Chapter 350 Kaitou K
London, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery.
When Director John Wilson came to his office, he found a letter lying quietly on his desk.
After checking the cover, there was no obvious mark on the letter. Director Wilson thought for a moment and pressed the bell on the desk.
A woman of about thirty years old wearing a secretary's outfit opened the door and came in, "Mr. Wilson, would you like coffee or tea?"
"Ms. Louis, your responsibility is not only to make coffee. Didn't I say that personal letters must be sorted before being sent to me?" the curator complained unhappily.
"Sir, yesterday's letters are still being sorted out and I haven't finished sifting them yet." The secretary adjusted her glasses and explained, obviously she was a little confused about the director's accountability.
"Then what is this?" The curator shook the letter in his hand.
"Sorry, I didn't send this, and I didn't see anyone entering your office last night."
Somewhat strangely, Mr. Wilson waved the female secretary away and opened the envelope in confusion.
A piece of letter paper with only a brief sentence on it: "At the time of the first quarter moon, I will take away the water lilies in the lotus pond."
There is no signature on the signature, only a "K" with a rose in it.
Is this a prank? The curator frowned in displeasure, and then threw the letter into the wastepaper bin.
That night, Monet's famous painting "Water Lilies", the treasure of the National Gallery, disappeared from the exhibition hall!
The London Police Department was in a panic, and the police who came to handle the case surrounded the exhibition hall.
"It's very strange. There are no footprints around, and there are no signs of opening the windows. The six guards in the exhibition hall are very sure that they did not hear any unusual sounds that night."
"How did this guy get out?" The police sergeant responsible for handling the case looked at the scene in front of him and was puzzled. He then looked at the curator, "Do you have any other clues?"
"This..." the curator pondered for a moment, "I don't know if that is a clue."
The crumpled letter was dug out of the trash can. The detectives gently flattened it and examined the traces on it word by word.
"What a arrogant guy! This is obviously a warning letter. He blatantly told us that he was coming to steal things!" The detective punched the table and said angrily.
"Sir! Sir!" The secretary ran over in a panic and whispered a few words in the curator's ear
"What!? Found it! Where is it?"
The tourists visiting the main hall of the art museum raised their heads and pointed. On the glass of the circular dome, a painting was firmly embedded there.
A staff member climbed up and carefully removed the work. The curator and his people immediately surrounded it. After an on-site confirmation by the appraiser, they confirmed that this was the famous painting "Water Lilies" that was stolen last night.
To steal something and then return it is a naked provocation. Every police officer at the scene had a look of humiliation on their face.
Before it was over, another letter fell out from behind the water lily frame:
"Return your things to you, and return other people's things. The Book of Kings will eventually return when the bell rings!"
The signature is still that weird "K".
"Book of Kings, when the bell rings, what does it mean?" The detective studied the letter repeatedly, but found nothing.
However, his doubts did not last long, because two days later, the British Museum was stolen, and some fragments of the "Yongle Dadian" manuscripts snatched back by the British invading army were stolen!
There are still no clues at the scene, and this time the other party did not return the items.
The entire London Police Department was nervous. The mayor personally asked to solve the case within a time limit, and public attention began to focus quickly. The third notice letter arrived as expected - "When the throne is high, it holds a golden mask."
This time the police finally guessed the riddle. When the constellation Cepheus reached the highest point in the starry sky, a group of police officers surrounded the intruder in a white dress on top of the Cambridge Museum.
Onlookers could not distinguish his appearance because he was wearing the museum's treasure - a Celtic gold mask.
"Don't move! You were arrested on suspicion of stealing valuables!" More than a dozen police detectives pointed their pistols at the thief at the edge of the building. They had determined that the other party was desperate.
The person opposite remained silent and silently turned his head to look this way. He raised his arms high and folded his index fingers and thumbs.
Snap!
The crisp sound of snapping fingers echoed in the night sky.
boom! ! ! ! boom! ! ! boom! ! ! !
Explosions sounded one after another all around, and smoke rose from the scene.
"Cough cough cough!!! It's a smoke bomb! He set an ambush!"
"Watch your surroundings!"
"Watch the door! This is the only exit! He can't escape!"
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Shouts came one after another in the smoke, and when the vision gradually became clear, the place where the prisoner was just now was empty.
"Damn it! Did that bastard have wings?!" The detective who was tricked one after another yelled in the air, and finally had no choice but to leave sadly with his men.
No one noticed that someone in police uniform had already left the chaotic scene.
In the following week, major museums across London were in turmoil, with several important cases of missing art pieces occurring in succession.
Taking advantage of this momentum, the Daily Mail published a special page called "Phantom Thief K". The reporter used an inflammatory writing style and wrote:
"Mr. Phantom Thief K is now a household name in London. Within two weeks, there were six cases of theft of valuables. He single-handedly brought the entire city's police to a trick."
"There are no traces of the crime and no witnesses. The only clue is the warning letters that appeared at an unknown time."
"However, Mr. K, who was hated by the police, seemed to be a Robin Hood-style thief - all the things he really stole were important cultural relics that came to Britain in the form of plunder, and other treasures were soon lost. All returned. ”
At the end of the report, there was a photo that was not very clear. Under the moonlight, a figure wearing a white dress stood at the top of the museum. He didn't look like a thief who was grinding his teeth, but like he was enjoying his creation. artist.
As a result of the continuous reports, London residents generally thought that "this guy is not bad."
Although their identities are mysterious, Mr. K is not Jack the Ripper. He is only against the government and does not harm civilians.
And when everyone learned how those cultural relics were obtained, many people's stance even changed to support.
"Those things that are not ours in the first place, why can't we return them?" People often say this. Some women even think that this image of wearing a white dress under the moon is very handsome - although they have never seen Mr. K's face.
Amid public attention, the next notice letter arrived as scheduled.
"When the blue moon rises, I will take away the priceless treasure."
(End of chapter)