Paul Quentin by Fred M. White — Read

Dugdale was satisfied that he had not wasted his time. The more he dwelt upon the theory he had conceived, the more certain did he feel that he was right. The thing was wild and extravagant but no more beyond the bounds or possibility than scores of things recorded in the daily press every year. It is only when a new and startling event happens that truth proves itself stranger than fiction. One point, however, did puzzle Dugdale--why did Paul Quentin want to gain possession of the Dragon Vase? The vase had a history, and, so far as Dugdale knew, had only one counterpart in the world. It was, therefore, not an object that a man could exploit and show to his friends, unless he had obtained it by legitimate means.

But Dugdale knew that Quentin had no such honest and straightforward intention. Perhaps, like many other men, brilliant and otherwise, he had a twist in his temperament and hankered after rarities so that he might gloat over them and admire them in secret. Such instances had happened before and probably would again. But there was no evidence that Paul Quentin was a rich man. True, he had a reputation for wealth, but this proved nothing. The records at Scotland Yard teem with the histories of hundreds of men who have posed successfully as people of large means. It was more than probable that Quentin was one of these, and Dugdale would have given much to learn the Criminal Investigation Department's opinion of him. But, in the circumstances, that was out of the question. For the present, therefore, Dugdale would have to go his own way and work the problem out by himself. He found Mary Pearson discussing art matters with Lord Passmore. She made no allusion to the fact that Dugdale had been in secret conversation with Rachel Varna; indeed, she glanced at Rachel with a questioning look in her eyes which was not lost upon him.