Percy looked in awe when they arrived at the art museum. She admired the building's beauty. The intricate columns, the pristine design of the building. She couldn't help but smile at it. Squealing with her mouth closed without realizing it. Ramsey stared at her with his lazy smile. He was a bit confused by what she's doing. But doesn't want to interrupt her. When she looked at him, she blushes and clears her throat. Coughing a bit into her fist. "My apologies for that uncharacteristic squealing. As you may know I have a 'thing' for architecture as the kids say. So when I see buildings like this one, I just get excited."
Ramsey chuckled a bit. "Ah don't worry about that. I'm the same with art. When I see amazing art, I just can't help myself either!" The two stepped out of the car. Ramsey has changed his clothes to look more "appropriate" for an art museum, as Percy puts it. He wears a red polo shirt, a pair of black shorts, and a pair of red and black sneakers.
Percy bought it for him 2 months ago. He was surprised that she was able to get his exact size. It fits him perfectly like a glove. Though it gives him the appearance of a casual rich guy going to the golf course in a sunny day. But hey! At least it's comfortable.
Percy grabs the file that Eros gave her before heading to the door.
Ramsey walks ahead of her and opens the door. He bowed a bit like he was a butler. "After you." He gestured his hand towards the inside of the building. "Thank you." Percy enters and Ramsey walks behind her. The inside was decorated with various paintings hanging on the walls. The floor was so clean that you could see your reflection.
Ramsey whistles. "Fancy…" Percy agreed. This place is very well polished. But this isn't the time to admiring the scenery. They have a job to do. The two walked up the marble twin stairs. Both taking the right one. They then head to the storage room where the paintings for the exhibition are stored.
When they opened the door, clouds of dust met them. They coughed from the dust. "Jesus, this room needs some major cleaning!" He coughed. The storage room was illuminated by old red light fixtures that hasn't been replaced with newer ones. Cracks are appearing on the walls. Some of the cracks are barely visible to the naked eye. The windows also give out natural lighting from outside.
This room needs some serious cleaning.
"Hello, officer." Petrel approaches them. His left hand over the other. And bowing to them. "I'm so glad you can come."
"It is our duty." Percy said. "Ramsey Murdoch here will be examining the paintings. Analyzing if there's any suspicion." Ramsey snaps his fingers and makes the finger gun gesture. "I see. Well is there anything I can to help you?"
"You could get me some tape and a loop."
"Right away." Petrel heads off. Percy looked at him with confusion. "A loop?" "It's a small magnifying glass. You use it to find small details that are hard to look at normally."
Petrel returns with the tape and the loop. He gives it to Ramsey. "Thank you." They enter the storage room. "So can you tell where these paintings have arrived?"
"I ordered the paintings 2 months ago." They begin. "But the shipping dates vary." Percy takes in the information carefully.
"And how many did you order?"
"35." Percy writes it down on her blue notepad. "I ordered 35 nature paintings for this exhibition from all over the world. The most are from Desert and the least are from Island. Taiga and Deepwood paintings are both equals."
"What happened next?" Percy asked. "Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when the paintings arrived. The security camera didn't pick on anything suspicious. So I assumed that everything was in order."
"I see…" Ramsey ponders. Scratching his chin and squinting his eyes. After hearing that, this could be a case of the ol' switcheroo. Classic move in the criminal handbook. "I do have the list of the things I ordered for the Beauty of Nature exhibition." He puts his hand into his pocket. He takes out the list of paintings that they ordered. They unfold the paper and gives it to Percy.
"If you need anything, I'll be downstairs at the desk area." With that, Petrel leaves. Now they can start looking and checking on the paintings.
Two hours passed and they checked the 35 paintings. Ramsey looked at each of them carefully. Comparing the paintings with the pictures on Percy's cellphone to compare and contrast. Percy puts a line across any paintings that have been forged. As well as taking any evidence like fingerprints.
"I can't believe this…" Ramsey is shocked. Most of these paintings are fakes. "Only 4 are real." Percy is equally shocked. They never thought that most of the paintings were fake. "What are the chances of this feat?"
"Impossibly slim. Whoever did this must be incredibly intelligent. Only a team could do this kind of thing." Percy nods in agreement. It was impossible for one person to do this. A team of criminals would've planned this out.
The two walked out of the storage room. 31 paintings… All fakes. It was incredible how someone could achieve this kind of feat. Let alone a team of criminals. But how could one team do this within 2 months? That's what they need to find out.