"Only when we meet," Pitt said, laughing.

"What brings you here this time of night?" asked Perlmutter, winking at Julia. "It couldn't have been my witty conversation."

"No," Pitt agreed, "it was to see if you ever heard of a ship that left China sometime around nineteen forty-eight with a cargo of historical Chinese art and then vanished."

Perlmutter held the port in front of his eyes and swirled it around in his glass. His eyes took on a reflective expression as his encyclopedic mind delved into his brain cells. "I seem to recall that the name of the ship was the Princess Dou Wan. She went missing with all hands somewhere off Central America. No trace of ship or crew was ever found."

"Was there a record of her cargo?"

Perlmutter shook his head. "The word that she was carrying a rich cargo of antiquities came from unsubstantiated reports only. Vague rumors actually. No evidence ever came to light to suggest it was true."

"How do you call it?" asked Pitt.

"Another mystery of the sea. There is very little I can tell you except the Princess Dou Wan was a passenger ship that had seen her day and was scheduled for the scrap yard. A pretty ship, in her prime she was known as the queen of the China Sea."

"Then how did she end up lost off Central America?"

Perlmutter shrugged. "As I said, another mystery of the sea."

Pitt shook his head vigorously. "I disagree. If there is an enigma, it is man-made. A ship simply doesn't vanish five thousand miles from where she is supposed to be."

"Let me dig out the record on the Princess. I believe it's in a book stacked under the piano." He lifted his bulk off a thankful chair and ambled out of the dining room. In less than two minutes, Pitt and Julia heard his voice roar out through the hall from another room. "Ah, here it is!"

"With all these books, he knows exactly where to find the one he's looking for?" she asked in amazement.

"He can tell you the title of every book in the house," said Pitt with certainty, "its exact location and what number it lies from the top of its stack or from the right side of its shelf."

Pitt had no sooner finished speaking than Perlmutter came into the room, his elbows brushing both frames of the doorway simultaneously. He held up a thick, leather-bound book. The title, lettered in gold, read, History of the Orient Shipping Lines. "This is the only official record I've ever come across on the Princess Dou Wan that gives details of her years afloat." Perlmutter sat down at the table, opened the book and began reading aloud.