File Fifty-Eight: The Newscaster's Dark Secret
"Mother crow, why do you squawk so?"
Just like it had appeared, that eerie song instantly vanished from Conan's mind as soon as he shook his head. Then he blinked twice and looked again, and just saw Okino Yoko typing on her phone with a smile plastered all over her face.
He let out a long, heavy sigh.
I need to calm down. Whenever I see someone using a cell phone... I remember Vermouth immediately.
There was no wonder that he did, though.
Spending the entire duration of spring break without any books, enclosed inside the house hadn't been easy. Especially when that meant leaving him alone with his own mind, which wouldn't stop wondering and wondering what that melody was. That sad, melancholic sound he had heard when he was in Jodie's car before.
It wasn't until Kogoro had a case that he had been allowed to come along. There he had met Haga Kyosuke ─ an incredibly skilled musician, who had perfect pitch and had been capable of playing a Stradivarius, and had also killed some people a few days back ─ and asked him about that melody. He had said that it sounded like that children's song, Nanatsu no Ko.
Therefore, he had been able to figure it out. The boss' mail address.
At some point, a certain strawberry blonde scientist had called him to check on him since he wasn't let out, not even to the Professor's. Maybe her gut, or her woman's intuition, had told her that he was about to do something stupid, he didn't know.
But she did, for some reason, and didn't buy his story when he lied and said that there was nothing new. So, he had been forced to confess about his new discovery.
She had been horrified.
"Listen, that mail address is the Pandora's box that you must never open!"
"... It wasn't a box, you know. That greek myth actually talked about a jar. It was a translation mistake- "
"Kudo-kun, your mistake is going to cost you your life. All of our lives, for that matter."
"..."
"Do not even dare to think about it again, do I make myself clear?"
"... Perfectly clear."
At least Haibara's stern voice had stopped him, however, from doing something incredibly reckless...
Such as actually calling.
... Conan guessed he had had brighter ideas than that one.
I wonder, however... I wonder if, beneath it all this evil, we can find the hope we need.
The hope we need to end this. For good.
He figured his horror must have shown on his face, because Ran instantly asked him if there was something wrong, but he shrugged it off with a smile.
That seemed to convince her, or at least, Conan hoped it was enough. Ran had been particularly distrustful of him these days, giving him a suspicious look every once and then when she thought he wasn't looking.
Ran wasn't stupid, Conan knew that. And she knew something was off.
But that didn't mean he was willing to tell her just yet. He had gotten so many people involved, more than he should have.
Conan did the best to shake those thoughts out of his head in favour of sipping into his orange juice. Because Kogoro had been invited on a TV program, with Okino Yoko, they were in the restaurant at that same TV station, having breakfast.
Yoko had said that she would join them later, since there was someone that she wanted to introduce to Kogoro.
Sure enough, the idol came over to them with a woman, whose face was incredibly familiar. Upon a closer look, they realized she was no other but Mizunashi Rena, a famous newscaster.
"Wait, Yoko-chan, are we really going to ask that famous detective for such a thing?" Rena seemed apprehensive, for some reason.
Feeling curious, Conan rested his cheek against his open palm. If, a year ago, someone told me that Occhan was going to be such a famous detective, and that so many famous people were going to ask for his help, I would probably have sent them to an asylum or something. Or tried, at the very least.
"That's fine," Yoko smiled, brightly, as usual. "I'm sure Mouri-san will be a big help."
... Now that I think of it, one of his first clients was Okino Yoko, wasn't she?
He couldn't, for the life of him, imagine the reason why such a famous idol would ask for help from such a lousy detective. Conan shrugged.
As it turned out, Rena's problem was actually a bell-ringer prank. Every Saturday, someone would ring her doorbell early in the morning, but she had never been able to catch whoever it was.
So, they agreed to investigate at her apartment in Haido City.
Conan tried not to wince when the door slammed right into Kogoro's face the moment he rang the bell. Ran gasped, loudly, and Rena worried, almost panicking when she saw him there, bending over.
"You know, it's common knowledge not to stand that close to a door, in case this happens," Conan pointed out, unhelpfully.
Kogoro was far too busy with his gradually bruising nose to do much else but to groan at him, and glare of course.
"At least we found out there's no time to hide," the kid shrugged, before letting himself in, uninvited.
Not that Rena particularly cared, just smiled and let the other two inside as well, and made their way to the living room. Conan slid away from their sight, and backed away to the door.
I swear I will never get used to this, he sighed, chewing on some gum while taking out the hidden microphone and transmitter in his glasses. Well, I guess this is for the greater good, he slowly opened the door and set it up on the side of the door. ... Even if that means sticking chewing gums in walls.
He was glad that nobody was watching him.
... Except that, he had that feeling that, indeed, he was being observed. His eyes fell on the building right across the one he was standing, but he failed to see anything.
Maybe he was imagining things, he supposed.
The 'prankster' turned out to be a little child, a bit younger than Conan, who was worried about Rena. Because she had been moved from Saturdays to Sundays' morning report, he had thought she had been oversleeping, and that was why she wouldn't be there.
"... If she had overslept for that long, I don't think she would be able to maintain that job," Conan pointed out, watching as Rena crouched down to the child, who had just confessed that the reporter looked exactly as his deceased mother.
"Don't be so hard on him, Conan-kun," Ran said to the child. "He's young."
Conan raised an eyebrow. "I am young."
"He's younger than you."
"Even then-"
"Stop it, brat," Kogoro let out a sigh. "It's too early for this."
Conan gave him a long look, before watching the child smile to Rena and rush back home. ... Am I really that different from other children? he wondered, briefly, before glancing at the reporter.
Blinking, confused, he noted that Rena's eyes were watering. "Just..." she wiped them, quickly, when the other two noticed. "I had a little brother of that age back in the days, too..."
If she had teared up just upon remembering him, Conan almost feared knowing what had happened to him. Best case scenario, that woman hadn't seen his brother in a long time and, therefore, missed him dearly. He honestly hoped that was the case.
Whatever it was, the case was solved like that, even if it had turned out to be such a discouraging one for Kogoro, who was grumbling about it the entire way home.
As he talked with his daughter, Conan trailed behind, a rather annoyed expression plastered all over his face. That kid was one or two years younger than me, considering he was in elementary school, his arms crossed behind his head. Isn't he old enough to understand how the world works...?
Or I am the only one? Haibara-san would, and I'm pretty sure Ayumi-chan and the other two would...
... Would they really?
A ring in his pocket caused the child to pull his phone out. Ah, it's him again, he barely gave it any thought, before answering it and pressing the device next to his ear. His calls had gotten more often, he observed, as he maintained a conversation with his brother. Before he would call once a month if I was lucky, but now... I think the frequency has risen to, at least, once a week.
Maybe he was worried, he guessed, but said nothing about it. It wouldn't be so far fetched, considering all those encounters with the men in black ─ he hadn't yet told him about Gin, but it wouldn't be weird if Haibara had told him or Shinichi had found out on his own.
"You sound unusually quiet today," Shinichi then pointed out. "Is there something on your mind?"
Conan hesitated.
"Conan?"
"... Am I weird?"
"Huh?"
With a sigh, the child decided to tell him about that case with the reporter.
"Oh, so he thought that?" Shinichi chuckled. "That's cute."
"How?" he huffed, irritated.
"So, you're worried about how different your thought process is from other children," his brother caught right away. "Is that what's worrying you?"
The child didn't reply, just looking up when something wet hit his shoulder. Oh, rain, he noticed that dark clouds were slowly covering the bright blue sky.
"Well, I guess you've always been like that," the teen continued. "You've always been unsettlingly smart."
Conan gave him a non-committal hum in response, unable to deny that sentence, yet also unable to feel as if it was a compliment at the same time. "I might be, but still was stupid enough to get myself kidnapped," he pointed out.
He didn't miss the way Shinichi paused. It had always been a touchy subject, Conan knew, but he refused to keep it silent any longer..
"Well, that's true," after a while, the teenager conceded. "But if it wasn't for your help, we wouldn't have found you."
The kid blinked. "I thought you found me."
"Yeah, kind of," Shinichi replied. "Even if it had seemed to be accidental, you tore off one of the signs in the billboard and dropped your name tag, which ended up hidden under a cabinet in the struggle. That one had one of the characters of your name scratched off. You used your nails."
"And what does that mean?"
"The character you scratched off was 'Na', and the sign read 'nice to meet you', which, in turn, could be read as yo-ro-shi-ku, or 4649. Together it reads-"
"Na 46-49. I saw him arriving the other day, he has a car."
Conan's eyes widened, and suddenly he was cold, so cold. As if a bucket of icy water had been dropped on him.
Wait a second, didn't that car belong to the Sakura Class' teacher?
But I'm sure. I'm sure he wasn't the one that kidnapped me...
... Could they have been working together, all along?
Then... Then... If only one of them was imprisoned for it...
"What I mean to say, Conan, is that there's nothing wrong with being clever," Shinichi continued, unaware of what was going through the child's mind right now. "So what if you're different from other children your age? It saved your life before. You should be grateful for it."
"... A-Ah," he tried to play along, way too shaken about that realization to say much else. "I see..."
"It was a compliment, you know. You should take it, once in a while."
All of sudden, a creaking sound caused him to blink. Then, some steps and it dawned on him. I forgot to retrieve the wireless tap and the transmitter.
"I need to go, call you later."
Then, without waiting for an answer, Conan ended the call and told Kogoro and Ran he had forgotten something at Rena's house, bolting the other way before he could be stopped.
It had seemed as if Rena had stepped on it, Conan couldn't help but let a humorless laugh at his always terrible luck. That laugh, however, was dissolved into nothing when the sound of a phone powering on was heard.
Then...
Si... La... Sol... La
That certain melody made his skin crawl and horror to decorate his features, while his mind instantly recognized it.
... Nanatsu no Ko?!
It couldn't be, a frown took hold of his face, as the boy forced his feet to run even faster. It couldn't be that Mizunashi-san is...
"Hi... Ah, I'm sorry," sure enough, Rena's voice rang through his ears. "I had a bit of trouble, so I turned off the cell phone... It's fine, it was some ridiculous trouble. I just sent a mail about it to that person."
... That person? unable to believe that this was happening, Conan activated his glasses, so he could see Rena's position.
"Let's meet at 10 o'clock as promised, Gin."
At this point, Conan stopped on his tracks. Gin... She said 'Gin'?! there was no denying it at this point. No, no... This is bad. Without wasting another second, he pulled out his phone and dialed Agasa's number.
Just as the professor answered, he noticed the transmitter had begun to move faster.
His eyes fell on a car, going on the opposite side he was heading to. Mizunashi Rena was at the wheel.
Like I'm letting you get away!
"I called Ran-neechan using your voice and told her you were taking me to Tropical Land," said the child, as soon as he got inside the car. "You better stick with that story."
"A-Ah, okay," Agasa stammered, as he returned to the road. "But why didn't you use your own voice?"
Conan opened his mouth to answer.
"Most likely," just by hearing that voice, coming from the backseat, the boy felt already irritated. "Mouri-san is suspicious about this whole thing, and would be more likely to believe an adult's word than that stubborn, tight-lipped detective over there."
"Why is she here?" pointedly ignoring the scientist, the child sighed, head propped on his hand and eyes fixed on the window beside him. "I thought I told you not to bring her."
Agasa let out a nervous laugh.
"So?" Haibara continued. "Is this Mizunashi Rena really one of them?"
"Unless Gin uses his codename as a friendly nickname with people outside the Organization, I'm pretty sure that's it."
The scientist paled at the mere mention of that name.
"But you were lucky," commented Agasa. "You got your hands on-"
"I just got gum with a wireless tap and transmitter in one of their member's shoes," Conan raised an eyebrow, looking at him as he had said something very stupid. "Before long, they will find it, and will wonder who put it there. And of course, Detective Mouri Kogoro, who was just in that room until now, would be the prime suspect..." his eyes narrowed. "Then, they will definitely..."
"They'll try to silence him," the girl finished for him. "Mouri Kogoro and, if necessary, everyone around him."
Conan didn't say anything else, just frowned deeper. The thought of that, everyone dying because of him, made him physically sick. He couldn't let that happen.
For that, he needed to retrieve that gum as soon as possible.
The transmitter suddenly slowed down, causing the kid to drift his attention at the shining dot in the middle of the map displayed in front of his left eye. "She's entered an indoor parking lot somewhere," he noted, judging by the sound of the engine echoing.
Another car could be heard, moving in parallel of Rena's. Both stopped, "What's wrong, Kir?" then, Gin's voice echoed. "The promise was for 10 o'clock."
"I'm sorry," Rena ─ Kir? ─ replied right away. "I felt like some car was following me, so I went around a bit."
For a slight moment, Conan panicked, thinking that she meant Agasa's car, but then reassured himself that they were far, far away from their position ─ at least 600 meters away. Is someone else trailing her?
"So can you please put away that Beretta which you're pointing at me behind that door? If you shoot me by jumping to some weird description, then you can't do DJ, right?"
... DJ?
"I guess that's fine," Gin's voice was unmistakable. "We can oversee within 500 meters of this building. If any weird car comes close, we'll know immediately."
"Stop the car," suddenly, Conan said. "Pull over your hood and pretend you're checking the car's condition. Now."
Given the severity of the child's voice, Agasa had no other choice but to comply right away. Meanwhile, Conan kept on listening. In a place they called 'Eddie P.', at 1 PM, Kir was to lead DJ to 'that spot'.
"Yes, yes," another voice, together with the sound of a different engine, joined the conversation. "I'll wait for you, Kir. Within my scope, please lead the guy and excite me."
"Ah, Chianti. Korn is also here."
Conan's eyes widened slightly. "Kir, Chianti and Korn," he mumbled to himself. "How many of them are there?"
Haibara's head raised at that, catching the boy's attention. "Hey," he asked, over his shoulder. "Do you know them?"
"I don't remember Kir," her eyes narrowed slightly. "But I've heard of Chianti and Korn. They're excellent snipers."
"Snipers?"
That didn't leave room for any doubt. They were definitely planning an assassination of someone.
"Well, it's time now," someone important, it seemed, since he could hear Vermouth speaking as well. He wondered who they wanted to kill so badly as to have that amount of members around. "Please leave me no work to clean up."
Chianti didn't seem to like her presence, since her voice got louder, and was blaming her for Calvados' death. Gin stopped her, saying that they had orders from 'that person' ─ whoever 'that person' was.
"Anyway... To think that the place is Eddie P..." Vermouth continued, as if nothing had happened. "Really, the place that fits perfect for hunting."
"Huh?" that was Vodka's gruff voice. "What do you mean with that?"
Vermouth laughed. "Why don't you study a bit of history on the other side, Vodka?"
The rain got more prominent after that, rendering Conan unable to hear anything over the loud noise. That, and there was also the fact that Haibara, feeling more than a bit anxious, was demanding to know what was going on.
Conan gave her a long look.
Before bursting the door open.
"W-Wait, where are you...?!"
"Nowhere important!"
"As if I would believe that!"
Just as he spun around, he bumped into someone. He froze instantly, before he could even see who it was, at the sight of something pointing at him from inside that person's pocket.
"That's as far as it goes," Conan couldn't even move a muscle, eyes fixed on what it was, most definitely, a gun.
And he kept at it, even when he realized he knew that voice. Slowly, his eyes rose to meet Jodie's cheerful grin. "Hi, Cool Kid!" Conan could only blink when, instead of a gun, the agent took her phone and pretended to shoot at him.
"T-That wasn't funny, Jodie-sensei," it took a moment more than strictly necessary for Conan to recover his voice.
Not when he could still feel his heart pounding, painfully, against his ribcage. Really need to stop getting stuff pointed at the face.
As it turned out, according to Jodie, the FBI had been investigating Mizunashi Rena, after she had been seen visiting the hospital where Vermouth ─ disguised as Araide at the time ─ worked, quite often. Jodie had been keeping watch on her from the building in front of her apartment.
So that was why I felt like I was being watched...
Upon learning that Kogoro was there for a child's prank, Jodie had determined Rena was innocent and was about to stop watching, when she spotted Conan running back, with a terrified expression on his face, so she had given Rena chase, until she realized it. Jodie had been forced to give up because of that.
"Anyways, this isn't something you should be taking care of, Cool Kid," Jodie then said to the child. "You should leave the rest to the FBI and return home."
"Does that mean you've got some clue?"
"I can't discuss details, but it seems she'll interview three people today. Perhaps one of those three is in contact with them. We think they may have some sort of transaction or information trade."
"A transaction alright. A sniper gives the victim a bullet, they give out their life in exchange."
Jodie paused at that, her serious expression dissolving so she could blink at the young boy, who was simply staring back at her, innocently, while keeping his hands behind his back.
"At one o'clock, somebody is going to die," with a sheepish grin, he adjusted his glasses. "Are you still sure I shouldn't be involved?"
Meanwhile, from inside the car, Haibara couldn't help but sigh. Cocky, she thought, as the boy seemed to explain everything that had happened to Jodie. And that, considering he's the one who got himself involved in this mess...
Conan eventually realized it. DJ actually stood for 'Diamond Jack' therefore, out of the three people Rena was to interview, the target had to be Domon Yasuteru, who had the character for 'land' in his name. Diamond, after all, meant land in astrology.
All that was left was to figure out where 'Eddie P.' was. Now, Haibara-san said that P might stand for a park... But which one?
"Anyway, it seems it'll be faster to call his office and ask for his schedule," to his surprise, Haibara typed something in her phone and passed it to Jodie. "Here, Jodie-sensei. This is the number."
"Okay," Jodie nodded, before pressing her phone against her ear.
But Conan could only stare.
"... What?" asked Haibara, without even turning.
"A-Ah, no," the boy jumped. "I was just thinking... You changed a little."
"You said so before."
"Yeah, I know. But before, anything related to them, you'd be like..." he crossed his arms, and did his best imitation of the girl beside him. "'Stop it,' 'It's dangerous,' 'It's wise to run', all the time."
"Did you seriously inherit your acting skills from your mother?"
"... You said so before."
That prompted Haibara to sigh. "Well, the careless behavior definitely comes from her," Conan barely held a pout. "As to actually get a transmitter and wireless tap stuck in one of their member's shoes. If they find it, then we all will be swept into this flame."
"That's true, but..."
"Besides... Besides, I..."
"I don't want to run away! If I keep on running away, I can't win! Definitely not!"
"Don't run, Haibara-san. Don't run away from fate."
"... Besides...?" Conan blinked, innocently.
Haibara turned to look at him, but her gaze fell somewhere else. Right behind the boy, the English teacher was smiling at her, winking and giving her a thumbs-up.
The boy kept on blinking.
Despite it all, Jodie's call ended up being considered a prank and they hung up on her. Without any leads left, Conan had no other choice but to keep on listening through the glasses. Rena was calling Gin, and told him she was heading to Eddie P.
They seemed to be worried about the rain, for some reason.
We have less than thirty minutes left, and we don't have a clue.
Eddie P... Eddie P...
... Edward?
"Really, the place that fits perfect for hunting."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Why don't you study a bit of history on the other side, Vodka?"
Then it fell on him, all of sudden, seeing a book at Mizunashi Rena's home. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
"Edward... Edward Hyde..." they heard him mumble, incoherently,
A place perfect for hunt... Now that I think about it, Hyde Park, in London, deers and boars still lived there until around the 16th century... A hunting ground for nobles.
The kid then gasped, startling everyone.
"Haido Park! That's where Eddie P. is!"
"Huh?"
"Hurry, Professor!"
"Uh... O-Okay."
"Say, Sensei, do you carry a gun?"
"I... I do have one."
"A silencer?"
"I-I have it."
"Then shoot all sprinklers you find."
"... What?"
"Trust me. I know what I'm talking about."
Conan didn't know why Jodie trusted a child like him right away, but she did. Soon, everyone was opening their umbrellas when they felt the droplets of water falling over their heads. With them in the way, it was downright impossible for them to eliminate the target.
It did end up raining for real, however.
Because of that, they decided to move somewhere else for the interview. Domon, the target, let his many, many fans to follow. So, the crowd started running, excited.
Among them all, one of them accidentally bumped into Rena. Her shoe was left behind, and kicked aside.
Conan did not let this chance go.
He began to run, as fast as he could, knowing that there wouldn't by any other opportunity as this one. His fingers stretched, and he fell on his knees. His smile widened.
Finally, finally, he grasped the shoe. His hand, however, wasn't the only one grabbing into that object.
Startled, he looked up, and all the colour didn't take long to drain from his face.
Because there, in front of him and wearing a surprised expression, just like his, was no other than Mizunashi Rena. Kir was looking at him.
... It was too good to be true, huh?
For the longest time, no one moved, just stared at each other, frozen on their spot. Not caring if the rain was soaking them wet.
Something passed by Kir's eyes, something Conan couldn't read, and took out the microphone she had on her ear. Slowly, her hand raised.
Disguised between the droplets of rain, cold sweat dripped from Conan's forehead at the feeling of her fingers, gently pressing against his neck. "Perhaps..." she said, softly. "Did you follow me?"
"... No?" he cursed, mentally, when his answer came more like a question than an answer. "I was just around here, I saw you and came to say 'hello'."
"Really?" Kir's expression did not change.
"Really," lied Conan, with a slight frown.
Her fingers pressed a bit more, before they released him altogether. "I see," a gentle smile made an appearance in her face. "Thank you for your help," slowly, Conan's hand let go of the shoe. "For picking up my shoe."
Conan guessed he should have pointed out that there was gum on the sole of the shoe and took it out, or at least done something else but to nod, dumbly, as the announcer put on it.
She turned around, but didn't leave right away. "Thank you very much," the gentleness in her eyes made Conan believe, for less than a moment, that the smile she was giving him was genuine.
Except that couldn't be it, right?
There was something he was sure of, however.
Kir was being a bit too thankful for just a shoe.
Of course, neither Agasa and Haibara agreed with his choices, and quite honestly, he agreed with them. He should have done something, instead of just letting his one and only chance slip away from his fingers, just like that.
"But that person, somehow..." he tried to explain to them. "She gave me a... weird feeling."
None of them understood what he meant ─ not even Conan understood it himself ─ but let go when Jodie said that now, they could continue following them, since they definitely would attempt to eliminate their target again.
"Well, leave it to the FBI from this point on," Conan had expected to hear those words sooner or later. "You should return home with this Beetle."
He didn't expect, however, her hand falling on the top of his head.
"But I'll borrow this kid."
Blinking owlishly, Conan's eyes fixed on the smiling woman, his mind needing a moment more than normal to process her words, and the fact that, for once, he wasn't being told off the case. This was new.
Didn't mean that he didn't enjoy it, a little bit at least.
Another car pulled up next to them, causing the child to focus his attention on it instead. "My boss volunteered to drive," explained Jodie, while Conan simply stared at the driver.
... Wait...
"James-san?!"
At his easily audible shock, the person in question turned to him and let out a smile, waving at him. Conan didn't find the will to wave back, just to stare, still in shock, at the person there.
James Black, from the Panda case, was Jodie's boss. A high-ranked FBI member.
... Hey, hey, for real?!
"I just remembered," at some point, Jodie asked her boss. "Have you found out where Shuu is?"
"Oh, if you're talking about Akai-kun, I was also looking for him," replied James. "You did explain to him this situation, right?"
"Yes, I also explained about the wireless tap and the transmitter this kid installed. But he just said 'I see', then hung up. I haven't been able to contact him ever since."
A man of few words, huh?
"Ever since he lost his lover, he seems to be closing himself in. Not that he was a much brighter character beforehand anyway."
So that guy had a lover, eh? Someone that must have died recently.
Judging by how Jodie-sensei usually talks about him, I had thought they had something further, but maybe I was wrong?
It could be an unsided thing, however...
Voices were heard from the other side of the tap, so Conan was forced to listen carefully. They were planning to strike again, at 4 PM this time, when the target is in the car, under a bridge. Chianti and Korn were to support cover, Vermouth ─ disguised as Busujima Kiriko, who had been suspected for sending a killer to the target before ─ would use a motorcycle, then fall in front of DJ's car to stop him so he would get out the car, then Kir would shoot him from behind.
The place was Bein B. Bein... Vane. Pointing out a word for feathering of the arrow... Then...
"Toriya Grand Bridge," said Conan, quickly. "At 16:00."
The adults gave him a surprised look, but didn't say anything else.
"Hey, Kir. You aren't..." he heard Vermouth's voice, followed by a knocking sound. "... this, right?"
"That's stupid. Of course not."
Conan genuinely didn't understand.
After that, the operation didn't end well. As predicted, the bike was there, intending to get in front of DJ's car, but James' one slowed down so it would enclose it between the corner and the other two vehicles. Seeing no way out, the biker somehow managed to land jump and land on top of a random car.
But then, a soccer ball rolled in front of all that mess, and a child, unaware of the danger that was approaching him, crossed to get it back.
That car skidded into a stop, and the biker had a bad fall.
Upon removing the helmet, they realized however, it was not Vermouth in disguise.
It was Kir instead.
The transmitter had disappeared. He could sort of hear something, very faintly, from the wireless tap but there was nothing he could understand.
Jodie was told, over the phone, that two cars ─ a Porsche 356A and a Viper ─ were getting farther away from the bridge. That, together with the fact that their target's car was right in front of their eyes, made Conan's blood freeze in his veins. That feeling became worse, when they said the cars were heading towards Haido City.
"They're heading to Beika City!" the desperation in the child's voice was obvious, yet so incredibly unusual that it stunned the other two. "They must have found them..." and his face was pale, white as snow. "The wireless tap and the transmitter, they found them!"
He stood up on his seat, leaning over so he could be as close as possible to the driver. "Please, hurry!" he exclaimed. "Occhan... Occhan is in danger!"
James said no other word, just turned around and accelerated. Jodie, on the other hand, just frowned, watching the usually cold-headed child fumbling with his phone. "What?!" he exclaimed, to whoever was on the other side of the line. "What do you mean Occhan went back home?!"
Letting out a shaky breath, Conan ran a hand across his hair and, without giving out any other explanation, hung up on the professor before dialing another number.
Why, why now?! there was a gasp and a groan, letting the ex-teacher know he was incredibly frustrated. It's occupied... Why is Occhan's phone occupied right now?!
"Cool Kid," then, Jodie turned around and met Conan's panicky gaze. "Calm down. We'll think of something."
Yet, Conan couldn't just calm down. Not when Kogoro was about to die. Not when he could do nothing to avoid it.
Not when it would be his fault, for not thinking things through.
"Can you hear me, Mouri Kogoro?" when, all of sudden, Gin's cold voice ran through his ears, Conan couldn't help but shiver. "Don't move. Your back is completely covered by us. I have something to ask before your suit gets some holes."
Gritting his teeth, Conan looked over the window. They were nearby.
"It's your relation to Sherry. The wireless tap and the transmitter you planted are similar to the one planted by her."
But what could he do, even if he was there? It wasn't like he could be faster than a bullet.
"I will give you ten seconds. If you'd answer, then take your left hand away from the earphone and raise it."
Earphone... Did that mean that he was listening to the horse race on the radio?
"Ten."
Then... Then he might have a chance.
"Nine. Eight. Seven."
The Mouri Detective Agency could be seen from the front window.
"Six. Five. Four"
Conan stood up. "Open the roof of the car!" he shouted, reaching for his shoes.
"Three. Two."
The air hit his face as soon as the roof was opened, yet Conan did not care. Just pushed the button on his belt, so he could produce a soccer ball.
"One."
Zero! he kicked the soccer ball, with all the strength he had.
Before anything could be said or done, the ball had collided against the glass window, shattering it completely. Not even waiting for the car to stop, Conan jumped out the moving vehicle and stood right in front of the building, just as Kogoro opened the window, with an angry expression plastered all over his face.
"Sorry!" waving his arms around, and making sure to be as loud as humanly possible, Conan forced an innocent smile. "I think I kicked it a bit too hard!"
"... Y-You...!"
"By the way, how did the horse race go? You were listening to it through that earphone, right?"
"Ah... Ah! I totally missed it because of you!"
For the next couple of seconds, Conan did his best to pretend he was engaging into a conversation with the older man, and to pretend he was definitely not listening as Gin ordered the snipers to kill them both. But then, he didn't hear anything else.
Someone had shot the wireless tape from Gin's hand.
He didn't know exactly what happened, because he couldn't see from his spot, but he did see a black Porsche and a Viper driving away in the distance, as if escaping.
His gut said it had something to do with Akai Shuichi, however.
Well, it doesn't matter. Everything turned out okay at the end, right?
"Hey, brat, are you listening to me?!"
... Almost everything.
"You better come up here, you hear me?!"
With a tired sigh, Conan nodded at him, realizing he had no other choice but to comply without a word. Hopefully, I won't end up grounded again...
Once the child had disappeared from his sight, Kogoro let his shoulders drop, downright collapsing on his chair.
"Hey, Mouri-kun!" from the phone he had left on his side, a panicked voice could be heard.
He rushed to pick it up. "A-Ah, sorry, Inspector," he said, with a nervous laugh. "I completely forgot about you."
"Forget about 'sorry', were you trying to give me a heart attack or something?!" Inspector Megure yelled at him. "You can just call and say 'I think something is up. I'm going to leave you in the line in case anything happens', what were you thinking?!"
"What should I've done? The Professor and that little brat girl were acting strangely."
They had, after that, suddenly brought him and his daughter to his house to play video games. Not to say that Conan, who supposedly had come with them at Tropical Land was nowhere to be found. That he had headed back home.
On top of that, he was outside, playing alone with the ball for no reason.
And there was the fact that the little girl had almost panicked when Ran said she would go back home to make him some dinner. She had pleaded her to stay there.
"But that was too risky!"
"I know," Kogoro's expression went solemn. "But if I don't take any risks, we won't get anything."
Not waiting for a reply, the detective hung up on him. The brat was almost at his door, and he definitely didn't want him snooping around.
Even when smiling at the little girl sitting beside her as they played, Ran's heart wouldn't stop pounding. Her hands were sweating against the controller, she honestly hopped Ai wouldn't realize.
Her father had deliberately gone to face whichever danger Agasa, Ai and, possibly Conan, were so desperately trying to keep them away from. He had reassured her he would be okay.
But...
"Dad, you know something!" she had shouted at him, moments before Agasa would call to invite them over. "You know, don't you? You know what mess Shinichi and Conan-kun got into!"
Kogoro hesitated, but then looked at his daughter's pleading eyes and let out a long sigh. "You must promise you won't say a word of this to anyone," he said to her. "Not even Shinichi. Not even Conan."
Slowly, the girl nodded, leaving his father to close his eyes. "Remember those three murder cases where the killer would leave sake cups?"
"Of course I do. We almost died right then."
"Hara-san, the programmer, was killed by a different person."
Ran stiffened, yet besides that, she did nothing but to wait for him to continue.
"We still don't know who had done it, but he hid his phone so he probably knew they were coming for him," he continued. "There wasn't anything important on it, besides the fact that Hara-san hadn't erased his call-log."
Ran could only stare back at her father, a gradually deepening frown in her features.
"There was a single person, who he had been contacting again and again. Whoever that was, went by the name of 'Singani'."
"Ran-san?" blinking, the girl in question turned to see Ai's concerned gaze in her form. "You need to turn left."
"Ah, right," forcing a smile, the teen focused back in the game. "Sorry, I spaced out for a moment."
Ai didn't comment anything on that, just turned her gaze back to the screen and continued watching Ran play.
Who did her best to play along, even though she could clearly hear Agasa whispering over the phone. Her hunch said he was talking to Conan.
"This Singani called once, actually," her father was hesitant, more hesitant than ever before. "And, at first, I heard Kudo Shinichi's voice."
Ran's eyes widened. "... Eh?"
And Kogoro's narrowed.
"Well," but shook it off right away. "He did use my voice right after that, so he, or she, must have been using a voice changer or something. No need to jump into conclusions."
A frown appeared in Ran's face, even if neither Ai or Agasa noticed.
What did you get yourself into, Shinichi?
A/N:
XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Watanabe is the guy that Shinichi had supposedly killed when working for the Organization. Conan heard his name at around chapter 3 of this story when he saw his brother talking with Gin.
Lemon1412: You know, I can't really answer any of that XD