When the guards at the Montclair Art Museum made their morning rounds, they noticed something strange in the contemporary art gallery. Crown for the Victor, Couper's vibrant work, had disappeared without a trace. There was no sign of forced entry, the alarms never sounded, and most disturbingly... a near-identical replica of the painting hung in its place.

Detective Samuel Holt, an art crime expert, was called to the case. The first thing he noticed was a small piece of paper folded in the corner of the empty frame. On it, a series of letters and numbers appeared to be an encrypted message that has not yet been interpreted, and it is believed that the letter provides clues to finding the perpetrators of the theft.

Encrypted message (Vigenère cipher, key: CROWN):

‘Dqiyw qvxok tcz ukfi vg wkm pzrq yjtzl ey xsv xswzwryv. Nbrj gzcf hszit efjyw rfs jfu fjfxy.’."