Dee turned to Lipsey. ″So you were sent by my uncle.″
″No,″ he said. ″You′re quite wrong. I happened to meet an old man in Paris who told me about it. I think he also told you about it.″
There was a shout from the house, and the barman went back to see what it was his wife wanted.
Dee wondered what on earth Mike was up to. She tried to keep the conversation going. ″But the old man sent me to Livorno,″ she said.
″Me too,″ Lipsey acknowledged. ″But by that time all I had to do was follow your trail and hope I might overtake you. I see I failed.ʺ
″Indeed.″
The door opened, and Mike came back in. Dee was flabbergasted to see that he had a canvas under his arm.
He propped it on the table. ″There it is, gentlemen,″ he said. ″The painting you came all this way to see.″
They all stared at it.
Eventually Lipsey said: ″What are you planning to do with it, Mr. Arnaz?ʺ
″I′m going to sell it to one of you two,″ Mike replied. ″Since you so nearly beat me to the punch, I will offer you a special deal.″
″Go on,″ Black said.
″The point is, this has to be smuggled out of the country. The Italian laws do not permit export of works of art without permission, and if we asked for permission they would try to take it from us. I propose to take the painting to London. This means I have to break the laws of two countries—since I shall have to smuggle it into Britain. In order to cover myself, I will require whichever of you bids highest to sign a piece of paper saying that the money was paid to me to cancel a gambling debt.″
″Why won′t you sell here?ʺ Black said.
″The painting is worth more in London,″ Mike replied with a wide smile. He lifted the painting off the table. ″I′m in the phone book,″ he said. ″See you in London.″
As the blue Mercedes pulled away from the bar and headed for Rimini, Dee said: ″How on earth did you do it?″
″Well, I went around to the back of the bar and spoke to the wife,″ Mike said. ″I simply asked her if this was where Danielli stayed, and she said yes. I asked if he had left any paintings behind, and she showed me this. So I said: ′How much do you want for it?′ That was when she called her husband. He asked for the equivalent of one hundred pounds.″
″My God!″ Dee exclaimed.
″Don′t worry,″ Mike said. ″I beat him down to eighty.″
Dee opened her eyes. ″After that it was easy,″ she said. ″No trouble at Customs. The forgers knocked off a quick couple of copies of the picture for us, and both Lipsey and Black paid fifty-thousand-pound gambling debts to us. I haven′t got the slightest twinge of conscience about defrauding those two slimy creatures. They would have done the same to us. Especially Lipsey—I′m still sure he was employed by Uncle Charles.″
″Mmmm.″ Mike nuzzled Dee. ″Done any thesis today?″
″No. Do you know, I don′t think I will do any, ever.″
He raised his head to look at her. ″Why not?″
″After all this, it seems so unreal.″
″What will you do?″
″Well, you once offered me a job.″
″You turned it down.″
″It′s different now. I′ve proved I′m as good as you. And we know we make a team, in business as well as in bed.″
″Is this the moment for me to ask you to marry me?″
″No. But there′s something else you could do for me.″
Mike smiled. ″I know.″ He got up on his knees and kissed her belly, flicking his tongue in and out of her navel.
″Hey, there′s one thing I haven′t figured out.″
″Oh, Jesus. Can′t you concentrate on sex for a while?″
″Not yet. Listen. You financed those forgers, right? Usher and Mitchell?″
″Yes.″
″When?″
″When I came to London.″
″And the idea was to put them in a position where they had to do the copies for us.″
″Right. Can we screw yet?″
″In a minute.″ She pushed his head away from her breasts. ″But when you came to London, you didn′t even know I was on the track of the picture.″
″Right.″
″So why did you set the forgers up?″
″I had faith in you, baby.″
The room was silent for a while as dusk fell outside.