Reporters always have a sharp sense for news. Before dawn, reporters from all the major TV stations were already gathered in front of the museum. A bunch of writers from different newspapers also rushed over as soon as they heard.
"Iselin, count down from three." A skinny Asian guy, speaking fluent English, told the curvy blonde host in front of him to get ready to shoot. He signaled for her to stop adjusting her neckline—her chest was already showing enough, no need to pull it lower.
Iselin gave him an OK sign.
"Three, two, one."
"Hello everyone, this is Gotham City Channel 3. It's now 1:30 in the morning. Just an hour and a half ago, the Apollo gem, the prized treasure of the Gotham Museum, was stolen. The Apollo gem is a rare yellow gem, smooth on the surface, formed back in the Cretaceous period, and is estimated to be worth eighty million US dollars. The police haven't released any details about the thief yet. For more, stay tuned to Gotham City Channel 3 news."
"OK!" The cameraman waved.
The beautiful host let out a breath of relief and quickly buttoned up her shirt. As a woman, she didn't want to be mistaken for some streetwalker, especially at night. Gotham City was never peaceful after dark.
Gotham City Channel 3 was a tiny TV station, with fewer than twenty people working there, including post-production staff and even the cleaning lady. The station only ran real-time news, and the rest of the time it played old TV shows that nobody really watched.
But Iselin was a top university graduate. No one understood why she ended up at a third-rate TV station. With her degree and stunning looks, she could easily land a better job at a top media outlet like Gotham City Channel 1. Yet, Iselin became Liu A'dou's colleague.
Liu A'dou was the skinny Asian cameraman, though skinny only compared to the big Western guys. He was one of the two cameramen at Channel 3, the other being the station director, who only did amateur filming. Liu A'dou had been partnered with Iselin for a month, but didn't know much about his beautiful coworker.
Inside the broadcast van, Liu A'dou set down the camera and reviewed the footage they just shot—it would air during the 7 AM morning news.
Iselin also got into the van, sitting right next to Liu A'dou, the scent of her perfume already in the air. "Field reporting is so exhausting. Maybe I should switch places with the in-studio host."
The in-studio host was a middle-aged handsome guy named John, also a friend of the station director. They were the ones who started Channel 3. Of course, Liu A'dou knew Iselin was just venting—over the past month, she'd complained about this more than ten times but never once actually tried to become the in-studio host. Liu A'dou knew Iselin actually loved being on the front line, facing danger.
"Today's footage looks great. I didn't miss a single bit of your beauty. The audience is going to be amazed." Liu A'dou had full confidence in his filming skills.
"Which me is more beautiful? The one on camera, or the real me?" Iselin suddenly asked. It was just a random thought, but there was definitely a bit of flirtation in it.
Liu A'dou was a good-looking guy, but only by East Asian standards. Westerners had different tastes, and he had no idea what Iselin thought of him.
Right after asking, Iselin realized she had misspoken and quickly said, "Forget what I just said. Maybe I'm still tipsy from the wine I had with dinner. My head's still a bit fuzzy. Just pretend I didn't say anything."
"Take care of yourself." Liu A'dou let out a small sigh of relief. Iselin was indeed beautiful, but he wasn't thinking about marriage yet.
"I will." Iselin seemed a bit odd.
"I'll send today's footage back to the station."
"Other TV stations probably have the same stuff. We need something juicier." Iselin said, but scoops weren't that easy to find, especially since she didn't have any connections at the police station.
Liu A'dou thought he wouldn't mind leaking something himself, but that would expose who he really was. "Maybe we can wait for the detective to come out and then rush up to get some explosive inside info."
Iselin laughed at A'dou's joke. "Looks like you're even more naive than me. If the police talked that easily, they wouldn't be cops. But I think we can go ask the museum staff. Liu, grab the camera and follow me."
Liu A'dou carefully followed behind Iselin, circling around to the back of the museum.
The front of the museum faced Bright Avenue, but behind it was a narrow, dirty alley. This was typical of Gotham City—no matter how flashy the buildings were in front, there was always a dark alley behind them, a perfect breeding ground for crime.
"I know there's an old abandoned back door here. We can sneak in and find some staff to get the truth," Iselin said.
She was acting crazy tonight—was it really the alcohol? Liu A'dou wondered. Or maybe it was that time of the month, and she was just in a bad mood, needing to blow off steam?
"Found it." It was a door blocked by piles of junk, and the round lock was already broken—basically impossible to open.
The junk was mostly wooden crates, clearly left here by someone too lazy to throw them out properly. These crates, used to protect museum pieces, had just been dumped in the alley.
"Moldy." Liu A'dou handed the camera to Iselin and started moving the junk. The moldy smell was strong. But even with the junk cleared, the door still wouldn't open. "The lock's busted. Looks like we're out of luck."
Iselin didn't think so. She stood in front of the door, raised her foot, and kicked it. Crack — a hole appeared in the door. It didn't open, but it broke. Her foot got stuck. "Liu, give me a hand."
Liu A'dou grabbed her right away. "Iselin, didn't know your legs were that strong."
"I did taekwondo in college, and I was on the main team," Iselin said proudly. Luckily, the door was old and rotting inside, so it broke easily under pressure.
Inside was a messy storage room, dark, but the camera had night vision, so they quickly found a way through.
Carefully, they made their way into the museum, needing to find staff without being caught by the cops. Otherwise, the police would wipe all their footage.
"Captain Gordon, nothing found. Just that guard still rambling nonsense," a cop said.
Gordon. The famous Gordon? Hiding in the shadows, Liu A'dou glanced at the man. Slicked-back hair, thick mustache on both sides of his upper lip, wearing brown square-framed glasses. He had on a tan trench coat, a bit worn. His whole look gave off an old-school vibe, and his attitude matched it.
"Don't miss a single shot," Iselin whispered, then noticed something inside the display case. "Film the case, there's something there."
"Got it," Liu A'dou replied.
"Kaitou Kid?" Gordon sighed. Gotham was already wild enough, and now a new criminal shows up.
Gordon had the notice in hand. This thief wasn't ordinary. Sending a bold, open warning and treating the cops like his audience—too arrogant. "At midnight, under the moonlight, I will take Apollo — Kaitou Kid." Arrogant, indeed. But what criminal in Gotham wasn't? Who here actually feared the police? Being a cop in Gotham was about the most thankless job there was.
Big news. A brand-new criminal—not Scarecrow, not Riddler, not Penguin, not that crazy Joker either, but someone entirely new. Kaitou Kid. Amazing. Iselin knew she had struck gold. This story was hers now. But she needed more, needed details, had to find that guard—he definitely knew more.
Right now, the guard, Pantheon, was resting in the staff room. He couldn't leave until the police were satisfied. Two officers were watching him since he couldn't prove he wasn't involved. Sure, they'd find out soon enough he wasn't the thief, but for now, he was still a suspect.
There was no way she could just walk in and question him. But Iselin's eyes lit up with an idea. "Liu, you stay here. I'm going in."
Liu A'dou nodded. If she got caught, it wouldn't be a big deal. He was curious to see what she had in mind.