Just before closing, Jim strode up the steps of the People's Museum. His makeup was a masterpiece. It was very minimal, pieces that broadened his face, lengthened his nose, made him look Slavic instead of Germanic. Rollin had made all the pieces, but Jim, like all IMF agents, knew what to do with them. He had also combed something through his hair that made it light golden brown, grey at the temples, but his eyes stayed blue. His suit and long coat were also pure masterpieces: once the latest cut and best material, they had been worn long and hard, as by a man who had the money and prestige to dress well but was more interested in work. Cinnamon, Rollin, and Barney had all had a hand in it.
He walked directly up to the receptionist's desk and demanded in Polish to see the Director. He receptionist looked at him blankly, so he repeated it in Czech.
"I'm sorry, Comrade, but you can't just—"
He took a card out of his wallet and gave it to her.
"Oh! One moment, please."
Moments later he was sitting across a desk from Director Hlaváček, a stout, gentle-looking man with grey hair, who was holding the card identifying Jim as a police detective in very high standing from Warsaw, named Jakub Tomasz, along with a short note signed by the local chief of police. They spoke in Polish.
"I am here to inform you, Director, that your museum is going to be robbed tonight."
The Director rose slowly to his feet. "What? How can you know so?"
"I know because I have spent the last fifteen years tracking this man, this Andrzej Klimek, all across the Soviet Union. I have made it my career to capture him. He is my particular nemesis, and I am his.
"He is a veritable devil, Klimek. I know him personally, you see. We served together in the war. I admired him then. You know what we Poles are," he said proudly. "Independent, proud, stubborn, indomitable. He is all of these, and more. Sometimes I think he is as much a friend as he is an enemy. I admire him, to be honest. And yet I am as determined to capture him as he is to elude me.
"I have tracked him here, to Herzvolakia, and when I knew he was coming here, I knew instantly what he was after. It has been his dream to steal the Crown of King Karel for some years, as much because of the security measures you have put in place as because of the crown itself. He excels at defeating the mind game of such measures. I believe he has one of two buyers lined up, either an American named Davis Wesley who loves such trinkets and is eager to see your country lose such a testament to your present Soviet loyalty, or one of the few remaining noble Herzvolakian traitors living in one of the Western European capitalist countries." He spat contemptuously. "You and I, Comrade Director, will stop him from doing this. You have a small country, maybe unimportant, but never let it be said that a Pole was responsible for bringing a Soviet country into disrepute!"
Director Hlaváček looked impressed. "Thank you, Comrade Tomasz. But why do we not have police support?"
"Your Chief of Police, Comrade Kopecky, offered, but I could tell he had no one to spare. With all the foreigners and dignitaries who are coming in for that big government announcement, his men are overbooked already. That's why Klimek chose today. Tomorrow would have been better, but he doesn't like to make it too easy on himself. That's the sort of man he is. But Comrade Kopecky told me your men are more than adequate to do the job. In fact, he said your guards are among the best in the country."
Director Hlaváček smiled. "They have to be. They don't guard historical artifacts alone but also some of the country's most secure documents. You don't think Klimek will go for those, do you?"
"No. He has a romantic mind, Klimek does. He wants golden articles, pretty statues, bits of paint and wood—artsy stuff. Things Americans like Davis Wesley want to buy. He doesn't care if documents are more important, or even if they'll get more money. He's an adventurer. He likes challenges and handling beautiful things.
"Now, here's what we'll do, Comrade Director. You'll follow your normal closing and evening guard routine. I'll go along in the uniform of one of the guards. I want to inspect the security arrangements. He knows I'm here, of course. He's here somewhere too."
The Director started to his feet again. "Then we can find him!"
"No! I have to catch him in the act, Comrade Director. Catch him now and all he gets is a month or two for breaking and entering. I've been through that with him before. I catch him, he gets out again immediately. I have never been able to catch him in the very act. Today will change all that."