"Hey, you all thought I would steal the gem from the sky, right?"
"That's so naive."
"This is called cleverness backfiring. The more you dwell on the secret of walking in the air, the less you pay attention to the ground."
At the back door of the Suzuki Museum—
Suzuki Jirokichi, holding a garbage bag in his hand, quickly ran toward the sidecar motorcycle he had parked nearby earlier that morning.
Inside the garbage bag was the priceless Blue Miracle.
After borrowing a few police officers from Ginzo Nakamori, Jirokichi had instructed them to disguise themselves as his escorts, secretly protecting an empty safe as a decoy to attract Kaito Kid's attention, while he would smuggle the Blue Miracle away in a garbage bag.
Since Kaito Kid was still "in the sky" at the time, the officers left with the empty safe without any suspicion.
Jirokichi Suzuki—who was actually Kaito Kid in disguise—threw the garbage bag into the sidecar, then jumped on the motorcycle and quickly inserted the key.
Vroom!
The instrument panel lit up, the needle danced up and then settled back to zero.
The rumble of the engine proved the motorcycle was in excellent condition.
Kuroba Kaito happily stepped on the accelerator.
With the loud roar of the engine, the sidecar motorcycle surged forward—only to move less than a meter before screeching to a stop.
What the hell?
Kuroba Kaito froze. He looked down and found that both tires were deflated and locked with chains.
I have a bad feeling about this…
"Need a hand, Mr. Thief?"
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The sudden voice of Hayashi Yoshiki made Kuroba Kaito react like a little girl who just saw a rat.
He immediately sat up and found Hayashi Yoshiki standing in front of him, smiling.
"Why are you here?!"
If it were someone else, Kuroba Kaito might have tried to argue, perhaps pretending to still be Suzuki Jirokichi. But against Hayashi Yoshiki, it was better to save his breath.
Oddly enough, Hayashi Yoshiki looked a little confused by the question.
"You were the one who told me to do my best to catch Kaito Kid."
"…"
I walked right into this one…
Kuroba Kaito sighed, his tone subtly softening, "Hey, can we reconcile?"
"Are you seriously joking at this moment?"
Kuroba Kaito grabbed the garbage bag from the sidecar and tried to bolt.
But a hand stopped him.
Conan, who had been hiding in the sidecar, yanked the garbage bag from him and gave a smug grin.
"Forget about this gem, Kaito Kid."
"Even you, little brat, are here?!"
This is bad! Really bad!
Kuroba Kaito's mind was racing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hayashi Yoshiki approaching.
He immediately tried to jump up and make a run for it.
But—he couldn't move.
What the hell?!
"I timed it perfectly and applied superglue to the motorcycle seat ten seconds after you sat down."
"Are you kidding me?! That's too mean!!"
"I can't help it. My assistant has been complaining that our agency's popularity has dropped lately. No new cases, no new clients. So he asked me to catch you to boost our reputation."
"…!"
Kuroba Kaito suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe.
Watching Hayashi Yoshiki walking toward him, he struggled harder—but the superglue was much stronger than he expected.
Conan clicked his tongue as he looked at the pitiful sight before him.
Hayashi Yoshiki's methods really opened his eyes. When Conan used to chase Kaito Kid, he always aimed to solve the tricks and confront him head-on. But Yoshiki? He chose to set the trap and wait for Kaito Kid to step into it.
Comparing the two, Yoshiki's method required him to see through Kaito Kid's thoughts far in advance and predict his escape route.
Conan, who had been in charge of deflating the tires and locking them with chains, knew very well that the superglue and chains were all prepared by Hayashi Yoshiki ahead of time.
In other words—he had probably seen through all of Kaito Kid's plans long before this.
Realizing this, Conan couldn't help but feel relieved that Hayashi Yoshiki wasn't actually part of the Black Organization.
Rip!
The sound of fabric tearing pulled Conan out of his thoughts.
Kuroba Kaito had finally managed to stand, but his pants were now torn. He awkwardly looked back and saw the remaining cloth still glued to the motorcycle.
"Checkmate."
Hayashi Yoshiki calmly cuffed his right hand.
"Really? I just helped you guys a few days ago. Didn't we agree we're comrades against a common enemy?"
"We are on the same side—but you're the thief, and I'm the detective."
Hayashi Yoshiki smiled brightly. "I hope you still remember the joke I made three days ago."
"…."
Kuroba Kaito looked a bit panicked. He glanced at Conan, then back at Hayashi Yoshiki, and sighed, "You two really spend all day plotting to trick people, huh…"
Still, he couldn't help but laugh.
Conan, meanwhile, had no idea what that "joke" three days ago even was.
At that moment, Hayashi Yoshiki pulled out his phone and snapped a picture.
He sent it to Hakuba Saguru.
Hayashi Yoshiki: "Caught him."
Hakuba Detective: "!!"
Although Hakuba Saguru was far away, he had been following Kaito Kid's heist through the live TV broadcast.
Even though the person in the photo was still disguised as Suzuki Jirokichi, Hakuba Saguru immediately knew it was Kaito Kid.
Hakuba Saguru: "Quick! Take off his mask! If we get his real face on camera, we can finally confirm Kaito Kid's true identity!"
"Kaito Kid!!!"
"There he is!!"
"Catch him!!!"
Ginzo Nakamori finally arrived, charging in with his men after hearing the reports.
His eyes were locked on Kaito Kid—still in his Suzuki Jirokichi disguise—being held by Hayashi Yoshiki.
"Officer Nakamori, thank you for your hard work. I've got him. The next steps are all yours."
"Ah? Oh, oh!"
Nakamori was momentarily stunned that his long-time nemesis had been captured by this young man once again, but he quickly took over the handcuffs.
Meanwhile, the reporters were frantically snapping photos.
Nakamori Ginzo taking custody of Kaito Kid from Hayashi Yoshiki became an instant historical moment under the flashing cameras.
"Excuse me, is this really Kaito Kid and not Mr. Suzuki himself?"
"Mr. Hayashi! How did Kaito Kid walk in the air? Have you figured out the trick?"
"Mr. Hayashi!"
"…"
"…"
The reporters' loud questions didn't faze Nakamori Ginzo's excitement one bit.
Looking at Kaito Kid, who finally seemed to be in his grasp for real this time, Nakamori burst out laughing.
"Don't even think about escaping this time! Kaito Kid, let me finally see your true face!"
As he said this, he reached out to pull off Kaito Kid's mask.