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“I’m afraid that’s not possible, sir But as I said, if you come back in a couple of days…”

Seb extracted another hundred-dollar bill, and saw the look of desperation on the young man’s face He knew the deal was all but closed It was only a matter of how much

“But I’m not allowed…” he whispered

Before he could finish his sentence Seb placed another hundred-dollar bill on top of the other four The young ues were preparing to leave He quickly gathered up the five bills, stuffed theave Seb a weak smile

Seb grabbed the file, left the photo depart doors, and out of the building He felt like a shoplifter, and continued running until he was sure he had escaped At last he slowed down, caught his breath, and began to follow the signs to Union Station, the painting tucked under one arht a ticket on the Amtrak express to New York, and a fewtrain

Sebastian didn’t open the folder until the train pulled out of the station By the ti if, like Mr Swann, he would regret not telling her for the rest of his life, because Mrs Brewer had only been married for three months

27

HAROLD GUINZBURG placed the manuscript on the desk in front of him Harry sat opposite him and waited for his verdict

Guinzburg frohen his secretary entered the roo hot coffees and a plate of biscuits in front of them, and remained silent while she was in the roo Harry suffer a few more moments of torture When the door finally closed behind her, Harry thought he would explode

The suggestion of a s how I feel about your latest work,” he said, turning the screw one more notch

Harry could have happily strangled the damn man

“Shall we start by giving Detective Inspector Warwick a clue?”

And then buried him

“A hundred and twenty thousand copies Inyou’ve ever done, and I’m proud to be your publisher”

Harry was so shocked that he burst into tears, and as neither of theh Once they had recovered, Guinzburg spent so why he’d enjoyed Williaot that he’d spent the previous two days endlessly walking the streets of New York agonizing over how his publisher would react He took a sip of his coffee, but it had gone cold