An Elderly Lady is up to No Good

Maud returns from a long trip to Croatia. She now wants to go on a luxury vacation to South Africa, but it will cost a great deal of money, and she realizes that she will have to sell the family’s silver collection to finance her trip. She does not want to do this, as she does not like to make changes in the apartment. Still, she is trying to be realistic. Maud is nearing 89 years old, and she has no heirs. After her death, the carefully preserved apartment will be sold and carved up into smaller apartments. She has already conceded to reality by selling some of her father’s paintings, but she has saved the one she loves the most—an Anders Zorn piece. She decides on the family silver.

Maud consults an antiques dealer who has recently taken over a store near her apartment building. His name is Frazzén, and though she finds his appearance ridiculous, she respects the fact that he is sometimes featured as an expert on the television program Antiques Roadshow. She takes a silver goblet over to his store; Frazzén is just closing up, on his way to a memorial celebration for a departed friend, but he pauses to examine the silver goblet Maud shows him.