"…He actually hid himself."
Until the cruise ship completely stopped at the port of Tokyo, Ginzo Nakamori did not expect that Kaito Kid would give up his plan.
"Humph, Kaito Kid is not a fool either."
Chaki Shintaro remained calm, as if he had already predicted Kaito Kid's choice.
"He can sense that our police's attitude towards him has changed this time. If he acted now, the final result would be his direct arrest."
"But before…"
Ginzo couldn't help but ask, but Inspector Chaki met his gaze.
"Only when the higher-ups make a formal decision will our stance become more resolute. It is only when the police's face and credibility are challenged that our superiors put more pressure on us.
Besides, our police force doesn't have that much extra time to deal with a thief. And dealing with a thief can easily worsen our public image, so sometimes our attitude will be more ambiguous.
Because there is no need. Because there is no need.
A thief who is simply playing around is like a clown. We have just experienced a bubble economy, and people are very emotional. We cannot allow such intense emotions to keep exploding, so we all need to exercise restraint.
So, our police's stance towards the clown Kaito Kid is to play along when it is not necessary to act. We do not need to make the act of arresting Kaito Kid a flashpoint of emotions between us and the public."
Chaki explained very clearly.
When it comes to thieves like Kaito Kid, the police have always held the view that while he can be caught, there is no need to cause an uproar in public opinion.
Once public sentiment turns against the police, they will have to ease their stance on Kaito Kid.
"Besides, you know about the incident with that psychopathic artist, right?"
"Yes."
Ginzo knew he was talking about Teiji Moritani.
"Because of that lunatic's case, our workload has increased exponentially. And the target is the Beika Municipal Building. That lunatic is completely unhinged.
When dealing with these maniacs, our force is already stretched to its limits. We cannot pour more energy into one thief.
Only if the thief makes a mistake and chooses wrongly can we arrest him when public sentiment turns against him. Otherwise, we have no time to chase after a thief who will return the stolen goods afterwards.
However, we cannot completely ignore him either."
Only then did Ginzo understand why he had always been on the front line chasing Kaito Kid, because the police needed to show the public they were taking action.
"Then, Officer Chaki, does that mean we can't capture Kaito Kid?"
"Of course we have to catch him. But our force doesn't have the spare energy to focus solely on him."
Chaki's belief in catching Kaito Kid remained unchanged.
"Catching criminals is our duty. But this requires your efforts and the efforts of the other brothers.
If you can do this, your future will look much better.
Because you will have solved a mess that no one else in the department wants to deal with. Of course, if you think it's not worth it, I can transfer you and the others out."
This time, Chaki spoke frankly to Ginzo.
The truth was that the police did not want to bother with Kaito Kid at all. As long as he did not make a huge mistake, the police's attitude towards him would remain ambiguous.
They could catch him, or they could choose not to.
Compared to other dangerous criminals, Kaito Kid's influence was mostly limited to his fans.
And the situation this time proved the point.
Even Kaito Kid knew when to retreat. The police did not even need to exaggerate, they only had to present the facts, and his image would crumble.
After all, once a god bleeds, the halo is gone.
Kaito Kid may be an international thief, but once he makes a mistake, he is just that, a thief.
Ginzo immediately stood at attention and declared, "Inspector Chaki, I have decided to capture Kaito Kid."
Chaki nodded slightly.
"I will help you apply for some funds as overtime pay for you and the others in your unit."
Ginzo was grateful for that.
Their unit had a heavy workload, and if they failed to catch Kaito Kid, they would be criticized. The working conditions were harsh, and the subsidies in the past had been minimal, especially since their results were lacking.
This overtime pay could be seen as recognition of the entire unit's efforts.
It made Ginzo happy, because at least he could bring his brothers some benefits instead of constant criticism.
The guests had already begun disembarking from the cruise ship.
Naturally, Kuroba Kaito was among them.
After leaving the port, he spoke more than before.
"This time, I was really too arrogant."
Sitting in the car with his head down, Kaito admitted to himself that this was a complete failure. He had not expected someone to take such a decisive approach.
"Mrs. Suzuki and Mr. Suzuki really taught me a lesson.
They were prepared to discard things from the start, even if it meant spending a fortune just to make me lose.
They really think highly of me."
"Master…"
Jii did not know how to comfort him.
"Don't worry, old man."
Kaito was not someone who could not accept failure, but he had not expected to lose like this.
"Mr. and Mrs. Suzuki had put a lot of thought into dealing with me. This failure is a lesson in my own arrogance.
They confirmed from the start that I would infiltrate the Suzuki conglomerate, and all their plans were laid out to let me see and prepare for. But they also had a contingency plan, one that was hidden and not transparent.
In that case, we need to be much more careful when targeting the Suzuki conglomerate in the future."
Kaito's expression turned more serious. He needed to handle future situations with greater caution, because next time, he could not rely on the same luck he had today.
(To be continued.)
***
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