Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Pairing: KaitoxShinichi
Lure
Chapter 23 - Strange Invitations
Autumn was rolling in.
Aoko and Ran had become fast friends. They had begun meeting up twice a week for some female bonding time. And recently, Sonoko had started joining them on occasion. There was some friction between her and Aoko over their conflicting views on Kaitou KID, Ran had told Shinichi with some exasperation, but the two were gradually growing to be friends.
"It looks like things are progressing well," Kaito noted over hot chocolate one night. "Though I do wish they'd hurry up about it."
"Friendship takes time," Shinichi said absently. He was going through his letters at the library's large desk. There had been an unusually large number of them, though, as per usual, most were junk. There was one, however, that looked unusually official. It even had a wax seal of all things.
"I suppose." Kaito drained the rest of his hot chocolate then glanced down at his physics textbook. Deciding he'd had enough of studying, he shut it with a thud and stood to wander over to the desk. "What's that? An invitation?"
"A request," Shinichi murmured, still reading.
Kaito set his empty mug on the corner of the table then moved to look his arms around Shinichi's waist from behind. "A new case then."
"Maybe. It's not very clear. It says I should call them."
"Are you going to?"
"Yeah. If they're really in trouble, I have to help." He glanced at the clock. It was only nine. Still early enough for a phone call. "I'll call them now."
As the detective left to make the call, Kaito picked up the letter in question and read it over. It was, however, true that it didn't say much.
Shinichi returned a good half hour later looking troubled. Kaito zeroed in on the expression immediately and frowned.
"What is it?"
"A KID heist, apparently."
"It's an imposter," Kaito said instantly. He hadn't planned his next heist yet, let alone announced it.
"I know," Shinichi said. "But Nobu-san sounded really worried just now when we talked. He asked me to go take a look just in case."
"Has he called the police?"
"Apparently, he called Nakamori-keibu. But the task force determined that the note was a fake and told him to contact his local authorities if he thinks it isn't a prank. He says he's done so, but he would still like my opinion on the matter."
"Little surprising from that old man. Usually he doesn't give up on a lead even when he suspects it's fake until the heist passes."
"It might be the remoteness of the locale. It's pretty far from Tokyo too. It's not his jurisdiction."
"Something's bothering you."
"Well, it's just that Nobu-san sounded honestly scared."
"I take it you're going then."
Shinichi nodded. "It may be a hoax, but I think there's something else going on. I'm going to find out what."
"I'll go with you. I can go as a member of my task force. I'll just say we decided it was better to check up on the situation even though it's a fake."
"Are you sure? I know you have a big show coming up. Don't you have to prepare for it?" Shinichi asked a bit anxiously. He didn't want to interfere with Kaito's career. That, and, well, after learning about how the magician's father had died, he couldn't help but be a little worried about the idea of Kaito leaving his partially prepared equipment behind for any length of time. He knew the magician would be careful (doubly so because of his father and his night job), but still…
Kaito seemed to know what he was thinking because his eyes softened, and he offered the detective a reassuring smile. "I already have the whole show worked out. As for the fine tuning for my tools, my assistant will be sure to triple check everything if I can't. He's very reliable. Worries like a mother hen too, so you don't have to worry about him not paying close attention."
"Your assistant?"
"Jii-san. I'll introduce you sometime. I'll warn you though, he's a bit paranoid. He's always going on and on at me about how he wouldn't be able to face Dad in the afterlife if anything happened to me and getting on my case about making my heists too large scale, yada, yada, yada. Can get a bit annoying actually, but he's a good friend. Practically family."
Shinichi hid a smile at the fond exasperation he could hear in Kaito's voice as he complained about his assistant's overprotective tendencies. He found he didn't feel quite so worried anymore. It was heartening to find out that there was someone—had always been someone—looking out for the magician thief in the place of the father who could no longer do so.
"Nobu-san asked me to be there this Saturday. The imposter's heist notice said he'd be striking at nine that night."
-0-
Nobu Karamaki was a nervous man whose black hair was already liberally streaked with gray even though he was only in his thirties. He had inherited a large house in the mountains next to a small lake from his uncle, who had been his only living relative. The house had come with everything in it from the furniture to the servants.
He and his wife had moved into the house four years ago and enjoyed a peaceful life until the KID notice had arrived.
"My—my uncle collected things. Art, books, antiques, jewelry. He liked things that he could tell stories about, even if they were pretty unbelievable stories," the man explained, mopping his brow with an embroidered handkerchief. He was sweating despite the autumn chill already creeping into the house. "My wife liked the stories though. She wrote them down. Talks about them with any guests we have. She says she'd like to share them with our children one day." For the briefest of moments, a genuine smile lit the man's face, but it was gone an instant later.
Shinichi listened as the man explained the circumstances around the notice's arrival and how they had gone about solving its contents. It seemed he felt obliged to prove the validity of his deductions even though Shinichi hadn't questioned them. Blue eyes wandered around the room, taking in the elegant old furniture and the many photographs on the walls. He noted with interest that there were several paler patches on the walls and along the edges of half a dozen frames. All of those frames contained photographs of Nobu and his wife.
"May we see the jewel in question?" Kaito in the guise of one officer Fukawa, a not very outstanding member of his task force, asked politely. His expression was detached in keeping with the man he was impersonating, though on the inside his interest had been piqued. An eccentric man who had delighted in collecting things with stories to tell might very well have jewels in his collection that would be of interest to Kaitou KID.
Nobu stood up quickly. "O—of course. I will go get it." He hurried to the door, bumping into the corner of his office desk as he did so. Then he was out of the room and the door was shutting behind him.
"I still don't see why he's so nervous," Kaito murmured to Shinichi, careful to use Fukawa's voice even though they were alone.
"I…suppose it's always possible that he just has weak nerves," Shinichi said doubtfully. "To a lot of people who've only lived ordinary lives, any crime can be frightening, especially when it's intruding into your home. A place you thought was safe."
"You don't really believe that's it."
The detective sighed. "Not in this case, but I'm not sure what other explanation there is yet."
"I will say this place seems like it couldn't be more peaceful if it tried."
Shinichi nodded slowly, gaze returning to the photographs on the wall. "Does anything strike you as strange about those photos?"
"You mean the ones that look like they've been moved?"
"Yeah. They're all ones with Nobu-san's wife in them, but they seem off."
Kaito studied the pictures in question for a long moment before speaking. "They're all from this last few days."
Shinichi paused. "days?"
"Yeah. He hasn't shaved in a few days. His stubble looks exactly the same in all those photos, and it's almost exactly the same as his stubble today. That, and all the wrinkles on his face and the places where his hair is gray are also all the same."
Shinichi didn't bother asking Kaito if he was sure. The thief did, after all, specialize in impersonation. Instead, he swept his eyes over the photos again. Now that he was looking for it, he could see what Kaito meant. He also noted that the photos in question weren't just all ones containing the man's wife. They were the only photos containing the man's wife. On the other hand, the majority of these pictures seemed to be of Nobu with his uncle as a teen and young adult. It was always possible that the more recent pictures were, well, more recently placed in this room.
"He could be lying about how long he's been married," Kaito mused, echoing Shinichi's thoughts. "But I can't guess what the point of that would be. Or we could be jumping to conclusions and they have reams of photos tucked away elsewhere."
Shinichi hummed noncommittally. The man could be trying to keep up a pretence of some sort, but Kaito was right. There didn't seem to be much point. All they could do for now was to collect more clues and see where they might lead.
-TBC-
