"Kaitou Kid? He's the thief who stole the tear of the goddess during yesterday's solar eclipse, right? I heard Commissioner Gordon of the GCPD suffered quite a setback at his hands."
Tim answered naturally.
"Besides, even if I hadn't been online or watching the news these past few days, I would've found out after spending just a few minutes in class today. Everyone's discussing it so intensely that it's hard not to hear."
"What do you think of this phantom thief who dresses even more flashily than Robin?"
Darren asked next.
He noticed that when Tim heard the words "Robin" and "flashily dressed," his eyelid twitched.
It was a completely subconscious reaction, so slight that someone with ordinary eyesight might not have noticed it even if they were staring straight at Tim's face.
"Well… to be honest, I think Kaitou Kid's choice of attire is very clever."
Tim replied calmly.
"Clever? How so?"
Darren pretended not to understand.
"Shouldn't a normal thief wear dark clothes? That way it's easier to use the night and shadows to hide and steal without being noticed. White clothes are so conspicuous in the dark. Wouldn't that make him easier to spot?"
"Kaitou Kid probably just thinks the outfit looks cool. How is that clever?"
"That's why he doesn't operate in the shadows."
A faint, appreciative smile appeared on Tim's face.
"Ordinary thieves avoid drawing attention to themselves, so dark clothing is naturally the perfect choice. But Kaitou Kid flips that logic on its head. Because white is eye-catching, he deliberately draws everyone's gaze toward himself."
"When people focus all their attention on one spot, they inevitably overlook what's happening elsewhere. Kaitou Kid exploits those momentary blind spots to commit his crimes. And because his white outfit is so striking, when he escapes, people instinctively search for someone dressed in white."
"But by then, Kaitou Kid only needs to discard his white coat and walk straight past them in broad daylight, and no one would recognize him."
When Tim finished, Darren put on an expression of sudden realization.
"I see. When you put it that way, it really is a clever approach."
"Tim, you've loved detective novels since you were a kid, and you really do sound like a detective now. I think you could even become Robin for Batman."
At those words, Tim suddenly coughed twice and let out a dry laugh. "What are you talking about? How could I possibly be Robin?"
"True. Robins are always young boys. Every time one grows up, Batman replaces him with a new one. You're not exactly young anymore. Batman definitely wouldn't like you."
Darren kept a perfectly serious expression.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough—"
Tim's coughing only grew more intense.
"Are you okay? Why are you coughing so hard all of a sudden?"
Darren asked with concern.
"It's nothing, I just… choked a bit."
Tim looked at Darren helplessly.
This friend of his was outstanding in every aspect: excellent grades, superb magic tricks, and a face that could make anyone jealous. He was usually very steady, yet from time to time he would say things so off the wall that people didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Of course, if it were just harmless nonsense, Tim wouldn't care much.
But Darren's off-the-wall remarks often involved superheroes, whether gossip, dark humor, or even the occasional conspiracy theory.
The truly frightening part was that Tim knew most of it was made up, yet after hearing it, he often felt that it somehow made a bit of sense.
Tim genuinely wanted to know where Darren picked up all this messy information. Even Oracle didn't have access to such a vast range of intelligence.
Ring, ring, ring.
Just then, the school bell rang.
Darren and Tim ended their conversation and switched into good-student mode.
While listening to the lecture, Darren thought to himself, Judging by what Tim just said, he's clearly looked into Kaitou Kid. In Gotham, you really can't avoid the Bat-Family, even over something as minor as petty theft.
Stealing a treasure as valuable as the tear of the goddess could hardly be considered petty theft.
It was grand theft.
But since I've already decided to do it, there's no need to fear the Bat-Family. Fear is pointless anyway, and it's still better than dealing with the guy who wears his underwear on the outside…
Having made up his mind, Darren began to think about his next move.
Beside him, Tim was also contemplating the same problem.
Last night, Oracle had combed through all the surveillance footage from the Gotham Museum of Art over the past week, trying to identify potential candidates for Kaitou Kid.
After discussing it with Oracle, they both agreed that Kaitou Kid must have conducted a thorough investigation of the museum before the theft, continuing right up until recently. Otherwise, there was no way to explain how he knew in advance that the tear of the goddess on display was a fake.
Gordon's suggestion to Curator Zack to swap out the tear of the goddess had only occurred a few days before the incident, so Kaitou Kid must have visited the museum within that narrow window.
Therefore, if they could identify visitors who had frequently come to view the tear of the goddess during that period, one of them would likely be Kaitou Kid.
It was a good idea, but putting it into practice was far from simple.
Tim and Oracle had reviewed the footage several times from start to finish, yet they couldn't find any recurring individuals.
Given Kaitou Kid's suspected ability to disguise himself, they could only conclude that he had used a different appearance each time he visited the museum, making it impossible to determine who was more suspicious.
Or rather, anyone who had seen the tear of the goddess was a suspect.
With no additional information to narrow the list, the only option left was the method of elimination.
Yes, Tim had spent the entire night going door to door, investigating everyone on the list Oracle had compiled.
If someone hadn't actually visited the museum that day, or if someone appearing in the surveillance footage had no traceable identity, they immediately became a priority target.
Of course, the young guard who had previously smiled directly at the security camera was also among the suspects. However, after Tim tracked down the real person, he was the first to be cleared.
One night was naturally not enough to check everyone. By dawn, Tim hadn't even finished half the list, and the number of suspects requiring further attention had actually increased by more than a dozen.
The reason Tim arrived at school so early each day wasn't because of good habits, but because he hadn't slept at all.
"I need to improve my efficiency. I'll start with the one closest to the school and use the shortest route to check as many people as possible…"
While mapping out his route in his mind, Tim took a large gulp from his coffee-filled thermos.
____
The debut was just the warm-up. If you enjoyed the chapters so far, you can now read 12 chapters ahead on Patreon.
Patreon.com/serioza
Think of it as 'Advanced Intel.' While the audience is still wondering how the trick was done, you'll already be watching the next heist unfold.