Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13

Hiding

Ran's POV

Even as the ambulance entered the garage, I still clasped tightly onto the woman's hand. She had stopped breathing, and her fingers were already turning cold. "If you see someone named Shiho Miyano, please help her. She's my sister, if you see her, protect her please."

Those words… they shook me to the core. In the minute I had seen her, she had trusted me enough to tell me to help her sister. She didn't seem like a bad person, despite the face I knew that she was in the bank robbery. Ran, are you okay?

Shinichi… His voice broke the silence he had been keeping. Does it always feel like this? Seeing murder? Seeing death? I knew I was crying, the tears were hot rivers running down my face.

It's never easy. But I was a detective. My job wasn't to grieve, but to bring justice. Even though his words showed confidence, they seemed to be shaking.

What's wrong, Shinichi?

That man, you saw the one in the car, right? he asked. I tried to recall him. Long silver hair, and dressed in complete black. Then it hit me.

He was the one that killed you, wasn't he? I was shocked. He killed you.

Yes, by solving my murder, we can also bring justice to this woman, whoever she was. He made a gesture to the woman whose hand I was still holding. The ambulance stopped, and medics raced out, and then slowed. It was easy to see that there was no use in going forward. This woman was gone.

"Ran-chan!" Kazuha-chan's voice rang out. I looked in the direction of her voice to see her and Hattori-kun sprinting toward me.

"What happened?" She looked at my bloody hands, and the woman being carried away.

"She was one of the bank robbers. A man shot her. She's dead." It was all I could say. Details weren't important at the moment. However, I needed Hattori-kun to know that her murderer was the same as Shinichi's. "Hattori-kun. The man that shot her, is the same one that killed Shinichi."

"The same one that killed him?" he asked. "What are you talking about? We haven't found a murderer yet."

Play it calm, Ran. Don't let him suspect anything. He's sharp.

"Just a feeling I had." I had already let one thing slip. No more. "Except his hair was dyed silver. The blonde hair man, look for one with silver hair now."

Hattori-kun looked skeptical, not visibly shaken by the killing of the woman. I thought I heard him mutter 'Same murderer, eh?' and 'Something's not right here.' Kazuha-chan on the other hand, was shivering from fear, looking like a vulnerable baby animal.

"Mouri." Hattori-kun looked at me, and I flinched from the strange intense fire in his eyes. "Why do you know so much more about Kudo's death than you said you did? You're definitely hiding something."

"No I'm not!" I lied. "Do you think I wouldn't have said anything? My best friend was murdered! How would I not tell you everything I know!"

His face told me he was not deceived. "Heiji, knock it off," said Kazuha, sniffling. "Ran-chan's been having a rough time these past few days. And she wouldn't be lying."

The fire in his eyes transformed back into flowing water as he looked at Kazuha. "Okay." He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to her. "You might want to use this."

That kid's not going to let it go, Shinichi warned.

I can tell.

Could you please tell me what you were thinking of earlier? The one you wouldn't tell me? Please Ran? I'm dying to know.

No, it's my secret. Not even you can know. There was no way anyone was going to find out. Except for him. In the very end, when he left me. Because, there was only so much I wanted to go through without him with me.

"I'm not in the mood for lunch anymore," I said wistfully. "I think I'm going to go home."

"I wouldn't do that, Mouri. You'd only have to come back. This is murder, the police will need your help for this one too." He looked towards the entrance, and I followed his gaze to the black and white police cars that were heading in.

The interview was short. I didn't actually know anything, except for how the silver-haired man looked. Not the woman's name, not what happened, not why she was killed, nothing. I left out the part where she told me to protect her sister. I felt it was private.

"Thank you for your help, Ran-kun." Inspector Megure put away the notebook he had been writing in. "Okay, let's go!" The police officers that had come with him followed him into the cars.

Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun had left when I was being interviewed. I had told them they could leave, so they could have lunch without me. Not to mention I needed to get away from Hattori-kun. He was definitely onto my secret.

Where are you going now? Shinichi asked.

Home. Where else would I go? I'd had enough for today. A bank robbery and a killing. It'd probably be up in the news tomorrow. I didn't want to see it.

However, because of this, we were one step closer to finding out who the silver-haired man was. And we were one step closer to catching Shinichi's murderer.

*Author's Note: The next chapter will be better! I promise. Shiho's POV next!*