Read Online The Deceivers by Harold Robbins - Free Book Online

A forged antiquity has to appear properly aged, so the forger has to make it look a thousand years old in a matter of weeks or months. That’s where many stone forgers trip up—the artists can’t get that thin coating on the piece exactly right. At least in terms of coloring, we can see your piece has the right look.”
    â€œWas there anything you saw in the pictures that suggested it wasn’t created with ancient tools?”
    â€œThe artist could have used iron tools not much different than the ones used for eons.”
    I knew there were no obvious signs of modern tools but I was still picking his brain. “So basically, if it turns out the sandstone itself is from a quarry where it should have originated from, and the workmanship is on par with the craftsmen of the Khmer Empire, then the patina is what we should concentrate on.”
    â€œBut even that’s not a sure bet. Weathering causes an erosion layer at the surface that can vary from less than a millimeter up to several centimeters deep. Sometimes the environment deletes layers rather than adds them. It gets even more complicated because tomb looters sometimes clean pieces, wiping away a couple thousand years of aging, because they’re under the erroneous impression that a piece is more valuable clean than in its natural state.”
    He was seeing me out when I noticed several small art pieces on a high shelf—a bronze of the monkey general Hanuman who rescued Rama’s wife, a sandstone Buddha sitting on a wide-back chair made of a coiled cobra with fanning head, and a sandstone linga, a phallic symbol of fertility often identified with the god Siva.
    â€œThe linga’s Indian,” he said, “but the monkey general and the Buddha on the naga, the cobra, are Khmer, based on Hindu mythology. Reproductions, but I wish they were real. A foolish collector paid ten thousand for the monkey king in Hong Kong. It took me about thirty seconds to tell him it was a fake. The patina came off on my fingers when I wet it and rubbed it. He left in disgust and didn’t pay me. I guess he thought leaving an expensive fraud was payment enough.”
    â€œI just remembered something. There was some kind of marking on the back of the Apsaras relief.”
    â€œWhat kind of marking?”
    â€œI’m not positive, but it looked a little like a half-moon.”
    Bolger stared at me.
    â€œHave you seen the mark before?” I asked.
    â€œNo, of course not. It could be anything. Are you going to take my advice and walk away from this thing?”
    â€œI don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m thinking about going to that café where Sammy works.”
    He shook his head. “You didn’t listen to anything I said about how ruthless these people are. There’s no guarantee your friend Sammy even still has the piece. Hell, Maddy, there’s no guarantee Sammy is still breathing. They call double-crossers like Sammy ‘fish food’ in the Far East. That’s what they become after they’re chopped up and the pieces are tossed into the sea.”
    â€œI know, I know. To be honest, I feel like I’m spinning in circles. I can’t stand the idea of Sammy and a gang of antiquity thugs smashing works of the ages. And I’m wondering if there isn’t something in it for me.” I smiled. “Maybe the gods were telling me something when they sent Sammy to my door.”
    â€œAnd maybe they were testing your naïveté. Wasn’t your experience with Iraqi looters enough for you? Look what it cost you. This time it may be your life.”
    â€œThat’s not fair. I lost my job because I wouldn’t stand by and let a cultural treasure be lost to the Iraqi people.”
    â€œIt’s your life. Just watch yourself.”
    â€œI’ll be careful.”
    Famous last words.

7
    Bangkok, Thailand, a week earlier
    Taksin moved through the Thieves Market in the