That he had managed to convince Vandenhof (if not Toby) that the Fabergé egg resided, at present, in a foreign land in the custody of a dead woman and not with the dead woman’s daughter, was evidenced by the fact that, two days later, he was still alive. But Vandenhof had not believed for a moment that McGuffin would take pains to see that he and Toby were apprised of the recovery of the egg - no more than McGuffin believed that Vandenhof and Toby would aid in the recovery of Otto’s hostages in exchange for this courtesy. But that was fine with McGuffin. He and Vandenhof were a pragmatic pair, each of whom knew exactly how far to trust the other. Until McGuffin had the egg (and until Vandenhof knew it), each would behave like a perfect gentleman. Thereafter, the egg hunt would turn mean and ornery.The truth of this was provided on Friday night when he left the Oakland Queen. It had been the kind of foggy, rainy, San Francisco day that allows the night to slip in unnoticed by all but clock watchers.
