The Bloody Canvas

by KJ Kalis

  Mary cocked her head to the side, “Threat?”

  Henry cleared his throat and quickly told Mary what had happened to Kat outside the hotel. “The lot of them have been staying with me ever since. Makes for cramped quarters, but at least everyone is safe.”

  “Interesting,” Mary said. “If that’s the case, then that’s just another layer to the story, but it could be a dangerous one. The family must know that you are here looking at the shipment they sent.”

  Carson squinted at the file, “You are sure that the shipment is linked to the Rusu family?”

  Mary nodded. “Yes. The family has made no effort to hide the fact they own the company. As I said, it looks like the business was handed over to Stella after she graduated from college. Before that, we have little record of the business doing anything significant. My guess? I believe Marcus originally put the business together as a shell corporation to allow him to move goods in and out of Europe. They probably moved things through back channels but used the company to generate false papers in case they got stopped at a border.”

  Eli tapped his fingers on the table, “The artwork? How does that fit in?”

  “It seems the company has been moving artwork in and out of England for about five years. That fits with the timeline we have on Stella. I believe they are bringing forged artwork in and then moving it to auctions throughout the world.”

  Eli didn’t give Mary a chance to finish, “That makes sense. Selling forgeries is big business. And the ones with the quality that Hailey created? Those could be worth a fortune.”

  Henry turned to look at Eli, “Any idea, Eli, how much those paintings might be worth?”

  “Well, it depends on the story they sell with the piece of art. They are very well done. It would be difficult for anyone except for an expert to know whether those are originals or forgeries. The brushwork, the colors, the aging of the canvas both front and back… put in the correct frame, no one would know the difference. They could each be worth hundreds of millions of dollars if they were passed off as originals.”

  Kat swallowed, “Hundreds of millions of dollars?”

  Eli nodded, “Art is a supply and demand business. The supply is exceedingly small, especially when you want works from old masters. After all, they are all dead. Much of the work was lost during the world wars. We’ve all heard about what the Nazis did to private art collections. Each piece could be worth even more if it were passed off as a newly discovered canvas.”

  Kat let her mind wander for a moment. Eli was right. The stories about private art collections all over Europe being stolen and taken back to Nazi headquarters was something, even with her limited art background, that she had heard of. “Lost” pieces of art were found on a regular basis. Locating their original owner, commonly called the provenance, could be nearly impossible. Kat chewed her lip, lost in thought. If Stella Rusu had taken over the import-export business and was looking to make her mark, that was certainly a way to generate a significant amount of profit for the family business. Kat wondered if it had anything to do with her brothers.

  While the rest of the team talked, she flipped back to the page where their pictures were. The whole family was attractive, especially Stella. She had fine features and was pale, with porcelain skin. A quick glance looking at the entire family made Kat wonder if she favored her mother, Christina. She didn’t look anything like her brothers or father.

  Kat twisted in her chair, “If we start with the fact that all of this is about Stella trying to make her mark in the family, then it makes better sense. Maybe Hailey wanted more.”

  Carson frowned, shaking his head. “What do you mean, Kat?”

  Kat stood up. She started to pace back and forth behind the table. She felt everyone’s eyes on her. “If we take what Mary found out and add it to the information we have from Savannah, you could say that Stella is behind all of this.”

  Henry looked at her, “Even the murder?”

  Carson corrected him, “You mean murders. Don’t forget two bodies were left in Savannah.”

  “Yes, yes. I’m sorry. Forgot about that for a brief moment.”

  Kat didn’t wait for them to speak again. “Imagine this… Stella gets out of college, with a degree that isn’t worth anything at all. She’s had a pretty good run as a gymnast but couldn’t get the job done. She never made it to the Olympics. Apparently, her family money or influence wasn’t enough to get her on the team. She’s got two older brothers who are already successful and probably have their father’s respect. This is an old Romanian family, after all. The boys would get respect naturally. What if Stella wanted more? She wants her father’s attention, and not just in the good-girl way she might have learned growing up. So, to placate his daughter, Marcus gives her the import business, which he’s never really used. She sounds like a smart girl. Wouldn’t she realize she was being played?”

  Henry nodded, “I would guess so. She would have to be blind to think otherwise.”

  Kat started to pace again, “So, Stella has something to prove. She takes the import business and builds it. She bet on something that is more valuable than her brothers could possibly have.” She glanced at the group, “I’m guessing here. I don’t know what the brothers do for the business.”

  Mary interrupted, “One of them handles their real estate and the other one handles gambling. Both very profitable, from what I can tell.”

  Kat nodded. “That makes sense. The father would give them the more valuable parts of the business. So, Stella takes the import business and turns it into something to try to show her brothers up and get her father’s attention.” Kat paused for a moment, looking at Mary, “What do we know about Stella’s mom?”

  Mary cocked her head to the side, “Not terribly much. We know she was a dancer, married Marcus, had three kids and then killed herself. The information is sketchy beyond that. We don’t have any other background.”

  Kat glanced at Henry, “Any chance that Scotland Yard has more background?”

  “I can check, but I doubt it. We use the same databases, so I’m sure Mary has pulled all the information that would be available to British-based agencies.”

  Eli cleared his throat. Kat glanced at him and noticed that he was staring down at his hands. His fingers were interlaced, the knuckles white. “Eli? Is there something you’d like to add?”

  He looked up at the group and then back down at his hands again. “I know that family.”

  Kat furrowed her eyebrows, “How?”

  Eli unclasped his hands and put them in his lap. He straightened in his seat. “I’ve had dealings with them. For my art business, of course.” He glanced at Mary and Henry. “They can be rough if they don’t get what they want.”

  A smirk crept over Henry’s face. “Would that be from personal experience, Eli?”

  Eli nodded. He pulled up his shirt sleeve on his right arm. Kat could see a set of scars about halfway up. “They left me with these. It was a long time ago, but I’ll never forget it.”

  The tension was thick. The fact that Eli had scars to show left a knot in Kat’s stomach.

  Carson shook his head. “Regardless of what’s happened in the past, we have a murder to solve. What’s our next step?”

  In Kat’s mind, she saw Hailey’s mom and dad the day this all started. She remembered walking through the parking lot at the police station, catching them as they got into their car. The look on Hailey’s dad’s face was something she would never forget. His anguish helped her to refocus. “If we put this all together, it looks like Stella decided to get rid of Hailey. Maybe she asked for more money?”

  Henry nodded and leaned forward in his chair, staring at the top of the table. “I think the pieces are starting to fit together. We’ve got the daughter of a powerful family trying to make her mark in the world. She’s importing forged art, probably sending it to art auctions and bringing in drugs at the same time. It would make sense that she would want to clean up loose ends. Hailey would be the only o
ne who would know for sure those were forgeries.”

  Kat sat back down at the table, “You’re saying that Hailey was a loose end? A liability to the business?”

  Henry tilted his head. “As much as I would not want to say that about anyone, in Stella’s mind, she probably was.”

  Fury started to rise in Kat’s chest. Hailey had been nothing more than a young girl trying to pursue her dream. All she wanted was the opportunity to express her talent. It wasn’t her fault that her grandmother had died and the funding for college had dried up. A question started to form in Kat’s mind, “Carson, when I was in Savannah with you, I met a professor. Do you remember? She said she was the one who had given Hailey the job. But she never told me who the client was. Did you find out?”

  Carson nodded. “Yeah, I remember that you told me about it. I didn’t have a chance to follow up on that before I left. I was busy wrestling with the attorney of the kid we think stabbed Hailey.”

  “If we could find that person, we might be able to put the rest of the story together.”

  Mary tapped on the table. “Well, you might not have to wait too long. The one thing I haven’t shared is that there is another shipment coming in from the same company in just a few hours. That might be your chance to find who hired Hailey and who ended her life.”

  34

  Stella was attempting to stay calm. Unfortunately, she had inherited her father’s temper. She would be relaxed for long periods of time and then the slightest thing would ignite her rage.

  She hadn’t slept well the night before. She knew there was another shipment coming in from New York. This time it was from another artist, one that Christopher had found for her. The fact that the drugs had been discovered was a costly mistake, one she blamed on him. It was his responsibility to find someone who could pack things without them being detected. He had failed. What that meant was in her father’s eyes, she failed. That wasn’t acceptable.

  When she had heard that the drug dog had found the test shipment, she immediately sent the jet to go get Christopher. She didn’t want any arguing from him that he couldn’t find a flight. She checked the watch on her wrist as she got dressed for the morning. He was scheduled to land shortly along with a few items stashed in the small cargo hold. In between the hills of anger that were growing in her chest, she tried to decide what to do with him. Overall, he had been a good provider of quality art. He knew what she was looking for and he had good contacts in the community. But Stella wondered if he had outlived his usefulness. Only time would tell. She swallowed hard, pushing the anger down back into a place she could control it. She needed to be clear-headed. She didn’t want to eliminate someone without giving them a chance to explain the situation. She felt she owed him that at least.

  Down in the kitchen, she poured herself a cup of coffee that the housekeeper had brewed for her. She sent a text to Bobby, letting him know that she wanted to go to the hanger to meet Christopher and inspect the shipment before it was sent to customs. Normally, that wouldn’t be allowed. The law required that imported items go straight to customs for inspection without the owner having an opportunity to look at them. She knew why they did it. The government didn’t want people to be able to go in and take things of value out of crates and boxes that had been shipped overseas before they had a chance to look at them. It made sense, but not in a business like hers.

  Bobby texted back that he would be at the front door in five minutes. Although he had been placed by her father to be her shadow, over time she had grown to respect Bobby, for the most part. She liked the fact that he was useful. He dealt with the dirty parts of the business, the parts that she didn’t want to deal with. She always had a feeling that Bobby had orders from her father to not let her do anything that would put her in jeopardy. She didn’t know whether to be grateful or angry.

  She walked back into the master bathroom and dabbed on a coat of dark red lipstick. Today would be a defining day for her business. She liked the way it sounded. Her business. When her father handed over the reins to her, she was sure he didn’t think she’d be able to do anything with it. Now her profits rivaled those of her brothers. She knew that being able to successfully move drugs in and out of the country would take things to another level. She had counted on Christopher. That might have been a mistake.

  Her phone beeped. Bobby was waiting out front. On her way out, Stella yelled to the housekeeper, “I’ll be gone for most of the day. Text Bobby if you need anything.” The housekeeper waved, lifting a rag in the air as she polished the granite countertops in the kitchen.

  Outside, the day was cool for summer in London. She was glad she had a jacket on. Her heels made a tapping noise on the front walk as she approached the Mercedes sedan that Bobby drove. She slid into the backseat, Bobby closing the door behind her.

  For this shipment, she had selected one of the out-of-the-way airstrips. There were several private airstrips in the London area, but this particular one was favorable to her family. That meant she could have a look at her imports or talk to her passengers without the normal governmental paperwork. At best, she could completely avoid any government interference. At worst, her family had bribed many of the workers at the airstrip to turn the other way, which bought her valuable time.

  Neither she nor Bobby said anything in the car on the way. Bobby had learned long ago not to speak unless spoken to. That was one courtesy Bobby had always extended to her. She was grateful for that, especially today. Her mind was swirling with options and possibilities. The question still lingered in her mind about what to do about Christopher. She would have to decide what to do with him, and soon. Time was running out.

  35

  It didn’t take long for Kat, Henry, Eli and Carson to get ready to head out. Henry assembled a team of officers from Scotland Yard to accompany them to the airstrip. Mary was bringing her own team with her. All in all, it looked to Kat like there would be nearly twenty officers ready to help them with the shipment.

  As Kat got in the backseat of Henry’s Scotland Yard sedan, she started to feel anxious again, butterflies forming and flocking in her stomach. She didn’t know what would happen next. None of them did. In a way, she hoped it was a dead end. On the other hand, she wanted to get this case wrapped up so that she could go home to Van and Jack. Just thinking about that made her heart ache. She sent them a quick text. The pinging from Henry’s phone caught her attention.

  “The plane is scheduled to land soon.” Henry set his phone down and looked at Carson, who was sitting in the passenger seat, “Guess it’s time to go see what we can find out.”

  Kat did a quick calculation in her head. Would they have enough time to get in position? “Henry, how long will it take to get to the airport?”

  “We will be there in about eight minutes, depending on traffic. They’re landing at an out of the way airstrip that’s primarily used for private airplane traffic.”

  Kat hoped they had enough time to get into position. It would be close. She leaned forward, between the two front seats, her knee accidentally touching Eli’s. He pulled away quickly. She almost smiled. She had gotten used to his quirkiness. “What’s the plan when we get there?”

  “We’ve been approved for a surveillance operation. If anything goes poorly while we are there, then our authority escalates. But for now, all we can do is watch.”

  Kat leaned back on the seat, making sure not to touch Eli as she slid back. She understood the orders, but she wondered if it would be enough. Her heart started to beat harder in her chest. Would they be able to get the information they needed just by watching? She shook her head if only to herself. She wasn’t sure. “Where’s everyone else?”

  Henry glanced in the rearview mirror. “We’ve got a few teams on the outskirts of the airport. The customs agents will go through the main entrance. Mary wanted us to come through the back entrance. If anyone asks, we are just here to collect some paperwork.”

  It was a weak cover story. Kat wasn’t sure would hold
up if anyone really asked, but that wasn’t her problem. Henry and Mary were in charge. She and Eli were just along for the ride. If anyone had extra authority, it was Carson, but Kat realized he didn’t really have any power either. They were all guests of the British government at this point.

  As they approached the back entrance to the airport, Henry slowed the car to stop at the guard shack. A man appeared and looked at the group of them. Everything about him was round — round eyes, a full round, brown beard. Even the tip of his nose seemed to be round. “Can I help you?”

  “Just here to pick up papers at the office. Need me to sign in or anything?”

  “Papers?”

  Kat’s stomach clenched. She wasn’t sure if they would be able to get through the gate without Henry showing his identification. Why he hadn’t, she wasn’t sure.

  Henry nodded, “Yes, sir. There is a pack of papers for me at the office. These are just my trainees.”

  The man coughed a little, “All right. Have a good day.”

  Carson looked over his shoulder as they pulled through the gate. “Well, that wasn’t exactly the tightest security I’ve ever seen.”

  Henry chuckled, “Some of these airstrips, they make you wonder.”

  Eli leaned forward, “He didn’t ask for identification or anything!”

  Henry turned the wheel aiming the sedan close to the buildings that were on the right side of the airport. “Well, Eli, that should tell you a little bit about the type of people that come in and out of this airport. They aren’t the kind that want their identification checked. That’s for sure.”

  As the car moved towards the hangers, Kat leaned forward, trying to get a good look at what was ahead of them. There was a row of buildings, all painted in the same light blue color, as though whoever had been hired to do the painting got a great price on the paint. It wasn’t a color she would have chosen for an airport. Some of the hangers looked closed, their tall garage doors touching the ground. Out of the row of hangers, two of the doors were open. One of them was low and wide, the other hanger was tall, probably three stories, Kat realized.