No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

----------------

"The corn cream soup there is quite flavorful, and the lamb chops are also good."

"Indeed. We can go to that store next time."

"Hmm—let's go to another one. I don't like going to the same store all the time."

Listening to Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth still talking about dinner, Conan, shivering in the cold wind, wrapped his blue suit tighter. After all, it was already past midnight, and the strong wind blowing from the rooftop was a bit too much for Conan's small frame.

"so cold."

Seeing Conan shivering from the cold, Vermouth waved to Kitahara Masaki, who then took out a piece of clothing from his newly bought clothes and handed it to him.

"Little detective, put it on."

"Thank you."

Wearing his brand-new coat, Conan inwardly berated himself for being in such a hurry. It wasn't even the appointed time yet, and he'd been standing there like an idiot, waiting. It seemed he hadn't practiced any deductions in a long time, making him a little insecure.

"Hey kid, don't wipe your snot on your clothes, okay? This shirt costs—"

Kitahara Masaki glanced at the receipt and continued...

"More than 30,000."

More than 30,000 Japanese yen, that's not too expensive. Thinking this, Conan thought he might as well just buy it himself, since he has quite a bit of pocket money anyway.

"More than 30,000 US dollars."

"What?!"

Startled, Conan felt his blood rush to his head. Upon hearing the price, he lost all desire to sleep and hurriedly tried to take it off and return it to Kitahara Masaki.

"Haha, how about that? Getting a scare made you feel warmer, right?"

Damn it, I've been scammed again!

Although it was no longer cold, Conan was furious at being tricked again, and decided to give that phantom thief a good whack later...

After calming down, Conan took a closer look at the tag on his clothes. Goodness, although it wasn't 30,000, it was still 10,000 US dollars.

"Sister Evelyn, I'm not cold anymore, you can have my coat back."

"Hehe, don't rush. That coat was bought two seasons in advance, so it's probably the cheapest one I own."

Goodness, really goodness, are all the Lauder family members this rich?

Conan, who had learned a lot today, felt completely numb. He used to think that the Suzuki Group was very wealthy, but after seeing Vermouth casually give him her coat, he finally understood that there was a fundamental difference between American families and Japanese conglomerates, a difference that was evident in their very demeanor.

Conan was so shocked that he forgot to pay attention to the time, and Kitahara Masaki didn't need to look at his watch at all. When Kaito Kid appeared on the rooftop using a hang glider, he and Vermouth noticed him.

"coming."

"He's a very punctual phantom thief."

Conan, finally remembering his purpose for tonight, looked at the white figure. He saw that the figure was wearing a white top hat and an extravagant evening suit, with his true face hidden behind a single eyeglass.

Under the silent night sky, Phantom Thief Kid appeared before everyone without a sound. The unchanging smile on his playing card foreshadowed the start of the magic trick.

Conan took out the fireworks he had prepared beforehand, and with a bang, the firework exploded in the air. The police officers at the Beika Museum, not far away, all witnessed this scene.

"Hmph, Phantom Thief Kid, the police have already noticed this place. Once the helicopter arrives, you'll have nowhere to escape."

"Haha, little kid, are you perhaps a detective?"

"That's right, my name is Conan Edogawa, and I'm a detective."

Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth stood aside, watching Kid and Conan make up. However, Kid didn't pay any attention to Conan. After seeing Kitahara Masaki, he assumed that the kid was probably with the famous policeman.

"Inspector Kitahara, did you come here specifically to see my magic show?"

"Yes, I came to see my fellow disciples' performance."

Kidd didn't understand what Kitahara Masaki meant by "fellow disciples," but Vermouth immediately realized.

The phantom thief in front of me—is actually also a disciple of Kuroba Toichi!

Chapter 51 Sunglasses and sunflower seeds are ready, Kidd, you can begin.

Because of Conan's act of setting off fireworks on the rooftop, the surrounding police began to notice the area. Conan had hoped to see a look of panic on Kid's face, but this was already within Kid's calculations; it could be said that this was part of his performance.

After seeing that Kitahara Masaki had no intention of arresting him, Kidd took out a radio from his pocket, which was already connected to the police channel:

"All security personnel at the Beika Museum immediately rushed to the top floor of the Beika City Hotel and spotted the Phantom Thief Kid!"

"The helicopters stationed at the Beika Museum are immediately heading to the top floor of the Beika City Hotel!"

Without using any props, Phantom Thief Kid issued instructions to everyone in the voice of the on-site police officer. Conan, who relies on his voice-changing bowtie to imitate other people's voices, was genuinely startled by this amazing feat.

"how?"

"It's pretty good; it brings out the characteristics of a middle-aged man's voice."

Meanwhile, Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth, munching on sunflower seeds, commented on Kid's performance. They figured the two of them could achieve the same level, so unlike Conan, they weren't surprised, only showing appreciation for the young man.

"So, is he trying to distract the museum police and then steal the Dark Star from the exhibition?"

"No, a master thief like him would definitely do his research beforehand, so he already knew that the exhibited gems were fakes. Therefore, his purpose in coming here is to fulfill the contents of the pre-announcement letter."

"April Fool's Day—oh, I see. I didn't expect this child to be so principled."

Bang!

Ginzo Nakamori, leading a large group of police officers, burst through the door leading to the top floor and shouted upon seeing Kid's figure:

"Surrender, Phantom Thief Kid!"

Conan secretly raised his Genius tranquilizer watch, a self-defense gadget specially designed for children. It seemed he intended to inject Kid with it in the back of the neck while he was escaping.

Hey, Kaito Kid, let me see what you're up to.

The duel between Conan and Kid was witnessed by two onlookers, and Vermouth chuckled:

"The performance was really good, I really enjoyed it."

"Don't worry, you can act in it if you want in the future. Also, save some of that cream flavor for me, why did you eat it so fast?"

Vermouth chuckled and snatched the entire bag of sunflower seeds from Kitahara Masaki's hand.

After being surrounded by the police, the noise from the helicopters circling overhead seemed to foreshadow the end of the phantom thief.

Nakamori Ginzo laughed heartily. Seeing the scene of being completely surrounded, he had no idea how he could lose.

Meanwhile, Phantom Thief Kid suddenly unfolded his hang glider, seemingly about to escape through the sky.

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone.

As he bowed, a flashbang fell from his sleeve, blinding both the police officer and Conan.

"Opening the hang glider is just a decoy. They use flashbangs to blind them, then quickly change into police uniforms and blend into the crowd."

"Hmm—it is indeed a magician's technique, with traces of Mr. Kuroba's style."

The moment the flashbang was released, Kitahara Masaki put on sunglasses for himself and Vermouth, allowing him to see the entire process of Phantom Thief Kid's disguise.

In their eyes, both the speed of the costume change and the performance design were quite good. Although there was a kind of youthful inexperience, the technique was smooth and fluid, and it was obvious that he had rehearsed many times.

However, in Kaito Kid's eyes, these two older brothers and sisters were really just there to watch the show. They had no intention of arresting him at all. Even though they had figured out his performance, they still stood aside and pointed at him, just like they were watching a real performance in a theater.

Oops—these two don't think I'm a monkey in a zoo, do they?

As everyone looked around, thinking that Kidd had flown to a distant place, Nakamori Ginzo ordered the helicopter's radar to search for Kidd, but naturally, they found nothing.

"Go back, the show is over."

"What a wonderful performance."

The two who had been standing in the shadows finally emerged. Because they had concealed their presence, the police were all startled when they saw Kitaen Masaki. Nakamori Ginzo, who was standing to the side with a look of sudden realization, shouted:

"Kid! You actually impersonated a celebrity like Kitahara Masaki! Do you think I wouldn't dare to come over and rip your face off?!"

The middle-aged man, who was completely bewildered by his son-in-law's prank, thought Kitahara Masaki was Kid in disguise, but Kid, who had already disguised himself as a police officer, was actually laughing.

Before the middle-aged man could even make a move, Kitahara Masaki pulled at his own face, and the spot where he had pulled naturally turned red. Inspector Nakamori, realizing he had made a blunder, smiled apologetically. Even within the Second Investigation Division, this middle-aged man had heard of Kitahara Masaki's name; it was this young man who had finally freed the First Investigation Division from its heavy reliance on detective high school students.

"Um, Inspector Kitahara, if you're also here to arrest Kid, you can give me a call. I can arrange for you to be in a place with a good view of the whole situation, so you don't need to come here to get some fresh air."

"Haha, you're too kind, Inspector Nakamori. I'm just here with my girlfriend to see what the legendary Phantom Thief Kid is all about, so we won't trouble you. After all, I'm still on vacation."

"Really? Indeed, Inspector Kitahara has solved so many cases lately, he really deserves a break. Um—actually, I think Kid might..."

Before Officer Nakamori could finish speaking, Kitahara Masaki pinched Vermouth's cheek, and she immediately pretended to be shy, covering her face and hiding behind Kitahara Masaki.

"Don't worry, she's not Kid in disguise."

"Okay, okay, I'll have an officer escort you down now."

As for the police officer that Kid was disguised as, he naturally volunteered to see them off, using the excuse of admiring Kitahara Masaki for everything he had done as a policeman. This brat dared to use the two of us as shields, he had some nerve.

After Kid, Kitahara Masaki, and the other two entered the elevator, Kitahara Masaki asked with a smile:

"Kidd, do you really think I won't arrest you?"

"Officer Kitahara, just for the sake of my excellent performance tonight, why don't you pretend you've never seen me?"

Kitahara Masaki suddenly made a move. Just as he was about to grab Kid's shoulder, the kid slipped on top of the elevator like an eel, kicked open the elevator's ventilation opening, and flipped onto the elevator floor.

Just as Kitahara Masaki was about to continue, a white figure rushed out of the smoke and crashed into Kitahara Masaki without hesitation.

However, Kitahara Masaki didn't care about this 'person' at all. The moment it burst out of the smoke, Kitahara Masaki judged that it was just a doll, and the real Kid had already escaped from somewhere in the elevator shaft.

"This kid has a lot of training."

"How much of your strength did you use?"

"About 70%. I'm afraid it would hurt him if it were too much."

After this encore, Vermouth finally saw through the true identity of the Phantom Thief Kid.

"He's Mr. Kuroba's son, right?"

Bingo!

Chapter 52 It seems that the big shots don't really like interactive magic shows.