McAdams had already pulled out his iPad. “Twelve thousand religious items and fifty thousand books assembled over two centuries by the Chasidic movement are in the Russian Library in Moscow. In 1991, a Moscow court ordered the library to turn over the items to Chabad, but then the Soviet Union collapsed and the judgment was set aside by the Russians. Then an American court sided with Chabad, but the Russians are refusing to honor the judgment claiming America has no jurisdiction in Russia.”

“That means loaned art—especially Russian art—might be seized in America,” Merritt said. “It really has had grave consequences for museum loans.”

“Such a pity,” Rina said.

Decker couldn’t quite hold back the smile. “Mr. Merritt, what can you tell me about the other two men left off the list? The names look Russian.”

“They are Russian and, honestly, I don’t remember them. Obviously they bought from me a while ago but I can’t place their names with faces.”

“Let me get this straight,” Oliver said. “They bought Russian art from you here in the United States and took it back to Russia?”

“I have better art than most of the Russian dealers. Like I told you, the crème de la crème was bought by my grandfather when no one wanted it.”

“If these men are clients, you must have invoice files on them,” Decker said.

“I should.” He sat down at his desk. After a minute, he sighed. “Their files are gone.” He looked at Tyler. “Perhaps you can find previous files?”

“You read my mind,” McAdams said. He poked away on the keyboard. “I can’t find any copies. Maybe he trashed them.” He kept typing. “Nothing in the recycle bin.” He looked up. “You could get an expert to go into the hard drive and see what was erased, but I can’t do it.”

“Are we done?” Merritt asked.

“For the moment.” Decker nodded. “Thank you.”

“Do I still get my free book or have you changed your mind?” Rina asked.

“Of course.” Merritt smiled. “I admire your grit.”

“Tell that to my husband.”

The crew left the gallery in search of a place open for an early lunch. McAdams said, “At least, we’ve narrowed down the list to three names.”

“Good work, Harvard.”

“I did the work, but I wasn’t the creative part of the equation.”

“A-hem,” Rina said.

Decker laughed. “Thank you very much, my brilliant wife.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So where does that leave us now?” McAdams asked.

“We’ve got names,” Decker said. “We do it the old-fashioned way: legwork. Or in your case, McAdams, we can call it wheel work.”

Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

NO MISSING PERSONS report has been filed,” Cindy told him. “How long has this Victor Gerrard been out of contact?”

“Around ten days to two weeks.” There was a pause on the line and Decker knew what Cindy was thinking, what any cop would be thinking.