Scarborough Fair

Summary: Kuroba Kaito finds himself in a sticky situation when he's kidnapped by a man who's also guilty for the abduction of three others. How can even the Kaitou Kid escape drug-induced paralysis, a psychotic doctor, a blackmailed housekeeper, and a mansion filled with traps and dungeons?

Pairings: Very minor hints.

A/N: I own nothing except Dr. Hailey, Anita Hailey (though I don't own their names), Kojima Daisuke, Diana (though I don't own their designs) and 'A'. Okita Soshi and Nagashima Shigeo are actual DC people. Think Yaiba and Yoban Saado. Title comes from Simon and Garkunkel song. Also loosely based around Mothy's song, 'Little Garden Girl' feat. Hatsune Miku. May be called alternate name of 'Clockwork Lullaby 2'.

Prequel: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"

Side Story: "Clockwork Relations"

EDIT(25/01/2013): Thank you, Fluehatraya, for pointing out the mistakes in this chapter!

EDIT (24/03/3013): Added a few more details and closed up a few plot holes that apparently only I could see.

On average, a thief was a thief till the day she died. That kind of habit just never died away, no matter how much sessions or jail time you went through. It was unbreakable.

On average, a phantom thief retired early. Either by choice. . . or by death. The average was seven years, if you were looking at it from the long side.

Lady A had been doing this for eight, and this was her ninth year. She was getting old, in the insulting but sadly true words of fellow team member Eliza Sterling, the woman who was the very definition of 'cynical'.

On the other hand, that meant that she had enough experience to not be caught. Within moments, she had picked the lock and closed it behind her. Unless someone was up and looking closely at the Kuroba residence one o'clock in the morning, she was good.

The boy should have been asleep as well, unless he was up playing video games or watching television or whatever kids his age did. A quick check around the house disproved that theory. No one was in. She looked down at her phone as a new message from the boss man himself came in. Interesting.

The words of a famous magician came back to her as she stood in front of his life-sized portrait. "'We're artists, seeking attention,'" she quoted, tugging on her gloves. "Well, for now, let's keep one of your secrets under wrap. Away from the attention, eh?"

It wasn't too hard to figure out how to lock the secret door to the hidden room. The designer of this room had taught her years ago in case of an emergency should he have to go into hiding with his family.

Making sure everything was exactly as she had found it, Lady A snuck out and locked the door again before getting back in her car and texting a cynical British profiler for her help with finding a kidnapper.

By the time her car was driving towards her destination she was talking into a bluetooth. "Eliza, all I'm saying is, make a cursory profile. What? Of course they're alive, don't make it sound like they're dead! How do I know? Well, gee, the boss says they're alive and I'd trust his gut feeling more than any woman's intuition. Look, can't you just whip up something based on everything you see and assume the kids are all alive? Okay, wait, alright, since you can't see reason, would you like to see your son get harassed by a phantom twenty four seven? I could totally do that. You want that to happen? Didn't think so. Remember, they're alive."

Aoko was at the Kuroba house on exactly seven in the morning. It was a Saturday, and she normally slept in, but today was an exception.

She rang the doorbell, and waited to hear the familiar sounds of feet smashing across the floors, waited for his voice calling for whoever it was at the door to wait.

Silence greeted her. She whipped out her phone, and nearly had a heart attack when the phone began to ring a few meters away from where she was standing. No. She had to stay calm, or it would waste time. Just until she could get help. For Kaito. She could do this.

Aoko took a deep breath, called her dad, and then called Hakuba Saguru, who promised to be there in ten minutes and twelve seconds.

Akako was there before she even dialled her number. "He's gone, isn't he?"

She nodded. "Maybe he's asleep?" she wanted to hope. She wanted so badly for Kaito to be well. It would be alright if her father got a little annoyed at her. If Hakuba-kun had come over for nothing. Everything would be alright if only Kaito was safe.

"I was talking to him last night," Akako said quietly, looking at the phone on the ground. She didn't pick it up. "He was alright then."

But was he alright now?

Maybe it was just her. Everyone that she cared about left her in some way. Her mother had been away 'on business' for years now, her father was always after Kid, and now Kaito. . . .

Damnit, he was coming back whether he liked it or not.

Her father came with two squad cars. Everyone down at the station under her father knew about these kidnappings, the temper her father was said to have, and Kaito. All three equalled one fast reaction.

Aoko didn't remember how, but they got the door open and went in for a short while before coming back out, shaking their heads.

Then, Akako was leading her away, and both of them passed Hakuba Saguru, who ran into the house without a word at them.

That was fine. The sooner he got a look, the sooner he could find Kaito.

She hardly noticed Akako handing her something to drink, and then sat down on the nearest set of stairs before falling asleep.

Chikage's heart sank when she felt someone push a cell phone into her hands. There was a large crowd around the area where she was standing, so she couldn't tell just who it had been that had given her this, but she just knew this was bad news. Her friend's team wouldn't contact her if they didn't have to be involved, and they would be involved if Kaito was involved.

She gathered her luggage and tried to walk calmly out of the airport, even as her legs tried to go into a full-out sprint to the nearest taxi. Her legs settled for a hurried walk that could have been natural for someone that was late for some important appointment.

The moment she was past the airport doors, someone called. "Hello?" she asked, breathless with fear. Please tell her that she was wrong, that Kaito was home and alright. . . .

"Kuroba-san?"

"Yes?"

"We're sorry."

It took all she had to keep her legs from suddenly collapsing out under her. Chikage managed somehow, and brushed back her hair to try and distract herself. "Is – is he. . . ." she couldn't make herself ask the question. Asking it, saying the very words with her own mouth was to admit that. . . .

"We don't think so. Our criminologist is nearly done with the kidnapper's profile. She's very, very good at her job. Your contact is also out there and the moment the profile is done, she'll be tracking him with our tech support."

"Please get him back," she begged. It was odd that she was begging a total stranger like this, but her son's life could be on the line. "Please."

Sometimes, when a person smiled, they breathed out a bit louder than they usually did. Chikage heard that slightly-louder exhale of breath over the phone. "If we don't, half the team will scramble to commit quick suicide before our leader gets his hands on them. The boss wants Kaito found, Kuroba-san, and what the boss wants, the boss gets. You know that, don't you? Let us handle it. Destroy this phone."

Without waiting for an answer, the woman on the other end hung up. Chikage stared at the disposable phone for a moment longer before she 'accidently' dropped it under the moving tires of the nearest taxi.

The police officers waiting for her back home were apologetic as they told her what she already knew about her son, and she cried herself to sleep for the second time that month.

Shinichi knew something was wrong when a horde of police officers followed Inspector Nakamouri into the Poirot Café, all of them grim-faced and stuffing food into their mouths like it was nothing but fuel they had to process quickly.

For god's sake, it was a Sunday morning!

Apparently, the sleeping detective could feel it too. "Did Kid send a notice again?" he asked the man in charge of going after the international criminal.

"I wish," the inspector growled before tearing away a bite from his sandwich. "It's that damn kidnapper that's been going around abducting the teens that look like each other."

"Another one?"

"Yeah. A childhood friend of my daughter's."

"You have a daughter?"

"Yes, I do. Come to think about it, she resembles your daughter in some ways. Although mine is much prettier."

"Oh, yeah?"

Shinichi tuned the two out. He knew this case. When he first noticed it, he had nearly panicked, thinking that the BO was after Kudo Shinichi, and was eliminating all the similar-featured teenagers around the country.

He had dismissed that when he realized that the Organization would have gone after his parents. A phone call had not only ensured that his father was alive and still being hounded by editors, but also very safe, protected by 'good friends in high places'.

Just how powerful was his father? When he had staged the kidnapping to teach him a lesson, he had told him that he had friends who could take on the Black Organization while he hid with them in America. That was some power, right there.

He'd ask the next time they got in contact. His mom had been safe the last time he checked, and he could check in person again later. He'd been planning to drop by later today.

Actually. . . he came back into the real world, where he witnessed two policemen drag Inspector Nakamouri out after tossing a few rumpled bills at Bourbon, who was too busy holding back his master from physically harming a policeman to actually pick up the hurried payment.

Since Ran was at a day-long karate session, he could go right now. Shinichi got back to the agency to grab his skateboard when a call got in. The screen told him that it was his mother.

"Mom?"

"Shin-chan?" her voice was oddly serious. "Where are you?"

"At the Detective Agency," he paused. "Mom? What's wrong?"

"I. . . I think you should see this in person. I'll come pick you up."

That saved him some time. It wasn't hard to see or hear his mom coming. The screeching tires, a car weaving through the street with overly exaggerated movements, all accompanied a chorus of annoyed honks. His mother had gotten worse at driving.

Shinichi opened the passenger door and got in. "New car?" he asked, closing the door behind him. It was a nice enough car, two or three years old and inconspicuous. Normal. The type that wouldn't draw a second glance. Not his mother's style.

"Rental," she handed him an envelope, and then locked the car doors while he examined the thick paper package. It was filled with lots of papers, and something bulky. Shinichi opened it, and took out the mystery bulk; a disposable cell phone. "I found that in the mail this morning."

He set the phone aside for now and got the papers out. The first few were pictures of teenagers that looked a lot like him in his actual age. A pang of envy went through his body. They were their age, they had their own bodies.

Wait. "These are the victims of the kidnapping case," he realized. Behind each picture were the name, age, school, and a few details about the person. Kojima Daisuke. Nagashima Shigeo – Shinichi still remembered that baseball game all too well – Okita Soshi, and Kuroba Kaito.

The next page was a document analyzing the assaulter, a profile based on the current actions taken by the kidnapper. Shinichi skimmed through it, and he had to admit he was impressed. Whoever had made this knew what they were doing and had done great, considering how little evidence or known facts to actually work with. The rest of the contents turned out to be paper evidences, maps, and photos backing up whatever claims or hypothesises the profiler had made.

The last piece of paper was a letter. Shinichi glanced up at his mother, and began to read aloud.

"Inspector Megure!"

Officer Takagi, the unofficial 'babysitter' for the Detective Boys came jogging in with an envelope in his hands. "Conan-kun dropped by to give this to me. He says he got this from Kudo-kun. He also says it's extremely important, sir."

"From Kudo-kun?" raising an eyebrow, Inspector Megure took it and began to read the printed letter enclosed. He gestured at Takagi to remove and organize the contents of the envelope.

'Dear Inspector Megure,

'How have you been? Conan tells me you're fine, so I'll just skip pleasantries. A few of my contacts were working on a profile for the kidnapping case – I believe the media has dubbed it the Clone Kidnappings – and I got word of the newest disappearance.

'What's enclosed is a working profile of our kidnapper. It should have everything in there. Inspector, I can't get any further involved with this, because of the obvious reasons. So I leave it in your hands.

'See you!

'-Kudo Shinichi'

"Is it a good profile?" he asked. Other officers had joined Takagi in the analysis of the gift.

"Yes, it is," Shiratori looked impressed. "Whoever did this knows what he's doing. Even with the lack of evidence and information, he's done a good job."

"The profiler could be female," Satou hinted as she began to pin them up. "Alright, guys, this man's managed to snag a boy right from under our noses; let's get them back!"

The officers roared their agreements and began to get ready to pay attention to the what the profile would tell them about their criminal, looking like enthusiastic students.

The enthusiasm was probably due to Satou being the one to say it than the actual burning desire to catch the man, but Megure was proud of them despite it.

Now if only Nakamouri would stop phoning to yell at him every five minutes. . . .

When a timid voice began to call from the small slot at the door, Kaito's eyes flew open instantly. "Hello? Are you alright?"

For a moment, he thought that it was a police officer who had tracked them down to this place, wherever it was. That hope was dashed when he realized that a police officer wouldn't exactly sound scared out of their minds.

Kojima began to unleash a torrent of curses at the woman, while Okita and Nagashima both got up. "Time for food," Nagashima explained as he crouched near the slot. "We're here, Diana-san!"

A tray was shoved in, followed by three more. Kaito noticed that the trays all shook as they were handed to them. "I'm sorry," the woman on the other side of the thick door to their prison muttered.

"Wait," Kaito crouched, and then got onto his knees. "Can I ask you some questions?"

From this angle and sight point, all he could see were her legs, but he saw them hesitate. "Okay?" it came out more as a question, but 'Diana-san' slowly bent her own knees. Kaito saw part of a face that was pale with fear, drawn with stress. She was in her early thirties, but he noticed a bit of white against her dark hair.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, making sure that his voice didn't hold any accusations, only innocent curiosity. It wasn't too hard.

The woman looked away, turning her head to see if anyone was coming. "He has. . . he can. . . he has my husband, and he's a doctor who's developing some kind of drug, a poison that can. . . I don't know, but he killed a random stranger just to prove that he could. . . I'm sorry!"

"Hey, it's alright," he spoke softly, feeling like the older one here. The woman was like a scared rabbit, ready to bolt to any direction at any second. "Who's he?"

"Doctor. . . Doctor Hailey."

"Doctor Hailey, huh? And how does this drug kill?"

She gave a helpless shrug, and then flinched violently as she heard something on her end of the thick door. "I'm sorry, I have to go before he-" she left, and Kaito could hear a door creak while swinging closed.