fandomhigh | Cons & Confidence Men: How Not to Get Taken, Class 7

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Cons & Confidence Men: How Not to Get Taken, Class 7

"Welcome to our last class, everyone." Sophie smiled around a Danger-Shop-created museum display, housing what had to be the most stupidly huge emerald ever found on the face of the planet. "You've all done quite well learning about different kinds of con games; therefore you have your choice today." She gestured to the emerald. "You can either be on the security team trying to keep this emerald safe as a final trial for its disposition is held; or you can attempt to, ahem. Appropriate it, and give it to whom you believe the proper owner to be. You may use theft, technological, or confidence tricks in order to make this work."

"At your leisure, ladies and gentlemen."

[ocd ~~on its way!~~ Time to steal yourself an emerald!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Pair up if you like, and work out how you're going to pull this off.

Or just wonder how you're going to get a forklift into the display area of a place lit up like a Vegas casino.

Peter just sort of stood there, baffled.

"Eight hundred and fifty pounds?" he said. "Eight hundred?"

"The largest emerald ever found in the world," Sophie said grandly. "Or of any other gem, I'm inclined to believe."

"That's not a gemstone," Peter said. "That's a... gem-boulder."

He looked around at his classmates. "I really hope someone has super-strength."

Karla gave a soundless whistle. "Can we get access to any more information about the parties arguing over it?" she asked.

Sophie ticked off the possibilities on her fingers. "Tony Thomas, the original buyer of the gem from agents in Brazil. Todd Armstrong, of Idaho, who claims he received it as collateral for a shipment of diamonds which never arrived. The owner of the New Orleans warehouse where it was kept at the time of Hurricane Katrina-- possession being nine-tenths of the law. A few Las Vegas people who seem to be applying the 'finders keepers' rule to it. A buyer who claims he was sold it on E-bay for $75 million. And the original Brazilian owners in Brazil, who mined it and put it up for sale, and claim they've never been paid their original sixty thousand dollars." Sophie's smile was wry. "At this point, I suspect the judge wants to donate it to a museum so he doesn't have to hear the case." *

*Most claimants listed here (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/30/bahia-emerald-trial-will-_n_665681.html) and here (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/27/giant.emerald/index.html).

Karla nodded, mulling over the options that information presented. "Thank you," she said absently. "Hmmmm..."

"If you come up with a better, more fair disposition of the gem," which let's face it, was Sophie's preference, "I'll certainly consider extra credit."

Karla grinned. "Can I threaten to cut it up and then offer it to whoever protests?" she asked. "We have a story like that in my world."

Sophie gave her an amused look back. "If you can get away with it without them finding you, by all means. Although it's worth far more intact than separated."

"How could you even--I mean--it's--" Roy flailed a little, then said, "I think this thing's best defense is its size!"

"It is unwieldy, isn't it?" Sophie gave it a covetous smile, then said, "So, what *would* be the simplest way to get it out of here? I can think of three possibilities, but then, I've had time to study the set-up."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cons & Confidence Men: How Not to Get Taken, Class 7

Listen to the lecture / plot

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