after he left the village?â
Yersan made an impatient gesture with his hand. âYouappreciate I was only a child when this happened, so I must rely on what my father told me. Helmstetter came to the village because, according to him, it was close to a powerful place, full of magic. He stayed for many months, ingratiated himself with the villagers, hired a local boy as a guide, and set about exploring the surrounding area. He didnât divulge to my father exactly what he was seeking.â
Iâd learned from Samuel that isolated communities in the Middle East were highly suspicious of strangers, let alone Westerners. âI understand Kandovanâs a small settlement and perhaps not too trusting of people they donât know. Kind of hard to believe theyâd be taken in by Helmstetter.â
âThen youâre not very familiar with the man, obviously. He had an aura about him. He amused people with demonstrations of magic. Some admired him. Others feared him enough to stay out of his way. And he had money. He used it to burrow his way into my familyâs trust like a beautiful lizard with a poisonous bite.â
âWhat became of him?â
âI donât know. One night he simply vanished. The next day my father discovered that his prized objects were gone. As I said, my father was a simple sheep herder who in his entire life had journeyed no further than Tabriz. It was well beyond his means and ability to search for him. Now itâs your turn. Who owns the objects?â
âThat information is not mine to share.â
Yersan straightened his jacket. âThen I must ask you to go. Iâm very busy. Iâm sorry I agreed to see you at all.â Bennet tugged my arm. Before I followed her out of the room, I turned to Yersan. âI wish I could have been more help. But the confidentiality of my clients is very important, Iâm sure you understand.â
He gave me a cold look.
Our elderly greeter was nowhere to be seen, so we let ourselves out.
Fourteen
âM en.â Bennet swore as we headed down the sidewalk. âYou should have let me do the talking. I would have gotten more out of him. At least I recorded it all.â
I glanced quickly at her. I hadnât thought to tape the conversation. âHis touching story about his father braving dark caves was a complete fabrication. Nor did he strike me as the kind of guy to go around volunteering such information to complete strangers. Iâm pretty sure Yersan has no legitimate claim to the objects. But itâs nice to have a record of exactly what he said. Good thinking.â
âWhatâs his motivation then, if not to retrieve a family treasure?â Bennet said.
âGetting his hands on a fortune. I bet he first heard about the objects when Tricia Ross sent out the theft inquiry and made up his mind to make a pitch for them. The story about his being from the area is no doubt factual. Northwest Iran is known to be a primary seat for Zoroastrianism. And by the look of that flaming urn wepassed on our way in, Yersan must be a practitioner. But I still think heâs a fraud. Itâs a common scam in the antiquities world. Make a claim on objects whose provenance canât be accurately determined then threaten to tie the rightful owner up in the courts. Stall any potential sales for years. The owner decides the best course of action is to settle and part with some of the value.â
âIâm not so sure. I was watching him closely, and it seemed to me his anger was genuine. Under different circumstances I had the feeling he could be dangerous. What are you going to do about him?â
âNothing I can doâexcept stay on my guard. Maybe sic Strauss on him.â I laughed. âIâd love to see those two go head to head.â
Bennet and I hopped onto the 2 train, got off at Thirty-fourth, and headed down to West Thirtieth and the Conjuring Arts Center. The arched
Ralph J. Hexter, Robert Fitzgerald