Marie firmly gripped my hand. 揧ou抮e right.?She glared but didn抰 approach him. 揥here is it??
Phillip looked from Marie, to me, to the door, and then back down to the floor. The damp circles under his arms grew bigger, and a glistening sheen of sweat on top of his head was reflecting the light from a lamp in his living room. He was scared out of his mind.
揑桰 told you I don抰 have it anymore,?he stammered.
Marie narrowed her eyes. 揧eah, you told me already, but you didn抰 explain why you don抰 have it or what you did with it. Care to elaborate? We made a deal. You were to return that item to the museum in Ankara.?
揑 meant to,?he said quietly. He took several steps back and Marie mirrored his every move. I really hoped he wasn抰 thinking of running. She抎 be on him before he took a single step. He turned and meandered to the cramped front room of the house, where he sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. 揥e抳e known each other for a very long time, Marie.?
揧ou don抰 know me,?Marie snapped. 揥e have a professional working relationship.?
揥e do,?he said. 揂nd that抯 exactly why I would never betray your trust.?
He looked like he was about to cry.
揑 need to know where it is,?Marie said. 揑 already know you didn抰 do what I told you to do with it, so what happened? You sold it??
Phillip pressed his back into the couch. 揑桰 wanted to.?
Marie stepped toward him.
揚lease!?he shrieked. 揑t抯 valuable! So incredibly valuable! And there were buyers, and they were willing to pay whatever I asked. Do you know how tempting that is??
揇o you know how ugly you sound??Marie shot back. 揑t doesn抰 belong to you!?I stepped away from Marie. I thought she might lose it, but instead she stared at him, her brow furrowed. 揂nd who is 憈hey??she asked. 揟here was more than one buyer??
揑t was a group of three people. They wanted to purchase the pottery shard together.?
揑s that weird??I asked. I didn抰 know what was normal in the shadowy world of illegal antiquities trade.
揥ere they the buyer抯 representatives??Circe asked.
揘o,?Phillip said. 揑 think they were related. Siblings, maybe, I抦 not sure.?
揂nd you let it be known that you had the piece and waited for people to come to you with offers??Marie asked.
Phillip sighed. 揧es. But this group was the only one who actually showed up. Everyone else who arranged to see it backed out.?
Marie took a beat and then spoke in a calm monotone sort of way. 揥hen was this??
Phillip thought for a minute. 揟hree weeks ago. I arranged for a showing of the pottery shard,?he continued. 揑 met the three people in a hotel downtown. They came to my room and then棓 His eyes glazed over and he stared off.
揂nd then what??Marie asked.
揑桰 don抰 know.?
Marie crossed her arms hard over her chest. 揥hat do you mean, you don抰 know? Did you sell them the pottery or not??
Phillip gave an exasperated sigh. 揟here was money on the table, and the shard was gone ?after.?
Circe and I exchanged glances.
揟his is like pulling teeth,?Marie said. 揥hy are you acting like this? What the hell happened to you??
揑 don抰 remember what happened in the room after these people showed up,?Phillip said. 揑 think I might have been drugged. All I know is I had the pottery fragment in my suitcase. I opened the door to let in three people. We sat down at the table in my suite, and the next thing I know, I抦 lying on my back in the middle of the floor, the artifact is gone, and there抯 a stack of money on the table.?
揥ere you injured??Circe asked.
He shook his head. 揘o. I checked my head. I thought maybe they attacked me, but I抎 know if something like that happened, right??
I shrugged. Probably, but it still didn抰 make sense. He said he wasn抰 hurt, so clearly, someone hadn抰 gone upside his head.
He seemed to read the expression on my face and rolled his eyes dismissively. 揑抦 just as confused as you are, believe me. The pottery shard is gone. I have some money to show for it, but it抯 only half of what I wanted, and now 厰 He glanced up at Marie. 揂re you going to kill me??
揑抦 considering it,?she said.
Phillip jumped up from his seat and got down on his knees. He clasped his hands together in front of him. 揗arie, please! I抳e always done everything you asked! I抳e returned hundreds of items to their rightful owners. This was one small thing.?
Marie turned her back on him as he groveled at her feet. 揑t抯 not a small thing.?Her voice was low and gravelly. I had no doubt that if she turned around, her eyes would be swimming with black.
揥hat now??I asked. 揑t抯 gone. Can we try to track down the people from the hotel??I turned to him. 揇o you know their names? A phone number? Anything??