Chapter 11: Returning Tears of an Angel

The crumpled paper turned out to be a letter from the Phantom Thief Kid.

Vicki was shocked. She clearly remembered that there was nothing on the table before Norris put the cup of coffee down.

Without wasting any time, Vicki immediately rushed out of the office to look for Norris.

At that moment, she had only one thought in her mind, 'If I could interview Phantom Thief Kid in person, then...'

Unfortunately, there were many people coming and going in the hallway, and she couldn't find the person she was looking for.

Vicki thought for a moment and went to the front desk on the floor, asking, "Lily, have you seen Norris?"

The receptionist glanced at Vicki in surprise and asked, "Vicki, do you know where Norris's ID card is?"

"ID card?"

Vicki didn't understand at first.

"Yes, Norris called me just now and said he was stopped at the entrance because he couldn't find his ID card."

The receptionist explained.

"Wait, let me get this straight. Norris is currently stuck outside the company's gate, and he lost his ID?"

Vicki asked with a puzzled look.

"I remember seeing him when I checked in this morning. Wasn't he inside the company all the time?"

"Oh, right, you don't know about this. Norris went downstairs to the café half an hour ago to buy coffee. I heard he bought it especially for you. His ID must have been lost there, but he said that he searched all over the coffee shop and couldn't find it."

The receptionist tilted her head and thought.

"So, Norris had to ask for my help to call the security to let him in."

The receptionist continued, and then she furrowed her brow as if trying to recall something.

"But there's something strange. I thought I saw someone who looks a lot like Norris coming in just now. He also had a coffee in his hand, and I thought it was him who came back, but it wasn't. Maybe I was mistaken."

"Stop! That's the person!"

Vicki interrupted the receptionist and asked urgently, "Did you see this person who looks like Norris leave?"

"No."

The receptionist replied with certainty, "I'm sure that person hasn't left yet, at least not when I last saw him."

Upon hearing those words, Vicki knew that she had no chance of catching up with the Phantom Thief Kid.

She remembered the coffee that Phantom Thief Kid had sent in and the message of the note.

She thanked the receptionist and immediately returned to her office.

As soon as she entered the room, Vicki picked up the coffee pot and rushed to the sink, and poured the coffee little by little.

As the dark coffee poured out of the pot, the transparent coffee pot revealed its full items.

She saw a teardrop-like, bright ruby ​​wrapped in a sealed film, lying quietly on the bottom of the pot.

The ruby was put at the bottom with a sticky material, so it wouldn't fall out even if the glass pot was turned upside down, preventing the ruby from accidentally pouring out when pouring the coffee.

"This is... the Tears of an Angel!"

Vicki exclaimed in surprise as she looked at the ruby at the bottom of the glass pot. She didn't suspect that the Phantom Thief Kid might have replaced it with a fake.

Because that would be pointless.

"He actually entrusted me with such a precious ruby? Why?"

Vicki couldn't understand this situation at all.

The Phantom Thief Kid had sent a notice letter to the police and another to the media, gone through so much trouble to steal this ruby, and now he didn't want it?

It couldn't be that Phantom Thief Kid suddenly had a change of heart, thinking that he shouldn't violate others' property and wanting to return it, right?

Then he should have directly sent it to the GCPD or a museum.

What's the meaning of giving this hot potato to me, a small reporter?

Suddenly, she remembered the note from the Phantom Thief Kid.

"Could it be... because of my article?"

Vicki thought in disbelief

She tried to understand the reason behind the Phantom Thief Kid's actions, but after thinking for a long time, she couldn't come to a conclusion.

You'll never understand what Gotham's criminals do for something.

At this moment, Vicki truly experienced the meaning of this saying.

She stopped thinking and took out her phone to make a call.

"Hello, GCPD? This is Vicki Vale from the Gotham Gazette. I have important information to share with Commissioner James Gordon..."

...

Gotham has a famous island called Arkham Island, which is always covered in dark clouds.

On the island, there is a hospital that is heavily guarded by electric fences and looks creepy and terrifying.

This was the famous Arkham Asylum, a place where people who were gifted but had bad morals and were beyond the reach of the law and ethics were treated.

These patients are extremely intelligent, persuasive, and extraordinary abilities.

However, due to their advanced mindsets that violated societal standards, they were considered unsuitable for society and had to be imprisoned within the walls of the asylum...

In simple terms, it was a prison specifically designed to detain mentally ill criminals.

At that moment, a man wearing a tan-colored trench coat, with white hair and a beard walked out from behind the thick iron gates of Arkham Asylum.

It was none other than Commissioner James Gordon of the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD).

A police car was already parked outside the asylum, and Gordon got in the car directly after leaving.

"How's it going?"

Detective Bullock asked from the driver's seat.

"Clayface has nothing to do with Phantom Thief Kid,"

Gordon shook his head.

Harvey raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you sure?"

"I can't be sure, so I checked multiple times using some methods," Gordon replied with a blank expression.

"Well, I don't want to know what methods you used to extract information from him,"

Havey changed the subject.

"While you were having a friendly chat, GCPD received a report from Vicki Vale, and it's related to Phantom Thief Kid."

"Isn't Vicki Vale a reporter for the Gotham Gazette? Did Phantom Thief Kid commit another crime?"

Gordon asked anxiously.

"Almost, but with a slight difference in the details - he returned the Tears of an Angel," Harvey answered.

"What did you say?"

Gordon suspected that he didn't hear

"I said Phantom Thief Kid gave the Tears of an Angel ruby to Vicki Vale, and then she reported it to the GCPD."

"Go to Gotham Gazette, right now!"

Gordon immediately urged Bullock to start the car.

"Don't be impulsive, Jim. She's already at the GCPD, waiting for us to return," Harvy calmly smiled.

At the same time, on a barely populated street near the Gotham Gazette building...

Dean, wearing the Gotham Gazette uniform, appeared from a dark alley. Behind him, you could vaguely see three or four people lying on the ground.

"When will there be less crime in the alleys of Gotham?"

Dean brushed off the dust from his clothes and shook his head helplessly.

Not long ago, he had sneaked out of the Gotham Gazette building to find a location without surveillance cameras to change his clothes and escape.

However, he unexpectedly ran into a group of robbers.

...

patreon.com/Sothisq

You can find up to 20 advance chapters at my patreon.