The Judas Pair

Начало книги

This book is dedicated, with respect and humility, to the Chinese god Wei Dt'o, protector of books against fire, pillaging, decay, and dishonest borrowers.

LOVEJOY

Chapter 1

This story's about greed, desire, love, and death—in the world of antiques you get them all.

Just when I was in paradise the phone rang. Knowing it would be Tinker Dill, I pushed her into the bathroom, turned all the taps on, and switched the radio on.

"What the hell's that noise?" Tinker sounded half sloshed as usual.

"You interrupted again, Tinker," I said wearily.

"How am I to know you're on the nest?" he said, peeved.

In the White Hart they only had one record that worked, and it was notching up the decibels in a background muddle of voices.

"What is it?"

"Got somebody for you," he said.

I was all ears. You know that tingling a sexy promise gives? Double it for religion. Treble it for collecting. And for antique dealers like me hearing of a customer, multiply by infinity to get somewhere near the drive that forces a man over every conceivable boundary of propriety, common sense, reason—oh, and law. I almost forgot law. I'd been on the nest two days with Sheila (was she Sheila, or was that last Thursday? I couldn't remember) and here I was quivering like a selling plater at its first race. All because one of my scouts was phoning in with a bite.

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