Zurich, Switzerland
Yuri and Lana Velismo strolled out of the Russian Embassy with a one-meter long duffel bag in tow. Inside the bag were 50,000 Euro’s, two 9mm Beretta pistols with accompanying silencers, two sets of night vision gear, a pair of 10x50 binoculars, a parabolic microphone for eavesdropping, four fragmentation grenades, two smoke grenades, and ten disposable cell phones.
Just enough product to start a small war.
As instructed, they approached a late model, blue, 4-door Opel parked across the street from the Embassy, and used the cars fob to open the trunk, swiftly stashing their bag.
Yuri and Lana had landed two hours earlier at a private airport north of Zurich, one frequented by the diplomatic crowds. Soon after their arrival they provided a private briefing to the Ambassador and his GRU aide on their mission. Upon its conclusion, the proverbial doors were flung open to the embassy’s arsenal. They were offered access to everything from common pistols up to anti-tank type weapons if they were so inclined. Obviously they declined the heavy stuff. It was a well-known secret, wink-wink, in diplomatic circles that the Russians kept an arsenal at each of its Embassies. Of course only for self-defense purposes.
Within minutes, Yuri had inputted their coordinates into his iPhone but stopped short of requesting final directions. He turned to Lana who sat in the driver’s seat, motioning back to the car’s trunk. “How far do you think we could get on 50,000 Euros?”
Lana smiled at him as she put the car into gear. “Yuri, think about it for a moment. We are in Switzerland, stupid. The world’s most expensive country. It might last us a week. And our government would track us down in a matter of weeks, if not days.”
“Just a thought,” he replied. “Never seen that much money before. Would be nice to one day have a bank account that large. Think of it, no more dirty work, just relaxing on a beach somewhere.”
Lana steered the car towards the north/south highway entrance ramp. She was already two steps ahead of him, her own wheels turning, as she accelerated off for Bern.
Who said they couldn’t keep one or two of the paintings for themselves?
CHAPTER 29
Bern, Switzerland
Jim had just completed his fourth tour of the Museum. Nora’s third. Chuck’s fourth. Not considered uncommon to the museum staff due to the amount of paintings and sculptures on display. Some visitors were even known to spend their entire vacation touring the museum, returning day after day.
On each of their visits, Jim and Nora discreetly used their cell phones to photograph the guards on duty. Chuck used his to record the security system and the guards security room. By the fourth day, between the three of them, they had managed photos of all 25 guard’s, exact locations of the alarm panels, cameras, generator, and the security station.
With the information on hand they were able to assemble a primitive guard schedule and define the security layout.
Next they proceeded to figure out who would probably be working the night they intended to remove the paintings.
“OKAY, I THINK we can concentrate on at least these three security guards,” said Jim, the photos spread out in front of them. “They look to be the youngest. With youth comes indiscretion. That and they most likely will hit a pub or two after work.”
Nora and Summer laughed aloud. “Speaking from experience?”
“Aren’t you two the funny ones,” he replied. “You mean to tell me in your younger misspent youth neither of you ladies hit the pubs after work?”
Chuck decided to chime in. “I lived above one. Does that count?”
Jim shook his head and pointed back to pictures of the three youngest guards. “Now all we have to do is follow them to a local pub they frequent. That is where we have Nora and Summer chat them up and buy a few rounds. Make them talkative.”
Nora looked to Summer. “I guess we are the proverbial bait.”
Summer nodded. “A girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.”
Jim smiled at them both. “Beauty always captures a man’s heart; and a few rounds of drinks won’t hurt.”
“Throwing your wife to the wolves?” Nora replied.
“It’s only for an hour or so. I want you two to have a map of the museum spread out on a table. Act a little bewildered.”
“You mean the old maiden in distress routine?” replied Summer.
“I like her, Jim,” said Nora. “She gives it right back.”
Jim looked to Chuck for help but he just raised his hands in surrender. “I do security.”
Jim shook his head. “Where’s Eian when I need him?”
“He’s still at the airport having the aircraft serviced for our flight home,” said Chuck.
Jim pointed back to the map. “Ladies, if you could start off with acquiring some basic tips. The usual stuff: what is the best time to visit? Recommended artworks to see? Then buy a few rounds to get them to really open up. Try and find out what their normal routine is when the museum closes at night. Do they hang out in the security room? Or are they positioned at various locations around the museum?”
“We have it, Jim,” said Nora. “Between us, we will own those guards.”
Jim next turned to Chuck. “All right, where do we stand for security?”
Chuck rose from his seat carrying a rolled up map. He unfurled it on top of the table, and then placed two empty wine bottles on each end to keep it from rolling back up. “I spent a portion of my day walking around in order to become more familiar with the area. What I discovered is the museum is typical by European museum standards. By typical I mean all electrical power comes from an outside source. This one is no different.” He pointed down at the map. “I went to city hall and was able to make a copy of a streets department map. If you look at the manhole covers, they indicate a letter E for electrical versus the letter A that stands for sewage or das abwasser in German. Now if you look at all of the ones within 200 feet of the Museum, you see only one that has an E on it.” He used his forefinger to emphasize the manhole cover. “I walked by it earlier today and located this particular one in an alley beside a trash dumpster. I was able to pry it up and look in without anyone noticing me. When I looked in the manhole, about two feet below me, I located one line, and it went in the direction of the Museum. It has to be for electrical power.”
Jim patted Chuck on the back. “And this is why Chuck is on the team. Great recon.”
“I’m not done yet,” he replied. “When you want the power cut, all I have to do is use some common hair spray and a candle lighter, between the two they act as a torch. I simply burn off the wires insulation and drop in a few pieces of metal and boom, the area goes dark. In addition, like I said before, I drain the fuel from the diesel generator and you have no back-up power. ”
Jim looked to Nora and Summer. “Now you see why we needed this man.” He turned to Chuck. “You are the man of the hour. Remind me never to invite you over to our house for dinner or drinks.”
Everyone laughed.
Jim lays a diagram of the museum on top of Chucks. “I think I might have found a potential point of entry,” he says, pointing to a side window in an older section that connected with the new Gurlitt wing. “It only has a heavy-duty cage covering the window for security. It’s potentially the weak link. If we can gain access, we should only require possibly two hours to accomplish our job. That leaves us with just enough time to remove the paintings we have identified, replace them with our reproductions, and still leave us with a few minutes to spare. From there we load the truck and hit the road to the airport where Eian fly’s us back to the states before anybody is aware what has transpired.”
Chuck looked to each of them. “The key is the guards. They will have at least four or five on duty, all heavily armed. I think that’s the main reason for the rinky dink security system. They have placed all of their faith in the armed guards.”
Jim stood up and rolled up the maps.
“Alright people. We are a go.”
&nb
sp; CHAPTER 30
Jim could overhear Summer and Nora in the hotels hallway, chortling like two school girls. He looked to his watch. It was almost 1am. He placed the book he was reading on the nightstand and rose from his chair. He walked over to the rooms’ door and peaked through its security pinhole. They evidently were experiencing trouble inserting the rooms’ key card into the door slot. He overheard more than a few choice words being used.
Jim opened the door for the two of them. “Good evening,” he said sarcastically, “or should I say good morning?”
“Don’t mind my husband,” said Nora, blowing past Jim and walking over to where a bottle of merlot sat on top the rooms bar. “Sometimes he can be such a bore.” She held the wine bottle up for Summer to see. “I told you it was here.”
Jim waved Summer in from the hallway. “You might as well join your partner in crime.”
A loud pop was heard as the cork exited the bottle. “Success,” said Nora, her words slightly slurred. She poured Summer a glass, then a glass for herself.
“I thought you would be out for an hour or two,” he said, pointing to the rooms clock. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been four hours.”
“I told you he was no fun,” said Nora.
Summer burst out laughing. “You were definitely right on that one.”
Jim shook his head at his wife’s antics. “I’m fun. I’m lots of fun. Hell, I put the F in fun. I just think we should stick to a schedule,” defending himself.
“No fun. No fun. No fun,” they chanted in unison.
Jim held up his arms in surrender. “Never argue with a drunk. Or two when you are outnumbered.”
Nora put her glass of wine down for the moment, grabbing her purse. “Now if you would have simply asked us if we accomplished our mission,” she replied smartly, “you would have been rewarded with this.” She held aloft a sheet of white notepaper.
She handed it to him. “Here you are, sir.”
He quickly skimmed what she had written. “This is the mother lode!” he said excitedly. “You have names, schedules, positions where they stand, rotations.”
Nora nodded. “The young guards bought us drinks all night. They hoped they were getting lucky. But we led them on. For a couple of older women we still have it.” She high-fived Summer.
“Still got it,” Summer replied.
“We even said we would meet them next week for drinks.” Nora looked to Jim. “But we lied.”
“My bad,” said Jim. He pointed to the piece of paper. “This is 10 out of 10, ladies.”
“I would say you have to go a little higher on your scale,” chimed in Summer, her words also starting to slur. “We found out the guards are fervent video gamers and just happen to play in the security room when they work the overnight shift. All five guards in one location. They take over all of the security screens for video games. Translation: No screens covering the floors nor guards patrolling the floors.”
Jim couldn’t believe their luck. “Tomorrow we will talk some more. Tonight you two have to get some sleep.” He walked into the bathroom to get them each of them a glass of water. When he came out they were both passed out on the rooms sofa. He managed two blankets from the room’s closet and placed one over each.
He appropriated the rest of the bottle of wine, pouring its remaining contents into one big glass for himself.
This is going to work, he thought to himself.
This is really going to happen.
WHAT JIM NOR HIS teammates recognized was the museum was hiding their issues in plain site: the museum was running low on funds. The financial strain for building the new Gurlitt Wing left the museum in poor financial condition. Almost bankrupted them. Basic repairs and annual maintenance were being pushed further and further back. In addition, it was beginning to show. The museum also cut back on security where it could. All new upgrades were put on hold. They originally had 120 infrared motion detectors placed discreetly about the museum but only 35 were still in working order. The rest were left up as some form of visual deterrent. The ones that did work were all hooked up to the buildings electrical grid. If power went down, so did they. An antiquated monitoring system consisting of twelve cameras placed around the building's perimeter provided the extent of the exterior security. Again all hooked up to the power grid. There were no cameras installed within the museum due to the board of trustees stating such equipment in the building would be too expensive. Therefore, they simply hired additional security guards. Most museums require their security guards to make hourly phone calls to the police to indicate all was well. But with five armed guards on hand for the nightshift, the Bern museum thought that to be pointless. The board also denied a request from the security director for higher guard salaries in a bid to attract more qualified applicants for the job. The current guards were paid slightly above minimum wage. Therefore, you get what you pay for: Guards who didn’t make the rounds and played video games in the security room.
So one power outage, and if you could contain the guards in one area, you could steal whatever you wanted.
And get away with it.
CHAPTER 31
It was approaching 8am when there was a knock at the door.
“Room service,” was heard from the hallway.
Jim opened the door to find a uniformed waiter standing behind a rolling cart filled with an assortment of breakfast items, a big pot of coffee in its middle. He handed the waiter a 20-franc tip. “I’ll take it from here,” he said. “Don’t want you to see the two bears I have sleeping on my couch.”
The waiter smiled as he quickly pocketed the 20. “If there is anything else I can do for you please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Jim pulled the cart into the room, wheeling it over to a small dining table by the room’s window. “Time to rise and shine, ladies,” he said. “Breakfast is served.”
Nora and Summer looked to be in the same position they passed out in the night before.
Another knock at the door. Jim looked through the security pinhole. “Just Chuck,” he said. “He’s here for breakfast.” He opened the door.
Chuck entered already showered and shaved ready to start the day. “I see somebody is going to have a hangover today.” He continued past them, walking over to where Jim was pouring coffee for everyone.
“Late night for the ladies?” Chuck said to Jim.
“You know it,” he replied.
Nora was first to rise followed by Summer. “Lots of black coffee, please,” she demanded. “Now I know why I stopped going to bars.”
Jim corralled them in. “Today is an early day for a reason,” he said excitedly. “I sent Eian to the airport about half an hour ago to get the jet ready. I want Summer and Chuck to fly back today in order to get started on the reproductions.”
“So soon?” asked Nora. “I thought we all had a few more days of surveillance to complete?”
“Like I said last night, you both hit the mother lode. Schedule is moving to the left. So I want everyone to have a nice breakfast before Summer and Chuck check out of the hotel and hit the airport.”
Jim turned to Summer. “I need you to identify the top fifty paintings by value. Minus the reproductions. When you do, send a JPEG File to Zhang so he can get started on the low end reproductions.”
Summer nodded. “Zhang and his crew can meet us when we land in Philadelphia. From the airport, the campus is only 15 minutes away.”
“Are you sure Zhang and his crew won’t garner any undue attention wandering around campus?”
Summer shook her head. “No worries. The Museum rents a warehouse that doubles as a bunkroom for our many graduate students who perform volunteer work. Usually from other universities. Its only two blocks from campus. It has a staff kitchen, showers, and bunk beds. Zhang and his crew will essentially live there 24/7. Right now, no one is using it. Only I have a key. I can arrange for pigments to be delivered to meet our schedule. We all know the paints have to be mixed the old-fashioned way,
daily.”
Chuck nodded in agreement. “I can get some sleep on the plane in order to be ready to go when we land.”
Jim handed the cups of coffee to his wife and Nora. “That’s leaves Nora and myself to tie up loose ends around here and keep the ball rolling for your return. We only have 11 days. Let’s make them count.”
CHAPTER 32
Philadelphia
Eian maneuvered the Bombardier Learjet 35A jet aircraft into a slot reserved for visiting aircraft at Atlantic Aviation, away from the prying eyes of the International and Domestic Terminals passengers. The flight took a little longer than he expected with a head wind forcing him to stop for fuel in Gander, Newfoundland. With a range of only 2,700 miles, it was the best rental they could get on such short notice. Of course, next time, with Dolans money, he would rent the Gulfstream 550.
Eian looked over to Summer as she slept in the co-pilots seat. “Time to get up little darling,” he said in his best Irish brogue.
“We there already?” was her reply, brushing sleep from her eyes.
“What do you mean already? You slept almost the whole way. I had to do all of the work.”
She smiled at him. “You wouldn’t have wanted me to miss my beauty sleep. Would you?”
Eian laughed at her. “Go wake our partner in the back while I finish up here.”
Summer walked back to see Chuck sprawled across two seats, feet dangling in the aisle.
He heard her approach. “I’m up,” he barked. “Where’s the coffee?”
“You and me both. I’m on it,” she replied.
Two minutes later she handed him a white Styrofoam cup full of hot coffee.
“You’re the good one, aren’t you?” was his response.
Eian finished his duties and ventured out of the cockpit.
Summer halted him. “Where will you be while we are painting?” she inquired innocently.
Long Buried Secrets: James Dieter Book 4 Page 11