Special Talents (16 page)

"Better than I have for a long time. I still work up from a headache but when I checked the clock it had been nearly 5 hours since I had gone to bed. The most sleep I've gotten at one time in years. I took another of those painkillers and went back to sleep and slept until morning. So far, no pain this morning."

"That's good. You're making better progress than I could have possibly imagined."

"Good enough to talk about that favor you want from me?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, we need to make sure you can control the headaches. Then, we need to see how well you can control your ability and how strong it really is. Besides, I told you. The two aren't connected. When and if we talk about it you'll be perfectly free to say no if you want to."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it's little compensation for what you've done for me. You saved my life, Dr. Sloan. I have to find some way to repay you."

"Nonsense," said Jeremy. "I'm a doctor. It's what I do. I'm just grateful the techniques are working as well as they are. At least now you can go back to something of a normal life."

Just then the door opened and Scarborough came in. He looked around and found Jeremy and Conrad in the kitchen.

"Well, you look like something the cat dragged in," he said talking to Jeremy.

"Fell asleep in front of the T.V. Only woke up a little bit ago. Conrad said you called. That you had something to show me."

"Hey, Conrad, how are you doing?"

"Better every day, Agent Scarborough."

"That's good," said Scarborough. "That's right, Jeremy. Something interesting the research department came across while they were working on that list of names for you. Come on." He held up a DVD. "I got part of a program to show you."

Scarborough put the DVD in the player and turned on the television. When the picture cleared it showed a man dressed in a suit sitting at a table with an older woman dressed equally nice. There were other people moving around in the background and the man was currently holding what appeared to be a small silver tea set.

"Have you ever seen that show, Antiques Roadshow?" Scarborough asked. "People bring things in and the appraisers tell them how much they're worth."

"A couple of times," replied Jeremy.

"This is another show similar to it. It's called Hidden Treasures. The woman is names Agnes Costas. The man is Frank Doherty. He's one of the hosts of the show and he appraises all kinds of things on it. He also runs a small business appraising and authenticating objects for people. And I'm told he's very good."

"Okay. So you think he might have a special talent?"

"Just watch," said Scarborough, a look of anticipation on his face."

"What can you tell me about this tea service?" Frank asked Costas.

"Well," said Costas, "it was owned by one of my aunts. She kept it on the mantle of her fireplace. She claimed it was very old, dating back some 200 years or so. I inherited it from her recently when she passed away. She never had it appraised and I was just wondering how authentic it is."

"I see," said Frank. "Well, first of all, it's not silver. It's silver plated. It looks like underneath the plating it's actually pewter. Plating has been around for a very long time certainly well over 200 years. The entire tea service is in excellent condition. It's a little tarnished but that's to be expected with silver, even silver plating. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's not quite as old as your aunt thought. You see this mark here, on the bottom?"

He turned it over to show a very faded mark on the bottom of the service. The mark was a word that was virtually illegible, inside a rectangular box. Several letters of the word could be seen more clearly.

"This was the mark of Paul Revere," continued Frank. "I'm sure you remember the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Well, Revere was a silversmith by profession. And he was quite prolific at it. This mark was one of the marks he used to identify his work.

"Unfortunately, this mark wasn't used on something as small as a tea service. It was used on much larger items. On something as small as a tea service he would use his initials, PR, usually in italic or block letters. Also I'm afraid that Paul Revere never worked in Pewter. So that's another indication that this isn't an actual piece made by Paul Revere or any of his apprentices.

"More than likely this is a replica piece made to commemorate his life. Many such pieces were made over the years and although not as valuable as those made by him, I'd still estimate the value of this piece at between $350.00 and $500.00. Of course the sentimental value is priceless."

"Thank you very much," said Costas. "My aunt had it for more than 30 years. It is a treasure heirloom even if it's not what she thought it was."

The woman picked up the tea service and walked out of range of the camera. Frank sat at the table for a moment and from off camera someone could be heard saying, "and we're clear". Frank began to remove the microphone attached to his tie.

"Poor woman," he said. "That's not a commemorative piece. It's an out and out forgery. Some guy in California made it and tried to pawn if off as the genuine article. Her aunt picked it up at a flea market in the late 60s in Milwaukee and when she saw that marking and just assumed it was from 200 years ago. Somebody sold her a bill of goods."

Scarborough shut the DVD player off and sat looking at Jeremy.

"Okay?" Jeremy questioned, not understanding what Scarborough was getting at. "So the woman had a fake artifact. What's that got to do with any special talents?"

"That's the unedited version of the show that will air soon," said Scarborough. "We tracked down Mrs. Costas and found out that Doherty was absolutely right. Her aunt did pick the tea service up in 1968 at a flea market when she was visiting her sister in Milwaukee."

"So. I'm still not seeing any connection."

"Well, according to the agent that spoke to Mrs. Costas, there's no way Doherty could have known all that. She never mentioned where her aunt got the tea service or when. And she never mentioned she got it while visiting her sister. So how could Doherty have known all that?"

"Maybe he learned it when they did the background information for the show," suggested Jeremy. "You know those types of shows always get background information so they can put on the best pieces for the show."

"We checked. Mrs. Costas never told anyone connected with the show about the specifics. She only said her aunt picked it up years ago. That's all. Doherty couldn't have known. He must have some ability to find that out. Maybe he's psychic or something. Look. Watch the show again. If he does have an ability maybe you can see it in his aura."

"It doesn't work that way," said Jeremy. "Unless the film is specifically made to pick up electromagnetic fields I can't see it on the film. But you might have a point. If she never told anyone all that information, how did he know it? I think Mr. Doherty bears checking out."

"So you'll go talk to him? See if he has a special talent?"

"As I've said before, I can't tell if he has a special talent unless he's using it when I 'look' at him. We'll need to get him to use it somehow."

"I can have the guys in research come up with something. Maybe he's like Conrad. Able to garner the information from their minds. If we had something for him to appraise, he just might use his ability when we take it to him."

"I have a better idea," said Jeremy. He walked over to his suit coat and removed a gold-colored pocket watch from it. "This was given to my father by his father. He gave it to me when I graduated college. It was made back in the 1600s by a master watchmaker and given to one of my ancestors. It's been a family heirloom ever since. We'll make up a story about how you came across it or something and see just how much Frank Doherty knows about it."

"What makes you think he won't have been able to research it or something?" Scarborough asked.

"The watchmaker died in the mid-1700s. All of his records were eventually lost and although it is know he made watches, this one doesn't have his mark on it like most of them did back then. There's no way to confirm that he actually made it. I only know about it because of my family history."

"So why do I have to give it to Doherty? Why not you?"

"Because I'll be standing nearby watching. If he does use an ability I'll be able to see it in his aura. I'll also be able to see if he's making anything up. Now all we have to do is get into the show and make sure he's the one who authenticates the watch."

"Getting in isn't a problem. I know where the studio is where they're filming the show. You just have to walk in. As for getting him to do it, I'll just say I want him to do it. I'm sure they won't have a problem with it."

"Well, all we can do is try. What time should we go there?"

"They begin taping at about 2:00," said Scarborough. "We'll need to be there at 1:00. Once we're in we'll see what happens. I'll come by again at 12:00 and pick you up."

"I hope this isn't another wild goose chase. I'm getting a little tired of meeting scammers and charlatans."

Scarborough just smiled as he headed for his car.

Jeremy and Scarborough sat in the "waiting gallery" waiting for their turn to have their item appraised. It had been a long wait. More than once the production of the show had to be temporarily stopped while the crew rearranged the set or for some other technical glitch. Finally it would be their turn.

Scarborough had specifically requested that Doherty appraise the watch. The production assistant who had taken his information seemed quite comfortable with that. She said that many people had their "favorites" on the show and insisted that person do the appraising. Doherty was one of the most favorite and many people specifically requested him. But it also meant they had to wait a little longer before he could appraise the watch.

Finally the production assistant came over and told them they were next. Jeremy had been watching Doherty the entire time. Whenever he handled the item he was appraising Jeremy noticed a change in his aura. A change that showed he was using whatever ability he had. The question was, just what was that ability? Finally the assistant came over and told Scarborough it was his turn.

"Well, what can you tell me about this very nice pocket watch?" Doherty asked, looking the watch over. Jeremy noticed the change in his aura again.

"Well," started Scarborough, seeming to be hesitant. "My grandfather found it in Germany during World War II. His platoon was holed up in this destroyed house and he found it lying in the rubble. He found it still worked so he brought it home with him. When he died my father inherited it and I inherited it from my father.

"We really don't know much about it. My grandfather used to say it seemed to be pretty old. He had always planned to get it appraised but just never seemed to get around to it. My father also never had the chance to get it appraised. When I heard you were going to be in town doing a show I decided it was the perfect time to have it appraised."

"Well, that's very flattering," said Doherty. His brow was furrowed as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle. "The watch is very old. The style and craftsmanship is indicative of a time between about 1500 and 1700. Each watch was painstakingly handmade in those days. And they were quite expensive. The general population wouldn't have been able to afford one.

"You see this etching on the back?" He turned the watch over and showed Scarborough what looked like some kind of leaf pattern etched into the case of the watch. "This is indicative of a watchmaker named Pierre Cordavanna. Cordavanna was the official time keeper for the Catholic Church from about the late 1600s until his death sometime in the mid 1700s. Records are very scarce from that time and no one can say with certainty exactly when he died.

"But I can tell you this is definitely one of Cordavanna's watches. Each watch he made was specially ordered for a particular person. On some occasions he would make a watch as a gift for a friend or family member. I'd say you have a very valuable piece here. It is conservatively worth somewhere between $10,000.00 and $15,000.00. And to a private collector it could be worth even more than that."

"Really?" Scarborough said, feigning surprise. "I had no idea it was worth so much."

"I'm always very pleased to let people know they have a genuine piece of history," said Doherty. He still had a strange look on his face.

"Thank you," said Scarborough. "Thank you very much."

As Scarborough left the table another man walked up holding a small sculpture. He walked over to Jeremy who stood up to meet him.

"He's definitely using an ability," said Jeremy. "He does it every time he appraises something."

"Well my experts tell me that etching on the back was very common back then," said Scarborough. "There's no way to identify a watch simply by it. But he got the name of the watchmaker right. And my experts have also told me there's no way to conclusively prove it was made by Cordavanna. So how can Mr. Doherty know so much about this watch without ever having seen it before?"