Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.
And here the second day of Suzuki challenge has come. Prepare yourself to be amazed, as Kaitou KID once again crosses the barrier of what is known to be impossible~
As it turns out it's quite good that I had divided this into two chapters, since this way I've managed to pull out more details here~ I really hope you will enjoy this chapter. Also, I've decided to add a small bonus at the end – just to give you a taste of what is still to come…
Unfortunately this chapter is yet to be corrected by my lovely beta-reader, so please excuse any of the mistakes that I might have missed. I will update it as soon as it will be corrected, but I didn't want to leave you waiting for it.
But as always – first the review reply part :)
KingKagura – Do not let me keep you waiting then~
Mists – I'm glad you liked it~ And yes… I felt sorry for the detectives as well… But it surely was fun to write how Kaito dealt with his classmate ;)
Eyeinthesky – well you know, the usual ;) Anyway – I intend to reveal everything very soon (most probably in 2-3 chapters I should cover it all). Hum… More skills? I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. Here I'll give you a display of deduction from another side and the next will finally allow the detectives to chase KID around a bit ;) Hope it will be what you're looking for :)
So without further delay…
Please enjoy and review! :)
Chapter 31: Through the rabbit hole
Since Ran and Conan had to go to school on the following day, Heiji and Kazuha had some free time on their hands. The girl wasn't happy at first, when she heard that the detective planned on doing some investigating. But when she heard what it was about she got interested and decided to give him a hand. Since it wasn't neither anything dangerous or directly connected to Kuroba, Hattori decided to allow her. It didn't turn out to be hard to find out that Kasuga Hachiro – the philanthropist who would be the host of the Friday's heist – had something like a rivalry going on with Suzuki Jirokichi. After some digging the teens discovered that the two men were known to put obstacles in each other way. What the Osakans found more bemusing was that apparently they tended to do it in sometimes rather childish manner. But at least that cleared one mystery of the heists.
Later on, as much as Heiji expected, pressing Kogoro a little resulted in him admitting that he actually didn't go to the toilet at all before the heist. To say it bluntly he lied. Apparently he got lured away by a female fan of his, who he of course couldn't deny giving an autograph. He was however highly disappointed, that the number she gave him in return turned out to be wrong. To the teens' dry amusement he just couldn't figure ou,t if she misspelled it by mistake or on purpose. It took him several tries with variations to the number to finally give up.
Since the detectives didn't have time to talk after the heist, they decided to meet at the Agency after school was finished for the other two. Nonetheless, neither Shinichi nor Heiji expected Saguru to show up with somebody.
"Ran-chan, Kazuha-chan~! I'm so glad to see you! Ah~! Sonoko-chan!" Aoko chirped upon entering, nearly drowning out Saguru's greeting.
She really was her father's daughter judging from the use of decibels, Shinichi mused with dry laugh. It was beyond him however how the Suzuki heiress managed to get along with the inspector's daughter, especially around heists. Sure, they did argue over it a bit, when one of them would get overexcited with their hate/love, but it wasn't as intense as one would expect and they could still chat cheerfully afterwards. Maybe Sonoko was simply glad to have one rival less? Whatever the reason, the girls were obviously busy with each other, exchanging gossips, so that left the detectives to talk a bit more freely.
"I apologize, but when I accidently slipped that Toyama-chan came along with you, Aoko-kun simply started begging to take her along." Hakuba explained abashed by the situation.
"No worries it's fine." Hattori waved off the matter, actually glad that Kazuha got to meet another of her friends. "More importantly I managed to figure out the reason behind the challenge..." he explained his findings, receiving tired sighs for his efforts.
Apparently neither of his fellow detectives were really surprised by Jirokichi's reasons. Even Kogoro, who apparently was half listening to the conversation out of sheer boredom commented on it with a snort.
"Some people clearly have too much money to waste."
Shinichi had his own comment on what he suspected the Sleeping Detective would gladly spend a fortune on. But he decided that any amount of satisfaction wasn't worth another bump on the head so he held back his tongue.
The girls were excited for the heist, each in her own way. They managed to get the detectives to explain them KID's trick from the previous night and the heiress was sure that for that night the kaitou would show them something different and even more mind blowing! And as Shinichi mussed over that assumption… He had to agree that it was very possible.
Thanks to Sonoko's courtesy they had access to blueprints of the building, so they could take a closer look at it.
"Soooo~?" The heiress interrupted them for the dozen time. "Figured it out yet~?"
Hattori glared at her. "How many times do we have to remind you that we're detectives, not architects, you ahou?!" He snapped at her.
Kazuha stepped in angered by her friend. "Heiji! Be nice!"
Sonoko crossed her arms and swaggered. "Yeah! You wouldn't even get to see this if not for me!"
Heiji groaned and rolled his eyes. "But we can't make heads or tails of it if you keep interrupting us!"
Fortunately Saguru was more than used to all sorts of commotion going around him when he tried to concentrate, so even while Shinichi was tiredly watching Ran's attempts to stop those kind of outbursts, he kept on working. The result however wasn't satisfying. On paper it did look like a perfect trap, with no flaws. Once again they regretted that they never had the opportunity to take a closer look around, because one thing was evident... Despite that it seemed impossible, Kuroba did find a way in and would most surely use this advantage to turn the trap into a kaitou playground. After coming to that conclusion, somehow neither Shinichi nor Saguru were sure anymore if they wanted to walk right into it during the heist, although neither had any intention of voicing those thoughts.
Sonoko sighed heavily. Not only weren't the detectives able to figure out the kaitou's way of entrance, they couldn't even make out what his trick would be! And she had such high hopes of surprising KID, by meeting him before the heist started or at least soon after.
"You guys are no help..." she muttered.
Conan laughed dryly, having his predictions about her reaction confirmed. Heiji on the other hand was utterly annoyed by her attitude.
"And how do you expect us to predict how Ku-KID's did it without anything to start with?! Plans are flawless, but you can draw anything on paper! We just have to wait and see. Doubt he can fool us and that's why he took us out yesterday. Today we'll just get in there and ruin his plans, right guys~?" he asked with cheerful tone, hoping that nobody took notice of his little slip.
Sonoko raised her eyebrow. "'Ku-KID'? What's that supposed to mean?" she asked annoyed that it might be some sort of osakan insult.
"Heiji… will you cut it out with your 'Kudo obsession'?" Kazuha complained rolling her eyes and Ran just sweat-dropped.
"I don't have a 'Kudo obsession'…" he muttered back.
"What obsession do you have in mind?" Aoko asked with curiosity.
"Yeah, you do…" The Osakan girl retorted and turned her attention to other girls. "He always makes those slips calling Conan-kun 'Kudo'. He even dressed up as the guy a couple of times! And now he's mixing KID with him..? you're hopeless Heiji…" She sighed.
"That was just for joke! Jeez… You have no sense of humor Kazuha!"
Toyama gave him a flat stare. "Heiji… I've heard that you said that you do it because you miss him so much…"
The tanned teen felt his eyebrow twitch. And how was he supposed to answer to that?!
Later they shared their thoughts and guesses, about what could happen during the second day of the heist. Although nothing was certain, they doubted that the kaitou would try to trick them with planted footage again. He most likely got rid of the detectives the other day, since he wanted to prevent his adversaries from noticing it too fast. There would be little hope this strategy would work again, even if he did manage somehow to get rid of the three again. Aoko was clearly not happy with the thought that KID might have the upper hand again, but she was cheered by Ran who pointed out that since this time the thief would have to face her father's men it would be harder for him. Shinichi smirked, figuring that the end result wouldn't be any different anyway, but he kept it for himself, only sharing knowing looks with Heiji and Saguru.
They arrived at the museum area early, but apparently the building was already closed off again. As for tonight's heist Nakamori had his own plan that included 40 officers, cuffed in pairs guarding the corridors. Apparently he had them training running around in such conditions for some time now and this would be the debut of it. The inspector figured that this way KID would have no way of blending with the crowd. To make matters more complicated for the kaitou, Ginzo had planned out the whole building and ordered the dispatched officers to keep their pursuit only in previously determined areas. This way he hoped to further prevent any confusion, which KID was so fond of, as well as it would keep his men from getting too tired with running after him. The policemen were only allowed to continue their pursuit, if the next group failed to reach them, allowing them to keep constant track of the kaitou's movement. This plan obviously had its flaws as well, but it did seem to be better than Jirokichi's. However…
"What do you mean 'we're not to enter the building'?" Heiji growled in annoyance. "You can cuff me up with Hakuba, so he won't disguise as neither of us and there is no way KID can run around as Conan!"
Nakamori glared at the teen, who was annoying him again. "It means just what I said. The building is closed now and you would get in my men's way anyway. If you want to help out, you're going to agree to not run off anywhere and stay put in the command center, where we can see you at all times."
Ginzo definitely did not want the events of the previous night repeated. Also, although he would not admit it out loud, those boys were awfully perceptive and he could use their insight to what would be shown on the screens during the heist. Hopefully, this way they would be able to notice faster, if KID decided to feed them again with false footage. Having them running around the building would be actually a waste of their abilities. The museum didn't have any hiding spots whatsoever and he dispatched enough men to cover the whole area. In the end it would come down to pure chase and in case of a clash grown men had the advantage of weight and pure strength over the boys.
Saguru internally sighed with relief. He was getting along with Heiji a whole lot better, true. But the concept of running around with him while cuffed together had 'bad idea' written all over the place. With how the Osakan was rash, they were bound to just drag each other around and overall get in each others' way, having a hard time to coordinate their movements. As for Shinichi running alone it didn't sound to him as a good idea either. Although Nakamori was hoping to prevent chaos, it was bound to happen anyway and since it would be the first time that the officers would be in pursuit in such arrangements, they could simply overlook the small boy and trample over him.
Heiji wasn't happy however with Ginzo's decision. There were little chances for them to try and talk with KID that night to begin with, but in this case they would get their chance only if he got caught. Which was not only doubtful, but undesired as well. What's more Hattori was still annoyed after the chat with the girls from earlier and he hoped to blow off some steam during the chase. And hell… he did not come all the way from Osaka, just to be able to watch the whole thing on a screen!
"Oh come on!" he growled with annoyance again. "I'm not some old prick to be sitting on my ass, watching others running!"
Ginzo's eyebrow twitched with anger. "What do you mean by that?! I'm not some old prick either! We're not opening the building and its final!"
"KID is not invisible you know! He won't be able to slip in with me, if you open it just for a moment! Hell! I can get in through that vent, if you're so stubborn about that!"
"Or I can get you banned from here if you don't like my plan, boy! You can all can either follow it or just scram!" Nakamori roared back.
Saguru stepped in his arms raised to calm down both sides. "Maa, maa… There's no need for that." He threw a pointed look at Heiji and turned back to Ginzo. "More importantly inspector I was curious, did you leave the vent open?"
Nakamori huffed, focusing his attention on the blonde, while Shinichi nudged Hattori to get his attention and give him a disapproving glare. Sure he did understand his friend's reasoning, but getting them into trouble over it wouldn't help them at all. They just had to wait for their chance on the next night, where it should be easier to move around unnoticed.
The inspector hummed and leaned closer to Hakuba, not willing to be overheard, before replying quietly. "Yeah we did. We even left the same observers as yesterday, but after KID will show up, they will be replaced by my men who will seal the vent with an iron blind. So if that's his getaway plan, he'll find himself trapped." he explained, hoping to get the bright boys' opinion about it.
Kogoro, who was listening to the exchange mildly interested till this point, leaned in as well to overhear the plan and now hummed, with the tone he used when he tried to appear more bright. "Hm… That should work, but only if he actually plans to use it."
Despite that it was an obvious statement Ginzo didn't try to argue with it. Instead he sighed. "Yeah, I know that. But I had a team searching for another entrance through the entire night and came up empty. I guess it is possible, that he did disguise himself as one of the guards yesterday and my men to enter today, but if we do it right today, he won't be able to use it to get out this time. So unless KID has a way to burst the doors open, his only way out will be the vent. I'll have men keeping heavy guard at entrances as well of course, but I would be surprised if he just tried to waltz out there like that."
Shinichi narrowed his eyes and turned to a screen, showing the interior of the building. This was the biggest question about the heist. He wondered how probable it was that KID blended with the team who investigated the building at night. Highly. But he saw at the blueprints that external walls of the museum were very thick and reinforced. All he would be able to do, was to set up some traps and tricks. Conan hummed. Then again Nakamori could be wrong about his getaway. If Kuroba would be careful, he should be able to prepare a trick that would swoop away the guarding police officers, without causing them much harm and walk out the main door, in all fame and glory that would impress his gathered fans. He let out a dry chuckle as his imagination ran lose and he pictured KID walking into the crowd to give out autographs, before the police would free themselves from anything he unleashed at them prior. Thankfully that was a very unlikely scenario. No matter how it would frustrate his pursuers, if he actually did that.
The fans started gathering in larger amount an hour before the previous heist had started. Since the kaitou didn't specify the time he would come, it was assumed that he would make his appearance at 7 PM as well. It was of course likely that he neglected stating the time to keep his pursuers at high alert at all time, but it could as well be simply the means to gain an element of surprise, so he would come at a different hour. Either way his fans were ready to wait as long as they had to and were content enough to see that the sheath hasn't been stolen before they arrived.
This is why there was only nervous silence instead of the countdown, when only few seconds were left to the expected hour. Four pairs of officers stood with their backs to the walls of the display room, their eyes focused on the pedestal. Suzuki didn't agree to have the sheath held by any of them, as he not only wanted to capture KID, but also have him make a good show. Flawlessly, when Hakuba's clock struck 7 PM the area around the building got filled with cheers, as the fans saw the pedestal get covered by the familiar white smoke and they soon saw the elegant kaitou boldly emerge from it. The officers, unlike the guards from the night before, didn't intend to give him the time to bow to his public and two opposite pairs launched at the thief in foul attempt to catch him. KID shot his grappling hook at the ceiling and swung above their outstretched hands, dropping headfirst at closed door before him. Two remaining pairs as trained ran at him. Just before the view was once again limited by smoke, both them and the public observing on the monitors, saw the kaitou take out a wobbly object from his pocket and throw it at the door, where it stuck forming a perfectly back circle. With a second delay the smoke appeared on the other side of the door allowing the officers there and camera lenses catch the sight of KID running out of it, with the dark object back in his hand. He flipped over the surprised guards and continued running. The officers inside were found that the door was still locked. As per instructed upon opening the obstacle only two pairs of the officers left the room and joined the chase, the other two left behind to make sure KID really left the display room this time. In the mean time, the kaitou lead on the chase after him, avoiding his pursuers either with his stunning acrobatics, or when it was impossible using the strange object to throw it on walls or doors to pass through them, with aid of his smoke bombs.
"What the hell is going on there?!" Nakamori roared to the radio, over shouting the monitor operators, doing their best to coordinate the officers. "Are you really seeing him?"
"Y-yes, sir!" An officer gasped out, not wasting his breath for further explanations.
"But how…" Ginzo frowned, his eyes flicking between the screens that showed where the kaitou have passed.
"He must have installed some kind of sliding door, planted on the walls around there." Kogoro replied, keeping focus on KID as he made a particularly demanding flip.
"Preposterous! How do you expect he's done that?" Jirokichi demanded.
"And what do you suggest? That KID is actually passing through solid objects with a portable black hole?!" The Sleeping Detective countered.
Shinichi frowned, still scanning the monitors with his piercing gaze. It did sound like the easiest solution, but it would be impossible for KID to conceal from discovery so many passages. Especially not from the recent inspection. The display room was checked in particular, by any means possible, save from tearing down the walls and researching each brick separately. One, or two passages outside of the room Kuroba might have been able to conceal, but up until now the kaitou repeated the trick six… seven times! Shinichi smirked seeing him do it once again. There had to be another explanation to it.
Meanwhile Ginzo had ordered the operators to try and coordinate his officers to herd the thief into a room with particularly thick walls, while keeping on pushing him away from external walls, with the help of nets that KID obviously tried to avoid. Their efforts resulted with an unexpected outcome. While the kaitou was forced into the desired place he tripped, most likely out of fatigue and had to use his grappling hook to avoid falling over. Unfortunately, it broke the lights in the room. This apparently surprised the thief as well, as he dropped his smoke pellets too fast this time. Then, when the smoke dissipated a moment too soon, the viewers before the screens were shocked to see KID's hand emerge from a black spot on the wall and rip the mysterious object off, pulling it inside! The dreaded screams from the officers, who witnessed it with their bare eyes and stumbled backwards at the sight, was enough of proof that this was no false footage shown to the audience. As previously KID emerged soon afterwards on the other side, but unfortunately he did so before another team could reach that area.
Remembering the trick from the night before the monitor operators were leading separate teams in all directions KID could run to, in order to avoid sending the officers on a goose chase. But with the use of his portable black hole the kaitou managed to end up in a corridor leading to the exit, without anybody on his way to stop him! The teams outside braced themselves for the possible encounter.
"Shut the iron bars now!" Jirokichi barked at his few men, responsible for security.
"Say what?" Ginzo snapped his gaze at the old man, who grinned widely.
"You didn't think that I didn't have anything more in store, did you?" He laughed haughty to which Nakamori just grumbled something about sly bastards who couldn't cooperate with the police, even if their lives depended on it.
With loud clatter the compact bars fell into place, fast enough to cut the kaitou from his freedom. Before reaching it KID rapidly turned on his heel towards the camera. Without stopping and with a wide grin on his face, he threw the wobbly object, covering the lens. The monitor went black and suddenly the team in the barrack could hear shrills of excitement outside. An officer burst into the command center panting.
"Inspector! KID just jumped out of the main monitor!"
"He did what?!" The gathered men pushed the poor officer outside only to get a glimpse of the white glider flying away with the kaitou still waving down to his excided fans.
Their attention was brought back into the barrack by a yelp from the speakers. Apparently one of the officers who were chasing KID managed to reach the place where the thief was last sighted and took back hole thingy off the camera, as the monitor was no longer black and showed four men standing around a smoldering and disappearing round object. Recollecting himself Nakamori pulled out a radio and ordered a chase after the glider, although he didn't have high hopes of catching it.
"So… what the hell did just happen here? How did he do it?" he asked tiredly all of the gathered there, without looking at them.
'If you rule out the impossible…' Shinichi gasped, his eyes turning round and wide. "He didn't!" yelled out, focusing his attention back on the screens. "It's still not finished!"
"What do you mean boy?" Suzuki demanded, unsure what to make of it.
"It must have been a dummy that flew away." He mumbled without giving much attention to his words. "KID had no way of transferring himself through the screen, meaning he didn't. He's probably still lurking somewhere inside!"
"Keep radio silence!" Nakamori ordered. "You!" He pointed at one of his officers. "Take somebody with you and tell the men at the door to not pay mind to what I say through the radio. I want KID thinking we fell for it. He probably tapped onto our connection as usual, so we might try to use it against him this time. I want everybody to stay on high alert, despite of what I'll be saying next!"
"Yes sir!" The officer saluted and ran out to pass the plan.
"But where is that sly bastard..?" Kogoro growled, his eyes flicking between the screens, sliding of the cuffed officers inside, trying to confirm if everyone had a pair.
"Maybe he's using false footage and is hiding actually in plain sight?" Suzuki suggested.
The detectives wondered. While this wasn't impossible, it would be highly risky considering how many men Nakamori had inside. They weren't able to cover the whole place at once of course, but they were constantly walking around. Saguru gasped figuring out the one possibility.
"What is it Hakuba-kun?" Nakamori asked and everybody turned their full attention to the Brit.
"Ah well-" he cut himself off. What if his deduction would lead to Kuroba getting captured? If he was right, the magician was a sitting duck now. But Kaito did say before that he did not wish for them to go easy on him, did he not?
"Well, spit it out boy!" Jirokichi urged him.
Coming to a conclusion Saguru gave a nod. "I had a feeling that this time around it was him again who was deliberately leading the chase, instead of being pushed. He had everything staged. Meaning he wanted, no he needed to end up in that particular spot. He had too little time to get out of the corridor without getting noticed, meaning he didn't. He's still there, just like Conan said. Around the spot where we saw him last."
Kogoro raised an eyebrow and turned back to the screen, seeing nothing that indicated that the kaitou was still there. "What do you mean? He has somehow blended with the officers?"
Heiji gasped, understanding what Saguru meant. "No! He isn't in plain sight. He has a hideout there!" His gaze flickered around the screen. "He could have hollowed the wall, or even better the floor. That is not reinforced, is it? And it would be overlooked easily by any search that wasn't directed at it. If he managed to make enough space for him to fit in, it would be easy to hide it with a floor tile! That way he could wait there as long as he wanted and leave without getting noticed, when the coast would be clear again." Why haven't he thought about it?
"That is plain nonsense!" Suzuki snorted. "Just when would he be able to make something like that?"
"It would require a lot of effort…" Conan agreed. "But it's not impossible. Who knows? He could have had it done while this place was still in construction, so now he only had to repair any damage that might have occurred to it..." He trailed off wondering about another possibility this lead to. One that would explain how Kuroba got into the building.
Nakamori frowned, already forming a tactic in his mind that would allow him to exploit that situation best and didn't pay much attention to the expression on the child's face. If the bratty detectives were right this was his chance to capture the thief once and for all. He pushed away a question what would he do without KID around. He picked up the radio to his mouth.
"Alright, inside teams, first confirm that everybody has a pair. Then I want you to scout the building carefully, in case this damned thief is lurking in a corner somewhere behind a white screen." In the end KID did use a technique like that numerous times and it wouldn't hurt to check, especially that he had to give some reasonable orders to his officers. "But I want a pair keeping watch over the remains of the… whatever it was, that black something. Report in when you're done." Turning off his radio he spoke to the monitor operators. "Cut the big monitors. I don't want any accomplices of KID to keep him informed. We will cut the cameras before we get inside as well. I want him blind and confused as much as possible."
The men did as ordered, but Jirokichi grimaced, not happy with the solution.
"I don't mind you cutting the view to the public for now, but I will not agree to shutting the cameras off entirely! Especially since we can cut transfer process and just have them set on recording."
Nakamori held back a growl and did his best to keep annoyance from his tone. He only half succeeded in that. "With all respect sir, we can't leave even the slightest possibility that KID will manage to avoid this somehow and keep a view over what the cameras record. And as long as they are connected to the network we can't rule out that possibility."
"Well, I didn't pay for this construction to have the best moment undocumented!" he retorted crossing his arms.
Ginzo growled grinding his teeth when Hakuba cut in. "Maybe we could get a compromise? It shouldn't be that much of a problem to get a hold of few cameras without any network connection and give them to the teams who will enter the building. That way everything would be documented, even if with lower quality. I mean it still would be better to have it poorly filmed, rather than losing the opportunity altogether, right?" He added, seeing the advisor already opening his mouth to deny the idea.
Suzuki frowned wondering about it. After a few moments he turned to one of his men. "How long would it take you to put the building cameras back on?" He could deal with a loss of few first seconds in high quality after all.
"Well, if we shut them off completely it will take roughly 30 seconds for us to get them back up." An operator supplied them with an answer after a moment of consideration.
Jirokichi grimaced not really happy with what he heard, but knowing that it was pointless to try and force a better result from the poor man. "Alright. I'll agree to this, but only if you can get two camera on each team you will dispatch there."
Relieved Ginzo didn't try arguing and gave a short nod, before running out of the barrack to give out orders, while avoiding radio contact. By the time the cuffed officers reported that they secured the building and failed to find any signs of KID, Nakamori had everything ready.
This time the detectives were allowed inside, alongside with the adults, since the inspector figured that they might come in handy in case the kaitou left something unexpected behind. He allowed the cuffed officers to take a little break outside, after having them checked once again. With them gone Nakamori, along with the detectives and two officers tried to find a possible hiding spot, with Jirokichi and Kogoro watching them work, but… they came out empty. Even trying to move each and every tilt didn't give any results.
"See? I told you, you were wrong! There was no way for KID to have dug around my building without getting noticed!" Jirokichi pointed out with satisfaction.
But this didn't feel right. What other explanation could there be? This just had to be the answer! Kuroba wasn't a real phantom, no matter how skilled, he was a human and the place was constructed as the perfect trap. Conan bit the inside of his cheek, slowly walking around, with his gaze focused on the floor to find something, anything that could give him an answer, while Saguru and Heiji were busy checking the ceiling. Accidently he caught a glimpse of his Detective Badge's LED light blink pattern distortion. He frowned and walked on, the distortion vanishing. He went back and found the one spot where the light did not act natural. He smirked when he raised his gaze and noticed that he was right next to the camera. The sly bastard… He grinned at the floor under his feet. Now there was only one question left – was the kaitou still there, or did he escape already. He knew that KID didn't tend to leave anything to chances. He turned his gaze towards the inspector who was bickering with Jirokichi.
"Nee, Nakamori-keibu?" he called out with his childish tone and started pointing at the tilt under his feet when he got the attention and took out the oddly blinking light. "Do you really think KID is still around?" he asked with as much innocence, as he could utter.
The gathered men silenced and stared at the child, shocked that the deduction turned out to be true. Conan leaned down and placed his blinking Detective Badge beside his feet, before walking away. As nobody seemed to be capable of answering Heiji decided to play along.
"Well you know him~ Always doing some stupid stunts, just for kicks~" he teased just in case Kuroba was actually listening.
"Electromagnetic field..?" Hakuba mumbled under his breath, too softly to have his voice carried away, when his shrunken friend was passing him. Shinichi gave a nod to that.
And this carried some impediment. Undoubly KID had some sort of a remote that shut the power of the magnet off, allowing him to easily open the passage, but making it hard to open without it. The question was, if the kaitou was using an external battery for it, or did he tap to the building's electricity. If he did the latter, he wouldn't have to worry about battery failure and could allow the trick to wait any amount of time for him to use it. And taking into account the light trick he did the previous night, it was highly possible that he did mess with the electricity at some point anyway. Meaning, if they cut the power off, they would most probably be able to open the possible hideout. Nakamori pulled one of his officers closer to whisper something to his ear, before sending him and his colleague off, while keeping an eye on the marked tilt. When they left the sight, he walked towards it and secured his fingers around the tilt, bracing himself for the lights to go off. Conan took his position nearby and turned on his light watch, directing the beam between Nakamori's hands. Everybody held their breath and once it suddenly got dark the inspector pulled, easily tearing the piece off the floor, reveling a wide, empty space beneath. Saguru breathed out a laugh, disbelieving at what he saw. A few seconds later the lights went back on, as instructed.
Relying on his small form, Shinichi jumped into the hole, discovering that it was actually a narrow tunnel, with a wire hanged on its upper side. There were tracks of dragging on the bottom, indicating that undoubtly the kaitou pulled himself all the way through. Most probably using some sheet of material, to prevent his white suit from getting dirty. Without waiting for permission Conan ran through the tunnel, deaf for the men ordering him to return. To his displeasure, he found that the exit was hidden in a particularly dense path of nettles, which stung him on his unprotected hands and face. Bemused he had a feeling that Kuroba most likely predicted that either him or Hattori would have fallen for this small trap. Bastard really earned this time to get hit with a soccer ball.
In the meantime, others investigated the fastening mechanism of the tunnel. KID apparently prepared four small electromagnets and placed them on the edges of the hole. The tilt had not only metal plates on its sides, but also had its entire bottom covered with a foil. Heiji guessed that it was most likely magnetic shielding material, which would explain why the magnetic field was so weak and was able to affect the sensitive LED light onl10y from a very short distance. They guessed that KID used a similar way for his portable hole trick and the place was most likely filled with short tunnels. Unfortunately, because of the shielding material finding the passages wouldn't be easy. Saguru figured a solution to that. Using an iron nail and a string he claimed that it would act as a water wand if allowed to swing freely.
When Conan returned and Nakamori's men finished with photographing the hole and tunnel they closed it again. As predicted the nail changed its swing pattern while near the field and with it would be laid near the tilt, the nail would slowly roll towards it. This was a painfully slow method, but Ginzo and Jirokichi had more than enough men power to search the place fast and within an hour they had all of the building scouted and ended with finding more passages, than KID used during his performance.
The power was cut off once again for a moment to allow all of the tilts to be lifted. Surprisingly only one of them could be completely detached from the ground. It was the one in the display room, which hid another exit tunnel. Saguru was bemused to find out later that this one lead to a place around the area, where he was left with the two officers tied up to a tree on the previous day. If only he was awake enough to search the area in detail after he woke…
The other tilts were attached to the floor on hinges hiding, as expected, short passages padded with material, which prevented the kaitou from getting dirty and made sliding through easier. In these the electromagnets not only held the tilts in place, but also its supports. With the power cut off the plates could be easily pressed inside, as well as pulled outside, making it theoretically possible to jump in and slide under the wall, as KID apparently did. A set of springs made the tilts click back into position when left alone.
This however required for the kaitou to somehow navigate in the monochromatic passages minutely. The tilts were too narrow to allow him even a slight margin of error. Despite the officers proudly claiming that THEIR thief was fully capable of such a feat, the detectives had their doubts. Kuroba might have had a very detailed memory, but even is his somehow exceeded theirs, it was still impossible. Not without any types of even the slightest markings and while keeping focus on his pursuers. Especially near the end of the chase, when he must have been already tired, no matter how fit he was. However since they couldn't find any types of hidden markings around the plates, or in their close proximity, they had to settle for a guess that he had some kind of a device that did the work for him. Most likely one that made sound, as he got near his escape.
Judging by the amount of passages and how well they were hidden, it would have been impossible for the kaitou to prepare them after the challenge was dispatched. At least not without aid of heavy (and noisy) equipment. Meaning he had to have them prepared long before Jirokichi acquired 'Karmazsin Tőr', most likely during construction of the building. There was no way to determine whether KID made them himself, or had someone do it for him, but regardless this was define proof that the kaitou kept a close eye on Jirokichi's actions. This conclusion had the old man grinning, glad to be acknowledged by the thief as worthy rival.
"I have only one questioning remaining..." Heiji sighed and spared a grin to a surprised officer, who was standing guard, after he managed to crawl out of the kaitou's tunnel.
The police had still some work to do inside and Kogoro stayed behind to give interviews to the press. Because of Conan, the detectives didn't want to take part in it, so they gave a slip to the adults, after informing Mouri that they would wait for him with the girls. Before anyone could stop them they were already in the tunnel.
Saguru snorted and replied, as they were walking away from the stunned man. "Only one?"
"Well only one that's nagging me right now." Heiji replied with a smirk before huffing. "I just can't figure out where Kuroba gets his ideas-"
Hakuba cut in with alert, angered at the Osakan. "Shh! Seriously! What is wrong with you and your slips?"
Hattori looked with surprise at the Brit. "Huh? What's your problem? It's only suspicious if you act like it is!"
"Well judging from the girls' reactions previously, you don't manage it well." Saguru growled back, casting a look around, in case anybody was close enough for them to be overheard.
Heiji glared at him, but Shinichi decided to cut in. "It's alright, Hakuba. Really." He tucked his hand in his pockets and shrugged seeing that he had their attention. "It does sometimes turn into some trouble, but... Well, you know, it's nice to be called by my real name every now and then and not only in concealed places." He didn't add that it made him feel at least a little more normal. Like he wasn't actually hiding. But he didn't have to say it.
Saguru's expression softened. "I see..." He wondered, if the shrunken teen wanted him to as well loosen it up sometimes, but decided to leave it for later. "Sorry about it then… And as for your question... Well, I'm not sure if I want to risk my sanity by attempting to understand Kuroba's way of thinking."
The other two snorted to that, before Shinichi replied with a hum. "You know, I think I actually was familiar with what happened today? I think I saw it a couple of times in an American cartoon when I was a kid. I think it was a running gag of sorts..." He tried to recall the tiny detail from his past.
Hakuba clucked his tongue. "Ah! I believe you're right! I think it was from Warner Bros cartoons? They were quite popular in England when I was little. Didn't pay much attention to cartoons back then, but I did see a few episodes."
Conan snorted. "Well anyway, I guess he's the only guy to watch a reality bending cartoon and consider repeating it~"
Heiji chuckled. "And succeeding at it~ It really did look like he jumped through the walls with the help of that round sticker~"
"Yeah, especially with that projector that showed a footage of his hand reaching out of the wall~" Shinichi recalled, not even trying to conceal his excided smile. "I knew it was suspicious when he 'accidently' broke the lights. It was just too convenient! But it still blew my mind~"
"Maaan… I just can't get over it that I didn't get to see it in person!" Hattori moaned, annoyed again that he was denied the access to the building for the heist.
Saguru gave him a compassionate look. "Well, we will get our chance tomorrow, so don't worry about it too much. I'm sure he has something interesting in store." Then again, he wasn't sure if he was personally happy about that possibility.
The Osakan smirked, apparently content enough. "Meh, true enough. Still too bad that the badge Kuroba showed you yesterday was a dud. I doubt he will make it easy for us to catch up with him tomorrow~"
Conan chuckled. "Would it be fun any other way~?" He sighed and checked his glasses for a stray signal again, still hoping that Kaito actually had a real badge and would use it to lure them to his location. "Well, no matter. There's three of us and he's bound to be tired after preparing those two unexpected heists. You did manage to secure our passages for tomorrow, right Hakuba?" he added casting the blonde a glance.
"Yes I did, it was no problem at all. But I wonder about the unexpected part, considering how well prepared he was. And I am more than certain that he expected this to turn out into a two-day event before he laid his eyes on the treasure."
Heiji rolled his eyes. "From what you told me about the old guy, I think he would be surprised, if one of the pieces didn't turn out to be a dud." He shook his head. "But to spend a fortune on constructing such monstrosity… Jeez… It's a good thing Kuroba kept a closer eye on his actions. This guy really is obsessed with KID, isn't he?"
Hakuba failed to conceal a snort. "Well, you would know a thing or two about obsessions, wouldn't you?" he teased, referring to what he overheard in the morning.
Hattori held his breath for a moment, surprised by the taunt, before bursting out. "Yarouba, you AHOU!"
In good moods they soon joined the girls, who were excited about what they saw during the heist. Even Aoko had hard time not admitting that KID trick of that night was stunning. With pleads and threats they made the detectives explain them how the kaitou managed to pull it all off.
To say Kaito was tired was an understatement. He would surely love to go back in time and kick himself, for even whining about being tired after a heist. What he was experiencing now was nowhere near those times… Sure, he was able to go on with little sleep and grew used to it during his time working as a kaitou, but he still needed a full night sleep every now and then. And as for now, the last time he had an opportunity to do just that, was before he left on his undercover mission.
To make matters worse because of that blasted old man he didn't get any sleep at all since he announced the challenge. Sure, he was grateful to the guy for presenting him with something so hard to get, but couldn't help himself from being annoyed by how Jirokichi had played him to show off before his rival. And he was angry for not being able to say what he thought of it, so he figured that just this time Kaitou KID wouldn't hurry with returning the treasure. Just to let the guy sweat in worry for a little while.
Ironically, Jirokichi's challenge gave the magician another reason for not canceling the 'Dresden Green' heist. Since if he didn't go, it would be playing right into Suzuki's hand. And that was the last thing Kaito wanted. So instead of taking it easy for tonight Kaito had to fit himself into a tight dress and slapped on a female mask. And that's why he was now pretending he was listening to his 'husband' boasting off in front of other guests.
The magician had another problem aside for tiredness… He was hungry as well. He had very little time, busy with not only preparing for the latest heists, but also closing his other mission, without raising any suspicions, which left him with hardly any to spare for a meal. He was nearly certain he ate something during the last two days. He had trouble recalling what it was, but there was something. Hopefully… Unfortunately this wasn't the case for the whole Friday. He barely managed to grab a small bite in the morning. He didn't pay much attention to it, since he was sure he would be able to eat something more nutritious at the party. But although there were multiple deliciously looking fancy snacks on the other side of the ballroom, he wasn't allowed to have any. The bastard, he was paired with for tonight, had the nerve to make snarky comments about his 'wife's' chubby sides each time Kaito attempted to put something into his mouth and since the guy was not letting his eyes of his partner, there was very little the magician could try and munch on. The kaitou would have gladly got rid of this nuisance, happily stashing his unconscious body in the toilet, or better yet – in the tight vent of the mansion, but he couldn't! There were three hawk-eyed reasons for it, casting him suspicious glances every now and then, which forced Kaito to keep his act up and cling to the lustful man. And this was plain torture!
Sure he would love to just drop the act and go to his detectives. This would ruin the fun, but maybe, just maybe they would allow him to satisfy his hunger and even let him to get some rest, before the heist started. But then they would ask him questions then, which he didn't want to answer just yet. First he had to sort out all he has found out and maybe follow a lead or two, before facing them. Also… it would be already asking for much, if they didn't turn him in, after discovering who he was disguised as. He couldn't really hope that they would just cover for him and allow to go on with his heist. And there was no way he could back out. 'The Dresden Green' rarely left it's country and he definitely didn't feel like traveling to Germany to check it some other time. He didn't even know German! This was just too big of an opportunity to let it pass. So, if he had to suffer a bit for it, so be it.
It was such a shame that those filthy rich people, who enjoyed treating him as a trendy pastime didn't offer him a pursue-free event, where he would be treated as a guest of honor and simply show off his magic, in exchange for borrowing the gems. Well, to be honest he wouldn't accept such an offer, even if somebody tried it. Kaitou KID wasn't your everyday magician for hire. Normally Kaito would even feel offended, if he ever heard about something like that. But now... well it did sound like an appealing idea...
The magician suppressed a sigh and wondered, if it would be fine for him to get back at the 'husband' after he finally ditched the disguise, when the guy in question took advantage of his distraction and grappled his ass. Kaito reinforced his Poker Face to prevent himself from so much as stiffening in response (or preferably lashing out at the man) and internally cursing the woman he was disguised as, he cast him a, what he hoped looked like, flirtatious smile. Just why on Earth did some women like to be treated like that?! And more importantly, why did Kaito end up as disguising himself as one? Oh right… It was because he didn't have enough time to find someone else he could come as, leaving them safe at home, without rising any suspicions. He just didn't have time to make a full research for this and this couple apparently had some marriage problems, which they refused to show in public. Making them not only easy, but also a perfect target for the kaitou. He only regretted that he couldn't chose to go as the guy instead, but he was unfortunately too high for Kaito to disguise as efficiently. So about the revenge… The thief glanced at the man. Kaitou KID was a gentleman, right? So it would be more than appropriate for him to defend a woman's honor. With that in mind the magician felt a little better and could go on to plan how exactly he would execute his revenge~
He desperately tried not to think about his poor shape. Not only was he tired, but apparently from his hunger he also felt nauseous. He already had a few close calls, where he feared he would puke on his 'beloved husband'. Would serve him right actually… But that would also pull too much attention to his person. And with those three freaky radars, he couldn't even go to the toilet in peace! Jeez! Fortunately his partner for the night was apparently overprotective and followed his 'wife' everywhere, efficiently blocking Hakuba from cornering the kaitou, as he left the restroom. At least one positive side about the guy… Although it was surprising. Weren't they quarreling? Meh, most probably he simply wanted to prevent his wife from talking with anybody and air her woes to them. He dismissed the unrest it caused as soon as it came.
As time went on the guy turned more and more persistent, about keeping his eyes on his 'wife'. And to make matters more annoying he also started making jokes, about how Kaito was shy with drinking his drinks, undoubtly unwilling to show off her more 'liberated' side. Fortunately the kaitou was skilled enough to fake most of what he's 'drunk', but he did have to swallow some of it and it didn't do well on his empty stomach.
Thankfully there was only half an hour left, until he would ditch his disguise. At that point he wasn't even thinking anymore about his revenge. He just wanted it all to end, so he could go to his hideout and sleep. Then eat… No matter how bad his stomach was hurting him, rest had to come first. And as if the nausea wasn't enough, he was starting to get dizzy. He shook his head and felt the whole world spin. And wasn't it hot in there..? He could swear that the air just felt too thin for him to breathe. His mask was the only thing that prevented from others to see that he was covered in cold sweat. He had to get some air. Kaito moved his stare to the balcony door and tried to go that way, when he felt a tug on his arm. He spared a glance at the man holding him. He reinforced his Poker Face once again and asked for permission to get out for a moment. Only then was when he truly focused on his 'husband'. His eyes grew wide, when it finally hit him that he was wrong all the time. His predatory edge to the man's smile wasn't because of his lustful nature and the nasty feeling Kaito was getting wasn't due to disgust that he felt towards his wife. It was far more ominous… It was pure hate.
The magician pulled his arm desperately again, trying to get free, but the man just murmured something he didn't quite catch. Most likely ridiculing his wife's actions again. This was bad… It wasn't yet time for KID to appear, but it didn't seem Kaito had any more time to waste, with the guy trying to drag him off somewhere. When the guy decided to drag him somewhere, the thief slipped out a synergy, he had hidden on his dresses' strap just in case he needed an energy boost and injected himself with it. Before the guy could process that something was going on, his vision and everybody's around got cut off with pink smoke.
And how do you like the taste of the next chapter~? I do know how you just love those cliffhangers *wink*
Hope you liked the chapter – if you did, do consider leaving me a comment? I don't expect any trouble, so expect this story to be continued within a week~
See you next chapter *grins*
