Chapter 11

"Not this either!" and with that Aoko threw her hands up into the air, flopping back on her bed, sending sheets of paper flying and floating all throughout her room.

The kid heist was due in a few days and neither she nor Conan had managed to get closer to Kid's true motive for stealing the gem. They both still ran with the theory of an imposter sending the note to lure Kid out, but while Oda Yamuzuki, the owner of the gem, had more than enough enemies, none seemed to be the type to send a thief his way, especially if said thief was known to hand the stolen goods back.

So, the only option left was that somebody wanted to test their iron against the thief, but if that was the case, it was practically impossible to determine who that might be. After all, thieves weren't generally known to publicly show off their profession nor their next target, aside from Kid himself of course.

And that meant, all Aoko and Conan could do was wait for the day of the heist and see what it would bring. However, since the risk of attending had risen so much, because once again the public wasn't allowed to watch and thus Aoko would have to break the law again and sneak in, she was really reluctant to go in not knowing what would await her.

Of course, there were still other preparations she could make. Things like memorizing blueprints and devising ways to safely escape, but Aoko felt as if this wouldn't be enough. If a similar situation to last heist occurred, she couldn't afford to play the same trick again, above all because he likely wouldn't work.

Kid helping her if people were in danger was one thing, she was rather certain off, but her dad trusting her again this blindly, if there was the possibility of her being Kid, was something she couldn't see happening again. Her dad might not be a genius detective like Hakuba, but he was not stupid either.

"There has to be a way to throw others off!", Aoko thought to herself, "Some way that nobody would look to me if something suspicious would happen."

The situation was even more pressing since Aoko suspected Conan having gotten suspicious of her actions as well. During their last meeting, he seemed to always be staring at her, out of the corners of his eyes and was pressing her a little to reveal her own plans.

Aoko thought she managed to hide every concrete sign of what she was truly planning, but it was certain Conan had at least some suspicions.

"But what is he going to do if he figures the truth out? Would he have the heart to hand me over to the police?", that was something Aoko couldn't really imagine. Granted, Conan held law and justice high, but even higher he held his friends and loved ones and Aoko was pretty sure he already considered her as his friend.

"Most likely, I'll get an ear full and he would come over every heist to make sure I can't attend. That's more Conan like."

She had to smile a little at that thought, seeing the grade-schooler stand between her and the main door, spreading his arms out to keep her from leaving. But as adorable as the picture seemed, she couldn't let that happen. Not only to keep her secrets save, but she would also feel incredibly guilty if she ended up dragging a grade-schooler in her own mess.

He already had his fair share of troubles, so he didn't need her to burden him even more.

Which brought her back to her main problem, how to prevent anybody from figuring out? There had to be a better option than simply claiming she was sick and tired, pretending to go to bed early and leave a dummy in her bed. Every half smart person knew of this old trick and would make sure to look beneath the covers.

Could she lock the door? No, that would be even more suspicious, since she had no real way of answering… or did she? Suddenly, a plan began to bloom in her mind. A plan that would allow her to answer the door without even being in the house. But even that plan wasn't without risk, yet it was better than taking no precautions whatsoever.

Starting to riddle her brain for how best to make it work, Aoko raised herself from her bed and was out the door the next minute. She had some things to buy.


As usual, the loud chanting of the Kid fan crowd was deafening loud, even though there were locked away 300 meters (328.084 yards) down the road, where the police set up the barricades. With her new and real police ID it was child's play for Aoko to get through the heavy security and she didn't even need to resort to her real identity to get inside.

This wouldn't be possible anyways. For one, civilians were no longer allowed to enter the building of the heist, and that included her, and two, she had just told Kaito and her dad, that she was ill and would stay at home. So, her newly acquired ID was the only way to enter.

Not that she expected anything else. Exactly this has been the reason why she went through the trouble of getting one in the first place. Not only did it allow her to get inside at all, but it made the whole process a lot quicker, less embarrassing and much safer.

At least that was the theory. In practice, when she showed her ID to the guard men, it felt like an eternity till they finally nodded and let her through. Not to mention that she felt as though her heart was about to leap out of her chest. She didn't feel safe at all.

But, unlike Aoko's feelings told her, there weren't any problems and she was left through without so much as a comment that she must be new. Taking that as a good sign, Aoko still hurried to get to the building, not wanting to give the guards any chances to order her to stop. This must have looked to the guards like she couldn't wait for her chance to catch Kid.

As she finally reached the museum, Aoko was greeted with a sight she thought of as impossible. Men and women, clad in neat evening gowns stood around tables set with little appetizer and champagne, chatting away with each other about god knows what. Between the adults, children of various ages ran and wobbled around, laughing and joking while others starred wide eyed up at the adults.

It appeared as though they were admiring the beautiful dresses of the ladies and the silky suits of the gentlemen, even though their own wardrobe was nothing to sniff at either. Still, Aoko couldn't help but notice how misplaced some children looked. They played around with the frills and ties of their attire or had smudges of icing sugar and whipped cream all over their faces.

"What's going on? Aren't civilians banned from heists?" Aoko questioned, looking around in hopes of finding an answer. She must have made quite the lost figure there, since she suddenly felt a rough hand on her shoulder. Immediately whirling around, Aoko found herself staring up at the grinning face of an elderly man.

He obviously was a veteran officer, with white hairs spotting his Grey mustache and many wrinkles encircling his eyes. His mouth was twisted into a warm and genuine smile while his touch on her shoulder was neither tight nor rough. All in all, Aoko couldn't judge him any different than a friendly and joyful person.

"Yer ferst time around here, lass?" he asked her, his voice deep and full. "Don'tch ya worry 'bout it. At ferst it's queite overwhelmeng for everebode, but eventuelly you get used to it."

His accent was heavy, but Aoko could still understand him fairly well. "Ah, no . . . I mean yes. It's just . . I'm a little confused why all these people are here. Weren't civilians banned from the heist?" she asked, falling pretty effortlessly into the style of speech she invented for Nakami Kuro.

Her senior seemed to have expected this question, since he only barked out one short laugh, before he answered her, "That was the plan, but ya can't relly ban the people who set up thes ball from it, can ya?"

"Ohh, so these are members of the Okotoma children's welfare organisation?!" Aoko realized, letting her gaze once again drift over the different people, "And the children are the ones the organisation takes in."

"Yer reight, lass.", the officer replied "we alredy treyed to convence them of leving, but the donator of the gem wouldan't hear none of et. He saed thet he couldan't leave the safete of his gem in our hands, when we failed to catch Kid thes often."

Though Aoko knew how sensible this mindset seemed, she also knew that the bad hit-record was not due to the task force being bad at their job, but due to Kid being so freakishly good at thieving. The owner of the 'Ballet de fées' wasn't the first nor would he be the last person to learn that.

"Have there been any suspicions as to who Kid might be?" Aoko asked the older policemen. After all, while the task force may have a bad record, there was no denying that a couple dozen of eyes would see more than one pair could.

"Notheng relly, I'm afraid." the man, who would be her senior replied "There is this fortune-teller, hired by the organization, but he seems ta be the real deal."

That got Aoko curious. Though Kid seldom chose an obvious disguise, when he did it was often so conspicuous that nobody really bothered to check since it seemed so stupid. 'Reversed psychology' Kaito had called this once and Aoko had to admit that it made sense. So, she decided to double check and make sure Kid didn't try to pull the wool over their eyes, by barely trying to hide himself.

Asking the senior officer for direction, claiming that she was curious, Aoko soon found herself guided to the main hall, where the jewel was kept. The inside was predictably very crowded, but one corner seemed particularly overrun by men, successfully blocking every clear line of sight.

Heaving a sigh, Aoko got to work at squeezing herself through the silent and unmoving crowd, hoping to find the entertainer she was looking for. And safe enough, when she finally could see past the wall of bodies, she glimpsed the lean figure in the velvet clothing. The person had their back turned to her, but there was no way Aoko could mistake this distinct hairstyle.

O

When Kaito had first decided to attend this heist, he feared it would be even harder than the last time, owing to the fact that the police should now be a lot more concerned about possible intruders. But thanks to the pig-headedness of the gem's owner, it had become absurdly easy to infiltrate the building. All he really had to do was to apply for a position among the staff, payless of course, and he was sure to get the job.

Rich men after all, as rich as they were, they still loved to safe every penny they could. That might be the reason why they were rich to begin with, but Kaito was not here to learn the art of becoming rich, though some of his critiques suspected otherwise.

Kaito would have probably dwelled on that thought a little longer, but his attention was abruptly roused when he saw something very familiar that absolutely shouldn't be here.

"What is SHE doing her?!" Kaito nearly ejaculated aloud, stopping himself just in time to stare after the woman that was once again swallowed up by a mass of strangers. He only caught a glimpse of her head, but he was absolutely certain it was her.

Abandoning his post, Kaito quickly busied himself to get through the crowd of gawking men till he was finally able to see her clearly, by looking over the head of a female officer he bumped into.

There was no mistaking this long, silky hair with the red hue and the slender frame of her body along with the graceful movements that ensnared every single man who dared to look at her.

Kaito groaned audibly, one single thought running through his mind "Why on earth are you hear?!"

O

"Koizumi-san?!" Aoko couldn't believe it, even though she saw her classmate with her own eyes.

"What is she doing here?" the disguised girl asked herself, recalling clearly how reserved the other girl usually was to stranger. Especially children were something she only ever seemed annoyed off, so it made no sense why she should be here.

Suddenly, somebody roughly bumped into her back, groaning very audibly shortly after, but Aoko had no time to waste on a stranger. She was still busy closely observing Akako's every move.

The beautiful girl had just turned around in the long velvet robe, which still showed of her slender waist and well-rounded butt. Additionally, she wore a purple, short coat, which ended just above her belly, held together at the front by a broach with a big red ruby, while her hands were hidden in two black, elbow-long gloves. To say she looked absolutely dashing was an understatement.

With her natural elegance, the girl slowly seated herself on a low, cushioned stool, placed behind a low table. Only now Aoko noticed the deck of tarot cards that was stacked in the middle of the small table.

"Who is the next, who wants their fortune told?" Akako's melodic voice asked and with every syllable she spoke Aoko felt how the men around her started to press forward a little stronger. The pressure grew and grew, so Aoko wanted to push against them in order to make some room for her to breathe, but she hadn't expected them to stand strong as trees. Instead of pushing them back, she pushed herself away from them, stumbling forward over her own feet and right towards Akako.

O

Normally, Kaito would have had no trouble catching the arm of the woman in front of him as she was pushed forward by the crowd and steady her so she wouldn't trip. But his arms were tightly pressed to his body by all the other men who desperately pushed forward, no doubt ensnared by Akako's charm.

So, he could only watch as the young policewoman stumbled out of the circle and nearly knocked over the small table, at which Akako was seated.

"Oh my, somebody is quite eager to catch a glimpse of their fate." the witch commented, a slight smile tugging at the edge of her lips.

"Ah, no, no, please." the young woman replied, sitting on the ground, nose only inches away from the tables edge, "there really is no need for that." For some reason, something in her voice struck Kaito as very familiar and immediately a suspicion crept up in his mind.

"Has Aoko made another mask and snuck on the heist again?" Kaito immediately thought as he began to scan the girl from head to toes. "Their size and body shape seem to match" he observed, desperately craning his neck to get a good look of her face. But no matter how hard he tried, he was barely able to move in the crowd and quickly gave this endeavour up, focusing his attention back on the conversation.

Akako had just once again insisted on reading the girls fortune and this time the young woman reluctantly accepted. So Akako spread out the Tarot cards in front of her on the table and asked the woman for her hand. Said hand she gingerly grasped at the wrist and let it float above the cards.

Once, Twice, Thrice, till she finally let go.

"Are you ready to hear your future? To see that, which nobody can yet see?" Akako asked, her voice low yet clearly audible. Hearing these lines, a sudden thought occurred to Kaito. Wouldn't Akako know if the girl in front of her is Aoko or not?

After all, a witch should be able to see right through a disguise, at least that's what Akako always managed when Kaito disguised himself. As far as Kaito knew, the witch was rather fond of her best friend, as Aoko always insisted she was to Akako, and she also knew how dangerous the heists tended to be, so wouldn't she try to dissuade Aoko from attending?

On the other hand, Kaito didn't particularly trust his abilities to accurately deduce the witch's trains of thought, so he couldn't be sure whether he should take the lack of reaction from Akako as a sign for anything.

Said witch has just turned over the last of her tarot cards and continued to star at them for a moment. After seemingly having deciphered the future that was laid out in front of her, she fixed her gaze on Aoko and revealed her prediction.

You will have a difficult choice to make and depending on it, your life will be either joyous or dangerous.

Loved ones will show you their ugly side and you will uncover the friendly face of your enemies.

But doubt not your path, for while it leads into despair and pain, it will also bring victory and love.

O

Aoko was stunned. She had of course heard of Akako's hobby and wasn't entirely distrusting of occult stuff. But such a precise prediction wasn't what she had imagined, and it frankly gave her the creeps. Not only because of its direct implication but also because of how fairy tale like it seemed.

Promising pain and hardship, predicting treason and danger, but then ending with victory and love? Sounded too cringy for Aoko's tastes, but she couldn't entirely dismiss it either. Still conflicted by the prophecy, Aoko was suddenly interrupted when Akako lay a hand on shoulder.

"I know, such a prediction can sound quite frightening and you should take it quite seriously, but don't go off thinking your fate is already decided." Her classmate explained, "Neither god nor devil could truly say what is going to happen, so heed my words, but don't follow them."

Akako gave what Aoko could only describe as an encouraging smile, though she never thought her to be the caring type of girl, before she pulled her hands back and began to gather her cards.

"The predictions are over for today. You may leave now." with these words she seemed to dismiss the crowd and, as though they were ensnared in some sort of spell, the crowd immediately dispersed. Some of the man shuffled back towards the exit, other men got back to the exhibition's object and even a waiter seemed to hurry back to his post, apparently having forgotten the time over Akako's performance.

"Shouldn't you too be getting back to your post" the smooth voice of her classmate suddenly asked and Aoko whirled around, seeing that Akako had obviously followed her gaze. For a moment, she didn't know what to make of her words, till she remembered that she was still in disguise.

Bolting upright in seconds, Aoko barely spluttered an incoherent mess of thanks and goodbye, before she rushed off towards the exhibition case, leaving Akako alone to pack up her probs.

O

It had been a rather close call for Kaito, for he nearly made the mistake of not moving away with the rest of the crowd when Akako dismissed them. After all, not many people were completely immune against her charm and while to others it might not seem important, Kaito was sure that every little suspicion he gave to Akako would inevitably lead her to discover his real identity.

And while she might not bear any ill thoughts, at least not anymore, Kaito simply hated the feeling of knowing his disguise had been compromised. And in doing that, Akako beat everybody else, even Conan and Aoko by miles, doubtlessly due to her witchcraft.

If it at least had been done with brains and observation, Kaito would feel as if he had lost an honest battle, but when the witch just simply recognizes him by his aura or something similar, he felt as though she cheated. The only thing that left him even worse off is, when she sneaks up on him and suddenly reads his mind.

"Ah, it's not my fault that your thoughts are entirely unprotected." a melodic voice suddenly spoke behind him and Kaito nearly jumped on the next table. Only by summoning all of his acting skills, he managed to reduce his reaction to a mere stiff posture, as he slowly turned on the spot.

Of course, it was Akako who stood right behind him, her short cape and the broach, along with all her fortune telling props, having vanished in a, most probably, very magical way. For a moment, Kaito entertained the thought of trying to deceive her by pretending to be a real waiter, but as he noticed how Akako's gaze turned slightly annoyed as the mere thought flirted through his mind, he decided that it was best to get their unavoidable discussion over with as fast as possible.

"Normal people do not 'protect' their thoughts, as you and other mages do. It's hardly fair that you still read my mind, when there is nothing I could possibly do." Kaito retorted, keeping his voice in pleasant and purely business tones as to stay as much in his role as possible, should anybody listen in on them.

"Oh, but there are lots of things you could do, Kuroba-kun" Akako answered in a playful voice, "Stop thinking, for example, or run away as fast as possible, when you suspect me being around."

"If I did that, I might as well wear a sign saying 'I am suspicious! Please notice me!'" Kaito replied, quickly continuing to talk as to not let Akako make her charming comments, "Talking about suspicious, what are you doing here? If I recall correctly, the last time you visited a Kid heist was months ago. Have you too fallen victim to the thief's charms?"

Akako barely paid attention to the thief's comment "You overestimate your own importance, if you think I only attend such gatherings to stalk you, my dear Kuroba-kun" she answered, completely ignoring his uttered retorts of 'I'm not Kid' "As matters stand right now, I'm here purely on business and not at all interested in you or your precious little gem."

"Oh, and on what business might that be?" Kaito questioned, having grown curious of Akako's so called business. "Are you here to gather herbs?"

The witch only shot a mocking smile back, before she answered in an amused manner "You have absolutely no idea about the world your living in."

Kaito was about to retort something but in this very moment and older gentlemen walked up to them and greeted Akako so effusively as if she were the empress of Japan. In no time he talked about how much they were indebted to the young mistress and soon lead her away to god knows where.

But Akako stopped only steps away from Kaito and turned around, "One last piece of advice, my dear Magician. It seems you've gained a new critic and I sense that they will give you the biggest headache as of yet.

To say Kaito was a bit dumbfound at that, would have been an understatement.

O

Aoko in turn, knew nothing of the curious exchange. She had been busy getting as far away from Akako as possible, not because she despised her classmate, but because she didn't possess the confidence in her acting abilities to face her or anybody else she knew just yet.

Instead, Aoko busied herself by carefully examining the pedestal and glass case, which housed the jewel this time. It was the usual reinforced glass, along with what appeared to be a fine net of wire embedded into it, but aside from that, Aoko couldn't detect any other security measurements.

She was sure that there had to be more than just the special glass case, since Kid had proven time and time again that it was not that easy to stop him, but for the time, her attention was snatched away by the beautiful diamond, she came to protect.

It was a pink diamond. Placed on a rotating lamp which emitted a soft, pink light, the fairy, which was carved into the inside of the diamond, truly seemed as if she were dancing ballet. Aoko had seen many jewels during the many heists she attended, but she had to admit that this one, was one of the best presented ones she had ever saw.

But marvelling over the superb craftsmanship that was necessary to sculpt the little figure of the fairy would bring her no closer to identifying Kid's plans and so she pulled herself away from the pedestal and went to take a closer look at the rest of the building. After all, Kid could hardly steal the jewel if he hadn't concocted any plan to escape and for every plan, you needed proper preparations.

Ascending the stairs, which lead up to the second level of the building, Aoko wanted to get a good look over the whole exhibition hall at first. She discovered some interesting facts from that, namely that Akako apparently had left the room at some point and that most of the people orbited around the area, where the banquet was laid out on two long tables.

That was hardly surprising, considering the high quality of the food, but Aoko was far too nervous to indulge in the pleasure of eating a hearty meal. Instead, she directed her gaze over towards the small and inconspicuous door, which lead to the security room, as she knew from the blueprints. The police deliberately chose to hide it in an, in Aoko's eyes utterly vain, attempt to confuse Kid. But Aoko very much doubted that Kid would wander into the room labelled as 'security control', only to end up in the broom closet.

But aside from this admittedly very childish plan, the police did a good job at securing the main hall. The front door would automatically lock when the alarm was triggered and the windows where bared with an iron grid. The only viable option to flee would be the stairs to the upper level, since the building had no cellar.

Climbing up the rest of the stairs, Aoko was soon faced with a what appeared to be a huge storage room. There were chairs and folded tables stacked up, along with elements to assemble a stage, if the need should arrive. Aoko even discovered a huge cargo elevator, with which you could transport huge masses of chairs and other pieces of furniture down into the great hall.

However, as practical as this feature undoubtably was for the organizers, as convenient was it for the thief. If he was able to lower it just enough so he could slip through the gap, it would make for a superb entrance, but also for a swift escape, should he place his 'old yet trusty winch', as he called it, on the platform.

After all, Kid had done more impressing feats than grabbing a rope that hang a few feet above the ground and let himself get dragged up afterwards. But Aoko wasn't about to rule the possibility out entirely, far from it.

She was convinced Kid would use the elevator for his trick, simply because it made for such a useful tool. If he really chose to escape with it, Aoko couldn't say, but she was sure he would use it, even if only to create a diversion.

So, if Kid's plan hinged upon his usage of the winch, then Aoko had no reason at all to go back down. In fact, it would only put her at a disadvantage, since she could hardly catch him if other police officers always got in her way, nor would it be beneficial for her to stand in the crowd, if she wanted to keep track of things.

"I could exploit this even more" a thought shot suddenly through her mind, "if Kid is dependent on this elevator lowering, wouldn't it be even more beneficial for me to not let it move at all?"

Of course, this would only work, if Kid didn't intend to use the elevator for his Grand Entrance, since he could hardly enter if the drop hole stayed barred, so to speak. But if he relied on the platform to lower itself for his escape. Then he would be in huge trouble.

"However… what if…" Aoko mused, a devious plan forming in her mind. It was a rather risky scheme, but it would catch the thief doubtlessly by surprise and Aoko was confident, that she could make use of this little advantage to overpower the thief.

O

The evening had already started bad, so it could only get worse. At least that was the conclusion Kaito was about to draw, when yet another very impolite head waiter hounded him for his inattentiveness, only because Kaito had not rested on a spot for more than a couple seconds.

Of course, he had done his best to not attract any unwanted attention, but it wasn't that easy to properly scout out a place, if you could only catch a passing glance of things. The pedestal, for example, had a net of thin wires imbedded into the glass, yet he didn't have the time to confirm whether the net was additionally attached on the pedestal or not.

Minor details such as this, trivial to others, bore a heavy importance on the timing of Kaito's plan. He couldn't afford to linger for a second to long or to start a moment to early, or the whole plan would go to ruins. Additionally, Kaito still kept his eyes open for the young woman, he thought was Aoko, but sadly he hadn't been able to spot her.

About to move on to his next objective, Kaito still pondered over the question whether that policewoman really could have been Aoko. Her size and posture were nearly identical, as well as was the tone of voice. However, Akako didn't even bat an eye when the two faced and while Kaito knew the witch could be an ardent actor if she chose to be, it still bothered him that he didn't notice even the slightest sign of recognition.

Additionally, wouldn't Aoko be more careful when choosing a disguise? Last time, she paraded as a guy, who was in build and voice fairly different from Aoko, so she undoubtably was able to completely hide her physical traits.

Not to mention that there still was the issue of the lost jewel from last heists. Was it really Aoko who stole it? But if she did, would the police not make sure that she didn't have it with her, before they would allow her to leave? And would Aoko even be powerful enough to attack him this ferociously?

But if it wasn't Aoko, then who was it? The men in Black? Unlikely, since then they would have pulled out faster. The police? But then why wasn't it mentioned in the newspaper? It would after all earn them a great deal of trust, if they managed to stop Kid without the help of Hakuba or other detectives.

So, was it a third party? But who and more importantly why?

Pondering over those questions, Kaito had made his to the stairs and was about to climb the last flight, when his gaze wandered over the people scattered in the great hall. From up here, shortly before he reached the second floor, he had a good view of the whole room and could make out many details, like the fake 'security control' and the real security room.

"Did those idiots from the police really think of this stupid idea or did somebody else cook this bullshit up?" he wondered, composing a list in his brain of people who might think of something like this. It wasn't a huge portion of the people, but amongst them, he singled out inspector Nakamori for some reason.

He couldn't really explain why, but this seemed just like one of those spontaneous ideas the inspector sometimes had. Most of which were misses, but some were actually quite good. But thinking of inspector Nakamori once again brought Kaito's mind back to the inspector's daughter: Aoko.

"There has to be some way for me to check if Aoko is here!" Kaito groaned inwardly, running his hand through the blonde hair of the wig. "I mean, I can't just call her, she could simply lie to me and I would have no idea, if she was simply standing down there answering her mobile phone"

Resting his head on the railing, heaving a heavy sigh, Kaito suddenly froze. He was a fool. He realized how big of a fool he actually was, since he could very well check, whether Aoko was in this room.

Pulling out his smartphone with quick fingers, Kaito dialled her number and put the device to his ear, keeping a keen eye on the crowd below.

One ring, yet nobody in the crowd moved.

Two rings, but no matter how much he strained his ears, he couldn't detect any ring tone.

Three rings and Kaito even managed to spot all the policewomen in the room, but none of them stirred.

"Hello?" the ringing suddenly stopped and Aoko's overly familiar voice asked in rather suspicious tones, "Kaito? Why are you calling me? Don't you usually open your window and simply cry for me to answer?"

Disappointment, big disappointment came over Kaito, but none of it managed to sneak into his answer "Idiot, have you looked at the clock? I'm not about to wake up the whole neighbourhood. Besides, I'm not even home right now."

"Ah, so that's why you didn't bother me, when I'm watching television?" came the snarky reply and now that she mentioned it, Kaito thought he could hear the TV in the background.

"What are you watching?", he inquired, unable to guess from the little he could make out. But it seemed to be some life event, at least he could hear a mutter of people talking.

Kaito had his sneaking suspicions what this loud chatter could be, but Aoko didn't even beat around the bushes "I'm watching the Kid heist."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." Kaito drawled, the sarcasm heavily dripping from his words.

"You don't believe me? Here, hear for yourself!" Aoko retorted, and after some fabric rustling and some short steps, Kaito could hear the announcers voice loud and clear. "What has Inspector Nakamori, head of the Kid task force, to say?"

"This time, we have made sure to use every resource available to achieve the maximum security that is possible. Kid will stay no chance:" the proud voice of inspector Nakamori came over the speakers, and sure enough, when Kaito looked down, he could see the TV crew interviewing the inspector.

Another rustling and padding noise later, Aoko spoke once more, "Dad should really stop talking like this. It sounds as though they haven't tried for real all this time."

"Aha, you know how your father is, big words, but not all that smart." Kaito a answered with a short fake laugh, before he continued "Ah, but I have to go now, it seems my company is demanded"

"Who in their right mind would demand your company" he could quickly catch Aoko's remark, before he cut her off. But instead of getting back to his task, he simply stood there.

Stood and stared at his phone.

Thinking of where he wanted to be right now.

But for sentiments like this was no time on a heist, so he shoved those thoughts, just like his phone, away and hide them deep in one of his many pockets. Lingering on his spot for a second longer, Kaito regained the composure which would identify a waiter as such and finished the last flight of steps up to the second floor.

The room was barely lit and dusty, as he had left it before. He had been here earlier to familiarize himself with the vicinity and to prepare his tricks. Unwilling to sacrifice the necessary time for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, Kaito pulled out a small flashlight and ventured into the dark. Moving swiftly between the big stacks of furniture and other stuff, Kaito instantly found his way to the control panel of the huge elevator, which he had hidden by draping a piece of dark cloth over it, and once again checked his settings.

He doubted anybody would dare to fiddle around with them, but it was best to doublecheck, if only for the peace of mind. After all, his heist was due in a couple of minutes and he couldn't afford any hiccups in his operation.

After finishing his round with once again hanging the piece of cloth back over the panel, in order to hide the blinking and shining lights, Kaito hurried back to the stairs, worried that he might be too late. Exiting the dark room, he quickly hid the small flashlight and descended the stairs in an upright and proud manner, putting any butler to shame for walking to slobby.

But in his haste, Kaito overlooked his biggest mistake.

O

Aoko had been prepared for Kaito calling her, that was, after all, why she specifically downloaded this app, that lets you talk with somebody and use the phone normally at the same time. She had also been prepared for Kid or somebody else arriving to double check the room, but when these two events nearly occurred at the same time, she barely managed to not stumbled over her own feet as she rushed to hide.

Luckily, the waiter, quite possibly Kid, who came up chose to use a flashlight, thanks to which he ruined his night vision and was unable to spot Aoko, covering beneath one of the stacks of tables.

At first, she hadn't thought much of him, but when he unveiled the control panel of the elevator, which was hidden under a black piece of cloth, she knew something was up. She had searched for the bloody thing for the better part of the last half an hour and had been almost convinced that it purely operated via remote control.

But now discovering that somebody had purposefully hidden it, assured her in her guess that this waiter must be Kid.

After he was done checking whatever it was, he had wanted to check, he left the room again and Aoko slowly and silently, crept after him. For a moment she was blinded by the bright lights outside, but she could see well enough to make sure that Kid was going back down, thus not requiring the elevator for his entrance.

Hurrying back to the control panel, having memorised exactly where it was, Aoko tore the piece of cloth from it and began to quickly scan all the switches and buttons. But she didn't even know what Kid needed the elevator for, so she was reluctant to simply change something, fearing it wouldn't really stop the thief's plan.

"It would be best to simply tear out the whole thing." she guessed to herself, but instead chose not to. If it caused a black out, not only would it alert the thief to her presences, but also causing a mass panic, possibly injuring dozens of people. No, she had no other choice than to leave it operational.

Quickly hurrying back to the flight of stairs, Aoko cast a quick glance at her phone, checking the time and seeing that only two minutes remained. Skittering to a halt in a crouched position at the top of the stairs, Aoko shielded her eyes from the bright lights above and peered over the solid concrete railing down into the hall.

The 'evacuation' had already begun, which simply meant that the guests were gathered at the entrance of the hall, leaving the exhibition case standing solemnly in the other half of the hall, only surrounded by half a dozen task force officers. The rest of the police force were placed below the windows and in front of the crowd, ready to spring at anybody who dared to enter the newly created death zone.

There was one-minute left till Kid's Grand Entrance and the heist was about to begin.

O

With growing anticipation inspector Nakamori stared at the gem's pedestal. They had barricaded the whole room, sealed every door, closed up every window. They knew Kid was trapped.

He had, purposefully, decided against checking everybody's face for a mask, when they let people enter the building. For one, it didn't sit well with most citizens if the police randomly start to pinche your cheek and for two, his goal was not to protect the jewel but to capture Kid.

All the years he chased after the thief. It had always been his goal to capture the elusive magician. To drag him in front of a court and see him locked away, behind thick iron bars. And the incident that occurred last heist, only strengthened this desire.

Ginzo Nakamori was no fool. He knew, Kid was not responsible for the deaths of the officers, even though he pointed Nakamori in the right direction. No, he was the one who made the decision, who trusted the thief and sent his man up to the roof.

And exactly that was the reason why Nakamori was now even more focused on capturing the thief. He had made a mistake. Had misjudged the situation. But that situation could occur over and over again.

Kid was a threat. Not because he bore ill will or spread harm, but because he existed. His presence alone was enough to lure the hunters out of the dark and those hunters didn't care for collateral damage. They were prepared to kill. And the only way to stop them, was to take away their price.

And this price was currently locked in a large box. Trapped amidst dozens of police officers, all eager to catch him. There would be no error this time, of that much Nakamori was convinced.

"Be on your guard!" he shouted, his voice unusually loud as ever, but calm and collected, "the thief will appear every second now."

And true to his credo, as soon as the clock chimed 8 o'clock, the room erupted in smoke. It came from underneath the tables and out of pot plants. Kid hadn't just sat around twiddling his thumps all evening but used his disguise to spread his smoke bombs through the whole room.

Of course, Nakamori immediately ordered for the fans to be turned on and clear the smoke out. But the windows were blocked, the doors bolted and the air vents not working. Instead of dispersing, the smoke was merely blown through the room.

"Curses! Why hasn't anybody thought of that?" Nakamori roared, not expecting and explanation since he knew fully well, whose idea it originally was.

Suddenly, the radio in his hand crackled to life and a voice spoke up "Angle the fan's slightly downwards! It will blow the smoke up to the roof!"

Nakamori didn't know whose voice it was, but since the call came over the police frequency and the idea was good, he pushed all arising questions aside for a later moment.

"Point the fans towards the ground!" he commanded, the fans crews following his instructions and soon enough, the smoke gradually cleared on the ground and gathered instead as a big, black cloud high up in the ceiling.

"Careful! Kid might still use the smoke as cover! Don't let your guard down!" he shouted again, reminding his men to be careful and calling them to order.

For a long minute nothing happened, and the smoke had started to clear out through cracks and slits, gradually dispersing.

Suddenly and without any warning, a shadow fell down from the roof. Landing directly on the glass case, spreading out a big black cloth over it.

"It's Kid! Team 1 get him! Don't let him crack the case!" Nakamori ordered, seeing the men of team 1 immediately spring into action, rushing at the thief kneeling on top the pedestal.

"Careful!" the voice over the radio suddenly ejaculated, "he will escape up the stairs!" Nakamori could only stare at the little device in incredulous surprise. Kid was currently yards away from the foot of the stairs and there were more than a dozen officers who would reach there first.

Ignoring the voice, he watched as team 1 was about to reach Kid, the first about to grab the magician's cape while others readied themselves to climb up to the thief.

But before they managed to get a hold of him, the thief sprang up from his crouch, hovering in mid-air for the fraction of a second before he propelled through the air, directly towards the stairs.

"Team 2, your turn!" Nakamori roared, the moment the thief shot towards the stairs. The officers belong to Team 2 immediately gave chase, reaching the stairs only seconds after the thief, sprinting after the white cape as fast as they could.

"They're too slow!" Nakamori cursed, realizing that the officers, despite their best efforts, weren't able to catch up to the thief. But in that moment, another officer emerged at the top of the stairs and rushed down.

From this distance, it was hard to tell, but Nakamori thought it was one of the rookies that were on their first mission today. He had no idea why they were at the top of the stairs, he certainly hasn't ordered them to be there, since he thought team 2 would surely reach the stairs faster than Kid.

But since that was not the case, their position now proved very valuable, since they cut off the thief's escape. Soon, the thief and the lone officer came to an abrupt halt, only a few steps parting them.

"Why doesn't he charge at him?" Nakamori asked confused and was about to scream at them to get Kid, when he realized what they were doing. Through standing still, they kept the thief at bay, being able to quickly answer to every movement he made. They didn't intend to catch the thief but to buy time for the other officers to reach the trickster.

And soon enough, the first officers appeared behind Kid, rushing and not slowing down. Ginzo Nakamori was exhilarated "They got him! They got him!"

O

Aoko Nakamori was appalled "Those idiots! They'll let him get away!"

She put her hands up, signalling the charging officers to slow down, to stop.

They didn't listen.

She screamed, at them and in her radio, "STOP! Slow down or he will escape!"

They didn't listen.

Not one of them slowed down. Thought through what was about to happen.

Soon enough, the first officer reach Kid, was about to grab him around the waist from behind at full speed. That's when the thief twirled to the side and pushed him forward even more, bringing him out of balance.

Carried forward by the momentum of the reckless charged and brought out of balance by the thief, the officer was unable to stop or turn. He stumbled up the stairs, right at Aoko.

The disguised girl tried to step out of the way with a quick step. She managed, though barely, lacking good footing on the steep stairs. And thus, she was unable to dodge the second officer, who had followed short after the first and was equally played by Kid.

Shielding her body with her arms and immediately crouching down, Aoko managed to avoid the worst damage to herself, only butting her back at the stairs. But the damage was done. The officers who had charged at Kid, now lay flat on the stairs, burying Aoko underneath them.

"Get off me! He will escape!" Aoko screamed, trying to kick the officer on her away. But before she managed to tear herself free, something bounced on the officers back, squashing Aoko even more. She could barely make out the white cape, who fluttered away over her.

But it was not over yet!

Struggling to heave the heavy man, who had hit his head at the stairs and was out called, having escaped a serious head injury only thanks to his helmet, off of her, Aoko soon gave chase.

Her back ached from when it hardly collided with the stairs, her left eye teared from when the officer had smashed into her, but she pressed on.

"If we lose sight of Kid now, he could simply slip on a disguise and vanished in the crowd of onlookers! Then it will be hours till we have checked all of them, giving Kid enough time to escape!" her mind provided, and she forced her legs to run even faster.

But, unknown to Kid, she had still one ace up her sleeves.

O

Kaito was exhilarated! He hadn't expected Nakamori to place a lone officer to guard the top of the stairs and when they blocked his path, he really thought himself screwed for a second. But thanks to the idiocy of the officers behind him, he managed to play them off against each other.

If they had stopped and advanced slowly and coordinated, he would at least have needed to burn a flash or smoke bomb. Now they lay on the stairs, entangled in a heap of legs and arms.

Just picturing Nakamori's face made him giggle slightly. But this giggle was the reason why he didn't concentrate on the stairs. Why he didn't see the trap.

Suddenly, his legs were yanked out underneath him and he fell flat on his face, painfully colliding with the concrete floor. His vision was hazy and blurred from the fall, as he looked down his legs, and saw the thin glimmer of a thread.

Somebody had stretched it between the most upper pillars of the flight of stairs, and he fool had tripped right over it. With a groan, he tried to stand up, only to get knocked down a second later by a task force member, who had plunged on his back.

"I will not let you get away!" a hoarse and out of breath voice screamed, pinning him to the ground.

But Kaito was not about to let himself get captured. He shoved one leg of the officer as far away as he could, why he pushed himself of the ground with his other hand. The effect was that the officer promptly fell off him to the side and Kid quickly got to his feet, no moment to late.

Other officers had managed to reach the struggling pair and they now forced Kid to back away onto the wide balcony, effectively blocking the last flight of stairs up to the attic.

"Surrender Kid! From here it only goes down." one officer urged him, while the wall of men slowly drew closer and closer. Kaito knew there was no way to squeeze himself through between them, no matter how many smoke bombs and flash bangs he used.

But there was still one way left to him. Relaxing his posture, Kid stood straight, facing the men with his usual mock grin.

"I must admit, these were most adamant efforts you took upon yourself today." he spoke in calm tones, though his heartbeat like a jack hammer and his lungs craved for oxygen "but this game will end now."

A maniac grin spread over his face and one officer barely managed to shout, 'He'll jump' before Kid vaulted over the railing, while the room erupted in bright flashes.

O

"Damnit", Nakamori cursed blinking the tears out of his eyes caused by the countless flash bangs, "is this maniac trying to make us all go blind?"

Taking out the radio, he demanded to hear the status and grew increasingly frustrated as every team reported that Kid had vanished.

"To the devil with this prowling prankster!" he hollered about to throw the radio against the nearest wall, but controlling himself in the last moment, "How can he suddenly appear and disappear."

"Sir?" the voice of team 2's leader rang out from the radio "Here is an officer claiming she knows how Kid managed to appear."

"Oh really?" Nakamori asked, already growing annoyed. Why did every bloody officer think he had a clue of what was going on?

A short crackling later, a heavy, breathing voice came over the radio "He was *gasp* disguised as one of the staff, *pant* probably a waiter and placed the *pant* smoke bombs under the *gasp* tables."

A strong coughing interrupted the speech, before the voice once again spoke up, "then he used the smoke *gasp* to cover how he pulled himself up, *pant* using a rope. All that *wheeze* was left was to plunge down *gasp* on the glass case."

"That's mighty possible, but what does it help us?" Nakamori asked, not bothering to hide his foul mood, "He still managed to escape with the stone, didn't he?"

The answer came once again in rasping sounds over the radio "Has anybody *gasp* seen him with the jewel? Doesn't he *pant* normally *pant* show his loot around, before *wheeze* he vanishes?"

This struck Nakamori like lightning. He rushed instantly to the exhibition case and pulled the black cloth down.

A sound of surprise and confusion erupted from the crowd, mimicking Nakamori's thoughts as he stared at the intact glass case, jewel still safe inside it.

"But… why? What… "he stammered unable to comprehend the situation, "Did Kid just flee without taking the jewel?!"

Silence erupted for a long second, before some officers started to cheer, shortly followed by their comrades and the present crowd. The task force members congratulated each other, while the onlookers stared to applaud vigorously.

Amidst the cheerful gathering of policemen, Nakamori stood with a dumbfound expression on his face, staring at the black cloth in his hands.

"Wait! Wait a moment!" a voice suddenly called out and a portly man with bald head and glasses hurried towards the inspector "Maybe that's a fake! Maybe Kid switched the jewel out for a fake! Let me see."

The man, who Nakamori now recognized as the curator, who was specifically hired to attest to the stone's validity, pulled out a key from his breast pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. He motioned for two officers to take the glass case off, nervously twitching his hands.

"Hurry up, hurry up every second is vital if we must chase after Kid!" he reminded them, quickly yet gently grasping the stone once he could. He took out a small pocket lens and peered intently through it at the stone.

Turning it around, over and over, his manner grew even more nervous, before his shrieked in a loud and panicked voice "IT'S A FAKE! IT'S A FAKE! KID HAS STOLEN THE JEWEL!"

What followed was a moment of dumb silence before all hell broke loose. Officers rushed off, dictating orders in their radio, to check for breaks in security. Journalist turned to their camera's uttering the newest headline of the day, while the guest started to chatter in hushed voice about the heist.

Everything was chaos.

But suddenly, over the noise from the TV crews, the muttering of the crowds and the trampling of the policemen's boots, one voice boomed louder and clear:

"KID IS THE CURATOR! HE NEVER STOLE THE STONE, BUT ONLY PRETENDED SO HE COULD NOW COME AND CLAIM IT WAS A FAKE! THEN HE WOULD USE THE CHAOS AND CONFUSION TO ESCAPE THE BUILDING WITH THE REAL JEWEL!"


All rights of Detective Conan go to Gosho Aoyama. Nothing of what you just read is or should be taken as canon and simply serves as a form of entertainment.

Any form of review is highly requested and if you liked this chapter and want to see more, leave a follow or visit my other stories. I do not intend to drop this project, so nothing to fear on that part.

Hope you liked the chapter and till next time.

Farewell