File Thirty-One: The Seventh Detective
When Conan finally left the restroom, after splashing some water into his face to wash both the dried blood and tears, he found somebody standing right next to the door. One look at the strawberry blonde girl he definitely hadn't expected to see there and Conan sighed, loudly.
He silently waited for her to tease him for the sorry state he currently was in. But she didn't.
Instead, she simply passed him something. Conan stared at the golden credit card on his hands for a moment, before frowning a bit.
"Shinichi-san asked me to give this to you," she explained at him.
"Yeah, thanks," his reply was weak, since he feeling drained after everything that had happened. That coward...
Haibara just nodded at him, barely glancing at him as he walked right past her before pressing his lips a bit. She turned around and watched him go around the corner.
So she hurried to go follow him.
"Edogawa-kun," she called, making sure of using that name in case there were people around.
Conan just glanced at her, letting her know that she had his attention.
"Pass by the Professor's tomorrow," Haibara said to him. "Yoshida-san and the others wanted to prepare you a surprise party. We could really use your help with it."
"... Aren't surprise parties supposed to be, you know, a surprise?"
"I decided against the surprise factor. Knowing you, you would just figure it out in record time and spoil everything," she clarified, with a shake of her head. "So, will you be there?"
A faint, timid smile drew itself in his features. Almost untraceable and non-existent, but it was there. Then, the boy nodded, before continuing his way.
Ai let out a relieved sigh. Maybe there was hope for him after all.
Ran truly didn't know what to do. Maybe she should leave?
The waitress had told her about something that had happened twenty years ago in this restaurant. A young man had taken a girl to have dinner when a murder, just like this time, had been committed. He had easily solved it and then loudly proposed with the young woman he had come with.
She thought back at Shinichi's embarrassed and equally serious face... It couldn't be, could it?
Yet, on the other hand, she had heard that the murder had already been solved and the culprit had been taken away. Even so, Shinichi had yet to return.
She wondered what was taking him that long.
At the sound of footsteps coming her way, she glanced away from the window, only to meet with Conan's conflicted eyes. At the sight of the little boy that should definitely not be there, the girl blinked, feeling completely lost.
He forced a sweet smile, and only then Ran noticed his eyes looked red and puffy, as if he had been crying. Naturally, she worried. What could have possibly happened to cause this little boy to actually shed some tears?
But when he took out a credit card and placed it on top of the table, she finally realized what was happening.
"Where is Shinichi?" she asked him.
"Uh..." the child seemed to hesitate. "Shinichi-niichan got a call on his phone. He had a lot of trouble with the case he was on, and left in a hurry."
Ran's smile gradually dropped. "I see," she whispered, her eyes focusing on her hands, that rested on top of the table. "He..." her hands curled into fists. "He left me again."
Conan could only stare at the older girl as her tears gathered in her eyes. And it hurt him, a lot. It hurt the little boy's already aching heart to see her suffer like this.
She had waited for him. All this time. Then, when she had thought that he had finally gotten back to stay, as it always had been, he had suddenly vanished without saying goodbye.
... But it was Conan's fault, right?
Some part of his mind wouldn't stop bugging him about it. That he had ruined their date by telling him to leave. That he should have stopped his brother before he disappeared behind the door.
But he lied to me, to us, to everyone... He was doing all that stuff behind our back.
He is... He is...
Conan frowned.
Oniichan is a murderer.
And it really hurt to think about it.
A little voice on the back of his head still screamed at him. That he was wrong, that there was no way his brother could do such a thing. But he willed it to shut up. Experience had taught him that denial wouldn't get him anywhere.
Like so, he focused on the girl sobbing in front of him.
"H-Hey," he began. "Shinichi-niichan said-"
"No, stop it!" she furiously shook her head, firmly pressing her hands against her ears. "I don't want to hear it!"
The little boy just contemplated the girl, silently.
"... I don't want to hear any more excuses."
Conan didn't move, just gazed at her while his mouth pressed into a thin line, before a frown appeared on his face. Slowly, his eyes closed and his head lowered, gravely.
"Shinichi-niichan said..." he spoke, softly. "... 'Someday. Someday, I'll definitely return," slowly, the girl turned to face him. "... even if I die. That's why..." her hands dropped as her eyes widened. "... That's why..." his gaze lifted as he stared into her eyes. "... I want you to wait for me, Ran'..."
He trailed off when Ran suddenly laughed. "Dummy, you don't have to act like that, Conan-kun," she said, as she wiped the tears that had escaped from her eyes. "This is that deduction maniac's fault. He'd go to the ends of earth for a case!" Ran huffed, rather annoyed.
For a moment, the child wondered if he had done the right thing. Was it actually right to tell her to keep waiting for his brother, considering what he had done and what he was?
She then broke into a bright grin, and suddenly all of Conan's doubts washed away with a relieved sigh.
"Oh, yeah! Want some dessert, Conan-kun?"
Without hesitation, the young boy nodded.
"Only if there's cheesecake, though."
Three days had passed ever since and was Friday already.
After the terribly stressful week the Mouri family plus Conan had had, a logical course of action would be to just rest for the weekend.
Yet it seemed like someone out there had other ideas, because that day Ran had picked out a weird, black letter from the mailbox that was 'only for the eyes of the detective Mouri Kogoro-san', as the sender had put it.
Upon opening it, Kogoro had read it outloud:
"Due to your skills, you have been selected to join us at this meal.
We invite you to a party for all great detectives.
─ The shadow child that God abandoned."
Then marveled at the sight of a two billion yen check that Conan had found inside.
As a result, Conan was sitting at the backseat as Kogoro was making paying for the rental car Ran and him were in. He watched him from the window for a moment, before glancing at the letter Kogoro had carelessly left at his side.
The shadow child that God abandoned, huh? he took it between his hands and turning it over, a curious look on his eyes. There's no doubt that it means that person, but... This is so unlike him.
Not only the colour and style were wrong, but there was something missing else. He wouldn't just send it over without drawing that annoying little thing, right?
Sighing tiredly, Conan leaned back. This isn't making any sense, he groaned, when something else caught his eye. Kogoro appeared behind an opening door, the shop clerk following close, pointing some little things to the man about the car.
Kogoro turned around as soon as he was finished, and the clerk watched him go for a moment until he felt someone staring at him.
Looking back at the car, he spotted a pair of blue eyes studying him, curiously. So, with a friendly smile, he waved at to the little boy.
Who didn't even blink, just ducked out of sight. The clerk just sighed once he couldn't see him anymore and continued his way.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, with Kogoro driving and the other two talking with each other. At least, until a few hours had passed since nightfall.
Conan was woken up suddenly by a loud sound and the violent shaking of the car. Peeking his head out the window and looking down, it didn't take the little boy long to find the cause of it ─ a flat tire. If things couldn't get any worse, Kogoro soon found out they didn't have a spare.
Luckily, however, Conan spotted a gasoline nearby. So, the man went there.
When he returned, the trio resumed their journey. They went through a shortcut the clerk had told him about, through the forest, which quite honestly made the child worry that they wouldn't get anywhere, and finally they were back on route. Then, Ran sighed.
"Geez, that was something," Kogoro commented.
"But he was right about it being a shortcut," Conan pointed out. "Because it's just over there, right?"
True to his words, there it was. Standing on a clif in the distance was a large castle, surrounded by a forest. It was kind of creepy looking and, being honest, it reminded Conan of those he would see in cheap scary movies.
"It's more like Dracula's Manor than Sunset Mansion," the child could only agree with Kogoro's comment.
"Hey Dad, are we really going there?" predictably so, Ran was frightened at the prospect. "It's scary..."
"Fool we can't refuse this offer even though it's strange. Whoever it was sent us two million yen."
"Besides, what are you so afraid of, Ran-neechan?" Conan pipped in. "Dracula doesn't even exist. He's just a character somebody came up with one day."
Ran just gave him a look and laughed, nervously. "Not everyone can just rationalize their fears like you do, Conan-kun."
Conan shrugged, and said nothing about it. Mostly because he had noticed that, for less than a second, there was an amused expression on Kogoro's face. Which didn't quite fit. In these situations, the man would probably be annoyed, irritated or something along these lines.
"Seriously, kid," he shook his head. "Can't you even be afraid of ghosts, or something, like a normal child?"
"Why? They are not real," he blinked, innocently. "For example, it's not like a lady with a scary face is about to suddenly appear in the middle of this road and-"
"Dad, watch out!"
Suddenly the car skidded to a stop, causing Conan to grab into his seat so he wouldn't fall forward. Once recovered, the child looked up to see a scary looking, old woman standing in the middle of the rain, holding an umbrella.
Oh, the irony.
"You shouldn't be driving so fast when it's raining," the woman said, her expression not changing a bit.
"And you shouldn't be standing on the middle of the road, in the dark," Conan deadpanned, while taking his head out the window.
"Conan-kun!" instantly, Ran scolded him lightly, before turning to the old lady with a polite smile. "I'm sorry for that, Madam. Is something wrong?"
"As you can see," she motioned with her head to a car, parked in the side of the road. "My cute little car's engine has failed. I've been waiting for someone to come by."
"... In the middle of the road?"
"Conan-kun!"
The old woman just smiled at him, simply amused, before walking towards Kogoro's window to ask him if they would give her a ride to the castle, where she was going as well. The man let her in, and she sat right beside Conan on the backseat.
An uncomfortable, long silence ensued.
At least, until Ran asked her father if they could hurry up because she had to use the toilet. Only then, the woman raised her eyes from the book she had been reading and said to Ran:
"Young lady, it isn't my place but at my elementary school, we used to say: 'Those who do well respect their chances. Those who pass on chances may never be presented with that chance again'," she smiled. "Why didn't you go back at the gasoline stand?"
Everyone blinked. "Obaa-san," Conan called, simply confused. "How did you know that we stopped at a gasoline stand?"
"It's very simple, my child," she said, kindly, at the kid. "See that ashtray over there? It's empty, and there's a spent cigarette below it. If he smoked so many that you dropped one, you must be a heavy smoker. But since the ashtray is empty, you must have stopped at a gasoline stand about 10 kilometers back."
The little boy couldn't help but awe at her deduction. Then, she introduced herself as Senma Furuyo and everything made more sense. Conan had heard about her after all, she was quite a famous detective.
Understandable, considering she was going to attend a meal for detectives.
She then took the ashtray away from Kogoro, claiming that she hated cigarette smoke. Kogoro sighed, annoyed, and focused back into the road.
In no time they arrived at the place. As they were welcomed inside the mansion by the maid, together with another detective they had met at the entrance, Detective Mogi Harufumi, Conan couldn't help but look around, amazed.
People used to said that his house was big, but now he saw how wrong they had been. This was big, he realized while the maid asked them to place their umbrellas on the stand. Then, he watched her rush towards somebody he recognized as the Cooking Detective, Ogami Shukuzen, who had just called her a few moments ago. He began to yell at her after being told that the chef had just called in sick, and decided to cook for everyone instead.
The maid apologized to the rest after he was gone.
"What do you plan to do here by inviting four detectives to the mountains?" asked Senma.
"Ah, no, actually, six detectives have been invited to meet here," the main replied, a bit unsure. "There's also a woman and a boy."
"A boy?" Ran's head perked at that. "Could it be Shinichi?"
She couldn't help but notice the way Conan shifted, uncomfortably, at the prospect. It left as soon as it came, probably after realizing his disconformity was showing. "It can't be," he pointed out, a fake smile on his face. "It must be Hattori-san."
"No, we wished to have those two here but were unable to get them."
The maid continued talking about something, but Ran didn't really pay attention. Instead, she noticed the little boy's smile drop, briefly, lips pressing together into a thin line. A sigh escaped him, barely audible, while his head dropped slightly, letting the light refract on his eyes, hiding his feelings from the entire world.
And it truly confused the girl. Shinichi had suddenly left not that long ago, without notice, so it should be obvious that the little boy would be worried about him. But to see him this upset after hearing his name?
If she didn't know any better, she would've said the child was relieved his brother was not here.
He suddenly looked up to the maid when he heard that the she had absolutely no idea of who her employer was. She had just arrived to a room with a computer in there, before the words 'we will use you' suddenly showed up on the screen. All instructions had been sent by mail after that.
"My, this is interesting," Senma smiled. "I'm getting excited now."
"I've been excited since I noticed the pattern on the door," Mogi nodded.
"Eh?" Ran blinked.
"Over there, Ran-neechan," Conan pointed at the door. "There's someone else's dried blood."
"... Blood...?"
The bad feeling came back in full force, looking at the gates to realize that, yes, there were some dark spots on the door. "D-Don't say stuff like that, Conan-kun," her lips twitched upward. "It could just be some mud or..."
"That little boy is right," a female voice suddenly said. Looking up the staircase, a woman was spraying something on the rails. "It's not just the door, there's blood on the walls and handrails. I guess someone tried to wipe the blood away. There's still blood all over this mansion, however."
Conan frowned slightly at her words, as he watched the woman he recognized as Detective Soda Ikumi, before noticing somebody looking at them from the second floor.
"That's impressive," he spoke up, causing everyone else to notice his presence. "Luminol."
As this detective explained this to them, the child analyzed this weird guy. While he was older than him ─ obviously ─ Conan could tell he quite young. Probably was as old as Ran. Another high school detective, huh?
He seems familiar... Where have I seen this guy?
"My name is Hakuba Saguru," even if slight and almost non-existent, Conan noticed an accent. British? he wondered. "It's nice to meet you."
"Hakuba?" Kogoro gasped. "As in Police Chief Hakuba?"
"Yes, my father is the Police Chief Hakuba you're thinking of, Mouri-san."
Then he whistled. Everyone was surprised to see a hawk come from the window to land into his hand. This guy... has a hawk? Conan laughed, dryly. Now, that's being a show off.
And it turned out his name was Watson. At least he's naming a bird, not a human baby, he realized, lightly scolding himself from projecting so much, before following everyone to the living room.
When they finally were called to the dinner room, the group was met with a cloaked figure on the edge of a big table. The host was wearing a phantom-like purple hood with two eye slits, that, alone, gave him quite a bad feeling.
There was also a wall clock behind the man, but the hands were not moving. For a moment, the child wondered if it had run off batteries or something.
Despite all that, they all proceeded to take a seat.
"So, the reason I have called you six here is a simple one," the host spoke. "I want you all to find the treasure hidden in this place... by risking your lives."
Before anybody could ask what he meant with that, a loud sound boomed through the room. It turned out this host didn't have the intention of letting them leave, even if that meant setting bombs in every single car. He also informed them he had cut the bridge, and that their phones wouldn't have any reception in a place like this.
So they were trapped.
Mogi got so mad he tried to unmask him, but he only found a speaker beneath the hood.
"Then, who is behind all this?" Kogoro asked, stunned.
"My, I'm surprised you don't know, Mouri-san," Ikumi commented. "It was on the invitation."
Looking around, the man soon noticed that every single detective in the room was smirking, probably knowing well enough what that strange signature at the end meant.
"Kid, the Phantom Thief," Saguru said, in perfect English, eyes narrowing. "Out of all my cases... It was he who engineered one that I wasn't able to solve... Kaito KID!"
At that moment Conan realized where he had seen Hakuba. Back when he had been researching about Kaito KID before the Black Star Heist he had seen this detective's face on several articles. From what he could tell, this guy was obsessed with catching the thief.
Why he was that obsessed, the child didn't have a clue. Maybe is a matter of pride, he guessed.
Their final meals, as the host called them, arrived right after that. Yet, Conan's thoughtful expression did not change, even after the plate was set in front of him. Even so, there's something that doesn't add up, he glanced around. I only met him once, but even I know this is definitely not his style.
He frowned. But that doesn't mean he isn't around us.
Just to be in the safe side, all the guests decided to play rock-paper-scissors to determine their seats and wiped their plates, cups and forks, in case the host had the brilliant idea of poisoning them. And like so, they began to eat.
Once finished, the man in the speaker began to talk. He told them to take a look at their utensils. So, everyone did as they were told.
Conan turned his spoon over, taking in all the details and not failing to notice the figure engraved on it, and in everything else in the place. There was a sinister looking bird resting in a twig. A crow, he noted, with a shudder. Why is this... this bad feeling every single time I look at this?
He couldn't tell why, but a chill ran down his back as his stared at this bird's cold eyes. I'm just being silly, he sighed. It's just an ordinary crow, like any other.
"So, now you get it? This mystery is much deeper than it seems," he announced. "It's the seal of Karasuma Renya!"
... Karasuma Renya?
The man behind the speaker then told them about a tragedy that happened in that very same place, Karasuma's Villa, forty years ago. After the owner's death, an auction had been held to sell of his many properties. Everything had been going alright, until two travelers came, asking for shelter since it was raining, heavily. The man behind the auction had refused, at least until he had been offered some kind of leaves he smoked just like tobacco. His attitude had changed right after that.
Marijuana, Conan guessed.
Long story short, everyone had also taken the same drug and chaos took hold. They all had attacked each other, in a crazy haze, and that auction ended up becoming a complete massacre.
And now, this man wanted those detectives to re-enact what had happened that night.
"On the night that the two men glanced to the night sky," the man decided to give them a hint. "The King leapt for his treasures and ran about the palace. The Queen cried away all of her tears into a goblet. And the Knight expelled his own blood."
The King, the Queen and the Knight... Cards? Conan thought, before his eyes fell on the clock from before. A slight smirk appeared on his face. I see, so that's it...
Then, they were told that the one that found the treasure would have to go to the fourth floor and enter the passcode. He promised them that that person would receive half of the treasure and a way out of that scary place.
He glanced back at the rest, who were all intently listening to this mysterious man. It's too early to do anything, he turned to the speaker and frowned. At least, not until I figure out who this person is.
Detective Ogami had been poisoned. He had collapsed right after the host had stopped talking, and death had been instant.
And as it turned out, Senma had also been killed. Mouri, Mogi and the old woman had gone in the maid's car to check out the surroundings, when it suddenly exploded when the two men were outside. It had gone down the cliff, in flames, leaving no doubt about the lady's survival.
By the smug grin Mogi had when he told them about what had happened and the way Ikumi and Hakuba's eyes sharpened, Conan could tell they also knew. They had most likely also seen the woman reach for the dime back when they were deciding who was going to go.
Yeah, just like the one she had used to check for poison in Ogami's tea before.
"What should we do?" Ran wondered.
"Say, why don't we do as that person told us to?" Conan chirped, with an innocent glint on his eyes, before everyone turned to him, confusion written all over their faces. "You know," his smile, for a second, shifted into a confident grin. "Re-enacting what happened forty years ago."
Kogoro scoffed. "Are you crazy, brat?" he raised an eyebrow. "If we were to kill each other here, you wouldn't make it out of here alive."
"That's true... Can't we just pretend we are, though?" the other detectives were startled by this boy's oprds. "Come on, we should hurry and plan it out! Before that person returns!"
"... Returns?" the man blinked.
At those words, Mogi laughed, loudly. "You're sharper than you look, kid," he exclaimed, reaching to mess with the child's hair. He didn't appreciate it, though.
"What do you mean?" Ran asked, genuinely confused.
"He means that the host is hiding in the forest, waiting for us to scramble away so she can go in without us noticing," Ikumi smirked. "Because the host is none other than Senma-san herself."
And the three, Kogoro, Ran and the maid, gasped.
"Before that," Hakuba added, sliding his hands inside his pockets. "Why don't we all go wash our hands?"
True to the little boy's words, an hour or so later Detective Senma sat on her chair behind a screen, tiredly rubbing her face with her hands after seeing Mogi dropping into the floor, poisoned after putting a cigarette on his mouth. Everyone, every single detective was dead.
Yet, nobody had found anything.
Suddenly, the camera feed was gone. Turning around, in shock, she noticed something on the computer. Letters were slowly being typed.
The passcode?! Who's doing it?
The six detectives were dead, after all.
Her eyes then went wide once the message was finished:
"I've found the treasure.
I know the secret.
Meet me at the entrance.
─ The Seventh Detective."
The old lady quickly stood up, shocked about those words. Just... That couldn't be it. There wasn't a seventh detective. She had only invited six of them. Six.
Upon arriving at the destination, she was stunned to find the little figure leaning against the wall. "The one who set the bomb in the car wouldn't get in unless they were committing suicide. That is unless, it was to camouflage the case by faking your explosive death," smirk on place, the young boy raised up his sharp gaze to meet with the woman's stunned one. "Isn't that right, Detective Senma?"
She didn't say anything, just listened in quiet shock at the child told her what he had correctly deducted. Senma had escaped from the explosion, hid on the forest then made her way back to the mansion. Then, she had begun watching everyone's move from the cameras.
Also, she had killed Ogami. They had been in this together, but she had betrayed him and killed him instead. She knew, after all, that the detective had an habit to chew on his fingernails. Which was also the reason the maid had been picked. They had thought she would be an easy kill.
"At the end of the bloody writing on the piano, there's a name," he continued, clearly referencing that clue he had found with Kogoro and Mogi. "Senma Kyosuke. That is..."
"My father's name," the old woman finally confessed.
As it turned out, Senma Kyosuke had been an archeologist summoned to the Sunset Mansion for a job forty years ago, who really wanted to find that treasure. He would send letters and money, but before long, they stopped coming. It wasn't until much later that she had discovered a secret message on it. It was about the code and the murders in that mansion.
She had told Ogami and he had tried to find the treasure. But couldn't, so he had decided to use KID's name to attract the detectives. He had been the one who thought about killing the maid, yet little had he known that he would die instead.
"You know," Conan commented, entering the dinner room. "It seems like your father solved the code."
"Eh?"
He didn't answer right away, just climbed up the fireplace to reach the wall clock. "This is why," the boy said, and started turning the hands. "Left thirteen, left twelve, and... Finally right eleven."
To the child's surprise the clock fell. Some of the paint had been chipped off, letting them know that it was pure gold. At that, Senma sighed, lamenting the fact that her father had died for something like that.
"Like you said, Senma-san," the kid turned to her, a serious expression on his little face. "Where is the way out?"
"There is no way out," she confessed. "I planned to just die here."
"It's just as I thought!"
The old detective flinched at the unknown voice, then snapped her head around to see all six detectives standing on the doorway, very much alive. Then, she glanced back at the child, who grinned sheepishly, and she couldn't help but glare at him.
"Now," Mogi said. "The last thing is getting out of here."
Just as he said that, a weird sound started sounding on their ears. Before they could ask anything, Hakuba casually spoke.
"Oh, that's probably the police helicopter," everyone just looked at him. "I tied a message to Watson's ankle and told him to take it to my grandmother that had parked just over the cliff. Thank goodness I marked the roof of the car for him!"
At those words, Conan couldn't help but raise his eyebrow. "He could've said that earlier..." he said, softly, under his breath.
Unknown to the other kid, somebody else wholeheartedly agreed to that statement.
That bastard Hakuba...
"So you're eighteen, huh?"
Kogoro paused and turned around. Everyone else was focused on the helicopter that was about to land and save them from this cursed mansion, except for this kid. He had just said that, low enough for him to hear, with an annoyingly smug grin on his face.
"What do you mean with that, brat?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow.
"You took us here by car, which means you know how to drive. For that, you need to be at least eighteen," he pointed out. "When I first saw you the other time I thought you were around sixteen or seventeen, so you being nineteen or older is kind of pushing it a bit... Which means you're eighteen."
"What are you even-?"
"Even if you're pretending to be Occhan, you're not that dumb," Conan scoffed. "You definitely know what I'm talking about, KID-san."
The man just blinked a bit at him, twice, before he recovered, lips curving into a wide shark grin that definitely did not match with Kogoro's face. The child would even say it was a bit creepy to see it there.
"Impressive as always," a younger voice came out from Kogoro's mouth. "Tantei-kun."
"Are you making it an habit to call me that?" asked Conan, groaning a little.
"Probably," KID shrugged. "So, how did you know it was me?"
"I kept my eye on you, and it was clear after I realized Occhan didn't even touch one cigarette for an entire day. Even after Senma-san's fake death," the child commented before continuing walking. "Besides, I knew you would be around from the moment I saw the letter. Black is not your style, you didn't draw that stupid doodle at the end of it," Conan gave him a smirk. "And Kaito KID wouldn't just hide his involvement under a secret alias. He would let every single soul know about his involvement."
"Oh~?" it was KID's turn to smirk. "I didn't know you were a fan."
"Idiot. I did some research, like any self-respecting detective would."
KID held his hands up, not even attempting to discuss this with that boy ─ there weren't soccer balls, or any kind of ball, around, but he wouldn't be surprised if the child suddenly found something similar to break his nose. He still had nightmares about the way he had shattered a phone with a regular soccer ball at that time so he definitely didn't want to test his limits.
"So, what are you going to do now?" KID questioned. "Are you going to catch me?"
Conan crossed his arms behind his head. "You didn't steal anything, so what's the point?" he sighed. "You're free to go, for now."
"Ah, that's very kind from your part."
"You should think of something quickly, though," he added, with a innocent grin. "You will be in deep trouble, otherwise. "
Then the kid left the thief, catching up with the group right away and climbing up into the helicopter. Kaito stared at his back, curiously, before he met with a pair of chocolate eyes, piercing through his head.
Poker face, he reminded himself, as he went into the helicopter as well, doing his best to ignore Hakuba's piercing gaze. ... Poker face...
Luckily for the moonlight thief, Senma threw herself from the helicopter, causing him to ditch his disguise to go after her, so he could escape before Hakuba had the chance something about him.
As he flew through the air with his hang glider, he watched the way the walls of the Sunset Mansion crumbled away, letting everyone see that the building was actually made of gold.
In spite of it all, Conan couldn't help but smirk. I see, he realized, noticing the way the last rays of the sun reflected on the castle's walls, giving out a beautiful golden glimmer. It really is the Sunset Mansion.
Giving it another last glance, Conan stepped back from the helicopter's door, hands sliding inside his pockets. He paused, however, when he noticed something brushing against his fingers. He didn't, did he...?
Knowing better than to pull it off in a tight space surrounded by detectives, he waited until they were at the gas station ─ he had correctly guessed that was the place where the switch between KID and Kogoro had been made and, therefore, the place where the Ran's father would be in ─ and, after making sure Kogoro was busy complaining about the thief with his daughter, he pulled it off.
A fancy-looking white card met his eyes.
"Good job, Tantei-kun.
As much as I am amazed by your terrific deductive abilities, there was something amiss with your deduction.
You shall not forget that not everything is as it seems."
Conan raised an eyebrow. "Not everything is as it seems...?" he wondered, before he understood. Eh? So he isn't eighteen?
That means... He was driving without a license?
Looking back at the card he noted that the drawing was missing, so he turned it over. As expected, there was something else written:
"Now, don't be so surprised. I'm a criminal, if you hadn't noticed."
The child resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Even if he wasn't talking face to face with him, this thief was as insufferable as he was in person.
"I hope you come to one of my heists one day, Tantei-kun. Maybe, that way, you will have a reason enough to catch me.
If you can, that is.
See you, next illusion.
─ Your favorite magician, Kaito KID."
This time the smiling doodle at the end of the card wasn't missing. Conan blinked at it for a couple of seconds before sighing, suddenly exhausted and irritated, and placing the card back on his pocket.
He would make sure to burn it once he got back home.
A/N:
ajjr12: For your first question, yeah, probably. For your second one, sorry. I can't say much at the moment.
Asahina Chihaya: I can't answer any of those questions without spoiling. Sorry about it!
To all those that are wondering about Shinichi's reason for joining the BO, I apologize but for the moment my lips are sealed. I will eventually write about it, though, don't worry.