The Case of the Missing Detective
A Detective Conan Fanfic
by Krista Perry

File 03: Hidden Betrayal


~*~


     Shinichi was dead?

     Ran felt her world collapsing around her, like a crystal
shattered from within by a note of pure, agonizing sound; an
inner scream of anguish.  

     Shinichi... dead.  Brutally murdered on that night so long
ago, when he took her to the amusement park.

     Had she been deceived all this time?  The phone calls, his
brief appearance at the locked room murder case several months
ago, and then the day she spent with him last month... Was it all
just Shinichi's father in disguise, trying to fool everyone into
believing that his son was still alive, while he tracked down the
killer himself?

     It made a twisted sort of sense, actually.  It certainly
made more sense than... than trying to believe that Conan was
actually Shinichi, somehow transformed into a child.  

     And Ran could feel Conan standing next to her.  She could
feel the boy's desire to reach out and comfort her, and as the
culmination of months of fear, loneliness and grief tore from her
in wrenching sobs, she found herself wanting to turn and pull the
child into her arms and cry on his shoulder.  But...

     ...but, no.  She didn't want to be comforted by Conan.  

     Because, if her crazy suspicions were correct, and he
actually  *was* Shinichi... then it was apparent that he would
rather let her believe he was dead, murdered by some vengeful
madman, than be honest with her.

     And if he *wasn't* Shinichi... if he was truly just a little
boy who was merely wise beyond his years... then the chances were
very good that the anonymous tipster wasn't lying.  Which meant
that Shinichi *was* dead, and had been dead for a very long time.

     And if that was the case, then there was nothing Conan could
do to comfort her anyway.

     "Miss Ran," Officer Takagi said.  The young policeman looked
distraught and unsettled in the face of her grief.  "Please
remember... this information hasn't been verified.  As of yet,
there is no physical evidence to back up the tipster's claims. 
We still don't know for sure whether or not he was lying."

     "That's right, Ran-nee-chan."  Conan's voice was strained
with false optimism.  "It's all some sort of hoax.  I... I'm sure
Shinichi-nii-chan is just fine."

     She looked up at him, wiping tears from her face with
shaking fingers.  Conan gave her a small, hesitant half-smile
that she felt was meant to be encouraging.  And yet, the quiet
misery that she could see lurking within his eyes was haunting.

     This was upsetting him too, she realized.  And she suddenly
felt bad for not turning to him sooner; for not wanting to accept
his comfort.  No matter who this strange, intelligent child was,
she knew from long experience that he couldn't bear to see her in
any kind of distress.

     "How can you be sure?" she whispered.

     "Because," he said, "I saw him at the restaurant too,
remember?  As he was leaving."  Conan's voice faltered as he
looked down at his feet.  "He... he looked really upset... as if
leaving was the last thing in the world that he wanted to do... 
And... do you remember?"  Conan looked up at her, then, with
Shinichi's eyes; and with all of Shinichi's intensity.  "He told
me to tell you... he's going to come back.  No matter what it
takes, he'll come back.  Do you remember that?"

     Ran nodded, swallowing back stinging in her throat.  "I
remember."

     "Then think about it," Conan said.  "If he was actually
Shinichi's father in disguise, why would he say that?  It doesn't
make any sense to make a promise like that, if he wasn't really
Shinichi."

     Ran hadn't thought about that.  It was true, though. 
Shinichi had promised to come back.  And not only that, he had
asked her to wait for him... no matter what.

     Conan must have seen the dawning realization on her face. 
"You see?" he said.  "The tipster is lying."   His young
countenance was serious and grave, emphasizing the conviction in
his voice.  "Ran... Shinichi isn't dead.  He was there with you
that night at the restaurant.  And he *will* come back to you. 
No matter what."

     Ran blinked back her tears.  She felt, as she looked at him,
that there were two levels to their conversation.  The one on the
surface, that was just words, and the one just underneath the
surface, where the true meaning lay hidden.

     "Do you mean it?" she asked.

     Conan held her gaze, and nodded once, briefly.  "I swear,"
he said solemnly.

     And with those two words, Ran inexplicably felt a flicker of
hope ignite in her heart once again.

     "Ahem..."  Inspector Megure cleared his throat
uncomfortably.  Ran and Conan both blinked, and looked over at
the two policemen, who were staring at them with bemused
expressions.  Officer Takagi in particular was staring at Conan
with wide, surprised eyes.

     Conan noticed the odd looks.  *Uh-oh.*  He realized that, in
his desperation to comfort Ran, he had unconsciously slipped back
into his old mannerisms.  Quickly, with the ease of long
practice, he shed his adult expression and speaking patterns, and
played the innocent 7-year-old for all he was worth.  

     "I mean... that's what Shinichi-nii-chan promised," he said,
his voice rising to a more childish pitch as he looked up at the
two men with wide, guileless eyes.  He gave a weak, nervous
laugh, noticing that Takagi was still giving him a strange look. 
"He told me all of that himself, right before he left.  And he
told me to tell Ran.  Nee-chan," he added hastily.

     Inwardly, he groaned.  *Oh, real smooth, Kudo,* he berated
himself.

     "That is... an interesting point, Conan," Megure said,
eyeing him thoughtfully.  "One that we will take into
consideration as we continue our investigation.  I suppose it
does make sense that, if the person we all saw that night was
actually Yusaku Kudo, he wouldn't have promised Ran that his son
would return for certain -- especially if he believed Shinichi
was dead.  So it stands to reason that Shinichi was actually
there that night.  At least, I hope so."  He sighed heavily, and
rubbed the bridge of his nose.  "However, that doesn't change the
fact that our anonymous tipster might still pose a serious threat
to the Kudo family."

     Conan looked up at the inspector.  "What do you plan to do?"

     "Well, we've been trying to contact Kudo-san, of course, but
he is a difficult man to track down at the best of times, because
of his traveling habits."

     *Yeah,* thought Conan, with no small amount of bitterness. 
*And because he likes to hide from his publishers, so they can't
nag him about deadlines.*  

     He wished that he could mention to the inspector how
unlikely he thought it was that, were he ever actually murdered,
his father would bother taking such elaborate pains to hunt down
the killer himself -- especially considering that both of his
parents played only incidental roles in his life.  They had moved
out of Japan to further their own careers when he was fourteen,
and left him alone to raise himself.  And now, even though his
parents were fully aware of his current predicament, they seemed
to find his plight more amusing than anything else, which annoyed
him to no end.

     "We would also like to question Professor Agasa," Megure
continued, "since he lives next door to the Kudo residence, and
since, out of all of us, he probably knows the Kudos best. 
Speaking of which," he said, getting to his feet, "we should
probably be going."

     "Yes," agreed Officer Takagi, glancing at Conan.  "I think
we've learned all we need to know here."  He stood as well, and
bowed to Ran in a rather sheepish, but sincere apology.  "I'm
very sorry that we upset you," he said.  "And I promise, we will
do our best to get to the bottom of this.  We will keep you
appraised of our progress."

     Ran managed to give the young officer a small smile.  "Thank
you."

     "And Conan," Takagi said, looking down at the boy, "before
we go, could I have a word with you?"

     "Eh?"  Conan blinked in surprise as Takagi knelt down to
speak with him on eye level.

     "Now, I realize that you're a smart kid," the young
policeman said with a smile.  "Heck, Officer Sato still can't get
over how you helped us solve that murder case with the knife in
the bookshelf.  She talks about it all the time at the precinct."

     Conan had a bad feeling about this conversation, and on top
of that, the last thing he needed right now was for the
well-meaning officer to point out just how unnaturally brilliant
he was.  In that particular case, he hadn't been able to use an
adult to disguise the truth of where the clues to solving the
case were coming from, and it had apparently made an impression. 
He needed a distraction, and quick.  Fortunately, Takagi had just
provided him with the perfect material.  

     "Neh, Officer Takagi," he asked with all the childlike
innocence he could muster.  "Is Officer Sato your girlfriend
yet?"

     Ran gasped at his presumptuousness.  "Conan!"

     Takagi blinked, then blushed right down to the roots of his
hair.  "Uh... well, I... that is... we've gone out to dinner a
few times, but...  I, uh..."

     "Takagi, is this going to take long?" asked Inspector
Megure, who was standing at the door.  His impatient scowl was
softened by the mild humor glinting in his eyes.

     The flustered officer shook his head.  "No, sir."  He turned
back to Conan, struggling to regain his bearings, the blush still
pinking his cheeks, while Conan did his best to look clueless. 
"Look, Conan.  I just wanted to say... I know that you and your
friends like playing detective --"

     Conan tried not to bristle.  *Playing?!*

     "-- but it's dangerous for children your age to be out
looking for trouble like that."  Takagi sighed.  "You probably
don't remember, but both Officer Sato and I were there at the
cave when you were shot by those robbers about a month and a half
ago.  If it hadn't been for Professor Agasa contacting the police
in time for us to get there and apprehend the criminals, well..." 
He trailed off, but he didn't need to finish.

     And Conan paused.  He *hadn't* remembered Takagi or Sato
being there, but then he had been busy bleeding to death at the
time, so his observation skills hadn't exactly been up to their
usual  standards.  His side twinged at the memory of bullet
passing through him...  He had been in many life-threatening
situations before, but that had been the closest he'd ever come
to actually dying.  

     And now, looking at Officer Takagi, he felt guilty for
flustering him, when it was apparent from the earnest look on his
face that the man was sincerely worried about him.

     "We just don't want to see anything bad happen to you." 
Takagi regarded him seriously.  "And I don't mean to scare you,
but with this anonymous tipster apparently out to get the Kudo
family...  Well, we know you're a relative of theirs, and so... 
Just... be careful, okay?  Don't go off anywhere by yourself. 
Even with your friends, make sure you stick to public areas.  And
whatever you do, *don't* think of this visit as an invitation for
you to start your own investigation into this matter."

     *Yeah, right,* Conan thought.  *If only you knew what you're
_really_ dealing with.*   "No, sir," he said obediently.  "I
won't." 

     He suddenly felt Ran's hand on his shoulder.  As it
tightened around him possessively, he looked up at her to see
that her face was once again pale with worry.

     "You don't really think he might actually come after Conan,
do you?" she asked. 

     Takagi stood, and shrugged uneasily.  "Honestly," he said,
"we can't be sure until we find this man, and discover his
motives for claiming to have killed Shinichi.  But better safe
and forewarned, than sorry.  In the meantime, I'd keep a close
eye on this one."  And he reached over and ruffled Conan's hair.

     Conan suffered the indignity with practiced stoicism.  But
one glance up at the sudden fierce determination on Ran's face,
while feeling the subtle tightening of her grip on his shoulder,
and he was boiling inside with frustration.  *Great.  Just great. 
He's got Ran worked up to full-blown mother-hen mode.  This whole
mess has just gotten a lot more difficult.*

     Which was probably the understatement of the year.  Already,
as Ran graciously saw Takagi and Megure out the door, his
thoughts were churning the situation over in his mind at light
speed.

     The Dark Syndicate knew he was alive, or at least they
suspected.  Which was strange, since Ai had told him that, while
she was still with the Syndicate, she had altered his records to
show that he was "Deceased," instead of "Status Unknown," so that
they would stop investigating his whereabouts.

     Which meant that they had discovered that he was alive some
other way.

     There wasn't a moment to lose.  As soon as Ran turned in for
the night, he had to sneak over to Professor Agasa's house.  He
had to talk to Ai as soon as possible, and find out what she knew
about what the Syndicate's plans might be...

     "Don't even *think* about it, Conan."

     Conan started guiltily, and looked up to see Ran leaning
over him with a disapproving frown on her face.

     "Uh... Think about what, Ran-nee-chan?" he asked, all wide
eyes and innocence.

     But she wasn't having any of it.  "You can't fool me," she
said sternly.  "I can tell by the look on your face that you were
thinking about investigating that anonymous tip.  And right after
Officer Takagi told you not to!"

     Conan suppressed a wince.  *Ha... she knows me too well.* 
Then, before he even respond, she knelt before him, and grasped
his shoulders gently with both hands, looking intently into his
face.  He swallowed hard as he saw her eyes, glimmering with
wetness, and still red-rimmed from crying.

     "Please, Conan," she said.  "Please stay out of this.  I
know you're curious, and I know that you're smart...  I know that
Shinichi taught you how to use deductive reasoning, and that you
look up to him a lot... but Officer Takagi is right.  No matter
how smart you are... you're still just a little boy."

     Conan closed his eyes, a pained expression flitting across
his face.  *...just a little boy...*  He heard those words all
the time now, but it always seemed to sting just a bit more,
coming from her.

     "I almost lost you once," Ran continued, her voice thin with
distress.  "If anything were to happen to you again, I don't know
what I would do.  And... and with this threat against
Shinichi..."  She trailed off, swallowing hard, before offering
him a tremulous smile.  "Please, Conan.  This isn't fun and
games.  This sounds so dangerous.  Promise me that you'll stay
away from it.  Promise me that you won't go off with your friends
and try to solve this mystery."

     Conan slowly looked up at her, child mask in place, and
smiled wanly.  "I promise," he said, "that I won't go off with my
friends to solve this mystery."

     Ran frowned slightly.  "Or by yourself," she amended. 
"Promise me."

     *Damn.*  Conan's phoney smile faltered.  *I can't promise
that, Ran.*  The first promise was easy to make.  There was no
way in the world he wanted to get the kids involved in this
dangerous situation.  But he was at the very center of this new
crisis, and to just ignore it went against every fiber of his
being, especially when the danger was so close, and so real.  

     But, looking into Ran's face, it was plain to him that she
would not be placated by anything less than a promise from him --
a promise to stand by and do nothing, while the Dark Syndicate
relentlessly closed in on him like starving wolves around wounded
prey.  

     A familiar, heavy ache built up in his chest.  *One more
lie.  Another lie, to add to the lies I've already told her.*

     He looked down, unable to meet her expectant gaze.  "I... I
promise," he said.  And Ran swept him into a crushing embrace.

     "Thank you, Conan," she whispered in his ear.  "You don't
know how much this means to me."

     Conan merely closed his eyes, feeling her arms around his
small body... and silently wished, for the millionth time, that
he had never followed the man in black on that night so long ago.


~*~

     
     The digital clock on the bookshelf read 1:56 a.m., its red
numbers glowing dimly in the darkness of the living room.  Ran
sat quietly on the couch, leaning forward and resting her chin on
her folded hands. In the silence, she could faintly hear snores
from her father's room where he had passed out after once again
coming home late, and drunk.  Apparently his errand for Mrs.
Matsudara included a "detour" to the local bar.  He had been so
drunk, she hadn't even been able to tell him about Inspector
Megure's visit, and the terrible news he brought...

     Well, there would be time for that tomorrow, when he was
recovering from his hangover.

     Ran blinked wearily.  Her eyelids were heavy with
exhaustion, and from the crying she had done earlier, but she
didn't close them.  She watched the clock.  And waited.

     She almost wasn't surprised when, at exactly 2:00 a.m., the
door to Conan's room slowly opened.  A moment later, tiptoeing on
stockinged feet, the boy slipped silently down the hallway.

     Ran watched him in the darkness, pursing her lips in both
exasperation and amusement as Conan stopped momentarily, to
listen at her bedroom door for any sound of stirring within. 
Apparently satisfied that all was silent, he then crept
stealthily into the living room.  He was at the front door,
standing on tiptoes to reach the doorknob, when she spoke.

     "Going somewhere, Conan?"

     "GYAAAAA!" Conan yelped, spinning around wildly.  The
skateboard he had been carrying under one arm fell to the floor
with a noisy clatter.

     Ran calmly leaned over and switched on the nearby lamp. 
Both she and Conan flinched at the sudden flood of light, but
even so, she could still see Conan leaning heavily with his back
against the door, gulping and clutching at his chest as he stared
at her wide eyed.

     "Ra... Ran-nee-chan," he gasped.  "You... you scared me."

     As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could see that the
boy was fully dressed, and even wearing his backpack.  She raised
an eyebrow at him.  "A bit early to be heading out for school,
don't you think?"

     "I... I..." Conan stuttered, one hand slipping behind his
head in a nervous gesture.  "I... couldn't sleep, so I was, uh...
was just..."

     "Going out for a little early morning skateboarding?" she
finished sweetly.

     "Uh... a-heh..."  Conan laughed weakly, slumping in
abashment.

     Ran frowned.  "Conan, you promised me.  And where on earth
do you think you could go at this time of night?  Even if there
wasn't some maniac out to get the Kudo family, don't you realize
how dangerous it is for a child to be out on the streets this
late?"

     Conan looked up at her meekly.  "I... I'm sorry, Ran-nee-
chan.  I was just... going over to Professor Agasa's house."

     She eyed him skeptically.  "At two 'o clock in the morning?"

     "It's true," he protested.  "And Professor Agasa is always
up late.  When he gets working on an invention, he forgets to go
to bed, so I know I wouldn't be waking him up."

     "Well, that may be," Ran said, "but that doesn't mean that
*you* should be up at such an unearthly hour.  And you've got
school tomorrow as well."

     "So do you," Conan countered.

     She sighed.  "Well," she admitted reluctantly, and she gave
him a small, sad smile.  "I... couldn't sleep either."

     Conan's countenance crumpled with understanding.  "Oh."

     "Go back to bed, Conan," Ran said gently.  "You can visit
Professor Agasa tomorrow, okay?"

     "O... okay."  Conan looked up at her apprehensively. 
"Are... are you mad at me?"

     Ran smiled tiredly.  "No, I'm not mad at you," she said. 
"Just... try a bit harder, from now on, to keep your promise,
okay?"

     Conan flushed, and looked down at his shoes.  "Okay," he
whispered.  Bending over to pick up his fallen skateboard, he
glanced up at her.  "Aren't you going to bed?"

     "I will in a little while," she replied.  "Don't worry about
me.  I'll be fine."

     The disbelief on Conan's face was plain.  She laughed
tiredly.  "Really.  Now go to sleep."

     Conan turned away reluctantly, and trudged down the hall. 
When he reached his bedroom door, he turned back to look at her. 
"Goodnight, Ran-nee-chan."

     She smiled as she leaned over to turn off the lamp.  The
living room once again plunged into darkness.

     "Goodnight, Conan."


~*~


     Frustrated, thwarted, and feeling thoroughly ashamed of
himself, Conan lay in his futon and stared up at the dark
ceiling.  His head ached, and his eyes burned from lack of sleep,
but he couldn't relax.  His mind felt like it was spinning in
useless circles.

     *Outmaneuvered by an over-protective girl,* he thought.

    With a heavy, resigned sigh, he rolled over onto his side. 
The glow from the street lamps outside his window filtered
through his closed curtains, casting the small room in a dismal,
deep-shadowed gray.  

     *I am such a coward,* he thought.  *I should just tell her.*

     *But I can't,* he argued with himself, for the thousandth
time.  *I can't, because someone in the Dark Syndicate knows that
I'm alive, or at least they suspect.  They are most definitely
trying to flush me out of hiding with this phony tip about my
death.  And until I discover how they found out, and figure out a
way to stop them altogether, I'm in danger.  Ran, Professor
Agasa, Ai, the kids... we're all in danger.

     *Not telling Ran... it's not cowardice, it's preserving her
safety.  Those men murdered Ai's sister without a second thought. 
I've no doubt they would do the same to anyone they thought I
might care about, just to get...*

     The thought froze in his head as, outside on the street,
Conan heard the whispering approach of a lone car.  He
instinctively tensed, fighting the urge to jump up and peek out
the curtains, to see who would be driving past the Mouri
residence at this time of night.

     Was it them?  Had they found him already?!  He could already
imagine them, dressed in their trademark black, storming up the
stairway to the apartment, breaking down the door, opening fire
with automatic weapons and riddling the place with bullets
before quickly escaping again into the night...

     But even as his sudden rapid heartbeat thudded in his ears
in time with the gunfire in his imagination, he heard the car
pass without pausing.

     The breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding escaped
through his lips in a sigh.  "Great," he muttered.  "Now I'm
paranoid."

     *You can never be too paranoid,* Ai had once told him.  *Not
where the Syndicate is concerned.  They have eyes everywhere. 
Their hands are in everything.  And one of these days, when they
use the assassination drug, and it shrinks another person instead
of killing them... they will figure out what happened to us.  And
we will probably both be dead within the day.*

     Conan closed his eyes against the image of the ex-Syndicate
member in his mind, remembering the unnaturally cool, emotionless
expression on her child face as she casually discussed their
potential death at the hands of her former employers.

     *Is that what happened?* he wondered.  *Have they finally
discovered the fluke in the drug?*

     The thought sent a cold thrill of fear down his spine. 
Shivering, Conan slipped out of his futon and began to pace the
room, unable to lie still a moment longer.  He cast a brief,
longing glance at the soccer ball resting in the shadowed corner
by his bureau.  The exercise of kicking it around, keeping it
bouncing from toe to head to heel and back again without touching
the ground, had always helped clear his head when he needed to
focus.  There was no way he could do it at this time of night
without disturbing Ran, so he resigned himself to pacing.

     Was it possible that the Syndicate had discovered his
secret, then?  But no... if they had discovered the regressing
power of the drug, why involve the police?  

     There was the most perplexing problem.  Why call the police
and claim that they had killed him, and thus start an
investigation that might lead back to them?  They had always been
so cautious about covering their tracks before...

     So they probably didn't yet know the truth about the drug. 
And yet, somehow, they knew they hadn't managed to kill him that
night at the amusement park.  How?  

     Could they somehow have gotten wind of his brief
reappearance as Shinichi a month back?  Conan grimaced.  That was
a likely explanation.  Megure, Takagi, and the other officers who
had seen him at the school play murder, and then the next night
at the restaurant murder, had promised, as usual, to keep his
name out of the investigation.  But hundreds of his fellow
classmates had seen him at the play.  And even though Heiji had
extracted a promise from the student body to stay quiet about the
murder to maintain their school's dignity, the likelihood that
everyone would be able to withstand the temptation of gossiping
about how he solved the murder was... was...

     He sighed.  The likelihood was virtually non-existent.  Ai
had *warned* him that he should stay disguised, and talk to Ran
in private, but no.  Once he heard the scream ring out in the
audience, the itch of the mystery was upon him, and he just *had*
to go and get himself involved, in spite of all the common sense
that said it was a stupid and dangerous thing to do.

     Was that one, glorious, dramatic moment of his unmasking, in
front of hundreds of witnesses, going to be his undoing?

     *Genius detective you might be,* Ai's voice came back to
him, mocking. *But in other things, you are a complete fool.*

     He clenched his teeth... and couldn't help but agree with
her.

     But still... even if someone at the school had leaked
information about his presence at the school play murder, and it
somehow reached Syndicate ears... *why* would the Syndicate
involve the police?  It didn't make any sense.

     He clenched his fists, and fought the urge to punch the
wall.  He was missing something important.  Something vital.  And
it was driving him crazy.

     Well.  At least he would see Ai at school tomorrow.  He
could talk to her then, and maybe the missing pieces would fall
into place.

     With a sigh, he went back to lay down on his futon, knowing
that he should probably at least try to get some sleep, so that
he wouldn't feel groggy tomorrow.

     But, as he stared into the darkness, seeds of fear growing
within him like sharp, thorny weeds around his heart, sleep was a
long time in coming.


~*~


2:35 a.m.
Club Matsudai, somewhere in downtown Tokyo
~*~

     "So it's true then.  He is alive."

     "Well, that's what the evidence -- as outrageous as it seems
-- would indicate."

     "And your 'source,' of whom you are so protective...  You
are sure this information is trustworthy?"

     "My 'source' would not dare give me false information, sir. 
There would be... consequences."

     "I see.  Well, you have never failed me before.  If you
trust this information, I will take you at your word."

     "... Thank you, sir."

     "My, but this is amusing.  To think that he has been
presumed dead all this time, when he was actually hiding in plain
sight, right under their noses."

     "Are you going to tell them?"

     "Ha!  And let this opportunity slip through my grasp?  I
don't think so."

     "You want to proceed as planned, then?"

     "Of course.  As usual, you have my people at your disposal."

     "Thank you, sir."

     "Oh, and Ichiro-kun..."

     "Yes sir?"

     "If Kudo is truly as brilliant as they say...  Well, don't
do anything stupid."

     "No sir."

     "There would be, as you say... consequences."

     "...  Yes sir.  Don't worry, sir.  Everything will go as
planned.  Kudo won't even know what hit him."


~*~

To be continued.

Coming Soon:
The Case of the Missing Detective
File 04: Eclipse