Since the thieves (who dressed as police) have not been identified, and since every crime story needs a villain, Stolen substitutes a hero with a would-be hero--the crime's investigator, Harold Smith , a respected insurance investigator of 78, disfigured by skin cancer, who has made recovering the Gardner pictures the mission of his retirement.

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The night before, around the dinner table, I was feted like a would-be conquering hero by the other guests at the ranch.

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In case you haven't been following the virtual rock and roll scene lately, videogame publisher Red Octane recently revealed that there would be no wireless ax for the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II -- even though owners of a "last-gen" console, PlayStation 2, will be able to jam out sans tether.

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We are die-hard Laker fans and Magic was our childhood hero, so hanging with him for a night would literally be a dream come true.

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