Behind the Scope

Chapter 11: Reading the Fraudster

Kaito sipped his coffee as he read today's newspaper in the Nakamoris' dining room. As usual, he was there for breakfast. Ginzo had already left for work, leaving him alone with Aoko again in the early morning. The inspector had been very busy lately ever since Arata's murder occurred. Now with the addition of Kaitou Kid's attempted murder which happened recently, no doubt Ginzo was becoming busier. On the other side, the thief himself was quite idle. Kaito decided to take some rest after Aoboshi heist. That dangerous heist had taken almost all of his strength. He and Jii had to monitor places around Arata's mansion for a whole day to make sure if the sniper truly wanted to kill Kid at the heist and to make sure whether or not Snake and his minions would appear that night. Kaito was fortunate that that night Snake and his followers did not seem to come. He was even more fortunate for being able to find the sniper around an hour before the heist started. Once the thief was sure about the sniper's presence, he and Jii could prepare everything else—the blackout, the card message, the dummy—with more confidence since that time they were already sure that Kid was indeed involved in the sniper case.

Kaito was relieved that everything worked out as he had planned. Aoboshi heist was very important to him. This heist was his way to convey his message to the police and Tantei-kun, a message about him being related to Yusaku and Arata's case. He was pretty sure that they had understood his message, therefore he would leave the case in their hands for a while, but that did not mean that he would totally leave it. Kaito still watched the case's development. He often read news about it and discussed it with Ginzo, Jii, or Chikage, even with Aoko sometimes. The teenage girl was not really interested in the case, but she was well informed in it since her father was working on it. Not to mention Aoko was a genius girl for her age, able to respond such a delicate topic with her bright ideas from her own perspectives, so Kaito found himself feeling quite comfortable in discussing the case with her.

"Hmm... Interpol have finished their investigation regarding Arata's connection to suspects and prisoners on the list. They seem to find nothing from them," Kaito murmured, reading the news on the newspaper. "And what's this? Oh, TMPD have started to investigate Arata's employees."

"Yeah. Actually, it has been going on since yesterday. Otou-san said that they wanted to investigate Arata's crime further. He said that the fraudster probably had done something more serious than a mere fraud," Aoko responded as she cut a piece of her fried egg.

"Something more than a fraud?"

"Yup. Something bigger than that," Aoko nodded, then she lowered her voice, "You know, Kaito, Otou-san said that perhaps Arata was the one who hired an assassin to kill Yusaku Kudo and Victor Wood."

"Eh?" Kaito blinked. He was actually happy that the inspector finally noticed this possibility, but still, he was curious as to how the inspector could make such a deduction. "Where did this come from?"

"You remember our talk the day before yesterday? About the possibility that the sniper who shot Kid and Arata could be the same sniper who shot Yusaku Kudo?"

"Yeah. What about that?"

"TMPD really took it seriously. They acted based on that possibility, so they investigated Arata deeper to ensure it, and you know what they had found out?"

"What?"

"More crimes!" Aoko exclaimed. "More frauds, more accomplices. Recently the police found him to be guilty in a smuggling case too."

"I already know that," Kaito snorted. He knew that the police had found another crimes committed by Arata. He knew that Arata had another business other than a gymnasium for multiple sports and some martial arts. He could explain easily to anyone that in fact Arata also owned an apartment, a mall, and a restaurant, and that that man turned out to be a fraudster in all of his business, not only in his own gym. Kaito also knew that Arata was involved in illegal business such as smuggling illegal drugs.