The guests aboard the Queen Serissabeth gradually increased.
As the venue for the Suzuki Group's 60th anniversary celebration, most of the attendees were prominent figures in Tokyo and even the entire Kanto region. Throwing a rock would likely hit a chairman or the son of a wealthy family.
Among these distinguished individuals in formal attire, Chen En, dressed simply in casual clothes with only a tie, stood out noticeably.
Chaki Shintaro, the leader of the operation to apprehend Kaito Kid, and Nakamori Ginzo, who had recently been transferred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, stood together staring at Chen En, debating whether to go over and scratch his face to see if he was Kaito Kid in disguise.
However, in a split second, Chen En vanished into the crowd.
Chaki Shintaro and Nakamori Ginzo were startled and rushed forward to investigate. They realized the man had simply found a chair to sit down and drink his coffee, invisible because everyone else was standing.
"...?"
Chen En took a sip of his coffee, looking at the two men with a puzzled expression.
He glanced at the banquet hall's stage and saw Suzuki Shiro, the chairman of the Suzuki Group—and the real Kaito Kid—already on stage to deliver his speech. He then stood up and prepared to join Mouri Kogoro.
According to the plot, after Suzuki Shiro finished his speech, Conan would notice something was wrong with him and go to the restroom to find the real chairman, temporarily leaving Mouri Ran. This would cause Ran to go outside to find Conan, and she would be replaced by Kaito Kid.
Therefore, if he wanted to discuss the riddle with Kaito Kid, the best opportunity would be to find him disguised as Mouri Ran.
"Sir, could you please wait a moment?"
Nakamori Ginzo stepped forward and spoke seriously, ignoring Suzuki Shiro's speech on stage.
As a veteran of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Chaki Shintaro hesitated to approach the guests since they were all prominent figures from various industries. But Nakamori Ginzo, a newcomer, didn't care.
"I think—"
Before Nakamori Ginzo could finish his words, Chen En reached out and pinched his face, then walked around him with a series of smooth movements, making all the police cooperation tactics that Nakamori Ginzo was about to use completely useless.
What a decisive self-identification move.
Nakamori Ginzo couldn't help but turn his head to look at the simple young man holding the coffee cup, but found that he had disappeared into the crowd.
"It seems that it's not Kaito Kid. He looks very young, maybe less than twenty years old, but Kaito Kid is in his forties or fifties. It's impossible for him to become a young man in his twenties without a disguise."
Chaki Shintaro, who had witnessed the whole process, added his observation.
At this moment, Suzuki Shiro's speech had ended, and the person on stage changed from Suzuki Shiro to Suzuki Tomoko.
The de facto leader of the Suzuki Group lifted a gift box and declared with great fanfare, "Everyone received a gift box like this when they entered, right? Please open it. Inside is the Suzuki Group's heirloom, the Black Star."
"Of course, not all of these Black Stars are authentic. There's only one real one, and as for who has it... Haha, that allows me to keep it a secret. Anyway, please wear these Black Stars. I don't believe Kaito Kid can tell the difference and steal the Black Star from your chest right under your noses!"
Suzuki Tomoko spoke confidently on stage, and many guests pulled out the Black Stars from their gift boxes, exclaiming in admiration.
Regardless of whether this was genuine or fake, since this was the Suzuki Group's 60th anniversary celebration, they had to at least show appreciation. They also hoped to continue their partnership with the Suzuki Group, the leading company in the Kanto region.
Among the many people, there was only one exception: Suzuki Sonoko.
As the younger daughter of the Suzuki family, Suzuki Sonoko didn't really care about treasures like the Black Star. Her current focus was entirely on her sister, Suzuki Ayako.
"Oh my god, why hasn't my sister come yet? The ship has already sailed... There should be a limit to being late, right?"
She muttered, pulling out her cell phone and dialing Suzuki Ayako's number.
Conan looked up at Suzuki Sonoko and felt something was a little strange.
While Suzuki Ayako might have a poor sense of time, if he remembered correctly, wasn't she living with Uncle Suzuki? Why was Uncle Suzuki here, but Suzuki Ayako wasn't?
The detective schoolboy adjusted his glasses.
Suddenly, he felt as if someone was watching him from behind. He immediately turned to look in the direction of the gaze, but saw nothing. Just as he was about to go over and check, Suzuki Sonoko's exclamation interrupted his thoughts.
"What! You and Dad are still at home? But Dad just went on stage to give his speech!"
So Uncle Suzuki really didn't get on board, and that Uncle Suzuki just now was Kaito Kid in disguise?
Conan's heart sank.
He hadn't noticed anything wrong with Uncle Suzuki's disguise. The thief's ability to disguise himself was truly beyond belief. Could it be that Kaito Kid had also used this ability to escape on April 1st?
The young detective quickly ran to the stage area and asked the staff where Suzuki Shiro was.
Then he rushed to the restroom to see if he could find the real Suzuki Shiro there.
Meanwhile, Mouri Ran noticed Conan had left at some point. After a word with Mouri Kogoro, she left the crowd to search for Conan.
Tap, tap, tap.
Mouri Ran, holding up her red dress, glanced around searching for Conan.
The next moment, a pungent smell suddenly appeared.
Before she could do anything, her whole body went limp and her consciousness gradually blurred. She only saw the thief in the conspicuous white uniform put his hands together in front of her apologetically and said softly, "Excuse me, young lady..."
In just a few seconds, Mouri Ran returned to the crowd again.
When she passed by Inspector Nakamori Ginzo, she smiled and greeted him, which made Nakamori Ginzo a little puzzled because he couldn't remember ever seeing this girl in the red dress before.
When Mouri Ran was about to return to Mouri Kogoro, the entire banquet hall suddenly went dark.
A trace of surprise flashed in her eyes.
Almost at the same time, a stranger's voice came from behind her.
"Ms. Mouri, do you want to hear how to solve the Riddler's riddle?"