Trafford's Trading Club

It was about the sunrise. Victor was hugging his wife, enjoying his sweet dream in a holiday hotel in the suburbs. It was then when he was awoken by a call.

A call from the police station.

He was on vacation when he received the call, so he had to end his vacation early. Now, he was rushing to the Tretyakov Gallery at the center of the city.

”Coffee or milk?”

When Victorʼs assistant got off the car, he trotted over with two cups of drink. However, Victor signalled to decline his offer and went straight across the crowd to the cordon.

The young sheriff, Yelgo, shrugged as usual and casually opened a bottle of milk and drank it up. After a quick burp, he took another sip of coffee and followed him.

ʼIt isnʼt wise to waste food, so Iʼd better drink it myself.ʼ

Victor, who was busy working ahead, shouted loudly as he clapped his hands, ”I want to see the head of the gallery and the security guards within half an hour. Meanwhile, get the police to investigate the alibi of people who were bailed out last night and whoever who has just served their jail term. And donʼt let any journalists sneak in! Hurry up!”

After that, Victor snapped his finger several times towards Yelgo who was behind.

Yelgo hasten his steps, and came to Victor. When he was about to say something, Victor had already taken hold of his cup of coffee. As he took a sip, he headed towards the gallery---the crime spot.

Yelgo wanted to say something, but he has now changed his mind...

Quickly following the steps of Victor, Yelgo said in a hurry, ”The theft was discovered at five oʼclock in the morning during the security patrol. The overtime shift was at three oʼclock in the morning. I have done the initial investigation. No suspicious sounds or traces were found. Nothing was out of the ordinary.”

”Between three and five oʼclock?” Victor nodded, ”Nothing special...Itʼs impossible to avoid the galleryʼs surveillance camera. Did you find any leads on the scene?”

”No, not even a shoe print.” Yelgo frowned, ”Iʼve examined the place thoroughly. The windows were locked from the inside and there were no evident traces of people walking around. Itʼs almost as if the painting had vanished into thin air. ”

”Vanished into thin air?” Victor stopped and snorted, ”Do you think this is a magicianʼs performance?”

”I didnʼt mean that. It is just very confusing.”

The two soon arrived at the place where the stolen ”The Nameless Maiden” was placed. Victor, after putting on gloves and shoe covers, came close to the wall and examined it with his eyes narrowed.

Yelgo had examined this criminal spot for more than half an hour and still had no clues. He was only trying to find out exactly how the painting was stolen.

Whatʼs more, it was only the painting inside the frame that was stolen...This frame, was still there untouched!

”Mr. Victor, do you think it is also F&C this time?” Yelgo commented lightly out of blue.

Victor was slightly shocked but he frowned with a nasty face.

…

”Freedom&Clown?”

Boss Luo was in a good mood after he woke up in the morning.

In order to carry out the tour of his visit to Moscow, Luo Qiu had visited a number of tourist spots in the morning. He was now sitting down in an open-air café recommended by You Ye. He was told that the dessert in this café was pretty good.

Boss Luo already knew that the servant girl did not need to eat, then the question was---how exactly did she know whether the dessert was tasty or not?

The answer was probably, based on the appearance ...

To ease consumption, You Ye was cutting the cake carefully into smaller pieces with a small fork. As for Luo Qiu ... Well, as the clubʼs boss, he was reading newspaper idly.

The maid, who was supposed to be very familiar with Moscow, did not give an immediate answer. She took the newspaper from Luo Qiu, and then whispered after a glance, ”It seems to be the thief who became famous recently.”

If the thief had appeared only after they left the club, it was not surprising that she hadnʼt heard about the incident.

Luo Qiu was rather interested, ”Well, it is interesting for someone to use ʼFreedom and Clownʼ as a nickname.”

Boss Luo thought further with interest, ”Do you think the thief would wear a clown mask when it commits crimes?”

You Ye read the newspaper once more, thinking, ”According to the report, F&C has successfully committed more than 10 crimes, and each time F&C has escaped successfully... Well, there were a few times where F&C left clues before the actual theft. In other times, the public was only informed after the crime. Therefore, it is hardly possible to find out F&Cʼs pattern of crime. No one knows F&Cʼs gender for certain. This time, ʼThe Nameless Maidenʼ may be also be stolen by F&C. Perhaps people will soon see the report.”

Under the guidance of You Ye, Boss Luo had applied for a VK account and was now logged in. He found that people on this social website were all discussing about the stolen painting.

” ʼFreedom and Clownʼ seems to have many fans.” Luo Qiu began to scan through the stories about the thief, ”... Well, after each crime, F&C will donate the money to charity under its own name? In this society, there are people who would steal the money of the rich and give it to the poor. Oh... A statement has been made.”

This was a video uploaded to VK.

Before a white background, one could only see a figure with a clown mask and a black hat. The audio of the video clip was distorted. Indeed, it was really impossible to distinguish whether the figure was a male or female.

”I am F&C, ʼThe Nameless Maidenʼ that disappeared last night at the gallery, is now in my hands.”

Only one sentence was uttered. In a few seconds, the video had ended within a blink. Nevertheless, it aroused a heated discussion.

Some doubted that this was not the real F&C, because the statement came out too soon.

Yet, there were those who argued that it might be F&C, because F&C has always been unpredictable.

But most of the discussion centred on the charity organisation that F&C would donate the money to--- even bids on the amount of this donation were discussed with consideration of the high value ”The Nameless Maiden”.

”To this beautiful lady, may I have the honour to perform a magic trick for you?”

A voice was heard in the seat located in front of them, Luo Qiu and You Ye raised their heads at the same time. A pair of neat, white palms with slender fingers first came into their sight.