A/N: Hello everyone! Know what I just noticed? So far, every chapter of this story has been split into two sub-chapters. I haven't been doing that intentionally, but nonetheless, this chapter is just the same. (Though the second part is long enough to be a chapter all by itself. I just didn't have any good places to stop it at, and it kept getting longer, and longer, and looonger...)

Anyways, same old message as usual. If you have ideas you'd like to see worked into the story, see mistakes, or see a spot of writing that would sound better if I did 'this' instead of 'that', let me know! : ) And of course, if you don't have any of those things, still feel free to review. It certainly makes an author's day.

Chelseaj500: Wait no longer! :P

ZXCVBNMEM: Oh don't worry about that, it's nothing important. Merely a case that Takagi was working on, and not really important to the story. That whole part was mostly to 'introduce' Takagi, if you will, to this story and so that people have an idea of what it's like inside his head.

"Sonoko! Wait up!" Ran was only met with one of the blond's cheeky grins as she continued on to wherever it was she was going without showing even the faintest hint of slowing her pace. Ran was stuck carrying the majority of the bags while Sonoko had barely anything heavier than a pencil slung over her shoulders. "You're the strong one!" the blond girl would insist. And then she'd take off through the mall, headed toward the next glass-fronted boutique she could find. "Ooh! This place looks nice!"

"Sonoko!"

She grinned ear to ear as she waited for the brunette to amble over, dropping the heavy bags at her feet once the distance had been closed, stopping to catch her breath. She was happy to see that Ran's entire attention was focused right there, in that second, and nowhere else. It was exactly what she'd set out to do, and exactly what always worked. Any time that detective jerk weighed down Ran's mind, Sonoko'd take it upon herself to clear her head. Because that's simply how wonderful of a friend I am! she thought, her grin twisting into more of a self-appreciative smirk.

It was that moment that Ran's phone started pleading for attention, its ringer going off at full volume. Still, it was only just audible over the flux of conversation going on around them. Shinichi. It was the first thought that entered both of their minds, though met with varying reactions ranging from annoyance to a strange fusion of relief and boiling rage. But when she looked, she found it was only Conan. Only Conan, the thought echoed. She felt terrible for thinking that, how could she even let that thought form? What's up with me today? What if I'd answered the phone like that? God, he'd be so upset if he ever knew that I'd just thought that. How could I ever-

"Uh, Ran?" Sonoko broke her out of her trance, pointing to the vibrating phone as she raised an eyebrow. "You gonna get that?"

Letting out a sound of surprise, Ran raised it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Upon hearing the gruff, slightly slurred voice, Ran let out an exasperated sigh through her nose.

"What is it?" Sonoko asked tentatively, a combination of confusion and concern filtering into her tone. Normally Ran seemed a little bit brighter whenever the boy was around. Kudo had had almost the same effect on her, whenever he was around, back in what seemed like the middle-ages now. It was weird in her opinion, but hey. Whatever works, works, and she wasn't about to question it. Ran really did deserve her happiness, even if that smile was caused by an annoying four-eyed twerp.

"Dad, are you drunk again?" she asked, bringing a palm up to press against her forehead. She could feel the beginning of a headache coming on. As the time stretched on without an answer, though in reality it was likely no more than a second, a hint of steel creeped into her voice. "What have I told you about drinking during work hours?"

"Daih!" Incoherent as it was, it was at least an answer. "Well, I, uh... Hehe..."

"Dad!"

Sonoko could only watch in mild amusement. They had the strangest father-daughter relationship she'd ever seen. Half of the time, Ran was more like the man's wife than his daughter. Or maybe his mother would be a closer match, she thought. Then added and way less creepy. I think. Sonoko moved closer just in time to hear a rush of static, a few quick words being exchanged on the other side, and then "Hello Ran-neechan!"

"Conan, did my father just hand you the phone?" Sonoko noted that while still firm, her voice had taken on a much more motherly tone. Maybe wife would be more correct after all?

"Yep! He said to ask you when you'd be home."

"Asking a child to do your dirty work," she muttered, just low enough for Conan not to hear. Or, so she thought. On his end, a grin was being viciously fought off to keep it from surfacing. "I can be home in ten minutes, just let me finish things up here."

Ran's voice was more like an exasperated sigh than anything else, and she was just about to end the call when she heard "Alright, I'll tell Kogoro-ojisan! Bye Ran-neechan!" She found herself grinning at the boy's infectious, upbeat tone, and could see his bright smile as plainly as if he were standing in front of her.

"Bye, Conan-kun."

Sonoko stared for a moment. That was it. All day at school, Sonoko had been trying to get Ran to smile like that. A genuine, carefree smile. She'd been working at it for close to an hour now not even counting her efforts during school, trying all of the tricks she had up her sleeve and coming up empty. It had taken the brat in glasses all of ten seconds, and the girl might as well be giggling.

Apparently the surprise was evident on her face. Also apparent, was the fact that Ran misinterpreted her thoughts as something along the lines of "I can't believe you're just leaving me here!", because apologies were quick to follow. "I'm sorry Sonoko, it looks like something came up." Even though Sonoko knew full well that Ran wasn't getting much of anything out of this shopping spree, she still seemed honestly sorry that she had to be leaving. "Maybe we can come finish tomorrow?" Ran continued, hoping her friend wasn't too mad.

Waving off her apologies, she said "Don't worry about it, get out of here." Wink added for emphases, she added "and tell the brat that he shouldn't let grumpy old men use his cellphone."

Ran gave a quiet laugh, her mood dramatically altered in the last three minutes, then everything dropped as realization hit. "Sonoko!"

She snickered at Ran's indignant stomp of her foot, then waved her away. "Kidding, kidding. You're going to be late for your date if you don't hurry."

Somewhere nestled between frustration and amusement, the sound was likewise something like the mutant child of a groan and a laugh. Then she was jogging away, the heavy bags once more slung over her shoulder, turning back once to give Sonoko a parting wave, then disappeared into the sea of weaving bodies.

A ten minute walk, ten minutes getting ready, and a twenty minute car ride later, Ran, Conan and Kogoro were stepping out of a rented car, scattered gravel crunching underfoot. They were just outside of the city limits, far enough away so that the crime and noise wouldn't be too much of a concern, but not so far away that they'd have to pack an overnight bag to head to the grocery store. The old house had an air to it suggesting that it was well loved and taken care of; The surrounding brush portrayed just the opposite impression. The tall trees growing throughout the property limited the trio's field of vision to hardly more than a dozen meters, Conan's even less, and that was with the sun shining at an angle that wasn't easily blocked by their limbs. He could only imagine what the place would be like at night.

He stopped to take in the space around him, mostly to make a mental map of the outside of the house. They'd come in handy before. However, it was once he was done observing how many windows and where they were situated that he turned his gaze groundward. The driveway, if it could be called that, consisted of mostly gravel. There were intermittent spots of grass growth, as well as more than a few weeds. However, he noticed, there was a rectangle of the driveway where there was no growth at all. The gravel there was significantly finer than the rocks that surrounded it, indicative of a car frequently parking there, crushing the gravel and shading the spot from the sun. It fit perfectly with a thought that had been bugging him since they'd arrived. Living this far out of the city, they'd certainly need a car. However, the vehicle had been absent. However it seemed it was merely being used at the moment.

A faint chime breaking him out of his thoughts, he realized that Kogoro had already pressed the doorbell. Once Conan had taken to Ran's side, it was only moments before a middle-aged woman had drawn the door half open. "Mouri-san, " the woman greeted with a bright smile. Bright, that is, if you happened to actually believe the smile to be genuine, which it most certainly was not. Kogoro gave a short nod, or perhaps a very shallow bow, before her eyes came to rest on the two younger guests at her door. "Oh, and you brought children, " she said with just enough false hospitality lacing her tone to keep from seeming outright hostile. It didn't take a detective's eye to see that she had expected a one-on-one meeting with the famed gumshoe, and was less than pleased with the turn of events.

The woman turned around with an air of importance, then started marching towards a sitting area. While unspoken, the message "Follow me" might as well have been taped to her back. Most likely written in a large, red, jagged font, Conan thought with the barest hint of humor. Possibly with more than one exclamation mark.

"My name is Aisaka, " she spoke without turning to look at her guests as she addressed them. Ignoring her for the most part, Conan took in all the details he could absorb as he passed; pictures, mostly. Most of them were of children, probably Aisaka's. And probably grown, he thought. After all, the house seemed empty except for the four of them. However, his instincts were pointing him away from the smiling faces of the children and to the older man that appeared intermittently. He couldn't imagine that the man could be anyone other than the Aisaka's husband.

"Please take a seat, " the woman said, the forced smile on her lips seeming to fall slightly. "The tea will be ready shortly." Once the door was shut, Ran did as she was asked, taking one side of the two-seater settee. The family room they seemed to be in now had a sparse few seats, arranged so that they all faced the rather small, outdated looking television set against the far wall. Kogoro took the place beside her, and Conan was left standing next to the oval coffee table that held only an ash tray, stuck in between the settee and an old rocking chair, which went without saying was reserved for the woman.

It was only a moment before Ran noticed the slight problem with the seating arrangements. "You can sit up here with me, Conan-kun, " she said brightly.

Crap. This was always so distracting. And yet, somehow, wonderfully so. It was frustrating in its own unique way. Usually something that was labelled 'distraction' was not also labelled 'pleasant', yet this fit both categories snugly. It was an exception to the norm, a bump in a stream of regular logic, and even if his thoughts weren't completely in the gutter once he was on her lap, it would still be a hindrance to his usual, logical flow.

But then she lowered her arms toward him, her hands closed around his middle, and his brain went into panic mode. She lifted him bodily through the air as he tried to wiggle out of her grasp, before setting him on her legs. She draped her arms over his shoulders letting them cross in front of his chest, pushing him against her. The back of his head right next to her soft, round, supple...

The door to the kitchen creaked open as the client returned, a tray of white and baby blue floral printed tea cups held in both hands. Her timing couldn't have been better. There was already a light sheen of sweat that had collected near his hairline, and he was almost certain that blood was pooling in his cheeks. Focus, his mind yelled at the rest of his unruly brain. Cold shower, soccer stats, rigor mortis, Ochan in a bikini - AH! He visibly flinched at that thought. Ok, that was a little overkill.

The woman set one cup of the warm, sloshing liquid in front of each guest on the coffee table before taking to her chair. She blew the hot liquid in an effort to cool it down, taking a tentative sip a moment later. A sort of awkward silence followed, in which there was only the loud slurping of tea from the client siting next to them. Clearing his throat after a few moments, Kogoro finally brought her attention back to the matter at hand. Which was, ironically enough, that they didn't know what that matter was.

"So, " he began. Even with his abilities of perception, there was no way for Conan to know exactly what it was that the detective was about to follow that up with. It usually ranged from cliche to outright embarrassing, to some times bordering on harassment if the client happened to be attractive enough. Maybe he shouldn't care, but it was hard for him not to cringe when the man made a fool of himself. After all, Conan was as much Sleeping Kogoro as the man himself, maybe even more so.

"What can I do for you?" Conan let out a silent breath. The man had actually managed to sound somewhere in the neighborhood of professional.

"My husband left to retrieve a paper of some sort from his office, just before 7:30 last night." Aisaka's voice was short, concise, and had a sharper point than an arrow. "He's yet to return home and I want you, Mouri-san, to tell me why."

Conan's eyebrow had risen, just a centimeter or so, towards the end of her last sentence. The emphasis on -san seemed a little too harsh, not to mention most of the clients these days used the more respectful honorific -sama instead. Most of what followed could be equated to blind shots in the dark on Kogoro's part, asking one question after another, and getting little in the way of an actual answer. For the most part it seemed like he was talking in circles, though Conan was able to sift out some useful information from the heaping mounds of unrelated facts and half-truths eventually.

Her husband's name, Kazuma Aisaka, age, 52, and occupation, a physics professor at a nearby university. However Conan was getting the feeling that there was more to the situation than the woman was letting on. Her short, concise tone continued on, even using it when she answered most of Kogoro's inquiries, most of which didn't really answer the question at all. Some times she'd out right refuse to answer a question at all.

The way that she'd treated them played through his mind as a few different pieces nearly clicked into place. They were so close, and at the same time, didn't fit together at all. Aisaka clearly wasn't enjoying their company, yet she was putting up a front to try not to show it. That probably means she's getting desperate, he thought. Or has planned this meeting out for some reason or another. She could very well be trying to use us as an alibi of some sort. Without his notice, his face slid into a calculating gaze that no true eight year old could ever hold, and it was only luck that his eyes were hidden behind his bangs and the glare from his glasses.

But that doesn't tell me what she has against us, or at least against Occhan. Or why she's desperate in the first place. And desperate for what? He chewed his thoughts over a little more as tea was sipped and the tension in the room seemed to grow thicker. Foul play maybe? If she'd killed her husband, she could be hoping to take herself off the radar by bringing in a detective to find him. No, that just didn't sit right. She was nervous, but not in a way that suggested she was trying to cover up a murder. More like, she felt she was doing something wrong, and was about to be reprimanded at any moment. But that was merely another question in and of itself. Speculating at this point is worthless, he told himself. We don't have any evidence pointing to anything. We just have to be patient, and maybe check out this university. That paper might still be there.