Cat O'Nine Tales and Other Stories - Jeffrey Archer [45]
“Three thousand?” he suggested as he looked back at Max. The catalog shot up again, and several dealers at the back of the room began chatting among themselves.
“Four thousand?” inquired the auctioneer, staring in disbelief at the assistant on the phone. $5,000, $6,000, $7,000, $8,000, $9,000 and $10,000 were overtaken in less than a minute. The auctioneer tried desperately to look as if this was exactly what he had anticipated as the murmurs in the room grew louder and louder. Everyone seemed to have an opinion. One or two dealers abandoned their favored places and quickly walked to the back of the room, hoping to find an explanation for the bidding frenzy Some were already beginning to make assumptions, but were in no position to bid under such pressure, especially as the amounts were now going up in leaps of $5,000.
Max raised his catalog in response to the auctioneers inquiry, “Forty-five thousand? Are you bidding fifty thousand?” he inquired of the lady on the telephone. Everyone in the room turned to see how she would respond. For the first time she hesitated. The auctioneer repeated, “Fifty thousand.” She whispered the figure into the phone and, after a long pause, nodded, but not quite so enthusiastically. When Max was offered the piece for $55,000, he also hesitated, taking his time before he finally raised his catalog.
“Sixty thousand?” suggested the auctioneer to the assistant on the phone. Max waited nervously as she cupped her hand over the mouthpiece and repeated the figure. Beads of sweat began to appear on Max’s forehead, as he wondered if James Kennington had managed to raise more than $50,000, in which case he would just about clear his expenses on the whole exercise. After what seemed like an eternity, but was, in fact, only twenty seconds, the assistant shook her head. She put the phone down.
When the auctioneer smiled in Max’s direction and said, “Sold to the gentleman on my left, for fifty-five thousand dollars,” Max felt sick, triumphant, dazed and relieved all at the same time.
Max remained in his place, as he waited for the furor to die down. After a dozen more lots had been disposed of, he slipped quietly out of the room, unaware of the suspicious stares from dealers, who wondered who he was. He strolled across the thick green carpet and stopped at the purchasing counter.
“I wish to leave a deposit on lot twenty-three.”
The clerk looked down at her list. “A red king,” she said, and double-checked the price. “Fifty-five thousand dollars,” she added, and looked up at Max for confirmation.
He nodded as the assistant began to fill in the little boxes on the purchasing document. A few moments later she swiveled the form round for Max to sign.
“That will be five thousand, five hundred dollars deposit,” she said, “and the full amount must be settled within twenty-eight days.” Max nodded nonchalantly, as if this was a procedure he was well familiar with. He signed the agreement and then wrote out a check for $5,500, aware that it would empty his account. He pushed it across the counter. The assistant handed him back the top copy of the agreement and retained the duplicate. When she checked the signature, she hesitated. It might have been a coincidence: after all, Glover was a common enough name. She didn’t want to insult a customer, but she knew she would have to report the anomaly to their compliance department, before they could consider cashing the check.
Max left the auction house and headed north to Park Avenue. He strode confidently into Sotheby Parke Bernet and approached the reception desk. He asked if he could have a word with the Head of the Oriental Department. He was kept waiting for only a few minutes.
On this occasion, Max didn’t waste time with any preliminary questions that would have only been a smokescreen to disguise his true intent. After all, as the sales clerk at Phillips had pointed out, he only had twenty-eight days to complete the transaction.
“Should the Kennington Chess Set come onto the market, what would you expect it to fetch?” Max asked.
The expert