"Brass Buddha?" he said faintly. "Who wants a brass Buddha?"
"Louis Froussard wants one, if that means anything to you, friend. But here am I in your apartment, and you don't even know my name. Allow me." The American dug out his wallet, extracted a card and handed it over. "James G. Amberson, at your service. Any time you want one of Napoleon's skulls, or the original pyjamas the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon — I'm just the man to go and find 'em. Yes, sir. That's my job — huntin' for missing links for museums and millionaires who feel they gotta collect something so's they can give the reporters something to write about. That's me."
"And you want a brass Buddha?" said the Saint, almost caressingly.
James G. Amberson (according to his card, the G. stood for Gardiner, which the Saint thought was very modest — it might have been Gabriel) flapped a raw-boned hand deprecatingly.
"Aw, you ain't gonna offer me the thing your auntie brought home last time she went on a world cruise, are you? Everyone in London's got a brass Buddha, but none of 'em is the right one. This one's a special one — you wouldn't know it to look at it, but it is. Some Chink emperor back in about two million b.c. had three of 'em made for his three daughters, who were no better than they shoulda been, accordin' to history — you don't wanna know all that hooey, do you? I guess I'm a bit fuddled over it myself. But anyhow, Lou Froussard has got two of 'em, and he wants the third. I gotta find it. Sounds like I'd taken on a long job, don't it?"
Simon drew on his cigar a little less impetuously.
"How will you know this particular one when you find it?" he asked.
"Say, that's easy. It's got a little Chinese dedication carved in the base and filled with red paint. I don't know any language except plain English, but this daughter's name comes in the dedication and I got a Chink to show me what it looked like — Gosh, is that cigar sour or something?"
"No — it's a swell cigar. Would you mind showing me what this name looks like?"
The other's eyes opened rather blankly, but he took out a pencil and sketched a character on the back of the envelope.