The Mirror

Chapter 6: Reflection in a Mirror

Federal Building. February 16, 2005. Wednesday afternoon.

"Who's Raquel LaRoque?"

Peter sat back and prepared to be regaled. Neal had sauntered into his office to report on what happened during his meeting with Keller while Travis downloaded the recording from his watch. Not wanting to wait, Neal was giving Peter a dramatic rendition, even imitating Keller's raspy whine.

After a rocky start to the day when Neal had, in Peter's view, overreacted to Henry finding out about Keller, he was pleased to see the transformation. Neal was once more entrenched in his con artist persona—flippant and brash. Even though Peter knew he was simply playing a role, he welcomed the change. It took the pressure off him too. As long as Neal could maintain it, the probability of success skyrocketed in their favor.

"Raquel's an Egyptologist." He paused for a moment to eye Peter. "You might call her a fence, but I don't view her that way. I met her in Berlin."

Peter suppressed the groan in the making. "How familiar are the two of you?"

"We met because of a mutual interest in papyrus scrolls. It's been almost three years since I saw her. Keller said she arrived in New York last night. That's why he was waiting to fill me in."

"Were you two an item?"

"No. We flirted. She thought I was a little young. She might not think so now."

"So if I'm following you correctly, not only does Keller want you to steal a priceless artifact from the Met, but he's also requested you steal a ring from a friend."

"Not just any ring," Neal corrected. "A green jasper and gold finger ring inscribed with the image of Ptah. Keller showed me photos of it. It's from the Late Period—I'd place it in the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. The stone swivels so that either side can be displayed. On the back side is the name of Amun-Re. Ptah in Ancient Egypt was the god of creation and craftsmen. He wouldn't be a bad god for me to adopt."

Peter held up a hand. "Hold off on the history lesson for now. Do you have photos of it?"

"No, Keller's not dumb enough to give them to me. He'd suspect I'd try to forge it, and he's right. That's exactly what I plan to do anyway. I'll convince Raquel to let me examine and photograph the ring. Then I'll prepare a forgery for Keller."

"Why does Keller think you'd steal the ring, hand it over to him, and then turn around and rob the Met for him? If you went to the trouble of stealing them, wouldn't he expect you to sell them yourself?"

Neal shrugged. "Demanding a preliminary score is not that unusual for someone like him, and the fees he's agreed to pay me are extravagant sums of money by black market standards. Keller has a ready buyer and for a famous item such as the mirror, that can be difficult to find. He's offering me much more than I could expect to obtain if I fenced them on my own." Neal rested his cheek on his propped-up fist. "I'd love to know who Keller's buyer is."

"Has he told you anything about the buyer?"

"Only that he's from the Middle East. Keller's too smart to reveal his identity. He'd expect me to cut him out of the loop."

"How will you locate Raquel?"

"I'm familiar with some of her contacts and Mozzie knows even more."

"Is the ring stolen?"

Neal sat back and smiled. "Define stolen."

"Don't play word games with me," Peter warned. He was trying to cut him some slack, but Neal the con artist was much more slippery than Neal the art authenticator.