Julie
*A spell that gets rid of pain?* Of course such a spell would exist, magic is far and wide after all. Unfortunately though, Fay didn't seem to have the time to learn the ability or just regarded it as useless in here eyes. This elderly Oni's good-hearted nature did warm her heart however, spending his few years (or decades) with his blood.

*Which confirms this old geezer isn't the perpetrator.*

He was too weak, and generally doesn't fit the case. And so, Fay shook her head lightly, still retaining the pleasant smile on her face before bowing in thanks. She would miss the old Oni for a few days, the fatherly aura he gave off.. What a happy family.

"..I refuse, but I do thank you for the offer."

Fay straightened up before stepping back, taking her leave. Wouldn't want to waste more time talking, still needing to locate the two more suspected individuals.
Cora
```The old man nods in understanding. "Very well. I'm gonna go find my grandson now. Farewell." He then starts hobbling off on his cane in the direction of the restaurant.
There we go, the boy was his grandson.
Which way does Fay take her leave? Toward the History section again, or back where she came from?```
Julie
*Her next target, the High Elf with a Black Bow.*

High Elves, prickly beings even to their own brethren. Most are narcissistic, and overall elitists. It wouldn't surprise her if she could find the woman in one of the more complex sections of the exhibit. 

Advanced? Probably.
Historical? In another room? Perhaps viewing the stolen piece? 
Abstract.. Eh. Too painful in the head.

Tapping her feet, she decided to check the History section further.
Cora
```What a fine decision to go straight to the History section, as it seems the very High Elf that Fey was looking for was also there, perusing the art. She has a book in her arm held open, writing in it as she looks at each painting... Or is she drawing? The movements suggest she is drawing, but who knows, she could be doing a brainstorm sheet or something.
The woman looks up from her paper to the painting in front of her, moving her hand up to brush off a bit of hair from her face, and then looks back at her book and keeps writing for a moment. Then she moves over elsewhere to look at another painting.
Quite the erudite.```
Julie
*A fine decision indeed.* Fay didn't approach the strange High Elf yet, much preferring to watch the woman's motions. She does wonder what the High Elf is.. Drawing on her book. Probably copying the pictures for reference? 

*Or pinpointing the next targets?*

Fay moved her eyes towards the painting, attempting to discern what it's all about. The young Elf wouldn't have too much of a problem.

``[1/5 HAWKEYE]``
Cora
```The High Elf woman takes short, quick notes of that second painting, then goes further down the room, turning a corner and going out of sight. The structure of these rooms has sectioned walls with paintings on both sides, so the woman was most likely scanning one of the paintings there too... Which also means Fay might walk right into her if she pursues.
In the meantime, Fay gets to see what the painting is about; a large, grand building similar to a cathedral, looking almost golden in the light of a setting sun. That was the primary subject of the image and took up the vast majority of it - in the bottom and left of the picture, all over the ground, there are several people and humanoid shapes. Some of them shared archetypes of Elves, but the others were much larger and muscular, most likely Brayer, and most of them were chained up or in cages. One was laying on the ground with no chains, near a pile that seems to be 'waste' of some kind... Several different materials in a pile that weren't used during construction.
...There's a hand sticking out of that pile.
It appears that this image glorifies a structure created by slavery. The plaque also lists the name of the piece, the name of the artist, and the artist's active years - years that ended long ago, suggesting the artist is now-deceased. That means the piece has high value... A prime target for an art thief.
Though it could just have been a coincidence.```
Julie
A significant theme of slavery. The piece that was stolen did also depict slavery as the focus. If she were to assume that the thief simply targets art of the same topic, then the woman before must be the culprit. 

The more she looked at the painting, the more her stomach churns. Her throat tightening, and her teeth gritting. A disgusting, *Disgusting* Semblance of race's ideals. The internal language of the painting is splaying the glorification of enslavement, the building of an empire out of the bloodied, shackled hands of others than their own. 

 She wonders why such pieces are even here in the first place.

Letting out a breath, she popped her tense knuckles before moving away from its vicinity. Other than the fact that it relays the same theme as the stolen painting, it's age determined its value. Fay is not a person of coincidence, however. 

Fay first began to catch up to the woman.
Cora
```The woman comes back from the other side of the wall when Fay started moving, and goes towards one of the hallway paths. She has a spring in her step, like she was really happy to be here despite being stuck for three hours.
Getting closer, Fay could see that the woman had a bright, gleeful look on her face as she [the woman] looked around while walking. Another artist would understand, as much as two people of the same occupation would understand each other's sentiment.
The woman stops and realises she missed a painting, and heads over to it to take more notes, flipping the page of her book for a fresh sheet. Perfect opportunity to catch up to her.```
Julie
"Ah..! Excuse me!" *Cue the scene.*

The young Elf Fay soon stumbled towards the woman, an arm timidly curled on her chest while the other beckoned for the High Elf's attention. She had a puzzled, albeit confused smile etched on her young face, her feet shifting about. 

"..Do... Do you not mind a question, good ma'am?"

High Elves are, much what she thought before, supremacists. Some would jump at the opportunity to undermine you. Feigning a timid posterior does seem as a decent idea to lower down a High Elf's guard. Other than them being posh fucks, they're quite calculating. 

"Can you tell me where the cafe is..?" 

She took a simple glance at the painting a-front of them, before focusing back to the High Elf's eyes.
Cora
```The High Elf woman turns away from the painting and looks to Fay as she calls out.
"Sure," She says kindly. She doesn't change her stance from holding the pencil and book in each hand, and regards Fay rather positively.
She listens to Fay's question and looks over to the sign at the far side of the room and points to it. "The café is through that hallway on the left at the far end of this room," The woman explains. "Do you need money for food? We are stuck in this building for three hours of course... I wouldn't want to leave someone starving."
The High Elf is, surprisingly, much more kind than the stereotype. Perhaps her character was misjudged by fault of prejudice, but that shouldn't make her any less of a suspect.```
Julie
Indeed. The High Elf does act much more benevolent than the average. There was a brief moment of surprise flashing on the young Fay's face, taking a blow to her previous thoughts of the woman. Though she maintained her act shortly afterwards. 

"..No no! I am grateful for your direction, but I have some coin with me." 

Fay soon let seconds of silence to fill the space between them, her eyes now fully looking at the artpiece the woman was previously scrutinizing. She tilted her head to the side, opening her mouth to speak. 

"This painting.. What is it about?:"
Cora
```The woman smiles and turns back to the painting as Fey asks about the painting. "It is... Another painting about a product of subjugation," She says sombrely. "Off all the paintings in this room, more than half are of slavery or subjugation of another race. The rest are about actual events, but few of them depict the truth." The woman stays silent for a moment, before continuing. "It is... Shameful how much they glorify this act. I dislike the subject matter, but love the art styles and attention to detail..." She gestures to her book, "That is why I am writing down notes on them, to experiment and apply ideas to my own art."```
Julie
She harboured a difficult expression on her face. Gone was the smile that once plastered her youth. Instead, it is a simple dull frown, devoid of any noting emotion. Her arms snaked from her chest, hidden inside the closed cone of her cloak. 

"I see, I see.."

She mumbled out, eyes squinted to pick out the amount of detail within the piece; the artist sure was passionate about this one. With how the High Elf conveyed her thoughts, she did seem quite genuine. Just from this Fay could cross her out from the suspect list. 

Glancing back at the woman beside her, Fay shook her head lightly, brushing back a lock of light-green hair before turning her head towards her.

"Aha.. Well then, thank you again."

A statement lacking any solidarity, Fay crossed the woman out from her mind. Doing a pivot, the young elf began another search for the Mogash.
Cora
```The woman turns back to Fay and smiles to her. "Goodbye, friend." She says, then turning back to the painting for a moment, then moving on to go to another section.
Fay may have realised that she never figured out what the 'high magical attunement' was about when she was talking to the High Elf... Perhaps she could meet her again some other time, or spy and try to figure something out, but directly confronting the woman about her magic may arouse suspicions.
Fay has the option to go to any other place in the gallery. It's up to her to choose - she can go to any of the other four display locations, or to the restaurant to meet up with Lee or grab a bite.```
Julie
Well, High Elves are generally well in-tuned in magic. Being the most talented users in the arcane out of the five elfin subraces. In the case of the Blue Oni, his magic serves the purposes of making his body more comfortable for the coming ages. She can't see the woman casting anything in such a packed expo.

In the case that her thoughts were wrong however, only time will stop her from searching for the woman again. The exhibit tour lasts for three hours, and Heaven knows how much time had passed since then. It's best to look for the Mogash and deal with him, first.

So, Fay continued on with her search for the Mogash. With how high his magic capability is, he might be intelligent, right? Probably the Advanced section.
Cora
```Fay passes by several people on her way to the Advanced section, and Lee comes into vision near the side wall close to the main entrance. She is speaking with the host of the event... What they are discussing can't be heard from here as they are speaking quite low.
Fay could go to meet Lee, or continue on to the Advanced section. It's her choice.```
Julie
Tilting her head to the side, she watched her temporary colleague converse with the host. Assuming that it's for the investigation, Fay slowly stepped over towards the two, her ears flicking at their voices.
Cora
```Lee wasn't facing in Fay's direction, so she wasn't going to be alerted to Fay's presence unless she approaches to speak. The host was, but he doesn't recognise Fay, nor does he know whether Fay is coming this way for the bathrooms right beside them or not.
Fay was able to get closer and listen into the conversation.
Lee: "Is there any way to get out of here earlier?"
Host, a middle-aged pale Macen man: "No... Law outside aren't letting anybody out, undercover or otherwise." It seems as if the host knows Lee is undercover. Perhaps they discussed that earlier.
Lee: "I can hardly stand being in here for two more hours... Listening to everyone talk about 'symbolism' in what could have been made by a newborn. How do you do it without going mad?"
Host: "Having a passion for art is reason enough... And the amount of coin I can sell pieces for."
Lee: "Sell?"
Host: "Don't worry, it's all above board. Everything we sell is always declared... Can't say the same for that last gallery though. They have— er, 'had', such good, high-value pieces that can net so much money if they just sold some of it."
The conversation goes silent... Then a door opens and shuts, and soon after that, the host heads through the room in the direction of the restaurant, passing right by Fay without paying any mind to her. Lee didn't follow, but she was probably in the bathrooms.
Fay has a choice here; she can pursue and confront the host, go and meet Lee in the bathrooms, or leave well enough alone and look for the Mogash suspect... Though another suspect has made the list now, with what the host was saying and how he was saying it.```
Julie
*Ah, a double-faced bitch.*

Thought the young Elf Fay as she stood where she is. She could recall how Lee had told her the gallery logs just went and disappeared. Of course, with what their conversation revealed, the host done the deed himself. They simply stole the painting under hush-hush, sold it to attain the total rather than having it go through numerous levy. Makes sense, historical pieces are really, *Really* Important. 

Letting out a scoff, Fay's eyes watched Lee enter the bathrooms. She could go and confront the undercover right about now, they seem much more likely to spill out the details. What is there to lose anyway? If Fay were to pick the host, she would need an... Incentive, to make him speak. 

Pulling up the hood of her cloak, she walked towards the general direction of Lee. Her hands hidden inside the cone-shaped garment. How should she go confront her? Threateningly? Ack, confrontation is hard.
Cora
```As Fay entered the room, she'd see Lee standing in front of a mirror, just staring at herself in the reflection. The angles given don't let her see Fay, and she seems to be so zoned out that she doesn't even hear Fay come in.
Lee appeared to be stressed out... Already in the first hour? What could be causing her stress like this?```
Julie
Taking such an opportunity, Fay simply kept herself from out of sight, ears perked up. Indeed. *What could possibly be causing her to worry?*
Cora
```Lee gathers up a bit of water out of the sink/faucet/whatever it is in this age, and wets her face with it. She sighs out of relief, as if an unbearable heat had just gone away, and she takes a breath and thinks for a moment, straightening up her stance and staring at her reflection.
"Calm down..." Lee tells herself, or at least the 'other' self. "There's no reason to stress out. You'll get this done, you'll find the culprit, and you'll bring them in... Just pretend your career isn't at stake."
She takes a moment longer to stare at the mirror, and stands off the faucet to head into one of the toilets. Probably best not to stick around and wait to hear anything coming from it.```
Julie
*Eh?*

Furrowing her eyebrows, Fay didn't expect *That*. She was looking for something along the lines of 'it won't fail' or, 'we won't get caught'. Just, not some guy freaking out about their career. 

Rubbing her forehead, perhaps it's just an act? The conversation did go quiet earlier on. Was Fay seen by the host? Are they trying to throw her off? The plausible reasons made her head ache. Maybe she just took it out of context? No, Lee acted as if she was just here for consistency.

Whatever the case, she still suspected the 'undercover'. For all she knows, she might've just given her three 'suspects' as bait. 

Opening the door to signify her presence, Fay would act that she just came inside. Washing her hands, such and such.
Cora
```Lee's stall door was closed after the fact, but there wasn't any noise coming from it just yet. She did mention that everyone's discussions about art were annoying her so it makes sense that she'd prefer to be here where nobody else is talking, where she can't be seen or judged for being someplace she doesn't want to be.
The undercover detective didn't even react to hearing somebody else come in.```
Julie
*Honestly.. So frustrating.*

Taking this job deemed it much more frustrating for the young Elf. Evey tid-bit she came across, is more or less credible.

Cupping her hands together, she dipped it beneath the water before rushing it to her face. Attempting to clear her head, Fay let out a sigh before cracking her knuckles once more. 

Maybe she over-analyzed a bit. Mistook the discussion for something else entirely? It still does do right in her head, however..
Cora
```"Fay?" Lee calls out from the stall. Some noises are heard for a short second, then the door opens. "Oh, hey I didn't hear you come in." Lee steps out of the stall and goes up to the sink, washing her hands in it even though she didn't actually use the toilet. "While we're face to face, do you want to update me on what you've found?"```
Julie
"Yeah.. Two of them didn't fit."

Seeing Lee wash her wands despite not using the toilet, showed itself as weird for Fay. Before Lee came out, Fay did hear noise before so. Being an elf, she would most likely able to discern if she did take the crapper at this distance..

"*..All above the board..*" 

She let out, slightly audible for the Macen to pick up. With that, Fay might be able to poke out a reaction from the female. With her hood on, she stared back at the reflection, her eyes close to shutting as she observed.
Cora
```Lee looked at Fay for a moment... Then realised what Fay meant.
"You heard my conversation with the host, huh?" She asked rhetorically. "And because of it you suspect I'm the thief?"
Lee didn't sound offended in the slightest. She sounded more relieved that she was being asked about this, so clearly Lee had nothing to hide.```
Julie
"It's a very suspicious conversation, to say the least."

Shaking her hands dry, Fay continued on.

"I assumed you were collaborating with that guy. The logs would be much more available to whoever hosted the last expo. Hiding it away, then carrying the piece off to who-knows-what."

With how Lee sounded, it would be clear that she has no nefarious plot with the perp. But Fay is a very doubtful individual when it comes to these cases. Recalling that one of the lawmen could be the thief, it's difficult to know who's being real and who's fake. 

"Still yet to find the Mogash, though.."
Cora
```Lee nods along with what Fay is saying. "I suspect he might be the thief too. Though he doesn't actually own the other gallery that got hit; it belongs to a competitor, so it makes sense he'd want to steal from them... But why steal just one piece? Of course that painting was very valuable, but there were several other high-value paintings in that gallery too. Just doesn't add up to me..."
Lee pauses for a moment and admits her fear; "Reason I'm stressed out about this is because I'm at risk of losing my job. I haven't been having a good run recently and if I fail this one, I'll be forced to resign. No idea what I'll do after that... Maybe I should start making plans right now."```
Julie
"New Sunlight's recruiting, I hear."

She suggested. Fay herself isn't apart of any guild, despite being an adventurer. And she won't be planning on joining one soon. 

"I can't see them stealing the painting, other than selling it in the collector's underground, they won't be able to show it off here without attracting the previous owner."

The young elf gave her opinion. The two were wasting time chatting in the bathroom. Fay motioned the Macen to follow her out, opening the door to head back in the halls of the exhibit. 

"I've still got another one to find, what about you?"
Cora
```Lee narrows her eyes on the mention of that name. New Sunlight... Sounds like a fresh start if she loses her job as an officer of the law.
"I'll keep that in mind... Thanks," She says.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. No point stealing it and displaying it here unless they had a buyer already... And it doesn't explain how the logs vanished unless there was inside help." And now Lee finished sharing her idea of the situation, she answers the last question; "I've checked out a bunch of people already. The host was my best bet, but though he does have a motive, he doesn't have the ability... Who have you investigated?"```

`Lee will remember that`
Julie
"Both of them didn't seem capable of stealing anything. The High Elf's another artist, and the Oni's a grandpa— *Or a father, it depends.*"

The lack of anything to go with really made this investigation annoying for the elf. She has more patience dealing with tracking than this kind of job. Tapping her feet, Fay opened her mouth to speak once more. 

"Mogash are pretty hardy, too noticeable to be a thief. But you did say they were.. Magically in-tune?"

Fay, expecting the undercover to follow, made her towards the Advance section as she planned to previously. They could talk while searching for said Mogash.
Cora
```The detective thought for a moment on Fay's first points. She didn't believe the High Elf was truly off the list, but the old man for sure.
"Yeah, he is magical," Lee says, regarding the Mogash question while they start walking. "Though his magic doesn't appear to be as powerful as the other two... The High Elf's magic in fact was the strongest. Did you figure out what hers was?"```