Page 46 of End Game
‘Not even Mr Bean playing the keyboard with the London Symphony Orchestra?’ asked Beth. ‘He brought the house down.’
He wasn’t the only one who nearly brought the house down, thought William, but he satisfied himself with, ‘No. We had one or two problems this end.’
‘You would never have known, watching the ceremony on television,’ said Beth. ‘Over breakfast, Peter was raving about James Bond and the Queen jumping out of a helicopter.’
‘What’s breakfast?’ asked William innocently.
‘A time when families get together over a meal and tell each other what they will be doing that day.’
‘So, whatareyou all doing today?’ asked William, feeling even more guilty. He kept his eyes on the CCTV screens in front of him as he listened, just in case.
‘Artemisia phoned to say she’s found a way of sneaking into the athletes’ village. Says it’s her only hope of getting an exclusive.’
I could have given her an exclusive last night, thought William, but he simply said, ‘Did she tell you how she proposes to do that?’
‘Are you asking as a father or as a policeman?’
‘Both,’ admitted William.
‘Well, she did ask if she could borrow some money to buy a pair of the latest Adidas trainers, but she wouldn’t tell me why.’
‘They’re part of the British Olympic team’s official kit,’ said William, who by now had a good idea of exactly what his daughter must be up to. ‘But why doesn’t she put them on her expenses? After all, theDaily Mail’s pockets are far deeper than ours.’
‘She wants to prove herself first. Anyway, she’s promised to pay me back once her “exclusive” hits the front page.’
‘Can you remember a time,’ said William, ‘when Arte paid us back for anything? Our only hope is that she’ll end up marrying a rich man.’
‘As Artemisia is far too independent to take a penny of Robert’s money, and Robert is far too proud to rely on hisfamily’s money, I expect we’ll have to go on paying her “little expenses” for some years to come.’
‘Do you think Robert and Arte will tie the knot at some point?’ asked William.
‘Who knows with her generation,’ offered Beth, ‘but I remain hopeful.’
‘Fathers are usually convinced no one’s good enough for their daughters, but in Robert’s case, it’s the other way round.’
‘You don’t fool me,’ said Beth. ‘You adore Arte.’
‘Guilty as charged, but that isn’t what I said.’ William glanced up again at the CCTV screens, trying to do two things at once. ‘So, how’s your sell-out exhibition going, dare I ask?’
‘Almost as well as yours,’ replied Beth. ‘Tickets are selling at double the price on the black market, and we’ve even got touts trading on the pavement outside the gallery. And one other rather interesting thing has happened today that I thought you might like to know about, bearing in mind that you don’t believe in coincidences.’
‘Why don’t you add to my problems?’ teased William.
‘This morning, I received a letter from the Russian Embassy to let me know that when our exhibition closes, we should hold onto Van Gogh’s self-portrait and not return it to the Hermitage along with their other pictures, as it will be collected at a later date by a third party.’
‘Did they name the third party?’ asked William.
‘They did,’ said Beth, ‘a certain Mr Booth Watson QC, and there are no prizes for guessing who he represents. What I don’t know, though I suspect you do, is whether he’s purchasing the painting with money or with something else.’
William was just about to make a noncommittal reply when another phone began to ring. ‘Sorry, my darling,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to go.’
‘Inspector Stuart, sir,’ said a voice William didn’t recognize, when he picked up the other phone. ‘We’ve got a problem in Glasgow.’
‘What kind of problem, Inspector?’
‘I’m the security officer at Hampden Park, where the North Korean women’s football team is playing Colombia in their opening fixture. I didn’t imagine there would be any problems with a first-round match, especially as the stadium is almost empty, but …’
‘But …’ repeated William.
