The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834 - Chapter 4
Chapter 4: High jinks at the Museum
The two weeks it took for the painting to dry seemed to pass very quickly for Neal, who spent most of the time packing up his stuff to get ready for the move. He found that it was a difficult thing to do, since he was also trying to keep it hidden from Peter. He knew that Peter would have to find out at some point, but he didn't want to be the one to tell Peter. He hated telling his friends that he was leaving for a new place, which was why he avoided making friends for the most part. If it hadn’t been for the Powells’ rules and the fact that Peter was actually cool for a teenager he wouldn't have befriended Peter at all.
Finally, the day came for the trip to the museum. Peter left with the rest of the group, having been fully prepared for the next step of the plan. Neal wanted to go with the group, to witness Peter bringing the painting to Professor Albright's attention, but he couldn’t do it. It would be too suspicious for Neal to show up when Neal had already question the professor about the painting in his office. No, Neal had to stay at home and simply wait for Peter to get back. He trusted that Peter would be able to do his job and somehow bring attention to Professor Albright at the museum.
Neal was waiting on the porch steps when Peter finally got back. Peter grinned as he dashed over to where Neal was sitting and he practically flung himself down to sit next to Neal. “It went off perfectly. You should have seen it, Neal. We went on basically the same tour that we went through before, and I did impress some of the girls with the knowledge that I learned about the paintings from you.”
“I’m glad to see that all of your work is finally paying off,” Neal said. He then scooted in closer. “Now tell me about Professor Albright and the painting.”
“Right, so we went through the tour and stopped in front of the painting. There was no need for me to actually bring it to his attention, As he stopped before the painting and gave the lecture on the history behind it and all of the techniques that went into it instead of the museum’s tour guide,” Peter said, waving his hands in the air to go along with his words. “She was listening to him, so when he was almost done I remarked that he really seemed to like the painting and you should have seen the change he went through. He got all smug and I believe you now that it’s definitely a fake.”
“You have a good eye once you know to look for it,” Neal complimented. “Did you manage to bring up the fact that he has a copy in his office?”
“And I even remarked on how realistic his copy was compared to the one in the museum,” Peter said. “I do believe that I played my part perfectly.”
“Good job, Peter," Neal said. “I knew that you could do it. Now all we need to do is break into the museum.”
“That’s the part that worries me the most,” Peter said. “How are we going to do that? I mean, I know you said that you knew how to get through the security, but we’ll have to be in Philadelphia at night, so how are we going to get a ride out and where would we stay for the night?”
“I know a place where we can stay,” Neal said. He stood up and turned towards the front door of the house. “I’ll go ask Mrs. Powell if I can visit an old friend. You go ask if you can do the same, too.”
“Wait, who are you talking about?” Peter asked.
Neal turned halfway to look down at Peter. “I told you I’ve lived in Philly before, right? I have friends there that we can spend the night with. Don’t worry, they’re not bad people.” At least not if you were friends with them and were more willing to be on the shady side of the law. They wouldn't have a problem with letting Neal and Peter stay for a night, though he would have to call after convincing Mrs. Powell in order for them to get the place ready. After all, he couldn’t let Peter know of the kind of people that he had been hanging out with; Peter would throw a fit.
“If you’re sure,” Peter said. He gave Neal one more look before saying goodbye and heading back to his house.
Neal smiled to himself as he went inside to convince Mrs. Powell to let him go. It took some doing, arguing that Peter would be with him and that they were going to see Neal’s old friends. Finally, he used Detroit as leverage to convince her to let him have one last day out.
“All right,” she said. “I’ll let you have one last special day with Peter before you have to go.”
“It’s almost time, right?” Neal asked, looking down at his hands. “I’m almost packed; just have a few things out.”
“I really am sorry about this, Neal,” Mrs. Powell said. “It shouldn’t be forever, though; I’m sure that you’ll find a family that suits you.”
“Yeah, right,” Neal said. He gave Mrs. Powell a smile before excusing himself to make the necessary phone calls. First he called his friends in Philadelphia and made the necessary arrangements for him and a friend to stay at the hang out for a night. HIs friends were very amused at the idea that Neal was up to something, although he didn't tell them exactly what he was planning on doing. Then Neal called Peter to tell him that he got permission from Mrs. Powell and that the plan was a go.
Since it was getting on towards evening, they planned to go to Philadelphia the next day, spend the night there and head back in the morning. Neal made sure that more of his superfluous things were packed away and only the necessary things were left out before he headed to bed that night. After all, he only had a couple of days before he had to leave for Detroit.
The trip down to Philadelphia was uneventful as the other trips down. Neal took Peter directly to the place where they were going to spend the night so that they could drop off their bags and the painting until later on that evening. His friends greeted Neal and then made themselves scarce, something that Neal was glad about. He really didn't want to explain to Peter exactly why he was friends with such rough men; men that Neal had first tried to con and they took a liking to him for that. Swindlers themselves, they allowed Neal to hang around with them since he amused them.
From there, they spend the rest of the day wandering around Philadelphia. Neal showed Peter all of the places that he used to go to when he lived in Philadelphia, including the house where his foster parent had lived. They got dinner out and then headed back to the hang out to pick up the painting.
Finally the time had come to put their plan in motion. With Peter carrying the painting, he and Neal went back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was late enough hat that point that the entire building was dark. They snuck into the museum the same way that Neal had gotten into it so many times before, going from the loading dock into the insides of the museum. From there it was easy for them to dodge the cameras’ eyes and also to avoid the security guards.
They made it to the right room quickly enough; since they knew where it was thanks to the tour that they had taken before. Neal and Peter crept up to where the fake copy of The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834. Carefully, they took the copy down from the wall, making sure that they weren’t going to set any alarms off. Then Peter put the faker painting up on the wall, making sure that it was hung straight.
Then Neal checked to make sure that all of the clues to lead the police back to Professor Albright were correct. The exaggerated copy of Albright’s mark was on the painting and it was easy to spot this time around. He had hidden one of Professor Albright’s handouts in the back of the frame, as though it had somehow gotten stuck there unnoticed. And, finally, he allowed the business card that Peter had gotten from Professor Albright's office to flutter down to the ground.
“Let’s go,” Peter hissed to Neal as he picked up the fake copy of The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834. Neal simply nodded before leading them back the way that they had come from. They made it out unnoticed and Peter sighed with relief the second they left the building. “My god, I thought that would never work. I kept thinking that we would be caught by the security guards and sent to jail.”
“You’d probably be sent to jail, but I could just say that you dragged me with you,” Neal said. He grinned at Peter. “After all, I’m just an innocent kid, right?”
“Neal, I’ve only known you a couple of months, but I can honestly say that you’re not just an innocent kid,” Peter said, frowning at Neal. He then hefted the painting back up. “Now, come on, we should get back to your friend's place before it gets too late.”
“This way,” Neal said, once again taking the lead.
They made it back to the hang out and got ready for bed. Peter fell asleep easily enough, but Neal stayed awake. After a few minutes of listening to Peter sleep, Neal got up and went over to where they had left the painting. It was a bit difficult, but he was able to pick it up and move it. He hung it up where there was already a hook and stood back. It wasn't like they could bring it back home with them, after all, and he was sure that his friends would like the story behind the painting. Neal then went back to his sleeping bag and fell asleep.
In the morning, they went back home, ending up at the front steps of the Powell’s house. Peter hadn't put up that much of a fuss about leaving the fake painting at the hang out, since he figured that they couldn’t take it with them as well. They had left plenty of clues for the police to follow; now they just had to wait for the rest of the plan to be carried out.
Neal leaned back on the steps with a sigh. “This has been fun.”
“Surprisingly, this whole thing has been fun,” Peter said. “I would have never had thought that breaking the law could be that much fun, but I am so glad that this is a onetime occurrence.”
“Hey, it's just your first time, it’s normal to be anxious at the start when breaking the law,” Neal said. He grinned at the look that Peter sent him.
“You never get anxious when you do the right thing,” Peter said. “Which is why you’d better stay on the right side of the law.”
“Who said that the right thing matched up with what the law says?” Neal asked.
“Why is a ten year old so smart?” Peter asked the sky.
Neal laughed. “I’m glad I met you, Peter.”
“What’s all this about?” Peter asked. He straightened up and looked at Neal. “Is everything okay, Neal?”
“What?” Neal asked, adopting an innocent look. “I’m just glad that I met someone who would be willing to actually break into a museum and leave a fake copy of a painting there.”
“As I said, this is a onetime occurrence, so don’t ask me to do it again,” Peter said.
“I won’t,” Neal replied. He ducked his head to hide his sad smile as he thought to himself that he wouldn't have the chance to ask Peter for any more help. The guys in Philadelphia were different and with time he would even close contact with those guys as well. That was what his life was like and it wasn't going to change any time soon.
Since they had nothing else to do but wait for the police to finish up their plan, Neal and Peter stayed on the porch. They went back to discussing the more normal things that they always used to talk about, as there was nothing that they could really talk about concerning Professor Albright. They had done their jobs and they couldn't help out any further, although Neal thought that it would have been cool to be there to witness Professor Albright getting arrested. As much as he had the mentality that the police weren't always a good thing, it would have been awesome to see the police doing their job just that once.
In the middle of talking about the latest issue of the X-Men, Peter looked up and froze. Neal turned his head as fast as he could to see what could stop Peter like that and he blinked when he realized that the man standing on the Powell’s pathway was the man from the museum the first time that he and Peter had went there.
“Mr. Hughes?” Peter asked as he stood up. “What are you doing here? How did you know where we lived? I don't think we ever even told you our names.”
“Ah, let me introduce myself once more, to put the two of you at ease,” Hughes said. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a wallet. He flipped it open, revealing a badge. “I am Agent Hughes of the FBI, White Collar Crimes. I’ll admit that I used a heavy handed technique to find out who you two were and where you lived.”
“FBI,” Neal whispered to himself. He felt his stomach sink and he was glad that he hadn't stood up when Peter did. He clenched his fists and wondered exactly why the FBI agent was there; did he know that they had broken into the museum?
“Why are you here?” Peter repeated. He stood strong, seemingly not affected at all by the news that Hughes was an FBI agent. He stared Hughes down and Neal marveled over how cool Peter was being at the moment.
“I just thought that the two of you would like to know that Professor Albright was arrested this afternoon,” Hughes said. “You know, you two did a really good job.”
“What do you mean?” Peter asked, still showing a decent poker face. It was starting to crack around the edges, but Neal was amazed that Peter was holding strong for this long when a normal teen would have broken down the second Hughes said that he was FBI.
“You caught my eye at the museum as you talked about the forgery that was left in place of the original. You seemed quite knowledgeable about it and I thought that it was odd that the only painting that you were really passionate about was the one painting that was just recently been reported as stolen,” Hughes said. “So, after the tour, I followed you back to the exhibit and saw you looking at the painting once more. I was curious, so I followed the two of you back here.”
“Fire makes a painting pretty cool, and Neal is an art buff,” Peter said. He crossed his arms. “That doesn’t mean that we knew that the painting was stolen.”
“Well, I didn’t think that much of it, thinking what two kids from the suburbs could really know about a missing painting. Then I caught sight of one of you again at the museum in front of the exact painting that you had acted interested in before,” Hughes said. “And I saw the whole lecture that Professor Albright gave and the heard the questions you asked when he was done. Of course, that didn't really mean anything at the time, as you were just a college student.”
“That was a class trip,” Peter said. “I had nothing to do with it at all and Neal wasn't even there for it.”
“Ah, but then I saw the two of you later on, a day later,” Hughes said. He laughed and patted his belly. “People don't usually put much stock into it, but I just had the gut feeling that things weren't over with the museum. I expected the thief to try for another painting, such as the other version of The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834, but instead I saw two small shadows creeping in to steal the forgery left by a thief. That was rather obvious of the two of you, as an aside.”
Neal shrugged; there was no reason to hide it any more. Now they just had to deal with the fall out. “Whatever worked.”
“Well ,thanks to that, I could piece the case together and we got an art expert over to Professor Albright’s office to examine the copy of The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834 that he had over his sofa,” Hughes said. “When it was declared to be the original painting, Professor Albright was arrested and I came to see the two of you.”
“Are you going to arrest us?” Peter asked.
“Not this time. Now, I would strongly suggest that you never try any stunts like that again. The next time you run across an art thief, just call the police; they’ll check it out even if you are a kid,” Hughes said. He then paused. “Actually, the next time you can just call me and I promise that I would take it seriously.”
Hughes held out business cards and Peter hesitantly went down the stairs to accept them. “It wasn’t like we really meant to get into trouble, but we couldn’t just let Professor Albright get away with it.”
Hughes contemplated Peter for a minute. “How old are you?”
“Nineteen,” Peter answered, sounding confused.
“I think that you would make a good FBI agent, we could use people with initiative,” Hughes said. He nodded towards the business card that Peter was holding. “Take a few days to decide and then call me if you want to apply. I’ll get you all set up.”
Peter looked down at the business card. “Do you think that I would really make a good agent? I was planning on getting an accounting degree.”
“You have the senses for it and the brains for it as well,” Hughes said. “And don’t worry about other degrees, as I said, I will take care of everything.”
“I’ll think about it,” Peter said.
Hughes took a step back and raised his hand in farewell. “Stay out of trouble, boys, or the next time I might have to arrest you.”
With that, Hughes left, walking down the street. Peter watched him go until he disappeared off into the distance and then he came back to sit down. He absently handed Neal one of the business cards and Neal wrinkled his nose.
“Well, that was something else,” Neal commented after the silence started to drag on too long.
“I think we got off easy,” Peter said. “And there is no way that I’ll ever do anything like that again.”
“So, are you thinking of taking him up on his offer?” Neal asked, staring down at his pant leg, wondering if he was starting to get a hole in the knee.
“I’m not sure,” Peter replied. “It’s just too sudden. But, I think I will seriously think it over, maybe talk to my parents about it.”
“Yeah,” Neal said. He poked at his knee and then glanced up at Peter. “So you were saying about Wolverine?”
“He is the most awesome character in the series, although I think I take more after Cyclops than anyone else,” Peter said. He slowly relaxed and took up the casual conversation again. He grinned at Neal. “Don’t you think?”
“It definitely suits you,” Neal said with a nod. He grinned back, also relieved that it was all over and their planned worked. Professor Albright had been arrested and the painting was returned to its normal spot. Unfortunately, that meant that his time was running out.
Chapter 3 // Epilogue