by Howard Upton
Reynoso walked behind a large desk with several security monitors stationed behind him. Roper could see movement in several areas as tourists milled about through the various rooms in the museum. His eyes shifted back to Reynoso who was watching him intently.
“So tell me, Agent Roper, what may I do to help retrieve the artifact stolen from us, and why do you believe it will wind up in the United States?” asked the well-spoken Captain.
“Captain Reynoso, let’s be frank here. Your museum is filled with precious and priceless items. It’s our opinion that only a collector with substantial means and specific intentions would want the stolen artifact, rather than attempting to steal other more notable items. We also know of a few collectors in the United States and in Europe who would love to have the cartouche in their private collections. What the United States doesn’t want is to have this item sold on the open or black market within its own borders. In addition to its return, certain quiet negotiations will be made between our countries. Of that I’m certain,” replied Roper as he relayed the story he had rehearsed in his head for the past few hours.
“So, the United States will attempt to blackmail Mexico again, huh? Why should I be a part of that, Mr. Roper? I do not particularly care for you Americans and will not be a part of your country trying to screw mine.”
“I understand your hesitation, sir. Needless to say, whatever deal is struck between our countries will be beneficial to both sides. You call it blackmail; we call it business. But at the end of the day, all that will matter is that I’ve conducted my job appropriately, and you are still gainfully employed. You don’t strike me as a stupid man, Captain Reynoso, so make the right decision here. I offer you your job and the opportunity to right a wrong. Is that really so bad?” Roper finished his logical argument.
The Captain took a deep breath and exhaled. He turned his back to Roper, his hands behind his back, and looked at the bevy of monitors, watching people flow from room-to-room. His mind was temporarily focused on that which he knew so well, and that which made him so respected among his peers and directors. He had a keen eye for anyone appearing not to belong or acting suspiciously, and that was the reason he had beaten himself up mentally for the past few days since the theft.
Reynoso watched an elderly white woman hobble to a display of Aztec pottery, while a group of local elementary school children stood half-listening to their tour guide talk about the changes in landscape around Mexico City as a result of an eruption some 23,000 years earlier from a volcano named Popocatepetl, or “Smoking Mountain.” He laughed and shook his head as several of the children fidgeted and twirled around in circles while the female guide spoke to them in Spanish.
“You know, Agent Roper, our museum is one of pride for this great city. We know we do not have the wealth of the United States, nor do we have all the cultural effects of New York City or Washington D.C. But what we do have is an incredible history as a people. Our ancients were the Mayans, Aztecs and Incans. Each of those cultures contributed tremendously to human development in this region of the world.”
He continued, “When the Spanish invaded Mexico, the results were not that much different than they were in the United States. Indigenous people here did not have the weapons, similar to our American Indian brothers in your country. But still our people fought with great honor. You realize the long hair so many of our males wear is a tribute to our native lineage, yes?”
Roper listened to a man who obviously had done more at this museum than simply watch people and keep its treasures safe. “No, Captain, I didn’t know that. I appreciate you sharing this with me.”
“What is it you would like for me to help you with, Mr. Roper? How can I help reacquire that which belongs in this museum, for the world to see, but for Mexico’s people to keep and protect?”
“I would like to review the surveillance tapes from the day of the theft, Captain. I’d like to see if I can help spot the person responsible for it.”“Agent Roper, I can assure you that we have thoroughly reviewed the tapes, as has our own federal police…you know them as Federales. They were quite thorough in their investigation.”
“What was their conclusion, Captain? Do they know who might have stolen the cartouche?”
Captain Reynoso narrowed his eyes and slightly puckered his lips, a look of indignation glossing his features. “They believe it was an inside job, Agent Roper, but I do not believe this to be true. My guards take much pride in this museum, and I see to it that they are well compensated. Both of these elements reduce the potential of internal thievery. While I do not completely rule out the potential of one of my men doing this, in my heart I do not believe it is so.”
“If they’re trying to pin this theft on you or one of your men, would it really hurt for me to take a look at the tapes? I might be able to help.”
Reynoso considered what Roper was telling him and sighed loudly, “Showing you these tapes could cost me my job, but I suppose my job is still in danger should my superiors deem it necessary to fire someone for this travesty. Yes, you may look at the tapes.”
Roper was delighted that Captain Reynoso hadn’t seen through his CIA agent ruse. A part of him felt very bad for this man who took his job very seriously and was very proud of his native and Mexican heritage. He also felt badly for having to lie to a good man, despite the need to recover the cartouche and knowing he would not have access to the surveillance tapes any other way.
Captain Reynoso rose from his chair and walked to a large closet with numerous shelves housing compact discs, recordable DVD’s, and external hard drives. He thumbed through a few of the DVD’s and found what he was looking for, grabbed it and brought it back into his office. He placed it on his desk and Roper took notice of its label: July 9th, 2013 Zona 4.
“This is the video surveillance of the sector where the artifact was stolen, Agent Roper. I will place it in this system over here for you to review,” he said as he pointed at a computer and a monitor to his left.
“The ‘sector’ you said, Captain. Which exhibition was the cartouche displayed in, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“It was not on display. We kept this precious jewel in the conservation lab because it is so rare.”
“But you have surveillance inside the conservation lab, yes? That’s what this is that I will be reviewing?”
Reynoso’s eyes dropped for a second before he answered. “No, Agent Roper. We saw no need to provide surveillance in areas simply used to store items. We only provide surveillance on our exhibits, I’m sorry to say.”
Roper thought about what he’d just been told before nodding his head. “Well, it is what it is, right? I’ll review what you have, and we’ll go from there. Do you have any inventories of the conservation lab, Captain? Any documented evidence of the last time it was seen in the lab and objective evidence of the discovery when it went missing?”
“Of course, Mr. Roper. Here are the records.” He handed him the inventory list, having anticipated its request. “The lab is inventoried each day at noon. This allows our employees to get to work, take care of their required tasks, then assign two individuals to conduct inventories in this sector.”
“Who has access to the lab, Captain?” Roper persisted.
“Only five people. The curator, me, one of the senior archeologists and the two guards assigned the responsibility of inventorying each item. Each of us has been interviewed. The curator was off the day of the theft, and our Mr. Rodriquez was in the field. I was in my office doing paperwork the majority of the day. Other surveillance video supports this. My two security officers were interviewed and given lie detector tests that, I’m proud to say, both passed. Would you like to review those tapes as well, Agent Roper?”
“That won’t be necessary right now, Captain Reynoso,” his gut telling him the head of security was telling him the truth. “I’ll review what you have here. Thank you very much for indulging me. Should I find anything, I’ll let you know. Is that fair?”
Ca
ptain Reynoso nodded his approval, opened his mini-refrigerator and offered Roper a bottle of water which he happily took. He took a seat next to Roper also offering him a pen and paper to take notes.
“I prefer to work alone, Captain. I hope that’s okay.”
“No, my friend, it is not okay. I will share these videos with you, and should you find something, I prefer to be right here with you...the entire time, sir,” Reynoso replied.
“Fair enough, Captain. Thanks for the water and stationery,” Roper said as he popped the DVD from its case, opened the door on the computer tower and inserted the disc into the machine. The arduous task of watching people mill around the museum had begun.
Three and a half hours into the surveillance Roper had taken several notes. His stomach rumbled loudly, and Captain Reynoso laughed. He asked Roper if he’d like something to eat from the museum restaurant. He answered in the affirmative. The captain didn’t bother asking what he would like and called in an order for both the men in Spanish.
Roper studied his notes: Woman wearing sunglasses at mark 12:08 p.m. Man with baby stroller at mark 4:52 p.m. Man with cane (limping) and baseball cap at mark 5:38 p.m. He finished watching all activity in the area up to the time the museum closed. Next, he turned his attention to focus more closely on zone four, which was closest to the conservation lab, and finally he began fast forwarding through the remainder of the day and into the night. He was careful to watch for anything that looked like human movement in the area. While he fumbled with the computer’s mouse, an idea began to gnaw at the fringes of his memory.
“Captain, I’m assuming you have surveillance of the rotunda area from the same day? May I see those as well?”
“Yes, Agent Roper. Why do you want to see those?”
“I think most are going on the hunch that someone entered the building and stole the cartouche during operating hours. That may not be the case. I’m also certain all your external doors and windows are alarmed, correct?”
“That is correct, sir.”
A knock came at the door, and Captain Reynoso walked over and opened it. A concierge brought tamales, two large salads and Cokes. He carried the food to his desk and poured them both drinks in the glasses that sat on the trays. Reynoso picked up a plate and offered it to Roper.
Reynoso then fished the DVD from the closet that had the closed captioned surveillance of the rotunda area. It was labeled July 9, 2013 Zona 1. He handed it to Roper who promptly ejected the other disk and placed the new one in its place.
Roper fast forwarded to 12:08 p.m. on a whim and began watching. He saw people enter and leave the rotunda, careful to watch for the three people he had taken note of in his previous review. At 1:16 p.m. he stopped the video feed and made a note next to his notation about the woman wearing sunglasses, "Exited. Does not appear suspicious.” He wrote down the time she left.
He restarted the video and continued monitoring the activity in the rotunda, Reynoso watching the activity as well. Both reached for food without their eyes moving from the monitor, their movements almost in synch. Roper fast forwarded to the 4:52 p.m. mark and watched intently. At 5:29 p.m. he saw the man and the stroller leaving the museum. As he did with sunglasses woman, he stopped the video feed and made a note of the time he left and his lack of suspicious activity.
Roper then moved the video to 5:38 p.m. and watched for the man with the hat and cane to leave. When he saw no more visitors leave beyond the 6:00 p.m. mark, he backed the DVD back to the 5:38 p.m. timeframe and watched again. He did this a third time, finally satisfied the man with the cane had not left. He grabbed the Zona 4 DVD, plopped it in the computer and watched as the man with the cane did not appear in the feed.
“He’s the one, Captain. There’s our man. Go ahead and get July 10th’s feed for zone one and let’s see what time our guy left the museum.”
Reynoso sat slack-jawed at what he had just seen, and what he hadn’t seen. How had he and the Federales missed that? A million thoughts simultaneously ran through his head. He was elated that a suspect could possibly be identified, and embarrassed that he had missed this crucial evidence. More importantly, he hadn’t even thought to look at the zone one surveillance feed.
“Captain,” Roper said loudly, “I need you to stop beating yourself up for a minute and help me out here. Anyone could have missed this piece of evidence. I have a lot of experience tracking people down. You weren’t the only one who missed this, and now you know it wasn’t one of your guys who took it. So, if you don’t mind me saying so, get off your ass and help me out. Time is a luxury neither of us has at this point.”
Reynoso jumped from his seat, his mind back in the moment. “Yes, Mr. Roper. You are right. I need to focus so we can solve this. Thank you for indulging an aging man feeling sorry for himself.”
“There’s no apology necessary my friend. Let’s just figure out who this guy is.”
After he plopped the July 10th surveillance feed into the computer, he watched from the time the museum opened. At precisely 9:14 a.m. he stopped the feed and studied the man walking out. He reset the DVD to 9:00 a.m. and watched again. At 9:14, being a creature of habit, he set the DVD back to 9:00 a.m. one more time, although he was sure of what he hadn’t seen. The man did not have a cane and his gait was obviously different, but the build and frame of the man was the same. Most importantly was the fact that the man had never entered the museum – he had only exited.
Roper stopped the video feed and did a close up of the man’s face, obviously a man with Hispanic features and dressed like a well-to-do gentleman with his jacket and slacks. He looked at the man’s face and asked Captain Reynoso if he could get a close up.
“Yes sir, I can do that. Do you need me to crop and paste his face to a jump drive, Agent Roper?”
“That’s why you get paid the big money, Captain. You’re anticipating my thoughts before I get a chance to articulate them.” He clasped Reynoso’s shoulder with his hand then patted him on the back before the chief security officer walked back to the closet to retrieve a blank memory stick.
“I’m in your debt, Captain,” Roper told the head of security. “I only ask that you keep our visit to yourself while I conduct my investigation. I’ll be in touch with you should I find our guy and your cartouche.”
Roper reached out to shake the Captain’s hand, but when Reynoso withdrew his hand he found five one hundred U.S. dollars.
“I don’t need your money, Agent Roper. I simply ask that you return what is ours.” He tried to hand the money back, but Roper refused.
“For your time and help, Captain. I’m not buying your friendship. Like I said, I’m in your debt. Buy your wife something nice or take your men out to eat if you’d like.”
“Before you go, Agent Roper, there’s something else I would like to show you.”
Roper raised an eyebrow but held his tongue, waiting for the Captain to show him some other evidence.
Reynoso produced a small metallic piece of equipment with a stainless base. Roper immediately recognized the bi-morph opto-mechanical deflector as one he had used previously in the Middle East when hijacking sensitive material and data from offices with laser and heat sensing electronics. This was a much newer version, but the premise was the same.
Reynoso saw Roper’s recognition on his face.
“You recognize this, Mr. Roper. Please take it if it helps in your search.”
He simply nodded his appreciation to Captain Reynoso.
With that, Roper exited Reynoso’s office to find a thief and to retrieve a priceless jewel that could somehow be used as a weapon.
Langley, Virginia, USA
July 16, 2013 4:33 P.M.
At a bookstore a couple of miles from CIA headquarters, Buddy flipped open his laptop and signed in using the newest generation of encrypted software that made it virtually impossible for anyone to hack into his computer. With his back to a wall providing him a clear view of the store and the front entrance, he glanced around before ch
ecking the secret bulletin board. A quiet ping sounded alerting him to a new message. The caricature envelope at the top of the monitor had a cartoonish paper clip wrapped around it indicating an attachment resided within the message.
He read the letter:
Suspect identified. Advanced bi-morph deflection used to remove the cartouche. Not something readily available on the open market. Confirm U.S. connection. Suspect’s photo is attached. Can you run it and see if he’s linked to our friend Dugan? Need information as quickly as possible so I can plan my next move.
Buddy opened the attachment and studied the face. He didn’t recognize the man, but it wouldn’t surprise him to find out Dugan had employed a nobody to do his handiwork. He attached the picture of the Latino man to an email and forwarded it to a research analyst at Langley.
Please run this photo and see if we have anything in your database. Need information pronto. Everything on the QT until otherwise informed. Thank you.
He shut down his email, plugged in his ear buds and opened up his iTunes account. He scrolled through his music list and found Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy.
I remember when, I remember,
I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space
And when you’re out there
Without care
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn’t because I didn’t know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me craaaaaazy?
Several folks turned to look at Buddy who was sitting at the table singing aloud without realizing it. A few had smiles on their faces as they watched him sing along to the song on his computer. But all of them oblivious to what he was listening to and unable to decipher the song because of his inability to carry a tune, especially with his rough, deep Appalachian accent accompanying it.
