Elliot considered this.
‘Yeah. Suppose I get near them? How do I know they’re the stamps you want?’
‘That is a good question.’ Kendrick opened a drawer in his desk, took from it a steel box, found a key and opened the box.
‘Here is a photostat of the stamp. It’s nothing to look at and as you will see it is easily identified.’ He passed the Photostat across the desk.
Elliot examined the stamp. As Kendrick had said it was nothing to look at: the head of a man with the face of a charging bull and CCCP in the right hand corner.
‘Well, okay... I’ll see what I can do,’ Elliot said, putting the photostat back on the desk.
‘You must be careful how you approach Larrimore,’ Kendrick said quietly. ‘He has already been offered a very large sum of money for the stamps and he has ignored the offer. If he has the stamps and if he becomes suspicious he might come under pressure, he could put the stamps in a bank vault. If he does that, then the operation will be sunk. So caution is the word.’
Elliot nodded.
‘This is really a shot in the dark,’ Kendrick went on. ‘Although we feel it is highly likely that Larrimore has the stamps, we don’t know for certain. As I have told you, my client has approached every likely collector and has drawn a blank, but there might just possibly be some little collector and not Larrimore who has the stamps. So, first, you must find out if Larrimore has them. If he has them, you must find out where he keeps them.’ Kendrick paused, then went on, ‘I’ve been thinking, dear Don. It might be wiser if you got me this information — that he has the stamps and where he keeps them — and for me to pass this information on to my client for him to take action himself. We would still pay you the two hundred thousand and you would run no risk. What do you think?’
Elliot relaxed a little.
The thought of breaking into Larrimore’s house, even with Vin to help him, had bothered him. If it was only information that Kendrick wanted, then the set-up looked much more reasonable.
‘I’ll go along with that. Okay, Claude, you leave this to me.’
Kendrick got to his feet.
‘I have to run, cheri. A dreadful cocktail party looms ahead but it is good for business. One must sacrifice oneself. If there is anything further I can do to be helpful, do ask. I can rely on you to be most careful?’
‘Sure... I’m in this for the money... same as you.’ Elliot got to his feet.
Kendrick waited until he heard Louis shut and lock the gallery door after Elliot, then he picked up the telephone receiver, dialled a number and waited. When the connection was made he said, ‘The Belvedere Hotel? Please connect me with Mr. Radnitz. This is Mr. Claude Kendrick calling.’
Barney broke off to blot his eyes with the back of his wrist.
‘These sausages, Mr. Campbell, have a kick like a mule, but they are good for the digestion. You have one.’
I said a mule and my digestion were things apart and I would rather not.
Barney shrugged his immense shoulders, rinsed his mouth with some beer, collected his thoughts which apparently had been disturbed by the last sausage and settled down to his story again.
‘Now, I bring upon the stage yet another character,’ he said. ‘Herman Radnitz.’ He paused and blew out his cheeks. ‘Radnitz comes to this City from time to time and rents all the year round the penthouse at this hotel, the Belvedere. Let me tell you the penthouse costs a lot of solid bread, but Radnitz is rich. I’ve seen him two or three times, and frankly, if I never saw him again, it wouldn’t put me off my beer. Let me give you a photo of him. Imagine a short, square-shaped man with hooded eyes that would shame a bullfrog and a thick, hooked nose. I am told he is one of the richest men in the world and to my thinking looks the meanest sonofabitch I’ve yet seen and that, mister, is saying a lot.
‘I’m told he is internationally known for his financial machinations, has power over Foreign Embassies, has fingers in any international deal worth more than five million dollars, is a power behind the Iron Curtain and is on first name terms with the political top shots throughout the world.
‘This is the man who wanted Mr. J.’s stamps. He has a vast organization of slaves who work for him and — so some people whisper — kill for him. He had instructed these people to find the stamps and after a year of systematic digging the gap had been narrowed to Larrimore.
‘Radnitz found it an odd coincidence that the stamps just might be in his favourite City where he spent a few weeks a year relaxing. He had dealt with Kendrick’s gallery and because he always believed in putting on file information about anyone he dealt with he had Kendrick investigated. He learned that Kendrick was not only a dealer in fine art, but also a fence. Having tried to approach Larrimore and failed, Radnitz decided to see what Kendrick could do.’
Barney paused to eat the last of the sausages. I waited until the expected reaction took place. Then when Barney had recovered, he said, ‘You get the photo, Mr. Campbell? Okay for me to go ahead or are there any questions?’
I said I was listening and there were no questions.
Ko-Yu, Radnitz’s Japanese chauffeur and valet, opened the door of the luxury penthouse suite and bowed Kendrick inside.
‘Mr. Radnitz is expecting you, sir,’ Ko-Yu said. ‘Please to find him on the terrace.’
Kendrick went through the big living room and out on to the terrace where Radnitz, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and cotton slacks was sitting at a table covered with documents.
‘Ah, Kendrick, come and sit down,’ Radnitz said. ‘Would you like a drink?’
‘No, thank you, sir,’ Kendrick said and sat down away from the table.
Radnitz scared him, but he was sure this squat toad of a man could make money for him and money was the principal thing in Kendrick’s life, apart, of course, from the glamour boys who buzzed around him like bees around a hive.
‘Have you any news for me?’ Radnitz asked, rolling a cigar between his stumpy fingers. ‘The stamps?’
‘There is progress, sir.’ Kendrick explained about Elliot.
Radnitz listened, his eyes hooded.
‘Larrimore has no friends,’ Kendrick went on, ‘except Elliot. I thought...’
‘Don’t let’s waste time,’ Radnitz broke in curtly. ‘I know all about Larrimore. Tell me about Elliot... a movie star, if I remember rightly?’
Kendrick explained about Elliot’s financial position: how he had lost his foot and how he (Kendrick) had put on the pressure and now how Elliot had agreed to cooperate.
‘And you think he will succeed?’
‘I hope so, sir.’
‘And if he doesn’t what other suggestions have you to make?’
Kendrick began to sweat.
‘At the moment, I am relying on him, but if he fails, I will think of something.’
‘And what does that mean?’
‘Larrimore has a daughter,’ Kendrick said. ‘Perhaps we could use her to put pressure on Larrimore.’
‘I am aware that he has a daughter,’ Radnitz said stonily. ‘Of course I have considered this possibility. But first we must be certain Larrimore has the stamps. If he has — if Elliot fails us — then we might use the daughter.’
‘Yes,’ Kendrick said, ‘but I’m hoping Elliot won’t fail... he has the incentive.’
‘Very well. Keep me informed.’ Radnitz made a gesture of dismissal. ‘Thank you for coming,’ and he reached for a document on the table.
When Kendrick had gone, Radnitz laid down the document and clapped his hands three times.