"I see it's getting you too," Tom said.
"It's a good job," I said. "But what is there about it to upset Herker?"
"The price I paid for it."
"What was that?"
"One hundred thousand dollars!"
I rocked back on my heels and whistled softly. At that moment, I was of the opinion that maybe Herker had something when he said Tom had gone nuts.
"Did you ever hear of the Dead Sea Scrolls?" Tom asked.
"Um. Yes. Manuscripts a couple of thousand years old that have been discovered near the Dead Sea in the last few years." I felt pleased that I knew the answer to his question. "But what do they have to do with this, if anything?"
"This painting came from a sealed jar hidden inside a cave in the same region," Tom answered. "It was sold to a dealer in Egypt. I learned about it from a friend."