St Kilda Consulting 04 - Blue Smoke and Murder

Dunstan did.”
    Jill made a sound that said she was too busy absorbing the paintings to waste time restating the obvious.
    Zach walked up to the two paintings, examining them from a few feet away, looking pointedly at all four corners and the edges. Then he turned toward Jase.
    “The corners look like they could be damaged,” Zach said.
    Jill took the cue and came to stand closer, staring at the corners of each painting.
    “Very doubtful,” Jase said. “These are some of the finest Dunstans in the world. They came directly from the family collection. They’ve never been offered to the public before.”
    “Yeah?” Zach said. His voice said he wasn’t buying what Jase was selling. “So the Dunstans are peddling their heritage—or are they just editing the family collection?”
    Jill bit back a smile. Editing was art-speak for culling inferior works from a museum or individual collector’s holdings.
    “Not at all,” Jase said instantly. “It’s simply that there comes a time in a man’s life where art like this is simply too precious to keep in the home. The costs of insurance alone are staggering. Lee Dunstan is a simple man with simple needs.”
    “At four million apiece, the paintings could take care of a lot of simple needs,” Jill said.
    Jase ignored her. “Lee wanted his father’s work to be in a place where it could receive top-level care and display. The new museum in Carson City is just such a place. Lee will donate two of the four Dunstans to the museum. Those are the paintings that haven’t been uncrated, because technically, they aren’t part of the auction.”
    “They won’t be sold?” Jill asked.
    “No. As I said, Mr. Dunstan will donate them at the end of the auction.”
    “What’s he waiting for?” Jill asked.
    Jase kept ignoring her and talked to Zach. “Your client should know that four million is the bottom level of acceptable bidding. We expect the paintings to go as high as ten million, perhaps higher. Talbert Crawford will be at the auction in person. He is the foremost collector of Thomas Dunstan, although there are at least three others who will be hoping to outbid him. It’s very rare that Dunstan’s work is offered at a public auction.”
    “Did Crawford have to fill out a financial qualification form?” Jill asked.
    “Of course,” Jase said. “Every bidder must. No exceptions.”
    “If we still care, my client’s personal banker will call you tomorrow morning,” Zach said casually. “She’ll answer your questions.”
    “What kinds of art does your client already own?” Jase asked.
    “Whatever he wants. He’s new to the Western art market. He wants to start at the top. Saves all the kicking and gouging.”
    Jase blinked. “Well, a major Dunstan canvas certainly would be a tremendous place to start.”
    “Depends on the Dunstan,” Zach said. “Before I give my okay to the client, I want to black-light these. You have a place where I can do that?”
    “Certainly,” Jase said. It was something any serious collector would want done with an expensive painting before the bidding began. The fact that Zach was being thorough was reassuring, underlining the earnest intentions of his client. “I’ll have the boys bring the paintings to a back room.”
    “Unframed,” Zach said.
    Jill held her breath.
    “My client never buys a painting until I see it without its frame,” Zach added calmly. “It’s like marrying a woman before you see her without makeup and designer clothes.”
    Jase almost smiled. Seeing the paintings naked, as it were, was another common demand, especially if the potential buyer was concerned about the condition of the canvas or stretchers. Framing could—and did—hide or minimize defects.
    A snap of Jase’s fingers brought two young men trotting over. Under his supervision, they popped the canvases out of their frames and stood by, waiting for more orders.
    “Follow me,” Jase said.
    Zach and Jill fell in behind the young men with the canvases. They went down another hallway to a narrow back room where paintings were uncrated and cleaned, repaired, even reframed ifnecessary. As with real estate and used cars, curbside appeal was all-important to selling art.
    If it looked dingy, it sold at a dingy price.
    An armed guard sat on a folding chair just inside the door. He nodded to Jase and ignored everyone else.
    Easels were scattered throughout the room. Two other people were examining various unframed paintings. One of them