by Alp Mortal
David had been engaged by a company in Germany to provide consultancy and advisory services to them over a number of large engineering projects - the contract had been running for a very long time and was very profitable. Then there were some problems and the basis of the dispute, as far as she could determine from the few letters that were in the envelope with the copy of the contracts, was that they held David responsible for some failings and they were suing him for malpractice or negligence. In order to get her two thousand dollars, she dictated the translation of the contracts and then started to investigate the company that was suing David. She surmised that he probably hadn’t done what they had paid him to do; and he was hoping for a get out clause in the contract rather than face the showdown.
Nothing on the face of it suggested that there was any profit in the contracts or the dispute for Hannah herself except the option to tell Loretta before David did or blackmail him to keep her mouth shut for the time being.
The translation and the cogitation had taken up the rest of the day and most of the evening so she retired because the following day she had the appointment at Fitzwilliam’s to discuss the restoration of her harpsichord just ahead of Loretta’s own appointment on the Thursday.
Her disguise was that of an Austrian woman, of about forty, called Frau Anna Bohm - a professional musician and music teacher. The harpsichord she had bought for two hundred dollars minus its innards had already been delivered to the workshop on Jones Street in Lower Nob Hill.
oOo
“Frau Bohm; I am delighted to make your acquaintance and thank you for putting your trust in our work; it’s an interesting piece though sadly not a Zenti.”
“It is of no consequence, Jonas; it is really only the case that I want restored and painted. I like the idea of using it to house a modern mechanism even an electronic keyboard; let’s leave that decision until you’ve had a good look.”
“Why painted like the Nightingale?”
“It’s an instrument we all know and a little bird tells me that your workshop has the job of restoring it for Loretta Colton.”
Hannah deliberately went for broke.
“It is not something I can discuss but if you were to drop by in, say, a few days, you might have a pleasant surprise,” suggested Jonas.
They shared a conspiratorial smile, and Hannah left to give Dominic his lesson.
“Dominic … What do you really want to do?”
“Build computers.”
“Really! I like them too. How about as a treat, and I said we would have a treat after your mother’s birthday party performance, we build one together? Not a computer exactly; more like a synthesizer.”
“Why a synthesizer?”
“I teach music and often it’s helpful to hear different sounds … Do you think you could help me?”
“Absolutely!” and for the first time, she saw the real Dominic.
“We shan’t say anything to your parents and you will still have to play the piano too. As a surprise, we’ll compose a piece of music that we can play for them on the synthesizer, and when they see your handiwork, you might just get their permission to build your computer.”
“That would be really, really, cool!”
“Excellent!”
Hannah was hatching a plan and it resembled a ball of string; knotted and twisted, the end lost in the swirling mass of fibres. Hannah could see a pretty little harpsichord being unveiled at a gala event, capturing everyone’s attention, drawing the eye away from the obvious flaw, which was that the beautifully restored Nightingale had a plug and was connected to a wall socket!
Dominic left and Hannah headed into town to find the components for the synthesizer.
Chapter Six – Friday and Hannah sneaks a peek
On Friday, as Frau Bohm, Hannah revisited the workshop to get a peek at the Nightingale, which had been delivered the day before.
“Frau Bohm; can you follow me?” said Jonas and he escorted her to a private area of the workshop and threw back the cover that was hiding the Nightingale.
“It’s so beautiful!” she trilled, “Loretta Colton is extremely lucky.”
“She is one of the few people who really appreciates its quality and she is willing to invest in it for the future …”
“Now that I see it, I am convinced that mine should be painted exactly like it, as a kind of homage.”
“If you’re sure because the restorer will do both at the same time if that is the case.”
“It should be the same; if I can’t have the original then at least a copy by the same restorer.”
“It is agreed and two months will be no problem as it is just the casing. The Nightingale will take three and I’m informed it will be unveiled at a special gala evening where Loretta will play and, apparently, Dominic Belden.”
“The Belden boy, yes, his parents approached me but I referred them to a colleague, Valerie Bishop; she is younger and has more patience with children.”
“Stop by anytime, Frau Bohm; but avoid the workshop for the next month.”
“Why?”
“In my experience, most owners simply break down when they see their instrument laying in pieces; it’s part of the process but much like open heart surgery before the chest is sewed back up.”
“I’m fascinated by surgery but I take your point.”
Hannah left and went home to compose the piece of music that she wanted Dominic to play on the evening of the gala.
She typed up the translation of the contracts and intended to deliver both to David on the following Tuesday and get her two thousand dollars. That would pay for the synthesizer and a transport case for the instrument. She knew that once the Nightingale was delivered to the gala venue, Loretta would not be able to stay away and would insist on seeing her prized possession. Therefore, the switch would need to occur after that and she would need to get her instrument in and Loretta’s out undetected. Her intended cover was that of a tuner; a skill she was practicing very hard.
One thing remained to do; decide whether to blackmail David or actually help him. She couldn’t decide; not that there was much she could do. “If he’s signed off fake engineer’s reports for his fee and the German company has found him out then he’s basically screwed.”
In the end, she decided just to deliver the translations and then perhaps tell Loretta on the evening of the gala by way of a distraction. It was partly Loretta’s fault anyway thought Hannah, she’d spoilt him out of guilt for not being able to deliver a child and he’d taken full advantage of it.
Hannah spent the weekend studying modern electronics and synthesizers, ending the weekend by debuting her first original composition on the hired piano.
Chapter Seven – David and Dominic
David must have had a threat because although he was charm itself on the Tuesday when Hannah delivered the translations, he was careful to have the secretary in full view the entire time and she never budged from her seat. He paid over the two thousand dollars in cash and thanked her but with less than his usual joie de vivre.
Dominic was much more enthusiastic when he arrived, especially as Hannah had everything laid out for him to see. But before he could touch any of it, she made him play her composition, which he loved and sailed through. Together they worked on the synthesizer and, within two weeks, had it nearly working. They were just about ready to play her piece on it when Hannah asked a question.
“Does your mother clean all of those thimbles herself? It must take an age.”
“Oh yes; Gillian isn’t allowed to go near the cases; she doesn’t even have a key - mom keeps that in the jewellery box on her dresser. Once a month, she takes them all out and cleans them; it takes all day!”
“Did she say you could definitely play at the gala?”
“Yes …” spoken less energetically, “Loretta wants me to practice a duet with her to play on the harpsichord. You’ll be there though, right?”
“Oh yes; don’t worry; I’ll be there …”
“We’re nearly done.”
“Yep; next lesson we’ll have it working and then I want to practise the new piece on it … Try not to worry about the gala; when you’re a little older, you’ll appreciate what you’ve learned and achieved, so much more than you do now.”
He left happy and Hannah just had time to pop into Jonas’s workshop to assess progress and check some vital measurements.
“I’d like the legs to be collapsible and for it all to be able to fit into a transport trolley; I’ll have that delivered next week, Jonas.”
“No problem; do you want to see them?”
“Can I?”
He let her into the private space and both instruments looked like, well, bleached skeletons; all the rot and decay, dirt and grime had been removed and the surfaces were being prepared for the painting.
“We have preserved as much of the original painting on the Nightingale as was possible but it was in very poor condition. Yours was in an even less good state but as you can see, there is some carving which is now revealed and the hinges of the lid are definitely Flemish and of the time so our belief that it could be a Couchet is probably right.”
“Excellent! I’d like to take some measurements so that the keyboard can be made to fit perfectly, could you help me?”
They took all the measurements that Hannah needed to ensure that the keyboard fitted snuggly, especially for travelling; after which she left, minus an “on account payment” of five thousand dollars, being half the eventual cost of the restoration. Still, the Zenti, fully restored, would fetch one hundred thousand or even one hundred and fifty, and finding a buyer was her next task.
Chapter Eight – Fencing lessons
She mused that good old Rathbone would probably have known where to offload the piece; and taking the Nightingale out of the country, possibly back to Europe, was a very real consideration. It was the one drawback of not stealing to order; you were lumbered with the piece until you could get shot of it but that was preferable to being shot at.
She scoured the newspapers at the library for the names of all of the men convicted of handling stolen property, and made a list of those who, on the basis of their original sentencing, should be out and about. Some still lived in San Francisco according to the phone book. Finding ex-felons was relatively easy; asking them if they were still in their original line of business, somewhat trickier.
Two appeared to be running businesses, one an antique shop, which seemed a little too obvious and the other had a dry cleaning place just off of the square, a stone’s throw from the apartment. She spilt some red wine over a silk scarf and took it in, hoping to see Bob Andrews in person.
“That shouldn’t be too much of a problem … but I’ll need to ask you to pay in advance,” he said.
“Oh, sure,” replied Hannah as Sadie Goldberg, and she ferreted in her purse only to accidentally tumble out a rather pretty cameo brooch.
“Is it Italian?” he asked with more than an ounce of curiosity.
“My grandmother’s and she was Italian, so probably. It’s causing me sleepless nights.”
“How so?”
“There was a break-in and everything of value was stolen - or so I thought. I reported it and claimed on the insurance and then I found this and now I feel like a criminal because I had the insurance money and I should really give it to them but then they might think I hid it and other things … I really just want shot of it; I can’t sell it in case it turns up and someone remembers it was mine.”
Hannah screwed out a few tears.
“Don’t cry; if you really did want to get rid of it then I could take it off your hands. I can’t give you much for it but you’d never see it again and no one would be the wiser.”
Hannah looked him squarely in the face and smiled through the tears and said, “You would do that for me?”
“Of course; I used to deal in antiques; I have connections. How much did you get back from the insurance company for it?”
“Seven hundred and fifty dollars.”
“What say I give you two hundred and fifty and you never have to see it again?”
“Thank you so much!” and Hannah opened the floodgates and allowed him to put his arm around her shoulder as he gave her his handkerchief.
“There, there; it’s all over.”
She wiped her eyes, and he gave her the money. She left, thanking him profusely.
“Still in business; let’s put a big fat worm on this hook shall we?” she said to herself as she donned the disguise of Anna Bohm, wending her way back to the Square, where she waited for Bob Andrews to leave so she could follow him.
At five o’clock, he closed up and she downed the dregs of her coffee and watched for his likely route; she hoped he didn’t just jump in a car. He didn’t and he walked and ended up at the antique shop of the other man who had been convicted for handling stolen goods - now partners in crime after their time spent together in the penitentiary. Hannah walked in; they were both in the back and she idled through the stuff on display and inched nearer to the counter so that she could overhear their conversation.
“Be with you in a minute!” the other man called out.
Hannah said nothing and walked around, eyeing a few things that might be worth buying and selling on. The man appeared.
“Hi! Sorry; did you need any help? Looking for something specific?” he asked.
“No, not really; maybe the hand painted fan … Is it Chinese?”
“Yes,” he said and she knew from his face that he was getting his facts ready before launching into his pitch.
She toyed with it and then spied some sheet music.
“There are some very old pieces in the box, but to be honest, no one much cares for it these days; I’ll let you have the lot for fifty dollars …”
Hannah turned and smiled and then rifled through the box to see if there was anything interesting; job lots had a remarkable habit of throwing up the most unexpected surprises.
“I’ll take the lot for thirty-five …”
“Forty …”
“Deal!”
“Do you play?” he asked
“Yes; the piano. I’m actually looking to sell an instrument; a rare Eighteenth Century Italian harpsichord; it has an uncertain provenance …”
Hannah adopted a tone, a tell-tale inflection.
“I only know of one in the city,” he said with a wicked glint in his eye.
“Then are you interested?”
“For the right price.”
“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars, fully restored by Fitzwilliam’s.”
“When could I take possession?”
“In about three months …”
“That would give me time to line up a buyer, so that would work …”
Hannah smiled and put the sheet music on the counter with two twenty dollar bills.
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Fine …”
She quit the shop and headed straight to the apartment only then allowing herself to breathe.
“Did I just do what I think I just did?” she asked herself, and her hands were still shaking.
Chapter Nine – The plan takes shape
Hannah got the travel trolley made for the harpsichord and had it delivered to the workshop, calling in briefly to assess progress, finding the artist-restorer was painting the casings.
“It’s painstaking work,” injected Jonas.
“But worth it in the end,” she replied.
Next up was completing the piece for the gala, and when Dominic came in, she got him to play it on the synthesizer. It made a pretty authentic sound but was still unmistakably manufactured.
“How can we make this sound better?”
“Well, once the synthesizer is housed in a casing then that will probably help.”
“I think you’re right. If it was wooden then the sound would be softer; perhaps we need better speakers too. They twiddled and faddled and all the while, Hannah was
aiming her questions closer and closer to the target.
“Are you going somewhere nice for the holidays?” she asked.
“Mr. and Mrs. Colton want us all to go to Mexico.”
“Wow … how exciting!”
“Yeah …” spoken with even less than the usual enthusiasm
“Where would you like to go?”
“I want to go to see the launch of Columbia.”
“I’d love to see that too; perhaps we could go together … When is it?”
“Two days after the gala.”
“That is cutting it a bit fine; perhaps I should talk to your parents. If some of your friends wanted to go and there were enough adults to supervise, I’m sure they’d be happy. When were Mr. and Mrs. Colton planning to go to Mexico?”
“About the same time.”
“You could go to the rocket launch and then fly on to Mexico … How about I come over one day soon so that you can play the gala piece for your parents and I’ll talk to them then?”
“Please,” implored the lad.
“It would be very exciting, wouldn’t it?”
They twiddled and faddled some more with the keyboard; Dominic left in high spirits.
“They’re out of the country and I have the perfect alibi … timing would have to be perfect … but that thimble will be mine … and what wouldn’t I give to see her face when she realizes it’s missing!”
The following day, Hannah got up and decided she would be Loretta Colton for the day. Her disguise as the fifty-year-old socialite was coming on but making herself look fifty was very hard; thankfully, Loretta was not showing too many signs of her age. Her deportment was the key and the frequent shifts between mania and depression. The acid test, a visit to David at the office, a fleeting visit to set the cat amongst the pigeons over the contract debacle. If she could fool David, just for a few minutes, then surely everyone else would believe it and Hannah knew that if you expected to see a person then you often did “see” the person and minor things got overlooked. Maybe that wouldn’t be true in the case of Francine; she seemed to be the sort to scrutinize, evidently looking for the flaws that made her feel so much better about herself.
Hannah dressed and applied her make-up, practising the little speech that she intended to deliver. She donned a headscarf and dark glasses. She’d found decent lookalike rings and, thankfully, the woman seemed only to wear a simple single strand of pearls most of the time.