Unbothered by his closeness, she nonchalantly glanced around the room. It was filled with people who lived in the world of the wealthy. Designer suits and gowns, jewels, a general atmosphere of pompousness — this was the world she submerged herself in to gain access to a position that could more easily obtain insider information on her targets.
Jeanne looked up at him, noting his practiced touch. She smiled lazily at him and said,
“These circles are rather exclusive.. so you can imagine where invitations go for their events. But yes, I do know many of them. Why do you ask?”
Rather interesting he’s asking about people here.. people of means. Anyone here could get an expensive painting or fifty. So I wonder why he’s investigating this as if it were an /inside/ job.. Let’s steer him away from that line of thought.
Keeping up with the dance effortlessly, she laughed lightly.
“Surely you don’t think someone here would steal it? It’s far less trouble to buy it from him and these ‘lovely ladies and gentleman’ have deep bank accounts.”
The detective chuckled, steps confident, graceful. As if he’d done this hundreds of times before – which, in truth, he had. “Of course it would be far less trouble… but that’s not really what motivates a thief now, is it?
"Certainly, if someone wanted to, they could buy a painting and sell it for, hopefully, more than they paid… That would be a broker. You could compare it to, say, a person working a regular nine-to-five to earn their paycheck. Alternatively, they could gamble at high stakes. Some people are risk takers. That is how they operate. It’s not so much the money that they’re after… it’s the thrill.”
Hakuba smiled, tilting his head at her. “I know a great number of the people present tonight, but not everyone… and not as well as I’d like for any of them. Any one of them could be one of those risk-takers. It could be someone who has the money – all that they’d ever need, and more – and still chooses to steal. There are so many reasons that criminal could use to justify their actions… But isn’t that what makes human nature so interesting?”