Page 47 - Unlikely Stories 1

Ladreque’s Last Case

the copy had come from, but he knew what was coming next: the
switch would be made, setting off an alarm; the culprit, however,
would already be somewhere else, blending into the background,
when the guards arrived.
Ladreque drew his Beretta and stepped out into the open.
“Hold it right there!” he commanded. “You have been very,
very clever, and you have succeeded in stealing a king’s ransom in art
treasures—but that was before Arsène Ladreque took on the case!”
The ersatz custodian froze in her tracks, still holding the
wand. “How did you discover our operation?” she asked, in a
strangely muffled and metallic voice. Ladreque could not make out
her features, so closely did the wig hide her face.
“The elements,” he replied triumphantly. “Most of them were
isotopically matched to the period, but not all: their half-lives were
anachronistic. The age testing put me on the track of all the
mysterious signs of tampering and false alarms you had to leave
behind as meaningless clues. The rest: my own deduction. The quality
of the pieces and their period led me to this exhibition; the
Schlagenkirch Altar had to be next on your list. I suspect an
unscrupulous oriental collector is behind your ring; perhaps you will
reveal his identity to save your own skin. That is a matter for the
Tahoe police and Interpol. Now, you’re under arrest. Put that thing
down and raise your hands.”
“Then you are alone,” croaked the thief. “That means
nobody else believes your unbelievable analysis. But it is correct; you
deserve to know that. We could not find a source of properly aged
rare earths for our simulator, an obstacle we thought unnecessary to
overcome.” She raised her free hand and swept off the wig. Ladreque
gasped. “Yes, you see: we are not of this world. We are field-
collecting for a museum far, far away, and we have been granted
permission to gather certain representative pieces—leaving a
reasonable facsimile behind. Our charter prohibits us from
committing any acts which would be criminal according to our own
laws. Unfortunately for you, that does not prevent us from exercising
minimal self-defense.”

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