Devin was starting to get very nervous about how things were going. Things had never gone this well for him. They didn’t go this well on his prom night, they didn’t go this well during his time at college, and every poker hand he has ever had. He was being taken by the hand almost literally to the X on his treasure map. Well, not his treasure map, but the one he knows exists. 

Trying to be as much a fly on the wall as possible Devin allowed himself the pleasure of listing to the conversation between the two museum employees. From what he could hear the man was giving the woman a runaround job. It sounded nice, but from the woman’s response and body language he felt there was more to it. 

The door was open and Devin quickly started to look around the room. It wasn’t beyond him that just within reach was likely more money in antiquities than he could ever hope to find, but he was admiring the collection. Not looking to steal it. He saw near the back row a crate of boxes followed by a few hanging shelves that said maps. Quick as he could he started to get excited as he set his book down and began to rummage through his things. Passing by his own small tool set he pulled out a protractor and quickly started to put on gloves. 

“Looks like you have a bit of organizing to do down here.” Devin said to the man who was still near the doorway. He got a small laugh, but at this point the man was looking at what Devin was doing and not talking to the woman. There was concern in his voice and he saw it best to get his answers answered.

“Is there a reason you are having to see the actual articles?” He said it loud enough that it pulled Devin back into the reality that he was there under false pretenses. Quick as he could he did damage control while slipping on some gloves. 

“You wouldn’t believe how many times we are told the real deal is in the basement when all that is there is the paperwork telling us the real thing is in the basement.” Devin said in a matter of fact tone. He then started to go through the maps as gently as he could until he got to the third one and smiled. “Marco…” He said as the map had ‘Polo’ written in the top right corner. 

Now that he had the right map Devin knew he needed to get to work. He set the map on the top of the others and returned to his bag where he started pulling out a few instruments similar to the ones on display in the North Wing. They were old enough to be worthy of being in this museum. The final item he pulled out was an old book. Written by the man who drew the map he had just handled.