The Art of the Steal [antikvár]

PROLOGUE December 1999 CLUTCHING A BLACK leather briefcase crammed with neatly filed documents, Christopher Davidge ventured out into the streets of London on an overcast morning three days before Christmas. Dressed sharply in a dark blue suit tailored to his diminutive physique, his graying beard and leonine hair clipped and coiffed to immaculate perfection, the fifty-four-year-old CEO of Christie's was embarking on an errand that he knew could destroy the reputations of both Christie's and its archrival, Sotheby's, and send one of the richest men in America to jail. The London art world was grinding to a halt for the Christmas holidays, and the normally bustling streets of St. James's were quiet. The only sign of life was at Fortnum & Mason, the royal grocer in Piccadilly, where American tourists were still clamoring for last-minute gifts wrapped in turquoise shopping bags emblazoned with royal coats of arms. Hailing a cab in Piccadilly, he headed east to the City for his rendezvous with William Joseph Linklater, a senior partner in the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie. Reputed to be tough, suave and