Diane stood and walked over to the painting-a huge brontosaurus, head held high on his long neck, walking and dragging his tail. Between his front feet, almost obscured by the dust he created with each step, was a small unicorn. The detail of the painting was remarkable. The brontosaurus’ hide was painted like the skin of an elephant, with all the lines and wrinkles and shades of gray. The distant mountains had such clarity and distinction that Diane thought she could probably find them somewhere if she tried.
Korey joined her standing by the painting.
“You’re not joking, are you?” she asked.
“Nope. I found the initial sketches of the paintings and a reference to the painter in the material we gathered from the basement, and, I don’t know, something just clicked in my head. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out about him, you know, have an exhibit of the drawings and the man? I made some calls to friends in art conservation and they referred me to several other experts, who were all quite excited, let me tell you. A woman is coming down from the Metropolitan Museum of Art tomorrow to have a look at them.”
“It’s a good thing we built a railing to keep wandering hands off the walls,” said Diane.
Korey nodded. “I think we’ll have to do more. I was thinking a Plexiglas wall, so no one can get under the railings.”
“I can’t believe this,” said Diane. “When they were found, didn’t anyone investigate their origin?”
“From what I can find out, Milo asked someone from the art department at Bartrum University to come over and have a look. He declared them interesting.”
“But Signy Grayson recognized them.” Diane recalled the snatch of conversation she heard between Signy and her husband-“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even know about them.”
“Yes,” Korey said, “I think her husband was going to buy the museum building through one of his companies. I believe when you sell buildings, certain things always go with the building-like the walls and anything attached to them. At any rate, he’d have the contract written so he’d get the paintings for a fraction of their value. And if it was true about the golf course. .”
“You know about that rumor?”
“It’s hard to keep secrets in a place like this. Everyone’s been worried about their jobs.”
“I’m sorry about that. I never had any intention of selling the museum.”
“Some were afraid you’d be forced to.”
“It would take some serious errors or malfeasance on my part for them to be able to unseat me. They were trying. That’s what all those extra supply orders were about.”
“How far did they expect to get, ordering extra paper clips?”
“They also sent orders out for a duplicate set of these guys.” She pointed at the dinosaurs.
“That’d be a lot of money, but as soon as the Bickford called. .”
“Exactly. The person who did the ordering didn’t understand the process. He didn’t know they would have to call about details of the order.”
“This campaign doesn’t seem well thought-out on their part,” said Korey.
“I believe that’s because it was carried out by several people. The extra orders, I think, were done at the instigation of someone who worked with Grayson. I believe Grayson and his cronies were doing other things that might very well have had an impact.”
“Like what?”
Diane went back to the bench and sat down. She was silent for a long while. Now that she had shared Ariel with Frank and Andie, perhaps it was time to share her with other people. She told Korey a shortened version of her daughter and what happened to her-and the music.
“That was cruel and sadistic.”
“Yes, it was. And it had an effect. This past year I was a mess. I couldn’t even work. I think they wanted to send me back to that black place I just climbed out of.”
There was something else that had been bothering Diane. Something Melissa said: “I wish we’d just let whatever was going on happen to you.” She mentioned it to Korey, explaining only that Melissa was angry with her when she said it.
“That’s an odd thing to say. I wonder what she meant.”
“I don’t know.”
“How’s Frank?”
“He picked up an infection. They’re treating it. You haven’t been visited again by the police, have you?”
“No.”
Diane looked around at the murals. “I wonder how much money we’re talking about.”
“A lot. The last painting sold a year ago for 7.4 million in Paris.”
“So if Grayson could buy the museum, he could take the paintings out, do a little remodeling and resell the building to cover his cost and still come out with almost-what? — ninety million dollars? Not counting the property that goes with the building, which he could sell to the Japanese.”
“That’s a lot of money,” said Korey. “I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to kill you.”
Chapter 41
Diane stared at Korey.
“Maybe he has tried to kill me,” she said. “I thought it had something to do with the skeleton, but it doesn’t have to, does it?” She shook her head. “The person who tried to break into the faunal lab was dressed just like the person who attacked me. That suggests that my attack had something to do with the skeleton.”
“The faunal lab? I hadn’t heard.”
“Last night. Bernie scared him away.”
“Bernie?” Korey laughed. “Good for him.”
“By the way, Chanell Napier is the new head of security, so if you have any questions or suggestions, you have someone to address them to. I should have hired a head a long time ago.”
“Don’t let all this get you down, Dr. Fallon. It’s just stuff. This is a great museum, and I can only see it getting better.”
Diane stood up. “Now I have to figure out what I’m going to do about all this.”
“Do you reckon he told all his cronies about the paintings, or was that just between him and the flashy Mrs. G.?” asked Korey.
“Interesting question. Probably just between the two of them, I’d think. I imagine they just tossed the others enough of a bone to get them on their side.” Diane looked at the paintings again. “Korey, you’ve certainly made my day.”
Korey’s gleaming smile lit up his face. “This is something, isn’t it?”
“Keep this quiet,” said Diane.
“Sure. I hope it was all right to have the expert come down.”
“Of course. You did absolutely right.”
Diane decided to forgo a visit with the herpetologist. Instead, she went back to her office and called Vanessa Van Ross.
Diane told her about the paintings and their probable value. The other end of the phone was silent for a long while.
“Doesn’t that explain a lot? That little worm. Well, Diane, you have some decisions to make.”
“Yes. I was thinking about how much we could do in the museum for that amount of money. On the other hand, what a treasure they are for people to visit. That’s why we’re here. We suddenly have something unique and unbelievably valuable. Should bring in a much larger audience.”
“You have plenty of time to make decisions. It’s good to have choices. And it’s good to find out what that weasel and his floozie wife are up to. Korey sounds like a bright young man.”
“He is. I’m pleased with the entire staff of the museum.”
Diane hung up the phone and sat staring at her Escher prints, in particular at the tessellation of angels and devils. Her mind went back to her attack. What if that was Mark Grayson? But why was Frank shot? Of the things going on lately, it was hard to separate which of the acts went with which motivations.