The case had landed on my desk like any other; a string of art thefts in Melbourne that had the local galleries shaking in their boots. The latest heist had taken place in Toorak. A gold-flecked Monet, gone. Swiped right under their noses. I packed up my kit and headed to the gallery, the echoes of the Melbourne traffic like a steady drumbeat on my drive.
The gallery was a modern affair, art draped across walls like candy. I tried not to lose myself in the rich swirls of paint and focused on the task at hand. As I scoured the place for clues, a maintenance guy caught my attention. He was dealing with the gallery’s air conditioning repair services near Toorak, a task that seemed menial in the face of a missing masterpiece. Still, I had a hunch, and hunches had a habit of paying off.
I left the main gallery and slipped into the hum and clank of the HVAC system. I ran my hands along the unit, feeling the mechanical heart that cooled the valuable works. There it was: signs of tampering. The grille, bent. The internal wiring, tweaked. This was more than a service issue. A pang of curiosity buzzed in my gut. Was there a connection between these thefts and the AC units?
Returning to my office, I kicked my feet up and leaned back, my mind racing. This was more than an odd coincidence. I grabbed my phone, deciding to book an air conditioning repair in Armadale, preparing for the next hit in the heist chain. I was beginning to see a pattern, and it was as intriguing as it was unusual.
As I dialled the repair service, I mused over the peculiar twist this case had taken. An art thief using AC units as a decoy or smuggling route? Now, that was something I hadn’t seen before.
Oh, but that’s just the nature of the game. In this business, you’ve got to stay cool – even when the case heats up.