Hey !
And here we are, entering the last chapters and unveiling the last vilains... Hope you had fun with that story and thanks for staying tuned ! ; )
o.O.o
emmahoshi : Yup, I wanted for once the culprit to be a young one... I mean, look at sherry, barely what ? 18-19 and producing poisons for the Organisation ? Not all members are old... Haha, yea, I added some touches of humour here and there, I like those precious moments in serious situations : ) And Heiji is the best char for that, always wanting to have a good joke whatever happens : ) Yup, it's over ^^;; Thanks again for your support, your reviews are always so much fun to me : )
Chapter 19 : Testimony
I didn't know how but I had been able to fall asleep. To be woken up by some footsteps in my room. Discreet ones but well, I had been expecting some company so my ears were more sensible than usual. I forced myself not to open my eyes. At the darkness through my eyelids, I knew it was still the middle of the night, no need to look around me for that. As to the owner of those shoes, well, I hoped it was the one I was expecting. It was about time, right ? Since I arrived in Osaka's General Hospital during the afternoon, midnight was the best moment for a bad guy to pay me a visit, wasn't it ?
Thanks to Otaki-han, we spread the word in Osaka's Police Headquarters, in the hope it would fell in the right ears, that I had been badly wounded during that fight with Tanioka and put into a coma. And that my mother had requested me to be transferred back to Osaka in the hope I'd wake up one day, wanting me to see a familiar environment around me. A bit melodramatic but... Well, those footsteps in the middle of the night hinted it worked just like we hoped.
"- Sorry boy, don't take it too personally but I'd prefer you not to wake up at all…"
I kept a smile for myself. This was the exact voice I was waiting for. But I couldn't celebrate anything yet, we were far from over. This was just the beginning.
A soft noise close to my ear told me he probably grabbed the spare pillow I had kept near of me. Was he planning to suffocate me with it ?
I wasn't really fond of the idea so I decided it was time to startle him a bit.
"- Could I know why ?"
The man jumped at my voice, despite the fact it wasn't really impressive, short-breathed as I was since I had been hurt. But the fact I couldn't put much force in my tone was also helping, since I needed him to feel safe enough to spit the truth. So I tried to look as inoffensive as possible for him to think he was controlling the whole situation.
The Superintendent General, indeed with a pillow in his hand, close to my face, stepped back a bit, though keeping his weapon in the hand.
"- Ya're from the Black organization, aren' ya ? Just like Tanioka Takeo… An' ya organized all this… Startin' by killin' my father ta take his place !"
The coughing fit that followed wasn't absolutely planned but well, I was pretty much into the role, right ? I could challenge Kudô's mother…
"- You shouldn't get too excited in your condition, boy, this isn't good for your health…
- I don' really think ya're carin' about my health right now, Kasai-han… Not with that pillow so close ta my mouth earlier…"
The man had the decency to shrug with slight embarrassment, lowering his arm and its pillow.
"- Tell me why ya did this…"
Kasai sighed dramatically as he took the seat near of my bed, a smirk that augured no good on his face.
"- Since we both know how it'll end, I guess there's no harm in having a little chitchat…"
Ok, seeing how confident he was, I was ready to bet there wasn't any nurse on this floor anymore. I just had to hope he had done it in a non-violent way… But well, what would be the use to sneak it by night if it was to kill everyone coming across his way ? Nah, the guy had planned to kill only one person tonight and I had the pleasure to be this VIP.
"- Your father had to die, I needed his position after all…
- Just fer that charity gala …?
- Ah yea, you were there also… I didn't really pay attention to you, but Pommeau… Tanioka, as you call him, told me you were there… It was indeed my first mission. That position as Superintendent General was allowing me to enter this party and access to sensitive information when I shouldn't have been able to even come close to its door. It also allowed me to slip just enough information to that criminal group for them to feel safe enough to attack the place, attracted by what looked like easy money… And in the mess, Pommeau was supposed to act. To frame Sahashi's murder on that group. But you and your pals intervened and you were in the way until the end, even during that last attempt outside…
- An' Tanioka-kun has been forced ta kill him durin' the night, standin' out in the open, an' we spotted him… Was it him who warned the Organization that Sahashi-han was writtin' a book about Them ?"
The man, his face a bit darker now that he was mentioning how his plan screwed up because of me, Kudô and the Kaitou Kid, had a nod so I kept speaking.
"- That's just so much pure luck fer ya ta have someone among that author's relatives… Ya wouldn' have heard o' it else, an' it would have been too late once the book would have been out…
- Maa, don't underestimate us, boy. Sahashi has not really been discreet during his researches for his previous book when he stuck his noise in a specific political party...
- Hidaka Atsushi's ?" I said, knowing I was right on point at the policeman's face.
That was no real surprise, the man had been the one to appoint him as Superintendent General... But the guy nevertheless looked pissed off.
"- Why do you ask so many questions when it seems you are more than well informed about that case..." Kasai asked with a suspicious frown.
"- That was more o' a lucky guess..." I explained, a bit angry against myself, knowing I should let him do the talking, not me, and that for once I had to tame my detective's will to explain everything and how I found it out.
"- The luck seems to have been pretty much on your side lately... Pity it'll end tonight..." He said with a grin that could fit any sadistic bad guy, expect for the fact the man in front of me was a policeman. "Yea, Hidaka is the one who spotted him first. A man in his party had seen too much about him and, before he could finish him, the guy had already spoken to Sahashi... So we had to prepare that plan to put me in that position, where I could work with Pommeau to prevent the publishing of that book... In the end, as long as Sahashi died, we'd win, since that idiot turned Pommeau into his heir, meaning he'd chose whether he'd publish the book or not…
- I still can' believe ya did that much damage with just the two o' ya..." I said, trying, with that fake flattery, to know if anyone else had been implied. "Gettin' Saijô out o' jail, the attack durin' the charity, Sahashi-han's murder, that murder attempt on me yesterday..."
Kasai's smile was getting wider and wider, as if happy to be remembered all of his mischiefs.
"- Well, two is enough when you have my kind of gift... Knowing where to put the pressure, right where needed, to force the others to do the dirty work for you... This is my specialty.
- An' yet ya're here...
- I have to admit it turns out to get a bit more personal with you... And I'm not taking many risks... No one will really be surprised you to suffocate after a wound to the lung. That will only be a horrible relapse..."
I guess it was the end of our chitchat since the man got up, grabbing his pillow more firmly and stepping towards me again.
I had a tensed face - just a little second, it was too tempting - before sending him my best provocative smile, one of those I affectionated to have on my face when a cocky criminal was getting cornered.
"- Thank ya fer yer testimony, Kasai-han."
The man jumped on his feet, turning his head to look behind him, to see Ayanokoji and Kudô going out of their hiding, a cupboard we dragged in my room for the occasion.
The officer had still a video camera in his hands and nonchalantly switched it off as he came closer, my best friend on his heels, a smile just like mine on his face.
"- I'm afraid to have to arrest you, Superintendent General Kasai." He declared, his face straight.
"- I'm not sure I'm really fond of that idea..."
What happened right after wasn't really part of the plan, I had to admit I wasn't really fond of having my throat squished in an iron clad hand and that what was happening right now, too quick for me to even try to defend myself.
"- Give the camera to the kid and have him to bring it to me."
I could see Ayanokoji was hesitating but the grunt I involuntarily let out when Kasai squeezed my neck harder apparently convinced him, since he gave the camera to Kudô.
The pressure on my throat being relieved, I could gulp for air the second after, stabilizing my vision now that blood was back to my brain.
Seeing the man was pretty much focused on my friend, I knew it was time to act. Whatever I could do to distract him would be enough to leave the door open to Ayanokoji. My eyes fell on the book on my bedside table, my favourite anthology from Ellery Queen, Kudô had been nice enough to retrieve it for me while I was being transferred. Without thinking twice, I grabbed it and threw it against Kasai's head, hoping to destabilize him enough to get free and stop playing the hostage.
But I had underestimated what he could take and I barely made him angry.
"- Brat !"
Was the last thing I heard before his grasp strengthen around my neck, my ears ringing, my vision swimming, a red veil now on the things around me but not thick enough for me not to see his hand was digging in his pocket, clearly in search of a weapon.
"- Gun ...!" I half coughed half whispered as I could, using the last bit of air in my lungs to warn my allies.
The others hadn't been inactive and had come closer to neutralize the guy but too close, too deadly close, since they wouldn't be able to avoid that bullet shot towards them.
I saw Ayanokoji pushing Kudô at the last minute and heard the detonation at the same time, before seeing him fall to the floor.
Had we been too self-confident ? Was that guy going to kill us all ...?
I was reaching my limit, ready to kiss that harsh life goodbye when the hand around my neck suddenly turned as slack as jelly. The man slid to the floor, a broken camera rolling near him.
A bit further, Kudô was barely putting his feet down, his shoe still shining with power after his powered kick.
Seeing I had my eyes on him, he smiled, holding a tiny SD card in front of his eyes, having been able to save it before kicking the camera.
He could look classy, sometimes, that Kudô, even in that seven years old body.
That had been my last thought before, a smile still on my lips, I passed out.