Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

Gin sat in the Porsche, staring at the port where only a few scattered lights shone in the distance. The long wail of sirens echoed through the empty streets. Four or five police cars drove into view and stopped at various entrances to the port.

Twenty or thirty minutes later, police officers who had rushed into the cargo area emerged, surrounding Goro Akechi.

Goro Akechi wore a grave expression. He kept his arms folded as he spoke to the officers around him. They nodded frequently, seemingly exchanging opinions.

The blood-stained pistol in his hand was carefully collected by a nearby officer and placed into an evidence bag.

"Brother, looks like Kumail handled the situation well," Vodka said, turning around, waiting for Gin's next move.

Of course, they weren't here just to watch the show.

Gin's emails had already gone out across Tokyo. Shadow operatives were moving to wipe out any remaining traces left by Miyano Akemi, ensuring the organization's presence in this case would vanish—no leaks allowed.

The reason Gin stayed near the port was to observe how Goro Akechi handled the aftermath.

Though this young man had held a codename for a while and seemed competent, his main job had been liaising with Bourbon. While Gin had crossed paths with him before, he never trusted second-hand judgments. Seeing it for himself was always better.

If this guy failed to handle a corpse cleanly and aroused police suspicion, Gin would have shot him dead on the spot—before the police could even get him in handcuffs.

But this trial run had left Gin quite satisfied.

He was quick, efficient, and though he said a lot of odd things, his actions were solid. Whether it was the tracking mission or those two final sniper shots in the dark, the execution was impressive.

He even seemed adept at cleaning up. Surrounded by police, he didn't look like a suspect at all, but like the one giving orders, calmly managing the scene.

"Not bad," Gin muttered. It was a bit pricey—damn Bourbon's bad influence—but still useful. He lit a cigarette, raised his chin lazily, and said, "Let's go. There's a pest at the police station to deal with."

Vodka nodded and quickly steered away from the flashing lights and the annoying Puppycoin colleagues in the distance.

The low-key black Porsche melted into the dim street. On the opposite side of the road, going the other way, a little boy on a skateboard zoomed across the empty sidewalk, passed a car with its high beams on, and rushed toward the police-lit docks.

Conan skidded to a stop as his skateboard battery ran low, then sprinted toward the officers. Almost immediately, he spotted Goro Akechi standing among them.

That weird new detective… why is he here?

The question flashed through Conan's mind, but he didn't linger on it. His attention snapped to the conversation growing clearer by the second.

"…There are surveillance cameras at the port entrance and exits. You can check them. But anyway, I'm certain I heard a sniper rifle. Officer, maybe you don't know the environment I grew up in, but I'm confident I can recognize gunfire." Akechi Goro had his arms crossed, face serious. "I called the police as soon as I saw the blood and collected the scene evidence. The camera's already been handed over to you."

The officer questioning him scratched the back of his head, clearly stressed.

They were from a nearby precinct. Because of the population density, this was the first shooting incident in their jurisdiction. Though they arrived quickly, they were unfamiliar with proper procedures for such cases and looked confused.

"Anyway, thank you for your help, Mr. Mingzhi." A young officer rubbed his nose and laughed awkwardly. "We found blood at the scene, so we've already notified the Investigation Division. Uh, you may have to wait a bit."

"I understand. Working this late is rough... Hm?" Akechi Goro pretended just then to notice the small figure nearby. He looked down at Conan. "What's a kid doing in a place like this, so late?"

Everyone followed his gaze and finally noticed Conan had snuck in.

If Kazawa hadn't opened the map and clearly seen the Death Tarot moving closer and closer, even he might not have noticed it.

No wonder the skill is called Breath Concealing… In a way, it's really powerful, Conan.

"Hey kid, how'd you get in here?" The officers immediately switched to their child-friendly tone. "What's your name? Do you know where you live?"

"Excuse me, did a young woman come this way? Around twenty years old, maybe wearing sunglasses or a mask." Conan grabbed a police officer's sleeve anxiously. "I've been looking for her all day. She might be connected to the one-billion-yen robbery. She's really important!"

The contrast between Conan's serious tone and his small, elementary-school body made the officers laugh.

"Little guy, are you playing detective?"

"Don't distract the officers. Come on, let's go over here…"

No one believed him. One officer even asked a colleague to grab snacks and water and prep to take the kid back to the station to find his parents.

"Young woman…" Only Akechi Goro tapped his chin in thought. "Officer, could you bring over the evidence I just collected?"

"Eh? But…"

"Let the kid take a look." Goro nodded confidently. "Since he identified the woman in sunglasses so clearly, he might actually know something. It's worth a try—we've got no leads anyway."

Conan, who was nearly dragged away, perked up. He quickly ran behind Goro Akechi, not daring to let the well-meaning officers get hold of him again.

He looked up, a bit grateful, and gave Akechi a glance.

Another detective willing to listen to children. As expected, high school detectives were better—they didn't treat him like a joke.

Akechi Goro smiled at him kindly.

The officer who went to get the evidence returned, hesitating. Fearing the items might scare a child, he only brought two things in a transparent evidence bag and showed them to Conan.

Under the glow of the police car headlights, Conan got a clear look—and his expression darkened.

A pair of oversized sunglasses… and a pair of very familiar patent leather peep-toe high heels.

"Ms. Yami…" Conan gritted his teeth, grabbed the bag from the officer's hands, and jumped up to peer inside.

Inside were a small pistol, a crumpled fur coat, and a plain petticoat—all soaked in blood.