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Fi
“Pity. You would have liked them. I can see you would have liked them.” He sighed. “I don’t suppose the police learned anything that might lead to their recovery.”
“Not really. Not that anyone is willing to discuss. I have my own theories.”
“Of course you do,” Bass said. “We all have our own theories.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to discuss mine with you,” Fi
The old man studied Fi
They walked north, along the Fenway, and found a café a few blocks away on Brookline Street. The weather was fine, and they took a table outside. The waiter brought them a plate of bread and glasses of water. “Would you like a cocktail?” he asked.
“I’ll have a beer,” Fi
“I have some health issues,” he said. “My doctor says I can no longer drink.”
“I’m sorry,” Fi
Bass looked up at the young waiter. “I’ll have a glass of chardo
“I have my days.”
“Well, if I could offer you one piece of paltry advice, it would be to enjoy your youth. It passes quickly. Whatever it is you love, dedicate yourself to that. If you can do that faithfully, that is the key to happiness.”
Fi
Bass laughed as though Fi
“I did,” Fi
“Our illustrious director,” Bass said. He picked up his wine and held it under his nose, swirling it around as he inhaled deeply. “I can’t drink it anymore,” he said, “but I still enjoy the aroma of a decent chardo
“He started at the museum a month or so before the robbery?”
“That’s right.”
“What were his responsibilities at the time?”
Bass folded his hands in his lap. “He’s the director. He was in charge of the museum,” he said. “He had responsibility for the entire operation.”
“Yes, I know, but what does that encompass, exactly?”
Bass thought for a moment. “That encompasses everything. He had responsibility for the preservation of the place. He was in charge of maintaining the building, making sure the place ran smoothly, making sure everything was taken care of.”
“How about maintaining the art itself?”
“Of course,” Bass said. “He had people helping him, obviously, and there is a curator, but ultimately he was responsible for the preservation of all of the pieces in the museum.”
“And security?”
Bass nodded. “Security, too. After the theft, he oversaw a total overhaul of the security procedures and systems. He had new alarms installed and implemented new protocols for the security guards. In every way, he made sure that what happened that night could never happen again.”
“What about the finances? Was he in charge of those, as well?”
Bass shrugged. “The museum has a director of finances, but that person reports to the director. The financial health and sustenance of the place was ultimately Baxter’s responsibility.”
“That’s what I was guessing,” Fi
“These are all pointed questions, Mr. Fi
Fi
“Do you mind if I ask who the others are?”
Fi
“The newspapers talked about the two of them,” Bass said. “They were killed, right?”
“That’s right,” Fi
“But you don’t think so,” Bass observed.
“No, I don’t,” Fi
“You think?”
“He would have been very persuasive.”
“Who else, then?” Bass asked.
“There are two FBI agents who could possibly have been involved. They were both here in Boston at the time of the robbery, and they were both working on different aspects of the investigations into the Boston mob. So they could have developed the ties necessary. One of them, though, clearly didn’t know where the paintings were. I saw him the night everything went down, and he was out of his mind.”
“How about the other one?”
Fi
“How so?”
“The way Devon described the robbery, it’s pretty clear that they had some help from someone who was familiar with just about every aspect of the museum. They had a complete understanding of the security systems; they knew how many guards would be on duty; they were given detailed maps of the entire place. Hewitt was in the FBI, so it’s possible that he could have gotten a lot of this information just by snooping. But there are other things that don’t fit. For example, Bulger also gave Devon and Kilbranish a list of which paintings to steal. I don’t think Hewitt would have known enough about the art in the museum to give them that kind of information. Plus, whoever helped Bulger hide the paintings knew a lot about how to preserve the art. When they were stolen, the paintings were ripped out of their frames and rolled up; but when Devon saw them again, they had been professionally stretched and remounted. And the box they were kept in was specially designed to keep the paintings from suffering any more damage. Hewitt didn’t have that kind of expertise. I suppose it’s possible he could have learned about those sorts of things, but it seems unlikely.”