Email correspondence occurs in this chapter, but as the 'at' symbol is stripped from fanficton. net displays, we'll have to make do with approximations of email addresses. To read the chapter with all originally intended formatting, mosey over to archive of our own.
Shades of Grey: Parchment
Text Message Log [Sender text-to-speech/speech-to-text enabled]
Sending ID: Saguru
Recipient ID: Eric
19 Apr 23:51 Me: Kid is crazy. More later.
19 Apr 23:54 Eric: For you to say that, he must be crazier than a bag of cats. Go to bed, little brother.
20 Apr 07:36 Me: I did. Nice marvel movies reference. Still up?
20 Apr 19:23 Eric: I had a date. Enjoy your afternoon of paperwork?
20 Apr 19:28 Me: Don't get me started. I think Superintendent Chaki may have invented an extra form just for me.
20 Apr 19:31 Eric: Poor Guru. So, crazy?
20 Apr 19:37 Me: I suspect he swam through half a kilometer of Tokyo Bay.
20 Apr 19:39 Eric: In APRIL? At NIGHT?
20 Apr 19:44 Me: Precisely. Also my speech software updated and I'm experimenting with using a slash rather than caps for emphasis. Try it?
20 Apr 19:45 Eric: All right. How's /this/?
20 Apr 19:48 Me: Different but faster. Lets keep it for now.
20 Apr 19:49 Eric: Sure. So did Kid get away with the pearl?
20 Apr 19:51 Me: No. A grade-schooler somehow tripped him up enough that he gave up the pearl to escape.
20 Apr 19:52 Eric: You're joking. I want the /whole/ story; I'm calling.
Date: 20 April 20:21:57, GMT+9
From: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
To: shrinkguy at gmail. com
Dear Cade,
I hope this note finds you well. My profile on Kaitou Kid has recently had some interesting new additions. Would you be interested in discussing him? I can point you toward news footage if you prefer to start an analysis from scratch, or simply send my current impressions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Saguru Hakuba
Date: 21 April 11:02:11, GMT+9
From: shrinkguy at gmail. com
To: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
Hey, Junior!
Good to hear from you. Vegas is a breeding ground for the bizarre, but I'm a glutton for punishment and stick around. How about we start with what you've got, and I'll go from there? You've got home court advantage, after all.
Cade
Date: 21 April 18:14:29, GMT+9
From: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
To: shrinkguy at gmail. com
Dear Cade,
I confess I don't understand why I am "Junior". Perhaps you could clarify for me?
As for Kid, the more I know, the stranger he appears to be. I've arranged the following points in as logical an order as I can manage.
Initial Appearance: Paris, France, approximately 18 years and 11 months ago. Vanished from the public eye approximately 8 years and 10 months ago. Returned to activity 9 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days ago.
General profile: Asian androgynous-looking likely-male, based on gender presentation when out of disguise. Age between approximately 20 and 40. Funds, transportation and advanced chemistry knowledge suggest a return of the original Kid, or at least an older culprit; physical appearance—what's visible under that bloody hat and monocle—and speech patterns and slang point toward a younger individual. Current physical capabilities are inconclusive, as careful and consistent conditioning could achieve observed agility in an individual at the higher end of the suspected age range. Nakamori-keibu and Chaki-keibu are the sole veterans of the original task force in the Tokyo MPD. Nakamori-keibu has been quite vocal in his certainty that Kid is the returned original, while Chaki-keibu has voiced no opinion.
On the subject of advanced chemistry knowledge: I borrowed a newly-developed aerosol anaesthetic from my grandfather's research lab to use at a heist on 5 March. Kid acquired the delivery mechanism during the course of the heist and managed to analyze the remnants well enough to replicate it at another heist within 3 weeks. This doubles as one piece of a host of evidence for Kid also having genius intelligence to go with a broad and deep range of knowledge.
Other abilities include a preternaturally broad vocal range with perfect control. Among others, he has impersonated multiple officers perfectly over the police radios, as well as myself and the head of a large business group in a physical disguise. He exhibits exceptional disguise capabilities, most recently a teenage female so perfectly that her close family and friends did not realize when it occurred. This suggests a younger individual, as body types tend to change irrevocably with the passage of time. He demonstrates quick reactions and improvisation when a situation changes or new elements are introduced, and skill with mechanical engineering. He regularly utilizes a multitude of gadgets, including a gun that alternately shoots razor-edge playing cards or a suction-anchor attachment, a collapsible hang glider, flash bombs, and smoke bombs. Much of his equipment appears to be custom-made (see: genius intelligence) and as such would be more difficult to replace but also near-impossible to trace. He also presents with an eidetic memory, evidenced by him flawlessly reciting a 14-digit identification number for a disguise assumed no more than twenty minutes earlier.
Weaknesses include arrogance, or at least the appearance thereof, in his confidence at obtaining his quarry and escaping unhindered despite announcing the time and place of his thefts before they occur. Initially his methods to achieve this were simplistic, but have more recently grown to match higher levels of security. He has a tendency toward high-risk decisions, particularly if confronted with possible capture. Heavy reliance on his aforementioned gadgets has led to requiring high-risk decisions on multiple occasions. Also, despite high athleticism and agility, Kaitou Kid cannot ice skate in the slightest.
Modus Operandi: When not in disguise, he wears a white suit, cape, hat, and monocle. An advance notice is sent to either his target or to the police with as long as weeks to no more than hours of lead time. Targets themselves have varied—random focus eventually switched to solely focusing on gems, but has reverted to whatever seems to catch Kid's fancy. Others have used notices to try to shift the blame onto Kid, but he has cleared his name of those incidents each time they occur by ensuring whatever was taken is returned. His overall theme has pulled from stage magicians to varying degrees through his active history, including the use of stage lights, doves, confetti and sleight-of-hand. If he's not a performer of some sort in civilian life, he's at least had some degree of training along those lines.
I confess I can't glean any motive other than an apparent thrill-seeker looking for a challenge that real life may have previously but no longer supplies, whether or not he is the original Kid returned or a legacy tribute. If you have any thoughts toward that end, I would appreciate hearing them.
Best regards,
Saguru Hakuba
Date: 22 April 10:52:17, GMT+9
From: shrinkguy at gmail. com
To: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
It's short for "Sherlock Holmes Junior".
What specific high risk decisions have you encountered? I'm still working on possible motives myself.
Cade
Date: 22 April 18:11:45 GMT+9
From: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
To: shrinkguy at gmail. com
I see. Thank you for the comparison. I'm certain I could offer more from archived heist data, but three examples simply from February onwards:
1. Diving into severe high winds with his hang-glider, which led to crashing into nearby landscaping and a foot-chase until a decoy allowed him to escape.
2. Jumping off a clock tower without activating his glider or a proper parachute.
3. Swimming through part of Tokyo Bay hours after sunset when nighttime temperatures could easily induce hypothermia.
Best regards,
Saguru Hakuba
Date: 23 April 10:59:13, GMT+9
From: shrinkguy at gmail. com
To: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
I see what you mean. Look, since you haven't mentioned it yet, I'll warn you now—if you've cornered him before, don't do it again. Not if you want more than a body to prosecute. Run him down or surprise him, but if he's pulling stunts like that, he'll take deadly risks to get away until he stops being lucky. He seems to be nursing a non-violent streak, but the desperation there worries me. Whatever he's doing seems important enough to risk dying for, and that can also mean, in a worst-case scenario, it's important enough to kill for. And someone pushing the spotlight so hard is usually running from something in the shadows—a physical threat, or some pretty hefty mental or emotional scars.
Be careful, Junior. I'm still catching up on this guy, but usually the biggest physical risk takers—adrenaline junkie or not—are the ones with the psychological scars looking for a danger they can control. You say he's a showman, so watch his smile. If it ever slips? Duck and cover, and then deal with the fallout after.
Cade
Date: 23 April 18:06:56 GMT+9
From: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
To: shrinkguy at gmail. com
I hadn't considered that. Thank you for the warning, and I'll keep it in mind, though now you make me concerned about what fallout there could be. I'll try to keep you updated if I learn anything new, and if you have any further thoughts, please contact me again.
Best regards,
Saguru Hakuba
Date: 30 April 13:12:52 GMT+9
From: SHakuba221 at hakubalabs. org
To: shrinkguy at gmail. com
Dear Cade,
Kid pulled three heists in the past seven days, with an average of 23 hours and 43 minutes of advance notice for all three. He appears to delight in watching the police force scramble to keep up with him. Targets were a jade statue of Buddha, a tapestry of Byakko, and a set of three gemstone geodes. His successful disguises now include the son of the statue's owner, another police officer, and a museum janitor. There appears to be no connection between the three targets, whether social, political, monetary, location, or even the security systems. As for cornering Kid being a potential risk? No one got close enough to try, including myself. You'd think he'd require more time to plan for thefts where he's expected in order to be so successful, but… I strongly suspect he uses some of the chaos of the limited time to his advantage as well.
Best regards,
Saguru Hakuba
Text Message Log [Sender text-to-speech/speech-to-text enabled]
Sending ID: Saguru
Recipient ID: Eric
1 May 19:21 Eric: You haven't mentioned any cases lately. Anything new on that front?
1 May 19:45 Me: Remember when we talked about how rigorous the education system is? Even though they switched to a 5-day school week this year I'm /still/ working the fraud concern for grandfather's friend that I took 3 weeks ago. He even gave me the data on an encrypted drive so I can use my own laptop and I've skipped half a dozen days of club but if I skip classes or homework then Japanese History and Modern Lit will kill me. I'd be even worse off if I couldn't do the Calculus and Chemistry homework during lecture itself. And did I mention Kid is a bastard who held 4 heists in 13 days and has another scheduled for Saturday?
1 May 20:04 Eric: Lol. Yes you did. But hey, you'll get to put one of the top school systems in the world on your Uni applications and Kid counts as an active case, right? So you're multi-tasking all the time.
1 May 20:09 Me: If I don't just come back to take my A-levels. That might be less frustrating in the long run. I heard all the horror stories about entrance exams here already.
1 May 20:10 Eric: Whatever you end up wanting, go for it. I'm behind you all the way.
1 May 20:11 Me: Sap. :)
1 May 20:12 Eric: I'll deny it to my dying breath. :D
1 May 20:14 Me: I know. You're still a sap. I'll call you Sunday.
The grammatical errors in the text messages are intentional. Text-to-speech isn't perfect, and Saguru doesn't feel the need to aim for perfection with Eric. Similarly, the use of numerals when low numbers would typically be spelled out is also intentional. Part of Cade's dialogue is pulled with permission from Ellen Brand's An Unprofessional Opinion, because the same two characters having essentially the same conversation is bound to be similar.
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Ocianne
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