Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Pairing: KaitoxShinichi
Lure
Chapter 24 - Misdirection
"He sure is taking a long time about getting that jewel," Kaito remarked, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. The clock on the wall ticked away, informing them that Nobu had been gone for nearly half an hour already. "I know this house is big, but surely it can't be that big."
"It's always possible the security they've placed around it takes time to get through. Some safes can be very complicated these days, as I'm sure you know."
"Though that begs the question, shouldn't he have just shown us to the holding area? I mean, he did ask us here to help. That means we need to check out his security."
"That's true," the detective agreed. "But it's possible he didn't think of it. We'll ask him when he gets back."
"Our host certainly isn't a very clear thinker, it seems."
Shinichi gave the thief a reproachful look. Such comments were both rude and unhelpful. But Kaito just waved him away and heaved an exaggerated sigh.
The clock ticked on.
Shinichi settled into a pensive silence, organizing his observations and the information they had garnered from their meeting in his head. Unlike his partner, who seemed content to wait, Kaito soon found himself feeling restless. He wanted to get a look around, not sit here in this tiny room waiting all day. If he could manage to get a look at the family's entire jewelry collection while he was here, all the better. After all, though he hadn't set up this heist, there was a chance he might find what he was searching for here. He wouldn't take anything without sending a proper note, but a good look around could save both him and them the trouble depending on what he found.
Suppressing the urge to growl in irritation, he let his eyes wander around the room again. For an office, it was pretty bare. Aside from the clock and the many pictures on the wall, there was only one shelf of books and the desk. It was a very large and very heavy kind of desk. Real wood, Kaito noted, and possibly hand carved, by the look of those carvings down the sides.
He allowed himself a moment to indulge in a little fantasy about bending Shinichi over that desk.
He was really getting into it when the office door finally opened again to admit Nobu Karamaki. Kaito felt a brief flash of annoyance, but he quickly dismissed it. Better that things get moving.
"This is the piece," the man said, setting a small jewelry box on the desk and lifting the lid. Both detective and thief leaned forward in unison to look.
Before them, a diamond ring gleamed against black velvet. It was a silver ring. The diamond in question sat in the beak of a tiny, silver bird perched upon the silver band. It was a very pretty piece of work, but Kaito lost interest immediately. The diamond was far too small to be Pandora.
"This ring was commissioned by a wealthy merchant many years ago as a birthday gift to his daughter," Nobu explained. He paused to lick his dry lips and swallow, gaze fixed on the little bird. For a moment, his expression was lost. Then he pulled himself together again. "His daughter was not a very…not a healthy child. She caught sick often. The doctors all said she wouldn't live much longer. But her father procured this diamond from a mystic who told him that it had the power to absorb illness. He had it made into a bird because his daughter liked birds, and he told her to never take it off. Stories say the girl did actually live a long and happy life. But of course that's just the story."
Shinichi nodded. "I see. If you don't mind me asking, where do you normally keep this ring?"
The man blinked then stammered. "O—oh, right. Of course you'd need to know. It's usually in the vault with the other jewels and things. Like the artwork and ceramics we don't have on display and the, well…" He waved a hand vaguely.
"Can you show us this vault?" Shinichi asked.
The man paled. "I don't—I mean… I'm sure that isn't necessary. I thought I should maybe keep the ring with me. You know, so it would be harder to steal."
The detective and the thief traded looks. If that wasn't a strange reaction, neither of them knew what was.
"I do not mean to be rude," Kaito said. "But keeping the target with you is not very advisable. All a thief would have to do is incapacitate you. If this was a real KID heist, you could at least be sure that you would live, but if this is an imposter, your safety cannot be guaranteed. And you'll excuse me for saying so, but I think your life is more important than this ring."
"O—oh." The man looked uncomfortable. "I…I hadn't thought of that. But you see, though I call it a vault, it's really just a big room in the basement. It doesn't even lock any differently from any other room in the house. We're so far away from anything, we've never had trouble with intruders even back in my uncle's days. So it never seemed necessary to get anything more, well, advanced."
Kaito stared, flabbergasted.
Shinichi coughed lightly, struggling to hide his own astonishment. "We understand your point. Is there a part of the house you would consider more secure? Somewhere without too many exits that we would be able to monitor easily. There isn't much time left to prepare, but we might be able to set up a trap for the thief."
"I would also recommend endeavoring to make it easier for the thief to determine a target location," Kaito said. "Otherwise he may take someone hostage and try to torture a location out of them. If you let him believe he knows where and what he's after, you can protect your household at least a little."
By now, Nobu was looking distinctly green. "I—I'm not sure what kind of places would be… But I can get a blueprint of the house for you if you would like."
They agreed, and the man left the office again, leaving the ring with them.
Kaito shook his head. "Honestly, talk about careless. For all he knows, we're the thieves in disguise. Yet here he just leaves the jewel."
"It doesn't seem to me like he cares a great deal about this ring," Shinichi murmured, frown deepening. "I'm almost positive he's worried about something else. But what?"
-0-
When the door opened again, it was not Nobu but his wife who entered. Though the woman held herself with a great deal more poise than her husband had, she too shoed signs of long term wear. She was thin, and her cheeks were hollow. There were dark circles under her eyes.
"My husband is searching for a blueprint of the house," she said when she had their attention. Her hands were clasped loosely before her, but she couldn't seem to keep them still. Her long fingers kept fidgeting, turning her wedding ring around and around so that Shinichi couldn't help but notice that the ring was a little loose for her. "We're afraid we may have misplaced it. But we thought of a room that might be suitable. If you come with me, I can show you where it is."
Kaito offered the woman a smile. "Please do."
She did not return his smile. She only picked up the ring in its box and turned around, gesturing for them to follow her.
She led the way through the massive house. The halls were deserted. Everything was spotlessly clean.
Eventually, they found themselves walking into a small room at the top of the house. It had only one door and one window. The window overlooked the house's rather sizeable swimming pool. The room itself contained only a table and two chairs.
"We take our tea in here sometimes," the woman said. She placed the ring box down on the middle of the table. "Will this do?"
Shinichi moved to look out the window. The face of the building was relatively sheer, and the room was located four floors up. A thief who tried to escape through the window would have to fly like Kaitou KID, plant some kind of climbing aid, or pray like crazy that they landed in the deep end of the swimming pool instead of the shallows or on the concrete. In other words, it wasn't an impossible escape route, but it wasn't an easy one either. It certainly wasn't a route you wanted to take without planning first.
The room's one door was also of ordinary size with an ordinary lock. The hall outside it was went straight until it reached the top of the stairs, giving anyone on this floor a clear view all the way from said stairs to the room. There were other doors along the hall, but no branch hallways.
"It's not too bad," Kaito said, tapping his chin as he played the role of the unremarkable police officer. "It would be very hard to get in from outside, and there's only one other way in that we can monitor easily."
"I'd still like to see the vault though," Shinichi added. "I know your husband said it isn't a very secure place, but it still might be better. After all, it was in the basement, right?"
A frown flitted across the woman's face. "Yes. But it has a window too, and it's so cluttered that it would mean a thief would have many places to hide."
"True. But it's also where a thief who's done his homework is likely to look first," Kaito supplied. He could tell that Shinichi wanted to see the vault, and he had his own reasons to wish to see it too. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.
"I guess if you insist," the woman conceded reluctantly. "If you wait here for a few minutes, I can go get my husband. I…don't like going down there by myself." She gave them a strained smile. "And he knows the layout of the place much better than I do."
The detective and the thief traded looks as the woman left. The woman's behavior was just as strange as her husband's.
Once again, they had to wait. It was a whole half hour before Nobu and his wife reappeared.
The couple led Shinichi and Kaito back down through the house until they reached the basement level. There, Mrs. Karamaki wrapped an arm through her husband's for comfort before they started for the vault. Nobu's whole body was stiff as he led the way to the supposed vault.
The vault turned out to be every bit as unremarkable as Nobu had said it was. The place was a massive room stuffed to the bursting point with everything from paintings to old furniture. Navigating through the place was like walking through a maze. It would take a very, very, very patient thief with a whole lot of time to find anything in the clutter, Shinichi thought, picking his way across the chamber to get a closer look at the windows.
Said windows were narrow and placed at the tops of the back wall. A skinny person would probably be able to slide through them. Once inside, there was a plethora of hiding places.
"I guess the upstairs room would be better after all," he said. Halfway back to where the Karamaki couple was standing by the door, he paused. There was a sprinkling of something pale on the floor.
Bending down, he peered closely at the pale spots.
"Did you find something, Kudo-kun?" Kaito asked, appearing next to him.
"I think they're bread crumbs," the detective replied, puzzled. Considering how clean the whole house was, the crumbs were quite a surprise. It wasn't as though vaults were good places for an afternoon snack.
So who might have been eating down here? Or had someone with bread crumbs on their clothes been through here recently and not bothered to clean up after themselves?
"I think we should go back to the office and make a plan," Shinichi declared, though he caught Kaito's eyes with a question in his own.
The magician nodded then turned to Nobu. "Excuse me, but I kind of need to use the restroom. Could you…?"
"Oh. Oh, right, of course. Uh…"
"Mizuki will show you the way," said Mrs. Karamaki.
On cue, one of the few servants they had seen in the house appeared. He was a very tall and very muscular man with a face that looked like it had been on the wrong end of a few too many fists.
He nodded to the woman, though not, Kaito noted, to Nobu. Then he listened to her request and nodded again. After that, he gestured for Kaito to follow him as the Karamakis and Shinichi retired back to the office.
-TBC-