St Argon Museum - The special control room - 9:15 PM
"So you're telling me he stole the gem before the heist?" Dorian said with a tone of disbelief
"Yes" Edmund replied flatly, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. His expression was calm. "And we just walked right into it"
John stepped forward, adjusting his tie. "We should probably walk through how this happened. Before everyone in London thinks we've lost our minds."
"Let's start with the riddle." Edmund gave a small nod and closed his eyes briefly. He and Luke hadn't decoded the entire riddle.
"This is a complex yet simple riddle. Luke and I only managed to decode a few things which led us to the conclusion of him stealing before the heist. I'll try my best to explain in a straight line." Edmund said in a frustrated tone
"Firstly the first line, You raised your walls and lit your halls, Security upgrades. Lighting changes. Obvious prep work once the heist letter came in. Aeries knew they'd panic. That was his opening. That was why I asked Mr Owens if he called for any electrical fix." Edmund turned to Mr Owens and asked "Let me guess you called for system checks after Aeries sent his heist letter right?"
Owens hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Yes. Two days after the letter. Just in case."
"There it is," Edmund said. "Aeries indirectly influenced actions. He weaponized your panic. He knew the letter would force your hand. You'd bring in external contractors. That was his in."
Dorian raised an eyebrow. "But how did you link that to infiltration?"
"That's the next line: 'But I had danced through silent calls.' Think about it. 'Silent calls' that's communication without speaking. Subtle presence "
"A disguise." John clicked his tongue
Edmund nodded. "He used panic to slip in wearing a mask — not just metaphorically."
Edmund continued, eyes narrowing. "Line three: 'A craftsman's guise, a wire's bend.' I almost missed it. It's a nested clue. You can't decode 'craftsman's guise' until you understand what the wire's bend refers to. But you can't understand that until you realize someone bent the system."
Dorian raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"Someone accessed the internal systems physically. Which only an electrician or a technician could do…"
His eyes widened slightly.
" 'A craftsman's guise' isn't just flair. It's literal. He posed as part of the electrical staff to get access. And plant the trick that made the gem vanish tonight." Edmund's lips curled to reveal a smile.
"And 'The tale began, not at the end'," John murmured. "He didn't steal it tonight."
"No," Edmund said, voice low. "He stole it days ago. And the rest of the riddle? Mockery. 'You chased the clock, the vault, the screen… but missed the moment in between.' That 3-second delay in the footage. We stared at every angle. Except the one he was using to laugh at us."
"You watched the vault. I watched your pride."
Edmund's jaw flexed. "He didn't just take the gem. He wrote a story where we were the joke."
Even though Edmund had a calm expression outside he was burning with thrill and anger inside. This was the first time someone outsmarted him.
"Hm. You're looking in the right place. Just be careful not to chase ghosts instead of footprints." John said in a deep voice
"I'll be careful, anyways we can now move on to the trick." Edmund said, sighing.
He paused.
"No. Wait."
John frowned. "What?"
"This doesn't fit. Aeries is cautious and obsessively so. Planting a trick when he didn't know the full security layout? Not his style. Too many unknowns."
He snapped his fingers, whirled toward the museum owner. "Did anyone examine the gem before the heist? Appraisal? Authenticity check?"
The Museum Owner wiped his sweat with a handkerchief and said "I think about two weeks ago a swiss appraiser visited this museum."
"Name?"
"Felix Reinhart"
Luke scoffed "Of course his name's Felix Reinhart. That sounds like a Bond villain and a cheese brand had a baby."
Edmund moved fast now. He requested credentials. Called the embassy. Cross-checked the name with the Swiss Gemological Institute and the global registry of licensed appraisers.
Nothing.
"Felix Reinhart doesn't exist. We let the craftsman walk straight to the price." Edmund snapped
'I should've seen this earlier.' Edmund inwardly said
Luke snorted "Damn it"
The room fell dead silent.
Dorian broke it. "So… he swapped the gem then?"
"No," Luke interjected. "Aeries wouldn't rush it. He was laying groundwork scanning vault layout, lighting positions, sensor timing. Probably needed a visual of the real gem to forge the fake. But he didn't make the swap that day. Not yet."
"Exactly" Edmund said as his eyes were gleaming with excitement. Things had gotten more interesting. He had underestimated Aeries too much but not any more. They were also in a tough situation as time was running out and they had to reveal the trick before midnight to protect their dignity and pride.
"Time is running out, we'll have to solve it quickly. Mr Owens I need the electrician's logs from last Monday."
Ten minutes later…
Edmund scrolled through the logs, eyes sharp.
"October 11th," he said, voice rising. "Power dip. Right here. Same hour an 'electrician' signed into the west vault. Same fake ID."
Edmund thought 'He didn't just steal the gem. He made me recite the script—his script.'
Edmund's knuckles went white around the log sheet. 'We played our roles perfectly.'
Luke leaned over. "He used the blackout."
"No, the blackout was his cue in. But for this to happen he needed to know exactly where the pressure sensors were, where the blind spots would be, how fast the pedestal rotated. And swap the gem in 10 seconds under a blackout; it would require immense visual skills." Edmund heaved a long sigh as he evaluated Aeries
"What kinda genius is this guy." Luke snapped
"We still haven't discovered the real trick. There's more to this trick, when I checked the electrical logs I saw a surge in power three days after the notice. More wattage than needed for standard display lighting." Edmund said
"There's more to this trick?" The silent gem owner said in disbelief.
"Yeah and we'll unravel it and share it to the world, let's check the footage now."
"Time is running out Edmund, If we don't explain this by midnight, we'll be a laughingstock. A thief waltzed past all of us and left a riddle for good measure."John said flatly
"I know but if we give in to pressure we'll lose our already slim chances." Edmund's calm had paled a bit
Edmund checked the footage and found something interesting.
"We can't see how the gem vanished due to the 3 second delay but I noticed something. The pedestal the gem was in is slightly different than before. And there was slight shimmer in frames 2.3 seconds"
"Meaning?" Dorian asked
"The pedestal was involved in this, he probably attached a mechanism when he disguised as an appraiser. 10 seconds isn't enough for this. We'll have to check the vault for more details." Edmund replied
Everyone rushed to the vault.
"Luke check the lights, I'll check the pedestal." Edmund said
Luke started checking the lights and found something. Just moments after Edmund also found something.
"The light is hotter than usual" Luke said
"This isn't just a bulb. This is halogen industrial strength. Enough heat to evaporate a carefully crafted compound under exact conditions…" Edmund then glanced towards the pedestal. 'Shimmer.... Halogen.... Residue?' Edmund inwardly muttered
"I think I'm finally getting close to unraveling the trick." Edmund clenched his fist
Edmund began explaining "Look underneath the pedestal there's residue. Not from the gem, but from a compound. Something coated or embedded in the fake. He probably used a heat-reactive material which the halogen lighting is able to easily deform at the right angle. There's also a micro - mechanism in the pedestal. Which he probably used to align the pedestal perfectly for the trick to work."
Luke pondered and asked "Doesn't this mean he planned and anticipated this at least two weeks ago."
Edmund hesitantly said "Yeah.."
"This isn't theft. This is theatre." Luke said in a tone of frustration
The room went dead silent
"The vault was a distraction. The real trap was psychological. He made us stare at the obvious. He made us watch the fake vanish while he stood outside with the real one just to show he could. He rewrote the narrative off-screen." Edmund broke the silence
Dorian looked stunned. "And you're sure?"
"I'd bet my reputation on it."
Luke scoffed. "Aeries just made the whole department look like clowns."
"Not any more Luke we'll catch this Aeries guy, but we first need to tell this to the media." Edmund said with a smile
"John, can we get a chemical test quickly?"
"Hmm it's quite hard but I'll try."
With the SDB's connections they got a chemical analyst to test the residue and found that the fake gem was made from sugar glass and coated with paraffin.
"Alr now's the time for the reveal." Dorian said in a relaxed tone.
"You really gonna mask up and monologue like a drama villain?"Luke said grinning
"No. Like a drama hero." Edmund replied confidently
"Same thing" Luke shrugged
....
11:45 pm outside St Argon Museum
There was a huge crowd outside, and in the center were Edmund and the rest. They were surrounded by reporters and media. A reporter asked. "Is it true the SDB has recruited a secret agent to catch Aeries?"
Edmund stepped forward wearing a black mask, calm, his voice cutting through the crowd. "I'm not here to chase shadows. I'm here to expose legends.
He left us a riddle-
I brought the answer.
He played with pride—
I played with the truth.
Tonight wasn't a theft. It was a statement.
This is my response."
He pulled out a chemical analysis file.
"This was no magic trick. It was chemistry. Engineering. Psychology.
And we just caught up."
"This was Act I. Curtain rises next time... on me."
The entire area was in absolute shambles. The crowd went mad and Reporters were shouting questions.
Same time in a penthouse, a man was watching the news, sipping wine, and smiling.
"Well played, Phantom... Now let's raise the stakes." Aeries said smirking