1. Blanket
This is an intricately designed, flowery, small chinese throw. It appears to be made by hand out of fleece.
2. 3 Chestnuts
These are roasted chestnuts that were grown naturally. They seem to have aged and there are 3 of them.
3. Wooden Head
This is a wooden carving that was formed into the shape of a human head. It has color paint added to the eyes and lips with a skin tone placed on the rest of the head.
4. Singapore Coin Collection Book
This is a blue plastic covered book made to hold coins. It has an insignia on the front that states it is from singapore.
5. A Wooden Ruler
This is an instrument used to measure length in centimeters and inches. It was constructed from wood.
6. A Hand-Crafted Canoe
This is a functional scale model of a canoe used by Native Americans to hunt and transport. It appears to be hand-crafted.
7. Solemn African Woman Statue
This is a figurine of an african woman standing solemnly. It is made out of a very dark wood.
8. A Man in Motion Carving
This appears to be a man trying to run, but he is stuck. This displays man's desire to keep moving.
9. Finka
The is a stone sculpture of a spanish house. It is very intricately made.
10. Chinese Jade Stamp
This is a chinese stamp made of jade. It is a very solid piece of jade.
11. Hand-Stitched Mongolian Wallet
This is a leather wallet that was hand-stitched. It appears to be from Mongolia and is in pristine condition.
12. Jar with a wooden cork
This is a clay jar. It has been fitted with a wooden cork.
The following story is about a former employee of the Smithsonian Museum. A tragedy occurs at the museum and he is reassigned to be a recovery expert. His assignment will bring him on a journey across the world and across culture in order to return the twelve items on his list that need to be safely recovered.
Story in a Box:
The Smithsonian Incident
It started with a bang. Once the dust settled, it was clear what had taken place in the Smithsonian Museum that day. There had been a lot of talk about the idea of a heist with such a vast and priceless collection being held all in one location, but no one dreamed it would ever happen with the impenetrable security systems in place. Between the brute force and highly intelligent disguises, they had pulled off the heist of the century. The next day, every single shelf was empty. They hadn’t left a single priceless gem. This highly unfortunate event left a massive job for me. I am in charge of the recovery of the artifacts and luckily, for the sake of preservation, have a very loose budget when it is necessary.
Naturally, you had to know where to start looking for these artifacts. In addition, they are usually one of a kind and therefore require an expert to verify the authenticity of the item. I happen to be an expert of authenticity at the Smithsonian before being reclassified as their recovery specialist, so I personally handle each and every item before it returns to it’s proper home, in the Smithsonian. Sometimes artifacts like these get sold to shady pawnshops, but the expensive ones usually go up for auction and we had just finished our museum-wide roll out of low jack on all the items that went missing.
My first assignment was a wooden carving of Charlie Sheen’s head. It took me awhile to find it in a corner store in Brooklyn, New York, but it was recovered. In the same day I came across a figurine being sold into the black market. Upon further investigation it turned out to be the statue of the solemn African woman from the Smithsonian! It was a great start to the first day on the job; two out of twelve artifacts were recovered within the first twenty-four hours, which had to be a record. The next morning, I got coffee at Starbucks and brought my laptop for a little recon. A number of the items on my recovery list had appeared on a website hosting auctions for artifacts. I promptly went to the owner’s location to verify the authenticity of the various gems they claimed to possess. Upon arrival I immediately noticed the famous coin collection book from Singapore, which was unable to be valued at anything but priceless. Under a blanket, I discovered a Finka, which is a model of a Spanish house. Then I examined the blanket more closely only to find it wasn’t just any blanket but the Chinese throw that had gone missing as well!
Things were looking up for the Smithsonian and this had been a blazing-fast start to recovering them all, but there were still more items on the list. One of the items was more replaceable than all the rest. There were 3 chestnuts from a museum employee’s lunch that were also grabbed in the heist. A simple trip to the grocery store was all it took to take care of that. Tools were also removed from the premises so I stopped at the hardware store and picked up a new 12” ruler so that the employees could get back to measuring new artifacts.
One of the cars of the thieves was identified today in a traffic camera. The police found the car and asked me to come out and search the car. The first place I looked was in the glove box. Luckily, underneath the car’s registration was the model canoe that was made by Chief Joe. The car turned out to be quite a find by the FBI agent looking through the tapes. Next, in the trunk I found a bundle of rope; that was definitely not on the list. Upon unraveling the rope, however, there was a statue of a running man. The thief who drove this car must have had quite the sense of humor, but still they managed to protect the artifacts so I wasn’t complaining. I got inside the trunk and looked around the spare tire but didn’t see anything until I took it the tire itself out. Underneath they had stored the Mongolian wallet hoping to disguise it within the rim of the tire. I guess they didn’t plan on being caught on camera either.
The next lead was a Chinese tattoo shop that had been sending out letters with markings made only from a jade stamp we had lost. Of course, we noticed immediately where it was from and I stopped in to pick it up. Then as I looked at the receptionist’s desk I noticed the last piece on my list, the clay jar with a wooden cork. She had been using it as a paperweight! That made me realize that they in fact had no one working there who gave tattoos and in fact were the masterminds of the heist trying to cover themselves up by giving back the jade stamp. We immediately had them arrested and it is safe to say they will not be stealing artifacts for a very long time.
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