Still, I was slowly, or maybe not so slowly, going gaga. Again Dory came to the rescue, not in person, needless to say, but through the offices of one Eva Reti, barrister and solicitor, of Smith, Johnson, McDougall and Reti.
Ms. Reti was the executor of Dory’s estate, she informed me, and she hoped that I might meet with her at her offices downtown on a matter that she was sure would be of interest to me. She was a little brusque of tone, and she kept me waiting for several minutes before I got in to see her. With her was George Norfolk Matthews. He was holding a box that was about eight inches long covered in grey silk. After the usual introductions and pleasantries, he handed it to me. “Dory wanted you to have these,” he said. “They belonged to her mother.”
I opened the box to find a long strand of some of the most beautiful pearls I’d ever seen, a lovely creamy color, with a beautiful clasp. “I can’t accept these,” I said. “Surely your daughter would want them.”
“She favors less traditional design,” he said. “And she has received a great deal of jewelry from her mother. She is very happy for you to have them.”
“I will treasure them,” I said. “You know, I sell old jewelry, but I don’t have much of it myself, and these pearls are exquisite, and all the more valuable to me because of Dory.”
Ms. Reti and George smiled for the first time since I came in. Apparently my quite sincere expression of appreciation had melted the ice a little. “There is another matter arising from Dory’s will that we must discuss with you,” George said. “I will leave that part to Eva here.”
Ms. Reti shuffled a little in her chair before getting to the point. “The T’ang silver box has come back on the market,” she said. “It is to be auctioned in Beijing in two weeks.”
“That’s very interesting, I’m sure,” I said. “But obviously Dory’s original request is no longer practical, and while I thought it was extraordinary and would love to own it, I’m not really in that league.”
“Mrs. Matthews has provided for its purchase, and for the purchase of a third, even larger box, should it come on the market,” she said. “She believed they belonged together, as you know. Not only that, but she has provided for your expenses to go wherever they show up, and to pay you a significant commission when you acquire them for her estate.”
“That’s ridiculous, Ms. Reti,” I said. “I mean…”
“Unusual, yes,” Ms. Reti said. “Ridiculous, no. Please call me Eva. May I call you Lara? Dory told me so much about you, I feel as if I know you.”
I nodded. Alarm bells were clanging away in my head. This had the air of an obsession extending beyond the grave, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to be a part of it.
“A large sum of money was set aside in Dory’s will for this purpose. I can tell you it’s in the seven-figure range, with a top-up possible. Under the terms of the will, you are to consult with me on the price to be paid, but please be assured I intend to take your word for it. I know nothing about this sort of thing, and I know Dory trusted your judgment implicitly. She also wanted those boxes no matter the cost, so my role in this is peripheral only.”
“George, how do you feel about this? How does your daughter feel?” I asked.
“Dory had her own money,” George replied. “She inherited from her stepfather. You probably know that I don’t need the money.”
“Forgive me,” I said. “But I don’t think you answered my question.”
George thought about that for a moment. He looked very tired, almost drawn, deep lines etched in his face. He seemed to be struggling to find the right words, but then he straightened up in his chair and said, “Anything Dory wanted is fine with me. Our daughter feels the same way. She’s a successful doctor, and like her father can afford to indulge her mother’s wishes. We know that the money set aside for this purpose will be tied up for some time, and if you are successful, will be used for the purpose of realizing Dory’s wishes. There are no other heirs. Eva, will you give Lara the details?”
“The silver box is being auctioned in Beijing as I’ve said, at an auction house called—just a minute while I consult my notes—Cherished Treasures House. That’s a translation, of course. I won’t even attempt the Chinese. It’s a lovely name, though, don’t you agree? Why don’t we just call it Treasures, for the sake of simplicity. I hope you’ll be able to be there, and will succeed in purchasing the box. If you are unsuccessful, you will still be paid a fee for your time that I think you will consider more than acceptable. If you do manage to acquire it, you will be paid a commission of ten percent on the price realized, which, if I understand auction terminology correctly, includes the buyer’s premium.”
“That’s right,” I said. “The price realized is the high bid, plus the buyer’s premium, which might be as high as ten percent, and any applicable taxes,” I said. “This would be a rather handsome commission for me. Are you sure?”
“Dory’s wishes were very clear. She was absolutely certain you would get the boxes for her,” Eva said, and George nodded. “Any other issues?”
“I don’t speak Chinese.”
“We can help with that,” she said.
“There’s something else bothering me, too,” I said. “Dory wanted the boxes to go back to China. That box is now in China. So…”
“But it still may go to a private collector,” Eva said. “That was not Dory’s intent. My instructions are that once the three are assembled they are to go a museum in Xi’an, the, let me see, Shaanxi History Museum in Xi’an.”
“I do recall her telling me that. I’m just not sure what’s going on here. I mean, why was the box withdrawn from sale in New York just before it went on the auction block? I suppose there are many reasons why that might have happened. Maybe there was a legal dispute over the ownership of the box, and it couldn’t be sold until that was resolved. Maybe someone was contesting ownership and got a court injunction to stop the sale or something. Maybe the owner died an hour before the auction. The auction house had no obligation to reveal what happened, and for sure they didn’t.” I was just thinking aloud here, but George and Eva waited patiently while I did so.
“But it wasn’t money. If the seller decided from the look of the crowd or even the prices realized on earlier items that they weren’t going to get what they wanted, or even if they decided they didn’t like the look of those who might be bidding, they could withdraw it. But it’s easy enough to guard against the money issue. You just place a reserve bid, below which you won’t sell, and if the bids don’t go that high, then no sale. That is exactly what they did, too. The reserve was two hundred thousand, and the presale estimate was three hundred thousand. I left my card and the lot number at the auction house and offered three hundred and fifty thousand if the seller changed his or her mind again and wanted to sell. I didn’t hear from the auction house. I thought perhaps someone else had put in a similar offer higher than mine, but that can’t be the case if it’s on the market again. I did ask for the name of the seller, but the auction house wouldn’t give it to me, and they were quite within their rights not to do so.” By “someone else,” I meant Burton Haldimand. He’d tried to make sure I didn’t see him do it, but he’d left his card at the auction house, too, and I assume he also made an offer, although I’d be the last person he’d tell about it.
“Does this matter?” Eva asked. “It’s back on the market. You get another chance at it.”
“It matters if it is just going to be withdrawn again. That’s a waste of Dory’s money, and I’ve already wasted some of it.”