Backdated to Catfish 15

[deductiongeek]

Who: Conan and Kaito, possibly others later
What: The case of the missing self-appointed best friend.
Where: Sleeper Cabins
When: Afternoon of Catfish 15

Hattori was missing. He'd been missing for hours. 

And Conan wasn't about to let this go on any longer.

He goes in search of a certain thief.

Comments

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito is easy enough to find - he's in the game carriage, looking bored. He looks up when Conan comes in and a shark grin spreads across his face. He knows that look~

"Yo, tantei-san~"

[deductiongeek]

"How long has it been since you've seen Hattori?"

Conan starts out bluntly. If the other detective really was missing there was no time to waste.

The detective was on the hunt.

[stealsyourheart]

"At least 24 hours." It's the thief that answers, despite the casual clothes.

"You haven't seen him either?"

[deductiongeek]

"Not in at least five hours. That's too long."

Especially in a train this size.

"I need to see his bunk. Can you let me into the cabin?"

Best case scenario, Hattori was there and had just gotten caught up in something. Realistically, Conan was hoping that whatever had happened, he'd had enough time to leave a hint.

[stealsyourheart]

"Definitely."

He comes to his feet all coiled grace, rather than what Conan has by now realised is his much more normal bounce.

"C'mon, let's go take a look. Hopefully Tantei-han will have at least left us a note."

[deductiongeek]

Conan's own walk has much more of the purposefulness and directness of the detective, rather than the more childish mannerisms he often affected. (The kids had been excellent teachers in that much.)

"Even if not a note, he should have left a sign." There were many ways to leave a message, even leaving a note wasn't possible. And Conan knew that Heiji would have found a way.

[stealsyourheart]

It's terrifyingly easy to slip into these roles, Kaito sometimes thinks. But it's good, too, to have this.

He opens the door and lets Conan in.

"That's his bunk." He indicates, and pulls out gloves from a pocket to offer to Conan. "Gonna need these?"

Heiji won't have gone quietly, if something untoward happened.

[deductiongeek]

"Thanks." Conan quickly pulls on the gloves. He hated to treat this like a crime scene.

But Hattori wasn't here.

He wasn't going to risk losing any possible evidence.

He starts going over the bunk, quickly and professionally inspecting everything. There had to be something out of place here that would tell him what had happened.

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito slips gloves on as well, but he hangs back to let the Detective taking the lead.

"Covers aren't disturbed. They look identical to this morning, when he wasn't there when I got up."

He reports, eyeing the room layout.

"Everyone else's things are in their place too."

[deductiongeek]

"I don't see anything here," Conan says after a few minutes of searching. "Do you see his hat anywhere? If he left a message anywhere, it would be that."

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito purses his lips.

"It isn't on his bed. Try under?"

[deductiongeek]

Conan vanishes into the shadows under the bed, emerging a few seconds later with Heiji's replacement hat in his hand. He inspects it closely, paying careful attention to a few loose threads on the brim.

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito comes over, eyeing it.

"Anything?"

[deductiongeek]

Conan frowns down at the hat, turning the pattern around in his mind. A few seconds, and the hidden meaning is revealed.

"He left a code," Conan says. "The threads are referencing police radio codes. Caution, Meet a Citizen, and Investigating Suspicious Vehicle. Taken together, I have to assume that he has gone to meet the conductor,"

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito hms thoughtfully.

"It does sound like it. I guess that means he'll return to us intact. Or I hope so, anyway. Reigen-san and Curufin-san did."

[deductiongeek]

"He better."

If Hattori managed to get himself hurt doing this Conan silently resolves to never let him live it down. Especially since several others had already returned safely.

[stealsyourheart]

He chuckles.

"I'm sure tantei-han would not be foolish enough to risk your wrath, should he return damaged!"

But he takes another look around, just in case.

"I don't think he went with a fight though. So he's probably fine."

[deductiongeek]

"That I won't believe until he gets back here."

Hattori had a history, after all.

[stealsyourheart]

"Such little trust?" Kaito teases.