- Sep 22, 2013
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This is a consumerism-gambling omen tale I cooked up, inspired by the wager-intrigue films Oscar and Lucinda, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and Ruthless People!
Cheers,
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Young Sherlock Holmes was given the assignment to investigate the case of a nefarious wager made between two crime-syndicate bosses being pursued by policemen of Scotland Yard. Kingpin (the first boss) was a gambler and a scoundrel and a smuggler, and his rival, Kraven (the second boss) was a Machiavellian with a penchant for ruthless power. Kingpin and Kraven made the strange wager to see which of their criminal groups could smuggle more valuable art successfully out of Europe and sell it to unscrupulous art-dealers in America. Sherlock Holmes' investigations led him to a mysterious and haunting castle called Alcazar (where Kingpin and Kraven apparently met to discuss their art-smuggling wager).
Alcazar was surrounded by mountains and snow when Holmes arrived to snoop around, and the young detective was convinced he could spy on the goings-on at Alcazar to discover the next art-smuggling operation being waged by Kingpin and Kraven. Holmes peeped through a window and found the two crime-syndicate bosses sitting in the dining room and talking about a rare painting rumored to be co-worked by the Devil himself. The painting was a William Blake work about the Biblical woman being enamoured and wrapped up by the power of the great 'Red Dragon.' Kingin and Kraven were convinced that this 'woman' Blake (and the Devil!) painted was a real woman and plotted to steal/smuggle the painting to America.
Holmes knew the painting of Blake's was currently housed in an art museum exhibit in Venice. Holmes also discovered that Kraven's goons had plotted to smuggle the painting through the sewers of Venice after lifting it from the art museum through a dug-out secret ancient underground tunnel. Holmes followed the trail of Kraven's men and landed in a section of the sewer alone where he swore he saw the shadowy silhouette of a woman standing in the distance. She seemed shapely and attractive, but he saw the silhouette disappear as he neared it. Holmes concluded that the silhouette was some 'metaphysical spirit' of the woman portrayed in Blake's painting and that he saw it as an 'omen' since the painting was being stolen/smuggled.
Holmes returned to Scotland Yard and filed the following cryptic report regarding the smuggling of the Blake painting:
"I've been a detective for some years now, and this peculiar case involving the art-smuggling wager between Kingpin and Kraven led me to the esoteric Biblical painting of the woman wrapped up by the dragon (by William Blake). I am thoroughly convinced that pursuing these trails for the painting being 'bet' on by two crime-syndicate bosses may open up a proverbial undesirable 'Pandora's Box' of poison and curses that will remind any human being of the spiritual dangers of 'intellectual property voyeurism.' It is my recommendation that the policemen of Scotland Yard simply work to retrieve any works-of-art stolen by Kingpin/Kraven and refrain from 'liberally speculating' upon the 'philosophical-value' of the artistic creations themselves. Hopefully, the 'winds of capitalism and consumerism' and bazaar-hypnosis will not turn art-markets into controversy-cauldrons!"
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Cheers,
====
Young Sherlock Holmes was given the assignment to investigate the case of a nefarious wager made between two crime-syndicate bosses being pursued by policemen of Scotland Yard. Kingpin (the first boss) was a gambler and a scoundrel and a smuggler, and his rival, Kraven (the second boss) was a Machiavellian with a penchant for ruthless power. Kingpin and Kraven made the strange wager to see which of their criminal groups could smuggle more valuable art successfully out of Europe and sell it to unscrupulous art-dealers in America. Sherlock Holmes' investigations led him to a mysterious and haunting castle called Alcazar (where Kingpin and Kraven apparently met to discuss their art-smuggling wager).
Alcazar was surrounded by mountains and snow when Holmes arrived to snoop around, and the young detective was convinced he could spy on the goings-on at Alcazar to discover the next art-smuggling operation being waged by Kingpin and Kraven. Holmes peeped through a window and found the two crime-syndicate bosses sitting in the dining room and talking about a rare painting rumored to be co-worked by the Devil himself. The painting was a William Blake work about the Biblical woman being enamoured and wrapped up by the power of the great 'Red Dragon.' Kingin and Kraven were convinced that this 'woman' Blake (and the Devil!) painted was a real woman and plotted to steal/smuggle the painting to America.
Holmes knew the painting of Blake's was currently housed in an art museum exhibit in Venice. Holmes also discovered that Kraven's goons had plotted to smuggle the painting through the sewers of Venice after lifting it from the art museum through a dug-out secret ancient underground tunnel. Holmes followed the trail of Kraven's men and landed in a section of the sewer alone where he swore he saw the shadowy silhouette of a woman standing in the distance. She seemed shapely and attractive, but he saw the silhouette disappear as he neared it. Holmes concluded that the silhouette was some 'metaphysical spirit' of the woman portrayed in Blake's painting and that he saw it as an 'omen' since the painting was being stolen/smuggled.
Holmes returned to Scotland Yard and filed the following cryptic report regarding the smuggling of the Blake painting:
"I've been a detective for some years now, and this peculiar case involving the art-smuggling wager between Kingpin and Kraven led me to the esoteric Biblical painting of the woman wrapped up by the dragon (by William Blake). I am thoroughly convinced that pursuing these trails for the painting being 'bet' on by two crime-syndicate bosses may open up a proverbial undesirable 'Pandora's Box' of poison and curses that will remind any human being of the spiritual dangers of 'intellectual property voyeurism.' It is my recommendation that the policemen of Scotland Yard simply work to retrieve any works-of-art stolen by Kingpin/Kraven and refrain from 'liberally speculating' upon the 'philosophical-value' of the artistic creations themselves. Hopefully, the 'winds of capitalism and consumerism' and bazaar-hypnosis will not turn art-markets into controversy-cauldrons!"
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