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All thanks to the mysterious man in the three-piecesuit.
She’d almost forgotten he’d promised to return in a week. But on the seventh evening she remembered and lingered long at her desk after the gallery had closed. She listened for the bell as she did her paperwork. She never heard it ring. But at five to midnight, Tou-Tou hopped out of his basket and ran through the door to the gallery as if he’d suddenly recalled he was late for a veryimportantdate.
Mona rose from her desk and walked as quietly as she could to the office door. She opened it a few more inches and saw the man in the gallery, holding Tou-Tou and strokinghishead.
"You have a black cat, Mona,” he said. He wore the same three-piece suit as before. "Howfitting.”
"Tou-Tou’s the gallery cat,” she said. Cautiously she approached the man and took Tou-Tou from his arms. She wasn’t sure she trusted him yet, and her cat was the closest thing Mona had to family. "Not much luck but he keeps mecompany.”
"A cat to be envied then,” themansaid.
"Do you haveaname?”
"Forgive me. I should have introduced myself last week.Malcolm.”
"Malcolm,” she repeated, liking the feel of it on her tongue. "Anylastname?”
"Not at the moment. Was I correct about thepainting?”
"You know you were. It was all overthenews.”
He shrugged a shoulder. "I pay very little attention to the news. A Reynolds, Iassume?”
"It was. Appraised at fivemillion.”
"How much willyouget?”
"Fifty-thousand-dollar finder’s fee from the owner. Yours, ofcourse.”
"Why ‘of course’?” heasked.
"I didn’t even like the Morland. It was from his later years, after he stopped producing good work. I only displayed it because I thought it might sell for a couple thousand dollars. You’re the one who told me there was somethingunderneathit.”
"What exactly was underneath it? Have youseenit?”
"The restorer says it appears to be a portrait of Nelly O’Brien. They’ve dubbed the paintingThe Courtesan. Reynolds even signed thecanvas.”
"Ahh, Miss O’Brien. Reynolds painted her several times, Ibelieve.”
"Once more than we’d realized. One art critic believes Morland painted over it during his debt years. Maybe he’d run out of canvases and couldn’t afford more. He put a two-thousand-dollar painting over a five-million-dollar painting. The owner has decided to keep it in the family, but he’s sending me the checkthisweek.”
"Put it toward saving your gallery,” he said. "I have no interest in taking money from you. Quite the opposite,infact.”
"Thank you, Malcolm.” She sat Tou-Tou down onto the floor. He didn’t run back into the office as she expected him to. Instead, he lay on the floor between her and Malcolm as if he were as much a party to this conversation as they were. "That’s very generousofyou.”
"I would like to be more generouswithyou.”
"Why?” She couldn’t keep the note of suspicion out ofhertone.
"I have my reasons and they are very good reasons, but you wouldn’t understand them, not yet. But eventually I will reveal all to you.Ifyou agree to let mehelpyou.”
"Fifty thousand dollars is a good start,” she said. "But I’m half a million in debt. I don’t think anyone canhelpme.”
"I’ve given you no reason todoubtme.”
"What is it you wantfromme?”
"May I be blunt with you?” heasked.
