"Wait a second!"
Conan wriggled free from Tsuneo's grip, landing nimbly on the ground.
He brought his watch face close, carefully adjusting its position.
"Conan, what are you doing?" Ran asked, bending down to peer at the serious-faced elementary schooler with curiosity.
"The moon," Tsuneo said, sounding bored as he tossed out the hint.
He vividly remembered the debut of this end-of-the-century magician—a scene packed with iconic moments.
Speaking of which, should I go meet this guy myself?
Conan shot Tsuneo a glance before explaining, "Point the hour hand of your watch at the sun. Since we're in the Northern Hemisphere, the angle between the hour hand and twelve o'clock points directly south."
"I-I'm just testing some common knowledge Tsuneo taught me!" he added quickly, sensing the mood shift and deftly passing the buck.
Tsuneo: …
Sure, I'm a bit older than you, but I don't actually know that stuff…
Even if I did, I wouldn't remember it.
Conan's gaze burned as he stared at a distant high-rise.
It was exactly two o'clock. One o'clock indicated south, and southwest was at two-thirty.
Got it! I've finally cracked the code!
A triumphant smile spread across the young detective's face.
But as he glanced at Tsuneo, who was urging him to hurry up for lunch, Conan's brow furrowed again.
The moon…
Did this guy figure out the answer before me?
Damn it!
Tsuneo's erratic, hit-or-miss deduction skills left the great detective utterly baffled.
…
"Why aren't you eating?"
"Got something on your mind?"
"Spill it—what's got you down? Maybe it'll cheer me up."
In a fancy restaurant, Tsuneo let out a satisfied burp, leaning back in his chair and casually addressing Conan beside him.
"Heh heh heh," Conan responded with a dead-eyed stare.
So, who exactly swiped the rest of my steak while I was lost in thought?
Was it those two high school girls across the table, chattering about the phantom thief?
Or maybe the clueless detective and the filthy-rich CEO having a blast at the next table?
You, Tsuneo—don't act like you're innocent!
"Impressive as always!" Shiro Suzuki said, pushing up his glasses as he marveled at the stack of empty plates at Tsuneo's table.
He'd heard from Ayako and Sonoko about Tsuneo's "strength," but seeing his appetite in action today was something else.
What a remarkable young man…
"Yeah, he's a real headache sometimes," Uncle Mouri chimed in, propping his chin on his hand and glancing at Tsuneo with a wry expression.
"Headache?" Shiro Suzuki looked puzzled, unsure what the "Sleeping" Kogoro Mouri meant.
Could it be?
The CEO's gaze flicked between the unicorn-loving girl and Tsuneo.
Is there something going on between these two kids?
Or does Mouri just not like this repairman?
"Every time I treat him to a meal, my fridge ends up empty…" Mouri chuckled weakly, shaking his head.
He didn't mind Tsuneo as a person—heck, the guy occasionally outshone him with those sharp deductions.
Plus, thanks to their shared love for Yoko Okino, they got along pretty well. Few people listened to Mouri ramble about his idol with such genuine interest.
But an empty fridge? That was a crisis best avoided…
"That… does sound like quite a headache," Shiro Suzuki said, his eyes turning to dots. Even if he fried his brain, he wouldn't have guessed that reason.
Wait, isn't an empty fridge a good thing?
…
The clock soon struck midnight.
Mouri Detective Agency.
Just past eleven p.m.
Conan glanced at his watch. Afraid of waking the soundly sleeping Ran and getting stuck, he tiptoed out of the agency.
"Dr. Agasa, can you look into this Phantom Thief 1412 for me?"
"A notorious international thief like that should have a file in Dad's criminal records," Conan said over the phone, entrusting the task to the professor.
Then, the young detective sprinted toward the location he was certain of.
"Just like Tsuneo said, the 'moon' in that notice isn't about some song—it's the actual moon."
"When the moon separates two people."
"Those 'two people' are the sun and a satellite."
"When the moon comes between them—yes, that's during the broadcast interruption of BS TV, between 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m."
"Night Star, BLACK·STAR—the first letters spell 'BS'!"
"And if 'with the waves' refers to radio waves…"
"Then the thief will appear from the direction of BS's signal transmission."
"The signal travels southwest, 45 degrees from south, at a 42.3-degree angle above the horizon."
"From the Beika Museum's perspective…"
Conan paused to catch his breath, staring up at the nearly forty-story building before him.
"The rooftop of the Beika Hotel. This is it—no mistake!"
With a confident grin, the young detective entered the Beika Hotel, took the elevator, and headed straight to the top floor.
…
"Shinichi, I cross-referenced your dad's files with recent newspapers," Dr. Agasa said, calling Conan on the hotel rooftop.
"This Phantom Thief 1412 is a real enigma. He first appeared in Paris eighteen years ago but vanished after a decade."
"There were rumors he'd died, but eight years later, he's back, active in Japan and pulling off heists left and right."
"Eighteen years ago? So he's got some years on him," Conan nodded. Sonoko's fantasies about the thief's appearance weren't entirely baseless, it seemed.
"He's got a laundry list of nicknames—'Lupin of the Heisei Era,' 'The Magician Under the Moonlight.' But one moniker stands out above the rest."
"A young mystery novelist thought '1412' was too clunky, so he simplified it to KID, as in…"
KID?
Now that he thought about it, Tsuneo had mentioned that name back at the agency.
Suddenly, a faint breeze brushed past.
Conan, still on the phone, turned slowly, his face frozen in shock as he saw a figure in a white suit and cape descending under the moonlight.
"Kid the Phantom Thief!" Dr. Agasa's words echoed as the figure landed.
The Magician Under the Moonlight stood atop the rooftop stairwell, hands in pockets, gazing down at the stunned kid with a sly smile curling his lips.
(End of Chapter)
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