No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

"On the surface, he was burned to death in a fire after a failed magic show, but in reality, it was a decision he made to avoid trouble and to stop those people from targeting his family."

The information released by Kitahara Masaki greatly tempted Kid, but he was also afraid that if he were arrested and imprisoned after revealing his identity, he would never be able to find the guys who wanted to kill his father again.

"Although you can maintain a poker face, your actions betray your eagerness to continue asking questions. Next time, remember not to tug at the brim of your top hat when you're trying to hide something. It's very obvious, Kaito Kuroba. In the end, the mission to arrest you belongs to the Second Investigation Division, and it actually has nothing to do with me. Whether you want to know more about your father is up to you."

Kid was slightly shaken when his identity was revealed. After all, the police officer in front of him was not like the officers of the Second Investigation Division who did things without thinking. During the previous theft of the Dark Star, he realized that this officer had already seen through his magic show, but was just too lazy to say it.

"Is that so? It seems you've seen right through my worries about Kuroba Toichi. Inspector Kitahara, I hope you can tell me who exactly wants him dead..."

"No problem, but let's talk about it tomorrow, I'm tired today."

Seeing that the child was actually a good kid who cared about his family, Kitahara Masaki felt relieved.

Kaito was left alone, reaching out his hand, only to find that there was no one in front of him.

Chapter 161 He's a phantom thief, but also a high school student who wants to see his father.

"Um, Officer Kitahara, we..."

"Stop calling me 'police officer,' let's eat first."

The next day, Kitahara Masaki personally went to Kaito's house and pulled him out. Although Kaito was initially somewhat resistant, after hearing that Kitahara Masaki would provide him with the information he wanted, he obediently followed behind Kitahara Masaki out of concern for his father.

The two then went to Nishiya Rinka's bakery. While eating freshly baked bread, they watched as the bakery became incredibly popular. Many office workers who worked nearby came to buy bread for breakfast, including police officers who worked at the police station.

Rinka Nishitani greets each customer with a smile and a "Good morning." As the owner, she always has time to ask customers what they think of the bread. At the same time, she subtly steers the conversation toward the customers' work. To this day, she has collected a lot of information about public security personnel for Masaki Kitahara—their appearance, name, workplace, job title, and other information.

"Oh, then Kitahara-nii, when can we talk about my dad and that organization?"

Since Kitahara Masaki had clearly made progress on Kaito's father's matter, Kuroba Kaito also understood that there was no point in pretending any longer, so he might as well cooperate with Kitahara Masaki and find out the organization that wanted to harm his father as soon as possible.

"Wait, we'll go ask the police later. Also, we usually use 'Zoo' as the code name for that organization, since most of the people in it are codenamed after animals, just like Snake you met before."

"This... just ask the police, but I..."

"Don't worry, you will appear as an eyewitness who has nothing to do with Phantom Thief Kid. You are just a passerby who saw Snake and Phantom Thief Kid confronting each other."

"They're police officers, it's not right to lie to them, is it?"

"This is just a small price to pay to fight real crime, nothing more than a white lie. Don't worry, just sit here and wait for my good news."

After saying that, Kitahara Masaki went directly to one of the police officers he had met a few times before, said a few words to him, and then Kaito saw the two of them suddenly burst into laughter, as if they had talked about something very funny. Not long after, Kitahara Masaki returned.

"How is it, Kitahara-nii?"

"Of course there are no problems. The police officer will fax the zoo's information over in a bit, so there's no need to be afraid. Police officers are human too, and once you get on their good side, they're easy to talk to."

"Um, I just saw you guys laughing happily. What was so funny?"

"Yeah, something interesting can always bring people closer together. I was just saying that when you went to see Phantom Thief Kid stealing jewels, you ran into people from the zoo and got scared so badly that you peed your pants when they pointed a gun at you."

Kaito fell silent, silently repeating to himself, 'This is all for Dad, this is all to find out the truth.' A high school student wets his pants upon seeing a vicious criminal... I can't accept this!

"Ahem, Kitahara-nii, how about we try to talk about something different next time?"

"Oh, I see. Next time, I'll say something different... like you met the people from the zoo and then—"

"It's fine as long as you wet your pants! No need to change them, no need to change them!"

"Really? Don't be so polite with me."

Looking at the disheveled and bewildered Kuroba Kaito, Kitahara Masaki chuckled as he ate his bread. In truth, what he had just said to the Public Security Bureau was nothing more than the kind of talk that working people have – complaining about their bosses. In the end, Kitahara Masaki's face was already considered a top-notch collaborator by the Public Security Bureau. After all, just by following Amuro Tooru and Kitahara Masaki, they could get a share of the profits. Even if they were just there to make up the numbers, they would still get credit. Therefore, most Public Security Bureau officers were willing to provide Kitahara Masaki with information, let alone a criminal organization like Zoo, which was quite famous internationally.

"Alright, come with me to get the police files. But you'd better not have too high expectations. After all, the zoo's operating methods are not much different from ordinary criminal organizations. They all use money to hire people. There aren't many people who actually know that the Pandora Gem can grant immortality."

The zoo that searches and collects famous gems around the world actually aims to find a gem that glows red when illuminated by moonlight, which they call Pandora, supposedly granting immortality.

Kaito Kuroba's father, Toichi Kuroba, was targeted for assassination by the zoo because he hindered the zoo's treasure hunt. To protect his family from being implicated, Toichi Kuroba faked his death and escaped. Now, Kaito's mother has gone abroad to gather information about the zoo, leaving only the butler to look after the young magician.

So, his plan to become the second Phantom Thief Kid to lure out the people from the Zoo is something he would do at his age, but it's far too dangerous. The Zoo's power level is definitely no match for the Black Organization, but this transnational criminal organization has even killed several Interpol agents, all for the sake of collecting the world's most precious gems. Just from this style, you can see that he has no scruples when it comes to finding the Pandora's Stone; he's completely obsessed with the elusive concept of immortality.

Kaito Kuroba quickly finished reading the information sent by the police. There were actually many zoo members active around the world, but many of them had been arrested or killed by the private bodyguards of the wealthy. Therefore, the police only released information on the members who were still alive.

"Kitahara-kun, may I ask you something? About why you're willing to help me?"

Kitahara Masaki thought for a moment and said:

"I once studied disguise and voice-changing techniques under Mr. Kuroba Toichi, so he can be considered my teacher. Therefore, it's not hard to understand why I would help his son."

"Dad... he taught you disguise and voice-changing techniques? But I've never heard him mention these things."

"Do you tell your mother everything that happens to you?"

"Uh, no."

Kitahara Masaki raised an eyebrow, and Kuroba Kaito finally understood what Kitahara Masaki meant, as well as what he meant by "fellow disciples" when he was on the Suzuki Group's ship.

"Besides, I'm too lazy to arrest a minor like you. The most important thing is that your current actions have indeed attracted the attention of the zoo, which is why they sent Snake to contact you."

"Ah! Kitahara-kun, can you proceed with the arrest now?"

"Don't rush. If the police come now, it won't be a simple matter of looking at the documents. You'll definitely have to reveal your identity to them, otherwise you won't be able to explain how you knew the zoo was there. The most important thing is that the police won't let a minor do this kind of thing."

"So..."

"So of course you can continue, but you can't tell the police. However, I think they'll be coming for you soon."

Kitahara Masaki didn't say much, just waved goodbye to Kuroba Kaito, after all—Inspector Megure had another case.

Chapter 162 The Vanished Death Message

"So this person is the victim in this case?"

"Yes, the victim was a detective. After the power outage in the mall ended, a witness saw him sitting on the escalator. When they came over, they found his stomach covered in blood, and a bloodstained kitchen knife was lying next to him."

"power failure?"

"Yes, according to the mall's repair staff, the power outage was caused by improper operation and lasted only fifteen seconds."

Haha, and a murder occurred within those short fifteen seconds.

After saying goodbye to Kaito Kuroba, Masaki Kitahara arrived at the crime scene. Now he was a working man whose holiday was over, no longer like the Junior Detective League who had a holiday every day.

"So after the lights were turned on, no one approached the victim anymore, right?"

"No, because we ran out immediately after hearing someone scream."

Kitahara Masaki looked down and saw Conan indeed at the scene, followed by Ran and Sonoko, and even the FBI agents—Judy looked at Kitahara Masaki with a smile, guessing that they had already checked the coin that Kitahara Masaki had deliberately left behind, and had probably already ruled out Evelyn as a suspect in Vermouth's case.

"That's right, I immediately told Ran and Sonoko to call the police and an ambulance."

The English teacher probably thought she had solved the puzzle, but it turned out she had just been fooled by a little trick.

However, it was precisely because she was the only one present that Kitahara Masaki dared to use such a trick to fool her at the amusement park. If Akai Shuichi had been there, Kitahara Masaki would not have dared to use such a method to deceive her.

"Oh, really? Thank you for your cooperation."

Now that he's cleared of suspicion, Kitahara Masaki can naturally make more contact with Jodie to see if he can find Akai Shuichi's whereabouts. The FBI already has two agents openly playing their cards—Jodie and James. Therefore, finding Akai Shuichi's location and sending the address to Amuro Tooru is exactly what Kitahara Masaki wants.

Unfortunately, given the current situation, Kitahara Masaki doesn't have any excuse to approach her, especially since he's a woman. The persona of 'Kitahara Masaki' must remain innocent; if he were photographed having an affair, it would be troublesome.

Thinking this, Kitahara Masaki looked again at the victim in this case. He was killed on the escalator, and was still clutching a cardboard bag used for holding documents. There was a message written in his blood on it, but the message was very strange; it contained three symbols from left to right: a circle, a cross, and a triangle. However, only the cardboard bag remained of what he was clutching; the crucial contents were missing, meaning the murderer must have taken it.

"Kitahara-senpai! We've checked the victim's phone records, which show a call made 30 minutes ago."

"Oh, that was shortly before the incident. Let's call back."

"Yes!"

After Takagi pressed the call-back button, one of the onlookers' phones suddenly rang. The people around him immediately made way, leaving only the guy whose phone had suddenly rung. He looked up and saw Kitahara Masaki and Inspector Megure staring at him with a vengeful look.

"I...I...I'm not the murderer!"

Looking at the guy who was so scared that he was stuttering, Kitahara Masaki could tell at a glance that this guy was definitely not the murderer. After all, the murderer would definitely need to deal with the evidence after killing someone, and it would be impossible for him to return to the scene so quickly.

"Then please tell me everything you know."

They led the terrified middle-aged office worker to an empty restaurant and began questioning him.

What was your relationship with the deceased?

"Here's the thing, officer. A few days ago, I discovered that company funds had been embezzled, so I found a detective agency to help me find out who did it. So, I was talking to him about this on the phone. He said he had already found the real culprit, but unexpectedly, he was murdered. I guess he was discovered by the other party during the investigation."

Where is your company located?

"Ah, it's on the eighth to eleventh floors of this shopping mall."

It seems likely that the murderer took away the evidence proving he embezzled public funds after killing the person, and may have then used the company's shredder to destroy the paper evidence.

"Do you have any leads? The deceased should have told you about the person who embezzled public funds, right?"

The middle-aged man who was arrested took out a document from his briefcase, which was full of names.

"This is the list of potential suspects that the detective gave me before. He only finished checking everyone on this list today. He originally had evidence to prove the culprit, but it seems that person has already taken it all."

Kitahara Masaki took the data; it was densely packed with over fifty names. It seemed he'd have to go to their company first and decipher the deceased's death information.

After sending people up to search the shredder and investigate the alibis of the people on the list, Kitahara Masaki stayed behind to look at the death message left by the deceased.

As he looked, Kitahara Masaki suddenly noticed that there were actually traces on the left side of the circle, which was right in front of the very beginning of the death message, but it was just a vertical line left on the edge of the bag.

When he wanted to verify his idea, Kitahara Masaki took out Sherlock Holmes' magnifying glass. With the help of the system's tools, Kitahara Masaki saw a light flashing on the escalator steps. Upon seeing this, he quickly called forensic experts to reconstruct the bloodstains.

"How could this be? A rectangle standing upright... plus the circles, crosses, and triangles that follow, that makes four shapes? What does that mean?"

Inspector Megure was completely baffled after seeing the death message; it didn't seem like a warning at all. The bloodstain reaction showed a vertical rectangle, larger than the other shapes.

Kitahara Masaki also found the death message very strange. Logically speaking, since the detective was able to write down these four symbols, why didn't he write down the criminal's name?

Why didn't he write down the prisoner's name?

Conan also asked this question.

"Is it because he didn't want the killer to know what he was implying?"

"That's not right. There was a power outage at that time. The murderer shouldn't have been able to see what the victim was doing. If they had, they would have taken the cardboard bag along with the victim."

"Could this be his computer password? Or a secret code he agreed upon with a friend? Or perhaps a clue to the killer's nickname?"

Conan eliminated all the possibilities one by one, but he still couldn't come up with a truly explainable answer.

Kitahara Masaki looked at Conan in front of him and wondered if the guy was getting stuck on something again. Then it suddenly occurred to him that the deceased should have left behind his name, because in such a short time, he could only leave behind the name of the culprit.

Therefore, these four graphics should be interpreted as the names of the criminals. Taking out the list of suspects, Kitahara Masaki quickly found one name from dozens of names—Kuniyoshi Bunta.