CHAPTER 19 #2
“Yes.”
“Where was the panel actually?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who should know?”
“Marcus.”
“Why?”
“Because he had documents I did not.”
Ellis leaned forward.
“What documents?”
Ruth hesitated.
“Marcus sent images of part of the acquisition packet. Not the whole thing.”
“You knew there was more?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Older storage inventory. Transport labels. At least one photograph of the backing before replacement.”
Romy sat forward.
“The original backing.”
“Yes.”
“Labels visible?”
“Possibly.”
“Collection marks?”
“I could not resolve them in the image.”
“Did you ask for the full-resolution files?”
“Yes.”
“Did he send them?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“He said they were not relevant to my limited review.”
“They were exactly relevant.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That the estate had acquired the panel legitimately and he did not need a forensic investigation into every piece of cloth behind it.”
Romy thought of Sebastian’s note.
Ask Fenn why the backing was changed.
The original backing had contained something.
Perhaps not proof of murder.
Proof of history.
“I should have walked away,” Ruth said.
“Yes.”
Ruth accepted it.
No defense.
Ellis opened another document.
“This message was recovered from Fenn Found’s server backup. You deleted your copy. Marcus’s company did not.”
Ruth looked at it.
Romy read.
April 14.
Marcus,
I am putting this plainly because the shorter summary is not adequate protection if the object is later challenged.
The available dates do not support uninterrupted Mercer-family ownership. The 1998 to 2003 period is unresolved and the aunt-transfer account is impossible as currently stated.
Do not market the panel as long-held family property until this is resolved.
Ruth.
Romy looked up.
“That is not caution.”
“No.”
“That is warning.”
“Yes.”
“Marcus knew.”
“Yes.”
Ellis said, “And still approved the Show House catalogue.”
Ruth nodded.
“Why would he risk that?” Romy asked.
“At the time, I thought arrogance.”
“And now?”
Ruth did not answer.
Ellis did.
“Money.”
He opened a different folder.
Financial records.
Fenn Found’s.
Romy stared.
“You got these quickly.”
“Business cooperation became less voluntary after the server findings.”
Ruth looked uncomfortable.
Ellis continued.
“Fenn Found is carrying significant debt.”
“How significant?”
He gave Romy the figure.
“That is dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“Secured?”
“Inventory, property, and receivables.”
Ruth said, “Marcus never told me.”
“Why would he?” Ellis asked.
Romy turned through the summary.
Warehouse refinancing.
Short-term acquisition loans.
A large tax liability.
Two overdue commercial facilities.
And one planned sale.
The Calder House Collection.
Scheduled for the following month.
Fenn Found was acting as principal intermediary.
If successful, the commissions and financing release would stabilize the company.
If not, several obligations became difficult at once.
“What does Sebastian have to do with this sale?” Romy asked.
“Reputation,” Ellis said.
Ruth understood first.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“The Calder trustees. They are obsessive about title.”
“Meaning?”
“They would remove Marcus immediately if there were any public suggestion he knowingly marketed property with false provenance.”
“So Sebastian’s article would not just embarrass him.”
“No.”
“It could destroy the Calder deal.”
“Yes.”
Marcus’s charm.
His generosity.
The free props.
The sponsorship.
The confidence.
All of it had looked like vanity wrapped around success.
Maybe it had been maintenance.
A man running fast enough that nobody saw the debt behind him.
Fenn Found’s reputation was not decoration.
It was collateral.
Clients gave Marcus valuable objects because they believed his judgment.
Buyers paid because they believed his descriptions.
Lenders extended money because they believed inventory would hold value.
One proven case of knowingly false provenance could contaminate everything.
“If Sebastian published that Marcus ignored Ruth’s warning,” Romy said.
“Calder sale at risk,” Ellis replied.
“Existing clients might review consignments.”
“Yes.”
“Lenders might revalue stock.”
“Yes.”
“Previous acquisitions get reexamined.”
“Yes.”
Ruth closed her eyes.
“And my report becomes part of it.”
“Yes.”
Romy looked at her.
“You deleted the emails because you knew exactly how bad your part would look.”
“I knew how bad my part would look.”
“Not because you killed Sebastian.”
“No.”
“Because you protected a client when you should have protected the record.”
Ruth met her eyes.
“Yes.”
Romy believed her.
Not because confession made her trustworthy.
Because the shape fit.
Ruth’s fear pointed toward professional negligence, not the Blue Study method.
She left Asterleigh at 5:40.
No access during the fatal setup.
No plate-warmer.
No felt.
No reason to understand the room’s ventilation.
Her lie had another purpose.
“We’ll need a full statement,” Ellis said.
“You’ll have it.”
“And your devices.”
Ruth looked unhappy.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
Romy asked, “Did Sebastian contact you?”
Ruth froze.
Ellis looked at her.
That reaction was new.
“When?” he asked.
“Two days before the preview.”
Romy felt her pulse shift.
“What did he want?”
“The same thing you do.”
“Marcus’s full file.”
“Yes.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him about the impossible dates?”
Silence.
Ruth looked at Ellis.
Then at Romy.
“Yes.”
There.
Sebastian had known Marcus’s problem before he entered Asterleigh.
“How much?” Romy asked.
“I told him the Mercer-family chain was not reliable.”
“Did you show him your emails?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him Marcus knew?”
“Yes.”
Sebastian had gone into the preview already knowing Marcus had ignored a provenance warning.
Then seen the panel physically.
Asked Sophie who supplied it.
Written:
Fenn. Blue Study. 6:55. Full provenance, not sales story.
He had not been guessing.
He had been confronting.
“Did Marcus know you spoke to Sebastian?” Ellis asked.
Ruth hesitated.
“I believe so.”
“Why?”
“Sebastian told me he intended to give Marcus a chance to respond.”
“When?”
“Thursday afternoon.”
“Did he say he contacted him?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Email, he said.”
Ellis looked toward the officer by the door.
“Search terms on Sebastian and Fenn Found servers. Thursday onward. Include deleted items.”
The officer left.
Romy said, “Marcus told us Sebastian never arranged a meeting.”
“Yes.”
Ruth looked confused.
“He arranged something.”
“What exactly?”
“I don’t know whether it was a meeting.”
Romy leaned forward.
“What do you know?”
Ruth rubbed her palms together once.
“He told Marcus he had until Monday.”
The room went very quiet.
“Monday for what?” Ellis asked.
“To provide the real provenance documents.”
Romy felt every thread tighten.
“What real documents?”
“Sebastian believed Marcus had the missing chain.”
“Why?”
“Because of the backing photographs and the incomplete estate packet.”
“What would happen Monday?”
Ruth looked at Romy.
“He said if Marcus did not surrender the full records by Monday morning, he would publish what he already had.”
“Publish what?” Ellis asked.
“That Fenn Found knowingly marketed a panel with false provenance, that Marcus had been warned before Asterleigh, and that documents relating to the object’s real history had been withheld.”
Romy looked at the financial summary.
Debt.
Calder sale.
Lenders.
Clients.
Reputation.
Then at the 6:52 photograph.
Marcus carrying the plate-warmer and felt.
Then at Sebastian’s note.
Fenn. Blue Study. 6:55. Full provenance, not sales story.
Marcus had not merely faced criticism.
He faced a deadline.
One weekend between his company and public exposure.
“I thought he would negotiate,” Ruth said.
“Marcus?” Romy asked.
“Yes.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You spoke to him after Sebastian contacted you?”
“One call.”
“When?”
“Friday morning.”
“Preview day.”
“Yes.”
“What did Marcus say?”
“That Sebastian was bluffing.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Sebastian had enough.”
Romy thought of Sebastian entering the Blue Study at 6:57.
Not expecting murder.
Expecting answers.
Full provenance.
Not sales story.
Ruth looked at Ellis.
“There is one thing I did not tell you earlier.”
Romy felt the next blow before it arrived.
“Go on,” Ellis said.
Ruth tightened her hands.
“Sebastian did not just threaten an article sometime in the future.”
She looked toward Fenn Found’s financial records.
“He gave Marcus a deadline.”
“Monday,” Romy said.
Ruth nodded.
“Monday morning. Marcus was to surrender the real provenance documents before publication.”