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For most people, after reading Kaito Kid's Preview Letter, their attention immediately locked onto a single line:
"Twenty multiplied by three equals four."
Almost everyone believed that as long as this sentence was deciphered, the entire mystery of the Preview Letter would unravel on its own.
But Barbara Gordon did not think that way.
In her view, when a phrase cannot be understood no matter how you approach it, that usually means you are looking at the wrong layer of meaning.
Whether twenty times three could mathematically equal four was irrelevant.
What truly mattered was this:
What did the numbers "20," "3," and "4" represent?
And more importantly—what did "multiplied" really mean?
Barbara's eyes drifted back to the third and fourth lines of the Preview Letter.
> "When Mars has completed its tenth day and night,
Following the guidance of Caesar the Great…"
"Mars… Caesar…"
She murmured softly.
"One is the Roman God of War. The other is the founder of the Roman Empire."
Her thoughts slowed, then began circling one word.
"Rome…"
Rome.
Roman mythology.
Roman history.
Roman culture.
Barbara leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling of the Gotham City Library.
After a long moment, a memory surfaced.
The religious studies section.
That book.
Introduction to the Study of Greco-Roman Polytheism.
And the person she had seen reading there last time.
Dean Thurston.
"…Could that really be a coincidence?" Barbara wondered.
At the time, she hadn't thought much of it. But now, the more she replayed the scene in her head, the stranger it felt.
Why would a teenage prodigy with a talent for magic tricks be deeply interested in Greco-Roman religion?
The thought unsettled her.
Barbara stood up and walked toward the bookshelf where she had last seen Dean. She pulled out the same book and quickly flipped through it.
She scanned sections on Roman gods, festivals, symbols, calendars.
Mars.
War rites.
Sacred dates.
But after a careful search, she found nothing that directly explained the Preview Letter.
"…I'm overthinking it," she muttered with a small, self-mocking smile.
She slid the book back into place.
Just as she turned away—
"Hm?"
Her peripheral vision caught another title on the same shelf.
"The Negative Impact of the European Church on Cultural Development."
Barbara paused.
Her fingers hovered in the air.
---
March 1st – The First Day of the Exhibition
The official exhibition of the Dragon Egg Ruby Necklace had finally begun.
The location was the Gotham Natural History Museum—the largest museum in the city.
The complex consisted of thirteen interconnected pavilions, each rising five stories high, housing dozens of massive exhibition halls.
The Dragon Egg Ruby Necklace was displayed at the top floor of the central Cultural Relics Pavilion.
From the moment the museum opened, something felt different.
Normally, the museum was quiet—sometimes even deserted.
But today?
Just two hours after opening, crowds flooded in like a tide.
No one could say for sure whether people came because the Dragon Egg Ruby Necklace was truly legendary…
Or because they wanted to witness whether Kaito Kid would appear.
More than two hundred plainclothes GCPD officers were stationed inside the Cultural Relics Pavilion alone, watching every visitor closely.
Nearly a hundred additional officers were spread across all five floors, positioned at stairways, elevators, blind spots, and emergency exits.
The sheer police presence was overwhelming.
Visitors instinctively lowered their voices and followed order without being told.
Outside the Cultural Relics Pavilion, officers were also deployed throughout the other pavilions, acting as mobile backup units in case of emergency.
The GCPD had mobilized several times their usual manpower.
Even so, Commissioner Gordon still felt uneasy.
As an extra precaution, he authorized two police helicopters to patrol above the museum.
If Kaito Kid planned to glide in from the sky, the turbulent airflow from the rotors would ruin that plan instantly.
However, one tactic was notably missing.
This time, the police did not check visitors by pinching faces to expose disguises.
The exhibition would last fifteen days.
No one knew when Kaito Kid would strike.
If officers pinched every visitor's face for half a month, public outrage would be inevitable—and clashes could follow.
That was the last thing Gordon wanted.
So instead, surveillance was tightened to the extreme.
---
At that moment, a red-haired young woman stepped through the main entrance of the museum.
After entering the plaza, she spotted a familiar figure wearing a cowboy hat, leading a patrol.
"Hi! Harvey."
Barbara walked over cheerfully.
"Hey, Barbara!" Harvey Bullock turned around, smiling. "What is this—come to visit your Uncle Bullock?"
Bullock had known Jim Gordon for years and had practically watched Barbara grow up.
Perhaps because of certain choices in his life, he had long treated her like family.
"I'd love to say yes," Barbara replied with a playful grin, "but sorry—wrong guess."
She leaned closer and winked.
"I'm here for one reason only. To see Kaito Kid."
"Shh!"
Bullock immediately raised a finger to his lips, exaggerating his expression.
"Careful. Don't let your dad hear that. He's furious enough already."
Barbara chuckled.
"Oh, I know. If he weren't worried about disturbing the neighbors, he'd probably spend the entire night lecturing Kaito Kid."
She waved lightly.
"I'll go see the exhibition. I won't get in your way."
After separating from Bullock, the playful smile vanished from Barbara's face.
Her eyes became calm. Focused.
She slipped in an earpiece.
A slightly tense voice came through.
"Have you entered the museum?"
"Yes," Barbara replied quietly. "I'm inside."
---
Meanwhile – Gotham High School
In the graduating class, last row by the window, Dick Grayson sat with an earpiece hidden beneath his hair.
He was in class.
Gotham's private schools were unusually relaxed—students weren't strictly forbidden from using electronic devices, as long as their academic performance didn't suffer.
As long as you could answer questions when called on, teachers looked the other way.
So Dick's behavior drew no attention.
He kept his voice low—just enough for Barbara to hear.
No one around him noticed.
Not even Dean, who sat right in front of him.
Interestingly…
Dean was also wearing an earpiece in his left ear.
Unnoticed.
Unquestioned.
And somewhere in Gotham—
The stage was set.