Everyone walked inside the rather huge manor
Mogami : first order of business check the serveillance cameras
Nishikata : you know it really doesn't make sense… How can someone move so quickly and without being seen too…
Takagi : almost like an invisible ghost
Mogami : it's not that big the theif is a professional but I've caught better theives, you know what a Fabergé egg is?
Nishikata : no clue
Takagi : I believe they are eggs made of solid gold?
Sumire : I think they're eggs covered with jewellery and diamonds…
Mogami : Fabergé eggs were first made in the house of Fabergé in St. Petersburg, Russia, they were first only for show of power for nobility but during the October revolution they disappeared only 57 Fabergé eggs remain in this world and each of them is worth from 24 to 33 million dollars…
Nishikata : that much? ( I swear if shuichi knew about these he start collecting them and add yet another expensive hobby he's spend millions on his collection already..)
Mogami : once a theif from them from London museum and left almost no trace… I Was the one who caught him… this theif is much less sophisticated that him… It should be doable to solve this case….
Sumire : thats….. I'm amazed…
Nishikata : that's really amazing!!
Takagi : Im impressed too…
Mogami : ( he seemed flattered as if not knowing how to handle the praise) let's just check the serveillance cameras ( he tried to change the topic)
They all repeatedly checked the cameras
Nishikata : Nothing?!!!
Takagi : there is nothing suspicious about these recording we see nothing unusual…
Mogami : that's…. Bothersome…
Sumire : did the culprit somehow alter the recordings?
Mogami : it is likely for there to be some help from inside….
Sumire : maybe some recording got deleted?
Mogami : not possible you're thinking in the wrong direction
Sumire : then what's the right direction?!
Mogami : …. Let me teach you something, what you're doing is called imagination, you're twisting the facts so that they match your theory, you're supposed to twist your theory so that it matches the facts…
Sumire : oh… ( god I feel so stupid)
Mogami : that being said…. Deduction can only take you so far… After that you need to take some leaps of faith…
Sumire : huh?
Mogami : it IS possible that the footage is altered just not in the way you described it…
Sumire : so In what way?
Mogami : I think the footage is looped…
Nishikata : looped?
Mogami : the same few minutes are being showed over and over seemlessly .. I don't have a proof of that yet… show me those photos again
Nishikata : sure
Mogami : ( he took a look) I meant photos of the house not your girlfriend ( he looked at the photo taken moments ago in with takagi in front of sunflowers)
Nishikata : oh sorry about that
Mogami : wait… Sunflowers…
Nishikata : what about them?
Mogami : reverse the video
Takagi : huh?
Mogami : Reverse. The video ( sarcastically)
Takagi : ok..
She reverse the footage and he carefully stared at it
Mogami : ( he had a calm smile… Which was rare on his usually stone cold face) the footage is looped 100 %.
Nishikata : huh? How?!
Mogami : sunflowers change their directions along with the day to always face the sun…. See right here the sunflower quickly change direction it's almost unnoticeable if you're not looking for it… I guess slacking off does help sometimes
Nishikata : I guess… But what now?
Sumire : how'd the culprit even escape with the vase?
Takagi : the vase must be bulky so it would be difficult to escape
Sumire : ( jokingly) I say he's still hiding somewhere in the house
Mogami : wait… takagawa you only reduce IQ by 14 % now… think I know where the vase is…
Nishikata : wait what? How?
Mogami :I said I think I know..
He lead everyone outside the manor
Nishikata : are you sure this is it?
Mogami : maybe… there! ( he said pointing at the garbage bags)
Takagi : what? There?! In the garbage?
Mogami : I think they gather all the garbage from the house to throw each day… ( he rummaged through them until he saw one that was just the right size) ( he opened the bag and there was white pellets inside) Yes…
Nishikata : cushioning pellets?
Takagi : they come whenever you order something so that the from cushioning to fragile objects… Like vases…
Mogami : ( he rummaged through the bag and inside was a vase glinting back at him) I was right….
Nishikata : but how?
Mogami : takagawa actually raised a good point there… How would he run so fast while carrying this vase, but then it clicked… the last place anyone would check to find the vase would be in the manor….
Sumire : ( that just flew out of my mouth but I don't mind taking praise for that) no need to thank me
Takagi : it probably just flew out of her mouth
Sumire : don't ruin my moment of glory!!
Takagi : ( sheepishly) sorry I couldn't help myself….
Mogami : well we have the vase again so I guess thats another case under my belt…
Nishikata : but we don't know who's the culprit
Mogami : don't need to retrieving this vase is more important…
Nishikata : I see..
Mogami : so here's what happened, you know how the owner is installing solar panels…. At a certain time frame in the day the sun reflects perfectly to give a glare on the tower
Nishikata : I know it was difficult to deal with when we were up there
Mogami : when the glare is there gaurd moves away from this side of the tower and more to the other side… So no one guards this side for 5 minutes or so and thats when the culprit went in at this small frame of time, this is also where the cameras started to loop so that he wouldn't be seen… the loop would have worked fine but when he was stealing the vase the culprit accidentally damaged the camera observing the vase and that's why it shut of and we know the exact time of the crime, it's good because of that we checked the footage and saw the loop otherwise this would have been an unsolvable case…
Nishikata : so Much planing… The culprit must have observed this place for months trying to find openings
Mogami : since we have established that someone was working with him from inside and we know that he can't carry the vase he simply stuffed it into this garbage bag inside the manor and hide it within garbage, so that the one working inside would be able to take it with being suspicious…
Owner : splendid I was right in hiring you!! But now have you figured out who was working from the inside? I want the police to teach that bastard a lesson….
Mogami : no I haven't figured that out…. weird I have technically solved the case by retrieving the vase but I still have no idea who to suspect
Owner : so what now?
Mogami : I say fire all of the staff and get new ones to manage the manor… Better safe than sorry..
Staff : wait please ( he was one of the gardenehrs who heard their conversation) you can't fire all of us!!
Nishikata : if you fire them because of this since they are suspected of stealing they won't be able to get a job… You'll effectively destroy the career of 3 dozen people and make them jobless..
Mogami : I don't see how that's my problem
Sumire : What?!
Mogami : I mean they got stuck in this mess on accident, tough luck but I'm not the one who pushed them into this mess so I don't see why I should drag them out…
Sumire : you can't just do that!!
Mogami : I literally have no reason to continue investigating I expect the payment by the end of this week
Owner : of course
Nishikata : I don't know what to say… You've got a point…. It's just a bit unethical to just make so many innocent people jobless just because….
Sumire : ( Mogami is sort of a sociopath….) you don't feel bad about affecting so many people?! Listen here you little shit
Mogami : ( he seemed genuinely confused) like what? I am not the one who's the cause of this problem the theif is and my work here is done, the only way is to catch the thief and I'm out of clues..
Nishikata : I mean it wouldn't hurt to do more investigation right?
Mogami : I'm the symbol of laziness don't expect any extra work from me….
Takagi : ( he has almost no motivation) but that's not an excuse to just….
Sumire : thats why you don't have friends… You are just so… Negative… ( what I said was maybe a bit too harsh…)
Takagi : Sumire!!!
Mogami : ( he paused )...
Nishikata : ….
Takagi : …..
Sumire : …..
Mogami : ugh… Fine…. Hey sir can you help us to some food and maybe coffee? ( why am I so concerned about the opinion of these people I've just met them..)
Owner : of course please make yourselves at home…. ( he went back and ordered the chef)
Nishikata : good call…
Mogami : it was forced I'd say… But now that I have been dragged into this… I'll need some time to think…
Takagi : phew…
Sumire : let's get inside again…
They all went back inside…
Mogami : ( he sipped on his coffee while staring at the floor) I mean… the most logical option would be to have the police interrogate all of them until one slips up… but it's already done…
Nishikata : ( he sipped on his cup of coffee..) there must be some way… Maybe a clue we missed…
Mogami : this theft was planned for atleast a month so too many things to check… All are equally suspicious…
Suddenly a man entered the room
??? : didn't expect you to stay this long, tough case?
Mogami : no I solved the case but not completely…
Nishikata : who's that?
Kichiro : I'm police lieutenant officer Kichiro
Mogami : Kichiro-san work for dad… His main job is to watch over me when I solve cases…
Kichiro : well? It's rare for you to show even normal decency what's making you stay today?
Mogami : I've been forced…
Nishikata : we all forced him…
Kichiro : oh? Your friends?
Mogami : I don't kno-
Nishikata : yeah..
Mogami : ( I have friends? Never thought this day would come) ( he just sipped some more coffee while wondering what to so with this information)
Kichiro : good for you, so what did you find?
Mogami : I'm thinking.. Nishikata explain everything to him… ( he brushed off the "friendship" part from his mind for the time being)
While Nishikata explains officer Kichiro everything Mogami thought hard
Mogami : ( he gathered his thoughts after finishing the food) Kichiro-san…
Kichiro : yeah?
Mogami : make a fake package inside a garbage bag and place in the garbage, just add a GPS trace to it and you can track that from a long distance and see for yourself who the culprit really is…
Nishikata : ( he actually found a way to confirm the culprit…) incredible….
Mogami : well… Thats one and half hour of my life I'm never getting back….. Gee thanks Takagawa
Sumire : I did the right thing
Mogami : whatever… I need to get back…
They all said goodbye to officer Kichiro and went outside the mansion but it was already night by then…
Mogami : well shit…. ( he looked visibly shaken)
Nishikata : what?
Mogami : I am partially blind remember?... I can't see anything in the dark…. I'm pretty much fucked…
Sumire : so that's why you wanted to end the case early… you're afraid of darkness
Mogami : blindness to be precise but yeah…. I would've ended the case early.. If it wasn't for someone forcing me to stay…
Sumire : sorry…. ( she tried to shake him awake)
Mogami : WHAT?! ( he jumped back almost screaming)
Nishikata : what happened?!
Mogami : oh…. I was just surprised…
Sumire : sorry again…
Mogami : let's just get back… ( he tried to walk but was walking slowly using his stick)
Sumire : ( I do feel bad for earlier…) lemme help you…
They all started to walk down the stairs which lead to the boundary and where Mogami's car was waiting
Nishikata : what a day… Never expected this…
Takagi : I was really afraid of Mogami but he doesn't seem that dangerous I actually feel bad for him… I even apologised multiple times on the behalf of the student but he just brushed them off…
Nishikata : you have any idea what to do now?
Takagi : what do you mean?
Nishikata : even if we were to get a taxi we will reach the apartment in the morning… where the heck are we supposed to spend the night?
Takagi : ( she chuckled) ~maybe we can get a hotel~ ( she kissed him on the cheek)
Nishikata : ( he blushed at what she was implying) stop joking around, we need to find a place to stay tonight.. Ask takagawa if she has any ideas
Takagi : ok ( he seemed a bit disappointed)
Nishikata waited by the car while she ran back up
Sumire : ( turns out helping a blind person down the stairs is a lot more difficult than she had imagined so she was having some trouble)
Takagi : Sumire! ( she walked up to them when…) ( oh what's this? Sumire's face is… Blushing… I didn't think it was possible… ) ( she quickly snapped a pic)
Sumire : What the hell? ( she didn't even realise that she was blushing)
Takagi : this ( she showed her a photo of her blushing face)
Sumire : What the- ( her face went completely red) DELETE THAT NOW
Takagi : nope, it's a rare view I'm definitely not deleting this
Mogami : don't joke about veiws in front of a blind person
Takagi : sorry
Sumire : Rie I swear if you don't delete that picture now I'll make WW2 look like a kindergarten play date
Takagi : jesus calm down, I just wanna ask you something, you have any ideas where to stay tonight? If we take a taxi now we'll reach the apartment by morning…
Sumire : oh yeah…. Well I have no clue…
Mogami : you all can stay in the guest rooms in my house if you want to…
Sumire : I guess its fine
Takagi : of course Sumire is fine with it..
Sumire : shut your mouth before I shut your mouth
Takagi : try me
Sumire : listen here you little-
Mogami : have your fight after we reach the car I don't wanna get damaged in your petty fights ( what the heck are they even fighting over)
Takagi : ( she chuckled) I'll tell yuki ( and she walked down the stairs)
Sumire : ( sometimes I wonder why I'm still friends with her…)
--THE END--
A/N : 2 uploads in 2 days yay
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