A/N: Another chapter for you guys! Probably the last one for a while. For my non-American readers, the 24'th is a holiday, and company is coming over today, so I won't have many chances to jot down a sentence, let alone a chapter. Also, as a result, this chapter still feels a little rushed to me, and I wish I could have polished it a little more, but this is all the time I have to get one up before next week at the earliest. Of course, feel free to point out any spots that you think need more polishing, and I'll get to them just as soon as time permits.

Chelseaj500: Haha well, I have all of the arcs plotted out for a while now, but since the mysteries haven't even played out all that much yet, I'll take it to mean the little details that get thrown in there. Those just get made up in the spur of the moment as I'm writing.

The previous day's meeting with Aisaka had yielded little in the way of information, and after they'd long since left the client's house behind the only real lead they had to follow up on was the document that Kazuma had apparently left in his office. One of the few things that Aisaka had been willing to divulge was the name of the university, Nanyo, which at least gave them a place to start.

Mercifully they hadn't stayed much longer, and even Kogoro was able to figure out where they needed to go next. They'd arrived not 10 minutes later, nearing 6:30. Kogoro approached the main door, giving it a few solid thumps with his fist. "Hello!" he yelled, fist still hammering against the glass. "Open up! I'm here on the request of Aisaka-san!" Conan stood to the side, giving him a sideways glance. Saying it like that is deceptive, at best.

The shadows inside the building shifted, and soon enough the silhouette of a man came into view. Kogoro's apparent efforts to shatter the glass redoubled, but receded once the muffled sound of a key being slipped into a lock could be heard. The door swung outward, causing them all to take a step back, before a set of beady little eyes peered out at them from under a security guard's cap. "Who are ya and whadda ya want?" he barked, a strong Kansai Ben accent immediately apparent. "Everyone's gone home, ya jus' missed 'em, so if ya here to complain about ya daughter's grades, ya can come back t'morrow."

Kogoro and Ran, seemingly shell shocked from the man's sudden outburst, stood stock still as he tried to shut the door. But when a certain red shoe wedged itself in the doorjamb, Conan found three sets of eyes staring down at him. "Actually mister," Conan started in with the big-eyed and innocent look. "We're friends of Kazuma-san's, and we're here to pick up a paper he forgot. Can we come in and get it really quick? I promise we won't be any trouble!" Well, if Occhan can...

As if noticing him for the first time - and by the way he craned his neck down to look at him it very possibly could have been - the security guard gave him a once over. "Friends o' Kazuma-san's, eh?" The guard lifted up his cap to scratch his thinning hair, then smoothed it back in place. He seemed to think it over for a minute, then "Fine, be quick wit it. I can't follow ya 'round here all night ya know."

He turned his back as he threw the door open, not caring to make sure he wasn't going to hit anybody, and headed toward the opposite hallway at a leisurely pace. Kogoro took a moment before stepping inside, his mind apparently still catching up to what was going on, then took off to close the growing distance between them. Conan went to follow when suddenly he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. "Nice job," Ran whispered. He looked up to find her leaning over his shoulder, a faint smile tugging at the side of her lips, and his heart skipped a beat. From this angle, he could easily make out the stars shining behind her, giving her a strange sort of ethereal beauty as the light danced through her hair. And she was so close... "Once again, your quick thinking saved the day."

"Uh, well, I, uh, hehe..." Conan gave her a big cheesy smile, rubbing the back of his head. I guess I was right this morning. At this rate, I might need an antidote again before the end of the week. Brain finally realizing that he'd yet to formulate a response, he just went with the closest thing to the truth he could think of. "It was nothing! Aunt Yukiko's taught me a lot things during her visits!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Ran straightened up again, her smile growing more prominent as she went to follow Kogoro and the guard inside. "Lets not let them get too far ahead, Conan-kun. We wouldn't want to get left behind, now would we?" The hand on his shoulder fell away, and he couldn't help but feel like it was taking a little piece of himself with it. That is, until it closed around his own hand, giving it a squeeze before slipping into the building, following the echoing footsteps.

It took him a moment, what with his heart pounding in his ears and all, to make out something that wasn't quite right. He held his breath, listening to the sounds bouncing around the halls. The footsteps, they were off, somehow. He listened a little more intently. That's definitely more than two pairs. He glanced down a dark offshoot as they passed it by, and though he didn't see anything, he definitely heard it. Without a doubt, someone else was in the building. Maybe it's another guard? It's unlikely that there'd only be one man in the entire main building. Maybe he's out looking for the other guy, trying to figure out what's taking him so long? It seemed logical enough. It might even just be true.

That's when both of the footsteps they were trailing suddenly picked up speed to a solid sprint, the pounding echo all the incentive the two of them needed to do the same. Right, and Ayumi kicks kittens for the fun of it. Why can't we ever just have a peaceful night? Conan and Ran were just rounding a corner when the smell of smoke smacked him solid in the face as the third set of footsteps he'd heard just moments ago played through his mind. More than likely already knowing what he was going to find, the roles of who was pulling who switched, Conan now in the lead tugging firmly at her hand.

"Conan-kun, what're you doing?" she asked, nearly tripping over her own feet as her balance was thrown off by his sudden role reversal.

Before he could answer her, though, Kogoro's voice boomed through the air. "Ran! Call a firetruck!" A beat passed, where the sound of something heavy slamming into something else could be heard, followed by the tinkling of shattering glass. "And an ambulance! Now!"

Luckily, the fire was contained, and the damages were only limited to the one room. However, the damages were, in a word, everything. There were so many papers and other easily flammable items spread throughout the room, once it started, there was no stopping it. But by far the focal point of the incident was the body behind the small desk, bound and gagged, sitting in a charred leather chair with its covering peeling back to expose the foam inside, the plastic bottom melted and twisted to the point that the whole chair was tilted sideways. The ropes holding the victim in the chair had mostly burned away, leaving the body free-standing, giving the whole thing the impression of some kind of gruesome depiction of Hades on his throne.

Forensics were crawling all over the place, taking pictures and samples, while Megure, Chiba and Takagi stayed over by the door. Conan couldn't help but notice the odd glance here or there that Megure would fix on Kogoro. Eventually the three broke apart; Chiba went running out of sight, Takagi went over to talk to Tome as he was reviewing some things with a few other forensics officers, and Megure walked over toward them. "Mouri-san. What a surprise." His sarcasm would have given Haibara a run for her money. He sighed, continuing on. "So, tell me, what brings you three here?"

"Aisaka-san, that is, Kazuma-san's wife, asked us to investigate him. It appears he's been missing for some time now, and she wanted the famous Mouri Kogoro to find him! So, we came to investigate his office, but, when we got here, " he gestured to the burnt room in general, not bothering to elaborate.

With an indifferent grunt, the Inspector eyed him for another moment, then went on his way. He started to grumble to himself, voice low and incomprehensible. Conan imagined his words were probably somewhere along the lines of "Some days, Mouri-san, I seriously wonder if criminals really don't just follow you around."

"Ah, did you find it?" Takagi asked, realizing a moment too late that he'd spoken just a decibel too loudly.

As could be predicted, not even a second later Conan was peering at the plastic bag held out between the two officers. Inside was the remains of a cigarette, burned until it was nearly unrecognizable. "Is that what started the fire, Takagi-keiji?" he asked.

"Most likely," the man said with a nod, pointing a white gloved hand towards the side of the desk, long since having abandoned any misgivings about letting the boy in on the details of the case. "It was on top of that stack of papers in the trash there."

Conan looked in the implied direction, taking in the small, badly warped plastic bin. There was a pile of ashes in the bottom, but nothing that looked like it could ever be read again. "Oh?" He asked, crestfallen eyes turning back to the detective. "There weren't any important papers in there, were there? That's what me and Kogoro-ojisan came to look for. Aisaka-san said that her husband was really upset because he couldn't find an important paper last night, and he thought he'd left it here. He got in the car and left. But you know what the weird thing is, Takagi-keiji? He never came back."

Takagi's hands twitched just slightly as the boy's registry rose into that high pitched, childish tone, and he spoke like he didn't have a clue in the world as to what was going on. He was just doing that... that... thing again, whatever it is that that thing was.

"Sir!" a voice called out from somewhere in the middle of the room. Nearly every eye turned to look at him. "Uh, I mean... Inspector Megure." Most of the eyes turned away, but Conan, Kogoro and Takagi kept their attention fixed on him. "We've IDed the deceased as one Isao Watari. He has several outstanding warrants for his arrest on charges ranging from bribery to attempted murder. Allegedly he runs several local gambling rings, and has recently started giving out loans with interest rates as high as sixty percent."

"So he was a loan shark," Megure commented, taking notice of the large watch on the victims right wrist. It was covered in black soot on top, but not much had settled on the bottoms of the side edges, allowing some of the gold to peek through. "So the question is, who tied him up and lit the place on fire?"

"Maybe, but then," Conan asked, tone sliding towards serious and further away from his childish tones of moments ago, drawing the attention of those who'd just been listening to the officer's exchange. "Why do you think a loan shark would be in Aisaka-san's office to begin with?"

The Inspector was silent for a second, then, "Takagi-kun! Find out what you can about the Aisaka's financial situation. See if they've deposited any unusually large sums lately."

Takagi glanced at the boy to his side once again, as if this time he'd be able to see through the facade and to the truth beneath. He, of course, did not. "Yes sir!" he called with a quick, sloppy salute, then hurried out into the hall to look for somewhere a little more quiet to conduct his business. And to clear his head so that he could focus on what he was doing.

Conan's attention, though, was far from the detective as he hurried out into the hall, nearly running into Chiba as he brought a report up to the inspector. It was focused on the look that Ran was sending his way. One that Takagi had just so closely mirrored moments ago. Crap. I just did something again, didn't I?