Chapter 54: Mouri Ran: White-haired Shinichi, How Could I Have Such a Dream?

"Tang Ze!"

A black hand—literally—reached out from the side and grabbed the back of Tang Ze's collar.

Tang Ze, who had been crouching on the ground chatting happily with Conan, let out a short “Ah” as Tooru Amuro yanked him up from the floor.

“Where did you just run off to?” Amuro, who had nearly walked around the entire cruise ship, was in a bad mood. The kind of devilish boss demeanor he only showed when facing Yu Kazami surfaced slightly.

“Ah, well, I just noticed a strange figure on the outer deck and couldn’t resist chasing after it. Who knew so many people would suddenly pour out from the banquet hall,” Tang Ze said, looking embarrassed as he coughed awkwardly, feeling a bit unsettled inside.

In truth, up until now, his Joker disguise hadn’t been very secure.

He had tried multiple times to beat the Grim Reaper duo to the punch by sending advance notices to settle grudges at the source before they could eliminate their unfortunate clients or their clients’ relatives and friends. Even Maru Denzaburo, who had gotten involved because of a chance street encounter, was a client of Kogoro Mori.

The media was convinced that the Phantom Thief Joker was targeting cases handled by Kogoro Mori. Since Tang Ze lived just downstairs, he was easily under suspicion.

If situations like today continued to happen, each time Joker appeared, Tang Ze would disappear, and soon vigilant detectives would lock onto him.

And, of course, all around him were top-notch detectives on the red team—Conan, Tooru Amuro, Shuichi Akai...

Life was truly tough.

Thanks once again to Kaito Kid’s generous gift of a disguise, his Joker plan finally had its last piece. Once it was put into action, he wouldn’t have to endure constant surveillance anymore. Thank heavens.

“A strange figure?” Amuro frowned, recalling the two who had just escaped. “What exactly did it look like?”

Completely ignored by Amuro, Conan stood by Tang Ze’s legs. Hearing this, he looked up attentively.

“About this tall,” Tang Ze gestured his height. “Probably a man, wearing a tailcoat—kind of like a butler’s uniform—running from the deck through the side corridor.” Then he dropped a key detail: “White hair.”

Both listeners, one tall and one short, tensed. Amuro’s gaze sharpened as he narrowed his eyes. “You spotted a suspicious white-haired man and chased after him yourself... Why didn’t you tell the police?”

Tang Ze looked up at the sky.

Conan looked down at his feet.

Tang Ze was pretending to be nervous—pure acting, no real emotion—while Conan genuinely felt uneasy. When he discovered Kid disguised as Ran, his first instinct was to drag the person somewhere they couldn’t escape, setting up a one-on-one showdown like a true man’s battle.

Amuro also realized this, and his sharp gaze fell on the small Conan.

Conan had just said in the engine room that he had caught Kid, so this was another case of knowing but not informing—the kind-hearted but meddlesome detective kid.

Amuro took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and put on a kindly smile.

Before Amuro could get sarcastic, Tang Ze pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to him.

“Hmm?” Amuro frowned at the red color, but upon realizing it was a notice left by Joker, he reached out and took it.

“I found it on the way chasing him,” Tang Ze lied effortlessly.

A notice was nothing special; he could make more if needed. For now, fooling Amuro was the priority.

Amuro read the words and stiffened his lips.

“Have you heard of cognitive science?”

He glanced at Tang Ze, who looked away.

Before Conan could jump up to grab it, Amuro tucked the paper into his own pocket.

“Let’s go.” Amuro grabbed Tang Ze’s collar again. “Stay put in the shop these next few days. No more running around.”

———

“Wow, such a big headline!” Sonoko Suzuki held up her newspaper. “You’ve become a big hero, Conan.”

Conan looked at the photo of his own unimpressed face on the paper and turned away awkwardly. “I was just lucky...”

Sonoko glanced at Conan, then at a distracted Ran Mouri, and sighed with envy. “So you’ve both met Kid, but I’ve never seen him at all... What does Kid look like?”

Ran didn’t respond to the question, so Sonoko nudged her with an elbow until she snapped back to attention. “Huh? What?”

“The Phantom Thief Kid’s appearance. Have you seen him?” Sonoko leaned in, curious.

“I suddenly passed out and didn’t see anything...” Ran rubbed her face awkwardly. “More than that, I think I saw a white-haired Shinichi... It’s so strange. Why would I have such a dream?”

Conan twitched at the corner of his eye, inwardly scolding the phantom thief for using others’ faces without permission, and quickly steered the conversation back. “I did see a bit...”

“Oh? What kind of person? Handsome?” Sonoko lost interest in the white-haired Shinichi immediately.

“Looks like he was in his twenties, pretty young, wearing a monocle. I couldn’t see his face clearly...”

“Achoo!” Two sneezes came from left and right ahead.

The three looked up.

At the left intersection, a high school boy in a black uniform was covering his nose, coughing miserably.

At the right intersection, a brown-haired boy in the Teitan uniform sneezed, looked around confusedly, found nothing, and continued walking straight ahead.

“That’s Tang Ze, right?” Sonoko recognized him instantly and pointed to the boy in black next to Ran. “And that one looks a lot like Shinichi too...”

“Ah...” Ran looked closely at the boy’s face upon hearing Shinichi’s name.

The sick Kaito Kuroba was bickering with his childhood friend Aoko Nakamori.

“Are you an idiot? You came to tour the cruise, so how did you fall into the sea?” Aoko rolled her eyes, holding her bag.

“None of your business!” Kaito retorted weakly. “It was an accident! Someone bumped me!”

Sonoko stared at Kaito, then Aoko.

Not only did this boy look a lot like Shinichi Kudo, but the girl also resembled Ran...

“Could it be them you saw in Shibuya that day?” Sonoko whispered to her best friend.

“Oh, right!” Ran suddenly understood and tapped her palm happily. “That makes sense!”

Conan watched them puzzled as they cheered.

“By the way, where is Tang Ze going?” Sonoko noticed Ran’s brightened mood and stopped looking at Kaito, who looked too much like Shinichi and was a bit annoying. Her attention turned back to the handsome boy. “That’s not the way to your place, right?”

Conan knew Tang Ze’s schedule today but wasn’t about to say it.

Tang Ze was probably heading to the police station to report to his supervising officer and submit his current report...

“Ah, maybe he’s off to the subway station to eat sweets again,” Conan joked. “Amuro-san told him not to eat too much ice cream, but Tang Ze always sneaks off to a drink shop over in Shibuya...”

“Haha, acting like a kid, so cute,” Sonoko’s admiration for the handsome boy was like a two-meter thick filter.

“Haha, haha...” Conan could only laugh awkwardly and keep quiet.

However...

As he turned towards the agency, Conan glanced back at Tang Ze’s direction and blinked in confusion.

Was that the police station’s direction?

He distinctly remembered that place looked like the National Diet Building. Wasn’t the police station supposed to be on the other side of the street?