1980 - Try This One on For Size by James Hadley Chase

Author:James Hadley Chase [Chase, James Hadley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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After an excellent dinner of lobsters for which Pierre insisted on paying at a small restaurant near the Pont d’Alma, he then insisted they should take a Bateau-Mouche and see Paris from the Seine. They boarded the boat, and getting good seats they relaxed, wonder eyed at the beauty of the bridges, the Louvre, the Conciergerie and the floodlit Notre Dame.

It was during the return journey that Lepski casually asked Pierre what line of business he was in. Lepski, with his cop training, was always interested in how the other man made a living.

“Antiques,” Pierre said. He did have, as a cover, an antique shop in Deauville, run by two elderly and expert sisters. “I’m what is called an art broker, giving advice to people looking for the good stuff. It pays off.”

“Antiques, huh? How about this stolen Russian icon?” Lepski asked. “Do you think it could be sold?”

Pierre shook his head.

“Most unlikely. It’s too well known. Of course, there are secret collectors, but I think it would be too hot even for them. I understand it is causing some excitement in the States.”

Lepski laughed.

“You can say that again. The President’s flipping his lid. There’s a two hundred thousand dollar reward for its recovery. As soon as the theft was discovered all exits from the States were sealed. Every cop and Fed are searching for it. I’m glad I’m on vacation.”

Pierre felt Claudette’s shoe touch his leg lightly. She and Carroll were sitting behind the two men.

“Pierre, why don’t we take Carroll and Tom to the Crazy Horse?” Claudette asked.

Reacting immediately to her signal, Pierre explained that the Crazy Horse was the best striptease in town, and Lepski reacted to this like a bull to a matador’s cape.

The show at the Crazy Horse was everything that Pierre had promised, and the girls were gorgeous. Carroll decided that this was Lepski’s vacation as well as hers, so she let him enjoy himself, only patting his arm warningly when his whistle made heads turn and the girls on the stage giggle.

Around 02.00, the four wandered back to their hotel. It was agreed that they would all meet for a simple lunch, and the girls would go shopping. Pierre, with a sly wink at Lepski, said they would take a drive through the Bois. This Lepski took as a promise of more interesting diversions than driving around the Bois.

In their bedroom, Pierre and Claudette regarded each other.

“Something bothering you, Sugar?” Pierre asked. “That signal you gave me on the boat.”

Claudette kicked off her shoes, then flopped on the bed.

“The Russian icon you were talking about with Tom. Tell me more.”

Pierre sat down and lit a cigarette.

“It’s believed to be the oldest icon known, worth millions. It was brilliantly stolen from the Fine Arts museum in Washington some three days ago. The reaction was fast. As Lepski said there’s no way of getting it to Europe. Some secret collector just might buy it.”

“Suppose you got it, could you sell it?”

Pierre stared at her.

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