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With the air of long practice, Hol to his lips, and then reached up to whack his elbow Coffee splattered down his front She smiled her black-cat smile

"When we’re finished here, I’ll fetch you a bleach pen and a new shirt," Peterson said to a sputtering Milo "Now, as for your basic education on ation into art criulated There is no ide database that tracks the buying and selling of works of art, so it’s incredibly easy for unethical dealers to sell stolen or forged pieces Since overnators, those dealers can operate without any real fear of getting caught

All of this is co amount of art that the Nazis stole from artists and collectors-- World War II Of course, not all escaped When German Jeere put into concentration caovernment has made attempts to track down these pieces and return them to the faether In a field like this, it’s easy for those pieces to reappear, ically--and for no one to ever realize that they’re actually forgeries, despite the best efforts of authenticators

"Essentially, it’s lawless," Peterson told us, "andators like Leander Hol to track down forgers and forgery rings, networks of dealers selling art looted fros as collateral Since these are very sate, he’d have to spend ain access to any real information"

While he talked, the monitors behind him played an aquariuust raised his hand, like ere all in class "How do my brothers fit into this? Lucien? Hadrian?"

Peterson hesitated "Hadrian Moriarty is best known for paying off the leaders of corrupt countries to look the other hile he and his sister make off with their national treasures"

"Yes, of course," he said, turning to Milo, "but how do they fit into this particular situation?"

Milo made a hand motion, and the twelve screens switched over to a security feed A number of different security feeds, and none of them black-and-white, as they were in the movies, but full, deep color A beachfront cabana, co curtains that framed a view of the ocean A bedroom with a four-poster bed Other scenes, other rooms--and the four monitors on the bottom, which all showed a different approach to the Holnized the woodpile where I’d last seen Leander

Milo ticked theers "Your brother Lucien’s latest hideout over here And here, your brother Hadrian’s pied-à-terre in Kreuzberg--really, August, do get yourself born into a better family next time--and his front entryway, and the view of his back s, and one of his toilet, though for propriety’s sake I’ve chosen not to show you that one There’s a rather largein there, though, so I deeain, and the screens changed "I have every angle of every roo a ca but watch these screens and synthesize their deductions"

"That doesn’t answer ust said Beside hi her hands against her knees

"If Lucien sneezes, I know about it If he orders a different cocktail than what he usually has delivered to his sad little beachfront hideaway, it’ll be one ofinto a car, it’ll be ht tire, and if anyone reht to Britain, itwhich they are forcibly removed from the plane" Milo’s voice was electric with hate I shrank a little as he spoke "I’ve stripped him of his resources and his connections The last phone call he o, to his sister Phillipa, and I had it terminated after one point three seconds

"So to answer your question, if Lucien has so to do with Leander’s disappearance, he is better than ame, and I am the best I told my sister she shouldn’t worry, and so she won’t We’ll sort this through"

Holly He stared back down at her, his face still tight with anger, until she lifted the enainally, he relaxed

She turned to look back at the screens When Milo spoke, he was his usual dour self again "As for Hadrian Moriarty, he’s eust lowered his face into his hands

"Explain," Holht you’d be able to figure it out"

She took a breath Thought about it Then began ticking it off on her fingers "The sort of services you’d provide to a man like that would be in the personal protection business I can’t i else, unless it was the transportation of legally dubious artwork froovernments loathe you and your ‘independent contractors’ as it is, I doubt you’d get your hands that dirty for the sake of a Moriarty Sorry, August"