I must say, the Phantom Thief standing before us on stage is...quite stereotypical. An odd black dress reminiscent of Victorian-era clothing, a bow on her chest, and a mask hiding her cowardly face. Honestly, her dress, while shorter than most Victorian outfits, still seems quite annoying to move in. Why not just wear pants and a shirt? Or-

Wait, that's not the important part. Focus, Sherry.

I take a quick look around the room. Seems that I've been dragged away from the front in the chaos, and most importantly, I can't pick out Medea in the crowd. Is she safe? What if she got trampled? I need to-

Stop. You're overthinking again. Focus on the job. Medea is alright. Probably.

"Guards!" Richmond is the first one to react. "Get that thief!"

All at once, the guards rush towards the Phantom Thief, but she seems completely unconcerned. "I'm sorry for not being able to stay for the afterparty, but I'm afraid I have other urgent matters." She pulls out a small, pebble-shaped object from her dress. "See you later~!"

She tosses it onto the floor, and white smoke erupts from the item. The guards charge into the fray, but when the smoke clears, there's nothing but a pile of guards on stage, and the Phantom Thief has vanished.

Wait, vanished? No, that's impossible. There's no way a human can vanish into thin air, and since the only exit is still being guarded, there's only one explanation.

"The Phantom Thief is still here!" Richmond shouts. "Search every guest in this room! She must still have the diamond!"

The guards immediately spring into action. Not bad, Richmond wasn't kidding when he said that they're carefully vetted. I suppose it's necessary to ensure that the Phantom Thief isn't hiding among their ranks.

Hiding...

My train of thought is interrupted by a female guard who approaches me with a stern expression. "Excuse me, miss. Please allow me to perform a search on you."

"There's no need to search that one." Richmond says as he walks towards us. "She's a trusted guest, and the one who will catch that darned thief."

"No, please search me too." I shake my head. "It's important to consider every possibility, no matter how unlikely."

"Spoken like a true detective!" Richmond laughs as the guard searches me for suspicious objects. Her search is a lot more thorough and invasive than when we boarded the ship. It's hard to imagine someone being able to hide the Crimson Diamond from a search like this.

"What are these?" The guard asks as she pulls out my lockpicks, pepper spray, rope, and recording pen. To be able to pinpoint a recording pen in my pocket full of regular ones...Pretty impressive.

"Lockpicks, pepper spray, nylon rope, and a recording device." I answer honestly. No reason to lie to them about this.

The guard looks at Richmond questioningly, silently asking him if it's fine for me to carry these things before he gives her a nod, and she hands me back my stuff.

"Do most detectives carry such equipment?" He asks as the guard moves to search another guest.

"I don't know." I shrug as I survey the room again. Still no sign of Medea in the crowd. This is getting worrisome. "It's not like I know a lot of detectives."

"Ah, you must be searching for the Phantom Thief right now!" Richmond says as he notices my distracted gaze. "Please, don't let me interrupt your work."

Oh, right, the Phantom Thief. That's more important right now, so focus up, Sherry. I force myself to forget about Medea for now as I examine the whole room. The guards are still searching each guest, and while there is some resistance, the search seems to be going off without a hitch. Still, something doesn't feel quite right...

The blackout must've been prepared beforehand, but with trained, disciplined guards physically blocking the only exit, darkness can only do so much. Taking the diamond is the easy part, but escaping with it? Is it really possible under these conditions?

The only exit...

I look around the room and notice a duct opening at a nearby wall. It's far too small for a human to pass through, so I had dismissed it as an exit, but...

"Sir!" One of the guards approaches Richmond. "We've searched every guest in the room, but we couldn't find the diamond!"

"Impossible!" The man yells. "That Phantom Thief couldn't have possibly left the room yet!"

"...This grate is unscrewed." I mutter to myself as I examine the duct's grate. "Weird..."

"What's that?" Richmond turns to me as he hears my words. "It's unscrewed?"

"Yeah. It's pretty easy to take down." I say as I take it down. "Where does this lead?"

"It should lead down to the boiler room..." The man's eyes light up. "That's it! That dastardly thief must've tossed the diamond into this duct down to the boiler room! That way, she can be searched without issue, and retrieve it when we let the guests leave!"

"Well, maybe, but-"

"There's no time to waste! Guards! Head to the boiler room and find my diamond immediately!" Richmond exclaims as he sprints towards the hall. For an old man, he sure does run fast. "You two, continue guarding the door, do not let any of the guests leave!"

...This is bad. If my theory is correct, he'd be walking straight into the Phantom Thief's trap. As I watch most of the guards leave the room, I approach the two who are left behind to guard the door. "Can I leave too?" I ask. "There's something I want to check."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Sorry, miss. But-" The first guard was about to refuse when the second one interrupts him. I recognize her as the one who searched me earlier.

"It's fine, Mister Richmond trusts her. Apparently, she's some detective he brought on board." She says.

"This kid?" The first guard raises an eyebrow. "Well, alright then. Good luck finding that thief, little detective."

I give them both a small nod before walking down the stairs to the boiler room. There are still a few things that I don't understand about this case, but from Richmond's movements and all the things she set up, I think I've figured out the general outline of the Phantom Thief's plan.

The generator room is on the same floor as the boiler room. With all the guards searching the boiler room for the diamond, the door is completely unguarded. I test it. Locked. I knew it. There's no time to convince Richmond to get his guards over here and let me in, so I pull out my lockpicks and get to work. Eight pins. Frankly embarrassing for a cruise that's so expensive. Hardly any time has passed before I unlock the door and swing it open.

Just as I suspected, inside, the Phantom Thief is awaiting my arrival, holding a small device in her hands. An electric disrupter, perhaps? It must be how she caused the blackout.

"I knew it." I mutter as I place my hand on my pepper spray, ready to defend myself if things get ugly. "The blackout is so perfectly timed that it must've been triggered remotely. If there's a device that triggers that in the generator room, you'll need to collect it before it gets traced back to you."

"Clever reasoning." She chuckles. The way she speaks feels unnatural, hiding her real voice, perhaps? Up close, I notice that the Phantom Thief isn't very tall, and she seems surprisingly young too. About my age, perhaps? Slightly older? "But tell me, why did you think that I'd retrieve this device before retrieving the diamond from the boiler room? That seems to be much more important, no?"

"That is a trap." I shake my head. "You were careful enough to only crack the glass case enough to retrieve the Crimson Diamond, and the way you handled it was very meticulous. Someone like you, who understands the value of a gem, wouldn't toss it into a duct and risk it getting wear and tear."

"That's all conjecture on your part." She counters. "How else would I have gotten away with the diamond on me during the search?"

"Simple. You weren't disguised as a guest, but as a guard." I reason. "All the guards were thoroughly inspected before they got on the ship to ensure that the Phantom Thief wasn't in their ranks, so all you had to do was to infiltrate the auction as a regular guest, steal the diamond, and disguise as a guard to blend in after vanishing. That way, you wouldn't be subjected to a body search after the incident, and the diamond will still be on you."

The Phantom Thief remains silent, as if waiting for me to continue.

"That's why you unscrewed that grate, not just to mislead the guards into thinking that you tossed the diamond into the boiler room, but also to make sure Mister Richmond commands them to head down here." It's all coming together. "With the guests locked inside the auction hall to prevent the Phantom Thief from retrieving the diamond, it'd be easy for you to sneak away and enter the generator room to change out of your guard disguise and retrieve that device you're holding."

"I even locked the door just to be safe." She giggles. "But you just treated it like it doesn't exist. Are you sure you're not the real criminal here, miss detective?"

"There is one thing I can't figure out, though." I purse my lips. "Why did you show yourself? You were brazen enough to announce your crimes beforehand in your previous cases, sure, but no one has ever seen you in person. And yet, this time, you decided to make a whole show out of it. Why?"

"There are two reasons." Although I can't see her face, I can almost hear the smirk in the Phantom Thief's voice. "First of all, I'm bored."

"Bored?" I can't believe my ears.

"I mean, isn't it more exciting this way? To appear in front of a massive audience and steal something from under their noses?" The Phantom Thief's voice is filled with childish glee. "For an impossible crime like this, it is only natural for the main character to show herself on the stage."

What a ridiculous reason to risk getting caught. She would've been much safer if she had simply disguised herself as a guard during the blackout instead. "Then what's the second reason?"

"For you, sweetheart!" The Phantom Thief winks under her mask.

"Me?"

"The legendary teenage detective, Sherry Sterling, is on this cruise! Of course I want to give her the best show I can possibly provide~" She says as she pulls out the Crimson Diamond from her dress, covering it with a handkerchief before tossing it towards me. "A showdown between a great detective and a phantom thief, and I suppose this time, it's my loss."

I catch the diamond in mid-air and take a peek at it. Yup, it's the real thing. I didn't expect her to give it up so easily. "So you know my name, huh?" I mutter as I turn my attention back to the Phantom Thief. "If this is some kind of competition to you, shouldn't we be on equal ground? I'm tired of calling you Phantom Thief all the time, Miss Phantom Thief."

"A maiden must have some secrets, after all." She winks as she pulls out a tiny bead-like object. Crap, she's going to get away again. "Call me...Chloe."

"Oh no, you don't!" I shout as I lunge towards her, but I'm too late, and a cloud of smoke bursts out and covers the room. When it dissipates, there's nothing left in the room but me and an open window. As I glance outside, I see the Phantom Thief...Chloe's outfit floating in the sea, but the girl is nowhere to be found.

I got the diamond back, but I can't help but feel unsatisfied by my apparent victory.

----------------------------------------

"Incredible work, Miss Sterling!" At least someone is happy. Richmond couldn't be more pleased to see that his diamond is safe and sound. "Haha! It seems that not even the Phantom Thief can escape your watchful eye!"

"She still got away, though." I mutter. "All I learned about her is her moniker...Chloe."

It's a surprisingly generic name for a phantom thief who seems to enjoy putting on a show, but maybe that's the point. It's not like we can investigate every "Chloe" in the world, and it probably isn't her real name at all.

"But still, you stopped her from getting away with the Crimson Diamond, and that's the most important part!" Richmond smiles. "Thank you very much."

"SHERRY!" Before I can respond, I feel a familiar weight crashing into me from behind. Medea, without any regard for her surroundings, tackles me into a hug from behind. "I'm so glad that you're okay!"

"Hey...Medea..." I gasp for air as I try to free myself from her embrace. Her grip is far too strong for someone of her build. "I-I'm okay. Really."

"I heard all about it!" She says with an excited grin as she spins me around to face her. "You found the Phantom Thief and got the Crimson Diamond back! That's incredible! I wish I could've been there to witness it all!"

"It's nothing, really." I sigh. Medea has a habit of getting way too excited over my feats. It's endearing, but I don't feel like I deserve such high praise. "I'll tell you all about it on the way back to shore."

"Sweet!" Medea smiles as she grabs my hand and pulls me over to the dining compartment. "Come on, they're having a buffet over there!"

"Do you really need to hold my hand for this?"

"Of course! I can't believe how easy it was to lose you in the crowd." Medea huffs. "You need to drink more milk and grow taller."

As I let myself get dragged along by Medea, I notice that her long, blonde hair, while currently tied into a ponytail, looks rather similar to Chloe's. Well, it's likely that Chloe was wearing a wig to disguise her identity as she does wear a mask too, but...

I couldn't find Medea during the commotion, which was when Chloe was most likely disguised as a guard. Medea also had easy access to the generator room when she was touring the cruise with me. Now that I think about it, Medea's intricate, frilly dress is probably good for hiding layers of other outfits beneath it, and if it is modified to be easy to tear off and put back on...

"Sherry?" As I snap back into reality, I find Medea staring at my face with a concerned expression. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." I nod as I quickly shake those theories out of my mind.

There's no way, right? Yeah, there's definitely no way.