by A21 Reporter Andy Clems
The Royston Diamonds have been stolen from a high security vault below the Second National Bank in New York, in what some are calling the ‘Crime of the Century’. Even more amazingly, the nano-camera security system at the bank has positively identified the thief as WIN agent Joe 90!
It is unknown why agent 90 should steal the famed jewel collection as he could not possibly hope to sell them on the underground market. The stones, some of the most impressive ever cut, would be impossible to move along an illicit diamond pipeline, with even the most hardened smugglers likely to avoid becoming linked to their theft.
WIN chief Shane Weston declared, “I cannot comment on the matter at this time. Agent 90 was not acting under orders from WIN and so far all attempts to establish his whereabouts have failed.”
The break-in occurred just after 2am this morning. The ultrasonic alarm system was disabled first, triggering the back-up systems. Motion detectors registered movement in the elevator shaft leading to the vault and activated the closed circuit recording system. The system was only installed in the bank on Wednesday, which explains why agent 90 was apparently unaware of it.
Descending the elevator shaft on an electronic winch, agent 90 reached the main vault area within mere minutes of the alarms going offline. Next, he ignited a proton lance and began to slice through the heavy reinforced steel door leading to the individual galleries. The metal yielded to the lance like butter before a hot knife.
Wasting no time, agent 90 proceeded into the main gallery, pausing briefly to don a pair of infra-red goggles over his glasses. This allowed him to see the complex pattern of otherwise invisible laser beams barring his path. The lasers were connected to an independent alarm system, one which would operate at the slightest contact from an intruder.
However, agent 90 was clearly prepared for this and, in a display of unbelievable agility for such a slightly built operative, he contorted his way through the laser net with the skill of an expert dancer.
Reaching gallery 7-10, he pulled a small device from his equipment sash and connected it to the electro-lock on the security door. Rapidly working his way through the complex algorithm keeping the door secure, agent 90 cracked the code in under two minutes.
With nothing to stand in his way, he opened the door and carefully removed all 17 pieces from the Royston collection, securing them in a slim padded case attached to his back. After this, he made his way back through the laser system, through the vault door and used an auto-ascender to reach the top of the elevator shaft. Once on the main floor of the bank the electronic security lost him as the conventional recording system had already been disabled. The power to the alarms was restored moments later.
Security experts claim that the best professionals in the business wouldn’t have been able to pull off the caper alone. Police Commissioner Garfield remarked, “It’d take someone with the safe-cracking talents of Aloysius Parker, the electronics genius of Jim Lucas and the physical dexterity of a circus acrobat. No one person should have been able to do it. This agent 90 is obviously no ordinary criminal.”
Stay with A21 to find out how the story unfolds!
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