Suzuki Sonoko, on the occasions when she wasn't an amateur magician or relationship guru or fashion consultant, was a detective.

Not like that. She only solved murders every once in a while, and she still wasn't quite sure how. But observation? She could do that. Deduction? Oh, yes.

She could easily observe that one of her classmates, Hana-chan, was wearing makeup, and an expensive brand of eyeshadow at that. Hana-chan didn't usually wear makeup at all. And she didn't usually drift off into daydreams halfway through class. Sonoko noticed the doodles in pink pen all over her notes, and the dreamy looks Hana-chan was giving one of the boys. She observed no change in his behavior. And so she deduced that Hana-chan had a crush, a bad one, and she hadn't confessed it. Yet.

In Sonoko's opinion, being an inveterate gossip took almost as much deductive skill as being an officer of the police.

So she'd observe when Ran was more tired than usual, when she was drifting off in daydreams, when she spent the time contemplating the classroom's empty seat, or when the dark circles of heavy crying hid under her hastily applied makeup, and deduced that Shinichi was an absolute insensitive moron of a boy and if Ran didn't hit him into the next ward whenever he came back, Sonoko would.

So it was her duty as Ran's best friend to support her through this difficult time of boy-being-stupid, and as such spent a lot of time with the brats. She observed them too, and shared her gossiping deductions with Ran in low giggling voices. Ayumi-chan kept clinging to Conan-kun whenever something startled her, poor girl; either he was dense as a brick or more insensitive than Shinichi, because Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun certainly noticed, even if Conan-kun didn't. And they both used to take it hard, until Ai-chan came, and now Mitsuhiko didn't seem to mind so much. But that lost-puppy look he was giving Ai-chan - and she was an ice queen already, don't you think, Ran?

With Sonoko's gossip-detective skills, she didn't need to be told when Genta was trying to confess to Ayumi or when Mitsuhiko did well on a test. Those three were open books. Conan and Ai, though…

Sonoko thought highly of her skills, and she didn't particularly like the two children that eluded them. Sure, she could tell some things; when Conan found a clue or deduced something or had an idea, he might have lit up for how obvious it was, and Ai's emotions were sort of readable if Sonoko pretended she was a sarcastic high schooler. But there wasn't gossip material there, save Ai occasionally getting very scared apropos of nothing. She scowled and vowed to try harder.

Gossip about the kids cheered Ran up way more than gossip about adults, in any case.

But those two surprised her, more often than not. And nothing was more surprising than when Ai-chan showed interest in something.

She'd just gotten the season's absolute hottest bag, a Fusae-brand wristlet clutch so popular it had a six month waiting list, with real-gold trim and a crystal studded latch. Sonoko'd had to put all her cajoling skills to work to get one; even the power of the Suzuki name hadn't been enough to do it on its own. But she had one, and she wished momentarily that Ran was fashionable enough to understand what an achievement that was.

Which was why she was blown away when Ai-chan noticed, stopped short with a dropped jaw and made a beeline for Sonoko.

"Is that…" the little girl was for once speechless, her eyes glued to the bag. "It is," she said breathlessly.

"Yep!" Sonoko patted the clutch proudly. "Genuine Fusae!"

"How? The waiting list, and…"

Now there was a surprise - most people didn't know about the waiting list unless they'd tried. Sonoko grinned.

"It was no match for the great Sonoko-sama!" she crowed.

"Did you…" the little girl looked up to Sonoko for a moment, eyes wide with wonder less childlike than it should be, then back to the bag. "Can I?"

"Be careful," Sonoko admonished before handing the clutch over.

She was careful, exceedingly so, but what surprised Sonoko was the expert way the girl handled it. She took it carefully, turned it over, checked the gold stitching on the tag, lightly touched the crystals like she was checking if they were secure before finally opening it. The silk lining and contrast stitching on the interior were inspected by small fingers and examined with awe before the wide-eyed girl reluctantly handed the clutch back.

"It's real," she said breathlessly.

"Of course it's real!" Sonoko said. "Do you think the great Sonoko-sama would be so easily deceived?"

"That's amazing," Ai-chan said. "Thank you for letting me see it."

"You're welcome," said Sonoko, with a glow of pride.

By this point both Ran and the rest of the brats had noticed them, and headed over to see what was happening. The boys were disappointed that it was just a purse, but both Ayumi-chan and Ran agreed that it was lovely. Sonoko was only a little disappointed that neither one knew how hard it'd been to get. But Ai-chan just stood in an awed sort of silence until the others dragged her off to play.

Sonoko immediately launched into the day's gossip as soon as she got Ran alone. But her gossip-detective mind wouldn't let the girl go.

That was odd, very much so. But… nice.

Maybe Ai-chan would like to come shopping sometime.

When Sonoko brought it up the following week, Ran was hesitant. Ayumi-chan might want to go, too, and if they invited the girls the boys would want to come, and…

No. Just Ai-chan. Sonoko picked a day when the brats would be going to some kind of Yaiba festival, which Ran objected to because Ai-chan would surely want to go with her friends. Sonoko disagreed. There was no way a girl who appreciated Fusae would like something so base as Kamen Yaiba. Turned out, Sonoko was right; Ai-chan jumped at the chance to go shopping, and if it hadn't been shopping she thought Conan might've come too.

That was interesting.

But anyway. She dragged Ran into a huge department store with Ai-chan tagging along cheerfully, with an energy she rarely saw the child display. Ran wanted to look at children's clothing - apparently Conan was growing out of some of his things - but Sonoko had stops to make first. Makeup - the summer shades were out, and even if Sonoko didn't buy she had to know them. Perfume - there was a particular favorite of her sister that was coming out in a limited edition bottle this week. Shoes - platforms were so last month and Sonoko refused to fall behind. And then dresses for the latest Bell Tree Hotel opening. Ran needed one too.

Ran, good friend that she was, put up with Sonoko's shopaholic tendencies. But she was surprised to find Ai-chan keeping up, examining items and offering opinions with an expertise that baffled the older girls. When they finally got to dresses, Ai-chan could recognize most of the brands on sight. And when Ran showed interest in a yellow, over-fluffed dress that would've been awful on her, it was Ai-chan that steered her away.

"What's wrong with it?" Ran asked.

"The shoulders," said Ai-chan. "They won't work on an athletic physique."

Ran looked to the frills atop the straps. "...Why not?"

Sonoko would've explained. She usually did. But she wanted to see what Ai-chan would say, to test the depth of the girl's knowledge.

"The frills are there to accentuate the shoulders, but on someone who already has muscles there it draws too much attention and creates a masculine look. Here." She steered Ran to another dress. "This is better."

The dress she picked was much better, with a halter neckline and flared base, and with Sonoko backing Ai-chan up on that, Ran was outnumbered. Sonoko picked something for herself; one shouldered, high-waisted, asymmetrical ruffles to the skirt, with lots of rhinestones, before she looked down to Ai-chan.

"You need one too."

"Pardon?"

"You need a dress for the opening," Sonoko said firmly. "Because you're coming."

"I… haven't been invited."

"You have now."

Ai-chan had surprisingly mature tastes - though at this point, Sonoko really shouldn't have found them surprising. Ran tried to steer her towards frills and ruffles and tulle and pink, and Ai-chan steered them right back to cool colors and straight cuts. What she ended up with was very plain, for Sonoko's taste; navy blue with cream accents, scoop neck and just enough extra fabric in the skirt to allow easy walking. Ran kept asking if she didn't want something cuter. Sonoko, for once, let it be.

And once the shopping was over with, Sonoko let herself think.

Ai-chan clearly liked fancy. The clutch was not what anyone would call subtle, and when choosing dresses for both Ran and Sonoko, the girl had gravitated to dresses with flair and color, the sort of things in the latest pages of the fashion magazines that Sonoko was positive that Ai-chan read. But for herself, she'd sought out the opposite. Sonoko didn't understand it.

And if Sonoko thought about it, she'd seen it before. In her sister, in Ran sometimes, in every shy girl Sonoko'd ever tried to coax out of their shell.

Sonoko's dress screamed "Look at me!"

Ai-chan's dress screamed "I'm not here!"

Ai-chan wasn't shy, but she'd chosen a very shy dress. It was strange.

And where there was strange, there was gossip. And where there was gossip, Detective Sonoko was on the case!

She resolved to solve it, come the opening party. But before she could solve The Case of the First Grader with Admirable Taste, she had to solve The Case of Hana-chan's Secret Crush (soccer team captain, confessed in the shoe lockers, got turned down), The Case of Where Did My Teal Glitter Nail Polish Go (behind the dresser), and The Case of Why Isn't Matoko Answering His Phone (accidentally put it through the wash). She also, almost, solved The Case of Ran Trying Not To Cry While Holding Her Phone, but that one didn't count.

Sonoko was going to kick Shinichi into the next ward, and then have Matoko kick him halfway to Hawaii.

And then the opening finally came around, and Sonoko, armed with Fusae clutch and rhinestone-covered dress and teal glitter nail polish, prepared to take on the case of Ai-chan.

Ran arrived, with her father and Conan-kun in town and Ai-chan skipping cheerfully ahead in adorable navy blue mary janes. Very well applied makeup too, Sonoko noted, and not by Ran. (The day Sonoko got Ran to do makeup that well would be the day her uncle kissed the Kaitou Kid. So, never.) Ai-chan lived with that professor, didn't she? He wouldn't know. She must've done it herself.

Interesting.

But more importantly she looked like she was having fun - better than Conan-kun, who looked like he was on the way to the dentist - and Sonoko couldn't help but smile. She welcomed Ran with an enthusiastic hug, and complimented Ai-chan on her ensemble, which made the girl blush.

They made their way to the table, and watched the party for a while. Kogoro flirted. Ran giggled at Sonoko's gossiping comments. Ai-chan made semi-sarcastic remarks about fashion. Conan-kun looked like he was going to die.

And then, somehow, something changed.

Conan-kun perked up suddenly, that there's-a-mystery bird dog attention that was impossible to miss. And at the same time, Ai-chan's eyes went wide and she shrunk down, smaller than ever, letting her hair fall into her face. Conan caught it, whispered something low and fast, then hastily excused himself to go find the restroom with the strange childishness that he turned on and off like a light.

Ai-chan just sat, clearly scared stiff, in her don't-notice-me dress with her don't-see-me posture and her hair in her face like a mask, and…

Ai-chan wasn't shy. Sonoko knew that.

"Ai-chan, are you alright?" asked Ran softly.

"I'm… fine, thank you."

And that was a lie that you didn't need to be a detective to catch. Ran didn't push - she was too nice. And Sonoko normally didn't care enough to bother. But now she did.

She leaned over, and whispered. "You need to go to the bathroom too?"

"I… may need to take some medicine," Ai-chan admitted. "I'm not feeling well all of a sudden."

Understatement, as far as Detective Sonoko was concerned, was just another form of lying. But she was a master of getting girls to open up. "Me too. Ran, watch the table?"

Ran agreed quickly, and Sonoko grabbed Ai's hand and dragged her off to the restroom, clutch swinging from the other hand. The halls were quieter than the main room, dimmer, and Sonoko's heels click-clicked on the smooth tile for some time before she tried speaking to Ai-chan again.

"You read Vivi?" she asked. Ai-chan gave a tiny nod. "Have you seen the latest issue?"

"...No," Ai-chan managed to say. "I haven't had a chance to pick it up yet."

"You should," Sonoko said, in her best gossip voice. "They did an article on Fusae this month. Six pages, including an interview. She's got this gorgeous new bag." Ai-chan perked up just the tiniest bit at that. "It's almost a tote - a bit smaller, and the edges are a bit more rounded. Gold trim, of course, but she's managed to pull the ginkgo leaf motif into the latch - it's sculpted, you have to see it. But what impressed me was what she's done with the handles. They…"

She was just getting going when the gunshot sounded.

Typically, Sonoko screamed when that happened, but Ai-chan didn't give her a chance. The tiny hand clenched around her fingers, and started dragging her backwards at full speed. Or, full speed for a first grader. She was tense as a rope again, wide eyed, and Sonoko hadn't realized that Ai's dress would be so good for running either.

Running and hiding and not being seen; a lot of complexities for such a simple dress. Sonoko would think about it later when she wasn't trying to run in heels.

Screams sounded ahead of them, and Ai-chan in her cute little flat-heeled mary janes made a right angle corner into a side door. Sonoko in her heels nearly fell, pulled along. The room Ai'd pulled them into was a smaller conference room, with one long table and lots of chairs. Ai pulled them out of sight of the little window in the door and slumped down against the wall, gasping for air.

"What's going on?" Sonoko asked, slipping out of her heels.

Ai-chan didn't answer, but when she tried to look out the little window the girl snagged her dress and wouldn't let her further.

"You okay?" Sonoko turned, and crouched to be at eye-level with the girl. "I hope you're not sick, cause I don't know what to do with sick kids."

"I," said Ai-chan, between gasps, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Sonoko said, narrowing her eyes. "Do you need to take medicine? Come on, you can tell me!"

"It's just… it's nothing."

Sonoko examined her for a moment longer, then stood again. "I'm going to go get Ran. Are you okay by yourself?"

"No!" Ai-chan sat up straight at that. "She needs to stay where it's safe."

...And that wasn't weird at all. Sonoko was beginning to suspect this was more the kind of mystery for detectives like Mouri or stupid runaway Shinichi than it was for the great detective Sonoko. Because between the dress and the behavior and the refusal to say anything, back to the interests and the knowledge and the love of Fusae, back to not being able to read her without assuming she was ten years older than she was… None of it made any sense!

And Sonoko, as much as she liked to play at it, was not really a detective.

But later. "Then we need to get where it's safe!" Sonoko countered. "What's going on?"

Ai-chan just slumped down against the wall. Sonoko watched her for a moment, then pulled her phone out of her clutch.

What's going on? she texted quickly.

Poison, came the reply from Ran. We think. It's pretty messy. Is Ai-chan with you?

"Poison?" Sonoko murmured. Ai-chan's head came up at that, and Sonoko crouched again. "Ai-chan. You didn't eat or drink anything weird, did you?"

The girl shook her head. "What's happening?"

"Ran says someone was poisoned. Geeze, I knew this would happen." Sonoko stood again and put her hands on her hips. "Every time we go somewhere anymore, someone dies." She looked down at Ai-chan, who was pale as a ghost under her makeup. "You don't look so good," she said softly. "If there's poison going around…"

"I'm fine," Ai-chan repeated.

Sonoko paused. This was not her forte; what… what would Ran do? That made the answer simple enough. "A doctor can decide that," she said firmly. She scooped Ai-chan up under one arm and headed for the door. Ai-chan was not expecting that, and she squawked and squirmed and tried to get herself down as Sonoko yanked open the door and strode out.

And strode into a tall man in black.

Sonoko stared. He stared back. Oh my goodness, that hair! He was a walking shampoo commercial! How on earth did he keep it so long?

Ai-chan froze. The man looked from Sonoko down to Ai, then whipped a gun out of his trenchcoat. Sonoko reacted almost as fast as Ran would've - she brought her free hand up to defend herself. She'd forgotten about the clutch on her wrist, though, and it swung around like a club and hit him square across the face. The gun clattered to the floor, and he staggered back. Sonoko took the chance to run for the ballroom.

Ai'd stopped squirming in her arms, and running was so much easier without her heels. Gunfire cracked behind them, and something hot and small and fast sailed through her loose hair to bury itself in the ceiling further down the hall. Bullets, there were bullets being fired and oh my gosh, she wasn't Ran, she couldn't dodge, she was going to die.

"Drop me!" Ai-chan said.

Sonoko might've, but her brain was too full of adrenaline and fear and going to die, going to die to process the words.

And then another small shape appeared in the hallway ahead of them, skidding to a stop in the entry to the ballroom. "Sonoko-neechan!" Conan-kun shouted. "Duck!"

Sonoko kept running.

"Duck!" Ai-chan repeated, then managed to work one of her feet around to hit the back of Sonoko's knee, hard. Sonoko fell, just as another shot sounded from behind them. Bullets singed the air as they passed. A soccer ball sailed overhead with the same crack as the gunfire. Sonoko screamed, Ai-chan screamed, the floor was cold and she was going to die.

And then. The bullets didn't make contact. The soccer ball did, and the man fell back with a cry of pain. Ran's father sprinted past her, followed by several policemen. She managed to sit up just in time for Ran to arrive at her side.

"Are you okay?" Ran asked quickly.

"I'm… I'm fine," Sonoko stammered. "Ai-chan, are you…"

Ai-chan sat up too. "I…"

Then gunfire sounded again, not a single sharp crack but a series of several like a string of firecrackers. Ai-chan dove to the floor again. Ran screamed. Conan shouted something. The lights flickered, the floor shook.

And Sonoko fainted.

Sonoko woke by the back of an ambulance. A light blanket covered her from the shoulders down, but there weren't any IVs or bandages that she could feel - she was alright. The world was quieter, though the noise of the city still hung in the air, and her ears were ringing. She could hear Ran somewhere, giving her statement to one of the officers. The whole world was full of flashing lights, police and ambulance and firetrucks, but the chaos had settled enough for there not to be sirens. She almost got up.

"They weren't after you," someone said quietly, on the other side of the ambulance doors. It took her a moment to place the voice as Conan-kun's. "Someone at the party found out, and made the mistake of trying to blackmail them."

"He recognized me," said Ai-chan's voice, much softer. "The minute he saw me, he pulled his gun."

"He won't get away," Conan-kun assured her. "Not this time. His blood is all over, and they believed me about the car."

"Yes he will," said Ai-chan. "I thought… I almost thought I'd be okay."

"You will be," said Conan, with a conviction Sonoko recognized from somewhere. "There were too many people involved this time. They can't cover it up."

"Yes they can," the girl replied stubbornly. "And they will. And once Gin tells them…"

"I won't let anything happen."

"You can't stop it."

"I'm going to try." There was a thump as Conan-kun jumped to the ground, from where he'd been sitting on the ambulance bumper. "Let me know when Sonoko-neechan wakes up."

Ai-chan didn't answer, and Conan dashed away.

That… explained some things. So Ai-chan was hiding. That man with the fantastic hair had pulled his gun on Ai-chan, not Sonoko. But who would hunt down a kid?

It didn't make sense. Sure, she didn't act like a kid, or think like a kid; she had all the tastes and maturity and skills of an adult, but…

None of it made sense.

And Sonoko, with her hand still shaking and the shock blanket around her shoulders, did not care.

She stood.

"Suzuki-san." Ai-chan looked up at her from underneath a similar shock blanket. "You're awake?"

"I've been awake for a while," said Sonoko. "Where's the brat gone?"

"I don't know," said Ai-chan, shrugging. "You heard our conversation?"

"...Yeah." Sonoko sat next to Ai-chan on the ambulance bumper, settling her own shock blanket more firmly around herself. "Did… you want to talk about it?"

Ai-chan stared up at her for a moment, then looked back down. "Not really."

There were so many questions she could ask. Why are you hiding, who was that guy, what do you mean by them, why are you so mature, who are you, what are you really?

But Sonoko wasn't a detective. Not really. This wasn't gossip.

And she didn't honestly need to know.

"Suzuki-san…" Ai-chan started.

"Sonoko," she interrupted. "Please."

Ai-chan paused. "Sonoko-san. I… There are a lot of things I can't explain. And…"

"And that's okay," Sonoko said firmly.

The girl paused. "...Really?"

"If you want to tell me someday," she said, not looking at Ai-chan, "You can. But you don't have to."

Ai-chan thought about that for a long moment. "You're sure?"

"Well," said Sonoko. "There is one thing I'd like to know."

Ai-chan shrunk back a bit, and Sonoko almost felt sorry for her before she grinned.

"What dress did you really want to wear?"

Ai-chan stared for a moment, then started laughing. It was high and bright and almost sad, and it didn't seem like she'd had much practice with it.

"Yours," she said at last, quieting down. "I want one like yours."

Sonoko smiled. "Then how about this. Once… whatever this is, gets settled, we can go shopping again. And when you don't feel like you have to hide, you can get a dress that doesn't hide for you."

Ai-chan smiled a little. "I'd like that."

"Good."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, before Sonoko realized.

"...Where's my bag?"

Ai-chan hadn't seen it. It wasn't anywhere in or around the ambulance. And like heck was she letting a Fusae clutch just disappear.

And once again, Detective Sonoko was on the case.

A.N. This was done for the "Suspicion" competition on the Poirot Cafe forum, though I don't know whether it's suspicion-y enough to technically meet the qualifications. As such, the text itself is exactly 4000 words.