A Clandestine Consultation

[Edogawa Conan]

Conan set his mother and Haibara off with a wave and a smile, insisting that he would stay behind to wrap things up and answer any remaining questions the police would have -- he was, after all, technically a witness.

But answering questions for the police was the last thing on his mind. No, if Vermouth was here (along with Gin and Vodka), then there had to be a reason why. They wouldn't put themselves in public unless they had some business to take care of -- the illegal transaction at Tropical Land so many months ago; perhaps they wanted something to do with Kaitou KID? He couldn't imagine why they would be there otherwise, when obviously the museum was going to be packed and busy that night.

No, he wasn't going to be answering questions. He was going to be asking them -- and he knew the best chance to get those answers.

He tracked down the woman he had talked to earlier. She surprisingly wasn't very hard to find: she hadn't moved much from where he had last spoken to her, so all he had to do was innocently tug on the back of her clothing like an innocent little one would do. "Onee-san," he spoke brightly and put on a worried expression to fool the remaining officers and reporters that had filed back inside -- the lost child. "This place is really big, and I really have to use the bathroom. Can you come with me to point out where it is?"

Obviously he wasn't going to get his answers out where everyone could see them, so he had to lead her away. He knew that she would catch on. Where they actually went, he didn't care -- as long as it was somewhere they could talk privately without the chance of being walked in on.

[Vermouth]

When Vermouth felt that gentle tug and heard the voice of her Silver Bullet ringing through her ears, she arched a brow as she looked away from her cell phone. Placing the phone in her pocket, the executive bent down and ruffled her Silver Bullet's hair.

"You're rather attached to me tonight, little boy—shouldn't you be with your mother? Can't she or an officer show you the way?" She asked and shrugged. "But alright, alright, I suppose I can spare a few minutes to show you where the restroom is."

She glanced up towards a nearby hallway, and if her assumptions were correct, her Silver Bullet didn't want to simply use the bathroom—he didn't need an escort to do that. He wanted to talk, and she understood that the safest place to do that was the restrooms. There were no cameras and with the museum in the process of evacuating, it would have been very private.

The actress lead him to the nearest one, and once they had arrived, she pointed towards the door.

"You're a big boy, right? Or are you not potty trained? Do you need onee-san to help you?" She teased.

[Edogawa Conan]

Conan had to resist the strong urge to pout or glare when the woman bent over to run her hands through his hair -- he had to keep up appearances, after all.

"I think she went to talk to the police officer man about what happened tonight," he furrowed his eyebrows. "I can't find her anywhere, and everyone else looks too busy. But that's okay, because Onee-san is going to show me the way, right?"

He let out a cheer when she agreed to lead him there, and inwardly groaned at the fact that he even had to put up such an appearance at all. But he got what he wanted, and eventually they were on their way to a secure area, away from any onlookers or security cameras. His hands remained in his pockets; he was determined to at least not have to go all the way by having her hold his hand as they walked.

When they were well and away from the bystanders, he let his smile drop and be replaced by a dull expression. He turned to face her with half lidded eyes just to show her how amusing he found her comment. "Haha," he laughed humorlessly. "That's hilarious. Instead of working for the Black Org, you should have gone into stand-up comedy. I'm sure you would have been a hit."

Conan glanced around as a last precaution before looking up to face her, holding the door open. No cameras pointing towards the bathroom doors, which he found slightly odd. But it at least would give them the opportunity to both sneak in the non-uniform bathrooms without raising any suspicions from the watchful security guards. "You already know what I'm going to ask," he said, not bothering with the pleasantries. "Why are you here? Not just you -- Gin and Vodka, too. What business do you have at a Kaitou KID heist?"

Not that he really expected her to answer, of course -- but he would start somewhere and work his way from there.

[Vermouth]

"Is that so?" The actress responded coolly, smiling at his sarcastic retort, and jokingly added, "I'm just kidding."

"It took you long enough, you know. Did that woman tell you?" She inquired, referring to Sherry.

When he held open the door, she entered it and stood away from the door, ensuring that it still wasn't out of eye view during their conversation. It was his questioning however that made her arch a brow, shrug and cross her arms below her chest.

"You're very straightforward tonight," she feigned a yawn, a clear indication that he was already boring her with the obvious pestering. "But my, my, to do it while Gin and Vodka are outside? You're taking quite a risk. What would Yukiko say if you didn't make it home? This couldn't wait?" Not that she would summon them, but she wanted to make it clear that that was a bad move. He was lucky that they weren't her source of transportation that night, and that her yellow De Tomaso Pantera had been sitting out in the parking lot.

"We're not after her if that's what you're wondering." She decided to get that out of the way, knowing fairly well that with the woman's appearance that that might have cropped up sometime during the conversation.

"Surveillance," she said, not bothering to go into specifics. He didn't need to know the complexity of the organization and its various divisions just yet, after all. It was too soon.

[Edogawa Conan]

"Does it matter?" He quirked an eyebrow at the disguised woman. It didn't matter if Haibara was the one who told him or not -- what mattered was that he knew now, didn't it? No harm had been done yet, as far as he was aware.

And he was going to find out just what they were even doing at the museum in the first place.

He didn't really care that he was already starting to bore her -- he wasn't there to put on a show and entertain. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice told him that he should at least try to be more considerate, even if it was Vermouth he was talking to. If she wasn't satisfied with his behavior, then she didn't have to tell him anything. He knew that, of course, but the thought of having to bend over for her was more than just a little aggravating.

"Why, do they feel threatened by a little kid running around?" Conan ignored the way his heart rate picked up just a bit at the mention of being seen by Gin and Vodka. Gin he knew for a fact wouldn't recognize him, but Vodka... and if he was completely loyal to Gin, then he would surely tell the man of his findings. That... wasn't at all a favorable scenario, in all honesty. But he had to put up a front, so he kept his face stoic and posture tense. "No, it couldn't wait. Why should I have to wait when you're right here?"

He blinked when Haibara was mentioned again. Honestly, the thought that they may have been hinted off that she would be present at the heist hadn't really crossed his mind -- he was more focused on getting her out than believing that she was the target. But at a Kaitou KID heist... the logical conclusion to reach would be the one that suggested that they were there for the phantom thief, or something similar or relating to him.

"Surveillance?" He quirked an eyebrow. They were keeping an eye on something... "So it was for Kaitou KID." Not that he was expecting anything different, in all honesty. He already knew he wasn't going to get a straight answer, so... "What, do you two have the same interests in old rocks?"

[Vermouth]

Vermouth didn't bother to respond to him on his first and second questions, registering them as rhetorical. A smug appeared on the executive's lips, shrugging her shoulders.

"My, my, didn't your mother ever teach you that patience is a virtue? But I'm touched that I'm that special to you and that you'd risk your own life to speak to me." Vermouth awed, eyes softened, placing her palm against her chest in a teasing fashion.

It wasn't as if she and her Silver Bullet didn't encounter each other often; almost every mission they engaged in he was present, something which the executive was impressed on. Gin and them hadn't been skilled as they believed, someone was always a step ahead of them. Just how long until her Silver Bullet would uncover everything?

It was his response to her answer that made the executive get back to business.

"No," Vermouth responded casually. "One of our lower-ranked members had a run-in with the thief, he gave them a hard time. They asked us to check it out, but…" Vermouth rolled her eyes in disappointment. "It was a waste of time and quite a bore….and you enjoy chasing him?"

The executive frowned, providing him with a vague enough answer that she hoped would satisfy him.

"It's curious though, isn't it?" Vermouth eyed her Silver Bullet, smirking. "Why would a thief return stolen jewels after putting so much effort into planning the heist? Have you ever confronted him on his motive?"

[Edogawa Conan]

Conan rolled his eyes.

"Special, of course. If it weren't for the fact that you're the only one on the inside I can have a somewhat decent conversation with without the other person trying or wanting to put a bullet between my eyes, we wouldn't even be here right now."

He hummed softly to himself as he waited for a response. If she wanted to play her little mind games, that was more than fine with him. After all -- Haibara was safe with his mother, and both of them were traveling farther and farther away from the heist scene with each and every passing second. Conan, for the most part and for lack of a better term, had all the time in the world.

He could go along and still get the answers he wanted.

"It's a nice change from the norm," he chirped, though he had to shove away the thought that popped up in his head that suggested how wrong it was that death-murder-killing-crime-police-methods-motives-jail had defined what was for him considered normal. "A chance to do something other than solve another person's murder."

Conan raised an eyebrow at her next inquiry. "Never have," he admitted. He had indeed found it a weird quirk of the thief's, bur he had never once considered asking.

Not that he would even be answered, of course.

"Maybe he just does it for the mass attention. He never seems to particularly care for any of the artifacts he targets. But..." He narrowed his eyes. "That's straying from the topic at hand."

[Vermouth]

"Well, it wouldn't be thrilling if both sides weren't evenly matched." She joked and shrugged. After all, with the FBI at a loss with the presumed death of Akai Shuichi it had placed them in a difficult position. Their only strongest player was her Silver Bullet.

"Is that so? Then why haven't you considered taking a little vacation?" It was rhetorical, they both knew after all that that was out of the question. "But this probably put quite a damper in your enjoyment…didn't it?" She smiled, referring to the murder that occurred at the Little Dove's heist.

It was his response that surprised her, however. She was absolutely certain that even Yuusaku would have figured that something was up with the White Dove constantly thieving and returning jewels that he presumably no longer wanted.

"Quite a shame," Vermouth said disappointingly. "You're not that brushed up on your history it seems…I would have expected more from you. The son of the thief's greatest rival." He was after all, a whole lot brighter than Vodka and possibly more competitive than Yuusaku.

"Is it?" She asked casually, wondering his ability to catch on.

[Edogawa Conan]

"Wouldn't it be the opposite?" Conan raised an eyebrow. "If one side has too much of an advantage over the other, then it's hardly a match. You have to be on equal terms, and whoever comes out on top is truly the superior side."

And he would make sure he came out superior.

He snorted at her rhetorical question. "If people didn't die every time I tried, maybe." A beat, then he slid his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Unfortunate for all involved, but it isn't anything I haven't dealt with before. What happens, happens." It also was rather annoying, but it couldn't be helped. He'd just have to pick up the pieces of what was left behind.

What Vermouth had said next gave him some pause, however. Quickly going through their conversation through his head, he came up with a blank. There were some clues, but... maybe if he took a shot in the dark?

"You said you're here for surveillance, and that your motive is Kaitou KID. Then you bring up his habit of stealing and returning priceless artifacts..."

Beat.

"He's looking for something. Maybe he himself doesn't exactly know what he's looking for -- which is why he keeps going around and stealing seemingly random things with no connection to each other -- and puts them back because it isn't what he's interested in. And you're keeping an eye on him because you're interested in the same thing." He narrowed his eyes. "Am I wrong?"

[Vermouth]

Vermouth smiled and shrugged at her Silver Bullet's response. The executive had continued to believe the FBI as inferior; their inability to function without Akai Shuichi had proven to be a solid fact, and she took particular amusement in observing that FBI kitten.

"Oh, have you become the Grim Reaper? Maybe you're in the wrong line of work." She chuckled at the irony of the situation, however continued to continue to observe him closely. She took particular amusement in watching him brainstorm aloud. It was his inquiry that caught her off-guard, however she would not allow that to show on her features.

She was aware of Pandora, the fabled doublet gem that supposedly held the Gem of Life and would provide immortality when it was placed underneath the moonlight as the moon shed a tear.

Nonsense, the executive thought as she reminisced about the Mythos division's endless attempts to steal jewels in the name of Pandora.

The executive shrugged in an uncaring fashion. "Whatever business that lower-ranked member had with that thief isn't my concern. Why don't you ask him yourself if you're curious about your theory?" She smirked. "With this rainstorm, unless he's managed to escape through the front door I don't see him leaving this building anytime soon. Well, little detective?"