Chapter Three: Even More Enigmatic than Kaitou Kid - The Dastardly Thieves Isaac and Miria!
"Another heist note?” Nakamori raged. “There’s already one Kaitou Kid - isn’t that enough?”
He looked at the note on his desk. It said, in English:
We’ve had enough with your crimes!
On midnight of October the 20th
We’ll be taking the Eiffel Tower back to France!
Isaac and Miria
PS: Don’t you know stealing is wrong? -Miria
Nakamori turned to his subordinates. “I want you translating this right away! These new thieves should be treated just like we treat Kaitou Kid!”
--
Walking down the street the next day, Isaac spied something surprising in the hands of a pedestrian.
"Look, Miria! Our note is on the front page of the papers!”
The Japanese - that they couldn’t read - read clearly “THE THIEVES ISAAC AND MIRIA - THE NEW KAITOU KID?”
"We should get one, Isaac!”
"But where would we get a newspaper?” Isaac asked.
"I know!”
"But we shouldn’t go as ourselves, Miria! We’re known now - they’ll suspect us!”
--
At the airport newsstand, a young clerk despaired as he saw two familiar faces approaching him - this time not dressed in kimono but in high school uniforms.
Isaac and Miria headed straight for the newsstand, as the cashier had feared, and the blonde girl picked up a paper from the top of the stack.
"One hundred and ten yen, right?” Isaac asked, handing the clerk another two-thousand yen bill.
"Th-thank you,” the cashier said, handing Isaac his change. The two of them left with their newspaper.
"They sure do give a lot of change in this country,” Isaac said.
--
"Are they… exchange students?” Ran asked suddenly.
"Huh?” Conan asked, not looking up from the newspaper in his hands as he tried to decipher the meaning of this newest heist note.
"Look, see,” Ran said. “They’re wearing Teitan High School’s uniform!”
Conan did look up. “They are,” he said. He had been gone away from school for so long - perhaps his high school was getting some American exchange students. Although surely they were too old - the man had sideburns all the way down his cheeks!
"Did you hear about new exchange students, Ran-neechan?” he asked.
"No,” Ran said, puzzled. “I didn’t.”
--
‘What is this?!’ thought Kuroba Kaito as he stared down the newspaper that said, in large lettering, “POLICE TURN THEIR ATTENTION FROM KAITOU KID?”, and then in smaller lettering, “WHO ARE THE NEW THIEVES ISAAC AND MIRIA?”
Who are these thieves indeed, Kaito thought indignantly. He was supposed to be the thief who sent heist notes - these copycats were stealing his thunder! He was the Kaitou Kid!
He bet they didn’t use magic though.
Kaito grimaced. Well, he supposed it was time to write another note.
--
KAITO KID CHALLENGES NEW THIEVES!
Mysteriously, a new note has appeared!
Dear copycats,
Good thieves are always appreciated
But an idea can never be stolen!
Hoping to meet you and congratulate your genius
Kaito Kid
--
Conan raised his eyebrows at this newest newspaper. Kaitou Kid worked alone, but there went the theory that the “Isaac and Miria note” was an elaborate ruse set up by the thief himself.
Even he was stumped on this one.
Steal the Eiffel Tower? It had to be some kind of code. And what was with stating the date so plainly?
Perhaps it had something to do with France. Perhaps they were planning to steal the Lily of the Valley - Dior was French, after all. But why would they go after the same gem as Kaitou Kid - and on the same night?
--
"I’ve figured it out!” Kogoro said over the phone. “It’s a thief’s rivalry!”
"Oh, it’s you,” Nakamori sighed. “What have you figured out?”
"The Isaac and Miria note, and the Kaitou Kid note! They’re both going after the Lily of the Valley, and both on the same night! See, the Lily of the Valley was made for Dior, who is French, and the Eiffel Tower is also French! And the last night of the lantern festival corresponds with the date given in the Isaac and Miria note!”
Conan sighed. He had dropped enough hints that Kogoro had finally figured out the Kaitou Kid heist note. But he still wasn’t so convinced on that explanation for the Isaac and Miria note. Could he be wrong about their objective?
Still, at least the police were in place to hinder Kaitou Kid.
--
"I wonder when those exchange students are going to start attending class,” Ran said absentmindedly to Conan.
He nodded. “They haven’t shown up yet?
"No, they haven’t,” Ran said. “It’s weird. I thought maybe they were keeping it a surprise, but why?”
Conan shrugged. “I don’t know, Ran-neechan,” he said. That was puzzling, of course, but not nearly so puzzling as the note by the second set of thieves. Something still didn’t seem right about the explanation.
If they were Kaitou Kid’s rivals, why hadn’t they replied to the note? And why was the date stated so plainly? And why English? He had a feeling that the note hinged on one of those things.
He stared up at the sky, wishing he had a soccer ball to kick around and focus his thoughts, when suddenly from the corner of his eye he caught a flash of red against the blue sky. Tokyo Tower, rising high in the distance…
Wait, it couldn’t be, could it?
They couldn’t possibly want to steal Tokyo Tower.
Could they?
--
That night at the Japanese Art Museum had drawn a large crowd, hoping to see both the Kaitou Kid and the new thieves Isaac and Miria. Rumors had spread far and wide. Who were these new thieves? Where they as good as Kaitou Kid? Were they, perhaps, better?
Nakamori holed up with the rest of his crack police team - their forces doubled this time, because of the double threat.
Outside, Ran, Sonoko and Conan waited for the heist to begin.
Suddenly, out of the black night, a white hang glider appeared and sailed toward the top of the ornate entryway to the museum. All the spotlights immediately trained on his location.
"Good evening, everyone!” he said, in a loud voice that carried across the excited crowd. “Tonight, we’ll see who the true phantom thieves really are!”
He disappeared into a puff of smoke, just as the police who had climbed to the top of the building leaped at him.
--
Isaac and Miria stood in front of the lit-up Tokyo Tower.
"Miria?” he said.
"Yes Isaac?” she asked.
"I think we need a bigger wrench.”
--
The miniature detective stared down the white-clad thief.
"So those Isaac and Miria people weren’t rivals of yours,” Conan said.
"No idea who they were,” Kaitou said. “But I’m afraid I have to be going now, Tantei-kun.”
Conan quirked his eyebrow. “I’m afraid not,” he said.
"No?” Kaitou asked.
"You were planning to escape down the emergency exit stairwell dressed as a security guard, while sending your glider off of the roof,” Conan said. “Then the police would chase the glider while you got away. But I tipped off Nakamori twenty minutes ago, and you already sent your glider away.”
He trained his wristwatch on the thief, blue eyes level and challenging. “If you move, I’ll put you to sleep," Conan said confidently.
"Good job, Tantei-kun,” Kaitou Kid said with a smirk. He tossed the Lily of the Valley at Conan, and as Conan leaped forward to catch the treasure, backflipped off of the edge of the building.
Conan rushed toward the edge, wondering if Kaitou Kid had actually fallen. But no, of course not - he was busy rappelling down from a window ledge.
Conan sighed, holding the Lily of the Valley. He may as well give this back to the police now.
--
NEXT TIME: A Postcard Comes to New York With a Strange Request!
"A postcard! How joyful!"
"Indeed, Miria. It is good to stay in contact with people overseas."
"I wonder what the request is for."
"It does say a strange request. Maybe it could be an elephant for a circus."
"Hmm, maybe. Say, Isaac, that reminds me - we need to send a postcard to Ennis!"
Author's note: OH GOD Thursday came and went and we missed it completely... We're so sorry! ; ; (It was our spring break so we lost track of time) --dracoprncs1310