope you like it! Next chapter we'll have some KaiAo and ShinRan moments :D