Mercer was with Elaine, Rick, and Graham in the safe house, playing gin rummy and killing time. They had been told of the arrests but did not know the details. Bradshaw called at eleven, spoke with Elaine, and filled in most of the missing pieces. Things were obviously happening fast. There were a lot of unanswered questions. Tomorrow was the big day. As for Mercer, Bradshaw said, “Get her off the island.”

2.

They watched the store even more closely throughout Tuesday, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. No more thieves lurking around, no suspicious packages shipped. A UPS truck delivered six boxes of books at 10:50, but left with nothing. Cable was upstairs and down, helping customers, reading as always in his favorite spot, and of course he left for lunch at 12:15, returning an hour later.

At five, Lamar Bradshaw and Derry Vanno entered the store and asked Cable if they could have a word. Quietly, Bradshaw said, “FBI.” They followed him to the First Editions Room, where he closed the door. He asked for identification and they whipped out their badges. Vanno handed over a search warrant and said, “We’re here to search the basement.”

Still standing, Bruce asked, “Okay, and what might you be looking for?”

“Stolen manuscripts, from the collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald, property of the Princeton library,” Bradshaw said.

Bruce laughed and without missing a beat said, “Are you serious?”

“Do we look serious?”

“I guess you do. Mind if I read this?” He waved the search warrant.

“Go right ahead. And as of now, we have five agents in the store, including us.”

“Well, make yourself at home. There’s coffee upstairs.”

“We know.”

Bruce sat at his desk and read the search warrant. He took his time, flipped pages, and gave a good impression of being unconcerned. When he finished, he said, “Okay, it’s fairly straightforward.” He stood and stretched and thought about what to do next. “It’s limited to the vault in the basement, right?”

“That’s correct,” Bradshaw said.

“There’s a lot of valuable stuff down there, and, well, you guys are famous for trashing a place when you go in with warrants.”

“You watch too much television,” Vanno said. “We know what we’re doing, and if you cooperate no one else in the store will even know we’re here.”

“I doubt that.”

“Let’s go.”

Clutching the search warrant, Bruce led them to the back of the store, where they were met by three more agents, all dressed casually. Bruce ignored them and unlocked the door to the basement. He flipped a light switch and said, “Watch your step.” In the basement he turned on more lights and stopped at the door to the vault, where he punched in the code. He opened the vault, turned on its light, and when all five agents were crowded inside he waved at the walls and said, “Those are all rare first editions. Nothing of interest, I suppose.” One agent removed a small video camera and began filming the interior of the vault.