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.Garments continued to fill the bag.All of the clothing was old, as its owner must have been.From the styles of the shirts, pants and shoes, he was a slight man who was probably in his seventies or so.Most everything was well worn, and many of the pieces had paint stains on them.When she reached the far corner of the closet shelf she discovered a box with brushes and paints which explained the condition of his things.Sam immediately thought of her friend, Rupert Penrick, who probably had friends who might like the supplies.She set the box aside for him.With the closet clear, she brought in the vacuum cleaner and started to work with the crevice tool.The far reaches were coated in dust balls and cobwebs and she quickly did away with them.Closets always sell a house, so she wanted this one to look as big and unencumbered as possible.She switched on the light and opened the bedroom drapes to see the space better.And then she noticed something strange.The far wall of the closet was painted very crudely, almost as if someone had taken white shoe polish to it.They were clearly trying to cover up something else, because a design of some kind showed through in a few places.She grabbed a bottle of spray cleaner and decided to check it out.As she rubbed at one corner of the area, the cheap white over-coat came away, revealing a scene underneath.The more she worked, the larger the hidden painting became.It was a mural, a rural scene done in an impressionistic style.Odd.What a strange place for a painted mural.She worked at it a little more until the entire scene was revealed.And in the lower corner was a signature.Pierre Cantone.Her pulse quickened.The Pierre Cantone? No art expert, what little Sam knew had rubbed off from time spent around Rupert, but she knew the name Pierre Cantone.It was like saying have you heard of Renoir or Picasso.Everyone had heard of Cantone.What on earth was Riley Anderson up to? Copying a famous artist’s work, maybe for practice? Or.an even more astounding thought.could it be possible that the famous artist had once stayed at this house? Before Anderson bought it? Maybe the old man had unknowingly painted over a real masterpiece.She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Rupert’s number.“What are you doing?” she asked the second she heard his voice.“I’m writing, Sam.It’s what I do.Every day.I’m two hundred pages into Love’s Velvet Hammer and you wouldn’t have caught me except that I just paused for a quick lunch break.” Rupert was an aging writer, former Little Theatre actor, and art aficionado who secretly wrote romance novels under the name of Victoria DeVane.He made a fantastic amount of money, as Victoria is always at the top of the bestseller lists, but only the closest of friends know his true identity because even his editor says that men can’t write romances.“Good,” Sam said.“I’ve got something here that you have to see.”“Where? Your house?”“No, sorry.I’m at one of my break-ins.I may have just found an original Pierre Cantone.”“Ohmygod! No way!”“I’m pretty sure.Well, okay, I’m not at all sure.I don’t know this stuff, but there’s a mural on one wall, about two feet by three feet big, his style, and his signature.”“Girl—” He breathed the word more than he said it.“If you want to come out here.”Very little will get Rupert to vary his writing schedule, but art was one thing and a find of this type would definitely do it.Sam gave him directions and he said he’d be there in ten minutes.That worried her a little, since the place was at least twenty minutes from town.But Rupert is known for driving his Mini-Cooper like a Formula-1 racer.She began to have pangs the minute she hung up.She really should have told Beau Cardwell about this first.She dialed his direct number from the card he’d left with her and quickly explained the find.“It’s painted right on the wall?” he said.She confirmed.“Well, then I guess it’s not going anywhere very soon.You got a camera with you?”“Out in the truck.” She carried one for the occasional property where she might need to document something really unusual for her supervisor.“I’ll get some pictures.”“Good.And don’t paint over it or anything.I may need to come back out there at some point and take a look.”Paint over it? Like that would happen.She would, however, be lucky if Rupert didn’t bring a saw with him and want to take out the wall [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]