2:

(The woman leaned forward to speak more privately but I still could hear.)

  • ... the old security guard I spoke to last April: Hans. He remembers the whole thing. The paintings came first by train, he told me, then by covered truck, everything under tarps. Some works weren't even crated. They probably figured that at night no one would see. He said unloading started at five a.m. and it took nearly two hours.
  • How does Hans know all this, he said.
  • His job was to show them the dry part of the basement and check the documents. He even remembered the name of the driver: Kurt, Wolf, something like that.
  • And the crates were to stay for two nights before being loaded again?
  • Yes.
  • And when you looked in the basement?
  • This morning? Just crates. I couldn't tell you if they are full or empty. Crates come and go in that building all the time.
  • Last week there were three corridors filled with the crates from end to end. But I had only a few minutes and no tools. There was no chance to check. The people on watch were nervous enough already.
  • But you still have the master list of the art that is missing? You said you have the list...