3358/Casing The Artifact

Casing The Artifact
Date of Scene:	13 September 2020
Location:	Rubin Museum of Art
Synopsis:	Lyle cases a potential theft at the museum, while Kitty Pryde is there for more educational purposes.
Cast of Characters:	Lyle Marston, Kitty Pryde

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Lyle Marston has posed:
The Jade Dragon statue was a very new addition to the Rubin Museum in Manhattan. The artifact was "generously donated" by the Crenshaw Family in Cornwall after their patriarch, one Clovis Crenshaw passed away from a stroke. The Crenshaw family had a somewhat decent reputation as "honest tea merchants", but the man currently eyeing the artifact intently knew the truth. The Crenshaw's, especially their Great-Grandfather Horace, were a bunch of bloody robber barons, and that statue was a prime example of that. That statue was stolen from a Taoist temple during the Boxer Rebellion by the Crenshaw family. He had no idea why The Crenshaws donated the statue, but Lyle was determined to steal it and return it to it's right owners.

Lyle Marston observed the statue very carefully. It appeared to be under the usual bullet proof glass, which should not be a problem. Though, the surveillance cameras and the roving armed security they had roaming the place could be a issue. Luckily so far, no one seemed to recognize him as the writer of the La Raton novel, and he hoped to keep it like that. As he observed the statue, he though to himself,

"That statue will be returned, perhaps with interest from the Crenshaw family." Lyle grinned at that though

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"And we're walking..." the tour guide says, motioning with her hand in a fashion not far from Morpheus in the Matrix to get moving a group of youth with adult chaperones, a couple of them with shirts or other clothing indicating they are a church youth group.

"And over here we see a prime example of Tibetan artwork dating back to around 1150," the tour guide is saying as she shows the group a carved wooden image, hanging on a wall. It's framed, the frame itself providing most of the security as it is mounted securely on the wall and locks the artwork itself in place behind glass.

Kitty Pryde steps around the tour group, apparently not with them. She has a bookbag on her back, wearing both shoulders as if to distribute the weight for having it on for a long time. She wanders through the museum slowly, looking at one piece and another. She stops before a carved wooden smoking pipe and bowl. A phone is slid from her pocket and she takes a photo of it, thumbing in something, perhaps a note or sending off a copy, before the phone goes back into her pocket. The phone was an unrecognizable brand, no logo on it or anything. She's still a little ways away from the piece that Lyle is checking out, but moving that way.

Lyle Marston has posed:
Lyle looks up suddenly when he hears the tour group coming, and swears lightly to himself when he sees a girl taking pictures. Lyle, who was not a fan of being in the spotlight, did not want to draw attention to himself, especially so close to the heist. So, as Kitty drew closer to the statue, Lyle would suddenly turn around and began to look at a statue of Chang'e, the Chinese moon goddess. Which was rather ironic due to his "operating" hours as a thief. Lyle would adapt a rather intrigued expression on his face as he observed the statue of the goddess, as if admiring the statue and it's beauty.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The older teen, brunette hair in a ponytail, seems quite interested in the exhibits. There are people who just go to a museum for something to do. Wander through, looking at things, but not really that into them in depth.

Kitty? She stops to read the plaques that give information on the different works. Soaking in the knowledge, often looking back to the object now armed with more information about it.

She moves on, coming to the next exhibit and reading the plaque aloud to herself. "Jade Dragon. Generous donation of The Crenshaw Family, Cornwall, England. Origins 1600s," she reads before falling silent to read the rest. Two hundred years it would have sat in the Taoist temple before it was absconded with.

Kitty pulls out her phone again, checking the auto-adjusting settings for the photo she intends to take. She backs up just a little bit to help reduce risk of some glare from the light illuminating the piece. Which might cause her to unintentionally bump into the man behind her who is admiring the statue of Chang'e.

Lyle Marston has posed:
Lyle suddenly lets out a gruff grunt when Kitty bumps into him. He turns around and sees a girl in her late teens with brown hair that was tied into a pony tail. Lyle then cleared his throat and said with a voice that had a light Scottish accent in it,

"Pardon me young lady."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty's face is apologetic as she turns quickly to see who she bumped into. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she tells him, giving Lyle a soft smile to try to make amends. "Was just getting a picture of this jade piece. It's just exquisite, isn't it?" she asks him.

Her eyes go back to the artwork, and she holds up her phone and completes taking the photograph. She checks the outcome and sees satisfied. Kitty clicks on a spot and then thumbs in many of the details that she read off the plaque. "... Crenshaw... family..." she finishes, saying it aloud as she thumb-types it in with the kind of rapidity that suggests an extreme amount of having typed like that before.

She turns off the phone and returns it to a pocket, glancing over towards Lyle again. "Hard to believe how few people there are," she says, glancing around the exhibits which only have a few extra people apart from the church tour group. "Sunday, perfect day to come somewhere like this. Sometimes I think people just don't have the right priorities."

Lyle Marston has posed:
Lyle grins lightly at the young woman and says,

"Yes, it is indeed a rather nice piece of art. I do wonder how long it took the craftsman to make such a beautiful piece of work?

Lyle found himself agreeing with Kitty when he brought up how empty the museum was. Lyle did appreciate museums. True, he did often find himself robbing them, but he still took the time to admire the artifacts acquired legally. Lyle then says to her,

"Quite true young lady. It's quite a shame more people don't appreciate museums the way i do.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty eyes the jade pieces. "Yes, I'm not really sure what kind of techniques they use, if it's like working with stone or entirely different or not. I have an artists friend. Granted, more of a painter. But I might have to see what he knows of it," she says, glancing to Lyle. "You know. Before I google it." She grins over towards him.

"I hope you enjoy the rest of your day," she tells him in a bright voice and then continues to, taking her time to check out each exhibit. Read about it. And in many cases take a picture to help preserve her trip.