The Chalice's Location (Day 1-Continued)

You recalled what you've seen earlier. The blood trail left at Mr. Medico's room, the golden chip around the sanctuary, the locked outside door, and the significant distance from the sanctuary to anywhere else in the church left an significant impact on you.

"The door can't be opened from the outside..." you explained your logic. "So the only way to get back in is through the main entrance. But that takes too much time for the thief. People will instantly get suspicious."

Detective W nodded. "Your way of thinking is certainly much better than before. Continue."

"So... it has to be somewhere inside the church. This is a holy chalice, right? So, it can't be in the bathroom, right? Why put a holy thing in a dirty place?"

Priest Morgan growled, "If someone were to put the holy chalice in the bathroom, I would beat them up until they wished they're dead!" He shook his fists and shadowboxed.

"Whatever happened to adhering to the peaceful way of the Lord?" Detective W wondered while stroking his chin.

"And... it can't be in the library... or the reception area. The library has kids in there. The thief will instantly be caught. The reception area is nearly empty, so there's no way the thief will hide the chalice there..." you went on. "Besides, there's a camera there."

Detective W agreed and waved his hand, telling you to continue.

You blinked, your mind turning blank. You have thought this far, but you were not sure what to think next. "Uh... uh..." your mouth went dry as you made something up. "So, the chalice must be at the kitchen! You know, a perfect camouflage! No one will notice it!"

Detective W doubled over and chortled. "A trip at the finish line, but nice logic anyways, my friend. Nice logic. The final hiding place should be at the sanctuary."

"What?! The sanctuary?! But we just went there!" Ha-Eun exclaimed. "How can you be so sure it's there?!"

Detective W sat on a stool and explained, "Hear me out, hear me out. We have already established that the thief can't have gone outside and went back by the main entrance. We also checked each of the classrooms and have deduced that the chalice can't be at the restrooms, library, or the reception area. Besides, the kitchen is a silly place to hide the chalice, since the kitchen will be dirty, too. The kitchen is easily accessible and the chalice is blatantly obvious there. There's no way for the holy chalice to be there."

Ha-joon connected the dots. "You're saying... the thief still has it on their body?"

"That's right," Detective W confirmed. "The thief probably won't put the chalice back... now that it has the thief's fingerprints. We can do a fingerprint analysis with ease. Besides, the people in the sanctuary can instantly assume that the thief returned it. Since the thief believes that the chalice is valuable, the thief will hold on to it no matter what. No thief would give up the stolen property that easily."

Priest Morgan, jaws dropping, uttered, "No way... W, the thief... is one of those three?"

Detective W flashed a thumbs up before opening the ornate oak door to the sanctuary. "That's right! One of them will clarify everything for us!"