"Hey, Bruce, you really need to help me out." Diana said as she walked out of the Justice League base, "Help me check the surveillance around the museum. You know, I mean not the official surveillance, but your own kind."
"No problem, ma'am. Who's your target?"
"Any suspicious vehicles," Diana thought for a moment, "Focus on vans or medium-sized cars, but if any small vehicles look suspicious, don't overlook them."
Diana knew her request was somewhat unreasonable, almost as if she hadn't said anything. But she knew Batman could do it. Sure enough, Bruce said, "Alright, I'll check for you now. There are quite a few roads around, and the traffic is quite heavy, it will probably take three hours..."
"Okay, I'll wait for your news." Diana hung up the phone. She thought this was quite good already. As Bruce said, the Metropolitan Museum is located in the city center, and last night was the last night of the Christmas holiday, many people were celebrating into the night, and the traffic was very heavy. If he could sort it out in three hours, Bruce would be as good as having superhuman abilities; nothing more could be expected.
Thinking of this, Diana also considered that although the thief might have acted in the latter half of the night when there were fewer people, the Metropolis is a city that never sleeps; even late at night, the streets wouldn't be empty. Could there be eyewitnesses who noticed something?
With these thoughts, Diana quickly headed to the police station. After explaining the situation, the police were generous enough to start investigating the surrounding streets. There were only a few bars in the area, with high consumption levels, and mostly frequented by regular customers.
The police, along with Diana, inquired around and indeed found several people who were wandering outside in the later part of the night. Unfortunately, those late-night hours were closing time, and most people were heavily drunk. While hanging around nearby was just waiting for rides, none specifically observed the museum, naturally seeing nothing suspicious.
However, the good news was that someone driving to pick someone up noticed a black pickup truck parked by the roadside. Because it was a heavy-duty pickup with an attractive design, he took an extra look. Based on his provided vehicle model, Diana found a similar pickup at a nearby car dealership.
Estimating the size of the relics, she figured they should fit. She hadn't expected them to be so bold, using an open pickup instead of a covered van for transporting goods.
Yet, thinking about it, it made sense. The mural had a painted side, but when flipped over, it was just a slab of stone, and no one would suspect it's a valuable relic. Moreover, the pickup truck is not as large as a van, and with so many people driving pickups in America, it easily blended into the traffic.
Diana thought for a moment, then immediately called Bruce to inform him of the discovery. She thought this would make it easier to narrow down the target, but reviewing surveillance footage still required time and wouldn't be quickly resolved. So, Diana took the eyewitness to point out the spot where the pickup was parked, hoping to find some clues there.
While Diana was circling the place like a donkey on a grindstone, suddenly a car stopped. Diana turned her head and saw this car parked right where the eyewitness pointed as the pickup's spot. Her heart skipped a beat, and the person from the car walked up to her.
"Hello, are you Mistress Prince?"
Diana assessed the suited man. Having spent so long in human society, she could gauge what kind of influence a person belonged to through their aura. This guy in front was exuding a strong politician's smell.
"I am." Diana nodded and said, "What's up?"
"We have some matters to discuss with you. Are you available?"
"No," Diana rejected outright. However, she took another look at the car. Her intuition suggested that the people in this car might be connected to the thieves, and since they dared to come to her door, they probably had other motives. Checking it out might be beneficial.
Though she changed her mind, Diana didn't alter her response. She knew these people wouldn't give up easily.
This time, they didn't pester. The suited man, hearing Diana's refusal, got back into the car and soon left. But shortly afterward, a colleague called Diana.
"Diana, have you seen the news?"
"No, I'm busy hunting down the robbers. Why?"
"You should check it out. Many online are spreading rumors, all pointing at you."
After hanging up, Diana picked up her phone to look at the news. This time, the news was markedly different. If before it was just speculation, this time it was directly targeting her by name. Electronic media similarly had various accounts discussing as if they were the world's greatest detectives, eliminating all impossibilities until only Diana remained.
They insisted that it was Diana using her usual duties to swap the relics beforehand, causing the thieves to steal fakes.
Seeing such comments, Diana wasn't very angry anymore. She realized this could be a trap aimed at her. The whole conspiracy of the relic theft was centered around her, so naturally, the videos and evidence released would intentionally contain flaws to ensnare her into false accusations.
At this moment, Bruce called. He said: "I've found the pickup you mentioned. There are other suspicious vehicles too; I've sent them to your email. Check them out."
Diana opened it up, and Bruce's information was quite comprehensive. She focused on the whereabouts of the pickup and found her suspicions were correct: the slab was indeed loaded onto the pickup, using a surprisingly simple method.
Since the vehicle was very close to the window, and the window was not far from the exhibition wall, they directly used custom-made planks and frames to set up a "track" as wide as the mural, sticking wheels behind the mural. Then the mural, like a train, slid along the track onto the pickup. Once done, they'd pack away the track, stacking them on the pickup without taking much space, and drive off casually.
As for taking down the mural without a hoist, flipping it, and setting it on the track — only the lever principle can be praised as one of humanity's greatest discoveries. Half a ton sounds heavy, but give mankind a lever, and they can lift the Earth, let alone a mural.
Diana had realized that these thieves were quite different from usual ones, possessing a mysteriously steady composure.
The usual thieves, no matter how thorough their plans, would still act hastily when the time came. But the methods deployed by these thieves exuded a sense of unperturbed confidence.
Keep in mind, employing the lever principle or setting up tracks to move the mural required extreme caution and precision. The time they had wasn't plentiful; from late night to dawn was roughly five hours. A typical person would be anxious, even if actions didn't deform, steps and body language would show urgency.
However, the body language from these thieves suggested confidence. This indicated they were highly professional, having precisely calculated the time each step required. Everyone performed their tasks with precision, not knowing who nurtured such operatives.
This calmness and confidence might not stem from their technical prowess, but likely from their backing's reliability.
Hence the saying about fearlessness. These thieves probably believed that even if exposed or unsuccessful, no one could touch them. This proved their backing must be substantial.
Diana realized that her prior thought of making the thieves admit to swapping the relics was nearly impossible because these people weren't merely after money. A bigger conspiracy surely lay behind this, so even if she could find them, it would be hard to clear herself using them.
So, what should be done? Diana began to ponder. It appeared to be a dead end, with no way to prove she didn't swap anything.
Then Diana recalled a theory she once read: that one should never fall into the self-validation trap. But although the theory advised against self-validation, it didn't explain how to avoid trouble without it. Diana was now stuck at this step.
It's not that she couldn't self-validate, it's that she couldn't. So, how could she protect her interests without self-validating?
Unable to figure it out, Diana could only keep investigating. Soon, Victor reported his findings too. The ultimate result left Diana bemused: the email's final address pointed to the National Security Agency.
"I don't believe this is true," Victor said, "It might just be a blind eye technique. Even though there are more than 600 million dark web domains in the NSA's servers, this particular case seems like framing."
Diana sighed. There were two possibilities now: either Shiller was behind it, responsible for everything. This possibility wasn't small, but Diana couldn't chase it down because she couldn't arrest the president's secretary.
Even if Shiller was the ultimate behind-the-scenes manipulator, he wouldn't execute it personally, nor would he admit to swapping relics himself. After all, he didn't have much need to swap them; he created the entire relic.
The other possibility, as Victor suggested, was someone was framing them. Although framing the NSA sounded odd, such an agency is typically filled with mixed influences, where loyalty and betrayal are frequent, so opportunistic maneuvers wouldn't be unusual.
Diana could only ask Victor to continue investigating, hoping to find traces of the framing. Meanwhile, she continued sifting through the emails, trying to trace the black pickup through the additional road surveillance videos Bruce provided.