Reports
Kid briskly ran his thumb across the thick stack of files – the soft sound of papers slapping against each other loud against the silence – before spreading them across the floor in one swift motion. Even after the removal of the files, his satchel is still bulging with god knows what kind of tricks and traps. The pile, however, were genuine police copies.
"How did you get these?" Conan asked, but the thief didn't answer. Kid diverted himself away from the question, instead stating, "These are police reports about my heists and cases that involve me. We should find something in there. My assistant told me that the Inspector was looking deeply troubled when he placed it on the rooftop for me to find."
Conan dropped the question and began to scan through the files – relief at the sight of actual leads nibbling at him, underneath the underlining stress that came with the extremely large pool of suspects. He knew that he couldn't afford to miss a clue. Even just one. Because gods, that could cost Ran her life, and he can't have that.
Never.
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April 1 XXXX – Attempted theft Black Star
April X XXXX – Theft of Black Star
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September 12 XXXX – Theft Givenchy Necklace
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October 26 XXXX – Theft Silver Crow
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November 4 XXXX – Attempted theft Falcon Earring
November 5 XXXX – Theft Falcon Earring
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December 23 XXXX – Theft of Red Child
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June 2 XXXX – Attempted theft of Alexandria
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In front of him, the aforementioned criminal was sitting – splayed in an uncharacteristic, un-Kaitou-Kid-like slouch. The only trait pointing to the alter ego within the teen were the sharp, indigo eyes swiftly scanning through and analyzing the documents; indigo eyes, Conan realized, that resembled his own. "Hey, aren't these a little strange?"
"So you noticed it too?" Kid replied flatly.
"None of the reports here mentioned the attempts on your life, which is big news."
"It's not just that." Kid leaned forward, papers rustling against the strumming beats of raindrops as he handed some of the reports he'd been scanning through to Conan. "They've been manipulated. There were snipers that left quite a mess during the Givenchy Necklace, the Falcon Earring and the Alexandria heists. They fired from the windows. Sometimes walls. They fired from distant buildings, and the squad knew this. Inspector Nakamori knew this. But if you read these – " he paused.
Conan took the papers from the Kid and leafed through it.
Case Number: 0286
Date: 12 September XXXX
Reporting Officer: Officer Takawara
Incident: Theft
Weapons/ Objects Used: Gas masks, bullet-proof vests, helicopters, spotlights, police cars, glass safe, security laser system
On September 11, XXXX, at approximately 17:10, kaitou 1412 sent a notice to the HQ (via delivery man) addressed to Inspector Nakamori, saying that he will steal the Givenchy Necklace from the Beika Museum on September 12, XXXX, at exactly 20:30
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At exactly20:29, the entire floor was engulfed in sleeping gas
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Several bullets were fired from the vent, damaging several museum properties, just before kaitou 1412 descended into the crime scene from the source of the attack. Squad members Ogino, Tadano and Yamamoto were grazed at the arm, forehead and shin. The weapon used to fire could possibly be a machine gun, judging by the amount of bullets fired at the given amount of time.
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Kaitou 1412 left with the Givenchy Necklace at approximately21:10.
Case Number: 0295
Date: 5 November XXXX
Reporting Officer: Officer Yamamoto
Incident: Theft and assault
Weapons/ Objects Used: Bullet-proof vests, helicopters, police cars, giant electric fan, falling prison bars,
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Kaitou 1412 appeared from a puff of smoke on top of the Falcon Earring's glass case
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After firing the machine gun around the room, kaitou 1412 left through the door while the officers were still in a state of shock.
Case Number: 0301
Date: 2 June XXXX
Reporting Officer: Officer Suzuki
Incident: Theft
Weapons/ Objects Used: Bullet-proof vests, helmets, Helicopters, gas masks, tranquilizer gun, glass safe
On June 2, XXXX, at approximately6:00, kaitou 1412 sent his notice throughTokyoTV.
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At exactly17:30kaitou 1412 appeared on top of the glass case withAlexandriaalready in his possession. The glass window suddenly broke, and an unidentified Squad Member informed everyone that the criminal has already escaped through the broken window via hang glider.
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The person on the hang glider which the Task Force has been following turned out to be a dummy .
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A .50 caliber rifle cartridge was found on the floor near the glass case ofAlexandria. Forensics concluded that this was used by kaitou 1412 to open the glass case earlier that day. Whether it was fired by an assistant or by the criminal himself is unknown.
"Something is going on here."
"Really, detective?"
"This is either a completely different case, or absolutely related to Ran's kidnapping. If it is related, then we can conclude that we're not dealing with a couple of noobs." Conan's voice sounded cold and distant, even to his own ears. He hated the bittersweet aftertaste it left in his mouth – hated it almost as much as he hated the message behind his words.
They're not dealing with noobs. They're dealing with professionals. Someone that could tamper with goddamn police reports. Someone in the higher-ups. Someone…that could be them.
"We should look into the officers who made these reports. Takawara, Yamamoto and Suzuki. Possibly more – I'm sure that these aren't the only reports that have been manipulated," he said in a soft breath, vaguely aware that the brisk wind outside their window has grown strong enough to muffle his own voice. But Kid was a lot of things – perceptive being one of them. The thief could pick up the most subtle of sounds; those that didn't want to be noticed. That is why he easily understood what the detective had said.
"You do your research," Kid replied, standing up. "I'll do my own. I'll pass by tomorrow morning to compile what we've gathered."
"Can I have your number?"
Kid paused for a second, shoulders visibly tensing beneath the thick material of his school uniform. Conan rolled his eyes, feeling the patience dissipate. "I need to have some way to contact you just in case I figure something out. Isn't that right, Kuroba Kaito?" The unsaid statement hung in the air: Iknowwhoyouarealreadyit'snotlikeitwillmakeadifference.
"Fine," the word rolled off Kid's tongue with its usual nonchalance. "But my contact name there'd better be Kaito-niichan."
"No way."
"Yes. Way." Kid was smiling like a cat. "If Kudou Shinichi is ever found out, they're going to investigate everyone you're acquainted with – including those in your contacts. I don't want to be caught in the loop."
"It's not going to make a difference!" he hissed.
"Yes it will. Everyone in Conan's phone is addressed with either neechan or niichan after their names. 'Kid that bastard' is going to raise some brows, don't 'cha think, detective-kun?"
"How'd you know that everyone in my contacts have –"
"Here."
Conan stared at the thief, his mouth hanging open, as the aforementioned criminal handed him back his phone. And then – "Stop stealing my stuff without my permission, goddamn it!"
"It's not stealing if I'm going to return it."
"I'm not even going to argue about this pointless thing anymore," he sighed, getting tired of Kid's usual flippancy. Talking with him was like skating with fish for shoes – very shaky, constantly shifting.
"Well," Kid eventually drawled, standing up. "I'm going to have a word with the Inspector about this. It wouldn't hurt to be more cautious with those he is working with, especially since they most probably saw Aoko today."
The detective froze, a panicked breath hitching in his throat. "Saw her, you say?" he all but screamed. "Kid, what the hell were you –"
"Calm down!" Kid's expression was a mixture of amusement, shock and smugness. "I've got it all under control."
The rain was beating harder now, and the thief's face was very calm. Down below, he could hear Mouri's voice bellowing curses in his tobacco-plastered voice. If he didn't know the impact of Ran's disappearance on him was, he would've thought that he has regained his usual vigor. Sadly, he knew better than that. He knew that the Uncle's voice was never that raspy. Ran was always there to hold him back, and although his wife was doing a pretty good job at doing just that then, it doesn't reverse the effects of the smoke in his body before she came over.
Nakamori-san was whispering something that he couldn't make out. Her voice was soft, almost sweet and child-like. He briefly wondered how demonic it could get if he revealed to her Kid's identity then and there just because the thief was being an annoying, unpredictable little prick.
But that'd be bad for him. Kid knew about him – Shinichi. And as much as he was tempted to spat a budding stream of curses into the international criminal's face, Kaitou Kid was still smiling; that meant that things really were under control.
"What do you plan to do about it?" he asked instead.
"It's not something you need to worry about."
The thief turned to his heels, hand about an inch from the doorknob when Conan added "tell him to let his daughter stay here."
"What?"
"I doubt that you didn't consider the dangers of taking her home. If there really are spies in the police, and if they did see her, wouldn't they be on the move to get to her?"
Kid's put his hands in his pockets, and he turned to Conan, eyes glaring. "Yes…" he started, voice hissing dangerously low. "Yes.I considered that, and I wasn't planning to take her to her house."
"So wherever you were planning to take her…is it safer than here?"
Indigo eyes narrowed, fixing Conan with an intense, calculating gaze. "In what sense?"
"The heck are you blabbering about?"
"Detective, try to look at this in my perspective. My childhood friend, who happens to look like your girlfriend is sleeping under the same roof with a perverted teenage boy shrunk to look like an innocent baby."
He never exactly figured out how the Kid knows who he really is, but he supposed that it wasn't that big of a mystery. One boy disappears, another one appears packed with the same interests and the same intellect despite his physical age. He shouldn't be surprised if the thief has managed to hack into his files, only to realize that the little boy, Edogawa Conan, was never born.
"Baby?" he groaned
"You look it."
"And perverted? Really, Kid? I'm not the guy who goes around town dressed in women's clothing!"
"Must I remind you that that is a part of my job?" There was the usual levity tinting his voice, but underneath it all, Conan could sense a darker, more skeptical and edgy tone. A beat of silence passed. Then, with a more accusing face, "Don't act like you've never seen Mouri-san naked because of your child-like appearance."
The blush was all the thief needed to have his statement confirmed. "Gotcha."
"T-that wasn't my choice!" Conan stammered. "And at least I don't flip women's skirts up with card guns, all the while parading as this gentleman thief!"
Kid's face instantly turned blank, eyes turning cold for some odd reason. The pint-sized private eye couldn't help but wonder why that statement earned him such an ire, hateful look. Last time Kid attempted to flip Ran's skirt up as Officer Takagi, didn't he get away?
He wanted to ask what was up with that, but he realized that there was a bigger issue here brought about by the vanity of Kaitou Kid, and it needed to be resolved.
"Listen," he sighed, honestly amused by how much of a teen the world-renowned Phantom Thief actually was, "if you have another way of keeping Nakamori-san safe, then by all means, do so."
"No, this is much safer than the place I had in mind." Kid decided to drop his poker face, though Conan wasn't exactly sure how much he'd allowed it to drop. Thing was, he could actually see the kaitou's wariness and discomfort, and that in itself was a big crack in the mask. "I'm going. Watch over her, detective."
What little light-heartedness Kid had going around his last quip was quickly overshadowed by the dripping serious undertone, and Conan couldn't fight back a smile.
"Of course."
Kaito was too driven by the new findings that he forgot to tell Aoko about his early leave. Still, he supposed that it was for the best. Granted, he'll be labelled a jerk, but it saves him the effort of coming up with a reason to leave her behind. She'll follow him, he's sure, and who was Kuroba Kaito to deny her the privilege? Who was Kuroba Kaito to know in advance that Aoko was going to stay in Detective Mouri's agency until this whole mess was over?
Kuroba Kaito was supposed to know only as much as she did, so he donned a disguise and left the office as Kaitou Kid.
He stepped into the sidewalk and walked left – the soles of his shoes wet because of puddles. He's glad that the rain has dissipated into a soft, tolerable drizzle, though. It was a good night to use his hang glider.
He rounded the corner into a dim street, the roads hardly lit by surrounding streetlights. The trees around him cast long, twisting shadows in the asphalt; the branches and leaves giving it an eerie, sinister feel in the uneven lighting. Far into the distance, Kid catches a twinkle of glass right across a twenty-four hour convenience store. Smiling, face shadowed by his black cap, he walked towards it.
It was a quiet night brought about by the aftermath of the rain: no rustle of trees or chirps of crickets – just the distant traffic, too vague to register consciously.
The door of the phone booth swings loudly behind him as he closes it. Then, he reaches for the phone to make his call.
Nakamori picks up on the first ring. "Hello?"
"Inspector," he greeted in Kid's usual tone.
There was a pause from the other line – a quiet intake of breath – and Kid is grinning from ear to ear. "It's me."
"Yeah, I figured out that much! You're the only guy with such a cocky voice I know!"
Kid decides to ignore his usual statements and racks his brain for a place that shouldn't raise brows should the Inspector go there at that time of the night. A place that wasn't his house.
"The rooftop of Metropolitan Police Headquarters. Fifteen minutes," he says.
"Did you figure something out?" Nakamori asks, suddenly sombre.
"Yes."
And he puts the phone down.
The Inspector sounded on edge and absolutely tired. He needed to keep the conversation short and direct, should Nakamori's phone be bugged. Still, despite it all, the moment that Kaitou Kid hung up, Kuroba Kaito shuddered in panic. After all, despite it all, he was still a kid. And no matter how much it hurt, Nakamori is the man he considered a dad right after his own.
And Nakamori isn't exactly known for his patience.
The Police Headquarters isn't a prominent building in Tokyo. It is merely a speck of dust in the constellation of infrastructure all over Tokyo, so Kid uses landmarks such as Tropical Land and the Touto Tower to maneuver his way across the city.
The thick material of his school uniform rustles loudly as he slices through the still night air, and Kid looks down. It's a relatively starless night because of the fog, so the city lights shine brighter than usual from his vantage point. Good.
He easily spots a dim corner just about a block away from the Metropolitan Police Headquarters, and he immediately identifies it as an old, abandoned house. Knowing better than to land on police territory as Kid, he lands on its patio – folding the hang glider at his back as an extra precaution just in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
After getting on a bus to make his travel faster, he realized just how tired he was. His knees were aching – a grim reminder of his mistake.
The mistake was letting Aoko out of his sight, thus, ending with her in the Police Headquarters for all the spies to see. The ache in the knee – he got from chasing after her right after that, making sure that no strange men were following her. Stalking her. And goddamn, they're lucky they weren't because Kaito had been ready to pull the biggest prank of the century.
The bus rounded a corner, and Kid could see the Headquarters coming into view. After getting off, he entered the building as Kuroba Kaito because the boy's presence there wouldn't raise any brows. He went to the bathroom and slapped on a disguise: a uniform and some face putty – just enough to make a face that wasn't his own. It was a little older. A little darker.
And he strolled into the halls as a common janitor.
The rooftop was cold that evening – the slick wind licking Kid's face when he carefully opened the stairwell door.
Nakamori was already there, leaning against the fences, a dark silhouette in the starless night. Kid couldn't exactly tell if the man was facing him or the other side, but judging by the angle and the fact that he didn't freak upon his entrance, he could safely assume that he was facing away.
He leaned against the wall, form automatically lithe and nonchalant.
"Good evening, Inspector."
Nakamori whirled around so fast that he almost tripped, and the thief watched, eyes cat-like.
"Kid," he hissed
"I must say," he said, "it's flattering how you're always on time."
"Enough talk! So what information have you got?" Nakamori was making his way towards him, and Kid automatically reaches for the hang glider switch beneath his jumper – all the while maintaining his air of theatricality.
Then the man froze, as if taking into account for the first time, really, the shrinking gap between him and the goddamn Kid; Kid who could walk on air, disappear into nothing, and was otherwise untouchable.
There's about an arm's distance between them, and the thief smiles – more out of habit than anything. "I read through the police reports, and I found some rather peculiar things."
He tries to maintain the levity in his voice. Tries very hard because he knows that if these cases are related, they're in trouble.
"The police reports are claiming that I fired those shots, even if the entire Task Force knew otherwise."
"Yeah, I noticed that too before dropping them off on the rooftop." There was a brief pause, and Nakamori cleared his throat. "Takawara, Suzuki, Yamamoto, Todano and Haizaki – the men who wrote those police reports – are among the best in the squad. And I was there when Takawara wrote his. We were going over the details of your heist together. What he wrote at the end wasn't anything like that."
"And the others?"
"I didn't see, but if someone altered Takawara's reports, then the same probably also happened to them."
Kid could see it plain as day that while the Inspector was trying to be detached, defending the squad was coming from the heart. Nakamori knew what the manipulated police reports meant. He knew that it meant that there were traitors among them.
And while Kid may not know how much the man cared for his men, Kaito did. And at that moment, all Kaito could do was stand back and allow the thief to take over this otherwise professional conversation with Uncle.
"Who do the reports go through?"
Nakamori paused for awhile, pondering.
"Some...rookies deliver them to the Superintendent, who files them accordingly before making somebody else compile them in a folder."
"Who has keys to these cabinets?"
"Superintendent Inoue, me, other inspectors from other divisions, some staff I presume?"
"I could investigate these people tomorrow," His lips curve into a smirk, "after I wreck havoc within the Headquarters – dressed up as your daughter, that is."
Kid couldn't help it.
Nakamori froze. And stared. Then, "What?"
"I'm sure that you're aware that the squad saw her today. I wouldn't put it past criminals of their caliber to start hunting for her now that they know she's safe."
Nakamori had gone pale. Kid can see that with the small tinge of stray city lights drifting over his face. Then – "Shit! Holy shit! Aoko – she's – I've gotta –"
"She'll be fine," Kid snapped in a more serious tone. It worked, because the Inspector stopped fumbling for his phone and turned to look at the thief. "She's staying with Detective Mouri for the week."
But the statement only served to add fuel to the fire. "What? Why am I just hearing about this now? Why the hell didn't I know this?"
"It was a recent decision, Inspector. I'm sure you'll get the call about the details later. Just know that she's safer there."
With a bodyguard as sharp, quick-witted and (aherm) vertically-challenged as the one she had then, she should be fine.
There was an unaccounted pause, and Kid catches a glint in Nakamori's eyes that tells him he's watching him. Analyzing. Reading like some antique book written in Latin. And Kid may be smart, but he's no mind-reader. He doesn't know what went through the Inspector's mind because next thing he knew, the man had visibly relaxed – shoulders dropping, form unfreezing.
"Okay," he whispers, voice as soft as snowflake. "So? What's this about dressing up as my daughter?"
Kid tells him about his plans, locking out all emotion and mirth as he goes about the details. He says it professionally – quick and clean as old bones. Then when he's done, he feels strange – strange because he is a criminal instructing a police inspector in a voice and a face that wasn't his own. And with only the glider underneath his attire, there is a very thin line between Kid and Kaito.
He feels strange because he is talking about Aoko while he is Kid, pretending that she is a stranger to him; pretending that he doesn't know what the color of panties are.
"So you think you can pull it off?" he asks.
Nakamori doesn't even pause to think. "Of course!"
He hears footsteps padding towards them from within the stairwell, so he straightens up and tips his cap politely, sharp teeth at the corner of his mouth glinting beneath up-twisted lips.
"Then I must take my leave. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Inspector."
Nakamori doesn't even have time to respond because the stairwell door flies open, and a Squad Member (Mashiro. Kid identifies him) steps into the rooftop.
"Inspector, there's a case downtown."
Kid slips into the door. He covers himself in a black cloak – form easily mingling with the shadows. Then before either Nakamori or Mashiro could have the chance to see him, he leaps quietly down the steps.
Author's note:
Okay, this chapter took really long to make! Yes, I actually researched about the format of police reports, and I tried to find the date of Kid's canon heists but they were hard I tell ya!
I'm working a bit more on the flow of this story, so I might not get to update as frequently as before. Real life is a big distraction, y'see! It's not my fault!
Haha, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this.