The Good Thief's Guide to Paris (27 page)
Read The Good Thief's Guide to Paris Online
Authors: Chris Ewan
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #General, #Crime
I pointed to some angular, charcoal outlines. Victoria lowered her head towards the paper, then looked up at me with her mouth wide open.
“Explain.”
“Catherine took them, from the archive in Orléans. Pierre was just telling me they discovered some fakes among the Picasso originals she’d been responsible for. She did the same thing she did with the painting in the end. First she produced some forgeries and then she switched them for the real thing.”
“My God,” Victoria said, covering her mouth with her hand. “Are they valuable?”
“All three of them? Should be worth a few tens of thousands, I imagine.”
“And you’re taking them?”
“Absolutely. So you see, I’ve not had such a bad deal after all.”
“But when did you even get these?” she asked, searching my face. “You never mentioned it.”
“Because I haven’t had them long. Only since yesterday, as it happens.”
Victoria backed away from me, squinting, as though trying to process it all in her mind.
“These are the reason Catherine showed up for the painting of Montmartre,” I said. “I figured there had to be something to make it worth her while. At first, I thought maybe she’d found out that I’d taken the swipe card from her apartment. Or maybe Bruno had been in touch with her. I didn’t know. But I guessed there had to be something more to that ugly oilwork.”
“But we checked the back of the painting. That’s where you found the plans.”
“Yes, but we didn’t check the frame itself. Look, when she threw the painting at me yesterday, I was out cold for a while, just like I said. But when I came round I had maybe ten minutes before I was found. So I opened the packaging and I had a good look at the painting. Something I hadn’t noticed before was a slight indentation all along the top edge of the frame. I poked at it with one of my burglar tools and guess what? It was wax, painted over to look like the rest of the gilded wood. I dug out the wax and found there was a cavity with these sketch works rolled up inside. That’s why the frame was so damn big. She needed the space.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“I’m struggling with it myself. And I figure Farmer must have guessed by now. Once I got that wax out, I couldn’t very well put it back. All I could do was wrap the painting again and act concussed when I was found. But they must have opened the painting up pretty much right away and seen that gap. And Farmer knows as well as I do that there had to be a compelling reason for Catherine to show her face yesterday.”
“So why didn’t he come after you?”
“Maybe he will. Or maybe he figures I deserve a break. Either way, I guess he told Pierre something about it because that’s what his phone call was about. He was warning me.”
Victoria studied my face intently. “So that’s why you’re so relaxed about leaving.”
“That’s part of it. I need to go somewhere I can sell the damn things.”
I cast my eyes up to the bank of departure monitors above my head and scanned the names of the destinations on offer. Some in Europe, some across the Atlantic, some even further afield.
“Can you get the drawings through customs?” Victoria asked.
“Hope so. In fact, I might even follow Catherine’s example. If you straighten these sketches out, they’re small enough to fit inside the back of the frame I keep my Hammett novel in.”
“Seriously? You think that’ll work?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Victoria pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead. “But where are you going to go?”
“Ah, well I sort of thought you might choose.”
She peered at me. “You did?”
“Come with me. At least for a little while.”
“Uh uh.” She shook her head. “I have a job to go back to. A mortgage to pay.”
“All of that can wait.”
“Oh really. And what about my other clients?”
“They’ll understand. You need a holiday, Vic.”
“Ha. Let you get me into even more trouble, you mean?”
“Maybe,” I said. “But don’t you think it might be fun to find out?”
USEFUL INFORMATION
HOW TO PICK A PIN AND TUMBLER LOCK
First, see how a traditional key opens a lock. Note that the pins are preventing the cylinder or “plug” from turning. Once the key is inserted, the indentations on the key raise each individual pin to the correct height. Sideways force is applied through the key and the cylinder can turn.
Now, see how a pick is used in place of a key to raise the pins to the appropriate height. Clockwise tension is applied via a tension wrench or a screwdriver. As each pin is “jogged up” it rests on the ledge of the shear line (the ledge is created as a result of the sideways pressure applied via the tension wrench/screwdriver). Once all the pins are raised to the appropriate height, the lock “plug” can turn. The plug is connected to a cam that, in turn, is connected to a door bolt.
By using a raking tool instead of a traditional pick, simple locks can be opened much faster.
ANNOTATED FLOORPLAN
Centre Georges Pompidou – Fifth Floor
FRENCH WORDS AND PHRASES
Basics and Greetings | |
Yes | Oui |
No | Non |
Good day | Bonjour |
Goodbye | Au revoir |
Thank you | Merci |
I don’t understand | Je ne comprends pas |
Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais? |
Men’s/women’s toilets | Hommes/Femmes |
Other Essentials
“Hello. I’m here to visit Mr/Mrs . . . Please can you let me in?”
“
Bonjour. Je rends visite à Monsieur/Madame
. . .
Est-ce que
vous pourriez me laisser entrer s’il vous plaît?
”
“I seem to have lost my keys.”
“
Il m’apparaît que j’ai perdu mes clefs
.”
“No, you’re mistaken, this happens to be my apartment.”
“
Non, vous avez tort. Ceci est bien mon appartement
.”
“Oh, do you live here? I’m sorry, I must have become confused.”
“
Ah, vous habitez ici? Je suis désolé, je me suis confondu
.”
“Please can you direct me to the nearest hardware store?”
“
S’il vous plait, pour aller à la quincaillerie la plus proche?
”
“Can you give me the number of your local fence?”
“
Vous pouvez me donner le numéro de telephone de votre receleur locale?
”
“How much for this jewellery/these coins/this painting?”
“
Combien pour ces bijoux/cette pièce de monnaie/ce tableau?
”
“You’ve made a mistake. This door was open when I got here.”
“
Vous avez tort. Cette porte était ouverte quand je suis arrivé
.”
“I demand to see a representative from the British Embassy.”
“
J’exige que je vois tout de suite un répresentant de l’Ambassade Britannique
.”
Equipment
“Do you sell . . . ?”
“
Est-ce que vous vendez
. . . ?”
Picks, probes, rakes, screwdrivers
les outils, les sondes, les râteaux, les tournevis
Fingerprint powder
la
poudre à empreints
Disposable Latex Gloves
les gants latex jetables
Lint free cloth
sle chiffon non pelucheux
Hair dye, hair clippers
le teint pour cheveux, les coupeurs
False passports
les passeports contrefaçons
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge Jeremy Mercer’s
Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs
, a terrific memoir of life in the Shakespeare & Co. bookshop, on which the fictional Paris Lights bookshop is based.
The annotated floorplan of the fifth floor of the Pompidou Centre is based on the map contained in the free museum pamphlet
Musée National D’Art Moderne
. Copyright: Centre Pompidou, Conception graphique Atelier de création graphique, 2007
Thank you to everyone who read the completed manuscript and provided feedback, to Jane and Oxford Designers & Illustrators for the Pin and Tumbler illustrations, to Kaushik for his help with the French translations and to Linden for her watchful eye. Special thanks to Jo, for everything else.
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