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‘I’d wait until you meet thewith an art lover here, but soet off’

‘What else do we know about Faulkner?’ asked William, chastened

This time it was DS Roycroft who opened a file ‘Born in Sevenoaks in 1942, the only child of an estate agent and a hairdresser Although that isn’t what he tells his friends at the golf club Awarded an open scholarship to Harrow at the age of eleven, and in his final year he won the school’s art prize After leaving Harrow, he took up a place at the Slade School of Art, but soon realized that although he was one of the brightest students of his year, he was, to quote the principal’s graduation report, never going toas an artist They reconored their advice’

‘By the ti over, ‘he’d worked out exactly what role he was going to play in the art world But he needed to gain some experience before he could branch out on his own He joined a leading West End gallery as a trainee, where he learnt how much money could be made in the art world, especially if you were unscrupulous He was sacked after a couple of years in circuh we do know that no other gallery would employ him For some time he disappeared off the scene, until a Salvador Dalí wentbefore the Art and Antiques squad had been set up’

‘What makes you think he was involved in that theft?’ asked William

‘We picked hiraph of the painting a month before it was stolen A mistake he hasn’t made since,’ said Hawksby

‘And heothers, because once again he disappeared off our radar until the Reo But on that occasion Mr Booth Watson was unable to reach a deal with the insurers, which looks like his only failure to date Although the manner in which he carried out the theft would have impressed even Thomas Crown’

William didn’t interrupt

‘A squad car turned up outside the Fitzallery had closed Twoan alarone off, coshed the doorman and tied him up Ten minutes later, they walked out of the front door with the Rembrandt tucked under their arms’

‘Where were the security guards?’

‘They said they were patrolling the top floor and didn’t report back to the ground floor until half an hour later, at 448 pm’

‘Is 448 relevant?’ asked William

‘He’s sharp,’ said Lamont

‘Manchester United were playing Liverpool in the FA Cup that afternoon, and theshown live on BBC1 The final whistle went at 446’

‘Where was the television?’ asked William