AN: Chapter 8 has been divided. This is part 3

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"Dialogues"

'Thoughts'

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Note: This is Part 3. The chapter has been divided due to the abnormal length.

Check the GLOSSARY for anything you might not understand.

Bonus Chapter 8: The Heist, Part 3

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth days passed doing absolutely nothing. The college midterms exams had been scheduled and all the teens were too busy writing papers to pay attention to the heist.

On the seventh day, another Sunday, Kaito arrived at the Blue Parrot early morning, hopeful that Jii-san had managed to make some progress.

"I'm sorry," Jii shook his head ruefully, "While I managed to set up other traps, the heist room has been very carefully guarded. No worker can enter simply, you know."

"Eh?" Kaito flopped down on a barstool sullenly, "Guess I'll have to scale the wall and enter through the windows then,"

"Bocchama," Jii began, "there are no windows for the room they've chosen."

"Drat!" Kaito cursed, "That old man is crafty. I'll have to search another way…"

"Also, there's something else," Jii said, pulling Kaito out of his thoughts for a moment, "I saw Aoko-san at the mansion."

"Aoko?" Kaito blinked, confused.

"Yes, along with Shinichi-san," Jii added, "Perhaps she might have come to deliver lunch to Ginzo-san, but I seem to doubt it."

"Aoko and Shinichi?" Kaito lit up, "Haha! Jii-chan! They just gave the perfect idea to infiltrate the room!"

"Bocchama?"

"Don't worry Jii-chan; we've got this one in the bag!"

"Yes, just that way," Shinichi nodded, "Perfect. Now, attach it to the door. A once open, once close mechanism."

Jirokichi-san frowned, "Are you sure that it will work? I'm converting one whole room for this, you know?"

"You can easily remove the mirrors and put them in one of your museums later," Shinichi said, "But, I can guarantee you that your original idea with mirrors wouldn't have lasted long against KID."

"I will have to concede to that," Jirokichi-san sighed, "But still…"

"It is all a matter of timing," Shinichi assured the man, "make sure the police follow at just a certain distance and he will be sure to trip most of the traps."

"Very well."

"And, one more thing. Have you an idea of his time of arrival?"

"Ah," Jirokichi-san shook his head, "we've received several notes from him – and a few turned up in rather odd places! – but we've been unable to decode it."

"Decode?" Shinichi repeated, "He's replied in code? That's unusual for a simple reply,"

"No, not in code. They're all rather blank pieces of paper." Jirokichi-san's voice was frustrated, "We received twenty on the first day, forty on the second and he kept adding twenty more to the bunch for every other day! The day before yesterday, on the fifth day, my office, the pantry, our mail box, even the fireplace was flooded with letters, a whole hundred in total!"

Shinichi chuckled, "I see. He's using a simple arithmetic progression."

"What's mathematics got to do with this?" Jirokichi-san asked, confused.

"He's asking us to solve this progressively," Shinichi explained, "Basically; it's his way of saying that you need to check for all kinds of ways to make the writing visible – I'm quite sure there is something written – and that the clue lies hidden in the letters themselves."

"Do they?" Jirokichi-san asked, sounding sceptical, "Nakamori and I have tried everything we could! When we realised there was a thin sheet of paper stuck to the top of each letter, we even tried to peel off one layer of the paper to see if anything was written underneath!"

"And was there?"

"No, the topmost layer proved to be well glued. Trying to peel it resulted in a complete tear."

"Hmm," Shinichi placed his chin in the cleft between his thumb and forefinger, "I'm quite sure this is a way to mess with you, trying to befuddle you so that you spend an inordinate amount of time deciphering the notes instead of concentrating on other work."

"Well, it's succeeding!" Jirokichi-san cried out, "It's another challenge from him and I can't afford to lose!"

"True," Shinichi agreed, but was cut off by his ringing phone.

A minute later, Shinichi took his leave, assuring Jirokichi that he'd figure it out sooner than later and he had to leave urgently for a kidnapping case in Nagoya.

"Heiji's gone to Osaka for the weekend and Masumi-chan is all the way in Kyoto," Shinichi explained, "I'm the only one familiar enough with Nagoya police they could contact."

Jirokichi sighed but couldn't stop him really. But, the mention of the other detectives reminded him of something.

"What's the other detective's name, who used to chase KID too?" Jirokichi-san murmured to himself, "Hitachi? Hakuno? Hakuba? Yes, yes! Hakuba Saguru! I should give him a call…"

"This is not how I envisioned spending my Sunday afternoon."

"I know, but you'll help out a dear friend, won't you?"

"What happened to your other 'dear friend', Aoko-chan?"

"That treacherous fiend, she went off with Shin-chan!"

Ran giggled slightly at that and Kaito grinned at her.

"So that's why you're asking me to be your escort?" Ran asked playfully.

"Yes," Kaito admitted, idly spinning a coin around his fingers and knuckles, "If Shin-chan gets to have Aoko on his team, then Ran-chan must be on mine, doesn't she?"

"Sure," Ran giggled again, "I won't deny, this is slightly thrilling, helping out an international phantom thief check out the targeted-jewel."

"Shh!" Kaito hushed her, smirking, "Not so loudly, Ran-chan!"

Seated inside the Suzuki's villa in the city, both of them were waiting for Sonoko to return from her studies. Ran, upon Kaito's insistence, had given Sonoko a call, claiming to wanting to see the amulet before the party. While she had received an invite, with the hustle-bustle preceding a KID Heist, it would be quite difficult to see the gem then. Sonoko had wholeheartedly agreed (We have to keep our eyes peeled for KID-sama then! The jewel is secondary!) and agreed to drive Ran and Kaito to the mansion in the afternoon after her lessons.

When Sonoko arrived, Ran and Kaito were all ready to leave. Reaching the mansion though, they were in for a surprise.

"Sonoko-sama," the butler greeted, "Are they here to help out Jirokichi-sama with the heist note too?"

"Too?" Sonoko questioned, "Why, is there someone else here?"

Kaito briefly wondered if it were Shinichi – they had a strict code of conduct of not mixing personal life and work, and thus had abstained from even calling each other in the past week, sticking only to simple texts. The butler nodded in acquiescence with Sonoko's words.

"Yes, Hakuba-sama arrived a few minutes ago. He's in the study with Jirokichi-sama. Would you like to join them?"

Sonoko was considering it and Kaito would have intervened and refused had she not done the same, "No, that's all right. We may drop by later. I'd like to show Ran and Kuroba-kun the amulet first."

Having the Suzuki heiress as your guide certainly bypassed all security; Kaito's lips briefly stretched into a very KID-esque smirk before his face schooled into a mildly interested expression.

"There it is!" Sonoko showed it off proudly, "The 'Star of Apollo'!"

And sure enough, there it was. Kaito paid less attention to the amulet, however, and more to the room.

The room was carpeted, windowless and had a single door for entrance. It had a lot more knickknacks though. Two ornately carved, large cupboards stood by the walls on opposite sides and in the centre of the room was a three feet high stand with a glass cover. Inside it resided the amulet, placed on a velvet cushion. Kaito carefully inspected the glass case; funnily enough, there seemed to be no locking system in place. In fact, Kaito hadn't seen any other fancy traps that the old man was fond of.

'What is the plan this time, old man?' Kaito wondered.

"Ne, Sonoko," Ran asked her friend suddenly, "Why is there no carpet around the stand?"

True, that had puzzled Kaito too. For a whole square meter around the showcase that held the amulet, there was absolutely no carpet, only plain, thick wooden floor. He peered as closely as he could without raising Sonoko's suspicion. In the end, Kaito couldn't make anything out and suggested they leave.

"Eh?" Sonoko stopped, "You don't want to go meet Hakuba-kun? I'm sure he must be helping out Oji-sama with the heist preparation or something."

"Really?" Ran sounded unsure, "I heard from Aoko-chan that this time Hakuba-kun wouldn't be participating in the heist."

"Anyway," Kaito said over them, "I really need to leave, thanks a lot for the trip, Suzuki-chan!"

"Hmph!" Sonoko huffed, "It wasn't entirely for you, either way. You just tagged along with Ran."

"Mou, Sonoko!"

Kaito chuckled; Sonoko was still a little stingy about dumping-not-dumping Ran for Shinichi, but he knew that in some ways, she was just a softy at heart.

Saguru had decided to leave this particular – and last, if Kudo was to be believed – heist to the two of them. Kudo and Kuroba could hash this heist out together, challenging each other and basically indulging in a game of wits. However, he couldn't deny that solving riddles left by KID was enjoyable. He was a detective, after all.

After receiving Jirokichi-san's call, he'd arrived at the mansion and had been led immediately to the old man's study. There, he'd picked up one of the numerous letters placed on a side table and got to inspecting it.

"Well?" Nakamori-keibu asked. He'd also come at around the same time, wondering of Jirokichi-san had made any progress on the reply from KID, and learnt that Hakuba had been called in. "Do you know what this says?"

"Please tell me everything from the beginning," Saguru requested, "How many letters did you get? Where were they delivered? Everything."

Apparently, they'd been delivered all over the place. On the first day, they'd come through the post, all twenty of them.

On the second day, they were found in an empty birdbath in the backyard and a few were stashed in the mailbox; forty in number.

On the third day, some of them were found on the roof, a few more in the front lawn and a large number was found inside the house in random places; sixty in total.

On the fourth day, eighty letters had made their way into the Suzuki villa in the city, stashed among grocery, stuffed down vases in the drawing room, wedged between doorways and one had come with the morning paper too!

On the fifth day, a whole hundred letters had arrived. The kitchen staff had found out first, seeing them placed in the fruit basket. Then Jirokichi-san himself had seen a few scattered around in his office. The maids had noticed a few more inside scullery and the gardener had collected a few out of the rose bushes and low hanging tree branches.

"You see why this has me so aggravated?" Jirokichi-san said emphatically, "It's like he's practically inside the house!"

'Good Lord!' Saguru smirked, 'He's surely trained those doves well, to have pulled off such a complicated delivery.' Then something struck him, "What about yesterday? Or today?"

"No," Jirokichi-san shook his head, "Only till the fifth day. On the sixth day – yesterday – and today, no letters have come."

"Five days, huh?" Saguru murmured, "And a hundred on the fifth day. A steady progression of numbers…a steady progression of what? Events? Activities?" He turned the thick paper around, thoughtfully, scanning it for clues and then doing the same for the envelope. The bright blue stamp stood out suddenly, "Say, Suzuki-san, do the other envelopes also have a blue coloured stamp?"

"Er, yes, they do," Jirokichi-san said, "Why?"

"I think I've got it," Saguru grinned, "This letter was designed for the police and needed all five days for a complete understanding, though it could have been comprehended earlier too."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, the trick was completed after five days, but we could have solved the code earlier if you'd just followed proper procedure."

"Proper procedure?" Nakamori-keibu parroted, "Elaborate!"

"The clues are rather disjoint," Saguru began, "but they all point towards one thing – luminol."

"Luminol?" Nakamori was astonished.

"What's that?" Jirokichi-san asked.

"It is basically a chemical that emits a blue glow, when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent," Saguru went on, "So, he gave his consistent blue stamps as a clue. We usually use luminol to check traces of blood –"

"You mean he's written all these letters with blood?!" Nakamori nearly screeched.

"No," Saguru glared at him, "I didn't say that. Any oxidising agent would do. In this case, it is the ink he used to write. Taking the 100 letters on the fifth day, I recollect reading about an ink that came into use in the 5th century in Europe – Iron gall ink."

"What ink?"

"Iron gall ink; it is an old ink that is seldom used now-a-days. In fact, the popularity of this ink died down in the nineteenth century, though it was still well used in the twentieth century," Saguru paused, "We've just left the twentieth century behind in fact, celebrating the twenty-first century this year. Naturally, obtaining this ink wouldn't have been very difficult, I imagine, even if it was more popularly used in Europe."

"Well," Nakamori admitted, "Kid is an international thief, even if he's more active in Japan."

"So that whole progression thing meant…?" Jirokichi-san trailed off.

"Ah, yes, that," Saguru smiled, "It was a progression of investigation. While for KID's notes, we simply dust the letter for fingerprints, for other serious ones, after collecting evidence such as stray DNA, odd threads and fabric that might belong to the culprit –"

"We use luminol to check for hidden traces of blood," Nakamori finished, "A progressive procedure for investigating a crime scene."

"Precisely," Saguru smirked, "It seems he's written the message underneath the top layer – it looks like it's been stuck on – and spraying it with luminol will wet the paper enough that the characters beneath it will come to the top, glowing in blue."

"He's certainly dramatic," Jirokichi-san commented, impressed, "This must have been more complex than his previous heist notes."

"I think he has a reason to be," Saguru said quietly.

Remembering KID's mention of retirement a year ago, Nakamori frowned before dismissing it for the time being, "Very well, I'll have a bottle of luminol brought in."

The luminol reaction did yield results, much to the satisfaction of Saguru. Though, it did leave Nakamori-keibu, Jirokichi-san and the newly arrived juniors of the Inspector slightly disappointed. For the message was not in Japanese, certainly –

Θα ευγενικά να αποδεχθεί την ευγενική πρόσκλησή σας, παρακαλούμε να περιμένουμε την άφιξή μου μια ώρα πριν από τα μεσάνυχτα

"The hell is this?!" Nakamori yelled, "Since when did KID know Greek?"

"Oh, I doubt Kaitou Kid knows Greek," Saguru quipped, plucking the note away from Nakamori's shaking fingers, "He must have used a Japanese-to-Greek translation book. Allow me," saying so, he peered at the note carefully, "Ah…sometimes you think too much, keibu. Disregarding the other words that must no doubt be his flowery language, it says that he shall arrive at 11:00 pm, sharp."

"Does it?" Nakamori snatched the note back, forgetting that he couldn't read it.

Saguru sighed, exasperated, "Yes. The last word means 'midnight' and the words preceding it are 'an hour before'. Thus, 11:00 pm."

"Hmm, okay," Nakamori said, turning to his men and ordering that the note be translated completely, either way.

Saguru simply turned away to address Jirokichi-san, "I shall take my leave now, then."

"Oh, yes, sure," Jirokichi-san smiled, "We shall meet at the party in three days, then."

"Of course."

Aoko had just finished the last of her cardboard shapes when her phone beeped, signalling the arrival of a message. It turned out to be from Shinichi.

KID's note has been deciphered – "Will graciously accept your kind invitation, please wait for my arrival an hour before midnight."

We must have everything ready by midday at least. Are you done?

Sending back a simple yes, Aoko smiled. Yes, everything was ready.

The eighth and ninth day was spent mostly finalising plans and making small changes. On the tenth day, Shinichi and Kaito found themselves in the Kudo house in Beika, getting ready for the party. Adhering to the dress code, both Kaito and Shinichi had donned on trousers, shirt and tie, with a coat over it.

Ran had laughed lightly when she saw Kaito wearing the navy coloured coat and trousers with a white shirt underneath – Shinichi's and Conan's usual, mostly casual attire. The deep blue tie had been a deviation from Shinichi's preferred red bow-tie, but considering Shinichi was wearing a red tie and blue shirt – KID's colours, it was a fair trade off. Of course, the detective had not worn a white suit; that would have been too obvious; but donned on a black coat to match his black trousers.

Eisuke, who was Ran's escort, had given the girl a puzzled look when she laughed, but thankfully did not pry. Sonoko had given them all a warm welcome when they arrived and soon they began to mingle with the other guests. It was half-way through the party that the amulet was brought out of its protective custody, the police still absent as per orders.

"Ne, Saguru," Aoko began when the amulet was finally returned back to its room, "Do you think this is a bit much?"

"Hmm?" Saguru wordlessly questioned, sipping his drink.

"All those traps," Aoko sounded worried, "I'm feeling a bit nervous. What if…what if, Kaito gets caught?"

The nearly whispered words, along with her deviation from using 'Aoko' to refer to herself, made Saguru realise how serious she was.

"Aoko," Saguru placed his glass back on the small table they were occupying, "Believe me, this is just a game to both of them. Kudo-kun will have designed no traps with the intention of harming Kaito."

"But –" she bit her lip, "Aoko's trap…"

"It's alright," Saguru smiled, "It's a collapsible trap, right? And Kaito will immediately realise that it is your trap; he'll be reassured by that alone."

"Still!"

"Aoko," Saguru said firmly, "I'm pretty sure Kudo-kun has a contingency plan in mind should anything go wrong. Plus, it's not like Kaito will be so easily caught; he's an escape artist, remember? Have some faith."

"Okay," Aoko whispered, her eyes coming to a rest on Kaito and Shinichi, who were smiling and laughing together, looking like they were truly enjoying themselves, not a care in the world.

And perhaps, that was true…after all, this was how they'd first met, according to Kaito. At a heist, behind masks, two unknown geniuses, like-minded individuals, locked in a battle of wits.

This, Aoko realised, was their stage.

And the performance was sure to be spectacular.

Five minutes to eleven; Shinichi and Kaito slunk away from each other, not even glancing at the other, deep in thought as they mentally went through their plans.

Shinichi occupied a guest room that had been converted slightly. It had only speakers inside, connected to a headphone. As per orders, there had been minimum use of electrical appliances and most ear phones and mics were wireless. Cameras had been removed from the list as Shinichi was sure Kaitou Kid would disable them anyway. Why bother in the first place?

"Ready, Kudo-kun?"

"Yes, Nakamori-keibu. Begin ushering the guests out, it will be lights out soon."

Hidden behind a canopy, Kaito waited for the clock to tick down. He heard the guests leaving and quirked up his lips in a predatory smile. It had begun.

10:58:00

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10:59:00

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10:59:01

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10:59:10

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10:59:20

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10:59:40

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10:59:50

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10:59:59

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11:00:00

'It's show time!' Kaito grinned, pressing a button and cutting off all light supply.

Immediately, he darted out from behind his cover, already clad in his KID suit. Far behind, he heard Nakamori's voice calling out for a chase and Kaito simply ducked into another hallway. The lights had yet to come back on, but that was anticipated. Kaito had estimated a full two minute delay till the lights returned and he expected to make it to the second floor by then.

'Curse the Suzuki's and their overly complicated houses,' Kaito muttered inwardly, 'What's wrong in a simple interior design? But nooo, they have to make their mansion resemble a maze!'

"He'll be making his way to the second floor by now," Shinichi said into his ear-piece, "Be careful of the darkness and tread cautiously."

A thud sounded and Shinichi grimaced, "What happened?"

"A trip wire!" A voice curse, "KID's left a bunch of them here!"

"Officers on the second floor," Shinichi continued, disregarding the tripped officers for now, "Blockade the east corridor! We need to force him to take the west one and pass through the drawing room."

"Hai!"

"Officers standing by the staircase leading to the third floor, keep off that staircase!" Shinichi barked out, "Also, KID will emerge from the drawing room, so a few of you should turn around the corridor and wait for him. He might be a bit disoriented, so you'll have a chance to get him."

Kaito heard a stampede from the east side and casually flicked a few pellets behind, smoking the place and running down the west corridor. Coming to a stop in front of the drawing room – he'd memorised the layout of each room in the mansion – Kaito wondered why the lights weren't on yet. The generator too couldn't have broken down, right?

'Is this a trap?' Kaito asked himself, 'Idiot! Everything's a trap with Shinichi involved. But, it seems he wants me to take this route, having blocked the previous one. I'll just have to be prepared.'

The thought had barely taken two seconds and Kaito quickly opened the door, let himself in and shut it behind. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that met his eyes.

Large, luminous shadows of f-f-fi– underwater monsters gleamed on the walls.

With the electric lights out, the solar powered lamps had taken their place. With the appropriately placed, disjoint cardboard pieces, they formed a shadow on the wall. Had the lights been on, the shadows would have been on the floor and thus useless. But now, large shadow puppets of aquatic beasts glared down on Kaito.

A small squeak must have escaped Kaito before his poker-face slammed on, 'Damn that Aho-ko! This is all her doing!'

Kaito kept his eyes closed and quickly shot off random cards from his gun, making a few pieces of stick-held cardboard fall to the floor. The picture now disrupted, the shadows no longer looked like finny beasts.

'Oho, I see,' Kaito scowled, 'Shinichi must have ordered them not to switch the lights back on till I crossed the room. Very well, I'll have my revenge soon enough!'

"There's smoke coming from the drawing room!"

Shinichi paused before ordering, "Be on look out, KID will surely come out. Whether it be with dummies or not."

"But… There – there is nothing here!"

"What?" Shinichi's question was met with silence and he cursed, knowing that those particular officers were fast asleep by now.

"Keep an eye by the stairs! KID is on his way!" Shinichi spoke hurriedly before contemplating, 'How did you do it? How did you travel past an eleven foot corridor without being seen? Even with the smoke, they should have noticed you…'

"Hey, you!" A voice alerted him back to the present, "Catch him!"

Shinichi concentrated on that, realising that KID was close to the staircase now.

"When the medium is dense," Kaito murmured, "even crudely camouflaged objects will not strike the eye."

Kaito chucked a large, cloth behind him, entangling a few detectives within it. That cloth, in fact, had one side painted plain white, while the other had the same pattern as the wallpaper of this particular corridor.

When the smoke had filled nearly half the hallway, Kaito had slipped out of the drawing room, his back to the wall and covered himself with the cloth, appearing to be part of the wall. The three officers had moved forward to investigate and gotten a good bout of sleeping gas to the face.

Kaito ran past another corridor, reaching a hand behind him to aim a few cards near the ceiling. Previously arranged and fixed shinai fell from above. The chasing officers yelped in surprise and jumped back, barely missing the falling objects, only to realise that they were still fixed. They hung in the air, a foot off the ground, quite literally blocking the way for three feet ahead.

"Shinai?" Shinichi repeated, "How many? How didn't you see them?"

"They stretch the complete width of the corridor and length for three feet."

"Very well, stand back then and let the others take charge."

Shinichi had only just figured out the trick Kaito had used to travel the length of the corridor that he'd sprung this, 'Quite ingenious, KID, but let's see how you fare ahead.'

'Stairs, huh?' Kaito frowned when an officer came running towards him, but stopped right at the edge of the staircase, 'Well, well, well. If you won't come down the stairs, then I refuse to go up them as well! Besides, KID doesn't do what you expect him to do, either way!'

Shooting a grappling hook, Kaito let it catch on the handrail to the side and pulled himself up. A few feet away, an unfortunate officer came running and instinctively moved towards the stairs –

CRASH! The sliding mechanism had activated.

"Yikes," KID grinned, jumping onto the corridor, the policeman standing at the top of the stairs already on his tail.

"I told them to keep off the stairs," Shinichi sighed.

Shinichi took off his ear-piece then; those officers were on their own now. He had only one last trick left and for that, he didn't need to communicate with the Task Force. He'd already told the Inspector that he wouldn't be waiting till the end of the heist, needing to leave due to prior engagement.

"Okay, KID," Shinichi whispered, putting on another set of headphones over his ears, "I'm waiting."

Kaito was glad the other tricks had set off beautifully, because that meant Nakamori and a major amount of the troops were imprisoned on the first floor. Running through two rooms, he'd emptied a bucket of slime on a few unsuspecting officers, before cackling and running away.

Taking the final turn, Kaito spotted the door to the sitting room, 'There! Through that and it is a short cut to the showroom!'

Pushing the door open, Kaito stopped in surprise. This room had been converted too, but unlike Aoko's, this was not a shadow puppet show, but one of mirrors.

"Interesting," Kaito murmured, shutting the door behind him, "all the mirrors are hinged to the wall in a wing-pattern and as soon as the door opens, they fold in, creating a perfect polygon – no, a dodecagon to be precise!"

It was true; all mirrors were at 150 degrees to each other, the door through which he entered only helped complete the figure and remained the only side of the dodecagon that was wooden. Kaito couldn't spot a single inch of the wall. Glancing up at the ceiling did not help at all, as that too had been covered with a reflective surface. The other exit was nowhere to be seen.

Kaito could retreat from the room and take the long cut, but, he himself had put up traps there to stop any officers from taking that route. The only way was forward then.

'No problem,' Kaito smirked, 'I know the dimensions of this room; I can easily calculate behind which mirror the door is – that mirror should be collapsible.'

"Hello, Kaitou Kid."

'Shinichi!' Kaito's eyes widened as the voice echoed from multiple places, 'He's set up speakers here?'

"Meitantei."

"You've reached the final trap I've set, KID. And with that, it seems our game must end."

"So soon, Meitantei?" KID leered, "Almost as if you're giving up~!"

"Alas, I've a prior engagement. I enjoyed the game, KID. See you soon."

Immediately, Kaito knew Shinichi had disconnected. And he had no time to ponder his last words as thick smoke immediately began filling the room. Kaito covered his nose in instinct before realising that it was stage smoke.

"Huh," Kaito narrowed his eyes, "Another stalling technique? Looks like even if your traps are over, Jirokichi-san still has a few left."

With the smoke covering the room, Kaito couldn't see the mirrors clearly, giving up precious time as he allowed the police to regroup.

'No matter,' Kaito decided as he chose a course of action, 'It might be crude, but it is efficient.'

Thus, he levelled his card gun straight ahead. The first few mirrors near the door were obviously out, and the exit was a little diagonally opposite the entrance. So, taking careful aim, he began to fire, hoping to hit the single revolving mirror among the bunch.

Shinichi entered the parking lot and made his way behind a few trees where he'd parked a bike the day before. He and Kaito had taken his car to the party, but Kaito would definitely need it to drive back after he made his escape, disguised as 'Kudo Shinichi'. Well, Kaito had filched the car keys from him back in the party already, so that part was already set.

Now, for the other arrangement… Securing the helmet, Shinichi mounted the bike and inserted the keys in. Pulling out his phone, he rang a familiar number.

"Hello, Shinichi?"

"Hey, Ran. Do you have it ready?"

"Yes, everything. Are you leaving now?"

"Yes, just about to. I'll be there to collect it in another half an hour or so, yeah?"

"Of course!"

The last, main showroom was empty. That immediately set off warning bells in Kaito's mind. Plus, that uncarpeted wooden patch aound the stand still unnerved him.

Kaito came to a standstill before the uncarpetteed area.

'Is it pressure-sensitive like those staircases, I wonder?' Kaito experimentally rolled few marbles over it but nothing happened, 'The room is darkened, so… photosensitive?'

Shining a light on it had no effect either and Kaito felt a little silly. Deciding it was alright, he stepped onto the wooden floor. Nothing happened. He sighed.

But one carfeul look at the amulet inside showed Kaito what was wrong – it was a fake.

'Expected,' Kaito mused, 'Completely expected. But, the real one must be there somewhere in this room afterall. Perhaps this fancy stand has some clue…?'

Kaito ran his hand along the side of the showcase, pressing and prodding the knobs and ridges, when something seemed to give. Slowly, with a wheezing sound, one area of the uncarpeted floor slid back, revealing a hollow space underneath. Insde it was a cylindrical tube – just as wide as his arm – that seemed fixed to the ground. And in the centre of that tube laid the amulet.

'What? This is so simple…so easy. I just put my hand in and pull it out?' Kaito peered in carefully, 'Yeah, that's what it looks like. The tube is about as long as my forearm too.'

It reeked of a trap, but Kaito couldn't see what it was, really. The tube seemed to be made of bamboo strips, braided intricately. He wondered why the amulet was placed within it but he couldn't come up with an answer.

Hesitant to put his arm in, Kaito pulled out a small piece of rope with a hook attached to it, lowering it down the tube. It hooked around the chain of the amulet but did not pull it up.

'Huh?' Kaito blinked, 'Oh, it's locked to the ground, then. A tiny lock, no –'

Moving the chain around slightly, Kaito could make out three more locks, all lopped through the chain of the amulet and a ring wedged into the floor of the hollow cavity.

"Looks like I'll have to put my hand in, after all," Kaito murmured. "Well, all that could spring out is a handcuff and no handcuff can keep Kaitou Kid bound for long!"

Slowly sliding his hand in, Kaito wiggled his fingers a bit, beginning to work on opening one lock. Then, the silence seemed to burst into a cacophony of sounds, the two cupboards on opposite sides of the room swinging open and pouring out three Task Force members each.

Kaito jerked his hand reflexively, trying to pull out, only for the tube to constrict around him, his arm stuck inside, 'What?!'

"Hands up KID, you're under arrest!"

"Or," another officer spoke up in amusement, "should we say, 'hand' up?"

Kaito scowled inwardly, 'Okay, old man, you got me here. But, not for long…'

KID gave an excited laugh at the new challenge, lifting his free hand above his head as if in compliance, while his other hand worked on unlocking the other tiny locks, "My, my, gentlemen! How long have you been shut inside that tiny cupboard?"

They seemed confused at his laughter – perhaps Nakamori-keibu was right, in the end – KID was certainly crazy. Who the hell laughed in delight when you were literally cornered by the police?

Kaito simply smirked. Because no matter what, KID would still escape, as he always did. After all, you can never capture a phantom...

"Ignore him!" An experienced officer ordered, "And you, KID, place all your weapons on the ground!"

"What a terribly confusing request, my good man," KID's suave tone echoed with humour, 'Okay, that's the third lock done. One more…' "With one hand occupied and the other above my head, how could I put my weapons down?"

That struck them and one officer stepped forward, ready to pull out the weapons from KID's person, himself.

"Wait! You never know what he has up his sleeves," Another officer said.

"What a fiend you paint my picture as," KID said sorrowfully, "Why don't all of you come a few steps forward to make sure I do nothing?"

"Hmm," The slightly bright officer frowned, but he could see the sense in it, "Very well, hands up, still!"

"You have me captured, keiji-san," KID assured, 'Good, just one more step forward…'

As the officers took a collective step forward, Kaito immediately flicked his free hand, calling forth a switch that he quickly pressed. Two large nets fell down then, completely covering the officers who yelled in surprise. Additionally, he also threw down out a few smoke bombs, disappearing from view.

'Sixty seconds till they escape the net,' Kaito calculated, a little breathless due to exertion, 'twenty five till the smoke disappears. Shit, twenty five seconds to make a perfect escape. But, damn this tube!'

For nothing Kaito did made it budge; he pulled and pulled, but the tube only grew tighter around his hand. Even though he'd freed the amulet, he couldn't pull it out.

'Curses!' Kaito grimaced, 'Fifteen seconds…this thing just doesn't come out – oh! Kami-sama! I can't believe it; this is what the old man brought out for this heist…?'

"Hey, you alright?" A Kid Task Force officer called out as the smoke disappeared finally.

"Oi, Daisuke! Where's KID?"

"Gone!" Daisuke responded as the empty place was revealed to them, "How? Suzuki-san didn't tell us he could escape his trap!"

"Actually," another officer, Kageyama, spoke up, "All Suzuki-san said was that as long as one of KID's hands remained up in the air and the other stuck in the trap, we have a chance of catching him."

"What went wrong then?"

"Idiot! We should never have walked close enough; that net is at fault!"

"Hey, why didn't you stay back then?"

"I don't think you have room to complain –"

"Should have been more alert –"

"How can you –"

Standing on one of the balconies, Kaito held the amulet up against the moon. It glowed and glinted brightly, the red interior shining. However, it was not Pandora.

"Such a shame," Kaito sighed, "After all that trouble I went through too – but man! Jirokichi-san, that was one classy trap! Who knew you'd think of installing a large Chinese handcuff there?"

Chinese handcuffs were a fascinating thing; they tightened when you tried to pull out of it but loosened when you pushed inwards. All Kaito had to do was use his other hand to push the tube downwards, scrunching it up, so that his trapped hand came free.

"Well, that's that," Kaito whistled, throwing the amulet up in the air once, catching it as it fell, "Let's go place it somewhere in the house…perhaps in the party room? I remember a vase –" Kaito stopped in surprise when he saw a note taped to the back of the amulet, "What? Who would have –?"

'…I've a prior engagement. I enjoyed the game, KID. See you soon…'

'See you soon…'

'See you soon…'

Shinichi's words crashed into Kaito's brain like a sledge-hammer – See you soon.

"An invitation stuck on the back of the target?" Kaito laughed, that was just like the detective.

And written on the note were two words printed in English: April Fool

"Oh, Shinichi…" Kaito smiled in remembrance, "Yes, it is passed midnight now. And the 1st of April, too. But, what is it? What is the clue, the code hidden in these two words? For surely it can't be simply a mention of our first meeting as KID and Conan…"

Kaito avoided the officers on the first floor – they'd finally managed to escape Kaitou Kid's traps – placing the amulet on a table in the ball room with a note from KID, stating it was not what he wanted and to consider this his last show; he was retiring for good.

Pulling out the keys of Shinichi's Mazda, Kaito sat himself behind the wheel.

"Okay, Meitantei," Kaito exhaled as the car purred to life, "One last treasure hunt, it seems!

"April fool," Kaito repeated softly as he pulled onto a highway, "It seems related to the Black Star heist, but that whole heist was a sham. So, conversely, if this is left by Shinichi, I should take it to mean that it is true? Okay…so disregarding the 'Fool', what does April mean?"

April was a month, the fourth month of the year in fact. But what about it? Was it a play on words?

"You do seem fond of puns," Kaito said to himself, "So, April is '4月' – 4 Tsuki… 4 is 'yon', 'yotsu', 'yo'. But none of them make sense…what if I add them up?"

Adding them up proved fruitless.

"Huh, so not those," Kaito murmured, now entering into Tokyo central, "What about 'shi' then? No, even if I take 'shi', what do I do about 'Tsuki'?"

'Shi' was 'four'; it was also 'to'. But, to where? Kaito knew he had to go somewhere, but if 'Tsuki' was the place, then he didn't get the clue at all. What was 'Tsuki'?

"Wait! What if 'four' has another meaning?" An idea just struck Kaito, "If I combine 'shi' with 'yon', no…'yonshi' can't be it. Aha! 'Yottsushi'!" Kaito grinned, "That's it!"

Yottsushi, combining 'yotsu' and 'shi', meant 'four seasons'. Four Seasons Park was a park Kaito was familiar with, having held plenty of magic shows there before and after his debut on New Year. Also, the one flower that had gained a lot of attention there was the 'moonflower'. Hence, 'Tsuki'.

"So, Four Seasons Park, near the moonflowers," Kaito deduced proudly, "Here I come!"

Shinichi glanced at his watch and sighed. Taking the half an hour drive into account and another half hour as time to complete and wrap up the heist, Kaito should have been there twenty minutes ago.

'I left all the clues, too,' Shinichi pondered thoughtfully, 'Did he not get the meaning?'

Smoothing down the blanket he was seated upon, Shinichi stretched out his legs. It was 1:40 am, and Kaito was nowhere to be seen. When Shinichi had learnt that the heist was to be on the eve of 31st March, and would proceed well into the next day, 1st April, he couldn't pass up the chance. It had been the day when he and Kaito had first come face to face, albeit under their aliases, but it had marked the beginning.

"I even asked Ran to bake the chocolate cake," Shinichi muttered, "That'll all go to waste if he doesn't come. I'm certainly not going to gorge on all this chocolate…"

"Who's going to gorge on all that chocolate?" Kaito's pleasant voice came from behind him.

Shinichi resisted the urge to jump; he'd not heard him arrive!

"Kaito!"

"Shinichi," Kaito grinned teasingly, plopping himself down on the blanket as he eyed the wicker basket, "Is the cake in there?"

Shinichi laughed at Kaito's eager expression, "All eyes for the chocolate, is it?"

"Of course!" Kaito rubbed his hands gleefully before opening the basket and taking the cake out, "Ooh! A knife, spoons and bowls too! And are those lemon pies? Bottles of juice and water… Ran-chan certainly knows how to pack a late night snack!"

"Lemon pies are for me," Shinichi told him, amused, "And Ran just packed the other stuff in; I didn't complain."

"Right, anyway," Kaito said suddenly, smiling brightly, "Shinichi, did you know? We can see the top of Haido hotel clearly from this end of the park. Look!"

"Uh huh," Shinichi nodded, turning his head to gaze at the building when Kaito did so, "Isn't it convenient? It fit in really well with my riddle, and the moonflowers have blossomed so beautifully too. You can –" Shinichi's breath hitched suddenly, his voice dying out.

As they both gazed up at the hotel, a single rocket whizzed up from the roof top, going high in the air before bursting up colourfully in a shower of lights and noise.

"Kai – what?" Shinichi sputtered in surprise, eyes wide as he turned to face the magician.

Kaito smiled softly, "Fireworks!"

xxx

GLOSSARY

Θα ευγενικά να αποδεχθεί την ευγενική πρόσκλησή σας, παρακαλούμε να περιμένουμε την άφιξή μου μια ώρα πριν από τα μεσάνυχτα - Will graciously accept your kind invitation, please wait for my arrival an hour before midnight

Scullery - A small kitchen or room at the back of a house used for washing dishes and other dirty household work.

Luminol - A chemical that exhibits chemiluminescence, with a blue glow, when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent.

Shinai - Wooden swords

Yon = I

Yotsu = Four

Yo = Yo

Shi = To

April Fool = April = 4 Tsuki = Yottsushi Tsuki = Four Seasons, Moon = Four Seasons Park, Moonflowers

4月 = April

4 = Yotsu = Shi (Yottsu-shi)

Tsuki = Moon

Yonshi = Read

xxx

THE END