False Impression by Jeffrey Archer

Author:Jeffrey Archer [Archer, Jeffrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Mystery & Detective, Revenge, General, Art thefts, Suspense fiction, Women Sleuths, Missing persons, Thrillers, Suspense, Fiction
ISBN: 9781405032551
Google: mLCM0LQNm-oC
Amazon: 1405032553
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2006-06-30T05:00:00+00:00

33

Anna stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and began drying her hair. She glanced across at the digital clock in the corner of the TV screen. It was just after twelve, the hour when most Japanese businessmen go to their club for lunch. Not the time to disturb Mr Nakamura.

Once she was dry, Anna put on the white towelling bathrobe that hung behind the bathroom door. She sat on the end of the bed and opened her laptop. She tapped in her password, MIDAS, which accessed a file on the richest art collectors around the globe: Gates, Cohen, Lauder, Magnier, Nakamura, Rales, Wynn.

She moved the cursor across to his name. Takashi Nakamura, industrialist. Tokyo University 1966-70, BSc in engineering. UCLA

1971-73, MA Economics. Joined Maruha Steel Company 1974,

Director 1989, Chief Executive Officer 1997, Chairman 2001. Anna scrolled down to Maruha Steel. Last year’s annual balance sheet showed a turnover of nearly three billion dollars, with profits of over four hundred million. Mr Nakamura owned 22 per cent of the company, and according to Forbes was the ninth richest man in the world. Married with three children, two girls and a boy.

Under other interests, only two words appeared, golf and art. No details of his fabled high handicap or his valuable Impressionist collection, thought to be among the finest in private hands.

Nakamura had made several statements over the years, saying that the pictures belonged to the company. Although Christie’s never make such matters public, it was well known by those in the art world that Nakamura had been the under-bidder for Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in 1987, when he was beaten by his old friend and rival Yasuo Goto, chairman of Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Company, whose hammer bid was $39,921,750.

Anna hadn’t been able to add a great deal to Mr Nakamura’s profile since leaving Sotheby’s. The Degas she had purchased on his behalf, Dancing Class with Mme Minette, had proved a wise investment, which Anna hoped he would remember. She wasn’t in any doubt that she had chosen the right man to help pull off her coup.

She unpacked her suitcase and selected a smart blue suit with a skirt that fell just below the knees, a cream shirt and low-heeled navy leather shoes; no make-up, no jewellery. While she pressed her clothes, Anna thought about a man she had met only once, and wondered if she had made any lasting impression on him. When she was dressed, Anna checked herself in the mirror. Exactly what a Japanese businessman would expect a Sotheby’s executive to wear.

Anna looked up his private number on her laptop. She sat on the end of the bed, picked up the phone, took a deep breath and dialled the eight digits.

‘Hai, Shacho-Shitso desu,’ announced a high-pitched voice.

‘Good afternoon, my name is Anna Petrescu. Mr Nakamura may remember me from Sotheby’s.’

‘Are you hoping to be interviewed?’

‘Er, no, I simply want to speak to Mr Nakamura.’

‘One moment please, I will see if he is free to take your call.

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