"Hakuba Saguru" looked at Takato, a meaningful expression on his face.
"Sir, what makes you say that?"
Takato lightly tapped the table with his finger and said calmly.
"What I found strange was when I first arrived in Tokyo today. Outside this 'Wazhou' coffee shop, there were no Police whatsoever."
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Hakuba Saguru" asked at the appropriate moment.
"Although the content of this heist notice is somewhat difficult to decipher, as Saeki Tadashi himself, the collector who knows where his 'tears of moonlight' is stored, he should be able to figure out the riddle about the location."
Takato said this, thinking to himself that he, too, was only able to decipher the riddle after seeing the names of all the properties under Saeki Tadashi's name.
"While it's hard to believe that a gem would be hidden in a coffee shop, sometimes the unexpected is safer. However, in the end, there was no Police deployment outside 'Wazhou'. This is very strange. If the Police knew the location of the gem, given Inspector Nakamori's personality at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, it's impossible that he wouldn't make any arrangements. The only explanation, then, is that the Police simply didn't know the location of the gem — meaning Saeki Tadashi himself never informed the Police of its location!"
"But what's wrong with that? It's the gem owner's freedom, after all."
"Hakuba Saguru" asked, unhurriedly.
"As I just said, sometimes a gem hidden in a coffee shop seems safer. In such a situation, even if one knows the gem is in this coffee shop, it would likely be placed in an unimaginable spot."
"In such a case, if the Police openly protected the gem, it would essentially expose the gem completely. So, if the gem owner doesn't reveal the gem's location, unless Kaito Kid himself fully knows where it's hidden, it would probably still be very difficult to find the gem."
Takato stated his deduction.
"In that case, the heist notice is actually bait. If the gem owner can't keep his composure and increases security for the gem due to the notice, he will inevitably expose its location. Once there's any action, a flaw will inevitably appear. I think this was Kaito Kid's original plan."
Takato paused, looked at the unperturbed expression of the "Hakuba Saguru" in front of him, and continued.
"But this time, the gem owner unexpectedly didn't take the bait and made no moves whatsoever. This disrupted Kaito Kid's original plan. No action means the gem's location remains unknown. To thoroughly search for the gem here, it's best if there are no Police personnel interfering, which is why you used Hakuba Saguru's identity to send all the Police away beforehand."
"But your deduction is only valid if the gem is hidden in this coffee shop. What if the gem isn't here? After all, no one has truly seen this gem, have they?"
"Hakuba Saguru" said.
"The gem is certainly here."
Takato said with confidence.
"I imagine you've also investigated. Saeki Tadashi never visited this coffee shop after buying it, but after he bought the 'tears of moonlight' at the auction, he frequently visited this coffee shop. Why do you think that is?"
As he spoke, Takato looked at the grandfather clock in the shop, which showed the time approaching 11:07. Besides their table, there were no other customers, and only one service staff remained at the bar.
"I think it's about time you dropped this disguise, isn't it? After all, the time for the heist is almost here."
At this point, "Hakuba Saguru" showed a sly smile, and then a puff of white smoke emerged from beside him, enveloping his entire figure.
When the white smoke cleared, sitting opposite Takato was no longer the brown-haired young man, but a man wearing a white top hat, a white suit, and a monocle over his right eye.
Looking at Kaito Kid, who had revealed his true appearance, Takato couldn't help but smile — so, it was Kaito Kid!
However, the bar staff showed no reaction to this situation. Indeed, that person must be Kaito Kid's assistant, Konosuke Jii, in disguise!
"I'm very curious, how were you so sure I wasn't the real Hakuba Saguru?"
Kaito Kid asked in a charming voice that lacked emotional fluctuation.
"Oh, that's simple. Because the flight Hakuba Saguru is on won't arrive in Tokyo from London until tomorrow morning."
Takato also revealed a confident smile as he spoke.
"Oh, I see. Then, if I may ask, what is your esteemed name, sir?"
"Akechi Takato, a Detective."
Looking at Kid, who maintained a poker face, Takato also kept his smile.
"Oh, a Detective, sir. Then may I ask if you came to arrest me?"
"No, I have no interest in that. More importantly, don't you want to know where the 'tears of moonlight' is hidden? I imagine you and your assistant must have already conducted a thorough search of the shop these past two days."
Takato said, looking at the bar staff.
"A Detective, sir, so generous, you must not be a philanthropist, right?"
Kaito Kid's tone remained unchanged, which made Takato feel exhausted talking to him like this. He wondered if he should just go find him at his high school another day.
"It's a trade, I suppose. The information about the gem for some information you might know."
"Is that so? Then I'm all ears."
Kaito Kid replied — 'might know' implied he might not.
"You can take a close look at that grandfather clock."
After Takato finished speaking, Kaito Kid got up and walked towards the grandfather clock. As he carefully examined the clock, he suddenly became still.
"Surprised, aren't you? No one would have thought someone would cut such a large gem into small pieces and make them into the hour markers of a clock."
"Indeed, what appears to be a marble dial actually has a crescent-shaped yellow jade inlaid in the center, and the diamond hour markers... it's simply a waste of natural resources!"
At this moment, Takato finally detected some emotional fluctuation in Kid's words.
"If I hadn't found the manufacturing details of this grandfather clock, I would have found it hard to believe too."
Takato said.
As for finding the information, of course, he hacked into Saeki Tadashi's computer!
"So, the information I want to ask about is: about twenty years ago, a blue diamond weighing approximately 6 carats was brought from Osaka to Tokyo by an actress who had retired at the time. Do you know the whereabouts of this diamond?"
Takato posed his question. Further contact with Kuroba Kaito could wait; this information was the key reason he came to find him today!
"I've heard about what you're talking about, but I truly don't know the whereabouts of this blue diamond."
Kaito Kid said.
"But speaking of which, if you piece together the diamonds on this clock face, it seems to be exactly a blue diamond weighing about 6 carats!"
Upon hearing this, Takato was stunned — a blue diamond? The information said that the 'tears of moonlight' was set with white diamonds, didn't it?