Page 32 of Traitors Gate

‘And the first fifty thousand?’ pressed Christina.

‘Will be deposited in your account when the bank opens on Monday morning.’

‘And the other half?’

‘Will follow once the copy of the Rubens has been returned to the Fitzmolean, and if Mrs Warwick feels she has to resign, I’ll throw in another twenty.’

Christina was pleased that Beth had felt unable to see her.

CHAPTER 13

TIME WASN’T ONCHRISTINA’S SIDEso when she left Miles’s flat on Cadogan Place, she immediately drove home, hastily packed an overnight case and only just remembered her passport. She was back on the street thirty minutes later and hailed a taxi.

‘Where to, miss?’ asked the cabbie.

‘Heathrow,’ she told him.

‘Which terminal?’

‘Concorde,’ said Christina, which elicited a large grin as it almost always meant a larger tip.

During the journey, Christina went over in her mind what Miles expected in return for his hundred thousand pounds, confident she’d struck a good deal. She tried not to think about how Beth would react when she discovered she’d sent the museum’s copy of Rubens’Christ’s Descent from the Crossall the way to the States only for it to be returned to the Fitzmolean forty-one hours later at the gallery’s expense.

She would make sure a board member asked Beth why she had authorized such an unnecessary expense, aware shecouldn’t afford to tell them the truth. Because if she did, she’d be left with no choice but to resign. It even crossed her mind that she might take over as chairman. After all, she’d been the only one who hadn’t voted for Beth.

When the taxi drew up outside Terminal 3, Christina handed over one of Miles’s fifty-pound notes to see the cabbie’s grin return. She entered the terminal and made her way quickly across to the dedicated Concorde ticket desk.

‘Your passport please, madam,’ said a smartly dressed assistant with silver Cs embroidered on the lapels of her navy jacket. She checked the monitor. ‘Ah yes, Mrs Faulkner, your husband called earlier and provisionally booked you on the flight. I’ll print up your ticket. Do you have any bags?’

‘Only hand luggage,’ said Christina, having already decided to purchase a new outfit while she was in New York. And thanks to Miles, she had enough cash to drop into several stores on Fifth Avenue before taking the flight back to London.

‘That will be four thousand, six hundred pounds, madam.’

‘But I thought—’

‘Your husband said you would be paying.’

‘He’s not my—’ but she didn’t bother to finish the sentence. She took one of the cellophane packets out of her bag and removed a large number of notes, before the assistant handed her a boarding pass. But she could hardly complain, because by the time she returned, her bank account would have been credited with a hundred thousand pounds. Not bad for a couple of days’ work.

‘Would all passengers travelling to New York’s JFK on flight number 001, please make your way to gate ten as the plane is now ready to board.’

• • •

William, James and Ross all arrived at Heathrow with a couple of hours to spare.

This was not a flight they could afford to be late for. William didn’t let them know that the cost of a return ticket and DHL charges had been enough to ensure his bank account was no longer in credit. However, if he came back accompanied byChrist’s Descent from the Cross, it would have been worth every penny.

The three of them sat in a corner of the departure lounge, each trying to pick flaws in their master plan, which didn’t prove too difficult as they were reminded just how much could go wrong even before they reached Faulkner’s apartment. And if they did, would they be able to switch the two paintings, then somehow get the crate out of the flat and, even trickier, out of the building and on its way back to London so the painting would be hanging on the wall of the Fitzmolean before their doors opened to the public at ten o’clock on Tuesday morning?

William tried not to think about the consequences of failure, both for himself and, more importantly, for Beth. The worst possible outcome would be having to return to London with the copy, in which case he realized Beth would feel she had no choice but to resign.

‘Would all passengers booked on United Airlines 7626 to New York please make their way to gate number twenty-three as your plane is ready for boarding.’

They were the first in line.

• • •

Christina was surprised how narrow Concorde was compared to a normal aircraft. More of a cigarette than a cigar.

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