day 3
How many cats: 31
Culprit: The cat outside the window
Aftermath: There’s one cell where a bar has been deliberately loosened and can be pried away if you start from the floor. There’s a window that can be opened from the outside after what’s been done. The schedule and habits of everyone in the building are known. Several criminals have been caught— ‘caught’, letting the C.A.T.s track them down and hold them— just to get inside the building and do this all in advance. And even while the brothers are imprisoned, everyone who was implicated in their capture or ran to inform the investigators has been tracked down and taken care of. Not enough people have been held inside the building to prevent that, not when all the attention is on the brothers, the ringleaders. They can rest there knowing their right hand man is prepared and has been taking care of it all outside.
The right hand man smirks to himself as he closes the corner of the window he’d passed the entire report through. The paper and ink are easily dissolvable and won’t be caught. The hidden message means the investigators wouldn’t catch it anyway. He slips off to keep overseeing what he needs to and doing what he can. The fools— they’ll have to catch him, too, and those close to him, and everyone below them, to ever take this all down.
——
day 4
How many cats: 36
Culprit:The cat covered in red wrapping paper with a green bow
Aftermath: “There will still be presents even if it’s not a surprise,” one of the older cats told the kittens soothingly. “Maya opened one of hers early and it’s still a Christmas present, isn’t it? In the end of the day, it’s not about the shiny wrapping paper— it’s about the effort and sentiment that goes into choosing a gift someone will like, and the happiness from receiving the presents you are given. Nothing was destroyed, so don’t fret. There, there. Why don’t I take you into the kitchen for cookies and warm milk?”
After the kittens were herded off, the adults split their attention between keeping them calm and re-wrapping all of the gifts. For the kittens in particular, who were more upset than most about things being ‘ruined’, a few more little things were thrown in so there would still be a surprise. These things primarily being snacks baked overnight while the kittens were sleeping didn’t take away from the morning at all.
——
day 5
How many cats: 55
Culprit: The ninja cat hiding in an egg
Aftermath: It’s difficult to handle one child running around everywhere looking for eggs, let alone several. It’s no wonder the parents’ attention was so thoroughly taken up with the antics of their beloved children— no wonder, and very much expected, or even encouraged, by the thief sneaking in. While they ran all over and chattered happily away, a thief wrapped up in shadowy rags snuck in between the shadows of the eggs. A family rich enough to throw this kind of party for their child and even accept several impromptu visitors was a family that had much more of interest for the taking. He’d be a fool not to take advantage of the ease of sneaking into their manor while the attention was anywhere but on him.
——
day 6
How many cats: 17
Culprit: The orange cat lounging there
Aftermath: While the famous celebrity’s attention was distracted by a multitude of other things on the beach, some of which he’d helped set up, he wasn’t noticed at all as he quickly took a camera out from behind him and snapped several photos of the lady. A kitten in her basket, a cat spilling drinks everywhere, a raucous volleyball game… even the ‘pirate attack’ was nothing more than a moment he could use to catch a photo of her unguarded. All the while he looked like he was doing nothing and no one could see the camera unless he was using it. Of course, he made sure he was never using it for long.
——
day 7 (Someone woke up and chose violence, huh?)
How many changes: 25
Copy: I couldn’t begin to figure it out with my lack of training in art. Still… if there are no pictures of it online or any other references we could use to tell, does it really matter? Maybe the expert will be able to figure out the difference. If not… what makes one better than the other at all? I’d guess the left is the original because of the little cat hidden in the right one. It’s either there as a signature from the artist or a bit of showing off/mockery by the forgers.
Process: They weren’t ever planning for this to be noticed. What better target could be asked for than a painting this complicated and confusing for a first break in at this museum? They could learn the patterns of security and the safety precautions around each exhibit without anyone ever being tipped off that the painting left behind was a fake. There would be no “obvious” fake because nothing about this painting was obvious at all. And they’d checked— it wasn’t documented anywhere. No one could easily compare it to known pictures. Just… they tripped one of the wires in the museum and a janitor noticed someone “acting suspicious”. Unfortunately, they hadn’t successfully bypassed security at all.
How many cats: 31
Culprit: The cat outside the window
Aftermath: There’s one cell where a bar has been deliberately loosened and can be pried away if you start from the floor. There’s a window that can be opened from the outside after what’s been done. The schedule and habits of everyone in the building are known. Several criminals have been caught— ‘caught’, letting the C.A.T.s track them down and hold them— just to get inside the building and do this all in advance. And even while the brothers are imprisoned, everyone who was implicated in their capture or ran to inform the investigators has been tracked down and taken care of. Not enough people have been held inside the building to prevent that, not when all the attention is on the brothers, the ringleaders. They can rest there knowing their right hand man is prepared and has been taking care of it all outside.
The right hand man smirks to himself as he closes the corner of the window he’d passed the entire report through. The paper and ink are easily dissolvable and won’t be caught. The hidden message means the investigators wouldn’t catch it anyway. He slips off to keep overseeing what he needs to and doing what he can. The fools— they’ll have to catch him, too, and those close to him, and everyone below them, to ever take this all down.
——
day 4
How many cats: 36
Culprit:The cat covered in red wrapping paper with a green bow
Aftermath: “There will still be presents even if it’s not a surprise,” one of the older cats told the kittens soothingly. “Maya opened one of hers early and it’s still a Christmas present, isn’t it? In the end of the day, it’s not about the shiny wrapping paper— it’s about the effort and sentiment that goes into choosing a gift someone will like, and the happiness from receiving the presents you are given. Nothing was destroyed, so don’t fret. There, there. Why don’t I take you into the kitchen for cookies and warm milk?”
After the kittens were herded off, the adults split their attention between keeping them calm and re-wrapping all of the gifts. For the kittens in particular, who were more upset than most about things being ‘ruined’, a few more little things were thrown in so there would still be a surprise. These things primarily being snacks baked overnight while the kittens were sleeping didn’t take away from the morning at all.
——
day 5
How many cats: 55
Culprit: The ninja cat hiding in an egg
Aftermath: It’s difficult to handle one child running around everywhere looking for eggs, let alone several. It’s no wonder the parents’ attention was so thoroughly taken up with the antics of their beloved children— no wonder, and very much expected, or even encouraged, by the thief sneaking in. While they ran all over and chattered happily away, a thief wrapped up in shadowy rags snuck in between the shadows of the eggs. A family rich enough to throw this kind of party for their child and even accept several impromptu visitors was a family that had much more of interest for the taking. He’d be a fool not to take advantage of the ease of sneaking into their manor while the attention was anywhere but on him.
——
day 6
How many cats: 17
Culprit: The orange cat lounging there
Aftermath: While the famous celebrity’s attention was distracted by a multitude of other things on the beach, some of which he’d helped set up, he wasn’t noticed at all as he quickly took a camera out from behind him and snapped several photos of the lady. A kitten in her basket, a cat spilling drinks everywhere, a raucous volleyball game… even the ‘pirate attack’ was nothing more than a moment he could use to catch a photo of her unguarded. All the while he looked like he was doing nothing and no one could see the camera unless he was using it. Of course, he made sure he was never using it for long.
——
day 7 (Someone woke up and chose violence, huh?)
How many changes: 25
Copy: I couldn’t begin to figure it out with my lack of training in art. Still… if there are no pictures of it online or any other references we could use to tell, does it really matter? Maybe the expert will be able to figure out the difference. If not… what makes one better than the other at all? I’d guess the left is the original because of the little cat hidden in the right one. It’s either there as a signature from the artist or a bit of showing off/mockery by the forgers.
Process: They weren’t ever planning for this to be noticed. What better target could be asked for than a painting this complicated and confusing for a first break in at this museum? They could learn the patterns of security and the safety precautions around each exhibit without anyone ever being tipped off that the painting left behind was a fake. There would be no “obvious” fake because nothing about this painting was obvious at all. And they’d checked— it wasn’t documented anywhere. No one could easily compare it to known pictures. Just… they tripped one of the wires in the museum and a janitor noticed someone “acting suspicious”. Unfortunately, they hadn’t successfully bypassed security at all.
)
Count all the cats in the image.
The image providing is close to the suspected time where the note was dropped.
