Chapter 159 - The Magician's Three Principles
The Magician's Three Principles
"Magic?"
Conan frowned upon hearing this.
Really magic?
Why did he feel like something wasn't quite right?
"Fujino-senpai, when did you learn magic?"
Ran also looked puzzled, asking Fujino with surprise.
In her impression, detectives and magicians usually didn't get along.
One spent all day trying to uncover the truth behind secrets.
The other tried every means to hide the truth with secrets.
The two were fundamentally incompatible.
At least, Kudo Shinichi was like that.
Every time he watched a magic show, he absolutely had to figure out the secret behind the trick.
"Probably just recently."
Fujino nodded, then casually pulled a playing card from his sleeve and handed it to Ran.
"Is it a card trick?"
Ran asked puzzledly as she took the card.
"Something like that."
With a flick of his wrist, the playing card vanished into thin air under everyone's gaze.
Then, to the astonishment of the onlookers, he reached into his chest pocket.
After fumbling around for a moment, he pulled out that very same playing card.
"Amazing!"
Although Ran couldn't figure out how Fujino did it, it looked very impressive.
"It's nothing, really. My technique isn't very polished yet."
Fujino smiled sheepishly. "Just some close-up magic tricks for misdirection. I thought fighting Kaito Kid would require magic against magic, so I learned a bit."
'Haha... just learned a bit?'
Conan felt speechless.
Although magic, in his view, was just a bunch of tricks,
it wasn't something one could learn overnight.
And just now, he hadn't even clearly seen how Fujino performed that wondrous little magic trick.
The playing card was one thing; quick hand movements were understandable.
But how did the bokken appear?
He was very curious.
Thinking this, he voiced his confusion to Fujino:
"But, Fujino, where exactly did you hide such a long bokken?"
"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Fujino-niichan."
Fujino squatted down, grabbed Conan's dog-like head, and vigorously ruffled his hair.
Conan's scalp tingled; he felt miserable, utterly devoid of hope.
After tormenting Conan with soft methods,
avenging the disruption of his peaceful day,
Fujino stood up and continued meaningfully, "Of course, I can't reveal the magic technique. Secrets make magic more mysterious... Besides, one of the magician's three principles states that you should never reveal any secrets about the magic to the audience."
"The magician's three principles?"
Ran tilted her head upon hearing this, looking puzzled.
"Fujino-senpai is probably talking about the Thurston's Three Principles, right?"
Just then, Sonoko chimed in. "That is, don't reveal any details about the magic before the performance begins, don't perform the same magic trick at the same time and place, and absolutely never reveal the secret of the magic to the audience."
"Sonoko, you actually know about this?"
Ran looked surprised that Sonoko understood such seemingly complex principles.
"Of course!"
Sonoko said proudly. "I learned all this from a magic exchange group."
"Magic exchange group?"
"That's right."
Sonoko explained, "It's a website called the Magic Lovers Alliance. All the members inside are magic enthusiasts."
"I see. I didn't expect you to have a habit of making friends online, Sonoko."
"Making friends online is actually quite normal, isn't it?"
Fujino suddenly interjected. "After all, times are changing, the internet is becoming more widespread, and it won't be long before computers and mobile devices replace conventional ways of making friends... Probably won't be long before exchange groups with hundreds, even thousands of members become a profession."
This wasn't baseless talk; it wasn't random fabrication.
He had grounds for saying this.
Because the future he came from was exactly like that.
Probably something that would happen in ten or twenty years.
But given the Conan world... it probably wouldn't even take a year to develop that way.
"Exchange groups with hundreds or thousands of people?!"
Ran paused upon hearing this.
"Chat groups like that must be really lively."
Sonoko also murmured, secretly thinking there must be plenty of handsome guys in them.
After a moment of daydreaming, she looked up and asked Fujino, "By the way, Fujino-senpai, do you like using the internet too?"
"Mhm."
Fujino nodded. "Just bought a laptop recently, but I haven't joined any chat groups yet."
"So Fujino-senpai bought a computer too! In that case, I'll send you the address later..."
Seeing the group chatting happily, Conan couldn't really press further.
Magic was indeed the best explanation.
It couldn't have just materialized out of thin air, right?
That would be too unscientific.
But, where exactly did this guy hide such a long bokken...
After thinking for a long time, racking his brains, Conan still couldn't figure out how Fujino produced the bokken.
Meanwhile, his coughing grew worse.
Too difficult. Conan chose to give up thinking.
Thinking about it, Kaito Kid could somehow produce a hang glider out of nowhere.
Fujino casually producing a bokken seemed plausible by comparison.
Fujino, meanwhile, opened the system interface, staring thoughtfully at the incomplete system task.
The person was caught, the police took him away.
Logically, this system task should be completed by now.
But why was there no notification yet?
Could the task still be incomplete?
What other hidden twists could there be in a bank robbery case?
Thinking this, Fujino started reviewing the recording from his visual enhancement glasses.
First, the man burst in through the bank's back door when an employee opened it, then beat up the employee, drove away the female employees, leaving the male employee to help bag the money...
While bagging the money, the robber coughed twice, then found a chair, sat down, reached into the pocket of a brown suit jacket draped over the chair, fumbling for something. Then the male employee who was knocked out earlier tried to sneak attack him.
And then the phone rang.
Wait...
Suddenly, Fujino noticed something amiss.
Things were urgent then, he hadn't paid attention.
Reviewing the recording now, he realized that right before the phone rang, the robber had actually touched his own chest.
As if confirming it wasn't his phone, before turning around and shooting.
Bringing a phone to a bank robbery?
That was really strange.
This guy had been making mistakes since he entered. First choosing a man to bag the money, then bringing a phone, and even inexplicably putting his hand into the pocket of the money-bagging man's suit jacket...
Wait!
Suddenly, the clues clicked together in Fujino's mind.
He remembered.
This should be an anime-original plotline from Conan, right?
Although the memory was fuzzy, he did remember Ran and Sonoko bowling in this episode, and the way Ran's skirt lifted...
He had wondered back then if Ran was wearing...
Ahem.
That wasn't the point. The point was, he now knew who the robber's accomplice was.
If the robber's mistakes weren't actually mistakes, then it all added up!
Since Fujino, Ran, and the others were acquaintances of Megure Juzo, their police interviews were prioritized.
Inside the bank, the bank employees and customers were still being questioned by the police.
Even after questioning, they couldn't easily leave the bank.
Only after everyone had been questioned could Megure Juzo give the order to let people go.
Fujino looked up, scanning his surroundings.
At a glance, he spotted the prime suspect this time.
If he wasn't mistaken, the robber's accomplice should be that guy.
"Fujino-kun, if you have time, could you trouble yourself to come back with us to give a statement?"
Just then, Megure Juzo, having dealt with some matters, walked over and said to Fujino, "Also, there's the matter of commendation and reward."
"Those aren't urgent."
"Not urgent?"
Megure Juzo paused upon hearing this.
He looked at Fujino strangely.
Fujino-kun seemed a bit off today.
Normally, when he mentioned rewards, Fujino should be quite enthusiastic.
But today...
"Could it be you have something else to do, Fujino-kun?"
Megure Juzo voiced his question.
"That's not it."
Fujino paused, then said gravely, "It's just that the truth behind this bank robbery case is far from over."
Megure Juzo frowned noticeably, but having encountered cases within cases before, he wasn't overly surprised, merely asking puzzledly, "The truth is far from over?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that robber should have an accomplice."
Fujino glanced around, then looked at the still-incomplete system task, and said.
"He has an accomplice?"
Megure Juzo paused upon hearing this.
Nearby, Conan's eyes also narrowed slightly, lost in thought.
He had felt something was off from the beginning.
So the robber had inside help, no wonder.
If that was the case...
Suddenly, Conan seemed to realize something. He immediately walked silently aside and began searching for something on the ground.
"The robber came in through the back door, but I just checked, only bank employees can access the back door."
Fujino, having thought it through and organized his thoughts, continued:
"Meaning, the robber burst in from outside when an employee opened the door. But how did he know an employee would go out at that specific time? Clearly, someone was working with him from the inside. At that moment, the accomplice was inside the bank."
Megure Juzo stroked his chin, nodding in agreement.
He didn't waste words, directly asking Fujino, "Regarding the identity of that accomplice, do you have any clues, Fujino-kun?"