Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ The Detective Prince ❯ Unexpected Results ( Chapter 84 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Detective Prince
Chapter 84
Unexpected Results

The door advanced to the side upon him reaching it. He stopped once inside, taking the time to survey the large room from top to bottom. He shook his head in approval. He then looked ahead to see the front desk where someone stood guard. He steadily walked over with the release of his hands from the sides of his pocket.

"How may I help you today?" The clerk asked.

"Where might I find the waiting area?"

"Right down that hall there," The clerk pointed. "If you follow the trail it will lead you straight to it."

"Thanks, I appreciate your time."

He listened to what was instructed, heading toward the left side of the room. He strolled down a long hall, hearing the sound of many voices echoing throughout the large facility. He reached the waiting area soon after, entering to see him sitting at one of the many chairs throughout. He wasted little time in walking over to join him.

"You're thirty five minutes early," Tim said looking up. "We weren't supposed to meet here until eleven."

"Is there a problem?"

"Not at all," Tim replied. "Why don't rest a pair and have a seat?"

"With pleasure," Heiji said taking him up on his offer with another look around the room. "So, this is Wayne Enterprises."

"What do you think?"

"Not bad from what I've seen."

"How did you get here so soon?"

"A cab of course," Heiji replied. "How else would I have gotten here?"

"I thought you might have had one of your friends from the station give you a lift," Tim replied. "Speaking of which, how did things go with your meet with Gordon yesterday?"

"Turns out he wasn't there when I arrived," Heiji informed. "I ended up being accompanied by a man known as Detective Gates."

"I've heard of him, he's been with the GCPD for a little over a year now," Tim said. "So what exactly did you meet with Gates about?"

"He was summoned to handle a case at a place known as Starlest," Heiji replied. "I came in as the extra set of eyes, if you want to put it that way."

"What kind of case?"

"Someone's been stealing valuable jewels from companies similar to that of Starlest," Heiji informed. "They just happened to be the next chosen target."

"The next target," Tim questioned. "Is this a pattern of robberies?"

"Wasn't hard to figure, being that the one pulling the strings sends a note to each facility they plan to steal from next."

"Our list of suspects narrows down with that known mo," Tim said. "Leaving clues behind to any planned heist doesn't happen all that often."

"Sounds like you might have an idea who we're dealing with."

"Maybe," Tim said. "But I'll need to know a little more before anything can be determined."

"I actually have the note left at Starlest with me if you'd like to give it a look yourself."

"Now is as good as anytime."

"Great, I was hoping I could get your input."

He reached down to his side, searching the contents of his pocket for the folded slip of paper. It didn't take long for him to retrieve it, holding the written riddle out for him to observe.

"Here it is, this is what was left for us to find."

He took the slip of paper into his hand, setting his sights to the first riddle.

"i am solely for the eye beyond all affiliated kins, a tune to Hear with a misdirection Red (1)."

He glanced down at it for a period to come. After gaining small ground he finally looked to the second riddle beneath it.

"superior to my the Deceiver, at the Affair shall I appear.."

Both left him in a state of thought. He looked on from his side, tapping him on the shoulder to regain his attention.

"So what do you think?" Heiji asked.

"Too early to tell," Tim replied. "But whatever this person has planned sounds big."

"My thoughts exact," Heiji agreed. "No matter how you read in between the lines, it seems to be pointing to something... something to a bigger stage than most."

"I was getting that same vibe, there next move could in deed be their true coming out party."

"That might be true."

"None of these incidents have yet to appear on the evening news," Tim said. "That may be due to what was taken, and where these events occurred."

"So you're thinking these incidents were overshadowed by the many others."

"To a certain degree, yes," Tim said in response. "Burglary has been a rising avocation, in these past couple weeks in particular."

"That might explain."

"Tell me, what happened at this Starlest?"

"That all depends," Heiji said. "Which case are we talking?"

"There was another case?"

"Turns out during our investigation of the riddles someone stole a pair of diamonds from right under us."

"Did you catch who did it?"

"Unfortunately not, they cleanly got away."

"How did that happen," Tim questioned. "Didn't they have surveillance rolling throughout?"

"They did," Heiji said. "But let's just say they were experiencing some.. technical difficulties."

"And these technical difficulties just happened to occur on the same day someone sought out a set of diamonds," Tim remarked. "Doubt it's coincidence."

"Maybe not," Heiji said. "But they had already been dealing with problems regarding their security system."

"Perhaps the one responsible knew this, taking advantage of the situation."

"Are you suggesting one of the employees?"

"Or anyone who had knowledge the security deficiencies."

"Not a large handful to say the least."

"What's your diagnoses of the situation," Tim asked. "After all you were there at the time of the crime."

"There wasn't much that called for my attention," Heiji said. "Other than this woman I crossed paths with."

"A woman huh, why don't you start from the beginning."

"The first thing I did after meeting with detective Gates  was following him up to the security back room," Heiji began. "It was there where I was introduced to both Ed and Ellson the store manager."

"Did they know you'd be coming in to help?"

"Not me in particular, but they knew there'd be two of us," Heiji replied. "That's when they informed me of their plan to blend in amongst the other customers, acting as one of them."

"While checking for any suspicious activity, got it."

"Gates and I agreed to play along, it wasn't long after that I encountered the woman mentioned," Heiji continued. "We had a little run in if you know what I mean."

"All plans can't be perfect."

"The story I came up with for why I was there didn't quite hold up, thus resulting in her referring me to a few other stores I might try for better luck."

"So she gives you a list of of places, then what happened?"

"We parted ways."

"So what's the big deal," Tim asked. "I don't see what was so alarming."

"My name, she knew my name," Heiji said. "Right before returning to the second floor she addressed me by my name, without any pre knowledge of it."

"Was that all?"

"Of course not," Heiji replied. "It wasn't until after the fact that I recalled her little speech about the newly acquired synthetic diamonds Starlest had just imported in."

"And the diamonds stolen were synthetic, right?"

"Affirmative."

"Sounds like someone we should defiantly check up on, by any chance did you happen to catch her name?"

"I remember it clearly," Heiji replied. "Selina Kyle."

"I'd say we've hit the bullseye."

"I take it you know her?"

"You could say that."

"Think she was the one who stole the diamonds?"

"The fact she knew your name is an eye opener, she might have known you'd be there to investigate those riddles."

"Are you suggesting she knew about the riddles before hand," Heiji questioned. "You'd have to have inside information to know about that."

"She's a very resourceful woman."

"At first I believed both cases to be separate, but maybe..," Heiji said with a pause. "Maybe she wrote out those riddles in hopes of luring us there."

"You can put that idea to rest," Tim said. "Not her style, nor does she usually operate during that time of day."

"So now you're saying it's not her?"

"Never said she was, nor am I ready to draw any conclusions," Tim replied. "But from what I've heard from you, it alludes away from her mo how she operates."

"You're giving me a erratic mixture of possibility, forgive me if I don't follow."

"Didn't say she wasn't up to something, just not convinced she took the diamonds."

"I see."

"There's something I would like you to elaborate on," Tim asked taking a step back. "I'm still finding it hard to believe someone getting past security undetected with merchandise, shouldn't the alarms have gone off?"

"Their security linked system was experiencing a reboot at the time, in direct result of the store alarms going off," Heiji informed. "There was a man who walked out with a clothes tag clamped onto the side of his bag."

"Which I'm guessing erupted the whole scenario," Tim said. "Any idea how it got there?"

"No, and the camera's didn't pick it up how it got there either."

"Figures."

"It was about that time we presume the diamonds were taken from the glass case," Heiji said. "I was too busy examining the gentleman's baggage to really focus in on what was going on from behind."

"While you were investigating I'd assume someone was keeping guard from the security room, shouldn't they have seen something?"

"Ed was at the time, but he heard something that prompted him to depart from the room for a brief moment," Heiji replied. "Once out, he found some sound based device laying on the ground."

"Was it custom made?"

"Correct."

"Clever move by the thief if I must say."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're taking a delight to all of this."

"The road to untwine is always the fun part, not even you can deny that Heiji."

"So what now," Heiji questioned. "In the case that Selina wasn't the one who did it, who should we be looking for?"

"I've got an idea or two," Tim said. "Of course anyone else in that store could have pulled it off."

"So we're in agreement that the diamonds taken and the riddles left at the scene are unrelated."

"Agreed, I haven't heard anything that would point other wise," Tim said in response. "So what's your call, think you can tackle this one on your own or would you like my extended assistance?"

"I'm more than capable of handling this along with Gates, you have a lot on your agenda as is," Heiji replied. "But if you do happen to come across anything incriminating be sure to let me know."

"Gotcha."

"Mind telling me why you chose to invite me here," Heiji asked. "It's an interesting sight don't get me wrong."

"Wasn't my call, but he's here now." Tim said with the nod of his head.

"He?" Heiji question turning his head back into the direction he had come.

He looked just in time to see him enter the room, remaining seated as he approached.

"I see you both have already arrived, good," Bruce said finding a spot across from the two. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Not at all," Tim said. "We kept ourselves entertained for what it was."

"I had a feeling you would."

"You wanted to see me?" Heiji asked leaning forward.

"Yes," Bruce said looking his way. "You came into direct contact with Salomon Green the night you tracked down Mr. Eldelmon, correct?"

"Yea, that's right."

"Tell me, what did you make of him," Bruce asked. "What was he like?"

".. He seemed pretty casual, like an every day guy even."

"And his relationship with Eldelmon?"

"He was one of the few to show concern for Jefferson when he showed chest complications that night."

"I see."

"I thought we were investigating the death of Jefferson Eldelmon," Heiji said. "So why do you want to know about Salomon?"

"I went to pay him a visit last night," Bruce informed. "When I arrived he was dead, strapped to a chair in barb wire."

"These guys within this circle are dropping like flies," Tim said. "I saw his home went up in flames after watching the morning news, but I didn't know we'd be dealing with something quite as disturbing as this."

"Disturbing would be putting it lightly," Bruce stated. "His genitals were missing, and someone drained him of his blood with the use of some tube which I found hanging out of his side."

"I think it's safe to say he found himself caught up in something," Heiji commented. "Any idea where they took his blood?"

"Nowhere," Bruce replied. "They allowed it to drain onto the ground where his body rested."

"And his genitals?" Tim asked.

"Nowhere to be found." Bruce replied.

"So I take it you infiltrated his home before the explosion erupted," Tim said. "At about what time was that?"

"Around midnight."

"I didn't catch the story this morning," Heiji admitted. "But I must ask, were you there at the time when the house went up in smoke?"

"Yes, but fortunately I was able to have a look around before that occured." Bruce confirmed.

"Which leads into my next question, being the how," Heiji said. "What caused the explosion in the first place?"

"Believe it or not, the blood found on the ground was mixed in with a dose of gasoline."

"This just keeps getting stranger by the second."

"It wasn't until then that I noticed a pair of wires leading to a closet in the back corner," Bruce continued. "What I found on the other side was two tanks from where the wires were attached."

"So what happened then," Heiji asked. "Some kind of timer went off?"

"Not exactly, there was someone else there besides me," Bruce informed. "The gasoline soaked floor was ignited by a lighter tossed to the ground, which of course advanced toward the tanks."

"Got it," Heiji said. "So what about this mystery guy, did you get a look at his face?"

"Too dark, but it's nothing to worry about," Bruce assured. "I collected enough from the scene which could help lead to us finding him, and anyone else involved."

"Do you know why someone would want him dead?" Heiji asked.

"I have a few ideas, but some things just aren't adding up."
"So we have a dead victim, his missing genitals, and the floor marinated in his blood," Tim said. "Did I miss any other important details?"

"There's more, I happened to come across a hidden collection of his while in the attic," Bruce informed. "There were several crates stacked about, seeing this I decided to give one of them a peak."

"And what did you find?"

"Drugs, which can be expected when you find large shipment like that," Bruce said. "But what I was surprised to see was the gnome decoratives that filled the crate as well."

"Gnomes," Heiji questioned. "You mean like the ones people use to decorate their yards?"

"That'd be the ones."

"I see, you're thinking those drugs might have had something to do with his death?"

"At first, but if that were true," Bruce said. "Why not remove the crates from the home before the explosion, there could have been much profit to gain."

"Good point," Heiji agreed. "That almost kills that as motive."

"There was one final detail I came across while examining the body."

"Can't wait to hear this."

"There was something drawn out on the wall, some kind of emblem if I'm not mistaken."

"You think it's some kind of a message left behind?" Heiji asked.

"Not a message, but rather a marking to represent their presence."

"And what did this drawing look like?" Tim asked.

"Here, why don't you have a look for yourself," Bruce said tossing a small device toward him. "I managed to take a shot of what was printed on the wall before everything went south."

He caught the squared device in hand, taking the time to look it over.

"How do you turn this thing on?"

"The power button is located on the bottom left side, holding it down should turn it on.."

He did just that, watching as an image appeared on the screen.

"What is that?" Heiji questioned after getting a look himself.

"Looks like an eye with a triangular colon in the center, representing the pupil."

"That's what I made of it." Bruce said.

"Any idea what was used to draw this out," Heiji asked. "I'd say it's blood, but you can never be too sure."

"I managed to get a swap of what was on that wall during my escape, I didn't get much," Bruce admitted. "But it should be enough."

"What's that supposed to mean," Heiji asked. "You running some kind of scan?"

"As a matter a fact I am, on the computer back at the manor," Bruce informed. "I'll know when the results come in."

"So what now?"

"We wait," Bruce replied. "I'd like to go over everything from last night's incident once more before we decide on what to do next."

"Your call." Tim said.

"On another note, how did things go in the board room?"

"Pretty good considering the short notice, Mr. Barron handled himself  fairly well being that it was his first live presentation."

"What did you think of him?"

"He's a genuine guy, a perfect fit for the chief communications officer."

"I got that vibe from when I first spoke with him."

He looked at the image for a last time, taking in each detail as a whole.

"Could you go over what you saw once more," Heiji asked tossing the device back to him. "I know it was dark, but you should have been able to make out something about that guy."

"I got a few shots of him with the cowl, those photos are being processed as we speak," Bruce informed. "As far as any distinguishing details, there was none I was able to make out."

"How about a size," Tim asked. "How would you profile his figure?"

"As someone who participates in a daily routine to keep in shape," Bruce answered. "He couldn't have been any taller than five eleven."

"That's a start."

"I'd say so."

"While we've got time, why don't you tell Bruce about what happened at Starlest." Tim said.

"Are you referring to that burglary?"

"You already knew?" Heiji asked.

"It was something that was brought to my attention late last night," Bruce confirmed. "But I had no idea you were there."

"Mr. Wayne."

He turned at the sound of his name called, coming to find someone heading straight toward him.

"I hope this isn't a bad time."

"Not at all," Bruce said standing to his feet. "We were just talking about you Mr. Barron, I heard you did well in the small conference."

"I tried anyway."

"What is it I can help you with?"

"There's actually someone here to see you," Antonio informed. "They sent me here to let you know."

"Someone here to see me," Bruce questioned. "I don't recall having anything scheduled for now."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Antonio said. "He's waiting at the front desk for you if you do decide to meet with him."

"Let him know I'll be right there."

"Alright," Antonio said with a nod. "I'll let him know you're coming."

He took off from there, strolling back into the direction he had come.

"So what happens now, we wait for your return?" Heiji asked standing to his feet as well             &nb sp;                         &nb sp;        

"That's up to you both, I'm heading back to the mansion once I'm finished here," Bruce said. "I haven't gotten the time to really sit down and give everything an in depth look."

"I'd come with you, but I have a lot of work to do with the Red Eyed MB," Tim said pushing up from where he sat. "It should be completed within the next month or so."

"Send me a copy once you've finished, I'd like to give it a test run myself." Bruce said before turning to walk.

"Sure thing." Tim said following.

"Should I even know what that is?" Heiji asked.

"It's something I've been working on," Tim replied. "I'd show it to you, but I'm sure you'd become disinterested fairly quick."

He took a few more steps, reaching for his phone as they made their way along.

"Who are you calling?" Tim asked from behind.

"Getting the next part of this investigation underway." Bruce replied.

Each page investigated produced the same results, breathing out with a light tap of the desk before moving on once again. The sound of the clock ringed from the other room, carrying its low tuned lullaby past his ears for yet another time.

"Another hour has passed.. time sure does fly sitting around in here."

He clicked down to the mouse once more, hearing the sound of the door slide open.

"I can't believe you're actually still in here, I thought you might have thrown the towel in on that by now."

"Never," Conan said. "This task isn't finished until we find this guy, the least I can do is go through this list of possible suspects."

"Have it your way."

"What brought you back anyway," Conan asked. "Were you hoping to find me?"

"Grayson's on his way now," Damian informed. "He said he has discovered how those visitors got past security at the hospital the other night."

"Good, at least we're making some kind of progress." Conan said as his phone rang from where it laid.

He reached over to grab it, looking down to see an incoming call from an unfamiliar number.

"Who could this be?"

After slight hesitation he decided to answer it.

"Hello."

"It's me."

"Bruce," Conan said recognizing the sound of his voice. "I was expecting I'd hear from you soon."

"I have a favor to ask."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Where are you now?"

"In the book room skimming through this database on the computer." Conan replied.

"Good, I want you to put that on hold on that for a bit," Bruce said. "I want you to run a search on an Ocean Sea Bound Labs."

"Ocean Sea Bound Labs?"

"It should be the name of a company."

"Loud and clear, I'll get on it right away." Conan said as an alert appeared to the screen followed by a beeping sound.

"What's that?"

"Whatever you had running has completed," Conan replied. "Looks like some kind of scan."

"Perfect," Bruce said from the other end. "Now open it and and tell me the results of the scan."

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you run a scan on?"

"There was something drawn out on the wall at Green's home, I ran the test to see if his blood was used as a prop for that very cause."

"Gotcha, I'm on it." Conan said with a click.

He slightly leaned back in the chair, watching as a new window came to the screen. He took the next few moments to make an understanding of what was sitting before him.

"What are you seeing?"

"Looks like there were high traces of solvent in whatever you got your hands on."

"Which is one of the predominant elements in paint," Bruce said. "Looks like we've got the medium diagnosed."

"That's not it," Conan continued. "There's also traces of blood."

"That must mean he used a dose of Salomon's blood to complete his work."

"Not a chance," Conan informed. "The blood doesn't match his."

"If not his, then who?"

"Not who, but rather what," Conan corrected. "Because the blood found isn't human."

To Be Continued

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