The Philatelist. D.H. Coop
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Название: The Philatelist
Автор: D.H. Coop
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Зарубежные детективы
isbn: 9781646546688
isbn:
The little bell at the door sounded to announce Stan’s entrance. Sitting at the counter, Ed looked up from his coin magazine and smiled.
“Hey, Stan! What can I do for you today? Have you decided to become a coin collector?”
“Nah,” laughed Stan. “I just found this old stamp album of my grandmother’s in the attic and figured I might as well get rid of it, you know? It’s the collector, not me. Dust collector that is!”
“Well, let me have a look,” Ed said with a chuckle as he reached for the blue book.
Stan watched as Ed went through the book in a hurry, as if it was of little importance to him. After a few pages, Ed even began flipping through groups of pages at a time. Stan knew that Ed’s expertise was really in coins. But in a small town, one had to sell in general areas to stay in business.
Though his knowledge was mostly superficial, Stan knew a few things about stamps. Airmails, for example, were a good buy because of their high starting value and their limited circulation. And air travel had been limited for most of the century, making them even more unusual.
Stan looked expectantly at Ed as he leafed through the pages, pausing on the German and airmail stamps. As he neared the end of the book, Ed studied the last page for a moment and then looked up.
“I will give you one thousand and five hundred dollars for it as is,” Ed pronounced as he shut the book.
“One thousand and five hundred dollars?” repeated a surprised Stan. He had not expected nearly that much. That was nearly double what he was owed in rent.
“You might get more for it if you took it over to the Bay Area, but I doubt it,” said Ed.
“Your offer sounds fair to me,” Stan said. He felt a pang of guilt but quickly reminded himself that the extra money would make up for the lost rent while he was looking for a new tenant.
Ed moved toward the cash register and carefully counted out $1,500 in a combination of twenties and one-hundred-dollar bills.
“Thanks, Ed,” Stan said. “I have got to run, but I will see you around!”
After Stan pulled away from the curb to head back to Palermo, Ed looked out the shop window. “Did I offer too much?” he said aloud to himself. “Stan doesn’t usually take a deal unless he thinks it’s a good one. Maybe the book isn’t worth the three thousand dollars I hope it is.” As Stan pulled away, he waved. Then he sat down and continued to flip through the coin catalog.
Chapter 4
Century of Progress (airmail)—issued October 2, 1933
Known as the Baby Zeppelin.
The post office worked with the Graf Zeppelin Company in a plan to bring attention to the Exposition in Chicago with a special postage stamp. The Postal Service estimated $10,000 in revenue from the sale of the stamps. FDR refused to allow the stamp. A diplomatic incident was avoided when FDR allowed the agreement to continue.
August 2, 2001, at 4:54 p.m.—Oroville, California
The afternoon had been slow, as usual, except for Stan. Just as Ed was about to close up shop for the day, the bell on the door rang, and a tall customer walked into the store. Ed appeared out of the back room to see who it was.
“Can I help you?” asked Ed, not recognizing the customer.
“I am just passing through town and saw your shop,” said the man. “I am somewhat of a novice stamp collector and thought you just might have something of interest for me.”
Ed looked over to the end of the counter where the blue international album still lay. He moved his head in the general direction. “There is this one album I was preparing for display that might interest you.”
Both men moved to the end of the counter to look at the book in question. Ed sized up the man and surmised that he probably had some money. Although not ostentatious, he was neatly groomed. Probably from San Francisco, Ed thought. I might want to start with a higher price.
“This is one of my more prized collections,” Ed boasted as if he were the proud daddy of a new baby. Ed lowered his voice and continued conspiratorially, “I had planned on selling the stamps individually, but if it interests you, I might be persuaded to sell it as a package.”
The stranger picked up the album and looked through it carefully. Ed looked at the clock on the wall. Although it had been a long day, Ed would wait until midnight to make a sale. After a few minutes, the stranger put down the book and asked Ed for the price.
“I could let you have it as a set for five thousand dollars,” Ed said, trying to be matter of fact. Hoping the price had not been too high to scare the customer off. Yet, if he could sell it at that price he would have a quick profit of $3500 with no wasted time pricing the stamps.
The tall man stood silently for what seemed to Ed like an eternity. Then he responded, “That is more than I wanted to spend, but you have a sale. Will you take a check?”
“Absolutely!” Ed answered, trying not to give away his excitement.
The stranger pulled out his leather checkbook and made out the check. So as not to offend his wealthy customer, Ed took the check and did not ask for any identification or references. “Thank you for your business, Mr. Hall,” Ed said. The customer picked up the stamp album and walked out of the store. Ed neglected to make a record of the purchase.
The stranger smiled as he got into his car, as though he felt pleased with his purchase. He leafed through the album briefly. Not only would some of the stamps fit nicely into his album at home, he figured there must be over $50,000 retail value in stamps in the album. Then he started his car and pulled out, smiling broadly. There is still gold in these little towns.
Ed again stood at the window and watched his good fortune drive away. Then we walked out the door and locked it, once again feeling cheated. He jumped at my first offer! Ed scolded himself. When will I ever learn? But I did make a tidy profit. Maybe I’ll treat myself to dinner at Greta’s!
Chapter 5
Mother’s Day—issued May 2, 1934
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Postmaster General Farley designed a stamp in honor of James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s hundredth anniversary and to honor Mother’s Day.
The words on the stamp are the president’s.
August 2, 2001, at 9:12 p.m.—Bangor Highway
This evening was less tiresome than usual. At dinner, Ed convinced himself that the price was too low—he had actually sold the album to a sucker. By the end of his fifth beer, he actually believed the story. He even told it to his favorite waitress, Carlene, hoping to impress her. She always waited on Ed when he came in to eat. He noticed that she seemed to flirt with him, and he thought often of asking her out on a date. But he had never had the nerve. СКАЧАТЬ