Beware of Idols! Part 1

I scowled at the officer in front of me, my arms crossed as I sat in the uncomfortable chair. "I don't need anyone to come get me, I'm eighteen, an adult." I bit out.

This isn't my first rodeo at the station, and I usually had to get picked up by Doc or Jimmy, on very rare and extreme occasions my parents. I should be allowed to leave on my own but they're insisting I wait for the Dweeb.

I kept telling them that he's out of town but they still wouldn't let me go. They want me to wait until Meguire comes back from his case to let him decide what to do.

Of course he ignored me and continued to talk to someone on the radio. I've been sitting here for well over an hour and I was getting angrier by the minute.

That's why all of them are ignoring me. They know I'll snap at them and they're not really in the mood to deal with me.

"Uh-oh, I know that look." I turned to see Meguire walk in with Jimmy, Rachel, and Richard. My scowl only deepened.

Rachel and Jimmy jogged over to me and inspected the large bandage on my neck and the bruise on my face. "Oh my god, what happened?" Rachel asked me with so much concern it was sickening.

I shot a glare at the officer in front of me. "I was defending myself, like I told you. Now let me go." I hissed at him. He returned my scowl with one of his own. His eyes filled with disgust towards me.

It's a look I'm quite familiar with.

"Jenns, fill me in." Meguire patted his shoulder and led the cop off to the side. I scoffed and slouched in the chair with my arms still crossed. "If you defended yourself, why aren't they letting you go? Didn't you give your statement." Rachel frowned.

I glanced over at her as she stared at the giant bruise on my cheek. For a scrawny guy he packed one hell of a punch. Must've been the drugs in his system.

"Because they don't wanna believe me." I stated with a shrug. I'm not well liked at the station. The only one who puts up with me is Meguire and that's because of the Dweeb.

And dad.

Dad's helped him with a couple cases in the past.

Jimmy peered up at me with curious eyes. "Well of course not, you're a delinquent. You usually are the one to start things." Richard said, his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face.

"How's the unemployment life going for you Richard? Still living off of coupons to the burger joint by your place?" I snapped.

He fell a little before glaring at me. "I'm a detective. I'm not unemployed." I titled my head a bit and smiled innocently. "Oh you're still doing that? I thought you were just squatting in an old office."

His face was turning red from how angry he was getting. "Dad! Stella! Knock it off." Rachel quickly went between us to stop it from progressing any further.

Richard huffed, standing up straight. "Well if she's going to be staying with us then she'll need to learn how to behave."

I couldn't help but snort. "Behavior advice from you? Oh now that's rich." The vein in his forehead and neck strained against his skin. "Besides, I can pay my way. Famous parents, remember." I said, pointing at myself. Now this got his interest real quick.

The benefits of having rich parents can really do you wonders.

Richard threw his head back and laughed. "Well of course I'd help out some old friends and look after their daughter, no problem!"

Me, Jimmy, and Rachel sweat dropped at his antics. He changed his tune real quick. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

He is so predictable. He wasn't always like this, but pretty darn close I guess.

Jimmy leaned over to me. "So what happened? Did you get in a bar fight again?" I didn't bother looking at him and kept a mask over my emotions.

"I was looking for someone." Was all I told him.

~

I awoke to persistent nudging. Grumbling I smacked my hand out towards the nuisance but didn't hit anything. "Stella. Wake up!" A child's voice demanded. Child? Why is there a child in my room?

I peeled my eyes open to see Jimmy. Except Jimmy was tiny. Memories of the past couple of days drifted into my mind and I groaned, burying my face in my pillow. "Shouldn't you be in school?" I grumbled into the pillow.

Funny thing is he's in grade school again. Rachel is making him which is hilarious.

He scoffed. "It ended a couple hours ago. Shouldn't you have been in school? You're going to get charged with truancy you know."

The haughtiness in his voice just pissed me off. "No, because mom will just donate a lot of money to keep it from happening." She's done it before, despite dad's lectures to let me suffer the consequences of my own actions.

They won't charge me, but they've already held me back once. I tried dropping out but mom and Jimmy won't let me.

"That kind of attitude is why you have no friends." He snipped. I stayed where I was. "I do have friends. And tha-Harley!" I sat up fast with a gasp.

I lost my phone the night I went to the bar so I've been without for a couple of days. I never called Harley back. Oh shit, what if he's called me?

I shot out of my futon and ran past my brother so fast he fell over and ran to the office part where the phone is. Richard wasn't in the room which is a bit odd.

He's always at his desk drinking.

Not bothering to think any longer about it, I used the phone to call his number.

C'mon, pick up, pick up. "Hartwell residence." Harley's voice came from the other end. I resisted the urge to sigh in relief.

"Hey Harley." As soon as I spoke he exploded. "What the hell Stella?! I told you to call me and when you don't, you don't bother answering my calls. I had to call your home phone where your neighbor answered. What's going on?"

This time I did sigh, but not from relief. "Sorry, I had some things come up and I lost my phone. The Doc probably already told you that I'm staying with a friend till my brother comes back from a case."

That's the story. The Dweeb is away on a case and I'm at Rachel's because of my record of being left alone at home. Simple.

Except Rachel keeps grilling me on his whereabouts. "What kind of case though? It's been three days and he still can't solve it? Is he really all he's cracked up to be?"

And here we go with the ego thing. "Besides, you can't call me on another phone? It takes you three days?"

I ran a hand through my messy hair, hitting knots. "I've had a lot going on. My friend got into some trouble with a gang and I've been helping him out."

It was silent on the other line for a moment. "You said you wouldn't get mixed up with the gangs anymore Stella. Especially after what happened in Shibuya." I winced at the harshness of his voice and the mention of one of my greatest downfalls.

"I'm not. Not too bad at least. I'm just trying to get him safe." I continued with my lie.

Harley scoffed with disbelief. "Who is this guy anyway? All your friends are basically criminals who only get into trouble. He's not worth the danger Stells."

I clenched my teeth and gripped the phone tightly. "Thanks Harley. Glad to know I'm not worth it."

I could tell he was pressing his lips together. "I didn't say you, I said the 'friends' you hang out with." I rolled my eyes and did my best to push down the hurt. "They're my friends. We're alike and if you think they're not worth anything then clearly you think I'm not worth anything either."

Despite how upset I was getting with him, I couldn't for the right reasons. He wasn't wrong. My friends aren't exactly good. But neither am I.

Just because someone does some petty theft, simple vandalism, or even does a little bit of drugs doesn't mean they're terrible people.

I never claimed they were good, but they are people.

"I never said that! Why are you so difficult?" He groaned. I rolled my eyes at his words, blowing some of the strands of hair that had drifted in front of my face.

"I'm difficult? Okay, I'll give you that, but you're no better, Hartwell. You're such a diva." He made a strange noise of shock at the accusation.

Before he could argue the door to the office part of the complex slammed open and Richard ran in with a six pack of beer. "Move it you Delinquent! Yoko's on TV!" Richard shoved past me, making me yelp in surprise.

He landed in his chair and quickly turned on the TV. "Aren't you a little too old for idols Richard?" I asked the sad looking man in front of me.

He shot me a nasty glare, but the idol on the TV caught his attention and he cheered loudly. "Who's Richard?" Harley asked from the other line, the agitation in his voice gone and curiosity took its place.

"You know my friend Rachel? It's her dad. He's a drunk with an inappropriate crush on an idol." I said the last part loudly so Richard would be able to hear it over the TV and his own cheering.

He did and scowled at me. "Why are you here again? You're still in your pajamas, did you skip school again? It's amazing you haven't been kicked out." He snapped.

I returned the look and leaned over the desk to look at him. "It's amazing you still have this agency." I shot back.

The door opened and in came Rachel and Jimmy. "Oh come on are you guys fighting again?" Rachel complained. Richard huffed and turned back to the TV, chugging his beer.

"Stella, you shouldn't fight while you're on the phone with someone." She scolded me.

I rolled my eyes and turned to look out the window. "Yes mom." I replied sarcastically. Harley was laughing at the other end of the line.

"Sounds fun." He spoke cheerfully. I pulled the phone away and looked at the phone weirdly. How on Earth did any of that sound fun? "You and I clearly have different definitions of fun."

Then again he does make everything pretty light. If it wasn't him constantly arguing with me or Kirsten he'd have a permanent grin on his face.

"Anyway, you skipped school huh? And quite a few times? Usually when you miss consecutive days you come down to Osaka. Does it have anything to do with that friend?" His tone was serious, well, more interrogating.

He's a damn detective after all.

The past three days I hardly spent time at the apartment. I only come back to sleep since I've been searching for a lead.

Someone has to know something but those that do ran off after screaming at me. And there have been clear threats sent to my house. But not from the actual group since they don't need to send threats. Just people who know about them.

I'm out all night and then I sleep through the day. I could go to school, but I don't like it so it's not a big loss.

"Yeah. Unfortunately I'm not succeeding." He hummed thoughtfully, and I can just imagine his face as he concentrates.

I didn't mind the image, in fact it's one of my favorites of his. "Do you want me to help?"

My body stiffened, heart stopping, and my blood ran cold. "No!" I snapped a little too forcefully.

It drew the others in the room's attention and I internally cursed myself. "No. I can handle it. Thanks though." He was silent for a bit and I shut my eyes and berated myself for that mistake. "Are you sure you're okay Stella?"

I winced and willed my mother to come out of me. C'mon Stella, you're mom's the best actress there ever was. You gotta have some of her talent. "Yeah, totally."

I smacked my face immediately. Totally? I've never used totally before. It's a stupid word that peple like Serena use.

"Uh-huh." He didn't sound convinced at all. And I don't blame him. I mean totally? Come on, that's pathetic.

Suddenly I'm exhausted even though I just woke up. "I'm okay. Really Harley. Just trust me." He was silent again before letting out an exaggerated sigh.

"Well if you say so, then I'll believe you. Even if you are terrible at lying." He teased. A wry smile pulled at my lips.

Only to you.

I'm an excellent liar, but lying to Harley is incredibly difficult if not impossible. "Yeah, yeah. This is the number you can use to get a hold of me until I buy a new cell phone."

Richard began his fourth beer and I knew he'd make me go buy another case. "Alright, keep in touch, and stay safe."

My smile widened but I refused to let him know. "I should be the one to tell you that, nosey brat."

"Rich coming from a troublemaker." We chuckled and then I hung up. Richard is on his last already. Damn that man goes right through them. "Hey Delinquent-"

I snatched the rest of his beer and chugged it, making him scream like a little girl. "Oh shut up, I'll go buy you another six pack, don't get your panties in a twist. Let me change first. Rach, you need anything for dinner?" I asked as I headed to the door to go upstairs.

"Actually we're running low on rice." I nodded and walked out, lifting my hand in the air in a lazy wave. "Got it."

I headed to the spare room where I'd been staying in and rummaged through my bag for some clothes. I settled on a pair of white black shorts, a red tank top with a navy one over it, and shrugged on my large jacket, leaving it unzipped.

I really hope Harley does stay out of this.

Shoving my wallet in my pocket I headed to the little store by our place. Like I promised, I'm helping with some finances here and there, mainly with food since Richard is so damn cheap.

I may not be Serena Sebastian rich, but I'm definitely up there. Mom and dad gives us a hell of a lot of money so we can live on our own safely. Jimmy's been forking over his share too since it's hard to explain why a seven year old has a credit card.

I looked down at the beer and sighed. Better get the moron his beer.

~

"Stella! Come on, we're going on a case!" Rachel threw open the apartment door with an excited look on her face.

I frowned, putting down the manga I was reading. "A case? I thought Richard decided to close for the night?" I asked, standing up.

Jimmy popped his head from behind her. "Yeah, but then Yoko Okino came in." I blinked before blanching. "Yoko Okino? Came here? For help? From him?" Rachel's eyebrow twitched but she was unable to come to his defense.

I mean come on! She's a starlet! Why would she come to this dump?

The three of us headed downstairs where Richard, a man, and Yoko Okina were. I whistled lowly as I looked at her. "Wow, she really is here. Thought you guys went bonkers." I admitted with a shrug.

Richard gave me a warning look before smiling at Yoko. He looks like he's in la la land. If he oogles any harder at her his eyes are gonna melt.

What a sad old man.

"Whatever." I slid into the backseat of the car, Rachel next to me with Jimmy on her lap. Richard sat in the front and Yoko slid next to Rachel.

My childhood friend leaned over and explained that Yoko's being stalked. I glanced at the pop idol curiously. I'm not surprised, this happens a lot with famous people. My mom's been stalked before too.

It's pretty common.

We soon arrived at a large apartment complex that Richard openly admired, having to be shushed by Yoko's manager. I looked around a bit at the familiarity. "I think I've been here before." I muttered mostly to myself.

Jimmy snorted. "Were you mugging someone?" My temple throbbed and I punched him atop his head, making him cry out in pain.

Rachel turned quickly before shooting me a stern look. "Stella don't pick on poor Conan." I rolled my eyes and followed the adults to an upper level.

The view's incredible. Yoko unlocked her door, turning to us briefly. "Sorry if the apartment's a mess, I-" She cut off mid sentence and screamed.

What the?

She backed away as her manager and three kids, that appeared out of nowhere, quickly went to her before peeking inside. The kids all fell back with a scream, but I didn't pay them much mind and ran to Yoko's side and searched inside.

There on her living room floor is a man with a kitchen knife sticking out of his back.

A hard look pressed onto my face as I scanned for any possible intruders. Hopefully whoever killed him is long gone.

Jimmy, Rachel, and Richard rushed over as well before calling the police. As always, Jimmy began to snoop around the scene while I stuck close to Yoko in case the person who did this is still here. It didn't take long for the police and Meguire to arrive.

Rachel tended to the kids who apparently go to Jimmy's new school and snuck into the trunk of the car, following us. "Y'know, those kids are a lot like you."

He turned on me fast, fists clenched. "In what way?!" He demanded. I shrugged, shoving my hands in my pockets. "They got curious so they followed us. You used to do the same thing and that got you into a lot of trouble"

He huffed, crossing his arms. "You followed too."

"Just to make sure you stayed safe. You threw yourself into danger constantly. Still do, I mean look." I gestured to his small form, which made him blanch.

He turned his attention back to the scene and pulled out a magnifying glass. Seriously Jimmy? Who the hell carries around a magnifying glass?!

God, you're such a Dweeb!

The little girl also knelt down next to him as he searched the ground. I glanced over at Meguire who's grilling Yoko on the temperature of her place.

It is pretty hot in here. I scowled as I flapped my jacket to get more airflow. I hate the heat.

"No. And when I left this morning I'm positive I turned it off." She informed Meguire. That's weird. "Well ain't that peculiar." Meguire seemed to think the same thing.

"That's not the only weird thing inspector." Jimmy spoke up, drawing their attention. He's still looking at the ground as if it held all of life's secrets on it. "It may not be much, but there are definite traces of moisture around the victim's body."

He stood and gestured to the things around the room, then the chair standing perfectly at attention in the center. "The room's been ransacked yet this one chair seems deliberately placed. And why would they turn the heater up? Perhaps to keep us from determining the victim's time of death."

He put his hand under his chin and looked up thoughtfully.

I began to sweat during his speech. Yeah, I've heard the Dweeb go off on one of these rants, but to hear it come out of a child is a little too much.

Especially when no one else knows who he is.

He stopped and looked up at Meguire and Richard who stood behind, glaring down at him. Seeing what he did he laughed it off before turning to the little girl by his side. "Stop talking nonsense dumb kid." My eye twitched.

Real nice putting the blame on others. So original. "Nice try." Richard hit him atop his head and sent him away. Smooth move Jimmy. Well, I wonder how this'll turn out. The only people who I've actually seen solve a case are dad, Jimmy, and Harley. And they solve it pretty quickly and always accurately.

No offense to Meguire, but he isn't that famous for this sort of thing. And Richard hasn't had a case this big since that kidnapped debutante. "Got the cause of death?" Meguire asked his forensics guys.

I looked at him incredulously before pointing at the body, a bland look on my face. "Uh, the knife in his back?"

I'm no detective, but c'mon. A three year old can tell you that.

Meguire returned my look. "There's a lot more to this kind of work than what meets the eye. Sometimes things are completely different from how they are. We have to make sure-"

"Uh, Inspector, it is the knife in the back." I smirked and jutted my hip out and placed a hand on it. His lips pulled to one side. "Sometimes it is how it seems."

Uh-huh. Whatever you say Meguire, whatever you say.

He faced Yoko and asked her if the knife belonged to her. "Is Yoko a suspect?" Her manager asked. Meguire just looked back at the body. "Do you recognize the deceased?" Was his only response.

Yoko kept her gaze down, which I thought was just because there's a body in her living room, but I don't know. That looks kind of familiar.

"Well we, we'll have to take a closer look." Why's he so skittish? Are they that queasy around dead bodies?

The two walked closer to the body when the manager tripped and fell on top of the body, quickly pulling away as soon as he did.

I frowned. I recognize that tactic. He took something from his hand. I know that because I have a history of stealing things.

Petty thefts, those that it only takes a second to snatch something hidden by a distraction.

Jimmy straightened, noticing it as well. I watched curiously as the manager stood up and laughed nervously at Meguire's warning to be careful. He shoved it into his jacket pocket but something still fell out. Jimmy hurried over and stomped on it as soon as it landed on the ground.

He was so loud he drew the other gazes as well. Jimmy laughed loudly and backed away from the uncomfortable situation, dragging his foot back as he did.

They didn't pay him much mind and went back to their talking. I walked over to my brother and crouched down to his level. "What'd he snatch?" I asked.

He took his foot off and picked up a long strand of wavy brown hair. "Hair. Probably the murderers. But why was Mr. Yamagishi trying to hide it?" He murmured, a look of concentration on his face.

It looks like Yoko's hair. That's probably why. He wants to protect his client.

"A murder in a locked room with no forced entry? Sorry to say ma'am, but that makes you the only suspect."

I couldn't help but snort at that.

"Please. I could snap her like a twig. Besides, it seems kind of weird." Yoko isn't strong, the best she could do is a surprise stab in the back sure, but he had her hair. How does he grab that from the back? Is that even possible? He doesn't seem that flexible.

Ah man, just trying to think about it is giving me a headache. How does Jimmy and Harley do this?

Richard of course came to Yoko's defense, such a fanboy. While they talked, Jimmy interjected, asking Amy if her parents kept a spare key. Which they do. Everyone does. This led them to asking the manager.

I don't buy that either. It was a woman's hair, not a mans. Besides, why would he hide her hair which could be evidence.

I don't know what the heck happened, but I doubt either of them killed him. But it's not like I would know.

I walked over and plopped down on the couch as they were talking about how the spare key went missing. This is not nearly as thrilling as anticipated.

Jimmy wandered over and looked behind the stand and couch. He found something and hurried to Meguire. No one paid him any mind though so he retreated back to me. "Stella, they're not listening to me. Tell them there's something under the couch."

I gave him a weird look and raised an eyebrow. "You think they'll listen to me?" He shot me a glare and I sighed.

"Meguire, there's something under the couch." I called to him. He looked over at me briefly before turning back. "Not right now Stella."

I turned to my brother and shrugged. "See?" He groaned loudly before messing with his geeky bowtie.

What the? I looked over to see that there was some dials and an odd speaker on it, as well as something else. "What the? When did Doc make this? How come he won't make me gadgets." I complained.

Jimmy smirked over at me as he finished turning the dials. "Because you'd use it for bad purposes." I scowled at him.

I don't always do bad things! It's just a pastime! I want some cool gadgets too. Oh I'm gonna have a talk with Doc when I get back.

He turned and hid behind my legs as he brought it to his mouth. "Inspector, the kids are right, there's something under the couch." A deep voice came from him instead of his high pitched voice. Oh that's nifty.

Thinking it was an officer Meguire did so and pulled out an earring. Yoko claimed it was some Yuko's earrings. Yoko, Yuko?

That's original.

Richard, sure it's her, sent the officers to bring her here. Maybe we'll finally get this done and over with. I'm ready to go home.

This is lame.

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