Secrets and Lies: Chapter 11

The detective, magician and seven year old child that were sitting in the front room of 2-22 Beika all looked up in surprise as Conan led an arguing Osakan carrying a parcel through front door. Conan looked tired as if he had to deal with him for the entire journey from the detective office.

"For the last time Kazuha ain't my girlfriend," he yelled as Conan closed the door behind him. He stopped shouting when he caught sight of Hakuba sitting primly in an armchair smirking at him.

Heiji placed the parcel on the floor and turned on Conan. "Oi Kudo, ya never mentioned that I was gonna be workin' with that snobby blonde. Last time was bad enough."

Kaito and Aoko fought back laughs at this. They could see why the two didn't get on now; the two detectives were polar opposites to each other. Conan sighed. He shouldn't have expected them to act better toward each other on their second meeting. Hopefully the two would resolve their differences at some point; they were going to be cooped up together for a while. For everyone's sake the sooner the better otherwise he didn't think he could take the arguments.

"Hattori, calm down," he said steering him towards Kaito and Aoko who he thought might work with him better. "Let me introduce you to Kaito Kuroba, he's-"

"-A classmate of Hakuba," Kaito cut off Conan smoothly. He had a feeling that if Heiji Hattori didn't want to work with Hakuba who was a fellow teenage detective then he would want to work with Kaitoi Kid, a criminal less. "I'm a magician."

He held his hand to him to shake. Heiji eyed his hand suspiciously and refused. Someone had tried something similar on him and he had received an electric shock.

"Ya holding out ya hand a little strangely. I'm guessing ya holdin' a device that would give me an electric shock. That's an old trick."

Kaito raised his eyebrows. Hattori was good as expected. He could see why Hakuba had suggested working with him even though they didn't get on. However Hattori hadn't deduced the entire trick.

"You're right; that trick is old, I do a different version instead. There's actually a very sticky substance in my hand that will stick to anything that touches it. It's impossible to get off without the right chemical."

"What chemical is that?"

"The enzyme in your saliva; Amylase," Kaito answered with a wink spitting into his hand and wiping the goo off with a tissue.

Aoko screwed up her face in disgust and Hakuba just rolled his eyes.

"It was worth a try. I probably shouldn't do any more magic tricks with so many detectives around."

"Kaito, that is disgusting," Aoko complained moving away from him.

"And who are ya?" Heiji asked moving his eyes to rest on her. Why was there a seven year old? She didn't seem to be the detective type.

"I'm Aoko Nakamori."

"So ya old man is Inspector Nakamori; the guy that can't catch Kid. Strange. I thought his daughter was the same age as me."

"I was until a few days ago," Aoko informed his tartly, annoyed at the way he described her father. "I'm in the same boat as Shinichi Kudo now."

Hakuba noticed that glares Aoko was giving Hattori and decided to interrupt before he upset Aoko any further.

"Kudo-kun, is that parcel the files from the police? By the way, it is nice to see you again Hattori-kun. I see you are hot blooded as usual."

"Yes. I got them this morning," Conan answered hurriedly before Heiji could retort and start something again.

He was going to have to keep the two apart for now. Hakuba and Kaito were bad enough together, but at least Kaito didn't argue as loudly as Heiji did.

"The name of the officer that closed the Tokyo Tower case is apparently written on a piece of paper in the box."

He untied the string and unwrapped the brown paper. Inside was a cardboard box. He unpicked the tape that was sealing it with his fingernail. As Sato had promised there was a piece of paper lying on top of the files. He drew it out and read the name. It was what he had expected. Conan looked over at Hakuba awkwardly. He didn't know what to say. How was he going to explain it? Kaito saw the glance and understood. Heiji on the other hand looked puzzled at the expression on Conan's face.

"What's the name then Kudo?" Conan was silent and kept his eyes fixed on the floor.

"It's my father; Chief Hakuba, isn't it?" Hakuba said calmly, comprehending the awkward silence. He had known it was going to be somehow despite what he had told himself.

"Yes."

"I knew it. Anyway lets all take some files each and look for connections," Hakuba said getting up and reaching for the box.

"Where's the evil scientist?" Heiji asked looking around the room nervously. He was glad that she wasn't there to glare at him; she gave him the creeps no matter how many times Kudo had tried to reassure him that she could be friendly.

"Basement," everyone chorused in unison. That morning Haibara had disappeared off to the basement demanding that no one was allowed disturb her. She had eaten a breakfast of peanut butter and blueberry jam sandwiches and had taken the jars with her. Apparently she was making some progress with the antidote so she wanted to be alone.

Meanwhile Ran and Kazuha were sitting in the detective office working out what they were going to for that day. They were thinking of going shopping in Shibuya or going to Tropical Land together. Ran had completely forgotten about Conan with Kazuha there. They hadn't seen each other in a while so they were having fun catching up and gossiping.

"Have you confessed to Hattori-kun yet?" Ran asked her knowing that she wouldn't have to worry about her father hearing as he was busy snoring with his head on his desk.

"Not yet. The last time I did he ran off somewhere before I got a chance," Kazuha admitted remembering how red her face had been and she was happy that she hadn't jeopardised their friendship by confessing yet.

There was a knock at the door and Ran could see two silhouettes through the glass pane of the door. She rushed over to her father and shook him to wake him up.

"Wipe that drool off your face. There are some clients at the door. Oh dear, you didn't shave this morning and your breath smells of alcohol. You're a mess."

Kogoro Mori rubbed his bleary eyes and took the handkerchief that Ran held out to him and rubbed the drool off his face. He had drunk as few too many beers the previous night and had a pounding headache and didn't appreciate her criticism of his appearance.

"Come in," he called clearing his throat and sitting up.

The door was opened to reveal two men dressed in black. One was wearing a trench coat with a hat jammed low on his head and had flowing silvery blonde hair. All that could be seen of his eyes were slits. The other man was shorter and stouter than his partner and had a hat and black sunglasses.

Ran gasped involuntarily. She knew she had seen them before; she just couldn't place the memory. After some thought it came to her. Tropical Land. The Rollercoaster Murder Case. Shinichi. The two men had been suspects in the murder. Later that day after the murder had been solved and she had been walking out the theme park with Shinichi she had caught a glimpse of the shorter one with sunglasses skulking around suspiciously. Shinichi must have spotted him too because a second later he had made an excuse and had run off in the same direction. She didn't see him again for a long time after that and whenever she had he always seemed to disappear suddenly. Were the two men connected to the case that Shinichi was supposed to be investigating? If so why were they here?

Gin heard her gasp and eyed her suspiciously. He had seen her photo in the case file he had been given an hour ago. Ran Mori. The daughter of Kogoro Mori and an undefeatable Karate champion. He would have to watch her carefully in case she presented a threat. He noticed the girl standing next to her. Who was she? Well whoever she was she was an extra person to deal with and wasn't required for the mission. That was the trouble with hastily planned operations; there was never enough time to collect information about the planned target. There had only been enough time to read a few files and decided who was going to carry it out.

"Do you have a case for me to solve?" Kogoro Mori asked yawning after a minute of silence.

Gin drew his pistol out and pointed it at him. It looked like the great detective wasn't that clever in the morning. He just stared at the gun not quite comprehending the danger he was in. Ran and Kazuha shrank back in fear before remembering their training and lowering themselves into martial art stances. Gin noticed this and smirked. He raised his gun and fired off a shot at the ceiling.

Ran and Kazuha straightened and glared at him instead.

"No tricks."

"W-what do you want?" "I want answers," he said and fired two shots.

Hakuba sipped a cup of Earl Grey tea with lemon daintily whilst the others drank green tea and ate a snack of rice crackers. They had all stopped for a break and all of their eyes were beginning to feel the strain of reading so much.

"So now we have learnt that the case reports don't match Kudo-kun's accounts of what he told the police at the time. They must have been rewritten to omit any mentions of the Black Organisation. And we also now know that my father is definitely involved," Hakuba summarised without any emotion in his voice.

"Can't you plant listening devices on your father or in his office," Kaito suggested.

"Ha. I haven't seen him properly in about a month and all the household staff worship him. Besides if he saw he would probably shoot me on the spot now," he answered bitterly and tried to change the subject. "At least we know what the common factors in all the cases are now. Hattori-kun?"

"Yes, I've been payin' attention. Large amounts of money, science, computer programming and they seem to like young talent," Heiji ticked all of them off on his fingers. "Did ya father ever hint to ya about joinin'?"

Hakuba thought about it. "Hmm... Once we were eating dinner together once and he started talking about how crime was necessary for progress and that no one was perfect. I argued against his view and he never spoke of it again. Come to think of it I started seeing him less often after that conversation. He was probably testing me."

Aoko felt sorry for him. He had been rejected by his father just because he was against crime. She walked over and offered him a rice cracker to distract him. Hakuba refused politely, but was grateful for her kindness. The shrill ring of Conan's mobile phone caused them all to jump. The dove Kaito was feeding was scared and bit him on the finger. Conan swallowed his rice cracker and dug the phone out of his pocket. It was Jodie Starling's number. Putting his teacup down on the floor he pressed the green phone icon to answer. Jodie began speaking immediately.

"Cool Kid. It's urgent. I've just got another message from Kir." Her voice was rushed and out of breath.

"What was it?"

"Five agents including her have been given the task of kidnapping Kogoro Mori. It was decided between them that two agents called Gin and Vodka should do it. If you are there please get Ran-kun and Mori-san away quickly."

"I'm not there. Thanks Jodie." Conan put the phone down, not bothering to wait for her reply. Ran... It was probably too late to do anything, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"Damn it. Hattori you need to come with me now. I'll explain on the way. It's urgent," he ordered, running to get his shoes.