The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan

"I have an appointment with a friend..." Moritani Teiji repeated thoughtfully, and looked at the people again, "I understand, that is really a pity. Sorry, I had a good communication with that little girl last time, please bear with me. I couldn't help but express my concern. As for the question you just mentioned, I would like to ask rudely, should I also include people who are in competition..."

The shocking answer just now finally made the adults present no longer care about his behavior of running around the house - although the two police officers and Mouri Kogoro more or less looked like they were suppressing laughter - finally Conan, who was temporarily freed from Moritani Teiji's gaze, breathed a sigh of relief.

He insisted on following them in order to further confirm his conjecture. If Moritani Teiji paid too much attention to him, he would lose room for maneuver.

He temporarily hid his figure behind the sofa where Megure Police Department and others were sitting, and after confirming that Moritani Teiji's attention had been completely removed from him, he tiptoed out of the reception room and observed the terrain for a moment.

He remembered that the last time he came here, the exhibition room was in this direction...

After identifying the location for a while, he quickly found the room that Teiji Moriya led a few people to visit last time. He tiptoed into the door and turned on the light.

The room he had seen a few days ago appeared in front of him again.

After briefly looking around and confirming that there were no cameras or other equipment, he quickly walked towards the photography works that he had briefly scanned when he first arrived.

The photos in the exhibition room are sorted according to the year when the buildings were completed. Skip the first photo, and several houses that were hit by explosions appear there one after another.

He raised his head, compared the photos carefully, and quickly came to a conclusion.

Sure enough, these buildings were as he expected. At first glance, they were indeed very symmetrical classical designs like this house. However, if you carefully compare the architectural details, you can see that they are not absolutely symmetrical!

He frowned and thought for a moment, then turned his head and looked at the later works of Moritani Teiji on the other wall.

From Sumida Canal Bridge to the back, the style of Teiji Moritani's works remains the same, but the obvious differences in details, such as for functionality, or perhaps restricted by the architectural regulations of private residences, and all compromises can no longer be found. .

Could it be said that this is Moritani Teiji's motive?

"Don't be too ridiculous, I said..." Conan narrowed his eyes and felt a burst of uncontrollable anger, "Is it just for this ridiculous reason?"

After repeated confirmations, Conan, who became more and more convinced of this, couldn't help but have the same guess as Asai Narumi.

If he remembered correctly, Moritani Teiji's father, his mentor who brought Moritani Teiji his first wave of fame and shadow, did not follow the absolute principle of symmetry in terms of architectural concepts, but preferred to Absorb different ideas from both sides and don’t be a rigid fundamentalist.

Could it be that……

————

"I'm not surprised." Looking at the "memories" in the form of a photo gallery in front of him, Asai stared at the last huge photo and twitched his lips.

According to the convention of the palace, the photos do not record what happened in the past in a completely realistic style. Whether it is Moritani Teiji or his parents, they are all wearing very similar clothes to the sculptures in the courtyard, that is, during the Tudor Dynasty. British clothing style.

This is a period when clothing has evolved from simplicity to complexity, and into exaggerated and gorgeous styles. This makes this set of huge black-and-white photos look like oil paintings, with great tension.

Therefore, although there was no explanation for the photo, he had a quarrel with his parents and had an emotional outburst. After several disagreements with his father about his career, he went to extremes as expected.

In the last huge photo, it is entirely composed of black and white, with some traces of color appearing.

A bright red light shone in the hands of Emperor Moritani, who lowered his eyes coldly.

An elegant metal lighter.

This is also the only one in this group of photos that has a label. What is written on it should be the name given to them by Moritani Teiji, the master of the palace.

"'Nirvana'?" Asai Narumi read it out, but couldn't control his expression and sneered, "Is this what he learned from this fire?"

"I think he might not have done it to gain fame and fortune at first. But when he really made this extreme choice, he suddenly found that he had lost the authority over his head and still had his father's fame. To protect him, he actually stood out." Tangze walked up to him, looked at the only bright color in the picture, and gave his guess.

"Furthermore, although the black and white pictures don't look so obvious, from this set of photos, it can still be seen that the images of his parents are not human beings." Shimabukuro Kimie gave his own opinion, "They are all , similar to the other shadows in the hall, the 'sculpture'."

"Still, I'm not surprised." Asai Narumi nodded.

————

"...I think Professor Moritani Teiji, from a very young age, should have been recognized by his father that he has the talent and talent of an architect." The cruel guess rolled on the tip of his tongue, and Conan pursed his lips. Still haven't said that pure guess.

The fire that occurred 15 years ago, no matter how he analyzed the suspect's psychology, deep down in his heart, he believed that Moritani Teiji was the murderer, and the possibility of investigating and collecting evidence had long been lost, and the prosecution period of the case did not allow him to make extraneous matters.

As long as the case at hand can be established, it will be enough to kill Moritani Teiji without too many conspiracy theories.

After taking a shallow breath, he continued: "Living up to this expectation, Professor Teiji Moritani has indeed become famous in the industry after he was in his 30s. In addition, the Sumida Canal Bridge won him the With the Newcomer Award, his career has completely taken off."

"So I've said it all, why would an architect, who is so good, destroy his own work..." Mouri Kogoro shook his head in disapproval, still unable to accept his logic, "Especially the canal bridge, didn't you already say that? , that was the starting point for his career to take off, so there is no reason to destroy it.”

"This is a very interesting question. After that, Professor Moritani Teiji continued to receive various commissions and continued to produce new buildings, but an idea slowly emerged. No, maybe, this It was the idea he had from the beginning." Holding the voice changer, Conan pointed at the receiver of his mobile phone and made a decisive conclusion, "'I want to eliminate some mistakes, including those I made when I was young.' That’s right, Professor Moritani.”

Under the gazes of the police and detectives, Teiji Moritani raised his eyebrows gloomily and did not respond to the voice on the phone.

"Although I was unable to attend the appointment, Professor Moritani's tea party was really impressive, wasn't it? I heard about it from Kitagawa-kun. As for what you mentioned, architects are responsible for their works for life, so from a young age When it comes to time, we must stick to our ideals.”

Hiding in the shadows outside the door, Conan carefully observed Moritani Teiji's expression, and as expected, caught the slight twitch in his expression when he mentioned Kitagawa Yusuke's name.

Obviously, Kitagawa Yusuke's character and speaking style are really a one-hit kill for characters like Moritani Teiji who like to maintain the so-called "respectability".

After taking a few seconds to suppress his laughter, Conan continued: "Everyone is in the exhibition room of his works now. Please carefully observe the houses and buildings where fires and explosions occurred in his works. Look carefully again, The bridge that brought him his first honor..."

His favorite architect died, and now his meal replacement house collapsed. Shiratori Rensaburo reacted the fastest.

He immediately turned his head, accurately found the photos of those buildings, and carefully observed the bridge for a moment, and soon let out a cry of collapse: "...These houses, and this bridge, are not... Absolute symmetry!"

"It seems you understand what I mean, Officer Shiratori. They are indeed not absolutely symmetrical buildings. Maybe it was Party A's request, maybe it was factors such as the Building Standards Law at the time, which caused Professor Moritani Teiji to be We were forced to choose a compromise."

Conan continued to talk unhurriedly, showing a slightly self-deprecating smile.

Generally speaking, even patients with personality disorders who lack normal empathy and cannot properly integrate into society will rarely suddenly turn to crime. The vast majority of serial criminals with mental illness have trauma that was formed in childhood. Yes, it is the so-called type that grows crookedly from the root.

But their crimes often do not start when they are young, but they are "activated" at a certain point after they completely leave the school environment and join social life.

The person who "activated" Moritani Teiji was the detective himself.

"Of course the perfectionist Professor Moritani could not accept this compromise. He regarded it as a shame on his artistic path. His life had always been smooth and he could not bear this situation. Then, he encountered the biggest Waterloo in his life. This shadow finally pissed him off completely."

When Moritani Teiji heard this, he almost instinctively looked at the display cabinet covered with bright red velvet in the corner of the room.

The police officers, who had been gradually persuaded by Kudo Shinichi and showed their attitude towards the suspect, also noticed his movements and quickly walked towards it.

Conan waited for their exclamations after opening the curtain, while lowering his head and looking through the cards in his hand.

The familiar red and black background and the familiar flame-like logo.

"Bingo, little detective, I'm glad you answered correctly."

"It's boring enough." He muttered, covering the receiver, but couldn't help but smile.

Occasionally, it would be an interesting experience to see the letters from these monster thieves in advance.

————

"It's almost 10 o'clock..."

Mao Lilan adjusted her sitting posture to relieve the pressure on her lower back caused by sitting in one position for a long time. She muttered something in a low voice and looked around at the not too many people around her.

Because it is a midnight movie, unless you are a moviegoer with great expectations for the movie, or a fan of a certain leading actor, you will not easily choose this time period.

However, because it is a love movie, there are also many young couples who have similar ideas to hers, sitting in the waiting room in pairs, and the bored atmosphere is almost overflowing.

Although there is still some time before the midnight show, if he can't arrive on time at this time, can that guy really make it on time?

Or is it that at this time, I can finally wait for a belated explanation?

Just as she was looking at the lovers sitting nearby, who were slightly lost in thought, the big screen in the theater that was playing promotional videos for various movies suddenly stopped for a moment.

After listening to it for a while, the sound effect that had become part of the background white noise suddenly stopped. People in the audience quickly reacted and looked in the direction of the screen.

A voice full of electronic sound, somewhat familiar to Mao Lilan's ears, was played from the speaker.

A rainbow-colored ripple jumped in the center of the screen.

"Good evening to everyone watching this video."

At the same time, not only the theater where Mao Lilan was located, but also the large screens in various business districts in Tokyo, including the TVs playing various TV programs in commercial banks, public TVs in public places, etc., were cut off from the original pictures, and then continued. I heard this inexplicable sound.

"Please allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is Noah's Ark, and I am also Ark of the Phantom Thieves of Heart. Please give me your advice."

"Noah's Ark..." Yoshida Ayumi, who was secretly staying up and watching TV at the door of her bedroom, was stunned for a while, and her eyes slowly lit up, "It's Noah's Ark!"

"Today, a terrible murderer attacked many public places. Although thanks to the efforts of us and the detectives, everything was calm and no major damage occurred, we cannot foresee whether there will be greater casualties, nor can we Let these extremely vicious people enjoy honors that do not belong to them."

Accompanied by Noah's voice, the scene of the explosion in Greenland Park and the scenes of railway monitoring and maintenance personnel looking for bombs were cut in.

At the end of the picture, fireworks exploded next to several bombs that had been defused in advance, and several words composed of flame colors jumped out.

The next second, it was converted into English letters in the style of newspaper clippings, and they jumped in the center of the screen.

"We know who you are."

"Unfortunately, until now, we have not been able to wait for the prisoner's confession and confession, so here, we will read out his charges——"

Fireworks were set off, and the warning letters that burst out with the explosion of gunpowder slid into the center of the screen after an animation transition.

At this time, the original electronically synthesized children's voice was replaced by several male and female voices with varying pitches and voice-change processing, and they recited the words on the notice letter in unison.

"A sinner who is arrogant, disrespectful, and tries to measure the world by his own standards, His Excellency 'Teiji Moritani'..."

————

"...You walked into the darkness without looking back, chose the most extreme path, and your crimes of endangering other people's lives are all before our eyes."

The police and detectives, who had no idea what was going on in the outside world, looked at what was exposed as the curtain slid down in surprise.

Right in front of the glass cabinet is the nameplate Moritani Teiji himself made for this work, "My dream new town - Nishitama City."

In the glass cabinet, the exquisite white architectural model shows a regular beauty like a classical sculpture under the light.

But what really surprised them was the notice sandwiched in the glass cabinet.

The high-rise building in the center of the Nishitama City planning model and the park fountains on both sides were used as bases to hold the cards, and the red and black papers were firmly stuck there.

——I don’t know if it was to deliberately anger Teiji Moritani, or if it was done at an angle.

"The artist's pursuit of perfection comes from his heart and is a form of self-restraint. It is a form of upward asceticism and torture and should never be used as an excuse to harm others.

We will root out your dark and paranoid desires. "

"Yours sincerely, the Phantom Thieves of the Heart..." Shiratori Rensaburo, who couldn't help but read it out, muttered after reading the last signature, turned his head, and stared at Moritani Teiji with a stiff face.

Although the police have never officially acknowledged the existence of the Phantom Thieves of the Heart, nor have they seriously shown their trust in their judgment, internally speaking, the Phantom Thieves, who have never failed so far, are indeed efficient in marking prisoners. beacon.

So the moment he turned around, Shiratori Rensaburo had already taken out the handcuffs. He was just waiting for Moritani Teiji's next reaction and was about to start reading the lines of arrest.

Outside the door, Conan, who had foreseen this scene in advance, turned the card in his hand and shrugged.

Well, although I don’t quite understand the strange sense of ritual of this group of people...but today’s incident may be regarded as the result of myself providing them with some clues.

After all, he still has Joker's locator installed in his watch, which can essentially be regarded as a moving vision of the Phantom Thieves...

Thinking of his pitiful position, the detective shook the postcard-sized paper card twice sadly, but as soon as he got the answer, he was ticked by the marking teacher, who checked the results, and he couldn't help but feel a little happy.

Hey, I always feel like I'm being manipulated by that guy...

But then again, his impression of the joker was more of a vigilante with excessive force and skill than a phantom thief. Therefore, calling him a phantom thief as a vigilante with a completely flexible image mainly came from his own persistence. , and an acting style that can indeed be called mysticism.

When did they, like Kaitou Kidd, do this kind of skillful placement?

————

The unknown technical director stared at the TV whose signal had been cut off and made a very angry sound.

"How can you be so simple and crude as to kidnap all the communication towers in Tokyo to gain popularity for yourself! Well, I will never, never be caught hanging out with them! Damn it, finish it quickly, don't affect others watching TV, okay? !”