Maris was angry when she left the hotel. Angry and hurt. Axel had lied to her from the beginning and now he was asking her to lie to Dinah and Angela. He was a policeman, of all things. She went back over some of their conversations and wondered if she had said anything that might put the gallery in a bad light. No, of course she hadn’t. Because there was nothing wrong. The gallery had a reputation that Peter — okay, and Angela; give her some credit — had painstakingly built over the years. The gallery did well. Why would they be involved in smuggling?
The artifact that Peter had broken must have been sent by mistake. But would they be able to prove it? Or would there be a permanent shadow cast on the gallery because she had gone to the police with Peter’s letter. She felt guilty, and then she was angry at herself for feeling guilty. None of this was her fault, but had she been stupid to trust Axel? Should she have seen something, a sign that told her he wasn’t who he said he was? But she hadn’t. She had fallen in love with him, which meant she had fallen in love with a lie. Did that mean he wasn’t in love with her? Maybe this wasn’t any easier for him. He was in the middle of an Interpol investigation that had led him to Peter’s gallery. He had either used her and Dinah to get information — although she couldn’t think what information they had given him — or he had fallen for her and everything he’d said was true. Fifty-fifty. Which was it?
Maris didn’t go back to the gallery but took the bus to Dinah’s apartment so she could be alone for a while. Dinah wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours. Maris decided to pick something up for dinner so they wouldn’t have to cook. She stopped at the food court near the apartment and got some fish sambal and rice. They could re-heat it in the microwave if Dinah was late. She also bought some beer at the 7-Eleven and some ice cream. Then she got a video — something called The Bourne Ultimatum with Matt Damon. Dinah loved Matt Damon. Maris figured the more they were eating, drinking, and watching the movie, the less they would be talking. And the less they talked, the fewer lies she would have to tell.
She hated the idea of lying to Dinah. True, she had told a lie when she said she was going to the dentist, but she had intended to confess and tell Dinah where she really had gone and why. But now she wouldn’t be doing that. She would be continuing the lie, dragging it out, compounding it. She felt a little sick.
The following Monday, Angela told Maris and Dinah to unpack a shipment that had come from Frankfurt ten days before Angela arrived back in Singapore. It was one of the shipments she had instructed them to hold. Now she was supervising the unpacking and repacking of items to be shipped out to customers, or “clients,” as Angela liked to call them.
Most of the items were very old or antique — pots, jugs, small statues, carved boxes inlaid with ivory, hand-painted dishes, and various spice jars and perfume bottles. Angela had a list of clients and their addresses, many of them in Singapore, but some in Japan, Taiwan, Canada, the United States, and South America, especially Argentina. Maris and Dinah were told which items were to be sent where, and how they should be packed. Wrapping them involved cotton batting, aluminum foil, bubble wrap, newspaper, and waxed butcher paper. Angela filled out the shipping and customs forms, as well as the address labels, and affixed them herself to each of the packages. Some items were being shipped to other galleries, but most went to individual clients. Lim was put to work cutting paper, tape, and string, occasionally stopping to make tea or go out for food. Angela wanted the work done in one day while the gallery was closed. She didn’t want to have to stop for customers because she didn’t want any mistakes made. She was a taskmaster and wouldn’t even let them listen to music while they worked. No distractions, she said. They had to concentrate.
Maris and Dinah found the work tedious and a little mind-numbing, especially since Angela discouraged conversation, so they took frequent breaks just to annoy her, and also to alleviate the boredom. Eventually, though, they could see the pile of wrapped packages exceeding the pile of unwrapped ones. Angela, however, did not relax. “Remember,” she said, “the first nine miles of a ten-mile journey is only halfway.” They looked at her and shook their heads. What had Peter ever seen in her? Maris wondered. It certainly hadn’t been her sense of humour that had attracted him. But Maris knew what it was. Angela’s shrewd business sense had been a perfect fit with Peter’s excellent taste and his savvy way with clients. They had been a team and the partnership had outlasted the marriage.
Just after three o’clock, when they were tying up the last of the parcels, someone started pounding — not knocking — at the front door of the gallery. They all stopped and looked at one another. The closed sign was squarely in the middle of the door, so no one could mistake the fact that the gallery wasn’t open. The pounding persisted and Dinah finally went to see who it was, even though Angela told her to ignore it.
After a minute, Dinah came back with Axel, Simon Lam, and two uniformed police officers. Axel looked at Maris with an expression that seemed to ask for understanding. But Maris didn’t understand. He had led her to believe things would move more slowly.
“Angela Stone, Dinah Stone, you’re under arrest on suspicion of smuggling endangered animal parts into Singapore and attempting to export them illegally.” It was Simon Lam who spoke. “Confiscate everything in this room,” he told the two officers. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but this gallery is closed until further notice.”
Maris knew her mouth had fallen open but she made no attempt to close it. “Axel,” she said, “what’s going on?” His expression was grim as he turned away from her and signalled to Angela that she should go with him. Lam took Dinah’s arm and began to lead her out through the gallery.
“Axel,” said Maris, annoyance, anger, and frustration all collecting in her voice to make it sound harsh. “What are you doing? I told you nothing was going on.”
Axel just shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, Maris, but I’m afraid you’re wrong.”
Dinah turned to Maris and said, “I don’t understand. Did you know this was going to happen?”
Maris shook her head. “No. Dinah, I swear I didn’t know. I’m sure this is some kind of mistake.” She looked at Axel, but he was already putting Angela into the back of a police car. Simon Lam was leading Dinah to a second car. Maris looked back at Angela. Her head was down and she hadn’t said a word. Had she known this was going to happen?