Well, I guess if Kei says so, then I probably don’t need to worry about it.
“I’m going to cut the mansion’s power, which will turn the alarm off. You’ll have one minute before it’s back on. You think you can work with that?”
“Yup!”
I braced myself from inside the ceiling.
“Three… Two… One…”
Click!
The lights all went off at once, just as I landed on the carpet below.
I immediately scanned the walls and found the painting I was there for. Kei had shown it to me, like, a hundred times, so I couldn’t forget it if I tried.
It was a portrait of a twentysomething girl smiling. She had long hair and was breathtakingly beautiful.
And tucked under my arm was the same exact picture—a replica that Kei had prepared for me.
“Fifty seconds left.”
Whoops! Better hurry! Only got a minute.
I took the painting off the wall and set it gently on the floor. I compared it to the fake I held in my hands, and I couldn’t tell the slightest difference between the two.
“Thirty seconds.”
Carefully, I set the replica on the wall where the real one used to be.
Let’s just straighten her out, and…perfect! All set!!
“Ten, nine, eight…”
Almost outta time!
I latched my grappling hook onto the ventilation duct I’d come from and shimmied up again, now with the real painting in hand.
The moment I set foot back inside the ceiling, the lights snapped back on in the room below.
Whew! That was a close one…
The door opened up almost immediately after, and in came a security guard.
“There was a blackout! Is everything okay—? What happened here?!”
The security guard came running toward the two sleeping guards and reached for his walkie-talkie.
I stayed hidden up in the ceiling. I couldn’t move yet.
Two or three minutes later, another security guard showed up along with him—Hibiki Shirasato. It was easy to pick him out of the group thanks to his trademark white suit jacket.
“What happened?” Hibiki asked the guard who had just arrived.
“These two were put to sleep, but I can’t find anything missing. It looks like a failed attempt at robbery…”
“Perhaps…” Hibiki walked around the room, looking at the paintings. After he did a full lap, he nodded to himself with a knowing look. “We have the entrances and exits on lockdown, so the culprit is still in the building. Send team A to the roof, and B and C to the entrance on the first floor.”
The security guard nodded at the order. “Team A! We’re going to the roof!”
“B and C are this way!”
The guards all poured out of the room—yeah, Hibiki was definitely fully in charge here.
He’s always able to talk to adults like it’s nothing…
Hibiki was the last one to exit the room—and then everything was quiet.
So far, so good. It was all going according to plan.
“Let’s move.”
Roger that!
I moved through the space between the ceiling and the roof. My next location was a storage closet on the second floor—the same floor I was already on.
With Hibiki on the job, I knew security was going to be tight, which was why I would hide right under their noses. No reason to jump out and take them on while they were out and about.
I lowered myself into the storage closet. It was organized and tidy, although the layer of dust suggested that it wasn’t used often. There was a window, but it was too small to escape through.
I bet they’re looking for me all over the first floor and the roof… I guess I’ll just chill out here for now. There’s still something I need to do, anyway.
A few more minutes passed before Kei spoke up again.
“That should be enough time… Let’s go.”
It had been roughly five minutes since I entered the storage closet. As per Hibiki’s orders, there wasn’t supposed to be anyone left on the second floor.
I placed my ear on the door and listened. Everything was quiet.
Slowly, I opened the door before entering the hallway, when—
“I was expecting you’d come out just about now. So that’s your target this time around, Phantom Thief Red.”
That voice…!
I scrambled to turn around and found a smiling Hibiki Shirasato standing behind me, in his white jacket.
He saw right through me…
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy to pull one over on you,” I said.
“Of course! Security is already on their way here. I’ll catch you this time, Red!”
Hibiki was ready for a showdown, but I just smiled.
“We’ll see about that.”
“What?!”
A voice came in on the transceiver Hibiki was holding.
“This is Team A. We’re on the roof like you ordered us, but there’s nobody up here. Are you sure the perp’s coming this way?”
“Team B is on the roof as well. Awaiting orders.”
“Team C…”
The blood drained from Hibiki’s face. “What’s going on…?!” he said.
“I wasn’t just sitting around up there. I took a sample of your voice from a television interview and re-created it to tell your men to all head to the roof. Even if your voice wasn’t perfect, it’s hard to tell over the radio.”
Well…technically, Kei was the one who did all that. He sent out a message to Hibiki’s team that the thief was on the roof while I hid away in the closet. It looks like Kei knew Hibiki would be onto my hiding place.
“Argh! I’ll just have to call them again…” Hibiki took out his transceiver.
“Nope, can’t let you do that.”
Clink!
I flicked a metal marble at the transceiver, sending it flying.
“Ack! Then I’ll take you in myself if I have to!”
Hibiki charged, reaching out for me. He was quick.
But not quick enough.
I placed a foot on the shoulder of his arm reaching for me and launched myself into the air, doing a flip over him.
Losing sight of me for a moment, he tumbled to the ground before spotting me again.
“Red!”
“I’m going to give this picture back to its rightful owner!” I called. “Who knows how long it’ll take if I leave it to a famous detective to do it through official channels!”
I smiled slightly before running straight toward the first floor.
With one final glance before I left, I saw Hibiki standing there with total shock on his face. It didn’t look like he was going to run after me.
With the rest of the security team up on the roof, I made an easy exit from the mansion. I found a nearby alleyway where I changed from my uniform back into my normal clothes.
Yippee!
We really pulled a fast one on old Hibiki!
“That plan went off without a hitch…” Kei seemed satisfied.
It was so nice to get a win this time!