Chapter 8: Along Came a Spider

Heiji swore. "You're sure?"

"Positive," Saguru said grimly. "He has a light disguise on right now, but Spider has tried to kill me several times before; I know what he looks like."

Just what they needed. Conan closed his eyes and thought. "You didn't raise the alarm downstairs in case the others got caught in the crossfire."

"Precisely. Gunter Von Goldberg II is a well-known illusionist and stage performer, and Spider likes to use those tricks in his attacks as well. He knows how to manipulate crowds; I didn't want any innocent civilians to get hurt."

"Better and better," Alex muttered under his breath.

"That is assuming that they are all innocent civilians?" Masumi said. "I mean, Ling, Kett and Suarez here all stand to gain millions of pounds."

"People have certainly murdered for far less," Heiji agreed. "No offence, Hakuba, but I don't think Spider came all the way here to kill you."

"None taken," Saguru said. "He would have had an easier job in Tokyo if I were the target. Given that apparently he arrived a few days ago, he would have finished the job and left already if it were one of the Hirokawas. Whereas the three heirs were scattered across the globe. This is probably the first time the three of them were in one place in years. Yes, there's a distinct possibility one of them hired Spider to eliminate the competition. We have to stop him."

"Or he could be here for another reason. Maybe assassins need a holiday every now and then?" Alex said, a far-away look in his eyes. "But still, Hakuba, even if Spider is here for one of the Delacey heirs, he may try to target you as well, right?"

Saguru nodded reluctantly.

"Okay, you're not sleeping here tonight then. This room is a security nightmare."

"All the bedrooms on this floor are the same," Conan pointed out. "One window opening to the tsuboniwa and another to the hallway. The library is the only room with just one window."

"Before that, why don't we alert the authorities?" Sera asked.

"There's only my word to go on that Geskel is Spider, but warning the police is a good idea," Saguru agreed, pulling out his phone.

At that moment, they were all startled by a knock at the door. "Are you guys busy?" Raina's voice called. Alex re-opened the door after first peering out through a crack in the curtains. "What is it, Raina?"

She looked hesitant, then apologetic. "I was going to show you guys the rest of the island after dinner, but the weather report just announced that there's going to be a storm this evening. I can already see the clouds gathering—these tropical storms hit fast, and hard. You'll have to close and bolt all your windows."

"Do you want help with the storm preparations?"

"No, it's fine. Yukiho's gathering flashlights in case there's a blackout, and I'm heading up the tower to cover up the hole in the roof before it starts raining." She paused. "Is everything alright? You guys didn't stay until the end of dessert. Were you staring at Mr. Geskel for some reason, Hakuba-kun?"

"Oh, uhm, he reminded me of someone I knew," Saguru said. "But I was mistaken. Just who is he again?"

He wasn't sure if Raina bought his lie; she blinked and said: "He's a landscape architect that came here for a vacation the day before yesterday."

"Landscape architect?" Alex said flatly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. My grandmother's been talking to him about his job—she's a pretty big green thumb. I've overheard obaasan asking him for advice on where to get the right kind of gravel for the tsuboniwa garden."

"Oh, Raina-chan, I'm having trouble with my cell phone reception," Masumi said casually. "Does that usually happen here?"

"Sometimes?" Raina frowned. "The reception can get pretty spotty, and my phone always stops working here when the weather gets bad, but I wouldn't have expected it to be down already."

Saguru swore in his head. If Spider had somehow blocked the reception, they were in trouble. "What about the landline phones?"

"I think they're still working? Obaasan was making a call just before I came up."

"Raina-neechan!" Conan piped up with his patented cute-little-boy smile. "Who's the policeman in charge of Kashikijima?"

"I'm not sure, actually—you'd have to ask obaasan. Why, Conan-kun?"

"Just curious!" The boy leaped up from the bed he had been sitting on and made a beeline for the door. "I wanna call Ran-neechan!"

Saguru started after him, but Heiji beat him to it. "I need'ta make a call as well. Where'd ya say the phone was, Raina-san?"

The three of them headed downstairs together, while Saguru, Alex and Masumi waited in grim silence. Saguru saw why Conan and Heiji had gone downstairs to make the call instead of him, but that didn't mean he liked it. When the pair returned, they looked much less cheerful.

"Masako-obaasan said the local inspector is someone called Tazuka," Conan reported, all traces of his earlier exuberance gone. "But the phone's not working anymore, so we couldn't call him."

Alex swore under his breath. "So for tonight, we're all trapped on an island with a known killer." So much for their tropical island getaway; this was more like the beginnings of a slasher film.

"You can hole up in my room if you want, Hakuba-san," Sera offered. "It has one window, but that faces the sea. It's safer than the alternatives."

"Thank you, Sera-san, but my original point stands." Saguru looked around at them all. "If I just stay in my room Spider will go ahead and carry out his assignment. And now that he knows there are detectives here, he's going to want to do it as soon as possible. He kills without a thought—I understand if you guys don't want to get involved, but I'm going to do my best to stop him."

Heiji snorted. "Come on. What kinda people do you take us for? Besides, after seeing us follow you this Spider guy is gonna think we also know about him now. We were involved from the moment we stood up to leave the chabudai table."

"Not to mention, you can't watch all three heirs by yourself, Hakuba-niichan!"

"No, Edogawa-kun, you are not going to help," Saguru said firmly. "I know you're a very smart boy, but Spider is a professional assassin. Alex, Hattori and I can each cover one of the Delacey heirs."

Masumi raised an eyebrow. "What, and I can't participate because I'm a girl?"

"Of course you can help us as well if you want, Sera-san. But I can't allow Edogawa-kun to get involved in something this dangerous." Conan opened his mouth to object. "He's not Kaitou KID, Conan-kun. Spider will have no qualms about killing a child."

Conan closed his mouth, frustrated. Curiously, Heiji looked like he was going to argue as well, and Sera had an indecipherable look on her face. "Where do you suggest he stay during the night instead, then?" she asked. "None of the rooms are completely secure."

"Sera-san's right," Conan said. There was no trace of the carefree child in his voice or manner anymore. "The doors and windows can be bolted from the inside, but neither of those would stop a professional." He looked up at Saguru, gaze intent and controlled. "I've been in situations like this before, Hakuba. You've seen me in action at the Sunset Mansion, and at the Detective Koshien."

"Those were civilians driven to murder through circumstance, not an experienced hit man."

"Plus it'd be better if I stayed with you guys instead of hiding on my own. But I see you're still not convinced. We can't keep arguing about this forever, so why don't we put it to a vote between the five of us?" He raised his hand. "I've gone up against killers like Spider before; I can do so here as well."

"I vote yes," Heiji said immediately. "Ku-Conan-kun can handle himself, and we'll need as many people as possible to cover everyone else."

"Unlike Hattori-kun, I'm not comfortable with the idea of endangering a child when there are other options available," Saguru said frostily. "Alex?"

"No way," Alex agreed, crossing his arms. "You're eight, Conan."

They all looked to Masumi, who as the last person to cast her vote would be the tiebreaker.

"Conan-kun should help," she said.

"Sera-san—"

"Conan-kun can handle himself as well as the rest of us, and as Hattori-kun said, we need all the help we can get," Masumi said coolly. "I know you and Alex don't like it, but the only way you two will be able to stop Conan-kun from helping is if you tie him up and keep a watch on him all night."

"How are you okay with letting a kid get involved in something this dangerous? He could get killed!" Alex was struggling to keep his voice down.

"We could all get killed," Conan returned. "The vote has been completed, Alex. If you guys keep on fighting about this, being divided would only make us less effective as a group tonight."

Alex threw up his hands in disgust. "And don't think I haven't noticed you turning the 'cute little kid' act on and off as necessary." The way Conan switched between the hyper-active, sugary child and the mature thinking machine was even more unnerving than Ai's constant somberness.

Conan gave a wry half-smile in acknowledgement. "I'll stick with one of you guys at all times, if that would make you feel better. Or I suppose I could help cover whoever the least likely target is?"

"You mean the person who hired Spider in the first place?" Saguru pointed out. "That's not going to be much safer."

Heiji huffed. "I'd rather play offense than defense. Why don't we just shoot this Spider with one of Conan-kun's sleeping darts and hand him over to Inspector Tazuka in the morning?"

"Somehow I doubt it's going to be that easy," Alex said.

"What's Spider's usual MO? Anything we should watch out for?" Masumi asked Saguru.

"His preferred weapons are needles, which he can throw with deadly accuracy. He's proficient in both disguise and mimicry, and Spider can also use this kind of…almost hypnosis along with his illusions," he responded. "I would love to be able to just dart him as Hattori-kun suggested, but it's not going to be that simple. Spider probably will have heard by now that we're here as detectives; he'll be on his guard."

"Not against a child," Conan said.

Saguru shook his head. "Maybe not against a normal child, but against Edogawa Conan, known rival of Kaitou KID? I'm not risking it."

"What are we going to do then?"

"Well, we need to keep an eye on the three Delacey heirs, and we also need to keep an eye on Spider," Conan said.

"Split into two groups, then?" Alex suggested. "Hopefully the heirs will turn in for an early night, especially with this storm. One group can stay and patrol this floor, while the other tries to follow Spider. We can switch up as needed if something happens, of course."

"Can you fight?" Saguru asked Masumi. She nodded: "I know Jeet Kune Do."

"Very well. Alex, Conan-kun and I will keep watch over the Delacey heirs here; Hattori-kun and Sera-san will have the task of tracking Spider," Saguru decided.

"Works for me," Heiji agreed after thinking it over, while the others shrugged.

"Hattori; take this." Conan passed him his Detective Boy's badge, and looked to Alex. "Did you bring the one Agasa-hakase gave you?"

With a start, Alex remembered the little yellow and blue toy badge he received while visiting Ai. "Yeah, it's in my bag. Ai mentioned they can be used as walkie-talkies, right?"

"Yes. With the phones not working, it's the only way our two groups can communicate with each other once we split up."

Alex retrieved the badge from his luggage and gave it to Conan. After testing that the two badges were functional, the boy looked up:

"Let's head down. If they're still all talking down there, we can try to figure out who hired Spider, and who his target is."


The hallway windows already showed a darkening sky in cloudy turmoil when they left the library, heralding the gathering storm, and the first tentative drops of rain had grown in confidence to a steady drizzle by the time they reached the ground floor. The Hirokawas and the three Delacey heirs were all still there, but there was no sign of Spider.

"Did Mr. Geskel head up to his room already?" Masumi asked as they all looked around.

"Mr. Geskel? Yeah, I think he went up about ten minutes ago?" Ines Suarez said.

The detectives shot each other worried looks, but stayed in place. Alex was tempted to head up to search for Spider, but with everyone else present it made more sense to stay here on the ground floor.

Having passed out torches and snacks to their guests, Raina and Yukiho were now rolling out the storm shutters. Called amado, these were stored in box-like tokuburo compartments on the outside of the walls. Alex watched in interest as the two women slid the wooden shutter panels along the tracks running on the outside of the engawa and then bolted each panel in place. Now completely sealed from the outside, Kashikijima House was dimmer and far less welcoming than the open vista it had presented during dinner.

Ling Gengxin yawned. "Well, I think I'll turn in for the night." Suarez and Kett murmured in agreement, and the three headed for the stairs. Saguru caught Alex's eyes, and they followed as well.

They had all just started heading up when a loud banging noise sounded from the entrance area.

"I think someone's knocking," Raina said, and before anyone could react she unbolted the shutter she had just completed securing.

"Raina!" Conan called out in warning. Heiji and Masumi both tensed. Alex and Saguru stood at the foot of the stairs, blocking the heirs from coming down again to see what was going on.

"It's fine, don't worry," Raina said, sounding oddly excited. "I think I know who it is!"

She slid the panel back. The first lightning bolt of the night picked that moment to strike, burning the afterimage of the figure standing there into everyone's eyes.

The bolt dissipated, and the stranger stepped into the entryway. As his eyes adjusted, Alex saw with relief that their visitor was a young woman in a rain-splattered navy shorts and jacket, who was now bending down to take off her shoes. Her face was obscured by her long hair, which gleamed a pale gold under the dim foyer lights.

After changing into the house slippers Raina passed to her, the stranger stood up, hair falling back from her face—and Alex couldn't help staring in shock.

One half of the girl's face was extraordinarily pretty, with finely drawn features and a large hazel eye. The other was all one massive burn scar, the colour and texture of jerky, with a thin slit where her left eye should have been. She unbuttoned her jacket, and Alex saw that the leathery scar ran down her neck and onto her shoulder, though its full extent was covered by her blouse.

The startled silence was broken by Edmund Kett, who shoved his way past Alex and Saguru and strode up to the girl. "What are you doing here?"

She gave a sardonic smile in response. "Good to see you too, Uncle."

Ines Suarez and Ling Gengxin came up to her more slowly. "You're Elena's daughter, aren't you?" Ines said, staring at her face in growing recognition. "Marie, was it? You look just like her."

"Not exactly like her," Marie said, tilting the disfigured side of her face up. "But thank you all the same. You must be Ines, and Gengxin?"

"You didn't answer my question," Kett interrupted. "What are you doing here?"

"Most likely for the same reason you are," Saguru said, stepping up as well. "After all, if she is the daughter of Elena Semple, there is a chance she is included in Mr. Delacey's will as well, correct?" The girl nodded.

"But how are you here?" her uncle continued as if Saguru hadn't spoken.

"I told her," Raina spoke up, surprising everyone. Marie smiled at her, expression completely transformed from her earlier defensiveness.

"Marie-san was the childhood friend you were talking about, right Raina-neechan?" Conan piped up, connecting the dots. "The one who's Mr. Delacey's granddaughter by adoption."

Masako Hirokawa asked something in Japanese, and Raina answered in the same language. The two conversed back and forth for a while, Masako clearly lecturing and Raina chastened but pleading. The two seemed to reach some sort of agreement, and Raina told her friend: "You can sleep in my room, Marie. It's not very large, I'm afraid…"

"She can't stay here!" Edmund Kett protested.

"She can't head back out there in this weather," Ling pointed out. "The storm's picking up. There's no way you can take a boat back safely right now—I'm frankly amazed she managed to land—and this is the only house on the island. She'll have to stay here for tonight."

Kett continued to grumble, but the matter was settled. Raina excitedly showed Marie up to her tower room on the second floor, and the other heirs went up as well. Yukiho cleaned up the rainwater let in by Marie and resealed the amado shutters before she and Masako also retired for the night in their rooms on the tower's first floor.

Alex and the detectives remained on the ground floor, standing near the stairs so they could keep an eye out for any movement above. The storm was truly starting now, and Alex could hear the splatters as growing gales threw the pouring rain against the amado. It would have been soothing, this sensation of being in the center of calm amidst the tempest outside, but for the knowledge that what was enclosed within these walls was far more dangerous than nature's furor outside.

"Well, this changes things," he said, his voice low so that Masako and Yukiho wouldn't be able to hear them from their rooms nearby. "What was Raina saying to her grandmother before?"

"Masako Hirokawa was asking her why a strange girl had shown up, and Raina told her that she was a childhood friend from England," Saguru said. "Masako was annoyed that Raina invited the girl without telling anyone—even telling Marie the directions here and where to rent a motorboat on the mainland—but Raina said that her grandmother had allowed Raina to invite friends over before."

"Yeah, I don't think this was what her grandmother had in mind," Masumi said. "Do you think Marie's eligible to be another heir? She'd be another person we'd have to keep an eye on, though at least she's sleeping with Raina."

"We'd have to ask Mrs. Scialdone tomorrow. But even if she wasn't, the others could definitely see her as another rival right now, given the entrance she just made," Heiji muttered.

That was true. Ling and Suarez had been polite, but they can't be happy about another person entering the contest, and Kett had been downright hostile at the sight of his niece.

"We can stick with our previous plan for now," Conan said. "Alex, Hakuba-niichan, if we stay in the southeast corner outside Suarez's room we should be able to keep the doorways of all three heirs as well as Raina and Marie's tower room in sight."

"Let's try and find Spider, then," Masumi said to Heiji, and the two of them headed up the stairs.

Saguru nodded to Alex, and the two of them plus Conan went up to the second floor. If anyone came out of their rooms they would probably ask what two teenagers and a child were doing outside their rooms, Alex thought, but he was past caring. Alex and Conan settled down to wait in the southeast corner, while Saguru moved to the library window to keep an eye on the windows surrounding the tsuboniwa courtyard. The soft creaks from Hattori and Sera's ascent faded away, and then all was quiet save for the sounds of the storm raging outside, and all dark within the house except for the light spilling out from the cracks under the doors of the four rooms they were watching.

It was going to be a dark and stormy night.


A/N: ramblingguest: I really like the 'Mary is former MI6' theory, so I might end up doing something with it, though it won't happen in this installment.

A relatively short chapter this time, that's mostly setup. In this series I've made the unnamed org Spider and Snake works for the Black Org, contrary to what Gosho has said.

I finally got Never Say Die from the library! Haven't started reading it yet, but I can't wait!