Chapter 29 Twenty-eight, expose the truth

"However, for us, this is really inexplicable. It is simply not possible for manpower to convert so many works of art into fakes in just one day. Of course, those fakes only need to be disguised as fine arts in advance. Students from the department come to visit and draw the graphics, maybe it can be imitated, but the problem is how to change the package? I really don’t understand this.” The librarian seemed to be encountering a difficult math problem, racking his brains and lowering his head to think. "As of yesterday evening, are you sure it's still genuine?" Listening to the director's question, the librarians answered with great confidence:

"Of course, it can't be wrong." They said in unison. "So, it must have been in the middle of the night yesterday that the group with twenty faces sneaked in here." "No, that's impossible. There are a large number of police officers standing guard all night, whether it's the front door, the back door or the fence. And inside the library, there were also the curator and three librarians on duty last night. How can we break through such a tight barrier? The cordon, how to bring so many artworks in and pack them away? This is simply not something ordinary people can do.” The librarian still insisted.

"I don't know. It's unbelievable... However, the guy with twenty faces is not as masculine as he boasted. Instead, he secretly switched the bag with a counterfeit beforehand, and then announced that he stole it on time. Then he Isn't the notice of action at four o'clock in the afternoon on the tenth meaningless?" The Minister of Criminal Affairs was so angry that he couldn't help talking with guns and sticks in his words. "The thing is, that's by no means meaningless." Akechi Kogoro seemed to defend Twenty Faces.He and the old curator, Dr. Kitakoji, have been holding hands since they first met, like conjoined twins.

"Oh? You say it's not meaningless? What do you mean by that?" The police chief looked at the famous detective's face suspiciously and asked. "Please look at that." Sensei approached the window and pointed to the open space behind the museum. "The secret that the phantom thief has to wait until December 10th is that." On that vacant lot, since the museum was first established, there has been an old Japanese-style building for librarians to rest on shifts, but it has been abandoned.The demolition started only a few days ago, and now it is almost finished, only old wood and tiles are left, one place in the east and one place in the west, piled up in a disorderly manner.

"That's demolishing old houses. But what does that have to do with the Twenty Faces?" The Minister of Criminal Affairs looked at Akechi with a face full of surprise. "What's the matter, you'll know right away...Excuse me, is there anyone who can tell the Nakamura Police Department downstairs for me to bring the policeman guarding the back door here at noon today." After a wise order, a librarian hurried downstairs in a daze.Soon he came back with the Nakamura Police Department and a police officer. "Are you the one who guards the back door at noon?"

Zhizhi asked eagerly, and the police officer respectfully stood at attention in front of the director, and replied: "yes." "So, between noon and one o'clock today, did you see a truck go out the back door?" "Uh, you mean the truck full of old lumber?" "yes." "There was indeed such a car passing by." The policeman was at a loss, wondering what was wrong with the old wood. "Do you understand, everyone? This is the truth about Phantom Thief magic. Everyone thought it was old wood, but in fact, that truck was full of stolen art."

Wisdom looks around the crowd and reveals the shocking inside story. "So, do the workers who demolished the house have the underlings of the Phantom Thief?" Nakamura Police Department asked back, blinking. "Yes. It's not just mixed in, maybe all those workers are his subordinates. Twenty Faces has made perfect preparations a long time ago, waiting for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I remember that the demolition started from ten years ago. It started on February 5th. The demolition date must have been known to the relevant people three or four months ago. In this way, isn’t the tenth day just the day to remove the old wood? The reason why he declared that the twelve It was calculated from this point that we started on the 10th of the month. Also, the time of four o'clock in the afternoon means that all the real works of art have been successfully moved to the lair of the strange thief. Even if we find that the rest of the museum is full of Fakes won't do them any favors either."

What a well-planned plan.The magic of twenty faces, it turns out, every time contains a careful design that ordinary people can't imagine. "But wisely, even if he could have transported things away in that way, how he got into the exhibition room and when he switched between the real and the fake is still a mystery." The Minister of Criminal Affairs still doesn't seem to believe what Sensei says. "The subcontracting was carried out last night." Zhizhi continued with an insightful tone. "The subordinates of the ghost thief who pretended to be house demolition workers brought in the forged works of art bit by bit when they came to work here every day. They rolled the paintings into thin tubes, disassembled the Buddha statues into hands, feet, head, and torso, and wrapped them separately. In straw mats, bring in with carpenter's tools, so they won't attract attention. Everyone is guarding against things being stolen, so they don't pay attention to the items brought in. Then, hide all the fakes in piles Among the old logs, wait until midnight last night before acting."

"But, who got the switch from the exhibition room? The workers should all have left in the evening, right? Even if a few of them are still secretly hiding in the museum, it is impossible to sneak into the exhibition room. Because all the entrances and exits of the exhibition room are locked at night. There are also the curator and three staff on duty watching all night in the museum. It is impossible to exchange so many things without their knowledge." A librarian asked very reasonable questions. "Speaking of this question, the strange thief devised another very daring trick. The three officers on duty last night should have gone home this morning. Please call the homes of those three people now to see if they have arrived home .”

Sensei said strange things again.The homes of the three on-duty staff did not have telephones, but they could call nearby businesses to ask them to call someone, so a librarian immediately called to check and found out that the three of them hadn’t returned home since last night.The family members of the staff on duty didn't take it seriously, thinking that the incident was imminent, so they stayed in the museum to work overtime today. "It's been eight or nine hours since the three of them left the museum, and they haven't arrived home yet. Isn't it weird? They should be tired after staying up all night last night, and it's impossible for the three of them to walk around. Haven’t come home yet? Do you understand what this means?” Zhizhi looked around at the faces of everyone again, and then continued, “There is no other explanation. Because these three people have been kidnapped by the twenty-faced gang.”

"Ah, kidnapped? When did that happen?" the librarian yelled. "Yesterday evening, the three of them just walked out of the house in order to work the night shift." "Ah, ah, yesterday evening? The three people who stayed here last night..." "Twenty Face's subordinates. The real officers on duty were escorted to the lair of the strange thief, and the subordinates of the strange thief came to the museum for night shift instead. To put it bluntly, it is actually very simple. Since the thief is responsible for guarding the treasure, it is necessary to use a fake artwork to switch the package , Naturally, it is easy. Everyone, this is the modus operandi of the twenty faces. At first glance, it seems that the miracles that cannot be achieved by human beings can be easily achieved with a little brain work." Detective Wise's words seemed to be praising the cleverness of Twenty Faces, and while speaking, he squeezed the wrist of the curator Dr. Kitakoji, who had been holding it until it ached. "Hmm...so it turns out that it's the Phantom Thief's subordinate. I'm so confused, I'm so confused." The old doctor's white beard kept shaking, and he moaned unwillingly.His eyes were raised, his face was livid, and he looked almost full of anger.But why didn't the old doctor see through that the three staff on duty were fakes?It might be possible if Twenty Faces himself, but to say that even his three subordinates have the ability to disguise themselves so that the curator can't see any flaws, no matter how you think about it, it's impossible.With the status of Dr. Beixiaolu, it is a bit abnormal that he is so easy to be deceived.