Page 12 of Vienna Bliss

“The box I took, along with four others, had a flag on their shipping manifest. Hand carry.”

“It’s something we offer for a few select clients who have specific needs.”

“Just say it’s how you transport diamonds.”

“No. Diamonds go into a briefcase and travel with a courier. ‘Hand carry’ is for larger but equally high-value items.”

“Such as?” Alena asked.

Alexander paused before answering just to watch her squirm with impatience.

“Custom Lamborghini engines, one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry, often watches.”

“I assume someone actually can’t carry a Lamborghini engine.”

“I believe there was a cart involved, but the assigned staff would have never left its side.”

Alexander rubbed against the tree trunk, scratching an itch on his back. “They already suspected me before you walked in?”

“Again not you, but Wagner Global. A year ago, during a spot inspection at a Romanian port, the customs agent took a picture of the contents of a box which came off of one of your ships and was being transported via this hand carry VIP shipping method. The paperwork for the art inside was complete and legal—as far as the agent was able to tell. All that happened was a record, containing the pictures, was created.

“Three months later, Interpol’s art crimes division raided a facility in Bulgaria. They’d traced dark web auction listings of stolen art pieces to this particular building. The group responsible had ties to Christian extremists in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In their storage, among the items that hadn’t yet been listed for auction, were these two statues the customs agent had photographed.”

Alexander took a moment to think through everything she’d said. “Looted items from the Middle East, with falsified provenance and shipping records, were transported via my company’s hand carry service across the Black Sea to Romania before eventually making their way to a Bulgarian extremist group.”

“Yes.”

“Why focus on Wagner Global?” he asked. “How the items were shipped seems far less important than who the buyers and sellers were.”

“Interpol agreed. Another reason they hadn’t approached you, even to just request additional information about who paid for that particular shipping service.” Alena's lips tipped up in a half smile. “They were too nervous to go after the all-powerful Alexander Wagner.”

He snorted.

“Then I walked in with stolen artifacts, the box bearing the Wagner Global seal, and a copy of the shipping manifest. A shipping manifest with no payment record, only an authorization signature from your curator.”

Alexander’s hands curled into fists. “They should have come to me. I would not have allowed—”

“It wouldn’t have just been about you, would it? You have a Board of Directors, legal counsel, PR and marketing departments, companies…”

Alexander saw where this was going and started to shake his head.

Alena propped herself up on the heel of her hand. “What do you think your lawyers would have advised? What about what your PR person would say? Can you imagine the news stories?”

She did a good impression of a BBC News anchor, the words clipped and precise, no outrage in her voice. “Tonight, a story out of Vienna, Austria. A member of Wagner Global CEO Alexander Wagner’s personal household staff caught using Wagner Global’s VIP shipping service to transport stolen art, which in turn was used to fund terrorism.”

“Shit,” he snarled.

“To be quite frank, Alexander, the fact that you do not seem to be a connoisseur of the arts is what kept you above suspicion.”

“I enjoy art,” he said rather defensively.

“I know that, suga’. Especially after seeing the beautiful pieces that you have here. Pieces you picked out because they were beautiful, not because they were valuable.”

“Ah.” Again he saw where this was going. “The rest of my family’s collection is more geared towards investment.”

“Exactly. Collectors usually have several art types, time periods, or regions where they focus their purchasing. You don’t. Your collection is valuable but so diverse someone uncharitable might say it’s not so much a curated collection, as a piecemeal investment portfolio.”

“I have a curator. The collection is, by definition, curated.”