Conan glanced down at his watch.
Great. Six more hours till Kid's heist. Why am I here so early again?
It wasn't like he was interested to know about the jewel that Kid was stealing, or how grand and majestic the new museum Suzuki family recently built. He just wanted to get things done and over with; kicking his soccer ball right into the thief's face. And if he's lucky enough, he could see the handcuffs around his wrist as Kid takes the ride of his life in the police car, to jail.
But Conan knew it wasn't going to happen, definitely not now or even in the near future. It wasn't like his heart was soft against a thief compared to a murderer. In fact, Conan hated Kaitou Kid more than some of the murderers he encountered. At least none of them tricked him in stealing Ran's clothes, or disguised as his older self and appearing right in front of Ran and everyone else or even attempting to kiss her on a blimp.
To kiss her!
Just thinking about it made his blood boil.
Despite all these, something about Kaitou Kid made Conan think twice on whether he should really stop Kid from thieving for good. His weird taste for nothing else but jewels. His habit of returning them a few days later and even on the day when it was stolen. His attention-seeking methods. His never-to-hurt-anyone policy... It was like Conan couldn't differentiate the good and the bad at the same time.
But nonetheless, he still wanted to kick a ball to his face.
"So beautiful..." Sonoko sighed heavenly at the jewel that was sealed in the glass case, her two hands clasped together and was brought to her chest. "I bet Kaitou Kid would love the jewel like how he'll eventually love me."
A shiver just went down his spine as he tried to forget what he had heard from Sonoko's mouth.
"But is it just me or does the star jewel seemed to be attached onto the plate. It doesn't look like one piece of jewel to me." Sonoko wondered out loud.
Jirokichi cleared his throat. "That's because it actually has three different parts to form a whole."
Everyone began peering at the jewel even more carefully. Even Inspector Nakamori, who obviously wouldn't miss a chance at a heist, was looking even closer at the jewel, his face nearly resting against the glass case.
"The crystal plate, the star piece and the red jewel that is fixated in the middle of the star. Once these three pieces come together, it forms the masterpiece, named the Star of Hope."
The ohhhs and ahhhs began to spread across the hall.
"Weren't you listening when your mother told you about this jewel yesterday?" Jirokichi looked over at his niece.
"I guess I zoned out." Sonoko waved him off. "That isn't important anyway. What's important is that Kaitou Kid will be coming tonight to steal what is ours. You know, it's like he's stealing me but he's not at the same time." She giggled to herself.
Jirokichi sighed, clearly not understanding Sonoko because neither did Conan too. "Embarrassingly to say..." He coughed, his tone tainted with slight displeasure. "This masterpiece doesn't belong entirely to me. I only own the star piece."
Sonoko gasped. "How is that possible?!"
"I'm sorry to destroy your dreams. But if you can kindly offer me the star piece, I can give you a good price and I'll be one step closer to finish the collection."
All eyes were turned away from the jewel and onto the new voice that sounded behind them.
"This is Ichijou Kenji." Jirokichi signaled over to a stout middle-age man, a round spectacles loosely hanging on the edge of his nose and about to fall anytime. He was wearing a nice formal suit and slightly leaning onto the brown wooden cane on his right hand. Ichijou raised his head in a proud manner and pushed his spectacles up his nose, glancing wearily over at the crowd in front of him.
"He's owner of the red jewel." Jirokichi continued the introduction before he added with a slight scowl. "And why don't you sell your red jewel to me? I can offer you an even better price."
"Oh, no no no. It'd be better if you old men sell your pieces to me." Another voice sounded from the other side and everyone's attention flew to the new intruder. A tall lady, whose age couldn't have hit 30, sashayed towards the group with her heels and pink dress. Her eyes twinkled and she smiled pleasantly over the small crowd, unlike the owner of the star piece who seemed to be judging everyone at every second.
Jirokichi sighed and began introducing again. "And this is Akemi Harumi, the owner of the crystal plate."
"Nice to meet everyone." She winked playfully and the police squad swooned.
"Knock it off." Inspector Nakamori chided his subordinates before he pushed himself towards the front and stood before the three owners of the crystal. "I need to know more about how your glass cage works." The Inspector muttered. Usually, Nakamori would use his way to capture Kaitou Kid, but whenever Suzuki was involved, the Inspector couldn't say a word when he knew the amount of money Jirokichi spent on building the traps just for Kaitou Kid.
Conan wanted to listen and to know how the trap works, but before he could even get any closer, he felt a tug from the back of his collar and he almost fell on his butt. Grudgingly, he turned, to find Sonoko staring down at him in disdain. Conan almost glared back.
"Sadly, Ran couldn't come because she's having her Karate training and preparing for a tournament." Sonoko sneered, bending forward at Conan's level as she lightly pinched his cheeks. "But since Uncle requested for you, I decided to let you come even though Ran isn't here with you. Now you don't have your guardian angel to protect you if you act like a brat!"
Conan quickly pulled himself away as he rubbed his sore cheeks grumpily. An hour hadn't even pass since he stepped his foot into the museum and he hated it already.
"I'll make sure he's well taken care of."
Conan glanced up as Professor Agasa while he gave a soft pat on his head and winked down at the detective. Conan smiled genuinely, pretty happy that his rescuer came just at the right time.
He knew something like this would happen. And since Ran wasn't able to accompany him, he decided to ask for someone else to bring him to the museum; someone who he was able to converse properly without being abused or pinched every five minute.
-cough- Kogoro -cough- Besides, he was too busy watching television to be bothered about Kaitou Kid anyway.
Sonoko sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm pretty sure you will, Professor Agasa. But you see, this boy always act on his own-"
"Ah, you two finally came."
The three of them glanced away from each other and towards the direction of the two newcomer that just came through the door.
"This is my daughter, Aoko. And this is her friend, Kuroba Kaito." Inspector Nakamori gestured over to the two teenagers.
"Wow!" Conan was clearly ignored and forgotten as Sonoko rushed over to the girl in that split second and grabbed onto her hands, her sparkling eyes never leaving the girl. "You look like a best friend of mine! I'm Suzuki Sonoko, the niece of Suzuki Jirokichi!"
"Nice to meet you." Aoko gave a laugh and Conan could tell it was an uncomfortable one. His attention led back to the so-called Kaito who was looking amused at his friend's discomfort. Conan's lips curled downwards. For a moment, he really thought he was looking at the mirror.
Professor Agasa blinked and bent down, pretending to dust his shoes as he whispered into Conan's ear. "The two of them really look like you and Ran-kun."
"Oh really?" Conan looked unimpressed, jabbing his two hands into his pocket and clearly annoyed. He didn't need an obvious reminder from anyone about the how similar they both looked, even if it was really true,
"Well," The inspector cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention in the room. "Kaito-kun is a magician so I thought he'll be useful here to view things from a magician's point of view. My daughter also helped me in several Kid's cases so I thought their presence will provide some assistance too."
A magician? Conan narrowed his eyes.
"I'm sorry if we came uninvited." Aoko bowed apologetically.
"No matter! If this increases the chance of throwing Kaitou Kid into jail, you're more than welcome!" Jirokichi roared in enthusiasm, giving a solid pat on Kaito's shoulder. "Anyway, just tell me if you need anything, young lad. A magician like you will be useful!"
"I may be a magician but I'm nothing compared to Kid!" Kaito laughed loudly, rubbing the back of his head. He phrased his words as though he was embarrassed, but his face clearly didn't show it.
Aoko rolled her eyes before she turned towards Sonoko. "If you don't mind, would you take me around the museum? Just want to have a rough idea of the interior design."
"Sure, you count on me." Sonoko placed her hand proudly on her chest and led the way. Before the two left the hall and out of Conan's listening range, he could hear Sonoko once again commenting about the similarities between the girl and Ran until they disappeared down the corridor.
Soon, everyone's attention were back on their own things. Inspector Nakamori began shouting at his subordinates about some security measures, Professor Agasa being all fascinated by the artifacts in the building and Jirokichi discussing something with the two other gem collectors.
The only ones left were Conan and the teenager who coincidentally looked like his older self.
Kaito slowly walked towards the case, inspecting the rectangle clear glass as his eyes focused onto the jewel which was resting inside the case and on top of a typical red cushion. Conan followed closely behind, his hands still in his pocket.
"I don't have any lollipops to give you so don't bother sticking with me." Kaito plainly said without looking at Conan. He curled a finger and gave a soft tap on the glass.
Conan gritted his teeth, clearly annoyed. But instead of showing his anger, he gave a cheerful reply back. "I don't like sweets!"
"Too much sweets is bad for your teeth." Kaito nodded thoughtfully and finally directed his attention to him. "You're so sensible even at this age. Your mom must be proud."
"Is your mom proud?" Conan chirped as he made an amazed noise. "You're helping the police to find Japan's famous thief!"
"She is!" Kaito said, with the same clearly exaggerated tone that Conan used. He then looked up at the ceiling, his happy mask fell away and a look of concentration was quickly replaced.
"What are you looking at?" Conan asked.
"The ceiling."
"Why are you looking at the ceiling?"
"Because I like it."
"Why do you like it?"
Kaito spun around and without warning, he bent forward and started ruffling his head. Conan almost yelped out in surprise.
"What're you doing?" Conan slapped his hand away and began adjusting his fringe. There was nothing else he hated more than people messing his perfectly neat hair.
"Did your mom teach you not to ask too many questions?"
"Asking questions is a good thing because it helps you to understand and learn better."
Kaito didn't have anything else to say or rather, he didn't bother to give a reply as he straightened his posture and continued inspecting the glass cage, clearly ignoring Conan once again. But Conan wasn't done there. The detective skipped to the self-proclaimed magician's side, following and copying every movement and steps he made.
There was an uncanny feeling in Conan's stomach, telling every part of his nerve that this guy couldn't be trusted. But he wasn't exactly a bad guy, and definitely unrelated with the Black Organization. It was like that itchy feeling in his throat; he knew something was wrong, but he wasn't sure how to deal with it.
"So what have you found out?" Conan broke the small silence and Kaito looked down at him with a blank stare.
"Am I supposed to find something?"
"You look like you're searching for something." Conan looked into the glass case and tapped at the so-called unbreakable glass that Jirokichi was constantly boasting about since he first came here. "I can help you find what you're looking for!"
Kaito squatted down to Conan's height and pulled out a coin. With a wave, it was gone.
Conan blinked.
"Why don't you run along and help me find the coin that I just lost?" Kaito gave a comforting pat on his shoulder.
"It's a trick." Conan tried to act like he was excited but he couldn't because all these kind of lame magician's distraction tricks irked him. "You didn't lose it. It's probably in your sleeve of your shirt or in your pocket."
"I would call it magic rather than a trick." Kaito placed a hand on his sleeve and the coin popped out, appearing in between his fingers once again. He put down his hands as he smiled sourly at Conan. "Seen you a couple of times in the newspaper that you almost catch Kaitou Kid. What a hard-core detective, aren't you? Little detective."
White suit. Red tie. Monocle. White tall hat. Moonlight. Shadows. White fluttering cape.
"Little detective."
The hazy and so-close-yet-so-far feeling was becoming less and less foreign. Conan glanced up, his blue eyes fixated at Kaito's face. "A pot calling the kettle black." Conan whispered. "I could say the same to you. A hard-core jewel collector, aren't you?"
His smirk didn't falter. His eyes didn't waver. He didn't even flinch or show any sign of emotions when Conan finished his sentence. The only emotion he showed was the idiotic smile that was plastered on his face since the beginning till now.
"I'm sorry, I don't talk in metaphors or detective languages. I actually dislike detective languages the most, just in case you want to know more about me. But seriously, what are you talking about?"
It didn't take long for a vein to pop on Conan's temple but of course, as a little kid, there was no way he should be angry because kids wouldn't get angry at a childish and ridiculous person like him. If he wished to act, then Conan shall play along with him.
"Why are you so mean?!" Conan exclaimed as he gave a hurt look.
At this time, Ran would definitely come to his rescue like always, rumbling endlessly about how adults or anyone older than eight years old should give in to Conan because he was just a kid.
But at that moment, he had forgotten Ran wasn't here with him and he must have looked utterly stupid right now. Before he could attempt anything to at least bring back the pride that he was slowly losing, he felt two hands going under his arm and he was immediately being lifted up from the floor.
"What the hell are you doing Kuroba Kaito?" Aoko frowned as she swayed Conan from left to right, seeming as if she was trying to calm him down but apparently, Conan was too focused on having such a close contact with a girl who wasn't Ran but looked like Ran. His face was starting to turn a little red.
"Well, what the hell are you doing?" Kaito sneered back and stood up from his position.
"Clearing up your mess like usual. You're about to make an innocent kid cry." Aoko snapped. She stared down at Conan, her face fell lax and a warm smile spread across her cheeks. "Feeling better? What did he do to you?"
"He- uh..." Conan swallowed hard, still trying to suppress a blush to appear on his cheeks. Damn... this girl really looks like Ran. "Kaito-niichan said that I can never become a detective, ever!"
Aoko made a face. "Just because you don't like Hakuba doesn't means you can dash a kid's dream like that."
"Don't listen to that brat's nonsense! I didn't even say that!"
Aoko huffed as she gently placed Conan down on the floor.
"Where's Sonoko-neechan?" Conan asked when he noted that the girl was alone.
"Oh, Suzuki-san said something about leaving for the hair salon to get her split ends checked... so she can show Kaitou Kid her amazing hair." Aoko scratched her cheeks sheepishly as she looked down at her watch. "She mentioned about coming back before Kaitou Kid's heist starts."
"What a dedicated fan." Kaito chortled.
Aoko glared daggers at him.
"Anyway, you should go home. There's nothing much here for you to investigate or anything. You're of no help." He continued.
"I've told you before we came here and I'm not going to spend any more time arguing over this fact again. I'm now officially helping my Dad to catch Kaitou Kid and I won't leave till he comes." Aoko retorted and she crossed her arms. "The one who should be leaving is you, the ultimate number one Kaitou Kid fan. I don't even know why my father invited you here."
Kaito rubbed his eyes tiredly but he didn't say anything. He gave a defeated sigh and grudgingly moved away from his best friend. Aoko then rolled her eyes at him and stormed off to another direction too.
Conan stared at the two amusingly before he decided to follow Kaito instead. The teenager stopped on his track and turned to stare down at the kid, looking a lot more irritated than before.
"Why do you keep following me?"
"Show me some magic tricks!" Conan chimed innocently.
Kaito waved him off. "Go play with someone else, I'm here to work."
"But you're Kaitou Kid's number one fan!" Conan tilted his head and blinked curiously. "Aren't you betraying him if-"
At that moment, Conan felt himself being lifted from the floor yet again and he yelped out loud, eyes bulging out like a surprised fool as his feet dangled in the air. It was a different feeling from how Ran and Aoko carried him. This time round, it was like he was scooped up like some ice cream; rushed and hurried, as if the person couldn't wait to eat him up.
"Such a cute little child!" Akemi snuggled her head into Conan's hair and planted a kiss on his cheeks. Conan almost felt like puking at the tight embrace around his chest. He couldn't breathe for goodness sake. Desperately, his eyes directed at Kaito who was staring smugly at him.
A ball to his face would be so good right now.
Akemi finally let go and he managed to suck in enough air to make sure that his lungs wouldn't die. But the torture didn't seem to end there. She turned him around, so that he would face her and she gave another round of kissing onto his poor innocent face. All Conan could do was to make a grunted noise, another desperate sign for Kaito to at least help, rather than being a heartless person and rejoicing at his misery.
"I think the kid can't breathe, Akemi-san." Kaito finally said.
"Is that so? I'm sorry." Akemi set Conan down and he immediately rushed over to Kaito's side. He was clearly traumatized to the point where his fingers was gripping onto Kaito's pants, as if he really was a child. Conan growled inwardly when he realized what he was doing as he quickly put down his hand, hoping Kaito wouldn't notice it.
The oblivious woman chuckled before straightening her posture. "I always love kids and I can't help but to hug them when I see one. Besides, he's Kaitou Kid's number one nemesis, isn't he? A bonus! I love smart kids!"
Conan shivered.
"He may be smart, but annoying at the same time." Kaito heartily laughed and playfully messed up Conan's neat hair once again.
"Oh don't be jealous!" Akemi took a step forward and pinched Kaito's face and his eyes widened at the abrupt touch. This time, it was Conan's turn in trying to suppress a giggle. "You're a hunk too. If I'm just five years younger, I will definitely date you." Her thin fingers left his face as she gave a tight slap on his butt.
Kaito winced and Conan snorted.
"Will you ever stop sexually harassing men, Akemi-san?"
The two boys turned to face their hero that saved them from the continuous misery that would follow. Surprisingly, it was Ichijou Kenji who voiced out his displeasure at Akemi's behaviour rather than anyone else.
Akemi cackled behind her hand. "Are you sad that you're not one of the young men that I sexually harassed?" Her laughter grew louder.
"Your jokes are nothing but an embarrassment."
She flicked her gaze towards Ichijou, her laughter died down. Conan expected her to say something in return, but she didn't. Instead, she retreated and left the hall without a word. Conan narrowed his eyes at the weird commotion, an uncomfortable sensation creeping across his skin. This feeling was far worse than him thinking about Kaitou Kid previously.
Ichijou grunted as he wobbled away, but before he disappeared from their sight, he turned, his grip obviously tightened around the handle of his cane. "Don't let that woman fool you with her looks. Don't even trust women." Finishing with what he wanted to say, he left.
.o.
It was already 4:25 pm and Conan had to wait for another two and a half hours before the heist started. It was like time was passing by like a snail. He stared down at his watch impatiently for the hundredth time and sighed, glancing around the hall and then at the large glass case with a bored look on his face.
He had been wandering around the museum by himself for nearly the last one hour. He would occasionally bump into several policemen from Kid's task force along the way but was never able to find the teenager boy that he planned to follow all the time till the start of the Kaitou Kid's arrival.
Conan grunted in annoyance and was about to continue his searching game when Professor Agasa walked into the almost empty hall, saved for the task force members protecting the glass case.
"Where were you?" Conan raised an eyebrow.
"Looking at the artifacts on the floor right above us."
"Did you see that Kuroba guy anywhere?"
Agasa smiled awkwardly. "I was a little distracted by some artifacts so I didn't notice. But hey, some of these art pieces gave me quite an inspiration for the new gadgets I might come up with!"
Conan face-palmed before he returned his attention back to his old neighbor. "If you see that guy, tell me. I've lost him when Sonoko's uncle talked to me for a while and until now, I couldn't find him anywhere."
"I'll take note of him." The Professor reassured before he tilted his head, curious. "Anyway, why are you so interested in him?"
"I can't exactly put my feelings into words, you can say it's my gut feeling." Conan shrugged. "There's something about him that may led me to know the answer about something which I always wanted to know..."
"Just pretend that I never asked." Agasa shook his head. "Your answers usually doesn't make sense to me anyway."
And then all of the sudden, a piercing shriek echoed throughout the museum.
.o.
Chi-Chik!
The shutter noise of the camera continued to shatter the unnerving silence in the restroom.
Akemi Harumi stilled body was hanging on the noose, her hair sticking all over her face and covering her features.
Most of the people in the museum had heard the loud scream and rushed over to see what happened, but nonetheless, there were still a few people who were not present at the murder scene. Conan narrowed his eyes while trying to remember the people who should be here but wasn't present and he could only think of two.
Kuroba Kaito and Ichijou Kenji. They were nowhere to be found.
"W-What is this...?" Horrified, Aoko turned away and buried her face into her father's chest. "Wh-Why don't they bring the body down instead?" She muttered uncomfortably.
"They still need to take the photos for evidence before they can bring the body down." Nakamori sighed, patting his daughter's shoulder softly. "You should go out for now."
"I-I think I should." Aoko cupped her mouth with her hand and she hastily rushed out of the restroom without looking back.
Megure stared down at Conan who gave a grin back when he noticed the older man was looking at him. "And... Mouri isn't here?"
"I brought him here instead." Professor Agasa rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Megure nodded and walked off, mumbling something about magnets and murder attraction or some sort.
It didn't take Conan two minutes and his patience was running thin when he watched the investigation going on in front of him. He began conducting his personal investigation on his own, roaming around the toilet, slipping to look inside the cubicles, peeking into the trash can, and even asking his guardian to lift him up to the door so he could get a better view of the schedule card for the cleaning period. Miraculously, for the entire time, no one seemed to care about his small presence running around the crime scene.
For the past one minute, Conan had been eyeing down on the schedule card while the Professor was standing at the same position with his hands around Conan's waist and his face slightly cringing.
"You're actually heavy than you look." Agasa commented. "My arms are aching."
"Of course your arms will be tired with the way you're holding me." Conan tried not to roll his eyes. "But even if that's the case, she can still carry me far longer than you can."
"She?" His tone didn't sound like question at all.
Conan wasn't going to waste his energy to answer his neighbor's teasing remark.
"Well, Conan-kun. Playing detective again?" Megure chuckled. "Mouri should be proud."
Conan began wiggling his way out of Professor Agasa's grip as he bounced back on the floor. He afforded a soft laughter like every eight year old kid would give when they were caught eating sweets before dinner.
"So what's the verdict?" Nakamori walked over to Megure's side.
Megure sighed as he stared up at the corpse hanging on the rope that was tied to the long pipe over her head. "Looking at the crime scene and the evidence we've collected, it's safe to say that this is a murder. Someone must have drugged her unconscious with the handkerchief soaked with chloroform and then hang the noose around her neck, choking her when the noose was tied to the pipes."
Conan couldn't help but smiled to himself. This is one of the rare times when the police didn't rule a murder as a suicide.
"Then hurry up and find the culprit already." Nakamori combed his hair through his fingers in frustration.
Megure eyed his ex-colleague wearily. "Don't worry, we'll solve it faster than you think."
After Megure went over to converse with the forensic investigators for a while, he nodded solemnly before turning back to the small crowd. "I need everyone to gather back at the hall. Takagi, you'll collect everyone's whereabouts during the time of Akemi Harumi's death according to the forensics; between 2:30pm to 4:30pm.
"Yes sir!"
Jirokichi pinched the bridge of his nose as he walked out of the restroom, along with Nakamori and some people from his team "To believe such a thing would happen..."
Megure then turned towards the old lady cleaner who was the first to discover the body. "We'll need to ask a few more questions regarding how you discover the corpse. Please follow me outside." Megure gestured the cleaner and she nodded weakly as the rest began to disperse outside. Conan followed closely behind everyone and he was out of the girl's restroom and was about to head to the hall when he noted Aoko and the originally missing Kaito standing at the corner of the corridor.
At that moment, Kaito raised a hand. "Are you serious?" His face was plastered with no emotions but his voice carried something heavy.
"How can I joke about such things?!" Aoko cried out.
"Excuse me, Nakamori-san." Takagi smiled apologetically as he shouted from a distance. "I need you and your friend over there to head to the hall for interrogation."
"We'll be there in a second!" Aoko yelled back. She then turned towards Kaito and sighed. "Let's go then."
He followed her without a word said, hands in his pocket as he silently walked behind Aoko. Quietly, Conan popped out from behind the thin pillar he was hiding all along and walked side by side with Kaito, although the latter seemed too distracted to even notice the kid was there.
"Is there something wrong?"
Kaito blinked and turned to stare down at Conan who was walking in sync right beside him. It was clear as day that Kaito was surprised at that moment, but Conan noted that he was really good at hiding and changing his expressions and emotions easily. After Conan blinked, he was staring at a blank face instead of the surprised look that Conan could barely remember now.
"What can be wrong?" Kaito asked, his tone sounded almost sincere.
"You look a little nervous."
"Do I?" Kaito's lips curled up into a smile.
Conan couldn't bother to smile back. "Yeah."
When they arrived to the middle of the hall, most of the people seemed to have cleared the interrogation regarding their alibi. The police squad were all in their respective post or keeping check of the security in pairs or more so none of them had any problems.
"I was speaking with Inspector Nakamori the whole time." Jirokichi scoffed. "You wouldn't believe it but we were arguing about the security issue for two hours straight."
"No matter what, I'm still sticking to the plan. I won't allow any reporters in." The Inspector scowled. "They bring me nothing but trouble and a hindrance to the chase!"
"I want them in so they can film my biograph-
"Hold it, hold it." Megure cut in. "You two can talk about that later. For now, I need you two to focus more on this murder investigation."
Conan tugged onto Professor's sweatshirt and the latter bent down just for him to whisper into his ears. "Did anyone say anything suspicious while I'm not around?"
"None that I took notice of."
"Then are you interrogated already?"
"Right before Inspector Nakamori. I showed them the receipt when I went to the convenience store nearby just now to buy the ultimate bento-set. It helps to clear my suspicion since I only came back to the museum at 4:15pm."
"Wai-Wait a minute." Conan frowned. "Didn't you say that you were looking at artifacts, that's why you didn't notice if that Kuroba was around or not?"
The Professor didn't even bother to hide that oh-shit-I-got-caught-eating-again face." Ah..." He gave a chuckle.
Conan sighed heavily and scratched the side of his head. Why was no longer surprise?
"Please don't tell Ai-kun about this. That bento-set is on promotion and the offer is going to end tomorrow! I can't miss it!"
"I have nothing to say..." Conan shook his head and looked up when he noted that Kaito was the next to be interrogated.
"So Kuroba-kun." Megure directed his gaze at the teenager. "Where were you from 2:30pm to 4:30pm?"
"For the first whole hour, I'm being stalked by this child. He goes wherever I go." Kaito pointed at Conan who then smiled brightly. "If the kid can't be used as a witness, I'm pretty sure his guardian or someone from the Kid's task force would know and witness how clingy he was to me during that period."
"And where were you for the next one hour?" Takagi said after jotting down the notes.
"I've a bad stomach-ache and spent most of the time in the toilet."
"Is there someone who can prove it?"
Kaito blinked. "Uh... I don't think so."
"That means no one can prove that you're actually in the toilet?" Megure said, as a statement more than a question.
He scratched the side of his cheeks. "If I can un-flush the toilet and bring my poop here to prove that I'm in the toilet, I would. But I don't think I can, so I guess I don't have any proof for it."
Takagi nodded and continued writing down in his notebook while Megure frowned in slight disgust.
"A-Actually..." A police member from the Kid's task force stepped forward, along with two others standing closely behind him. "We weren't sure if this helps with the investigation or not but I was patrolling on the highest floor when my team and I saw the deceased."
"What time is that?" Takagi inquired.
"It's around 3:45pm."
There was a short pause as both Takagi and Megure sent each other a determined look.
"Is she alone?"
"Yes. But after that, we continued patrolling and never saw her since then."
"If that's the case, we can narrow the time down, from 3:45pm to 4:30pm, her true time of death." Megure nodded to himself, clearly satisfied with the new information received.
No... Something's not right. Conan widened his eyes before he looked down on the ground and bit his lips. There's not enough time to commit the murder at all...
Megure turned to face the last person that hadn't been interrogated. Clearly, the last person wasn't Conan. Although he may be a magnet that attracts murders and crimes, the ability to murder was clearly not possible.
"Ichijou-san, where were you from 3:45 to 4:30pm?"
"I was feeling a little tired from walking too much so I rest in one of the painting room where seats are provided." Ichijou calmly pat his right leg before hitting the cane on the ground. "My leg can't take it."
"Is there anyone to prove that?"
Aoko raised her hand voluntarily. "I was loitering in the painting room too, where Ichijou-san was resting when he asked for a cup of coffee so I went and make some in the resting area, which is three levels down before bringing it to him." She slowly put down her hand after everyone's attention was on her. "He asked for the coffee around 3:50pm and I brought the coffee to him at 4:15pm. It's a little hard to walk fast with a cup of hot coffee, hence there was such a long time gap." Aoko smartly elaborated.
Megure nodded understandingly. "But why are you so sure about the time?"
"There was a clock in the room, so when I leave to get his coffee and brought it back, my eyes unconsciously look at the clock so I took note of the time." Aoko explained.
"And then for the next fifteen minutes?" Megure directed the question to both of them.
"I continued resting until I heard a scream." Ichijou said first.
"My dad asked me to get more coffee for him and his squad when he saw me bringing a cup for Ichijou-san, so I went and did the task."
Nakamori gave no one else a chance to interrupt. "Not just me, all the task members can prove that." He stated firmly.
Takagi tapped the tip of his pen on his notebook as he gazed up at everyone. "Everyone's been interrogated. And it seems that the only person without an alibi during the time period from 3:45pm to 4:30pm is Kuroba-kun."
Megure turned towards the teenager with a cautious look. Everyone followed as their eyes were set upon the silent teenager. His lips pursed, showing no signs of wanting to speak.
"Hey Kaito," Aoko nudged her best friend's arm, "say something!"
"Kuroba-kun, is your silence an answer?" Megure spoke up.
Conan's brow furrowed. He could say something, anything to defend himself, be it a stupid poop joke like what he ridiculously did just now or to at least act cheerful and laugh everything off. Conan didn't understand the sudden change in him.
What exactly is he thinking? Conan's eyes were still stuck on Kaito. Is there something he's hiding? And a stomach-ache? Even a kid like me wouldn't believe that. Although I'm not a kid but that's beside the point...
"Kuorba-kun?"
"Wait!"
Conan almost jumped at the sudden yell. He turned to watch Aoko waving her arms around, trying to get everyone's attention off Kaito and onto her, which was obviously succeeding. "Have everyone forgotten that Kaitou Kid always uses disguise and has the ability to impersonate anyone?"
Megure quirked an eyebrow. "So are you saying that Kaitou Kid is the murderer?"
"That's not what I mean." She managed to regain her composure as she said her next sentence in a whisper. "Kaitou Kid can't murder her anyway..."
Jirokichi slightly frowned. "Then what do you mean?"
"Kaitou Kid must have disguised someone here to slip around the museum freely, and he might even create an alibi for the murderer." Aoko face hardened. "Therefore, the credibility of everyone's alibi in the room is not reliable at all."
Conan's eyes grew bigger at that very second. This girl...
"That's why everyone could have been the murderer, including me!" She emphasized even further as she put a hand on her chest.
Her father gave a disbelief look. "What the hell are you saying?!"
"I'm just trying to put my point across." Aoko puffed her cheeks.
"What Aoko-kun said definitely made sense." Inspector Megure stroked his chin before he eyed suspiciously at everyone who was beginning to fidget around. "I guess we have to go back to interrogate everyone again till we find a loophole in their stories. Unless Kaitou Kid stands out to tell us who he disguised, that would save us a lot of trouble."
Conan lowered his gaze and crossed his arms. Indeed, things would be a lot easier if Kid could admit who he had disguised, but it was pointless to think about the impossible too.
"Why the hell are you crying?"
Conan's head shot up again, eyeing curiously at the two teenagers before him.
"I-I'm not!"
Kaito sighed, looking away for a moment before he turned back to Aoko again. "I'll be fine, don't worry too much." He scratched his head awkwardly.
"You'll be charge for murder! Kaito. Murder!" Aoko gave an exasperated look. "Why didn't you say anything just now?"
"I don't know." He said indifferently.
Her face turned even redder than before and Conan thought it wasn't possible in the first place. "How can you not know?"
"Shinichi."
Conan's eyes flew to his side, obviously distracted by the voice who called out his real name. His eyes narrowed as he sent an annoyed look over to the Professor.
"Don't call me that." The young boy hissed.
"But Ran-kun isn't here."
"I know. But don't do it. The walls have ears."
Professor Agasa sighed. "I wouldn't have called you that if you didn't look so distracted by the Inspector's daughter and her friend."
"I- I'm not." Conan turned away.
"Does the two remind you of Ran-kun and your old self?"
It was Conan's turn to sigh. Ran was always his favorite topic in his life and he wished he could flaunt her in some way without making him looked stupid and lovesick. But for some reason, he didn't like talking about Ran at the same time. It always cause that weird cringing feeling in his chest and he wasn't sure if it was his chest or heart that hurts. He hated being teased at. He hated it when there wasn't only one truth. Love was just too complicated to understand and it had everything but a definite answer to it.
That was why he generally preferred to stay away from topics or things he wasn't hundred percent sure of.
"No." He answered coldly.
"Have you gotten any clue?" The inventor asked, clearly ending the previous conversation, which was something Conan was grateful for.
"Roughly," He crossed one arm and stroked his chin with another, "however, what Nakamori-san said sort of struck me in some way, but I'm still thinking about her theory. Is Kid even here? Did Kid disguise himself as anyone to be here right now? If yes, who had he disguised?" His eyes stared at the ground thoughtfully.
"So what if Kaitou Kid is really here? What does that mean?" Professor Agasa said the question that was already running in Conan's head.
His eyes slowly moved from the ground, to the feet, legs, waist, chest and then the face of the teenager whose name was Kuroba Kaito.
"That only proves one thing..." Conan's cheek twitched.
"One thing?"
Conan didn't get the chance to elaborate as both their attention was snapped away and onto the increasingly noisy crowd in front of them.
"Although what Aoko-kun said makes sense..." Megure stepped in between the two teenagers who was about to start a huge fight if no one intervened, "it's still a fact that Kuroba-kun doesn't have an alibi for that time period. If you don't mind, we need to conduct a body search on you."
Aoko's eyes wavered as she glanced up at Kaito, her face etched with nothing but worry.
Kaito shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"
All eyes were stuck on the teenager's back until he disappeared to the other end of the hall, along with Megure's subordinates.
I know it's been wayyyy too long since I've updated! But no worries, the next chapter is like 90 percent done! (Trust me) All I need is to do some final editing and I'll upload it by Saturday or Sunday. I could have combined the two into one chapter but it'll be 14k long, i'm not even joking and I doubt anyone has the attention span to read the whole chapter at one shot.
Anyways, reviews are appreciated! I really want to know you guys feel about this chapter!