Prologue – The 6 o'clock news
3 Weeks after Sly's announcement. 6:02pm, 22nd August 2013.
"Now onto the developing story here, the new interim head of Interpol has restored a task force not seen since the Second World War. This is in response to the theft of the Mona Lisa, arguably the world's most famous and valuable painting, from the Louvre museum in Paris. Having been spotted as a fake by a member of the public with the signature 'D Lousteau', the same reality TV star and art forger that was found dead in a canal outside of Rotterdam. This will be Interpol's first major task since the conviction of their previous director for misuse of state funds. They suspect Sly Cooper, the same thief who, in a world wide breach of telecommunications brazenly announced his retirement from thieving, has stolen the painting."
"To explain this new plan we are joined with Interim Chief Barkley from Lyon to our London studio via a video link. Good evening Chief Barkley."
"Good evening Liam." Replies Barkley. Barkley is has aged a bit, now in his late fifties, his tan fur has become wiry despite what appears to be the best attempts to soften it.
"Of course the world is completely devastated by such a high profile theft, can you tell us how a World War 2 era program is going to be of such use in 2013?"
"First of all, we have no evidence to suggest it is Sly Cooper that has the painting at the moment or even stole it in the first place, we don't have any CCTV, no fingerprints, and no one even saw him steal it or leave with the painting. This makes it impossible for us to convict him even if we managed to catch him, which is a problem in itself. This is no means a feeble publicity stunt, unlike my predecessor, this unit will be brought into the 21st century and begin to search for it's location." He replies calmly to the anchorman.
"So you know he has done it but you can't prove it?" Liam asks for clarification for his viewers and himself.
"Precisely." Barkley replies without hesitation.
"Do you know anything about it? Why, how, even where he might be right now?"
"To any of those questions, I can't tell you. Not because I'm keeping things a secret but because we truly don't know anything, it is the worlds best thief creating the worlds best heist so we'd have our hands full from the start." Barkley chuckles to himself as he readjusts his seating position. "But eventually we will find something, he can't stay hidden forever."
"Onto the subject of Carmelita Fox…" He starts in his English accent.
"No questions on her, please." Barkley insists, the fact that she has defected and that he personally had given her the opportunity in that night at the opera to kick-start her crime fighting career makes this a personal betrayal to him.
"Finally, can we trust what Sly said on that announcement?"
"We can only speculate, but judging this is such a high profile theft he would have to lay low anyway, it is his 'pièce de résistance' one could say. I don't think we will be hearing about him anytime soon."
Olirulz111 presents…
An Olirulz111 Fanfiction…
The sequel to Thieves out of Everyone
"Hide and Seek"