A bored attendant with a white, sedentary face uncoiled himself from a chair and assumed an alert posture as he recognised the Curator. Colonel Loder smiled thinly. There was no-one else in the gallery. The man saluted as we came up.
“You may get yourself a cup of tea at the canteen and absent yourself for the next half-an-hour,” Loder said pleasantly.
The attendant smiled, revealing two gold teeth.
“Thank you, sir.”
He hurried off down the gallery as though eager to escape before the Curator changed his mind.
“I am afraid the job of Museum attendant is one of the most boring in the whole world, Mr Pons,” he observed. “Why they do it is beyond me, for the wages are small enough.”
“It appeals to a certain type of mind,” said Solar Pons equably. “And certainly it is clean, quite agreeable and not at all strenuous.”
His lean form strode unerringly to two large cases at the centre right of the long gallery.
“This is the Hsui-Ching porcelain?”
“Indeed, Mr Pons. Your reputation has not been exaggerated.”
Solar Pons smiled.
“I am an amateur only, but that particular dull shade of green is unmistakable to the trained eye.”
I stared in consternation at the dozen or so saucers of a browny-green shade which the first case contained. To me they looked so nondescript that I would not have given them house-room. Surely Pons and the Curator could not be serious when they referred to these objects as priceless treasures? But one look at their faces convinced me of their probity and their enthusiasm: for something like a quarter of an hour they spoke learnedly of the finer points of the firing and glazing.
“Perfect, absolutely perfect, Mr Pons,” Colonel Loder breathed, moving from one case to another in absolute delight. Pons caught a glimpse of my bored face and turned away, his handkerchief pressed in front of his nose. I made a serious effort.
“What value would you place upon the contents of these two cases, Colonel?”
“Oh, something in the region of a quarter of a million pounds,” he said casually. “These two sets are among the only half-dozen perfect ones extant in the world. There are another two in the Louvre which I would give the world to get my hands on; the Metropolitan in New York has another and there is one more in Italy. Of course, any number of museums scattered throughout the world have single specimens but complete, perfect sets like these are literally beyond price.”
I was absolutely stupefied and my features must have shown it clearly for Colonel Loder and Pons exchanged a conspiratorial glance.
“But would there be any point stealing such objects?” I asked, looking round at the grilles over the skylights and the thin wires which led to the burglar alarms.
“Good heavens, no,” said Colonel Loder, “though we must, of course, take the usual precautions. Hardly anyone in the world would handle them. And certainly few could afford to buy them.”
“Except for a mad collector. Pons?”
Solar Pons looked at me shrewdly, his eyes twinkling.
“You have a point, Parker,” he said mildly. “Thank you indeed for showing me such treasures, Colonel. I think we have seen enough for one afternoon. Tomorrow is Sunday. Will the Museum be open?”
Colonel Loder inclined his head.
“On Sundays in the season we open from 10 a.m. until four o’clock. My Deputy, Sir James Grieve will be in charge but I can be reached at my home by telephone if my services are required.”
“Thank you, but I fancy that will not be necessary,” said Solar Pons. “Now, Parker, if you are ready we will have a quick word with Superintendent Heathfield before returning to 7B for one of Mrs Johnson’s excellent high teas.”
4
I buttered a piece of toast and conveyed it to my mouth. Solar Pons sat opposite me silently drinking his tea, his deep-set eyes fixed somewhere far beyond me. I knew better than to interrupt him and it was not until Mrs Johnson had removed the clutter from the table and silently withdrawn that he at last relaxed, drew up his chair to the fire and lit his pipe.
When he had it drawing to his satisfaction he glanced out the window where the first street-lamps were beginning to prick out the dusk of this short October day and finally broke the silence.
“I have not yet had the benefit of your thoughts on this matter. Parker.”
“I, Pons?”
My friend nodded, blowing out clouds of aromatic blue smoke toward the ceiling of our sitting-room.
“You must have formed some impressions.”
“I have formed many impressions, Pons, but nothing very much to the point.”
Solar Pons shook his head slowly.
“That is because you have not given it your undivided attention, my dear fellow. When you have thought things out I am sure that light will begin to penetrate.”
I demurred.
“I am afraid I have not your ratiocinative gifts, Pons. For instance, all this business of Baku Idols and then Hsui-Ching saucers is merely confusing. And then you tell Colonel Loder that the cut burglar alarm does not matter. Apart from the fact that none of us know what this fellow LaFontaine looks like.”
Solar Pons chuckled.
“You are confused merely because you are not making the proper connections. Let us just take the points one at a time. We have a bold criminal, who has already netted thousands of pounds in thefts from museums and private collections on the Continent. But this is the first time he has ever announced his arrival in advance. What does that suggest to you?”
I thought for a moment.
“Over-confidence, Pons?”
My friend shook his head.
“There is a deeper and far more obvious reason than that. We know LaFontaine or rather the man behind the nom-de-plume is responsible, because of the copperplate writing; the hand itself; and the many details employed in the method. But why should he take such pains to draw attention to the Baku Idols?”
I stared at Pons for a whole minute before light broke in.
“It is a red herring, Pons? Because he has no intention of stealing them!”
Solar Pons tented his fingers before him.
“Exactly, Parker. You are constantly improving. He wishes to concentrate attention on the Gallery containing the Baku Idols because he intends to strike elsewhere in the Museum! That was why the burglar alarm wire was cut. It was intended to arrest Heathfield’s attention. I will bet any sum you care to name that he will strike again at that Gallery soon in order to concentrate all the available attendants and police officers there.”
“It is quite simple now that you have pointed it out, Pons,” I observed.
Solar Pons shot me an ironic glance.
“So I have heard you observe more than once, Parker,” he said languidly. “As soon as I heard the value of the Baku Idols mentioned — a mere £50,000 — it did not seem like my man’s style at all. He invariably goes for much higher figures.”
I stared at Pons again.
“But you surely do not believe that he will steal the porcelain? We both heard what Colonel Loder said.”
Solar Pons held up his hand.
“I cannot tell, of course, where LaFontaine will strike or in what form: as I have said, he is a master of disguise. But the Hsui-Ching Collection is the most valuable single item in the Museum and as you have already heard, our man might dispose of it in the manner mentioned. We must not overlook that.”
There was a silence between us for several minutes.
“This is a difficult situation, Pons,” I said eventually.
“I am glad that factor has not escaped you. What would you do in my position?”