False Impression (29 page)

‘That assumes
you are not hammered long before then,’

Nakamura
replied. ‘I apologize,’ he added immediately. ‘You have discovered my weakness
for bad puns.’ He smiled for the first time.

‘However, I am
advised that Mr Fenston has recently issued a bankruptcy order against your
client, and knowing the Americans as I do, it might be years before any legal
action can be settled, and my London lawyers confirm that Lady Arabella is in
no position to consider the crippling legal costs such a lengthy process would
undoubtedly incur.’

Anna took a deep
breath. ‘If, and I repeat if – Nakamura had the grace to smile – ‘I accept your
terms, in return I would expect some gesture of goodwill.’

‘And what do you
have in mind?’

‘You will place
10 per cent, five million dollars, in escrow with Lady Arabella’s solicitors in
London, to be returned if you do not wish to purchase the original.’

Nakamura shook
his head. ‘No, Dr Petrescu, I am unable to accept your gesture of goodwill.’

Anna felt
deflated.

‘However, I am
willing to place five million in escrow with my London lawyers, the full amount
to be paid on exchange of contracts.’

‘Thank you,’
said Anna, unable to disguise a sigh of relief.

But Nakamura
continued. ‘Having accepted your terms, I would also expect some gesture of
goodwill in return,’ he said as he rose from behind his desk. Anna rose
nervously. ‘Should the deal go through, you will give serious consideration to
taking up the appointment as the CEO of my foundation.’

Anna smiled, but
did not bow. She offered her hand and said,

‘To use another
ghastly but appropriate American expression, Mr Nakamura, we have a deal.’ She
turned to leave.

‘And one more
thing before you go,’ said Nakamura, picking up an envelope from his desk. Anna
turned back, hoping she didn’t look apprehensive. ‘Would you be kind enough to
pass on this letter to Miss Danuta Sekalska, a huge talent that I can only hope
will be allowed to mature.’ Anna smiled as the chairman accompanied her down
the corridor and back to the waiting limousine.

They chatted
about the tragic events in New York, and the long term consequences for
America. However, Nakamura made no reference to why his regular driver was in
hospital, recovering from serious injuries, not least to his pride.

But then the
Japanese have always considered that some secrets are best kept in the family.

Whenever Jack
was in a strange city, he rarely informed the embassy of his presence. They
always asked too many questions he didn’t want to answer. Tokyo was no
exception, but he did need some of his own questions answered, and he knew
exactly who to ask.

A conman, whom
Jack had put behind bars for several years, once told him that whenever you’re
abroad and in need of information, book yourself into a good hotel. But don’t
seek advice from the manager, and don’t bother with the receptionist, only deal
with the head concierge. Information is how he makes his living; his salary is
incidental.

For fifty
dollars, Jack learnt everything he needed to know about Mr Nakamura, even his
golf handicap – fourteen.

Krantz watched
as Petrescu emerged from the building and climbed back into the chairman’s
limousine. She quickly hailed a taxi and asked to be dropped a hundred yards
from the Seiyo hotel.

If Petrescu was about
to depart, she would still have to retrieve her luggage and settle the bill.

Once the
temporary chauffeur had dropped Anna back at the Seiyo, she couldn’t wait to
check out – she picked up her key from reception and ran up the stairs to her
room on the first floor. She sat on the end of the bed and called Arabella
first. She sounded wide awake.

‘A veritable
Portia,’ was Arabella’s final comment after she had learned the news. Which
Portia, Anna wondered. Shylock’s
nemesis,
or Brutus’s
wife? She unclasped her gold chain, unfastened the leather belt, kicked off her
shoes and finally slipped out of her dress. She exchanged her more formal
attire for a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Although checkout was at noon, she
still had enough time to make one more call. Anna needed to plant the clue.

The ringing tone
continued for some time before a sleepy voice answered.

Who’s this?

‘Vincent.’

‘Christ, what
time is it? I must have fallen asleep.’

‘You can go back
to sleep after you’ve heard my news.’

‘You’ve sold the
painting?’

‘How did you
guess?’

‘How
much?’

‘Enough.’

‘Congratulations.
So where are you going next?”

‘To
pick it up.’

‘And where’s
that
?5

“Where
it’s always been.
Go back to sleep.’

The phone went
dead.

Tina smiled as
she drifted back to sleep. Fenston was going to be beaten at his own game for
once.

‘Oh my God,’ she
said out loud, suddenly wide awake. ‘I didn’t warn her that the stalker is a
woman, and knows she’s in Tokyo.’

F
enston stretched
an arm across the bed and fumbled for the phone as he tried to keep his eyes
shut.

“Who
the fuck is this?’

‘Vincent’s just
made a call.’

‘And where was
she calling from this time?’ asked Fenston, his eyes suddenly wide open.

‘Tokyo.’

‘So she must
have seen Nakamura.’

‘Sure has,’ said
Leapman, ‘and claims she’s sold the painting.’

‘You can’t sell
something that you don’t own,’ said Fenston, as he switched on the bedside
light. ‘Did she say where she was going next?’

‘To
pick it up.’

‘Did she give
any clue as to where that might be?’

‘Where it’s always
been,’ replied Leapman.

‘Then it has to
be London,’ said Fenston.

‘How can you be
so sure?’ asked Leapman.

‘Because if she
had taken the painting to Bucharest, why not take it on to Tokyo? No, she left
the picture in London,’ said Fenston adamantly, ‘where it’s always been.’

‘I’m not so
sure,’ said Leapman.

‘Then where do
you think it is?’

‘In
Bucharest, where it’s always been, in the red box.’

‘No, the box was
just a decoy.’

‘Then how can we
ever hope to find the painting?’ asked Leapman.

‘That will be
simple enough,’ said Fenston. ‘Now that Petrescu thinks she’s sold the painting
to Nakamura, her next stop will be to pick it up. And this time Krantz will be
waiting for her, and then she’ll end up having something in common with Van
Gogh. But before then, there’s another call I have to make.’ He slammed the
phone down before Leapman had a chance to ask to whom.

Anna checked out
of the hotel just after twelve. She took a train to the airport, no longer able
to afford the luxury of a cab. She assumed that once she boarded the shuttle,
the same man would be following her, and she intended to make his task as easy
as possible. After all, he would already have been informed of her next stop.

What she didn’t
know was that her pursuer was sitting eight rows behind her.

Krantz opened a
copy of the Shinbui Times, ready to raise it and cover her face should Petrescu
look round. She didn’t.

Time
to make her call.
Krantz dialled the number and waited for ten rings. On the tenth, it was picked
up. She didn’t speak.

‘London,’ was
the only word Fenston uttered before the line went dead.

Krantz dropped
the cellphone out of the window, and watched as it landed in front of an
oncoming train.

When her train
came to a halt at the airport terminal, Anna jumped out and went straight to
the British Airways desk. She enquired about an economy fare to London,
although she had no intention of purchasing the ticket. She had only
thirty-five dollars to her name, after all. But Fenston had no way of knowing
that. She checked the departure board. There were ninety minutes between the
two flights. Anna walked slowly towards Gate 91B, making sure that whoever was
following her couldn’t lose her. She window-shopped all the way to the
departure gate and arrived just before they began boarding. She selected her
seat in the lounge carefully, sitting next to a small child. ‘Would those
passengers in rows...” The child screamed and ran away, a harassed parent
chasing after him.

Jack had only
been distracted for a moment, but she was gone. Had she boarded the plane or
turned back? Perhaps she had worked out that two people were following her.
Jack’s eyes searched the concourse below him. They were now boarding business
class and she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He checked all the remaining passengers
who were seated in the lounge, and he wouldn’t have spotted the other woman in
his life if she hadn’t touched her hair, no longer a blonde crew cut, now a
black wig. She also looked puzzled.

Krantz hesitated
when they invited all first-class passengers to board. She walked across to the
ladies’ washroom, which was directly behind where Petrescu had been sitting.
She emerged a few moments later and returned to her seat. When they called
final boarding, she was among the last to hand over her ticket.

Jack watched as
Crew Cut disappeared down the ramp. How could she be so confident that Anna was
on the London flight?

Had he lost both
of them again?

Jack waited
until the gate closed, now painfully aware that both women were obviously on
the flight to London. But there had been something about Anna’s manner since
she’d left the hotel almost as if, this time, she wanted to be followed.

Jack waited
until the last airline official had packed up and gone. He was about to return
to the ground floor and book himself on the next plane to London, when the door
of the men’s washroom opened.

Anna stepped
out.

‘Put me through
to Mr Nakamura.’

“Who shall I say
is calling?’

‘Bryce Fenston,
the chairman of Fenston Finance.

Til
just find out if he’s available, Mr Fenston.’

‘He’ll be
available,’ said Fenston.

The line went
silent and it was some time before another voice ventured, ‘Good morning, Mr
Fenston, this is Takashi Nakamura, how can I help you?’

‘I just phoned
to warn you...’

Warn me?’ said
Nakamura.

‘I’m told that
Petrescu tried to sell you a Van Gogh.’

‘Yes, she did,’
said Nakamura.

‘And how much
did she ask for?’ said Fenston.

‘I think
,
to use an American expression, an arm and a leg.’

‘If you were
foolish enough to agree to buy the picture, Mr Nakamura, it could end up being
your arm and your leg,’ said Fenston, ‘because that picture belongs to me.’

‘I had no idea
it belonged to you. I thought that it...’

‘Then you
thought wrong. Perhaps you were also unaware that Petrescu no longer works for
this bank.’

‘Dr Petrescu
made that all too clear, in fact...’

‘And did she
tell you she was fired?’

‘Yes, she did.’

‘But did she
tell you why?’

‘In
great detail.’

‘And you still
felt able to do business with her?’

‘Yes. In fact I
am trying to persuade her to join my board, as CEO of the company’s
foundation.’

‘Despite
the fact that I had to dismiss her for conduct unworthy of an officer of a
bank.’

‘Not a bank, Mr
Fenston, your bank.’

‘Don’t bandy
words with me,’ said Fenston.

‘So be it,’ said
Nakamura, ‘then let me make it clear that should Dr Petrescu join this company,
she will quickly discover that we do not condone a policy of swindling clients
out of their inheritance, especially when they are old ladies.’

Then how would
you feel about directors who steal bank assets worth a hundred million
dollars?’

‘I am delighted
to learn you consider the painting is worth that amount, because the owner...’

‘I am the
owner,’ bellowed Fenston, ‘under New York state law.’

“Whose
jurisdiction does not stretch to
Tokyo.
’

‘But doesn’t your
company also have offices in New York?’

‘At last we’ve
found something on which we can agree,’ said Nakamura.

Then there’s
nothing to stop me serving you with a writ in New York, were you foolish enough
to attempt to buy my picture.’

‘And in which
name will the writ be issued?’ asked Nakamura.