227 – The Phantom Thief and the Detective
“Hello. Kaito Raven.”
At Sharon’s greeting, I stopped all her movements and looked at her.
Fortunately, my expression reflected in the sparkling green eyes did not reveal any agitation on the outside, but the fastball the opponent threw was too heavy for me to feel relieved.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
She tried to pretend to be calm, but Sharon didn’t even snort at her. She’s like she can’t ever be wrong. She was already convinced of my identity, not doubting it.
Where the hell? When did you get caught?
When Sharon regarded the thief as a suspect in this case, I was both relieved and disappointed.
I was relieved that she didn’t suspect me of being a phantom thief, but I was disappointed that she saw the phantom thief Raven as a murderer.
But now Sharon has been convinced that I am the thief in half a day.
Does that mean I gave a thumbs up during today’s investigation? But no matter how much I look back, I don’t think there was a special moment.
At most, when I used my magic to get out of the restaurant. But even that, as Sharon herself said, had already been shown at the academy, so it was difficult to see it as concrete evidence.
Sharon is not a third-rate judge based solely on intuition. Because he was a detective who always made logical inferences based on objective evidence.
That means I’m obviously missing something. If it’s information that the other person can notice, of course you know it yourself. It’s just that I don’t recognize what it is.
Sharon quietly waited for me even while I was thinking without saying anything. It’s like if you have an excuse, do it as much as you like.
“…Now you are convinced that I am a phantom thief.”
“Right.”
“Let’s say it’s your opinion. Then where do you think your real friend is now?”
Upon hearing my question, Sharon blinked her eyes wide open for a moment before opening her mouth.
“That’s something we need to find out from now on. From you.”
···Is it through?
A bait I threw just in case.
Cro, an academy student, and Raven, a phantom thief, are two different people.
In other words, what was in front of her now was a phantom thief disguised as her own friend… I tried to induce it with the feeling that it was, but it seemed to work surprisingly well.
Good. Now I feel like I can see some escape route.
If you attack this well, you might be able to get out of the crisis safely. Afterwards, all you have to do is pretend to be fainted after being kidnapped by a phantom thief.
While I was eagerly rolling the hope circuit, Sharon with her hands behind her back pushed her face closer to me and a small smile appeared on her lips.
“Are you thinking hard?”
I was distracted by the girl’s scent and emerald eyes.
Thanks to that, it took some time to understand Sharon’s meaning.
“What?”
“That was not a bad move. Crow.”
The most hopeless moment is when the glimmering hope that has always seemed to be grasped is shattered in an instant.
I just got the hang of it.
“Muh, what are you talking about? hahahaha.”
“Cro. Also you are a genius If I hadn’t been lucky, I wouldn’t have been able to prove that you were a Raven in my life.”
Wrong. She was already convinced without the slightest doubt that I was the same person as the phantom thief.
At this point, I don’t think it’s going to be hard to get away with it anymore.
No, but where did you get the tail? I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been trying so hard not to get caught by Sharon. All my efforts so far have ended in vain.
“Are you thinking about how you got caught?”
“·······.”
What is it? Have you even learned how to care? If that’s the case, I have no choice but to admit that I noticed my true identity.
“I’m sorry, but not today.”
“Isn’t it today…?”
“The first time I started to doubt it was when I went to your house. The day we first got together for group assignments.”
When was that? I only remember that it was so long ago that it already feels distant.
It must have been the beginning of the semester when the four of us just got together, so in fact, it means that I have been suspicious of it since half a year ago. At that time, it must have been a while since I first started working as a phantom thief.
“At that time, there was a red handkerchief that looked just like the one used by the phantom thief in the bathroom.”
After hearing the detailed explanation, it seemed like I remembered it at first glance. At that time, Sharon passed by without saying anything, so I was relieved that I hadn’t noticed and I didn’t pay much attention, but now that I see it, I’ve already been on the line of suspicion since that day.
“After that, I always doubted it. But there was no solid evidence, so I always had to stop in doubt. I thought it might be dangerous if I made a mistake and my identity was exposed first.”
Sharon seems to have gone through the same process as me. Just like I did, it’s a frustrating and tense fight to keep an eye on the opponent with only heartache.
“Then the opportunity finally came.”
She said the moment she found out my identity wasn’t today.
Then when is it? I drew attention to what Sharon said next.
“I don’t know how you did it, but you completely destroyed my magic. I thought it was my complete defeat. But when it comes down to it, the marks on your body couldn’t be erased right away.”
Wait a minute. Then maybe…
“The mark was removed the next morning, but that didn’t really matter. Because I had already checked everything the night before.”
After hearing the story, I understood everything about what had happened.
I can’t believe that the markers even have a location tracking function… No, even thinking about it now, that magic is too deceitful.
“I can feel the mark left by the thief in my friend’s house. What could be more sure than this?”
Vivian erased her mark with one gesture.
In other words, if I had just headed straight to the lake at night, it would have ended without any problems.
Of course, even if I regretted it now, it would be too late.
To be honest, who would have imagined things would turn out this way? Not to mention, at the time, I had no idea that the marker had a tracking function, and that Vivian could remove the marker.
I finally understood Sharon’s mysterious expression when she erased the mark and went to the academy.
At that time, I was overjoyed that I had given one shot.
After realizing all the facts, I let out a sigh.
“…Actually, he is my roommate.”
“You were the only one in the house that night.”
“·······.”
The last excuse I brought out was also refuted without a grain of salt being eaten.
Wait a minute. But how do you know I slept alone?
From noble mtl dot com
It sounds like something strange, but I decided to pass it on, assuming that the sign had such a function. For some reason, I think it would be dangerous to dig further than this.
It’s checkmate. There was no way out, so I had no choice but to accept victory and defeat.
Of course, since Sharon also revealed her identity in the process, you could argue that it was a draw, but whoever found out first was what mattered.
Still, it was too embarrassing for me to pass it up without saying anything, so I forced myself to take it off.
“Actually, I noticed you were Sherlock too.”
“Huh. Okay?”
She didn’t really deny it. From the moment she brought up her mark, it was as if Sharon also revealed her own identity.
That said, I wasn’t lying either. Actually, I was already convinced that she was Sherlock. It’s just that it’s a minor problem that I tend to rely on intuition rather than objective evidence.
“I’m curious. What made you so sure I was Sherlock?”
If I had to give a plausible reason, I could have put it in moderation, but I decided not to do that and just be honest.
“It’s an eye color that can’t be confused.”
A mysterious emerald color. It was because of her eyes that were deeply embedded in her mind from the moment she first met her.
When I first saw Juliet, who is now my faithful subordinate, I was quite confused because of her resemblance to Sherlock. To the point where she wondered if Juliet, not Sharon, was the real Sherlock.
But as time passed and the longer she faced Juliet, she naturally came to realize.
Even if her face can be similar, no one can imitate her eyes the same way.
When Sharon heard my answer, she suddenly felt strange.
She didn’t even move, the expression disappearing from her face as if the robot had stopped working.
···What is it? Were you in a bad mood?
Are you disappointed when I say that I hit you roughly with my senses?
As I fidgeted and looked at Sharon’s eyes, a goddess inferior to her let out a sigh.
[What should I do with this stuffy child…]
‘What is it? Can you tell me why and complain?’
[Hmm. Still, it’s rather good.]
What is it really? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?
Sharon’s face was hard to see because it was hidden by the dark night sky, but for some reason, it looked like her face was red.
Yasss!