Shinichi was hauled to his feet and spun round. A man in a security guard's uniform glared at the two kids.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing with Shinichi!?"Ranran yells at the man as she confronts the adult before her despite her short stature.

"Well, shouldn't I be the one asking? Prying around the carpark suspiciously!? Also, shouldn't the two of you be at school?!" the man challenged the two children. "And you'd better have a good reason for snooping around down here. Too many cars are being broken into these days."

"Cars? Broken into!?"Ranran blinked in confusion.

"We have been having far too many car break ins here lately here, as adults are using kids your age to do the job as they are nimble and small, making easier for them to hide in places when least expected whenever we try to catch them."The security guard gave a stern expression before he too confronts,"Were you two not making attempts to break into a car?"

Realizing this misunderstanding, Ranran jumped forward. "No sir, we're not car thieves if that is what you are wondering. Also, we are detectives who happened to be solving an important case."She defended her and Shinichi's actions as she looked the man straight in the eye.

"Solving cases!?"The man scoffed in skepticism, not letting go of the 6-year-old little boy,"Today is a weekday, and it is 11am! Shouldn't you both be at school!?"

"Our school had a fire situation going on, so we were let off early."Ranran justifies.

"Yeah, a fire that you set off," Shinichi mumbled, but Ranran seem to catch wind of it.

"What did you just say, Shinichi?"Ranran suddenly gave a murderous glare at Shinichi in suspicion, resulting him to be sweating bullets at her response.

"N-n-nothing."Shinichi quickly answered in a stutter, knowing that if he had admitted it, she is very likely going to do worst to him.

The security guard shot them a suspicious look, on their capes and hat, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"I guess you must be so, considering no idiot thief in the world would end up wearing something like we are wearing to avoid a memorable impression for anyone who spotted us. How does the mall even employ someone like you to be the guard anyway if he can't tell the difference between a detective and a thief?"Ranran taunted the guard, angering the man much to Shinichi's horror.

"Who the hell you think you are!?"He yells at the taunting girl.

"Ranran! Just reason with him on our purpose of being here, alright!? We don't have all day!"Shinichi reminded her as he couldn't get out of the man's grip.

Rolling her blue eyes at the guard, Ranran goes,"Look, I will be honest with you. Two of our friends witness a man here this morning who they had reason to believe is kidnapped because he allegedly lied that his friend was supposedly drunk when in reality, he ain't." Ranran explained quickly, in a haste to get Shinichi out of the guard's way, "We think that's the reason why he had so much blood on the floor. He was beaten up harshly to a point he can't speak or call for help."

"Or in other words: he could've been dead," Shinichi added.

The security guard's jaw dropped, "Are you serious!? Nobody dies in my car park!"

"Well, if you don't believe us, then how do you explain the large blood patch here!?"Shinichi tried to shake himself free, but his little body is doing little wonder given he is a 6-year-old little boy, "There was a tall man with blond hair and blue eyes with him earlier. We have reason to believe that he was kidnapping him. If you did see him alive, however...'

The security guard stared in disbelief at the little boy. Then a wide grin creased his face"I think your friends got it all mixed up," he laughed. "If you are talking about that tall man, I know him. And don't worry, it aint a mere kidnapping as you two assumed."

"Really?"Ranran perked in interest, before inquiring more,"How do you know him? Are you both friends?"

"No, but he is a regular here that often do his groceries around here, "The guard recalled as he nodded to the two, "He told me that his friend was drunk after celebrating his birthday when he got out of his car earlier, even asked my other colleague who was with me at that time if there was a doctor in the shopping mall he could escort him to."

"And did you tell him where was the doctor's office located?"Shinichi wanted to know.

"Yeah, he looked quite bad from the fall, so earlier my colleague and I sent him to see Dr Hata's clinic, situated on the third floor of this mall," the guard replied. Then his smile disappeared. "kay, now out of here, you two. You've wasted enough of my time already!"

.......................

MEANWHILE, the girls were busy discussing at the Tantei association HQ based in Michio's mom's jewellery shop. As the school was set on fire, school ended pretty early so they had no choice but to gather here. Initially, the iPad Pro Ranran brought to their HQ apparently hasn't had its setting set up to be used. And no one was familiar with the apps, as the setting was in English. So after 2 long hours of Junko having to install the necessary programs since the one who is supposedly in charge, namely Shinichi who knew English well besides Ranran, had left with the motorbike sidecar with Ranran in tow, Michio and Takuma they decided to head out to get their drink while leaving the three girls behind to wait for the Ipad to complete its installation.

What was meant to be a short 5-minute wait to get drinks for them outside the store ended up taking longer than the two boys anticipated, as the vending machine malfunctioned eating up Michio and Takuma's money minus the drinks, much to the boy's frustration, so they waited while the maintenance guy arrives to fix it before getting their money back.

Back at the HQ, Emiko's pencil flew over the paper after receiving the description of the tall, blue-eyed stranger. She started with a soft black pencil, sketching the man's basic features, erasing the lines when the nose was too sharp, or not sharp enough.

Then she began coloring the sketch, scribbling samples of each color onto tiny scraps of paper and holding them against the drawing.

"His eyes weren't that blue,"Junko then frowned."They were light blue, very pale. Almost like they had no color at all."

At last, the three girls sat back and studied the sketch. "That's him, alright" Junko confirmed.

"Are you sure?"Emiko asked.

"Yes, that's the man we saw."Junko nodded as Emiko pinned the sketch onto the board behind the desk. The three of them gazed at the harsh face.

"All we have to do now is find him,nah?" she sighed.

While the three girls lean to their respective chairs to stretch, Ran suddenly chirped,"You know now that we are all free, while waiting for the boys and Ranran to return, why not we kill some time talking about stuff?"

"I agree,"Junko nodded with the long browned hair girl, pushing her specs that almost dropped close to her eyes,"I mean we can't always be talking about detective cases 24/7."

"Alright, I am fine about it anyway."Emiko shrugs before putting the pencils aside on the table, before wondering,"What are we going to talk about anyway?"Emiko turned to the two.

"My problems with Michio."Junko brought up.

"Oh God, no...."Emiko rolled her eyes at that thought while Ran sighs.

"What you mean oh no!?"Junko pouted, her two pony tails bouncing about at that thought staring at the two girls reaction.

"Let me guess, girls jumped on him shamelessly?"Ran guessed.

"Yes,"It was then Junko rambled about her problems with Michio as she goes,"I felt like ever since the 'Illegitimate Extra' case caught the media's attention, he has grown more popular than ever among the girls in our school, and that my efforts to get him to notice me are merely in vain."Junko ranted.

"Now why would you think this case would be a huge issue? That had our face blurred while we appeared on the red carpet to protect out identities, have you forgotten that?"Emiko recalled.

"She did,"Junko admitted before slumping,"But there is little to what one can control."She then elaborate to the two,"One of the kids in our school had connections to attend the red carpet event the other day, so as soon as they recognize us, they took a sneak photo before selling the photos at the confession site. Although Ranran managed to get that under control, Michio didn't fair out lucky by the time she had those photos removed. Now Michio had to deal with all of those girls while our entire class had to deal with them."Junko clicked in disapproval before ranting,"I don't understand why girls our age nowadays behave so shameless nowadays! I mean...it ain't like they didn't know I am into Michio, but they were so...ughhh!"

"Right?! They do something shady, only then to justify without fearing a thing!"Ran agreed as she slams the table with both of her hands in anger, "What happened to the days where girls our age were respectful towards good-looking boys!? According to my mother, she never had to deal with anything like that!"

"I mean things change, girls."Emiko huffed at that thought, "We evolve as time goes by, it's part of human evolution to adapt to the changing world."

"I guess Ranran was right about one thing."Ran huffed.

"Right about what?"Emiko and Junko turned their attention to her.

"Human evolution among girls our age is falling us all, otherwise Shinichi wouldn't have ended up here with someone as twisted as Ranran."Ran said bitterly, recalling all the things Ranran put her through to make her feel inferior.

"I don't think so, Ranran is shameless in many things, but overall, if we were to compare the fangirls around Shinichi's circle, she is actually doing productive work proving people innocent and getting justice. If evolution failed us, Ranran be no different than those girls, wasting their time ogling handsome cute boys by beautifying themselves rather than changing the world."Emiko pointed out.

"But you got to admit Ran is right on certain things," Junko argued in Ran's stance on Ranran's character, "Everyone around that demon is her pawns to be disposed of. At least those fangirls have their own conscience when it comes to their friends."

"Conscience?"Emiko disagrees with the spectacle girl,"If they do, they wouldn't have gone all their way to make handsome boys' lives difficult, Fuyuko and Mouri. Those boys are after all human like us, they just want to live normal."

"Ranran made my life difficult, you know?!"Ran countered back, before adding,"She told Shinichi to cut all ties with me if he wanted her to take him in as her apprentice! If she was such a good person, she wouldn't have done that and granted him the apprenticeship!"

"That's right!" Junko sided the brown haired girl with a nod.

"She did,"Emiko admitted before stating,"But she didn't specifically say to cut ties with him, just no contact with you till solving the 'Extinction Heist' case."

"She could've told him to tell me at least, right!?" Ran argued.

"She could, but you would stand in the way Shinichi's apprenticeship, knowing you had no trust for her, am I wrong?" Emiko's justification shut Ran and Junko up."There you go, Ranran may not be pure, but at least she is doing wonders for the world despite how morally questionable it is. Unlike those girls who are wasting their time."

"Why must things be so complicated in this world since Ranran appeared....?"Junko groaned, putting her head on the table with her hands on her head.

"The world is meant to be. Anyway, if you are so desperate to get Michio's attention, have you not considered a makeover? Starting with...I don't know, purchase yourself some nice clothes that you don't normally wear."Emiko said idly, before staring at Junko's pink t-shirt and jeans, "This is too common, there is no way he would look at you if everyone is going to be dressed alike."

"Even if you say so.....I can't," Junko mumbled before stating,"I ain't beautiful as Ranran."

"You don't have to focus solely on your appearance or features, Junko. Just baby steps will do, starting with the choice of clothes you wear."Emiko remarked.

"As much as I don't agree that clothes would make a difference, after looking at Ranran's detective clothes with Shinichi, I have to agree with Emiko on this, "Ran persisted, "You should've seen the look on everyone's faces when they saw the two with that tantei costumes! Even Michio was looking at Ranran."

"But....."Junko was hesitating about their suggestions.

"Just get yourself some affordable clothes. It doesn't have to be expensive."Emiko suggested, "Put a variety of clothes together, be confident and presto, you would earn his attention in no time."

"Maybe if it was last week, I would've said yes, "That is when Junko grumbled to herself before uttering out, "You know that my tousan is a ship captain, deshou?"

"Yeah."The two girls nodded, not seeing where Junko was heading with this.

Fuyuko Junko's father was according to Junko, a ship captain. At least, that is what Junko heard from her mother when she asked. Due to his career having often to spend time on the sea, he often writes letters to Junko during his endeavours. At first, Junko thought her mother could be lying as she saw a photo of him in her life as a baby. But over time she would check the handwriting in comparison with her mothers, let alone, even secretly follow her mother to see whether she paid someone to write those letters for her.

But throughout her 10 years, Junko found not a single trace of evidence to suggest that the letters were written by someone who paid through her mother into thinking that she has a father. To top it off, at times whenever she receives a letter from her father, she would find a photo attached to it on the trips he heads about and has it verified to see whether it was photoshop.

Much to her surprise, it wasn't.

Deciding it is best to at least have a father who actually listens to her problems whenever she and her mother doesn't get along, it is best to continue having the letters over as she shares her woes with him.

You might be wondering at some point, why write letters? There is Sms and emails these days.

Well, as her dad says, "It is more genuine than some digital words." Junko couldn't help but agree with that.

"....he and mother recently lost their respective jobs, and now we don't have money for things like cheap clothes to go with anymore. We are barely scraping by on meals and the utilities, and our savings are running out fast."Junko bit her lip as Ran and Emiko's jaws dropped while the glasses girl continued to ramble on, "Even though both sides mentioned the situation is temporary...I am worried they might not."

Then Emiko had an idea. "Hey Ran, remember that spring blouse you mentioned the other day Sonoko bought online and complain about was too big for her? Get that will you?."

Recalling the clothes, Ran headed over to the bag to open and pulled out a blouse and held it up in front of Junko, "This will look so good on you, Junko!"

Junko looked horrified. "My mum would kill me if I wore that!

"No, she wouldn't!"Emiko laughed. "Try it on!"

"But the others are returning here soon."

"The two boys texted me earlier, the maintenance guy still hasn't arrived yet to open the vending machine that cheated out our money."Emiko pointed out.

"Also, Ranran and Shinichi found some lead recently, so they won't be back in a while. Come on, Junko."Ran and Emiko eagerly dragged an unwilling Junko to change at the changing room at the boutique shop where Michio's mom runs.

When she stepped out nervously the two girls leapt up and clapped."Wow! It looks good!"

Junko looked at herself in the mirror: "I don't know..." she murmured.

Ran squeezed her arm. "It looks great on you, trust me!"

.......................

While the girls were busy with Junko's makeover, Ranran and Shinichi discussed their plans on how they are going to approach the doctor.

Dr Hata's clinic was located at the end of a long corridor as they headed there.

"What are we going to do if the doctor refused to meet up with us, let alone, work for the kidnapper? From what we know, the guard said the blonde is a regular who buys groceries in this shop. They might know each other." Shinichi ponder at that thought.

"Don't worry about that, "Ranran reassures her apprentice, "I had that fat old man who lived right next door to-"

"You mean professor Agasa!?"Shinichi suddenly cuts in her words.

"Just listen, alright?"She silenced him with annoyance before finishing where she left off, "I set up an appointment with the doctor last minute. Even if he wants to kick us out by contacting the cops, it is pointless because of the appointment. Also, don't forget who is the one who has connections to the cops."

A startled nurse looked up as the two burst in through the front door."Can I help you?"she asked

"We arrived to see Dr Hata," Ranran answers urgently before reminding her, "I had an appointment here as I am worried about my brother here," She then pointed at a stunned Shinichi," he might have asthma."

"Say what now!?"Shinichi gave a look of disbelief before arguing, "I do not have-"

"He does, "Ranran insists to the alarmed nurse calmly, as she silences her apprentice with her index finger while putting a convincing act, "He was forced to run at our school sports event for 8 rounds, and he has been gasping since. But the staff in our school barely, believe me, so I forced him out of school and check into the closest clinic possible."

"Right," Shinichi blurted as he began to gasp for air, catching up to Ranran's lies, "It's urgent!"

"What!? Is it that serious!?" the nurse looked from one to the other, "Wait, neither of you hasn't been here before, have you?" She slipped a pen and a card onto the counter," Which one of you is going to write this down? I'll need your name and address before sending either of you."

"I will write it down," Ranran sighs as she grabbed the card and pen before jotting down the details as she told Shinichi to grab a seat in the waiting area.

"How bad is it?"The nurse said with concern in her tone as she stared at the little boy's coughs sounding aggressive.

"He has been wheezing for 2 hours, ma'am," Ranran said, giving a worrisome expression as Shinichi coughed.

"How awful for your school to put a child with asthma to run for 8 bloody rounds! Does the school not know about it!?"The nurse began to panic.

Now Ranran wasn't completely lying regarding the exercise situation, since it did occur hours earlier. However, Shinichi recovered earlier on at the school infirmary. Even so, Ranran decided why not add drama to it? After all, it was wrong for the school to do this to him, brushing it off as if it was not a big deal. 

"Our parents don't believe he has one, and neither does the school. But he kept wheezing, it ain't right."Shinichi continued to force a gasp for air as Ranran explained, agitating the nurse a little more before she decided, "You both wait here, I go get doctor Hato over to check on your brother, alright?"

As soon as the nurse disappeared into the doctor's office, Shinichi continued on with his actions while he whispered to Ranran, "Why did you lie? We could've just asked the nurse to inquire about the man who was kidnapped."

"Shinichi, in the medical world you ain't allowed to get details of patients as it is confidential. The same goes for hospitals, otherwise, one gets sued."Ranran grins before adding, "Also, I am certain he would've kicked us out if he knew we are looking into this. That's the reason why I set the appointment in the first place, to lower his guard before we question him when he least expects."

Ok, this girl had a point.

It was times like this that Shinichi thoroughly admire Ranran's intelligence to think ahead before putting it into action. Something he lacks. He may have intelligence, but he lacks experience on how to executing it. Times like this is why he felt like working for Ranran is something he had no regrets.

Even so...

What Mamiko told him the other day, regarding Ranran being a manipulative girl who is merely using him as a side-character to make herself shine..is she really that heartless?

Not that Shinichi doubted her claims, given that Ranran did pistol whip him when he broke into her house. Mamiko had a reputation of a kind gentle girl, that was what he assumed till the election between her and Reina took place. Suddenly, a surge of reports that showed Mamiko's devious deeds came to light onto the other innocent children in their school.

Shinichi initially didn't think much of school election at that time, but when he got word Ranran was involved from Mamiko to save Reina's cousin, it was something he couldn't ignore. He knows Ranran is capable of sabotage, as his apprentice, he had witness first hand of her schemes. At the same time however, if that were truly the case, why would she put Reina as student head council instead of Ranran herself?

Ranran has the intelligence of a capable politician, she should've been the one running instead of Reina, so why? 

Mamiko claims Ranran did it so that Ranran could use Reina as a puppet to rule the school behind-the-scenes. Let alone, Shinichi as her personal puppet to run the association.

Now Shinichi wasn't given the same opportunity as Ranran to study in such school at a young age despite both having born in privilege backgrounds because Ranran was born in a family of nobles through her mother's side, so he wasn't equipped with things like 'status', 'politics' and 'power' of that sort unlike his mentor. He only had a famous mystery writer father and a actress of another to go by. So the term 'puppet' was something he didn't get it, but he did not let this show in front of Mamiko.

To understand the life of his favorite idol's, Sherlock Holmes, in Victorian era, let alone, understand the story 'A scandal in Bohemia', he studied all about notable ranking in real life on the internet at the age of 3. At that time, he couldn't understand why this woman who only appeared once in the Holmes series, Irene Adler, would have tongue wagging from Holmes fans of all ages, especially females. To him, she was just someone who is born with a pretty face but with a talent for conning men of higher status, especially the King and Sherlock Holmes. A con-woman was all Shinichi thought of her. 

But now that he is older and after having experienced first hand with Ranran's cunning wit, he could quite roughly understand why Irene Adler was looked up by the female fans. That was an era where women are looked down upon, while men had all the superiority. The 'scandal' the story was referring to was that Irene who is a actress was in a relationship with a King, the client of Holmes. Those days, actresses are considered a lowly status than a king, so this thing would spell doom to the King's reputation, making matters worst was he was engaged to be married with another royal. So it can be said that what the woman did was justifiable to blackmail the King, since he technically chickened out of the relationship.

Though times had changed, some remained the same. There is still this male superiority in Japan, a huge problem worldwide as well, so its no wonder Ranran turned out this way. After learning from the adults in the family about some of her past, he never asked any further about Ranran's cunning attitude, given that she went through a lot. And as far as he could admit, he deserved the punishment she set out for him when they were 5.

In fact, he could roughly figure out what Mamiko meant when she claims Ranran is using others as her personal 'puppet'. The term was commonly use in the world of politics. In which one places someone they trusted in power of certain position, but held not much authority as others presume, for the puppet master, the true mastermind who put them there in the beginning, are the ones with huge authority.

 While its true that Ranran did use Reina, he can't be certain whether that is truly the case. Cause puppets who are in power, like those dramas he watched where prime ministers always used kings as one, are mistreated and abused behind-the-scenes by the puppet master.

When Shinichi dropped by to submit his leave after the house breaking attempt on Ranran's place, he noticed Reina's office was very tidy and had Reina's name written all over. Things like the plants she loved, photos of her with Ranran and Takuma on a amusement park trip, photos of Reina's parents, her beloved cousin, even the food and drinks Ranran bought for her through importing from the U.K, scones, Victoria sponge, even the box of tea that read out Tea Heritage shown evidence of being used by the head council girl.

And he didn't even get Reina to talk praises about Ranran when he submitted the leave, cause Reina herself was the one who sang praises of her. If she was using Reina as one of her puppets, why bother to treat Reina nicely? Usually puppet-masters don't bother to do so in order to keep their puppets in control mentally. Also, one would want to minimalize the amount of authority a puppet has for certain positions they hold. 

No matter how one looks at it, this tactic would not benefit Ranran either way.

Maybe he is thinking too much about this, he blames himself for staying up all night trying to find that book Ranran read the other day when she was at the living room of her own home. Whatever books Ranran read, it always had that interesting cover he has never seen before, let alone, in a foreign language. And since his language translation skills ain't good, he can't figure what is going through her mind. He always think that what a person reads give glimpse on what sort of person Ranran is.

Right now, he is going to follow through with Ranran's plans and be her apprentice as he continues on with his coughing act, then observe her actions quietly. 

.....

"I think it's nothing serious from the looks of it, since he had thick phlegm." A thin man who is dressed in a white coat, with a stеstethoscope dangled from his neck was inspecting his patient, by having a torchlight down Shinichi's throat, as he and Ranran sat facing him across the desk."I will prescribe him the medicine, make sure the adults in your family followed what I prescribed, ok? And don't worry, his lungs is perfectly healthy. He has no asthma, just very thick phlegm."

Ranran nodded with her worried act as Doctor Hata Saburo ordered the nurse to prepare the medicine and have it bagged at the reception counter before the nurse left him and the patient alone.

"Is there anything you want to ask about before I sent you both off?" The doctor question with concern written on his face.

Here it is, the chance. With a hidden grin beneath Ranran's poker face, she asked innocently, "Yeah, do you happened to know of this old man with dark skin several hours ago? At the parking lot not far from here?"

That was when the face on Doctor Hata began to fell at that unexpected question, "I am sorry?"

"It's like this," Ranran pushed on her innocent act naturally, "My two friends went out to buy food this morning, but they discovered him bleeding and there was this large man acting rather roughly over him."

"He was bleeding profusely, I tried to brush their worries off that it could've been a nasty fall. But then they kept insisting it could've been attempted murder and kidnapping for many hours, that they should get police involved. "Shinichi described with concern on his face,"We were worried for his welfare after what our friends shared."

"Ah, you mean the one who was heavily bleeding this morning with that big bloke," The doctor settled back in his chair a smile playing on his lips. 

Those two kids earlier must have gotten quite the scare, to a point they even made up such stories to the younger ones. Kids these days...where are their parents teaching them such nonsense?

"The old man had a fall in the carpark after that birthday party thrown for him last night. His friend brought him to me for a checkup. I use a bandage on him and he was fine." He shrugged, "That was all there was to it. Nobody was being kidnapped, I'm afraid."

Sensing a tiny smirk behind doctor Hata Saburo's smile, Shinichi felt uneasy towards his words. Ranran must have notice it too, because later she said while she grins back,"You know, a doctor who make false diagnosis can become a huge stigma in society, you know?"

The doctor's smirk vanished,"What do you mean?

"Nothing, just saying,"Continued the little girl as she provokes the lying doctor with her witty words as Shinichi watch, hoping she be able to get something out of him, "I hope what you said is the truth. Otherwise," Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she taunted,"If one discovers a doctor who can't differentiate between falling down versus being beaten up in a parking lot, it would be an interesting story retold among kids like us, don't you think?"

At this point, the doctor then jumped up angrily,"Who are you!? I think you'd better leave right this instance!" he said, and held his door,"And frankly,"He opens the door,"if you go telling wild stories to the police, you'll end up in a lot of trouble." Suddenly he seemed to have second thoughts and flashed them a smile. "After all, kids, it just simple accident and was not worth making a fuss about."

When the children reached the reception counter to collect the meds as Shinichi paid for it, he then gripped Ranran's arm. "He was lying,wasn't he?"

Ranran looked back to where Dr Hata still watched them through the glass door,"Obviously he was. I did a little rattling to ensure of that."She met Shinichi's gaze,"Whatever's going on, Shinichi, he assumed he can easily manipulate a group of children. But little did he realize..."

As soon as the two made it to the corridor, she ended it with:

"...he ended up messing with the wrong child."

....

Finally, the Ipad Pro then made beeping noises, indicating is ready to be used.

Eager to try out the tablet first, Emiko hurried to sit in front of the tablet and began their reverse search on the case, entering the word 'RAJAH' in her search engine. Initially they wanted to use their smartphones to do the search, but then the three girls' phones were sent out for repair due to a recent case not long after the events of 'Illegitimate Extra'. Also, their minds slipped when they forgot to request Michio and Takuma to lend them their phones to do the search, since all of them were too excited to use the Ipad Pro tablet when Ranran brought it over as their official equipment.

The first thing the explanation of Indian rajahs popped up. "Wow, let's see what it says," said Junko, scanning the text on Wikipedia as she and Ran surrounded Emiko. "Rajah is a royal title used for Indian monarchs. Ruler in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia."

"Monarch? What is that?" Ran's 6-year-old brain can't figure out what that word meant to the two girls, as it sounds complicated.

"Basically, to simplified it, it means a ruler, mainly from royal families, who are in charge of a kingdom or empire, mainly the country." Emiko sums it up to her, which Ran finally gets it.

Even so..."Why did Ranran and Shinichi always give us the complicated jobs to even understand?" Ran groaned with her hands on her head, she struggled to phantom the words that are used and never heard before from a child's mouth. Mainly, ever since Ranran existed, she used complicated words and terms she can't understand, but somehow Shinichi and Emiko gets it. Staring at another suggested word in the search engine, she pointed,"What is Maharaja then?"

Emiko kept scrolling with her finger. "It means 'The Ultimate King of all Kings', the most powerful ones that has conquered all the other kings. But seriously, why would that old man trying to say out of all of this I wonder? We are in Japan, not India." Emiko wondered aloud.

Junko soon checked dozens of websites, printing out the pages she wirelessly send to a computer cybercafé not far from their HQ, which Ran later had to rush over to collect it next door. While Ran went out, Emiko was in her thinking pose as she tries to figure out why did he issue out such term.

The girl in glasses noticed her response in silence, asked, "Anything alright, Emiko?"

"I am just thinking...considering that man you saw was in a bloody state, if he were in serious danger, one would say out who was the attacker, let alone, their name, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And so far...I assumed initially that maybe his attacker had this name 'Rajah' on it. But then...that wouldn't be right, given that this is a title reserved for royal families only."

"It could be the attacker's code name? Rajah?" Junko suggest.

"True," Emiko frowned further, "But then it wouldn't give us anything to work on, since anyone could casually use the name Rajah, like The Snake did."

"That's true," Junko pondered about it, "Considering that he did say this out, it has to carry value one way or another."

"Value?" Emiko turned to Junko.

"Yeah, value." Junko nodded to her before explaining her theory, "You know...in our HQ, every time we settle a case, Ranran is in charge of naming names on those cases, right?"

"Yeah," Emiko recalled, "Our first case, she named it 'Extinction Heist' because it involved the attempting smuggling of a white tiger that is close to extinction."

"That's right," Junko nodded to her, "And then the previous large case, the one involving our client's illegitimate brother who was manipulated by his biological mother to end our client's life, she named it 'Illegitimate Extra' because to the audience who was watching the movie at that time didn't think the illegitimate brother's appearance had any relevance, that he was just an extra in the movie. Hence, the title.  Maybe...it could be referencing to the name of a secret mission the bad guys are about to carry? I mean...maybe that's why the man was attacked, because he knew too much, that this mission involving 'Rajah' was what led him here."

Suddenly, Emiko snap her finger, "I think you might be on to something! Perhaps this mission, lets say if this secret plan is called 'Rajah', was illegal. But in one way or another, that man you and Michio saw was involved, but something went wrong, so he attempts of escape later became futile. It might not be a person, but a devious plot he got involved, only to regret it."

After Ran returned to the HQ, the girls continued on with their research before discovering something."Look at this," Emiko nudged to the two girls, whose eyes had glazed over the website.

The Atsuko Gallery presents THE RAJAH'S RUBY, the ultimate King of Rubies. Exhibition opens next week.

"Hmm....Atsuko Gallery?"Emiko thinks back, "I think I went there before to look at the artwork, but there was nothing much to go on."

Ran leaned forward, staring at the screen. "Never thought I say this girls,"she said in a quiet, steely voice, "But at least we have something to go on."