Kidnapper Kidnapped Kidnapper 2

"This is the tree he climbed when escaping from this backyard, huh?"

Kogoro was idly looking over the tree for any clues he could get his hand on. He could see some marks on the bark, but it wasn't large or sparse enough to be marks from a tall, powerful man climbing it. As for why the man had to be powerful, well, just imagine carrying a primary school kid while climbing a tree!

The dogs tied up to the tree in the canon were removed at his request. All three dogs had been restless, clearly missing their mistress.

"How is it, Mouri-san?"

Mr. Kanemotsu Tani nervously asked.

"I don't think the statement made by your butler, Mr. Asou, was correct. Either he was forced to lie, or he was involved in the whole thing." Kogoro answered. Mr. Tani's face paled, his fists clenched in anger.

"Are there any further instructions from the kidnapper? If he calls again, or if you have his number, make sure that you read the notes I prepared for you."

Mr. Tani took the paper from Kogoro, and his scrunched brows slowly relaxed while he read the notes. He looked up when he finished reading, and asked Kogoro.

"Mouri-san, this is…"

Kogoro smiled, "Yes. I prepared some measures of safety for your daughter. The kidnapper may think that he has all the power here, but he doesn't. Forcing the exchange to be as soon as possible in a plain field where he can see for any kind of trap will be a great lure to drag him out in the open. Asking him to prove Akiko's safety by giving his phone to her every ten minutes is also to prevent him from thinking he could dispose of her whenever he could."

Mr. Tani smiled, his whole body trembling in excitement, "With this, will Akiko be safe?"

Kogoro shook his head, "I hope so. The thing we should also consider is how many of the kidnappers there are? If it's only one, then me being there is enough. But if there's more, then we need more manpower. I already asked a friend in the police force to send me one or two of their officers."

Mr. Tani's face was pale again, "But Mouri-san! The kidnapper… he told us not to call the police!?"

Kogoro just chuckled, "As long as you can lie to the kidnapper, how would he know? And besides, you didn't call the police, I did."

Mr. Tani gaped in disbelief, then nodded furiously "Yes, I'll do as Mouri-san said!"

"Well, we just need to wait for the back-up, and we'll be good to go."

The two of them separated, one to make a call, and the other to the sides where the dogs were tied.

"Now, what do we have here?"

Kogoro was in the warehouse of Futatsubashi Middle School, where Akiko was kept in canon, and in this reality too apparently. A sign of people being here last night was clear by new food wrappings and water bottles. There were also three sets of footprints that he was sure belonged to Akiko and the kidnappers.

"A friend of the original kidnapper? Or that Mr. Asou?"

Kogoro started taking pictures of the whole scene. After making sure he got everything, he checked his watch, and cursed.

"Twenty minutes left!? I better hurry!"

Just when he turned around, Kogoro heard a sound from one of the drawers. He approached it cautiously.

Kogoro opened the unlocked drawer, and blinked his eyes, before he laughed.

"Now, what do we have here?"

***

As Kogoro hurried to the Tani residence with Jambo the dog to gather with Mr. Tani and the two officers, he started thinking about what he just found.

'I would never expect the butler to be locked in that drawer.'

After Kogoro gave the man some food and water, Mr. Asou started talking about what actually happened. He was in tears as he talked, and Kogoro could feel his sincerity by the way he kept apologizing to the late Mistress of the house.

Kogoro took Mr. Asou to the nearest hospital, and made a call to Inspector Megure about the situation. He was scolded again, but Inspector Megure knew him best, and just agreed to his request.

Kogoro was now two blocks away from the house, and he urged Jambo to move faster with him. 'I hope I'm not late!'

***

"I hope I'm not late!" Kogoro said as he looked over at the three people in the room. He was stunned for a second, before he recovered. Unexpectedly, Inspector Megure sent Officer Sato and Officer Chiba as his back up!

'Damn, Keibu. Why did you send an attractive female officer? Did you forget this bro's charm? How many female officers had their hearts broken when I rejected them!? Although now that I think about it, they moved on pretty quickly when they saw how wack I was.'

Kogoro then greeted them, "Officer Sato, Officer Chiba! Thank you for coming. Megure-keibu told me about you two!"

All of them stood up, and Mr. Tani hurriedly went to his side, "Not at all! There's still some time before the appointment! Mouri-san, it works! My Akiko, she's safe!"

He blathered endlessly, clearly feeling excited from hearing his daughter's voice.

"Calm down, Mr. Tani. Akiko is still in the hands of the kidnapper. We need to bring her back before we can celebrate!" Kogoro burst his bubble.

"Mr. Mouri is right, Mr. Tani. Should we go straight to the location?" Officer Sato took the lead, and all of them went into two separate cars.

Because it was an undercover mission, both of the officers were wearing casual clothes, and drove a family van instead of a police car. Kogoro was also wearing a hoodie, a jogger, and a pair of sunglasses, before he laid on the back seat of Mr. Tani's car.

They drove to the agreed location, a deserted park just thirty minutes away. Officer Sato and Officer Chiba went first, acting like a couple on a picnic date, and then Mr. Tani nervously scurried to the middle of the park. It was one of the concessions that they made with the kidnapper, so that he could see the whole park with a binocular from afar.

Kogoro, meanwhile, got out of the car, and brought out Jambo from the trunk, and took a walk around the park. He extended his walking stick, and pretended to be a blind man to make the kidnapper let his guard down.

And thus, they waited.

~To Be Continued~

-

-

-

A/N: The difference in art-style between earlier Conan and current one is staggering. Big thanks to my patrons Dragon_knight240 and phil, and also to all the loyal readers of this story.

segalengko69