The Final Fabergé (52 page)

“Lenny will do anything to extract his pound of flesh.”

“Then arrange a meeting. Lenny's the only one in this mess I haven't met.”

“I'll do it.” Tobias took a newspaper clipping from his shirt. “I meant to tell you about this. Interested?”

Oxby was reading about an art auction scheduled for that evening in the Sotheby Galleries.

“Want to go?”

“It's all modern,” Oxby remonstrated.

“There'll be some good stuff. Motherwell. Calder. Andy Warhol.”

“Should be an interesting crowd.”

“Lots of young people with plenty of money.”

“I'd like to see the Warhols. Anything interesting?”

“His
Orange Marilyn
, for one,” Tobias said. “Know it?”

“Oh, indeed.” Oxby grinned. “As you Americans say—that one is
Big Time!
”

To Christopher Forbes I extend a special thanks, not only for generously sharing his knowledge of Fabergé and the incredible Imperial eggs, but for allowing me to include him as an essential character in the story. I salute Margaret Kelly Trombly and Robyn Tromeur of the Forbes Magazine Collection for their invaluable assistance. Gerard Hill of Sotheby's also shared his extensive knowledge of Fabergé and Russian art and icons.

My wife, Barbara, and I were in the home of Joseph and Marina Wolfson in Moscow and that of Nelly and Viktor Obukhova in St. Petersburg. We were warmly received and learned firsthand about the wrenching difficulties the Russian people face as they make the move toward a capitalistic society.

Jane Lombard provided additional insights into modern-day Russia, and Laryssa Lysniak proved to be expert at choosing Russian phrases. To Laryssa I owe a special
spahseebah
!

Nina and Leonid Bazilevich, native to St. Petersburg, read the manuscript and shared their intimate knowledge of the culture and traditions of the people. I was lucky to spend time with Iouna Zeck in the State Hermitage Museum.

Carl and Ann Klemme were the accurate eyes and ears for Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

My thanks to Dick Welch for his great knowledge of guns, and for John D'Andrea's equally informative knowledge of personal knives.

Always generous with their time were library researchers Barbara Simmonds and Barry Devlin.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Raymond Kerr and Special Agent Joseph Valiquette revealed the inner workings of Russian crime in the New York area.

I am indebted to Stuart Stearns for describing biological agents and his compelling explanations for the reasons we must keep all such lethal toxins tightly sealed. And to Jim Coyne for his medical acumen.

Helping me understand the little mysteries surrounding the preparation and forwarding of automobiles from America to foreign ports were John Rozema, Sam Salzano, Robert Forsyth, and Brian Maher. Also my thanks to Officer Pat Caputo for showing me some, but not
all, of the ways our U.S. Customs Service prevents stolen vehicles from leaving port.

As always, I thank Pete Wood for his dedication and unswerving loyalty. He remains my favorite reader and uncompromising critic.

Thomas Swan
chose art crime and thievery as the backdrop for his three highly praised thrillers featuring Inspector Jack Oxby:

The Da Vinci Deception, The Cézanne Chase,
and
The Final Fabergé.
Swan was director of the national board of the Mystery Writers of America and past president of its New York chapter. His novels have all been Book of the Month Club selections and been translated into French, German, Greek, Japanese, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Copyright © 1999 by Thomas Swan

 

This book is published in the United States of America.

 

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First Newmarket Paperback Edition

eISBN : 9781557049797

Version 10172012

 

Swan, Thomas.

The final Fabergé / Thomas Swan.

p. cm.

“A novel of suspense.”

I. Title.

PR6069.W344F5 1999

823' .914—dc21 99-34408

CIP

 

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