Theft

The Receda Cube, a priceless artifact of scientific and spiritual significance to the Perplex City citizens, was stolen from the Academy. Discovering more about the theft, identifying the culprits and locating the Cube on Earth is our primary objective.

The Night Of The Theft

The ball is a grandiose celebration of the Academy, and everything it stands for. The Founder's Ball honours the grand champion of the Perplex City Academy Games as well, and on the night in question that was Ryan Cahill. Guests arrived via Gatehouse 1 around 7.38 PM. Season 1 Card #229 - Ball Night informs us of the course of the evening's events. "During the ball, each of the five events occurred in a different place, featured its own speaker, took a different amount of time, and was sponsored by a different Senior Fellow." Here is an event summary.

First, Aiko Entrescore spoke at the museum for 60 minutes during the cocktail event, sponsored by Inari Ekeba.

Second, Robert Zhi-hui spoke at Kermeen Hall for 30 minutes during the art exhibit event, sponsored by Hunan Mansoor.

Third, Sente Kiteway spoke at Carrick Hall for 40 minutes during the welcome event, sponsored by Estelle Sedgewick.

Fourth, Anna Heath spoke outdoors for 20 minutes during the fireworks event, sponsored by Sanjean Adamek.

Fifth, Camryn Scott spoke in the Noi Ballroom for 80 minutes during the dance event, sponsored by Margaret Wildwood.

On Ball Night, (Jan 15th, 2004) when Academy security is frequently stretched to its limit, the team struck. A note which appears on Season 1 Card #146 - You Are Cordially Invited, ostensibly exchanged between the conspirators, reads:

  Electric splash
  BB, 21 to 24
  4: C, V, K, Q
  20, V to 24

The Cube was stolen sometime before 2.00 AM. Police Chief Eoin Morgan recognised that the group would have to have been ‘highly organised and technologically sophisticated’ in order to pull off the theft. It was recognised immediately by the Academy that portions of the security system had been reprogrammed in order to allow the theft to take place, and that three different systems had, in fact, been disabled without causing alarms to trip. Kurt's friend suggested it would take at least two Academy insiders to circumvent such a system.

Security guard Fran Mendling was murdered the same night, apparently because she chanced across the theft (although it remains an outside possibility that she may have been allied to the team, and aided their entry). Fran was murdered with a neuro–suppressant, which appears to have killed her instantly. This could have been a knee–jerk response to the team’s discovery, but use of a neuro–suppressant may have actually been quite deliberate, inasmuch as it effectively masked Fran’s time of death, and thus gave the thieves more cover for their activities. K may have been the killer, given her aptitude with weapons. Fellow members of the security team later discovered Fran’s body at 2 a.m. when she failed to check in for a shift change. By that time, the Cube and the thieves would appear to have been long gone.

Some have supposed that escape was made by way of the Catacombs, which are known to run much of the length of the City, all the way from the Old Town (Holyoke’s base of operations) to the Academy, and further out, towards the harbour/dock regions of the City.

There are a couple of other observations to be made about the night. Aiko Entrescore, artist and puzzle-scribe for the CRT, had an exhibit at the Ball that communicated and interfered with the keys of attendees. This was met with some suspicion, but a thorough examination of the exhibit appeared to confirm that it was in no way linked to the theft's security exploits. Violet Kiteway, meanwhile, told her father she was sick with a flu-like illness and did not attend the ball. She declined a visit from a doctor.

Our Prime Suspects

Much of our knowledge about the theft plan comes from the Pietro Salk files, which are definitely worth reading. As you'll see shortly, our current understanding of the heist is under some doubt! There are four known perpetrators:

• V (Vadik) - The operational mastermind and leader of the on-the-ground thieves. Recruited the other three members. Described as a "true believer" in the cause of the theft." Reports to a higher boss. Recognized as Cyrus Quinton, a recording engineer for Hesh Records; This is one of his many aliases. Went on to murder two of the team members, Q & K. No record of his DNA on city files. Also controlling operations on Earth.
• Q (Quercus) - Known to be Bernardo Holyoke, who owned the notoriously dodgy Five of Cups bar. Probably provided underworld contacts and a base of operations. High-tech equipment stolen from the Academy was found at the bar. Started siphoning off equipment (presumably stolen in relation to the theft) and selling it on the black market - he paid with his life.
• K (Kilo) - Known to be Monica Grand, a market analyst for PCBC. Her speciality was with weaponry. Scared by Q's death, she tried to take her story to Pietro Salk in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Both her and Pietro were murdered before this could be completed.
• C (Castille) - Known to be Claire Castille, computer genius. She wrote some circumvention code for the heist.

On top of this, we know there is at least one person superior to V in the chain of command. There is also a network of operatives in various cities on Earth. We know that this team was ultimately sponsored by The Third Power. But wait...

The Double Heist

"We never held it, it was already gone" were Monica Grand's last words to Sylvia Salk [1], who had gone to her apartment to try and get to the bottom of her husband's death. What can this mean? Here are some possible theories:

• They were beaten to it by another group of thieves working against our prime suspects, and it was already gone.
• It was a decoy operation, masterminded by the same people - the real thieves got there first and stole the Cube, leaving VQCK to cause a distraction from the real investigation.

V's post-theft correspondence seems fairly positive in tone, indicating that the heist went off as planned - but exactly what the plan was is still unknown. It seems fairly clear that the Third Power now control the Cube's location on Earth.

However, According to Claire Castille: "Someone else was there. I don't know who and I don't know why. But to do what they did, they must have been a better programmer than me. That's not a large group." This seems to support the idea that they were beaten to it by another group of thieves. While this doesn't explain V's apparently positive nature, it does address the issue at hand.

The Evidence

• We know the Ball started at 7.38 from Season 1 Card #146 - You Are Cordially Invited. It also featured the "conspiracy note" in UV ink:

  Electric splash
  BB, 21 to 24
  4: C, V, K, Q
  20, V to 24

• This Sentinel article tells us the theft was discovered at 2.00 AM, that Fran Mendling was murdered with a neurosuppressant, and that three different security systems were disarmed.

• The Pietro Salk vs. Monica Grand files provided a wealth of information. We learnt of the four key figures in the theft team, and also that the Third Power orchestrated the theft.

• Sylvia Salk's account of finding a dying Monica Grand provided us with the "We never held it" comment. (link)

• Claire Castille's talk with Scarlett, about what happened when the theft team got there. (link)

• The Third Power emails indicate that while things may not be progressing terribly smoothly, V is still actively involved in the operation as of October 15th 2005. He also confirms Bernardo and Monica were definitely involved, and now definitely dead.

• We know Violet claimed to be sick on the night of the Ball from the leaked Academy emails.

• We read about Aiko's technologically neat-o sculpture from her Sentinel interview.

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An older copy of this page is available here: Theft-Archive