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“I appreciate that,” David said, “but why not pull the questionable pieces from the auction until they can be properly authenticated?”
“It’s too late for that”
“I could get an interlocutory injunction”
Fitzwilliams’s supercilious smile told David just how complicit the director had been in Lily’s illicit activities The loated as he said, “It’s Saturday afternoon By the tiet one, the auction will be over”
Which would mean David would have to retrieve the pieces fro, but not insurmountable job
In the ave David the catalog for tonight’s auction, then very definitely gave him the boot David stopped for lunch, then went to the tailor to pick up his suit Once back in his rooan leafing through the Cosgrove’s catalog Fine Chinese Cerae was a spectacular four-color photo of a sculpture, ceramic, or bronze accoe that incorporated dimensions, stylistic components, historical infor sold
Interspersed aes with sirove’s estimated they would sell for These would have to be the artworks for which Lily had not provided photographs As David read the descriptions, he saw thatthe jade—had come from Cathay Antiquities If these had truly been in Cathay’s possession here in Hong Kong, photographs could have been taken in ti Three ruyis—none with a photograph—were also listed The description of one of the shaft It had also come from Cathay Antiquities
David closed the catalog and stared out across the harbor Hulan often said if you knew the victim, then you’d know the killer, but variations of that axiom were true for almost any crime Know the source of narcotics and the way in which they are s, Chinese antiquities presented spoils that were very narrow in scope, with an evento spend half a million US dollars on a Chinese plate, and an almost minute pool of thieves who could pull off the initial theft, sh he still had no hard evidence, Lily was the only person at Site 518 with the three essential ingredients to make the sche the contraband, and a distribution source
David turned away from the view as the voice of the BBC anchor filtered into his consciousness Flooding on the Yangzi below the Three Gorges had resulted in 780 deaths in the last two days The rising river and turbulent waters had caused traffic on the river to stop Sixty thousand tourists—including fifteen thousand foreigners—on 350 boats had been off-loaded either above or below the Three Gorges Dam site Seventeen hundred vehicles had been h many roads were closed
David had watched the river rise draruntled tourists at the visitors’ center, and had seen the boats bunched on either side of the dam site Below the dam where the river had breached its banks, he’d seen dead ani on their roofs for rescue, and water spread all the way to the horizon, but he hadn’t registered just how bad the situation hich became apparent as the report continued
All schools below the dam site had been closed and production at sixteen hundred factories temporarily suspended Telephone lines were down in overn that people boil their water More than five hundred dikes along the middle and lower reaches of the river had minor ruptures, and close to a million people had been mobilized to make repairs In Hunan Province below the daer of total failure Preparations were being made to move three-quarters of a million people
The anchor turned the report over to a weather analyst, who said that theeast, where it wouldin the Pacific Torrential rains were expected over the next few days, and the river would continue to rise as the runoff collected and continued its eastward push A high death toll was anticipated in the provinces below the Three Gorges Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents should prepare for typhoon conditions
“WAS I INTIMATE WITH LILY? JESUS!”
“Mr Miller, after what you’ve just told me, I see even more of a connection between the three of you Brian worked for you, but in a sense he also cheated you Lily brought to your attention objects that you could buy legally, but at the sas that you would have liked to have added to your collection They’re both dead…”
“But the link isn’t ”