The Key to Truth

by PerParallel

Turning into a kid through use of a poison that was supposed to kill him was pretty unbelievable, but that didn't mean that Shinichi believed in other unbelievable things, such as magic. Haha, yeah, tell that to the freaking wizard who can apparently just ignore the laws of physics. And the weird key thing that decided to make itself his problem.

1. The Only 'Normal' Day

I've rewritten this chapter so many times now, please put me out of my misery.

I apologize in advance for the absolutely gargantuan chapter this is and for any moments where it seems to drag. I also apologize for any rushed parts or holes. This is my first (and probably last time) writing a murder mystery related chapter, and I'm not overly satisfied with it, but it's decent enough and I really was tired of not having this chapter finished.

Also a heads up, this is the most self-indulgent fic I'm going to write in my life. Shinichi is one of my favorite characters. Sora is one of my favorite characters. It's just a recipe for greatness.

Not too much KH stuff happens in this chapter, but we'll be getting there soon I promise ;)

WARNING: Detective Conan-typical violence is found in the first chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own either Kingdom Hearts or Detective Conan.

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Summary: Turning into a kid through use of a poison that was supposed to kill him was pretty unbelievable, but that didn't mean that Shinichi believed in other unbelievable things, such as magic.

Haha, yeah, tell that to the freaking wizard who can apparently just ignore the laws of physics. And the weird key thing that decided to make itself his problem.

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Chapter 1: A "Normal" Day (The Last of Many)

Can he step forward?

The power of the warrior. Invincible courage… The power of the guardian. A shield to repel all… The power of the mystic. Inner strength…

Is this the form one seeks? Is this the form one shall lose? Time is one's enemy, so one must be swift…

How does one see thyself? Questions must be answered, the door must be opened… Twilight awaits.

Fight… One must fight with only truth in their heart.

Don't be afraid. For even when light and darkness fade, it shall be hope that remains.

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Shinichi felt exhausted today. He didn't know if it was because of the weird dream he had last night, or if it was just one of those days. But either way, all he wanted right now was to either sleep for a year or to drink the best cup of coffee in the world. Sadly, he would get neither.

At least walking was keeping him awake. Barely.

"You doin' alright there Kudo? Ya look kinda…dead." Hattori asked worriedly. "Did ya even sleep?"

He sighed. "Believe it or not, I actually did get some sleep last night."

Hattori gave him an incredulous look. "…You're kidding me, right? You look like you've been livin' off fumes for a week. Should I tell your neechan that you should go home or something? Seriously, ya look like you're about to collapse."

Conan shook his head, both to answer Hattori and to hopefully stave off some of his drowsiness. It didn't work. "No, it's ok. It's been awhile since we've been able to hang out together without the girls. Besides, you know why I have to come."

Hattori's face softened a little. "Yeah, I know. We've got a mystery to solve. Ya sure you're gonna be ok? I'm pretty sure that I can handle it, ya know."

"For the millionth time, yes, I'm sure." Conan couldn't suppress a yawn after that statement but eh, he'll live.

Hattori looked at him a bit skeptically, but, after a conspiratorial glance, he handed Shinichi the coffee he got from the Poirot Café. "I gotcha your favorite order too, so it better be put ta good use." Hattori rubbed the top of Conan's head. "Gonna need that lil noggin of yours ta help me out!"

Conan pushed his friend's hand off of his head, but he could feel the tears build up in his eyes. Ran never let him have coffee, so for Hattori to go out of his way to get him his favorite… Hattori truly was his best friend.

He was pretty sure Hattori was horrified at the way he teared up at the sight of coffee, but he didn't care. If anything was going to help him get through this already long day, it was going to be this cup of coffee.

And god, he was gonna need it if the case he and Hattori were headed to was any indication.

With every sip of coffee, he could feel his brain returning to him. And with his brain returning to him, he remembered why exactly this case was so stupid.

Conan and Hattori were on their way to an ancient mansion that sat nestled between two large hills, protected from the elements, yet abandoned by its owners who knows how many years ago. That in itself wasn't too bad, since they've both dealt with abandoned houses before, but it's more because of the reason they're going there.

A rich museum owner was able to get his hands on the house, and he's looking to transform the place into another museum due to how spacious and alluring the property is. However, he's also certain that the mansion is haunted in some way, due to members of the renovation staff disappearing nearly every month and the "spooky red glow" that comes from the mansion following each night someone goes missing. So he thinks that there are ghosts or something trying to keep the mansion from being used. Luckily, someone on the staff team was reasonable and hired a few detectives and investigators to try and see if it's some kidnapper or murderer instead.

Hattori was one of those hired detectives, and Conan was going along for the ride as his "apprentice," which annoyed him to no end, but, honestly, he could live with it as long as he could come along. Better than getting kicked out for snooping on his own or something (which happened more often than he would like, if he was being honest).

He and Hattori had taken a taxi to the edge of the large property, so they were actually fairly close to the house at this point. Ran and Kazuha had decided to go shopping together, so it was just them this time (which Conan was incredibly grateful for, because with Hattori, he can actually be himself, and with Ran, he usually has to work extra hard to keep up his Conan act. So this was a win-win).

As they neared the mansion, Conan noticed that, despite the owner's fear of the supernatural events, renovation was still going at a fairly steady pace. Staff was constantly going in and out carrying either tools or armfuls of materials. It was quite easy to hear all the machinery from here, too.

The outside of the house still looked rather dilapidated, since usually it's better to do all the structural stuff first before the aesthetics, but it seemed more full of life under the bright sun and the constant flow of people. It almost looked… normal. Which makes sense, because it was a normal house, just bigger and older.

He and Hattori went to the side of the house, away from the majority of the construction, and through the only side door that was left intact. Inside was a large, rundown room that looked like it could have previously been a dining room, though most of the furniture was removed. All that remained were a few plain chairs that were strewn throughout the space, and one sofa that was pushed against the far wall and covered in plastic.

There were only a few people in the room at the moment. The first was a young woman wearing a brown long coat, opened up to reveal a plain black blouse and dark jeans. She wore brown, heavy-duty boots to match her coat. Her eyes were dark and sharp, and her black, mid-length hair was set in perfect waves to frame her face. She was sitting in one of the chairs, furiously writing in a small notebook. Conan recognized her as an up-and-coming private investigator that he had seen on the news from time to time.

The second was an older man standing near the opposite door, talking sternly on the phone with someone. Conan figured that he was the person who hired them, or at least the person that was supposed to tell them about today's case, since the special pin that he wore on his collar meant that he was a representative of the museum company that owned the building. His brown hair was slicked back in what was probably supposed to be a fashionable look, but only succeeded in showing off his receding hairline. He wore a crisp, black suit, with a gold and purple tie and a silver watch being the only things of color in his entire ensemble. His outfit probably cost more than most people's salaries. Conan guessed that he was probably fairly pretentious; the disgusted sneer said it all.

The last person in the room was a middle-aged man who looked to be of English descent. He had short-cropped blonde hair, as well as closely shaved facial hair. He wore two small hoop earrings on the upper part of his ear, and he had mischievous but surprisingly sharp crystal blue eyes. He wore a white, freshly pressed button-up shirt, with an open, shorter black coat over it. He wore simple grey slacks and dark tennis shoes to complete the look of someone who was effortlessly put together. He sat on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other and his hands shuffling through a personalized deck of cards with ease. Conan didn't recognize this figure, but he was probably one of the investigators as well.

All three looked up at his and Hattori's arrival, as all humans usually do when someone walks into the room. The woman frowned a bit when she noticed Hattori, but it deepened when she caught sight of Conan. Great, he felt loved already.

The museum guy only spared them a short glance before he went back to his apparently important phone call. He's probably waiting for everyone to arrive, then. Unless he's just being rude on purpose. If it was the latter, then Conan was really not looking forward to this case (though it wasn't like he was particularly excited about it in the first place).

The last person he had noticed seemed the most welcoming of the two "investigators," since he wasn't outright glaring at them. Still, Conan didn't really like the smirk growing on the guy's face… he supposed it was better than the rest of the group though.

Still, as he and Hattori exchanged exasperated looks, Conan could already tell that this was going to be a long day. He could only hope that Hattori wouldn't want his coffee back anytime soon, because that extra energy could really make the difference between kicking someone in the shin and barely holding himself back from doing so.

The blonde man with the cards (the smirking guy) stood up from his position on the couch and made his way towards them, deftly manipulating the cards in his hands almost as well as a magician. Though it seems that he was more likely a dealer at some sort of casino, since his movements weren't nearly as fluid as Kaitou KID's. Or any magician, really. The way the new guy shuffled them more reminded Conan of the way dealers sometimes embellish their shuffling when dealing out cards.

He could tell that he was trying to (somehow?) intimidate them with his shuffling. Ok, go off I guess, but Conan's seen better. (Then again, he could begrudgingly admit that no one could really hold a candle to KID).

The guy looked unfazed by his unimpressed look, though he did cease the shuffling. He gave the two a wave. Well, more like he gave Hattori a wave and gave Conan a cursory glance as he did so. "Ah, hello there. I assume that you're one of the other investigators for this case?" The man had a slight accent, but he was otherwise perfectly fluent in Japanese. "I admit, I was very intrigued by the premise of this mystery. One doesn't see a supernatural occurrence every day, after all. And speaking of something that I'm intrigued by…." The man looked back down at Conan, and Conan couldn't help but feel a bit scrutinized under his gaze, as if he was trying to figure him out. "If this is a potential murder, why did you bring this… child along with you? A sibling, or perhaps you're looking after him today for a friend?"

Hattori put his hand on Conan's head and ruffled his hair affectionately, though he could tell that Hattori was also feeling a bit annoyed. "Nah, this lil guy is my apprentice! Don't worry, despite how he looks, he's got a lotta experience, and he's pretty sharp too." Hattori grinned pridefully. "I would say that he takes after me pretty well."

Conan felt his eyebrow twitch. Oi oi, you're laying it on pretty thick there, aren't you?

The guy looked a bit doubtful at Hattori's claim, but luckily he didn't seem to be in a hurry to press Hattori on why he brought a kid to a crime scene. "Well, if you say so. And oh, I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself yet." He gave a short bow. "My name is Luxord. It's a pleasure to meet you two."

That's… rather odd. Most people don't give out only one name when introducing themselves. But if he was using a fake name, it would make a lot more sense to come up with something more believable. Maybe 'Luxord' is just a pseudonym to protect his privacy as a civilian? Either that, or Conan was just overthinking this and Luxord is just his last name. It's not as if Conan hasn't met anyone who's only introduced themselves with one name; it just seems so odd here, for some reason. He couldn't shake the feeling.

He didn't get a chance to think on it much longer, though, since Hattori grinned back at the older man to introduce himself in return. "Hattori Heiji, Detective of the West! And this here is—"

Conan interrupted his friend, deciding that it would just be better to introduce himself before Hattori could humiliate him further. He mustered up his child voice, and then spoke with as much energy as a six-year-old should have. "Edogawa Conan, detective!"

The newly named Luxord laughed heartily at his introduction. Conan could feel his face scrunch up in response, confused. What?

Luxord eventually looked back at Conan, this time with a smile and a sparkle in his eyes that Conan had a difficult time deciphering. Mischief, or perhaps curiosity? …It reminded him a bit too much of KID. "So, you consider yourself a detective as well! I suppose that this case has just gotten a little more interesting, then. I look forward to seeing how you two work, Hattori, Edogawa."

And then he walked away.

What a weird guy. Conan wondered how he even got involved with this case? He wasn't anyone that Conan had heard of before, but then again, it's not like every new detective or investigator is put on the news. There's even a chance that this could be the guy's first case, though he didn't look unsettled enough for that to be it. Unless he was just cocky, but Conan had a feeling that there was more to Luxord than meets the eye…

The side door violently opening interrupted his thoughts, causing Conan to turn in that direction in concern that something was amiss.

There in the doorway, a man stood panting heavily, sweat running down his brow. He was a heavyset man, and tall. He had short brown hair, and a square jaw, making him look intimidating, but Conan could see the laugh lines lining his face. He wore a short-sleeved blue button up over a plain green shirt, though both looked rather wrinkled and put on in a hurry. He wore pale blue jeans and white tennis shoes, though both were pretty scuffed too.

The new arrival walked into the room with heavy steps, trying to catch his breath as he gave a general wave to the room. Behind him walked in one of the renovation workers, still wearing his safety helmet and gear. He wasn't as built as the man he walked in with, but he still had some muscle, probably due to his construction work. His hair was a bit longer, and a darker brown.

Luxord was the only other person to notice the racket, or at least look interested in it. The other two seemed to be in their own little worlds, writing notes and talking on the phone. They had barely spared the scene a glance before going back to their respective activities.

Hattori looked a little concerned at the man who, after several seconds, was still breathing hard. "Uhh… You doin' alright there?"

He reached towards the man to hopefully help him up, but the man raised up his hand in denial. "No… no, it's ok… I'll uh… catch my breath in a sec." And true to his word, he surprisingly did in just a few moments, finally standing to his full height. "Hi everyone, sorry I'm late, I got kinda lost… Luckily, Warren here was able to lead me here in the right direction!"

The renovation worker gave a small wave and grunt in acknowledgement, though he did look a little miffed that he was even here in the first place. "I was on break, so it's fine," he said, in a tone that suggested that it was not fine, actually. Conan could relate.

The museum representative looked up from his phone and hung up on whoever was yelling on the other side. Yikes. "Actually, Mr. Warren, stay here. There's something that's just come up that I need to discuss with our investigators here, and you're involved as well, so I might as well say it all at once and get it over with."

He cleared his throat, aware that he now had everyone's attention. "My name is Mamoru Takahashi. Please remember it. Anyways, I know that you're all here to investigate the disappearances of those who have been on the premises. I'm here to give you more details about the case, since apparently my boss was very vague to you all about what exactly is going on here. And no, I don't believe it's ghosts like he does, which is why I hired you." Ah, so he was the one who hired them. That was good to know.

"On each night of the disappearances, it's been confirmed that more than one person at a time has gone missing, though there are of course many times in which it was only an individual instead. We, as a company, have tried to find any traces of the victims, but our resources are currently quite limited, which is why you're here."

Mamoru's face scrunched up ever so slightly, as if in disgust. "We have also tried to track the source of the 'red light' that's supposedly connected to the disappearances, but so far we haven't had much luck. So you will also be looking into that today along with any other evidence that could help put the director's mind at ease. Now, as for today's concern… one of the workers was actually found dead today, in the foyer in the back of the house."

Conan could feel the shock ripple through the room, but Warren seemed the most affected by the news. "Wha— But I was just there a couple of hours ago!"

Mamoru gave him a stern look. "Yes, this only happened less than an hour ago. Since you were here, I figured that I should just break the news to you directly, since I've only just been informed, and we'll be waiting a while for the paramedics and police to arrive. In the meantime, I hired you all for a reason."

"Sayori Tachibana." The only woman in the room straightened her posture. "I've hired you because of your attention to detail and your pristine case record. You are a very thorough investigator that I hope will live up to expectations." He gave her a slight glare as if to say you better live up to them or else we're going to have problems.

"Kotaro Nishiki." The man who had barged in earlier nodded in response. "While not as well-known, you also have a respectable record, and have helped in similar cases such as this. I hope that your experience will be enough to put the boss's fears to rest."

"Hattori Heiji and his…apprentice. Despite your age, the director asked me to personally hire you. I can't fathom why that is, but apparently you have a decent track record when it comes to your cases as well. So you and your charge better not mess things up too much. You're getting paid for this, so choose your actions wisely."

Both Conan and Hattori frowned at that, with Hattori silently fuming. Probably about how his track record was supposedly only 'decent' and how the both of them were relegated to the kid role in this case. It's nice to know that Conan wouldn't be alone in that regard this time around, but he knew how frustrating it could be to be looked down upon by others (especially the person that hired you) even after you've proven yourselves time and time again. I guess you just can't please some people.

"Lastly, Luxord." The man in question smirked. Mamoru did not look impressed. Luxord's smile only grew. "Although I do have my own suspicions of you, you have proven to me that you're at least a decent private investigator of your own merit. Beyond that, many of my employees have taken a liking to you for some reason or another, though I can hardly fathom why. Sadly, I don't have much of a choice but to accept your request to join in on this case, not when only a few of the detectives we requested responded to our rather urgent email."

"Now that introductions are over with… I advise that you all get started immediately. The director wants this done before sundown. As for me, I'll be in the lounge a few rooms away, overseeing the floor selection. Only interrupt me if you must, but please make sure that it's important. Good day." He didn't even wait for a reply before he walked out.

After Mamoru left, Luxord was the first to stand, hardly even looking shaken despite the announcement of a murder. In fact, he seemed… almost eager? "So it seems that the game is afoot! Let's be on our way, shall we?"

Conan exchanged a look with Hattori. This guy seemed way too excited to be working on a murder case. Then again, it's not like he would be the first to mask their true emotions behind a cheerful mask…

However, it seemed that they were the only two to notice it, as Kotaro grinned at Luxord in response, saying, "Then lead the way!" And Sayori nodded and stood up from her seat, though she kept her notebook open and ready to write down any more notes.

Warren just looked sick. "I-I think I'm just going to stay here for a while… I'll catch up with you all in a bit, I just… Need some time first."

Conan felt some sympathy for the man. He clearly was not having a good day right now, and he hoped that he could get some rest. He looked like he was about to faint from the shock.

On another note, Conan found it a bit difficult to tell what Sayori might be feeling or thinking. She seemed to have a lot of control over her emotions, which he admitted could be useful in a lot of cases (especially murders that hit a little too close to home). She hardly even seemed sympathetic towards Warren. Still, if she was a little more open, it would make it a little easier on him. He really wasn't too surprised though. As a detective who was steadily becoming more popular, she had a reputation to keep as a good investigator. If she was as famous as him or Hattori, she could afford to show her emotions a little more because people would know that she can do her job effectively despite how she acted. Now, however, she still had to prove herself to a lot of people.

Then again, even at the height of his popularity as the Modern Holmes, Shinichi had to hide and fake a lot of his emotions as well…

Luxord led them all out of the room. Luckily, the back foyer wasn't far, so the awkward silence wouldn't last for very long (or so he hoped). Sayori kept glancing at the both of them, her eyebrows furrowed, though instead of saying anything, she seemed to want to focus on writing more notes. Which, small mercies, he supposed. She seemed as thorough as they say.

Conan hadn't been able to see her notebook just yet. He'd been trying to get a glimpse of at least one word, just in case she had something on the case that everyone else didn't, but she was too tall and seemed to want to keep the writings to herself, anyway. Hopefully, he could catch a glimpse later, while everyone else was distracted by the murder. He doubted that his little kid act would work or even be appreciated among the group.

Kotaro… he was a lot easier to read compared to Sayori. He'd only heard of a couple of his cases, but he could tell that they were actually pretty well-handled. His kind and friendly demeanor also appealed to a lot of people, so Conan could see why he was asked to join in on this case. Someone well-versed in investigating the supernatural and finding the truth behind it is something that Conan could respect, as someone who has had to disprove several supernatural mysteries himself.

The supernatural investigator seemed to be putting on a more cheerful face for everyone, though Conan could tell that it looked a little forced. Murders usually were not a good time for anyone, even people used to them.

Kotaro had even sent a few smiles his way, as if to tell him that things were going to be ok. Conan didn't like the pity, but… at least he was being nice. He was probably good around most kids.

Too bad Conan wasn't most kids.

Conan tried to distract himself by observing hallways that they walked through and the rooms they passed by. It looked like a lot of the wallpaper was still intact, though it was almost peeled off in some places because of how old it was. The renovation staff was probably working from the outside of the house to the inside, since the middle of the house seemed almost untouched. The floorboards were actually still intact, even if they were a bit moldy and chipped from wear.

There actually weren't any lights installed, but there were a lot of windows to let sunlight in. Conan could see some of the staff walking around outside, though they were probably trying to get away from the foyer since their faces seemed quite disturbed, and many looked almost sick. Besides that though, Conan noticed something odd about the windows. Could they be opened…?

Before he could think about it further though, they reached the door leading to the foyer. Luxord opened it, and… oh.

The whole room was glowing an ominous blood red.

In the middle of the room was today's murder, a renovation worker laying face down on the ground, a knife stabbed into his back. The red light made it hard to make out specific details (he had short and dark hair, overalls over a long sleeved shirt, muddy boots…), but the man was definitely dead. All of the windows were covered by heavy curtains, which was going to be a problem if they were going to take a good look at the crime scene. Red light was kinda too dark to make anything out.

There was someone (another staff worker) standing in the far corner of the room, looking scared for their life. Conan guessed that they were the one who found the body. They seemed to relax when they realized that the investigation team had arrived, but only slightly.

Though… even now, this murder seemed a little too suspicious.

Hattori looked at the rest of the group, seeming to notice the same thing that Conan had. "We should probably open up the curtains."

Sayori's expression evolved from furrowed to full-on frown. "We really shouldn't touch anything. We don't want to risk affecting or destroying any evidence." She scribbled in her notebook again.

Kotaro stepped forward, his own expression becoming more serious. "I agree with Sayori here. I think we should try and investigate what we can before touching anything else."

Hattori shook his head. "No, we should do it right now. The red light makes it too hard ta see anythin' right. We can look at the curtains first if ya want, but right after, we need ta open them."

Conan agreed with Hattori. He wished he could help with the argument, but no one was really paying attention right now, and they would just brush him off anyway. So he headed towards the person in the corner of the room, hoping to get something from the witness before the rest of the group noticed. Hattori gave him a flash of a grin as he saw him walk past, so, yeah, that seemed like it would be a good plan for now.

He heard Sayori argue back, her voice raising a bit. "And I say that it's too risky! The red lighting isn't that bad, we should be able to investigate the scene just fine." Conan had to disagree. He could hardly even see the blood on the carpet, for god's sake.

Conan finally made it to the worker, who seemed concerned that Conan was even there in the first place. At least they seemed to calm down a bit more. That was a good sign. "Excuse me, are you ok?" He tried his best to sound a bit kid-like, though tried not to lay it on too thick so that his genuine sympathy wouldn't sound fake.

The person gave him a wry smile, though Conan could tell that they were struggling to keep it up. He didn't blame them at all, really. He understood. "Are you a detective too, kid? Either way, I think that you're very brave for coming here today and checking up on me."

"Yep! My name is Edogawa Conan, and I'm here with Hattori, the teen detective over there. I'm his apprentice, so I wanna try my best to be a good detective like him!" Cue excited grin….

The worker's smile looked a little more real once they saw Conan's positive energy. Success! "Well, then I guess you're trying to help him with his work, huh? Alright, I think I can help you a bit."

Conan's grin was a little more real this time, too. "Thank you so much! But first, umm… can you please tell me your name?"

"So polite! My name is Tomaru Yukine. You can call me Yuki, ok? Anyway, the man who died over there is… well, Takiba was a good friend of mine. He said he was in here trying to remove the carpet, but when I went to check in on him maybe about fifteen minutes later… I found him like this. I have another friend who was right behind me, but she's recovering in one of the other rooms right now. She took this whole thing a lot worse than I did… and yet I'm still so scared…."

Conan grabbed their hand. "We'll find whoever did it! That way, you don't have to worry about it anymore. I'm sure that your friend would feel a lot better too."

Yuki started tearing up. Conan was surprised that he had such a big effect on them, especially since he was just a kid. Then again, they seemed like a good person. At the very least, Conan knew that they were genuinely affected by the murder of their friend. "Thank you, Conan. I have a feeling that you and your friend are going to do a great job."

"Of course! I know it was hard for you to tell me about your friend, so thank you. We'll find them for you!"

Yuki nodded, their smile sad. But it was still a smile nonetheless. "Good luck, little detective."

Conan started walking away, but not before stopped and remembered that he should ask them something else. "Oh yeah! What do you and your friend do for work here?"

"Hm? Oh, I help with removing and installing the floors. Though I also get asked to help carry stuff in and out of the building. My friend's good at removing and rewiring electrical stuff, like lights and ceiling fans. Takiba… he was her work partner, as he was also good at that kinda stuff. He was also the one who helped choose all of the new lights that they're going to install here. I hope that helps you."

"It does! Thanks!" And he gave a wave good-bye as he headed back towards the group. Conan wondered how close Yuki was to the victim, Takiba. They seemed like they were friends, at the very least… Maybe at some point, he should check on their other friend, when she's feeling better.

But first things first. Conan needed to figure something out soon; even though there were still a good few hours before sunset, those few hours could go by fast if he wasn't careful.

On his way towards everyone, noticed that, somehow, they were still arguing about opening the curtains or not. Seriously? If they kept this up, they were never going to get anything done. It seemed that Sayori and Kotaro were almost just as stubborn as Hattori was, which was really saying something. And as for Luxord? Well… he was just standing there, looking amused by the conversation and yet saying absolutely nothing. Great. Conan was once again thankful for Hattori's coffee. Without it, he had no idea how he would've been able to go on like this.

Hattori was valiantly defending himself, but it was currently two against one. If he gave even a little ground, the curtains would be untouched for the rest of the case. They needed to get them open.

At least Conan had a solution to this problem. Because hey, someone needed to do something and it sure didn't look like anyone else was going to. So, after a short moment of observing the scene, he walked over to the nearest curtains.

And opened them.

That sounded a bit dramatic, but honestly all he did was gently pull them open. He didn't even just crack them open either; he made sure that they were pulled back all of the way so that they could get as much light into the room as they could.

And all at once, the room fell silent.

Conan looked back to the group, most in varying states of shock. He shrugged innocently, and, even though he got a couple of glares for it, he didn't care. "What? It was kinda dark in here."

Sayori pinched her nose in frustration, even pausing her writing for a moment. Kotaro sighed, but at least it seemed that he was willing to accept the outcome. Hattori grinned at him thankfully, and Luxord just… kept smirking. Seriously, what was up with that guy?

God, Conan already wanted another coffee.

Luxord laughed. "Well, thatsolves our problem, now doesn't it?"

Sayori frowned. "That kid could have messed up the whole investigation!" She turned to Hattori, pointing at Conan accusingly. "Does he even know what he's doing?!"

Hattori huffed defensively. "He's with me, so of course he does!"

"That doesn't mean anything! I don't care how many 'cases' you've supposedly solved, if you don't keep yourself and that kid in check—"

She was interrupted by Kotaro, who got in between the two of them. "Now come on, let's not fight. We're here to solve a case, not argue with each other." He gave a meaningful look to Sayori in particular.

With a sigh, Sayori turned away, starting to write even more furiously in her notebook than before, but not before glaring at Conan. Again. Geez, what did she have against kids, anyways?

Kotaro then looked at him, his face softening into one reminiscent of pity and mixed in with a bit of disappointment. Ah, here it comes, Conan thought, as he watched the man walk over and kneel in front of him so that they could talk eye to eye.

"Hey there, uh–"

"Edogawa Conan." His voice was probably more deadpan than it should've been, but he reallywasn't in the mood for this.

Kotaro didn't seem to notice. "Right, Edogawa-kun. Look," he paused as he reached towards Conan, probably to put his hand on his shoulder, but Conan wasn't having it, stepping away and letting the hand fall on empty air. Kotaro frowned but luckily acquiesced. "I know that you want to help, and that you were uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean that you can go off on your own. Even though you might have some experience working with Hattori-kun, this is a very serious case we're working on here, so just leave this to the professionals, ok?"

He didn't even wait for an answer before he got up, walking towards the still-fuming Sayori, probably to calm her down a bit more. "Watch over him for me, Hattori-kun!"

Conan would have commended him for actually being cautious with a child around a crime scene if Conan was not said child. He hated his life so much.

After that… lecture, he'd hardly even had the chance to exchange a look with Hattori before he heard footsteps running towards them from the way that they had come in. Just as he turned around to see who was coming, Warren burst into the room, stopping only briefly before he found Yuki in the spot that Conan had left them. Though Warren heavily flinched as he accidentally glanced over the body a few feet away from him, he seemed to try to do his best to shake it off to go to his co-worker.

"Tomaru! Are you alright? When I heard that you and Suzume were here, I– Wait, where's Suzume? Is she ok?"

Yuki still looked like they were in a bit of shock from the whole thing, but despite it all, they laughed, as small and broken as it was.

As the two talked quietly, making sure the other was ok, Conan observed. It looked like the two were friends, or were at least acquainted enough with each other for Yuki to be familiar with Warren's mannerisms. Also, Conan guessed that "Suzume" was the friend that had taken Takiba's death especially hard and was currently in another room.

Honestly, he was surprised that Warren had gotten here so soon after the group of detectives had left him behind. He had seemed really shaken by the news, especially since he was likely one of the few people that had seen Takiba so soon before his death. However, it seemed that he was genuinely worried about his coworkers, and someone had probably told him what had happened and who had found the dead body.

It was brave of him, to push through his own fear to help those facing the same horrors.

Sayori's expression seemed to darken at Warren's entrance, only giving him a brief moment to reconvene with Yuki before she marched over to them, her steps falling a bit heavier than before and echoing audibly across the room. It didn't help that she still seemed frustrated with Conan, despite Kotaro's efforts. Speaking of, Kotaro was close behind her, and, though Conan couldn't see his expression, his posture was stiff and uncertain.

Luxord had moved to the nearest wall, with an expression that was probably supposed to look thoughtful twisting oddly on his face as he watched the scene. It was weird how difficult it was to read his emotions despite his otherwise easy-to-read expressions…

As Sayori approached Warren, she practically growled at him. "You! Be more careful! Ugh, how many people are going to meddle today?!"

Conan thought that she was being a bit over dramatic, especially since Conan had actually known what he was doing, but he supposed he couldn't exactly blame her too much for her sensitivity over a delicate crime scene…

With Kotaro once again finding himself as the mediator for Sayori's temper, and Yuki still a bit too much in shock to do much but watch, everyone had seemed thoroughly distracted. Hattori seemed to have noticed this too, as he finally took his chance to get closer to Conan so that the two could talk.

"Good job on the curtains, Kudo. I thought that they'd never stop talking!"

Conan glared at the use of his real name, but he sighed, knowing that this situation was more important than that and that the others were (hopefully) too distracted to even notice Hattori's slip-up. "Yeah, this case has been a mess from the start…"

He looked towards Takiba's body, now able to see it more clearly in the sunlight. Though there seemed to still be some of that red light earlier shining into the room, it had mostly dissipated, leaving the scene with its true, bloody colors (and quite literally, as Conan could now almost clearly see the red blood seeping into the carpet underneath). As noticed earlier, there was a knife pressed into his back, but now that there was more light, he was able to see that the knife was at a bit of an odd angle, and a bit lower on his back than expected. At any rate, considering that Takiba's body was near the middle of the room, it would have taken someone with extremely careful and quiet steps to sneak up on him in the middle of a large room. Either that, or the murderer was someone that Takiba trusted to turn his back to them…

So, yeah, Conan was pretty sure that their murderer was a someone and not a something. Though the fact that there were others still missing after all this time was more than a bit concerning.

Because Takiba seemed to be the only one that was actually murdered and found; the others were just gone, with no sign of foul play (at least, as far as he knew). He'd have to keep an eye out, but considering the constant construction despite the situation, it would be difficult to find anything amiss. Honestly, the entire crime scene was a nightmare. Conan had no idea how this series of disappearances had gotten this far without an official investigation up until this point. He didn't know how anyone here was still allowed to work.

With the amount of employees on the property over the last few months, there were far too many suspects, some of which could have quit or been terminated. However, he doubted it was any of those, since there was a murder just today, but that hardly lessened the number of people that could have done it.

…There was a lot that still needed investigating. The best he could do right now was look into those closest to the murder and hope it put more of the pieces together.

Hattori seemed to be thinking the same thing, turning to Conan with a determined look. "So, that person you talked to over there, that was…?"

So he told Hattori everything he learned from Yuki, such as the victim's relationships with his coworkers and what he knew about what their jobs entailed.

As he finished talking about Takiba and Suzume's experience in working with the mansion's technology and lighting, Hattori's face lit up. "Oi, Kudo, do you think that the red light in the room is…?"

And then it hit him. Of course! There had to be a way for the room to get such dramatic red lighting! It was difficult to tell the source of it before since it had been so saturated, but with some natural light in the room now, it should be a bit easier to find whatever light fixtures the murderer used to drown the room in such a deep color.

He doubted there would be fingerprints, but it didn't hurt to check the fixtures anyways. And even if they didn't find anything there, Conan already knew where he wanted to look next.

The two detectives didn't even need to exchange words to know where each one wanted to go. Conan went to the corner that was closest to where he had opened the curtain, while Hattori went to the adjacent corner, almost opposite of where Sayori had just stopped berating Warren and the others. She noticed them (and especially Conan) racing across the room, a crazed look in her eye. "Hey, kid, didn't I tell you–?!"

She didn't have time to stop him as he moved the curtains aside to find what he had overlooked last time.

A large and expensive light fixture, made to spread as much light around the room as possible and partially covered by one of curtains draped subtly over it. Though since it was nestled into the upper corner of the tall room, Conan couldn't even reach it…

It seemed as though Hattori found the same thing he did, as Conan caught his movement on the other side of the room as he turned the device off.

Warren had reluctantly followed behind Sayori, and so he was there in Conan's corner too, looking up at confusion at the fixture's placement. "W-what's that doing there…?

Conan looked up at the worker. "Do you recognize it at all?"

The older man shook his head. "Kind of? Not really… I think I saw Takiba and Suzume with something like that yesterday? Though I'm not really an expert at lights like they are so I don't really know…"

And there was the next clue. "Suzume's your friend, right? I heard that she went through a lot… Do you think she's ok?"

"I-I'm not sure… you met Yuki, right? They said that she was in the foyer, but I haven't heard much else."

"Shouldn't you check up on her? You two seem like good friends, so I'm sure she'd be glad to see you! I know that if I was going through that, I know I'd like to see my friends…"

He could see Warren almost immediately give in, responding with a sad smile. "Yeah, you're right, kid. I know that she…" he took a deep breath to cover the hitch in his voice. "She was really close to Takiba."

Close, huh? "Um…" Conan stalled for a second, enough for Warren to give him a worried look. He wasn't sure this would work, and he didn't exactly want to intrude on their friendship, but he honestly was a little worried, and he just had a feeling that Suzume could help. "Is it ok if I go with you? I wanna make sure she's ok too!"

The construction worker looked at him in a bit of shock, and, for just a moment, Conan thought that he was going to say no. But not a second later, and Warren gave him that small, grateful smile again, and with a voice that he was doing his best to keep even, he softly said, "Thanks. You're a good kid."

Warren ruffled his hair, but Conan decided that, maybe just this once, he didn't mind the gesture.

"Ahem."

Ah, and don't worry, he hadn't forgotten about the other occupants in the room. Luckily, none of them had interrupted their conversation (and it was lucky indeed. His bad luck seemed to flare whenever it came to these types of situations).

It wasn't surprising at all that it was Sayori that had cleared her throat. Seems to be a trend. "Don't think that I'm letting you go after pulling that stunt."

Kotaro, who had been consoling Yuki as this was going on, had walked over to their direction near the end of Conan's conversation with Warren. He turned to Sayori, frowning at her. "Sayori, it's alright. At least the kid found the light source, and that's one step closer to solving the case." He flashed a small smile Conan's way before facing Sayori again. "Plus, if he goes with Warren here, he won't be by the crime scene anymore, right?"

The female investigator seemed to catch on to what Kotaro was insinuating, lightening up at the idea. "Ah, yes, I suppose you're right." She turned to Conan with a forced smile on her face, probably to placate him.

Well, Conan had caught onto Kotaro's words too, and he didn't really appreciate that the reason he was probably being let off of the hook this time was so that he couldn't 'mess with the crime scene' more than he had supposedly already had. But, if that was what it took to be able to meet with Suzume, then he'd have to take it.

Maybe Sayori would calm down by the time he came back. He doubted it though.

"Do you mind if I come along as well?" Luxord seemed to have popped out of nowhere, his strange contemplative look replaced once again with a plastered smirk. "Considering that this 'Suzume' was one of the main witnesses for this crime, I would like to see if she would be forthcoming in giving us any vital information."

Conan inwardly flinched at his inflection. While he wasn't wrong, and that was actually one of the reasons why Conan wanted to see Suzume himself, the guy could have definitely been more delicate about it… On top of that, he also wasn't sure if he wanted someone else to come along. The more people that were there, the more likely that Conan would have to keep up the child act.

Then again, at least Luxord seemed to be the only other one besides Hattori who didn't treat him like a total kid.

Warren, despite Luxord's insensitive choice of words, seemed to be thankful that someone else wanted to come along. "You can if you want. If you think this is important to the investigation… I'm sure that she'll try and help you as much as she can. Especially since, well–" He stopped, clearly uncomfortable with finishing the sentence.

"That's good to hear! Lead the way, my good man."

Sayori nodded in approval. "As you're all doing that, Kotaro and I will continue the investigation here. After we're all done, we should rendezvous back at the room we all arrived in, is that clear?"

With a nod from everyone, Warren and Luxord walked on ahead while Conan went to Hattori, who was still in the other corner of the room taking a look at the lighting device there. It looked like he had turned it off, bringing some much-needed color back into the room. When he saw Conan approach, Hattori got a serious look on his face and waved him over. "Come and look at this."

Confused, Conan got closer and looked up at where Hattori pointed, a corner of the device that was barely visible in the shadows of the curtain it was tucked behind. And there, he saw…

Blood?!

Hattori nodded, already knowing that Conan had noticed it. "Who do you think it belongs to?"

"Either Takiba or…"

"...the person who set this up," Hattori finished.

Conan grit his teeth. As interesting as it was, in this case, it didn't exactly help much. Even if they were able to get the police to identify the owner's blood, it would take far too long, way longer than the time that they have right now. And considering this was a construction site… injuries were common enough for any one person to excuse it with ease.

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. It was Hattori, with a wide and confident grin on his face. "Don't worry about it, we'll figure it out! We always do; what makes this time any different?"

Heh. If anyone could lift his mood up, it was Hattori. He grinned back at his best friend. "Right!"

Hattori looked behind Conan, watching Luxord and Warren leave the room. "You guys goin' somewhere?"

"Yeah, to see Suzume. She's close to Takiba and was the one who found the body with Yuki."

"Hmm… ok, I gotcha. I'll keep lookin' around here, see if I can't find anything else. Good luck, and I'll catch ya later, 'kay?"

"Yeah!"

It didn't take very long to catch up to Warren and Luxord, though it helped that the two had stopped for him since he didn't know where the other foyer was anyway. "Your friend's not coming with us?"

Conan shook his head. "He's going to keep looking around in there too. He wished us luck though!"

Warren smiled. "When we get back, I'll tell him that I appreciate it. Now, the foyer is at the end of the next hallway. I'll walk us there."

As they walked, Conan decided to take another look at the windows. Earlier, when they had been walking to where Takiba's body was found, he had noticed that some of the windows had been boarded up, likely because they were old and broken. He had also noticed that most of them had been locked, except for a scant few that had broken latches. The boarded up ones and the ones with broken latches were dirty, dust and dirt that must have accumulated over at least a few years gunking up the edges.

These windows were in a similar state, except that they seemed to be in relatively better condition. Was it because this side of the building was more protected from the elements, maybe? It was a real possibility, since the windows here looked out into a courtyard in the middle of the building, and the other windows were placed on the outside perimeter instead.

The windows in this hallway were mostly unlocked.

The hall itself wasn't too long, though Conan would have to make sure he paid attention when he'd have to find his way back to the crime scene. They had passed by a few other branching hallways, and there were more doors lining the walls than one might expect. And soon, they reached the foyer where Suzume was, the double-doors already opened wide.

As soon as they entered the room, Warren rushed to a woman sitting on a couch near the back. Conan and Luxord were more relaxed when they headed to her, and so only heard part of Warren's rambling.

"—ume, I'm so sorry, I know what happened, I should have checked on you first, and don't worry, Yuki is doing okay, they just hope that you'll be alright too—"

The person who Conan assumed was Suzume looked a little overwhelmed, but, at the mention of Yuki, she smiled ever so slightly. She put her hand up, and Warren stopped talking, surprised.

"Warren… Thank you for checking up on me. I'm glad to see you. And… if you see Yuki again before I do, could you thank them for me too?" She seemed strong, in both her body language and her voice, but Conan could notice the slight tremors as her voice wavered, the tension in her body as she kept it from trembling in front of her friend.

Her eyes were still freshly red.

Warren's expression softened at her words. "Yeah. Yeah, I will. You just take it easy, ok?"

She nodded, but then she noticed Conan and Luxord standing nearby, the both of them waiting for the two friends to finish their exchange. "Oh, hello. Did you two come here with Warren?"

Warren answered for them. "Luxord is one of the investigators looking into the disappearances, and Conan is an apprentice of one of the other detectives. They both wanted to check in on you with me, and, if you're feeling up to it…" he trailed off, probably not sure what to say without making her feel worse about the situation.

"Oh…" Suzume looked down at her feet, pulling the beige coat that she wore around her tighter. It was difficult to see her expression. "Um, I—"

Her friend interrupted. "You don't have to if you don't want to, Suzume! Please, just focus on getting some rest."

"Warren, it's ok! I was going to say that I want to help them." She lifted her head up to give her friend a smile, though it was a bit shaky.

"…Well, if you're sure…." He gestured to space next to her, and, after she nodded, he sat down close enough that he could comfort her if need be but far enough so that he's not crowding her space.

"So, Luxord and Conan, right? What did you need to know?" she started, though she looked a little more in Luxord's direction, which. Understandable. Conan hoped that she wouldn't be too frugal with any information just because there was a kid in the vicinity.

Luxord nodded, his expression appropriately serious this time, though it still looked a bit off. "Yes, that's right. First, what was your relationship with the victim?"

Suzume looked down, her expression softening as she thought. "Takiba, he… he was my everything. We've—We were in a relationship for over seven years, and we even recently bought a house together, a fixer-upper. We were supposed to finish working on it together this weekend…"

Conan looked at her sympathetically. Why do murders tend to have such terrible timing for everyone involved?

The other investigator looked a bit troubled as well. "I'm sorry to hear that, Suzume. What did you and Takiba work on together?"

Not a bad question to ask. It was a more subtle way to ask what the both of them do as workers of a construction company while still remaining sympathetic to the Suzume's distress.

She lightened up a little bit. "We worked on all kinds of things, since we have a lot of experience working at this company. It's how we met, after all. However, since we're both good with electrical work, he and I focused more on that while a few of our other friends helped with some of the other stuff. The place we had bought was pretty old, so we wanted to replace the lights and add some quality-of-life improvements to some of the other electrical components around the house."

Conan took his chance to speak. "Um, miss, do you and Takiba do a lot of electrical work at the company too?"

The woman startled a bit, probably surprised at a child that she likely forgot about participating in this pseudo-investigation, but, at Luxord's nod of confirmation, she settled. "Yes, that's actually our main job here. There are a lot of workers that can do a bit of everything, and Takiba and I are no exception, but we're usually delegated to helping with the electrical and technological things since there aren't many in the company that can do it very well."

"Did Takiba have anyone that might have a grudge on him?"

Her head shook. "No, not that I know of. Everyone at the company loves him. He's always offered to help anyone with anything, and he's even the leader of the search parties for whenever someone goes missing…" she trailed off, looking simultaneously proud at her partner but also uncomfortable because of the subject that she stumbled into.

Ah, that's right, the subject that they were actually here to investigate.

"I have been informed of the disappearances, though this is the first time I've heard of any mention of a search party?"

"Yeah, Takiba always found a way to wrangle everyone into helping find the missing people. We must have covered the entire property by now with how much we've looked through it," she huffed good-naturedly, getting a bit of a faraway look in her eyes.

Luxord's eyes sharpened in curiosity, and Conan was sure that this was the most genuine emotion he'd seen from the man today. "And you never found anyone, or even a clue with all that searching?"

Suzume frowned. "No, not really… I think the only thing we've found is a few of their tools."

"You haven't even found signs of a struggle, perhaps? Or a piece of clothing snagged in the woods?"

"No, none of that. If it wasn't for the tools we found, it's almost as if…."

"They never existed in the first place."

An awkward silence followed, Suzume with her eyes downcast and Luxord looking like was on the verge of a breakthrough. Somehow, Conan had a feeling that it wasn't because he solved the case already.

Honestly, this guy's vibes have been off the entire day. He didn't like it.

Still, it seemed like there was more to this case than meets the eye, and he couldn't afford to speculate something that might not even be true. Even if Luxord was acting a bit suspicious, there could be a multitude of different reasons for it. Conan would have to wait and gather more information in order to figure out Luxord's reason for being here, as well as the true purpose behind Takiba's murder and thus the rest of the disappearances.

Speaking of… "Suzume-san, when did you last see Takiba-san?"

Suzume froze, her expression crumbling almost immediately at the question. Conan didn't blame her. He hadn't really wanted to ask, knowing that this would likely be her reaction, but it was unfortunately important information to know. He hoped that she would realize that too.

Warren reached a hand toward her in some attempt at comfort, but Suzume shook her head once again, her eyes shining with tears but her face set with a new kind of determination. "Warren, thank you, but… I need to do this. I need to know what happened to him, and if this could help–"

Her friend hesitated, and for good reason, but after a moment he nodded back, and let his hands fall back to his lap.

She turned back to Conan and Luxord, who was also looking at her expectantly. She took a deep breath, probably to calm herself, and then she spoke. "I told you that Takiba and I mostly worked on electrical, right? We've been renovating the building we're in for a few weeks now, and since progress was going pretty well, they asked us to start setting up some lights in some of the more finished rooms. This place didn't have any electrical lighting before, so we were kept pretty busy. Yesterday, we were finally going to install the lights in one of the rooms, the back foyer, since we just finished setting up an electrical circuit there and we wanted to test it out."

Conan mentally noted that the back foyer was the place where Takiba's body was found. He also realized that her story was correct so far; through the old dining room and the halls he's passed through, and in this room, there wasn't a hint of any modern lighting anywhere. All of the rooms they had gone through had been illuminated by sunlight filtering through the building's large and numerous windows, though the light was not as bright as it was earlier due to the later time.

"However… the whole day, Takiba was acting strange. He seemed nervous about something, but he refused to tell me what was bothering him. I knew it couldn't be the lights. He and I had spent several years doing this kind of work, there was no reason for him to think this would go wrong." She sighed, her expression becoming downcast again. "Before we got the lights properly set up though, it got too dark, and we had to set up some temporary lights in order to see. And then, he got a call from someone, and he had to leave me behind to finish up while he had to handle an emergency." Suzume frowned. "He never told me what that emergency was. Anyways, after I finished, I went straight home to our apartment, and he still wasn't back. Even after I woke up for work today, he wasn't there. I was worried that something had happened to him, but then I saw him here, already starting on the lights in the room next to the foyer."

"I asked him where he was last night and if he was okay, but he was really quiet. He only told me that he'd be fine and that I didn't have to worry about him. I wanted to talk with him more, but we had a job to do, so I kept quiet and helped him out. And then… Then he told me to go on my break while he finished up, since he had left me to finish up last night. So I let him while I went with Yuki to eat some of the snacks I had brought in my car. But when I came back with them, we… The room was red and he was lying on the ground and I–" She sobbed, her eyes glistening anew as she held her head in her hands.

Conan sympathized. Having to find your loved one, your partner dead on the ground, murdered… He always feared that, one day, he'd have to see someone dear to him in the same position, void of life while he was forced to stand there and not be able to do anything.

Death could not be reversed.

This time Warren was not stopped as he moved over on the sofa to put an arm around her shoulder and hug her close. Suzume accepted the hug, leaning into him as she cried into his shirt. He looked vaguely uncomfortable, but he didn't let go.

Luxord looked down at Conan, his expression carefully neutral. "That was everything you needed, yes?"

Conan was surprised by the question. Why did Luxord ask him that? Sure, Conan had asked a couple of questions, but it's not like he had led the questioning or anything. Still, he guessed that the investigator needed an answer, and so he nodded. Luxord gave him an odd smile and then turned away, ready to head back to the dining room.

"Oh! Um, Luxord, right?" Luxord and Conan both turned around to Suzume's question, her eyes still holding unshed tears.

Luxord raised an eyebrow. "Yes, what is it?"

She gave him a wobbly smile. "You're the one who helped pull Eri out of the rotted floor a couple weeks ago, right? She wanted to say thank you, but considering the circumstances I don't think that would be possible today."

The man smiled back, though it seemed a bit empty for some reason ('for some reason,' really Conan? He must be off his game). "Tell her it was my pleasure. Now, we must depart, but I must thank you for your cooperation as well, Miss Suzume."

She nodded. "Please, find who did this to him."

And so, Conan and Luxord headed out, once again in the winding hall that led to the back foyer.

Conan looked out one of the windows that lined the hall. The sun wasn't set yet, but it was low enough to make the courtyard look a little more golden in color. It was a pretty sight, but it also meant that he didn't have much time left to go over his facts and solve the case already. At least he'd have Hattori to back him up, both in the rest of the investigation and the explanation at the end, but it wasn't going to be easy.

Suzume had mentioned that she and Takiba had set up temporary devices in the foyer where he was found dead… where those the same ones that he and Hattori had found, flooding the room with red light and marked with a fresh-looking bloodstain? It was a definite possibility, but did the bloodstain belong to one of them or someone else?

Suzume didn't seem to have any bandages or noticeable scratches or injuries on her, but she was also wearing a long-sleeved coat, so it was difficult to say. And although Takiba was wearing shorter sleeves, he was also covered in blood from his murder, so it would be hard to spot any injuries on his body since they're also likely coated in blood.

Once again, that was something that he wouldn't be able to figure out without other evidence backing it up.

However, something else that Suzume had mentioned caught his attention: the fact that the house had a rotting floor. Sure, the house was old and many parts of it still looked to be untouched, so it wasn't too out of the ordinary, but the thing about rotting wood was that there needed to be some sort of water exposure in order for it to actually rot. It could just be from water moisture after a rainy day, since with the mansion's age it was likely there would be some leakage, but without seeing the damage for himself or asking someone about it, there was no way for him to know.

He looked up at Luxord, only to startle when he saw Luxord already looking at him, his expression just the slightest bit perplexed. What the hell?

Okay, deep breaths. He had more important things to worry about right now. "Luxord-san, where you saved that other employee from the rotting floor, do you remember where that was?"

The man blinked, though he didn't show much more surprise at being asked a sudden question from a kid. "I believe It was in one of the rooms near the back of the mansion, the first floor. It's been since patched up."

"Was it near a well?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Were there any leaks in the room or holes in the walls?"

Luxord narrowed his eyes. "I didn't see anything amiss in regards to that, no. What are you getting at, little detective?"

Ah, he said too much. Well, he didn't need anything else, so he sported his best childish grin. "Just curious! I saw a show on TV yesterday about these guys making an old house look better and they had old wood floors too! I wanted to see if they were the same."

A moment of awkward silence passes. Conan's grin is starting to twitch, waiting for Luxord to respond to his sudden (reasonable!) outburst. And then, finally, the man nods at him, though still looking as if he wasn't entirely convinced. Conan wished he could say that it wasn't fair that he thought that, but, well. He wasn't exactly feeling his best at the moment, and Luxord was at least treating him better than most adults did, no matter how freaky the guy was.

It was only a minute later in which they found themselves back at the crime scene again.

Without everyone else there, the room seemed… more sinister somehow. It wasn't quite as daunting as when the whole room was glowing blood red, but the eerie quietness around a sole dead body on the ground really did make for a gruesome scene. It felt sad, in a way, more than the usual murder.

He didn't spend much time looking. With Luxord here, he couldn't really afford to investigate the place even further, no matter how much he wanted to. He knows there's a missing piece, something that he's missing…!

Lost in thought, he almost didn't notice the bright glint from something just within his peripheral vision.

He whirled around, tilting his body ever so slightly so that he could catch the glint again, and there it was. Something shiny just barely peeking out from underneath the victim's body.

And when Conan arrived to identify the object in question, another piece clicked into place. It didn't connect everything, not yet, but it was something. And that wasn't even accounting for the slip of paper that peeked out ever so slightly from Takiba's uniform pocket, its edge rough from being torn in haste.

With gentle fingers (and a soft handkerchief in his hand), he carefully pulled the paper out of the pocket. It was half a piece of notebook paper, folded twice over rather messily. Opening the note, he noticed that the handwriting was almost illegible, looking to be written in a serious haste.

However, the writing was not illegible enough to keep Conan from being able to read it.

It seemed as if Luxord had followed him and had read the note over his shoulder, as the older man sighed with a sort of weariness(?) that didn't fit him. "It seems as if you've connected some of the dots."

Conan could only nod, and he gingerly placed the note into his own pocket. It was important.

After one last glance around the room, they both made their way through the next hall to the dining room where they were going to meet with the others.

The walk between these two rooms was marginally shorter than between the two foyers, but still long enough for Conan to try and distract himself from the silence. He had a better idea of what had happened now, and he's sure that Hattori found the few things that Conan had not. He was just reliable like that. In no time, the pieces would be put together and the case would be solved (and then they'd go home and do it all over again the next day).

They reached the entrance to the dining room in no time, the door propped open to reveal Sayori and Kotaro conversing quietly, Mamoru (the museum employee guy) once again furiously on the phone with someone (this time it seemed to be about some of the pieces that were to be transferred here), and Hattori relaxing on the sofa where Luxord had sat previously, his fingers fiddling with his phone.

Oh, and it seemed that the police force had finally arrived, with both Officer Takagi and Inspector Megure going over some notes on a table that one of them must have pulled over from the side. That probably explained why he didn't see any more construction workers on his way back from talking with Suzume. That, and the fact that the owner was there too. The old man gave Conan a wave as he entered the room.

Conan immediately headed to Hattori, pointedly ignoring Megure's resigned sigh at his presence. Hattori straightened up as soon as he saw him, letting Conan sit next to him.

Hattori started first, noticing that Conan had his hand in his pocket to keep the note from falling out. "What'd ya find?"

Conan handed the note to him, then explained everything he had learned to Hattori. Takiba and Suzume's involvement with the lights, Takiba's relationship with the other workers, the rotted floor, the glint under Takiba's body…. Hattori nodded at every point, a thoughtful look on his face as he absorbed all of the information. When Conan was done, Hattori spent no time hesitating to explain the evidence that he had found, and, just as he had predicted, the puzzle was finally complete. The two detectives grinned in preemptive victory.

As the two of them had been plotting, Warren had entered the room, looking frazzled but trying his best to keep calm as he talked to the Inspector. He wasn't a witness or anything, but his close relationship with Suzume, one of the first people to arrive on the scene, and Takiba, the victim, made him a prime suspect. Even if he wasn't, he'd have valuable information to relay to the officers. Yuki was there too, actually. Warren must have picked them up on the way.

Everyone was here. It was showtime.

Hattori stood up, Conan following. Takagi and Megure noticed almost immediately, putting their papers down and giving the two detectives their full attention. The owner did the same. Warren and Yuki fell quiet, confused, but both followed suit. Megure cleared his throat loudly, causing the two other investigators to also cease their conversation and to turn to Megure. Mamoru was still angrily on the phone, but with a glare from the Inspector, he reluctantly obliged to hang up. Luxord was already looking in their direction, his face carefully blank.

Megure looked at Hattori, a sigh escaping from underneath his mustache. "Hattori-kun, Conan-kun. I assume you've solved the case?"

Hattori nodded and grinned a bit wider. "We sure did, Inspector!"

Sayori spluttered, her face red with anger. Before she could say anything though, Megure interrupted her. "I know you're also one of the hired investigators on the case, but I promise that it's worth hearing them out first."

"But–"

The museum owner was the one to shake his head this time. "Listen to the Inspector, please. He wouldn't be saying that for no good reason."

The woman huffed, but she didn't say another word, so Hattori took the chance to continue.

"As I was sayin', this case was a pretty tough one. You guys are pretty smart, I'll give ya that. But thanks to my apprentice here," Hattori ruffled Conan's hair. Conan rolled his eyes. "We've gotta lot to get through!"

Conan sighed, but he did his best to look a bit more like a kid. Up his voice an octave, rock back and forth a bit… "Suzume-san told us that she and Takiba-san were putting up the lights last night! Those lights that we found where Takiba-san was murdered were placed by them."

Hattori nodded. "Yep. Turns out they didn't take them down after they finished. So the main question is, why?"

Warren glared. "You're not suggesting that Suzume did it, are you?!"

Hattori frowned. "Nah, she didn't do a thing. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, that's another weird thing: why are people still here working after a murder happened? And this isn't just countin' today, I'm talkin' about all those other disappearances too!"

The owner looked somber. "So you're saying that the cause of my other employees going missing is also on the account of murder."

The Detective of the West nodded. "Yep. Tell me, why didn't ya investigate this place immediately after the first guy vanished?"

"Mamoru told me that he had searched the place using private means. I was inclined to believe him, seeing as there wasn't even a hint of anyone found anywhere afterwards, even after we continued the work here. But after a few months without any improvement, I couldn't just ignore it, which was why I had no choice but to hire some private investigators and detectives to help me get to the bottom of it."

Everyone turned to Mamoru. He scoffed, looking affronted. "I didn't do a thing, I assure you! I had hired some other investigators, and they didn't find a thing, just as I told you."

Hattori shook his head. "I haven't finished explainin' yet. There's more to it."

Conan took over again. "When Luxord-san and I were walking back here, I saw something shiny underneath Takiba-san! When I got closer, it looked like a knife."

Warren furrowed his brows while Yuki gasped. Kotaro raised an eyebrow at Luxord, who confirmed, "Yes, the boy is right. There was indeed a sharp object underneath his body."

Sayori looked simultaneously uncomfortable and frustrated. "So you're saying that he took his own life."

Once again, Hattori shook his head. "That isn't tha case. The knife in his back was most definitely made by another person. There's no way a guy who took 'is own life could make it look like he was brutally killed with a knife in his back."

Actually, there was a way someone could do it (he saw it in one of his early cases as Conan. In fact, it was during the first case he had used the whole 'Sleeping Detective' act. A man had frozen the handle of a knife in an ice block, and he had jumped onto the blade with his back facing the knife. The fall had caused him to turn over onto his front, and with the heater turned up, the ice block had melted, only leaving a puddle of water as evidence for the act). But he wasn't going to tell Hattori that because it was irrelevant to the current case, and he'd have time to humble him about his facts later.

Hattori continued. "Whoever did it, they snuck up on 'im pretty good. There weren't any signs of a struggle, and the knife was lodged pretty firmly in his back. The murderer was also pretty smart, stabbing him in a spot that'd be easy to slide through his ribs and upwards towards his heart."

Kotaro looked confused. "How'd you figure that?"

"Well, where the knife is angled, it looked like it was leanin' a bit, right? And the knife was inserted horizontally. It was leanin' backwards, but the thing is is that it looked like it was pretty deep in his body. If someone angled their weapon just right, from the back, if they stabbed hard enough, there wouldn't be a lotta resistance from his muscles in order ta incapacitate him quickly."

Besides his earlier outburst, Warren had been otherwise quiet until now. He was nervous, his voice shaking. "…So, what was the knife that Takiba had for?"

The western detective spoke softly. "He was gonna murder someone with it."

Warren looked like he was about to faint. "He wouldn't!" Yuki didn't look much better, but with a reassuring smile from Conan, they relaxed a bit, though they still looked torn.

"It doesn't make sense, right? Takiba had no reason for him ta murder anyone. He didn't seem ta be a hurtful guy, and pretty much everyone liked 'im from what I've heard. But I've seen better people do worse things, and there's evidence pointin' to it."

Sayori looked pale, though her voice was unwavering. "So what does that have to do with his murder then?"

"He left this note, in his pocket." Conan pulled out the paper, stark white against the dark wooden walls. He opened it up, and then read it. It was a formatted almost like a journal entry, yesterday's date printed on the top. Warren took it and read it aloud.

"Suzume, I'm so, so sorry. I never wanted to do this to you. I almost can't live with knowing that the things I've done can never be forgiven. I love you, even though you might not love me for this. If I could, I would keep my transgressions hidden from you forever.

"But if you found this, then that means I wasn't able to escape from my sins. I'm sorry I had to leave you. Take care of Yuki and Warren for me. And please, live a good life, even if it's without me.

"And one last thing. Please, leave this job. There's things that you don't know, the disappearances… there's more to it than I could ever bring myself to tell you. Leave, before they get you too.

"They—" The note cut off there, the note torn where there were supposed to be more words. Warren was in tears, and he had barely gone through reading the note with a straight voice. Yuki had sunk to the floor, not much better.

They all were silent for a moment, but the meaning of the message was clear.

Someone had gotten rid of Takiba, possibly for either his role in the disappearances or his knowledge of it.

Takagi looked a bit stricken, though he had a much better control of his emotions than most of the other people in the room. "They? Who are they?"

Hattori smiled weakly. "Don't worry, we figured that out too. They are the people who are behind the disappearances here, the ones who set the whole thing up in the first place. They're also the ones who killed Takiba, when they knew that he was regrettin' ever joinin' them."

"Speakin' of…" Hattori turned to Mamoru. "I overheard an interestin' conversation between you and Sayori over there."

Mamoru stayed calm, though he fidgeted a bit. "Nosy brat, that's an invasion of privacy."

Hattori shrugged. "It ain't exactly private when yer yelling in the next room. I seem to recall ya saying somethin' like," he lowered his voice in a terrible mimicry of Mamoru's. "'I paid ya good money for this opportunity, so ya better not screw it up. We've come this far now, so we can't afford to let this… bump get in the way of our goal.'"

That was suspicious as hell. Most of the other occupants in the room agreed, as they either glared at Mamoru or at Sayori. Mamoru glared back, his voice rising in anger. "You have no proof of that."

"Actually…" Hattori fished out his phone, which was a newer model based off of the design. He pressed an on-screen button, and suddenly, Mamoru's voice echoed out of the tinny speaker.

"I thought you said you had the situation handled!"

Sayori's voice followed soon after. "I do have it handled, as long as you don't interfere. We know what we're doing. This is nothing."

"It better be nothing. I paid good money for you to be here, so you better not screw this up! We cannot afford for this… obstacle to distract us from our true goal here."

"I know. I have a plan that will work as we need it to. There will be no mistakes."

"See to it that there aren't any."

Hattori clicked the button again, pausing the recording. He raised an eyebrow at the two suspects. "I have more where that came from if yer still not convinced."

Mamoru spluttered, but the detective wasn't finished. "That's not even accountin' fer Sayori's notebook."

The woman whirled around, her eyes like daggers as she icily whispered, "No. You have no right."

Hattori was unphased. "Doesn't mean that I didn't see it. Really, people have gotta stop leavin' their stuff around in the open."

Conan piped up. "I saw some of it too!" He scrunched up his nose. "It was mostly in English though. Good thing I grew up there!"

Sayori was paling by the second. Good. Conan continued. "It had all kinds of stuff in there! I think I saw a map of the mansion too. It was really detailed! And then there were some words in there… I think I saw something about 'misdirecting' the nosy detectives, but that'd be weird. Wouldn't that be against the law? I thought Sayori-san was a good detective?" He gave his best innocent look, but the damage was already done.

It was a good start. But they hadn't come to the finale yet.

Megure sighed looked at Takagi. "Write up a search warrant. There's more than enough probable cause." Then he turned to Hattori, looking weary. "I have a feeling there's more, isn't there?"

Conan turned to Warren. "Warren-san, where did you find Kotaro-san when you guided him here?"

Warren startled, not expecting to be asked something. Megure and Takagi seemed surprised that he was asking about Kotaro at all. "Um, I found him near the front of the house looking lost… why?"

Hattori took over. "Look at his shoes." Everyone looked. Kotaro shifted uncomfortably. "See how they're all muddy? His pants are tha same way. It's weird though. It hasn't rained here fer a few weeks, right? So why are his shoes and pants all dirty?"

Kotaro, who had kept a steady face till now, seemed put off by the sudden turn of questioning. "Sorry, these clothes are from yesterday. I was kinda in a rush so I grabbed the first thing I could, and it was this." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I was gardening, and I wasn't very careful when I was kneeling in the dirt…"

"But there isn't any dirt or mud on yer knees. If you're kneeling in a garden, and the bottom half of yer pant legs are all muddy, wouldn't the mud also be near where yer actually kneeling?"

Before Kotaro could defend himself from that, Hattori turned to Warren again. "Did ya happen to see any weird wet spots in the ground around the house?"

"Now that you mention it… yeah, there was one just outside, near the hall we took to get to where Takiba is… There's a hose there that we connected to the water pipes just in case, but it's been unused ever since we installed in."

"Maybe it's broken and leaking? I don't really like what you're implying when I haven't done anything wrong."

Warren glared. "No, we've actually had the water flowing there turned off last week until early today. If it was leaking, someone would've noticed, and there isn't any way that it leaked that much within the day."

As soon as the hose had been mentioned, one of the other police officers had gone to check the area out. They came back just as Warren had finished his sentence. "Inspector, I've observed the hose that was mentioned. There is one where it was described, and despite the damp spot in the ground, there isn't a drip leaking from the hose, sir."

Megure turned and raised an eyebrow at Kotaro, his cover blown. The man was sweating. "That doesn't mean anything though! I was just… washing off some bugs that had gotten on my pants. That's all."

"What's this, then?"

Everyone gasped as Conan lifted up the man's pant leg, revealing deep red streaks of blood splashed onto his socks and legs. It was obvious that it was not from an injury. The man shook Conan off and stepped back, trying to hold his hands up in a placating manner, but it was too late.

Sayori growled at Kotaro. "I thought you said you had gotten it all off!"

Kotaro looked affronted at her accusation. "I did! It's not my fault that you were rushing me!"

"If you had arrived even later than you did, it would've been even more suspicious!"

That was all they needed. Inspector Megure nodded to his officers, who immediately put the two into handcuffs.

There was sigh of relief from both of teen detectives. Hattori continued the deduction. "As you can see, when Kotaro murdered Takiba, due to the upward motion of tha knife, some of tha blood had spilled onto his legs and hands. He tried to wash it off usin' the side hose and, when that didn't work, he covered his pants and shoes with mud so that the blood more easily rubbed off and so that tha leftovers would more easily blend in with the mud. Ya can also still see a bloodstain on one of tha devices at the murder scene, right next to tha switch."

Sayori glared daggers at her accomplice. "You idiot!"

"Well, it's not like you noticed it! I thought we'd be fine! And it's not like I left out our entire plan out in the open for detectives to find it!"

During the fuss, Mamoru has tried to walk away and escape through the hall door, but Luxord stopped him before he could get too far. With a strong grip, the foreigner was able to drag Mamoru back inside and in front of a waiting officer. Luxord grinned. "That would mean that this is the man who hired the two of them for this job then, yes?"

Hattori nodded. "Yep. He was the whole mastermind behind it. As someone with authority on what happens here, it let him keep everythin' under wraps fer a long time. That's why a real investigation didn't happen 'til now, since he always hired someone ta cover up their tracks."

Suddenly, in a scream of rage, Warren had grabbed Kotaro by the collar, despite being a good head smaller than the larger man. "Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you kill Takiba! Answer me!"

Warren's furious expression was marred by free-flowing tears.

Kotaro looked away, the kind face he had worn during the earlier part of the case now stone-cold. "We were promised riches and power if we helped make those guys disappear. He was the one who we had set everything up. He'd set up the red lights, one of us would distract the target and lead them away from everyone else, and then Takiba would strike. He had a good reputation around here, so no one questioned it if he was alone with them. It always caught them off guard, when he betrayed them."

Sayori spit on the ground. "Then that fool started going out with his girlfriend more. And then he decided that he was going to quit, leave us behind in the dust when we were so close to our goal! He was supposed to kill you," she used her head to gesture in Warren's direction. "But the bastard finally got cold feet, and we had to take care of him before he blabbed to anyone else."

Hattori nodded. "The whole idea of tha plan was to get Sayori and Kotaro to be highly rated detectives. If there was ever an investigation or somethin', the two could be hired with full trust, and then they'd be able ta hide any of the evidence away from everyone else."

Takagi looked at the two faux detectives, his brows furrowed. "What kind of power and riches were they offered? And why this mansion? It doesn't seem that special."

Mamoru shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. You see, some of the ancient artifacts that had been left here are rather priceless… I was hoping to scare you enough so that I'd be able to acquire the mansion myself."

The museum owner looked confused. "Artifacts? What artifacts? I wasn't informed of anything of the sort!"

Mamoru grinned evilly. "Oh well. If I can't have it, no one can."

The owner just sighed. "The whole purpose of this place was to showcase culture, not sell it! Anyone who has any respect for museum work or history knows that much. But I see that you were just another fraud after all."

Then, before Mamoru could reply, Yuki spoke up. "Ok, so… that's solved, but then where did the rest of the bodies that they got rid of go? They have to be somewhere, right?"

Mamoru continued to grin. Kotaro was still expressionless, not giving anything away. Sayori was not much different, pointedly closing her eyes and turning away.

"We know where they are."

Everyone turned to look at Conan again. He didn't sugarcoat it or say it in a childish voice. Just as a fact. Because he did know where it was.

Luxord flourished his hand in his direction. "Lead the way, then."

Once he saw that everyone was willing to follow him, he walked out the door and down the hall, back to the murder scene. The sun was almost set now, the nearly red sky poking through the trees.

When they reached the foyer, the low sun was fully shining through the large windows, turning the room red. However, unlike the blood-red of the artificial lights they had seen earlier, this red was soft, almost orange, and bright all at once, flooding the room with a warmth truly opposite to the darkness that had reigned before.

Careful with his footsteps, Conan stepped near one of the windows. He stomped in a few places on the floor until the sound was more of a hollow thud than a solid one.

He had noticed it earlier, when Sayori was stomping around the room angrily. Over this area of the floor, her steps had echoed louder than usual. He also had some suspicions thanks to Luxord's insight that the rotting floor had been on the frisky floor. How was there enough space under the first floor for someone to fall through? Plus, if there was an underground water source nearby, that would explain why the wood had been so rotted there…

And sure enough, underneath the pull-away carpet and hidden between two wood grooves in the floorboards was a small space that looked just large enough for an adult to slip their fingers under and lift up.

Hattori did so silently, and there, underneath the wood, was a narrow passageway.

Inspector Megure radioed his team to file in and search through it, and Luxord, Conan, and Hattori joined them, despite many protests.

The halls were a mix of solid dirt and wooden pillars, the only possible light source being the old lights that hung from the ceiling. They were currently turned off, but someone found the light switch soon enough.

The lights were a blood red.

Well, he supposed that was how they were able to light up the entire house and ground at night. He could see the cracks in which they'd escape to outside.

Red lights were not very useful when it came to searches though, so they were turned off and everyone was given their own industrial-level flashlight in order to make their way through.

Conan stayed close to Hattori as everyone moved forward. Even at just a glance, he could tell that the system of passageways underneath the mansion were bigger than they seemed. There were many branching paths, though some looked more decrepit than others.

The utter darkness of the narrow halls almost made it feel as if they were closing in on you. He didn't like it, but there was no other place the bodies could be.

The inconsistent trail of blood on the floor said it all, really.

Hattori and Conan were following one such trail, walking in silence as the other officers followed another trail. Despite their victory in the case, the two weren't really in the mood to celebrate. It wouldn't be over until the missing bodies were found.

Soon, even the echoes of the police force had gone quiet, and the two were left alone with the echoes of their own footsteps.

"…Oi, Kudo? Are ya gettin' the creeps too?" Even though his voice came out as a whisper, the inquiry seemed to echo much more loudly.

Conan rolled his eyes at the use of his real name, but there was no real malice in the action. He didn't really have the energy to be annoyed right now. "A bit. We must've been walking for, what, maybe several minutes now?"

"Yeah, it's kinda creepy." He turned his flashlight to the floor, seeing the blood trail split paths again. "Maybe we shoulda just left this to the police."

Conan was inclined to agree. He didn't like this place.

The two stopped at the crossroads. At the end of one, there was a wavering light, probably one of the other officers who had found an alternate trail down this way. The other led to darkness. Both had hints of blood.

Hattori turned to Conan. "I'm gonna go that way." He pointed to the dark path. "You go over there and see if that guy can take us back up. The girls are probably expectin' us by now."

Conan didn't want to leave his friend alone, but he nodded. He knew that Hattori would be alright, plus he was much more capable of defending himself than Conan was at the moment.

So Conan turned towards the light source and started to make his way down the path. Partway through though, he thought he heard something.

"…"

He stopped, and waited to see if he could hear it again. What was that he heard….?

Whooooooosh…

Was that… wind? That meant that there was an opening around her somewhere! He wasn't sure if the police had found the bodies yet, but on the off chance that they didn't, this could be worth checking out.

Where was that wind coming from though?

He turned to look at the walls around him. He didn't see it at first, due to the darkness, but there to his right was an small, old wooden door placed into the dirt wall, a single board of wood nailed across to keep someone out.

Or something in.

Conan tried to look for an opening, or a way to open the door, but it seemed as if, despite splintering wood, the board was still firmly nailed in place. He pushed on the door, and, though it moved ever so slightly, that was about it.

Ugh, this would be so much easier to get through if he was his actual age.

Still, he ultimately concluded that the bodies couldn't have been there, since it looked like the thing hadn't been touched in years, so he decided to just follow Hattori's instructions and head back down the path.

He started walking towards the light again, noticing that it was closer now. At least he'd be able to get out of the place faster; he would probably start hallucinating at some point due to the atmosphere alone. Before he could get much further, though…

Creeeeeak…

The sound came from behind him. Watch at the ready, Conan turned as fast as he could, but the only thing there was the darkness of the hallway.

That, and the open doorway that definitely wasn't able to open up before.

Confused, but undeterred, he walked towards it again this time. The door had opened inward, the board still solidly in place. How did it open, though? Did he dislodge the door just enough to cause it to open on its own accord?

That was most likely the reason, though it seemed rather stubborn in its position just a moment ago.

Conan was just small enough to squeeze through the space between the door and the wood, for once at least semi-grateful for his smaller size. Not that he wouldn't do almost anything to get his original body back, but he didn't survive this long without appreciating how useful it was to be small, as much as he didn't like to say it.

He didn't notice that, on this path, there was no blood to follow.

As he traveled deeper through the passageway, the walls became messier, rockier compared to the smooth dirt walls in the halls before it. The wooden supports fell away, with only a few remaining. A few of them lay on the floor, broken and rotting.

Soon, the path started to open up, becoming wider and taller the deeper he went. The wood partitions disappeared altogether, and his flashlight seemed to take much more effort to light the way ahead.

The wind continued to whistle above him, guiding him…

He didn't know how long he had walked, but soon, he reached an impossibly high cavern. Conan frowned. Had the passage been going downhill this whole time? He didn't recall any particularly large hills nearby to hide a cave of this magnitude.

Suddenly, his flashlight turned off. Cursing under his breath, Conan hit the light with his hand, hoping to coax the thing to keep working, but alas, it seemed to be shut off for good.

He sighed. This was a pain.

Still, it was a silver lining, since the absence of light allowed his eyes to adjust to the actual light leaking into the room.

It wasn't very bright, but what he could only assume to be beams of light from the moon shone softly throughout the cave, illuminating folds on the walls and odd rock formations protruding from the ground. It honestly just seemed like a regular cave, but he found it so odd that it had been connected to the mansion through a series of hidden passageways. Maybe this place was used as a getaway? He frowned. But then wouldn't there be some sign of human activity here, even if the place had been long since abandoned?

He watched as a moonbeam slowly made its way across the room. It looked like the place hadn't even been touched at all, though he knew that couldn't be the case… What was this place?

As if to answer him, something glowed.

There, in the center of the room, a bright red light shone. It wasn't as deep as the blood-red light that he had seen before, but it also wasn't quite as soft and kind as the red from the sunset. This was a red that one might see in the sky that came from a plane, or maybe it was more like a red fire, almost seeming to flicker in the breeze that seemed to echo louder in the larger space.

As he approached the object, he found that he couldn't make it out, not very clearly. But then he stood next to it, and his mind tried to comprehend the meaning of it.

The thinnest moonbeam had escaped through one of the cracks in the wall, and it had happened to head directly toward the object. However, one would think that it would only cause the object to glimmer weakly in response.

Why was it that a single moonbeam had caused this roughly gem to glow so fiercely?

Did it belong to someone? Why was it left abandoned in this cavern? What kind of gem was this? He had too many questions and so very few answers.

The wind seemed to grow stronger, his hair ruffling around him with the strength of it.

The gem was odd, but it was also oddly hypnotizing. Take us with you, it seemed to say. We've been waiting.

It wasn't like crystals could actually talk, but he could almost too easily imagine that that's what it would say to him if it could speak. He wondered what its story was; did someone leave it behind here so that it could be retrieved later, only for the owner never to return? Or was it the result of careless handling, falling out a carelessly placed pocket or a growing hole in an old bag?

He would never know the answers to those, but he knew that there were ways that he could figure out the other questions that he had about the strange jewel.

Carefully, gently, he reached toward the gem lying innocently on the rock formation, still glowing that burning red. He almost expected it to burn him when he touched it, his fingers almost flinching back at the idea of it.

Instead, oddly enough, the gem was warm in his hands. It almost felt like he was holding a mug of hot chocolate on a snowy day, the heat of it driving away the cold tendrils of the night.

The warmth almost immediately left the gem once it left the moonbeam, though. It also started to stop glowing, quickly burning out like wood still hanging on to the remnants of heat even when the fire was already gone.

He frowned at the reaction, feeling the cold of the cavern immediately hitting his bones almost immediately after the heat had dissipated. Luckily, he was wearing cargo shorts today, so he was able to easily slip the jewel into his pocket.

The wind started to howl around him. He needed to leave.

The trip back to the original set of passages seemed faster than his trip to the cave, and soon enough he was standing outside of the old doorway, the door already shut behind him.

The light at the other end of the passage had disappeared, but luckily there was another light where he had been with Hattori earlier.

It didn't take him long to catch up, and he breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was his friend.

Hattori questioned him why he was still here, and Conan answered. He had followed a weird path to a large cave, and he had found some sort of jewel inside of it. The place had been long since abandoned, so he thought that it'd be a good idea to take it with him and have it looked at by a professional. A simple but reasonable answer.

He didn't tell him about the glow it had given off in the moon's light, nor about who the 'professional' he had in mind was.

Luckily, Hattori accepted his explanation easily, and the two headed back the way they came.

The walk back didn't seem as eerie, somehow.

When they reached the entrance of the cave, they learned that the bodies had been successfully recovered, buried shallowly at the end of a maze of tunnels. So far, the number of disappearances matched the number of bodies found in the area, but they'd have to do an autopsy to be sure.

Luxord was also there, but he seemed to be distracted by his own thoughts, an expression of frustration crossing his face.

After explaining a few more details about the case with the Inspector and Officer Takagi, the two men offered to drive Hattori and Conan home. After all, it'd take awhile for a taxi to get up here, and it was dark already.

As they all walked to one of the police cars, Conan couldn't help but notice that the air outside was still.

When he finally made it back home to the agency, Kazuha had already left, leaving a note that said that she'd meet Hattori at the train station. Luckily, Takagi was more than happy to lend him another ride, and soon Conan was taking off his shoes in the agency, Ran smiling at him as she asked about his day and offering him dinner.

A few hours later, when it was time to sleep, Conan once again took out the gem he had found. In a better light, it was almost as bright a red as the glow it had given off. The gem was also imperfect, the cuts of it uneven and rough. There were even parts of rock still attached to it. Whoever had tried to cut the large jewel definitely wasn't an expert.

He wondered what kind of gem it was. A ruby, maybe? He wasn't sure. He wasn't exactly a gem expert, and there were more kinds out there than he was familiar with.

Kaitou KID would know, though.

Luckily, KID was hosting another one of his famous heists tomorrow, this time in Osaka. While Conan didn't usually attend heists outside of the Beika ward, he was able to convince Ran to attend, even though she wouldn't be able to go with him.

He was only able to do that because Hattori would be there though, so he'd have to be careful and find a way to talk to KID alone.

Conan placed the jewel into his jacket pocket this time, knowing that he'd wear it the next day. He didn't want to forget something important like that.

As he drifted off, he wondered whether that red glow had been a trick of the light. It had seemed real enough, but… gems didn't exactly naturally glow like that. Either way, he'd have his answers tomorrow.

That night, his dreams were blissfully silent.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The moon was high in the sky, a man in a black coat hiding in the shadow of a tree as he seemed to wait for someone. Soon, a dark portal opened, revealing another person in a similar black coat, though their build seemed more lithe and sharp compared to the other's. He gave a wave. "Sup!"

The man leaning against the tree huffed, looking away. The other man made an exaggerated offended movement, his hand over his heart in a mockery of betrayal. "Oh come on, don't give me that! Usually you're much happier to see me. Anyways, I came here to ask how your little pet project is goin'? Make any more progress?"

The man against the tree pulled his hood off, revealing himself to be the foreigner named Luxord. Luxord glared. "We have a problem."

"What kinda problem? I'm sure it can't be that ba—"

Luxord sighed. "It's gone."

"Woah, someone took it?!" The man laughed. "Whoever did that has got some balls on them, that's for sure! So, how'd they get past the great Luxord? Manipulation? Thievery? Or maybe some good ol' espionage!"

"That's the thing, I have no idea. It was there when I had checked earlier, but alas, it was only a few hours later in which I discovered that it'd been stolen from its resting spot."

"Maybe you should've hid it better then? I dunno, seems kinda obvious to me. I mean, anyone could've just waltzed in there and taken it for themselves."

Luxord pinched the area above his nose, knowing that this wasn't going to get them anywhere. "The problem is that someone has access to something they shouldn't. That was supposed to be used for our cause, not thrown to chance."

"I mean, the game was rigged from the start."

"Perhaps so, but it was in my favor."

"Ha! As if! The odds are never in our favor."

"You say that when it's almost complete? I believed you to be more of an optimist than that."

The other man shrugged. "Eh, I just have a feeling that it's still not gonna be easy."

Luxord chuckled. "Well, if that's what you believe. I just know that I won't be leaving it up to chance. Anyways, come on now, I believe that we have a meeting to attend, do we not?"

The two men disappeared, blue and purple shadows wisping away into nothingness….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And that's a wrap!

Fun fact, the first 10k words of this fic had been written over the course of over a year. The second 9k was written within the course of the last few days. Take from that what you will.

I have never written this much for a single fanfiction chapter EVER, so I'm gonna sleep now. Yeah. Lemme know what you think!