Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich Read Free Book Online Page B

doubted it because it was so simple.” Emerson pointed to the framed insect on the wall. “What can you tell me about that?”
    “It looks fake.”
    “It is. Someone must have given it to Günter as a joke. It’s painted to look like a golden skull. And the inscription on the label, ‘Scarabaeus Caput Hominis’—Man’s Head Beetle. Clearly, it’s an homage to the Edgar Allan Poe story in which a man finds a fabulous treasure with the help of a fantastic insect, ‘The Gold-Bug.’ ”
    “ ‘Goldbug,’ ” Riley said. “That’s also a term used in investing. It means an expert who recommends buying gold as an investment.”
    “Exactly. A person who believes that gold is a stable source of wealth, like it was during the days of the gold standard. So it wasn’t hard to guess that ‘goldbug’ would be Günter’s combination. That and the fact that the numbers are written under Bauerfeind’s name on the scrap of paper. Of course the numbers are rearranged, but the code is a simple one.”
    He reached into the safe and pulled out the single object inside. A gold bar. A fly fluttered off the bar and Emerson handed the bar to Riley. She was amazed by the heft of the thing.
    “I’m pretty sure this is a Good Delivery bar,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen one in person.”
    “Like you, my knowledge is academic. I know that Good Delivery bars are noted for high purity and large size, weighing in the vicinity of thirty pounds each. Most gold collectors collect coins or small bars of one ounce. Good Delivery bars are much harder to analyze or to trade. They are used in major international markets like Tokyo and London and New York and the gold reserves of major governments. And the International Monetary Fund. This one was made in Munich. It has the word ‘München’ carved in it, along with a half moon and crown, followed by the minting date and serial number.”
    “If this actually is a Good Delivery bar it meets the specifications issued by the London Bullion Market Association, and it would contain about four hundred troy ounces of gold,” Riley said.
    “A fortune for most people.”
    “But not for Günter,” Riley said. “It’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Günter has more money than he could possibly spend in one lifetime.”
    “He has ninety million. He could spend that,” Emerson said.
    “How?”
    “If he lived to ninety-five, he could do it.”
    “I don’t see how.”
    “It could be done.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “I could do it.”
    Riley didn’t think she could do it. She came from a culture that clipped coupons and shopped at yard sales.
    “What would you buy?” she asked Emerson. “A shark with a laser beam gizmo attached to his head? It would have to be something incredible.”
    Emerson handed the gold bar to Riley. “Put this in your bag.”
    “What?” Riley asked.
    “Put it in your bag. We’re going to take it with us.”
    “Are we going to ask first? We’re going to ask.”
    “Why should we ask?”
    “Because it’s a gold bar worth in the vicinity of half a million dollars. That’s more than grand larceny. That’s great-grand larceny.”
    “We’ll bring it back. We’re just going to borrow it. I don’t think Irene even knows it’s there.”
    “You don’t think?”
    —
    R iley dumped her bag onto the Mustang’s backseat and slid behind the wheel.
    Emerson got in, and Riley put the car in gear and sped out to the parkway before Irene Grunwald could return from her coffee date, peek into her safe, and call the cops. Or the Secret Service. Or whoever they sent after you for stealing gold bars.
    “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said.
    “Believe,” Emerson said.
    “Why do you want it?”
    “It feels off. The safe had been cleaned out. There were no papers, no stacks of extra cash. None of the things you would expect to find in a home office safe. Why was this gold bar left behind?”
    “Maybe it was