Chapter 23: Misconstrued Occurrences

"Ya sure you're okay?"

"I-I'm f-ff-fine." I tried to reassure Hattori. Shivering a little, I rubbed my arms in an attempt to warm myself. "O-Once we're on the train," I tried again, managing to not chatter as much this time, "it'll b-be warmer."

"'Kay…suit yerself," said the Osakan skeptically as he turned away from me on the bench to watch a small crowd of teenagers gathered around the front entrances of the station. Considering the time, they must have been delinquents, since no other teenager, besides us, would have been out that late on a school night, at a train station.

I wonder what people think if us? I asked myself and smiled. Whatever it is, I'm sure Hattori won't be too pleased about it.

Hattori had covered my ticket fare, making me feel kind of guilty. If Hakuba had felt his conscience for letting Kudo pay for the cab ride, my guilt was at least twice his. The tickets for the bullet train weren't exactly cheap and I had no way of repaying Hattori.

The Osakan detective didn't bother hiding a yawn from me. "I really wanted ta just be home for a while an' get some sleep." His smile was wry. "I guess that ain't gonna happen for a while now, after this."

"Afraid not," I leaned against the bench and stretched as far as I could. "But it's not like you're alone, right?"

He shrugged and a thought occurred to him.

"You don't work alone, do ya? I always thought that ya must've someone helpin' ya out." The Osakan's eyes were a slightly wider then they were a second ago, but not prying. I remained silent and he shrugged his shoulders again, his focus back on the teenage mob.

"Most of the time I work alone," I answered after a few minutes of contemplation. I found myself satisfied when he jumped a little at hearing my voice, clearly not expecting me to answer. I love it when I surprise people.

"Kudo told me once that ya had an accomplice. I don't think he was lyin' to me." Hattori's eyes turned away from me. It was clear he didn't think I was telling the truth.

"I do have an accomplice," I amended, "That doesn't mean I like to take advantage of them. I've rarely rely on others unless it was necessary to pull off my magic."

"Why?"

I looked at him a little confused until the Osakan changed the wording of his question.

"Why don't you use them? Isn't it safer if ya have a partner?"

"I can't."

Hattori watched me for a while, waiting to hear the rest of my answer. I sighed.

"It would put them in too much danger if I did. I only ask my partner for help when I can't get away from a situation as both Kid and myself."

"Partner, not accomplice. An' ya still feel comfortable callin' them yer partner when ya don't even rely on them for help? I feel sorry for them havin' to put up with you. Hakuba-kun was right for once, ya really do have a bad judgment when it comes to yer own life."

"I didn't realize the inner workings of my mind were up for discussion between you two." I waved a hand in front of him and conjured up a Royal flush, all the cards hearts. "Contrary to your beliefs though, my judgment is perfectly sound. There are reasons why I can't use my partner's help. Reasons you don't understand, so don't pretend you know what's going on. Despite what you detectives might believe, you guys don't see everything. You see only the basic workings, but not every thought and emotion involved.

"'Cause it's you. 'Cause it would ruin yer magic, right? You're the one who not showin' anyone what it is ya do so don't treat us like idiots when we can't follow yer thinkin'. We ain't ya, so dun't expect us to be able to think like ya," snapped Hattori, his tone sharp and angry.

We both fumed silently at each other for a while after that. I wasn't going to tell Hattori how right he was. A part of me had always thought of everyone as being somewhat lesser because they couldn't see through me, in that they were blind and I was better. That wasn't how it worked. That kind of thinking was wrong. I wouldn't admit to seeing the world one-sided recently, before all the mess started happening, because being close to the detectives was giving me a contradicting view point. Why was it I could feel for strangers on the street and get a sense of their hurt, but not have the same concept follow for any of the detectives I'd met?

Because detectives don't like being hidden from, so it's harder to keep secrets when they insist on prying. Strangers don't do that.

"Sorry," Hattori apologized. "I didn't mean to make the situation worse. Pretend I never said anythin'."

"Well, that's going to be hard," I huffed, a grin growing on my face. "Considering I haven't learned how to turn back time yet, I think it's a physical impossibility for me to not have heard and participated in our conversation."

"Yet? Well, tell me what ya do. There's a lot of things that I'd like to change 'round as well. Maybe ya can find a way to turn time forward too. I'd like to see Tokyo pink… wait, blue, when ya manage it."

"Maybe I'll stop by Osaka while I'm still drunk," I joked.

"Don't ya even think of doin' that in my town," Hattori was only half joking at the threat. It would be that much more fun to mess with him then.

"I make no promises."

That atmosphere was considerably calmer after that. The train still took another five minutes to arrive, but at least the silence while waiting was no longer as awkward.

When we got on, Hattori lead the way towards the end of a section of the train. We ended up sitting where the seats faced away from the windows. Practically collapsing into his seat, Hattori took a deep breath and looked like he was ready to fall asleep before the train had even taken off.

"Get some rest. I'll wake you up when we get there."

"Um?" He looked at me questionably, blinking sleepily. I wasn't sure what he was asking so I looked back at him in confusion. Clearing his throat, he tried asking again, more coherently this time, "Ya sure? The train ride'll take a long time and if ya fall asleep too, I don't think they'll wake us up."

"I'm not tired."

The Osakan detective looked at me to make sure I was telling the truth. After all the sleep I'd gotten when I'd had the fever, which was completely gone now, and the rest on the plane, I really wasn't tired. I knew I'd be getting tired soon, but I could manage a few hours on a train. I've done worse on consecutive heists as Kaito Kid.

"Thanks," Hattori whispered as he laid his head to perch on his shoulder, with his arms on top of the seat. It was interesting to watch the Osakan detective fall asleep in seconds, though I'd pulled off the same a few times.

"Hello?" I humored myself by waving my hand in front of him a minute later to see if he was faking it. No annoyed reply came.

"Hm, this isn't any fun." I folded my arms and sat back into the seat, "What am I suppose to do now for the rest of this long train ride?"

…

I poked Hattori what felt like the hundredth time.

"Hey! Wake up!"

"Umph," the Osakan replied, putting a hand up to defend his face against my prodding. That left his stomach open, allowing me the opportunity to poke him there. "Wake up!"

"Knock it off Kazuha!" Hattori yelled at me and pushed my arm away, his eyes still more than half closed. It took a few seconds for him to realize where he was as his eyes slowly opened and the rest of him began to wake up from his nap.

"Humph, I feel insulted." I crossed my arms and turned away from him. "To think you mistook me for a childhood friend of yours, who's a girl!"

"Shut up will ya?" Hattori rubbed his eyes. "Are we there yet?"

"In about fifteen minutes. I woke you up a little earlier so that I wouldn't have to try getting you up when we reach our stop. I'm glad I decided to do that. Considering how long you took to finally get up, we would have been rushing off the train."

"That's fine," He yawned. "So what'd ya find to do while I was out?"

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that, yer Kid," Hattori smirked. "What'd ya do?"

"Nothing…much," I grinned. "You have my coat so anything big was automatically closed off to me."

"Damn," he laughed. "I wanted to see what ya'd do when there was no one to stop ya."

"That doesn't mean I didn't do anything." I stood up on the seat and spun one of the bars, which normally wouldn't spin, up in the compartment where people put their luggage. "It's not much, but this will guarantee that anyone who puts their stuff up here won't find it in the same spot when they leave."

"That's kinda childish," Hattori smiled back. "What did you really do?"

"Ah, I've been predicted again!" I sighed with a smile, falling back into the seat without putting my feet on the floor first. "I may have messed with a few other things. Come here." I got up and Hattori followed me a little unsteadily as the train continued to move.

"Try sitting down, it really doesn't matter where." I waved my hands over at the folded up seats in the center of the train.

"I'm not gonna get hurt, am I?"

"'Course not!" my smiled dimmed, "I don't hurt people."

"I know, just makin' sure I wasn't the exception."

Hattori tentatively lowered one of the seats until it came to a stop where it normally does when someone sits on it. The Osakan was obviously trying to set of whatever it was that I had done, without making himself part of the experiment. When nothing happened, he raised his eyebrows at me while I continued to smile.

The other teen had no choice but to sit down to see what would happen. As he put his weight on the seat, he watched me carefully for any reaction. It took a second, but in the next instant, he found himself on the ground. The bottom of the seat was resting against his back, not hurting him when it gave way.

"Oi!" he shouted in surprise as he found himself on the floor. "How'd ya do that?"

"I made it weight sensitive." I rolled my eyes, duh. "Older people generally don't use these seats. They prefer to sit near the aisles and have access to the restrooms so I don't have to worry about them getting hurt. It's a simple enough trick that will be found out soon enough, but before then, I think it'll be funny seeing people fall on their butts."

The Osakan seemed to understand my humor since he grinned in amusement. I knew the other two detectives would have been furious had they known what I had done. "Cool. Kinda wish I could stay to watch the mornin' commute tomorrow."

"So do I." We smiled in unison and I helped Hattori to his feet.

Something soon caught his eye and I turned to see flashing lights out the window. My first reaction was ingrained in me in that my body immediately tensed up, ready to deceive or flee.

That's a lot of police officers.

"I wonder what's goin' on." Hattori mussed out loud. Echoing my thoughts, he added, "That's a lot of police cars."

"And more reason for us not to be there," I stressed at the look in his eyes. "We can't be seen."

"I know that…" Hattori waved me off as he tried to get a better look outside as we passed the hoard of flashing red lights. "That doesn't mean I'm not curious."

"This has 'apocalyptically-bad-timing' written all over it," I whispered to myself. Luckily, Hattori couldn't hear me; he was still rubber necking at the view.

I saw him twitch as we arrived to the Tokyo train station about a minute later. We'd still have to take a cab or bus to get to Mouri's, where we planned to meet up with the others. While the police cars were in the opposite direction, it was still possible to get there on foot. I relaxed a little when Hattori stopped showing signs of uncertainty.

"Hey." The Osakan's voice was low as he looked up at me with a mischievous grin. "Tell Kudo I'm gonna be a little late gettin' back."

"Oh now you don't!" I tried to catch the jacket in my hands as he raced passed me, but missed by less than an inch. I sped after him as the doors closed behind me and wondered briefly why I even thought Hattori would do the sane thing and stay put. We're far too much alike after all.

I was surprised when, after a few minutes, I had yet to catch up to him. The Osakan was remarkably fast on his feet and had rushed through the gates before I'd even rounded the corner. I let out a low, playful laugh and felt, not for the first time, like a cat chasing a mouse, or a cop chasing a thief.

Hattori didn't let up after we'd left the station behind; he was still running like his life depended on it. It occurred to me that he might not even know I was following him.

"Hey, slow down!" I shouted.

"What?" Hattori slowed to a jog and looked surprised when he finally noticed that I was behind him. When I caught up to him, his breathing was ragged while mine was still deep and steady. He may be faster, but only if he's pushing himself. It made me feel better to know that. Although that knowledge also made me angry at myself, for liking the fact that someone was lesser than me in some way.

"So what do you plan on doing when we get there? I don't think wasting all your energy by running there will help."

"You never know…," Hattori took in a huge gulp of air, obviously still out of breath, "what will happen. If ya don't try your hardest the first time, then you'll always regret, always wonder, if ya'd gotten there sooner, if things would be different." He breathed quickly between each pause and met my eyes. "Aren't you like that, too?"

"I don't usually have to run towards something," I smiled. "I'm often doing the opposite."

"Oh, yeah. Well, dontcha see my point?"

"If I didn't, I would have dragged you back to the station already."

He smirked and picked up the pace. "Well come on then. The faster we see that it's unimportant, the faster I'll come back with ya and Kudo can stop havin' a heart attack."

There was a large crowd of police officers around the vicinity. It wasn't hard for the Osakan detective to take the lead, even though we were in Tokyo now and not in his hometown, since he was known well enough at this point in the area and we wanted to get by without protest, considering we must look like civilians to the officers there.

"EPP!" I drew Hattori in front of me as we got closer and hide behind him as best I could.

"What's the matter?" he whispered over his shoulder.

"Inspector Nakamori's here."

Why would he be here at this time of night? Isn't he in the Tokyo Police's second division? Is there some kind of grand theft going on that I don't know about? I was not happy at that last thought. Call me possessive, but the only grand thief that Inspector Nakamori should be chasing after should be me, as Kaito Kid, of course. Again, I mentally twitched at my seemingly ever growing ego.

"Who? Oh."

"Yes, someone who it would be a VERY bad idea for me to run into, Kid or not."

"So what are we supposed do?"

"Hold on a second, okay? And don't move."

Fortunately, Hattori and I weren't close enough to whatever was going on to draw attention. I rummaged through my little bag before turning to Hattori to pull a few things out of my coat pockets. In a minute, I had a long brown wig on that was tied back which, combined with my still overly gelled hair, made my head itch to no end. I also had some dark makeup around my eyes to make myself look older. No eye color changes were needed since I still had the green lenses on.

"Okay, I'm done." I turned to Hattori with a low voice, a hint of callousness added to the accent.

"Good 'cause some of them are commin' this way."

"Hattori-kun, what are you doing here?" Inspector Megure asked when he came over to us. "There are enough people here as it is!"

"Sorry Inspector, I just couldn't resist." Hattori smiled kindly to the heavy set man who I'd only come to know after a few too many trips involving Kudo. "What's goin' on?"

"I wish someone could tell me that as well. There are so many stories flying around, you'd think we were in an airfield." There was a definite weariness in the Inspector's voice as he spoke. "So far though, we've got at least four victims, all dead, and only one witness who's in hysterics at the moment."

"Do ya mind if I take a look?"

The Inspector put a hand on the Osakan's shoulder, inadvertently making him hiss in pain. The Inspector drew his hand back in confusion and concern.

"Hattori-kun, are you okay?"

"Yep," the teen moved his arm around to show he was fine, though I could see where he stopped the rotation when it became too painful. "I hurt myself in Kendo the other day. I guess it's still kinda sensitive."

"Well, there are enough officers as it is around the crime scene so I don't want you sticking your nose in there. If anything is going to turn up, they'll find it."

"Do ya know who the victims are? How they were killed? And are there any suspects?" Hattori dished out in full detective mode. "If ya won't let me see the crime scene, ya can at least tell me that, or are ya withholding information?"

"Hattori-kun…" the Inspector's eyes narrowed at him in wary submission. "This really isn't any of your concern. We can take care of it."

"Sure ya can, I just want ta know if there's anythin' ya may've miss. If I find something later, I'm sure everyone would want to know why ya didn't let me in, in the first place."

"You're worst than Kudo-kun," Megure sighed, accepting defeat. "Fine. If you want to know so badly, the four victims were all key congressmen who were trying to vouch for some new bill that favors large corporations. Lots of people were against them, so the list of suspects is rather long. However, they were all killed the same way. I would show you the scene, but it's rather… graphic." The Inspector stopped as he shook his head.

"How?" Hattori didn't let up. Obviously, he wasn't concerned about the violence involved, only the facts. Or maybe, he was just that focused. Either way, it was clear this was where the detectives and I differed. I didn't even want to imagine the scenario, let alone how the killer had done it.

"Each of them had their hands and feet tied up, with a gag in their mouth. One by one, the killer threw them off the top of that building." Megure looked up at the tall high-rise and I followed his gaze.

That's maybe seventy floors, about three hundred meters tall. It would have taken quite a while for the victims to hit the floor. The last one to be thrown off must have been terrified watching the killer pick off his associates.

I didn't realize I was shaking before Hattori nudged me with an arm. Noticing the movement, Megure looked over at me for the first time.

"Who's that with you Hattori-kun?"

"A friend of mine from Osaka, he won't get in the way."

"I should hope not," the Inspector watched me for a while, but continued with his story, "So, of course, all the victims died. The witness was a woman who worked as a security guard in an adjacent building. She heard the sound of the bodies falling and came out in time to see the last man murdered in front of her. She's still in shock right now, but we've managed to get some of her story."

"An' the killer? Did she see him?"

"That's one of the problems we've been-"

"You're all insane!" I heard Nakamori's voice over the noise of all the other officers, even though he was at least twenty yards from us. Impressive, but that was Nakamori for you. Aoko clearly got her lungs from her father in that regard.

Nakamori stomped away from the other officers, but didn't get far before finding somewhere to sit down and watch the investigation from.

"Damn, we are not having this argument again!" The large Inspector snapped, directing his comment towards Nakamori, though there was no way the other man could hear him.

"So what's the problem exactly?" Hattori asked, trying to get the man back onto their original topic.

"Well, we know who the killer is, to an extent. The only problem is that there's been controversy between the officers. Even though this crime is clearly a homicide case, and thus under the first division's jurisdiction, this case is also under the second division's jurisdiction. Therefore, there's been conflict between the two divisions as to what should be done."

"Inspector you're avodin' answering my question!" Hattori spoke louder. "So what exactly is the problem?"

"Sorry Hattori-kun," the man allowed himself a small smile. "I've been a little distracted and I haven't had much sleep lately. The problem is that the one who killed the politicians essentially could have been anyone, but there was evidence that proved otherwise. We believe that Kaitou Kid killed them, but the officers from the second division won't believe what's in front of their eyes."

"You know WHO did WHAT?" I shouted at the Inspector in surprise. Hattori's eyes widened as he hastily pushed me behind him.

"Sorry 'bout that Inspector. My friend here… He's a fan of the Kid, like Suzuki-chan is."

"That's why we're running into so many problems." Megure put a hand to his head. "Almost everyone here is defending the Kid, but we've got proof that the real one is responsible."

"What proof?" Hattori asked while I tried to keep my mouth shut. Being loud and obnoxious was not going to help things.

"Takagi-kun!" The Inspector shouted over his shoulder. "You still have the evidence right?"

"Yes Inspector, do you want it?"

"No, I'm asking if you have it because I want to marry you. Of course I want it!"

"Sorry." the meeker detective stumbled towards us with a plastic bag in his hand. "I couldn't get any of the other officers to take it."

"I know." Megure sighed. "Here Hattori-kun, maybe you could show them that we're right."

I grabbed the bag from his hand before Hattori could take it.

"Oi, Kuro- ah…" Hattori went silent for a second, "Natsuki-kun! Give it back!"

I'm really starting to dislike that nickname, I thought to myself as I examined the bag. Inside could have been an exact duplicate of my father's monocle. The charm and framework were done with such precision that it was hard to believe anyone but me could have had it.

"That's not possible," I whispered out loud.

"Fingerprints?" Hattori asked.

"We dusted for some, but there aren't any."

"Don't ya find that strange?"

"Why would I?" Megure said without concern. "The Kaitou Kid wears gloves so why would there be fingerprints?"

"It's different, but only just," I whispered, not really tuned into their conversation, but somehow taking in the information. "Do you still have the other one?"

"Other what?"

"Ah…" Okay, so a civilian wouldn't know I'd dropped my monocle back when the Scorpion tried to shoot me. I figured the police had to have it somewhere. Hattori was also detained at the time, so he wouldn't know it either. The only other person who knew was unfortunately not here now. Where was Kudo when you needed him?

"Nothing I guess…" I muttered, shutting myself up as Hattori leaned over to whisper in my ear, though I didn't let the bag go when he tried to take it.

"So what is it? Is there any evidence to prove ya didn't do it?"

"That the Kid didn't do it," I whispered, "You never know who may be listening."

"Right," Hattori sighed. "So what've ya got?"

"The monocle's very close to my own. I don't know many who could have pulled off such a close replica." I held up the bag, but didn't take the monocle out since I'd leave fingerprints and suddenly pulling out white gloves to examine it might be pushing it, even if I was a 'friend' of Hattori's. "The fringe along the end is different. Not much, but it's thicker and shorter here than mine is. The charm is also made out of some kind of plastic, mine's made of stone. Ah… I mean Kid's is made out of stone. If they compared the two, I'm sure they'd noticed the differences."

"But it's not like ya can just hand one to yers to 'em," He sighed. "I'll find some way of changin' their minds."

"I don't have to give them one, they already have it."

Hattori raised his eyes at me.

"I dropped one a while back and I can't think of anyone who would take it, besides the police. If they just remember that, it would help, but… it still may not clear things up."

"Why not? It would rule out the fact that Kid's the murderer."

"No, it may just mean that all the monocles aren't alike. The differences are subtle enough that if I weren't looking at it, it would go unnoticed, as it obviously already has."

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't really prove that a guy hidin' behind a cape isn't or is you. I mean, even if they find the guy, they could just say that he is Kid and yer the imposter."

"Some may believe you. I really don't know how to make this work out either Hattori-kun. I'm not like you detectives."

"I'm not expectin' ya to be," he smiled, a glint in his eyes. "This is all magic, an evil kind of magic, but still a trick this guy's usin' to try to escape from his sins by peggin' ya as the murderer. You just gotta see through what he did and help me prove yer innocent."

"Shall we go take a look around and see if we can see anything then?"

"That's the spirit!" Hattori brightened. "Ya've been lookin' kinda upset for a while."

"I'm not as fond of death as you and Kudo-kun are."

"Who's fond of it? If I don't face it an' find the killer, then it's just gonna happen again and someone who can't handle it may hafta face it instead of me."

"How noble of you," I said sarcastically.

"I'll let ya get away with that just 'cause ya don't understand. Say that to me again and I won't let ya forget it."

The Osakan's eyes darkened. I could recognize a threat when I heard one, and I didn't think I'd be able to stand up to his kendo skills. Magician and master thief I may be, fighter I was not. Running away didn't seem promising either. Who was Kid to surrender to anybody though? I mentally smiled at that. I'll let the subject fall for now; we had a murdering alter-ego to catch.

"I'm not really into this detective stuff, so don't rely on me too much."

"Hello," his eyes narrowed, but there was lightness back in his words, even if the words were said sarcastically. "I'm here. Why the hell would I need another detective? I want ya as more of a, I guess a casual observer. If you see somethin' fast'en I do then only good things can come of it."

"Most detectives usually aren't so willing to accept help," I conversationally replied as Hattori started walking towards the building in question. The tension was creeping into my body, but I tried to ignore it.

"That's why most detectives don't have the same success streak as me. Kudo's got me pegged, but the guy's got more brains then a swarm of college professors."

I think he started to notice when my breathing sped up, even with how quiet I kept it. A picture can say a thousand words, but body language can tell novels. I couldn't stop my eyes from wandering. The fates must have been against me, since the crime scene was devoid of police officers and I was able to get a clear view of the bodies.

"Don't look, I'll do it." Hattori pushed me towards the entrance even as I continued to stare. It was sick. I could see where one man must have landed head first, skull crushed by the sheer force of gravity, and his back was bent over in an unnatural angle.

The blood was everywhere. I could even see splatters that had reached the building's wall even though it was ten meters up, away from the body. The others weren't in any better condition. The one towards the end of the bloody massacre had actually landed on the body of another man, one who looked too much like someone's kind elderly grandfather for anybody to want to kill in such a manner, and with such malice.

"I told ya to get inside. I'll meet ya in there."

"Sure," I mumbled. It was a miracle that I grabbed the handle on the glass door in time before Hattori pushed me inside.

The detective watched me for a minute while I stared blankly back at him. He left after a few seconds with a new determination. Even though I'd only seen the bodies for a few moments, my mind had already created a mental duplicate of it that came to me every time I blinked.

"I'm really not cut out for this," I said softly to myself aloud. I brought my hand up to mess up the hair of the wig. Combing through my own hair would have been a bad habit at one time in my life, if I hadn't stopped any unconscious action from giving me away. I sighed and leaned against the wall to wait for the Osakan to come back.

The minutes I waited felt like hours as my brain went over everything of its own accord. The position of the bodies, their hair color, approximate height and weight, my estimation of the times of each of their deaths, how much blood came from each, and a million other unpleasant facts that I couldn't help but think about.

"Thanks brain," I laughed to myself, somewhat bitterly. "Like I need to see this. As if I didn't already have enough on my plate. The detective is going to take care of everything, so why did I look? I've got to stop being so damn curious all the time."

"Hey, who ya talkin' too?"

My body tensed, no physical movement whatsoever accompanied it, as Hattori somehow snuck up on me.

"The ghost of Christmas past," I joked, putting on my poker face and not allowing Hattori to know he had startled me. "Are you done?"

"Yeah, there wasn't anything out of place on any of the bodies so I'm hopin' we find some sort of clue on the roof."

I pointed to the officers blocking the elevator and stairs. "How are we going to get up there?"

"Well, I'd prefer takin' the elevator, but if ya wantta take the stairs, I ain't gonna stop ya."

I glared at him while he went over to the officers. If he thought I'd missed the amused smile he gave me, he was mistaken.

"Hey guys!" Hattori spoke jovially to them.

"Hattori-kun." One of the younger officers greeted him back. "What brings you to Tokyo this time?"

"I was on my way to another case and I had to stop in. Can I see the top?"

"There are some second division guys up there right now," a different officer warned him. "I don't think they'd like you interfering. If it were just the first division officers, I could let you through, but we don't want to cause any more incidents."

"I'm a detective from the second division so don't worry about it," I chipped in, lying with ease. "They won't mind us."

The obvious coarseness of my behavior, that I'd fallen into for my new role, didn't inspire any confidence in them.

"Come on, if ya don't let me and my friend up, then the case is just gonna keep goin' on all night an' ya'll never get home."

"Fine Hattori-kun, but if anyone asks we weren't the ones who let you through."

"'Course not. Can't say I even remember yer face."

The four officers moved aside and I was surprised that Hattori had so much influence considering where he was from. I could understand the police accepting help from Mouri and Kudo, since they're both Tokyo detectives, but accepting assistance from the Kansai detective was strange.

I leaned against the side as the elevator went up. Hattori started saying something under his breath and I was going to ask him what it was before I realized he was just thinking aloud. I didn't catch what he was saying to himself so I decided to just let him focus without interruption.

The Osakan seemed like he was on autopilot. Once we reached the roof, he strode purposely over towards the other officers and I drew back when a familiar face caught my eye.

What was Inspector Nakamori doing up here? At some point, I'd lost sight of the man when we were out front and now he was leaning against the edge of the building, too close to the edge for comfort, especially after what I'd seen below.

"Hm?"

Hattori looked back at me and I shrugged, smiling. I walked over to them with placid indifference.

"Why are they letting kids up here?" One of Nakamori's officers yelled. The man himself was busy staring over the edge, too lost in thought to hear his officer's loud complaint.

"We came to help ya!" Hattori kept the cheerfulness in his voice even with the harsh looks that we were getting from everyone on the roof. The other officers weren't humored by Hattori's cheerful attitude and it was that that got the Inspector off the ledge and striding towards us.

"I don't need any more idiots crowding around us. The Kid didn't do it and I'm not going to stand for this anymore! If you're all so set on your conclusions, then this is our investigation and you should all get the hell out of our way!"

"Don't worry, I believe ya."

"You… you do?"

"Yep. So, did ya find any evidence up here?"

"No," Nakamori replied hesitantly, perhaps a little shocked that someone other than those in his division believed him. "The monocle was found up here, but nothing else."

Hattori frowned at him. "Then why are ya so dead set on sayin' that the Kid didn't do it?"

"I've been chasing that bastard all my life! He doesn't kill people!"

"Of course he doesn't." I laid my hand reassuringly on the old guy's back as he straightened up to look at me. "I'm sure we can prove it."

"And who are you?" Nakamori's eyes were just a little too clear and scrutinizing. I held back a nervous laugh and looked back with a dourer expression. "I'm Hattori-kun's assistant, but I don't think that that's any of your business."

He hmpted at me and turned away.

"I don't really care who helps, but… I can't find any solid evidence to prove he didn't do it! If you two can, I'm sure I could make the others listen."

"Don't worry Inspector, we will."

"Such promises," Hattori whispered to me as we walked away. "There's no evidence, the killer's gotta be long gone by now, and the only one who knows ya didn't do it is us 'cause ya've been with me the whole time. So all in all we got nothin'." He smiled in delight. "Bring it on."