Forum Thread

To Junior Detective,

Hello and welcome to your first day of Pokeheroes Detective training! You will have 4 tasks to complete for your training so that you can go on to solving the mystery. When you complete a task, the next task will be sent to you just after reset on the following PH day. When you complete all 4 training tasks, you will receive a badge that you can display in your about me, signature, diary etc. You will also get a small prize after completing each task. You can make as many attempts as you like on each task, there is no limit so if you get it wrong never mind, you can try again.

Task One!

A good detective needs good observation skills, so the first task is all about observation.

This is a photo I took of some random items in my room. But this picture has been edited! There are several pokemon now hiding in that picture. Your job is to tell me how many pokemon there are, and to list them by name. Please put your answer in a reply to this PM instead of making a new thread as it helps me keep things organized. Good luck!

From Senior Detective JustMe

There are 10 pokemon all together:
1 Trubbish
2 Bulbasaur
3 Litwick
4 Eevee
5 Luvdisc
6 Onix
7 Totodile
8 Purrloin
9 Staryu
10 Skorupi

Did you know that hidden object games like this task can actually help improve your brain? That’s right! If you have trouble staying focused on the task at hand, or you find your concentration isn’t as good as it could be, by simply playing a hidden object game for 30 minutes each day you will see a huge improvement. If you can’t play the games on your computer, get a ‘Where’s Wally’ or ‘Eye Spy’ book out from the library, they work just as well.

To Junior Detective,

Well done! You have passed the first test! You are now one step closer to going from a Junior Detective to a Detective!

Task Two

Another important part of being a Detective is listening skills. This link will take you to a voice recording site. You must listen to the recording and tell me how many times the letter ‘F’ appears in that sentence. Good luck!

From Senior Detective JustMe

The message says:
“The first of February is often the most frigid and fastest freezing time of the year.”

There are 8 F’s in the sentence:
The First oF February is oFten the most Frigid and Fastest Freezing time oF the year.

If you got it wrong the first time, you are like 87% of people who take this test. Most people forget to count the f in ‘of’ when listening to this sentence because the ‘f’ sounds like a ‘v’. Because you hear a ‘v’ sound, your brain thinks that it is a ‘v’ and therefore doesn’t count it.

To Junior Detective,

Well done! You found all the ‘F’s in the sentence and successfully completed task 2! You are now halfway to getting a nice shiny badge!

Task Three

Of course, every good detective needs problem solving skills, so for this task you will need to correctly answer the following question and give an explanation for your answer:

There are three bags containing pokeballs, each with its own label. One bag says ‘Vaporeon’, one says ‘Flareon’, and the third says ‘Vaporeon and Flareon Mixed’. All three bags are completely mislabelled. You are allowed to take just one pokeball from one bag to examine. Which bag do you choose so that you can correctly label all three bags?

Or, here is another way to explain it:


From Senior Detective JustMe

When you look at the picture in the letter:

The first bag, on the left, is labelled Vaporeon. Remembering the fact that all 3 bags are labelled incorrectly, that means that the first bag has to have either only Flareon pokeballs, or a mixture of Flareon and Vaporeon pokeballs.

The second bag is labelled Flareon and Vaporeon. Again, remembering that the label is wrong, that means the second bag must have either only Vaporeon pokeballs, or only Flareon pokeballs.

The third bag is labelled Flareon. Again, the label is wrong, so the bag must have either only Vaporeon pokeballs, or a mixture of Vaporeon and Flareon.

You should take a ball from the bag marked ‘Vaporeon and Flareon’.

If the pokeball has a Flareon in it, it's actually the bag with only Flareon in it because it obviously can't be the Vaporeon bag and it can't be the one with both of them because the labels are wrong.

The labels are wrong so the bag that says "Vaporeon" on it can only be the bag with Flareon or both of them in it. Since the "Mixed" bag was the Flareon bag, the bag that says "Vaporeon" must be the "Mixed" bag.

Lastly, the bag that says "Flareon" must have Vaporeon in it because it's the only one left.

If the pokeball that was taken from the "Vaporeon and Flareon Mixed" bag was a Vaporeon, it's the bag with Vaporeon in it. (Can't be the mixed one because the label is wrong.)

The bag labelled "Flareon" must be either the mixed bag or the Vaporeon bag. Because the Vaporeon bag was already figured out, it has to be the mixed bag.

The "Vaporeon" bag is the bag with the Flareon in it because it's the only one left.

(This was the answer given by Finhawk. All of the wording is his.)

This task was based off a very popular logic problem called “Black and White Balls”. In it, you have the three bags, but instead of Vaporeon and Flareon, they have white balls and black balls. This logic problem was actually used in enrolment interviews to get into universities or colleges such as Cambridge. So there you go, if you solved it you are smart enough to go to Cambridge!

To Junior Detective,

Yay! You figured it out! That was some great detective work you did there! Now, just one more task to go, then you will be a fully-fledged detective! You will then be able to take on the mystery of the missing sculpture.

Task Four

In your final task, you will need to prove your code-cracking skills. Using the key A=S, please solve the following code:

Ugfyjslmdslagfk! Qgm zsnw kmuuwkkxmddq hskkwv sdd xgmj lskck sfv qgm sjw fgo sf gxxauasd Hgcwzwjgwk vwlwulanw! Tml qgm usf'l jwkl qwl! S kumdhlmjw zsk twwf klgdwf, sfv s yjgodalzw zsk ygfw eakkafy, sfv al'k qgmj bgt lg xafv lzw umdhjal. Yggv dmuc!

From Senior Detective JustMe

When it says that A=S, it means that all of the A’s in the original message were changed to S’s. It is a simple shift cypher, which means all of the letters of the alphabet have been moved along the line. We know how much by because we know that A=S. You can write it like this:
A=S
B=T
C=U
D=V
E=W
F=X
G=Y
H=Z
I=A
J=B
K=C
L=D
M=E
N=F
O=G
P=H
Q=I
R=J
S=K
T=L
U=M
V=N
W=O
X=P
Y=Q
Z=R

The code translates to:
Congratulations! You have successfully passed all four tasks and you are now an official Pokeheroes detective! But you can't rest yet! A sculpture has been stolen, and a growlithe has gone missing, and it's your job to find the culprit. Good luck!

This cipher is known as a ‘Caesarean Shift Cipher’, and unlike the salad, it was actually named after Julius Caesar. Although other substitution ciphers were used previously, Caesar is the first recorded user of this particular version. Although in Caesars time this method was probably very effective, due to the fact that most of his enemies were illiterate and probably assumed it was merely a foreign language, these days it is one of the most well-known ciphers, and therefore one of the easiest ciphers to solve.

To Detective,

Awesome work! You solved the cipher and now you are a full detective!

Now, the real work begins, you have finished your training with full marks, so I now feel that you are ready to take on your own case. A glass sculpture was stolen just yesterday from an art gallery. It seems to have taken place during a false fire-alarm, and a growlithe has also gone missing at around the same time. Now, it’s up to you.

Task 5

The owner of the sculpture, Liz, is our main witness at this point. It is also her growlithe that has gone missing. An interview was held yesterday, and recorded, while a junior officer took down some notes. However, the junior officer seems to have made a few errors, as not all the notes match up with the recording. Your task is to decide which statements are true, and which are false, correct the false ones, then put them in the order they came in from the recording. (Please note, the recording is in written form, not audio, so there should be no issues with understanding it.)

Recording:

Interview commencing at 2:35pm, Monday 1st December.
“Hello, Liz. I’m Officer Jenny, and I just need you to answer a few questions about this morning.”
“Ok, I’ll try.”
“Good. Let’s start at the beginning. What time did you arrive at the gallery?”
“8:30. It doesn’t open until 9, but though I’ve sold several pieces online, it’s the first time one of my sculptures has been displayed so I was excited and Kuri and I got there early.”
“And Kuri is your Growlithe, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Ok, so what happened when the gallery opened?”
“Kuri and I went in to look at the art. My sculpture was near the back, so we looked at the other artwork on our way. Just as we got to my piece, the fire alarms started. Smoke started coming in and the sprinklers went off. Everyone was panicking and I was running for the door. Kuri and I got separated. When I got outside, I realized Kuri wasn’t… she wasn’t there…”
“It’s ok, take your time. What happened next?”
“The fire brigade came, but they didn’t find any fire so were allowed back in. I was looking for Kuri when David, one of my friends, came running up, saying there was something I had to see. He took me to where my sculpture was, but it was gone! The stand was still there, but the actual sculpture had completely vanished.”
“Can you describe the sculpture please?”
“It’s a glass sculpture of an Arcanine and a Growlithe. It’s about 2 meters high, not including the stand.”
“What about value, how much was it worth?”
“It was insured for $20,000”
“Right, and what about Kuri, did you find any sign of her?”
“No, and I looked everywhere! Please, you have to find her!”
“We’ll do everything we can, I promise.”

Notes:

-When Liz and Kuri arrived they went straight inside to see the art.
-Liz is Kuri’s growlithe.
-The fire brigade found no trace of a fire.
-Just as Kuri and Liz got to the sculpture, the sprinklers went off then the fire alarm started.
-Liz has sold her previous pieces online.
-The sculpture was insured for 20,000pd.
-Liz realized Kuri was gone when she got outside.
-Detective Jenny was running the interview.
-Liz was the first to notice the sculpture was missing.
-David is a friend of Liz.
-The sculpture was about 6.5 feet high.
-When Liz realized Kuri was missing, she went straight back inside to find her.
-The stand for the sculpture was still there.

From Senior Detective JustMe

Of all the notes, the following ones are wrong:

-When Liz and Kuri arrived they went straight inside to see the art.
-Liz is Kuri’s growlithe.
-Just as Kuri and Liz got to the sculpture, the sprinklers went off then the fire alarm started.
-The sculpture was insured for 20,000pd.
-Detective Jenny was running the interview.
-Liz was the first to notice the sculpture was missing.
-When Liz realized Kuri was missing, she went straight back inside to find her.

The parts in bold are the parts that have been fixed:

- Officer Jenny was running the interview.
- Liz has sold her previous pieces online.
- Kuri is Liz's Growlithe.
- When Liz and Kuri arrived at the gallery, they had to wait for it to open before they went in.
- Just as Kuri and Liz got to the sculpture, the fire alarm started and then the sprinklers went off.
- Liz realized Kuri was gone when she got outside.
- When Liz realized Kuri was missing, she waited for the fire brigade to say it was safe before she could look for Kuri inside.
- The fire brigade found no trace of a fire.
- David was the first to notice the sculpture was missing.
- David is a friend of Liz.
- The stand for the sculpture was still there.
- The sculpture was about 2 meters high, (or 6.5 feet) not including the stand.
- The sculpture was insured for $20,000.

Did you know that witness statements are the least reliable source of evidence in a crime? In a recent study, an experiment was done where a fake crime was staged in a public area in the middle of the day. The witnesses to the ‘crime’ were then interviewed to see what they could remember. Of the 10 people interviewed, every single statement was different in some way or another. These differences varied in information such as what the people were wearing, hair/skin colour, the getaway vehicle, and even the number of people involved. This is all due to the fact that when we see something, it is impossible for the brain to remember every single detail. So instead, it compacts all the information into a neat little package of what it considers to be the important things, and forgets the rest. Then when we try to remember the details, the brain takes the information it knows, and then fills in the gaps with what it thinks should be there using previous experience. For example, if one of the witnesses had seen a man wearing a red scarf earlier in the day, it is quite possible that they would ‘remember’ seeing the criminal wearing a red scarf, even if the criminal hadn’t been wearing a scarf at all. It just goes to show, sometimes your own memories aren’t what they appear to be…

To Detective,

Thanks for sorting out those notes, they make much more sense now. Now, we have some news from one of the officers on-site. Let’s head out there now and take a look.

Task 6

Hmm, it seems some of the wiring for the building has been tampered with, by the thieves no doubt. Some of the switches have been turned off, but the labels have worn off so there is no way to tell which wire is which. The instructions are all in some other language, but we have been able to decipher some of them. By using these clues, can you figure out which wire is which?


(The order of the colours, from top to bottom, are: red, yellow, blue, purple, orange, white, green.)

Clues :
-There are 7 wires, each connected to a different place. The places are: lighting, heating, security cameras, burglar alarms, fire alarms, sprinklers and power points (outlets).
-The green wire is not connected to the heating or the sprinklers.
-The white wire is connected to the power points.
-The burglar alarm wire is directly above the heating wire.
-There are three wires in between the sprinkler wire and the security camera wire.
-The fire alarm wire is higher than the lighting wire, and the lighting wire is higher than the burglar alarm wire.

From Senior Detective JustMe

Draw up a grid like the one below. Then use the clues you are given to fill in the boxes. For example, the first clue tells us that the green wire cannot be the heating or the sprinklers, so you can put a cross in those boxes. The second clue tells us that the white wire must be the power points, so you can put a tick in that box, and then cross out all the other boxes in those rows. Keep on ticking and crossing boxes using the clues and the process of elimination, and eventually you will get the answer.

Red: Fire Alarms
Yellow: Lighting
Blue: Sprinklers
Purple: Burglar Alarms
Orange: Heating
White: Power Points
Green: Security Cameras

This task was a much simplified variation on a very old logic puzzle known as “Who Owns the Zebra?” It is also known as “Einstein’s Riddle” as it is said that Einstein invented it when he was a young boy, though there is no proof of this. In the riddle you are given several clues, like the ones given to you in task 6, about 5 people who live down the same street. Using those clues you can figure out the following things: their nationality, their street number, the colour of their house, their preferred drink, what pet they own and what brand of cigar they prefer. By working out these things, using the process of elimination, you can figure out the main question which is “Who owns the Zebra?” It is often said that only 2% of the population can solve it.

To Detective,

Hmm, so the security cameras were turned off which means that we won’t be able to use them to find the culprit. Strange, though, that the heating was turned off. I wonder why?

Task 7

While going through the trash cans for evidence, one of the other detectives found this strange story:

Once upon a time, in a forest far, far away, there lived the Ursa family. A great big Daddy Ursaring, a medium sized Mommy Ursaring, and a little baby Teddiursa. One morning, just after sunrise, they were just about to have a yummy breakfast of berries and tiny mushrooms, when Mommy Ursaring realized they have any tiny mushrooms left! So they all decided to head out into the forest to pick some more. Baby Teddiursa forgot to bring his basket, so he ran back inside to get it, then hurried to catch up with the others. On his way out, however, he forgot to shut and lock the front door!

On that same morning, a young, nosey trainer by the name of Goldeenlocks just happened to be walking through the same forest. On seeing the open door, she decided to investigate. She walked in to find a table laid with breakfast for three. Her stomach started rumbling, so she sat down at Daddy Ursarings spot and started to eat. But oh no! These berries were far too sour! So she tried Mommy Ursarings berries. But oh no! These berries were far too sweet! Finally, she tried Baby Teddiursas berries. Yum! These berries were just right, and so she ate them all up.

Next, she decided to explore the living room. There, she saw 3 plushies. She tried cuddling Daddy Ursaring’s plushie. But oh no! That plushie was far too raggedy. Then she tried cuddling Mommy Ursaring’s plushie. But oh no! That plushie was far too floppy. Finally she tried Baby Teddiursas plushie. Awwww! This plushie was just right, but she hugged it so tight that it ripped!

After all that exploring, Goldeenlocks was very sleepy, so she decided to find a place to have a nap. At the top of the stairs she found three bedrooms. First she tried Daddy Ursarings bedroom. But oh no! His bed was far too hard! So she tried Mommy Ursarings bed. But oh no! Her bed was too soft. Finally she tried Baby Teddiursas bed. Ahh! This bed was just right, and so Goldeenlocks fell fast asleep.

The Ursa family were out longer than expected after meeting up with some old friends, but at last, they returned home. When they came into the dining room, they stopped in surprise!

“Somebody’s been eating my berries!” growled Daddy Ursaring.
“Somebody’s been eating my berries!” cried Mommy Ursaring.
“Somebody’s been eating my berries!” wailed Baby Teddiursa, “And they’re all gone!”

So the Ursa family decided to check in the living room.

“Somebody’s been cuddling my plushie!” growled Daddy Ursaring.
“Somebody’s been cuddling my plushie!” cried Mommy Ursaring.
“Somebody’s been cuddling my plushie!” wailed Baby Teddiursa, “And they’ve ripped it! What a meanie!”

Finally, the Ursa family made their way up to the bedrooms.

“Somebody’s been sleeping in my bed!” growled Daddy Ursaring.
“Somebody’s been sleeping in my bed!” cried Mommy Ursaring.
“Somebody’s been sleeping in my bed!” wailed Baby Teddiursa, “And she’s still there!”

Just then, Goldeenlocks woke up with a fright to see three angry faces looking down at her. For a moment she was so scared she didn’t know what to do! Then she leapt out of the bed, raced down the stairs and ran as fast as she could, all the way home.

It was a day she would never forget, and from that day forward, she never got into trouble again…

Well, if you don’t count the incident with the mirror and the seven Growlithe…

And the time she was heading to a fancy-dress party as a Mightyena and decided to visit three little Tepig on the way…

And, everyone knows, she only wanted to help that little red Flabebe get to her Grannies house safely…

But in the end she did live happily ever after, all thanks to a glass slipper and a Pumpkaboo.

And with it was this picture:

(Pictures used from Bulbapedia)

We are pretty sure it’s connected somehow to the crime, can you find out what it means?

From Senior Detective JustMe

Each pokemon in the picture represents a word in the story. The word is found by getting the pokedex number of the pokemon, and counting to that numbered word. For example, if there was a Squirtle on the picture, you would find Squirtles pokedex number, which is 7, then count the words to find the 7th word in the story, which is forest. Do this with each of the pokemon in the picture and it will reveal a hidden message.

The hidden message says:
“Meeting at sunrise, in Flabebe Forest.
Bring the glass.
If you have any trouble, the Growlithe knows what to do.”

This task was based off a code, known as the book code. In the book code, both the sender and the receiver of the message must each have a copy of the same book. The books must be exactly the same for it to work, so it needs to be the same publication and the same edition. The message would be written using only words found in that particular book. For each word, they would write a series of numbers. The first number, for example, could represent the page number, then second could be the line number, and the third could be the word number. For example, the code “53.13.4” would mean the word was on the 53rd page, on the 13th line down, and the 4th word on that line. Though not impossible, it is very tricky to solve this code without knowing what book it was coded from. Common books to be used include the dictionary and the Bible.

To Detective ,

Argh! We missed them! We had the forest surrounded from midnight, but they never showed up! We interviewed a few people from the area who say they saw a suspicious looking delivery van enter the forest in the late evening yesterday. It seems that they used the old time-swap trick just in case anyone found the note and figured out what it meant. So instead of sunrise, they met at sunset the night before.

Task 8

Luckily, we were able to find some tire tracks in the mud. It’s a popular area, however, so there are a number of different tracks. So we took some plaster-moulds of the tracks at the forest (labelled A-P), and also of any tracks we found in the gallery car-park (labelled 1-16).


Hopefully there will be one set of tracks that appears at both sites. That will be our suspect. Can you find the match?

From Senior Detective JustMe

Don’t get overwhelmed by the number of tracks, use an ordered approach and you will solve it in no time. Concentrate on the first track from the forest, then, one at a time, compare it with each track from the car-park. If you don’t find a match, move on to the next track from the forest and do it again. Make sure you look at each one very carefully as some of the designs are very similar.

Tracks ’B’ from the forest and ‘9’ from the car-park are a match.

Every tire will give its own impression in dirt/snow etc. which is as unique as your fingerprints. Each tire will show different amounts of wear and tear, resulting in tiny cuts and scratches on the surface of the tire, which show up in the tracks that they make. The technique of using tire tracks and treads as forensic evidence was first invented by a researcher for the LA Sheriffs Office, named David Chapman, in 1930.

To Detective,

We had the tire tracks analysed and discovered they belong to a company called “Fast Frozen” who specialize in transporting frozen food. But something strange is going on here. After some incidents in the past with products going missing, the manager secretly fitted all of their delivery vans with GPS tracking devices, which constantly record where the vans are at all times. According to the data, the van arrived at the gallery at 6:30am that morning, supposedly to make a delivery, but it had left again by 7:00am, long before the sculpture was stolen. Whoever the driver was, they have been ‘covering their tracks’ by somehow deleting the log-in records for that day, meaning we have no way of telling who was driving that van. I think it’s time we interviewed the four drivers and find out.

Task 9

Here are the statements made by each of the four drivers who had access to that van:


Peter – I was just popping in to the office to look for my wallet before heading off on an early delivery. My driver’s license is in there so I couldn’t leave without it. Just as I found my wallet, I saw David through the window of the office door. He was over by the key cabinet. When I went to get my keys, I noticed the ones to that van were missing.

David – I was heading to the staffroom that morning around 5:40. I had some paperwork to finish from yesterday’s deliveries, and I wanted to get it done early so I could go and see Liz’s sculpture. On my way to the staffroom I saw Colin take the keys for the van. He seemed to be in a hurry, and he looked rather nervous, like he didn’t want to be seen.

Tom – I was at home sick that day. I had been to my Aunt’s 50th birthday party a few nights before and I think I must have eaten something bad because I had an upset stomach for 3 days straight afterwards. I didn’t even hear about all the fuss about the sculpture until you lot came and picked me up.

Colin – What? David blamed me? No way, it was him! I saw him getting into the van just as I was coming in. I was going to come over and chat to him, you know, ask him how things were going, that sort of thing. But as soon as he saw me, he jumped into the van and drove off in a big hurry. He almost clipped the edge of the fence as he drove out.


We know for certain that one of these statements must be false, and that person will be the driver. Can you tell who the liar is? Remember, we need to have an explanation of why this person must be the liar, not just guess work, or else it will never hold up in a court-room.

From Senior Detective JustMe

Look for any statements that contradict each other. Choose one of the contradictory statements and imagine that statement was the false one. Would the other statements make sense as the truth in that case? If not, move onto the next statement. If it does make sense, then you have found the culprit.

David must be the one telling the lie. Both Peter and Colin say they saw him there, so either they are both lying or they are both telling the truth. Only one person is lying, so they both must be telling the truth, making David the guilty one.

People often say that if you can look someone in the eye, you must be telling the truth. Another common misconception is that due to the fact that the creative side of your brain is the right side, liars always look to the right when lying. However, studies have shown that using eye-movement to discover a liar is incredibly un-reliable. If you really want to spot a liar though, here are some more reliable ways.
-Liars might use the words ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’ a lot less. This is because they are making up a something that never happened, so they refer to themselves a lot less.
-Liars might move around less. This is because lying convincingly is hard and they need to concentrate. When you concentrate on something, you tend to stay more still.
-Liars might hesitate or pause more often. When lying, you need to think about your answer before you give it which can cause unnatural pauses and hesitations. Also be on the lookout for an increase in ‘ums’ and ‘errs’.
-Liars might cover their mouth with their hand, or touch their hair. These are common things people do when nervous or under pressure.
Please be aware that this is only a guide, and is by no means 100% fool proof. Every person is different. Just because someone does one or more of the things mentioned, does not mean they are lying. You should never accuse someone of lying unless you are absolutely certain and have proof of some sort.

To Detective ,

So, it was David all along. I must admit, it was rather suspicious when David knew straight away that the sculpture was missing, even when it was right at the back of the gallery. But I still don’t understand how he managed to get the sculpture out when he didn’t have the van. Witnesses say they even saw him outside with everyone else when the fire alarms were going off, so he must have had an accomplice. And we still need to find the Growlithe, too.

Task 10

We’ve been going through David’s house in search of evidence, and one of the detectives has discovered a basement door that’s not supposed to be there. It has a top-of-the-range security door on there, with a code needed to get in. The experts in this field have informed us that an explosive device is wired into the door, set to destroy everything in the room if we get the combination wrong too many times.

So far we have made 8 attempts, all of which were wrong. We only have one attempt left. By looking at the attempts we made, can you figure out the right combination? The combination is 6 numbers long, with each number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) being used only once. Beside each attempt are some 0’s to indicate how many numbers are in the right place in that attempt. Can you figure out the correct combination?

Attempts:


From Senior Detective JustMe

Take one of the attempts as your 'base'. (one of the ones with just 1 ‘0’ is easiest). You know for sure that one of those is in the right place. Try the first number on that line, and see if any combinations are possible if the first number is right. If not, move to the next number and so on.

The correct combination is:
6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5

This task is based on an old game called Mastermind which came out in the 1970’s. It was based on an even older pencil and paper game known as “Bulls and Cows” which could date back to over a century. In the game, coloured pegs are used instead of numbers, and each colour can be used more than once, or not at all. In most games, there a 6 colours to choose from, and 4 pegs for each code. In this case, there are 1,296 possible combinations, but despite that, a man named Donald Knuth created a method on 1977 that ensured solving the code with an average of 5 moves, 6 in the worst case scenario.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

You enter the digits into the security panel, and breathe a sigh of relief as it beeps twice, and then clicks open. You push the door open and step into the darkened room. A low growl echoes in the dark as your hand searches for the light switch. Finally you find it, and the light flickers on to reveal a large room.

A table sits in the center of the room, with piles of money scattered on top, along with several photos of the missing sculpture. On a bench on the back wall sits several carving tools, and hanging from some hooks off to the side you see a scarf and a pair of gloves. An air conditioning unit hums in the corner, making the room rather cool and next to it sits a smoke making machine. Another growl causes you to turn quickly.

A growlithe is chained to the wall, and you recognize her, from the pictures Liz showed you, as Kuri. Her head is low and she is obviously weak, and she eyes you warily with teeth bared. You reassure her, letting her know who you are.

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An hour later you are sitting in an interview room, opposite a sullen-looking David. He was refusing to talk, and though you are yet to think of a way he could have carried out the crime, your instinct tells you that he is indeed the culprit. Kuri had been through so much, she was still in recovery and unable to communicate much. From the little information you received, you have managed to work out that David had used Kuri's strong loyal nature against her, threatening to harm Liz if Kuri didn't do exactly as she was told.

You consider what you knew to be fact. David had arrived at the car-park in the van early on the morning of the crime, but left too early, before the sculpture went missing. He returned later, in time for the opening, and informed Liz about the missing sculpture only moments after they had been let back into the building. But, crucially, had been outside at the time the sculpture had been taken. That was the part that concerned you, for unless you could figure out how he did it, the evidence was all circumstantial and he would get away with it.

It's a hot afternoon, and one of your colleagues brings you a cold drink. As you stare at the ice-cubes chinking against the sides of the glass, all the little bits of information start falling into place - the van, the timing of the theft, the heating being turned off, the equipment in the hidden room, the fire alarm to get everyone outside, and the sprinklers to hide the evidence. You lean back in your chair and look over at David, how is also staring at the ice in the glass. He raises his eyes to look at you, and as his face twinges with worry, you realize that your thoughts are correct and the mystery has been solved.

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A week later you are standing outside the gallery in front of a crowd of people as Senior Detective JustMe presents you with your new badge. You smile as you accept it, and the crowd cheers. You think of David, now serving time. Of the sculpture, now recovered from the dealers he had sold it to. Of Liz and Kuri, happily reunited and waving to you from the crowd. Everything in its rightful place, a job well done.

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David had a duplicate of the sculpture carved out of ice. As Liz's 'friend' he would have been able to see the sculpture before it was displayed, and taken photos for reference. That's why the temperature in the room was right down, and why there were carving tools and the scarf and gloves there as well. He needed to keep the sculpture cold to stop it from melting, so he used the frozen food truck to transport it to the gallery before it opened, and switch it for the real sculpture. That was when the real theft happened, he drove away with the real sculpture in the van, leaving the ice duplicate in its place. Of course, he had to turn the heating off or the ice would have melted. Then he was able to stash the sculpture and make it back in time for the opening, so he would have the perfect alibi. From a distance, ice can look very similar to glass, and of course, Liz was expecting to see glass so that's what she 'saw'. Then David trips the fire alarm and uses the smoke machine to make fake smoke. Kuri (having been threatened by David before the opening) slips off to the side in the panic, then doubles back and melts the ice using an attack. The sprinklers are going, so the water from them merges with the water from the melted sculpture, disguising any evidence of ice. Later on, David forces Kuri to come with him as he makes the exchange, just in case there's any trouble, then locks her up to stop her from telling anyone what happened, and hoping she would be blamed for it all. And the rest, as they say, is history.