A Detective and a Middle School Student Work Together to Defeat Lupin

The chaos in the gallery intensified. Emergency lights flickered, creating dancing shadows that made the Lupins even harder to track. The faint scent of blood now mingled with the smell of dust and tension.

Upstairs, Rose and I faced the real Lupins. There were three of them: Leve in a dark blue uniform with a raven symbol on his mask, Alefen in a dark green uniform with a wolf symbol, and Zenith, wearing a pitch-black uniform with the most striking, bulging eye symbol. The three moved like ghosts among the valuable art collection.

Rose's chain flashed quickly, aimed at Alefen who tried to lunge at her. Alefen deftly dodged, a sinister smile visible behind his wolf mask. Zenith, on the other hand, moved as if disappearing, reappearing behind Rose, ready to strike. However, Rose anticipated the move, spinning quickly, swinging her chain to block Zenith's deadly attack. The clanging of metal echoed throughout the room.

Meanwhile, Leve lunged towards me. His body was muscular, his movements direct and powerful. He targeted a small bronze statue in a display case, his objective from the start. I knew my physique was no match for him. If I engaged him in a strength contest, I would lose badly.

Leve swung his fist at me. I saw his pattern, read the muscle movements in his shoulder, and shifted slightly to the side, letting his fist pass mere inches from my face. He was fast, but I could see his rhythm.

"You're too slow, Detective!" Leve sneered, a sinister smile emanating from behind his raven mask. He launched a low kick. I jumped back, predicting his target.

I pulled out my pistol. Not to kill, but to distract him. I fired towards the display case behind him, startling Leve and making him turn. The sound of breaking glass distracted him slightly.

"You vandal!" Leve yelled, annoyed that his attention was divided. He immediately charged at me, this time with a rapid combination of punches and kicks. I kept backing away, dodging, blocking with my arms, feeling bruises starting to form. I looked for an opening, for his blind spot, where he would be too focused on his attack to see his surroundings. I had to manipulate the situation, making him react as I wanted.

On the other side of the room, Rose's fight against Alefen and Zenith was more intense. Alefen was agile, swinging his folding knife quickly, while Zenith moved like a shadow, looking for an opening for a deadly attack. Rose used her chain as both a shield and a weapon, parrying Alefen's blows and trying to ensnare Zenith. The clanging of metal and the hissing of the chain filled the air.

"Zenith, stop playing around!" Alefen shouted, frustrated by Rose's agility.

Zenith didn't answer, only moved with terrifying speed. He launched a high spinning kick towards Rose's head, which barely missed her. Rose ducked, then flung her chain towards the chandelier above Zenith. The lamp swung wildly, breaking shadows and creating confusing flashes of light. It was a good trick to disrupt the opponent's concentration.

I saw an opening in my fight with Leve. He was too focused on attacking, not paying attention to his surroundings. I ran towards a large marble sculpture pillar. Leve followed me, intending to trap me.

"Gotcha!" Leve yelled, launching a powerful punch at me.

However, I had anticipated it. Just as his fist was about to hit me, I darted to the side, using his momentum to push the marble sculpture. The sculpture wobbled, then fell onto Leve. He managed to jump out of the way at the last second, but the sculpture fell exactly where he had been standing, leaving a deep scratch on the floor and obscuring part of his view. This was an indirect environmental manipulation. I didn't physically attack him, but I controlled the battlefield.

"Damn it!" Leve snarled, trapped behind the large sculpture.

Just then, Rose shouted. "They're getting away, Arez! They didn't take anything!"

The smoke from the smoke bomb slowly dissipated. Alefen and Zenith had disappeared from sight, most likely following Leve who had already found an exit. I looked at the broken window. Faint military boot tracks were still visible in the dust, different from Lupin's typical sneakers.

"These footprints... they're fresh," Rose continued, examining the tracks again. "Meaning, someone else was here before Lupin came. Someone who might have escaped this way."

Footprints that didn't belong to Lupin. This meant there was a third party involved. I felt this riddle becoming more complex. The mastermind of the murder, Lupin as a nuisance who came for their own purposes, and now this third person. Who were they? And what was their role in all of this? I continued to piece together all this information, building a case framework in my mind.

We returned to the ground floor. Commissioner Richard and his men looked confused. They had managed to apprehend several "people" who turned out to be just mannequin statues equipped with speakers to create a diversion. Lupin always had nine steps ahead.

"Commissioner, Lupin has escaped," Rose said. "And they didn't take anything. This was a diversion."

Richard frowned. "A diversion? For what?"

"To hide the true killer's tracks," I said, pointing to the military boot tracks we found upstairs. "Someone else escaped that way."

I re-examined Weston Emmanuel's body. His bulging eyes, his bruised neck. Then "The Hanged Man" card in his hand, and the lyrics: "The price of a lie, paid in unconsciousness. A silenced melody, ending life's symphony."

"The price of a lie," I murmured. "Who lied? And what lie?" A narrative began to form in my mind, about a crime far deeper than it appeared.

Rose approached me. "Are you thinking the same thing as me, Arez?"

I nodded. "A silenced melody. Life's symphony. Is this about a musician? Or something related to sound? Or... an artist?" I observed the paintings on the wall. Many abstract paintings, and some portraits.

We decided to investigate Weston Emmanuel's background. We interviewed local residents, two of whom happened to know him: Cadhla and Ellie; they were a married couple. They said Weston was a very private art collector, and had many business enemies. However, no one knew the details.

"Weston Emmanuel was also known as a very reliable art appraiser," Rose said, reading data she had gathered from her network. "Many artists depended on him to appraise their works."

My suspicion grew stronger. Art appraiser. A lie. A fake painting or sculpture? A forgery?

"There are rumors that he was involved in the black market art scene," Rose continued. "Forging certificates of authenticity, or even selling stolen goods."

"The price of a lie." This was a stronger motive than mere business rivalry. Was he killed because of a forgery? But who would kill him in such a cruel way? I re-examined Weston's neck. Specific fingerprints. No signs of struggle. The victim was strangled with expertise, as if the killer knew exactly what to do.

Rose pointed around the gallery. "This gallery is full of surveillance cameras. But no footage was found."

"That means someone turned off or deleted the footage," I said. "Someone who knows the ins and outs of this gallery very well."

"Or someone who could slip in undetected," Rose added. "Like..."

"A ghost?" I asked sarcastically.

Rose shook her head. "A professional. Like the mastermind behind all this."

We decided to find Mr. Samuel, the security guard who was knocked unconscious. He was a key witness, even if he saw nothing. At the hospital, Mr. Samuel still looked shocked, but he could speak.

"I... I heard strange voices," he said, his voice weak. "Like... whispers. But not human voices. Then, I was hit on the head from behind."

Whispers? "A silenced melody." This brought us back to the theme of sound. But what whispers? And why didn't Mr. Samuel see anyone? Was the killer skilled at diversion, as if creating an illusion? I had to consider all possibilities, even the most absurd, to see the whole picture.

I tried to imagine how the incident could have happened. The killer sneaked in, somehow turned off the cameras, then confronted Weston Emmanuel. The whispers Mr. Samuel heard. Was it a distraction? Or a message?

Rose pulled out a piece of paper. "There's one more piece of information. Weston Emmanuel was working on a secret project. An ancient painting that had just been discovered. He kept it very confidential."

An ancient painting. This was it! A stronger motive. I felt there was something bigger than just a simple forgery. This was something of high value, something that could trigger a series of murders.

"We need to find that painting," I said. "That must be the answer."

"But there's no trace of the painting in the gallery," Rose sighed. "As if it never existed."

I knew this would be a long hunt. The mastermind behind this murder was very cunning, able to hide in the shadows and twist reality. With Lupin as a distraction, and unknown enemies lurking, we had to move extra carefully. The dark and eerie atmosphere of the art gallery felt increasingly tight, drawing us deeper into the web of crime.