VIP Shoutout: Massive thanks to corbeau white for becoming the first Patreon member!♥
____
When the dismissal bell rang, Tim quickly said goodbye to Darren and rushed out through the school gates.
He had a heavy workload waiting for him tonight.
Darren watched Tim's retreating figure, then calmly tidied up his desk before leaving the classroom.
"What should the next target be? Should I keep focusing on museums?"
He walked along the street, thinking to himself.
"Hm, that feels a bit unoriginal."
Darren wandered aimlessly to the plaza in the center of Gotham, his gaze drifting between jewelry stores, antique shops, and art galleries.
Suddenly, his eyes locked onto the massive electronic display mounted on a building at the center of the plaza.
An interview was playing on the screen.
When Darren noticed the object hanging around the beautiful woman's neck, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"Got it. That's the one."
...
Several days later.
Late at night.
At GCPD headquarters, Gordon was tirelessly poring over the case files related to Kaitou Kid's theft of the tear of the goddess.
He had barely slept over the past few days.
But no matter what clues he uncovered, the results of the investigation were always the same. None of them had anything to do with Kaitou Kid.
Nearly a week had passed since Kaitou Kid's debut, yet the police still knew nothing about him.
His appearance, age, nationality, even his name. Not a single detail was confirmed, and there was no information at all regarding the whereabouts of the tear of the goddess.
Logically speaking, a theft involving such a priceless treasure was unlikely to be an impulsive act, especially when it came from a major museum collection. Even after successfully stealing it, fencing the item would be a far more difficult problem.
Therefore, Kaitou Kid should have negotiated with a buyer in advance before making his move.
Otherwise, why would he specifically steal the tear of the goddess instead of other artifacts in the museum that were even more valuable?
Following this line of reasoning, after successfully obtaining the gem, Kaitou Kid should have attempted to sell it as soon as possible.
But he did not.
A few days earlier, Gordon had personally gone to the Iceberg Lounge, hoping to learn the identity of the buyer from Penguin.
Once the buyer was identified, tracking down Kaitou Kid would not have been difficult.
Gordon disliked Penguin, but he was well aware of how powerful Penguin's intelligence network and underworld connections were.
Often, even Batman had to rely on Penguin's information to deal with formidable enemies.
Yet unexpectedly, Penguin claimed he had not heard of any buyers looking for the tear of the goddess, nor had he encountered anyone attempting to sell it.
That was strange.
If he hadn't stolen the gem for profit, then why did Kaitou Kid take the tear of the goddess at all?
Gordon couldn't make sense of it.
Did he plan to steal it first and then slowly look for a buyer?
That didn't seem right either.
When it came to fencing stolen goods in Gotham, was there anywhere better than Penguin?
If Kaitou Kid had truly approached him, Penguin would have, at most, told Gordon that he couldn't disclose client information, not that there were none.
In other words, in the nearly week since Kaitou Kid stole the tear of the goddess, he had never intended to sell it.
Could it be that he simply fell in love with the gem and stole it to add to a private collection?
Gordon's heart sank. That possibility was undoubtedly the worst-case scenario.
If Kaitou Kid was satisfied after obtaining the tear of the goddess and then vanished without further activity, catching him with the limited clues the police currently possessed would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
However, Gordon didn't truly believe that scenario.
After all, Kaitou Kid had previously produced a flawless replica of the tear of the goddess, so perfect that even Curator Zack, who had the original, couldn't tell the difference.
If he truly only wanted to satisfy a collector's impulse, the replica would have been more than sufficient. Why risk being caught, or even killed on the spot, to commit the crime?
Not to mention that he had brazenly sent out a Notice beforehand. Doing so only increased the difficulty of the theft, which ran completely counter to that goal.
The more Gordon thought about Kaitou Kid, the more incomprehensible he seemed.
He even had the strange feeling that Kaitou Kid enjoyed the act of stealing itself more than actually possessing the object.
That realization left Gordon unsettled.
He couldn't quite describe his current state of mind.
Worry? Doubt? Unease?
Sitting in his office chair, Gordon let out a long sigh.
As far as he knew, even within Arkham Asylum, there were very few individuals as utterly incomprehensible as Kaitou Kid.
He could only hope that these uneasy feelings were nothing more than groundless worries.
Perhaps the situation was actually very simple. Kaitou Kid's buyer wasn't in Gotham, and he couldn't leave immediately, which was why the tear of the goddess couldn't be traced.
Knock, knock.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Gordon said without lifting his head.
A black-haired female officer with wheat-colored skin walked in, holding a package.
"Montoya?"
Gordon glanced at the newcomer and asked, "What do you have there?"
Renee Montoya was one of Gordon's most capable subordinates. Despite being female, her marksmanship and combat skills ranked among the best in the department, and she possessed a sharp mind, making her one of the GCPD's finest detectives.
"An agent just brought this back. They said it contains evidence related to Kaitou Kid and asked me to deliver it to you immediately."
As soon as she finished speaking, Gordon's eyes lit up.
He sprang to his feet, rushed over, snatched the package from Montoya's hands, and immediately began unwrapping it.
After opening the first layer, another package appeared inside.
Gordon stared at the nested package in silence for a moment, then continued unwrapping it.
Once that layer was removed, a third package was revealed.
Fortunately, the agent hadn't gone too far. Beneath the third layer, there was no further wrapping.
Instead, there was a small box, only slightly larger than the palm of a hand.
The box wasn't locked. It was simply secured with a clasp and could be opened with a little effort.
Gordon carefully opened the box a crack and peered inside.
"What? This is…"
The instant he saw what lay inside, Gordon's eyes widened.
Because resting in the box was exactly what he had been investigating for the past week.
A crystal-clear blue sapphire.
The tear of the goddess.
But why?
Why was the tear of the goddess here?
Shouldn't it be in Kaitou Kid's possession?
Had Kaitou Kid failed to fence it and lost it by accident?
Or could it be that he had suddenly decided to turn over a new leaf and voluntarily returned the gem?
Countless questions surged through Gordon's mind.
Then he remembered what Montoya had mentioned about the agent.
"Montoya, go call the agent who found this. I need to ask him…"
His voice abruptly trailed off.
At some point, Montoya, who had been standing there just moments ago, was gone.
Gordon was alone in the office.
"Montoya?"
"Montoya!"
Gordon stepped out of his office and called toward the lobby downstairs.
"Sir, two hours ago there was a homicide in the Audisburg District. Montoya went out to investigate and hasn't returned yet."
Someone downstairs answered.
In an instant, Gordon felt as if he had been struck by lightning, frozen in place.
If Montoya hadn't been at the police station two hours ago, then who was the person who had just delivered the package?
____
Gordon: What will he do with the tear of the goddess? How will he sell it?
MC: Here's a gift! Take it or ..take it.
I've created a P Teir for those who wanna stay two weeks/ 12 chaps ahead of WN.
Patreon.com/serioza