Murray picked up the remote and started to flip through the channels... then stopped and flipped back a few channels. "Hey, isn't that Inspector Fox?" Sure enough, it was the lovely and hot-tempered Inspector Carmelita Fox on the TV screen. She was being interviewed by a reporter, who had just made the mistake of asking her about the specifics of the security around something... "Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not going to divulge that kind of information! The Cat's Eye is worth a fortune, and I'm not going to let anybody steal it on my watch ... much less help anybody who thinks that they can do that by giving away the specifics of the security around it!"
"I don't understand... Carmelita said something about a watch, but she's not wearing one." This came from Murray, who was promptly corrected by Bentley. "It's an expression, Murray. She's saying that as long as she has the job of keeping the Cat's Eye safe that nobody is going to be able to steal it. Sounds like a challenge worthy of the skills of the Cooper Gang, doesn't it?" "It certainly does, pal. It certainly does... I'm looking forward to messing with Carmelita's head again." Bentley and Murray both thought: "Oh no... here we go AGAIN." So what exactly is the Cat's Eye? The name is derived from the fact that it was the largest emerald in the world with that particular property. The term refers to the refractive properties of the gem, which are characteristic of the various incarnations of the mineral beryl, especially aquamarine. If you're confused by this statement, don't feel stupid; it didn't make any sense to Sly or Murray either... and they didn't get the short version. "Uh, Bentley... could you repeat that again? This time in ENGLISH?" This came from Sly, who quite obviously had no clue what Bentley was saying. "My head hurts..." This came from Murray, who had understood even less then Sly had. Bentley sighed, and started again, this time in terms that could be understood by his friends. "The term "refractive properties" refers to the way the Cat's Eye affects the light that hits it. The beams of light are bent upon contact with the gem, producing the visual effect that it derives its name from. Namely, looking at it produces the illusion that you're looking into the eye of a cat. Beryl is..." "Bentley... that's all I really need to know, and besides we should start getting some information about the "security" around the Cat's Eye."
The next day, the gang set out for New York City, where the Cat's Eye was on display. There were two problems though: Sly couldn't figure out how he was going to mess with Carmelita in a way that he hadn't done previously, and Bentley was having trouble obtaining any info on the security around the Cat's Eye. "Looks like Inspector Fox has gotten smart... there's absolutely no info about the security around the Cat's Eye in the Interpol mainframe." "What about whoever's putting up the dough for the event?" "Unfortunately, that person happens to have quite a bit of knowledge when it comes to computers... and combined with the fact that Inspector Fox is going to be guarding the Cat's Eye, the probability that he's heard about my hacking skills is very high." "You're not saying you can't hack his computer system, are you? That doesn't sound like you Bentley." "Oh I'm pretty sure I can hack it, Sly. The problem is he's probably going to have his people monitoring his computer system for any sign of unauthorized access." "In other words, there's a good chance we'll lose the element of surprise if you do hack into his system. That's one risk I'm NOT willing to take."
Three hours later, Sly and his pals were in New York City... with only a week before the Cat's Eye would no longer be on display to the public... and thus impossible for Sly and the gang to steal. Why would that be the case? It just so happens that the Cat's Eye had spent about a decade in the vault of a bank... a bank in Switzerland. There's a difference between being daring and being suicidal... and by all accounts, attempting to steal the Cat's Eye from that vault would be the latter. When Sly asked how tough the security was, Murray fainted of fright before Bentley had gotten halfway through the description of how bad it was, and by the end, Sly rated his chances of successfully stealing the Cat's Eye once it was back in that vault as somewhere around the chances of him walking into the lunchroom of a police station during lunchtime without wearing a disguise and not being captured. This was truly going to be a challenge worthy of the skills of the Cooper Gang... and to make matters worse, Sly still couldn't figure out any new ways to mess with Carmelita's head this time around!
Sly thought to himself: "I'd better come up with something... otherwise this heist is going to be about as fun as getting hit by a shot from Carmelita's shock pistol!" There weren't too many things that Sly could imagine as being less fun than that... except maybe the time that he'd spent as a "guest" of the Contessa. Well, sitting around in the safehouse wasn't going to get anything accomplished, so it was time to get to work. "Bentley, I'm headed out for some recon work. It's time to get this party started." "I didn't know we were going to have a party! Where's the cake and ice cream?" "It's an expression, Murray. It's an EXPRESSION."