Meanwhile, late in the afternoon, at the central police station, Paul entered a specialized investigation room. He walked up to a man in a rumpled shirt, messy hair, who was smoking and staring unblinkingly at a computer monitor.

"How's it going, John? The commander asked me to help with the investigation... You haven't gone home since yesterday?" Paul asked.

The man, who was called John, turned to look at Paul standing beside him. His eyes looked weary, his face seemed much older than his age, and there were dark bags under his eyes.

"Oh... it's you, Paul," John replied.

"What are you looking at?" Paul asked, leaning down to look at the monitor.

Paul saw the CCTV footage from when the smoke began to appear in the exhibition room, and shortly after, the gem vanished as the smoke started to clear. John kept replaying the footage repeatedly.

"Hmm... how did he do it," Paul muttered.

"Didn't you deal with the Phantom Cat before? Is that why you were sent here?" John asked.

"Yeah, at the school and that embezzlement case," Paul answered.

"So what do you think about yesterday's robbery?" John asked.

"Hmm... same as before. He likes taking gems like the 'ancient obsidian onyx' that was on display... but something's strange. He actually warned us about the suicide bombing plot carried out by five people, and the detonator holder died on the spot," Paul answered.

"That part is true. If those five bombs had gone off, the entire museum would have been destroyed. Frankly, we should be grateful to the Phantom Cat for that, but why did he take the gem? What's his motive?" John asked, staring back at his monitor curiously.

"Hey, is this the only footage there is?" Paul asked, pointing at the monitor.

"We have all the CCTV footage from every point for one hour before the incident," John answered.

"Can I take a look?" Paul asked.

"Go ahead," John replied.

They finally started watching the recordings one by one in every room of the museum, in the exhibition hall, and in the corridor connecting the two buildings. Paul could see elementary school kids on a field trip, some foreign visitors, several vigilant security guards, and so on. When they got to the recording of the corridor connecting the two buildings,

"John, stop," Paul said.

"Huh... what do you see?" John asked.

"Rewind a little, slowly," Paul answered.

John rewound slowly, so the footage played step-by-step. Then they saw Dylan appear, pull the man who bumped into him, pin him to the wall, and they saw Dylan open his stomach, and shortly after, Dylan disappeared. John's eyes, which had been drowsy, immediately widened.

"Huh... we missed this... that man... one of the bomb carriers, and the hooded man must be..."

"The Phantom Cat... no doubt about it. He vanished after taking one step. The camera can't lie," Paul said, completing John's sentence.

"This is interesting... so he was in the museum at that time," John replied.

"Print this frame, John... and enlarge it. Too bad he's wearing a hood, so his face isn't clearly visible," Paul replied.

"Alright," John replied, wiping his face then standing up.

***

The next day, Monday, when class began, "thud," Lena suddenly rushed into the classroom late.

"Ugh... why are you just arriving now? Hurry up and sit down," the teacher said.

"Y-yes, sir," Lena replied.

Maya, Amy, and Ellie were confused because they knew for a fact that Lena was at home. In the morning,

"Have a good day at school, I'm staying home," Lena had said cheerfully, waving and smiling.

"Must be nice for you, getting to stay home... and all alone too," Maya replied.

"Don't go out, it's dangerous," Ellie added.

"Don't cause any trouble at home," Amy added, short and to the point.

"Okay, okay, got it. Hurry up and leave, or you'll be late. Dylan has already left, right?" Lena replied, urging her friends to go.

Then they had gone off together. Back in the classroom, they were annoyed to see Lena arrive. Lena casually walked in, then sat at her desk and started taking out her books. Then Ellie, Amy, and Maya all turned to look at Dylan, who was resting his head on his desk and seemed to be asleep, as usual.

Maya, who sat near Lena, immediately tossed a paper onto Lena's desk. Of course, Lena opened and read it.

"Why are you at school? You promised you wouldn't go... what if your mom shows up, this is weak," Maya said.

Lena smiled and turned to look at Maya. Then she mouthed the words "don't worry, relax," using her lips. The lesson continued. Ellie, Maya, and Amy kept glancing at Lena, who was cheerfully paying attention to what the teacher was saying—which was only prep for college entrance exams or introducing advanced college subjects. They also glanced at Dylan, who still seemed to be sound asleep and wasn't being bothered by the teacher.

Since school was relaxed due to graduation approaching and they were just fulfilling the academic year quota, the teacher was just sitting casually in the front, letting the students relax, talk, and study if needed. Suddenly, "ding... dong... ding," the speaker bell rang. An announcement was read: a call for Lena to go to the administration office because her parents were looking for her, claiming a family matter. Without thinking twice, Lena immediately stood up and calmly walked out of the classroom. After that, Dylan suddenly woke up and sat up straight in the class, staring blankly at the board.

Ellie, Maya, and Amy became even more confused. Then they looked at each other and wanted to leave the class, but when they looked at Dylan, Dylan had vanished. Without further delay, the three of them raised their hands to ask permission for the restroom and stood up, then walked out without waiting for the teacher's permission, since it was definitely allowed. But just as they stepped out, they were confused to see Dylan standing leaning against the wall.

"Where are you going?" Dylan asked.

"To follow Lena," Ellie answered.

"Don't. Let Lena solve her problem herself," Dylan replied.

"But what if she can't?" Maya asked anxiously.

"Trust Lena," Dylan replied.

"Pooof," Dylan suddenly exploded and disappeared, startling the three girls half to death. "Huh," the three of them said in unison. "Dling," a message came into all three of their smartphones. They immediately looked at their phones. Someone had sent a message to their family group chat, which contained a photo of Lena relaxing on the sofa, taking a selfie with the caption, "boooored." "Huh," the three of them were shocked again to see Lena wearing casual clothes, watching television, and pouting about being bored.

"Wait a minute... if Lena is at home... then who came here?" Maya asked.

"It must be Dylan," Amy answered.

"No way, Dylan was sleeping in his chair just now... this is weird," Ellie replied, thinking.

While the three girls were confused, Lena walked toward the administration office. She used her body double skill, and "pooof," a figure of Dylan appeared walking behind her.

"Alright, now let's go meet Lena's mom," Dylan said in his head.

[Yes, sir.]

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