Secrets and Lies: Chapter 4
"...I am Shinichi Kudo the detective."
Unknown to everyone inside or in the garden of 2-22 Beika, there was yet another person listening into the conversation between Kaitou Kid, Shinichi Kudo and Shiho Miyano. This person was fond of the colour black and enjoyed drinking alcoholic cocktails.
That morning the entire Black Organisation had been thrown into disarray after finding out that the entire Pandora Branch of the Organisation that concentrated on finding Pandora and killing anyone who got their hands on it before them, had been destroyed by Kaitou Kid and a detective named Saguru Hakuba.
Luckily there had been one member of that branch left in the Police that had seen to the removal of the leader Snake's body and the captured members had known the procedure for this sort of situation that had never happened before; suicide. The only surviving member has also testified who was responsible as well as describing in detail the events of the night before, including the kidnapping of Aoko Nakamori who was supposed to be Kaitou Kid's lover and the head of the Black Organisation was currently planning what to do about them and had ordered everyone to stay away from Saguru Hakuba and Aoko Nakamori until he had made his mind up.
Of course everyone left in the Organisation was out for their blood and wanted them silenced; the only thing stopping them was Anokata and the punishment he would issue. Aoko Nakamori and Saguru Hakuba were being investigated and watched for now until the decision was made. It was known that she was staying at a friend's home and Saguru Hakuba had visited them that morning.
What wasn't so well known was that they had sneaked out and gone to Beika in disguise. However one member had noticed and followed them to the Mouri Detective Agency and 2-22 Beika and was listening in to their conversation and recording every word that was said. This person had heard everything including the escape of Sherry and the true identity of Conan Edogawa.
Luckily for them the agent that had bugged the Agasa residence was no other than Vermouth.
"Silly Silver Bullet," she muttered to herself. "He's lucky I'm around otherwise someone else could have heard this damning testimony."
Kaito had been knocked out and captured by the teenage detective Shinichi Kudo who was currently seven years old again and an escaped Black Organisation scientist known as Sherry who was in the same condition. Aoko's heart sank as she tried to get her head around it all. They weren't exactly the Black Organisation, but they would find out his identity and use it against him. It was every detective's dream to unmask the Kaitou Kid. She couldn't see an egoist like Shinichi Kudo keeping quiet about it. By the time the investigation was over the whole world would know.
She shivered in fear, pulled her earphone out and stepped boldly out of her hiding place in the shrubbery not bothering to avoid stepping on any flowers. Hakuba jumped and grabbed hold of waist and pulled her back.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" he demanded keeping his voice down low to make sure that they hadn't been heard inside the house. He knew he probably didn't need to bother; they would have their hands full after knocking out Kaito.
I'm going to get my boyfriend back. They can't just knock him out and expect to keep him there," Aoko replied like it was a stupid question to ask. After all she was his girlfriend and she couldn't stand there and watch him be shot with a dart by a lying seven year old; that was completely wrong.
Hakuba sighed deeply and hid a faint smile. It hadn't been a wise decision to take Aoko with them. She may have helped Shinichi Kudo underestimate them and had been quick to make up a story for them visiting, but sometimes she didn't really have a grasp on what the sensible thing to do in a situation like this was. Also she was well known for her fiery tempers and impulsiveness which wasn't a good combination. Her traits were endearing, but they weren't always helpful.
"Listen to me, you cannot expect to be able to knock on the door and ask for him back," Hakuba whispered, covering her mouth with his hand in case she reacted by screaming at him. "Threatening them with a mop isn't an option either. Understood?"
She made a nodding motion with her head and he released her. She looked calmer now; the truth had sobered her anger. She turned to Hakuba as he seemed to be in charge now. He couldn't expect her to leave her boyfriend behind in the care of two seven year olds. He had to have a plan. Did he?
"Well, smart detective, what do you suggest we do then?"
Haibara gave Conan a cold look that would have frozen the sun. "Contrary to what you told him I don't have a penchant for human dissections. Also I don't need a lab rat at the moment so it's up to you what happens to him."
Conan nodded, he had known that Haibara would have no interest him now that she had her hands on the original APTX 4869. That left the decision up to him. He knew what he wanted to do with him. He ruffled the hair of the unconscious teenager on the floor and pulled at his face to check for a mask just in case. There wasn't one so he knew that the face he was currently seeing was Kid's real face.
"I've got a good idea of who Kid really is anyway, but it doesn't hurt to make sure."
"How noble of you not to have turned him in before," Haibara commented sarcastically before standing up and walking past. "I'm off to my lab. Don't disturb me."
"Actually I'm going to the need the basement for a few hours and maybe some fish," Conan replied without looking up at her. He looked closer at Kaito's face. "Hello Kaito Kuroba. It's nice to meet you."
Kaito slowly and gradually opened his eyes to find that he couldn't see anything. Everything was black. He was lying down on a cold and hard floor. He blinked, rubbed his eyes and blinked again with no avail. Was he really blind? He tried to slow down his rapid breathing and heartbeat that had suddenly escalated in panic. He remembered everything that had happened prior to him waking up perfectly; it comes in useful if you are a thief and have woken up in some strange situations.
Kaito recalled the last thing that had happened. He had been knocked out by Tantei-Kun a.k.a Shinichi Kudo who was currently in the form of a seven year-old. The thought of that humiliation was almost more unbearable that the thought of being blind. He groaned and put his head in his hands and realised that he could see the faint shape of his hands. Then it dawned on Kaito, he wasn't blind; he was just in a very dark place. It was probably the basement.
He felt in his pockets for something that could produce light, anything. But his pockets were completely empty. Even the false bottoms had been pulled out.
He patted his wrist experimentally in the vain hope that his watch was still there. Nope. Even his watch was gone, lost to the same place that all his other equipment had gone to. Probably Shinichi Kudo's pocket. He hated him for that. His watch was his pièce de résistance. In his watch he had a paperclip and a capsule of a sleeping drug for emergencies. If you pulled out the knob a certain number of times within a certain period of time it would spray out knockout gas which was handy if you needed a diversion. He hadn't used it yet, but the time to use it was probably approaching considering his current predicament.
Kaito had one last resort for escaping left. If this had been taken too he would be a little disgusted with whoever had searched him and he would also be at his wit's end and reduced to tearing his hair out. Kaito carefully felt around the inside of his mouth with his tongue to check the hidden paperclip that doubled as a useful lock pick that he kept in by his gums was still there. After a few revolutions his tongue encountered something thin and metallic. He felt like cheering out loud with joy, but he knew that was a ridiculous idea as it is best to celebrate when you are actually finished rather than halfway. Instead he cut short his mental celebration, spat out the paperclip into his hand and began to feel in the dark for the door so he could escape. He stepped forward and cannoned into a table and bruised his leg. He cursed under his breath and tried a different direction. This time he bashed his head on a bookshelf. Hoping that no one was watching or filming him he attempted another movement.
It took Kaito half an hour to bump into some more furniture, find the door and pick the lock. As a result he now had several bruises and cuts and he knocked off a table what had sounded like a heavy microscope holding a glass slide. He now felt like he would willingly murder Tantei-kun right in front of witnesses and would be happy to cope with the consequences.
He opened the door slowly and cautiously, wincing and covering his eyes as bright light flooded the pitch black basement. Luckily for him there was no one outside to make sure he couldn't escape. What awaited him was a flight of stairs and a shock.
Less than a metre away was a fish on a plate waiting for him. A Pacific Cod to be exact. Kaito gibbered and bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming. He looked at the fish again, it was intact and still had its head and eyes, but it was dead and so it wouldn't suddenly jump up and hurt him. That thought calmed him. It would be futile if he got this far only to be defeated by a dead fish on a plate. He kept repeating that quietly to himself. That thought calmed him. He sighed. He didn't want to murder Tantei-kun now; he would prefer to throw him in a room with all the criminals he had kicked footballs at and knocked their teeth out. After they had torn him to pieces he would feed the pieces to a bear. Those thoughts spurred him on and gave him the anger that he needed to get past the fish.
He held his breath, counted to five and jumped over the plate of fish. A thought suddenly struck him when he was in mid air. How had Shinichi Kudo known that he had Ichthyophobia? It was one thing to search him efficiently, but it was another to leave a fish right outside the basement. If it had been placed there deliberately to deter him then Shinichi Kudo must know who he really is. Kaito thought about it carefully and knew a confrontation would be the only way to find out.
With the fish behind him he bounded noiselessly up the stairs whilst thinking of the best way to confront Shinichi Kudo without being knocked out again. When he was just about to turn the corner he heard what sounded like Hakuba's voice and sounded like something that Hakuba would talk about with a fellow Sherlock Holmes nerd.
"I quite agree with you Kudo-kun it is extremely aggravating when obnoxious people claim that Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson were gay and sometimes they write this dreadful thing called fanfiction."
Kaito rolled his eyes. Trust Hakuba to be complaining about that; he didn't like anything that tarnished his hero. At least he didn't wear his cape and deerstalker anymore. Did Hakuba tell Shinichi Kudo that he was afraid of fish, he hadn't been aware that he knew, but Aoko could of told him. Also where was Aoko? He couldn't hear her voice. If she and Hakuba were together before she should be there too.
He risked a peek around the corner. Shinichi Kudo and Hakuba were lounging on sofas opposite each other with a chessboard on a coffee table between them. Hakuba was white and Tantei-kun was playing black. There wasn't any sign of Professor Agasa. He could see Sherry tapping away at a computer in the corner. Aoko wasn't there. Damn Hakuba, he cursed. He must have left her somewhere. That wasn't very gentlemanlike of him. He caught sight of the clock on the wall. It was nearly midnight. He had been unconscious for a while.
Kaito didn't want to delay the inevitable any longer. He skipped up the last couple of steps and boldly walked across the room and threw himself down on the sofa next to Hakuba. He observed the Hakuba was being beaten at chess. Neither showed any surprise that he had escaped from the basement. In fact none of them looked up and Kaito didn't like being ignored.
"Can I have my watch back please? I feel lost without it. Look you can see my tan line."
Shinichi Kudo finally looked up from the chessboard and threw him a look. He didn't seem bothered that Kaito wanted a potential weapon back. He fished it out of his pocket and threw it at him. Kaito caught it neatly and wrapped it around his wrist.
"Your friend here had explained everything about you so I feel that I can trust you a little more now, Kaito Kuroba," Conan said waiting to observe his reaction.