Well, here it is! Finally the third chapter! I apologize for the delay, but my muse has been somewhat incooperative this past two weeks and reality decided to check on me and keep me from this fiction. I suspect the updates will be a little bit irregular from now on, as I have encountered a few plotknots in the next chapter I had planned which will need detangling before I can type it all down.

Anyway, I apologize for the wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Its longer than the one before, just as I have promised^^

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Saturday, 28th August 2011

Morning

Gathering information was surprisingly easy, considering all the back-up plans Conan had thought of. But he just had to wait until Kogoro was drunk and fell asleep in his bed, then had to wait until Ran fell asleep also and then he only had to sneak down into the office and find information. Considering that it was in a brown folder in the topmost drawer of Kogoro's desk (which wasn't even locked) it was the proverbial child's play.

Now he had names, ages, genders, adresses and even an account of the coroner's report in his notebook. When the others showed up to pick him up, his mind was clamped firmly around the case and anything to do with it.

As he walked with them, carefully looking around until they were out of sight of the agency's windows, he realized Mitsuhiko carrying a small scrapbook with him, looking extremely solemn. The faces of his other two friends were not far behind. He waited until they had seated themselves in some small diner a bit away from the agency before asking the obvious.

"What are you all so gloomy about? And what's with the book?"

Immediately Mitsuhiko gave the scrapbook over to him while the waiter took their orders. Frowning Conan opened the book to find a gathering of newspaper articles, all carefully copied and pasted inside the books, complete with accounts of the dates and even the papers they had been printed in. Everything the public knew about the child-killer so far.

"We went to the library yesterday afternoon and gathered this. It only sprang to mind as we passed the building on our way to my place, or we would have told you of our intentions. Anyway, we looked through every paper since this thing started and copied everything they had. Perhaps it helps, perhaps it doesn't, we do not know that, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, reading through all these articles on those children naturally put a bit of a damper on good spirits." Mitsuhiko told him and Conan saw approving nods all around the table.

After all, he could understand that. His night had been far from pleasant either, after all the coroner's reports, which were a lot more detailed than what the paper stated. And the reports contained lots of high-definition photos, at least these kids were spared from that. Reading about it was something else than seeing the effects. He had spent most of the night mulling over the facts until his exhausted mind had given up the battle and sent him into a fitful sleep. And considering that he had read a lot of coroner's reports in his time and saw a lot of murder victims, that was saying something. At least the papers only knew a select few details the police had told them.

But the idea had been good, he admitted freely. And the fact that his friends had thought of that approach all by themselves even made him proud of them. Though it technically was his fault they were involved in crimes (simply because they hung around him all the time, the bug was bound to spread), they were turning into really capable detectives.

"This is pretty good, you guys. There are some things the papers have not been told, but I got that covered." he said, closing the scrapbook again and slid it back towards Mitsuhiko. Throwing a glance around, he saw their faces literally light up like the proverbial Christmas tree at his simple praise.

"So you were able to get some more data?" Ayumi asked eagerly, her concentration now fully on him. Even Genta looked up from the food menu to give him his most interested look. And that was saying something, Genta usually put food before everything else.

"Yes, I have. I had to sneak into the office to get it, but I found a file on the case, probably something Megure-keibu brought over." Conan reached into his pocket to get the notebook.

"I've got names, ages, genders, adresses, and on a grimmer note details on how exactly they were all killed. Unfortunately the forensics haven't got that much to work with, since there was barely any evidence left behind."

"But doesn't that mean that the killer knows what the police would be looking for?" Mitsuhiko asked, absently twisting a pen in his left hand while the right cupped his chin.

"It would, but everyone could know that. It just shows that this guy is extremely careful not to leave evidence behind. But with all the crime shows on TV, everyone in the streets knows how to avoid evidence." Conan answered, feeling his face darken. It was true, there was a possibility that went unspoken between him and Mitsuhiko, that the killer was somehow involved with the police. However it was true that general knowledge on what the police looked for was a fact known by lots of people. Even the most idiotic gangster knew how to avoid fingerprints. This guy was also very careful about fibers, hair, DNA and everything else. Simply proving how smart he was, at least in that regard.

"So what were you able to find, that does not already correspond with the things we managed to glean from the newspaper articles?" Mitsuhiko continued, now looking at him directly, even though he still twisted the pen. Obviously it was something new in his lean friend, he wasn't given to nervous agitation, Mitsuhiko was more the type to sit and think quietly. Choosing to ignore the new tendency in the thin boy across the table, Conan looked over his notes again. There was no need to tell them every little detail, especially about the method of murder. It was enough that his brain had focussed on those gruesome pictures he had seen in the coroner's report, there was no need whatsoever to trouble his young friends. But there were some things he could tell them. Usually when he was able to ramble about a case together with them, it was something seemingly insignificant they said or did which ultimately led him onto the right track. Chances were that it would work now also.

"Well, the most pressing thing is that the papers weren't told the full extend of the killing spree so far. They issued five victims, but really there are eight." he told his friends grimly, watching their faces darken with worry and underneath that lurked fury.

The fact that eight children had lost their lives without any form of suspect surfacing, angered him also. Usually killers would be too cocky after such an amount of murders, often leaving evidence behind in the irrational belief that they wouldn't get caught. But this guy worked the other way around, the more he killed, the more he was able to vanish inbetween society, there was nothing to distinguish him from the rest of the people crowding Tokyo. And that was immensely irritating.

"Eight kids..." Ayumi said, growing very quiet and suddenly looking very sad again. In all probability she was thinking about the latest victim, Hanako-chan. As far as Conan knew the only victim that any of his friends knew personally.

"Why was it the police didn't tell the papers? Wouldn't it have been better to inform the public about it?" Genta asked, his huge brows forming a stormy line above his eyes. Before Conan could answer however, Mitsuhiko beat him to it.

"The police probably felt that they would be able to find the killer quickly, and felt therefore no need to inform the press thoroughly. When there were more children being murdered however, they probably couldn't keep it under wraps and issued information on the cases, but neglected to tell the public they had three more murders at hand." he calmly informed their bulky friend.

"But I still don't get it." Genta argued, his gaze now alternating between Mitsuhiko and Conan himself and the shrunken sleuth decided to come to the aid of his smart friend.

"Moreover, if the press knew they were withholding information, it would mean bad publicity to the Tokyo police. I know it sounds bad to say it that way, but that was probably another reason they didn't tell the press the whole truth. But the foremost reason I think was to avoid a panic. If the broad public knew there are in reality eight victims, this city would be in a state of utter panic by now. The police has to be careful what to tell the press because they also don't want too much information to leak out. After all, its very reasonable to suggest the killer reads about his killings." he explained absently, seeing Genta nod solemnly after a moments thought.

It continued to surprise him, how very much focussed those kids were in this case. Undoubtedly it was the most gruesome they had come across so far, and yet they didn't shy back from it. Quite the opposite actually, they seemed even more eager to find the culprit. Despite the danger they put themselves in.

I gotta keep an eye on those three...

Saturday, 28th August 2011

Mouri Detective Agency

Evening

Conan sat brooding in front of the television, not really watching anything, he merely had turned it on to hide the very fact that he was brooding over the case. And over that strange reaction he had received from Kogoro when he had returned home.

He had spent a good deal of the day with the Shounen Tantei, during which they had sat in that diner, sharing all the information and discussing every aspect of every potential evidence left behind. And though he had tried his hardest to conceal the full truth about the precise way of how those kids were killed, it was impossible to conceal everything. Especially since the newspapers had issued a rather detailed account on the victim before Higuya Hanako. A young boy by the name of Tozawa Minoru, age eight, found underneath a bridge in Shibuya. One of the papers had issued a two-site piece, detailing what injuries the child had sported and how he was discovered. So, despite the fact that Conan hadn't told them everything from the examiners report, they had known (or at least were able to picture) how the others had looked. Naturally the mood around the table had been quite grim.

And despite the fact they had discussed the case thoroughly for most of the afternoon, Conan hadn't made any form of progress in his reasoning. As the day wore on, they had given up, knowing it was impossible to make any form of headway without proper evidence.

Together they had walked as far as the Detective office, where he had split up from his friends and had went inside. Not after having them promise they would stick together at all costs, however. Only after he had done that, it felt better to leave them to their own devices, especially since they had told him they would spend the rest of the day at Genta's house, where their parents would pick them up later. So those kids were out of trouble for the day at least.

However, when Conan had walked up the stairs into the office, he had barely registered that Megure-keibu was present (together with both Shiratori-keiji and Satou-keiji), before Kogoro had cornered him. He had tried to ask a question regarding the case, but Kogoro had simply grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt and had removed him from the office. And then, just before the older detective had closed the door on him, that same concern had flitted over Kogoro's face. The same concern he had shown the day before, that silent demand to Conan to keep out of this case.

Conan huffed angered. As if that was possible for him. Eight murders in Tokyo, right under his nose, with the culprit still at large, that was not something he could keep out of. And yet the old man tried to exclude him with all he had. It was annoying. And slightly disturbing. He'd seen countless bodies, had faced more murderers than he could count without the old man doing so much as batting an eye and now he was being left out?

Sighing again over how unfair the whole thing was, he glanced at the TV-screen, absentmindedly watching the documentary that had been on for nearly an hour already. He was already bored out of his head and without anymore concrete data he couldn't put any theories together. And he couldn't get more data without him being present while they all discussed the case. Which, apparently was the very thing Kogoro sought to avoid. So, in the end, there was only one thing he could do and that was seethe in silence and wait for an opportunity to gather some details. Until then, all he could do was ponder over the facts he had so far, hoping that something triggered his brain to figure this out.

However, his musings were interrupted by his cellphone ringing. Upon looking at the display and finding it to flash a very familiar number at him, he felt almost glad that no one else was in the same room. He finally had someone who shared almost the same brainpower to rant to and if Ran or Kogoro were to find out, maybe they'd even take the phone away. Who really knew how they would react in that weird concern they displayed. So, feeling bizarrely glad for the solitude he was presented with, he answered his call, only to be greeted by an also quite familiar Osakan drawl.

"Hiya Kudo. How ya doin'?" Hattori Heiji's voice greeted him. Conan knew better than to trust that obviously fake cheery voice of his friend. He may have been shrunk, but he was still as sharp as ever and Hattori never called just because he felt like it. Chances were, he knew what was happening in Tokyo.

"Well enough. Why are you calling Hattori?" he asked back, making sure his friend caught on to the wary tone he used.

"Oy, can' I call without trouble lurkin' somewhere? Wha' if I just called 'cause I felt like it?"

Never happened before...

Conan stayed silent, simply waiting for his friend to admit his reason. It took less than he had anticipated, because not even a minute passed before he heard a heavy sigh at the other end of the line.

"A'rite, I give. Ya're right, Kudo." the Kansai detective said, obviously upset that his shrunken counterpart could not be fooled.

"I take it you read the paper then?" Conan asked, his hand reaching for his notebook to look over the meagre data again. Not that he had to, he probably had it already memorized, considering how often he head read through it, but he needed to do something.

"Yeah, I read it. So ya're involved in dat case now?" Automatically Hattori knew which case he was interested in; after all, there was only one murder of any interest in Tokyo at the moment.

If only...

"Not really. The old man is." he answered, already knowing what the next thing would be his friend would say.

"Which basically means, yea, ya're involved. So, whaddaya got?" Hattori asked, his accent slurring his words for a moment. Every time that happened, Conan took a nanosecond to get used to it. It was all to easy to forget about that terrible Osakan drawl of his.

"Not that much. And no, that just means that Mouri is involved. I got removed when Megure-keibu came over." he explained, already dreading the round of teasing that was sure to follow. And Hattori would tease him, just for the fun of it.

"Removed? What's dat mean?" came the slightly confused query, simply because his friend knew that he was able to sneak into pretty much any crime scene if he really wanted. He had done so numerous times already.

"Just what I said. I got removed. For some odd reason the old man doesn't want me involved. The reason still eludes me somehow, but still. I have managed to get some data however and I..."

"Wait, wait, wait! Ya mean literally? They removed ya? As in, pickin' up and settin' down somewhere else?"

Oh great, now he's grinning, I just know it...

"I wouldn't really say it that way." Conan answered meekly, knowing fully well that he hadn't actually denied the sequence of events. Which hadn't gone unnoticed by his friend either.

"Oh dude, 'e really did dat? Man, I wish I could'a seen dat! Kudo bein' removed from a discussion. Really, I'd pay ta see dat!" Hattori broke off snickering.

Feeling his eyebrow twitch in agitation, Conan took a deep breath. No matter how much it irked him, he was used to the snide comments from the Osakan by now. After all, that was what Hattori did. He was still searching for a way to get retribution, but at the moment he couldn't think of any. So he ignored the impulse to snap at his friend and simply let him snicker for a moment more.

"Hattori, do you mind? I got a child killer on the loose here." he stated gruffly, silently hoping that the giddy mood of his counterpart would vanish soon. It was hardly befitting the situation. And it really worked, Hattori grew quiet almost immediately, having heard the edge Conan had put into his voice.

"Wha's wrong? There's more ta this, ain't there?"

"Yeah. For starters, Ayumi knew the latest victim and her kidnapping doesn't make any form of sense. And for the other, its not five victims, but eight in total." he answered and heard Hattori draw a surprised breath.

"I see, da police didn' give official confirmation dat th' other three were killed by th' same culprit."

"Exactly. The press hasn't caught on, because those three were the first ones to be killed and though it was the same method, it wasn't exactly the same in execution." Conan explained, his mind whirring with the details again, but coming up with nothing.

"Wha' does tha' mean?" Hattori asked.

"Well, the cause of death is always asphyxiation after severe physical trauma. But the first three victims, when they were taken, must have gone willingly. The other five had traces of chloroform in their systems. The medical examiner proved that. Also, the first three bodies were slightly hidden, so they weren't immediately discovered. One of them, a girl named Tanaki Honami was found five days after she had been killed. The rest of them were pretty easy to discover, being left at places people would naturally see something out of place. So its slightly different, but the whole thing points to the same culprit." he answered, shoving the mental images in his brain further away. Those high definition photos really were gruesome, picturing the full extend of what had been done to those kids and thinking of them made him uneasy for some reason that still eluded him. But he couldn't think of that now, not when he finally had a chance to talk to someone that might actually listen to him.

"So th' culprit is settin' 'em down in different places, but easy enough ta have 'em discovered quickly. What does tha' suggest?"

"Probably only that he feels safe enough now. He got away with murdering the first three kids after all, its only natural to assume he gets bolder, the longer this continues. So far the victims were left in places they would be discovered sooner or later, but lately he sets them down with the intention of them being discovered. Construction sites, bridges, parks, all places where someone else can discover them relatively easy. Its almost as if this guy wants them to be found quickly, just to annoy the police." Conan went on, growing oblivious to the questions of his Kansai friend, while his mind tried to integrate this idea with the rest of the data.

"Who knows, maybe 'e is."

"The real problem here is that there is almost no evidence at all. He just leaves nothing behind, this guy is like a ghost. That makes it so hard to figure out a possible suspect." Conan went on, for the moment oblivious to the comment, but aware enough to recognize that it was the truth. The killer most likely taunted the police by placing the bodies in a way that they would be easily discovered.

"Anyway, looks like I have to expand my knowledge on serial killers and the kind in the coming days. The old man may not be happy with my involvement, but I can't let a child-killer run free."

Not for long anyway...

Suddenly thoughts of his childfriends crossed his mind, with a killer like that on the loose, they were in danger also. More than he was, after all he had his instincts to rely on, they would at least tell him when he was being watched, but they were just normal kids. If the killer got it into his head to take one of his friends...

Conan shuddered to think of that alternative. He had to find this guy, preferably before another child became his victim.

Presently he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and a quick look at the clock told him that it should be Ran coming home from her afternoon with Sonoko.

"Hattori, I gotta go. Talk to you later." he told his Osakan friend hurriedly and hung up on him. Switching the phone to silent mode, he turned back to the television screen, trying to look for all the world like a normal seven year old watching TV. Even if it was a documentary he watched. Deliberately pushing the thoughts on the case a bit further away in his mind, far enough that he would be able to concentrate on behaving like a child. He knew the thoughts would return soon enough, but until then he had to keep up the pretence a bit longer.

However, hearing Ran call from the door, he couldn't repress the slight sigh. It was time to play the kid again.

Okay, I know, not much happening in this chapter either, but I don't need to delve into the action too quickly anyway. But I had a chance to put Hattori into this and I seized it^^ In fact I had already planned for him to make an appearance, as I simply love it when those two talk. It just seems as if they never pass an opportunity to annoy the other.

As always, reviews are very much appreciated and I'm gad to get them^^