The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

Chapter 1009 All Gone

"There is no evidence yet to prove that Kaito Kidd has really taken the painting..."

Ginzo Nakamori left with his police officers in a very excited manner, with their blood boiling.

Seeing the client's face turning pale and blue, Kogoro Mouri walked up and patted his shoulder comfortingly.

There was a subtle struggle on Takeyori Ishikawa's face.

Actually, it would be best to follow the police's lead and accept that the painting had been taken away.

In this way, he would have achieved half of his goal. No one would ask about the release date of his next work, and no one would force him to face content that he did not want to see.

But he also knew that his approach of not allowing Detective Mori to lift the curtain was somewhat exaggerating, and it would be even more difficult to get everyone to accept Nakamori Ginzo's subconscious reasoning.

"…Because it wasn't taken by Kaito Kidd." He gritted his teeth and finally said, "It should have been stored somewhere else by my father-in-law."

"Oh? Didn't he tell you the storage location in advance?" Kogoro Mori raised his eyebrows.

"Well, this way we can guarantee to the greatest extent that no one knows the exact location of its storage, right?" Iikawa Takeyori felt that he had barely found a reasonable explanation, and continued to explain, "The painting must still be in this building."

After that, he pointed to the ceiling behind him.

There, a camera was pointed directly at the painting, with a red indicator light on, indicating that it was working.

"You can check the surveillance video."

Oikawa thought about it and felt that he was fully prepared, so he relaxed a lot.

“Is this a device you always have in your studio?”

"No, after receiving the warning letter, I felt it necessary to protect the safety of the painting, so I installed one... If it's okay, would you like to take a look? The image from this camera should cover everything."

Kogoro Mori realized that this might be a tactful way for Takeyori Iikawa to express that he didn't want them to stay here, and he had no objection.

The group followed Oikawa Takeyori out of the studio.

The entire building has been closely guarded by the Second Investigation Division, and at least two fully armed police officers are standing at the door of every room in the building.

…There were some dark bruises on each of his cheeks.

At first glance, it was obvious that they were pulling it out when checking whether they were in disguise.

Moreover, this is also a very suitable marker. It is not easy to temporarily transfer the bruises on the face to another person's face through disguise. In this way, you can tell from a distance whether the other person is Kaito Kidd.

I have to say, even though he couldn't catch anyone, Ginzo Nakamori did have some talent in this area.

"It's just a little pitiful." Conan, who had figured it out, whispered, "Participating in a mission related to Kaito Kid, it feels like you're going to suffer a lot on your face."

"After all, everyone else is very conspicuous, and the police officers, who are in large numbers, have the most freedom to come in and out." Kogoro Mouri is more supportive of Inspector Nakamori's approach on this issue.

“It’s also an idea…”

When the group turned the corner, they saw Kanhara Haruhito standing in the hall again with his hands behind his back, as if he was waiting for them here.

Looking at the old, sagging face of Haruhito Kamiyahara, Takeyori Oikawa narrowed his eyes.

He tried his best to hide it, but Tangze still clearly felt that Takera Ishikawa was a little out of control the moment he saw him.

In the eyes of Takeyori Iikawa, who was still unaware of the whole story, the old man in front of him was the source of all the troubles, and his expression was definitely not looking good.

He was just planning to avoid communicating with Kanhara Haruhito by using the excuse of taking Maori Kogoro to watch the surveillance video as he had done before, when Tang Ze stepped forward and lightly bumped into Oikawa Takeyori.

Iikawa Takeyori, whose spell casting was interrupted, was instinctively stunned.

At this time, Kogoro Mori had already seen the old man waiting ahead.

Whether out of respect for the elders or wanting to find out the true whereabouts of "Qing Lan", it is indeed a good choice to let the father-in-law and son-in-law exchange information to avoid misunderstandings.

"Mr. Oikawa, just tell me which room the surveillance camera is placed in." As expected, Maori Kogoro spoke up to find a way out for Oikawa Takeyori, "Mr. Haruhito may have some other information about the paintings that were moved away."

"This..." Iikawa Takeyori, who had just made an excuse with his father-in-law, suddenly couldn't find any reason to refute.

He glanced at Haruhito Kanhara's face, let out a breath, and reluctantly accepted this approach.

"Then please go check the footage recorded by the surveillance equipment with the police. I'm not very good at operating this thing."

After pointing the direction of the room to Kogoro Mori, Takeyori Iikawa turned around and signaled Haruhito Kanhara to change the place to chat.

Kogoro Mori nodded, raised his foot and took a few steps forward. He found that there was one less person behind him. He turned around and looked at Kitagawa Yusuke strangely.

"I'll wait for Mr. Qingren and ask about watching their live broadcast." Tang Ze pointed in the direction of the two without changing his expression, "I'm just here to complete the teacher's task today."

"The atmosphere between them is quite subtle right now. Are you sure?" Kogoro Mouri frowned when he recalled the subtle atmosphere of the conversation between the two.

It is very common for clients to have family conflicts.

As a considerate detective, what he should have done was to pretend that he saw nothing, remember it as intelligence, and not interfere.

"It doesn't matter." Tang Ze, who could read the air better than him, replied calmly, "I'm not familiar with them."

For a moment, it was unclear whether he was saying that he had nothing to do with the conflict, or that their fight would not affect him, and Kogoro Mori couldn't help but choke.

"Okay, then you wait a moment." Kogoro Mouri's mouth twitched. He was too lazy to say anything more and turned away with Conan and Ran Mouri.

It is indeed wrong to take Kitagawa Yusuke to watch any surveillance.

It's not that I'm worried about him or anything, but I'm mainly afraid that something might happen to Nakamori Ginzo, who is already very emotional.

Finally out of the sight of the client and Kitagawa Yusuke, Kogoro Mori took the opportunity to complain.

"You say he doesn't care about the paintings, but he doesn't allow anyone to stand guard in the studio to prevent people from looking at them. You say he cares about the paintings, but he doesn't seem to care much about where the paintings go..."

Kogoro Mori is not a fool.

In other words, he may be a fool when it comes to solving cases, but he is a veteran when it comes to interpersonal relationships.

The atmosphere between Kanhara Haruhito and Iikawa Takeyori was not right to begin with, and Iikawa's actions and performance in the studio just now were enough to show that there was something fishy about this matter.

"It's hard to say how much of this case is related to Kaito Kid," Kogoro Mouri said in a low voice.

"If this case was actually caused by the conflict between Mr. Takeyori Iikawa and others, and had nothing to do with Kaito Kid, then we would be in trouble now." When Mouri Ran heard him say this, she couldn't help but add.

"Hmm?" Kogoro Mouri was stunned for a moment, as he did not expect his daughter to say such a thing.

"Mr. Oikawa said in such a big way that he received a notice, indicating that Kaito Kid is interested in his unpublished paintings. If I were Kaito Kid, I would definitely come to see what he is working on." Mao Lilan recalled the several interactions with Kaito Kid before, and said, "Mr. Kid seems to be the kind of person who is free and easy, but will not allow others to use his name to come up with other ideas..."

----

Kaito Kid himself indeed thinks so.

"That's the price of being famous."

Standing next to Tang Ze, Kuroba Kaito expressed with a sigh.

"I always feel like you people in the art world like to use me as an excuse. Come on, I'm not a garbage collector who puts everything I see into my pocket..."

Although his father was not like him, who was only interested in gems, he did sell collectibles from time to time, but that was many years ago.

The previous generation of Kidd has been missing for 8 years, and he only became active again this year.

And even if his father were still alive, he would not be interested in Takeyori Iikawa's works.

Kaito Kidd, no matter which generation he is from, is an excellent connoisseur with a unique eye in this area, and his own artistic attainments are not low.

There is no interesting story behind Takeyori Oikawa, a contemporary painter who has not yet made a name for himself. At most, there is only hardship and suffering. Kaito Kid would not be interested in him.

"I stole his painting, so I might as well paint one myself, sign Kitagawa's name, claim that I stole it, and then sell it." Kuroba Kaito continued to complain, "Will it be more valuable than his painting?"

Karasawa quickly threw his gloves and coat to Kuroba Kaito and nodded in agreement.

Strictly speaking, in terms of seniority and fame, Kitagawa Yusuke is still a young man just starting out and should not have such an exaggerated market effect.

However, the art market never values ​​the artistic value of artworks. They pursue commodity value from the perspective of artistic value.

Under the operation of him and Kidd, Kitagawa Yusuke, who has the buffs of being the only disciple recognized by Yue Fengshui, the youngest grand prize winner, and a painter recognized by the world, has a scarce number of paintings, and the price he gets in the collector's market is quite amazing.

They may also know that this young man is indeed talented, but not to the level that collectors would flock to him.

What they are mainly buying is the future, betting that this person can reach the top and the value of the collection in his hands can go up to a higher level, and of course they will not be stingy with their investment.

"Isn't it more important that he wants to steal the painting in your name and kill people?" After nodding, Tang Ze, who felt that Kuroba Kaito had missed the point, complained, "You seem to only care about the part about stealing the painting."

"Because even the police won't believe the murder part." Kuroba Kaito adjusted his wig and rolled his eyes.

Kaito Kidd has been in the martial arts world for so many years, and he and his father have saved more people than killed people.

Nakamori Ginzo is a very good neighbor of their family and also an old rival. There is no reason for him to be shaken on such an issue.

"That's true. He might as well say that I sent him a notice." Tang Ze nodded.

"Because you seem more likely to target a tangled and twisted target like him?"

"Because if we come, we might actually kill someone."

Thinking back to the rather punitive discussions he had seen in the group chat, it was hard for Kaito Kid to refute them: "..."

"But now he will really be my target." After wiping off the makeup on his face, Tang Ze returned to his own face, "Since you have come to me for help, I will definitely take care of things."

"What do you mean by asking you to do something..." Kuroba Kaito glanced at him, "It's just a convenience. Anyway, he has already hired Maori Kogoro, so there is no need for me to keep targeting innocent policemen."

Without Karasawa as a stepping stone, as mentioned before, Kuroba Kaito's best option is to disguise himself as a policeman, blend into the large police force, and take the opportunity to get in.

Tang Ze's existence only advanced this progress.

After all, the men brought by Nakamori Ginzo must have been humiliated. If he really wants to find an opportunity to come in, he has to wait until Takeyori Iikawa's plan works and a dead person really appears at the scene. Only then will he follow the later police officers from the Investigation Section to enter.

"Okay, okay, I just want to work together to rewrite the possible tragic ending, and by the way, tell everyone the price of provoking the two thieves." Tang Ze changed his words readily.

"I didn't provoke you, did I?"

"He only pretends to be you and never pretends to be me. Doesn't this mean he looks down on me? This is a provocation, absolutely a provocation!"

Kuroba Kaito: "..."

The two experienced disguise masters quickly exchanged identities in between jokes, and then skillfully changed rooms while protecting each other, completing the quick operation without anyone noticing.

So when Kogoro Mouri and others came out after checking in the monitoring room, they saw Yusuke Kitagawa and Karasawa standing together and chatting.

"Where did you come from?" Maori Kogoro looked at Tang Ze in surprise, "Aren't there reporters all over the front?"

The reason why Tang Ze didn't want to come in with them was that there must be a lot of cameras at the door and he didn't want to be photographed.

But given the current situation at the Ishikawa family, everyone who goes in and out of the door will be exposed to the reporters' field of vision. Even if he goes in and out alone, it will definitely attract attention.

"I asked the police officers from Investigation Section 2 to help." Tang Ze smiled back, "It won't be particularly noticeable if you stand among the other police officers."

In fact, it was Kaito Kuroba who had disguised himself in advance, found a uniform for a Nichimi TV employee, and followed the reporters in a low-key manner, helping them to carry the photographic equipment, and then approached the door.

Then, taking advantage of the reporters' rush, he quickly took off his coat and pretended to be Karasawa who had squeezed out of the crowd, and told the officers of the Second Investigation Section that he was Kogoro Mori's assistant.

Once he enters the door, he can naturally switch back with Karasawa himself and act using the identity of Kitagawa Yusuke. If anything goes wrong, he can continue to perform a hat trick with Karasawa.

The person you are disguising yourself as can cooperate with your actions, which is indeed more convenient than simply disguising yourself as a fixed person.

"Kitagawa-kun, you're still here. Didn't you say you wanted to talk to Mr. Kanhara Haruhito?" Turning to the young man standing calmly on the side, Maori Kogoro pursed his lips.

"Yeah, but they haven't come back yet." Kuroba Kaito, who had communicated with them in advance, replied naturally, "I can't just barge in like this."

"Huh? You haven't come back yet?" Kogoro Mouri frowned.

Realizing that something was wrong, Kogoro Maori frowned and quickly walked towards the police officer guarding the door of the room.

Just now, in order to avoid being overheard by others, the two people found a nearby room and went in to talk alone.

After confirming that Takeyori Iikawa and Haruhito Kanhara entered this room, he ignored social etiquette and pushed the door open directly.

Inside the door, the small reception room was empty, with only two empty sofas with slightly dented surfaces, as if someone had been sitting on them just a second ago.

Sensing that something must have gone wrong, Kogoro Mouri rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead in pain.

Well, the painting to be protected is gone, the only possible person who knew about the situation is gone, and now, even the client is gone.

"All gone. Is this the latest manifestation of Kid-related cases..." complained Kogoro Mouri.