Jim handed him a bottle of beer. “Chuck let me introduce you to your new teammates. He walked over to stand behind Eian. Of course you already know Eian Doherty, our pilot and former IRA gunman. I hear he took you on a side trip from prison for some entertainment?”
“You could call it that,” said Chuck. “Well deserved after two years.”
Jim moved behind Summer. “This is Summer Larson, University of Pennsylvania Museum curator and the only one amongst us with actual art cred.”
Chuck grinned. “I have heard your name mentioned in many art related circles. All good I assure you.”
Jim then moved to stand behind Zhang. “This is Zhang Wei, like yourself, a master forger. According to Summer he is the real deal. Zhang also has several accomplices that work for him and they will be assisting him with his work and ultimately with our mission. Don’t worry, they will not get a cut out of our pot. Zhang will be covering their fees from his own share.”
Zhang smiled at the group. “No worries, they work cheap. All are family.”
“Nice to meet you Zhang,” said Chuck. “If Summer says you are a master forger, who am I to doubt her. I look forward to working with you.”
Jim proceeded to where Nora sat. “Last but not least, my beautiful wife, Nora Robinson. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and my better half. Obviously, you don’t get a Pulitzer unless you are very good at following leads.”
Chuck nodded to her. “In prison I have nothing but time on my hands so I read a lot. Of all the journalists I’ve read, I have to say you are one of my favorites.”
“Thank-you,” said Nora, blushing a bit. “Always nice to meet a fan.”
“I am just grateful to be free,” said Chuck. He now turned to Jim, his bottle half-raised. “Thank you for getting me paroled and for the stretch limousine that picked me up at the gates of prison. That was a nice touch of class.”
“That’s the way we tend to operate,” replied Jim. “First-class for our people,” pausing for a few seconds, “especially when it’s on Mike Dolan’s dime.” Jim pointed over to an empty chair. “That’s where Mike Dolan would be sitting if we had invited him to attend our little gathering. Just in case you are unaware, Mike Dolan is head of the Philly Irish Mob. He also both initiated the job we are to embark on and had you freed from prison.”
“I know the man from reputation alone. I also know nobody moves in Philly without his say so. But I do owe the man a debt of gratitude for his orchestrating my freedom.”
Jim nodded. “Now you may be asking yourself what do we expect from you?”
“Doesn’t bother me what you have in store. Just name it. You know my capabilities. I owe you people.”
“Let’s see if you still feel the same way after I go over the operation with you?”
Over the course of the next ten minutes, Jim explained their job in detail. When he was finished, he grabbed a beer and sat back down beside Chuck. Silence gripped the room for a few moments as Chuck digested all Jim had shared.
It didn’t take long for Chuck to formulate his opinion. “I’m operating with a bunch of loons! You are crazier than I am. So I should fit right in,” he says laughing and shaking his head.
Jim slapped him on the back in congratulations. He raised his beer, the group following his lead. “To getting back what those Nazi bastards stole, and returning the paintings to their rightful owners.”
Eian added to Jim’s toast. “And to screwing Dolan out of his share.”
“Here, here,” they replied in unison.
Jim finished his beer, his thoughts quickly turned to Dolan. He knew he was a scheming career criminal who would try and recover everything his Father stole. Everything. He also knew Dolan to be a double crossing murderer who would allow no one to stand in his way.
Jim was not going to let Dolan profit a dime from the paintings. That is where Chuck and Zhang would apply their talents, assisted by Summer.
Together with Nora and Eian, they would put the kibosh on Dolan’s plan to keep the paintings for himself.
Jim spoke up once more. “Okay, assignments. Eian, tomorrow I want you to take Chuck shopping. He requires a new wardrobe to wear in Europe. Especially after being locked up for the past few years.” He tossed over a rolled up bundle of money whose bank paper read ten thousand dollars. “He also requires some special tools. He can fill you in on the specifics. Then I want you to make sure our aircraft is ready for departure in 48 hours from now. You are in charge of making sure the Manifest is correct. Lastly, you are the pilot so all drinking stops tonight.”
“Got you covered, boss,” he replied
Chuck grinned. “I gained a few pounds in prison. Could use some new attire.”
“Just one of the benefits of using Mike Dolan’s money,” Jim replied.”
Next, he turned his attention to Summer. “I need you to get Zhang Wei access to your lab starting tomorrow. Zhang and his accomplices will need to start work right away. I also need you to call in some favors within your academic community. We will require as much information on the Bern Museum as you can get. No detail is too small. Then I want you back here tomorrow night, passport in hand, bags packed for 2-3 weeks.”
“I have to get my soon to be ex-husband to watch our two teenagers. Should be fun for him. But can do. No worries.”
Jim turned to his wife. “Nora, I need you to grill your newspaper contacts for info on the town of Bern and its surroundings. Anything we should know, especially about the people and politicians. Find out if there is anyone who could cause us problems.”
“Shouldn’t be a issue.”
“Meanwhile, I will make sure our sponsor, Mike Dolan, is in the dark as much as possible. Unfortunately, he wants to be part of the operation and will meet with us in Bern sometime over the course of the next two weeks. I am going to wing it and tell him about how we intend to acquire his artwork. Of course, it will be all lies. He’s getting nothing back.”
Everyone in the room clapped and whistled.
OUTSIDE THEIR HOTEL room, in the hallway, a young woman wearing a stolen hotel maids blue shirt had been able to record the entire conversation between Jim and his team using a state-of-the-art TACRON Door Eavesdropper. The device was capable of hearing through doors and walls up to six inches in thickness. It was also small enough to fit into the palm of her hand and as thin as a credit card. Satisfied she had indeed gained everything her boss required, she slipped the device back into her purse. Then at a fast pace, she moved down the hall, removing a blood wig from her head as she went, and slipping out of her maids shirt, dumping both into a trashcan by the elevator. Once on the elevator she hit redial on her cell. In seconds, her boss picked up. “I have it,” she said smugly.
“Were you able to record their entire plan?” her boss responded.
“Everything from start to finish. They had no idea I was even in the hallway.”
“I need to hear their plan before my next meeting.”
“On my way to you as we speak.”
JIM OPENED HIS hotel rooms door and walked into the hallway, 15 feet away a red fire extinguisher hung from the wall. He reached down and removed a small black disc on the outer wall of the extinguishers tank before placing it in his pocket.
Jim had his suspicions and planted the camera on the hallways fire extinguisher when he checked in. Once in place he simply monitored it from Nora’s laptop.
Luckily, they were able to catch the young woman in the blood wig listening in on their discussion. From that point on, they simply acted out the entire scene for her.
In effect, they played her.
Once Jim closed the door, he nodded to his assembled group.
“Okay, now we can stop the acting. Bern, Switzerland in two days. Let’s start with our arrival.”
It was time to get down to the details.
The real details.
CHAPTER 27
Present Day: Bern, Switzerland
Jim and Nora sought only the finest accommod
ations for their fellow teammates, so they decided to splurge a little. They booked everyone into the Hotel Weiss, conveniently located directly across the street from their target: the Museum of Fine Arts Bern. The Hotel Weiss just wasn’t any hotel mind you. But one that specialized in Old World luxury. Just like the paintings they were going to steal. The Hotel Weiss, which over the years attracted such notable historic figures as Goethe, Wagner, and Brahms, was just that type of hotel. Erected in 1813, it still possessed its original character and charm with its use of heavy woods and white Italian marble throughout its interior. It even possessed an indoor swimming pool filled with thermal water from the hotel’s own spring. Who could ask for more?
Now they just had to focus on their target.
FROM AN ARCHITECTURAL perspective, the Museum of Fine Arts Bern combined historical Baroque with modern Swiss elements for an overall attractive setting. You could also see it in the smile of its Master Curator, Christian Lasseter, as stood proudly just outside the Museum’s new Gurlitt Wing, named after their prime benefactor, Cornelius Gurlitt. Christian could be seen daily, greeting tourists or during his daily stroll around the exterior of the Museum just to pick-up trash. Nevertheless, he was an old-time curator, known to be fervently against installing any security systems that would impede the experience of a visitor to the Museum.
He preferred human interaction, and that meant human guards not alarms.
Of course the Museum had many masterpieces besides the Gurlitt collection, with over 50,000 masterpieces said to cover 800 years of art history. In addition to works by renowned Swiss artists Albert Anker and Ferdinand Hodler, there were works by Dalì, Monet and Vincent van Gogh, Kandinsky, and Pablo Picasso.
In addition to the masterpieces, there were around 48,000 sketches, prints, photographs, videos and films.
Truly an impressive collection.
At least it would be if all of its Gurlitt collection were real.
SUMMER LARSEN STROLLED slowly through the main galleries, not wanting to attract much attention, pausing only when needed. She was well versed in the many ways to spot a fake painting, but this doesn't stop forgeries from slipping into famous art collections. It was said that over 10% of most museum’s collections were fakes, known or unbeknownst to its owners.
When it came to forgeries she had seen it all: tea bags that had been dabbed onto the canvas to age it; nicotine sprayed over it to make the canvas seem older than it actually is; oven aging; sauna aging; you name it she came across it. Plus a few incriminating details that a potential forger could miss, like staple holes. You wouldn't find them on a painting produced in the 1800’s. She even came across, if you can believe it, a missing artists signature.
However, technology had caught up with the times. Summer also used, courtesy of Chuck, Google Glasses that he modified with a vastly improved processor and 3D stereo monolithic capability. The improved processor allowed Summer to upload her color stick to the glasses. With the color stick uploaded they basically informed her what colors were available in the timeframe the picture was painted. She simply stared at the picture as the glasses scanned each picture. Within seconds, the glasses would, if it were indeed a fake, identify color irregularities. For an additional capability, the 3D stereo monolithic allowed her to penetrate below the surface of the painting to the canvas below, viewing the actual sketch that the artist had followed to paint the portrait. Fakes would mostly likely be absent the sketch.
SUMMER HAD ANNOTATED in her notebook the paintings she had assumed to be fake. She took her time wanting to acquire a second look at several paintings with the Google Glasses just to make sure she was correct in her assumptions.
As planned, she met Jim met across the street in a small café. He was on his third cup of coffee as she walked in. He pointed to the seat across from his.
“Well?”
Summer sat down, a broad smile creased her face. She handed Jim her notes. “I have to give kudo’s to Chuck and his Glasses. They worked as planned. Because of him I have photos of every painting on display in the Gurlitt wing. I’d say 35 of the 300 they currently have on display are fakes. Each of the 35 are on the low end of the value scale. I’d say in the $100K to $500K price range. That is just the ones I was able to get a good look at. I am guessing the rest are on a rotation schedule. Keeps the people coming back. You don’t want to view the same paintings over and over again.”
Jim paged through her notes. “You mean to tell me you were able to deduce all of this in only two days? Something the museum’s own experts say are all originals?”
“Like I said, with the glasses Chuck modified, yes. You see, the museum wants them to be the originals. People pay big money to see these paintings. People won’t pay big bucks for reproductions.”
“So you are saying they are aware that over 10% of the paintings are fakes?”
Summer smiled at Jim. “That’s my expert opinion.”
Jim smiled right back at her. “This could work to our advantage.”
At a second table across from them sat Charles “Chuck” Denny. He too had strolled around the museum, sometimes walking right past Summer without her noticing him. Only he wasn’t admiring the artwork; Chuck was studying the guard rotation, positioning of the cameras, and when in the clear, identifying possible laser detectors embedded in the walls and floors. He waited until Jim indicated for him to join them.
Chuck handed Jim his notes. “For all of the things you hear about the Swiss, you know, modern, very precise. Well, in regards to museum security systems, it’s stuck in the 1970’s. It’s a joke. I could break in and take what I want any time after closing.”
Jim looked to Summer then Chuck. “Could you do it repeatedly? Over the course of several days? Preferably a holiday weekend?”
“If I can locate the electrical main going to the museum, and cut the power, I could walk in and out like it was a department store,” Chuck replied confidently. “Take your pick of what you want.”
“What about an electrical backup system?” inquired Jim. “Like a generator to provide secondary power to the alarm systems?”
Chuck nodded at him. “Yes, they have a rather large diesel generator that would kick on in the event of a power loss. It is supposed to keep power flowing to all of the security systems. But if it has no petrol, it won’t come on line. They made the mistake of surrounding the generator with arborvitaes to make it look more aesthetic. The arborvitaes will actually provide me a decent cover when I simply drain the generator of its fuel. No fuel, no power. It won’t kick on. So, like I said, if I can cut the electrical main providing power to the museum and the backup generator has no fuel to operate, I could walk in and out. Take your pick of what you want.”
Jim smiled widely. “Well the plan is to take the originals and replace them with forgeries. Each completed by yourself, Summer, Zhang, and his friends. We only want a selected group of paintings, not all of them. Forty-five to fifty; don’t want to be too greedy. In addition, Summer has already identified the reproductions in the galleries. We stay clear of those.”
“What about Dolan?” replied Summer. “Didn’t you say he sought the entire collection?”
“Dolan will take what we give him. As far as we are concerned, we concentrate on high value items. But in order to make this happen we will require up to 100 reproductions completed in 11 days. Really, its 50 paintings doubled. So, two of each painting. One with your original pigments and oils, the second painting of a lower grade. The lower graded ones only have to meet minimum standards. Ones that could be passed off to an amateur. Is that doable?”
Summer nodded. “I’m sure Zhang and his crew, with the appropriate materials, aided by Chuck and myself, can reach that target.” She turned to Chuck. “What do you think?”
“First I have to inquire as to how many people does Zhang have working with him? The reproductions are the key. I can steal anything, but we need something to hang back in its place.”
Summer quickly rang Zhang
on her cell phone. In a matter of seconds, she had her answer. Four. All experts like himself.”
“Fifty Old Master pieces, times two, for 100 pieces in 11 days? Divided by Zhang plus his four, myself, and Summer assisting. Yea, it’s doable. Would I recommend it? Hell no. But you are the boss. You’re footing the bill and paying my salary.”
Jim held up his hand to stop him. “So, are you saying we require additional time? Or it can’t be done?”
Chuck shook his head. “I must be getting too old. I’m starting to doubt my own abilities. In my younger days, I could have painted 50 masters in 11 days if I had the proper tools and conditions. But for this operation to work we will need everything to proceed like clockwork.”
Summer concurred. “You have my word. I will have everything in-place back in Philadelphia. Between you, me and Zhang and his crew, we have enough talent to get the job done possibly ahead of schedule.”
“Prison really screwed with my mind. I tend to doubt myself more and more. If what Summer says is true, I’m on-board. We can do it.”
Jim rapped his knuckles on the wood tabletop. “Love it when a plan comes together! I knew you would come around.” He looked to see who was in earshot before deciding to continue.
“All right this is how we are going to proceed…”
WHAT JIM DIDN’T realize was the old woman sitting three tables away reading the newspaper, or pretending to read the newspaper, was listening in on their conversation. On top of her table was an oversized pocketbook. Inside of which she had a parabolic microphone pointed directly at Jim’s table, secretly recording everything Jim, Summer, and Chuck had been discussing.
She watched as Jim paid the tab, and each of them departed.
She quickly did the same, and then called her boss.
CHAPTER 28
Long Buried Secrets: James Dieter Book 4 Page 10