:57:01
...with the finest jewels in their coffers.
:57:04
Well, sir...
:57:05
...what do you think of that?
- I don't know.
:57:08
These are facts, historical facts...
:57:10
...not schoolbook history, not Mr. Wells'
history, but history, nevertheless.
:57:14
They sent the foot-high jeweled bird
to Charles in Spain.
:57:16
They sent it in a galley commanded
by a member of the Order.
:57:21
It never reached Spain.
:57:23
A famous admiral of buccaneers...
:57:25
...took the Knights' galley and the bird.
:57:28
In 1713 it turned up in Sicily.
:57:32
In 1840 it appeared in Paris.
:57:34
It had, by that time,
acquired a coat of black enamel...
:57:37
...so that it looked nothing more
than a fairly interesting black statuette.
:57:42
In that disguise, sir, it was,
as you may say, kicked around Paris...
:57:46
...for over three score years
by private owners too stupid...
:57:49
...to see what it was under the skin.
:57:51
Then...
:57:52
...in 1923 a Greek dealer...
:57:55
...named Charilaos Konstantinides found it
in an obscure shop.
:58:00
No thickness of enamel could conceal value
from his eyes.
:58:08
- You begin to believe me a little?
- I haven't said I didn't.
:58:11
Well, sir, to hold it safe while pursuing
his researches into its history...
:58:16
...Charilaos re-enameled the bird.
:58:18
Despite this precaution, however,
I got wind of his find.
:58:25
If I'd only known a few days sooner.
:58:26
I was in London when I heard.
:58:28
I packed a bag,
got on the boat train immediately.
:58:30
On the train I read in the "Times",
that Charilaos's establishment...
:58:34
...had been burglarized and him murdered.
:58:36
Sure enough, on arriving there
I discovered the bird was gone.
:58:41
That was 17 years ago.
:58:44
Well, sir, it took me 17 years
to locate that bird, but I did.
:58:48
I wanted it!
:58:50
I'm a man not easily discouraged
when I want something.
:58:52
I traced it to the home
of a Russian general...
:58:55
...one Kemidov, in an Istanbul suburb.
He didn't know a thing about it.
:58:59
It was only a black enameled figure
to him...