So I decided to skip the prelude and get right to the party. This chapter's basically just a bunch of laughs, so I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter Five

"What's going on here?"

"Don't you like it? Shinichi's been gone for months, so I asked Subaru-san if he minded. He said it was fine."

"Are you hoping Shinichi-niisan is going to come back?" asked Minami.

"So what if I do? I'm not giving up hope!" said Ran hotly. "Who are you supposed to be, anyways?"

"Cordelia Gray," said Minami. "Pretty good, huh?"

"I just wish I could've been Marie Curie," came a voice from behind Minami.

"Oh, are you a witch, Ai-chan?" asked Ran kindly.

"Unfortunately," said Haibara, glaring at Minami, who had taken shelter behind Ran's legs.

"I'll just be leaving," said Minami quietly, slowly backing away.

"Great party, huh Minami-chan?" someone asked suddenly.

"Masumi-neesan!" said Minami, spinning around. She put on a fake smile and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Sonoko-san mentioned it in passing, so I thought I'd attend. Plus there was an ad on Kogoro-san's website."

'Ran…' Minami thought irritably. 'This is my house you know!'

"Plus there's a TON of free food!" she finished happily, showing Minami a slice of cake. "I haven't seen that guy who lives here yet, though. I wonder where he could be?"

'Probably spending the night at Hakase's,' thought Minami, smirking slightly. Okiya wasn't really a 'people' person.

"Eek!" screeched someone from behind them. They spun around to see Ran running into the next room as fast as she could go. Sonoko was laughing hysterically, with some gaudy makeup that even creeped out Minami.

'This is what happens when you schedule a Halloween party when you're afraid of ghosts,' thought Minami irritably.

The party went pretty smoothly for the most part. Ran eventually had to take refuge upstairs to avoid Sonoko's teasing. Sera took the time to walk all over the house, investigating various aspects of it. Kogoro, on the other hand, was having a blast. The signs Ran had posted on the Teitan University campus had attracted quite a few of his fans, all of whom were pretty girls under the age of twenty. Without Ran to badger him, he was actually having a fun night for a change.

The three kids had invited half the class to attend as well, so there were a number of little kids running around. They kept trying to get the adults to play party games with them, like limbo, pin the tail on the donkey, and tag. It was quite an amusing sight to see Takagi and Shiratori, who had both been bribed into it, play musical chairs with a bunch of hyperactive six year olds.

Then the main attraction was announced. "Everyone!" Ran called through a megaphone, "Now it's time for the main attraction: the haunted maze! If I could have everyone participating gather in groups of five and go out the back, we can get started!"

"Are you going?" Minami asked Haibara.

"I'd rather not," said Haibara. "I have enough nightmares as it is."

"Eh? Ai-chan doesn't want to play?" asked Ayumi suddenly. "Even after we got you that cute witch costume?"

"I'll join you guys then!" said Sera.

"Sera-san will?" asked Mitsuhiko.

"Sure! It sounds like fun! Right, Minami-chan?"

"OK, Masumi-neechan!" said Minami, feigning happiness. In reality, she was wary of the tomboyish girl. "Who did you dress up as, anyways?"

"How rude! Can't you tell? I even did up my hair!"

Minami looked her up and down, but still didn't see what she was talking about. As far as she could see, Sera was dressed in a typical Teitan High uniform. The only odd thing was she was wearing pants instead of her usual skirt. "I don't see anything," said Minami, "unless you dressed up as a man again!"

Sera bent down until she was eye level with Minami. "You're kidding me, right?" she asked. "Fine; I dressed up as Shinichi-san. Can't you see the hairdo? It took thirty minutes to mess it up this much!"

"You're supposed to be Shinichi?" asked Ran, who had overheard.

"Why not?" asked Sera. "I'm a detective too, you know!"

"I'd be wary if I were you," Haibara whispered to Minami.

"Why?" asked Minami.

"No reason," said Haibara simply, walking away unconcernedly, a smirk etched across her face. Minami noticed that even though Haibara disliked the costume, she still carried the broom around.

"Come on, Minami-chan!" said Ayumi, tugging her outside.

The yard around the Kudo house had been completely transformed. A maze stood on all sides of the house, crisscrossing the walk several times. Minami instantly knew where Agasa had been all night and likely where Ran had gone, too. The groups started out at the back door, where they slowly made their way through the maze, out into the back street and over to Agasa's yard, then back through the front street and up to the front door. Minami was impressed by the setup.

Sonoko stood at the entrance, sending another group in after about a minute at a time. "You're going with the squirts, Sera-san?" she asked when the four kids and Sera approached the entrance.

"Sure! It'll be interesting!"

"Whatever," said Sonoko, rolling her eyes. "During the maze, you'll encounter trying to scare you sometimes. Your objective is to find ten stamps hidden in the maze and to find your way out. Partway through you'll get a bonus mystery to solve. The fastest person to solve it of ALL the groups will get a special prize."

"Piece of cake!" Sera grinned. "After all, I've got four bright detectives with me!"

"Oi, oi," thought Minami. "Seriously?" Sonoko waved them in, and all the outside sound got cut off instantly.

XXX

The first scare of the night came when a snake appeared in the path and scared Ayumi to death, deafening her friends. Mitsuhiko and Genta, seeing their chance, quickly shooed it away. "Find the stamp!" they shouted, searching all inches of the corridor.

"Guys, I don't think that was planned," said Minami, comforting Ayumi. "Let's keep moving."

The second scare was real. The wooden maze opened up into a small square, within which sat a skeleton.

"It's not real, is it?" asked Ayumi fearfully.

"BWAHAHAHA!" the skeleton laughed. The arm slowly raised up, holding a plastic gun. It pointed the gun at the kids, still laughing.

"WAHHH!" the kids screamed. They took off running into the maze without a glance back.

"Not bad," said Sera. "It's animatronic, just like those figures at Tropical Land. But now we've lost the kids."

"We'll meet back up," said Minami, stamping their card with the stamp at the skeleton's feet. Up ahead, they heard more screaming.

For the next twenty minutes, they continued walking through the maze, encountering more creepy stuff around practically every corner. After seeing a few more of Agasa's contraptions, Minami went back on her earlier prediction and predicted instead that they'd find the kids at the end, shivering in terror. The full moon hung far overhead, almost as if teasing them. When they encountered a fire-man, even Minami was impressed by the pyrotechnics Agasa had rigged, especially since no actual flames were involved.

The fifth scare was different. When they walked in, they saw a beautiful woman leaning against the far wall. They stopped short, and it was dead quiet apart from the screaming from other parts of the maze. "Welcome to the afterlife," said the woman, in a voice of melting honey. She opened her arms wide.

"Do you think it's a banshee?" asked Minami.

"This just keeps getting more interesting by the minute," said Sera.

The woman said nothing. She just smiled creepily. Then, with a distinctly masculine voice, she said, "You know, I'm getting hungry! How about a snack?" She ran at them, arms open wide, and both Minami and Sera did the only smart thing possible. They ran, Minami snatching up the stamp as they went.

"Good actress," said Sera. "That's the first one where someone dressed up rather than using a robot."

As they entered a long, narrow corridor, both girls wondered just what was coming next. Both were too mature to get scared, but they were both prone to getting creeped out. What they didn't expect was for a man to come lumbering towards them, a tomahawk through his skull.

"They went a bit overboard with the blood," Sera remarked. "I wonder where they got the makeup to simulate the gray matter." That's when the man keeled over and dropped like a stone. The distinctive smell of blood permeated the air.

Sera bent over and checked his pulse. "He's dead," she said solemnly. "I'll look for the culprit; you call the Inspector." Sera dashed off down the wooden corridor while Minami pulled out her phone, the sight still flashing before her eyes.

XXX

"Tomahawk through the head. He died of severe brain trauma," said Megure. A portion of the maze had had to be removed to get access to the body and forensics was now hard at work. Takagi, Sato, and Shiratori were questioning witnesses.

"Now, which of you knew the victim?" asked Megure, indicating the party guests. Nobody spoke. "None of you knew Kita-san? Well, we're investigating his acquaintances now, so it's only a matter of time. Until then, you all aren't going anywhere." He turned to the banshee. "You were operating the exhibit directly in front of the murder site. Did you see who he was with?"

"He was alone," said the banshee quietly. "He probably got separated from his group."

"Who's group was he in?" asked Megure. Again, there was silence.

"Hey!" said Kogoro loudly, picking Minami up by the shirt. "Don't go touching the crime scene!" He tossed her away into the grass."

"He won't let me go near it, either," said Sera. "What did you find?"

"Absolutely nothing; the crime scene must be further up."

"Well, let's take a look, shall we?" Sera said cheekily, winking at Minami. She didn't wait for an answer, instead opting to pick her up and carry her away.

"There's blood," said Minami, pointing at the ground. She hopped down and took a look. "It's just starting to dry."

"So the murderer threw the hatchet from over there," Sera indicated. "But where did they get it?"

"Let's take a look at the other exhibits," said Conan.

Ten minutes later, both knew exactly what had happened. However, there were some inconsistencies in their deduction. "By the way, how did you get so good at sleuthing?" asked Sera.

'Uh-oh,' Minami thought, panicking slightly. "Conan-nii taught me! He learned it from Shinichi-niisan!"

"Oh?" said Sera mysteriously. "You remember what to do, right?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," said Minami. "Let's do this."

So who's the killer? Well, feel free to guess, but I didn't really leave that many clues. You'll get Part 2 of the mystery tomorrow. Another thing: who's the banshee? Good luck guessing! :D