"How many people…" Tsuneo stood by the window, gazing skyward, lost in thought.
"Hey, hey."
"Is it that ridiculous?" Conan snapped, pulling the repairman back to reality.
"Nice weather today." Tsuneo nodded.
"…"
The detective shot him a side-eye.
Your topic-switching skills are way too clumsy.
Luckily, the familiar yellow Beetle pulled up, effectively cutting off the conversation.
Dr. Agasa and Miyano Akemi returned, lugging bags of groceries.
"I got cake!" Miyano Akemi called out to the kids with a smile.
Tsuneo zipped to the table in a flash.
A bit of sweetness could lift his mood.
And help him forget certain weird things…
"Hey, Tsuneo-nii, why's your cake loaded with strawberries?"
"First come, first served!"
"…"
…
That evening.
Mouri Detective Agency.
"Kaitou Kid?"
"That thief's back?"
Mouri, wearing the pink sweater his daughter brought home, watched TV boredly.
Seriously, no new dramas from Yoko Okino lately—zero motivation.
"Yep, here's the notice!" Sonoko snapped her fingers, pulling out a photo of the notice from her bag.
Mouri took it and read:
"From the lion at dusk to the maiden at dawn."
"When the clock without a second hand reaches the 12th word."
"I shall descend from the radiant sky pavilion to claim the Egg of Memories."
"The Magician of the End of the Century, Kaitou Kid!"
Man, this thief's annoying, always writing stuff no normal person can decipher…
Having just eaten at the doctor's, Conan, back at the agency, stood nearby, studying the notice.
If the lion at dusk and the maiden at dawn refer to specific dates, could it be zodiac-based?
A clock without a second hand reaching the 12th word…
As the detective pondered, Sonoko explained her visit.
She was here on behalf of the Suzuki family to enlist the great detective Mouri Kogoro!
"Sonoko, wasn't that Osaka museum just built? It's not even open yet, right?" Ran asked, bringing over juice.
They'd talked about it a few days ago—how'd Kid target it so fast?
"Yeah, it opens August 23, but the news has been out for a while. Papers covered it multiple times!" Sonoko nodded, grinning.
The chance to see Kaitou Kid had this heiress over the moon.
Kid stealing from her family was, for a diehard fan like Mouri, like Yoko Okino holding a concert at the agency…
"Osaka, huh…" Mouri lit a cigarette, staring at the notice, mulling over its clues.
Lion, maiden, second hand, clock…
…
The next morning.
In a large meeting room at Osaka Police Headquarters.
The Kaitou Kid Special Investigation Meeting was underway.
Tsuneo and Mouri sat in the back row, exchanging glances at the grim-faced officers gathered from all over.
This atmosphere's kinda weird…
"Did we come to the wrong place?" Mouri whispered.
"Shouldn't have. The sign outside was clear." Tsuneo glanced at Officer Nakamori, who'd just settled in, and shook his head.
With him here, no mistake.
But this setup's huge—forty or fifty top officers summoned for a meeting.
You'd think they were raiding a distillery to nab Gin…
As Nakamori's superior, Superintendent Chaki Shintaro of the Tokyo MPD's Second Division, took the stage, the meeting officially began.
"Kaitou 1412, aka Kaitou Kid, has committed 134 crimes."
"Fifteen abroad—US, France, Germany, across twelve countries."
"152 gems stolen, totaling 38.725 billion yen."
Officers who'd dealt with Kid stood one by one, reporting.
That kind of haul befits an international thief.
Facing the room, Superintendent Chaki's expression hardened. "Kaitou Kid sent an invitation letter yesterday!"
The officers froze, clearly unaware of the meeting's true purpose.
The notice appeared, enlarged, on the room's big screen.
Chaki grabbed the mic, standing to present the notice Mouri and Tsuneo had already seen.
"The Egg of Memories mentioned in the notice was found last month in the Suzuki Consortium's vault."
"It's a Tsar's treasure—the Imperial Easter Egg."
An oval egg appeared on the screen.
Green, intricately carved with patterns, utterly exquisite.
Worth 800 million yen.
Tsuneo, hearing this, grew curious about that so-called vault.
An artwork that valuable, just found?
The Suzuki family's wealth never ceased to amaze…
An officer who'd researched stood to explain the Egg's origins.
"This Imperial Easter Egg was a gift from the Russian Tsar to the Tsarina for Easter, crafted by jeweler Fabergé."
"From 1885 to 1916, only 50 were made. This one's the 51st."
Chaki continued, "It'll be displayed at the Suzuki Art Museum in Osaka Castle, opening August 23."
"As for the riddle, Officer Nakamori!"
"Yes, sir!" Nakamori took over, standing before the screen to decode the notice for the room.
"First, 'from the lion at dusk to the maiden at dawn.'"
"The last day of Leo, August 22 at dusk, to the first day of Virgo, August 23 at dawn."
"That's the crime's date."
Mouri, watching the officers' grave demeanor, felt out of place.
Suddenly, the sleeping detective noticed Tsuneo discreetly pulling something from his jacket pocket, popping it into his mouth, chewing quietly while nodding at the front.
Guess I'm not the only one who can't blend in…
(End of Chapter)
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