Chapter 96: Suspicion

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.

- Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: Picard)

...

In this meticulous search, the strange components hidden in the compartment were revealed.

After collecting all of them, they could be assembled into an ice-breaking drill!

Gas masks, the parts of the ice-breaking drill, hidden routes for escape…

"Hiss—"

When all these items and secret routes hidden in the exhibition hall were discovered, everyone present couldn't help but gasp.

Phantom Thief's preparations were clearly designed specifically to counter the security measures in the exhibition hall!

There were basically two types of protection measures in the exhibition hall.

One was the huge block of solid ice containing the diamonds.

Even though ice is fragile, once it got big enough, it was harder to break than steel.

It worked really well as a vault.

But with the ice-breaking electric drill, the ice could be broken through quickly, no matter how thick or heavy it was.

Also, Phantom Thief didn't have to drill all the way through the ice block. He only had to make a hole big enough to get the diamond out.

The other measure was that the exhibition hall would automatically become a sealed space once the alarm was triggered.

The doors would lock tightly, and the cooling system would switch to a hypnotic gas release.

There were two ways to set off the alarm, one was for the diamonds to move, and the other was for the ice blocks to move violently.

Even if a curious visitor accidentally hit the ice block with his bare hands and hit it hard, the alarm would go off...

Obviously, if someone looked suspicious on the monitors, the people in the control room could manually sound the alarm and notify the GCPD.

To ensure the smooth effectiveness of the hypnotic gas, the automatically locked doors would remain closed for about two minutes.

For a skilled thief, two minutes is more than enough time to drill through an ice block, especially if they have a gas mask that protects them from hypnotic gases.

The biggest problem is escaping from a closed area once the alarm goes off and the police surround the exhibition hall.

But this doesn't pose a problem for the Phantom Thief.

It's not clear how he dug a secret route in the exhibition hall, but it does exist and leads to a hallway behind the walls of the hall.

To be honest, the secret route isn't very long—it's only about five or six meters long in all.

It's not impossible for someone to do it in a few days if they work hard enough.

"Just thinking about it is terrifying. If the Phantom Thief had used these things, stealing the 'Hope Diamond' would have been a piece of cake!"

Henry trembled with fear as he looked at the gas mask and the ice drill.

"This exhibition hall... can no longer be used!"

Commissioner Gordon said it in a serious tone.

"There were so many things hiding in plain sight. No one can be sure what the Phantom Thief might have done in places we can't see. This exhibition hall is no longer safe. The 'Hope Diamond' needs to be moved to a different place!"

"But, Ms. Kim, Mr. Henry, and Ms. Lily, do you have any problems with this?"

After seeing something so unexpected, no one dared say that the exhibition hall's security defense was flawless.

Even Lily, who had always been confident in the ice block's security measures, agreed to the idea of moving the exhibition.

There was still some time before the exhibition started, so they needed to quickly move the 'Hope Diamond' to another exhibition hall.

But in order to do that, they had to get the diamond from the ice block.

The other exhibition halls didn't have the same low temperature as the separate exhibition hall, and the ice block would melt quickly, so it wasn't enough to keep the exhibition going all day.

They couldn't wait for the ice block to melt on its own, as they needed to get the diamond quickly. They used the ice drill they had found to make a hole in the ice block.

After that, Mr. Henry took the box with the diamond out very carefully, making sure not to let even one gap open.

Not long after that, the separate exhibition hall made just for the "Hope Diamond" was shut down, even though it had only been used for three days.

This meant that all the money spent on it had been wasted.

Henry looked like he was very upset, but he wasn't really that upset. But he acted extremely anxious, almost to the point where anyone could see it on his face.

After that, everyone started to get busy.

When the 'Hope Diamond' was moved to a different exhibition hall, most of the previous defenses had to be changed, which took a lot of time and work.

"Phantom Thief's crime is tomorrow, and today, he's given us such a big problem!"

After finally relocating the 'Hope Diamond' to another exhibition hall and arranging for security to guard it, Harvey complained to Jim.

"This guy definitely has ulterior motives. In my opinion, he doesn't really care about that diamond; he's just trying to have fun at our expense."

"So, if you don't want it to be normal for people to laugh at our expense, then stop being so careless. Be serious and try to find Phantom Thief as soon as possible."

Jim retorted.

"Hey! Where am I being careless? I'm always serious when I'm working on a case!"

Harvey defended himself.

"Harvey, do you really think those things in the exhibition hall were all prepared by the Phantom Thief?"

Suddenly, Jim asked.

"Jim, you don't really think I'm that naive, do you?"

Harvey replied in surprise.

"If it was just the gas masks and drill parts, we could say Phantom Thief disguised himself as maintenance and placed them there. But that secret route? I can't believe Phantom Thief had enough time to dig that."

"And I don't believe that guy would use a simple way like a tunnel to escape."

Jim nodded and became serious.

"The most likely person to have dug that secret course is the one who designed the separate exhibition hall, Lily."

"I ordered a few of my men to keep a close eye on Lily just now, but they lost track of her, and there's no trace of her on the surveillance footage."

...

Meanwhile, Barbara and Dick had discreetly changed into the Batgirl and Robin suits and quietly approached a bathroom inside the exhibition hall.

The women's bathroom

"She's inside."

Barbara looked at the signal location displayed on her tablet and turned to Dick.

"I'll go in first to check. When I signal, you can come in."

Dick nodded.

Barbara approached the bathroom door silently and swung it open abruptly.

"Wow, you look even more like Batman than Robin. I guess you're the Batgirl they talk about in the newspapers, right?"

A seductive voice came from inside.

There stood a sexy woman wearing a tight black leather suit and pants, a black mask, and two cat ears on her head. She held a long leather whip in her hand.

She seemed to be at least two levels more attractive than Barbara.

...

A/N: If we reach 700 power stones today, I will release an additional chapter tomorrow.

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