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Aug-30-2009 20:21

A Heist Caper in 12 Acts

Aug-30-2009 20:25

Breit stared at the phone in shock as the dial tone blared. Whatever Hollis' problem was, it must be catastrophic. He'd never done anything like this as long as she'd known him. She hung up the phone, then went to round up as many of the zoo as she could find.

It took a bit longer than she thought, but an hour later, she and seven of her people were standing in the lobby of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, looking around the place. Breit had brought Missy, along with both dogs and Ravi the Mongoose. The ranks of people were a bit thin but she'd managed to drag Dave, Security, and Luc away from whatever they were doing and drafted all of them on this particular mission. Ani and Akemo were off on somewhere in the Mediterranean, sunbathing and sightseeing for a month on various European Riviera. Brady had recently decided to 'retire' to Florida and start up his own agency in some backwoods place called Key West. So far, he'd had a ball doing nothing but fishing, sunbathing, and chasing alligators from what his letters had said. Breit had also commandeered Sahira to help look after Sarah, and Maureen in case they needed some info gathering (which Maureen was particularly good at). She’d also gotten lucky in that two former associates, Miranda Belle and Coccinella (with her trusty tommy gun Remi), were in town running down bad guys.

Breit spotted the Mayor on the far side of the crowd infesting the Met's lobby, and waved her hand at him. "Uncle Joe! Hi there!"

She and the others weaved their way through the throng, arriving to find the Mayor standing beside a small man, fastidiously dressed, with huge horn-rimmed glasses. The second man seemed to have some kind of nervous tic, because he glanced furtively around the crowd continuously, his left eye spasming every few seconds.

Aug-30-2009 20:26

Breit had never seen Joseph Hollis so somber. He shook her hand, as was his custom, but there was no usual hug, no chitchat, no adoration for Missy or Sarah. He indicated the other man, "I'd like you to meet Harvey Carnegie. He's the Curator of the museum here."

Breit shook the other man's hand. "Sir. Nice to meet you." The man barely glanced in her direction, before going back to scanning the crowd.

Hollis continued, "You brought your team with you?"

"As many as were available, yes. The others will be updated when they get back in town," she replied.

"And you trust them? Really trust them?" Hollis' face was grim.

Breit nodded, "With my life. All of them have been vetted by Dave and the War Department. They're all eligible for protection duty for Roosevelt. That good enough?"

Hollis nodded, then indicated Carnegie, "I'll let Harvey explain. He's the one who can explain it best."

Mr. Carnegie's eyes widened hugely when he spotted Fang the Rottweiler being led on a leash by Miranda, "DOGS! You have dogs in here! Animals aren't allowed in the museum! It's against the rules!" he cried.

Breit's blue eyes turned to steel gray, her smile dying, "Yes, Mr. Carnegie, I brought two dogs with me. They're part of my team, which Mayor Hollis requested." She turned and watched as Dave emerged from the crowd with Missy, "I even brought a cat with me. I was under the impression that you had a problem you needed help with. Of course, if you prefer, we'll be happy to leave...." She stepped down a stair of the staircase that they were on, only to be stayed by Carnegie.

"NO! No, please, I'm sorry. Please stay. I'm just a bit...out of sorts...this morning. Please forgive me." He looked at the Mayor, who nodded at him, then back at Breit, "If you all will please follow me?"

The Curator led them through the crowded museum to a closed-off area of the museum, and still further to an exhibition hall. Breit and her team arrived to find two policemen leaving the hall. The cops tipped their hats to the Mayor, muttered something to the Cura

Aug-30-2009 20:27

The cops tipped their hats to the Mayor, muttered something to the Curator, and glared at the detectives.

The Wish group entered the hall to find most of the hall covered in fingerprint dust, tape, and broken glass. Breit glanced at Dave and shared a significant glance.

Dave spoke up, "You gentlemen wanna tell us what happened here?"

Carnegie raised a kerchief to his mouth, barely able to speak, "They’re gone! All of them! Somebody broke in and took them last night!" He turned away as tears poured down his cheeks.

"What's gone?" Cocci asked.

The Mayor spoke up at that, "The Met was supposed to open a new exhibit in a couple of weeks entitled “A Kaleidoscope of Western Art”. The centerpiece of it was a set of twelve pieces of different types of art. Paintings, sketches, sculpture, and jewelry. All created by various Old Masters--DaVinci, Rembrandt, Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet, Faberge, and so forth." He rubbed his forehead wearily, “They’re on loan from museums all over the world. Each one, priceless." He looked up at Breit, his aged blue eyes suddenly laser sharp, "If this gets out, it'll be a publicity nightmare. New York will be the laughingstock of the art world."

Breit came up to him and rubbed his shoulder reassuringly, "No one from my team is going to say anything." He looked relieved at that, and she turned back to study the colossal room again, "Why are there only nine displays?"

Carnegie looked up at that, apparently somewhat back under control again, "Three of the pieces were being cleaned and prepared for display in a workroom." He indicated a small door at the far end of the hall. "They were being worked on in there."

Aug-30-2009 20:28

Breit and Dave exchanged glances again at the Police Commissioner's name, but said nothing. Breit put on an innocent face, then turned to the Curator, "So, Sir, how can we help?"

Carnegie's face turned purple at that, "Why, why," he sputtered, "Find my art! Catch the thieves!"

Dave turned on his customary smile at that, "I see. You do realize, gentlemen, that your paintings and stuff are probably already on their way out of the country to some black market auction? At best, we've got about 48 hours until that happens. And understand, Breit and her associates don't come cheap."

Carnegie's hands waved wildly in the air at that, "I don't care about that! Just find my paintings!"

Dave smiled and nodded, then turned to Breit, "Sounds like we're hired."

He then came over to the rest of the group while the Mayor consoled the Curator.

"Okay," Dave said, "we're looking at a pretty big scene to deal with. We need to divide and conquer." He indicated Wish's newest agent, "Luc, you're on print duty."

Luc turned around and stared at the cloud of dust engulfing the exhibition hall, "But the police have already dusted for prints?"

"Yep," Dave replied, "That's why you're gonna do it again. Look for 'em in unusual places; I doubt the cops looked very hard. And take Ravi with you and see if he can sniff up anything out of the ordinary."

Dave turned to Security, "Miss Lane. Looks like they don't have much in the way of a security system, but check it out anyway. And they gotta have a head of security tucked away here somewhere. Go have a chat with him while you're at it. Thanks."

Next came Miranda and Maureen. "Ladies. I suspect they probably had guards roaming the place during the night while the break-in took place. Would you please go interview them, and see what they have to say about all this? That would help very much. Thanks. And Cocci, could you please buttonhole the cops that just left and grill them about what they’ve discovered?"

Aug-30-2009 20:31

He looked at Breit, "You and I are gonna take the 'cursed' animals and see what they have to say about all of this. Would you see if Missy can find any scents of any thieves in any back workrooms or other employee hangouts? I'm gonna take the mutts and see if I can find an entry or exit point for our burglars."

Dave's smile dimmed as he watched the Curator, "We don't have much time to work here, guys, so go as fast as you can. And remember, somebody in this place probably knows something. Be careful. Let's meet back here in an hour or so and discuss findings. Thanks everybody. Let's get to work."

With that, the Wish group scattered throughout the museum....

Aug-30-2009 20:34

Intro --

Luc pulled the fingerprint dust and brush out of the kit Breit had brought and went right to work. He started checking the ‘more unusual’ places by pulling the frames off the wall and dusting the backs, at least until the curator saw him.
“What are you DOING?” the man exclaimed.
“Dusting,” Luc returned without looking up.
“But this is a crime scene! You can’t do that!”
“Whyever not? The police are gone. They released the scene, so as far as I know, I can do anything with these frames up to and including taking them apart”, Luc replied.
“Miss Breit!” the curator bellowed.
Breit sauntered over. “Yes”, she drawled.
“This young man is ...”
“He’s bugging me,” Luc cut him off without looking up, jabbing a thumb in the air over his shoulder in the direction of the curator. Breit took the hint and led Mr. Carnegie off, reminding him gently that he did call them in to do a job and that they needed to be able to do that job without hindrances. As she returned to where Luc was working, Missy came trotting up, a severely mangled work shoe dangling from her jaws.
“What did you find there, darling?” Breit cooed.
Luc looked over, drawn by what Breit was extricating from between Missy’s teeth. “Oooh, you wonderful thing you!” he joined in, taking the shoe from Breit.
“Why would someone leave his shoe here?” she murmured to him in an aside.
“Not sure boss. Did she find a second?” Luc looked around. “Aha, here we go”, pulling the second out from beneath a bench. “But now I have a theory. Be right back.” At that, he turned and left the room, Breit smiling and the curator with his mouth hanging agape in his wake. He came back about 20 minutes later after inspecting the outside of the building, Security in tow. “Found out how they got in,” he reported to Breit.
“Oh?” she inquired.. “Tell me how.”
“I think the man who left his shoes used the stone lions and moldings to crawl his way up the side of the building.”

Aug-30-2009 20:35

“How can you tell?” Breit wanted to know.
Security explained, “Well, there’s a set of scuff marks going up the side of the building about six feet in from one set of lions. It’s what would be left by someone walking up the side of the building in hard-soled shoes and pulling himself up with a rope.”
“And this guy didn’t do that?” Breit said, pointing to the shoes.
“Wrong type of soles”, Luc replied. “Those are soft rubber.”
“Then how do you know this guy climbed up the building?” Breit repeated.
“Well again, it’s just a guess, but I’d say this guy was the first to crawl up and he did it in his bare feet. Even his shoes would have left some sort of marks on the stone.”
“And then?”
Continuing on, Luc explained further. “I think that he was the first one down on the inside on a rope. It’s much easier to do in your bare feet. He then held the rope while his friends shimmied down.”
The curator apparently rediscovered his courage and tried to take Luc on again. “You can’t POSSIBLY know all that!”
Luc looked at him evenly. “You ever try tracking a mountain lion that doesn’t want to be followed through the wilds of Montana?”
“No.”
“It shows.”
“So why didn’t he put his shoes back on?” Breit asked.
“We don’t know.” Security replied.
“Yet.” Luc emphasized, returning to dusting the frames.
Breit called Joe Hollis over and explained what Luc and Security had found. “It makes sense,” Security told the Mayor. “It’s how I’d get in if there was no one to here to let me in.”
The curator interrupted them. “So there WAS no inside person!”
“We didn’t say that”, Breit corrected him. “We are saying that they broke in in a way that didn’t need assistance from someone inside the building.” She turned back to Security. “How many people would you use to pull this off?”

Aug-30-2009 20:36

Looking up from her thoughts, Security’s response was immediate. “Minimum of five, boss, given how many artifacts were hit.” To the curator she asked, “How long did it take before someone found this?”
At hearing the answer of about an hour and a half, “Then seven,” Security told Breit, turning and walking away.
“How would she know?” the curator asked snidely.
“She’s our resident thief. She’d know.” Breit replied and walked away also.

Three frames later, Luc had an answer for Breit. “Got something here, Boss. Not sure if it’s good or bad news, but I’d say our shoeless yeggman got spooked.”
“By what?” she asked, walking over.
“The sight of blood, probably. Somebody sliced their finger while sliding it behind this frame to find the support wire and cut it. If it happened while Shoeless was still holding the rope, he might have dropped his shoes as he went to go help his friend.”
“Makes sense”, Breit responded. “Whadda you think, Security?”
“It’s as good an explanation as any other and it makes our job easier.”
“How’s that?” asked the curator.
Luc exchanged glances of exasperation with Breit and Security. “It gives us a means of identifying who cut himself and by the look of it, we won’t have to look far.”
“How do you know that?” the curator blustered.
Out of patience, Security snapped at him. “Because the wire is rusty. That means that with a little luck, the guy has a sepsis or tetanus infection and is not long for this world. A pro would have used leather gloves.”
“Oh.” he bit out, visibly shaken.

Aug-30-2009 20:37

“Oh darling,” Dave called down as he looked in the open skylight.

“Lemme guess,” Breit called up. “Someone crawled up the side of the building and let the others down with a rope.”

“Well if you’re going to steal my thunder...”

“Not me. Luc and Security beat me to it.”

Fading away as Dave walked down the stairs off the roof, “Knew that boy was too smart for his own britches.” Breit smiled and resumed examining the debris left behind.

Miranda came back in to report what she’d found. The guards normally patrolled the museum once every hour. One of the guards had been sandbagged and was now on his way to the hospital, which was how the thieves had gained themselves some extra time. Maureen was riding with the guard, trying to gain any other information the man had.


Dave poked his head in the door a few minutes later. “Going out for a doughnut, dear.” Ignoring pleas for buttermilk or sprinkles, he strolled out of the museum.

A few minutes later at the diner across the street from the Met, Dave chatted up the waitress over his doughnut. It turned out she’d seen a truck back up to the front door of the museum at around three in the morning.

“Well that explains that” he reported back to the group. “They used a truck to park right outside the front door and haul their ill-gotten gains away.”

“Ballsy,” Security returned. “And someone saw them.” Dave nodded. “Definitely amateurs.”

“Ok guys. I think we’re done here. Pack it in.” Breit ordered.

Aug-30-2009 20:39

Intro -- Pursuit of Harry Faulkner

After beating the bushes for the next several hours, Breit's crew had discovered that a newcomer to town was supposed to be the best talent to be had for setting up a job like the Met. Harry Faulkner had pulled several heists off in Europe and had arrived in New York looking for new challenges and one big payoff. According to the local buzz, he was looking to set up shop as an underworld clearinghouse for all sorts of collectibles. He had been peddling Egyptian and Chinese antiquities to the highest bidder for a couple years. Now, with an outside source of capital backing him, he was looking to spread his wings, as it were.

His right hand man, Enrico Capitalli, was a second-story man who hadn't been seen since the day before the robbery. The word around town was that if Harry had pulled a job, Enrico was in it up to his armpits.

The decision was made that part of the team would track Harry down, the other part would hound Enrico, and Dave would check the hospitals for a possible third participant with a hand wound.

Breit took Luc and Security with her to the address that they'd been told was Harry's latest hangout. Breit also brought Missy along; she needed to be walked, after all. Security volunteered to wait outside by the balconies and fire ladders in case Harry tried to pull a Houdini. Breit had hoped that a polite knock on the door and a sugary plea for the occupant to look at the absolute latest in potato mashers available for sale would work. But it was not to be; almost immediately they heard furniture moving and then a window sill creaking.