Several months later:

"Hey, Detective Takagi!"

Takagi turned around. It took him a moment to place the face, "Good evening, Kudo-kun."

"You got a few minutes?" Shinichi asked.

Takagi nodded, "Yeah, I was just going out to supper. What do you need?"

Shinichi trotted along until he was alongside the detective, "Oh, I'll tell you at dinner. My treat." Takagi lifted a brow. "It's the least I can do," Shinichi said. "You have helped me out a lot. And I'm going to owe it to you."

The teenager lead Takagi to a nice restaurant and they were seated in a private little alcove. After giving their orders, Takagi settled down and gave Shinichi the 'I can wait as long as it takes' look.

To his surprise, Shinichi laughed. "Well, I suppose right now is as good as time as any to tell you about it." More to himself, "It is after the life of Conan."

Takagi sat straight up. What the teenager just said sounded terribly ominous. Conan was supposed to have returned home months ago. He was missed (in different ways depending on who was asked).

Shinichi noticed him stiffen. "Ah, it isn't quite what it sounds like. Don't jump to conclusions." Takagi swore he could see suppressed amusement in the teen's eyes, "I will have to ask you not tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. It's dangerous enough for me. I'm only telling you after a lot of thought."

Reluctantly, Takagi agreed, so long as keeping it secret did not endanger anyone.

"I did promise to tell who I really was in the afterlife and, in a manner of speaking, it is."

Takagi stared at Shinichi. What he said rang a bell.

The teen volunteered two words. "Tokyo Tower?"

The figurative light bulb went off for Takagi who found he could only stare open mouthed at Shinichi. There was only one person who told him that. It can't be possible!

Reading the expression on Takagi's face, Shinichi said, "Yeah, it sounds outrageous but hear me out." Shinichi was grinning in a self depreciating way and a launched into how it had happened.

As Shinichi explained, it all began to fall into place. All the discrepancies and mixed signals from Conan. He found that as the talk went on, only interrupted by the arrival of the food, that he could ask the questions he had wanted the answers to before but could not ask. He had to laugh when he learned about 'The Sleeping Kogoro' but also found himself feeling a little sorry for the former police detective. Takagi knew he could be a good detective when he felt properly motivated.

It was well into the evening when Takagi and Shinichi finally walked out of the restaurant. Takagi felt like his head was swimming from what he had learned over dinner. And to keep it all secret would be a trial for a while (until he became used to keeping it). Shinichi began to walk in a different direction. He threw some parting words over his shoulder, "By the way, you and Detective Sato aren't fooling anyone. Why not just announce your engagement?"

Takagi blushed deeply and was about to respond when he noticed that the teen was gone. He shook his head but could not help but feel... special for knowing the back story for the international sting he and the department participated in.

And that is the end of this story

Remember that burglar that hit Takagi's apartment complex? He was the victim found in the pool. More to the point, he was what might be called an independent contractor hired by the BO. Not considered good enough to bring into the folds of the organization, he was considered good enough to be hired for selective jobs. He also had a habit of helping himself to other homes around the target. The habit was tolerated so long as he was not caught in the act.

So, when he was seen, they eliminated him. The handkerchief did belong to him and Takagi doesn't know that his apartment was 'inspected'. The BO wasn't expecting the body to be found so soon. A few more weeks and they would've been okay or less warm weather. By then, if he was identified, there would be a good chance that someone else would've moved into his apartment and further erased his presence.

As you might guess, events were building behind the scenes for a while and Takagi was only getting the edge of it by proximity to involved persons (ie Conan and Haibara) and because he is a detective with some directly related cases. Itty bitty little hints were dropped in the last couple of Conan-inclusive chapters. I admit that I don't feel like going back to dig them up.

Below is the list of prompts with the specific date and Takagi's days off:

1. Mail (Dec. 9)

2. Trance (Dec. 10)

3. Baby (Dec. 11)

4. Funeral (Dec. 12)

5. Birth (Dec. 13)

6. Wedding (Dec. 14)

7. Understanding (Dec. 15)

8. Kiss (Dec. 16)

9. Police (Dec. 17)

10. Insanity (Dec. 18)

11. Impossible (Dec. 19), day off

12. Love (Dec. 20)

13. Roses (Dec. 21)

14. Rescue (Dec. 22)

15. March (Dec. 23), day off

16. Hospital (Dec. 24)

17. Red (Dec. 25)

18. Temperature (Dec. 26)

19. Touch (Dec. 27)

20. First Time (Dec. 28), day off

21. Fake (Dec. 29)

22. Redemption (Dec. 30)

23. Shower (Dec. 31)

24. Picture (Jan. 1), day off

25. Backyard (Jan. 2)

26. Best Friend (Jan. 3), day off

27. Taste (Jan. 4)

28. Leather (Jan. 5)

29. Clothes (Jan. 6)

30. France (Jan. 7)

31. Apart (Jan. 8), day off

32. Lovers (Jan. 9)

33. Moon (Jan. 10)

34. Dream (Jan. 11), day off

35. Bed (Jan. 12)

36. Together (Jan. 13)

37. Sex (Jan. 14)

38. Birthday (Jan. 15)

39. Enemies (Jan. 16)

40. Memories (Jan. 17), day off

41. Smell (Jan. 18)

42. Rain (Jan. 19)

43. Hear (Jan. 20)

44. Guilty (Jan. 21), day off

45. Pleasure (Jan. 22), day off

46. Innocence (Jan. 23)

47. Beauty (Jan. 24)

48. Shopping (Jan. 25)

49. Whisper (Jan. 26)

50. Alliances (Jan. 27)

51. Confusion (Jan. 28), day off

52. Time (Jan. 29)

53. Rome (Jan. 30)

54. Hope (Jan. 31)

55. Egypt (Fed. 1), day off

56. Old (Feb. 2)

57. Young (Feb. 3)

58. Heart (Feb. 4), day off

59. Borrowed (Feb. 5)

60. Blue (Feb. 6)