Gauguin Connection, The Read Free Page A

carefully sewn into the hem of her coat.”
    “What canvas?”
    “That’s not of importance now.”
    “I disagree.”
    Phillip closed his eyes for the time it took him to take a calming breath. “It is a strip cut from the right-hand side of the Still Life, The White Bowl.”
    “Which artist?”
    “Paul Gauguin.”
    My mind was racing. The moment all the pieces fell into place I glared at Phillip. “That piece is insured by us, by Rousseau & Rousseau.”
    “Yes, we insured that artwork seven years ago for a client who is extremely private about his art collection. Why he never reported it stolen I would really like to find out.”
    “Why weren’t you going to tell me about this?”
    “I was going to tell you about this once Manny left.”
    “Oh.” I suddenly understood and nodded towards the other man who was quietly assessing us. “You didn’t want him to think that you were more interested in the artwork than in helping him solve his insider problem.”
    The moment the procerus muscles between Phillip’s eyes pulled both his eyebrows lower and together, I knew I should’ve held my tongue. Manny’s laughter saved me from another sermon on censoring myself. I liked him a little bit more.
    “She’s got you there, old friend.” For the first time since I had laid eyes on him, Manny’s facial muscles relaxed. “I don’t blame you for your concern. And just to set the record straight, I did not come to you as a last resort. When that fragment led me to you, I considered it to be a godsend. I know that you have an incredible fraud detection department and that your investigators can teach most law enforcement agencies a few things.”
    “How did this land on your desk, Manny?”
    I silently applauded Phillip for his question and waited eagerly for the answer. Manny looked like he was arguing with himself. We waited. His brow smoothed as he straightened his shoulders.
    “The commander of the Multinational Command Support Brigade at Eurocorps headquarters is a long-time friend of mine. We served together in an investigation division for a few years. I was visiting him and his wife when he got the call about the weapon used in the murder. Eurocorps has been co-operating with the Strasbourg police, but they have gotten nowhere in four weeks. He phoned me last week and asked if I knew an outsider who could help.”
    “Why an outsider?” Against my will I was becoming intrigued.
    “The storage of light weapons for Eurocorps headquarters’ personnel is also under my friend’s command. That is why he was contacted when the police connected the weapon to Eurocorps. He started looking into it and that’s when he discovered the disappearance of weapons. He also discovered that the inventory had been tampered with. It seemed to have been done at random in the last five years. That is when he first suspected someone powerful enough to interfere with our stock-taking system. It’s the only explanation for how it had gone undetected for such a long time. The system is highly secured, accessed by a select few.” He sighed heavily. “Eurocorps just recovered from a scandal three years ago. He didn’t want to draw any attention to a suspicion that might come to nothing.”
    “What suspicion is that?”
    “Nothing good. The involvement of a Russian murderer, an artwork and a Eurocorps weapon do not point to anything good. Some years ago a clerk working in the budget and finance department of Eurocorps noticed irregularities in the books. He went to the Deputy Chief of Staff Training and Resources and reported what he had seen. Immediately he was escorted from the building and subsequently fired for insubordination. What the deputy didn’t know was that the clerk had copied all the files for himself. He sent them to three major news agencies, pointing the finger at the deputy and a few enthusiastic helpers. This caused an in-depth investigation, proving that the deputy had been siphoning funds from Eurocorps for