The Dark Lady

with you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then why the hell haven't you brought it out?” he demanded.
    “I was under the impression that you and Tai Chong had not yet negotiated a price for it,” I said.
    “So what? She'll try to rob me, I'll counteroffer, and we'll haggle for a few hours, but we all know I'm going to buy it in the end.”
    “I shall have to ask Tai Chong for guidance in this matter,” I said.
    “Your boss is cooling her heels in a Kennicott jail, in case you hadn't heard.”
    “I am aware of that.”
    “Then you must also be aware of the fact that she isn't due out for a couple of more days,” continued Abercrombie. He glared at me. “I'm not prepared to wait that long. I want it now !”
    “I do not have the authority to give it to you,” I said apologetically. “In the absence of Tai Chong, that decision must be made by Hector Rayburn.”
    “Where is he?”
    “I do not know.”
    “Will he be at the gallery tomorrow?”
    “Yes, he will.”
    “Get his permission the second he walks in the door,” said Abercrombie, “and then come directly over to my place with the painting. Is that clear?”
    “Yes, Mr. Abercrombie,” I said. “It is perfectly clear.”
    “Tomorrow morning,” he said ominously, and broke the connection.
    I went back to my room for the night, and, after getting Rayburn's consent, delivered the painting to Abercrombie the next morning as he had ordered.
    The next two days passed uneventfully as I continued searching unsuccessfully for representations of the Dark Lady.
    On the morning that Tai Chong was due to return, Heath stopped in at the gallery and sought me out.
    “Hello, Friend Valentine,” I said, looking up from my desk computer. “I trust you have been well.”
    He nodded. “And you?”
    “Quite well,” I said, wondering why he had come to the gallery.
    “Have you been in touch with Venzia since you landed?”
    “I speak with him every night, Friend Valentine.”
    “Interesting man,” said Heath.
    “Yes, he is,” I agreed. “Is there something I can do for you, Friend Valentine?”
    “As a matter of fact, there is,” he replied, “I heard from my attorneys again last night. Most of the charges have been dropped, but my funds are still frozen.” He paused. “ All my funds, not just those on Charlemagne.” He shook his head in wonderment. “They even found that account I had on Spica II.”
    “I regret that I cannot lend you any money, Friend Valentine,” I said. “But all of my salary is sent to the House of Crsthionn. Even my room and meals are billed to Claiborne, which deducts them before forwarding payment to my Pattern Mother.”
    “I don't want a loan,” said Heath irritably. “I need money, not favors.”
    “I do not understand,” I said, though of course I did.
    “Do I have to spell it out for you?” he said. “I want you to help me beat Abercrombie's security system.”
    “I cannot help you, Friend Valentine,” I said. “Perhaps Reuben Venzia can find work for you.”
    “Heaths don't work, ” he said disdainfully. “They spend. ”
    “I am very sorry for you, Friend Valentine,” I replied, “but I cannot be a party to robbery.”
    “I thought we were friends.”
    “Friends do not encourage friends to break the law,” I pointed out. “I will not allow my ethical code to be eroded by my association with you. The fact that I like you does not imply that I am willing to help you commit a crime against a man whom I dislike.”
    “Spare me your lectures,” said Heath with an expression of distaste.
    “Then allow me to make a practical observation, Friend Valentine,” I said. “Even if you were to rob Malcolm Abercrombie, you would still not have any money. You would have only his paintings.”
    “Which I would then convert into money.”
    “How? They are insured.”
    “Tai Chong has handled delicate problems like this for me in the past.”
    “Not with paintings that were stolen from her own clients,” I replied.
    “You'd be surprised.”
    “Possibly I would be,” I said unhappily. “But I will not help you.”
    He sighed. “All right, Leonardo. I'll just have to do it alone.”
    “You will be apprehended and incarcerated.”
    “Not necessarily. I've cracked tougher systems before.”
    “If you thought you could steal the paintings without my help, you wouldn't have asked me for it,” I said.
    “Your help would have made it much easier,” he said. “That doesn't mean it's impossible.” He