Saturday morning, January 26.
Conan had spent the night at Agasa's house and recently returned to the ground floor of the Mouri Detective Agency before he'd even had breakfast.
As soon as he arrived, he noticed Akemi stepping out of the navy-blue Bugatti. Surprised, he hurried over.
"Akemi-sensei? What are you doing here?"
Smiling warmly when she saw Conan, Akemi replied,
"I saw the news last night. Takashi seemed very interested in Phantom Thief 1412, so he brought me along to visit Kogoro-san, who was invited to decipher the thief's coded message."
After parking the car along the curb, Ritsu closed the door and wore his usual half-lidded expression. He was obviously a little dissatisfied that, despite being Onizawa, he hadn't received the commission himself.
'The shining star of the police force doesn't even get this kind of treatment?'
What he didn't know was that his identity as a police officer was precisely the reason he hadn't been invited.
Sonoko, the treasured young lady of the Suzuki family, was worried that Ritsu might be too capable and capture her beloved Kid in no time at all. So, she simply never sent him an invitation.
Only then did Conan remember what he'd seen at Agasa's house the night before.
'So Onizawa-sensei is interested in Phantom Thief 1412... Well, that makes sense. A good police officer being interested in a master thief is perfectly normal.'
"Then please come upstairs with me. Uncle will definitely be happy to have Onizawa-nii helping him!"
Silently, he added to himself:
'Though I'm pretty sure Uncle spent the entire night without making any progress on that calling card...'
Conan headed straight to the third floor, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.
On a Saturday morning, his uncle would definitely still be sleeping in. Ran had probably only been awake for a short while.
Under normal circumstances, she should be in the kitchen making breakfast.
"Uncle! Ran-nee! I'm back!"
Hearing Conan's voice, Ran, who was wearing an apron and making miso soup, leaned out from the kitchen.
When she noticed the two people behind him, her eyes widened.
"Onizawa-san! And this is... wow! Could she be your girlfriend, Akemi-san? She's so beautiful!"
Even though Akemi was only his fake girlfriend, Ritsu couldn't help feeling oddly proud after hearing that.
Straightening his back while suppressing the smile tugging at his lips, he replied,
"Good morning, Mouri-san. Akemi should be considered my fiancée now. Our wedding will be held on the first of next month.
This visit has two purposes. First, to deliver our invitation. Second, I'd like to take a look at Phantom Thief 1412's calling card."
Akemi also greeted Ran politely before taking out a neatly wrapped box.
"I made these myself, some glutinous rice cakes and Western-style cookies. I hope you'll like them."
"Thank you, Akemi-san! And congratulations to both of you!"
Ran's eyes were filled with envy. Since she couldn't leave the stove, she gently patted Conan on the head.
"Conan, could you wake Dad up? The calling card should still be in his room."
"Okay, Ran-nee!"
Conan pushed open the bedroom door and found Kogoro still buried under his blanket, snoring loudly. The corner of his mouth twitched.
He gave him several hard shakes.
No response.
Then Conan suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.
Leaning close to Kogoro's ear, he shouted, "Uncle! Yoko Okino's concert is about to start!"
"What?! Yoko-chan?!"
As expected, it worked instantly.
Watching Kogoro sit up in confusion and glance around sleepily, Conan said,
"Uncle, Onizawa-nii and his girlfriend are here to visit. Hurry up and wash up and change your clothes!"
Leaving the sleepy middle-aged man behind, Conan found the calling card on top of a cabinet.
As he walked back out of the bedroom, he examined it carefully. As a high school detective, cryptic messages naturally fascinated him.
Noticing Conan studying the calling card intently, Ritsu crouched beside him.
The contents were surprisingly concise. Moreover, this wasn't even the original calling card, it was a printed copy.
The most interesting part was the paper had been torn into pieces and then painstakingly taped back together.
'Did whoever saw the original get so angry that they ripped it apart?'
"When the moon separates the two, I shall hear the great name of the stars hidden in the dark night, and, following the invitation of the waves, go forth to claim it..."
Ritsu couldn't help commenting,
"I never expected this thief to have this kind of style. Pretty artistic, isn't he? Sounds like a literary youth."
Hearing Ritsu's remark, Conan nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. It feels like he's showing off his literary talent. People who always speak in riddles are seriously annoying."
Ritsu coughed twice, subtly reminding Conan to speak like an actual child. Realizing his mistake, Conan quickly laughed awkwardly.
"Hahaha! This phantom thief really seems to love riddles! I wonder if he likes playing hide-and-seek as much as I do!"
Ran, setting breakfast on the low tea table, sighed helplessly.
"Honestly, Conan, don't make trouble."
"Okaaay~~"
Turning toward Akemi, Ran smiled.
"Akemi-san, have you two had breakfast? If not, I can make a little more."
Before Akemi could answer, Ritsu spoke first.
"We already ate."
Then he glanced at Conan.
"Right, Conan?"
Conan, who hadn't eaten a single bite and had been starving ever since smelling the delicious breakfast, swallowed hard. Forcing a smile, he said,
"Y-Yeah... Akemi-san makes really delicious breakfasts... They're just as good as Ran-nee's."
Since Conan had effectively spent the previous night at Ritsu's house, he couldn't afford to let any inconsistencies slip through.
Of course, more importantly, this was payback for yesterday's tranquilizer dart.
Akemi didn't expose the lie. However, she also felt it wasn't right to let the now child-sized Shinichi go hungry.
She gently poked Conan on the shoulder with a finger, silently reminding him that there were still plenty of glutinous rice cakes.
Conan genuinely felt that Akemi was an angel sent from heaven.
Completely forgetting about analyzing the coded message, he immediately opened the snack box and grabbed a rice cake.
He got lucky.
The one he picked happened to be a sweet-and-savory rice ball wrapped in seaweed, perfect for breakfast.
Fully dressed at last, Kogoro walked out and immediately noticed Ritsu sitting on the floor. He hurried over.
"Onizawa-kun, sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we go downstairs and talk?"
Smiling, Ritsu shook his head.
"Please go enjoy your breakfast first, Kogoro-san. Akemi and I still have some wedding preparations to take care of, so we'll be leaving now."
"The wedding? Ah, congratulations to both of you! Then... what about the calling card?"
"I've already taken pictures of it with my phone. Sorry for disturbing your morning."
Kogoro waved his hand with a grin.
"Not at all! I was about to get up and head to the Beika Museum anyway. Take care, you two! Hahaha!"
"Take care, Onizawa-san! Akemi-san!" Ran called out.
"Bye, Onizawa-nii! Bye, Akemi-san!" Conan added.
Ritsu glanced at Conan, who was stuffing glutinous rice balls into his mouth. Raising an eyebrow, he realized his plan had failed.
It seemed his revenge would have to wait for another opportunity.
After getting back into the car, Akemi fastened her seatbelt before asking curiously,
"You've already solved the code in the calling card, haven't you?"
Ritsu clearly hadn't expected her to see through him. Since he had no intention of hiding it, he admitted with a smile,
"Yeah. A calling card at this level is pretty easy. But if someone gets trapped in a blind spot of their thinking, they'll probably end up getting toyed with by that playful phantom thief."
He paused before adding confidently,
"Of course, my name isn't on the list of people he'll be playing with."
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