Saguru Hakuba calculated what would happen next, a smile of "everything is under control" appearing on his face.
At the same time, Kid on the other side also noticed their current situation:
Their speeds were the same, but Saguru Hakuba was closer.
It looked like Saguru Hakuba really would get the mask first.
But...
Kid smiled to himself as well. He raised a hand and pressed down his white top hat. Heh, what a naive detective. When it comes to snatching things, they don't belong to whoever gets there first...
He suddenly sent his top hat spinning through the air, intending to place it in front of Saguru Hakuba and block him from grabbing the gas mask.
However, at that moment, the section of pipe Kid had passed through while infiltrating suddenly filled with the sound of flapping wings.
The noise rapidly drew closer—Watson, who had been left in another room, had astonishingly flown over. With a dive, he knocked away Kid's hat, then proudly wheeled around and dove back toward the "battlefield" where the gas mask lay.
All three closed in on the gas mask at once.
But before their hands or sharp claws could touch it,
a black shadow suddenly dropped from above, landing precisely beside the gas mask.
Kid and Saguru Hakuba froze, then looked closely and found a cat that had appeared out of nowhere.
The Black Cat with White Paws elegantly raised one paw and placed it on the mask.
Then, as though riding a sled, it pushed the mask and sent it skidding more than a meter away.
The two reaching hands grasped at the spot where the cat had just been, both missing.
An angry eagle cry came from nearby. Watson flapped his wings, shot between the two men, and chased after the