Ken grinned. “Sandy says we’re not. But I’m wondering if you could tell us anything about this box?” He unwrapped it and put it on Lausch’s desk.
The round-faced little man bent forward to look at it. “Just what did you want to know?” he asked. “This is not in my line, you understand—even though it does look Italian to me. But Italian paintings are a big enough field for one man. I am an amateur in all other aspects of Italian art.”
“We’d like to know if it’s really an antique,” Ken explained, “and if it’s valuable. We’d also like to know if there’s any reason to think it might have been stolen recently—from some European collection, that is. Probably in Italy.”
Lausch’s stubby finger traced the scrollwork on the lid of the box. “I could make a guess at the answers to your first two questions, but that’s all it would be. I think you would rather have the opinion of an expert.” He picked up his phone and asked for a number. “Sintelli is a dealer in Italian antiques,” he explained. “He should be able to help. As for your last question, I can only say I’ve seen no notice of the theft of any such box as this.”
He waited an instant and then he was saying, “Sintelli?... Lausch here. Tony, I’ve got a question for you—three questions, in fact. I’ve got what appears to be an old Italian box— ... What?... No, a small box. Iron, with a lead lining. I want to know if it’s old, if it’s valuable, and if it might have been stolen recently from some European collection—public or private.... Yes, I think so.”
He looked up at the boys. “Can you leave it here? Sintelli will pick it up and return it in the morning.”
Sandy hesitated only a moment. “Sure. But he won’t hurt it, will he?”
Lausch smiled. “It would be too bad if we experts had to ruin everything we examined. No, it will be quite safe.” He spoke into the phone again briefly and then hung up. “Tony will drop it off here tomorrow about ten, on his way to his shop. So I’ll have a report for you any time after that.”
They were halfway to the door a few minutes later, on the way out, when Ken turned back. “There’s just one other thing. Suppose I wanted to have an exact copy of that box made. Could it be done?”
Lausch shrugged. “There are craftsmen good enough to copy anything, I suppose, if one knows where to find them. It would probably be an expensive job, however. But I’ll check that with Sintelli too. He’ll know.”