Inspector Nakamori's sudden fall scared the other policemen, who ran to check his condition. They only breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that he had simply fallen asleep.
Conan suddenly shouted, hoping to get the police's attention.
And, indeed, they noticed him. They were preparing to dispatch a group of men to arrest the Night Baron.
Clang! Clang!
Several grenades rolled to the policemen's feet.
"Grenades????"
The policemen stared at them and their faces turned pale with terror. As a reflex action, they threw themselves to the ground and, coincidentally, they all fell facing Heiji.
The situation inevitably evoked an image: a total prostration!!!
Flash!
A bright light flashed in the sky, seeming to come from a civilian helicopter.
Boom, boom, boom!
The night sky suddenly lit up, as one large firework after another bloomed in the air.
"They're fake! They're fake!"
Conan was shouting, but the roar of the fireworks completely drowned out his voice.
Heiji walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked at an extremely anxious Conan. He put his hand in his pocket, took out a pistol, and aimed it at him: "April Fool. Happy April Fools' Day."
Bang!
A shot rang out. The maple leaf gold coins on the ground suddenly released a thick smoke that in an instant covered the entire rooftop.
"Cough, cough, cough~~!"
Conan, choking on the smoke, coughed non-stop, trying to see where the Night Baron was. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his forehead and, with a jingle, a coin fell at his feet.
The fireworks ceased, the smoke dissipated. In the night sky, apart from the sound of the helicopter's propellers, nothing else could be heard.
"Where is the Night Baron?"
Inspector Chaki's roaring voice echoed over the radio.
"This is Unit One, no sign of the Night Baron."
"This is Unit Three, we don't see the Night Baron either."
"This is Unit Five, the Night Baron is not here."
The reports from the various officers came over the radio, enraging Inspector Chaki so much that he almost smashed the device on the ground while roaring: "Damn it! Can the Night Baron fly or disappear underground?"
All the officers felt uncomfortable: Well, it does seem the Night Baron can fly.
"Check the surroundings! He surely hasn't escaped far! He must be hiding in some corner!"
Inspector Chaki's shout could be heard from afar over the radio.
[That's not correct. The Night Baron has already escaped. Those fireworks were not launched randomly. In the darkness of the night sky, being illuminated up close by the brightness of the fireworks, the pilots of the helicopters above were surely blinded. Then, he used the smoke bombs to obscure our vision and escaped with his hang glider. It's impossible to have seen him.]
Conan deduced seriously, feeling a wave of helplessness. He felt that every step this Night Baron took was completely unpredictable.
He lowered his head in silence. A maple leaf gold coin lay at his feet.
He touched it!
A cloud of white smoke rose, startling him.
When the smoke dissipated, the maple leaf gold coin had split open, revealing a note inside.
"Officers, the Night Baron has left a note!"
Conan waved to the policemen, and a group of them swarmed around him.
"April Fool. April first, happy April Fools' Day."
That was the first line of the note. The policemen looked at each other.
"Could it be that everything today has been a joke by the Night Baron and Kaito Kid to make fun of us?"
Conan's face was not good at all. He continued reading.
"On April nineteenth, at the Queen Sallybeth's party, the gentleman of the night will arrive shrouded in the dense darkness, in the bright night sky, to claim the dark treasure that only a gentleman of the night deserves: the Dark Star. Also, as a gentleman's reminder, Kaito Kid will also descend. It will be a clash of blood and white."
At the end of the note, a real maple leaf gold coin was attached.
"Quick, quick, inform Inspector Chaki!"
The policemen quickly put away the note and left, helping the still-sleeping Inspector Nakamori.
They forgot about Conan. He was left alone on the edge of the rooftop, with a frustrated expression: I've been tricked by both the Night Baron and Kaito Kid. April Fool... how did I not notice that word? Damn it!!!
He didn't notice that among the departing policemen, one of them was walking with extraordinary calm.
The large-scale chase that had lasted all night had ended in failure.
"Damn it! All because of the Night Baron's interference. Otherwise, Kaito Kid would have already fallen into the trap. Damn it!!!" roared Inspector Chaki in rage...
"Night Baron, Kaito Kid, I swear I'll arrest you both," suddenly shouted the soundly sleeping Inspector Nakamori in his dreams.
In the dark night market, a figure emerged from an alley. Dressed in a blood-colored tailcoat, it was none other than Heiji.
"To face Conan, you really have to work at it a bit."
Heiji sighed. In reality, he hadn't left at all. Both the fireworks and the smoke bombs were just a show for Conan. Actually, the moment he threw the smoke bombs, he took advantage of the chaos to put on a police uniform and blend in with the crowd.
After all, to deal with a mystery fanatic, the easiest thing is to go along with his own reasoning.
Whoosh~!!!
He suddenly jumped, raising a gust of wind. He glided down the deserted street and, with a push, flew higher and higher.
In the darkness, a silhouette resembling a blood-swallow traced an arc of red light and disappeared into the vast night sky.
"Heiji, get up already!"
Kazuha had come early from her house and was pulling Heiji out of bed.
"My lady, can you let me sleep a little longer?"
Heiji's eyes were full of sleep and he was yawning non-stop. Last night, he had returned to Osaka at two in the morning. It was now six in the morning; he had barely slept four hours.
"No. Today is your mother's birthday, we have to go order the cake and buy the ingredients to cook," Kazuha said nervously.
Heiji opened his eyes, and the sleepiness slowly disappeared. It was true, today was Shizuka Hattori's birthday. Since he had taken her son's place, he could not forget his filial duties.
"Wait for me to get dressed and we'll go."
"Aren't you sleepy anymore, Heiji? If you want, I can go buy things by myself, and you can sleep a little longer," Kazuha said suddenly with tenderness.
"Silly, I just wanted to sleep in, but I can't anymore."
Of course, Heiji was lying. Four hours of sleep was more than enough for him. As an elite operative, once, to assassinate an extremely cautious mob boss, he went two days without sleep before blowing his head off with a single shot.
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