Chapter 11: Devious Details

Shinichi scowled down at the reports the children had made; they were spread out on the table, so he could easily compare them. The only issue was that they offered no insight into what happened to Ran.

"Maybe yer barkin' up the wrong tree?" asked Heiji. "Includin' the two I interviewed, every single one of 'em was the same before an' after the kidnappin'."

"That's the only thing that doesn't fit," groused Shinichi, looking back at his hastily scrawled notes. "The style of kidnapping, the length of time, the return, the memory loss—they're all identical to Ran! And with the confirmation I got from Takagi, it looks like they all have the same weird burn scar, too." He chewed on the tip of his pen. "There's something we're missing."

He'd been shocked when he got Takagi's email confirming the existence of the scar on the old man—having already ruled him out, it was bewildering to find out otherwise. After all, very few things could cause a burn like that, and it definitely couldn't be called a coincidence that it was in the same place as Ran's.

Even more shocking was that the Detective Boys had all come back wielding the same results, scar and all. Not long after, Heiji also came back with the same news. It was maddening.

"What even is that thing, anyway?" said Heiji at the mention of the burn mark. "Some kinda brand?" Shinichi shook his head.

"I don't think so. I'd thought it might have something to do with Ran's current state, but…" He stared up at the ceiling. "Now I'm not so sure."

Kazuha had taken Ran upstairs, possibly to either ask questions or cheer her up, leaving the two detectives to go over the information. It was probably better that way, since Shinichi didn't really want her to see him rage at dead-end clues. He looked over at Heiji.

"… What do you think?"

"Hmm…" The dark teen crossed his arms, frowning. "I'm not much better off 'n you are—worse off, actually, since ya've had more time to think about it," he gruffed out. He still seemed a bit miffed that Shinichi hadn't told him. "But…"

"But?" Shinichi perked up. Heiji sighed, uncrossing his arms to shove his hands into his pockets.

"Maybe she was kidnapped twice?" he offered weakly. Shinichi sent him an unamused glare. "No, really! Like—the first time coulda been by who turned her, an' the second time coulda been by whoever took the others?"

Ignoring the fact that the times wouldn't match up if that were true, it sounded as lame as one of Kogoro's hair brained deductions. Judging from the grimace on Heiji's face, he knew it, too.

"L-look, all I know is if the identity thing is the only thing that doesn't match up, then we're lookin' at this from the wrong angle," he said, defending himself. Shinichi sighed.

"You're right," he muttered, eliciting an infuriatingly victorious grin from Heiji.

"Don't look so smug—that doesn't make you the better detective. It just makes you right about one thing," he snapped as the other teen snickered.

"So?" he continued, prompting Heiji to cut his reverie short. "Do you have any ideas on where we should be looking, oh great detective?" The sarcasm he laced his last words with made Heiji scowl at him, which he returned with a smirk of his own.

"Not really," he admitted with a pout that was unbecoming of a seventeen-year-old.

… Who's the child here, really? thought Shinichi with a bit of amusement.

The two spent the rest of the evening sulkily mulling over the problem, and only stopped when Ran forcibly removed Shinichi from the room because it was dinnertime, darn it, and she'd already called him five times! He knew better than to argue, though, from years of going through this interaction with her. Heiji didn't argue either, but then… he actually ate when he was hungry.

Dinner was eaten in relative silence as Shinichi absently shoveled food into his mouth while thinking on what he could possibly be missing. Ran had taken to the kitchen, opting to eat there instead of in the dining room with everyone else. She probably didn't want to eat under the scrutiny of the Detective of the West.

With dinner over and Shinichi an Heiji back in the library, Shinichi found himself wishing one of the many books that stared down at them contained an answer. He stared at the shelves. Mysteries, fiction and nonfiction, lined the walls. Novels, case files (recent and cold), all manner of reference material used by his father to write more mysteries… none of which were anywhere close to the one he was desperately trying to solve. His eyes stung.

This doesn't make any sense! he thought angrily as he poured over the reports again. Why is she the only one who came back differently? Why is she the only one… who… The blood drained from his face as a thought occurred to him.

"No way," he whispered. Heiji frowned down at him.

"Didja figure somethin' out?" he asked carefully, noting how pale Shinichi looked.

"This whole time, I was working under the assumption that Ran was the one who came back, right?"

"… Didn't she…?" asked Heiji, now thoroughly confused.

"Technically," he said slowly, trying to put his thoughts into words that made some kind of sense. "Technically, Kudo Shinichi came back to Kudo Shinichi's house, claiming to be someone else." Heiji blinked, frown deepening.

"You weren't kidnapped, though," he pointed out.

"I know that, but most people don't, right?" A slow nod. "Everyone that was missing were returned to their respective houses except for Ran," he continued, voice low, "because Ran looks like Kudo Shinichi."

"… And?"

"If everyone else is who they say they are, then it stands to reason that Ran was brought here because whoever had her was positive that she was me."

"… Ya lost me."

"Well, I'm lost, myself, but…" Shinichi swallowed hard, the words thick on his tongue. "I'm starting to think… she wasn't supposed to come back with her memories intact." Heiji paled.

What do you think would have happened if her mind had been affected as well? echoed Haibara's words in his head. We wouldn't even know it was her. For all we would know, she'd still be missing, and there would be a very convincing being who claimed to be Kudo Shinichi, with no knowledge of ever having been your missing Ran.

"That…" Heiji floundered for words. "Whaa—wouldn't that be found out immediately though? There can't be two Kudo Shinichis without one of 'em sayin' somethin' about it! And in the first place you weren't kidnapped like the rest of the guys!"

"Yes, but to the general population, technically I'm considered missing, with widespread rumors that I'm actually dead." Shinichi slumped in the desk chair. Heiji's legs gave out and he dropped to the floor.

"Ha… hahaha… This's crazy—an' ya can't prove any of it…"

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," quoted Shinichi. "And because what happened somehow is possible, it's the only reasonable explanation I've got."

Heiji sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, face ashen. Neither boy felt much like continuing the investigation, at least not until the next day. Shinichi had never considered evidence, truth, or a lead to be a mood killer investigation wise, so this feeling was a bit foreign to him.

"… This's crazy," Heiji said again. "What… what're we supposed t'do about this?" A valid question, even if it set Shinichi's teeth on edge because he didn't have an answer.

"Like I said, it's only a possibility," said Shinichi as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "But it's the only one that makes sense right now. I think…" He swept his gaze up to the ceiling. "I think right now, we need to determine if the Osaka disappearances are the same. I might be able to compile a list from Gunma and Shizuoka using occhan's voice… but since I'm not living at the detective agency right now, that's a bit risky. I don't even know where to start about the other cities."

If this was nationwide, he might be in over his head. Heiji let out a shaky sigh.

"I can snoop around in the Kansai area, at least," he said solemnly. Shinichi nodded absently as he contemplated what the easiest way to get access to all of Japan's police records would be. Well… there was no easy solution to that… and he didn't think he could get it done in a reasonable amount of time, either.

"I'm going to need some time to think about this," muttered Shinichi irritably. Heiji stood up from his place on the floor.

"Not much else we can do right now," he said, tone apologetic even though he had no reason to apologize. "Kazuha 'n I are goin' back home tomorrow, so I can visit the people on yer list durin' the week after school." Shinichi could only nod. Heiji looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it and left the room, probably to get ready to go back home.

Shinichi remained in the library for some time, stewing over how he was supposed too get over this new hurdle. At the very least, he needed to see how widespread this was. Were just a few cities affected or was it nationwide? Was it also happening in other countries, or just in Japan? It seemed like every half step forward created more questions and complications. He sighed.

For now, let's hope this is contained to Japan—I'm not sure I can deal with another international secret organization, he thought wearily. One was more than enough, and he wasn't any closer to cracking that one, either.

He supposed he could ask his father for help. The man had so many connections, it would be an easy thing to get the case files he needed. And since he was an active presence in America, he could also check with authorities there to make sure the same thing wasn't happening, but…

Asking Yusaku for help came with its own set of complications. Even without giving details, the man would suspect something was up, and start his own line of investigations. At the end of the day, asking him basically guaranteed that his parents would become aware of Ran's situation. While they probably wouldn't make light of it like they did with him, whether they knew or not should be up to Ran, on her own terms.

It was well past midnight when he finally decided to turn in, still lost and utterly unsatisfied.