The Collected Short Stories - Jeffrey Archer [104]
Once Christopher and Margaret had located their own bags, they collected the second cart and took their place in the red “Something to Declare” line.
“Are you in possession of any items over five hundred pounds in value?” asked the young customs official politely.
“Yes,” said Christopher. “We purchased two carpets when we were on vacation in Turkey.” He handed over the two bills.
The customs official studied the receipts carefully, then asked if he might be allowed to see the carpets for himself:
“Certainly,” said Christopher, and began the task of undoing the larger package while Margaret worked on the smaller one.
“I shall need to have these looked at by an expert,” said the official once the parcels were unwrapped. “It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.” The carpets were soon taken away.
The “few minutes” turned out to be more than fifteen, and Christopher and Margaret were soon regretting their decision to assist the Kendall-Humes, whatever the needs of the school appeal. They began to indulge in irrelevant smalltalk that wouldn’t have fooled the most amateur of sleuths.
At last the customs official returned.
“I wonder if you would be kind enough to have a word with my colleague in private?” he asked.
“Is that really necessary?” asked Christopher, reddening.
“I’m afraid so, sir.”
“We shouldn’t have agreed to it in the first place,” whispered Margaret. “We’ve never been in any trouble with the authorities before.”
“Don’t fret, dear. It will be all over in a few minutes, you’ll see,” said Christopher, not sure that he believed his own words. They followed the young man out through the back and into a small room.
“Good afternoon, sir,” said a white-haired man with several gold stripes around the cuff of his sleeve. “I am sorry to have kept you waiting, but we have had your carpets looked at by our expert and he feels sure a mistake must have been made.”
Christopher wanted to protest but he couldn’t get a word out.
“A mistake?” managed Margaret.
“Yes, madam. The bills you presented don’t make any sense to him.”
“Don’t make any sense?”
“No, madam,” said the senior customs officer. “I repeat, we feel certain a mistake has been made.”
“What kind of mistake?” asked Christopher, at last finding his voice.
“Well, you have come forward and declared two carpets, one at a price of ten thousand pounds and one at a price of five hundred pounds, according to these receipts.”
“Yes?”
“Every year hundreds of people return to England with Turkish carpets, so we have some experience in these matters. Our adviser feels certain that the bills have been incorrectly made out.”
“I don’t begin to understand …” said Christopher.
“Well,” explained the senior officer, “the large carpet, we are assured, has been spun with a crude distaff and has only two hundred ghiordes, or knots, per square inch. Despite its size we estimate it to be valued around five thousand pounds. The small carpet, on the other hand, we estimate to have nine hundred knots per square inch. It is a fine example of a silk handwoven traditional Hereke and undoubtedly would have been a bargain at five hundred pounds. As both carpets come from the same shop, we assume it must be a clerical error.”
The Robertses remained speechless.
“It doesn’t make any difference to the duty you will have to pay, but we felt sure you would want to know, for insurance purposes.”
Still the Robertses said nothing.
“As you’re allowed five hundred pounds before paying any duty, the excise will still be two thousand pounds.”
Christopher quickly handed over the Kendall-Humes’ wad of notes. The senior officer counted them while his junior carefully rewrapped the two carpets.
“Thank you,” said Christopher, as they were handed back the packages and a receipt for two thousand pounds.
The Robertses quickly bundled the large package onto its luggage cart before wheeling it through the concourse and onto the pavement outside, where the Kendall-Humes impatiently awaited them.
“You were in there a long time,” said Ray Kendall-Hume. “Any problems?