Marucho ended his call with the local police and faced his agents and Alice. "The terrible smell came from rotten durians and not a gas leak, but the building cameras went offline just after Runo and Dan finished checking the roof. We have no idea who planted the rotten fruit or if anything else was tampered with."

"Fresh durian already smells bad enough," Dan complained. "When can we go back to inspecting—"

"Sorry for interrupting again!" Julie's webcam window appeared on the screen. "Thankfully, Shun obtained the guest list before leaving the expo center. Klaus von Hertzon is there, but aside from him, everyone checks out."

"What about Annie and Vanessa?" Shun asked. "They implied that they always attend the annual art auctions at the expo center, and their repeatedly malfunctioning storage unit has been bothering me since."

"According to my research, Vanessa and Annie Edwards are art enthusiasts who love darker themes and also philanthropists who've donated money to educational organizations. However, other sources say that they might be involved in art theft and scams."

"Sounds like another Klaus to me," Runo commented.

An alert rang on the analyst's computer, followed by her flipping through the expo center's floor plans. "The Transportation Security Administration told me that they counted many more paintings in Klaus's luggage during X-ray screening compared to the short list of items that Klaus plans to auction off. What's even weirder is that he has two separate storage units at the expo center."

"That's very unusual, but we can't search anybody's storage units without probable cause," Marucho replied.

"Anyway, the sisters have attended all the annual art auctions at Bayview Expo Center in previous years. The last time Klaus attended was three years ago. Let me crosscheck their travel history..." Julie shared her results on the conference room screen. " Both parties have attended many auctions together, domestically and internationally."

"Is that Canada?" Alice pointed at an outlier dot on the North American country. "Marucho, maybe I use a computer to search something?"

"Be my guest."

The redhead typed quickly and pulled up the same article that she showed to Shun a couple hours ago. "During this art auction in Canada, Person-A sold a forgery to a Person-B, who filed charges after discovering it was fake. Later, it turned out that when Person A originally bought the painting from Person-C, it was already a fake, but Person-C insisted that he didn't sell a fake, even until his fatal heart attack."

"How does this relate to the current case?"

"Klaus, Annie, and Vanessa all attended this auction in Canada, when they were all last seen together until now. If they were all involved in some scam that led to Person-C's death, they maybe they stayed apart for a while until it seemed safe for them to plan their next move."

"Either way, we need to finish inspecting that building, so I'm sending Baron and Rafe to assist. Someone created this distraction on purpose. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone else left first, and Alice was second to last to leave until Shun ran one step ahead of her. "I'm sorry that I didn't take that news article seriously when you first showed me."

"Don't worry about it. I shouldn't have distracted you from helping Dan and Runo."

"You're a not a distraction at all." The raven-haired agent stared blankly before changing the topic. "Will you attend the auction?"

"I'm not sure yet. Depends on what happens after I publish this small entertainment article. I'll see you next time."

Just as Alice began walking to the first floor, Dan came back and stopped in front of his best friend. "Got another hit on Lync's BOLO!"

"Finally, some progress. What did you find out this time?"

"You will not believe where he was last seen. Things just keep getting weirder when he's involved."

Meanwhile, the redhead watched the agents walk down the hallway until they disappeared around the corner, prompting her to finally leave the building. They'll update me when they have something solid.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Klaus stood impatiently outside his storage vault as several handymen moved art pieces inside. One of the workers tripped on the metal door strip. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry, sir!"

Sometime later, a particular handyman walked past the hallway without carrying anything, catching Klaus's attention. "Excuse me! Why aren't you helping?!" The individual's evergreen baseball cap concealed most of his face, but he glanced over and smirked faintly before he kept walking. Klaus was infuriated and grabbed the person's wrist. "Who do you think you are by not answering—"

"Remember me?"

The art collector's lips parted slightly upon seeing the individual's face, but he otherwise remained calm. "You must've mistaken me for someone else. If you're not here to help me move my belongings, then I'll call security to remove you immediately."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The handyman adjusted his cap and tucked away some disheveled strands of pink hair. "I'm not mistaken at all. I helped clean up your mess in Canada, after all."

Seeing there was no way out of this conversation, Klaus reluctantly complied. "What do you want, Lync?"

"I need a place to hide for the next few days."

Just as the art collector was about talk, loud high heels echoed from down the hallway until a woman arrived. "Klaus, are you done yet?"

Klaus hurriedly shoved Lync inside the vault before answering the visitor. "Vanessa, I need more time to finish moving things inside the vault."

"This is the second vault that you rented out from the building. Then you ask Annie and me if you can borrow some space in my vault. Can you please finish whatever you need to do? We're tired of waiting for your last minute changes."

"Fine, but in the end, you and Annie work for me."

Meanwhile, Lync heard everything from inside the vault and chuckled. "Some things haven't changed."

"I can make you disappear forever, if you'd like."

"Not a smart idea. Also, I can't hide in this storage vault either."

Klaus checked his schedule on his phone. "Stay inside for now. I'll get you to a safer place once I'm done with this moving situation."

"Oh, you'd better..."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"What are you looking at?"

Alice nearly jumped out of her swivel chair. "Mira, you scared me!"

"You've been staring at the same Canadian news article for the past thirty minutes. Here's some coffee to boost your mind."

"Thanks. Ever since this article was published, I've been trying to figure out exactly who's lying—Person A, B, or C. All the circumstantial evidence points to Klaus and the Dark Angels. I feel bad for the guy who got blamed and then had a heart attack."

"What's your intuition telling you?"

"I need to find evidence to prove that Klaus was responsible for what happened in Canada. I know he'll do this again at the expo center's upcoming auction."

"How about asking your boyfriend?"

Alice inadvertently scalded her tongue with hot coffee. "Who are you talking about?!"

"You know... something about the paparazzi following you since you came back..."

How did she know about Shun? "Mira, he's just a friend from high school. He and a few other friends also work in the same law enforcement agency. They're still watching over me closely since the public knows me as the stab-and-run victim from a while back."

"Oh yeah... we still don't know if any law enforcement agency caught him—"

"Hope I'm not interrupting!" A mint-haired male opened the double doors and waved a stack of photos in his hand. "Alice is here..."

"I don't think you two have met yet." The editor-in-chief dragged the redhead over to the main entrance. "Alice, this is Ace Grit, one of my field reporters. He doesn't work in the office that often. Ace, this is Alice Gehabich, my newest desk reporter. I have her working on local cases and stories until it's safer for her to go out."

The new colleagues shook hands before Ace handed his photos to Mira. "I just discovered that Klaus von Hertzon has a beach house on the other side of Bayview."

Alice's eyes lit up brightly as she watched Mira flip through the photos. "Come on, Ace. You need to specify where this 'other side' of Bayview is."

"I was following a lead about illegal fishing when I saw a car drive up to this house on the cliff. I might've taken the photos from far away, but it's obvious that Klaus is talking to and escorting some guy into the house. That's all I captured."

The redhead grabbed a few photos and took a closer look at Klaus's colleague. Pink spiky hair...is that who I think it is?! "You printed these photos so quickly despite not knowing what's going on."

"Eh... I printed my entire camera roll by accident when all I needed were my illegal fishing photos. You can check this out if you want."

Alice leaned against her desk and stared all over the office space. What's Klaus doing with Lync? Isn't he planning something with Annie and Vanessa already? A dull pain radiated from her stomach, prompting her to sit down.

"Alice, are you alright?" Mira asked. "Did the coffee go bad?"

"I'm fine. I ate lunch early, so drinking coffee on a near-empty stomach was a bad decision," the redhead lied. "Anyway, I finished everything on my to-do list today. I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Alright, take care."

Once Alice left the suite, she immediately took out a prescription vial and swallowed one tablet, followed by drinking a large sip from her water bottle before leaning against the wall. Painkillers don't work for panic attacks or palpitations, but what else can I do?

Inside the work suite, Mira suddenly threw the stack of photos at Ace, who miraculously caught everything. "Stop wasting colored ink on irrelevant photos... Unless you printed these on purpose..."

The mint-haired reporter chuckled softly as he reorganized the photos. "That was a nice way to introduce me to Alice. I heard you sent her to write an article promoting the art auction at Bayview Expo Center. I thought these photos would be a good source of motivation."

"She needs more field experience before I assign her larger projects."

"I thought you read her résumé from when she worked overseas."

"I know we're short staffed, but it's only been a couple weeks since she came back to Bayview, so I need her to spend more time training and familiarizing herself with the area. Besides, I need to inspect everything that you all submit and also prepare for live broadcasting."

"I'm pretty sure she has the capability to follow through."

"Fine." Mira took the stack back and placed it on Alice's work desk. "Go home. Tomorrow's another day."

-x-x-x-x-x-

On the evening of the auction, men and women dressed in formal attire all gathered at the front entrance for Katie and her security guards to check in. The DSP agents gathered outside to debrief first, with Dan taking attendance. "We have me, Runo, Shun, Baron, and Rafe all present. All we found from the full sweep were jugs of unusual chemicals, but Katie claims they belonged to the janitorial department."

"She didn't actually confirm that," the bluenette clarified. "Katie was going to double check but never got back to us because she got busy, and I doubt we'll be able to talk to her after checking in. Anyway, Dan will stand with the audience on the first floor. I'll cover the first floor exits. Shun will cover the entire second floor. Baron and Rafe will cover the third floor."

"Are you okay by yourself, Shun?" Dan asked.

"I'll be fine. The second floor is an open floor, and we can all see down at the auctioneer stage. Third floor is for storage only, but you never know what could go wrong."

Runo then snapped her fingers. "If we're all good, then let's check in with Katie. Keep your earpieces on at all times. Understood?"

"Understood!" replied the team.

On the first floor's center stage, the auctioneer struck his gavel to gather the crowd's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming tonight! We will now begin the auction. Please remain seated to avoid blocking indoor traffic!"

"This is actually my first major field assignment!" Rafe cheered.

"Do you think Klaus knows that we're here today?" asked Baron.

Runo sighed. "Our goal is to prevent another Wardington courthouse incident, remember?"

Shun wandered slowly and watched the auction commence downstairs. Bayview Expo Center has more floors and people than the courthouse did. He stopped walking when he saw a familiar redhead leaning over the balcony. "Alice, you came after all."

"Shun?" The journalist fixed her hair and faced the DSP agent. "I don't want to bother you if you're on the clock. Where's everyone else?"

"I'm the only one on the second floor. Everyone's upstairs or downstairs. We have four additional agents tonight."

"They left you alone on the second floor?!"

"I'm not alone anymore, since you're here."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or trying to lighten the mood."

"Well...here's a serious question. Are you attending the auction for work? Or here for personal leisure?"

"Miss Lowery invited me after my published article increased interest in the auction. I thought coming here would clear my head."

"But this auction is so loud and crowded. What's bothering you?"

Alice turned around and sat against the balcony with her arms hugging her abdomen. "Every day, I go to sleep and wake up thinking if I'll be in another life-threatening situation again."

That sudden change in tone and body language... I think I know what's wrong. "Are you worried that someone might attack you again?"

The journalist simply nodded.

"Did something happen recently?" After a moment of silence, Shun added, "I hope you don't mind that I ask... But have you followed up with the hospital about your stabbing injury? It was an unusually fast discharge, after all."

"No, I haven't. The hospital staff didn't schedule or follow up, and I've been busy trying to settle in. By some odd coincidence, one of my coworkers took photos of Klaus and Lync together. Seeing that almost gave me a panic attack, and my stomach has been hurting since."

"Wait... Lync and Klaus together? Where was this? Dan said we got a hit on the BOLO, but—"

"What did you find out?"

"A traffic camera caught Lync driving a stolen car, which he then abandoned. All we know is that he's definitely still in Bayview. What did your coworker see?"

"It looked like Klaus and Lync were at a beach house by the fishermen's wharves. Can you at least arrest Klaus for conspiracy if you still can't find Lync?"

"You still think he killed someone in Canada during that particular art auction?"

"That couldn't have been his first time selling art forgeries, but it might've been the first time that a deal went wrong and ended up on the news. What if he does it again here?"

"But the entire concept of forging and selling fake artwork sounds ridiculous. People followed Barodius's case closely because counterfeit medication is a public health issue. Art auctions don't usually affect the general public."

"If you don't mind that I ask... Did you ever find anything when you finished the full sweep of this building?"

"Just some uncommon chemicals. Katie told one of us that the supplies belonged to her janitors."

"Weren't the durian odor and offline cameras from the second floor? Isn't that also where Klaus and the Dark Angels rented out their storage units?"

"Yes, and Klaus rented two units, yet he's not on selling everything. I haven't figured out why."

"Back to what happened in Canada... The person who had a heart attack insisted that he didn't sell a fake piece. Maybe Klaus didn't kill that person, but he's definitely not innocent."

"So back to art theft and forgery?"

"Yes, but forging anything requires a lot of supplies, space, time, knowledge...unless he brought everything in advance."

"And while TSA does count how many items a traveler brings, they don't check for authenticity."

Suddenly, the audience's applause for this round was significantly louder than usual. Alice finally stood up after much sitting. "What's going on?"

"I think this painting is the first international item of the night."

The auctioneer faced the microphone after the audience calmed down. "Here's a wonderful painting titled Summer Sweet from Kenya. Details are on the monitor. The opening amount will be fifty thousand. Do I have anyone bidding higher?"

People from the crowd shouted at random. "Sixty thousand!"

"Seventy-five thousand!"

"Ninety thousand!"

The auctioneer struck his gavel and asked, "Any more bidders above ninety thousand?"

"One million!" All eyes faced a silver-haired man standing in the back. "You heard what I said."

"Good evening, Mister Klaus von Hertzon!" the auctioneer greeted. Alice and Shun immediately gasped upon seeing their suspect in real life. "This painting is officially sold to Mister von Hertzon for one million!"

"Ninety thousand to one million?" the raven-haired agent whispered. "That's more than tenfold the previous bid. What is he thinking?"

"Maybe that's why Marucho wants you to follow Klaus closely."

"This had better not be another case of money laundering with—wait, he's leaving already?"

The silver-haired patron shook hands with the auctioneer onstage before walking toward the back of the building. "That was anticlimactic."

"And not to mention suspicious." Shun pressed his earpiece and spoke to everyone. "Did you see Klaus leave the stage after he placed his bid on Summer Sweet? I don't believe that he only wants one painting the entire night."

"I'm already following him," Dan answered.

The raven-haired agent beckoned Alice to follow him to the elevators, but a sudden bang echoed throughout the building and frightened people on all floors. "What was that?!"

"Definitely a gunshot," Runo replied. "I thought security made sure that civilians aren't allowed to have guns in here."

"Rafe and I don't see anything odd on the third floor," Baron responded. "Master Dan, did you fire your weapon?"

"Not me, but we might have an unwanted shooter. I also hear screaming from backstage. Runo, where are you?"

"I'll be there soon!" She eventually arrived at the backstage entrance with Dan. "Is there a victim?"

"In the holding room!" an employee whimpered. "Someone ran toward the back exit after the gunshot!" The pair followed the employee and saw a man in a dark teal suit lying still on the floor. "This guy looks like an auction guest and not an employee."

The brunet agent used a pen to pick at a foreign object that settled in the blood on the victim's chest. "Some bullet shot through his name tag before entering his chest. The name tag says Komba or something."

Shun flipped through the brochure while running toward the stairs. "He must be Komba O'Charlie. This guy arrived from Kenya to sell some art, one of them being a painting called Summer Sweet...which was recently bought out by Klaus's super high bid."

"That's not a coincidence, Shun." Dan lifted Komba's body to observe the gunshot wound. "This was a through-and-through. The missing bullet and cartridge are here somewhere..."

"Let me ask the auctioneer." The raven-haired agent arrived on the first floor but glanced behind him for a couple seconds. Where did Alice go? I thought I told her to follow me closely. He shook his head and approached the auctioneer, who was gathering documents hastily. "Excuse me! Where's the contract that Klaus von Hertzon signed for the purchase of Summer Sweet?"

He fumbled through the papers and pulled one out. "Here!"

"Is it paid for?"

"Not really..."

"What does that even mean?"

"Mister von Hertzon was going to wire his money to Mister O'Charlie's account, but after he saw the receiving account number, he threw a fit and argued. I had to go back to work and didn't see much more."

"What's wrong with the account number?"

"I don't know! It's just the bank account of a children's hospital in Garissa, Kenya. I verified it myself. All of Mister O'Charlie's artworks were painted by Kenyan locals. He told me that people pay more for art overseas, and he always donated the sales to the hospital."

Shun flipped through the wordy documents but understood nothing. Did Klaus really shoot Komba over this? Basically, he didn't want to pay, so he kills the owner, steals the auctioned item, and keeps his money. Sounds a lot like the deceased man in Canada who was accused of selling a forged painting and eventually died of a heart attack. I wonder if—

Another gunshot.

"Here we go again!" Runo exclaimed. "Searching around the back exit was useless. Beware that we might have two—"

A third gunshot.

"Or three potential shooters."

"The other two gunshots came from our floor," Rafe explained. "Baron and I found two people on the floor in an open storage unit."

"They look like Annie and Vanessa," the mauve-haired agent noted. "There's a through-and-through gunshot wound on Vanessa. Both sisters are still alive, but Vanessa's pulse is much weaker. There's also a bullet stuck in the window."

The three senior agents sighed in disbelief. "Isn't the third floor mostly storage units?" Dan questioned.

"I'm going to help Baron and Rafe," Shun offered. Since the building administrators shut down the elevators, he took the stairs again. Where is Alice? He dialed her number but reached her voicemail instead. "Did any of you employees see what happened in this storage unit?"

One person spoke up. "The two women were talking to a man with silver hair and purple suit when I was here about half an hour ago. Then the man left, but later came back after the first gunshot from earlier."

Klaus must've been here, but how did he run from first floor to third floor so quickly after that initial gunshot and amidst the chaos? Shun then approached the two junior agents. "How are Annie and Vanessa doing?"

"Barely hanging, Master Shun," Baron replied. "We tried our best with CPR, but it's not easy when the gunshot wounds are on their chests. Anyway, this storage unit is a mess. Someone recently moved everything out of here."

The senior agent pressed his earpiece again. "We suspect Klaus shot Annie and Vanessa, but now he's gone."

"I'll talk to Katie about evacuation," Runo replied.

"And I'll call Marucho for backup," Dan added.

Shun dialed Alice's number once more but reached voicemail again. Then he called Julie. "Are you working right now?"

"What a surprise! Yes, I'm still in the lab. What's up?"

"This is extremely urgent. Can you ping Alice's phone? She was with me on the expo center's second floor earlier but disappeared after hearing a gunshot."

"Alright... I'll see what I can do." After much clicking and typing, the analyst had her results. "Her phone's still in the building...second floor, to be exact. And if I reference the floor plan that Katie gave you... OH MY GOD! She's right in front of Klaus's storage unit!"

"Thanks, Julie. Talk later." He ended the call and told his on-site colleagues, "I'm going to the second floor immediately."

"Katie said her staff cleared that floor already," the bluenette commented. "What are you looking for?"

Shun ignored everyone else and ran downstairs again. He followed his phone's GPS to the storage units and saw a silver-haired man waving his hand with a clicking sound above a redhead female's head.