The school bell rang. After a brief goodbye to Darren, Tim rushed out of the gate.
He had a heavy workload tonight.
Darren watched Tim's retreating figure, calmly packed his desk, and walked out of the classroom.
"What should I choose for the next target? Should I keep looking in the museum?"
He pondered as he walked down the street.
"Hmm, feels a bit lacking in novelty."
Darren aimlessly strolled to the central plaza of Gotham City. His gaze wandered between jewelry stores, antique shops, and art galleries.
Suddenly, his eyes stopped on the giant electronic screen halfway up a skyscraper in the center of the plaza.
The screen was broadcasting an interview.
Staring at the object hanging around the neck of the glamorous woman being interviewed, a gleam flashed in Darren's eyes.
"Got it. I choose that!"
Several days later.
Late at night.
GCPD Headquarters. Gordon was tirelessly studying the case file of the Goddess's Tear theft.
He hadn't slept much these past few days.
But no matter what clues he found, the investigation always led to the same result—no connection to Phantom Thief Kid.
It had been nearly a week since Kid's debut, and the police's understanding of him was still zero.
Appearance, age, nationality, name—they didn't have a single characteristic. There wasn't even news on the whereabouts of the Goddess's Tear.
Logically speaking, a theft of such a high-value treasure isn't done on a whim. Especially for a major museum piece, selling it is a bigger problem than stealing it.
So, Kid must have negotiated with a buyer before making his move. Otherwise, why steal the Goddess's Tear specifically, rather than more valuable items in the museum?
Following this logic, Kid should have fenced the goods immediately after succeeding.
But he hadn't.
A few days ago, Gordon personally visited the Iceberg Lounge to ask Penguin about buyers for the Goddess's Tear. If he knew the buyer, catching Kid wouldn't be difficult.
Gordon didn't like the Penguin, but he knew how strong Penguin's intelligence network and connections were in the underworld. Often, even Batman needed Penguin's intel to defeat enemies.
Unexpectedly, Penguin stated he hadn't heard of any buyers wanting the Goddess's Tear, nor had he seen any sellers trying to offload it.
This was strange.
If not for profit, why did Kid steal the Goddess's Tear?
Gordon couldn't figure it out.
Did he plan to steal it first and find a buyer later?
No. Where in Gotham was there a better channel than the Penguin? If Kid had reached out, Penguin would have at most said he couldn't reveal client information, not that there was "none."
In other words, in the week since stealing the Goddess's Tear, Kid had never intended to sell it!
Could it be he just liked the gem and stole it for his personal collection?
Gordon's heart sank. This hypothesis was undoubtedly the worst.
If Kid was satisfied after getting the gem and vanished, never to act again, catching him with current leads would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
However... deep down, Gordon didn't believe this possibility.
Because Kid had produced a perfect replica of the "Goddess's Tear"—so perfect even Curator Zack couldn't tell the difference.
If he just wanted to satisfy a collection urge, the replica would have sufficed. Why risk arrest or death to commit a crime?
Not to mention sending a notice beforehand. That only increased the difficulty, contradicting the goal of theft.
The more Gordon thought about Kid, the harder he was to understand.
He even had the eerie feeling that Kid enjoyed the act of stealing more than taking the object itself.
This feeling left Gordon unsettled. He didn't know how to describe his mood. Worried? Confused? Anxious?
Sitting in his office chair, Gordon sighed deeply.
As far as he knew, even in Arkham Asylum, few beings were this incomprehensible in every aspect. He only hoped his feelings were unfounded worries.
Maybe it was simple. Kid's buyer wasn't in Gotham, and Kid couldn't leave yet, so the gem hadn't moved.
Knock, knock!
A knock on the door interrupted him.
"Come in." Gordon didn't look up.
A dark-haired policewoman with olive skin walked in carrying a package.
"Montoya?" Gordon asked, glancing at her. "What's that in your hand?"
Renee Montoya. One of Gordon's most capable subordinates. Despite being female, her marksmanship and combat skills were top-tier in the department, and she had a sharp mind. She was one of the GCPD's finest detectives.
"An agent just brought this back. He said it contains evidence related to Phantom Thief Kid and told me to give it to you immediately."
Hearing this, Gordon energized instantly.
He shot up from his chair, snatched the package from Montoya, and tore it open rapidly.
Inside the package was... another package!
Gordon stared at the nested package in silence for a moment, then continued tearing.
After removing a layer, a third package was revealed.
Fortunately, the agent hadn't made it too difficult. Beneath the third layer was not another package, but a small box slightly larger than a palm.
The box wasn't locked, just secured with a simple latch. It opened with a light tug.
Gordon cracked the box open a slit and peered inside.
"What! This is—"
The moment he saw the contents, Gordon's eyes widened.
Sitting inside was the very object he had been chasing for a week!
A crystal-clear blue gem!
The Goddess's Tear!
But why?
Why was the Goddess's Tear here? Shouldn't it be with Kid?
Did Kid lose it accidentally? Or did he suddenly have a change of heart and decide to go straight, returning the gem voluntarily?
Countless questions flooded Gordon's mind.
Then he remembered the agent Montoya mentioned.
"Montoya, get the agent who found this. I need to ask him..."
His voice stopped abruptly.
Unnoticed, Montoya, who had been there just a moment ago, was gone.
The office was empty except for Gordon.
"Montoya?"
"Montoya!"
Gordon walked out of the office and shouted to the main hall below.
"Sir, two hours ago, a homicide occurred in Otisburg. Montoya went to investigate. She hasn't come back yet." Someone downstairs responded.
In that instant, Gordon stood frozen as if struck by lightning.
If Montoya had been gone for two hours, then who was the person who just brought the package?