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The Job at the Met
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Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

Aug-30-2009 20:21

A Heist Caper in 12 Acts

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Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

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."


Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

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?"


Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

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....


luc pfeiffer
luc pfeiffer
Red-Nosed

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.”


luc pfeiffer
luc pfeiffer
Red-Nosed

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?”


luc pfeiffer
luc pfeiffer
Red-Nosed

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.


luc pfeiffer
luc pfeiffer
Red-Nosed

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.


Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

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.


Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

Aug-30-2009 20:40

Breit nodded at Luc, who then kicked at the door. They entered the apartment to see Harry's head disappearing through the hole in the curtain. Luc yelled for Security and then dived out the window after him. Breit turned around and headed for the staircase. Security saw Harry climbing down one staircase after another and started working her way up. Unhappily for her, at the third floor, Harry hit the catch on the fire ladder and slid two floors down instantly. He released his hold from the ladder and jumped the last six feet, running off like a jack rabbit before Security could reverse her course and catch him. Luc, still four floors above this escapade, cursed in three different languages as he copied Harry's path down. He and Security were hot on Harry's heels, only a block behind him and gaining fast. Apparently Harry hoped to lose his pursuers in the crowd perambulating around Central Park and was betting that the team wouldn't run pell-mell after him.

Unfortunately, he didn't count on the dark horse; Breit had reached the entrance to the Park and loosed Missy's leash. Man running down pathways through picnickers versus tiger chasing said man. It wasn't hard to predict who lost.

Missy caught up to Harry quickly and swiped at his feet, tripping Harry right into a duck pond. Too bad for him Missy felt like having a bath. Breit, Security and Luc arrived to find Harry face down in the mud, Missy on his back and chewing away fiercely at the seat of his pants. Breit called her off, Security cuffed him with the pair she always carried. Luc had to pitch in to drag Harry out of the pond.

Needless to say, Harry was less than willing to talk. Until that is, Breit released Missy again and Luc pushed Harry back into the lake, cuffs and all. The contest between felon trying to wade across the lake and tiger getting another chance to play in the water was again predictable.

Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

Aug-30-2009 20:41

After losing at rock paper scissors, Security was the one to go in and rescue Harry. She absolutely refused, however, to stop Missy's renewed gnawing on tender parts until Harry started singing. Harry couldn't begin fast enough. He was still babbling details about the heist when he reached the shore, Missy trailing in his wake and still trying to knock his feet out from under him so she could have another go. The group then trudged back to the office to interrogate Harry properly, giving him not-so-gentle reminders along the way that he'd better talk or he was tiger-bait.

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