Chapter 9 - The Artist’s Reference
Marcel arrived two hours later.
He carried a digital tablet.
“I received a package before I began the portrait.”
“From who?” Julian asked.
“No name.”
“You used anonymous material for a three-million-dollar commission?”
Marcel bristled.
He opened the image.
The west library.
Same chair.
Same wall.
But older.
Taken decades earlier.
A young Elena stood near the paneling.
Charles was beside her.
Mara gasped.
Julian stared.
The crack in the portrait came from this photograph.
Not from the modern wall.
Marcel had recreated it unconsciously because the line appeared in the reference.
“Why didn’t you include the woman?”
“The note said the photograph was for architectural reference only.”
Julian looked at Charles.
His father shook his head.
Mara zoomed in.
On the back wall, near the crack, something had been written in chalk.
A series of numbers.
14-10-16-89.
Door 14.
October 16, 1989.
Then another mark below:
A.M.
Julian frowned.
“Anna Mercer?”
Charles whispered, “She was not born yet.”
Rebecca said, “Maybe initials for something else.”
Marcel looked uncomfortable.
“There is more.”
He opened the email metadata.
But one payment for courier delivery had a billing ZIP code.
Tucson, Arizona.
Charles sat down.
“Elena.”
Maybe.
Or Anna.
Julian looked at the portrait.
Someone had wanted him to see the door.
The portrait had never been just art.
It was a message.
Then Mara noticed something else.
Behind the cradle, in a mirror reflection, stood a third man.
Older.
Julian’s grandfather.
Rebecca zoomed in.
The top page had a title.
PROPERTY TRUST AGREEMENT.
Julian’s face tightened.
May you like
The secret was not only a missing woman.
It was connected to the house itself.
