Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here, except the amalgam of Aya and Hatate from Touhou.

Feature Story Part IV

The Holmes Casanova

"What're you smiling about?" Heiji asked Saguru as they were going one floor up.

"I just remembered something," Saguru said.

He's such a weirdo, Heiji thought.

The elevator doors opened. Conan was already waiting for them.

He held up a finger to his lips and pointed to the door that leads to the hallway. Saguru and Heiji looked behind Conan and saw that the interview is still ongoing.

The crew had set up in the very center of the room, just beside a billiards table. Ran and the reporter were in front of the camera. They were seated on a caramel-colored fainting couch with wooden frames. Sonoko was beside the cameraman and was listening very intently to Ran's answers.

Heiji and Saguru nodded and followed Conan out of the receiving area.

The hallway was fashioned the same way as the game room. There were big mirrors on the walls, as well as portraits of European princes. Heiji recognized some of them as English monarchs they studied in their world history class.

"Ah, this reminds me of home," Saguru said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, rich boy," Heiji said. "We're here to talk about KID and how to catch him off guard… That bastard! I'll make sure he pays!"

"What exactly happened?" Conan asked.

Heiji told Conan the details of what happened since he and Kazuha entered the suite. He intentionally left behind the part about the indecent shows on television.

"So it must be that KID knew the suite we were staying at and prepared the note beforehand," Saguru said.

"Nah, Kazuha and I were there before you arrived and there was no note at the back of the door," Heiji said. "He must've sneaked in when we were busy talking at the hallway. Yeah… I remember we left the door open the whole time…"

"That would've been caught on the cameras, though. He wouldn't have done something that stupid, unless he used some sort of invisibility trick," Conan said. "He could've also stayed at the suite before you and Kazuha have been there. He could've waited and hid in one of the rooms then stuck on the note when he noticed that both of you stepped outside… Then he sneaked out either after placing the note and you were still busy outside, or during the commotion."

"That's a possibility. If there's someone else who entered the room before either you or Kazuha-san, then that should've been recorded in the hotel's camera," Saguru said. "I'm saying he could've posed as one of the employees who regularly clean the suite, or he could've hidden inside the cleaning trolleys."

"If it was some trick, a disguise or hiding himself in the cleaning cart, we'll know it by carefully examining the video," Conan said. "There's no cameras installed in the room itself but there are in the hallways –"

"That's perfect! We can check that out!" Heiji said. "As for the employees, I'm sure they have a log of sorts and I can just ask for that…"

"I'll go check with the cameras," Conan said. "I think Ran's interview is almost over and since Kazuha isn't awake yet, Hakuba-san and his girlfriend can go next. Let's be careful not to alert that reporter that something's happened."

"I'll go talk privately to Ran and Sonoko about what happened. I'll tell them to wait for us and stay on guard," Heiji said.

"I'll go fetch Aoko now," Saguru said. "If we find anything, we'll call one another. Hey boy, Hattori-kun has my number so you can just get it from him."

The three detectives dispersed right away, two of them unaware that a listening device has been installed somewhere on their apparel.

O O O

Himekaidou Aya thanked Mouri Ran for her honest answers and shook her hand. The girl had been blushing since she told her about the confession.

"Next we shoot sitners," Aya said. "Let's go to the master's bedroom and shoot a few scenes where you're in bed and like, you're thinking about Shinichi. Then some where you're looking out the window. Another one where you're trying to call him using your mobile and you're waiting for his text… Stuff like that. Oh! Since your friends are here, can they act, too? Probably a scene where they're comforting you and stuff…"

Ran nodded.

"Well, it would be better if you have a picture of him in your wallet or phone and maybe we could take a few scenes of you looking at those," Aya said with a smile.

The girl turned scarlet. "Uhm, okay…"

"Then after the sitners, we take still photographs of you, too. Just a few shots, darling, it will be over before you know it," Aya said.

Ran agreed and Aya started to bark instructions at the crew. Just then, Heiji came in from the hallway. He was with the detective from London Ran remembered from the Koushien. Hakuba something, Ran thought.

The blonde detective went straight to the elevator and Heiji approached Sonoko. The two talked for a while then Sonoko gapped and started clapping her hands. Heiji talked for a bit more before they approached Ran and Aya.

"Himekaidou-san, can I talk to you a bit?" Heiji said as he neared Aya.

"Go ahead, sugar," Aya said. "Chotto – hey guys start setting up in the bedroom! Snap snap!"

The crew picked up their equipment and dragged these into the master's bedroom. Aya and Heiji were left to talk alone.

"Himekaidou-san, Kazuha's still tired from the journey and she took a nap," Heiji said. "She's kinda not awake yet and since Ran is finished with the interview, Hakuba-san and I agreed that he can go next. That's okay, right?"

"I suppose so," Aya said.

"All right! Hakuba-san and his girl will be here in a bit," Heiji said.

"No rush," Aya said. "We still have a few scenes to shoot with Ran, anyway."

While Heiji and Aya were talking, Sonoko was telling Ran about the situation. Ran had to cover her mouth from gasping out loud.

"And where's Conan-kun?" she asked.

"He's off investigating too, according to this mystery freak," Sonoko said. "I'm so excited that KID-sama will be here! Maybe he can make me fall asleep next!"

"You have really screwed up priorities, you know that?" Ran said. "Our concern right now should be Kazuha and the other boy that KID victimized with sleeping gas. I'll do this sinner… Erm, sitter thingy and photo shoot as fast as I could so we could go guard them downstairs."

"That's a bit exaggerated," Sonoko said. "KID-sama never hurts people. Fine, they fell asleep but it's too impossible that he'll go back and attack them or something."

"You have a point there," Ran said. "KID normally never harms people… And I can't believe that Aya-san would lie to the police! Is she that desperate for the interview that she's collaborating with KID?"

"You have no idea how big of a story this can be if – oh hi, Himekaidou-san!"

Ran turned around and noticed that Aya was just behind her.

"You ready for the sitners and photo shoot, dear? Did you tell your friend here that she'll have to extra?" Aya said with a wink.

"Me? An extra? I'll get to be in TV?" Sonoko said. She looked like she just won the lottery.

"Of course, honey! Are you beautiful girls ready?" Aya asked. "Just through the door, follow me."

As they left the game room, Ran caught Heiji entering the elevator. As the doors closed, she noticed something odd stuck to the back of his pants.

O O O

Conan was already at the hotel's security office when he realized that he doesn't have a reason for them to let him view the tapes. If it was the usual police case, he could've easily said that Mouri-tantei wanted to see it and he's his messenger.

"Wassat again, boy?" the guard on duty at the reception asked him. "You wanna look at the security videos?"

"You see, I dropped my uhm charm that my otou-san gave me on that floor and when I came back it was gone," Conan said. It was the first thing he could think of.

"You sayin' someone must've stolen your charm? What kind of charm issit?" asked the guard, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else than listening to a kid's problems.

"It's this shiny piece of jewel. It's not that big, but it's still jewelry with – uhm, a small gold chain," Conan said. Again, this was the first thing he could think of.

"Some kinda necklace?" the guard asked. "When d'ya lose it?"

"Uhm, uhm," Conan said and as if on cue, he received a message he was waiting for. It was from Heiji and it says "Reservation made JUST THIS MORNING."

"Hey boy, I asked when d'ya lose it?" asked the guard, a bit of impatience evident in his voice.

"Just this morning," Conan said with confidence.

The text from Heiji was about when the reporter reserved the suite for their use. Since the time of the reservation until Heiji and Kazuha's arrival at the suite was the window time KID could have sneaked in or prepared his tricks, if indeed he was already waiting inside. That means all Conan has to look at was the videos from since that morning.

"D'ya look for it on the floor yerself?" asked the guard who looked deep in thought. He rubbed his chin with a cupped hand. "My momma always told me to look twice if somethin's missing. D'ya look twice?

"Yes I did, sir," Conan said. "That's why I assumed someone must've picked it up that's why I need to see the videos…"

"Y'know, everyone in here's security is kinda busy with our own stuff and no one can really help ya look for them necklace in them video," the guard said.

"I'll be okay if I just view it by myself," Conan said.

"Standard ops that we have to be there and you're not allowed to touch 'em machines," the guard said.

"I can really do it by myself if you teach me where the tapes are," Conan said. "Please, Mr. Policeman,please… You can just stay here instead of joining me there, it's probably gonna be boring to watch hours and hours of the same hallway!"

The police officer looked at him with doubts.

Wrong approach, Conan thought. Time to put on the old act.

"Please, sir, it was a memento from my otou-san who is now working overseas and I miss him a lot," Conan said as he tried very hard to make his eyes brim with tears. "Please, sir, that charm means a lot to me… You see, I don't see chichi anymore and… And…"

"Okay, okay!" the officer said. "Don't cry coz them people in here's gonna think I made you cry and I'mma take another memo…"

The officer looked right and left to make sure they're not being watched then gestured for Conan to enter the door behind his desk. Conan went around the desk and into the room as fast as he could. He was followed closely by the guard who motioned for him to keep quiet.

"I'mma get in trouble if you make any noises so do this quietly and I'mma stand guard outside," the guard said.

Then he pointed to a hard drive and told Conan that it was supposed to contain the footage from earlier that day. The young police officer said the hard drive is still taking in the current data so he can just connect the drive to the nearby laptop and view the information he needed.

When Conan was left alone in the room, he quickly set up the necessary equipment to view the captured video. On one of the screens of the control room, he could see what was happening in real time. He saw on the screen Saguru and Aoko leaving the room. Moments later, Ran and Sonoko were walking down the hallway and were about to approach their suite.

On another monitor, Heiji was talking to the front desk receptionist. Conan assumed he was already asking the names of the employees who cleaned their suite earlier that day. He then returned his gaze to the monitor that showing Ran about to enter their suite. He tried very hard not to remember the things Ran said during the interview.

"Yes, I miss him very much… I wish I can be with him all the time… Shinichi, if you could hear this, all I want is for you to return safely from wherever you are. Please solve that case soon so we could have fun and hang out with our friends again…"

Conan shook his head, as if trying to remove the memory from his mind. He opened a software and started viewing the videos from that morning.

Almost an hour later, Conan found nothing.

O O O

"He left what?"

"A sex toy," Heiji said. It was the first thing he could think of and it just slipped out of his mouth. As soon as he said it, he mentally scolded himself.

The female receptionist at the front desk looked at Heiji with much apprehension, and a bit of disgust.

"Let me get this straight – your client, one of the businessmen who stayed at the Prince Edward Suite last week, left his sex toy and he asked you to get it for him?" asked the receptionist.

Heiji nodded and tried very hard not to wince.

"What kind of sex toy?" the receptionist asked as she started typing on her computer.

Heiji winced. "Oi oi didn't I tell you that he didn't want this on the record? It's embarrassing, of course. Now I also need to know who stayed at that suite after he did, and the names of the cleaners who attend to the suite."

The female receptionist stopped typing for a while and raised a brow at Heiji.

"Well, I suppose I can give it to you since you're Hattori Heiji," she said.

"And can you just print out the lists of guests who stayed?" Heiji said. "Please? So we know who to track just in case another guest found it and stole it."

The receptionist started typing again.

"There's really no need for that since according to our files the next group who reserved the suite was Nichiuri TV under Himekaidou Aya," the receptionist said. "Do you still want me to print those two entries? The company's kind of saving paper, just so you know."

"No need," Heiji said. "When did Nichiuri TV reserve the suite, anyway?"

The receptionist clicked a few buttons and said, "Just this morning."

"All right!" Heiji said and immediately started to send a message to Conan.

"Do you still need to know the names of the employees who cleaned the room since last week?" the receptionist asked. "'Cause we usually clean rooms everyday and employees change their floor shifts every week."

"Can you give me the names of those who cleaned it this morning?" Heiji said. "I'll start from them."

The receptionist started typing on the computer screen. It took her a few minutes before she came up with the names. She even showed him their employee profile so that Heiji could see how they look like.

Heiji then asked where he could find them. She frowned before she commenced her typing and clicked a few buttons before she told Heiji that they are currently on the fifth floor to clean some more rooms. Heiji thanked the receptionist and proceeded to the fifth floor.

When he reached the floor, he ran around, looking for a cleaning cart on the hallway. He found it outside an open deluxe room, which was beside a vending machine.

He knocked on the door and introduced himself to the two, middle-aged ladies who looked very much surprised by his presence.

"Oh you're that high school detective from Osaka!" the taller one said. "You know, my son's in Osaka as a real estate agent. Maybe you've encountered him… His name is –"

"Gomen, Masumi Kimiko-san," Heiji said. "I'm here on official business. I need to ask you both about the time you cleaned the Prince Edward Suite a while ago."

"Oh! You're really a detective! You already know our names!" Kimiko said.

"About the time?" said the shorter one Heiji recognized from the employee profile as Hondou Hara. "It was around eight in the morning, I think. We were asked to clean it very thoroughly because it's been reserved by Nichiuri TV."

"Nah not the time-time," Heiji said. "I meant if you noticed something odd when you cleaned the room, and if it was possible that someone could've entered the room while you were cleaning."

"We usually leave our cleaning carts outside the suites," Kimiko said. "No one could've entered because our carts have built in motion sensors. When we leave it outside, we activate its sensors so that no one can go near it."

"The management installed it when some guests were discovered to be stealing the replenishments like shampoo bottles and stuff from the cart when we leave it outside," Hara said.

"Why can't you just bring the cart in?" Heiji asked the realized the cart was too big to fit in the door. Erm, since you can't bring the cart in, and it's blocking the door, that also means no one could've entered, right?"

"Not unless they move the cart but the alarm would've gone off and we would have heard it," Hara said. "I deactivated the sensor when you were about to enter the room, that's why the alarm didn't sound."

Heiji thought that KID could've brought his own alarm deactivator.

"Can you buy that activator somewhere?" Heiji asked. "And maybe you noticed if someone went in the suite when you were both cleaning it?

"I don't think you can buy the deactivator," Kimiko said. "I heard from the other employees that the boss had them especially made by some inventor from the US."

"Hey are we suspect for a crime? Or did the management just hire you to check if we're doing our jobs properly?" suddenly asked Hara. "Look, the two of us made the room as tidy as we could, and as for someone coming in, the cart is too big for anyone to get past it without the alarm going off. Besides, I didn't notice the cart move even an inch when we came back for it."

"Hmm, can I take a look at your cart? Is it the same cart you used a while ago?" Heiji asked.

"Yeah, knock yourself out," Hara said.

Heiji went back to examine the cart and found nothing unusual about it. He was to study its contents a bit more when he received a message from Ran, saying Kazuha is finally awake and has been already summoned by the reporter for their turn of the interview.

"Aya said you should go up now ASAP," Ran also included in the message.

"Damn," Heiji said, before calling Saguru.

"Hattori-san," Saguru said. "My Aoko and I have just finished with the interview and photo shoot. I must say, I can get used to this kind of lifestyle."

"Yeah whatever, can we switch places? I'm currently checking out the cart the cleaning ladies used and it's big enough for someone to fit inside, except there are compartments and stuff, but still, there may be some sort of evidence in here," Heiji said.

"Roger that," Saguru said. "Hey my interview is over and Aya-san asked you to go here now."

"I know! Anyway, I'll send you the details of what I know so far via text," Heiji said. "The cleaning ladies are in room 505 and I'll tell them to wait for you here."

"Will go there pronto," Saguru said. "Did that boy already contact you? Did he find out something from the videos?"

"Nothing yet," Heiji said. "He's probably still looking at them."

"After I'm finished examining the cart, I'll go help Conan," Saguru said. "The poor boy would need some assistance, of course."

Heiji was getting tired of Saguru acting like he was better than either he or Shinichi.

"Whatever," Heiji said. "Go here now and I'll get up there! C'mon!"

Heiji made a quick explanation to the cleaning attendants before hurrying up the penthouse. Luckily, the elevator that had access to the game room of the penthouse was empty. He put his key card into the lock and pressed "P". As he ascended, he typed in all the information he gathered – the reservation date, the size of the carts, KID not disguising as an employee, the alarm on the carts – and sent them to Conan and Saguru.

The elevator doors opened. He stepped out and was distracted by the sight of Kazuha in front of the camera. She looked refreshed and she had a bit of make up on, her frilly pink dress looking extremely flattering – even sexy – on her body.

Heiji gulped and felt his heart race as was Aya gestured for him to sit between her and Kazuha.

As he did, the camera lights turned on. They came from every direction and it took a while before his eyes got used to them.

Aya started to speak to the camera. It was this long speech that was basically about Heiji's biography.

Heiji squinted and squinted until he can't take any more of the lights.

"Hey can we tone down the lights a bit? It's practically blinding me…" Heiji said.

"Gomen," came a voice from behind the lights.

After some time, the lights became brighter.

"Jinno-san, you're tinkering with your phone again!" Aya said. "Honestly! You've been busy with that the whole day! Can you please leave that for a while and do your job properly?"

"Gomen, just a moment, there's a call I have to take. Can I just step outside for a bit?" said the young guy with tattoos.

Aya sighed. "Sure, sure. Make it quick."

Jinno the lights guy turned off the lights and put it down on the floor. He ran to the hallway and disappeared for a few minutes. That whole time, Heiji can't help staring at Kazuha.

"Stop looking, Heiji… You're making me nervous," Kazuha said.

Heiji snorted. "There's nothing to see, anyway…" he said.

"You're just saying that you – hey there's something stuck on your – "

Aya clapped her hands.

"Good, good! Keep that level of energy up for the entire interview, ne?" she said.

She said a few more instructions that neither Heiji nor Kazuha really listened to.

Just in time, Jinno was back and he was holding the lights properly. Heiji noticed that it wasn't as bright as before.

"Ah, so where were we?" Aya said before facing the camera.

Heiji felt Kazuha's hand on his thigh as she reached for hand.

"Heiji, hold my hand…" she whispered. "I'm kind of nervous."

"You silly girl, it's just an interview!"Heiji whispered back.

Aya cleared her throat and turned to face Heiji and Kazuha.

"So, Hattori-kun, how long have you and Kazuha-chan been intimate?" the reporter asked.

Kazuha quickly withdrew her hand from Heiji's grasp and both of them stared at the floor. They suddenly decided that it was the most interesting part of the room for the entire length of the interview.

O O O

"Welcome back, Nakamouri-san," Ran greeted Aoko at the door.

"Is Kaito still sleeping?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so," Ran said. "Where's Hakuba-san?"

"You know about the case, ne? He said he's off to replace Hattori-san to investigate some cart," Aoko said.

They both started walking to Kaito's room in the suite. They passed by the living room, where remnants of the incinerated letter were still littered on the floor. They were instructed by the boys not to touch any part of the living room, as these were evidences they might want to examine later on.

"Oh right, Sonoko and I requested for room service and the pizza just arrived a few minutes ago," Ran said as she opened the door to the room where Kaito was staying.

Inside, Sonoko was seated on the edge of the bed and an open pizza box was on top of Kaito's torso.

"Hey! Why'd you put that on him?" Aoko asked as she ran to the pizza box. She lifted it with both hands and looked around where she could place it. She noticed there was no table big enough for the 24" pizza.

"Oops," Sonoko said. "Gomen, there was no table in the room and you did say a while ago not to leave him alone so we decided to just eat this in here."

"Jeez, you could've put it on the floor even if there was no table in here," Aoko said.

"That's what I said," Ran said.

"Fine, fine," Sonoko said as she grabbed the pizza box from Aoko and put it on the floor. "There… Happy?"

"Don't mind her, she's just kind of jealous that she didn't get to see KID like you did," Ran said.

"You're a fan of that thief?" Aoko said. "Why do you even like him? He's such a – "

"Oh right, you're Nakamouri-keibu's daughter! I forgot!" Sonoko said. "Look, nothing against your otou-san but there's just really something attractive about bad boys, ne?"

"There's absolutely nothing attractive about them!" Aoko said.

"C'mon, that London detective of yours was pretty cocky with the way he talked and stuff," Sonoko said with a knowing smile. "Don't tell me that doesn't turn you on?"

"Nani?" Aoko said "IIE! I don't like him that way! He's just a classmate!"

Ran suddenly started giggling.

"I think I know the story here," she said. "Nakamouri-san, you like this boy, don't you?"

Bull's eye, Ran thought as she saw the girl wear an expression she knows very well.

"IIE! IIE!" the girl continued saying as she shook her head.

That face is the face of denial, Ran thought. She caught Sonoko's eyes and the latter winked at her.

"So you don't mind if I kiss him ne?" Sonoko said. "Hey this guy's not bad looking… Well he kind of looks like Shinichi but I guess he'll do! I always wanted to test out the kiss-your-prince-and-see-if-he-wakes-up thing."

Aoko's eyes widened as Sonoko lowered her face to Kaito's.

"Iie! You can't do that!" Aoko said as she pushed Sonoko away.

She must've underestimated her strength because she managed to push Sonoko out of the bed, as she landed on top of Kaito's face.

She shrieked upon impact and tried to stand up as fast as she could. When she did, she noticed something odd about Kaito's face.

"Hey, it looks like it's wrinkled," Ran pointed out. It was Aoko's same thoughts.

Sonoko stood up from the other side of the bed. She, too, examined Kaito's face.

"It looks like it's plastic or something," Sonoko said.

Aoko tried to pinch the face and felt loose, plastic material. She pried it off and as expected, it was a latex mask. Beneath the mask was the face of a sleeping –

"It's Hakuba-san!" Ran said. "Then that means – "

"KID pretended to be Kaito, then he pretended to be Hakuba!" Sonoko said.

"That explains why Hakuba has been extra flirty during the interview! But where is Kaito now?" Aoko said.

She reached for her phone and saw fourteen missed calls. They were all from Kaito.

As she was about to dial his phone, she wondered when she put it on silent mode. The phone rang for a really long time before a voice answered her call.

"OI AOKO! You stood me up and now you disturb my afternoon sleep!"

"Kaito! You're safe!"

"What'd you think happened to me? And shouldn't I say that about you? I've been calling since before lunch time!" Kaito said. "It's just now that I sorta was able to go to sleep…"

"Gomen, Kaito, I was caught up with something…" Aoko said. "Where are you?"

"I went back to my house since you didn't show up where we were supposed to meet!" Kaito said in an annoyed voice.

"This is really complicated, Kaito, let me explain later… KID disguised as you to get in here!" Aoko said.

"Oh! Really?" the boy said in an interested tone. "So he really replied to that reporter? Cool! Wait for me there! I want to see him! That's so cool!"

"Hey you shouldn't there's already been a – "

Ran and Sonoko stared at Aoko.

"Er, he hung up," Aoko said. "Apparently, the guy who's been with me ever since I came here was KID. He must've beat Kaito to our meeting place at Shibuya so Kaito just went home when I didn't show up…"

"So the guy I slapped was Kaitou KID?" Ran said. "That's weird… I know I must've hit him pretty hard but why didn't his mask come off?"

"He had more time to prepare for the Kaito disguise so he must've stuck it on really well," said Sonoko, who started to pace around the room. "And when the letter bomb thing happened, he was only given a few minutes to disguise Hakuba as Kaito and vice versa, maybe that's why the latex mask came off really easy this time…"

"You have a point there…" Ran said.

"Of course! I'm Suzuki, Sonoko, queen of deduction!" Sonoko said. "But I don't get why he had to disguise as Kaito first. Why couldn't he have just disguised as Hakuba from the start?"

"Maybe he was planning to, but something failed or it was really hard to attack Hakuba-san and make him unconscious," Ran said. "It was only here in the hotel when he had the opportunity to do so. That's what I think, at least."

"Oh! That explains why Hakuba was giving out really weird answers!" Aoko suddenly said. "I think this is revenge for Hakuba. He's always chasing around KID, after all."

"What kind of weird answers?" Ran and Sonoko asked.

"Like, when Aya-san asked him what type of girl he likes, he said 'Everyone's my type but every once in a while, I get confused if I really like girls or boys' and then he goes on explaining that he chased after KID for so long that he may have feelings for him," Aoko said.

Sonoko looked distraught.

"We all thought he was just joking so we just ignored the comment," Aoko said. "Then, the reporter would ask me questions about our school life and I told the reporter that I know a lot of girls who like Hakuba."

"And then what did he say?" Ran asked.

"Well, Hakuba – I mean, KID as Hakuba, said that he actually went out with all of those girls and found them boring and then he started saying again that maybe girls are not his type anymore," Aoko said.

"So it was KID's idea to make a fool out of poor Hakuba here?" Ran said as she looked at the detective, who was still deep in slumber.

Aoko nodded. "I think that's his intention, yeah…"

"So when the reporter asked for his interview, he agreed to it but now we know that his plan is actually to be interviewed as Hakuba and not as himself!" Sonoko said.

"Let's tell Conan and Heiji!" Ran said.

"Heiji's still in the middle of the interview! Call Conan first…" Sonoko said.

Ran dialed Conan's phone but there was no answer.

O O O

Conan felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Hakuba Saguru. He looked out of breath.

"Oh, it's just you," Conan said. "I didn't hear you come in. Did you get Heiji's text? Did you examine the cart?"

"Yeah," Hakuba said. "And you?"

"Nothing," Conan said. "I've been reviewing the tapes for over an hour and there's really nothing… That must mean KID used the disguise scenario so Heiji must be wrong about the cleaning ladies not being KID. He must've missed something…"

Hakuba smiled.

"What Heiji didn't find out was that one of the cleaning ladies was found sleeping in a cabinet in the staff room just a while ago," Hakuba said.

Conan's eyes widened.

"It's a good thing I considered the disguise scenario more and went to inquire in the staff room first!" Hakuba continued to say as he approached the wall with many monitors, showing video feeds from different parts of the room. "When I went up the fifth floor, her partner had already been gassed to sleep!"

"Damn!" Conan said. "Where can he be now?"

"Well, he's waiting for his turn to be interviewed, right? Then all we have to do is wait for him to turn up at the penthouse," Saguru said as he leaned his back on the control desk.

"No… The fact that he gassed the cleaning lady must mean he's already fleeing because he knows that we already uncovered his disguise," Conan said as he swiveled around on his chair. "I doubt if he'll still turn up for the interview."

"That means he can be anywhere as of now!" Saguru said. "He might've already escaped!"

"I don't think he'll leave the hotel without informing that reporter first," Conan said. "Let's go to the penthouse anyway. Let's keep an eye on her until then."

"What If he just leaves a note like before?" Saguru said.

"Where can he possibly leave a note in this big hotel unless – the girls!" Conan said as he jumped off the chair. He miscalculated his jump and instead landed on both knees.

"Hey be careful there," Saguru said as he helped Conan up.

"C'mon, let's go!" Conan said as he sprinted out of the security office.

"Let's split up! You go warn the girls while I go guard Aya-san!" said Saguru, who was running right behind him.

Conan ran to the elevator, which was unfortunately filled with other people. They pressed numerous buttons and realized he would be making exactly ten stops before he reached the suite.

Then he suddenly wondered why he needed to go up to warn the girls, when he could've just called them.

He got off the first stop, the 3rd floor and once outside, he grabbed for his phone. He almost gasped when he realized it wasn't there. In fact, both of his mobile phones weren't there.

As a looming epiphany got clearer, he ran for the nearest elevator which had access to the penthouse.

When he tried to grab for his key card, it was also nowhere to be found. Instead, he felt a small listening device stuck on the back of his pants. It was too late when the complete picture of what happened that day formed in his mind, like a jigsaw puzzle with ugly, distorted pieces.

O O O

By the time Conan stepped out of the elevator to make the call, Hakuba Saguru was already at the penthouse. As he approached the door, he saw that a young man who had dyed hair and tattoos on his arm was already waiting for him.

"Sorry I had to keep you waiting, Jii-chan," he said to the guy.

"Obo-chama, I kept calling her using your phone, exactly as you instructed me," the guy said in an old man's voice.

"I bugged the controls for the cameras in this hallway when I was in the control room so it's pretty safe to exchange disguises here," Hakuba said.

The two didn't even take a minute to change into their new identities. Hakuba Saguru was now Jinno the lights guy and Jinno the lights guy was now Kuroba Kaito.

"And the boy?" the man in Kaito's appearance said in an old man's voice.

"Stole his phones," the new Jinno said in Kaito's voice. He smirked as he took out two, identical red mobile phones with small, toy footballs attached to their straps. "I think I already know why he carries with him two of these…"

"You really have taken an interest to that boy," the old man's voice said. "What if he's already on his way up?"

"Did I forget to mention that I took his key card, too?" Jinno said. "He wasn't any threat today since he didn't notice that I bugged him. Here I was, thinking of the hassle to listening to two bugs! I didn't know it could be as easy as that! I've been listening to the boy's actions the whole time that's why I was able to calculate the time I needed to do stuff. And the girls were just chatting about their boys and stuff…"

"Since you asked me to monitor the actions of the dark-skinned boy you also bugged, I can tell you that he is also quite competent in his detective skills," Kaito said in the voice of an old man named Konosuke Jii.

"Yeah, I only have two ears for listening to two bugs. Good thing we prepared for a scenario where the two detectives might split up so I gave you beforehand the listening end of a third bug," Jinno said in Kaito's voice.

"Your father will be so proud when he sees how much you've grown," Kaito said in Jii's voice. "Those detective and their skills are no match for you, Kaito obo-chama."

"Oi speaking of detective skills, looks like the girls already found out that Hakuba is under my face's mask," Jinno said as he fidgeted with a device on his left ear.

Just then, another phone started ringing. The man who was disguised as Kaito handed Jinno the lights guy the ringing phone from his own pants pocket.

"I have to be back for the interview," Jinno said. "You take that call. Go outside the hotel and ask Aoko to meet you there. Then go straight up here just in time for me to reveal myself."

"Understood, obo-chama," Kaito said in an old man's voice. "Be careful in there. I really don't see why you agreed to do this interview, and even go through Hakuba-san's interview, too."

"It's a guy thing, Jii," Jinno said in Kaito's voice. "He claimed something that wasn't really his… So it was only rightful that I claim his identity, at the very least…"

"And don't forget that phantom thieves, after all, are really proud," Jinno kept on saying. "I wouldn't pass up an interview like this. It's why we wear white, remember?"

Jinno smirked and he started to open the door to the game room.

"They want an interview with KID, they got it!"

Next: The Ambitious Journalist