sao paulo ♔ see her tail lights vanish in the dark

[starprince]

Thief- The Fratellis

WHO || Poe, Natasha, Ward, Amy, Miles, Peter [closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a bizarre clue in an art theft
WHERE || Nara Roesler Gallery, Brazil
WHEN || Before the concert, time-line wise
HOW || Actionspam 

The Knights are met by the sun elf curator of the exhibit at the Gallery in Sao Paulo, a golden skinned man named Elluin, who wears an expensively tailored suit with a skinny black tie, his long white hair tied up in a man bun. Yep. He walks them to the place where the piece had been on the wall, now vacant. A balustrade blocks off the area from the public, and a small placard hangs beside the blank space.

"It is the strangest thing. The pages were actually tacked to the wall in place of the painting. There can be no doubt that they were left on purpose."

Comments

[starprince]

[ the man shakes his head. "Whoever this was, was a... how do you say, master thief. All security cameras were disabled, no clear sign of point of entry, our lasers randomly scan this room and no alarms went off. It was as if a ghost itself took the painting."

poe reads the description, which unfortunately is written in portuguese and elvish, not english... ]

Last I checked, ghosts didn't so much have solid hands for grabbing things.

[betrayed]

[He nods, listening to the information.]

How were the cameras disabled? On site or remotely?

[starprince]

[ "On site. Someone literally unplugged them." ]

[betrayed]

And there's no footage prior to someone unplugging them that's available? [If it's an onsite job, he wants to believe that there's something there to look for.]

[starprince]

[ "Apparently it was somehow... deleted." he looks pretty embarrassed ok ]

Someone sleeping on the job over here?

[newgenwraith]

Did you get any prints off the plug?

[someone's been watching way too much CSI]

[betrayed]

[If they went to all the trouble to delete the tapes, Ward doesn't think they'd leave their fingerprints on anything, but it doesn't hurt to ask.]

Has anyone made any specific inquiries about security or about this wing or the art?

[starprince]

[ he shakes his head.

"We've no such inquiries at all, not recently. Believe me, if we had found anything in the search, I would willingly volunteer that information." ]

[cuivre]

[Meanwhile, Miles is just casually walking around, searching for clue.

He's apparently blind (search 5).]

[keptbiting]

[ amy is equally blind, probably to the point that she and miles run into each other. wow guys, fucking wow. SHE ONLY PRETENDS TO BE A POLICE WOMAN. after that stellar display of stupidity, amy moves to peer at the placard next to the missing painting. ]

Was the painting itself significant?

[starprince]

[ "It was indeed. The painting was a piece that fell through from the Shadow World. It depicted one of our native lands, one of the most important historical pieces we have in this world. It is priceless." ]

I'll bet you someone out there is trying to fetch a price for it, at least.

[newgenwraith]

[as being someone that fell through and has tech that can't be replicated, something strikes him and he turns back to the conversation]

Forget about price. Is there someone from your lands who would gain from being able to take something this priceless from you? I mean, it's obviously disheartening - but what would you be willing to do to get it back - and who are the people who would take advantage of you in that kind of mindset the most?

[someone tried to take BB-8 and Poe would literally sell his soul to get that droid back. What were these people willing to give up?]

[starprince]

[ the man's brow furrows as he considers this, pacing slightly.

"There are various cultures who have disdain for my people, although we have not been targeted by anyone precise. In truth, we meet more hatred from those of this land than our own." ]

[betrayed]

[He nods, listening.]

When it came through -- did anyone request any specific testing? To verify that it came from where you think it came from? [He knows most paintings get authenticated. X-Rays whatever it is to make sure that they aren't fake.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he nods ] There were numerous tests done on it before it came to our possession.

[newgenwraith]

Did anything else come through with it at the same time?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he shakes his head ]

It was an isolated item, not part of a greater location. It changed hands a few times before finding its way here.

[betrayed]

Who else had ownership before it ended up here? [A beat]

Also, is it possible to see the results of any of those tests?

[behindcloseddoors]

I can send them to you, but there's not much to be seen, other than verifying what I've told you. The last owner was a private collector of elven descendant.

[newgenwraith]

Did that owner ever mention having had attempted thefts or threats of it before he gave it to you?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he shakes his head ] Not at all. If there were anything further to report that was suspicious, I assure you, I would tell you. But unfortunately, this case is somewhat baffling.

[betrayed]

Alright, so where are the pages that were left behind in its place?

[Enough 20 Questions that don't seem to be helping them, lets get to the "clue" that was left behind.]

[behindcloseddoors]

Of course. Follow me. [ he leads them back to an office, where the pages have been sealed under a glass case, flicking on a light to better illuminate them.

several images of the buddha are present: each of them rather old, but there is also an image of this broken piece as well.

each is labeled in the book -

the first is "Buddha attended by 2 Bodhisattvas, Mathura, 2nd Century CE"

the second: "Standing Buddha Offering Protection

Period: Gupta period (4th–6th century)
Date: late 5th century
Culture: India (Uttar Pradesh, Mathura)
Medium: Red sandstone",

and the final "Statue of Kanishka I, 2nd century CE, Mathura Museum." ]

[keptbiting]

[ aww buddha's head is gone, sad. amy peers at the pages but.... they still mean nothing to her. ]

What's Mathura?

[behindcloseddoors]

Ah, yes. A city in India. There was a particular school of Buddhist art that flourished there.