DRACHMAS

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Neal and Peter meet Percy at a case and think he's suspicious. (Neal isn't a Demigod). Set after BOO, Annabeth is with Magnus.


"Golden Drachmas," Peter announced as Neal ducked under the police tape and into the Greek-Era section of the museum, looking impeccable as ever. "They were stolen last night despite round-the-clock security in the building, cameras, and top-notch alarm systems."

"Never stopped me from getting what I wanted," Neal answered calmly as he studied the artwork around the gallery. "Allegedly." He added with a smile towards Peter, who gave him a look.

"11 o'clock last night, all the cameras simultaneously stop working for two minutes on the dot. Per security regulations, each of the five security guards made their rounds throughout the building, and then head to the most expensive artifacts. We've already talked to all five of the security guards, and they're being taken t the bureau for further questioning." Peter explained as he watched Neal walk around.

"Are you going to actually look at the crime scene or gaze at those statues and paintings for another five minutes?" Peter asked impatiently, and Neal quickly turned to face him, his signature smile painted across his face and his hands up in a 'you caught me' manner.

"I was listening."

"Yeah, and now we're working," Peter bit back, and gestured to the empty glass case. "Tell me, how would one get the coins out without triggering any alarms?"

Neal stepped up to the case and bent down to inspect it. After a minute of pondering he turned back to Peter and pointed to a small piece of wood stuck between the pressure plate and the lip. "A simple yet genius move, really. Some pressure plates don't use scales but move up and down. If an item is taken off, the plate moves up and triggers a scanner that sets off the alarm. This guy just wedged something in between the scanner and the plate so it couldn't move up the whole way."

"And for the alarm on the glass case?" Neal shrugged.

"If he could disable the cameras, I'm sure he could disable the alarm," Neal explained as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I just don't get why they would go for this specifically."

Peter raised his eyebrows in curiosity and gestured for him to go on. Neal rolled his eyes.

"Out of all the things in this room, the drachmas would be on the lower end of the price range."

***

A few hours later, Neal and Peter were sitting inside a small cafe, coffee in hand and files spread across their table. They already ruled out the guards - they were all in the break room when the cameras cut out, so they were each other's alibis. And they were the only ones in the building, even the janitors had gone home at that point. There were no signs of forced entry, so they were assuming that the thief had come during the day, found a place to hide, and waited.

Now, they were just stuck on who. Facial recognition could only work so well in crowds.

After watching security camera footage for hours - or at least it seemed that way to Neal, even with the coffee - they finally spotted something. A kid, maybe 16, with black hair, blue eyes, and a mischievous smile, who was pickpocketing anyone he found. After following him in the footage, they also found that he didn't leave the building. They had a pretty good idea it was him.

Peter was running the kid's picture through facial recognition when the door to the cafe opened, and a teenager of around 17 walked up to the counter.

"Hey, can I get a decaf - Uh, why are you staring at a picture of Connor?" The kid asked, and Neal tilted his head at the colour of his eyes - seafoam green. Very unique.

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