"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."
- Tyler Durden
...
"You're Dean Thurston, right? I've heard about you for a long time, the most talented young magician in Gotham."
Harvey looked at Dean in front of him.
"Many people say that even though you're young, your magic skills are more proficient than those of many experienced magicians. You truly have a bright future."
"But it's just a reputation, just a reputation."
Dean modestly replied with a smile.
"I heard from Barbara earlier that you can see through the magic techniques used by Phantom Thief during his crimes?"
Harvey asked with curiosity.
"I will do my best to try to see through his techniques, but it would be difficult to guarantee a hundred percent success."
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself, kid."
As he said that, Harvey suddenly reached out and firmly pinched Dean's cheek and rubbed it.
He leaned closer and whispered, "Since Phantom Thief's crime until now, no one has been able to immediately see through the techniques he uses. It's normal if you can't figure it out, so don't force yourself to do it."
Dean was surprised by Harvey and thought he was pretty cool.
Behind Dean, Dick stared intently at Harvey's move to pinch Dean's cheek, his body tensed and ready to release at any moment.
"Hmm?"
However, Harvey's inspection ended quickly, Dean had no problems, and he had not put on any disguises.
When Dean successfully entered the exhibition hall, it was Dick's turn for the inspection, and he was still puzzled.
'What's going on? Did I overthink it? But... could it be Dean? But that's impossible!'
Dick stole a glance at Dean's twisted expression, while Dean slightly revealed a villainous smile.
'Dick, oh Dick, the trap I set has already started. Can you see through it?'
Shortly after that, Dick, who had passed the examination, ran into Dean with a strange look on his face.
He didn't say anything. Instead, he just looked at Dean with a conflicted expression.
Dean pretended not to notice and looked around the exhibition hall.
Luckily, we came early, there aren't many people here yet. If we had arrived just a few minutes later, we might not have been able to get in."
"Yes, you're right,"
Dick replied weakly.
"Huh? What's with that expression? Why do you look so distracted? I've told you many times to stop playing around with so many girls."
Seeing this, Dean quickly sized up Dick and sighed.
"Hey! You're the one who's being distracted! Who else is always playing around with multiple girls? Don't say nonsense."
Dick grumbled unhappily.
"I'm going to find a good spot to observe Phantom Thief when he starts his move."
Dean quickly changed the subject and headed towards the area near the 'Hope Diamond' display.
Dick regained his focus and walked closely behind Dean, thinking about all the times they had spent together today.
'Dean has been acting really strange today. First, he complimented Phantom Thief, then he seemed to be surprised that Barbara wasn't there, and he even called me Richard!'
'He's not the type to interrupt when Commissioner Gordon and Kim are talking... When I put it all together, I suspect that this Dean might not be the real Dean!'
Dick silently pondered in his heart.
'But Harvey has already checked his face, and he wasn't wearing any disguise. That means he is the real Dean. But why is he acting so weird today?'
'And why did Dean show a short moment of nervousness when he saw that we needed a face-check to enter the exhibition hall? What's he worried about?'
Somehow, Dick felt that his good friend in front of him had a strange feeling of both familiarity and strangeness.
As Dick's doubts grew, Dean didn't know this, and his face was full of vigilance as he looked at everyone in the exhibition hall.
It was as if he had fully switched into a mode of catching the Phantom Thief and focusing all his attention on finding suspicious people.
At least in this moment, Dean's behavior resembled that of a police officer or detective more than Dick's.
Not long after, Jim, Kim, and Henry all entered the exhibition hall and gathered near the 'Hope Diamond' display.
There are dozens of GCPD guards placed inside and outside, some in uniform and others undercover, to catch the Phantom Thief by surprise.
Time passed slowly, the sun slowly descended below the horizon, and darkness fell.
The weather was unusually good today, with a rare clear night sky in Gotham.
A half-moon stood in the sky, its shine visible through the windows on the eastern side of the exhibition hall.
"It's already 7:30 in the evening, and there's only half an hour left before closing time. Why hasn't Phantom Thief shown up yet?"
An impatient audience asked eagerly.
"He wouldn't wait until after closing time to make an appearance, would he? We won't get to see Phantom Thief's performance then."
"Who knows? Maybe Phantom Thief sees that there are too many people here and is too afraid to come!"
"Here we go again, always criticizing Phantom Thief. I don't want to pay any attention to any of you because you'll definitely be proven wrong."
Not far from the 'Hope Diamond' exhibition display, Dick remained vigilant for everyone around him while also paying attention to his friend Dean.
"Achoo! What was that?"
Just then, the audience couldn't help but sneeze.
Rubbing their noses, the audience suddenly noticed a gray feather in their hand.
As they wondered how a feather ended up in the exhibition hall, another feather appeared in front of them and floated in mid-air at eye level.
In the next second, more and more gray feathers appeared out of thin air, drifting down into every corner of the exhibition hall as if they were endless.
"Where are all these feathers coming from? This is annoying! There are too many, and it's blocking our view."
Dick immediately clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.
With countless feathers blocking most of his vision, he could still see enough, but there was no denying how annoying it felt.
"Who's there?"
Suddenly, Dick vaguely saw a figure rushing towards the 'Hope Diamond' display and immediately shouted to stop them.
Bang!
There was a loud noise as the figure was instantly enveloped in a cloud of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, the figure had completely disappeared without a trace.
Meanwhile, the countless feathers that were floating around had all fallen to the ground.
The entire process took less than a minute, barely about thirty seconds.
Dick instinctively looked for Dean, and when he saw that Dean was still standing in his original position without moving, Dick breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ah!"
A scream suddenly rang out, and Kim, with a frightened expression on her face, pointed at the 'Hope Diamond' display and yelled, "The 'Hope Diamond' is gone!"
The faces of the audience around them changed instantly, and they turned their heads to look.
Sure enough, the 'Hope Diamond' inside the glass case had vanished.
The only thing missing was the diamond itself, the transparent box used to hold the diamond was still inside the glass case!
Could it be that in just those thirty seconds, the Phantom Thief managed to steal the diamond through two layers of protection?
"Look! The Phantom Thief is outside! He's holding the diamond!"
At that moment, another shout came from near the window, and everyone hurriedly rushed over to see.
They only saw a white figure gliding through the air with a hang glider from the sky outside the window.
The 'Hope Diamond' in his hand shimmered brilliantly under the moonlight.
...
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