Heiji's attire made the three girls' eyes light up. He was wearing a kendo uniform.
"Heiji, are you going to do a kendo demonstration?" Ran asked, her eyes shining.
"Oh, that's right! I had forgotten that Heiji's kendo is also very good. He's the captain of our school's kendo club," Kazuha said with pride.
"My God, Heiji! Is there anything you can't do?" Sonoko said with admiration.
"Yes, giving birth, I don't know how to do that."
The three girls were frozen for a moment, and then they glared at him, blushing.
[This guy, Hattori...]
Conan started to feel jealous again.
"Uh, what happened?" Heiji asked again.
"Since you weren't ready yet, Mr. Sanada Kazumi said he was going to perform a magic trick for everyone," Kazuha explained.
"Oh."
Heiji looked over there with boredom.
Sanada Kazumi took out an immaculate white handkerchief, gently wrapped the Dark Star that Tomoko Suzuki had given him, and held it delicately through the cloth.
"Please, pay attention to my hand. I now have the Dark Star held between my index finger and my thumb. Watch closely..."
All eyes were fixed on Sanada Kazumi's hand holding the Dark Star. Suddenly, he closed his hand tightly, and when he opened it again, the Dark Star had disappeared.
Tomoko Suzuki's gaze flickered for an instant, but she showed no change in her expression.
"Please, look here. The Dark Star is here."
He turned his other hand over, and the Dark Star appeared, indeed, in the palm of his hand...
The room burst into applause. Although it was a simple magic trick, it was truly brilliant. In the blink of an eye, the Dark Star had passed from one hand to the other, with astonishing speed.
Heiji shook his head. Using language to distract the audience's attention... in reality, the Dark Star had already been transferred to the other hand much earlier. Such a simple trick, commonly known as sleight of hand.
However, Sanada Kazumi was worthy of being called a brilliant magician. His movements were fluid, without the slightest pause, and that was the key to this magic trick.
"Wow, what an incredible magic trick," Ran said with admiration.
Conan scoffed with disdain. Evidently, he had also seen the key to the trick.
"Thank you all very much. Now, I will return this Dark Star to its owner."
Sanada Kazumi handed the Dark Star, wrapped in the handkerchief, to Tomoko Suzuki.
Seeing this gesture, Heiji frowned and a cold smile formed on his lips.
"Madam, that one is fake."
Tomoko Suzuki, who was about to take it, reflexively withdrew her hand upon hearing Heiji's words and looked at him in surprise.
Sanada Kazumi was frozen for a moment, then looked at Heiji and a malicious smile appeared on his lips: "It seems I've been discovered."
With that, he abruptly pulled the mask from his face and, at the same time, tore off his clothes.
An immaculate white suit, a monocle on his right eye, a white top hat... that characteristic combination...
"A-class mission officially initiated. Snatch the Dark Star from the hands of Kaito Kid. Time limit: one hour."
The relentless voice of the system suddenly sounded.
Heiji couldn't help but twitch the corner of his lips. He finally understood what "to be determined" meant. It turns out the mission would only be officially announced after confirming that Kaito Kid had actually obtained the Dark Star.
"Kaito Kid!!!"
"Kaito Kid has appeared!"
The scene descended into chaos.
"Don't panic, don't panic! Stay where you are and don't move!",
Inspector Chaki shouted.
[Kaito Kid has come. What about the Night Baron?]
Conan looked around with a grave expression. He was sure the two thieves would appear at the same time. However, he didn't see that striking blood-red figure anywhere.
"Worthy of being Kaito Kid. I didn't expect at all that you would use a double disguise."
Heiji also hadn't expected that Sanada Kazumi was actually Kid in disguise.
Who could have imagined it? First, he disguised himself as Shiro Suzuki, and then as Sanada Kazumi. Such an unexpected move was truly impossible to foresee.
"I also didn't expect there to be someone like you among the guests. Discovering my disguise twice, impressive."
Kaito Kid praised him sincerely. It was the first time someone had discovered his identity so cleanly and directly.
"Your disguise as Sanada Kazumi was perfect. After all, you were acting as yourself, flawless. A pity you did that magic trick," Heiji said calmly.
"Oh, may I know the reason?"
Kaito Kid also didn't know where he had gone wrong. In theory, there shouldn't have been any flaw.
"You surely already knew that the real Dark Star was in Mrs. Tomoko's possession, that's why you prepared this double disguise insurance."
"That's right."
"And that was your mistake. The real Dark Star is very old and simple. With the passage of time, it has lost its luster and is even extremely susceptible to corrosion. At first, when you took the Dark Star from Mrs. Tomoko's hands, you were extremely careful, you didn't even dare to squeeze it hard, for fear that sweat would seep through the handkerchief and stain this priceless jewel. However, after the magic trick, your movements became much more careless, you even held it in your hand... There is only one explanation for such a change: the Dark Star was switched. Are you satisfied with this explanation?"
Heiji looked at Kaito Kid calmly.
"Impressive. It seems that in the future I'll have to be very careful with you, I can't leave even the slightest trace. I take back what I thought before, not all detectives are nitpicking critics who just follow in a thief's footsteps. At least, you, Heiji Hattori, are not."
"Quick, catch him!"
"No! My Dark Star is still in his possession!" Tomoko Suzuki shouted, desperate.
"I'll be taking this jewel of the darkness."
The fake Dark Star that Kaito Kid was about to return to Tomoko Suzuki suddenly fell to the floor.
A dazzling flash of light was released in the hall. Everyone instinctively covered their eyes, crying out in pain.
Heiji, a second before, had covered Kazuha's eyes, but his ears were attentive to the sounds around him.
Rattle, rattle!
The sound of pearls rolling on the floor was heard.
Heiji frowned and snapped his eyes open. The bright light had just disappeared, and he adapted instantly.
A dozen pearls similar to the Dark Star burst on the floor, releasing a thick smoke that completely covered the entire hall.
"Quick, block the door! Quick! Cough, cough..."
Inspector Chaki almost choked on the smoke.
"You three, hold hands and don't separate. I'll be right back."
Heiji took Ran and Sonoko's hands and pulled them over to Kazuha. After giving them instructions, he ran quickly through the smoke.
Relying on his memory, he was out the main door of the grand hall in an instant...
"Don't move! Close the door, close the door!"
The grand hall was in chaos, and Inspector Chaki's shouts were lost in the tumult.
[Damn it, they've locked me in.]
Conan kicked the door in anger. The policeman beside him wouldn't let him out no matter what.
Kaito Kid was running at full speed down a corridor. Some of the lower-status guests in the hallway watched him run past, stunned, standing frozen in place.
"Kaito Kid???"
However, shortly after, another blood-red figure ran past them.
"The Night Baron???"
Those people were dumbstruck.
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