After that fiasco at the cat cafe, the members gathered at the Main HQ of Tantei association.

A bet was made that which Kudo twin returned first gets to decide the food they are gonna order for lunch through Michio's mom. Since Ranran returned first, Takuma and Emiko argued over wanting to eat Japanese or Western meals.

It took a while before the two reached a mutual decision of eating Chinese takeaways. Everyone was enjoying the meal that Michio's mother brought back from the takeaway shop.

"I gotta admit, I never would've imagined the idea of using dogs to chase her out."Shinichi was impressed as he took a bite of the sweet and sour chicken from the Chinese takeaway container.

"I never would've imagined you'll be capable of tricking Junko into thinking since she came in contact with a car, that automatically makes her a dog target." Takuma waved his Honey coated drumstick as he spoke before he ate it.

"It was meant to be a distraction so she wouldn't find out about the salami. By the way Ranran, where did you get the Salami from?"Ran wanted to know as she watches the founder eat one spoonful of rice at a time, while Mouri herself is chewing on a chunk of chicken.

"Well, it was free for me. So that is all you need to know."The girl ate hungrily like a wolf who hasn't eaten in a day.

"How were you able to get that old man to lend you two of his dogs anyway?"Emiko questioned her, eating another drumstick."I always assumed he hated kids?"

"I didn't."

"EH!?"Emiko was surprised at her response.

"Asking will get us nowhere, so I open his gate and use his dogs all the time."The girl ate another spoonful of rice while waving her chicken drumstick at him, "The padlock of his gate sucks, so I had no problems coming in and out of his gate even with a padlock on."

"Aren't you asking for death? What if he had CCTV at his place?"Ran worries, opening the soup pot before pouring soup for everyone with a ladle as she handed out the bowl one after another.

"I was once given a jammer by my mentor, it worked wonders for his CCTV."Ranran smirk.

"Genius!"Michio spoke in awe.

"That is bloody impressive," Shinichi couldn't help but be amazed by her level of scheming as he waved the spoon, before eating another spoonful.

Michio kept looking at his watch. "I can't believe it," he exhales while frowning.

"What?" Ranran perked her head up, dumping the box with her finished leftovers into the bin.

"Normally when Junko gets mad, she would bombard my phone with text messages and voice mail. I hadn't received one since those mad hounds chase after her."

"She probably decided she was too tired after all of the running, hence, decides not to contact you."Emiko shrugged as she joins Ranran throwing her leftovers, "I mean it went on for 2 hours, no?"

"It doesn't matter how tired she becomes, she always texts or drops voicemail at me without fail. I know what she is like."Michio insists.

"Hah... What will she say if he calls her, Ranran...?" Shinichi elbowed Ranran as he urge her to mimick a funny impression of Junko, while he went to take the lid to shut the bin.

"Hhmmmm...."Ranran's red lip forms a mischievous smile before she snapped her finger, "Oh! You were the idiot who sent those two dogs after me, didn't you? Boohoo, I don't wanna talk to you, or even, see you ever again! Hmph!" The girl mocked a crying face as she huffed, making Shinichi struggle to contain his laughter upon his partner-in-crime's impression of Junko. Ran finds this amusing alongside Takuma and Emiko, causing a chain reaction of laughter among the members, which later made Michio super mad at them.

"Guys! Don't be so cruel."Michio told them off.

"Anyway, back to that conversation we are supposed to have about Watanabe being kidnapped to do the said 'job', does anyone happen to have any idea over what could be worth so much so, they need to enlist Watanabe's skills? Although now I think of it, why couldn't they wait within 3 months?"Shinichi wonders as each uses a wet towel to clean their hands.

"You know...the other day you guys mention he was formerly called 'Gold Fingers', deshou?"Takuma reminded them.

"So?"Michio tilted his head.

"I mean...of all the skills he chose to learn, why must he learn how to pick-lock things such as magician padlocks and animal cage-type locks?"

"Explain, "Shinichi urges Takuma to continue.

"I mean...."He turned to Ran, "Mouri-san, how many cases of Watanabe's heist was it officially reported leading up to his arrest? Also, were they any reported cases of him cracking cages of that sort?"

"Eh..."Ran checked her phone where she collected the number of news articles, "A total of 80 cases involving robbing and cracking safes, but no mention of what you said."

"Right, there we go."Takuma nodded before lazily leaning on the chair as he tilts it, "80 cases."He repeated, before casting his gaze on everyone, "80 cases of his exploits does make me wonder....why is his reason for learning a skill such as pick-locking magician padlocks and animal cage-type locks in the first place?"

"Eh?"

"I mean don't you guys think it is odd that there isn't a single piece of news where he robs something that requires him to use the skills I mentioned? What is the purpose of learning those if it can't make him money? He has a couple of mouths to feed. One doesn't just learn something wasteful just to make a living, right?"

"Of course! I haven't thought of that!"Ran reacted in amazement.

"You have a point," Emiko nodded in agreement.

"If we focus on that aspect...it may bring us closer to Echis' motives," Shinichi thinks deeply, "Why bother to learn those skills that can't make you money?"

"Maybe if we focus on the things that have value through those skills, it would make sense?"Michio suggests.

"Like what?"Emiko implores."What use are those skills for criminals like Watanabe to make money?"

"Hmm..."Michio struggles to come up with something, then he snaps his finger, "What about cracking open a luggage filled with illegal gold bars that are being smuggled into the country?"

"Hah!?"Shinichi was dazed by his answer.

"I mean to smuggle into the country to avoid paying tax, you need luggage, right? But people do steal from airports. Using a normal padlock will give robbers easy access, but if they use a magician padlock, it can do wonders."

"Ok, that is something we can take into consideration."Ranran jotted down on her notebook.

"Maybe he is going to be part of an eccentric group where they are about to pull the biggest heist? He is very experience after all."Ran put forward her thoughts.

"According to his record last I checked, he was more of a one-man show. He rarely does group work."Shinichi frowned, "But the possibility might be there."

"Eh?"

"He is an old man after all like what Takuma said, he definitely could use some helping hand after having gone to jail for that long."

"Hmm, with those useless skills...how can one make money out of it?"Emiko can't think straight.

"Maybe he could sell magician props through those skills??"Ran was toying with her long brown hair as she replies, "I heard some magician props nowadays can be quite expensive and they do use such locks. If you use those skills, it can be put to good use."

"You ain't wrong, but if that were the case..."Shinichi huffs, "They might as well just rob a store that sells magic tools rather than go through the hassle."

"How about artwork?"Emiko throws in her opinion.

"Eh? Artwork?"Ranran turned to Emiko.

"I have seen all sorts of crazy whacko style art sculptures, someone would even put it in that animal cage and claim it is art, it can fetch millions of yen."

"True," Shinichi nods in agreement before turning to Takuma, "what about you? Any suggestions?"

"For me...I bet sensitive documents," he remarks.

"Sensitive document?"

"Like world sensitive documents?"He adjusts his red cap," Such documents sometimes bring in money, depending on the content. In movies, I watched spy movies where they steal it and make money out of it by selling their secrets. Also, I watch some of the characters like putting them in magic prop boxes with weird magician padlocks."

"That is some dark stuff, but it is a possibility."Ranran flips her pencil before turning to Shinichi, "What about you?"

"For me..."Shinichi crosses his arms and stares intently at the notes, "Pets."

"Pets!?"Everyone reacted in surprise towards Shinichi, especially Ran. "How is this relevant to Watanabe's useless skills? Also, why pets?!"Ran cross-questions him.

"In the criminal underworld, blackmailing is one of the ways to survive and keep their criminal empire running."Shinichi unfolds his arms, having both hands stretch out on the table," Jealousy is common when it comes to criminal gangs, so all he needs is Watanabe to do his bidding by pick-locking and stealing their pets from a cage as blackmailing material. It could be the most expensive breed of cat or dog for that matter, as criminals tend to buy such breeds to cement that they are rich. Think of the money making opportunities one can make if one takes away their pet."

Emiko rolled her eyes at Shinichi."But even so....the idea of stealing one person's pet is little...extreme, just to break someone out of prison for. There are easier ways of blackmailing rivals besides stealing their pet."

"Not really, ."Shinichi justifies,"The pet doesn't necessarily need to be expensive in value, it also depend on how much the rival love their pet. If you take it, I bet they'll be furious. It's like family member getting kidnap, wouldn't one pay up the ransom for?"

Pets in a cage, huh?

Ranran thought about it as Ran disagrees with Shinichi, "Shinichi, that is being ridiculous! Criminals may be unreasonable, but that doesn't mean they are that petty to go kidnap someone's pet and blackmail them for their lives!"

"You know, Shinichi's is on to something."Takuma snap his finger, "Do you not recall how John Wick destroyed and killed so many people over a dog?"Takuma reminded her.

"But that is a movie! Not real life!"Ran contended, "Also, he already quit crime when the incident took place."

"Exactly, you have no idea how far a person's love for an animal can go the way John Wick does, Mouri."Shinichi then stretches his body a little."Some love their pets as family members, you know?"

"Still, it's a shame for the criminals, there were kinda stupid when they decided to murder his dog."Ranran let out a deep breath.

"Hah?"All their attention is on the red lip girl.

"Cause when you think about it...the dog is a Beagle, right? If it ain't mistaken, its price tag here is around 218,647 yen. It would've been worth it had they kidnapped the dog, sold it to the black market, and made money out of it."The rest of the children stare at Ranran with a 'are you serious' look in horror over such heartless suggestion. It was then Ranran's lightbulb lit up in her mind, as she jumped out of her seat, "That's it!"

"Eh!?"

"Animals!"Ranran jumped up in excitement, "He is being taken out of prison to go after animals! Especially those that are about to extinct!"

"Eh!? You think so!?"Shinichi reacted in surprise.

"Didn't Takuma mention why would someone like Watanabe bother to learn such useless skill that didn't make them any money?! That is the answer! Animals that are reduced to extinction tend to be valuable! Like that movie Jurassic Park where they showcase those dinosaurs, it attracted so many tourists they make tons of money! Why? Because they were extinct when they were born, people would pay to see something that they never got to see. Plus, how many robbers would bother to learn such useless skills as you guys mentioned?"

"Animals that are about to be extinct...that's true, those kinds do have value, even for criminals like Echis."Emiko narrowed her gaze pondering about it, "Ranran might be on to something."

"What is there so nice about stealing animals that are about to extinct in the first place?"Takuma frowned, "I don't see any value in taking them."

"Unfortunately, that is where you are wrong, Hikari-kun."Emiko sighs before she patiently explains why, "Nowadays due to the existence of poachers hunting down animals as a hobby or selling as medicine and stuff, the more animals are close to extinction, the more valuable they are. The reason for that? Rarity."

"Hah? How does that even work? Even killing tons of chicken and fish for our meals didn't affect much of their value."Michio was being ignorant with the entire thing.

"That's because they ain't going extinct, Majima. There are people always constantly breeding them to feed us all, Majima."Emiko explains in detail before adding, "Also, animals that are facing extinction ain't something we can just eat every day as they are laws to protect them."

"How much are we actually talking?"Ran questions out of curiosity.

"Ok, say for example....elephant. Poachers kill them for their tusk, if you sell it in the black market, the money will be 5 times the value....you won't even need to go to school and get a job anymore."Ranran elaborated.

"What, really!? How much is it are you talking?"Ran inquire.

"Hmm...if we google...."Shinichi fished out his smartphone and keyed in the search while all the kids left their seats to read the search results, all of their eyes grew wide in shock, so shocked you can hear a pin falling onto the floor.

"With that much money.....don't just say quit school, I will even make my parents quit their job and move to another country," Takuma pointed at the screen of his smartphone while he was at loss for words, he didn't know what to think.

"Extinct animals...."Shinichi thought about it, "Now another thing that I can't understand is why couldn't wait for 3 months to do their job? Also, "He scowls a little, "Where did they find whatever animal is it they are going to go after?"

"Exactly, are they that desperate as time was running out...Echis has no choice but to resort to breaking him out of prison to break this caged animal??"Takuma couldn't help but think.

"The only place I could think of them smuggling an animal is from a zoo since we live in a city."Michio offers, "Maybe due to the scedules of transporting those animals, they had no choice but to speed it up."

"Can you easily obtain their scedules? I doubt it is as easy as getting the scedules of trucks delivering money from one bank to another."Emiko dismisses.

"Not really, if you have someone who works there, it is easier for everyone."Ran argue, "My Tousan used to tell me that one time, there was this zoo that brought in two pandas here from China since pandas don't live in Japan, the zoo then raise them, then return the pandas to China as part of an extinction panda program. It usually keeps discreet among employees so that no one would cause such shenanigans. As long one of them says it, it's easier for them."

"If we look at Ran's suggestion, I can say overall this may be the closest motive we can ever be."Michio believe.

Ranran's eyes fall silent," However, there is a problem with this theory."

"Which is?"Shinichi prompted her to speak.

"If he was targeting the zoo transfer, he could've just easily bribed one of the people looking after it and had one of his henchmen remove it at ease secretly, rather than going through all of the hassles of breaking out Watanabe out in the first place."

"Eh? That we are back to square one again?"Michio groans.

"What if they were targeting a private zoo?"Emiko suggests.

"Private zoo?"

"Yeah," Emiko tries to explain, "Usually for public zoos one needs to go through many laws to get animals over. Some animals are banned to be displayed in some zoos due to protection laws, as they are approved by the government. A private zoo however makes a huge difference, you can do whatever you like since it is in the owner's property where the owner owns the zoo. Some of them would often showcase animals that you will never see in a zoo brazenly in open daylight."

"Does this make them above the law then? If so, that is cruel."Ran expressed in distaste.

"Not really. No one can be above the law unless someone has the money to turn a blind eye from it."Ranran specifies.

"But I am honestly surprised that Miyama-san knows such zoos."Michio is in awe of Emiko's knowledge.

"I don't, I got bored one day and decided to watch Netflix: Tiger King, that's all."Emiko shrugs.

"Does Japan have any private zoo in existence? Also, is it legal?"Ranran poses the question to Shinichi.

"Not that I know of."Shinichi brows furrow.

"Whether yes or no, how does one locate private zoos, I wonder? I mean surely the money one needs to feed the animals is expensive, so they certainly need visitors to afford running one."Takuma thinks in frustration.

"Through social media? You be surprised how many people will get word of this easily."Ran says.

"What if there is no private zoo in Japan? Where else are we gonna look?"Expresses Takuma in annoyance as he mumbles, "If only they are stray animals."

"You can't just simply find one openly like stray cat or dog for that matter. This ain't some village, it is a city or town for that matter."Emiko points out.

"There is one."Something lit up in Ranran's eyes.

Everyone grew puzzled at Ranran's statement, "Where, Ranran?"Ran asks.

"There! One where the laws can at times be unkind to animals besides a zoo."

"A place like that....."Takuma struggled to think, "Does it exist?"

"...Does it really?"Michio's mind drifted a little, as he and the rest of the gang struggled to find the answer.

"Yes, they do. Just like zoos, they too perform shows. But unlike zoos...some of them tend to move from one destination to another."

"From one destination to another....ah!"Shinichi bangs the table in excitement as the other kids were shaken before he turned to Ranran," a circus! But not just any circus, a travelling circus!"

"That is right, "Ranran confirms his answer.

"But why a travelling circus!? We have a circus in Japan that didn't require to move."Michio is bewildered by this revelation.

"Majima, as long you try to secure a legal place with wild animals, there is rarely any room for bypassing laws in getting whichever animals you want. A travelling circus however changes everything."He hops out of his seat before explaining to the perplexed kids while Ranran listens to him in excitement, "Travelling circuses don't remain one location for long as they tour around the world, which makes things difficult to be tracked by the government. Some of them have companies backing, but there are those without it."

"Why don't some have it?"Emiko asks out of curiosity.

"Cause they didn't like the idea of a killjoy government telling them what they can and can't do."Shinichi explained in detail, "This is why some of these travelling circuses could've easily obtained all of these wild animals' back doors. When I say back door, I mean illegally. You don't have to wait many hours, days, or months like a moron to get permission, nor be forced to release it back into the wild sooner or later. I think they won't allow you to make animals do performances beyond capability."

"In other words...this makes them a perfect victim, knowing they can't even call the cops because of the fear of getting arrested for their crimes, deshou?"Michio's words trailed before realizing where they were heading with this.

"It makes sense now, I mean targeting a circus with no protection of backing...I mean some of them would even sell the animals secretly if they can't afford to maintain them as they are expensive."Ranran's expression grew serious," Also, not many criminals had that skill of pick-locking such cages besides Watanabe."

Ran then turned to Shinichi and Ranran, "I think we need to call the police over this matter."

"I agree, "He nods to Ran, before mumbling, "But the problem is we don't know which animal are they going after, nor where, nor even how many of these animals are they planning to take. It is better if we have more details about it. The more we have, the better we can convince the police to arrest them." Shinichi glower over his notes as he was pondering over what to do, "It ain't just elephant that fits the category of animals facing extinction that will give them big bucks. There are others such as tigers, lions, sea lions.....the pool of animal extinction itself is large. Also....which circus are they going to go after? We don't even have a name or location to go out to."Shinichi then slumps back to his seat in a tired state, with all of the brainwork put into this case.

While the rest of the kids are in a daze over what to do with the situation, Ranran decided to keep her point across by ending the meeting with, "Alright, so before ending today's meeting, here is the plan."As she clears her throat, she announced, "Before any of us call the police, when all of you completed your homework or do what you guys need to do, search anything you guys can find about circuses in Japan. Ask around, Google, even ask your parents to ask other adults if you have to. Someone and somewhere got to know something. As long we have everything, call the cops."

"Also, just to play safe, we'll also look into zoos, especially private ones as well."Shinichi jointly announced. Meeting dismiss!"

.......

"Miyama is right. Your drawing is a bust."

Shinichi couldn't help but stare in shock as he gasped at the drawing, he had never seen anything so hideous before. Well, not as bad as a decomposing corpse his dad often took him to crime scenes when he was younger. Still, it was hideous and horrifying.

The kids gather around Takuma in Tantei association as Mouri Ran headed home to cook dinner before her dad heads home, while Michio went upstairs to boil the water. Rushing to finish their homework, Takuma and Emiko decided to do theirs here before heading home while Ranran and Shinichi continued to discuss the developments of the case. Takuma's only homework requires him to submit an artwork the teacher taught them earlier in class.

He did finish it, however....staring at his painting, it just looked so ugly. He wished he could change it had Emiko not noticed, but it was too late now.

"Back in my old school, if they were to see this, they are gonna think it belongs to a baby. Cause even a 3-year-old kid can draw better than this."Ranran pointed at the artwork, cringed by the sight of the drawing.

Takuma's drawing:

The ugly, misshapen creature Takuma drawn on his paper just stared back at them. The creature has eyes, misshapen black body."What was this supposed to be!?"Emiko felt her eye twitching already by Takuma's artwork, for she was a perfectionist when it comes to artwork.

"Our Art sensei."

"As your friend...I was going to say it's ugly. But then after seeing it again, even though I was going to say you don't need to be as pro as Emiko's, it wasn't even close to average."Ranran cringed even staring at it.

"It's horrible," Shinichi stated.

"Please don't tell me you are going to submit this to your art sensei!?"Emiko gave a bewildered look at Takuma. His silent answer says it all, "You got to be kidding me!?"

"Let's face it, I suck in art."Takuma felt defeated staring at the artwork, "Screw it! I might as well get a D!"

"Oh no, you don't!"Emiko slams the table with an art block, the Kudo twins froze while Emiko stares down at Takuma sternly, "You are going to finish this damn artwork until I say so!"

"Says who? You ain't my mom."Takuma couldn't help but be annoyed.

"Says Miyama Emiko! The Artist!"Slam! She whips out an art brush and whacks it on the table in an intimidating stance before anyone knows it, as the Kudo twins were shocked at how things were progressing while Takuma's entire body shook in horror.

Several minutes later, "How is this any different from the previous one!?"

The Kudo twins were cringing as Ranran expresses her thoughts, staring at the crudely redrawn picture of Takuma's artwork:

"Think of it this way, at least the teacher will give a C for good effort rather than the previous one. Also, they won't even suspect it was me behind the artwork as I made sure it sticks to your style."Emiko grins proudly.

"I doubt it! I felt like you just wasted my time for nothing!"Takuma felt cheated at this point.

"Uh no, it ain't. You will thank me later when you get a C."

"No, I won't! I am certain I be getting an E out of this!"Takuma doubted.

That irked Emiko, "Uh no you won't."

"Yes, it will."

"No, it won't!"

"Yes, it will!"

While the bickering ensued between the elder girl and the younger boy, as the Kudo twins choose to observe in silence, Michio who is in the second-floor kitchen had finished boiling the water was about to head downstairs, when suddenly, his smartphone abruptly made a weird, chiming noise.

"I spoke too soon," he groaned at that."I'll bet that's Junko."He then open his smartphone and stared at the screen. A moment later, he jumped to his feet and headed towards the stairs.

"No, it won't!" "Yes, it will!"

Their bickering finally came to a halt when Micho suddenly slams open the door," Ooi, what is with that reaction of yours?" asked Shinichi as he was already irritated with the chaos between Takuma and Emiko, he didn't need to deal with another one.

"It's a message from Junko..." The colour had drained from Michio's face, with a shaky voice as he rushes over to the kids, "Junko, s-she's..."

He held out the phone so that the four of them could read the brief text message in English: Helpp kidnapd nr elep

Ranran who is well-versed in English stared at the words on the screen translates the message, "It looks like she sent it in a hurry. Help... kidnapped near...why did she type it in English?"

This is when the rest of the members shared a dumbfounded expression.

While others were trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Michio tried to focus on what Ranran said, but it was all so overwhelming. He could imagine Junko's of her screams ringing in his ears."No way...Junko was kidnapped?"Emiko finally found herself saying, "How did that happen?"

"If I had known, would I have rushed all the way downstairs to inform all of you this!? This is bad...this is so bad!"Majima begins to pace around the HQ.

"Is there a possibility she lied?"Ranran questions with scepticism.

"What makes you think she is lying, Ranran? It's kidnapping we are talking about!"He whipped his head angrily at Ranran.

"You be surprised of the cases you read on the papers, nowadays people fake kidnapping for either two reasons: money or that they want attention."She remains unfazed by Michio's panicking attitude."Is it normal for her to text in English?"

"Honestly, no." Michio is having sweat flooding his curvy head."Which is why I have no idea why she sent me such text!"

"Are you sure it ain't a revenge prank for the dog situation we put her through?"Shinichi too was sceptical over the whole thing.

"Although Junko can be spiteful and tend to do that, she wouldn't go as far as to claim 'kidnap', I know her limits. Also, why is her text so brief and short?"Michio scratched his head as he mutters, "She usually types very longwinded rants when she is pissed off."

"What do those words mean then?" Emiko shares her ideas to Ranran, "Maybe it's the name of a place or a shop?"

"Or it's a word she didn't have time to finish, perhaps?" Takuma wondered, "Maybe someone stopped her from sending the rest."

"The only word I know that starts with e-l-e-p for an elephant in English," said Ranran.

Then, Takuma snapped his fingers."Maybe 'they' took her! The men who been stationing outside our HQ the other day!"

Suddenly, everything begins to make sense.

"If the text Junko typed e-l-ep refers to elephant, this confirms Ranran's theory! It has to be either a travelling circus or some zoo she is being taken into! These are the only places where elephants can be found!"Their heads turned to him, "Tell me, what are the odds that while being kidnapped, you be able to see a thing and move around? Not likely since you be blindfolded, right?" Everyone nodded, "but you still be able to hear something at least. What are the odds that while you are kidnapped, you be hearing an elephant of all things?"

"That is plausible, given the situation!" Ranran nods.

"Somehow she may have heard an elephant, and it was the only clue she could give us to where she's being held!"Takuma's eyes shone in excitement.

"A place where she could hear elephant...but the zoos and circus in Japan...we don't even have a name! How are we gonna cover them all!?"Michio reacts in panic mode.

Ranran scratched her jaw. "There are also other things to take note of," she pointed."What if she was kidnapped through a tinted vehicle, but then she noticed an ad board that show an elephant? Does it mean she was in some unknown location within the city rather than a circus or a zoo?"

"I doubt it, if I was to make sure the victim I kidnap can never call for help, I will even blindfold her no matter what. I mean, this entire Watanabe broken out of prison thing was done by an experienced criminal mastermind, there is no way he would make such silly mistake" Shinichi refutes.

Michio tried calling her using his phone, but her phone was switched off, "why kidnap her of all people I wonder? She wasn't even a member here."

"Well, when you put it that way......"Takuma scratches his head, "I too have no idea why."

"Is her parents rich?"Shinichi questioned Michio.

"I doubt it.." Michio shook his head as he explains, "Her father always works outstation as some ship captain, so her mother is usually the one that is taking care of her, alone."

"Neh, I just realized something."Heads turned to Emiko," she was kidnapped after we set out that dog onto her, right?"

"Ah yeah."All their heads nodded.

"When this thing was going on, what if the kidnapper saw us?"

A lightbulb is suddenly switched on in Takuma's mind, "Of course! While they were following us, they probably saw her talking to us, or seen her entering in and out of our association, not knowing that she isn't one of us! In other words-"

"They accidentally took the wrong girl! Just great!"Ranran brought it to attention as she curse their luck.

"Anyway, just in case we were wrong, which I hope we are, Michio, try to ask her Okasan and see whether she is still missing, "Shinichi instructs Michio.

Then, this is where Michio punched in the numbers on the screen."Alright, here we go."

"Seriously," groaned Emiko, slumping back in her chair. "First, they wreck our headquarters, then they kidnap someone who we want no association with our Detective business. Guys, what are we going to do about this once we find her? She may probably force her way into this club using this kidnap as an excuse!"

"Isn't this an insensitive thing to bring up about now!?"Shinichi blasted at her.

"No is not! Emiko has a point!" Ranran defended Emiko, "Once she is out, we are screwed big time! She can make use of this incident to worm her way in! By then our investigation is going to take a huge tumble thanks to her! If it were me...I think the world should have one less Junko."

"Exactly!"Takuma nodded in agreement, "One less dislikable girl for the greater good."

"Ranran, what have we talked about when it comes to human life? Don't talk lightly when it comes to killing someone-"

"Kudo Shinichi and the whole lot, keep both of your bickerings to yourselves, and shut up!" Michio held up a hand for silence as the younger kids finally clammed up. He clutched his phone tightly."Oh, hi, it's Michio-san here. Could I speak to Junko, please-" As he listened to her angry mother, his face fell. "Yeah, that's it; she's still here with us," he explained politely. "Sorry for making you worried, Junkosan, she'll arrive home soon."

He listened to another furious outburst, then cut the call. He sat down beside Takuma and closed his phone. "Guys, she didn't head home. Her mum hasn't seen her."

"No mention of any phone call?"Ranran inquires from Michio, "Like ransom call or-"

"No, none."He shook his head at her.

"Not even a ransom call?Damn..."Shinichi began to grimly say, "At this point, her chances of dying have shot up to 70 percent."

Right now, Michio is frantic by Shinichi's words. There has been no ransom demand made.

"Unbelievable, they committed a crime and yet want to do one cover-up after another!? What the hell is wrong with these people!?" Takuma wondered furiously, stamping a desk with his fist, "why they can't just accept the fact that they are in the wrong and take responsibility for their actions?!"

"Let's not forget, we are interfering with their plans," Ranran reminded Takuma grimly. "Dangerous people have no common sense. We're detectives. We have to expect danger, that is why I said think twice before signing the contract."She then tapped her pencil on the table while she spoke."Someone out there is trying to find out what we know about Watanabe Ikeda. It's got to be the people who planned his escape. They didn't find anything in our office back here since I hid it from them, so that's why they kidnapped Junko..."

"For interrogation purposes?!" Suddenly, Michio had a horrible realization, "What about Mouri then? Do you think she been kidnapped, too?"

Shinichi shuddered with fear. "Oh no..."

He punched in numbers on his phone. Seconds later, he was talking to Ran. When he told her about Junko, he could hear her worried tone through her voice."Make sure you keep the door lock till your Tousan comes back," Shinichi told her. "As soon as we have news, I'll call you. Also, don't call the cops."

He rang off and turned to Ranran and everyone. "We've got to stay together. The crooks wouldn't dare try kidnapping all of us at a time."

"Ok."Ranran nods.

"And guys, I think we should call Genzo," insisted Michio nervously.

"We can't," Ranran argued.

"That'd put Junko in more danger!"Michio is losing it.

"And if we do what we do right now, those incompetent cops would start a huge search and the crooks will end up ending her life for good!"Shinichi argues.

"But we can't just do nothing," snapped Michio.

"We've got to wait and play our hunches," Shinichi told him. He checked his watch. "She might try to call us at any time. If we haven't heard from her by later tonight, then I'll call the police. In the meantime, when all of you head home, remember to find the locations we discussed earlier. The quicker we find it, the faster we can get to Junko."

When the hours passed and no call came, Michio decided to go home. But as he left headquarters, he had the strangest feeling that the night would bring even more surprises in store.