hoped she would let me stand in for her. She hesitated just long enough to make me wonder what I had said about the busi- ness and gave me the directions I would be expected to require if I hadn't two hats in the ring, each distinctly different from the other. In return I gave her a va- gue description of myself, but explained I would have the firms car that I hoped she might accept as a common point of contact. This might lead on other occas- ions to a faint suspicion and ul- timately to a reading if care was taken, especially near the house, but I tried to keep such approxi- mations from occurring close to home except at times when the light was changing and hope I had no acquaintences with a pen- chant for numbers, especially car number plates.

After a peaceful night to make up for the other restless ones or perhaps because of the need for sleep I awoke refreshed and after a snack, drove up to the appoint- ed hotel only a few minutes early, to find Marie sitting on the sunlit verandah in a worsted suit with pleated skirt and "sensible" shoes for wandering round show- rooms with variable surfaces, looking superbe and obviously the center of attraction for the various males up and about at that hour. I went in to the hotel and was brought to her as arrang- ed and I was glad to be able to show my interest properly, al- though I was also sorry to see she obviously accepted this as her due, and I felt a little put out. She thanked me for com- ing to her aid and I said she might be able to help as she had seen what Winifred had seen and "I only had her report". At the auction she was a great help in

the way she attracted attention by just being herself, allowing me to bid away almost unno- ticed, a very useful asset if you are not part of a ring, and I pre- fer to deal in objects that are barely worth the bother of a ring where you have the real auction afterwards in a pub and the proceeds are divided equally among the group after that. I took Marie out for a meal and discussed the antique world as she saw it, but I felt she seemed preoccupied and did not seem as happy as I know I was, she also stopped in mid sentence at times and took quite a time to finish whatever she had been about to say. I must admit I felt she lack- ed the vivacity I had noticed at the beginning of the week, but did not push too hard on our first official meeting, trying to keep everything going until I could make firmer plans. My ob- vious delight in her company seemed to have little effect but at least she agreed to let me con- tact her next week, though she qualified this, with the phrase "providing nothing shows up to take her back home." That eve- ning I returned earlier than in- tended to the house to prepare for Cicelia, and the news from "the Smoke" though she might be delayed if she had been suc- cessful in the hunt and I might have to go there myself to check the possibility of there being a London link in the crimes, as there usually is if there is any length of time in the activities, or expansion in the field. I stayed in anyway as there was no other communication point until the pubs were in full action and everyone gathered in from their travels, and I did have a few things from todays outing that I

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was sure I could move easily even though I was not much fur- ther with either my romance or my detective work. I could al- ways check some of the cata- logues. The house had a lot of awkward shaped cubboards, as well my private store and even had a fairly effective cellar that was entered through a trap door made from a hinged flagstone where I could keep many old ob- jects safely cool and yet venti- lated. Down in this space I kept heaps of catalogues too, and when all else is forbidden I go there and among the treasures I hope to keep, work out the posi- tion of various pieces I am look- ing for at a particular time, as over months it is possible to see if any new collector is gathering up certain objects, but I could not see any sign of any jade go- ing in new directions it was all the old familiar names. I was go- ing to have to visit some of them to see if they could help my search for pieces to start a collec- tion, if no sales appeared soon, but I doubted if they would be glad to know there was more competition in a cutthroat field anyway. Cicelia rang to say she would be down about midday to- morrow and hoped to have a lead by then after checking about Hampstead in the morning I said I would see how the pub was doing but I doubted if there would be much. It was a fair evening and the pub was crowd- ed but I got little useful data and Timmer got some more on ac- count, though he had little to offer of real use, everything seemed to be quiet, and I hoped this was not before the storm. I got back to the house before midnight, and slept soundly until the post person arrived very early