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Derek gave a tight nod “Burbank’s not rich He is an art dealer, so it stands to reason that he has a few decent pieces in his place But Eric Hu never set foot in that apartment, and his company never serviced Burbank’s computers So hoould they know?”

“Let’s play devil’s advocate Let’s say they read or overheard so that made them think Burbank had , who had his gang break in and rob the place”

“Fine So they saw the Monet and ripped it off Makes sense Monet’s fah you said it wasn’t one of his well-knoorks But they’re not connoisseurs So they grabbed it, along with a bunch of other pieces that had more sentimental than actual value In addition to that…” For the tenth time, Derek studied the list of stolen ite standard household stuff—a flat-screen TV, a couple laptops, a set of silverware, a pair of dia close to the haul they got fros e—a DVD player they could get for seventy-five bucks at Best Buy, a hundred-dollar men’s watch they could buy on the Internet for less, and a whole slew of knickknacks They spentit”

“You think they were looking for so else”

“Yeah And I think they were disguising that search as a burglary Why else would our wiretap catch Xiao Long getting word about finalizing a deal with an old art dealer on East Eighty-second?”

“Could be payback for anything,” Rich suggested

“Right,” Derek returned drily “And it could be coincidence that the very nextyou had an appointment to interview Burbank about a dirty art deal”

“Which we have no reason to believe he was involved in” Rich pursed his lips “Look, Derek, I understand how frustrated you are But I haven’t found the connection you’re looking for The painting Burbank sold was genuine As for a link between Burbank and Xiao Long, when I slipped in Xiao Long’s na portion of our interview, there wasn’t a flicker of recognition Burbank’s a lousy actor, and I’ so”

“Unless he doesn’t knohat he’s hiding”

Rich shrugged “We can speculate all day All I can say is that, if Burbank’s sale of Dead or Alive to Cai Wen, or if Cai Wen’s ation of Xiao Long, I can’t see it Then again, a killer and a thief isn’t about to leave a sales receipt So the gaping hole in our provenance certainly leaves room for a variety of possibilities”

“All the roup and the ti of their sale Please, Rich I’d consider it a personal favor”

“Fine,” Rich agreed, eyeing Derek quizzically as he spoke “I’ll review each of their interviews But, just to clarify, are you leaning toward Burbank being a pawn or a crinals”

“That’s because Derek’s giving theers on his desk “Rich, would you excuse us for a minute?”

“Not a probleot to his feet “I’ for a call from Interpol”

“That museum heist in Munich earlier today?” Tony asked