Hot Mahogany (Stone Barrington 15)
“The four of us, plus Peter Cavanaugh, director of the Metropolitan Museum, and his furniture expert, Julian Whately,” Stone said. “Then there’ll be our hosts, Abner Kramer and his wife, and, I suspect, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Crow.”
“Oh, God,” Tatiana said. “I have to deal with them again?”
“I think they’re going to have very little to say this evening. The subject is going to be furniture, which is a little out of Charlie’s line.”
“Do we have time for a, ah, nap before cocktails?”
“Oh, yes, plenty of time.”
They arrived at the house; he gave her a quick tour, then took their luggage upstairs. In a moment, they were in each other’s arms.
Darkness came early, since they were back on standard time, and
the night was chilly but bright, with many stars and a waning but still bright moon. The moonlight glittered on the lake as they drove along its shores to Barton’s little peninsula.
Everyone else had gathered in the study for drinks by the time they arrived, and a roaring fire had taken the chill from the air. They were given drinks and fell to talking, mostly about furniture.
“Barton,” Peter Cavanaugh asked, “what do you think Ab Kramer has in mind for this evening?”
“I think he plans to impress us, especially you and Julian.”
“Has he bought something new?”
“He has a Goddard-Townsend mahogany desk and bookcase,” Barton replied, “one almost as nice as your new one.”
“Oh? Two popping up at once?”
“Well, not exactly, since Ab’s secretary is a fake.”
“How do you know that?” Cavanaugh asked.
“Because I made it myself, in my workshop.”
“Really? Does Ab know it’s a fake?”
“Well, since he didn’t buy it from me, I don’t know what provenance the seller offered him. He’ll be looking for approval from you and Julian, so please, don’t puncture his balloon and his ego. I think he’ll be happy, if you’re just noncommittal.”
“As you wish, Barton. Now, are you ready to show us the real thing?”
“Of course. Let’s go out to the barn, and bring your drinks.” Barton lead them out through the kitchen door to the barn, unlocked its massive door and showed everyone inside.
“This is quite a barn,” Cavanaugh said, looking around.
“Yes, we’ve done a lot of good work here. Stone, will you give me a hand, please?”
Barton and Stone unlocked the large cabinet, removed the false back wall and rolled out the Goddard-Townsend secretary on its dolly into a carefully designed pool of light, then stepped away.
Cavanaugh and Whately circled the piece slowly, taking it all in, then Cavanaugh stood back while Whately circled it again with a pocket flashlight and a small magnifying glass.
Stone stood next to Carla, who was watching everything with interest. “I believe I know your secret,” Stone said to her.
She looked at him appraisingly. “Secret?”
“I thought Peter Cavanaugh came up with seventy million dollars awfully quickly.”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Carla said.
“Of course you would, since you got Eduardo to put up the money.”