Detective Conan FF: ♦The hunted Trio♦ (English) [Book 2]

Chapter 25 - Ticking Children Part II

After Sato was picked up by the ambulances, Conan had made his way to Professor Agasa with the rest of the chocolates, with Wataru Takagi riding along, with his colleague and Bourbon meanwhile tending to the exhausted Azusa. The little boy got off his skateboard and opened the garden gate, letting his eyes wander over the garden. There was no one to be seen, which was very good because Conan wasn't supposed to be here. He looked around one last time, then rang the doorbell. "Shi-I mean, Conan!", pleased and surprised at the same time, Agasa opened the door for him and hugged him warmly. "What are you doing here, boy?", the man adjusted his round glasses. "It's something urgent, Agasa," Conan said, setting his board down as he dropped into one of the chairs. Outside, it had started raining again, the drops pattering on the window like a drum. "Speak up, Kudo!", Agasa put a glass of water on the table for him and looked at the boy anxiously. 

"To make a long story short: The organization mixed something into Azusa's chocolates, then she went berserk and seriously hurt Sato," the master detective slid the box of chocolates over. "There are still some left, can you find out what's in there? We need to find out why the organization did this...and what they plan to do with it," only now Conan took a sip, though it did his dry throat good, swallowing still hurt. The professor looked at the chocolates distraught for a moment, then nodded and crossed his arms. "It's getting more and more dangerous, Conan. You must be careful that the organization puts Ran and...the children in danger," he scratched his mustache. "I'll be careful, but please let me know when you have the stuff," with that the little boy jumped back up and pulled his jacket on. "I'll do my best," Agasa vowed, smiling faintly. "Say hi to Ai for me, tell her I'll stick to the diet," then closed the door. "Hach, Ai will never believe that," Conan laughed and stood on his board when suddenly his cell phone buzzed again. Better said, it was Shinichi's cell phone. Was that Ran? But when the master detective opened the text message, he found it hard to breathe. Dazed, he bumped into the wall of the house and gasped for air. His fingers tightened around the display, the blood seeming to freeze momentarily. 

"No...no...," Conan gasped. This couldn't be happening. This...this couldn't be happening! Distraught, the shrunken Kudo gazed at the image one more time, then whirled around and stormed back to Agasa's house. Like a madman, he pounded on the door as if there were a huge monster behind him. "What's the matter, Conan?", startled, Agasa jumped backwards. Conan, panicked, held the cell phone in the professor's face. he too froze. "They...they have...the children...," it finally came out of the little boy. The picture that was sent to him was of the Detective Boys. Genta, Ayomi and Mitsuhiko. All three bound and gagged, and worst of all, around their necks some kind of collar that showed a digital clock. The organization...had caught them. And now they would kill the three of them. Agasa clutched her chest and gasped. 

"Shi....Shinichi! We...we have to go to the police right away...!" his voice trembled. Suddenly, another text message popped up. Slowly, Conan turned the phone over and read the few letters.

Tick Tack.

Then another message popped up.

Tick tack, master detective.

Conan wanted to scream, he wanted to throw the phone against the wall, he wanted...for this nightmare to stop! "Damn...", the boy bit his lip so hard it hurt. Then one last message popped up.

Tick Tack, you don't want those kids to blow up, do you?
Don't you...Shinichi Kudo?

♦♦♦

It was the third time today that Inspector Megure strolled to the coffee machine and made himself a black coffee. Exhausted and completely confused, he took a sip and felt the warm drink going down his throat. But it didn't really make Megure more motivated. Keiichiro and Chihaya had left a few minutes ago, while the police here in Tokyo had enough work with the incidents in the city. Since yesterday, almost all the officers had been in a state of tension and were constantly involved in phone calls, documents or other reports. Inwardly, Megure wondered if this was just the beginning or if they were nearing the end. "It's not like we're in a series where there's still a sequel," the inspector snorted. He sat back at his desk as Shiratori and Chiba entered the room. "Shiratori, Chiba," he greeted the two in a friendly manner. His colleagues didn't look much better either. Shiratori had thick circles under his eyes, his hair was disheveled, and his suit didn't fit properly. Chiba kept biting his lip and playing with the papers in his hand. "Is there any news?" the inspector wanted to know, adjusting his hat. The two glanced at each other briefly, then swallowed hard. "There's something they need to see," Chiba said breathlessly, placing his cell phone on the table. The display was already cracked, but that didn't surprise Megure. The way everything was falling out of Chiba's hand, it was only a matter of time before something got a crack. The inspector leaned over and looked at the text message. "We got an anonymous text message just now. They should have one too," Shiratori said, pointing to the message in the chat history.