[5] the A.B.C murders

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[Conan's come to the Plane to think again. Sitting in a quiet, well-lit spot, he has photos of all of the victims from his world, a copy of the case files for those of Satoshi and Menzies' world, and brief descriptions of those he's heard about from Guinevere, Duo and the others spread out around him.

What he's currently preoccupied with is the account of Menzies' conversation with Grey that he's got copied down in his notebook. For the little information they gained, there is an excess of questions.]

... special?

Comments

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

What is?

[ And one (1) rather nosy scientist would be coming up to him with her usual silver carrying case in hand. It had been quite a while since she last came to the Plane and she had some more researcher to get caught up on.

But that didn't mean she didn't have time to bother the pint-sized detective. ]

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

Haibara.

[The greeting is automatic. The pause as Conan remembers where they are is not -- it's at his own warning that Haibara's been absent from the plane and even though things have quietened down, it's still a strange feeling to have her there again, now that the dangerous nature of the Plane has been revealed to him. And yet--

Can't exactly tell her to leave, can I? It's different when it's someone you know--]

Something Grey told Menzies. You spoken to him?

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

That name doesn't sound familiar although I do remember meeting someone named Menzies here.

[ That was something she was going to have to work on when she wasn't burying herself in her work. ]

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

He is the man who is currently working in the store -- it's possible that when you arrived, the twins were still in residence.

Menzies is a Detective Inspector in Manchester.

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

[ She nodded. ] And I haven't found any reason to visit there either.

An Inspector. You just can't keep away from the authorities no matter what, can you?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

You might want to. Talked to Satoshi-kun lately?

For a good reason -- you haven't forgotten there's a murderer loose here?

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

Not recently.

[ She frowns a little at that. ] I haven't forgotten.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

How safe do you think it is to share information out here?

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

Here? [ After glancing around the Plane for a moment she set the case down on the 'ground'. ] It's hardly safe to be here at all. And the number of people I trust here I can count on my hand at most.

[ She turns her attention to the information he has laid out in front of him and sighs a little, but doesn't look away from it either. ] But despite any warnings I tell you, you never listen. Even then-- .... well, in times like this some risks can't be helped.

[grip_on_reality]

[Menzies comes up behind him, looking over his shoulder curiously] Find out anything new?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

Nothing new -- and that's bothering me.

We can't have that much time left.

[grip_on_reality]

[her friendly expression fades, growing instantly serious] [darkly] At least they're sure to give us another clue if we do.

So, thinking about special people, I take it?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

'Sure to give us'?

Ah. I'm thinking it could refer to an ability, a physical attribute or a personality trait, and of those three, the first two are the most likely.

[grip_on_reality]

I know neither of us have been in this place for long, but I seriously doubt the same pattern is going to repeat forever. That's not how criminals work. If enough time passes, someone somewhere will get bored, and we'll have new evidence. Not that I think we'd like it much--the people running this place being the lovable bunch that they are.

Yeah? What makes you say that? Grey spent a lot of time talking about how, ah, Sammy was the leader and brave and such.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

With all the killings that have taken place so far without one slip -- much as I'd like to believe your're right, I can't help but think that if they're going to get bored or careless, it might manifest in some other way. Then again, there's just so much we don't know.

You don't last as a police officer without being brave and determined, right, Inspector Menzies? And I don't remember the second man being described as such -- just that he had the tattoo of the snake and the snake was suffocating him. I think that the snake would be more likely to be attracted to a power or a physical difference than to personality.

[grip_on_reality]

Oh, I didn't mean it would be careless. But I have a feeling something's coming--even if it's just to spice things up a bit. Nothing ever seems to stay the same around here, after all.

[she snorts, amused] Thanks for watching out for my ego there, but I didn't mean those were the only choices. But I think you're right about the man with the snake... [she frowns, pulling out her notepad and flipping through to the notes she took about the story] No, he didn't have much to say about him.

All right, I'll bite. Any particular "powers" or "physical differences" you've got in mind? Because if he's just looking for them in general, then most people here should qualify.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

You mean something like the Halloween candy?

And all his victims have been ordinary, I think -- well, unless you consider Aziraphale and that's a difficult one to judge.

Don't you think it'd be a good idea to find people that fit certain criteria and send them in? Haibara's okay with visiting -- she has the machine blood.

[stillshinigami]

Hey Conan.

[Duo moves to sit on the floor next to the boy, a tired smile on his face. He wasn't gonna tell the little detective what was up. Let him figure it out.]

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[Conan looked up, automatically ducking his head in greeting as Duo joined him.]

Hello, Duo.

[Noticing Duo's tiredness, Conan's thoughts immediately went to the case.] More disappearances?

[stillshinigami]

I've been trying not to think about that. I've heard a few things. [And it can't get bad enough since it already took a friend of his.]

No. It's just that Hilde had her pups. I thought I'd let you know.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[Ha -- this isn't something that will go away if you ignore -- wait, what?]

She had the puppies? All well?

[stillshinigami]

[It's not, but he didn't want to be depressed anymore. It's best just to accept the death and move on.]

Yep! Only seven of them. Four girls. You still want one?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

Of course! Can I meet them when they're bigger? Or will you decide?

[stillshinigami]

Let's give them a few weeks. After they start crawling around I'll bring you over and you can play with em.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

I can't wait! Thank you, Duo!