ALL NOVEL Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Password
Naturally, the behavior of the two police officers caught Conan's attention.
He knew that now that Kaitou Kid's intentions had been exposed to him and the others,
if Kaitou Kid wanted reasonable access to the Scarlet Shadow Heart, the safest way would be to infiltrate the Second Investigation Division police.
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'Assuming one of the two is Kaitou Kid, he could knock out the other after entering the collection room.'
'Then, he could take the opportunity to target the Scarlet Shadow Heart.'
Conan pondered to himself.
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Conan glanced at Toru Amuro, who was not far away, and noticed that Amuro was also watching the two police officers entering the collection room before turning his gaze away.
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'Physically destroying the Scarlet Shadow Heart's display case is difficult unless Kaitou Kid can cut through the metallic base and remove it.'
'Thinking about it, entering the correct password is the most convenient and quickest way to get the Scarlet Shadow Heart.'
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Conan recalled Sera Masumi mentioning that Kaitou Kid, disguised as Tsukino Takashi, whom they had just met in the collection room, had been observing the display case's structure.
From this, it was evident that Kaitou Kid did not know the password to open the display case.
Otherwise, he could have simply opened it, taken the gem, and fled.
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With Kaitou Kid's agility and escape skills, it would be challenging to capture him without prior preparation.
Deciphering the code would undoubtedly take Kaitou Kid some time.
If he were truly one of the two police officers who had just entered the collection room,
then he would also have to restrict the other officer's movements, which would require additional effort.
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If Conan and Toru Amuro caught Kaitou Kid in the act of trying to open the display case, they could stop him before he escaped.
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At the same time, inside the Scarlet Shadow Heart collection room…
Kaito Kuroba had already noticed Conan hiding among the crowd.
He also guessed that Conan was waiting in ambush for him. That clever little detective must have made some preparations where Kuroba couldn't see.
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Conan's plan might have some effect when used to set an ambush.
However, since Kaito Kuroba had already infiltrated the police disguised as Ginzo Nakamori,
he was well aware of all of Conan's actions.
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Kaito knew that even if he invited other police officers to enter the collection room with him, it would undoubtedly arouse Conan's suspicion.
Yet, Kaito felt not the slightest fear.
On the contrary, he was curious to see how Conan planned to ambush him, a curiosity that filled him with anticipation.
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"Mr. Tsukino kept saying the security for the Scarlet Shadow Heart was perfect, but the password was still leaked."
"This makes me a little worried now—what if someone else knows the password?"
Kaito Kuroba casually said to the officer beside him.
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"There shouldn't be anyone else, right? Unless Mr. Tsukino leaked the password again, how could Kaitou Kid know it?"
The officer next to Kaito responded.
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"Aren't you worried that it might have been leaked?"
Kaito asked with a smile.
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"Officer Nakamori, you're the least likely suspect since, when you entered the password at noon, you didn't let anyone see it at all."
"How could Officer Nakamori, with such a strong sense of caution, leak the password?"
The officer replied.
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Kaito nodded, looking satisfied with the answer, and then said to the officer:
"Go check if the camera is working properly while I inspect the display case."
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"Alright."
The officer beside Kaito didn't suspect a thing and turned to check the camera.
Kaito Kuroba used the officer's body to block the camera's view, crouched down, and opened the display case cover again.
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He saw the numeric keypad inside.
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'The display case was opened at least three times during this period: when Tsukino Takashi first placed the gem,
when a thief tried to steal it at night, and when the gem was returned and placed back again.'
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'Based on what the officer just said, the person who last touched the secure password must have been the old man.'
'The old man's precautionary measures are quite good, and he protects his password well, but he still makes small mistakes.'
Kaito thought to himself.
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He then pulled out fluorescent dye from his pocket, sprayed it on the keypad buttons, and put on a pair of filter glasses.
Although Ginzo Nakamori was also responsible for on-site investigations, as a senior police officer,
he didn't need to personally handle every inspection.
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After Kaito had knocked out Nakamori and taken his uniform, he had checked the officer's personal belongings.
Among them, there were no gloves.
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Kaito knew Nakamori's schedule.
After returning the gem to the collection room in Pavilion B, he had gone to the collection room in Pavilion C.
Later, he was tricked into entering Pavilion D's collection room before returning here upon hearing the broadcast from Pavilion B.
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Since Nakamori had been able to hear a separate transmission for the Yuehua Necklace collection room,
this meant he had either already been or was conducting an on-site investigation at the time.
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Under these circumstances, the fact that Nakamori didn't have gloves on him meant that
when he entered his password earlier in the afternoon, the oil from his fingers and amino acids from his sweat had adhered to the keypad.
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By treating the surface of the keypad with a fluorescent agent and shining ultraviolet light on it, Kaito could make the fingerprints fluoresce.
However, this fluorescence emitted a lot of stray light, so using filter glasses was necessary to eliminate interference.
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In situations like this, where cracking a safe's password was required,
this method could easily reveal the keys the original owner had used to input the password.
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After putting on the filter glasses and illuminating the keypad with a laser light,
Kaito immediately noticed that several buttons glowed.
The buttons were [1], [2], [4], and [#].
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'This display case undoubtedly uses a four-digit code.'
'But aside from the [#] key used to confirm the password, only three numerical digits remain.'
'This means one number is repeated.'
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'At most, I'll need to try 36 combinations.'
Kaito sighed internally, lamenting his bad luck.
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If the password had consisted of four different numbers, there would have been only 24 possible combinations.
But now, with one number repeated, there were 36.
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Furthermore, this advanced password system likely had a security feature that locked or triggered an alarm after a certain number of incorrect entries.
In other words, failing to guess the correct password within three to five attempts would leave no other opportunity.
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Staring at the three numbers, Kaito suddenly had an idea.
He pressed the numbers [1], [4], [1], and [2].
Then he pressed the [#] key again.
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Immediately after, he heard a clear and rapid "beep-beep," followed by the sound of mechanical gears turning.
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At the same time, a strong sense of crisis, accompanied by a rapidly increasing heartbeat, surged through Kaito's chest.
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(End of the chapter)