It was a busy night in Astrum.
The music from the entertainment district spilled well beyond its borders, all the way to the docks where large cargo ships were still arriving. It was on one of these cargo ships that the thief came to this city. They hid inside one of the shipping containers, after paying off one of the dock workers at a previous shipyard.
Why would anyone go through all this trouble, one might ask?
Well, this thief was no run of the mill thief. They were wanted in over fifty countries. Their calling was leaving their fingerprints at the scene of their crimes. Not only did they not seem to care about wearing gloves, but they would make it a point to leave one blatant finger print in the most obvious spot possible. It didn't help though. The finger prints didn't match any on file with any law enforcement agency in the world. Their identity was a mystery.
Still, whoever they were, they were only human. On their last heist, they were robbing a museum and they set off an alarm on accident. They only barely escaped capture and were forced to flee the city with their spoils, a small but valuable bag of jewels. Hence the need for an emergency escape plan.
That was all nearly a month ago. Since then, the thief had been slowly pawning off the jewels and living comfortably under the radar here in Astrum. Of course, they hadn't stopped completely. They still lifted purses and wallets. It was just high risk heists that they were taking a break from... a small break at least.
...
It was midnight and the party was going strong. The well dressed brass band was putting their funky twist on some classical pieces, and the dance floor was alive with gold and black dresses and suits. This was the largest, most extravagant party of the century, a new year's party for the ages,
The Millennial Ball! Of course, there were other parties, not only in Astrum, but all across the world too. But this was
the party to be at for the rich and famous, and everyone knew it. Only the most important people in the world were invited to attend.
The party was at a private mansion, on the outskirts of the city, on top of a large hill that overlooked the peasants below. The grounds were crawling with security. Cameras were on every corner of the property and in almost every room in the mansion.
None of that mattered when the lights went out. The party was in a panic for the three minutes that it took for the backup generator to turn on. When the power came back on, jewelry, wallets, and many other small but valuable items had been stolen. That's when the panic really began to set in.
Investigators showed up less than ten minutes after getting the call. When they did, the first thing they noticed was a slideshow in the foyer. All party long, it had been rotating between pictures of similar parties in the past, professional shots of rich people having fun. Now however, it was stuck on a close up picture of a black finger print against a white background.
Fetzen
