Gauguin Connection, The (31 page)

I blinked at that. Was it a threat or was it supposed to make me feel safe?

The phone call ended and we sat in silence. Every day we seemed to unearth more pieces to a puzzle that had only revealed background until now. I needed more prominent pieces to start making sense of it all. I needed something more concrete. Something that could start filling in the huge gaps and create a better picture.

And I needed Phillip. I rued the day I had agreed to get involved in all this.

“Dudes, y’all are going to love me.” Vinnie stormed into the living area waving a piece of paper.

“Did he just call me dude?” Manny asked me, but I was too stunned by the change in Vinnie’s accent to respond. When did he start speaking like a Texan native?

Vinnie slapped the piece of paper down in front of me. “Who’s your daddy now?”

“The same man as before. My father is Gerard Leonard Lenard.” My factual statement was met with stunned silence. Manny gaped at me. The moment Colin and Vinnie saw his face, they laughed. Soon all three men were shaking with mirth.

Manny was wiping tears from his cheeks. “Why would anyone name their child like a Doctor Seuss character?”

“I don’t know who this doctor is.”

“Never mind that, Jen-girl.” Vinnie’s voice was still thick with laughter. He leaned over, crowding me and tapped on his notes. “Look at this.”

I did. On the piece of paper was one of the neatest lists I have yet seen. In such contrast to the scarred, slang-speaking muscle-man. “Your gun guy got back to you.”

“He did. He is one of the most pedantic dealers I know. I think he’s a bigger list-maker than you. Every single transaction he’s ever made is recorded. Maybe that is why he has a controlling interest in this part of the world in this market.” The excitement of the information in front of me had made him lose his cautiousness around Manny. His eyes widened with regret when Manny inhaled sharply.

“You are in contact with Hawk?” The muscles in Manny’s cheeks bunched, he was biting down so hard on his jaw. “He has been on the radar of every agency since forever and no one can get anything on him.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny any knowledge of such a man,” Vinnie said.

“What’s your relationship with Hawk?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny any—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Manny said. “You do realise that you know a man who is wholly evil. He provides weapons to Third World countries that use children as soldiers. The fifteen automatic guns used by the extremist group who killed all those children in Spain two months ago were traced to him as well.”

“So why have you not put him away yet?” Vinnie was denying knowledge of this man, but I could see the truth. He knew Hawk and he did not like him. No, it was stronger. Vinnie didn’t like Manny, but he despised Hawk.

“Because he is smart. All we have are rumours, circumstantial evidence and gut feelings. Nothing that can be taken to court.”

A loaded silence filled the air. I studied Vinnie’s face and thought how hard it must be to carry so many secrets inside oneself. Manny must have seen something on his face as well. He dropped his chin and looked at Vinnie from under his eyebrows. “If you know anything, if you can give us anything, point us in a direction to put a stop to this man—”

“I can neither—” Vinnie looked worried.

“Just listen to me, asshole! No one will ever know where I got the intel from. Look, I really don’t like you, but Doc here seems to trust you. That means something. You can’t be all bad. You have the opportunity to do something really good here. Do it, man. Give me enough to put that man away forever.” Manny cleared his throat. “I will owe you one.”

It must have been an appealing proposition, if Vinnie’s eye-flash was anything to go by. He maintained his nonchalant attitude. “Whatever.”

Manny moved forward to push harder, but was interrupted by his ringing cell phone. “We’re not done with this,” he said before he answered his phone. “Millard. Yes. I’m here. She is.”

“Is that Phillip?” I asked. Manny turned away from me and continued listening. I was not put off. “Manny, if that is Phillip, I want to talk to him.”

Manny glared at me when I tugged on his sleeve. He put his hand over the bottom of his phone. “You heard what the Chief said. You can’t speak to him.”

“I want to speak to Phillip.” I reached for his phone, but he pulled away. “Give me the phone. I want to speak to him.”

A deep voice sounded through the phone. Manny glared at me, placed the phone on the table and spoke towards it. “You’re on speakerphone.”

“Genevieve?” Phillip’s voice came through Manny’s phone. It sounded tinny and like home.

“Phillip. They say I can’t speak to you.”

“That’s right. How are you? Are you okay? Do you need anything?” The questions came out in a rush. Phillip was worried.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Who else is with you?”

I looked at the three men around the table. Colin and Vinnie were frowning at me, shaking their heads. “Vinnie and Colin.”

A snort turned into a polite cough before Phillip spoke again. “So which one of you is the referee?”

“Jenny is,” Colin answered in a none too friendly tone. “What do you want?”

“I knew you could do it, Genevieve,” Phillip said softly after a moment. “Are they treating you well?”

“We’re treating her fine. Now answer the question.” Two things were clear. Colin did not like his presence known. And he did not like Phillip’s question.

“The results are back from the tests that were done on that canvas strip found on the girl,” Phillip said.

“On Danielle?” I asked.

“Yes. The strip that was found in her coat comes from the original painting.”

“Why did she have that strip sewn into the coat?” I wondered.

“Maybe she realised her life was in danger and she wanted to use it for her own protection,” Phillip said. “I don’t think we’ll ever know.”

“Have you managed to contact the owner?” Manny asked.

“We tracked him down in India. He’s on some kind of yoga or meditation retreat and has no interest in rushing home to check if his painting is still there. He is an eccentric man. Rich, but eccentric. He believes that he’s made enough money. Now he needs to find himself.”

“Then why did he buy the painting?” Vinnie frowned.

“I believe the words he used were, ‘It is pretty’. That is how he buys everything. He has a vault full of artwork that is never showcased, but only there for his enjoyment.”

“What kind of vault is it? Does anyone have access to that vault?” Colin asked. Manny looked at him, but he ignored the interested stare.

“I would breach confidentiality if I shared security information. What I can tell you is that no one else has access. He’s eccentric and paranoid. That is why he is in no rush to get home. He’s convinced that with his security system, no one will ever be able to get in there.” Phillip stopped when Colin and Vinnie snickered. “He also refused to believe that the strip was authentic.”

“But you are one hundred percent sure that the painting he bought is the original?” I asked.

“Yes. With his paranoia we had to test his pretty painting in all possible ways before he was happy. There are seven
authentification certificates in his insurance file.”

“Yet we don’t know if the painting is in his vault or if it is hanging in La Maison Russie.” I was frustrated. “Does this man not care that his painting might be stolen?”

“Like I said, Genevieve, he’s convinced that it’s an impossibility.” Phillip groaned. “This is an insurance nightmare. That painting is worth a lot of money.”

“If we can see that painting in La Maison Russie, we’ll see if that strip is missing. If the frame covers that part, I might still be able to ascertain whether it is a forgery,” Colin said.

“By visual inspection only?” Phillip said. “It is a very unreliable method of authentication. One that only a handful of people can accomplish with any degree of accuracy.”

Vinnie’s lips thinned and he leaned towards the phone. Colin stopped him with a shake of his head. Vinnie’s loyalty towards Colin was fascinating.

“Without sounding arrogant,” Colin said, “I’m quite good at spotting forgeries. Even really good ones like Danielle’s. And now I know her work. I saw it in her room. I’ll be able to see if it is her work hanging in the La Maison Russie. Or if it is the original.”

“I told you before, you won’t be able to get inside that house, Frey.” Manny said. “I’ll get the doc in, but you can’t go.”

“What do you mean, you’ll get Genevieve in?” Phillip asked loudly.

Manny cleared his throat. He should never play poker. He had too many tells. Clearing his throat was only one of them. He was nervous about the reception of what he was about to say. “Leon and I discussed your theory that Piros will be at the gala. Because there is a high probability he will be there, we contacted the local police chief.”

He held up both hands. “Let me finish before you start arguing, Frey. We presented him with the opportunity for the local GIPN team to plan a rescue at La Maison Russie. He’s quite a smart guy and I’m sure that he didn’t believe our ruse that it was merely hypothetical. But he agreed to have the team on standby tomorrow. This morning he told me they had run through numerous possible scenarios and he deemed them ready for almost anything.”

“GIPN is going to be at the event?” The challenge brightened Colin’s eyes. His words on the day we met came back to me. It really was about the outwitting, not the crime, for him.

“Who is this GIPN?” I asked.

“The French version of a SWAT team. They’re very good.” Manny didn’t take his eyes off Colin. “And that is another reason why you should not be there, Frey.”

“It still doesn’t mean Jenny will be safe.”

Manny sighed heavily. “I don’t like this either, but Leon and I came to a dead end with options. There is no way that the two of us can observe the guests without it being noticed. It will be too obvious if we change our behaviour from the last few years and suddenly take an intense interest in everyone. We also can’t have more of our people there, since that would have the same effect.”

“It will alert Piros,” I said.

“Yes, and we’ll lose the opportunity to catch him red-handed. That is a sure-fire way to put him behind bars for a very long time.”

“But you’re playing with people’s lives here.” Phillip sounded disgusted with the idea.

“We hope it won’t come to that. That is why GIPN will be there, to prevent anything serious from happening.” Manny turned to me. “I found this interesting book on body language and micro-expressions. It says that one can spot premeditated and spontaneous action before it happens.”

“You read a book on body language? Why?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Manny shifted in his chair and cleared his throat. “Is it true? Would you be able to spot something like that and point it out to us?”

“Of course,” I said. “It’s impossible to hide complete clusters of non-verbal cues indicating intent. For example—”

“You don’t need to give examples, Doc. I just need to know that you’ll be able to point us in the right direction. My invite includes two tickets and I thought that you could be my date for the evening. You could do that observation thingie you do while we check out the artwork there.”

“No!” Vinnie’s voice drowned out Phillip’s. Neither liked the idea.

“Manny, how can you even think of putting Genevieve in a situation like that after what’s happened?” Phillip was angry.

“And who’s going to protect Jen-girl? You?” Vinnie’s top lip curled.

“I’ll go.” I wasn’t particularly eager to put myself in any kind of danger. I was even less inclined to attend the kind of event I had promised myself many years ago I would never go to again. “Firstly, nobody gets to tell me what I can or can’t do. Secondly, and more importantly, it would be a crime if we don’t use this opportunity to catch Piros.”

“But we don’t even know who he is,” Vinnie said.

“He’ll give himself away, Vinnie. People always do.”

“I still want to know who’s going to protect you.” Vinnie folded his arms and jutted his bottom jaw.

“She’s not going to need protection. There will be so many people around, she’ll be completely safe.”

“You don’t believe that.” I waved my hand at his face. “You touched your lips, your eye focus was fixed and you blinked rapidly. All cues that you were not comfortable with what you were saying.”

“Holy Mary, I hate this.” Manny pushed his chair out and rushed to the kitchen. Only to immediately turn around and come back. He pointed his finger in my face. “You irritate me.”

“Manny?” Phillip couldn’t see what was happening. It was no surprise that he was concerned.

“On second thought,” Colin said, “I think it could work. Provided that Jenny never leaves your sight.”

The sudden change was conspicuous. Colin was not the kind of person to change his stance on something so quickly. He definitely would never trust my safety to Manny. I watched him closely. An almost indiscernible nod towards Vinnie gave him away. Colin and Vinnie were going to gain entrance to the event no matter what Phillip or especially Manny said. I thought about it and decided I liked the idea of their presence. I decided not to say anything to give their plan away. Maybe I was beginning to learn the art of deception.

“But”—Vinnie glared at Manny—“you must give us your word that you will not let Jen-girl alone for one second.”

“What if I need the washroom?” I asked.