(Don't) Leave me

“Hopefully nothin stops us from eating this time.” He says as they reach the restaurant. 

They actually reached the joint without incident, and Conan sighed in relief as he  made his way inside. He took a seat directly in front of Heiji, then peered at the menu placed above where the cooks were working. Typical joint where food was served and prepared quickly, at least.

“I’ll just pick what you’re having...” He muttered, then swatted at the western detective as he placed his order. “No ‘Kudo’ in public places, Hattori!” That part was hissed low. Really, Heiji was no idiot, but he was awful at lying.

Which was, in all honesty, a great quality his fellow detective had that he no longer had the luxury to own.

Then again, he’d met some really strange people… A robot for example… Shaking off the varied thoughts, Minato followed Conan, noticing he was covertly texting to someone. Probably about the case. But why and to whom?

Letting his hands rest once more in his pockets, Minato kept a comfortable stride beside Conan as they walked. 

Of course, the mystery of Conan needed to be placed on the backburner while he was involved in this investigation. It was also strange that they’d let a ‘no name’ kid from a high school participate in a crime scene investigation. Either they figured that he’d help keep Conan out of trouble and out of the crime scene (Something that did not happen) or they trusted Conan with this. 

Glancing up, Minato was surprised at the late hour. Had it already been the entire afternoon? Extracting one hand, Minato glanced down at his watch. 

Good, the dark hour was still several hours away. Still, he could already tell that this day was going to be extremely draining. No matter, he’d had worse days. But, this did cause yet another question. Why were they allowing a young boy to stay up and do this? 

No, that was once again a question about Conan. 

“The park shouldn’t be too far away from here.” Minato finally commented as they drew near the park. 

Once they’d arrived. Minato scanned the table for signs of any strange or odd blemishes. Investigations were never easy, but he’d handled stranger assignments. 

While the small boy eyed the grass and pathway somewhat, he made for the table and inspected it himself. It seemed Minato was also keen on searching.

He had definitely made the right call with this guy.

“Tome-san.” Conan spoke up to the leader of the team. “What did you find?” He kept an eye out as well, but decided he might as well check with the boss of these guys first.

On the table, Minato would probably find traces of feet on the chairs nearby, hastily swept off, although the footprint was barely visible. The grass was also disturbed in the area, but nothing seemed knocked over. If it had been, it had probably already been straightened out. The possible scene of the crime could have been manipulated.There were some heavier footsteps leading away and to where the body was found, as well, but those had been trampled on pupose beyond recognition, and only existed in the muddier area. The rest of the ground had been solid enough to not leave much of an imprint at all. He may even find a wedding band which was well hidden on accident, as a chair had been set atop of it.

“Oh, Kudo-san!” The man greeted, then blinked when he noticed they were not in police company only. He realized his mistake, then let out a laugh. “Sorry, Conan-kun, you just sound a lot like-”

“I know.” He said as he waved it off. “And?”

“Looks like the chairs were knocked over at some point based on some imprints. There’s a dusted footprint on one of them, too, so we’re comparing it to the victim’s shoes.” The forensics man said, nodding to the boys. “There’s also traces of rope around here, and some indents on the ground from someone standing on the ground for a while. Waiting, I guess. They don’t match the one on the seat, so I’m guessing...”

“If one of them matches the victim’s, the other’s could be the culprit’s...” Conan paused as he finished the thought. “... right?” His head tilted down as his glasses reflected a shine.

Decisive evidence, maybe. It depended on which matched whom. Still, it could be that this place was the actual crime scene, there might even be more hidden clues.

He talked to Ran for a moment and she said her goodbyes and left.

They went to the platform to wait for the subway back to Osaka. Hours past and they had already boarded and arrived to Osaka.

Once out of her sight, however, he let go and scowled, stuffing said hand in his pocket as the other he used to adjust the strap of the duffle bag. At least it wasn’t too  heavy to carry. “You and your slips...” Was his only complaint towards the other boy’s error. Soon enough, the subway arrived, and they made the trip with small talk. It was only when they stepped off that Heiji actually asked anything about the trip.

“You’re usually the one who has a tour all planned out.” He said, raising a brow. “Although those usually turn out... badly.”

Ah yes, with the falling bodies and everything. He almost gave a bemused snort.

Glancing over at the young boy, Minato wished he’d be able to put the pieces together in regards to him as well. Just who was he? And why did he have even half as much say as he did when it came to the police? 

“Very. It’s not like someone can just waltz down the street carrying a body and have no one notice.” 

Falling silent, Minato fell in step with Conan, his hands once again resting in his pockets. As he did, he watched the reactions of the ‘scary man’, and as he often did, just listened. Something, more of a hunch told him that it wasn’t likely to be the ‘scary man’, but at the same time, he wouldn’t, nor could he, rule anything out. Not yet anyway. 

Nodding slightly, Minato turned his attention back to Conan as he asked the question. As much as he’d like to make his inquiries of these individuals, the park seemed like the next best thing to take a look at. A great deal of this mystery was involved with that park and the table where the victim and his associates used to gather. 

Why the man had died was still in the air, and outside of the obvious ‘suicide’ signs, even the ‘how’ was debatable. They’d likely need an autopsy report for the full story. Perhaps blunt force trauma to the cranium? But, making blind guesses wouldn’t help anyone. 

“Yes, I suppose this isn’t a bad time to go take a look. Do you need to let someone know first?” He asked. 

The portly man rolled his own. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t go too far, or Ran-kun will have my head.”

“I’ll be good!” The boy said with a wide grin, then reached for the teen’s hand, tugging at it as he started heading for the exit. “Come on, Nii-san!” He let go of the hand then. He only wanted to get the other male’s attention.

As he did, he took out his phone, typing up some questions, then sending them out. Basic inquiries, but he felt they would help.

‘-Is someone else due for promotion now that the man has died? -Incidents at the workplace that have happened recently -Did the victim sometimes get in fights? Was he an exemplar employee? Also, check to see if this guy has a will. -K.S.’

The reploid knew what he’d prefer, and it definetly was not as a slave.

With his mind made up, the Lieutenant General nodded, “I will be happy to escort you. I believe my skills could be of some use to that… ‘ragtag crew’, as you call them.”

And so, without another word, the jackal followed after the human child to the next manhole, which he opened up. He sent a zombie up the stairs first to peak out, and the reploid wobbled up the steps to peer out. It was then that it wandered a few steps before dissaperating.

Adaptation, really.

Nodding at the jackal animaloid’s words, Conan climbed his way up the manhole, his movements swift, although he was growing a little tired from all the walking. Still, he had handled worse, his body was used to being pushed. It was that or die.

Leaving the underground, he took a deep breath. Fresh air was so much better. Conan ganced behind him to look at Anibus’ progress, then looked around himself. No one was around, the manhole still in a discreet area, and he tried to regain his bearings. 

Normally, he could go through this part without much trouble, but as humans had been trying to escape recently, he knew the borders were all on higher watch. This particular path, being that it was close to a place considered ‘taboo’ by most Neo Arcadians (for the reason of it being linked somehow to the Resistance) made it the least guarded. And the best one to reach his destination. He grinned to himself, peering left and right on the  exit to the main streets. The only guards were not looking in his direction.

"Thank you for being patient with our questions. I’ll make sure that the truth comes to light." He wasn’t going to ignore what had happened and while knowing the why wouldn’t end the pain, it could at least give her closure; once this started actually hitting home anyway.

Poor woman. 

Following Conan, Minato sighed once they were out the woman’s hearing. 

"If this was actually a suicide I’d be beyond surprised. There’s more to this." How Conan was exactly involved he still wasn’t sure, but the boy was still incredibly suspicious. 

Two mysteries in one. A murder case and a strange boy investigating said case. Definitely a novel combination to deal with. But, if he was indeed ‘strange’ as he felt, then Minato would need to keep an eye out for something to get him to reveal that fact, or Conan would need to slip up somewhere that would give him a clue as to why exactly there was something out of place in regards to the tiny detective. 

"It's strange, isn't it? How no one saw the body in a public place until some time later." He chimed after, then walked towards the police just as they were finishing their own interview. 

Walking all the way to detective Takagi, he nudged the man's leg, then pointed at one of the suspects. "You look scary, mister. Almost like a big boss of something."

The man pointed at stiffened, while the other gave a nervous laugh and pointed at himself. "I thought I'd look like the boss, seeing as I am the boss." He seemed a little amused, but the laughter was also out of stress and sadness. After all, the man who was soon to be his coworker died and he was a suspect.

"You look too scary for the kid." The then said, looking at the 'scary man'. The boy only grinned ruefully, thinking of a few questions to ask Takagi to do in a little bit. Like if the 'scary man' was next in line for the position.

The 'scary man' did not speak.

Right, he'd need their names. And a bit more background research. He looked up at Minato. "Nii-san, you said you were going to show me the park, right?"

The police could handle the other questions he'd request answers of, they could do with some field work.

"There’s no place better than a good table to toss ideas around." Minato agreed. 

Though his tone was quiet, it continued to easily carry. He wasn’t one to really show off, but for some reason his voice tended to catch people’s attention when he actually did speak. 

Even if his throat was starting to feel parched from so much use. Though he’d gained friends, and helped with SeeS, the blue haired teen still wasn’t much for talking. 

Nevertheless, it was another piece, one that might not currently be of much value, but with the other parts… Could the park have held some secret that had led to the victim’s death? Or, perhaps, and what was more likely, was that there had been someone involved that hadn’t liked whatever the woman’s brother had gotten into. 

Minato followed Conan with the edge of his sight until he’d slipped behind him, and he took a sliding step to turn so that he’d gain a better view of the boy while still shielding him from the woman. 

Of course, with the distance and angle, it was difficult to see anything that he had written, but he did catch bits and pieces of it from the edge of his vision even though he’d continued to keep his focus primarily on the woman he’d been making inquiries of. 

If anything confirmed his suspicions that Conan was not the typical child, it was the few words he’d caught, essentially giving the police and inspectors marching orders. 

Child prodigy perhaps? But even then, they wouldn’t have listened to him to that extent. No, there was more going on with the boy than just that. He didn’t know what but, it had definitely made him shoot up to the second most strange boy he’d ever come across, only the eerily pale child that had asked him to sign the contract surpassing him in sheer strangeness.  

Shifting his focus back to primarily on the woman, his tone went to a more soothing one. 

"I know it has to be strange talking to us about this, but we’re here to help." To find the truth, and to make this easier on her for that matter. 

"Please, trust us for a little longer." 

Witnesses who clammed up were often a struggle to deal with, and while he normally was able to lower their guards again, it seemed this lady wasn't as trusting to peering round eyes and a cute voice.

Probably because the cops weren't questioning her, but a couple of kids. He inwardly laughed to himself.

"Well..." The lady started, looking down as she squeezed her hands together. "He was actually bound to get a promotion soon from his boss... he just felt a little uneasy because some of his coworkers expressed he didn't deserve it as much as his friend." She shook her head. 

The other man they were going to question may have been that 'friend', he supposed. From when Megure had asked him name and occupation while they were busy here, it seemed to be the case.

Now, there was motive, but it could still go other way for the other two men. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he tilted his head.

"Was his boss happy for him?" He asked, tilting his head.

It looked less than suicide too. Why would someone who just got a new job position commit suicide? Unease notwithstanding, of course.

"Oh yes, he was going to work directly under him. I think my brother quoted that his boss said he'd be of great help." The woman started to look down now, the death of her  brother starting to impact her.

The pieces were falling into place, of course. Now, they needed to find the actual scene of the crime, or find out just how it was committed away from everyone's eyes in such a public place as a park.

For now, he'd leave the witness alone.

He could not access the GPS system for fear of being detected, but he was able to use his internal mapping sequence to calculate where they were, from what he knew of the underground (which was fairly extensive, as it was often where corpses of reploids were dumped) and also the distances travelled. The former lieutenant general took a split second to review as much, and then replied in turn, “we have travelled 374 metres south-south-west, and 142 metres south-west. 516 metres in total.”

Anubis stopped and knelt down to activate the hologram on his arm - he was able to use it in it’s offline state to display his somewhat fractured map network, though not their location point, as that required GPS access.

It'd have to be the next one. He let go of the ladder, then turned to look at Anibus to inform him, only for the mutos reploid to kneel before him. Tilting his head, he peered at the map network, mentally using the directions of travel given to him by Anubis to locate where they were now, where the original destination was, and where they had to go.

Right on the money, it was the next ladder, he was sure.

Reaching out, he confidently pointed at the Sector X outskirts, tapping twice. "Here." He said, quietly, then slowly drew a line further out. "Unless you plan to keep heading this way, this is my final destination."

The place he was pointing at was fairly recognizable by most anyone in the military, he figured.

It was, after all, the old Resistance base.

"I plan to tap into whatever power remains on their grid to transport to the new one." The boy said resolutely. "I may not be part of their little ragtag crew, but I do have information that could help them and, in turn, help the citizens here. Weil is, well..." He smiled, although it didn't look honest at all. "He has the eyes of a killer and the fist of a tyrant."

He then blankly looked up to the reploid. "What you do when we exit is up to you. Stop me, follow me, continue with your own plans. The world is wide and you are free."

With that, he turned away, pointing the flare forward. "The next manhole will do."

He’d seen strange things, and in this instance, the persona wielder felt that odds were fairly good that Conan was much, much more than what met the eyes. But… What? He certainly wasn’t a shadow, nor was he an anti shadow weapon, his ‘aura’; for lack of a better word, didn’t feel shadow-esque enough for either of those things. 

Even though he was pondering the mysteries of Conan-kun he didn’t ignore what the woman said, nodding slowly once she’d finished. Leaving his hands in his pockets, he focused on the woman as she answered the ‘little boy’s’ questions.

"It is a fairly nice park, but I don’t go there myself. I usually head to the park next to the shrine." In this case, it was unfortunate, because it meant that he didn’t have local knowledge of the park. 

However, he turned back to the woman, reviewing the facts as quickly as he could. 

Yes, the man traveled to the park frequently, but without a set time, a planned murder as the victim left would be difficult, unless a tapped phone line or similar was abused and that he’d mentioned it to someone.

A mind once said ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’

If it was possible that he was meeting someone regularly, but not by a schedule, that was a loose end they’d likely have to investigate. Closing his eyes, Minato tapped his hand against the side of his leg, despite the fact that it was trapped in a pocket. 

"Do you know if he met anyone at the park?" Minato opened his eyes.

The boy knew entirely too much. 

He was tempted to whistle in approval at Minato's question. Good direction, good direction. Instead, he turned expecting, cute eyes at the witness, shuffling from one foot to the next.

The woman seemed hesitant, so he squeaked out the following. "Sometimes Ran-neechan meets her friend Sonoko at Beika park." He tried not to flinch at the mention. They were still on rocky grounds at the moment, even if they were still best friends. At least, he hoped they were... it was understandable if she didn't want much to do with him after all that.

Looking at both underage kids, she sighed, deciding to answer their question. "Sometimes he met up with coworkers or friends at the park, he was always vague about it, but he said something about a good table to discuss things in?"

Conan's eyes snapped open at that. He had not seen any table at the park from initial perusal.

Was it the potential true place of murder? Maybe it was related? It might not even be related at all.

However, he tried to shake off his look of rapt attention, instead pretending as if his phone vibrated, and scurrying behind Minato to 'check his phone' with a childish 'excuse me!'.

Quickly, he sent a text to Megure, even if it was probably visible to Minato if he turned a little. At this point, he wouldn't mind very much, so he didn't bother hiding the screen.

'Scout the park for a table to sit at, it might be in a more private area of the park. Question the other two suspects about knowing if the victim visited the park often. Witness stated her brother often went to the park to meet coworkers and friends. Try not to tip them off that you know. Their responses and body language will be important, Inspector. PS: If forensics find footprints or drag marks, let me know. -K S'

Sending it, he put the phone away, then trudged back in view. "Occhan is home and was asking me where I was." He lied conversationally.

"Say, was your brother in trouble? His boss has a scary-looking face." The boy seemed to act legitimately frightened, but he was fishing again.

Was there trouble in the work area?

"Oh, uh... I don't know..." The witness answered, unsure if she should be sharing more information.

Oh well, they’d been trained for this, he hadn’t. 

Turning to the portly inspector, Minato felt a bit low when he realized that he currently didn’t have a persona of the same Arcana as Inspector Megure. Perhaps, he’d been able to understand the man a little better, but he would pick up on the tidbits about him as needed. Probably. 

"I’ll be careful Inspector." He promised quietly. 

Even though his voice was soft, it managed to carry well. A strange contradiction, much like most of Minato’s life. Usually calm, and near impossible to get a major response out of, he could still surprise others with his sometimes over the top statements. Or the not being confused when his abilities had awakened… There were other instances of surprise too of course, but those two were the ones of note. 

Turning his head to look over at Conan once more, he agreed readily. 

"Yes, of course." 

For a moment, Minato waited, assuming that the police were going to take her to the cafe to question her personally. But then, a sneaking suspicion took hold in his mind. 

They couldn’t have possibly decided to let a little boy and a high school student question the woman on their own. 

Then again, stranger things had happened for him. Leading a team against supernatural beings that could destroy the minds of people during the dark hour, climbing a shadow infested tower that during the day was a school, and of course, the potent shadow Arcana monstrosities that made their presence known from time to time. They were just a few of the strange events that followed him. 

Questioning a woman instead of officers doing it wasn’t all that strange compared really. 

For now, he'd stick around with the strange teen (not that he was any less strange), if only because he was unfamiliar on how this boy worked. Maybe he tried deducing parttime, maybe he was just good at this sort of thing, maybe he had never done it before. He seemed very intelligent, though, and there was little else for him to do right now than to listen to everyone.

As they filed into the cafe for questioning and the police began to focus on the suspects one by one, keeping the others on somewhat a watch (at least to make sure they did not leave), Conan slinked away somewhat to hand Detective Takagi a small object, which the man took with questioning eyes, but pocketed anyway. The small detective then returned to Minato's side, pressing a small button on his glasses' frame. He had 'bugged' Takagi to learn what information police questioning would dig up.

After all, not even he could be in two places at once simultaneously, even IF he had pulled that trick before.

Minato approached the woman and, as such, so did he.

"Hey, obaa-san..." The boy started, his gaze flicking to Minato for a few moments. "Are you the victim's mom?" He tilted his head but, inside, he doubted it. She was older, sure, but by at most ten years. She was probably a relative, though, and it was the best place to start. He was fishing.

The woman seemed surprised, hand raised to her mouth, and she shook her head. "Oh... no, not at all..." She seemed distracted, upset, her gaze flicking to Minato, then the little boy. "He was my little brother."

Conan made a thoughtful noise at that. "So you would know if he went to the park often?" The boy shifted from one foot to the other.

The park in front of the complex, of course.

"S-sometimes he walked there, never at a set time, though." She seemed to be getting nervous, so the boy just smiled a little.

"Oh... it's a nice park." He decided to derail the conversation a little to relax her, then looked up at Minato. "What did you think about it, Minato-niichan? Have you been there before?"

Fact: The victim walked in that park often enough, but never at a set time. Fact: The sister knew. Fact: The victim had been dead for at least half an hour before the police arrived. Fact: No witness so far has stepped forward to confess seeing the body before the police was notified. The body had been unnoticed for 20 minutes. Fact: Marks marred the body's neck, signs of struggle against the rope. Query: Did the other two know? Query: What is their relationship to the victim? Query: In what order did they see the victim last? Officially. Query: Did anyone see the dead body but not call the police in fear of being considered a suspect? Query: Was the body moved from its original location? Query: At the time of death, where were the suspects? Query: Alibis? Query: If the body was moved, why not immediately?

Theory: Murder. Theory: The body was moved. Theory: The body was carried normally, no tricks were used in moving it, only timing. Theory: If the body was moved so it would be noticed a while after the murder, it could have been done to create an alibi. Theory: The body was moved to hide the original place of death.

He still needed more information, but that would come as it would. For now, he tried to split his attention between the questioning of the woman and the questioning of suspect 1, who seemed to be the victim's boss.

Just who exactly was Conan?

Returning the cheerful tone with a simple nod, Minato’s mind had finished drawing its conclusions. With the limited resources at his disposal he currently had little way to be certain if the crime was a suicide or murder. 

Most of the signs did point to a suicide, but just too many small tidbits just didn’t add up. 

Hands still in his pockets, the persona user fell into his normal modus operandi, or in other words, listening over speaking freely.

Once Conan had spoken of his uncle, Minato couldn’t help but let an eyebrow raise in surprise. That… Seemed extremely reckless of an adult to do. What if Conan had started to have nightmares from the crimes. In fact, he would have been hard pressed to believe it if Conan said he’d never had nightmares because of it… 

However, he was soon turned away from his train of thought as Conan offered his hand to his. He slowly withdrew his hand, accepting the boy’s hand in his own, and a few moments later, was pulled over to the victim’s presumed friends and family. 

…Why had they had them brought here? Wouldn’t the police station have been a better choice? 

Disengaging from Conan’s hand, he approached the weeping woman, his heart going out to her. 

She’s of the Empress Arcana. SMASH

Switching to Penthesilea, Minato spoke to her softly for a few moments. Right now, having someone on her side would mean the world to the heartbroken woman. 

"Let’s move away from the crime scene… There’s nothing to gain by having them so close to this. There’s a police station nearby, or we could drop in on the cafe if that won’t work." He wasn’t used to talking this much, but sometimes, it was a necessary evil. 

Like in this case. 

However, they were not going to get anywhere by bleeding their hearts out.

Conan looked to Megure, then shook his head. The Inspector cleared his throat, looking at the people gathered before motioning to a couple of buildings nearby, where some small shops were. "We'll borrow the cafe for questioning, then." Megure said, firmly. "I'd rather we stay nearby until we can discard suicide or murder." If it was suicide, of course, the group would only have to go to the station the day after to give statements. The portly inspector coughed into his hand. "And you would be-?" He started to ask. "Minato-niisan reminds me of Shinichi-niisan." Conan cut him off, and the inspector looked put out, but shrugged a little. "Don't disrupt the crime scene." Inspector Megure grumbled, rolling his eyes. Civilians getting involved on his cases again... the shrunken sleuth not counting.

The cops with Megure began herding the suspects to the cafe, mostly the two men (they figured the teen would handle the crying older lady), who seemed rather outraged that a teen and a child were in the crime scene and they were being further detained for what could have been suicide.

"..." Conan looked up at Minato, then at the woman with him. "I don't think obaa-san did it." He said, quietly, 'but I think the police will need her testimony to find the truth."

Of course, he'd need further proof to clear the woman of guilt. Shoe prints that didn't have odd weighing, for one. While shoe size could clear her, as the two male suspects seemed to have a larger shoe size than hers, she could have always worn shoes not her own to drag the victim to the location of their final resting place. He'd have to wait and see if forensics even found shoeprints, however...

Conan waited for Minato to lead the older woman away before following, inwardly shaking his head. There could always be a trick to transporting the body, but this case seemed more clear cut than that.

"Well, despite the unfortunate situation, welcome to Tatsumi Port Island Conan-kun. Hopefully, the rest of your stay won’t have this kind of thing pop up." Minato observed before turning his attention to the body once again, frowning thoughtfully at the boy’s words. 

Interesting, Conan Edogawa seemed to know far too much for a boy of his age… 

"It is. Sure, suicide rates have jumped ever since the apathy syndrome became common, but even so it’s usually a much quieter event than this… And a murderer wouldn’t want to draw attention to themselves without good reason." Glancing back down at the boy he continued to consider. 

"The marks on the neck do resemble what you might find on a murder victim…” Then, turning his gaze to the area around, he allowed it to follow the various pathways to the location. 

"If it was a suicide, it’s possible that the victim hung themselves here and then struggled, but that would have probably had quite a bit of noise…" Considering the area, Minato continued. 

Was this a test? Perhaps, but the primary reason Minato continued was because of the boy’s attitude towards all of this. No ordinary child would have handled seeing a murder so calmly. 

"It’s also possible that the death happened before the victim even was placed here, done so when traffic was at a low point during the day. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t have been a suicide. Without data on the time of death, and how long the body has been hanging, it might be difficult to tell if it was actually a suicide or murder without more information." 

Glancing back at Conan, he couldn’t help but feel a bit odd talking to him about this. If it was Ken, it would have been a bit different, but… 

He nodded a little as Minato spoke, his reasoning was fairly sound and based on what they could see from the crime scene, a far cry from a lot of what he had seen on the field. Glancing at Megure, who was organizing the witnesses, he grinned a little and looked to detective Takagi as he returned from his 'errand', giving him a thumbs up, which Conan returned before turning his attention back to his companion.

Clean, at least with what he said. He'd speak to the police detective later if there was anything of interest to share.

"You know, you might be right, and this might not have been where the murder happened. The Inspector said the body has been dead for at least half an hour, but I guess they have to wait until forensics does their job." The boy said, pensively. He had considered the option, but potential crime scenes were still being scouted. He'd have to ask the Inspector for the results. Raising a hand to his chin in thought, he idly flicked his gaze to Minato, then back to where the police were working.

"I guess I've just been around crime scenes a lot! Uncle's a private detective!" He said, dropping his hand and instead raising both afterwards as he turned to face the other teen fully.

"The people the victim called last are here! We can check out their statements if you want!"

He hated to act so childish, but it was all part of his cover. Reaching up, he tried to take the other boy's hand to lead him to the group as a woman fell to her knees in sobs at the sight of the dead man. Oh boy.

But… To be so public… That was strange. 

Cutting the music to his MP3 player, Minato’s eyes scanned the area, wondering if it was a case of someone slowly beginning to succumb to apathy syndrome, or… Something else. 

While he continued to scan the body and the surroundings, his attention was diverted by a child’s voice. 

Surprised, Minato glanced down at the boy before he spoke.

"To be fair, I could ask the same of you." He observed but humored the child nevertheless. 

"Heard the sirens and thought I’d take a look." 

For being a child, he seemed unbothered by the death of the victim, almost as if he was used to seeing things like that…

"I moved here recently, so that’s not a surprise. That, and we’re not exactly in the same class, or school." He was still a child, but…

How could a child face a death so obliviously? It wasn’t as if people that rolled with just about everything were common. 

The shrunk teen let out a 'mmm' sound as he took in the other boy's speech, clasping his hands behind his back. Not from around the area, huh? Someone with that backstory wouldn't have as much confidence to commit murder in such a public spot, if it even was murder, so he doubted the guy was a suspect. Just passing by and got curious by the police sirens, probably. He made a sign to Takagi as the teen gave out his name. Background check. The police detective scurried off.

"I guess that's true, but I'm not even from this city either!" He said, cheekily, shifting his weight on the balls of his feet. "I'm Conan Edogawa! Inspector Megure brought me along because Uncle Kogoro was too busy with an important case to look after me." He shrugged. "I don't know why I couldn't come to that one too..."

Actually, he did. It was just a tailing job, and Kogoro did that well enough on his own. Not to mention he didn't really stay at the Mouri household too often anymore.

He wheeled around, looking at the body. "It's really weird, you know? Most suicides and murders aren't in open spaces. The ones Uncle handles, anyway." He might as well use the teen as a sounding board, maybe he was observant too. "The pieces of suicide are there, but there's also the struggle marks on the neck. What did Uncle call them, again? Yoshikawa-sen? Those are usually only on murder victims." Second thoughts? Regret? Realizing it wasn't what they wanted? Why wouldn't they call for help, in such an open place?

"Inspector Megure says it's weird no one reported the death until ten minutes ago, too. The area is open, so why did no one see it?"

Maybe he was risking a bit much by talking too much, but the men he had been chasing were gone. He was technically no longer a dead man. It was just that he hadn't even gone public as to what had gone down at all. A year and not a word. He was running out of time before it would be strange he wasn't growing.

Ah well, thoughts to save for later and maybe discuss with Hattori or something.