A COLLECTION OF PITHY TALES

UNDERCOVER GYPSY

CHAPTER 1

"All we know about this guy is that he's into having his fortune told to him by card readers before he robs a museum of its precious artifacts. He's very superstitious and believes the cards will warn him ahead of time if the job is going to be dangerous for him or if his current partner will betray him. He always visits a card reader several times prior to the theft in the city he's planning to rob," outlined Special Agent Jonas Clark.

He walked over to the grease board and added another item on the bottom of his very short list in front of the small group of agents seated casually in front of him. Listed on the board were:

• Between 5' 6" and 5' 10", hair blonde/gray/brown/red, man or woman, blue/green/brown eyes, and between 170 and 250 lbs.
• Different partner for each job.
• Has cards read by fortune tellers.
• Uses local partners.
• May be with theater groups for disguises.

"As you can see, our perp disguises himself differently for each city. He always uses a local petty thief who knows the area and can scout the museum out. We've caught three of his temporary partners so far. He deliberately sets them up to take the fall after he disappears and their stories all match except for his description. None of them agrees on his or her appearance. He's been described as fat, thin, old, young, Hispanic, black, and white. As you can see from the list, he could be a small framed man who dresses as a woman or a tall woman who dresses like a man or wears lifts for added height. For now, we will refer to the perp as he for convenience sake. Another thing these partners all agree on is that this perp always references the fortune tellers' predictions and won't proceed with the job until he gets a good reading from the cards.

So here's what I want you to do: Check theaters. He may be an actor traveling with a show, thus giving him access to a variety of disguises and makeup. Check private collectors to see if they've acquired any of the stolen artifacts, especially those underground collectors we know of who keep their treasure hidden from the public eye. Go see every fortune teller in each city he's robbed to see if one of them can identify him or her. Also talk to his partners friends and family to see if you can find out how our mastermind located them. So far none of them will talk. They react terrified at the very question. You know the drill."

He waved his hand towards the back of the room and added, "I'd like to introduce you to Special Agent Camlo Cooper. She's on loan to us from NSA directly from the White House. Until today, I wasn't sure if we were going to have her help or not. Agent Cooper, do you have anything you would like to add?"

Camlo offhandedly suggested, "How about setting up a sting? My great-grandmother and grandmother were gypsy fortune tellers and I grew up around card reading and séances. I could easily disguise and pass myself off as a fortune teller in the next city where we think he will hit," she stated, amid the snickers and stifled laughter of her fellow agents twisting in their seats to stare at the newcomer they didn't see enter. She glanced indifferently at them and continued, "Believe it or not, I can actually read cards very well. Mostly though, I don't need cards to read people."

Jonas Clark confirmed, "Gentlemen, the lady is correct. Her take on people and situations is what got her into this special unit today and she can run rings around most of you clods, so settle down and pay attention. Her background is perfect for this operation and her suggestion is exactly what I had in mind when I requested her to be brought on board. And just for your information, Agent Cooper is a descendant of Margaret Finch, the most famous gypsy of all time. She lived in the late 1600's and early 1700's near London. We intend to use that information to lure our perp to her door."

Camlo added, "We need to list the types of artifacts our perp prefers to steal and locate all the museums with those qualifying artifacts likely to be hit next. Narrow the list down to those cities that have roaming theatrical troupes performing and establish our sting in the most likely area."

The agents growing respect and curiosity of their newest member brought stares in her direction as she strode purposefully to the front of the room and stood next to Special Agent Clark. She was tall and slightly chubby with her shoulder length auburn hair pulled back in a loose clip. Her eyes reflected glass bottle green in the buzzing overhead florescent light and her gaze was cool and unwavering beneath her round wire rimmed glasses. She was pretty in an indiscriminate way when a person took a closer look at her. Her prettiness was easy to overlook at first glance because she initially came across as being plain, nerdy, and composed.

Camlo's obvious take-charge attitude gave the agents a qualified knowledge of her experience and standing within the FBI and they knew she was someone who would be a huge asset to the case and not someone to take lightly. If the President agreed to loan her out, he could have a personal stake in the capture of their mysterious perp.

FURTHER EXCERPTS A WORK IN PROGRESS