21st July,2023
Morning,
"Sir! Another theft has been recorded! It's a unique case! No clues have been left behind sir!", a guy came running, opening the door with a slam. As he opened the door, he saw another person, with glasses, sitting on a chair, looking at the TV, hung on the wall.
"You are quite late to be honest. I already heard the news.", he said while standing and turning around, continuing with, "I was waiting for this for a long time, now I should get to work.", he said with a silent excitement. His face was steady, but his eyes sold the excitement.
"Don't you believe the guards are stupid?", he asked the one standing at the door.
"You are asking for my answer?", he stuttered a bit, "Well, at first I thought the guards should arrest Gary Loxley, Lucian Cole and his friends out of suspicion, but then I realized the guards had, basically no proof against them. And….I don't think arresting such respected people would have been a good job either.", the person sat on another chair while talking.
As the guy with glasses went in front of the other person, he made his voice louder and said, "You are damn right! Seems like you really would excel me at this point!".
"Sir, good joke! But maybe you should find more clues I think?", he said smiling.
"No, I was serious. And for a clue? Why do you think only one of those painting replicas had the wooden trademark-revealing button?", he said looking at the ground.
"That's a good question. But that doesn't really prov-"
"Exactly! It was all planned! Not a very good plan to be honest, or that's what it seems like. Whoever did that wanted to show off his skills to people like you or me, who can see through his plans you know", he said looking up this time, "But, he knew he wouldn't get caught, so none of these matters", he stopped with a sigh.
The room they were sitting in seemed like a part of an abandoned house, with minimal lighting. Small enough to not reflect sounds.
"You are obviously suspecting this person to be the ghost right? Then, why would 'The Ghost' make such a silly mistake and raise even a little bit of suspicion towards himself?", his eyes beamed with curiosity.
"You are right, again. I would assume, one of those four friends is the Ghost, and they want someone or even us, to find him or atleast try to. That obviously shouldn't stop us from searching for him", the guy took off his glasses to wipe them.
"So what are you gonna do now, sir?", he said.
"Now? Hmmm, I guess we will have to get to work and investigate people!", he put his glasses back.
"People? Who, to be specific?", he asked curiously.
"The guy I have in mind is…..All of those four friends!", the guy with glasses sat in his chair again, "First we will investigate Gary Loxley and Lucian Cole. You know, it's either the most chalant one, or the most silent one. Maybe even someone in the middle if too sharp. But I've gotta trust my intuition at least.", he ran through his words.
"Don't worry Sir, I'm gonna arrange them for sure!", the other guy said with optimism.
"I'll have to stop this, and achieve my life", he mumbled to himself, "As I am right now worse than dead."
"Are you saying something? Sir?", he asked.
"Nah, nothing. I was just motivating myself again. Let's go for Lucian Cole first, Nicolo!", both stood up.
They started walking towards the door and the next time they were seen was outside the doors of a mall.
Those guys were seen walking down Harper Street the next minute.
"This way?"
"Yes, sir! Just 5 more minutes to go, and we will be right in front of Lucian's house.", Nicolo said.
"Don't call me formally here", the guy with glasses looked around, while whispering, "Didn't I tell you before?"
"Oh right, sorry. So..Ralph! Just 5 more minutes!", Nicolo became nervous.
"Right. 5,4,3…"
"What?"
"Nothing. I was just counting the minutes left. Well, Nicolo, tell me, when do you think we will get freedom?", Ralph asked suddenly, while looking forward to the road.
Nicolo was a little surprised. "Freedom? Well, assuming you are talking about us two, I'll say, after we have managed to catch the ghost?"
"I know that already, what I meant to say was, will it be as short as these 5 minutes?", Ralph pushed his face towards the sky.
"I hope so."
"I just hope my sister is safe. To be honest, she is the only one I would prioritize even above my freedom. What do you think, Nicolo? Where would she be?", he looked towards Nicolo.
Nicolo became even more nervous, "I want to stay optimistic. She is most probably safe. But, knowing them…", Nicolo faded his words.
"You are right, and there's no point in staying optimistic. The world is unfair as it always was, which disgusts me. I myself might be a great example of this. This unfairness has eaten me alive, yet still leaves me as a whole.", Ralph's words reached Nicolo, might not his ears.
"Ralph! We are here, this is Mr.Cole's house!", Nicolo stopped Ralph.
The grandness of the house really surprised both of them for some reason. From the garden to the swimming pool, from the rooftop to the rooms visible through the windows, everything contributed to the richness of the house.
Oh, are they who I think they are? If they are, that was pretty quick. Let's see.
As Lucian was sitting near the windows, he heard three simultaneous sounds. One from his phone, Elias was calling. The second one from his coffee machine, the coffee was ready, ready to calm his addiction. And, the last being the doorbell.
"Hello! Mr.Cole, nice to meet you, we are sent to you by a team of secret investigators. And we'll like to investigate you, can we come in?", Ralph said effortlessly, with a genuine smile.
"Investigation? For what?", Lucian's face distorted a little bit, with some worry.
"Come on, we can talk later as well right? Wouldn't you welcome us first?", Ralph said, adjusting his glasses.
"Sure. Please come inside.", Lucian said with a nervous smile.
As they were walking through the hallways, Lucian was seeing a familiar scenario, his brother Magnus, adjusting his glasses while entering his room, looking at the paintings. The difference being, this time it was Ralph instead of Magnus, having an assistant with him, Nicolo.
"Please have a seat!", Lucian greeted them after entering his living room, inviting them to the sofas.
Nicolo sat on the sofa real quick. Meanwhile, Ralph was still taking a look around.
What is he doing? Is he looking for some clue in the room? He obviously will try to expose me in the most unexpected ways, and I'm ready for it. He doesn't even have any proof against me.
I'm more worried about these guys finding one of my friends present in the museum that day. Maybe Gary? I did call all of them to ensure I'm the first of their targets, judging from that fact, I guess their next target would be Gary. I do have a plan to direct this towards Gary.
He is innocent so no harm should happen to him as our reactions are the only proof they can have.
"So, Mr.Cole, we came here for investigation regarding the recent Eclipse Cultural Museum theft case.", Nicolo started to explain, "You were present there when it occurred, am I right?"
"Yes, I was.", Lucian answered, followed by, "Have the coffee, please", while emptying his cup.
"Sure.", Nicolo answered, taking the cup.
Ralph finally stopped his searching eyes and stretched himself. Then he at last turned towards Lucian and said, "Are you the Ghost?"
"What?", both Nicolo and Lucian were shocked.
"What kind of question is that?", Nicolo and Lucian said in unison.
"Just tell me, are you 'The Ghost'?", Ralph's voice got louder and he grabbed the sofa way too tightly, almost threatening Lucian.
"Ralph! What are you doing! Aren't we here for investigation? What kind of investigation is this?", Nicolo said.
"Just answer my damn question!", Ralph insisted.
Lucian became surprisingly calm, and said, "Yes".