"All that good stuff was there the last time I saw the collection,"
Gresham said. "What do you say, Pierre?"
"I had the Hall pistol in my hands," Pierre said. "And I remember looking
at the Rappahannock Forge."
Trehearne broke in to ask how many English dog-locks there were, and if
the snaphaunce Highlander and the big all-steel wheel lock were still
there. At the same time, Cabot was inquiring about the Springfield 1818
and the Virginia Manufactory pistols.
"I'll have a complete, itemized list in a few days," Rand said. "In the
meantime, I'd like a couple of you to look at the collection and help me
decide what's missing. I'm going to try to catch the thief, and then get
at the fence through him."
"Think Rivers might have gotten the pistols?" Gresham asked. "He's the
crookedest dealer I know of."
"He's the crookedest dealer anybody knows of," Rand amended. "The only
thing, he's a little too anxious to buy the collection, for somebody
who's just skimmed off the cream."
"Ten thousand dollars isn't much in the way of anxiety," Cabot said. "I'd
call that a nominal bid, to avoid suspicion."
"The dope's changed a little on that." Rand brought him up to date.
"Rivers's offer is now twenty-five thousand.
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