Vulture is a Patient Bird

"Please don't let me disturb you," Tak said, approaching. There

was a thin smile on his lips and his glittering eyes moved from Garry to Gaye. "Did you enjoy your lunch?"

"It was wonderful, thank you." Gaye gave him her most charming smile. "It really is lovely here."

"Yes . . . it is very pleasant." He paused, then went on, "Miss Desmond, would you be interested to see Mr. Kahlenberg's museum?"

Although her heart skipped a beat, Gaye kept her face mildly interested.

"Has Mr. Kahlenberg a museum?"

"Mr. Kahlenberg is one of the most famous collectors in the world."

"I knew that, but I didn't know he had a museum. I thought . . ."

"He has a museum, and he wondered if it would interest you to see it."

"Very much. I would love to see it."

"And you, Mr. Edwards?"

"Sure . . . thanks." Garry kept his expression dead-pan, but like Gaye, he had been startled.

Gaye got to her feet. "Is it far from here?"

Again Garry caught a jeering expression come into the dark eyes. It came and went so quickly unless he had been watching closely he wouldn't have seen it.

"You are standing on it," Tak said.

"You mean it is underground?"

"That is correct."

"May I bring my camera, Mr. Tak?"

He shook his head.

"I regret not." He turned. "Will you follow me, please?"

He entered the lounge and walked into the corridor.

Gaye and Garry exchanged swift glances as they followed him. They all got into the electric trolley and Tak drove down the long corridor, past the big lobby and front door of the house and on down the corridor.

"Here is where Mr. Kahlenberg has his quarters," he explained as they drove past several doors. He stopped the trolley by what appeared to be a blank wall and got out. Watching him closely, Garry saw him put his fingers under the ledge of one of the big windows. The wall he was facing slid back to reveal double doors. As he approached these doors, they slid open.

"Mr. Kahlenberg is a cripple," Tak explained, regarding Gaye. "All doors in his quarters are electronically controlled. This is the elevator that takes us down to the museum."

The three entered the green satin lined cage. There were four different coloured buttons on the control panel. Garry watched Tak press the green button and the elevator descended smoothly and silently. While it descended Tak pressed the red button, paused, then pressed the yellow button.

"What are all those buttons for, Mr. Tak?" Gaye asked innocently.

"The green button controls the elevator. The yellow button turns on the lights in the museum and the red button turns off the alarm," Tak told her.

"Thank you . . . you're marvellously well equipped."

The doors slid back and they entered a cool, vaulted chamber.

"Would you wait here for a moment?" Tak said and he crossed to a grey painted door. He spent a minute or so at the door, his

hands busy, his body concealing what he was doing.

Again Garry looked at Gaye, lifted his eyebrows, then looked away as Tak turned.

"The museum contains many priceless treasures," he said. "We have taken every precaution against theft. This door that leads into the museum is armour plated and specially treated to make it impossible to cut into. The walls either side are five feet thick. The lock to the door is controlled by a time switch which is set every night at 22.00 hrs. and no one can open the door until 10.00 hrs. the following day. Please come in."

They followed him into a vast domed ceiling room, lit by diffused lighting. On the walls hung many pictures. Gaye recognized a Rembrandt, several Picassos and a number of Renaissance masterpieces which she was sure she had seen in the Uffizi, the Vatican museum and the Louvre.

"These aren't the originals, Mr. Tak?" she asked.

"Of course they are the originals." Tak frowned as if annoyed by such a question. "I told you Mr. Kahlenberg has the finest private museum in the world. The inner room will amuse you more I think." He led the way through the picture gallery and entered another vast room.

In the middle of the room stood a four metre high Buddha in shining gold.

"This is an interesting piece," Tak went on. "It comes from Bangkok. During the last war, the Japanese, knowing it was in the city, searched for it, but the priests were too clever for them. They moved it to a lesser temple and covered it with dirty cement. Although the Japanese visited this temple they failed to recognize what they were looking for."

"You mean this is solid gold?" Garry said, gaping at the glittering figure.

"Yes, it is solid gold."

He led them around the room, pausing to explain various objets d'art. Garry had no knowledge of art treasures, but even he was impressed by what he saw.

"But surely that is one of the panels of Ghiberti's Gates to Paradise," Gaye said, pausing before a beautifully carved panel on the wall. "What a wonderful copy!"

"The copy is in Florence, Miss Desmond. This is the original," Tak said, an acid note in his voice. "And this statue of David by Bernini is also the original. The copy is in the Bargello in Florence."