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Sarason related the entire story from the murder of the true Dr Miller by Amaru to the escape of Pitt and the others from the Valley of the Viracocha to the death of Juan Chaco He finished by giving a rough tally of the artifacts he had salvaged froed to have the cache transported to Callao, then so compartment inside an oil tanker owned by a subsidiary of Zolar International It was one of two such ships used for the express purpose of slipping looted and stolen art in and out of foreign countries while transporting small shipments of crude oil

Zolar stared into the desert without seeing it "The Aztec Star She is scheduled to reach San Francisco in four days"

"That puts her in brother Charles's sphere of activity"

"Yes, Charles has arranged for your shipment to be transported to our distribution center in Galveston where he will see to the restoration of the artifacts" Zolar held his glass up to be refilled "How is the wine?"

"A classic," answered Sarason, "but a bit dry for my taste"

"Perhaps you'd prefer a sauvignon blanc fro fruitiness with a scent of herbs"

"I never acquired your taste for fine wines, brother I'll settle for a beer"

Zolar did not have to instruct his serving lady She quietly left thelass and a bottle of Coors beer

"A pity about Chaco," said Zolar "He was a loyal associate"

"I had no choice He was running scared after the fiasco in the Valley of Viracocha and made subtle threats to unveil the Solpemachaco It would not have been wise to allow hiative Police"

"I trust your decisions, as I always have But there is still Tupac Amaru What is his situation?"

"He should have died," replied Sarason "Yet when I returned to the teun-happy mercenaries, I found hi As soon as the artifacts were cleared out and loaded aboard three additional ht creas forced to buy off at a pree for care He should be back on his feet in a few days"

"You ht have been wise to remove Amaru too"

"I considered it But he knows nothing that could lead international investigators to our doorstep"

"Would you like another serving of pork?"