The Grim Smile of the Five Towns

Excerpt: ...my friends that the portrait had been stolen if it had not been stolen. The burglary must be entirely genuine.' 'What's the figure?' said Smith curtly. 'Figure?' 'What are you going to give me for the job?' 'GIVE you for doing the job?' Sir Jee repeated, his secret and ineradicable meanness aroused. 'GIVE you? Why, I'm giving you the opportunity to honestly steal a picture that's worth over a thousand pounds