Antique Roadshow

I wandered along to the Antiques Roadshow just to basically have a bit of a stickybeak to see what was happening. 

It has been a long time since leaving the Police force, but you cannot help it when you are curious by nature. There was a case we worked on where some antiques were stolen from a residence in Bellevue Hill, Sydney. Most of the goods were recovered except for a beautiful large gold ring that had diamonds and rubies encrusted in the star of David. 

At the time of the theft the house belonged to an American entertainer called Francis Faye. Ms Faye toured Australia many times, appearing on the old TV Shows like the Mike Walsh Show and the Don Lane Show in Melbourne. She also performed at Chequers nightclub in the Cross and other Cabaret venues. Ms. Faye had a large gay following and was extremely popular. 

This was in the 70’s and early 80’s and now it’s almost 40 years later. The image of that flamboyant and stunning ring is often in my thoughts. 

Now that I am semi-retired, I frequent auction houses like Lawsons just out of curiosity and to see if that beautiful ring shows up. 

There were people everywhere, the sun was out and there was such an air of excitement. 

Queues of people were lining up to have their goods evaluated by the experts. 

There are distinct categories such as Jewelry, Art, Furniture, Bric a Brac, tools etc. Camera 

crews were filming interviews and guests were showing their goods. Often people hadinherited something and were curious to know its real market value. Also, it's such an effective way to receive expert knowledge of the age and history of the special piece. 

I joined in looking at all the different goods and it was very exciting to be part of it. There were rows of tables and chairs for people to sit on whilst waiting their turn. 

It's funny what you notice. A hairdresser may notice hair, a tailor will notice the way a jacket fits, an artist may notice someone's expression.  

 I always notice a person's voice and I don’t like dirty shoes. 

We all have something that appeals to us or there is something we notice. Just some small  detail and sometimes it's just a feeling. This can be either positive or negative or may not mean anything in particular. 

There was an ever so slight breeze, and I caught the smell of cologne as it floated past me. 

So many things to see and it took up most of the afternoon. 

I took a detour via the food stalls and decided it was a good idea to enjoy a drink and some hot chips. A slight recharge before back in the thick of it.  

I dropped my keys as I sat down at the table, and it was as I was picking them up that I noticed the smell of that cologne again. It was strong and obviously close by but by the time I actually 

picked up my keys and looked around, there was no one to be seen. 

It reminded me of my youth when men used to splash on lots of Brut 33, Old Spice or Lynx when they were going on a date. Slightly overpowering but worn to show he was confident and 

had a certain appeal and it came with a guarantee that the ladies would love them for it. 

The break was really enjoyable, and I enjoyed a chat with a schoolteacher from Gunnedah named Margaret who had brought a collection of cufflinks that her grandfather had given her one birthday. 

 It was a very interesting collection as he had been in the navy as a young man and had purchased all sorts of jewelry in his travels. She would be heading over to the jewelry expert very soon. There was a ticket system to enable people to have a break whilst waiting. 

We both decided to leave at the same time, and I walked over with Margaret toward the jewelry queue. I had become quite a collector myself over the years, but my thing was vintage posters.  

I feel that collecting something is really being a modern historian. When a collection is really extensive its nice if it ends up in a museum so it can be shared with everyone. 

Once a detective you are always slightly suspicious and tend to operate on a type of instinct. I remember meeting an artist at an auction years ago whose specialty was faux art. Brett Whitely was his favourite subject. I’d seen him being interviewed on one of those shows like Current affair. He was confident, attractive and wore a very large gold chain. I wasn’t sure what he was doing there. He could have been selling one of his faux pieces for all I know.

There was an auction house in Harris Street years ago that was like a pawnbroker’s auction. We used to go there when we were looking for stolen goods.

Harris Street is where I learnt about the term ‘ghosting’. This is when someone ‘out the back’ won the bid. When you looked to see who won the bid there was no one there only a ghost. 

I still held those thoughts when I stood in the queue with Margaret.

Her number came up and I snapped back to the present as we walked toward our expert.

He was tall, rather slight and wearing a beautiful dark blue velvet jacket.

The detailing on the lapels and buttonholing was second to none. Even the three buttons on the sleeve cuffs blended perfectly. 

He carried himself well, had a pencil line moustache, was immaculately dressed with snow white bouffant hair. His hair shone in the sunlight. 

He was probably in his 70s, smelt of cologne and one of the jewelry experts. 

His voice was deep like a club singer, and he had something familiar about him. 

The sound of his voice reminded me of someone. Gradually, I went back decades in my mind to when I was a junior police officer.  It was a bit of a coincidence as my supervisor left not long after I started. There were a few whispers of money missing at the time, but I was so naive in those days. Then he disappeared.

The gentleman started talking to Margaret about her collection and looked at it with a degree of admiration. He was wearing cufflinks himself and his were of a similar year to a pair in the collection.

As I listened to them taking it was like a feeling of going back in time, reminding me of the investigation for some reason. It was his voice. My supervising officer had been in charge of detailing all the recovered items and suddenly he disappeared. 

I saw him handling the gold cufflinks gently and discussing their history.

He was right-handed and I noticed as he put his right hand back on the table, he brought his left hand up as well.  He turned to look at me and something registered in eyes. He looked uncertain.

I looked down as he moved his left hand, and I felt a chill come all over me. I froze.

The diamonds and rubies glistened. He was wearing the ring!