Chapter 14: The One Billion Yen Heist

After learning the truth about the so-called “fathers,” daily life wasn’t much different from before—except for the new habit of flipping through old cases whenever there was no current work at hand.

However, as a detective in Mihana Town, long breaks were out of the question.

He saw Inspector Matsumoto enter with a stern expression.

“Last night, the Mitsubishi Bank was robbed. Three armed robbers forced their way in, threatened the security guards to open the vault, and escaped with one billion yen. During the crime, one security guard was shot dead while trying to resist,” Matsumoto Kiyonaga reported gravely. “Megure, you and Higashino take your team there immediately.”

Even in the peaceful town of Mihana, this was an undeniably serious crime.

Megure and Kiichi set out at once.

Upon arrival at the bank, an officer rushed up to brief them.

“Surveillance footage shows the robbers acted swiftly and cleanly, leaving behind no obvious clues.”

“Understood,” Kiichi replied. “What about the body?”

Generally, even the most ruthless bank robbers don’t plan to kill during a heist; a death usually means something went unexpectedly wrong.

And such accidents often become the breakthrough in a case.

Megure, along with Takagi and others, went to inspect the vault, while Kiichi accompanied Sato to the body.

Unfortunately, even with the unexpected death, the robbers’ response was so clean and efficient that no valuable clues were left behind.

“Detective, any findings?” Sato asked after a thorough search turned up nothing.

“Too clean. They’re not amateurs,” Kiichi said with a hint of frustration. “Unlike murder cases, robbery cases rarely yield multiple suspects.”

Soon, Megure returned, similarly with no results.

Though the footage clearly showed three robbers, their disguises were flawless—only the silhouettes revealed two men and one woman.

Hmm...

Two men, one woman, one security guard killed during the heist, and one billion stolen.

All the elements were there.

Though Kiichi couldn’t recall the murderer or method in ninety-nine percent of cases, this one belonged to the one percent category.

That woman was beyond saving, even with three silver bullets.

He had to admit, even he couldn’t find any valuable clues at the scene—Akemi Miyano’s skills were truly exceptional.

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Unfortunately, she had encountered Gin before he became a comedian, and there was an absolute vulnerability.

So, should he save her?

Without hesitation, the answer was yes.

Setting aside childhood biases and personal feelings, purely from a practical standpoint, Kiichi had to save her.

The reason was simple: since learning about the "Curtain Man," Kiichi had been pondering how to deal with this unusually “clean” villain.

There were two directions from his perspective.

One was to investigate old cases. The Curtain Man was human, after all, and no matter how clever and cunning a criminal is, they must learn. The earlier the case, the bigger the flaws.

The other was the car accident that killed his parents. If the Curtain Man was truly that “clean,” what difference would it make if the police were watching him? No law could convict him, and being under police scrutiny without consequences was the best advertisement for his “business.”

So why did he go to such lengths to kill Kiichi’s parents?

What had his father discovered before death that posed a threat?

That was Kiichi’s line of inquiry. But what if nothing useful could be found? Or even if the Curtain Man was found, no way to convict him?

He would need help.

Taking Conan to his home to film an episode wasn’t a joke.

And not just Conan.

Many travelers distrusted the various red organizations because of some vague “harsh reality.”

But Kiichi didn’t care.

Whether it was Shuichi Akai and Jodie from the FBI, Zero from Public Security, or even the less reputable MI6 and CIA, he was indifferent.

Even if the A drug could truly grant eternal youth and vitality, and the reds ended up fighting among themselves, what did that have to do with him?

Could eternal life ever be his?

Not even White Horse could have it!

Conan worried because he really needed the antidote—Kiichi hadn’t shrunk, so why should he care?

So this was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

---

He didn’t believe the Curtain Man, who could operate with such precision for decades, limited his business to a small island nation.

If that was the case, “I help you with the distillery, you help me investigate the Curtain Man”—a fair trade.

A tool requires conjugation to achieve a balance that reassures both parties.

Kiichi had always understood this well.

That was why he had already decided to find an opportunity to come clean with Conan.

Why hide anything? He wasn’t some old thief extending the story.

Coincidentally, the one-billion-yen heist was the perfect starting point to build trust and cooperation.

Moreover, even when coming clean, trust is tiered. Compared to someone a little unhinged, you could completely trust that Akai Shuichi—who would sell off the “working emperor” Amuro Tooru and the equally secretive Akai Mary to maintain his cover—was the most reliable.

Thanks to the inspiration provided by the Curtain Man.

He had devised a “perfect plan” to help Akemi Miyano escape.

One must humbly learn from one’s enemies.

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Thus, after returning to the Metropolitan Police Headquarters from the scene, Kiichi appeared to be diligently researching past bank robberies to prove his theory that “the robbers aren’t amateurs, so there must be similar prior offenses.” In truth, he was trying to find clues about the Curtain Man among a pile of old cases.

As for directly arresting Akemi Miyano or using her as bait to catch Gin, Kiichi never even considered it.

From behind, Gin might look like a comedian, but at this moment, if Kiichi acted against him, Amuro Tooru and Rena Mizunashi would undoubtedly side with the enemy to continue their infiltration and uncover the organization’s goals. Kiichi wasn’t Shinichi Kudo, nor did he have a godmother like Vermouth.

Armed helicopter raids on Tokyo Tower might be a parallel world, but the distillery could really get a submarine.

Should he then send Sato and Takagi to take down the distillery?

Even with Shuichi Akai, they couldn’t win.

So you have to eat your meal one bite at a time. Besides, before his time travel, the old thief had just finished the Rum arc—what if the distillery suddenly rose again?

When reading the manga, mocking the distillery and Gin was easy—after all, Gin couldn’t jump out from the screen to hit you. But in this world, treating the distillery as a joke?

Kiichi felt his life was actually quite comfortable.

He had no plans to start the next round immediately.