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Inspector Poon
put out his cigarette out on an expensive-looking statue and walked
deeper into the recesses of the Fitzroy Museum.
In the Renaissance exhibit he spotted Alexander Hollendasch, the
museum's curator. Poon approached Hollendasch slowly and cautiouslywhile
questioning a ticket booth operator some minutes earlier, Poon
had been horrified when the operator had exploded in a wave of
shrieking bats, and was on his guard for similar foolishness from
Hollendasch. He considered it a lucky break that he had smoked
a little bit of that most calming of cocainesthe ol' crack
cocaine, sturdy nemesis of the bat-cloudbefore coming. Poon
shuddered at what might have happened if the drug hadn't soothed
him in the face of such unforeseen circumstances.
Watched
over by Poon's carefully trained and somewhat bloodshot eye, Hollendasch
remained in a non shower-of-bats-like state for several minutes.
Poon deemed it safe to approach.
Hollendasch
quickly revealed himself to be inconsolable. Poon breathed a sigh
of relief, since that meant he wouldn't be obligated to try. "The
Victoria Diamond has been stolen!" Hollendasch exclaimed.
Inspector Poon patted Hollendasch on the back mildly for several
minutes, but quickly became irritated by his incessant sobbing
and excused himself to find a bathroom, where he polished off
a bottle of vodka and fiddled a bit with the watch he'd borrowed
from the Winkle corpse a few days earlier. There were several
interesting functions that he couldn't figure out how to program
for the life of him.
Thinking quickly, Poon also removed his shirt and washed himself
a little in the sink. He prided himself that the landlord who'd
put the padlock on the door
of his apartment hadn't suspected Poon would be so resourceful.
We'll see who comes crawling back to whom, he surmised.
He returned to the crime scene and surveyed it with a single glance
of his steely, still-bloodshot eyes. An officer watched him in
awe for several moments, and Poon allowed his gaze to become even
steelier in an attempt to impress. His reputation was growing
amongst the younger officers, he could see.
It was soon helpfully pointed out to him that he was naked from
the waist up. Poon thanked everyone calmly, then walked backwards
into the bathroom to find his shirt.
Once he returned, his keen eyes surveyed the scene. In the center
of the room was a large case where the diamond had been. The glass
around it was intact, and the large lock had not moved an inch.
Motion-sensitive lasers mounted on the walls had not been tampered
with. The police had examined the skylight window for hours, and
had not found any indication that someone had touched it. It seemed
impossible, in short, that the diamond could be missing.
Inspector Poon observed the scene for a moment before calling
Hollendasch over.
"The
air here is very cold," Poon observed.
"Yes," replied Hollendasch. "We recently installed
a state-of-the-art ventilation system."
"You must care for this museum a great deal," said Inspector
Poon.
Hollendasch agreed that this was indeed the case.
"Then
why did you steal the diamond?" Inspector Poon asked,
pumping his fist in the air and throwing an imaginary football
to the ground in a mock-touchdown dance.
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How did Inspector Poon know that Hollendasch had
stolen his own diamond?
Because Inspector
Poon had asked Hollendasch to steal it two days
before. Together they had crafted a scheme involving
Hollendasch sneaking the diamond through the newly-installed
ventilation system to Poon waiting outside with
the car running.
Once
Poon obtained the diamond, he quickly sold Hollendasch
out and took a long vacation to sunny Thailand,
where the money was spent in a matter of days.
While there, Inspector Poon made it a point only
to solve cases involving the cheapest of underage
prostitutes and the priciest of amphetamines.
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