Kogoro wasn't usually one to follow Eri's advice, but he had to admit, this time she had a point. If he wanted peace of mind, he'd have to take the initiative.

"Yo, Ran!" he called out as he arrived back home. Ran was busy cooking while Conan had his nose buried in a book.

Ran looked around as he walked in. "You're early, Dad. I thought you'd be out for at least another hour."

Kogoro ignored this. "Ran, I found a music player in the park earlier and I thought you might want it. It looks brand new."

"Oh, really Dad?" she asked, surprised. She dropped what she was doing and went out to look at the player. Conan poked his head out from behind his book to observe what was going on. "Oh, it's one of those cheap knockoffs, isn't it?" Ran said eventually. "It's a good thing you didn't buy this, because otherwise you'd have to worry about people seeing you and being judgmental."

"Yeah, it's a…good thing," said Kogoro, taken aback. He had bought the player, but it was just camouflage to throw off the kids he knew were tailing him. The real thing he'd bought at store was a heart rate monitor watch, which had cost a lot but would hopefully pay off soon. That, of course, was after he'd visited an old friend of his from the force that had joined the Secret Police. His friend had given him a tie pin with a hidden camera mounted in it so he could observe if Conan did anything suspicious. The camera was so he'd know what went on during his blackouts. He'd flushed the torn-up monitor box down the toilet in order to throw off the kids that were tailing him, so now all he had to do was wait.

XXX

The following day, Ran announced a surprise dinner that evening with Eri, catching both Conan and Kogoro off guard. Half the time they got together with Eri, Ran wouldn't announce the get-together until the last minute so that Kogoro couldn't bail out. This time, however, Conan was more nervous about the meet-up than Kogoro, and that was because Conan knew that Kogoro had spoken to Eri the previous day.

When they arrived at the Italian restaurant that evening, Eri hadn't arrived yet, forcing them to wait. "And why do I have to have dinner with Eri, anyways?" Kogoro muttered.

"Oh, come on Dad!" Ran exclaimed. "Weren't you listening earlier? Mom was supposed to meet a client here tonight, but the client just accepted a settlement and the meeting isn't necessary anymore. She invited us so the reservation wouldn't go to waste!"

"I know that!" Kogoro spluttered as Ran fixed his tie. "I just don't see why I need to spend any more time with that woman than necessary!"

"Well, sorry about that, dear," said Eri, just entering the restaurant. Kogoro visibly flinched. "If you'd prefer, I could go away and leave you with one of your bar girls." At this, Kogoro got angry and turned away with a big 'humph' noise.

"Can't you two get along for one night?" Ran asked desperately.

Conan decided to help clear the air. "Kisaki-sensei, it's nice to see you again!" he said childishly, distracting Eri and Kogoro from each other.

Eri looked down at Conan. "It's nice to see you again, too, Conan-kun," she replied kindly. Then a waiter came and took them to a table. The restaurant had a large seating area, and it also had a bar on the side wall.

For the majority of the evening, the conversation was relatively civil, which was a bit of a surprise to Conan. Kogoro didn't even try to sneak off to the bar. However, Eri kept looking at Conan off and on, which put him on edge even more. He was so on edge that he accidently dropped some vegetables on his shirt.

"Well, you know what they say," said Ran, brushing him off with a napkin. "If you can't eat it, wear it." Conan's face flushed with embarrassment as Ran giggled while Kogoro guffawed loudly.

'It's not that funny,' Conan thought, annoyed. Ran recovered quickly, aware of Conan's feelings, but Kogoro obviously didn't care.

"Dear, that's enough!" Eri commanded, shutting Kogoro up instantly. "It was just an accident; there's no need to make him feel bad!"

Kogoro was about to respond, but a nearby scream distracted him.

"Somebody please help him!" a woman screamed, looking at her husband with a horror. The man was apparently choking on something."

Instantly Conan and Kogoro sprang out of their seats to go help. "Occhan, do the Heimlich!" Conan yelled as Kogoro hauled the chocking man out of his chair and prepared to perform the maneuver. However, as Kogoro started it, the man suddenly died in his arms. It wasn't from choking on whatever it was.

'WHAT?' Conan thought as the choking man suddenly collapsed.

"It's too late," said Kogoro as he took the man's pulse. "It looks like an accident."

"No!" the man's wife exclaimed, falling to her knees and sobbing.

'No old man, this is an obvious murder case,' Conan thought. 'And the most likely suspect is his wife. The only problem is how did she kill him?"