The Halloween Party
Suddenly, a hand closed around Conan's. He turned to find Haibara staring at the car ahead with fear written across her face — and then, in the next instant, she ducked her head, using Genta's body to shield herself from view.
Conan understood immediately. The people sitting in that car belonged to the Black Organization. No wonder they hadn't gotten out earlier — spotting the police, it would have been far too inconvenient to step out.
He fixed his gaze straight ahead, straining for one glimpse of who was inside before the car pulled away. He was just a child, after all; he could easily linger by the car a little longer under the pretext of worrying about Klee — and if the opportunity arose, maybe even plant a tracker and a wiretap.
But before he could make a move, Mona's hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Conan, what are you spacing out for? Come on, it's getting late — I'll walk you kids home."
Hah. One look at that brat's eyes, and Mona knew exactly what he was plotting. She wasn't about to give him the chance to pull any tricks.
Conan struggled, but couldn't break free. By the time he looked up again, Kaeya's car was already gone.
All he could do was let his arms drop in defeat and follow the others obediently away.
Another chance to learn something about the Organization, slipped right through my fingers. Still...
Conan studied Mona's retreating back with a probing look. Had she stopped him because she'd noticed something — or was it simply coincidence?
In Kaeya's car, Klee sat in the passenger seat, twisting around again and again to peek at the people in the back — especially Cointreau. She had sneaked glances at him no fewer than ten times over the course of the drive.
Afraid that Cointreau might lose his patience, Bourbon asked her with an amused smile, "Klee, why do you keep staring at this big brother? Is it because you think he's handsome?"
Klee nodded solemnly. "Mm. Klee thinks big brother is just as pretty as big sister."
Bourbon burst out laughing. He turned to Cointreau and said teasingly, "You hear that? Even a little kid thinks you're pretty as a girl."
He assumed Klee had simply meant that Cointreau was beautiful in a feminine way. Small children sometimes couldn't tell the genders apart, and with his golden hair and golden eyes — not to mention that long hair, braided no less — it was only natural Klee might take him for a girl. It never once crossed Bourbon's mind that Klee's "big sister" referred to one specific person.
Cointreau shot Bourbon a withering eye-roll, favored Klee with a small smile, then turned to gaze out the window, making it abundantly clear that he had no interest in being bothered.
Back at Professor Agasa's house, once Mona had left, Haibara confronted Conan without preamble. "The people with those Visions — are they connected to the Black Organization? Did you already know?"
Conan realized there was no hiding it any longer, and told her everything that had happened after the magic show. Then he tried to reassure her. "The only person I've ever seen meet with Organization members is that Kaeya. I'm not certain everyone wearing a Vision is tied to them. Look at it optimistically — maybe this is just Kaeya acting on his own. Besides, take a look at Klee, Mona, Xiangling — do they seem like people who'd keep company with a criminal organization?"
Haibara remained uneasy. "But this is far too dangerous. You don't know whether the Organization might leak information about APTX 4869 test subjects to Kaeya. They're right here, so close to us — if they discover something, then everyone around us..."
Conan lowered his head, a pale glint flashing across his lenses, and said with quiet resolve, "Don't worry. I will never let danger touch the people around us — especially Ran..."
Then he raised his head and coaxed her with a smile. "Don't be so tense, okay? Just keep dealing with them exactly the way you have been. It's a sudden change in attitude that draws attention. And think about it — we've been around Xiangling and Klee all this time, and nothing's happened. That alone proves they really have nothing to do with the Organization. The key right now is Kaeya..."
"Just promise me you'll think of your Ran-neechan before you act, and won't drag them into this." Haibara met his unwavering gaze and understood that he had already made up his mind to probe the Black Organization through Kaeya. She didn't try to dissuade him — she offered only that one final warning.
Professor Agasa had stood awkwardly to one side throughout the whole argument between Shinichi and Haibara. Now, seeing it wind down and what looked like a consensus reached, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly produced the invitation that had arrived in Shinichi's mailbox that afternoon, holding it out to him.
At the Mouri Detective Agency—
"The Halloween Party?" Mouri Kogoro cried out, baffled. It wasn't even October yet — who on earth threw a Halloween party now?
Mouri Ran held up the invitation and read the explanation printed on it. "It says here it's a costume party held deliberately out of season."
Kogoro went on eating, asking with only half-hearted interest, "So? What does this invitation actually say?"
"Um... it says..." Ran stole a sidelong glance at her father, and with visible embarrassment continued reading the letter aloud:
"To the incapable detective, Mr. Mouri Kogoro..."
"HAHAHA—"
A throbbing vein popped up on Kogoro's forehead the moment he heard that opening address. By the time Ran finished reading the invitation in full, he was laughing with a face twisted in fury — and he resolved on the spot to attend the party and give whoever had sent the thing a taste of his wrath.
"By the way, Ran — exactly who is this clueless idiot who mailed it?" He turned and demanded sternly to know the identity of whoever had dared throw down the gauntlet to him.
Ran flipped the envelope over and read the name on it with a puzzled frown. "Apparently some foreigner. It's signed 'Vermouth.'"
The day before the Halloween party, at the Mouri Detective Agency.
Ran stood by the window, chatting on the phone. Behind her, Suzuki Sonoko was busy applying makeup to Mouri Kogoro and Xia Yu.
Yes — Xia Yu had received an invitation to the Halloween party as well.
Truthfully, she hadn't yet decided whether to go. From what she remembered, the Halloween party was nothing more than bait Vermouth dangled to lure Mouri Ran and Edogawa Conan away — even if, in the end, not a single one of them had been lured anywhere.
But the reason Vermouth had sent her an identical invitation this time was most likely her own brother. Back at Teitan High, when Vermouth appeared disguised as Dr. Araide, he must have already recognized her connection to the Organization's Cointreau.
Then again, Xia Yu genuinely hadn't expected her brother's current identity to be inside the Organization itself — and apparently in quite a high position, at that. If Kaeya hadn't been the one to tell her, she still wouldn't quite have believed it.
At the thought, Xia Yu felt her temper smolder all over again. That Aether — he would rather seek out Kaeya and reveal his identity to him, but couldn't be bothered to say a single word of it to her own face?