“Just watch.”
All four tapes now proceeded in something close to real time. There was a slight lapse from shot to shot, so the action had a certain staccato herky-jerky feel to it. I pointed to the camera directed at the drive. At 5:25 P.M., a white panel truck pulled up. A portion of the XLNT logo was visible.
Automatically, Ari said, “That’s not mine.”
“I know.”
A man in dark blue coveralls got out of the truck on the passenger side. Mustache, glasses, medium height. He had a clipboard in hand and he walked through the open front door. Inside, Maurie spotted him and he moved in her direction. The two chatted. He offered her the clipboard and a pen. She read the paperwork and scratched her signature on the bottom line, after which she gestured.
He crossed to the wall, where he flipped through a stack of paintings that had been left leaning there. He set five aside, picked up the painting he was looking for, and carried it to the front door.
Reverse angle. He emerged from the front door, crossed to the panel truck, and loaded the painting in the rear. He returned to the passenger side door, got in, slammed the door, and the vehicle moved out of the frame.
“What you just saw was a heist. You got robbed,” I said. “You’re looking at Christian Satterfield in phony glasses and a fake mustache. He didn’t need the disguise because nobody here had a clue who he was or what he looked like.”
“No shit. He’s stealing that?”
“Pretty much,” I said. “Did you see the clipboard? Maurie signed some kind of dummied-up invoice. Tuesday when I came to see you, there were half a dozen people milling around, walking in and out. As I was coming in the gate, I passed a white panel truck with the XLNT logo on the side.”
“I don’t use white panel trucks.”
“You know that and I know that, but your gate guard didn’t. He knows you own a freight and courier company called XLNT. An XLNT vehicle drives in and the same one drives out. Mission accomplished.”
“Why that painting?”
“Must be something fabulous. Why else would she have gone to so much trouble and expense? She was in Bel Air when the condominium sold, and by the time she got up here at close of escrow, you’d already moved all the furniture and accessories back into the basement. She hired Christian because she knew he’d have no scruples about what she needed to have done.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Here’s the point, Ari. She has what she wants and she’s leaving town this afternoon.”
“Teddy is? Where to?”
I took out the sheet of paper I’d ripped out of Kim’s steno pad. “Well, if the airport code LHR is London Heathrow, I’d say she’s heading for London. Five forty-five from Santa Teresa to LAX. Her Pan Am flight’s at ten o’clock. You have time to catch her if you hustle.”
“I can’t believe she ripped me off.”
“Let’s not call it ripping you off, okay? That makes it sound like she’s taking something she’s not entitled to. You were married for seventeen years. That’s a lot of entitlement.”
Glumly, he said, “I guess I’ll have to give you that one. So now what?”
“Go out to the airport and intercept her.”
“And say what?”
“Tell her you love her.”
“That won’t cut any ice. She’s tough.”
“Then offer her a bribe.”
“Now you’re getting sentimental on me. What am I supposed to hold out as bait?”
“The painting. Tell her it’s a gift. That way she isn’t guilty of stealing it.”
“What if it’s worth millions?”
“I’m sure it is. That’s how she’ll know you’re sincere.”
He sat and stared at the floor. “I don’t know about this.”
“Well, I do. Go upstairs and change clothes. Pick up your passport from the floor in the hall where Stella tossed it. Take a taxi to the airport and buy a ticket to London so you can get on the plane with Teddy. Her flight leaves here at five forty-five, so you have plenty of time to pack.”
“What about Stella?”
“Do I have to tell you everything? Call your attorney and let him take care of it.”
“She’ll hose me.”
“Of course. That’s what money’s for.”
Finally, he laughed and shook his head. “I hope I don’t regret this.”
“You won’t. Now get on with it. And when you and Teddy get married the second time? I get to be the flower girl. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
41