Chapter 52

Beyond the Domain

She woke to static and crackling voices. Surrounded by darkness, Masumi battled nausea. It was as if she was held under a lake. Battling against fatigue, she managed to open her eyes for a second.

Where was she?

A bright, blinding light greeted her, and she groaned. Swaying on a lone wire was a naked bulb. It was difficult for her to see anything around her, but she was acutely aware of her position. She sat handcuffed to the back of a flimsy wooden chair. Rope bound her legs to its legs, preventing her from moving.

What happened?

She could not recall what led to her current predicament.

A sudden breeze caressed her cheeks, and then the buzzing sounds returned. She could hear faint voices calling out to her. Almost nostalgic...familiar. She gasped. Her back, shoulders, and spine ached, and she winced as a sharp pain raced through her body.

"Sera-san!"

Kudou-kun?

A burst of static emerged from Masumi's chest pockets, and she realized it was coming from there.

Of course!

She had snatched the detective badge from him. Following the disastrous stabbing incident in the cafe, she placed it there. For some odd reason, Masumi ended up here after chasing the culprit.

Two figures came to mind. Men—burly shaped, dragging her roughly into a vehicle in her unconscious state. They had rendered her unconscious, and the anger is accompanied by the ever-buzzing tension of fear.

"Sera-san!" Kudou Shinichi, now Edogawa-Conan, and Okiya Subaru called out to her.

"Where are you? It's been three hours!"

Three hours?!

How did she lose three hours?

"I'm..." she began. It hurt her throat, and her lips were dry. She coughed slightly from the strain, making it hard for her to speak. "I'm trapped," she forced out.

"Trapped?" Subaru-san asked. There was a slight tremor in the man's deep voice. It was like he was—worried.

Once again, the question arises. In addition to his mannerisms and voice, the man himself irks her. He was always raising alarm bells in ways that Masumi could not explain.

Focus!

She scolded herself. She would not benefit from letting her mind wander into untamed possibilities. As it stands now, she was, as Shuu-nii would put it, in deep shit.

"What exactly happened?" Kudou asked, without mincing any corners.

"Are you injured?"

"They hit me," she tried to regain her senses. The naked bulb above is doing nothing to help. Blinding light left Masumi unable to decipher more clues thanks to the tunnel-like vision it created.

"You're hurt," Subaru confirms, and Masumi makes a non-committed grunt in confirmation. "I have no idea where I am. It's cold, though, and dark. There were two men, and I don't know what they want."

"Where are you guys?" she swallowed the apprehension.

"A hospital. We managed to help the victim," Masumi nodded at the news.

At least there was one good thing about this.

Kudou paused before continuing, "He leaped off the roof."

"What!? Wait, is he—"

"Dead," a monotonous girl interjects. Haibara Ai, formerly Miyano Shiho, has answered. Even with some reservations about the former scientist, Masumi could not help but cringe at the revelations, sinking into her chair as she did so. There was a creaking sound, and Masumi noticed she was shaking. Iron cuffs cut into her wrist. She could only bite her lip as a heavy weight descended on her.

It turns out she was more nervous than she cared to admit.

"But…how…we…"

This is not the issue now," Shiho said sharply, bringing her back to reality. "Where are you, Sera-san? Are you in immediate danger?"

"I don't know," Masumi snapped, "I don't even—"

"Breathe, Masumi," Subaru replied. And she still went. She was unable to comprehend what she was hearing. A mixture of nostalgia and apprehension returns. If Masumi could describe the feeling, it was, yes, like the coffee in a teacup—confusion.

"Breathe," his deep voice soothing the buzzing sensation in her chest. "Let us know what you hear, smell, and see. We're here. We'll find you."

As Masumi breathed deeply, she realized the gap in his statement.

"Can't you track me?" she asked, "I have the badge, don't I? Isn't Conan-kun wearing navigation glasses?"

"About that," Kudou murmured sheepishly, "the badge was damaged. There is a problem with the GPS tracker. Akai-san had requested for the professor to fix it in the cafe?"

Akai-san?

In response to the shrunken detective's mistake, Masumi falls silent. Still unable to comprehend what was happening, she followed the advice of Okiya Subaru instead. He was right. As a detective, there were worse situations than this. Gathering her wits, she closed her eyes as she took in her surroundings.

There was a breeze, and it was cold. Water droplets dropped continuously on metallic surfaces, creating a soft tapping sound. From above, squeaky creaks were heard, followed by bending floorboards. There was also a musky quality to the air. Slightly earthy, damp...and moldy. As if she were—

"I'm in a basement," she muttered, putting the pieces together.

"Any more clues?"

"I—"

She paused, and so did the others. Outside the basement, voices could be heard. Disconnected, Masumi struggled to make sense of the cryptic sentences.

"Can you hear that?" she whispered.

"Not quite, but," Subaru muttered and then stopped when the voices got louder.

It sounded like a man arguing over the phone.

"What do you mean not your house!" he was practically shouting. Masumi was convinced it was one of her captives. "I've got her. You wanted her, right?"

There was a series of short pauses and some disgruntled grunts. Then—

"Whether you like it or not, she's here now. You can interrogate her all you like," a few more pauses, then an angry outburst, "Look, we did what you asked. Kidnapping a teenage runaway is already hard enough, and we're certainly not driving her back to Minakami. Either you accept it, or we'll release her."

Masumi raised a brow at the news.

These idiots.

They had gotten the wrong girl and hadn't realized it yet.

That was the key, a way out of this.

"You heard that?" Grimacing slightly, she relaxes into her seat.

"Perfectly," Subaru answered.

Despite not giving out the location of where she was held, they did give out a clue. A familiar town called Minakami. Masumi shifted uncomfortably.

Minakami is a small town in Gunma. By train, it took 53 minutes to get there. She had made countless trips to the abandoned onsen town with her mother. The purpose of the trip…well…

It must have been a coincidence. At present, it was not the issue.

They now had a motive and a place to go. It was not much, but it should suffice.

"Lay low," this time, advice surprisingly coming from a supposed ice princess. "Don't do anything you'll regret."

"Why? Worried?" Masumi couldn't help the playful tease that escaped her lips.

"No," Shiho answered, with her usual monotone, "You're our only lead to Mary Sera. And we're already wasted enough—"

"What she means," Kudou interjects as Masumi scowls at the girl's seemingly callous remarks, "is to be safe and to not do anything reckless."

"Aye, aye," Masumi half believed the boy's statement, tense when the basement doors creaked open.

"Don't worry, Masumi," Subaru's voice fades into the darkness, "We'll find you."

"I'm not," she lies, observing her captors' emerging blurry silhouettes, "I'm used to this."

"He was fine," Inspector Yamamura reported to the forensic teams. Shinichi winces at the sight. Eiji Tanaka's fall from height wasn't pleasant at all. Specifically, the left side of his skull was crushed, as Yamamura-san had described it—like roadkill. Within the cordoned-off section, blood pools. Standing by the side, the doctors and nurses who witnessed it all were being interviewed by the police.

Inspector Yamamura was not having a good day. A dead victim under his supervision was not the kind of reputation a detective wanted.

"What exactly happened?" a forensic officer with a thick mustache and a stern eye regards the man. For some reason, he resembled Hercule Poirot and introduced himself as Kichiro Takeshi.

"Like I said," Yamamura-san folded his arms in displeasure, "I was talking to him, and he was fine."

"Well, clearly not," Kichiro gestures toward the body. The maniac composure displayed by the victim before he plummeted to his death was, as Shinichi would like to put it—not normal.

A piece of circumstantial evidence was found in his wallet. In addition to the ID was a plastic package containing a white powdery substance. Shinichi's gut was telling him that this was not just any case.

A smirk forms, and Shiho sighs.

"Akai-san," she said. The man was still holding onto the detective badge Shinichi had given him. Following their conversation with Sera-san, the man had become extremely worried. Although it had not been visible, he was smoking an excessive amount of cigars.

The location of Sera-san's captivity is still currently unknown.

"What do you mean he just suddenly started screaming?" Kichiro was slightly irritated by Yamamura's account. There are some aspects of the incident that the Inspector cannot recall. He was still in shock, and the sight of someone jumping was fresh in his mind.

The doctors and nurses fared no better. Kyo Imai, the doctor in charge of Eiji Kanata, was seated by the hospital's steps. In the presence of nurses and police officers alike, he appeared distressed. Almost in tears, the man recalled the teenager's last moments.

"He was raving," Imai-san muttered, "We tried to stop him, but—"

"He was too fast," one of the nurses, who was sobbing, interjected, "He climbed the fence and just jumped. There was no warning at all."

"Hysteria," Shiho observes the interviews taking place. With lips pursed, her gaze shifted to Eiji Tanaka's body and then to the white powdery substance in Shinichi's grasp. "Likely?" she motions to it, and Shinichi nods.

Having made a decision, he walks toward Inspector Yamamura. While it might not be the best solution, Shinichi is willing to accept any assistance he can get in finding Sera-san.

"What do you want?" Yamamura-san snapped when he saw Shinichi. This man, clearly annoyed by his presence, could only stare at the packet in his hand. Ignorantly, he watched Shinichi with arched eyebrows.

"I found something," Shinichi started with child-like innocence.

"Look, Conan-kun, I understand you like to involve yourself in every case, but just leave it to the adults for once, ok," he snapped.

Despite his desire to strangle the guy, Shinichi held back his tongue. He is about to be pushed away by the Inspector when Shiho cuts in.

"Cocaine," She glared at Yamamura-san, and the thick-headed detective paused in his tracks.

"Cocaine?"

"Yes, cocaine," Akai continued, coming up behind them. Taking the packet from Shinichi, the FBI agent shoves it into the detective's hands. "We found this when you were talking with Eiji Tanaka," he added. In response to their statements, Yamamura-san could only gawk.

"So you're telling me..."

"Yeah," Shinichi points to Eiji Tanaka and the roof, "if the powder-like substance is the aforementioned drug, then we have a murder."

"A murder!?" Yamamura-san exclaimed, "How is that possible? He literally jumped on his own accord."

"Are you…stu—"

Shinichi slapped his hand over Shiho's lips. In disdain, the girl stares at him as he looks at the Inspector.

Though he shared the same sentiments, there was no need to provoke the clueless man. The only result would be more wasted time.

"Yes, Yamamura-san, a murder," Shinichi responded slowly, "You said he was fine when you spoke to them, didn't you."

"And what of it?"

"He was drugged," Shinichi continued.

"I see..." Kichiro was the first to get it. The Poirot-like man twirled his mustache as he spoke. He then glanced at the nurses and doctors who were still being interviewed. "Assuming this substance is cocaine, we may have a motive. Am I right, boy?"

Taking the packet from Inspector Yamamura, Kichiro was suitably impressed.

"I guess we just have to find out, don't we?"

"Wait, what does it all mean?" Yamamura-san interjects.

"Do you need to go back to the academy?" Shiho snorted, and Shinichi had to drag her away as Inspector Yamaura started raging.

The man was held back by Kichiro, who was dragging the Inspector towards, most probably, the science labs to run some tests on the substance.

"Can you not," Shinichi said as soon as they were far enough. Waiting for the next taxi, they stood beside the taxi stand.

"Somebody has to say it," she was unapologetic, and Shinichi sighed.

"He's still a detective, Shiho."

"Clearly a miracle in the making."

Knowing that there was no redeeming Inspector Yamamura in her eyes, he decided to change the topic. The destination was set as soon as Sera's captors mentioned it. North of Maebashi lies the small onsen resort town of Minakami.

"We'll glean some clues there," Shinichi explained to Akai. The FBI agent stuffs Shinichi's badge into his pocket. His attention had been drawn to his phone, clearly oblivious to the events around him. A single purpose occupied the FBI agent's mind.

"Yes," he slaps his phone shut and stomps on his dropped cigar. "Meanwhile, I will find Eiji Tanaka's companion."

The teenage girl who had stabbed Eiji Tanaka was still missing, and something told Shinichi the key to unlock everything about this case.

"How are you going to do that?" Shinichi had wanted to ask, but the FBI agent was already walking away. Watching him disappear into the distance, Shinichi could only frown. In any case, they didn't have much time to consider the agent's strategies. They had a town to visit, one that was on the outskirts of Gunma's prefecture.

"Shinichi," Shiho asked, flagging down a taxi. "What's the relationship," she narrowed her gaze as soon as he stiffened, "Between that female detective and Akai-san?"

Laughing nervously, he pulled her into the taxi. As the driver looked at them, he expressed concern. "Minakami? Right now?" he asked. It was a valid question. Driving two children out in the middle of nowhere isn't something many adults would choose to do.

"We're meeting with our parents," Shinichi chimed innocently. His blatant lie had the driver staring at him suspiciously.

"It's true. We're siblings," he explained in further detail.

"Hotel Juraku," Shiho interjects, and the driver relaxes.

"Is that where your parents are?"

"Yes," Shiho gave Shinichi a playful smirk that left him frowning.

When Shinichi finally convinced the driver, he scooted closer to her.

"Hotel Juraku?"

"It's the only operational hotel in that area."

"Thank you for not informing me earlier."

"Why, I figured my brother," she mocks, "the great Heisei Holmes knew everything?"

"Firstly," he whispers in disdain, "it was a spur-of-the-moment answer, and secondly," he sighs, "I'm running out of excuses."

"Hey, we can run with the sibling thing," she shrugs, "I mean, though taboo…cousins…can still marry, can't they?"

He flinched at her statement, and she caught it. "What is it, Shinichi?"

"It's nothing," he laughs nervously.

"Well, it can't be nothing. Which reminds me, you haven't answered my question."

"Question?"

"About Akai-san…and Sera-san," she continued.

Again, he flinched. He couldn't help it. Her previous statements hit too close to home. Unsure if his theories were correct, Shinichi could only speculate. As Shiho noticed this, she pressed her lips together in disapproval.

"Are you hiding something from me?"

"What! No," he answered too quickly, and she jabbed him in the chest.

"Kudou Shinichi," she warned, and he sighed.

"Look," he takes her hand. "Let's talk about this later," he replied tentatively, knowing there was no way out. "But for now, let's focus on the case, alright."

Shinichi held his breath, anticipating her protest, but instead, she retracted. She snorted as she studied him and muttered, "Fine."

It was unexpected, to say the least. The stubborn scientist had a way of drilling him, and she was never one to back down from answers she couldn't get.

There was no doubt about it.

She trusted him.

"What?" she asked when she spots his surprise, and Shinichi couldn't help the small tug at his lips. A feeling of warmth grew in his chest, and he scooted closer to her.

"Any idea of what we might find?" he asked to lighten the tension that formed, and Shiho eyed him.

"You're literally the corpse magnet."

"And?"

"A breeding ground of incidents. Even cockroaches aren't that resilient."

"Oi."

"Do I need to elaborate?"

"Shiho…"

As they entered the room, Masumi discerned who her captors were. One is tall, and the other is short. They looked like Dumb and Dumber from the movies she watched. A tall man with buck teeth and a bowl-shaped haircut approaches her and grabs her by the collar. He pulled her up roughly. With his breath reeking of cigar smoke and alcohol, Masumi had to work twice as hard not to gag.

"What are you doing?" his companion, the dwarf, asked. He was two heads shorter but quite pudgy. His eyes were beady like an insect's.

"Interrogating, idiot," he snapped, clearly annoyed by his partner's lack of awareness.

"He said not to hurt her."

"Well, he wanted information! So unless you have a better approach, fuck off."

The dwarf snorts before dismissing the taller man. "Fine, do whatever you want, but don't come whining when he berates you."

When the tall man wraps his hands around Masumi's collar again, she grimaces. The rope tightened against her legs as she was forced forward. Masumi was overcome with pain, and she cried out.

"You know why you're here, Aoi-chan!"

As suspected, they had mistaken her for the runaway teenager. It was a glaringly obvious blunder but one that her captors hadn't realized yet.

An advantage—she could probably use.

Though nervous, Masumi couldn't resist the smirk that curled on her lips. These idiots. She'll take them down if necessary.

"Tell us where you've hidden it! You ungrateful bitch!"

He was shouting at her, and Masumi took the chance to spit at him. He released her, cursing at the sudden assault, and before she knew it, something sharp was forced against her neck. The contact shocked Masumi, causing her to freeze.

Well…this wasn't good.

She might have gone too far.

"Where," voice dangerously low, eyeing her with a threatening glint, "Have you kept it."

"Better answer, Aoi-chan," the dwarf warned, "You know Daiki here doesn't play around."

Daiki pressed down on the dagger.

"I don't know," she spat, "What you're talking about."

A glance was exchanged between the two men in the gloomy basement. Masumi held her breath before crying out. Daiki had kicked the chair she was tied to. Having crashed to the ground, Masumi had little time to react when his companion kicked her in the chest.

Trying to regain her senses, she was pulled back into a sitting position. Taking Masumi by the hair, Daiki forces her to look at him. "Where is it!?"

Through the haze, Masumi felt anger rising in her chest. It fizzed like a soda pop, and she snorted. The men were taken aback by her behavior. She would not cry. She could not succumb to these assholes. Glaring at them, she smirks.

"How should I know?"

"You!" Again, the dagger was placed against her throat, and she chuckled.

"Do you think that's a wise decision?" she sneered, and they paused at her blatant lack of fear.

"I have no time for your tricks, girl. Tell me where it is or—"

"I have an accomplice," Masumi states, and they release her.

"You're bluffing!" the dwarf shouted, about to rush at her, when Masumi laughed louder than before.

"Check my pockets if you don't believe me," she countered, and the men hesitated. "If I don't make it back alive, the police would be here in minutes, and there would be nothing you could do to stop them."

"Don't you dare play with us!" Daiki roared. When he raised his fist to strike her, Masumi closed her eyes.

There was static in the stagnant air, and her detective boy badge clinked to life in her pocket. A menacing voice echoes through the chambers as she sits in her makeshift jail.

"Touch her," Okiya Subaru warned, carrying a deep timbre, chilling that of even seasoned criminals, "And you'll regret it."

Shuu-nii!

"Haunted," Shiho murmured. After trekking from the only serviceable hotel, they were now an hour away from working facilities.

Minakami is a small onsen town popular with locals and tourists. It was a great vacation spot during summer and winter because of its lush greenery and trails leading up to Mount Tanigawa. Though, it wasn't the tourist place they were interested in. Shiho had searched for a possible location using Hotel Juraku's waning wifi connection. Narrowing down the possibilities, the shrunken teenagers eventually reached a conclusive deduction. Based on Eiji Tanaka's sordid clothes and likely status, Shinichi assumed the teenage girl must be the same. Runaways, who, at the moment, are caught in something too big for them.

Scrolling through the relic of internet jargon, Shiho had made a startling discovery. Just an hour's walk from Minakami was an abandoned town. Bustling in the mid-90s, it was left to rot after a series of economic downturns. All that was left of the former grandiose structure was a collection of decaying buildings.

As he strolled through the winding mud path, Shinichi was blown away by the splendor of the Tone River. Small waterfalls formed into roaring swells of whitewater. They could hear the rush of the falls as they trekked through a poorly maintained road. There was a winding pass that sloped upwards. Overgrown branches and roots bled into the cracked concrete. On the road, worn street lamps lined the sides. The majority of them were dead, but there were a few that flickered occasionally as flying insects swarmed around them.

After emerging from the undergrowth, they turned a corner and were greeted by the swirling rush of the Tone River. A shaky bridge stood between them and the towering spidery silhouettes of ruinous buildings.

An omnipresent gloom covered the town as dark purple clouds gathered above. The silvery sheen on the moon is not enough to mask its sinister atmosphere. Shiho inspected the bridge they were about to cross cynically using the flashlight on her detective badge.

"Why am I not surprised?" she muttered. Having twigs and leaves in her hair, Shiho looked positively miserable. "It would be a simple mission, you said," she grumbled, as he took her hand in his, "A meet-and-greet session."

"Well, sometimes in life," Shinichi drags her forward. "Some detours have to be made."

"Some detours? Shinichi, I would be a millionaire if I had a penny for every detour we made."

"Wouldn't that be great? Financial stability for life," he retorts, and she snorts.

When they took their first steps on the bridge, an icy gust blew past, and it gave a low groan, creaking creepily. Obviously, it had not been used for a long time, and the rusting steel bars that held it over the rivers below were worn.

"It looks like we'll be swimming," Shiho said snidely, "on our next detour."

"You may prefer that," Shinichi points to the structures ahead, "but I much prefer to be crushed by unstable buildings."

Having crossed the bridge into the nameless abandoned town, Shinichi could only stare at the derelict imposing structures. The buildings built in the 1970s have architectural details reflecting the era. The building's walls are lined with small tiles, and steel signs hang loosely from its hinges. Shinichi notices circular windows that exhibit cracks.

It was—huge.

"And how do we narrow down our search, great detective?" Shiho sensed his dilemma.

Rather than a small town filled with just a few buildings, Shinichi was greeted by a metropolis of towering high-rises and modest traditional Japanese houses. Cracked concrete streets led into narrow alleys with remnants of the past. There are a few broken garbage cans, some furniture, and often-used plastic bottles holding soda or beer.

Some windows had towels hanging from them, and occasionally bent pipes were scattered on the ground.

There are alleyways leading to smaller streets and then a crumbling road that leads down a circular path. While strolling through, they came across more shuttered Onsen hotels and souvenir shops. The entrances of these buildings were sealed off with yellow tape covered with a thick layer of dirt.

"Looks like we can remove them from our extensive," Shinichi stressed, peering at the locked, unopened doors, "Search list."

"One down, a hundred more to go," Shiho steps into a rundown convenience store. "Great."

"Patience, Shiho," Shinichi jumped over a crack in the pavement and shone the torch into another building. No signs of forced entry were evident, and multiple pieces of furniture blocked the entrance. Shinichi ruled it out.

"Right..." Shiho leads them into a roundabout.

There were more towering buildings here, forming an urban mess of steel pipes, concrete, and dilapidated structures. Some yellow seals had been split apart. Vandals and Urban hunters leave traces of their activities. Graffiti was rife, covering vast sections of cracked walls and gates.

"Patience was it," she eyed him as he gave an unimpressed grunt.

Well…looks like they'll be here for a while.

Eventually, they turned a corner after combing the streets for a while. Catching sight of another circular path. There was a deteriorating neighborhood here. Shinichi stopped and shared a glance with Shiho, who could only shine a torch at the source.

Their attention was drawn to a European-style house. With sloping roofs and falling tiles, the ceiling of its foyer had collapsed, crashing onto the once immaculate oak wood doors blocking the main entrance. Overgrown with vines and wild shrubbery, the white marble walls had become worn with time. No difference existed between this modest dwelling and other similarly styled houses nearby.

Yet—

"Shinichi," Shiho pointed to the makeshift entrance beside the blocked entrance. The piece was made of flimsy plywood. As with a door, it was attached to a broken pipe that formed a hinge. It had been made not too long ago.

Shiho pushed it open, and Shinichi peered in.

Although it was dark inside, there was no hint of the stale stench associated with abandoned houses. Stranger still was the absence of broken glass...or debris on the ground. Almost as if someone had attempted to clean the house.

Smirking slightly, Shinichi made his way in.

"Quite a steal," Shiho muttered. Shinichi notices an antique rotary phone perched on top of a shoe cabinet by the foyer. After approaching it, Shiho shines a light on the framed pictures beside it.

They were caked in a thick layer of dirt, and Shinichi swept them away. It featured a six to a seven-year-old girl. With blonde hair and light green eyes, she was positively beaming. She was holding a freshly caught fish while standing in a stream. In the following framed photographs, Shinichi saw the same girl.

The previous owners? Foreigners?

They walked into the living room through the hallway. Shinichi noticed fresh footprints on the wooden floors, and his interest was piqued. After spotting the staircase leading to the second floor, Shiho, who was studying the layout, stopped him.

"We should split up, cover more ground," she suggested, motioning to the kitchen beside the living room.

"No, too dangerous. We must stick together. We don't know if—"

"Shinichi," she insistently declines, "there is not much time left for Sera-san. We must proceed as quickly as possible."

While he was reluctant to leave her alone, he knew she had a point.

"Look, worrywart," Shiho lifts the detective badge and her phone, "I have this. If anything happens, you have the means to track me."

And he relents. "Fine, but Shiho—"

"Yes, yes," she waved him away, Shiho moved into the crumbling kitchen, and he sighed.

Shinichi scanned the peeling wallpaper as he ascended the creaking stairs. Various paintings were pinned to the walls. Although amateurish, they were rather pretty drawings of mountains, vases, and fruit baskets.

The 2nd floor was cleaner. There was a lack of dust on the rotten floorboards. As he shines his phone's flashlight across the lonely hallway, he turns to the first room he sees. The rotted doors were slightly ajar, and he pushed them open with his feet.

He spotted overturned futons after shining a torch into the room. Recently purchased, they were thrown to the side. The old sheets that used to cover the old furniture, used as makeshift curtains, were torn apart. A cracked mirror also adorned an old antique dressing table and a broken two-legged bed that had sunk to one side. A cabinet was beside the futons, and in between was a knee-height plastic table that was upside down. There were traces of snacks scattered on the wooden floorboards, including potato chips and cup noodles. An electric kettle was also thrown to the side, it's cover broken and hanging limply.

Shinichi crunched on the magazines and pamphlets strewn across the floor. There were job advertisements for menial work, which solidified Shinichi's suspicions.

Squatters. They were squatters who had taken temporary residence here, and if Shinichi was right—

He spots it. The shimmery sheen of a plastic card. Despite its torn appearance, it bore the face of the girl who stabbed Eiji just hours earlier. Aoi Nakamura, 17, a student.

They had found it. The location Sera's captors were supposed to bring her to.

As Shinichi noticed the bronze-colored splotches across the floor, questions formed. The stain remained after it dried. Shinichi runs his finger down. It was—

Blood.

An attack?

He needed more clues. Opening the cabinet, he looks inside. As expected, he found some sweaters, shirts, and jeans. The clothes were similar to what the girl had been wearing. Then he spots the school uniforms. Two sets of female high school uniforms...different sizes.

Aoi-chan was not alone.

Digging deeper into the cabinets, hoping to find a clue, Shinichi notices a secret compartment. Prying it open, he sneezed at the dust that exploded. As he wrinkled his nose, he retrieved a rusted metallic tin box lodged in place.

Shinichi was sure it belonged to someone other than the runaways taking up temporary residence here. Judging by its condition and the dust that escaped, it appears that it has yet to be discovered by them. For whatever reason, the previous owners had abandoned the house, leaving the tin box behind.

As it had nothing to do with Aoi Nakamura, he dropped it to the ground without giving it a second thought. His search for additional clues regarding Aoi-chan continued when he paused.

A series of faded old photographs spilled out of the tin box, along with a ring. Slowly, Shinichi reaches down and picks them up.

These photographs were taken during a wedding shoot. A series of images shows a young woman standing with a bespectacled man. The man was Japanese with brown-blackish hair and blue eyes, beaming widely and holding her close.

In the next photo, the blonde-haired woman clutching roses stood beside an older man.

A father?

She was probably the same girl he'd seen in the foyer downstairs. The bald, middle-aged man wearing his signature eyepatch stared into the camera with cat-like eyes.

In quick succession, Shinichi flips through the images, gasping as he does so.

No.

It can't be.

This was too much of a—

"Coincidence," Shinichi whirled to the source. Curly blonde hair, ragged coughing, tightly pressed lips, reticent olive green eyes. Hands on her hips, she looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Shinichi, unable to find his voice, could not prevent her from snatching the photographs.

"Hey—"

A slow smirk crossed her lips as she studied the pictures.

"This," she faced him, "Isn't how I envisioned our first meeting to be."

"APTX4869," he uttered unwittingly.

"Ah, yes…my sister's curse, was it?" In her shrunken form, greeting him for the first time, Mary-Sera eyes him with a wry grin.

"Care to explain the situation?" Shoving the images into his hands. "Kudou Shinichi."

Episodes used:

Episode 1046 :D

Ok, now we're getting there :D.

I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter. Thank you for all the reviews and feedback, and have a nice week ahead :D