Chapter 10: Detective of the West

Kogoro Mori the detective has requested a number of police files for cases that involved the Organisation and were rewritten by various agents. They are being delivered this morning.

The email to the head of the Black Organisation was brief, but very informative. It wasn't signed and the sender was untraceable, but they knew who it was from. Chief Hakuba was the Black Organisation member that held the highest rank in the Police and was the most useful as he requested facts about cases that related to the Organisation to be altered to keep the Organisation hidden for as long as possible. Within the Organisation Hakuba was Anokata's right hand man and was a valued member due to his unwavering commitment to the Organisation. Unlike Vermouth he kept to the rules and always reported what he was doing.

However it was a shame that his son Saguru Hakuba had chosen to oppose the Organisation by fighting crime and never supporting it. Young bright recruits were always wanted in the Organisation as they could be moulded into the perfect agent and controlled from an early age to become skilled and never question orders. There hadn't been any young recruits since Sherry. Their training had always worked and she had been the only that had shown signs of rebelling, but they couldn't take any more chances with her on the loose and had closed the programme down. Anokata had reviewed Sherry's work and she was indeed a brilliant chemist, but something had gone wrong. It was possibly due to a close attachment to the sister that was killed. Gin and Vermouth had been used to keep her in line and watch her, but in the end they had failed once the sister was killed and she had somehow escaped and still hadn't been caught.

Sherry, Kaito Kid, the incident at Tokyo Tower, Aoko Nakamori, Saguru Hakuba and Kaito Kuroba were the only loose ends that could lead to the discovery of the Organisation and they needed to be taken care of. Steps had been taken, but they were cautionary and meant to show the three what the Organisation was capable of. It must have not been enough as one of them or Sherry had alerted the detective Kogoro Mori to the existence of the Organisation. Mori had deep connections with the Police and had crossed them once before and needed to be stopped before he did any real damage.

Anokata reached for the phone and sent a message to his best members on the subject of Kogoro Mori.

The next morning Conan was back at the detective office after two days at Hakase's to receive the files that Sato was delivering. He had phoned Heiji and the FBI the night before and had received a reply from Sato to say that she had the files and would be dropping them off in the morning. Heiji was catching the earliest bullet train to Tokyo and said he would be arriving at the office around 11. Conan hoped that he wasn't bringing Kazuha with him as he always seemed to bring her with him and was weak against her. It reminded him of himself and Ran a little.

"Conan-kun would you like me to make you breakfast?" Ran enquired sticking her head around the door to the office.

"No thank you Ran-neechan. I've already eaten," he replied looking up from his manga magazine.

Ran was about to leave when something about Conan sitting in the office by himself made her turn back. She had noticed that he wasn't as bright as usual. He hadn't really shown any emotion since he had returned from Professor Agasa's house the day before. Something must have happened there. Why was he in the office this early anyway? Her father hadn't even woken up yet and it was a weekend.

"Conan-kun, are you waiting for something? You look a little lonely." Conan smiled as brightly as he could to stop her from worrying. "I'm waiting for Heiji-niichan to arrive. He's coming to Tokyo today."

"Hattori-kun is? Is Kazuha-chan coming too? Why didn't you tell me before? I could have arranged a day out for him. Tell you what I'll wait with you."

That was one of the most inconvenient things she could have said. Sato was arriving before Heiji to drop off the files and Ran would definitely ask what was going on. He could tell her that her father had requested them, but that was implausible as he never did any extra detective work and she would be bound to ask him about it. Also he needed to tell Sato his cover story that he had planned the night before. He had noticed that she and Takagi had been looking at him suspiciously for a while. Somehow he didn't think that telling that he would tell her when they were in the next world would suffice for a second time like he told Takagi when he asked during the bombing incident. He didn't want to tell her the truth in case she was found out by the Black Organisation and interrogated. He had made up a story that would satisfy her, but he needed to get rid of Ran first. "He said he would get here around 11," Conan informed her trying to persuade her to leave and go back upstairs.

"I'm also waiting for a manga book I ordered to be delivered so you can go back upstairs."

"Don't worry I'll keep you company. I haven't made any arrangements today anyway," Ran replied beginning to get the impression that he didn't want her there and didn't want to say it outright.

Conan sighed. Ran was too kind and selfless sometimes. It did get annoying at times. He would have to change tack.

"I also need to go buy something for school. I'll do it before he comes," he said scrambling for an excuse and ran out the door before she could reply.

Ran stared after him wondering, not for the first time if he was all he was supposed to be. Occasionally she caught him acting more mature than his age and he could read books and signs that were full of difficult kanji. He never flinched at a dead body whereas she still screamed despite the large number that she had seen. No matter how many times her father hit him over the head at a crime scene for interfering he always interrupted him and pointed clues out to him. On a few occasions she had suspected that he was Shinichi, but whenever she had been openly suspicious something always seemed to happen that disproved her theory. Now she had learnt to just keep quiet and watch him.

Conan stood outside the staircase to the detective office to wait for Sato. He caught his breath back after his quick run and mentally apologised to Ran for lying to her so much. He hated lying to her, but it was for her own good. Sato pulled up in her car a few minutes later. He had seen her speeding all the way down the street. It was surprising that she never crashed into anything. He waved at her and she smiled back. She got out her car clutching a neatly wrapped parcel.

"Good morning Conan-kun. I've got the files you asked for. Takagi is covering for me at the station so we will have to be as quick as possible."

Conan nodded his eyes fixed on the parcel. He had prepared what he was going to say to her and had some evidence at hand in case she wanted proof. All he could do now was hope that she believed him.

"Shall we go up to the office and discuss it?" she suggested noting that his eyes were fixed on what she was carrying.

"No, Ran-neechan is there. Let's sit in your car," he replied opening to door and sitting in the front passenger seat.

Sato shrugged and followed. "Remember our deal. Files for information. Why are you mixed up in all of this?" Sato started, closing her car door and sitting down in the driver's seat.

Conan took a deep breath and launched into his story. "My mother is American and works for the CIA. She was undercover in the organisation that I told you about until they discovered she was a spy a few years ago. She managed to escape, but they killed my father in revenge. I was sent to live in Japan for my own safety and nothing has really happened until last year when my mother got in contact and told me that she needed my help in getting information about them as it couldn't be an official investigation otherwise they would find out."

Sato was silent for a minute to absorb what she had just been told. If his mother was American why didn't he look more foreign? Why did he end up living with the Kogoro Mori? There were a few things that didn't make sense.

"Why are so clever and observant?"

"I was trained by my parents to be observant and I have read a lot of books," Conan replied calmly having anticipated the questions she was most likely to ask.

"Can you actually prove that what you have just told me is true?"

"Yes, Takagi has met my mother. She is known to him as Jodie Santemillion," Conan said confidently.

In his call to Jodie Starling the night before he had explained that he might need her to pretend to be his mother so she was nearby,

"So she's the foreigner that Takagi sometimes mentions and does impressions of. May I meet her?" Sato asked remembering Takagi talking about her and wondering whether she really was his mother.

Conan checked the time on his watch. Only half an hour until Hattori was due to arrive. Luckily he was already prepared for this question. At his instruction Jodie was a few streets away.

"Sure, I'll call her," he answered ringing her number on his phone. "It's what we discussed," he said once she had picked her phone up.

Then he hung up once she had replied with an affirmative. "She will be about five minutes. I asked her yesterday if it was okay to tell you and she said yes as long as you could be trusted."

In the five minutes Sato mulled over the story and tried to work out whether some of what he was telling her was true or was it all just a lie. She did trust him and she wondered if he was lying to protect her. It would be like him; she had seen how he behaved towards Ran.

Conan, on the other hand was worrying over the three fugitives hiding at Hakase's and the production of the antidote as well as Black Organisation spies. They could be anywhere. Also he needed to deal with a suspicious Ran, but now was not the time. He spotted Jodie in the rear view mirror walking down the street. He opened his door and waved as she walked past. She waved back and opened one of back doors and got in.

"You wanted to meet me, yes?"

"I did. So you are a member of the CIA and Conan, your son is helping you investigate this organisation." Jodie reached over the front and patted Conan on the head in what she hoped was a motherly way. Conan scowled, acting his part. "He's such a great help to me and no one ever suspects him."

Sato tapped the steering wheel, thinking of what to say. "All right. For now Conan-kun I will believe you and ignore the obvious inconsistencies in your story. If you ever bring down this organisation then you will have to tell me the real truth."

"But," Conan was about to protest, then he realised it was futile. He shouldn't have expected an intelligent police officer to swallow a story like that. "I will."

"I look forward to it. The name of the police officer that closed the case you asked me about is written on a piece of paper in the bow," Sato said handing the parcel over to Conan. "Good bye."

Conan and Jodie took the hint and got out the car. They waved goodbye as Sato sped off leaving a trail of exhaust fumes behind her. Jodie turned to Conan.

"That was fun. So Cool Kid, you're trying to bring Them down by yourself?"

"Yes, I've got some help though," Conan answered thinking of the people that he had got to know in the past few days as an indirect result of the Black Organisation.

"There is another thing that I wanted to ask you. Have you heard from Kir recently?"

"Actually there was a short message from her yesterday saying that all missions within in the Organisation have been suspended and everyone now has a new objective."

Conan's blood ran cold. He could guess what that new objective was if the attack on Kuroba's mother was anything to go by. "The objective is?"

"To kill three teenagers that know too much. Her message was very short which is not surprising considering the danger she is."

"Can you tell me the next time she contacts please? It's very important."

"I will. If you need any help with what you are doing feel free to call me. I wouldn't mind having to act as your mother again," Jodie said winking and walking away. "You've befriended those three, haven't you? Keep safe."

Conan watched her leave. So the objective now was to kill rather than warn now. Good. It showed that getting hold of those files had worried Them. So they must be getting somewhere in their investigation. He was itching to open the parcel and see what the name was, but he wanted Heiji to arrive before so they could go to Hakase's and open it there. He checked his watch. It was nearly 11. Where was he? He didn't notice a taxi pull up a little way down the street and two Osakans get out.

"Hey Ku-Conan-kun," greeted a male voice behind him with a strong Kansai accent. "What are ya doin' out here? I though ya would be inside with ya neechan."

"Hattori," Conan said turning around ready to retort.

Then he stopped as he noticed who was standing next to him. Of course. He had brought Kazuha with him. Well, it would keep Ran happy and distracted.

"So you've brought you girlfriend with you," he said quietly so only Hattori would hear. Hattori made a face and bonked him on the head.

To make this fanfic less complicated for me to write Sera Masumi will not be included as it has not yet been made clear in the manga what the purpose of her character is. (This fanfiction was originally written in 2011)

One theory is that she is Akai's sister. (There are lots of theories going around on the Detective Conan Translation Project forums)