Agent Gray, Red with Love

Carmen Grabs a New Hat

  "Bright light city's gonna set my souls gonna set my soul on fire!" Graham was singing under his breath. 

  Rodger Headroom had gotten "Viva Las Vegas" stuck in his head the day before. Before they took their flight to Singapore the next morning, Zari, Devineaux, and himself were going to inspect the security of the "Golden Hat" being displayed at the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (museum for prehistory and early history) on Museum Island, Berlin. They had caught wind of a potential raid happening that night.

  "So 'Viva, Las Vegas.' 'Viva, Las Vegas!'" He continued singing, tapping on the door.

  "Would you stop that?" Zari snapped.

  "Oh, sorry, mate. Rodger was singing it earlier," Graham said apologetically.

  Zari rolled her eyes, "That sounds like a Rodger Headroom thing to do." 

  "It is a catchy song," Devineaux added, helpfully.

  "So tell us more about this 'Golden Hat'," Graham asked Zari, interrupting their unofficial karaoke party.

  "The 'Berlin Golden Hat'," she started to explain, "Is a 490 gram hat, that sort of looks like a fedora with a long cone on top of it. It's studded with motif designs, and it is quite literally a Golden hat, thus the name. It is believed to have been crafted in the late Bronze Age, and to have been the insignia of priests and deities. It was acquired by this museum in 1996, and is the best preserved of four hats like it."

  "So we're guarding  a hat from Carmen San Diego, the hat woman herself," Devineaux marveled, shaking his head. 

  "A little ironic, I'll admit," Zari replied.

  "Why'd Carmen want to steal the hat though? It sounds heavy, real heavy," Graham asked.

  "To show the weak links in security, and return it so V.I.L.E does not get it," Devineaux said, glaring at Zari.

  "Not this again, Devineaux," Zari groaned.

  "But does it not make sense? We know from the phone that she is a V.I.L.E defector and a rival! And we always get the stolen things back!" Devineaux nearly yelled. 

  He'd been saying the same thing the entire Germany visit, and Graham honestly had been considering the possibility.... until he got the memory back, and saw young Carmen as "black sheep" the V.I.L.E operative. She didn't look like someone who would defect any time soon. Just another thing to add to the list of questions about the lady in red.

    They pulled up to the museum, and found their way to the exhibit.

...

  "It's.... pretty ugly," Graham admitted.

  "Perhaps, but it's beyond historically significant," Zari reassured him.

  Devineaux read the info blurb, "My German is rusty.... but it says there are three others of these?" He asked. "What makes this one so important?"

  "Were you listening to our conversation in the limo?" Zari asked sarcastically, as if she didn't already know the answer.

  "Only the part about la femme rouge," Devineaux admitted.

  Zari shook her head in disappointment. "Yes, there are three others, found in west France and southern Germany," she explained, "But this one is the best preserved, and therefore the most valuable."

  "Makes sense," Graham said, trying to figure out why on earth people thought it was pretty. The deshret? Now that was stunning. This? He didn't see it.