I take my seat near the front of the hall where the newest painting will be revealed. The one with the stars. I wanted to have a look at it before the actual reveal, but the museum director refused to let anyone peek behind the curtain before the event.

Well, it shouldn't look any different from the other paintings on display, so I guess it's fine. I'm bored of looking at all the displays anyway, and without Medea dragging me along, watching the potential crime scene will be a much better use of my time. Maybe I'll catch someone.

Probably not. Still more interesting than all those drawings, though.

A few students are also here in the hall. At least, I assume that they're students. They're my age, and a regular guest probably won't wait a whole 30 minutes for the reveal and instead look at the artwork to pass the time. The fact that they aren't interested in the exhibits implies that they, like me, are here against their wishes, so they're likely from the same school as me, here for the school trip at their parents' request.

Could I have figured that out simply by recognizing their faces? No. Because I'm not Medea, and I do not know the faces of every person in my grade. How does she even do that?

Anyway, I make a mental note of each of them. When I saw Chloe on the cruise, she looked like she was about my age. Her being in the same school as me would be an unlikely coincidence, but considering all possibilities is a good habit.

I spend the next half an hour staring at the curtain covering the new painting, taking note of any minute detail in the hall that may be relevant. Before long, more and more people filter into the room as it is almost time for the reveal. Unfortunately, I didn't catch Medea entering before the hall became too crowded to keep track. I had hoped that I could watch this reveal with her...

Well, I also wanted to watch her during the reveal.

Oh well, no use fretting about that now. I turn my attention to the center of the room, where the museum director is giving a speech in preparation for the reveal.

"...and although it was once thought to be lost alongside its twin in the fire that burned down this very building, I am delighted to say that we will now return it to its rightful place." The director says. "Without further ado, I shall now present this wonderful painting! A Meeting of Stars!"

A pair of guards pull the curtain open to reveal a painting behind it. As I suspected, it is very similar to all the other paintings in the museum, in that it has a fairly large frame which will make it difficult to conceal, it's mounted on a wall so it might be tough to take it down in a short amount of time, and it is horrendously expensive.

The audience erupts into applause, but their cheers are short-lived. At that moment, a large net flies down from the ceiling, incapacitating the guards on stage, and a familiar figure lands gracefully between them and the painting.

"Thank you, thank you. Your warm reception moves me, my audience." The Phantom Thief, Chloe, bows to the crowd before pulling out a large, white cloth. "I will do my utmost to meet your expectations~!"

She holds the cloth in front of the painting before pulling it away, leaving behind nothing but an empty wall. Did the painting...vanish? No, she probably took it, and it's just currently hidden behind her cloth. Classic magic trick. It'd be difficult if the painting was mounted on the wall though. Did she loosen it beforehand?

"Thank you for coming to Chloe's magic show~!" By this point, the remaining guards have snapped out of their surprise and are charging towards the stage, but Chloe doesn't even seem to notice. She tilts her head towards me, and I could've sworn that our eyes met before she winks and pulls the large cloth in front of her before letting go. The cloth falls onto the ground, and there's no one left on the stage.

Vanished? No. She's done the same thing before, except this time, searching everyone is probably a moot point. A large painting isn't the same as a diamond. She can't just hide it in a pocket or something. Where did she go? More importantly, where did the painting go?

I turn my attention away from the stage and to the crowd. The stage is an open area, with nearly no cover, so is it possible that she's hiding the painting in the crowd? No chance. She'd be spotted in an instant. Did she leave the room? Plausible, since there's no one guarding the doors. Improbable, because the audience is between the exit and the stage, and it'd be difficult for her to leave with a painting on her without rousing suspicion. Why didn't she use a smoke bomb like last time? Just for show? Or is there some reason why she couldn't? Maybe-

"That's your thinking expression, Sherry." Lost in thought, it takes me a moment to react to Medea's voice behind me. "What's your thought process like right now?"

"Medea." I turn to face her. Once again, when Chloe disappears, Medea suddenly appears. It's probably a coincidence, but... "Umm, where were you? I didn't see you in the crowd."

"I was watching the reveal with Jason when the Phantom Thief appeared." She smiles. "The crowd is huge, so I'm not surprised that you couldn't find me."

"...Yeah. Right." I nod. I'm just being paranoid. Focus on the task at hand. "I'm just trying to figure out how she could've escaped with that large painting."

"...Huh?" Medea blinks, looking slightly confused.

"With a painting so large, it'd be difficult to walk around with it." I explain. "So I'm trying to figure out where she went after taking it."

"...Ah." Medea nods, seeming to understand. "Umm...why don't we check the stage? That's where she disappeared, right?"

"Yeah, I was going to." I nod as I leave my seat. "You coming with me?"

"Of course!" Medea grins in excitement. "There's no way I'll miss a chance to witness you at work!"

The two of us head onto the stage, and immediately, I notice something interesting.

"The inside is hollow." I note as I stomp my foot on the stage a few times. It's not atypical for a stage's inside to be empty, but it can serve as a hiding place for the painting. "Come on, Medea. Help me check if there's a hidden door down there or something."

"Well...Sherry, about that..." Medea seems to struggle to find the right words before a guard suddenly pops out of a hidden trapdoor right next to me.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I admit, I almost screamed like a kid.

"Nothing here, sir." The guard says to the museum director, who approaches us with a worried expression on his face.

"Ah, M-Miss Sterling!" He stammers. "Have you found the painting yet? Please, tell me that you have!"

"No." I shake my head. "But can I ask you a few questions?"

"O-Oh, um, y-yeah, what would you like to know?"

"What the heck is this?" I point at the guard, who is still nonchalantly peeking out from the hidden trapdoor like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"It's a hidden trapdoor." The director blinks, as if confused as to why I would ask such a question.

"Why is there a hidden trapdoor here?" I ask.

"Please be patient with her." Medea chuckles. At least someone is enjoying this exchange. "Sherry hasn't read any of the labels and guides, so she probably doesn't know about this museum's history."

"Is that so?" The man sighs. "Well, Miss Sterling, this museum was once the home of an eccentric man who collects paintings as a hobby. When he requested the construction of this building, he asked the architect to give him a few...artistic liberties, and ordered the installation of many, many secret rooms and passageways. When a fire ravaged this building, many paintings he owned were thought to be lost forever, only to be found in one of his hidden rooms, untouched by the flames."

"And that space painting is one of them." I induce.

"Yes, that...space painting was found in a recently discovered room." He nods.

"Alright, move aside, please." I turn to the guard. "I want to take a look down there."

The guard turns to the director and, with his nod of permission, lifts himself onto the stage and lets me hop down under it.

The bottom of the stage is dusty, but well-kept. The museum probably cleans it the same as any other room, but since it's underground, a fair amount of dust can't be avoided. With Medea by my side, I explore the passageway and find that it leads up into...a janitor's closet, right by the room where the reveal is happening, all the way at the back. If Chloe used this passage, she probably could've snuck away undetected during the chaos.

...But is that all there is to it? She'd still need to smuggle a large painting out of the museum, and while there may be a multitude of methods to do so...

"What's wrong, Sherry?" Medea asks. "Does this mean that Chloe could be out of the museum by now?"

"No."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know." It's funny. People seem to assume that every conclusion I make is 100% logical and rational because I'm a detective, but the truth is that inductive reasoning takes many leaps of logic and sometimes a little bit of intuition. Right now, my instincts are screaming at me. "But I know that we're not done with this tunnel."

I lead Medea back to the middle of the tunnel, in front of an inconspicuous part of the wall. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about this wall feels...off. It's a feeling I often get but can never truly explain. Maybe that makes me a lousy detective.

Or maybe it's why people think I'm a great detective.

I place my hand on the wall and push it hard. Without warning, it swings open, revealing a secret room.

"A secret room inside of a secret tunnel, huh?" Medea mutters. "If I ever become rich, this is definitely what I'm gonna waste my money on."

"Seems like it's unfinished, though." I mumble as I enter the empty room. "There's barely anything inside, and the floor is all dirt too.

"Well, the most important thing is here, right?" Medea grins.

"You tell me. All these paintings look the same to me." I chuckle. In the middle of the room, there is a large hole with the painting we're supposed to find inside. "We found it."

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

"So, basically, the thief snuck into the trapdoor during the vanishing act, hid the painting in there, and escaped through the janitor's closet." I explain to the director as a pair of specialists extract the painting from the hole. "She was probably planning to retrieve it when things calmed down."

"Thank you, Miss Sterling!" The director shakes my hand vigorously. "I don't know what I would've done if that painting was gone forever!"

"Looks like you foiled her again, Sherry!" Medea pats me on the back. "Nice one!"

"...Yeah." Something feels unsatisfying. Why did Chloe put the painting in a hole? A large hole in an empty room seems pointless, so it's likely that the hole was prepared by Chloe herself. But why? Think, Sherry, think! There has to be some sort of reason for it.

"By the way, director." Medea grins as she approaches the man. "Please tell Sherry more about the history of this painting! I'm sure that she'd love to hear more about the artwork she has saved!"

"Wait." I pause my train of thought. "You don't have to-"

"Of course!" The director's eyes light up with joy. Crap, I can't refuse now. "This painting is very special because it is actually half of a full painting. The artist painted both at the same time on two canvases, which makes them rather unique, and a wonderful show of the artist's skill. Unfortunately, its other half was lost in the fire as well..."

"What's the other half called?" I ask quickly. Something seems to click...

"A Gathering of Gems." He replies. "A wonderful painting of gems underground, sparkling like-"

"Director!" I exclaim. "Can you let me visit the top floor of this whole building, please?"

"H-Huh?" Surprised that I interrupted him, the director fumbles with his words a little as he speaks. "Umm, w-well, of course! It is open for visits to all guests, but-"

"Thanks." I say as I quickly head towards the stairs, with Medea following closely behind. This is all just conjecture, but maybe...

Well, it can't hurt to have a look.

The top floor of the museum isn't large, and its paintings are, according to Medea, not terribly famous, so there aren't a lot of visitors here. But if my induction is correct...

Suddenly, I spot it. An odd brick out, ever so slightly out of sync with the rest of its peers. A hidden door. Chloe went out of her way to place the painting of stars in a hole, which doesn't make sense if she only plans to steal the art piece. But what if she expects it to be found? Then...she might be trying to communicate something. The painting that is supposed to be a pair to the gems is underground, so maybe the painting that is supposed to be a pair to the stars is...

And there it is, inside a hidden room at the top of the museum, the closest point of the building to the stars, Medea and I find a painting depicting blue gemstones that look like stars in the night sky.

"Hey, Medea." I mutter. "I gotta admit, it does look kinda pretty."

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

I crash into my bed with a sigh of relief, with Jason standing next to me.

"Good grief, sis. Why do you always choose the hard road?" Jason shakes his head. "If you wanted to let the museum know about the hidden room, you could've just told them about it yourself."

"First off, I don't choose the hard road, I choose the entertaining road." I correct him. "Besides, I told you, didn't I? If they can't solve my simple puzzle, they don't deserve it."

"Sherry was the one that solved it though." He mutters.

"And she looked so cool doing it!" I squeal in excitement. "She didn't even know about the museum's history beforehand, and she still cracked the case like it was nothing! Isn't she so freaking amazing?!"

"Yeah, yeah." Jason rolls his eyes. "...Don't tell me, did you actually plot all of this just so you get to watch her solve your own puzzle?"

"Hey, don't get me wrong, my goal is still the same." I sit up on the bed. "One day, I will create a mystery that not even Sherry can solve."

"Mhm..."

"But before then, I still want to watch her solve normal mysteries too! She looks so cool when she's trying to put something together, doesn't she?" I grin excitedly. "She's amazing!"

"Aaaand I've lost you." Jason sighs. "Whatever, at least you didn't blow your cover...or throw your costume into the ocean this time."

"I strive to please." I giggle. "Come on, this heist was totally worth it. Not only did I get to see Sherry's detective skills at work again, I think I even got her to warm up about art!"

"Your priorities never fail to puzzle me." He rolls his eyes.

"I have my priorities perfectly straight, thank you very much."

"'Straight' my ass."

"What?"

"Nothing."