Artnapping (7 page)

‘Right. As in pack mules. Anyway, while Customs concentrated on the seven Japanese passengers from the tour group, another passenger Mr Yap slipped quietly out of the airport and into Sydney.'

‘Who was he?'

‘Mr Yap, the man I was chasing. Your Mr Brut. He's a Malaysian national.

He sat with the Japanese in the economy section of the Boeing 747-400.'

Christopher recognised the type of plane. That's what they were travelling on to Tokyo. Once it was cleared.

Gloria continued. ‘He pretended he didn't know them. While Mr Yap went to his Sydney hotel, members of the Japanese group were being interviewed by the INTERPOL.'

Christopher was getting excited too. This was a real action adventure. He could picture the players in his head. On THEIR plane, Mr Brut had not spoken to Mr KEI either. Was that a clue?

Gloria went on. ‘According to the Japanese tourists, it was a terrible mistake. They had been tricked by Wang, a business man. When their bags were damaged in transit from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur, Wang offered to replace the bags free of charge with the Samsonite bags. The group had no idea that bags had been professionally packed with heroin in K.L. Or so they said.'

That gave Christopher an idea. ‘Could I have another look at the photos?

Sometimes FAST-FOTO places put the time the film is put in and the time it will be ready on the envelope. Look!' he pointed to the figures. ‘And it says reprints.'

‘Well done Chris,' said Gloria. ‘That proves Mr Wang was in the airport at that time this morning.'

‘Or someone pretending to be Mr Wang and getting a Ming vase photo printed for him,' added Amy. She looked closely at the photo.

‘Strange,' mused Gloria. ‘Often minor theft is linked in with major illegal operations. ‘

Gloria pulled out the samurai sword from Red's bag.

‘Antique. More than one hundred years old. No duty on this. INTERPOL is only interested in stolen antiques. Samurai swords are in great demand by collectors. That's why Tess was watching so closely. There is now a sword finding organisation in Japan. Australian soldiers collected them from Japanese soldiers during the Second World War . Now, Japanese families want to get them back, for historical reasons.'

‘Are they worth much? ‘Amy was interested that Gloria had mentioned Tess watching so closely. They MUST be working together.

Some are worth about a million! Certain antique ones,' said Gloria.

Amy whistled. ‘Each?'

Gloria nodded. ‘Very valuable. But also classified as a weapon. He should not have been allowed through security. Usually we confiscate weapons and hold them until the end of the journey. Someone slipped up.'

What if there were something INSIDE the artefact? Amy examined it closely.

It was quite heavy, and carved.

‘Where did Red get it from?' asked Christopher. ‘Was it stolen?'

‘That's what we'd like to know.' replied Gloria. ‘If it's stolen, INTERPOL would be interested. In fact, INTERPOL is the reason I was in the airport this morning. Catching the heroin dealers was just luck.' Gloria explained about the break-in at a gallery in Amsterdam. The thief knew which artwork he wanted. The thief was caught on the video camera but INTERPOL couldn't match him with any known art thief. So it was a one-off.'

‘You mean he'll never rob again?' Amy was thoughtful.

‘Probably not. Had a buyer organised beforehand.' Gloria flipped through her electronic Y notepad. Gloria always had the latest hi tech stuff. ‘Customs Intelligence and Investigation Section help INTERPOL when they put out an alert. So we're looking for the stolen Ming vase. And someone flashing their money around.'

‘Ming vase?' said the twins together.

‘A special one from an Asian ancestor shrine. This was sold to the

Amsterdam gallery who thought it was the remains of a broken pair. Now it's thought there are two. Both are thought to have come from a family shrine. Originally they might have been in the family for many, many generations.S o perhaps a collector paid the thief a lot of money to get the one to make the pair.'' ‘A collector? ‘ Amy felt the paper of Mr Ng's ad. crackle in her pocket.

She fished out the clipping and showed the ad to Gloria.

‘How timely.' Gloria said. ‘Today's newspaper?'

Amy checked the date. ‘Yesterday's.' She also looked more closely at the address and phone number of Mr Ng. The numbers reminded her. She borrowed the FAST FOTO envelope to check. Yes, she was right!

‘If you see anything suspicious, let me know. INTERPOL wants the vase too,' said Gloria.

‘What are these vases worth? asked Christopher.

‘One is not worth as much as the pair. Perhaps quarter of a million.'

For the one?' Amy's calculator brain was working. ‘Radical!'

Gloria nodded. ‘For two it's more than double that. They're usually carried in an aluminium case with a sponge filling to protect the vase. Or it might be foam rubber. ‘

‘Who might be carrying it?'

‘A courier who is paid just for the trip.'

Tess! Amy remembered the silver case. She also remembered the way that Tess had stuffed it away, as if she didn't want anyone else to see it. That was suspicious. And yet, Tess had helped catch Mr Yap-Brut. Perhaps she was on Gloria's side?

Chapter 9

‘I heard Tess use your name,' said Amy as Gloria rubbed her sore ankle. ‘Oh, is your ankle okay?'

‘I'll survive. ‘Gloria rubbed her ankle. She ignored the mention of Tess. ‘We've been chasing Mr Big.'

‘Brut?' asked the astonished twins.

‘No, he's only working FOR Mr Big. After we made those drug courier arrests off the plane from Malaysia, we wanted to discover Mr Big, the buyer of the heroin. So we replaced the drug with white powder. The bags were sent on to the Sydney hotel where the group was booked in.

‘What happened next?' interrupted Amy. Christopher looked sideways at her and said ‘Shhh.' Amy was always interrupting with questions.

‘Mr Yap had booked into the same hotel, hours earlier. The police set up phone taps .They found that Mr Yap and the drug couriers were connected.

A caller from Malaysia had been contacting Mr Yap in room 204, and then asking to be connected to the group in room 304.They then found the group had been on the same flight and that Mr Yap was carrying Wang's business card.'

‘Did they catch them all?' asked Christopher excitedly.

‘No. Mr Yap rang Malaysia to warn Wang not to fly into Sydney and onto Tokyo as planned. Detectives worked out that Wang was due into Sydney the next day. Mr Yap cut short his trip and tried to fly to Tokyo. That's why we were chasing him. The others were arrested earlier at the airport.

‘He was travelling under the name BRUT,' added Christopher. ‘He was the chunky man sitting next to Mr Kei, the courier.'

‘Well done,' said Gloria smiling. ‘We'll check that out. There's an INTERPOL alert on Wang. He's wanted for questioning in connection with importing the heroin. He also has links with the Amsterdam gallery theft. We do have a clue. One of the phone calls revealed that he would be on this flight to Tokyo. ‘Our flight?'

‘Yes.'

‘Is he travelling as Mr Wang?'

‘No. He's got several illegal passports.'

‘What other name does he use?'

‘That's what I'm trying to find out.' admitted Gloria. ‘Perhaps you can do some sleuthing again ?'

‘Ace! Did you have anything to do with our ‘mist' ?' Amy was curious. Had Gloria deliberately arranged an excuse to make the plane return to Sydney to catch Mr Wang?

‘Mist?' Gloria looked surprised. ‘No. That was a mistake by the cleaners. They used the wrong detergent solution. It blew through the plane once it heated.'

The twins wondered where Tess had gone. She'd been so helpful chasing BRUT. But she'd warned them not to ask any questions until Tokyo.

Asking Gloria wasn't quite the same as asking Tess.

‘Is Tess one of your undercover people?' they asked Gloria.

But Gloria didn't answer that. So she probably was.

Chapter 10

In the transit lounge, the worried tour director was working out Sydney-Tokyo time differences with his calculator

‘I have people on the inside helping me,' said Gloria in a low voice. 'On the flight to Tokyo.'

‘Us?' suggested Christopher quickly. Gloria smiled. ‘Someone else was put in there earlier in the flight. Even before the plane left Sydney.'

Who could that be? It must be Tess. Why else would she have run after Brut?

‘Is the missing Ming vase anything to do with the R.P.G. group?' asked Amy.

‘Why do you say that?' replied Gloria.

‘One of the framed photos that the Japanese wedding couples had by mistake was a photo of a Ming vase.'

‘Really?' said Gloria. ‘What is the link?'

‘The other photos really belonged to Red . They swapped them afterwards.' said Amy getting excited. But what Christopher said next spoiled her excitement.

‘Red had ALL the wedding photos, but perhaps not all the other photos belonged to him. If the photo envelopes were mixed up at the airport shop, perhaps the one about the Ming vase was nothing to do with him?'

Amy wasn't convinced even by the time that William arrived with the meal vouchers. Gloria nodded at him and moved away quickly. At the time,Amy didn't think that was suspicious.

‘Here you are.' offered William. The vouchers were for free meals at the airport restaurant. ‘Use them whenever you like.'

Hamburger with chips, icecream with chocolate sauce and a coke was not the kind of meal Aunty Viv would let them have. The twins enjoyed it. Amy had double chocolate sauce!

Through the restaurant window, they saw Gloria carrying Red's bag and approaching the R.P.G.s. Quickly they handed in their meal vouchers and joined her.

‘A bit heavy for dress- ups? ‘Gloria touched the heavily carved sword.

‘For role-playing,' corrected Red. ‘In our games, we play different roles.Thanks for getting it back. For my new SCORNFUL SAMURAI game, we needed a sword. One of the characters was a samurai, a Japanese warrior. Usually we just make do with balsa wood or toy ones. But I was offered the use of this, just for my demo. game in Tokyo. Then I had to promise Grandad to return it to the actual Japanese family. They wanted it to go to the Samurai Sword Society. They're collecting all the old samurai swords.' Red ran his hand gently over the carving. Then he polished it with the end of his red cape.

‘What was it doing in Australia?' asked Gloria.

‘My grandfather brought it back, as a war souvenir.' Red kept polishing. ‘Is it his, or does it belong to the Japanese family?'

Red looked a bit embarrassed. ‘These swords are very special to the families. Keep them for hundreds of years. So Grandad thinks it should go back to the family now. ‘

‘So why were you hiding it? Scared security would say it's a weapon? They should have held it until you reached Tokyo, wouldn't they?.'

Red went redder. ‘My new game is set in ancient Tokyo. We practised it at home. I took photos of the costumes. That's when Grandad gave me the sword. But then we entered for the Confest in Tokyo. I wanted to use the real sword once and then give it back. The game is a sort of display for my game-creating. I need lots of orders to pay for our expenses.'

‘That sword could get damaged, just playing around,' Samuel had arrived and was playing the expert. ‘Must be shown at security.'

Red shook his head. ‘We're very careful. It was wrapped up in my pyjamas. My red ones. And put in my bag.'

Samuel exploded. ‘But these samurai swords are worth thousands if sold through a dealer or at auction.'

‘Dollars or yen?' asked Christopher quickly.

‘Both. Perhaps even more. You can't just heave it around in an airline bag.' Samuel liked playing the art expert . ‘It would be safer sold through my shop.'

‘I thought it would be safer with me. We took some photos last night too. As evidence.' Red was beginning to look worried. He stopped polishing.

‘Evidence of what?' asked Gloria.

‘That the sword had been returned from Australia. And from my Grandad. We've got one of him standing in front of his country town sign. So the Japanese family would know where it had come from.'

Amy remembered the photo that the wedding tour group had received by mistake. ‘Now I suppose we'll have to pay a fortune in duty to get it into Japan. We haven't got much spare cash. Used it on buying film, even though I get cut rates at FAST-FOTO. And Grandad's only on a pension. So we were going to smuggle it back to Japan in my hand luggage.'

For someone who planned strategy games, Red was not very practical. Amy told him about not having to pay duty on antiques. He sighed with relief.

‘Wouldn't the Sword Society ask you how you smuggled the sword back into the country? And the family?' asked Christopher.

‘Probably,' Red shrugged. ‘Too late then. Not my problem.'

‘Look after your belongings .' said Gloria.' Anyone could have stooped down and taken the photos, if they'd known what to look for. That's what BRUT did, but he took the whole bag because he was in such a hurry. Tess saw him. She thought he was stealing the antique sword and took off after him.'

‘Why was Tess interested in the sword?' asked Amy. That was another piece of the jigsaw she needed to fit together. ‘Did she think he was just a thief?'

‘Ask her yourself,' suggested Gloria.' She'll be getting off in Tokyo.'

That was another clue, thought the twins. If Gloria knew what Tess was doing, then maybe they were working together?

‘In the Golden Buddha story, she told us about something hidden inside something else. Did she think there was something inside the sword?' suggested Christopher.

‘Maybe inside something, but not necessarily the sword,' Gloria smiled.

Amy was more interested in the silver container in Tess's bag. Could Tess be a double agent? Was she working for security and someone else at the same time. And what was inside the container?

Gloria had disappeared. She had arrangements to make. In the newsagents' window, Amy glimpsed some card packs on display.

‘Special issue.' But she didn't have enough money. Again Samuel appeared.

‘Would you like to swap? I'll buy one of the new issue special packs for you. And you can give me your Geelong card. That'd be fair wouldn't it?'

Samuel's eyes had a funny smile. Amy wasn't sure whether he was just keen on getting the card or whether he was trying to rip her off. ‘No thanks.'

‘A collection is an investment,' said Samuel.' Some cards are worth thousands more than their face value. I have access to world markets which can source hard-to-find items. We buy and sell anything,everywhere, at a considerable profit... to the seller of course.' He liked the sound of his own voice. Amy turned away and bumped into Tess who was re-zipping her bum-bag.

‘He thinks you're stupid just because you're a kid,' said Tess. ‘In the art world, some try to rip you off. I know about that all right. How many have you got? Perhaps they're worth more than you think.'

Amy showed her two hundred cards. She stopped at the used ‘Geneva'. ‘Mum got it from Switzerland. I know it's worth about $150 . And this is the lifesaver one that Samuel wants.'

Most of Amy's cards were picked up near phone boxes, especially at airports, but not in Singapore. Nobody dropped rubbish in Singapore. And mobile phones were no use for card collectors. So many kids were collecting cards, it was getting harder. Christopher stopped beside Samuel who was staring in the newsagents' window.' What are you looking for? ‘

Samuel admitted, ‘Cards. Japanese and other overseas interest is very strong. Dealers can repackage cards and sell them to overseas clubs and collectors. Your sister is very foolish in refusing my offer. She could have made a lot of money. Someone else could also have made money selling a collectable. But now it won't happen,'

‘In that mist, we were breathing detergent .' Amy was proud of her sleuthing skills.” A detergent cloud. But it was harmless. I heard the pilot telling William.'

‘What?' Christopher looked up.

‘The plane's engine was washed with a water detergent mixture last night. Some of it had got into the cabin's air conditioning system.' said Amy.

‘Then why is the plane delayed so long?' Christopher was fed up with waiting. Even another hamburger and double chocolate sauce wouldn't distract him.

‘Because the engineers needed to check out the engines and do a test run. Then the plane's taking off in ten minutes.'

‘How did you find all that out?' Sometimes Christopher got cross when Amy found out things he hadn't even thought about.

‘I overheard. I was standing alongside William when the pilot told him. He got sick of me asking questions. So he told me too.'

‘Perhaps he wasn't programmed for emergencies,' joked Christopher.

Amy wasn't so sure. Perhaps William was not just a cabin attendant. Just then, came the announcement to board.

It was time to leave, again, for Tokyo.