Part 2 – New Job – Part 2
Back at the station…
Shikamaru started posting pictures of the victim while Sasuke was thumbing through a book on Stolen Art by the Nazis.
"Please tell me we have something," Lieutenant Iruka said as he entered the room.
"We're still working on the I.D. of the dead robber at the Denis's home," Shikamaru said, "But we can rule out Mr. Denis as a cold-blooded killer. One of the robbers took a pot-shot at him when they were stealing the painting off of his wall."
"Speaking of which," Sasuke said as he took a picture of a page out of the book with his phone, and sent it to the touch-screen board where the evidence was located, "I found it."
"Yes?" Iruka asked.
Sasuke walked over with the book outstretched, and pointed to a Monet painting, "Right there, that's the painting." He said.
"Lilies in the Springtime," Iruka said, "By Monet no less," he handed the book back to Sasuke who put it down on his desk, then looked at the painting on the touch-board, "Shouldn't a piece like that be in the Louvre?"
"Sure," Sasuke said, "If it was real," both Iruka and Shikamaru turned towards him, with a slightly puzzled look on his face, "It at one point hung right next to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, before the Second World War of course. When the Nazis captured Paris and Hitler began planning the Führermuseum, the Nazi's plundering squad, the Kunstschutz stole it. It was then transported by train to Bavaria where it simply disappeared."
"Then the Nero Decree was declared," Shikamaru said.
"Exactly," Sasuke said as he pointed at his partner.
"Ok," Iruka said, "Remind me, what was the Nero Decree?"
"It was an order passed by Hitler around March, near the end of the European Theatre of the Second World War," Shikamaru said, "Ordering that if Hitler were to die or if Germany were to fall, they were to destroy buildings, bridges, art, and anything else that had the Nazi stamp on it to deny the Allies a Final Victory."
"So it was destroyed?" Iruka asked.
"No one knows," Sasuke said, "Once it reached Bavaria it dropped off the face of the Earth, and it hasn't resurfaced since."
"This painting has been missing for almost three-quarters of a century, and suddenly a reproduction of an original Monet is stolen," Iruka asked, "Doesn't sound like a coincidence to me."
"I don't know sir," Sasuke said as he walked over to Shikamaru's desk, and pointed to the tall stack of files, "I pulled up multiple files of the robberies in that neighborhood dating back to 2012, that neighborhood has become a hotbed of activity over the last four years, a dozen holdups, twenty breaking and entering cases, mostly cars. Could be whoever robbed the Denis's could have thought they were grabbing an easy score."
"I don't buy it," Iruka said as he looked back at the painting on the screen, "There must be something more," he then looked back at his detectives, "Head down to the museum, and see if anyone there knows anything about it."
Flashback…
There are no flights directly to New York from a small town like Alexandria, you either have to drive or fly to another major city to get on a plane to get to New York.
The planes that they run out of England Airpark are small, compact planes that have two rows of seats. On the right, as you walk into said planes, there is a single row of twelve chairs, on the left, two rows of twenty-four chairs. The restroom is at the back, and whenever the plane climbs, the door swings open.
The runs they run out of DFW Texas in Dallas are large 747s, on both sides of the plane are 3 rows of thirty-two seats running all the way to the back of the plane. The planes have restrooms that don't swing open when the plane climbs.
Sasuke and Itachi sat on one side of the First Class isle while Fugaku and Minato sat on the other side.
As Sasuke was reading The Silence of the Lambs, Itachi started a conversation, "Why don't you give the company a chance?" Itachi asked.
"Because I don't want to be a plumber," Sasuke said as he turned the page.
"Being a plumber is not such a bad job," Itachi said.
Sasuke closed his book for a while, and turned toward Itachi, "Itachi, have you ever wanted more from life," Sasuke asked, "I want to help people, I want to save lives, and I can't do that unclogging toilets and fixing drains."
Museum…
Sasuke showed the picture of the painting to the head curator at the museum, Collin Westward, "Ah, Lilies in the Springtime," he said, "Classic Monet painting."
"Has anyone ever brought one into the museum to be appraised?" Shikamaru asked.
"No," Mr. Westward said as he walked with Sasuke and Shikamaru toward his office, "Then again, what can you expect when you put a flamethrower to a priceless painting."
"Flamethrower?" Shikamaru asked as they entered Mr. Westward's office.
"The frame the piece was supposed to be in was found burned along with several other priceless paintings," Mr. Westward said as he finished flipping through a picture book, removed a picture, and turned around to hand it to Sasuke and Shikamaru.
The picture was an old black and white photograph from 1945 when the Allies were raiding a Gold Mine in Germany where they found that the Nazis had burned the paintings right before they arrived.
"This was the frame the painting was in?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Mr. Westward said as he took a seat at his desk, "The painting, however, was not inside, so that's why most people hold out hope."
"Has anyone ever tried to turn in one to this museum specifically?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, a young man came with one not two hours ago," Mr. Westward said, "Said it belonged to his grandfather who found it during World War Two. When our authenticator told him it was fake, he was pretty angry."
"Does the museum keep a record of guests like that?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Mr. Westward said, "But when someone comes in with a piece of art they want to authenticate, I keep a private log," he pulled a small ledger out from behind his desk, and slid it across the table to the detectives.
Shikamaru opened the ledger to the page, "Jacob Schroder," Shikamaru said as he tapped the page, "5698 Leesville Way."
"Really," Sasuke asked, "I didn't know anybody lived at the Coliseum."
"Shit," Shikamaru said, then turned toward Mr. Westward, "Can you describe the man?"
"No," Mr. Westward said, "But the security cameras might have captured him."
Security room…
The cameras that the museum was not state of the art, early 2000's but they worked, and the museum really didn't have the money to replace them so they kept them.
The security guard zoomed in on the person walking into the museum, he was six feet tall and wore a pair of worn sneakers, denim jeans, and a button-up white shirt.
"Someone dressed like that," Shikamaru asked, "They'd blend right in downtown."
"Especially on a cold day," Sasuke said.
"Is there an outdoor camera?" Shikamaru asked.
Outside, as the man was leaving, it was obvious he was angry, he got into a Mercedes, but what kind was a mystery, he tore out of the parking lot, and cut off a car in front of him.
"Nothing on his license plate," Sasuke said, "Whoever it was, we can't identify them this way."
"What about the other car?" Shikamaru asked.
"That car belongs to one of our janitors," the security guard said, "His name is Jamal Lincoln."
"Maybe he can identify the car," Sasuke said, "When does he come into work?"
The security guard checked the logs, "He checked half an hour ago." He said.
Sasuke and Shikamaru walked upstairs where Jamal was working, he was five-foot-nine, hand dreadlocks, tattoos that ran down both arms, and several piercings including a nose ring, an earring, and an eyebrow spike.
"Mr. Lincoln," Sasuke asked as they walked up to Jamal.
"Yes," Jamal asked as he stopped mopping to look at them.
"APD," Sasuke said as he pulled the side of his jacket aside to show off his badge, "We were wondering if we could talk to you about the car that cut you off this morning."
"You mean the son of a bitch that almost killed me?" Jamal asked.
"Yes," Shikamaru said, "Do you remember anything about that car?"
"I thought someone would come around asking for him actually," Jamal said as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out his phone, "Right as he was driving away, I snapped a picture of his license plate," Jamal unlocked his phone, and his background was an original Jackson Pollock painting.
"Jackson Pollock?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Jamal said, "I've been a huge fan of art my whole life. I was kicked out of art school actually."
Jamal pulled up the picture on his phone of the Mercedes tearing out of the parking lot, the license plate was DECS-9282.
"Thanks," Sasuke said as he slapped Jamal on the shoulder.
As the two were walking out of the Museum, Shikamaru called the DMV, "Hello," the receptionist asked as she picked up the phone.
"Shikamaru Nara, badge 4-6-3-9." Shikamaru said.
"How can I help detective?" The receptionist asked.
"I need you to run a plate for me," Shikamaru said, "DECS-9282."
The receptionist typed in the plate number, and spoke, "The plate is registered to a 2005 Mercedes-Benz C230," she said, "Owner is one – Jacob Marcos. The address is 7123 Mayflower Avenue."
"Thank you," Shikamaru said.
As they entered Shikamaru's truck, Sasuke called the station, "Sasuke Uchiha, badge 12-47." He said.
"What can I do for you, Detective," Kurenai Yūhi, the station's desk-sergeant asked as she answered the phone.
"What do we have on a Jacob Marcos?" Sasuke asked.
Kurenai typed in Jacob's name, and came back with an instant search, "Jacob has had several previous arrests by Police Officers in New Orleans, Houston, Little Rock, and several other cities," she said, "Drunk and disorderly behavior, assault and battery, and possession of stolen property."
"Any breaking and entering charges?" Sasuke asked.
"Four, at least," Kurenai said, "Two into Art Museums, the rest, into houses."
"Alright," Sasuke said, "Thanks, Kurenai," as he hung up, he turned towards Shikamaru, "7123 Mayflower."
Arriving at the house, Sasuke and Shikamaru walked up to the front door which was a glorious mahogany wood grain door that reflected the leaves that littered the ground in the front yard.
Shikamaru knocked on the door to have a woman in her mid-thirties answer the door, "Can I help you two?" She asked.
"APD," Sasuke said as he raised his badge, "We're looking for Jacob Marcos."
"Why he hasn't done anything wrong has he," She asked, "Sorry, I'm his mother, Martha."
"Ma'am, if your son is here, we just need to ask him a few things," Sasuke said.
"Jacob," Martha exclaimed toward the back, "There's someone here to see you."
Jacob walked up to the door, when he saw the badges, he bolted toward the garage.
"Get the car," Sasuke exclaimed as he ran around the side to the garage.
Jumping over the little knee-high wood barrier, he ran around to the open garage and saw Jacob opening the door to his Mercedes.
Sasuke grabbed Jacob out of the car, and pinned him to the ground, "On the ground," he said as he pinned Jacob's arms behind his back, and cuffed him, "Stupid move kid."
Guess what happens next…
