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"And it made it easier to get the painting.She might not have let you walk out with it if she didn't think it was yours."
"Probably not."
"You shouldn't feel bad, Nick.You made her happy.You gave her a letter that expressed Tomas's love.She has that now, too."
"That's true.I'm okay with what I did.It's certainly not the first time I've lied, and this lie was for a good reason.It's sad they never got together.I could hear the love in her voice.It was real."So real he'd actually felt shaken when Jasmine had told him how much she loved him.It had made him wonder what it would be like to have someone feel that way about him.Or to love someone the way his great-grandfather had loved this woman.
But Tomas and Jasmine had stayed apart because they didn't want to hurt other people.He didn't know if that was kind and generous or remarkably stupid and shortsighted.But it was what it was.Right now, he was more interested in the other part of their story—the saving of priceless original art.
"They formed a group called theProttetori," he said."They copied paintings and somehow replaced the originals before they could be stolen."
"How would they know which ones would be stolen?"
"Probably from Juliette."
"But then they would still have to switch the paintings out before the theft.That would be tricky."
"Sam told us that some people at the studio worked for museums and galleries.That would have given them access to switching the paintings."
"They still had to know which ones and when.Jasmine said Juliette couldn't be trusted.She had to have been working both sides."
"Maybe Juliette wasn't cool with what her brothers were doing, so she told her artist friends what paintings were being targeted.Then theProtettoricopied the art and swapped it with the originals.The Falconeri crew thinks they stole originals, but they didn't."
"The originals were hidden away, so that when things cooled down, they could be sent to their rightful owners," Isabella finished.
"But David betrayed them in some way."
"Maybe both David and Juliette betrayed them, and that's why Tomas and Lucinda were killed.I think that's it, Nick."
"Me, too," he said, meeting her gaze."But who has restartedLa Mano Nera?It wasn't David or Juliette."
She sighed."You always ask the tough questions."She thought for a moment."Catherine would have been a good bet since she's a Falconeri, but she's dead."
"And someone killed her.Why?Was she going to talk?Was she having an attack of conscience herself?"
"What if Lavezzo is the one running this?"she asked."What if he and Catherine had a personal relationship?He asked her to lure the paintings out of their hiding places with an exhibition.She turned off the alarms.And he acts like he's going to investigate the robbery but never finds anything."
"Maybe you should be a detective instead of a reporter," he said, impressed by her logic."If that theory is true, then the argument you witnessed between them might have been Catherine telling Lavezzo she wanted out."
"She was upset about the security guard getting hurt when she came to the house.She might have felt guilty that he almost died during the robbery.Perhaps she didn't know the thieves would go that far."
"But she knew too much, and Lavezzo, or someone else, killed her."He paused."There is another person who I wonder about—the unnamed boy that Juliette delivered after leaving her husband.He would have been a Falconeri, too.Catherine was in her sixties, I believe.We'd have to check her date of birth, but her brother was born when she was about eight, so he'd probably be in his fifties.That doesn't narrow it down much, but it gives us somewhere to start."
"It seems more likely that someone like Lavezzo would kill Catherine rather than her brother, whoever he is.Unless…" She gave him an excited look."What if Lavezzo is her brother?Do we know his family history?"
"I asked Flynn to look into them, but I never followed up.I got sidetracked by Juliette."
"Lavezzo is about the right age.But if he was her brother, would he kill her over stolen art?"
"People kill family members all the time," he said heavily."Sometimes for no reason at all.But we can figure out who Catherine's brother is later on.All we need to do right now is get to the school and find the paintings.Nothing will be resolved, and no one will be safe until we do that."
ChapterTwenty-Six
As Nick drove back to Rome, Isabella's mind raced with what they should do when they got to the school.But then they hit a traffic accident outside of Rome, and the jam of barely moving cars made her nervous for another reason.Was this accident another setup?
Even if it wasn't, the sky was darkening, and the clock was ticking toward six o'clock.The school might be closed by the time they arrived.And she did not want to wait until tomorrow.
But if it was open, and they could get in, then what?They'd have to look at each painting, and with their very unexpert eyes determine if something was original or not.That seemed like an enormous challenge.Maybe they could get some help from Louisa and Victoria.Or maybe they shouldn't involve them at all, because who knew what role Frederico had played in the group.On the other hand, they ran the school.It probably wouldn't be possible to do anything there without their knowledge.
