Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 1273 The Real and Fake Kudo Begins
"Can we go directly to the site for a new investigation?"

"Yes. You probably already found out what happened before you came. Because of the expectations of the Nichihara family children, we didn't clean up the scene. For more than a year, apart from the traces left during the investigation, everything there has remained as it was at the time of the incident."

After receiving this answer from the police, the group looked at each other, and all of them found surprise in each other's eyes.

"Speaking of the Nichihara family's children, you mean Mr. Yuta Makoto, who sent us the letter? So he's been unwilling to accept the previous results and deliberately preserved the scene in an attempt to reopen the investigation?" Ran Mouri's brows furrowed slightly as she spoke.

That was no ordinary crime scene; it was the scene of the murders of his adoptive parents.

To preserve that scene, even if one no longer lives in the house afterward, is still a scene that evokes sadness and fear.

This place, which became home, is now accompanied by loss and pain. The warm memories of the past can no longer be found. The person who made this cruel decision needed to make a huge sacrifice...

"No, it was Daiki who decided to do it." Once again, to everyone's surprise, the serious-looking police officer gave another answer, "It was the youngest son of the Nichihara family."

"Huh? I remember he said he's still very young..."

“Yes, Dashu is only 8 years old this year. The main issue is that he couldn't accept the investigation results at the time and begged the police to leave the scene as it was. Since it was his request…”

Ran Mouri's brows furrowed even deeper, and this time her fingertips twisted together in a tangled mess.

If even the youngest child in the family is this persistent, then a mild "reinvestigation" cannot cover it up. This family's aggression will be far stronger than they anticipate.

So, what if Shinichi goes to see Makoto Yata alone...?

Thinking of this, she became restless and turned her gaze to Tang Ze and Hattori, who knew the situation, for help.

Is it really okay to let Conan run off into the forest on his own?

"Should we call Conan?" Sensing her mood and realizing something was amiss, Hattori Heiji quickly interjected, "If we're going to the scene, he'll be waiting a long time..."

This is a suitable reason, and it also makes it convenient to subtly hint to Conan to be careful in front of people who are unaware of the situation.

Ran Mouri immediately took out her phone and almost impatiently dialed the number.

The cell phone signal was very weak, and she didn't know if Conan, who had already run into the woods, could get through. Listening to the dial tone, Ran Mouri felt her heart beating faster and faster.

Please, please don't let anything happen, Conan...

"Hey?"

Finally, just before the call was about to hang up automatically, it was answered.

However, what made Ran Mouri's heart tighten was that the voice on the other end was hoarse and rough. She didn't know if it had been altered or if the speaker was suffering from a bad cold, but in any case, it was not Conan's voice.

"Hello, who is this? Why do you have this phone?" Ran Mouri asked the person on the other end, trying her best to remain calm.

The rough, hoarse voice paused for a moment, then answered blankly, "...I...I don't know either..."

"This is really... let me tell you about it..."

There was a rustling sound on the other end of the phone, as if the phone had been switched with someone else.

This time, his voice sounded much stronger.

"Ah, you know this guy who fell into the lake, right? Then could you please come over here..."

"Fell into the lake?! Is he a child?!"

"Hmm? No, it's a young man who looks like a middle school student... He's causing a lot of trouble here. Regardless of who you are to him, could you come and handle this?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After this unexpected incident, the group naturally lost all interest in exploring the scene and quickly found a lakeside by following the area provided over the phone.

At this moment, a group of people were gathered on the rocky reef by the lake.

As they walked over, they noticed the young man sitting in the middle of the group, wrapped in a blanket, looking completely bewildered.

This person has a very familiar face...

"Shinichi?!" Ran Mouri stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"...Shinichi? Is that my name?" The person, whose hair was still wet, turned around blankly, looking in the direction from which the voice came, scrutinizing Ran Mouri's expression. Her face was full of unfamiliarity, and she didn't recognize Ran.

"W-How did you get here..." Ran Mouri quickened her pace and ran over, crouching down to touch the other person's face. She noticed his body was very cold and frowned. "You...you don't remember?"

Because the case involved old cases, she was prepared for the possibility that she might see Shinichi in the future.

But without even saying goodbye, he fell into the lake and was pulled out, seemingly having lost his memory. This was completely unexpected.

"W-What nonsense are you talking about? Don't joke around, Kudo!" Hattori Heiji's voice trembled as he took two steps closer. "This kind of joke isn't funny. You're a famous detective, everyone knows you..."

"A detective? Me?" Wiping away the water trickling down his temples, the young man pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "I don't know. Who am I? And where am I...?"

This is not just simple amnesia, but amnesia to the point where one cannot even remember their own name.

Ran Mouri's face stiffened as she looked back for help, finally understanding the panic her friends had felt when she lost her memory.

Familiar faces speaking unfamiliar words, their wary and guarded gazes sending a chill down one's spine.

Moreover, Shinichi's situation is much more complicated than hers back then. She was just an ordinary high school student who was accidentally caught up in the incident. Forgetting the past won't affect things too much. If she can't remember it for a while, she can gradually adapt to life...

But Shinichi's situation is completely different.

Although it's uncertain how long he can remain "Shinichi Kudo" this time, as long as his problems remain unresolved, it won't be long before he has to return to Conan Edogawa's life. If he loses his memory, not only will he be unable to conceal his identity and will it be immediately exposed, but it also means that many of the plans he participated in will encounter problems due to his absence.

What should we do? What should we do now? How can we restore his memory? What if it doesn't...?

"Shinichi Kudo? You're saying this guy is Shinichi Kudo?" The middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap and carrying a fishing rod next to him immediately darkened his face. "What?! Why did you rescue someone like this..."

"Upon closer inspection, isn't that the same face?" The burly man standing next to him sneered. "If I had known it was him, I shouldn't have rescued him."

"Hey, how can you talk like that?" Hattori Heiji stepped forward, blocking their glares. "Even if you have a problem with Kudo, you can't just stand by and watch him die, can you?"

He roughly understood the situation of this group of people. They were similar to the group he had encountered at the military post. He guessed they were villagers who were taking their anger out on Shinichi Kudo because of the village chief's old case.

That's true, but it's just a matter of not being able to accept the detective's answer; there's no need to go so far as to curse the other person to death...

Kazuha Toyama took two steps forward after him, turned her head to examine Shinichi Kudo's face for a moment, and asked in a low voice with a puzzled look, "By the way, how did Conan's phone end up being found with Kudo's? Did they run into each other here? Then, then Conan wouldn't..."

"Excuse me." Before Yuanshan and Ye could ask even more crucial questions, Tang Ze stepped forward and took over the conversation, proactively inquiring about the two middle-aged men who looked like fishermen who had rescued the drowning man, "Where did you find him? Was he found like this, completely naked? Did you find any other people or anything else? Where's his phone? Was it with him?"

"It was right here by the lake. I saw something floating in the distance, and when I went closer, I found it was a person. I thought I had encountered a floating corpse, which gave me quite a fright." The middle-aged man in the baseball cap pursed his lips, but reluctantly answered because Tang Ze was very nice. "I found the phone on the shore. It was lying on the rocks over there, very conspicuous."

"That's strange." Tang Ze took the phone from him and looked at it. "The clothes and shoes are gone, but the phone is still here..."

Hattori Heiji, who was listening nearby, was sweating profusely and almost stepped forward to tell Tang Ze to stop talking.

This kind of thing would be outrageous if it happened to someone else, but it's perfectly normal when it happened to Kudo.

After all, if this guy encounters any unexpected situation and has to act like an adult, he won't be able to find clothes that fit, and he'll indeed have to run around naked.

But the phone originally belonged to him, so it's not surprising that he carried it with him.

...I just imagined the scene, and it's a bit hard to describe.

"...That means this guy might not necessarily be Kudo, right?" Tang Ze suddenly said, changing the subject.

"Huh?" Hattori Heiji's expression immediately fell apart, not expecting him to be breathing so heavily.

"I was just about to call and confirm that he wasn't Okita. We've known for a while that Kudo has a generic face." Tang Ze shook his phone seriously. "If he really is Kudo, then why doesn't he have his own phone?"

As Tang Ze spoke, he turned his back, gave Hattori Heiji a wink, and then subtly tapped his wrist.

What he really wanted to talk about wasn't cell phones, but something else entirely.

Whether he's Conan or Shinichi Kudo, his combat strength isn't very high. His strength comes mainly from the amazing gadgets created by Professor Agasa.

If it was truly an attack or other accident that caused him to fall into the lake and lose his memory, he shouldn't have lost his equipment along with it. If he couldn't wear his shoes, it wouldn't be difficult to keep his watch and bow tie, right?

As for why he only had Conan's phone and not Shinichi Kudo's own, the answer isn't hard to guess.

Just to be on the safe side, Conan's two phones are locked with fingerprints on the one with his old number and with a screen lock password on the one belonging to Edogawa Conan.

Changing a person's size won't significantly affect fingerprint results, but relying solely on fingerprints can indeed lead to errors.

Seeing Tang Ze's actions, Hattori Heiji frowned and asked, "You mean, it's possible that the situation is the opposite?"

There are too many ways to perform illusions in this world. Putting aside physical methods such as disguise, there are even fantastical methods like the one used by Goro Akechi, who is now leisurely watching the show from behind, involving psychological manipulation.

It's highly likely that you'll fall for a trap if you blindly trust someone who claims to have amnesia.

Moreover, Tang Ze is no ordinary person; for him to publicly express such an opinion, he must have discovered something.

After thinking for a few seconds, Hattori Heiji chose to stand on Tang Ze's side, looking at the person in front of him with the same scrutinizing gaze.

"...What are you talking about?" The young man, who was completely naked and wrapped in a blanket, stood up, his face showing genuine confusion.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean." Without handing the phone back, Tang Ze looked directly into the other person's eyes. "We can't deny that he might just be an attacker who looks a lot like Kudo, right? Shouldn't we be asking you that? Where's Conan? What did you do to him?"

Facing the setting sun, Tang Ze did not deliberately conceal the color of his eyes; his blue eyes faintly glowed with red.

The "Shinichi Kudo" standing in front of him showed no signs of Tarot readings. Clearly, this was the target they were going to face on this trip: Makoto Yada.

As for the real Shinichi Kudo, he's probably still living like a wild man in the forest right now. I'll have to ask Noah to track him down later.

Faced with Tang Ze's accusations, Makoto Yata's face was visibly stiff, but his eyes showed genuine confusion.

Who is Conan? Didn't he take the cell phone from Shinichi Kudo after he was attacked?

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about…” Makoto Yata was silent for a moment, then quickly racked his brains and changed his story, “I don’t even know my own name, yet you’re calling me ‘Shinichi Kudo,’ and then suddenly accusing me of ‘attacking’ someone. Aren’t you just talking to yourselves? Why are you asking me? I don’t even know what happened myself…”

He gripped the edge of the blanket and quickly calmed down.

Higashio Village is not a very isolated place, but it is indeed a backward rural area with little development.

There's often no cell phone signal coverage here, so even if they don't believe they're Shinichi Kudo, there's no way to verify it in a short time.

My goal isn't that complicated, and it won't take much time.

Before they find any evidence that he is not Shinichi Kudo, he can commit crimes with this face and then hide back in the forest, thus achieving his goal.

Having figured these things out, he became even more emboldened and even pretended to tremble a few times.

"No matter who you are, whether you know me or think I'm some kind of illegal attacker, could you please find me some clothes? I'm not wearing anything right now, and I'm so cold..."

(End of this chapter)