The Play of Light and Shadow & Writing by Barry Ergang Read Free Book Online Page A

Something on the order of forty
percent of major artworks bought and sold today are
forgeries.”[ * ]
    “ Then how does a collector know what
he’s buying?”
    “ Unfortunately, he doesn’t always.” He
cleared his throat. “Nor do we who sell art. I hate to admit it,
but I and many of my colleagues have been fooled by clever
forgeries and apparently legitimate provenances. The worst part is
the disservice it does to the art world in its broadest
sense.”
    “ What about the collectors who buy the
real paintings?”
    “ They’re hoarders,” he said
contemptuously. “They have no intention of sharing their
acquisitions with the world and, in any case, don’t dare admit they
own them. How they obtain the paintings doesn’t matter to
them.”
    “ So Marchand and Riveau sold them to
less than reputable collectors,” Warner said.
    “ I can only assume that to be the
case.”
    “ Ever bought or sold any of Riveau’s
work?” Darnell asked.
    “ No, sir.”
    “ You had nothing to do with Gaines’s
buying Nomad ?”
    “ How could I? He won it in an
auction.”
    “ You seemed pretty interested in
displaying it—or selling it.”
    “ If Barton ever wishes to put it on
public display, I’d be honored to have him do so in my gallery.
Should he ever wish to sell it…Well, sir, I’m a businessman, and it
happens I have a client who is willing to pay a considerable amount
for Nomad and assure Bart a
profit.”
    “ Mm-hmm.” Darnell scratched his chin
with a thumbnail. “You have any clients who fall into what you call
the…uh…‘disreputable’ category?”
    Lakehurst swung his gaze toward Warner.
“Detective, my understanding is that this man has no official
status, so I decline to respond to his innuendoes.”
    “ Then pretend I asked it,” Warner said quietly.
    Outrage flared in Lakehurst’s eyes, but his
voice was even. “Very well. I’ve had many clients over the years,
some of whom were one-time buyers or sellers, some of whom are
frequent customers. I can’t attest to the character of all of them,
certainly, nor can I tell you anything about their dealings with
other galleries, but I assure you that their transactions with me
have always been aboveboard. I have a reputation for honesty I’ve
never compromised. Nor will I ever do so.” He paused for breath.
“Now, have you any additional questions, or may I go?”
    “ We’re finished,” Warner said. “But I’d
like to ask you to stay on the premises a while longer.”
    “ Unless you’re charging me with a
crime, I don’t see why I should be compelled to remain.”
    “ There’s no charge and no compulsion.
Just a request.”
    Lakehurst rose and looked at his watch. “I
can stay a little longer, but I have an engagement in town this
evening I don’t intend to miss.”
    Inconvenienced and indignant, he wheeled and
started toward the door briskly, but the masterpieces on the walls
caught his gaze and his exit was slower than planned.
    Warner stood up and rubbed a hand over his
face. “Not much help there, and I can’t detain the rest of them
indefinitely.”
    “ You going to search them?” Darnell
asked.
    “ Like it or not, the Gaineses are
influential people. There could be big-time repercussions if I
frisked their friends. And even if we find the damn disk, it‘s
possible there‘s nothing incriminating on it.”
    “ Derek took a picture of an empty
gallery. Why? The Professor thinks he might’ve just wanted a
panoramic shot, but he could’ve gotten that on his way in , before his models went inside.
Why do it on the way out? I think it’s because he saw something
that didn’t belong.”
    “‘ The Purloined Letter,’” I
said.
    Warner and Darnell looked at me
quizzically.
    “ Poe’s story about a stolen document.
It was hidden in plain sight, which is why the police couldn’t find
it.”
    “ What’re you getting at, Dr. Driscoll?”
Warner asked.
    “ Derek was killed right outside Bart’s
office, and the disk