Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ The First Woman In The World ❯ 17 ( Chapter 17 )

Two Years Ago

“Gin killed who?” Eta asked, feeling her blood run cold as she clutched the phone.

“Kudo Shinichi. Some kid detective who stuck his nose into a blackmailing op. Gin silenced him using a failed elixir. At first we though it must have failed because his death wasn't reported- and he's a rather public figure so we assumed that he would have been- but then Sherry confirmed his death. Stellar absence rate from school, dusty and empty house. It seems to be the converse- the police covered it up. So we've been using that failed prototype as a poison since, I was saying, and it's worked magnificently every time. Sherry's not particularly happy about it, though...”

“Neither her nor her sister are much happy about what they do these days,” Eta sighed, her brain unwilling to process the implications of what she'd just heard. “Traitors like their mother, I'd say...”

“I'm certain about Akemi, at least. Sherry's loyalties will be tested soon. I've lined up a job for Akemi, and whether she succeeds or not she's not getting out alive. Gin offered to handle that himself.”

“I see...” Eta forced her mind to dwell on this, needing to be alone when she comprehended that Kudo Shinichi was dead. She thought of the cold assassin who had been so interested in Project Pandora and its young research leader. Those who didn't know Gin would find it surprising that he would do this, that he hated traitors so much.

Those who knew Gin would wonder why he hadn't done it sooner.

He was a twisted, affectionless psychopath, there was no way around that; the Organization had seen to that. Eta wondered what he could have been, had he lived his life peacefully with his parents and sister. While she found her troublesome, she still couldn't help slightly respecting Miyano Akemi, who had been born and raised surrounded by darkness as Gin had, but still loved her sister so much- had even, perhaps, loved that Akai Shuuichi rat, who had fooled her and wormed his way into a position of trust in the Organization. She still dreamed of light.

Like Eta did.

“My current movie will be done filming in a few months,” she commented, deciding to end the conversation, “then perhaps I'll come back to Japan for a while.”

“I'm glad. I missed you.”

Eta couldn't help shivering as he said that; couldn't help the involuntary pleasure and guilt at those words.

She still loved him so much. She hated him so much. She hated herself for loving him. But she couldn't stop it any more than she could snuff out the stars.

“I love you,” she said. “I'll see you then.” She hung up, closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, and sighed heavily. Then she let the tears fall.

He was dead. She had been so sure. He had solved so many murders in the past year, like their meeting had set something free within him. He brought justice. He was justice. When Kaito had become the Kid a few months ago, when he had sworn as Toichi had to destroy the Pandora, Eta had wondered again which is was; neither had won at their meeting at the Haido Clock Tower, so Eta had not been able to tell which. They were too evenly matched. But still, Eta had suspected that maybe Shinichi...

But he was dead. At only sixteen, he had been taken out of the game before he'd even begun to play. Eta willed away the images of him lying in some dark alley, cold, dead. She could hear Yukiko, crying like her. Crying for her lost child.

Perhaps it was better this way. The Organization was certain that Akai Shuuichi was the Silver Bullet, and that the Kaitou Kid was Toichi, who had somehow escaped. Kaito was protected by the shadows of a dead man and a living one. With his Angel at his side, perhaps he could indeed be the Silver Bullet who could end the Organization and bring darkness.

Eta wished that the movie would end filming soon, so she could return to Japan and watch over her chosen children.

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Several Months Later

Eta made polite small talk with those dignitaries in attendance who spoke English, but inside she was already asleep. Over the years, she had mastered one hundred and seventy-three languages, though over a hundred were now dead or had mutated beyond recognition, and in any case she sometimes found it irritating to have to pretend not to speak them. Admittedly, there was an illicit thrill in being able to hear what those around you were saying without them knowing, and she'd been able to catch more than one translator screwing her over. Still, it was time-consuming to talk through them, and being trailed everywhere by a translator did cause problems if she had something more illegal to deal with- such as tonight.

She caught Pisco's eye across the hall, seeing him surreptitiously watching the politician. She prayed his plan would work. It left so much to chance and things being overlooked. That may have worked on the books back in the fifties, but these days they could not afford such a risky gambit.

She trailed him as he stepped closer to the chandelier, being very careful not to step under it, where the unfortunate soon-to-be-ex politician was now standing. He raised his gun and fired.

There was a flash. Eta quickly glanced across the hall, ignoring the slow rumble of the chain giving way. The photographer was standing on the opposite side of the hall- facing them.

No, she could see a man and a woman- wasn't she a novelist?- breaking apart. The picture was of them cuddling, surely. Pisco was too far away, there were too many people in between him and the photographer... right?

All other thoughts were dropped when the chandelier did.

Eta blinked in surprise when the policemen instantly appeared by the body. They were here already? What was going on?

She heard one of them talking about a tip-off. Somebody had known? How? Gin had called and said that Sherry had reappeared and left a bug in his car. He hadn't seen her, but the bug had caught them discussing the impending assassination, and he'd said that she was likely to be at the hotel. But would she really have called the police? She had never struck Eta as that kind of girl.

She was saved having to pay much attention in the confusion thereafter by all her questions going through her interpreter. But she hadn't been able to find Sherry here anywhere...

Then there was a roar of noise and flashes of light as the door was opened. The reporters had already descended. Eta wondered why the doors had been opened for a moment, as nobody was going through, when she realized that she was looking a few feet too high. Two children were standing in front of the door, a boy and a girl. The girl turned, hiding her eyes from the flashes. She was wearing large glasses, but she was still recognizably...

Sherry.

Across the hall, Eta could see Pisco rapidly clicking away at a laptop PC. He must have seen her too. Eta didn't need access to the file photos to know that that was Sherry, being towed away by a dark-haired little boy...

Wait...

After the first moment of disbelief, Eta was not surprised that Sherry had shrunk. It explained so much. In the first case, getting younger was what the drug had been intended to achieve anyway- and the only exits from the room that she had been confined in were the door and a garbage chute, which was too small for an adult to get through...

If she had taken the drug and shrunk... it would have to be an anomalous effect. Everyone else had died. Everyone had been confirmed dead... except...

Eta glanced around as her interpreter asked if she could show the inspector her commemorative handkerchief. Confused, she flashed the purple material. The inspector nodded and asked her to wait behind. As her interpreter redundantly explained, they were about to let people out but they'd had a tip that someone on the list of those given purple handkerchiefs had done it. Like her and Pisco...

Someone had known that there would be a murder here, and someone had warned the police who might have done it. Sherry, she was sure, was more likely to try and slip in and out without being noticed- from the looks of it that was what she had tried to do. Someone else had called the cops- someone, in fact, who was capable of influencing the cops.

If she had shrunk, couldn't someone else?

It was sheer luck that she saw him at all. She was pulled straight into questioning, along with a few others, including Pisco, who had been nearly missed as he had gone to the bathroom. Eta could only lean by the window, eavesdropping on the others' conversations, slip Pisco her handkerchief to cover him, watch a familiar Porsche 356A pull up outside. After some time, Gin and Vodka got out, walking into the building. A while later, a tiny dark-haired figure followed them.

Could it be?

Even after she was released, Eta hung around the lobby. She waved off her interpreter and his offer to call a taxi, claiming that some friends were to give her a lift. Then she slipped back into the shadows, where she belonged, watching and waiting.

And so it was that she first laid eyes on Edogawa Conan, slipping past the empty desk- everyone had gone to deal with a fire in the old wing- with an injured little girl recognizable as Sherry on his back. For some reason, she was wearing only his coat. The second she saw him, she knew.

Kudo Shinichi was alive, and despite his handicap he was still ready and willing to give the Syndicate a kicking.

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Everything's connected, KageNoNeko. It's so much more epic that way ^_^

I actually like her too, StargateNerd, despite how much she freaks me out… I like Gin, too, in a love-to-hate kinda way XD

It's not going year by year, Pretztailfan95. There's no set space of time between chapters, they just happen when stuff happens…

You're psychic, Mel72000! XD

Just a few more Vermouth scenes, really, FHP2208. A little more explanation…

I do not claim to own any of the characters in Meitantei Conan. They are the intellectual property of Aoyama Gosho. All characters, couples and locations, if Canon, will be faithful to the manga, so if you're into fics with weird pairings like Shinichi and Heiji, the back button is at the top there. The fic may not make sense if you have not read up to chapter 698, which you can do at a site called (read between the lines) O/n/e/ma/n/g/a, but I advise you to buy the official Tankoban novels (up to volume 30 are out in English at the time of writing) so that Aoyama-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with his imagination. Now, I hope you enjoy the fic! (If you don't, please see my previous comments re the back button).