But before Norman could begin explaining, Lonzder spoke up first.
“The jewel thief has been striking various antique shops, museums, libraries, and even the city hall – making off with antiquities and art pieces, all preceded by a notice. The first antique store was dismissed as a prank at first, but was still robbed, so greater security measures were taken in coordination with the police for the subsequent cases. But it was all for naught – glimpses of the thief were spotted but the targets were still stolen clean. I could use some new information beyond what I already know.”
With a look of boredom, she narrowed her emerald green eyes and extended a slender finger.
“Well, go on then. You’ve got something more, don’t you?”
Her finely shaped lips curved into a predatory smile, like a hunter watching its prey.
Though she seemed to already know everything, Norman handed her the envelope tucked into the file, as requested.
“Oh, this is new, even for me. Nice – the thief’s notice?”
It was a pitch black envelope sealed with bright red wax. The seal had already been broken.
“Sis had the detective work pretty hard to get ahold of this, so take good care of it, yeah?”
“They’re supposed to go the extra mile – that’s their job. …Hmm.”
Rather than immediately open the envelope,
Lonzder first examined it thoroughly from all angles, feeling the texture and giving it a sniff.
“High quality stuff. Not sold anywhere in Balldlum – this is from Port Quarry.”
Port Quarry was a large port city and commercial hub located a few hours by train from Balldlum.
It is a port city by the sea and at the same time a commercial city with many towns and railway lines connecting it to the rest of the country.
It is a big city with a lot of national and international products, so the range of goods is incomparable to that of Balldlum.
“Sounds like it’s from one of those fancy stationery boutiques in Port Quarry. The wax seal too, by the looks of it.”
“Indeed…..Hmm.”
With a small nod, she finally removed the contents – a folded white stationery card bearing a distinct feather pen emblem in each corner, likely the store’s symbol.
As expected, the contents of the forewarning were as follows:
On the night of the coming full moon, we will take the Blood Diamond from the Balldlum Museum.
We look forward to your valiant efforts.
–The Phantom Thief Tistle
The Phantom Thief Tistle.
That name is currently causing an uproar in the town—or more precisely, among the rich and those who love rumors.
Incidentally, the night of the full moon is tomorrow.
“That gem is supposed to be worth three hundred thousand sters. It’s particularly valuable at the Balldlum Museum, they say.”
“If you can sell it somewhere shady, you could easily get ten times that. If you put it up for auction, the price would skyrocket. I see, the previous four times were just demonstrations, and this is the main event…”
Nodding, she flipped over the envelope and letter just like before, smelling them and tracing the characters on the front and back with her finger to check the texture. Norman watched her do this.
Her emerald green eyes were narrowed, but the smile on her lips remained unchanged.
“Did you figure something out?”
“The culprit is a woman. Not a Robin Hood type, but an intelligent one who mocks the police and museum. She’s narcissistic, arrogant, and looks down on others. She doesn’t mind hard work or keeping records. In her twenties or thirties. She visited Port Quarry last spring but now resides in Balldlum. Her ‘Unlaws’ ability is either the ‘Deviant State’ or the ‘Distortion State.'”
Norman somehow managed to swallow his surprise at the words that came pouring out.
“…By the way, why do you think so?”
“Come on, use your brain a little.”
Twisting the corner of her mouth, she stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and stood up.
Without putting on the jacket draped over the sofa, she slung it over her shoulders, snapped it in place, and tossed the warning letter to Norman with two fingers.
As expected, he caught it skillfully in his palm.
“What will you do?”
“It’s decided. The museum. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?!”
After saying something serious, she lightly hopped up and down, clenching her fist.
Norman shrugged at her behavior.
Well, he had expected her to act carelessly like this.
Lonzder’s EnhanceDiah.
She didn’t have a stable income, but she did have temporary income.
That’s because her real job was—a detective.
“Let’s go, Norman. Detective versus phantom thief. We’ll see who wins—or rather, it’ll be a battle of wits between two monsters. Isn’t that hilarious?”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
●
Norman walked briskly through the center of Balldlum, her long legs carrying her along at a refreshing pace.
Norman, of course, was right beside her.
“That stationery was a limited edition sold for only about a month last year by the specialty store Prince-Princess in Port Quarry. It coincided with the 20th birthday of our nation Bristen’s Princess Veera and the 20th anniversary of the store’s founding,”
she said, puffing on her cigarette.
“It was quite popular among the young nobles and wealthy women of Port Quarry, used for love letters and such.”
“So a woman in her twenties or thirties?”
“No, there are other reasons I thought it was a woman. I believe she’s likely in her early twenties, but there are also some painfully girlish women in their late thirties who cling to that age range. The older women get, the more they insist on appearing younger than they are. If she were older than her late thirties, she’d use something more traditional than a limited edition.”
It was a harsh way of putting it.
“What about you then, Lonzder? A girl? A young lady? A woman?”
“I’m a beautiful woman.”
“I won’t deny that. But then couldn’t you just say she’s in her early twenties or something simple like that?”
“If it were just the stationery, sure. I’ll explain that later, it’s not that I’m trying to be coy, just a matter of order. As for the materials’ origins, the ink is from Balldlum. You can tell from the sheen and bleed of the ink. She bought the stationery in Port Quarry but uses ink domestically, so she must use ink regularly.”
“So that means we can narrow down her occupation…no, wait, that doesn’t help much, does it? Lots of jobs involve using ink.”
“Exactly, so I didn’t mention it.”
“I see. Then what about her personality? Satisfying desires, narcissistic, and all that?”
“Satisfying desires, not a Robin Hood type, mocks the police and museum, intelligent, narcissistic, arrogant, looks down on others, doesn’t mind hard work, keeps records.”
Lonzder repeated her words accurately and concisely.
“It’s simple. Calling herself a phantom thief and saying ‘we look forward to your valiant efforts’ is nothing but a provocation toward the police and museum. If she were just a common thief, she’d target something else. She could go for some noble’s treasure if she wanted.”
“True. No matter how you look at it, it’s an unnecessarily high risk.”
“As for keeping records, the stationery was bought a year ago but preserved in good condition. It must have been kept sealed and well-maintained until recently. I don’t know why she started this recently, but she clearly waited patiently and prepared carefully until then. That’s why I said the ink seems too deliberate.”
“Um…what if she just happened to buy it, forgot about it, then remembered and decided to use it for phantom thief stuff?”
“Boring. …Don’t look at me like that. For someone going through such elaborate trouble, you think she’d do it on a whim? She’s prepared carefully, and if she’s taking the high risk of sending a warning note, she must have a reason. That leaves the content of the stationery.”
“Hmm, the writing or something?”
“There’s a more precise way to put it. By the way, I didn’t mention this because it can be faked, but the culprit is ambidextrous.”
“Eh…? The handwriting?”
“Close, but the pen pressure and ink bleed.”
She laughed pleasantly.
“The handwriting was elegant, but if you look closely, the ink bleed is ever so slightly different every other letter. The impressions on the back too. There’s a pattern in how the odd-numbered and even-numbered letters start and end, with the even-numbered ones having slightly heavier pressure and more bleed. In other words, she wrote the even-numbered letters with her non-dominant hand, and the odd ones with her dominant hand. I only noticed from scrutinizing it and tracing the back, so even if the culprit was right in front of me, I might not realize. Though it’s also possible she only ever uses one hand normally.”
“…Why would anyone go through that trouble?”
Just imagining it gave him a headache.
The phantom thief deliberately gripped the pen in both hands, alternating which hand wrote each letter?
“She’s enjoying herself.”
Just like he enjoyed solving mysteries—her smile deepened further as she repeated those words.
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