Thief Game: Starting with Obtaining the Kidd Card

"No?"

"What?!" Conan jumped up with a start, but in his haste, he bumped his head on the edge of the game console, instantly turning into a pained mask as he clutched his head and grimaced.

Shimizu Takaho was also stunned. He had even prepared to confess, but now he was being told that the murder weapon had disappeared.

Could I have misremembered? Did someone step on it and take it?

Shimizu Takaho pondered to himself, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He had personally witnessed Izushima Hitoshi stepping on his cigarette with chewing gum stuck to it; the poisoned needle should have been under his foot. There was only one explanation for this situation…

Someone took the things first!

Inspector Megure also stepped forward and looked at Hitoshi Izujima's feet from left to right, and indeed there was nothing wrong.

"Indeed, no. It seems that Ms. Sonoko's reasoning is not quite right. The murder weapon is not here."

Beside the game console, Conan held his head in deep thought: "This can't be! How could this happen? Where did things go wrong?"

Just then.

With a "whoosh," a tiny needle slid along Sato Miwako's hair and then slammed into the wall.

"careful!"

The person next to her, "Chen Feng" disguised as Akemi, quickly made a move and pressed Sato Miwako's head down.

Sato Miwako was also stunned. She did not expect that someone would be so audacious as to attack police officers while the police were conducting a case.

One needle missed its target, and before anyone could react, two more needles followed, but this time the target was no longer Miwako Sato, but the two police officers standing at the window.

"Quickly open!"

Miwako Sato quickly spoke up to remind her.

The two police officers standing in front of the window then realized what was happening and hurriedly looked for cover.

Fortunately, the person who fired the needles seemed to simply want the group to move away from their original positions and had no intention of hurting them; otherwise, all three needles wouldn't have stuck in the wall.

boom--

The vent in the ceiling was kicked open, and a figure in black jumped out and ran towards the window.

The three needles had forced back Sato Miwako, Akemi, and the other two police officers who were originally blocking the window, leaving no one to obstruct the path from the vent to the window.

"He's trying to escape! Stop him!"

Inspector Megure reacted quickly, reaching for the pistol tucked behind his waist as he shouted.

However, the man in black was clearly prepared. He had somehow acquired a cylindrical iron can in his hand, pulled off the metal ring, and threw it forcefully toward the ceiling.

A blinding light emanated from the metal can, forcing everyone present to cover their eyes.

Kara-la-la—

The sound of shattering glass almost immediately followed the flash of light.

When everyone opened their eyes again, they saw only a window with broken glass.

Inspector Megure rushed to the window and looked down, but all he could see was a figure disappearing into the two floors below.

"Attention all teams, the suspect has entered the second floor below. Immediately begin the search and arrest operation. Also, call headquarters immediately to block off the surrounding roads. We must not let him escape!"

Inspector Megure quickly gave orders to the officers.

"Yes!"

From the attack on the police officers to the escape of the suspect, the whole process happened so fast that the onlookers hadn't even had time to react before it was over.

"Isn't that guy the murderer?"

"But...why isn't this person among the people who were near Mr. Oto in the surveillance footage?"

"Are you stupid? They can shoot needles covered in pufferfish venom at Mr. Oto from a distance without him having to get close, so he won't be on the surveillance footage."

"But what about the needle that pierced Mr. Oto? How did he retrieve it?"

"Hmm... It must be that a thin thread was tied to the end of the needle before it was fired. Once it hits Mr. Oto, pulling the thread would easily retract the needle, wouldn't it?"

Several bystanders were discussing the case as if no one else was around, and what they said actually made a lot of sense, forcing everyone present to reconsider the case.

Even Shimizu Takaho, the person involved, was stunned and even began to doubt whether he was really the murderer who killed Oto.

Of course, this thought was ruthlessly extinguished by Shimizu Takaho. Of course he was the one who had personally pierced Oifuji's body with that thin needle containing pufferfish venom.

But now...

Shimizu Takaho looked at the broken window, his face full of confusion.

……

Chapter 320 The Man in Black? K?

Meanwhile, Conan, hiding behind the game console, was also looking in the direction the man in black had fled, his brows furrowed.

To anyone else, the case should be quite clear by now, but he just felt that something was not quite right, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Send this needle for testing." Inspector Megure took one of the needles that the man in black had fired from the wall and handed it to the officer next to him.

The officer carefully took it and then turned to walk away.

Not far away, Yukiko looked at Chen Feng standing beside her, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke:

"You don't seem too surprised by what just happened."

"Ok?"

Chen Feng turned his head and said, "Madam, as a phantom thief, the most basic skill is to always maintain a poker face."

"Is that right?"

Yukiko nodded, though she still had some doubts, she didn't ask anything more.

The test results for the needle that Inspector Megure had just sent for testing came back very quickly.

Unsurprisingly, the needles sent for testing were coated with enough tetrodotoxin to be deadly.

One can imagine that if that tiny needle had pricked anyone, the need to get them to the hospital for emergency treatment would have been completely unnecessary.

This made Sato Miwako feel a wave of fear. She swallowed hard and glanced gratefully at Chen Feng, who was disguised as Akemi, standing next to her.

"Okay everyone."

Inspector Megure began, "I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time tonight, and thank you for your cooperation. You may now leave as you wish."

"Hmph, I told you long ago it has nothing to do with me, you're wasting my time," taxi driver Jiang Shoumin complained.

Although the others involved didn't say anything, they were all more or less resentful.

Only Shimizu Takaho, the person directly involved, followed the others out of the arcade in a daze.

At this moment, in front of the game console.

"Sonoko-san? Sonoko-san?"

Judy reached out and shook Sonoko, who was fast asleep on the game console.

"Uh... ah? What's wrong?"

Sonoko opened her eyes sleepily, rubbed her eyes, and looked at everyone with a somewhat confused expression:

"Ms. Judy? Xiaolan? Chen? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Chen Feng, disguised as Akemi, stepped forward and said with a smile, "I didn't realize that our Miss Sonoko had the potential to be a detective. Although tonight's reasoning wasn't all correct, it was still very exciting."

Judy and the others nodded in agreement.

Sonoko herself was completely bewildered and had no idea what they were talking about.

However, she was rather oblivious to things, and after chatting with a few people for a bit, she moved on from the incident.

At that moment, Xiaolan's gaze swept casually and she happened to see Yukiko and Chen Feng walking out of the arcade. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and her eyes lowered, as if she was thinking about something.

Sonoko also noticed Ran's strange expression, paused her conversation with Jodie and the others, and looked at Ran:

"What's wrong, Xiaolan? What happened?"

"Ah? No...nothing. I just suddenly remembered that my dad sent me a message earlier, asking me to buy some cold medicine to take home. It's getting late, so I'll be going now."

After saying this, Xiaolan smiled at the group and then quickly chased after Chen Feng and the other person in the direction they had left.

"Oh... Xiaolan!"

Sonoko called out, but Ran didn't hear her. Within seconds, she disappeared around the corner.

"What's wrong with Ran today?" Sonoko muttered, then glanced at Conan, who had been left behind by Ran, and smacked him on the back of the head without any hesitation.

Snapped!

"Ah—" Conan covered his head and turned to look at Sonoko.

"Come on, kid. Your older sister Xiaolan has to go now. I'll take you home today."

"Um... okay, then thank you, Sonoko-neechan."

"Well then, Ms. Judy, we'll be going now."

"Okay, goodbye." Judy waved goodbye to Sonoko and then walked outside without lingering.

……

It was nighttime on the streets.

Still somewhat dazed, Shimizu Takaho walked alone on the deserted street.

He still couldn't figure out who the man in black was, why he suddenly appeared, and why the needle he used was coated with pufferfish toxin. Also, why did the murder weapon that he had stuck to the foot of the arcade clerk, Hijikata Hitoshi, with chewing gum disappear?

Shizumi Takaho couldn't help but feel a headache coming on, so he simply shook his head and decided to stop thinking about it for the time being.

At the same time, I breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, the result was good. That little thug Kengo Oto was dead, and my sister no longer had to worry about being bothered by him.

Thinking of this, Shizumi Takaho couldn't help but smile. He clasped his hands behind his head and hummed a song as he walked home.

Just then.

In the dim light, a figure dressed in black appeared and blocked Shimizu Takaho's path.

His clothes and appearance were exactly the same as the person he had seen in the arcade earlier.