Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 430

The Burglary of the Mona Lisa
Korean International School, Maryon, Giselle Astrid - 12
Kylie is a girl who loves solving little mysteries, and she wants to become a detective when she grows up. Her
best friend, Josie, likes to go on adventures. One day, the Mona Lisa was going to be transferred to Xing Kong
(the Greater Bay area) from the Louvre Museum to XK National Museum for an exhibition of the worlds most
famous paintings. Kylie and Josie decided to go see the exhibition because they loved art, especially the Mona
Lisa! They were looking around at all the paintings for a very long time, but they were wearing headphones and
listening to music, so they couldn’t hear anything. When the loudspeaker announced that the museum was
closing, they didn’t hear it. When they noticed that all the lights were out, they realized that the museum had
closed, so they went to the entrance but they were trapped! Then, all of a sudden, they heard footsteps. They
decided to hide, but they were curious, so they watched. It wasn’t normal for any museum staff to still be at the
museum at that time. They noticed a man wearing only black and who had a mask on his face, in order to blend
in with the darkness, so that the CCTVs wouldn’t notice him. He had all sorts of tools. A spray that detected
those security lasers, so that he could sneak past without setting off the alarm, some ropes, a hook, and a harpoon
gun, which he was connecting to the rope and the hook. “Who is that man and what is he doing?” Kylie
whispered. “I think he’s stealing something. We should go and stop him!” Josie whispered back. “That’s not such
a good idea. Have you noticed his gun?” “What? Oh no! What should we do?” “Nothing. We’ll sit here and
watch, and when he’s gone, we can follow him and investigate.” Kylie whispered. “Ok. Sssh! Look!” The thief
was taking a painting - the MONA LISA!
The next morning, as soon as the museum opened, Kylie and Josie carefully crept out without being seen. Then
they heard a shout, “The Mona Lisa - it’s been STOLEN!”. They ran away because they didn’t want to be
accused of stealing it. About half an hour later, the news that the Mona Lisa had been stolen was all over Xing
Kong; on TV, and in all the newspapers! Kylie wanted to investigate who stole the Mona Lisa since she had seen
it happen! She called Josie, “We should try to solve this mystery! I feel bad not helping, you know, since we’ve
seen it happen, and we already know a lot! I think we have a good shot at solving this.” “Yeah, that’s a good
idea, but what if something happens to us?” “It’ll be okay. All we need to do is do some research, go back to the
museum, and make an investigation board with strings!” “That doesn’t sound too dangerous, and it’ll be
something to do during the summer holiday… okay. I’ll do it!” “Great! I’ll do some research for now… On who
would have a reason to steal the Mona Lisa or someone who’s stolen paintings before. Gotta go! Bye.” “Bye. I’ll
do some research too now!” Kylie began researching about all the times the Mona Lisa had been stolen, and by
who. Josie researched all of Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings and when they had been stolen. Josie made an
investigation board and printed pictures of all the thieves of Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting’s thieves, and wrote
notes about each burglary and pinned them to the board. Kylie found out that only 3 people in the past 15 years
had stolen the Mona Lisa, but it had been stolen 7 times! She made a note of it, and researched the three thieves.
“Wait what? I have to call Josie!” “Josie! You’ll never believe what I just found. All three thieves are all in the
same family!” Kylie exclaimed. “What? Really? Well, I have an idea, it’s got nothing to do with what you’ve
found out, but I think we should go to the museum. I’ve found out that another one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s
paintings was also transferred to our National Museum, and I think that the thief is going to steal it! We have to
try to stay there until after the museum closes and see if we can catch him.” “Is there anything I need to bring?”