"Альфред Бестер. The Flowered Thundermug (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

The three art dealers looked so perplexed that Muni was
forced to elaborate. "It is a blue porcelain jardiniere of
uncertain function, decorated with a border of white and gold
marguerites. It was discovered over a century ago by a French
interpreter in Nigeria. He brought it to Greece, where he
offered it for sale, but he was murdered, and the mug
disappeared. It next turned up in the possession of an Uzbek
prostitute traveling under a Formosan passport who surrendered
it to a quack in Civitavecchia in return for an alleged
aphrodisiac.

"The quack hired a Swiss, a deserter from the Vatican
Guards, to safeguard him to Quebec, where he hoped to sell the
mug to a Canadian uranium tycoon, but he disappeared en route.
Ten years later a French acrobat with a Korean passport and a
Swiss accent sold the mug in Paris. It was bought by the ninth
Duke of Stratford for one million gold francs, and has remained
in the Olivier family ever since."

"And this," De Sica asked keenly, "could be the focal point
of our connoisseur's entire collection?"

"Most definitely. I stake my reputation on it."

"Bravo! Then our plan is simplicity itself. We much
publicize a pretended sale of the Flowered Thundermug to a
prominent Hollywood East collector. Perhaps Mr. Clifton Webb is
best suited to the role. We much publicize the shipment of the
rare treasure to Mr. Webb. We bait a trap in the home of Mr.
Webb for our criminal and-Mah! we have him."

"Will the Duke and Mr. Webb cooperate?" Muni asked.

"They will. They must."

"They must? Why?"

"Because we have sold art treasures to both of them,
Professor Muni."

"I don't follow."

"My good doctor, sales today are entirely on the residual
basis. From five to fifty percent of ownership control and
resale value of all works of art remain in our possession. We
own residual rights in all those stolen objects too, which is
why they must be recovered. Do you understand now?"

"I do, and I see that I'm in the wrong business."