LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Chess Pieces
Location B, Surveillance Room.
In this room equipped with monitoring and broadcasting functions, Akikawa Kyousuke rested his cheek on one hand while lightly tapping the keyboard with the other, watching a particular clip repeatedly.
On the screen, Kaitou Kid, who had been struck in the head by a sniper rifle, collapsed to the ground.
Then, a burst of smoke erupted from his body, and he disappeared.
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Although Akikawa Kyousuke was aware that there were some phenomena in this world that defied scientific explanation,
like the handsome detective's kick being powerful enough to break down a metal door,
or the elementary school soccer ball comparable to an electromagnetic cannon,
he could accept that certain individuals in this world possessed physical capabilities beyond those of ordinary people.
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However, the scene where Kaitou Kid vanished truly astonished Akikawa Kyousuke.
Struck in the head by a sniper rifle, not only did Kid survive, but he also disappeared in an instant.
This was no longer something that could be explained scientifically.
It bordered on the magical.
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After watching the clip several times, Akikawa Kyousuke ultimately found no clues.
But it was precisely because of this that Akikawa Kyousuke craved such an ability even more.
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A short while later, Akikawa Kyousuke continued watching the surveillance footage of Hall B.
He had already deduced the broadcast's origin when he overheard the radio mentioning that Kaitou Kid was attempting to steal the Scarlet Shadow Heart.
The fact that there was no staff correcting the transmission meant the broadcasting room was unoccupied.
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Initially, Akikawa Kyousuke had no interest in the cat-and-mouse games between detectives and phantom thieves.
But the appearance of Toru Amuro changed his mind.
He decided to visit the unmanned broadcasting room and observe the venue through surveillance.
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Not long ago, after temporarily dispelling Amuro Toru's suspicions, Akikawa Kyousuke noticed that Amuro deliberately avoided him to answer a phone call.
From this, Akikawa Kyousuke deduced that the caller's identity might be unusual.
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Through Masumi Sera's phone call, Akikawa Kyousuke learned that Amuro Toru appeared in the Scarlet Shadow Heart Collection Room after their separation.
Given Amuro Toru's highly classified status as a public security officer,
he had no obligation to assist the Section Two detectives in catching the thief.
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Thus, Akikawa Kyousuke inferred that Amuro Toru had a specific reason to go to the Scarlet Shadow Heart Collection Room—
a mission assigned by the organization during that phone call to steal the gemstone.
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Later, after seeing Amuro Toru deliberately release Kuroba Kaito to let him steal the gemstone, Akikawa Kyousuke fully confirmed his hypothesis.
Upon discovering Amuro Toru's true identity as a public security officer,
the reason for his actions became clear:
Amuro likely didn't want the gemstone to fall into the organization's hands, but he couldn't openly defy their orders.
Therefore, he decided to let Kaito Kid, whom he disliked, take the gemstone.
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'The organization sent at least one sniper here, sharing the same objective as Kaitou Kid—to seize the ruby.'
'However, it seems that no one but Kaitou Kid realized the gemstone was fake.'
Akikawa Kyousuke thought while watching Conan slowly pick up the gemstone on the surveillance footage.
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Although he had never seen the genuine Scarlet Shadow Heart or its counterfeit,
Akikawa Kyousuke had known from the start that the gemstone in the safe was fake.
The reason stemmed from information revealed by Masumi Sera right after her phone call:
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'The Scarlet Shadow Heart was placed in the display case by a detective from the First Investigation Division. Mr. Tsukino never touched the gemstone throughout the process.'
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Typically, after a valuable treasure is stolen, the owner would personally confirm whether it had been retrieved.
Yet, Tsukino Takashi never touched the Scarlet Shadow Heart from beginning to end.
This detail was clearly observed by Masumi Sera, Ginzo Nakamori, and others.
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As for why Tsukino Takashi acted this way, Akikawa Kyousuke believed it was a deliberate move to give detectives and police the impression that he had never handled the gemstones.
Once the "evaluation" of the Scarlet Shadow Heart was placed in the display case, it became an "authentic product."
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Many doubts surrounded the incident where Tsukino Takashi was allegedly kidnapped by his younger brother, drugged with sleeping pills, and robbed of the gemstones.
One question was how Tsukino Masayuki knew the password to the display cabinet.
Another was the absurd timeline: Tsukino Masayuki stole the gemstones early in the morning yet was caught by the Metropolitan Police Department by noon.
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For a senior executive in a prestigious consortium, this was far too sloppy.
From Sera Masumi's description, Akikawa Kyousuke noticed that many clues in the first theft case were too obvious.
While everything seemed deduced by the detectives,
the only suspect pointed to by these clues was Tsukino Masayuki, Tsukino Takashi's younger brother.
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Akikawa Kyousuke didn't believe Tsukino Masayuki would be foolish enough to drug his brother, steal the gemstones, and naively assume the police and detectives wouldn't suspect him.
Masayuki didn't attempt to evade capture, didn't prepare any form of self-protection, and was arrested far too easily.
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Because of this, Akikawa Kyousuke suspected that the first case was likely a premeditated performance by Tsukino Takashi and Tsukino Masayuki from the very start.
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The two brothers collaborated in a staged drama where the fake Scarlet Shadow Heart ended up in the hands of the Metropolitan Police.
Later, when Tsukino Takashi returned the gemstone through the First Investigation Division detective,
he deliberately avoided touching it in front of Masumi Sera and Ginzo Nakamori.
In doing so, he eliminated any possibility of personally swapping the gemstones.
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The gemstone, authenticated by Tsukino Takashi himself, was confirmed as "genuine."
Moreover, because Tsukino Masayuki drugged and restrained Tsukino Takashi,
the narrative of the brothers' inheritance conflict within the Tsukino Consortium became deeply ingrained in the public's mind.
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With no apparent reason for Tsukino Takashi to help his brother, who allegedly harbored malicious intentions,
everyone naturally believed Tsukino Takashi's identification of the Scarlet Heart.
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By piecing together Tsukino Takashi's strange behavior through Masumi Sera's account,
Akikawa Kyousuke connected the dots and determined that the gemstones in the display case were fake.
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However, for the fake to become indistinguishable from the genuine, one more step was necessary—
making everyone believe the genuine gemstone had been tampered with.
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And the perfect scapegoat for this was Kaitou Kid, who had sent the warning letter.
As long as Kaitou Kid obtained the gemstone, and the police retrieved it only to find it was fake,
the immediate assumption would be that the real one had been swapped by Kaitou Kid.
No one would consider that the gemstone had been fake from the very beginning.
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This strategy mirrored using a staged kidnapping to evade taxes.
In the latter, a ransom payment is used as a pretext to avoid government taxes, thereby achieving the goal of tax evasion.
In the former, Kaitou Kid's theft leads everyone to believe the real gemstone was taken,
allowing the true Scarlet Shadow Heart to be pocketed by Tsukino Takashi.
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To achieve this goal, one crucial step was ensuring Kaitou Kid could obtain the gemstone.
Naturally, the method of unlocking the Scarlet Heart's display case wasn't too complex.
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This was why Akikawa Kyousuke deduced how Kaitou Kid managed to acquire the gemstone after listening to Masumi Sera's description.
Whether it was a police officer, a detective, or Kaitou Kid,
they were all just chess pieces in Tsukino Takashi's plan to monopolize the Tsukino Consortium's gemstones.
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(End of Chapter)