The Professionals
To be precise, it was Officer Nakamori doing all the talking — loudly, one-sidedly, and at considerable length — as he tried to convince the woman to hand over the gemstone's security to his experienced officers before the formal exhibition opened. The woman in question simply listened with a serious expression, occasionally murmuring a word or two to show she was paying attention, but she gave nothing away.
Conan: ......
Man, Nakamori sure has stamina. The woman clearly hasn't absorbed a single word of it, and he still hasn't given up?
Watching the scene unfold, Conan surmised that the person currently locked in negotiation with Officer Nakamori had to be the Miss Ningguang Sonoko had mentioned.
She had rare platinum-white hair that fell long down her back, crimson eyes, and wore a cheongsam interwoven with gold, white, and black, a fan-shaped ornament of dark gold at her waist — and hanging from it, as a pendant, a certain yellow bead Conan was already growing rather familiar with.
Honestly, Conan couldn't even call it a surprise anymore.
The moment he'd spotted someone this distinctive, he'd caught himself instinctively scanning her for one of those bead accessories.
But actually seeing one there — confirming his suspicion — still left him taken aback. The head of a major corporation like this was a follower of some wind god called Barbatos?
And what did the different colors and styles of those beads mean, anyway? Different gods? Different faiths?
Officer Nakamori raised his voice again to hammer the point home. "Miss Ningguang! Did you hear what I just said?! That thief Kid is no pushover — your current security is nowhere near enough! So let us experienced officers handle security on-site. I give you my word: I won't let that thief get within a single step of the gemstone!"
"Rest assured, Officer Nakamori — I'm not taking this lightly in the least. I've brought in professionals to handle it." Ningguang noticed Sonoko's friends arriving and seized the chance to change the subject. "If you'll excuse me, I have guests."
With that, she left Officer Nakamori where he stood and walked over to Sonoko, greeting Ran and the others.
"Ah, Miss Ningguang! Kogoro Mouri, detective, at your service. It's a great honor to attend this jewel exhibition of yours. I assure you, I will protect these gemstones from any thieving hands — with the same devotion I would devote to protecting you, Miss Ningguang."
Before Ran could get a word in, she heard her father's voice, grave and formal, and turned to find him gazing at Miss Ningguang with unmistakable eagerness. A cross of irritation popped up on her temple. She held it in for the sake of appearances — but the moment they got home, she was going to make him pay for this.
Conan: ......
Honestly, this old man. One pretty woman and he loses his mind completely. Could he please take a look at Ran's face before he keeps going? Because once they get home, he's going to have a very bad time.
Besides, who introduces themselves as a "great detective"? Shouldn't he be embarrassed? Half the time he doesn't even know how he solved the case.
Ningguang blinked, momentarily caught off guard, then smiled. "Then I'll be counting on you, Mr. Mouri."
At that moment, a staff member came over to report that another girl had arrived outside, claiming to be a friend of Sonoko's and asking to be let in.
"A friend?" Sonoko was puzzled. Everyone she'd invited was already here. "Did she give her name?"
"She said her name was Natsume Xiayu."
"Xiayu? But when I invited her before, didn't she say she had a commission and turned me down?" Sonoko murmured.
She had no idea why Xiayu would suddenly show up, but a friend coming all this way was reason enough to be delighted, and she hurriedly had the staff escort Xiayu in.
Once she arrived, Xiayu explained her sudden appearance: her commission had wrapped up ahead of schedule, the venue was close by, and since Sonoko had mentioned Kaitou Kid would be showing up today, curiosity had gotten the better of her.
Conan looked at the suddenly-arrived Xiayu and felt something slightly off. For some reason, she seemed a touch more delicate than usual.
Is Xiayu-neechan extra tired today? Or could it be......
Conan lowered his head and smiled a knowing little smile.
By then, Officer Nakamori had judged that the conversation on this side had wrapped up, and he hurried back to Ningguang's side to pick up where they'd left off. "Miss Ningguang — you said just now that you'd brought in professionals. May I ask who?"
Ningguang, seeing that everyone around was waiting on her answer with open curiosity, didn't play coy. "I've heard that this Mr. Kid of ours is a master magician. If one wishes to counter him, naturally one must call on a master of magic. As it happens, a celebrated magician from the Kingdom of Fontaine is performing in the area recently, so I extended an invitation and entrusted them with protecting the gemstone."
The moment Sonoko heard this, she knew exactly who she meant. "You mean the magician Lyney, Miss Ningguang? I've seen his shows before — they're incredible! The thought of watching two master magicians go head-to-head today — I can hardly stand it!"
Ningguang smiled and confirmed her guess.
Meanwhile, Kuroba Kaito — present at the venue — caught her words and smirked with easy confidence. Well then, everyone, let's see which of us is better: me, or this magician from Fontaine.
"Ah — here they come now." Ningguang spotted the familiar brother-and-sister pair and beckoned them over. "Allow me to introduce the outside help I've engaged: the magicians Lyney and Lynette."
"Hello, everyone," said Lyney and Lynette.
Then, with visible surprise, they turned their gaze on Xiayu. "Xiayu? You came to see the jewel exhibition too?"
"Ah...... yes, I'd just finished a commission, so I thought I'd stop by. Haha." Xiayu's smile was a little stiff.
Ran looked at her curiously. "You two know each other?"
"I-it's, well, yes......" Xiayu stammered.
Lyney shot her a glance laden with meaning, then smoothly took over. "That's right. We happened to cross paths while Xiayu was traveling, and she lent us a hand. We've been friends ever since."
A bead of sweat trickled down "Xiayu's" temple.
What was that look Lyney just gave me? Don't tell me he's figured something out. He only picked this Xiayu because she's acquainted with the Suzuki heiress and could slip inside — and because they'd spent time together before, so he knew her patterns well enough to pull off the disguise. How was he supposed to know the person he picked would happen to know this magician? Some "luck" this is.
No. Kaito, get a grip. Don't scare yourself. Remember the poker face.
And maybe he hasn't noticed anything at all — maybe he's testing me. We only met while traveling, how well could we really know each other?
Once the introductions were done, Lyney and Lynette excused themselves and set off to survey the exhibition floor.
It was just as the pair turned away that Conan's mouth gave a twitch: there, on the bow ornaments at their backs, hung two more of those achingly familiar Vision charms.
Strange. He'd watched their magic show and never seen them wearing those beads. Had they only just acquired them? Or did they deliberately remove them before performing? If they'd had them all along, why take them off beforehand?
And another thing — despite sharing the same accessories, Conan could plainly tell that Miss Ningguang was not at all close with Lyney and the others. Their exchange carried a distant politeness, as if they'd met for the very first time today. All this while, Conan had simply assumed that everyone with one of these beads knew one another.
Whew. The questions just keep piling up.
But that was what made it a real challenge. The harder the puzzle, the greater the sense of triumph when the truth finally came to light!