Chapter 3

The gang decided to stay in London while they planned their next move. Bentley had come to the conclusion that they needed some more cash to secure a boat for the voyage into the Atlantic. Apparently they'd ran low after making modifications to the van, setting up their Paris hideout, and getting their way into London. So Bentley did a little digging in the online black market and found a man willing to pay hundreds of thousands for the real Sword of State that was held in the British museum.

"Sly, I'm going to run the scenario by you again, I don't think you understood the first time", Bentley said confused, wearing his favorite red bow tie, "the only quick option we have right now is to break into the British Museum, the most secure building in England barring the royal palace. We can break in and try to steal the Sword of State or we can do smaller jobs, lay low, and get the money over time". They were talking in a decent hotel room that would be there base of operations until they could get a boat to take into the Atlantic.

"Bentley" Sly responded with a smile, his chin resting on his cane as he sat on the bed, "I know the odds, buddy, but I can't sit here when I know one of my father's murderers is a boat ride away, I'm losing my mind sitting here as it is". Sly was getting twitchy, tightening and loosening his grip on his cane while he messed with his hat and collar and his tail twitched.

"Fine", Bentley sighed, "we're going to have to stake out the museum then, observe the security, map out the guard routes, and determine the optimal entrance point".

"Awesome!", hollered Murray, rummaging through his bags for a snack while wearing his favorite light blue shirt that was just a bit too small for him, his white shoes, and his black goggles, "does this mean I get to peel out real fast? Ohhhh, that makes me think of a really nice banana split", said Murray dreamily.

"Yeah buddy", Sly laughed, "You get to peel out as fast as your heart desires and afterwards you can down as many banana splits as you can stomach".

"Fine then", Bentley continued, "You'd better head to the museum and get some intel on the sword, and here", Bentley said, handing Sly the case file, "You might want to do a little studying on our first target, his name is Raleigh".

"Raleigh", Sly said aloud and taking the case file, "I'll remember that, I'll take a little rooftop stroll to the museum now, I'll show you what I see with the binocucom". With that Sly was out the window of their second story room, ascending the pipelines along the wall, and on the roof of the four story hotel in a matter of seconds.

"Bentley", Murray said slowly, "What's on your mind? You haven't seemed yourself lately".

"I'm worried about Sly", Bentley admitted, "I've never seen him so intense. I understand the Fiendish Five put him through a lot, but he's obsessed with this job already".

"Come on buddy", Murray exclaimed, "This is Sly we're talking about", after saying that Murray started to raid the hotel fridge for something tasty to eat.

"I know", Bentley said quietly to himself, "That's exactly what worries me".

The sun was fairly set when Sly sat down on the neighboring rooftop across from the British museum. The museum was nearly about to close and then his stakeout could begin. Until then he decided to do a little reading on Raleigh. He opened up the case file and the first collection of papers, held together by a clip was on Raleigh. He took the papers out and laid the rest of the file down by his side. Best not to take in too much at once, Sly thought, and then he started reading.

Raleigh Alexander Wyndham, AKA Sir Raleigh the Frog. Born into a family of British aristocrats, Raleigh enjoyed a life of wealth, ease, and class. In his youth, Raleigh tried to find something that not only appealed to him, but enthralled him. The sports of croquet and horseback riding did nothing for him, nor did the activities of antique or art collecting. After a chance encounter with a book entitled The Wonders of Machines, Raleigh took up the hobby of building machines. It was the first thing that intrigued him, knowing the process by which things were built and how they carried out their functions.

Raleigh's increasingly vast intellect thrived with this new stimulant, which made it even more devastating to him when his family turned their noses up at his work. They claimed that engineering was the work of commoners and an aristocrat had no place being one of them. They told Raleigh if he wanted to be a common tinkerer the he would do it without their blessing and the credibility of the family name. That's exactly what he did. Raleigh not only earned the reputation as the greatest engineer of his generation but used his inventions to commit crimes around the world. His exceptional skills as an engineer have earned him the position of chief machinist in the Fiendish Five

Latest reports spot him on an uninhabited island off the Northwest coast of England. This island has been given the nickname the Isle of Wrath due to the fact that it is constantly plagued by bad weather, causing shipwrecks and preventing police forces to approach the island to investigate. After the vessels are salvaged there are no traces of any valuables that had been on board previous to the wreck. It is currently unknown if Sir Raleigh is responsible for the looting or if he is somehow connected to the perilous weather surrounding the island.

Any officers assigned to the capture of this criminal should proceed with extreme caution. Raleigh is ruthless and his machines reflect not only his mechanical prowess but his cutthroat nature. Raleigh is wanted for the theft of millions in stolen goods and the murders of various people, civilian and law enforcement alike. Few have been able to get close to Sir Raleigh, most falling victim to either his dangerous machines or equally dangerous hired thugs.

There was still plenty on Raleigh to be read but that would have to wait for another time, the British museum had just closed its doors and it was time for the stakeout to begin. Sly maneuvered his way around the museum silently, making note of the guard positions, looking through the binocucom to observe the infrared security system, and establishing the location of the target at hand, the Sword of State, encased in a rectangular glass case so you could lean over it and observe the sword.

"Hey Bentley", said Sly into the binocucom, "You getting all of this?"

"Clear as day", answered Bentley, "and I'm hacking into the museum security mainframe in order to establish where the motion sensors are located".

"Always thinking Bentley", Sly responded happily, "that's why you're the turtle with the plan, any idea how soon we'll be able to pull the job off?"

"To be quite honest, with your skills and the intel we have at the moment, if you want to pull the job off tomorrow night we can, you just have to finish mapping the guard routines".

"Now that is some great news Bentley", Sly said with a wide grin, "We'll be hitting the sea in no time, Raleigh won't know what's hitting him, and I'll be collecting what's been stolen from me".

"I know you're revved up Sly but make sure your mind is still on the task at hand", Bentley said, concerned, "breaking into the British museum and stealing a priceless sword isn't exactly a day in the park".

Sly sighed, "I know buddy, it's just everything is so close now. Years of being left in the dark and I finally have a chance to settle the score. I've never had a bigger adrenaline rush in my life".

"Yeah, but too much adrenaline can make you clumsy and rash. It can get you caught", Bentley paused, "or worse".

"Bentley", Sly said more soberly, "I know you're worried, thank you for that, and for all of this while I'm at it. You and Murray are good friends and I appreciate what you're doing for me, but I can't help getting fired up. Hey, the night's almost up, I'm coming back to the hotel and we'll put the final touches on the plan, okay?"

"Okay, Sly", Bentley replied. Sly made his way back to the hotel and slipped through the window in typical thief fashion. Bentley was clicking away at his laptop on one of the three beds and Murray was chowing down on a bag of chips on another.

"Okay Bentley", Sly said, swaggering in, "tell me the good news", and with that he took a seat on the bed closest to the window next to Murray's.

"Using a centrifugal arithmetic algorithm I was able to determine the location of the motion sensors throughout the museum", Bentley explained, "unfortunately I can't find the codes to completely shut down the security system without tripping alarms within the security mainframe, so the best I can do is silence the alarms long enough for you to lift the glass off the sword and get out of there".

"That's all I need", Sly said. After that it was established that Sly would make his way through a skylight near the rear of the museum, maneuver his way around security, and swipe the sword after Bentley disarms the security.

"Remember Sly", said Murray with a mouthful of potato chips, "we'll be on the other side of the street ready to go in the getaway van".

"And", added Bentley, "We'll head straight to the rendezvous I've set up with our buyer. I've negotiated with him and he easily agreed to cut out the middle man. We're going to meet him at the pier and he'll provide us with a boat capable of getting us to the Isle of Wrath and a still substantial cash payment".

"Perfect", Sly grinned, "well, I guess the only thing left to do is get some sleep and wait to pull off the heist". With that the gang went to sleep. Well, Murray did while Sly lied awake, anxious to be on his way to Raleigh's hideout, and Bentley lied awake, running scenarios through his head and unable to shake that Sly still wasn't himself and that something was going to go wrong. Bentley didn't know why he was so nervous, it was something intangible he heard in Sly's voice and saw in his motions. He just had to wait and hope that everything went off without a hitch.

After seeing the length of this chapter I opted to make the actual heist to be part of chapter 4. As always, reviews are appreciated.