"Phantom Thief Kid? The thief who stole the Goddess's Tear during the eclipse yesterday? I heard Commissioner Gordon took quite a hit from him," Tim answered naturally. "Besides, even if I stayed offline for two days, sitting in this class for five minutes would catch me up. They're discussing it so loudly, it's hard not to hear."
"What do you think of this thief who dresses even flashier than Robin?" Darren asked again.
He noticed that at the words "Robin" and "flashier," the corner of Tim's eye twitched.
It was a completely subconscious reaction, extremely slight. Even someone with normal vision staring right at Tim's face might have missed it.
"Hmm... honestly, I think Kid's choice of attire is smart," Tim said calmly.
"Smart? How so?" Darren pretended not to understand.
"Normally, thieves wear dark clothes, right? That way, they can use the night and shadows to hide, stealing things without being noticed. Isn't a white outfit too obvious in the dark? Wouldn't he be spotted easily?"
"Kid probably just wore it because he thought it looked cool. What's smart about that?"
"That's why he didn't operate in the dark," Tim said with a smile of appreciation.
"Ordinary thieves hide from people, so dark clothes are the perfect choice. But Kid uses reverse psychology. Since white attracts attention, he deliberately focuses everyone's gaze on himself."
"When people's attention is focused on one spot, they inevitably neglect other areas. Kid uses that split-second of negligence to commit the crime. And because his white suit is so striking, when he escapes, people subconsciously look for a person in white."
"But by that time, Kid probably just has to take off the white jacket and walk past everyone boldly. No one would recognize him."
Hearing this, Darren put on an enlightened expression. "I see. Now that you mention it, that is a smart move."
"Tim, you've always loved detective novels. You really have the makings of a detective. I think you could go be Robin for Batman."
At this, Tim suddenly coughed dryly. "What are you saying? How could I be Robin?"
"True. Robins are usually little boys. Every time they grow up, Batman swaps them for a new one. You're getting too old. Batman definitely wouldn't like that." Darren put on a serious face.
"Cough cough cough cough—"
Tim coughed even harder.
"Are you okay? Why the sudden coughing fit?" Darren asked with concern.
"I'm fine, just... choked on my drink." Tim looked at Darren helplessly.
His friend was good in every way—excellent grades, superb magic skills, a face to be jealous of, and usually quite steady. But sometimes, he would say such off-the-wall things that Tim didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Of course, if it were just simple nonsense, Tim wouldn't care. But Darren's nonsense often involved superheroes. It was either tabloid gossip or dark humor, occasionally mixed with a bit of conspiracy theory.
The scary part was, Tim knew most of what Darren said was fiction, yet after hearing it, he felt like it actually made some sense!
Tim really wanted to know where Darren got all this messy intel. Even Oracle didn't have such a rich source of gossip!
Ring, ring—
The class bell rang.
Darren and Tim stopped chatting and entered good student mode.
While listening to the lecture, Darren thought to himself, Judging by Tim's words, he's obviously studied Kid. As expected, you can't avoid the Bat-Family in Gotham, even for petty theft.
Although stealing a priceless treasure like the Goddess's Tear could hardly be called "petty." It was grand theft.
But since I've decided to do this, there's no point in fearing the Bat-Family. Fear is useless. It's better than dealing with the guy who wears his underwear on the outside...
Having made up his mind, Darren began to consider his next move.
Beside him, Tim was thinking about the same problem.
Last night, Oracle had reviewed all surveillance footage from the Gotham Art Museum for the past week, trying to identify suspects for Kid.
After discussing it, they agreed that Kid must have investigated the museum thoroughly before the heist. Otherwise, there was no way to explain how he knew the exhibited Goddess's Tear was a fake beforehand.
Gordon had only suggested swapping the gem a few days prior to the crime. Therefore, Kid must have visited the museum within those few days.
So, if they could find tourists who frequently visited the Goddess's Tear recently, they would likely find Kid.
The idea was sound, but execution was difficult.
Tim and Oracle watched the footage several times from beginning to end but found no recurring visitors.
Considering Kid likely possessed a transformation ability, they could only conclude that Kid changed his face every time he visited. There was no way to determine who was more suspicious.
In other words, everyone who viewed the Goddess's Tear was a suspect!
Without more information to rule people out, their only option was brute force.
Yes, Tim had been busy all night yesterday. Based on the list provided by Oracle, he visited suspects one by one to investigate.
If someone hadn't been to the museum that day, or if someone in the footage had no identity records, they became a key focus.
Of course, the young guard who smiled at the camera was also on the suspect list. But after finding the real guard, Tim ruled him out immediately.
A single night wasn't enough to check everyone. By dawn, Tim hadn't even finished half the list. Instead, the number of suspects worthy of further attention had increased by a dozen.
Tim arriving at school so early wasn't due to good habits; he simply hadn't slept.
"I need to improve efficiency. I'll start with the house closest to school and check the most people with the shortest route..."
Tim mapped out the route in his mind while taking a huge gulp from his water bottle, which was filled with coffee.