The aftermath of the play is here! And Ran starts investigating! Enjoy this chapter, the story's almost done!

Chapter Fourteen

"That was AWESOME!" said Sonoko, once the campfire had ended, and they were all heading back to the cabins. She was very happy about the turn of events, and was especially happy by all the applause she'd gotten.

Nobody trusted themselves to be reply, but Ran decided to take the plunge. "It was very…interesting. I think everyone had a good time."

Suddenly, Shinichi had another round of heart constrictions, which nobody but Shiho paid any attention to, as he'd been having them all week. It soon passed, and they continued walking.

The next morning, they all went to the dining hall as usual. The camp paper was being passed around, and on the front page was a picture of the seven of them in their skit (or performance as Sonoko called it). There were several pictures, but the biggest was of Shinichi and Ran during the date scene.

Sonoko took the paper and started reading the article. "You know, maybe I should go into theatre after all. Everyone enjoyed the play, and I have to say my performance wasn't too shabby either."

"Well at least you had more of a role than the time you put on the murder mystery at the church!" said Shinichi, causing everyone else (except Shiho) to laugh hysterically.

Sonoko was not pleased. "That play brought in a ton of money for the church! It was a work of art!"

"It was even more so with you not in it," Shinichi muttered. Only Ran heard him, and she smirked at the memory.

Ran, thinking about it, found something odd. She'd never told Shinichi about the aftermath of that play. And how would the other four know about it either?

Ran took another look at Shinichi's friends, and suddenly realized why they looked familiar. They looked like adult versions of Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ai. Another look at Shinichi, and she realized that it was actually Conan, not Shinichi.

Ran decided to test her theory. "Shinichi?"

"Yes, Ran?"

"Speaking of plays, it was too bad that Sonoko's play at school didn't turn out well, since there was that murder halfway through."

"Yeah. You should've seen the look on your face, though, when I took off that helmet. Not even Hattori was expecting that!" Shinichi continued chortling, ignoring the look of wonder on Ran's face.

'Drat,' thought Ran, 'if he's really Conan-kun, he's totally into the part. Maybe some of the others will spill the beans. I can't try Ai-chan because she's as smart as Conan-kun, and is probably as good an actor. Maybe Genta-kun?'

"Oh Kenta-kun?" Ran asked.

"Yes, Ran?" asked Kenta, busily devouring his food.

"Since you like to eat a lot, I was just wondering if you had a favorite food."

Kenta looked up at her long enough to say proudly, "It's unagi of course! Everything tastes good with unagi!"

Kenta went back to his food, but was suddenly interrupted by a furious shout from Sonoko.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Sonoko screamed, making the entire dining hall grow quiet. She pointed to a black and white picture on page 5 of the paper. The picture was a clear shot of Sonoko bowing, and clearly showed the others retching behind her.

Everyone started looking around nervously. Shiho, who hadn't participated in it, as it was a very childish thing to do, said, "Isn't it obvious Suzuki-san? They felt you needed extra recognition for the outstanding work you did with the play, so they put on an extra show for you."

Shiho went back to eating her salad, ignoring the awestruck looks of the others. Sonoko still looked mad, but didn't bring up the question again. She just poured coffee on the picture so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore.

Ran decided to continue her investigation. She tried asking Mayumi this time.

"Mayumi-chan?"

"Yes, Ran-chan?" asked Mayumi, looking up from her food.

"What all cases have you helped Shinichi solve?"

Mayumi looked suddenly nervous. "Well, Ran-chan," Mayumi started slowly, "Shinichi-kun and I haven't really done anything alone. We always go as a group. Besides, Shinichi-kun's the best, so you should ask him!"

Ran noticed Mayumi's nervousness, and the fact that she didn't answer the question. So she asked, "Then what was your favorite case, Mayumi-chan?"

Ran noticed that Shinichi and Shiho were looking suddenly nervous, and exchanged glances. Then Shiho put an arm on Mayumi's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Esaka-san. You're just as good a storyteller as any of us."

Shinichi suddenly interrupted. "Guys, if you don't mind, I need to go to the restroom." Shinichi walked away, and only Shiho noticed that he was holding a red bowtie.

A minute later, Mayumi started giving her testimony on a case.

"Well, Ran-chan, if I had to pick a favorite, I'd probably have to say it was the one where we solved that code! Or rather I solved it."

"You solved it?" asked Ran incredulously. "Shinichi didn't?"

"Nah," said Mayumi, shaking her head, "Shinichi-kun was stumped. It was quite funny to watch."

"Why couldn't he solve it?"

"It was a code based on popular women's perfume. As a guy, he couldn't have had a clue."

Then Ran noticed something interesting. Mayumi's mouth wasn't moving in sync with the words she was saying. It was almost like she was lip-syncing, and someone else was saying the words. And there was only one person who could do that: Shinichi. He was the only one not around.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream. Ran forgot about everything to look over to see what was up.

Ouch, cliffhanger! The incident will be resolved next chapter, and I think I know just how to do it...

Anyways, review this part, and you can submit crazy ways for Ran to put two and two together!

Note: The play at the church is a reference to OVA8. The other play with Shinichi as the Black Knight is from the Desperate Revival arc, which everyone reading this story should be familiar with.