Rand shook his head. "And if Fleming still had them two days before he was killed, then somebody's been weeding out the collection since. Doing it very cleverly, too," he added. "You know how that stuff's arranged, and how conspicuous a missing pistol would be. Well, when I was going over the collection, I found about two dozen pieces of the most utter trash, things Lane Fleming wouldn't have allowed in the house, all hanging where some really good item ought to have been." He took a paper from his pocket and read off a list of the dubious items, interpolating comments on the condition, and a list of the real rarities which Gresham had mentioned the day before, which were now missing. "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." There was a stunned hush, followed by a gust of exclamations. "Guid Lorrd!" The Scots accent fairly curdled on Colin MacBride's tongue. "We canna go over that!" "I'm afraid not; twenty would be about our limit," Gresham agreed. "And with the best items gone ..." He shrugged. Pierre and Karen were looking at each other in blank misery; their dream of establishing themselves in the arms business had blown up in their faces. "Oh, he's talking through his hat!" Cabot declared. "He just hopes we'll lose interest, and then he'll buy what's left of the collection for a song." "Maybe he knows the collection's been robbed," Trehearne suggested. "That would let him out, later. He'd accuse you or the Fleming estate of holding out the best pieces, and then offer to take what's left for about five thousand." "Well, that would be presuming that he knows the collection has been robbed," Cabot pointed out. "And the only way he'd know that would be if he, himself, had bought the stolen pistols."