Link to article: Arsène Lupin In: Money Stalks..
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===== [[include component:preview text=Or: "Twofold Criminality". ]] ===== [[include :scp-wiki:theme:monotypical]] [[=]] [[module rate]] [[/=]] + Arsène Lupin In: Money Stalks. Waking up in the morning, about 9AM, is one [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-6000-j Jay Gatsby]. He stands proper and tall, looking out of the window of his beautifully expensive, extravagant mansion. He goes into his walk-in closet, and he pulls one of his suits out of it. It was washed, dried, and ironed by his in-house servants, all paid for with the money that he was able to blackmail out of the Disney Corporation for having created him in the first place. It was all below board, certainly, but it was driving his ability to live the lifestyle he //remembered//. Of course he would never leak this to the media, he would have a bigger target on his head than just Disney, but it worked. Of course, he was never quite happy-- What person with his kind of wealth would be? He had so many things to be unhappy about, prime of all being the apparent fate of the lover he remembered, but he would drown himself in alcohol once more tonight to forget it all again. He steps outside of his bedroom and finds the halls //completely plundered// of all his trinkets and medals and everything he had found fit to collect. A servant, holding a contractor bag of trash, comes up the stairs and screams. "Oh my!" He runs down the stairs, followed by Gatsby, who screams for him to call someone! A detective! Anyone! ---- The heavy-set former police lieutenant takes a puff of his cigar, standing alongside the distraught billionaire who had hired him. He had been taking some some Private Investigator work recently, as he had been asked to retire given the fact that he was a fictional character. The precinct couldn't handle controversy, mostly from the Foundation. It all worked out, though. He enjoyed investigating, and he would always find another case or two to look into. Columbo takes a look down the looted hallway once more, and clicks his tongue, formulating some words. "Yeeep. Looks like your things've been pilfered, Mister Gatsby." "Is that the only conclusion that you could've possibly been drawn to?" He huffs. "Oh, nah. This is just pre-liminary. You gotta give me a little t'call in some of my pals for further investigation, yeah?" Columbo gives a small cough, holding a nearly fully extinguished cigar. "Got an ashtray?" "Just let it fall. My servants will clean." The host states, before throwing his arms up. "I'll be retreating to my quarters for now. Call me when you have something." He walks off, slamming the door to his bedroom, with the heavy clunk of locks very audible. He gently stretches and turning to head back down the stairs, when he comes face to face with a man, dressed in servant's attire. He gives a small, confused look, before a smile. "Hey there." The man was impeccably well groomed, a small mustache on his face, and a tidied look about him generally. "I thought all the servants were off today?" The Lieutenant queries. "Well," He speaks with a heavy French accent. "I did not hear of this. Ah, thank you, //monsieur//." He gives a small bow, walking down the stairs. It is here that Columbo notices a heavy trash-bag in his hands, as he walks down the steps. ---- Lieutenant Columbo scans across the hall, taking some notes of what was stolen. A vintage lantern, an assortment of Roman Coins, a solid gold bar engraved with Gatsby's name... They were all snatched completely without any prints, or anything identifying. He opened drawers, scoped all of this, until he opened a drawer under where a vase was stolen. There was a small piece of paper sitting inside of it, folded so that the contents of the letter would not be seen. He slowly unfolds it, finding a note with perfect handwriting, reading about a guy that Columbo had heard quite a bit 'bout, with the whole Foundation fiasco. Arsène Lupin. Well, this just got a bit more complicated than some cat-burglar, but Columbo had some thought about what was going on. He lights up another cigar, taking a large puff of it. Almost sneaking up behind him was the servant from yesterday, holding another large black contractor bag. "Well, hey there." The lieutenant gives a smile. "Good to see a familiar face, I just got a few questions for'ya. Just some general things 'bout the mansion." The servant gives a small smile. "Of course, //monsieur.// What is there to ask of?" "You see anyone y'didn't recognize, later at night?" He gives a small moment of consideration to the thought, and nods. "//Oui//, I believe I did, Lieutenant. There was some man slipping through the window that points out at the front lawn during one of //Monsieur// Gatsby's late-night parties. I was going to retire, as I usually clean during the day, but I watched him slip in and take many trinkets from the house." "You were followin' 'em?" "Oh, why, yes. I was." "Why didn't'cha try to stop 'em?" The Lieutenant queries. "I was worried, you do understand, //non//? People here in America carry guns everywhere, I fear much for my life with someone such as that." Columbo nods. "Reasonable fear, Mister...?" He waves his hand a little. "Oh, yes, my latter name is Loup. François Loup." "Well, it's nice to meetcha proper, Mister Loup." Columbo shakes his hand, a big, stupid smile on his face. "Reminds me of my wife, y'know? She learned French in school, y'see, and she says it with me sometimes. Real nice language, sir. You come from France?" "I do, I do, I moved here when I was about," He taps his chin, formulating something. "//Douze//, or so." "Well, Mister Loup, what do y'do around here? I was wonderin', y'know? I haven't actually seen any of your work, I've been so caught up in my own, yeah?" Loup gives a small smile. "Why, I take out all of the various trashes in the house, and I clean in the morning after //Monsieur// Gatsby's parties. If I'm lacking duties, I often polish all of the glasses-- The parties use many of those, you see, and it is required for them to be clean for every party." "Oh, of course, yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. I was just wonderin', you know? I get these fears 'bout stuff, and I just need to get stuff clarified for it. Well, it's real good to meet you, I think I gotta get back to checkin' the display cases for this stuff-- This thief is great at this, though. I hate to say this, but they're clever. Barely any trace of their existence, you know?" Loup's mood seems to drop a little. "No trace? You found... nothing?" "Yep, nothin'. Real good cat-burglar, these types do that." The Lieutenant shrugs. The servant begins searching around the desks where the items were stolen, looking in drawers, and finding nothing. He gets more frantic with every drawer, seemingly checking the same one twice. "Y'see? Real hard to find anything, but, I'm gonna scour around for any fingerprints." Columbo starts to walk down the stairs, before the servant yelps. "Wait! Wait!" He runs to the stairs, regaining his composure as he stands next to the Lieutenant. "Did you not check our cameras?" "Cameras?" Columbo tilts his head. "Didn't see any 'round." "Well, of course not-- //Monsieur// Gatsby has them hidden, so that they would not get smashed by any would-be thieves. Ask him about it, he will show you. I must return to my duties, now, but have a glorious day, Lieutenant." Columbo lets out a little "Hm," as he watches the servant travel down the stairs with a pep in his step. He gives a small knock-on Gatsby's door. It takes a moment for Gatsby to answer, and he opens the door, disheveled and obviously hungover. "Ah, hey Mister Gatsby. I was wonderin' if you could take me to the camera-room, let me take a look at all the security footage." Gatsby narrows his eyes at Columbo, and grumbles. "We don't have a camera room. I need to get back to sleep. Tell me when you actually find something." He slams the door in the Lieutenant's face. Bit rude, but, he's gettin' paid quite a bit for this. He can't complain much. ---- The daring, dashing, Arsène Lupin slips down the stairs of the large, lavishly expensive mansion, in his cunning, brilliant disguise. Well, it was one of his last-minute jobs, but it worked fine. Especially because he was still stealing things from right under this Detective Columbo's nose. He held up his trash-bag of pilfered goods, and passed it off to his crew, acting as the get-away drivers. For some reason, he wanted to do this one mostly alone, but he hated to exclude the ones who had helped him get this far completely. He waves a wave to all of them and tells them to flee quickly. It, however, has infuriated him that the Detective has not picked up on any of his clues, so he left a very simple, very big one, plain in the main upstairs hallway, where even the largest dunce would see his mark. ---- The Lieutenant gathered Mr. Gatsby, Loup, and all of his other servants into the dining room, all of the blinds closed, making it extremely dark. Despite the dark, it was the middle of the day, as to not interfere with much of their work. He took his cigarette out of his mouth, tapping a bit of the ash out, and places it back in his mouth. "So, eh." He coughed a bit. "Yeah." Gatsby growled. "Do you have anything of substance to share, or are you just going to //bumble about?//" "Well, yeah, in-fact, Mister Gatsby, I do actually have something. In-fact, I actually got a copy of your security tapes, and I was able to figure out exactly where the burglar went." Columbo gave a smile, and with his smile, it was evident that Gatsby and Loup both deflated emotionally. "You... Found him?" Gatsby let out. "You //found// him?!" Loup let out, outraged. "Of course. Yeah, real simple, combing your security tapes on the cameras--" Gatsby huffed. "I-- I told you-- How did you get the security footage?!" He slammed his hands onto the table, a low growl being released from his throat. "I did everything I could to keep you from it! You bumbling fool! How did-- Did you bribe one of the servants?!" "Bribe? Mister Gatsby, I ain't sure what you're talkin' about. I just got the footage, and I caught your burglar. We got him at the station, and I was just comin' to--" Loup stood, placing his foot on the table, and hoisting himself up. In a Shakespearean tone, he spoke to them. "You've CAUGHT him? Caught some random cat burglar, when in actuality, the true thief was among you the entire time?!" He throws off his disguise, his full suit, hat, and monocle on underneath. "You have not caught me! Arsène Lupin! You have failed, Detective, and you have made a mockery of your entire craft! I left the most conspicuous, //simple// to find clue to my identity, and you FAIL! You are a disgrace to--" The Lieutenant gives a small clap. "Y'know, you really should consider doin' a theatre program. My wife? She loves 'em, goes to every local play that we get put on. I really was expectin' you to be 'ere, Mister Lupin, mostly 'cause I found your note." He takes a slow puff of his cigar. "And uh, Mister Gatsby, I did a little math with a friend o' mine, real good forensic banker, and I figured out that you got a damn good insurance policy on everything stolen. I was wonderin' why you didn't want me to have footage access, but I guess y'wanted him to get away." Columbo shrugged. "Right. Well, let's get goin', you two." They both tilted their head at the detective. "What?" They both asked, in unison. "Well, the boys are 'ere. Let's get goin' and not waste their time. The case's pretty ironclad, y'know." Columbo opened the blinds, to show a few police cruisers outside. Gatsby stood, putting his hands behind his back, and Lupin scoffed, doing the same. "You know I will escape, yes? You have done your research, nobody has held me long in a cell, //enquêteur//." "I did what I was hired to do." Columbo shrugged, smiling and waving off Lupin and Gatsby as they were taken by the police. He knew that Lupin would slip away, but really, he was just doing this all to help tip off a friend. He opened up his flip phone and gave a call. "Herlock, I uh, got your guy. Might wanna give 'em a talk 'fore he gets going."