“As I told you, Russia was in terrible straits. The country needed fuel. Thousands of religious items were burned for heat. What wasn’t incinerated was thrown away as obsolete relics of an undesirable past. Wilson and my grandfather August made it their mission to save as many of those works as they could from total destruction. Of course that included items from churches left to rot. August wasn’t a thief, he was a hero.”

Decker looked up from his notepad. “Anyone specific who’s spreading the gossip? Some names would go a long way.”

“I have no proof. So I take the high road. Having been a victim of the rumor mill, I loathe hurting anyone even if that person or persons deserve it.”

“How about if I name a name.”

“I can’t stop you, can I?”

“Chase Goddard. What do you know about him?”

“No comment.”

“Do you know if he’s ever purchased stolen items?”

“I know of one case where he bought a very expensive pair of French silver candlesticks from the seventeenth century. They had been stolen from a Catholic church in the Chicago area. But as soon as it came to light, he refunded the money to his seller and gave the items back to the church.”

“Was it an honest mistake?”

“It could have been. It could have also been prevented had he done proper homework.”

“How was he caught?”

“The whole thing came to light when someone saw the items on an old website.” Merritt looked at him. “And you didn’t hear that from me.”

McAdams said, “Was this when he was in New York?”

“Yes,” Merritt said. “It happened about six or seven years ago before he went under.”

“His New York gallery went under, but the website of his current gallery in Boston has a lot of inventory.”

“So you’ve noticed.”

“Care to speculate?” Decker asked.

“I’ll leave the hearsay to others.”

“Have you ever done business with him?”

“Good heavens, no.”

“Has he ever approached you for business?”

“Several times . . . minor icons. I wasn’t interested for a variety of reasons.”

“What constitutes a minor icon?” Decker asked.

“Too recent of an age, poorly done images, and the piece as a whole is in bad shape.”

He stopped talking. Decker waited for him to continue. Merritt finally said, “There was a onetime exception to the trash he usually showed me. It was when he was still in New York and his reputation hadn’t yet been so sullied. But he was still someone we all watched.”

“What happened?” McAdams asked.

“Goddard claimed that he had just gotten back from a European buying spree. He presented me with a truly magnificent icon. I won’t go into the specifics but it was spectacular. The detail, the color, and the artist.” A deep sigh. “I still bristle when I think of the lost opportunity.”

“Why didn’t you buy it?”