File Four: The Roller Coaster Murder Case

It had been morning already when the four children headed outside.

Conan said nothing as he tugged the security blanket, which the kind police officer had just laid over his shoulders, closer to him and watched the three kids drop their heads in shame, remaining silently still as his parents loudly reprimanded them.

The police had called them to pick their children up, and it would have been the same to Conan, if he hadn't secretly given them his own number when asked, before turning his phone off.

Any other day, he would have just let them call his brother, but as it was now, he didn't want to. Not until he figured out what he had been doing last night, hanging around with those scary men.

"It seems they turned it off." The officer sighed and mumbled something about irresponsible parents, which he promptly ignored. "Do you know anybody else we can call?"

Conan shook his head and gave him the most innocent face he could pull off. "Can't I just go home?"

The policeman looked at the young child for a moment until he smiled. "I will take you there." He reached to pat Conan on the head. "Just give me a second, okay?"

After the kid nodded his head, the man left him to have a quick talk with one of his colleagues. The only thing he found when he returned, though, was a blanket dropped carelessly on the ground.

"Hey, the kid is gone!"

"I'm home," the child called while he entered his house, only to be met with silence.

He still isn't home, he thought, concern shaping his features while walking further inside to confirm that, yes, he was all alone in that big house.

Sighing, he crossed the room and turned the TV on and, unlike any other kid his age that would gladly put on some action-filled anime or movie, he settled on the news. It's seven in the morning. He could see the time in a corner of the screen.

Slowly the kid sat on the sofa, eyes still fixed on the television, even if his mind was actually somewhere else. I should have said something. Without meaning to, his hand clenched around the remote, thinking about that little adventure he had with his classmates last night. Anything.

But he had been scared ─ oh-so-scared ─ to do anything about it. To even think of leaving that place and making the possibility of running into those scary people again...

Something on the TV snapped him out of it, bringing his attention to the bright, red letters that were all over the screen, prompting his eyes to grow wide as plates.

"Fire in Ekoda Hospital"

Any other day, it wouldn't have bothered the young boy nearly that much. While tragic and terribly upsetting, this kind of events were hardly uncommon ─ just one dumb mistake could cause an entire building to blow up in pieces.

Despite it all, there hadn't been many casualties besides one. The head doctor hadn't had such luck and now he was dead, body charred beyond recognition.

The reporter appeared back again, blocking the sight of the burned building with her body, and said something else.

Something that prompted a child to run down the little child's back.

"The victim's name was Watanabe Satoshi."

And then he was cold. So very cold, to the point that he actually had to rub his arms with his hands, shaking violently ─ an action that Conan wasn't sure if it could be attributed to the chilly environment, or the upsetting feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, Conan. You're up early." The voice startled him, badly ─ the child jumped, head snapping towards the doorway. "It's Saturday. You don't have school"

There stood Shinichi, wearing the exact same clothes he had seen him in the night before and carrying some plastic bags in both hands. The smile that had been plastered all over his face until a few seconds ago vanished into nothing, a confused look taking place.

Blinking puzzledly, the teenager noticed that the younger boy was growing paler and paler as time went by. Then proceeded to move closer to him, dropping the bags to the floor.

And confusion turned into concern the moment he reached to give him a friendly pat on the top of his head, only for the kid to flinch away, out of instinct.

"Did you have another nightmare?"

It looked as if the youngest didn't have the slightest idea of how to react, if the way he shifted in his spot was something to go by. The fear in his eyes gradually dimmed with a brief sigh, before focusing on the bags still on the floor.

If it wasn't for the reporter on the TV talking about the weather ─ secretly, Conan was glad beyond words for the change of topic ─ the silence in that room would have been deafening.

"Where did you go?" Conan finally spoke, after what seemed to be ages. "You're awfully early, as well."

"I forgot to change my alarm, and it went off." With a nervous laugh, the teen lifted the bags. "Since I was wide awake like an owl, I decided to go buy some stuff we were out of." He raised one of the bags in question for the kid to see. "Like eggs, for example."

Conan gave him a long stare, before hesitantly taking a step forward. Seeing that, his brother lowered the bag for him to look inside and inspect its contents with such a serious gaze that almost amused Shinichi.

Wordlessly, the kid roughly grabbed it and marched towards the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" asked Shinichi, following his little brother.

"Pancakes," he replied, with a plain tone. "Starving."

With that the elder one stilled, a small smile drawing itself on his face as he watched his brother going around the kitchen.

He had long gotten over the initial shock of finding out that Conan could manage himself much better than he did, and that included being able to cook half-decently.

When he had asked where he had learnt that, Conan had shrugged and said that he had read about it somewhere. As for the reason, Shinichi figured it was out of necessity ─ neither his father nor him were proficient in the art of cooking, so the idea of him taking on cooking all on his own, because he had to eat instant ramen for the fifth time that week when his mother was in another month-long trip with her friends, wasn't that implausible.

Well, Conan had admitted not knowing how Shinichi had managed to survive without a single clue of how to cook, and joking about that being the true reason for her mother to send her youngest kid to Japan. He had suggested that it was to take care of his older brother, and not the other way around.

"It's just basic chemistry," he had said once. "It's not that hard, really."

And the worst part? He couldn't completely disagree. Even if Conan was only a first grader who shouldn't even have a clue of what the word 'chemistry' meant.

A sweet, pleasant smell brought Shinichi out of his thoughts. Conan was setting two plates of fresh-made pancakes on the table. "It's done, Aniki," he called over his shoulder, only to notice that his brother was busy with something in the kitchen.

"Just a moment."

Conan didn't understand what he meant with that, but still sat on the table, waiting anxiously for him to come. Not long after that the teen came, a steamy mug in each hand, and set one in front of the kid. Curiously, the boy peered inside and was really surprised.

"Coffee?" he blinked, confused. "I thought you said it wasn't good for me."

"It's just for today, don't get used to it."

Followed by that, Shinichi took a sip of his own mug while he sat in front of him. The kid gave the teen the longest look, before silently gazing down at his coffee.

A pensive look took hold of his face, unable to get the report he just saw on TV about Ekoda Hospital. The cold-blooded glint that man in black had on his eyes the other night, along with the gun the other one chasing him had held in his hand were things still fresh in his mind.

It was too much to take, and quite frankly it terrified him.

He still didn't know what he was supposed to think.

"That's cold, you know." Conan looked up, noticing that his brother was pouting a bit. "You're six. I'm supposed to be 'Shinichi-niichan' or 'Oniisan' to you, like it would be to other children your age. Why am I stuck with 'Aniki'?"

His eyes glimmered with something that made him look childish, mischievous even. "I can call you Shinichi-dono if you want me to."

"That's... to be expected, but certainly not what I had in mind."

"Or Shinichi-jiisan."

"Hey..."

"Shinichi-baka."

When his brother loudly complained about the treatment and whined something about 'respecting older people', Conan burst out laughing. He raised the coffee Shinichi had prepared for him, taking into its wonderful smell before drinking, and couldn't help but feel all warm from inside.

There was simply no way his brother could have done something like that, he decided, gazing down at the mug with a rather gentle smile on his lips.

'Watanabe Satoshi' was such a boring and common name, Conan naively convinced himself. It could have been anyone.

… Right?

And for almost an entire year, nothing happened.

It was a chilly December morning like any other when Conan made his way inside his classroom, finding it completely empty once he walked inside. Looks like I'm early. And he was glad he was, truly.

Sighing to himself, the young boy set his bag beside his seat and pulled out a thick book, silently thanking the small mercies of life ─ such as spending a hopefully peaceful morning reading a good book before they arrived and flipped the entire room upside down...

"Good morning, Conan-kun!"

So much for a peaceful morning….

Mentally groaning, the child tore his gaze away from his copy of The Valley of Fear and settled it in Ayumi's bright blue eyes. There was no need to turn around to know that Mitsuhiko and Genta were also there, burning holes in the back of his head.

"You guys are pretty early today," he said suddenly, not even bothering to greet her back.

Awfully early, considering he hadn't even had the chance to read a single sentence of his book before he had to put it away.

"That's right!" She nodded, energetically. "We noticed we never got the chance to hang out with you, so we decided to come early so we could play before school!" The girl glanced at her other two friends. "Right?"

"Yeah..." was their reply. Still glaring.

Conan could not help but to let out a dry chuckle. While it might have been true for Ayumi, it seemed like the other two had just tagged along because of her ─ to be honest, sometimes he wondered how come the girl hadn't yet noticed the huge crush the two males had for her…. or the nonexistent one Conan had for her in turn, for that matter.

Eventually the boys seemed to calm down, and the three kids fell into a friendly chat, not realizing that Conan had focused back on his book, a faint scowl out of annoyance present on his face. That was, until his phone suddenly vibrated inside his pocket, fueling his irritation.

With a tired sigh, the child put the book down so he could check his phone.

"I have a school project to work on with Ran and Sonoko.

Will be home by dinner.

─ Shinichi."

He would have raised an eyebrow, had his brother been able to see him.

"Hey, Conan-kun," Ayumi called him, causing the boy to glance curiously at her. "We were planning to go to Tropical Land together later today. Do you want to come?"

"Sorry." He smiled at her, apologetically, placing his phone back in his pocket and returning to his book. "I can't make it."

"Eh? Why?"

"Homework."

Genta crossed his arms over his chest. "You can do it before you go."

"We have seen you." Mitsuhiko narrowed his eyes on him. "The other week, you did it at homeroom. It barely took you five seconds."

"You always say the same thing every single time we invite you to do something." Ayumi pouted at him. "Come on, Conan-kun! I promise it will be fun."

I highly doubt it, he thought, gazing into Ayumi's big pleading eyes with a very plain look. "Sorry guys," was all he said before turning back to his book and flipping a page over.

And said nothing else, even after hearing Ayumi's disheartened sigh, but his little hands tightened their grip around his book. Secretly, the kid did feel a little bad for disappointing her so badly, yet there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Not when the events of eight months ago, at the mansion, still haunted him to this day. When he had put them in terrible danger, all because of his own mistakes. Because he had let fear overcome him. What was there to say that he wouldn't do it again?

… There was almost a small part of him that worried about what would happen if they saw him for who he was. That didn't want everything to go the same way it did last time he tried to befriend children his age.

They were different, though, he would give them that. The fact that those kids kept trying despite almost an entire year of rejection from his part was something that Conan still couldn't get his head around.

Maybe they will just give up this time around...

It wasn't long until he realized he was wrong, so terribly wrong.

After school, Conan had decided to drop by Professor Agasa's house and spend the evening there until his brother came back home. Not even five seconds after he had dropped his things on Agasa's table, in order to do his homework like any other self-respecting elementary student, when the doorbell rang.

"Conan," Agasa called from the computer. "Would you answer the door for me?"

"Okay!"

Conan hopped off his chair right away, walking up to the door and standing on his tiptoes, taking a look through the peephole. He froze in place, however, when he saw Ayumi standing there, a big grin painted on her face as she chatted with Mitsuhiko. Oh, great.

Just as he was about to back up silently, Genta's eye covered Conan's entire view.

"Hey, Conan, we know you're here!" the boy yelled at him. "We heard Professor Agasa calling your name, so you better open up or else-"

Before the kid could finish his sentence, however, he stumbled forward as the door was suddenly thrown open for him. After regaining his balance, he glared at Conan who, far from fazed at it, gave the entire group a rather blank look.

"So?" he said, plainly. "What do you guys want?"

"We're picking you up." Ayumi had a determined glint in her eyes. "Let's go to Tropical Land together."

"I already told you I couldn't go."

"We'll wait until you finish everything you have to do." Followed by that, the girl walked forward, taking her shoes off without waiting for Conan to welcome her inside.

"Then, we're coming in." Mitsuhiko did the same, nodding politely at the boy as he came in. Genta's shoes were off in an instant, as well.

These guys... Conan groaned and massaged his temples when he saw his classmates cheerfully greeting Agasa and sitting on the couch, as if they owned the place, talking and laughing loudly as they did.

Ah, he knew this was coming ─ he could already feel the beginning of a massive headache.

"But you know, I really, really can't go." Conan offered them the best apologetic smile he could pull off. "I don't have any money on me and Aniki is going to be home late, so I can't ask him to give me some. So, let's leave it for another time, okay?"

Agasa perked up when he heard that, giving a quick glance over the three kids that just sighed heavily ─ probably having expected such an outcome ─ before humming in thought. "Give me a second," he then said, standing up, leaving Conan to blink in confusion.

The kid watched him go through some drawers until he finally found whatever he had been looking for. Agasa went back to him and placed something in his hands.

Immediately his eyebrow twitched upon the realization that he had just been given money.

"But Professor, I-"

"You can tell Shinichi to pay me back tomorrow." The professor smiled at the child. "Just don't worry about it and have some fun with your friends, okay?"

He reluctantly nodded back at him. That bastard... He's doing it on purpose, isn't he?

"Isn't that great, Conan-kun?" Mitsuhiko grinned.

"Yay! Let's go, let's go!" Ayumi jumped off the couch.

"Hurry up, Conan," Genta called as the three started to run for the door.

"Yeah..."

And suddenly forgetting they had promised to wait for Conan to finish his homework, they put back on his shoes. The boy sighed for the eleventh time this day and, after giving the professor a silent glare ─ which was easily ignored ─ he went to fetch his stuff to leave with them.

Had Conan been told to describe how he was feeling in one single word, it would most likely be 'drained'.

Throughout the entire day, the boy had been dragged to almost every single attraction. From scary houses to roller coasters, and even to a nearby candy store for some snacks. And while the attractions weren't that out of this world, keeping up with these kids was simply exhausting.

"That was really fun!" Ayumi, however, was radiant.

"It's definitely not good for the heart." Mitsuhiko sighed tiredly, and Genta silently agreed. Apparently, the haunted house had been too much for him and Genta to bear.

Internally, Conan couldn't help but roll his eyes. Overall, while the experience could have been worse, it could've also been much better than it was. The setting had been poorly made, and disguises they had worn looked terribly cheap. It was also so predictable that he could easily know when something was about to jump ─ which basically killed the element of surprise, therefore making the entire thing boring.

"We should go home..." Genta mumbled.

Conan perked up at that. "Come to think of it, it's a bit late, isn't it?" he commented, hoping that the other two would just agree.

"Just one more!" Ayumi pleaded. "The Mystery Coaster should be okay, right?"

"Ayumi-chan, we only have enough money for the return fare home," Mitsuhiko told her.

And the shortest boy wished she would just accept defeat and headed back home, but she didn't. Instead, Ayumi told them to leave everything to her.

Leading them to the current predicament. The four children were now standing in front of a hole, big enough for them to pass through. It's that… He contemplated it for a moment, eyelids sliding half-way closed in boredom. … the best idea she has?

As if to prove him right, Ayumi tried to climb up. "Hey, hey." Just before she could do anything, he held her by her shoulders. "You can't just do that."

"Eh? Why?"

"See that man over there?" He motioned to the guard standing in front of the entrance, a few meters far from their group. "We aren't out of his visual field. There's a big chance he will see us and catch us if we try to get inside just like that."

Ayumi just nodded at him, dejectedly, but he didn't care ─ if anything, he was delighted, thinking that now they could just go back home. That was until the kid felt his personal bubble popping.

The two boys were surrounding him right after that. Genta's hand was grasping his shirt, Conan realized with a faint scowl.

"What should we do, Conan?"

"At this rate, Ayumi-chan..."

Indeed, the girl's eyes were beginning to water up. "Even if you say so..." His eyebrow rose. "I don't-"

"Please, Conan-kun!"

"Okay, okay." He sighed. "Just... Just stay put."

Really, he could be at home now, relaxing on his couch and reading in peaceful silence, but no. Of course not ─ of course he was there, in an amusement park, approaching the guard so he could get on a roller coaster without paying money.

"Excuse me, sir." Putting on the most innocent face he could manage, he gathered the guard's attention. "Could you help me?"

After a slight moment of confusion on his part, the adult kneeled down in front of the seemingly distressed child. "What's wrong, boy?" he questioned, making sure to sound as kind as he could.

"I can't find my mother anywhere!" he whined. "I'm scared and I want to go home!"

"H-Hey." The man panicked a bit, not wanting the kid to get anymore upset and start crying like most lost children did. "I will help you find her. Now, where did you last see her?"

"Will you? Thank you!" Conan grinned widely and grabbed the guard's hand. "Here, here. This way!"

"It has been a long while..." Mitsuhiko commented, carefully peeking over from the crate in the wall. "I wonder if Conan-kun has been caught or something."

"He probably just went home," Genta huffed, as the other boy walked away from his spot and sat beside his friends. "I wouldn't be surprised if he just left us here by ourselves."

"You're wrong!" Ayumi yelled at him, angrily. "Conan-kun isn't like that. Remember that time at the mansion?"

"That is a bit different, Ayumi-chan," Mitsuhiko commented, a nervous smile on his face. "At that time, we were in real danger."

"Besides, that was one time in this entire year." Genta scowled. "What do we actually know about that guy?"

"Well, I..."

To be fair, Ayumi knew virtually nothing about Conan. Not that she hadn't tried to ─ of course the girl had done everything in her power to befriend the young boy.

The feeling wasn't mutual, it seemed, as the kid had done his best to avoid spending time with her and her friends. None of them had tried to give up, and for eight long months, this kept on. And his attempts had only grown more obvious after their little adventure in the not-so-abandoned house.

At some point, Mitsuhiko had asked her why she was still trying. At that time, she had just shrugged and brushed the question off by walking faster, claiming that they were going to be late for school.

But secretly, she had even wondered if she should just leave him be.

Until she had spotted him there, on his seat, nose stuck in a book, yet eyes glancing away from the pages. It had been brief ─ the bespectacled boy had focused back to his novel as soon as he noticed the slip. But it had been long enough for her to put two and two together.

Back then, he had been watching a group of children playing cards with each other, laughing happily.

Yet Conan's eyes...

They looked... sad.

"Sorry for the wait," suddenly, a voice said behind them.

The three kids turned around to see Conan, who was currently climbing down the crate. He briefly brushed the dust off his clothes and, ever so awkwardly, joined the group.

For a few moments, none said anything, just stared, until Genta broke the silence. "What took you so long, Conan?!" he reprimanded him. "We thought you weren't coming."

"I led the guard to the other side of the park." The shorter boy huffed, irritably. "I had to take a longer path around this entire place so he wouldn't spot me on my way back."

"It doesn't matter," the girl chirped, happily. "Come on, let's go. This way!"

Conan should have known better than to let Ayumi have her way, honestly. If he knew that it would lead him to walk aimlessly in a dark tunnel for almost half an hour, he would've happily bid goodbye to them already and headed back home. But he guessed it was too late now.

"Now what do we do?" Genta complained to her.

"From here we should be able to get in the line," Ayumi explained, with a bright smile.

"I don't see it," Mitsuhiko voiced.

"Of course you don't see it." Conan sighed, sliding his hands inside his pockets, a bored expression on his face. "We're lost, after all."

"L-Lost?!" the other two males shrieked, panicking.

"We have been walking non-stop for thirty minutes now. Considering how big this place is, we should have already reached the line over twenty minutes ago." He then turned to face the other kids. "In other words, we're lost."

"It can't be..." The girl deflated. "What should we do?"

The most sensible thing to do was probably going back from where they came and finally go home, Conan thought. For a heartbeat, he entertained that idea as he let his gaze wander toward the rails, before glancing at the kids, taking note of their downcast expression.

His eyes softened a bit. They had really been looking forward to this...

The kids watched as he quietly stepped back, moving away from their field of sight, and they let out a defeated sigh. Their surprise was big, however, when they turned around.

Instead of going towards the exit, Conan sat on the ground, his back resting against the wall. For a moment, they didn't have any idea of what to think of it, and just blinked, cluelessly.

And the other boy seemed to understand their confusion, if the way he sighed, exasperated, was something to go by. "The roller coaster is going to pass by here any minute now. If we wait and see which way it's heading to, we can figure out which way to go and follow the rails until we reach the entrance."

"O-Oh!" Mitsuhiko was the first to wake up from his stupor. "You're right!"

"So clever!" The girl giggled. "As expected from you, Conan-kun!"

Conan let out a forced chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. It wasn't that clever, really, they could've figured this on their own if they had actually bothered to look around.

He didn't say any of that, though, and decided to just entertain himself by watching the three of them sitting in a circle as they waited for the rollercoaster to pass by, chatting cheerfully among themselves.

"It's coming!" At some point Genta suddenly jumped on his feet, turning to the roller coaster. "We were going the opposite way all along!"

It didn't take so long, thought Conan, slowly standing up and looking to see the roller coaster passing by their group. Finally, after this I can-

But then, something fell with a loud thud a few feet away from them, badly startling them all. The three exchanged a hesitant look, while Conan frowned. "Stay put," he ordered them, moving closer to that… thing.

It was too dark to see clearly, but the child was pretty sure he was standing in front of a severed head.

Ayumi felt something hitting her foot, causing her to lean over to see what it was. "Pearls?" she whispered to herself, crouching down and reaching to pick one to see more clearly.

"Don't touch it." Conan stopped her before she could do anything. "You'll contaminate the crime scene."

"Crime scene...?" Mitsuhiko's face went pale. "Don't tell me, Conan-kun, that the thing beside your feet..."

"Yeah, don't come any closer." His face scrunched in disgust. "It's gross."

The three kids looked at each other once more, obviously frightened at the prospect. Only Ayumi was brave enough to step closer to the boy, hands clenched on top of her chest.

"Maybe we should go before we get into trouble," Ayumi suggested, timidly.

"No, we need to stay right here." Conan shook his head. "We're witnesses, after all."

Without saying another word, the children sat down, as far away from the head as they could, cluelessly watching Conan walk around, eyes scanning through every single thing that could turn into evidence.

He didn't find much, though. Once finished, he collected all the pearls in a napkin, ignoring the sound of police cars gradually filling the silence. Unlike him, his classmates tensed.

"Wait, you guys..." A surprised voice sounded through the darkness, causing the three other kids to jump.

"W-We didn't come in without paying money!" Mitsuhiko hurriedly said, earning a hit on the top of his head by Genta.

"Can you be more obvious?" Conan rolled his eyes, moving closer to the person who had just talked. But then he took a better look and paused.

Both blinked at each other for an entire second until the taller one gasped.

"Conan?!"

"The one and only." He smirked at his older brother in reply, handing him the pearls he had just picked up. "Here, the murder weapon. He was probably decapitated using a pearl necklace, right?" The child then turned around and pointed at a certain spot in the darkness. "The severed head is over there, if you want to see it."

"I'll pass, thank you," Shinichi replied, rather quickly.

Conan shrugged, before turning to his classmates and blinking. They were all looking at him, then at Shinichi, and back at him with a dumbstruck expression on all of their faces.

"What?" he hissed, annoyed.

"Isn't that Kudo Shinichi-san, the renowned high school detective?" Ayumi asked, slowly. Conan and Shinichi nodded, in sync, and the girl turned to the younger boy. "Then, why did he know your name, Conan-kun?"

"... Maybe because he is my brother?"

The three gasped, loudly.

"Your brother?!" Ayumi shouted.

"You two do look alike," Mitsuhiko observed, still not believing it.

"But you're Edogawa!" Genta pointed at him.

"You guys have been in my house before." More like stalked him, but it was close enough, he guessed. "Haven't you actually bothered to read? It said 'Kudo', didn't it?"

When they looked at each other and shrugged, Conan couldn't resist the urge to slap himself, hard, and let an exhausted groan tear away from his throat. Amused by the entire thing, Shinichi chuckled and crouched right next to his brother.

"If people knew about this, it would cause a bit of trouble for Conan here. He doesn't really enjoy the attention." Conan's eyebrow twitched when his older brother placed a hand over his head, ruffled his hair a bit and winked at the rest. "Can I trust you with my little brother's big secret?"

They nodded, enthusiastically. Now, more than ever, the younger Kudo fervently wished he was back home.

A/N:

Published: 02-26-2020

Last edited: 01-19-2021

Based on the Roller Coaster Murder Case.