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“I understand how you feel. I do. Please believe me, it’ll go more smoothly tomorrow if you allow me to do the talking,” Jason said.
De Haan scowled. He picked up his beer and sipped, his expression stubborn.
Jason said, “You have to remember Thompson’s niece and nephew may not have known the history of these paintings and other items. It’s more than plausible that they grew up seeing these things in their uncle’s home, and be
lieved they’d inherited family heirlooms.”
De Haan began to object, and Jason said, “It’s not going to hurt to give them the benefit of the doubt, right?”
“That remains to be seen. You can’t stop me from trying to speak to her.”
“No, I can’t,” Jason said. “But you don’t have any authority to do so.”
“It doesn’t seem that you do either,” de Haan retorted.
“I can’t force her to answer my questions, no. But I do have means of putting legal pressure on both her and her brother. I don’t want to go that route if we don’t have to because there’s always the danger that if they think they’re trapped, they’ll destroy the remaining works—assuming they have possession of them.”
De Haan’s hand shook. He set his mug down.
“Plus, anything you learn is liable to be ruled inadmissible in court, which will further complicate my efforts.”
“They tried to sell the van Eyck altar piece even while pretending to negotiate with the Aaldenberg van Apeldoorn Museum,” de Haan reminded him. “They can’t be trusted.”
“I’m not forgetting. And I’m not saying we take what they say as gospel. Just keep in mind that their willingness to sell these items shows they don’t have any emotional attachment to them.”
De Haan considered. His shoulders slumped. “I understand.”
“I understand too,” Jason said. “You’ve been working this case a long time.”
“Nearly twenty years. Since I was a grad student hired by the museum board of directors to research what had become of these lost and stolen pieces.”
“Even longer than I thought.” It put into perspective Jason’s efforts to nail Fletcher-Durrand.
“Yes. Almost half my lifetime. In fact, this search has been my life.” He brooded for a moment. “Are you married, Jason?”
“No.”
“But you have someone in your life?”
Jason smiled a little, thinking of Sam. “Yes.”
“I have someone too. Her name is Anna. We’ve been together for five years.”
Happily, de Haan seemed to have moved on from his idea of waylaying Quilletta McCoy with a surprise interrogation. “What does Anna do?”
“She teaches architecture at the Amsterdam School of Arts. What she would like to do is have a child. I promised her that when this case was concluded, we would do so.”
“That’s great. And it won’t be too much longer now,” Jason said. “Or at least your role is coming to an end.” He felt compelled to warn, “The case could hang up in the courts.”
“For years,” agreed de Haan. “Almost certainly that is what will happen if we can’t force the Thompsons to the bargains table.”
“Bargains table is right. But we’ve still got a few cards up our sleeves,” Jason reassured him.
De Haan seemed doubtful.
When they finished their meal, de Haan insisted on paying for dinner. “You saved my life today. It is the least I can do.”
“That’s my job,” Jason said. “But it was also my pleasure.”
