Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 107 The Invisible Intruder

Artists have different attitudes toward their sketching models.

Some masters neurotically demand that their models remain absolutely still, flying into a rage at the slightest movement; while other artists don't care about such things, continuing to paint even if the model suddenly runs away, as if sketching has nothing to do with the reference object.

The owner of the Yati Pavilion is probably somewhere in between the two types.

During those forty minutes, the bored little fire monkeys had changed their poses several times. The artist didn't say anything, but silently picked up a large number of colored threads from the palette and skillfully embedded them into the canvas, his expression one of deep thought.

Judging from the occasional gasps of surprise from the onlookers, the painting must have been quite good.

However, towards the end of the painting process, Mr. Ayti himself began to frown frequently, perhaps making some artistic considerations. He was seen gesturing with the tweezers he was using as a paintbrush, whether to confirm Hugo's proportions or to achieve a certain cinematic effect, it's unclear...

Faced with the painter engrossed in his work, Hugo didn't know what pose to adopt, so he simply continued reading his e-book. Immersing himself in reading slightly relieved the detective from the awkwardness of being watched, but the stares of passersby were still very bothersome, making the reading experience far less enjoyable than before.

Sigh, I really shouldn't have chosen to read here...

The babysitter insects continuously provide the paint for Adi's paintings, swinging their sickle-shaped forelegs, and producing a large number of silk threads from the sleeves cut from green leaves, which flow into the palette.

His owner sometimes uses his "paintbrush" to adjust the angle of the silk threads; sometimes he grabs a handful of "paint" and splashes it boldly onto the canvas, because the paint is made of silk threads and he doesn't have to worry about getting his hands dirty.

In this agonizingly slow period of restlessness, the detective devoured his book. As if trying to distract himself with the dense information, Hugo swiped through the tablet at lightning speed, silently praying that the sketching trip would end soon… Finally!

It's unknown whether Arceus's spirit in heaven heard the detective's prayer.

As Mr. Ayti was finishing his sketching session, a sudden shout rang out from the street corner behind Hugo—

"Oh no! The art museum has been attacked!"

This unexpected turn of events instantly ignited the crowd, and the pedestrians who had been quietly watching outside suddenly became restless.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a middle-aged man in an art museum security uniform rushed out of the museum door directly opposite Hugo.

When he saw Mr. Yati sketching across the street, his expression became even more flustered, and he even instinctively took two steps back, wanting to retreat back into the art museum.

But in the end, the staff member made up his mind, jogged over to the owner of the Yati Museum, and breathlessly said to the artist—

"Mr. Yati, something terrible has happened! All four paintings you displayed at the Feiyun Art Museum have been vandalized! Have you seen any thieves coming out of the museum?"

Upon hearing this, Hugo, sitting on the bench, narrowed his eyes and, instead of looking around for the bandits, began to observe Mr. Atti's reaction.

Upon hearing that his painting had been destroyed, the great artist's face froze instantly, as if he had suffered a great loss of vitality. At first, he was just stunned, but then his expression gradually became distressed. He shook his head at the same time as his assistant, the nanny, who was following behind him.

"This has happened? This world is truly full of surprises..."

In the end, Mr. Yati showed no anger whatsoever, but simply said this with a sense of helplessness.

.

"Detective Hugo, your agency's business never seems to stop. You just dealt a heavy blow to an evil organization from out of town, and this morning, the director is already out on the street personally soliciting clients. Has the detective industry become this cutthroat?"

Policewoman Sera, dressed in a beige police uniform and wearing square-framed glasses, scrutinized the detective with a suspicious look.

Her boss, Officer Jenny, was on leave today, leaving her to work the shift at the police station. Clearly, working alone was making the deputy quite unhappy.

“Your tone of voice is starting to sound more and more like Officer Jenny’s,” Hugo retorted irritably. “I was just going for a walk; who knew I’d run into something like this? Besides, I didn’t even take on this case…”

Who could have predicted this?

After the detective and the gym leader entered the art museum, they witnessed a tragic scene—

On the display wall directly opposite the entrance of the art museum, four paintings by Mr. Atti used to hang side by side. But now, the wall is as white and empty as a clean snowfield, forming a stark contrast with the mess on the ground.

"Ooh..."

Hugo heard the insect artist beside him emit a short, mournful cry, like the last groan of an old cricket before winter.

Although I had already heard from the staff that the painting had been destroyed, what I saw before me was still too shocking.

All four canvases were divided into countless small pieces, with wisps of silk scattered at the edges, and some cracks still connected by a few swaying thin threads, like a prodigal son looking back longingly at his vanished homeland.

Needless to say, the vibrant colors woven from insect silk on the canvas were completely crumpled, crushed, and dismantled into a murky brown mess, a vulgar swamp.

The detective lives in Feiyun City and has, of course, visited the Feiyun City Art Museum.

He also recalled that the four damaged silk paintings were Mr. Artie's most famous works, which were themed around the "Four Virtues" and were named "Wisdom," "Courage," "Temperance," and "Justice."

The work uses symbolism to depict four historical events that shine with the light of human ideals in the history of Feiyun City, from its initial settlement to its development into a cosmopolitan metropolis that embraces all cultures.

These four paintings were on display in this art museum for nearly ten years, welcoming and seeing off tens of thousands of visitors, and now they have finally come to their end.

In Hugo's view, the current events were far too ironic—

Moral nobility was overthrown and torn to shreds by unjustified violence.

The murderer didn't even bother with theft; he was merely mocking ideals in the name of cruel reality—look around the world, wisdom has vanished, courage is gone, materialism is rampant, justice is hard to find, where are the four virtues anymore?

This is not only a destruction of art, but also an insult to art.

Who on earth would commit such an atrocity against an artwork that is neither able to resist nor cry for help?

"Alright, let's begin the statement taking now." The policewoman's calm, routine voice interrupted Hugo's recollection. "Now, tell me, who was present when you entered the art museum?"

"There were six people in total: myself, Yati, the security guard who discovered the crime scene, the museum director, the ticket seller, and a tourist visiting the museum."

Hugo answered without hesitation, then casually asked—

"Speaking of which, I shouldn't be the one being questioned, right? Compared to the other five people, I'm just a passerby who got involved unintentionally. If you want to know more information, you should ask the ones who are connected to the art museum, right?"

“We need to know what happened outside the art museum at the time of the incident. Mr. Yati is a celebrity in Feiyun City; he greeted the chief and left. The security guard's testimony alone is not reliable enough, and he didn't know what happened outside before he left,” Sera said expressionlessly.

"Fine, I guess I'm just unlucky." Hugo didn't bother to argue and crossed his legs in the interrogation room. "You just mentioned the phrase 'at the time of the incident,' so does that mean the time when the artwork was damaged has been determined?"

“That’s the strange thing. It’s as if the paintings in the museum were damaged by an invisible person.” Miss Sera pushed up her glasses.

"The first person to notice the anomaly was the ticket seller at 10:15 a.m., and just ten minutes earlier, the only visitor in the museum saw the complete 'Four Virtues' artwork when the doors opened. During this time, the ticket seller and security guard kept an eye on the museum's entrance, but they both said that they had not seen anyone else enter the museum between the two points in time."

"Hugo, I'll ask you one more time. From your perspective, sitting on the bench directly opposite the museum, were the only people you mentioned really the only ones who entered the museum this morning?"

"Oh, yes."

Without the slightest hesitation, the detective shrugged and spoke with ease.