"Floor 28, no activity."

"Floor 29, nothing."

"Floor 30. No activity."

"Floor 31, we've got nothing."

"Floor 32, all clear."

"Floor 33 reporting, everything's quiet."

"Floor 34, no sign of Kid."

The men in the control van murmured quietly to each other.

"This is Nakamori, I'm in the room with the jewel. No sign of that blasted

Kid."

Inspector Nakamori looked around the small room. There was no way Kid was going to get this jewel, he thought. Unless he could shrink, he added wryly to himself.

He looked at his watch. Almost time.

There was a clattering sound in the ceiling. "What--" The other officer stood, looking at the air vent in the center of the ceiling.

"That's not big enough for--" Nakamori began. Then the vent popped out of the ceiling and crashed to the floor.

The officer coughed. "Sleeping gas," he gasped, just before collapsing. Inspector Nakamori tried to call for help on the radio, but it slipped out of his hand as he fell.

Michael peered cautiously out of the vent. Good, they're out. Checking the small rod he'd tied his rope to as an anchor, he dropped his rope through the hole and lowered himself down. It was the work of a moment to switch the stone for a fake, grab Nakamori's radio, and get back into the duct.

He met up with Kaito on the roof. When he saw the radio, he grinned. "All right," he said. "Stage two."

"Emergency!" Nakamori's voice bellowed over the radio in the van. "All units to the holding room, on the double!"

Kaito, mingled with the rest of the officers in a police uniform, was among the first to arrive. They shook Nakamori awake, and one of the policemen tried to look into the duct to see if Kid was still there.

"What happened?" Nakamori murmured, his eyes still glazed. "Where's Kid?"

"Gone," said the policeman, climbing down. "But the jewel's still here."

"What?" Nakamori said, blinking. "It is?" He looked at the case.

"You must've scared him off when you called for help," one of the officers suggested. "He left before reinforcements arrived."

"O-oh, yes," Nakamori said, rubbing his eyes. "He escaped, you say?"

"Apparently, he crawled through this duct," Kaito said, examining the small vent. "But I don't see how anyone could fit through."

Nakamori stared at it in disbelief. "Then he'll be heading for the roof, you idiots! Send the choppers!" He raced off towards the stairs, followed by most of the police.

Michael was well hidden on the roof of the stairwell, and they didn't see him. They scanned the horizon, eagerly looking for Kaito's white hang-glider.

"He's got to be there somewhere," Nakamori muttered anxiously.

"I don't see him," asked a voice just above his head.

Nakamori nearly leapt out of his clothes. "K-Kid!"

Kaitou Kid stood up on top of the roof access stairwell. Holding the gem up to the moonlight, he examined it carefully. "Evening, everyone."

Then he swished his cape and disappeared. When they saw him next, he was in the sky, flying away on his white hang-glider.

"Very nice," Kaito said to Michael as he held for dear life onto Kaito's hang glider. "Nakamori got the impression that he managed to send a message just before going unconscious and was awakened moments later. My reputation as a miracle worker has, so far, been upheld."

"I'd like to see Conan's face when he sees the story," Michael said. "Kid steals gem, escapes through impossibly small ventilation shaft."

"Yeah," Kaito laughed. "How's he going to explain that one, I wonder? Especially since the vent was unscrewed from the inside as per eyewitness report of Nakamori and that other officer."

"I suppose it was good that I dropped the screwdriver, then," Michael said, adjusting his grip. "Now they know it wasn't some mechanism that automatically caused the vent to drop."

"True," Kaito smirked. "Hang on!" They landed, none too gently, on the roof of a building. "Know where we are?"

Michael looked around. "Don't tell me--police headquarters?"

Kaito grinned. "You got it."

Michael couldn't help smiling. "So, then, Nakamori will arrive to the relative safety of his office, only to discover Kid's next notice on his desk?"

"Actually," Kaito said with a grin, "it'll be on the projector screen." He pulled a corner of a large poster out of his jacket, then shoved it back.

Michael laughed. "You better hurry."

Kaito nodded and quickly started down the roof access stairwell. He was back in a few minutes and they finished the trip home uneventfully.

They both slept well that night.