Holmes and Watson 4 - or 'In a world of Frequent Murders, I have to be the quick-witted one for my own ass' sake' (Detective Conan, SI)

The Bell Tree Express is an interesting thing.

The train was created as a 'copy' of the Orient Express and is known to run once a year. Each ride was known to have a special mystery case unfolding onboard, and today was not that different.

That being said, Masumi had not told the kids and the doctor that we would tag along for the ride, thus 'surprising' them again as we ended up joining them for the train ride... and it wasn't just them.

Sonoko, Ran, and Mr. Mouri were also there. In fact, this was the limited cast of known faces as the rest of the passengers were people involved with the owner as friends, they were families of a buddy of his actually. And the owner was none other than Suzuki's 'second cousin'/uncle. So yes, her family was loaded.

Now, it wasn't relevant for what occurred once we got inside the train. Oh no, what truly unnerved me was that, due to how the room I got assigned I had to share with Masumi, Ran and Sonoko. Three girls, one guy- this wasn't fun at all.

Ran was the one I pitied the most, poor girl wasn't trying to cause me any issues... the same didn't extend to Sonoko. The dumbass was saying something about leaving behind a love letter to Kaito Kid. You know, the infamous thief that has been giving grief to her family in a while.

The only moral justice I could find on the topic is that the thief already had someone hooking up with him so... yeah, the thirst lost this round too.

Now, the most pressing issue was-

"Did ya know that John has a Pretty Cure poster in his room?"

Masumi being an utter bitch!

"No way!" Sonoko snorted, smugly looking at him. "Isn't that a show about cute magical girls."

"Cute magical girls that punch the evildoers left and right," I replied dryly. "Of course you would be inclined for something a bit more to your tastes. Do tell, Sonoko, what's your latest ecchi anime recommendation."

The girl scowled, but I saw a blush burn into her cheeks. I knew it, the bitch was into that sort of shit.

"Tha-That's not a thing! I don't watch that kind of stuff!"

At least I wouldn't 'die of shame' without a fight. I turned to Masumi with a frown.

"Also, how do you know what a Pretty Cure is?"

The tomboy opened her mouth, but she finally falters. I saw it in her eyes and I smirked.

"N-No. That's not- I don't watch it."

"Never asked, but I am glad about your honesty, 'sumi."

Her pout is legendary, but at least the first half of this ride is pleasant as nothing crazy happens. Yet.

The first clue that things were about to start was when we heard someone deliver a single loud knock at the door. Masumi goes to check and she finds no one but a letter that had been left on the ground. She picks it up and then brings it to our attention. Sonoko remarks how this isn't unusual. It adds the 'flair of the mystery'.

At this point I am already convinced that this was not going to be a pleasant situation. The letter had us assigned the role of 'accomplices'. We had to 'assist' the killer in switching the room with someone else. A tragic development considering we were switching from the 'First Class room' with someone of lesser level.

Not only that, but I could tell that the letter was inconsistent with the usual pattern.

The way it was written was... odd. Not much in regard of the calligraphy, but the way the printing was so... imperfect. It wasn't well-put within the thin corrective lines. Still, compliance was followed and nothing unusual happened.

The crime unfolded a few hours later. The victim was one of the unfamiliar faces, Murobashi Etsuto, and I had to use the powerful tool known as Google to get a proper suspect out of the guests: his assistant, Andou Satoru.

The reason is simple: Satoru's wife died in the fire at the manor where those guests developed pyrophobia. Etsuto had caused it to steal some luxurious items, portraits and expesive art pieces during the chaos. Out of everyone involved, Satoru was the one that actually lost someone.

The second worst thing happening to any of those guests during the fire was a barely-visible scar on Noto Taisaku's face. No one faced anything warranting a murder - no one but Andou Satoru.

Another easy victory, yet... something was missing. My 'beloved assistant' was skipping on her duty to call me out for solving the crime. She tried to appear 'immersed' in the investigation, but I could notice she was rattled by something.

Whatever Masumi had seen or heard, it was connected to the 'B Plot' of the case. After all, I remember this being a 'Four-Part' episode which couldn't be inflated with this silly case alone. No, there was more to it. The Organization was on the move to try and assassinate Ai but...

I couldn't remember the details.

I tried to keep an eye on Masumi, but ultimately I saw her retreat 'quickly' to get the videos of the guests 'running along the hall' and she... took a lot more than she should have. I left as soon as the 'big reveal' was happening. Kogoro was asleep as Conan used the 'Sleepy Goro' trick to convey the truth about what happened.

Moving swiftly, I managed to get to the further carriages, looking around for anything that could help, and then I found one of the workers around that told me a man with a black hat and wearing an all-black outfit had carried Masumi to the next carriage to rest since 'she was anemic'.

Gritting my teeth, I bolted to the mentioned location and... I found Masumi.

She was unconscious and she had a pained look on her face.

I paled the very moment I noticed her slumped on a bench inside one of the unused rooms. Someone had left her there. I was by her side, checking on her for any injury, but I realized that the guy had used a taser on her.

Part of her brown jacket had a dark spot by her left hip, and as I opened the jacket and lifted her shirt just enough to show the hurt spot, I saw the reddened area. Nothing dangerous, but she sure got zapped unconscious by the bastard.

Speaking of the bastard, I thought I would have found something suggesting he passed by me, but the path I took was devoid of anyone bearing the description I got. Then again, we were dealing with a possible professional killer, one that saw fit to limit the murdering to avoid more attention aimed at them.

Still, I drew a quiet sight, unease mellowing at the news she was going to be fine but-

"How is she?"

I tensed up and turned at the only door. I was about to react if it was the guy behind the attack, but I was greeted by-

"...The burglar Ran caught at her boyfriend's house?" I asked, knowing full well this guy was actually an ally of sort.

The bespectacled young man, going by the name of Okiya Subaru, smiled sheepishly. "I-I am not a burglar, but a friend of the Kudo Family and... How is she?"

He repeated the question with a very annoyed tone, and yet I could sense some concern too.

"She is fine. Unconscious but... the taser didn't hurt her much," I mumbled as I turned to look at Masumi. "You know who did this?"

...

"Yes."

"Then-"

"We are already taking care of this. I need you to bring Masumi to one of the carriages nearer to the conductors."

I nodded, but- "Is it that Organization?"

My question froze the bespectacled guy on the spot. "Hm?"

"The group that is behind... you know, de-aging Shinichi and that other girl."

My words seemed to stun the guy for a moment and he... smiled. "I guess you are as smart as we were told, John Bukharin."

I frowned. "So... any answer?"

"Yes. But we will explain at a latter date. Just get Masumi out of trouble."

I nodded and soon I got Masumi on my back. Luckily for me, no one seemed to take notice of this as the revelation was still ongoing when I passed by to carry a sleepy Masumi around. I got to a safe enough spot to have her rest and I lied her head on my lap as I waited for... something to happen.

Turns out that a fake fire was instigated and that the last two carriages got detached and destroyed in an explosion. No one had a clue on what occurred, and I wasn't planning to investigate any further.

It's been a few long days already and-

"Shu-niiiiah!"

And that dumbass Masumi decided to wake up suddenly and head butt me while I was leaning down to read more manga.

I would love to say that this was the end for troubles for me, but now that Masumi was awake, I had to be pelleted with questions. Some I could answer, others just fueled more 'memories' of this specific bit of the plot.

Ultimately, the train reached Nagoya and we all got off from it. Andou Satoru was arrested, the police had the train stopped for the time being to investigate what had occurred beyond the murder and...

We had to pay a cab to get us back to Beika City, Tokyo. And by 'we', I mean 'I'. One thing that Masumi had been quite 'shy' about was tell me how much she paid for the train's tickets and the overall expenses for the camping trip.

So now I had to pay the robbery of a price that was a car ride from Nagoya to Tokyo. She fell asleep on my shoulder, happily using me as a pillow due to how claustrophobically small the cab was. And while I was happy my family would take a few more days to get back home when I returned to the house, I couldn't help but wish that I didn't take part to this adventure at all.

After all, now I would have to do something risky, stupid, and very troublesome to keep my ass out of the Organization's businesses.

AN

Next time... Masumi decides to enjoy the slow days by nagging at John. The results may lead to some unexpected developments.