Fated Friendship

The Mystery of Edogawa Conan

"What? Kanaya-san is dead?"

The others had been roused from their sleep and were now all standing out in the yard.

"Yes," Heiji replied, "he drove off the cliff right in front of us,"

The maid was in tears, "B-but, why did he –?"

"It was a suicide, I tell you," Mouri yawned, "He couldn't give up that precious book of his, so he took it with him and killed himself."

"I'd rather support a criminal hypothesis," Togano-san surprised everyone with his words.

"What?"

"The car went very slowly," Togano-san shrugged uncomfortably under everyone's stare, "someone could have killed him before placing him in the car and then starting it. The murderer could have prepared everything beforehand in the garage..."

"Of course!" Fujisawa-san agreed, "The murderer could have acted surprised and joined the group after the explosion!"

"But the car suddenly accelerated..." Heiji interjected,

"Eh?" Togano-san was now confused.

"Oh come on!" Mouri said, "It's a suicide! A suicide! You've been reading too many detective novels!"

'And you've read too little,' thought Heiji irritably before saying, "Besides, there is one thing that's been bugging me – there was a strange sound coming from the car, as if there was wind in it. But, it wasn't the sound of the engine."

"Could it be the air conditioner?" pondered Kawatsu-san, "It is rather hot today,"

'Of course!' thought Conan, immediately getting on his hands and knees to look at the tire tracks.

"Anyway," Mouri said, "it's useless to fish the body out. Best to call the police and wait."

Heiji, too busy looking at the tire marks, missed Ran's confused question, "What are you doing, Conan-kun?"

And the kid's response, "Nothing, just looking for –"

Bam!

"Ow!"

"It hurts!"

Heiji and Conan sat back on their heels and rubbed their foreheads where they bumped into each other.

"Hattori-kun," Ran asked him, "are you looking for something, too?"

"Yes and no!" Heiji told her angrily, "I was just trying to see if that old man had really put the air conditioning on! But this brat was in my way, again..."

'Again?!' Heiji stopped in surprise at his own words and looked back at the kid, who was gingerly rubbing his forehead, 'Now that I think about it...during the previous case, we hit our heads in the same fashion when I was investigating the murder.'

"Damn, I can't see anything!" muttered Conan, "It's so dark!"

"Yeah, you're right," Heiji replied, his eyes still trained on the child, 'I knew he was smart...but was that just a fluke or...something more? Usually, I'd say he picked up some stuff living with a detective, but with the detective in question being Mouri Kogoro...'

"Here," Oki-san offered her lighter to them suddenly, "Is it better lit now, young detectives?"

"Ah, thank you," Conan chirped at her,

"That's very kind of you," Heiji told her, thinking, 'Geez, what's with this kid now? He's suddenly oozing an overdose of sweetness.'

With the lighter, it was easy for both – yes, both – of them to see the lack of water droplets that were characteristic of an air conditioner in use.