The footsteps drew closer. With Vodka's delighted cry of "Brother Gin!", the newcomer stopped in front of the locker.
Conan froze, his heart rate soaring to its limit. The next instant, amid the rustle of clothes, he discovered in despair that Gin had bent down and reached one hand into the locker...
Then he picked up the black cat with white paws.
Conan: "...?"
Under Conan's bewildered gaze, the man outside straightened up again and kicked the locker door shut with a heavy blow.
The door clicked shut. Conan sat in complete darkness, stunned.
...What was going on?
...Had he really gotten away with it?
Outside the locker.
Vodka had no fewer question marks over his head than Conan.
"What's going on? Why does it look like we're leaving? Didn't Brother Gin see that Uzo brat hiding behind Uzo's cat?"
Vodka was initially suspicious, but then hurriedly extinguished that disrespectful thought. "That can't be right. Brother Gin's observation skills are far better than mine. Even I saw the reflection from that brat's shoes. There's no way Brother Gin noticed nothing..."
As he hesitated, Vodka suddenly remembered something.
—Just now, Brother Gin had seemed to notice the brat in the locker too. But after receiving a message and going out for a while, his attitude had suddenly changed.
...So who had sent that message?
...And who had Brother Gin gone out to meet?
As those two questions crossed his mind, a bad feeling quietly arose in Vodka's heart.
Just as he was secretly fretting, Gin opened a locker in the middle section and tossed something inside with a clang.
"The timer's set. It'll explode in five minutes." Gin glanced at the old-fashioned alarm clock he had swiped from the security room and sneered at Vodka. "Whatever Rat is hiding here,