[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.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[That's -- almost a compliment, coming from Haibara. Conan nods solemnly.]

It's not like we can avoid this case by not coming here either. Satoshi-kun's suggested we start our investigation of the people of this place with Grey. He told Menzies a strange fairy tale about a snake that only appears when a special person is accompanying it -- and Grey will only tell a special person where to find it.

((ooc: Conan's got an ongoing thread talking to Grey so while I suspect he's not the special that Grey is talking about, I don't know for sure, so let's skip over that until I learn more, okay?))

[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.

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

Because this case wouldn't be complete without a strange twist like that.

[ But her sarcasm aside, which was just her way of masking how troubling all of this was, she didn't say anything more on it. ]

[ ooc: Okay! ]

[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]

Ah.

Menzies is fairly new here. She's an average human being -- exposed to the existence of aliens in her world, but an average human nonetheless.

Special could mean anything, but my hunch is either a power or a physical change. You've got the blood of this place, right?

[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.

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

Ever since that time I was killed here, yes. It hasn't changed back to being normal and I'm not sure if it will ever.

[ She pauses then, thinking about where this was going. ]

So you want me to go and talk to this Grey person?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

It would help us narrow down our search a lot.

I should not be laughing whenever Ai does this but I can't help it.

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

Alright. I'll go talk to him.

[ And then came that smile. ]

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[Wait. What.]

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

[ With a small shrug she picked up the case again. ]

I'll let you know what I find out then.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

W-wait!

[Hastily scooping up his papers so that he can follow Haibara.]

I was going to say that I'll come to if you want company. And we should let Menzies and Satoshi-kun know you're going to try it.

[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.

[asmallamoroso.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter to me. But if this is something he would tell this special person, and by some strange chance it is me, do you think he would tell it to me if I had someone with me too? It sounds like a private matter.