Thomas Cook - Instruments of Night

Eleanor faced Miss Davies evenly, not in the least intimidated by her manner. “Charlie Portman said you came to his office a month ago. You told him you were gathering material on the murder. You wanted to look through any papers his father might have on the case.”

“Precisely,” Miss Davies said. “Unfortunately, I found nothing of importance in the senior Portman’s files. As to what I found in that envelope, it had nothing to do with Faye’s murder.” She rose. “Come. I’ll show you what it was.”

Graves and Eleanor followed her upstairs into what had once been Warren Davies’ private office. It was a spacious room, flooded with light, its bookshelves cluttered with a large assortment of objects collected over the years. To the right of his desk, a glass cabinet held an array of antique medical instruments and medicine jars. To the left, another cabinet contained an assortment of objects that appeared to have nothing in common.

“My father had a foundation,” Miss Davies told them. “He ran it from this office.” She was clearly proud of the man the room portrayed, accomplished, learned, a man of broad interests. “The things he put in these cabinets were of no particular value. Except as memories. President Roosevelt gave him this pen, for example. And that little wooden ring you see there came from Borneo. The gift of a native chief.” She opened the top drawer of the desk, riffled through a stack of papers, and took out a single white sheet. “This is what you’re looking for, I believe.”

The letterhead read “Devane amp; Assoc.” The letter was dated July 17, 1946, and had been written to Andre Grossman. There was a photograph clipped to the top right-hand corner. It showed a small enameled box, a number written just beneath it: Item 6401.

“When I was going through Mr. Portman’s papers, I found that,” Miss Davies explained. “Of course, I recognized the box.” She looked at Graves. “I’m sure you must have recognized it too. My mother later used that box to store the letters she received from Mr. Grossman after he left Riverwood. I couldn’t imagine why Mr. Portman had the letter in his files. As you’ll see after you’ve read it, the contents have absolutely nothing to do with Faye.”

Dear Mr. Grossman:

As per your request, Devane amp; Assoc. has done a full inquiry into item 6401, picture enclosed. Since we did not actually have the item in hand, our determination as to its value is dependent upon the description and photograph you provided.

The item is listed in Bridges’ Authenticity as Kaminsky 12. Although we have not physically examined the object, we can say that should it be authentic-which by photographic examination it appears to be-its worth is estimated at approximately $110,000. Of course, Devane Assoc. cannot calculate what any particular item might bring at auction. Nor can we be held liable for any discrepancy between estimate and final price. However, should you wish to deliver the object for authentication and auction, we would be pleased to make the appropriate arrangements.

Below please find the item’s full provenance as recorded in Bridges’ Authenticity: In each case, transfer was made without encumbrance.

CZAR NICOLA/ ROMANOV – 14 January 1914 to:

MAXIMILIAN BURATSKY – 16 March 1916 to:

PIERRE KIROV – 4 June 1924 to:

KARL CLAUBERG – 24 October 1939 to:

WARREN DAVIES 27 June 1942, (currently in possession)

“A provenance is, as I’m sure you know, the history of ownership for a work of art,” Miss Davies told them. “I didn’t recognize any of the names on the list Devane and Associates provided. Other than my father’s, of course. But who they are would hardly matter. The names are listed only to establish the authenticity of the box. And, of course, proof of authenticity establishes value. Andre Grossman had worked as a curator for a museum in Vienna. He must have known how valuable the box was. That’s what he wanted to find out from Devane and Associates. Whether the box my father had in his office was, in fact, authentic.” She gazed at them pointedly. “I can only conclude that Mr. Grossman, my mother’s dear, dear friend, was a thief.”

Their final lead had led nowhere. Save back to Grossman. During the previous few minutes, Miss Davies had made what appeared to be perfectly sensible assumptions as to the painter’s situation. Grossman was poor, she said, with few prospects. Her father would certainly have refused to recommend him to anyone in his circle. The artist had, in fact, been more or less thrown out of Riverwood. With the portrait of Mrs. Davies finished, he had no future income upon which he could depend. In such a state of desperation, he might well have hit upon the idea of stealing the Kaminsky box. Even selling it on the underground market, Grossman would have made a substantial amount of money. Enough to sustain him for months.

And yet, for all that, one question remained. They had reached the bottom of the stairs when Eleanor voiced it. “If Grossman intended to steal the box, Paul, why didn’t he do it? Why did he leave Riverwood without it?”

“But if he didn’t intend to steal it,” Graves said, “then why did he bother to find out whether it was authentic and how much it was worth?”

“Maybe it wasn’t the value of the box that interested him.”

“Then what was he interested in?”

“The provenance.” Eleanor’s tone struck Graves as curiously assured. “The letter said that in every case the box was transferred from one person to another ‘without encumbrance.’ That means that no money changed hands, that it wasn’t bought.”

“So Mr. Davies got it as a gift?”

“Yes. A gift from someone named Karl Clauberg.”

“Who’s probably been dead for years,” Graves said.

“Dead or alive doesn’t matter,” Eleanor said. “It’s never too late to find someone.”

Seconds later they were at her computer. Graves watched as the screen illuminated, a green background with several distinct figures, all of them indecipherable to him, part of a language and process he knew nothing of.

Eleanor’s fingers tapped the keys. In response, the screen threw up another pattern, this one with a white rectangle in the far left corner. As Eleanor began to type, the letters appeared instantly inside the white rectangle: CLAUBERG.

Two seconds passed. Three. Four. The screen did not change. Five. Six.

Then it came up, a completely different page. Graves leaned forward to see it.

URL: http://www.mission.online/home/datamedia.htm

Summary: Interessierte Intellico, die hier ihre Uhrenborsen-Termine veroffentlich haben mochten, wenden sich bitte direkt an die Redaktion (Johan Clauberg).

URL: http://WWW.impresario/entertainmentIbrd/cir.com.htm Summary: Entertainment management. Child/Adult. Commercials, industrials. Catalogue modeling. USA/ EUROPE/ASIA. Contact: Sydney Clauberg, 701 Ventura Blvd., Los Angeles, California.

C: JOHNS/FOWLER/CLAUBERG amp; ASSOCIATESURL: http://www.legal/tst.net/logico/firm.htm

Summary: Documentation and authentication services. Specializing in antique documents, wills, manuscripts, celebrity letters. Estate appraisals. 1242 Lexington Avenue, NYC, NY. REF: Edward Johns, Morris Fowler, David Clauberg.

“Nothing,” Eleanor said. She hit a key marked Next, and a second page appeared.

D: CLAUBERG SCHOOL OF GARDENING URL: http://www.roses/thk.124.2231.abc/net.com.htm Summary: See ref: daubers Gardens, Vancouver. Picture tour. Miniature gardens. English. Japanese. Classes Spring/Fall. Landscape architecture. Fountain/ Sculpture Placement

E: AMERICAN MODEL TRAIN ENTHUSIASTS URL: http://www.trains.ent.amer.htm Summary: Convention details. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Newsletter. Recent publications. Sources. FAQ. Jerry Partini, Pres.; BUI Clauberg, V.P.; Sandy Kramer, Treasurer.