Page 79 of All I Want for Christmas

She felt like an idiot. She felt small; a minnow to Max’s shark. She thought back on the hours she’d spent in his company over the past ten days. While she’d been preoccupied with unprofessional thoughts about what could and couldn’thappen between them, his mind had only ever been on the job. He’d been spying on her all along. It really was why he’d insisted on her researching in their archives and at his house after hours. It was why he’d lain in wait for her the night of the drinks reception, his hand on her back, fast-tracking her body ahead of her mind. He’d manipulated her attraction to him from the start. He’d seen right through her.

The door swung open and Otto emerged, looking like he’d aged a decade overnight, his usual bluff manner thrown into red-cheeked bluster. Darcy took one look at him and knew better than to interrogate him. He immediately began striding through the courtyard, heading towards the road. She had no idea where he was going but probably neither did he; like her, he just needed to move.

Otto walked with a vigour that betrayed his anger and she had to lengthen her stride to keep up. He reached into the pocket of his navy coat and pulled out a cigarette, lighting up. Darcy hadn’t known he was a smoker, but perhaps they all were today. Something had to take the edge off.

‘So?’ she asked trepidatiously, as they walked along the street.

‘So, Margit’s more pissed than I’ve ever seen her. She’s making calls to the Ministry of Culture, taking this as high as she can...She wants to fight them.’

‘Really?’ Darcy had expected capitulation.

He glanced at her. ‘Why does that surprise you?’

Her mouth opened as she hesitated before saying the words. ‘Well, only that it changes things, doesn’t it – if we know the painting rightfully belongs to Holocaust victims?’

He shot her a furious look. ‘But wedon’tknow that. Those are simply their accusations. Don’t think the Madsen Foundation’s above lying to get what they want. Don’t thinkthey wouldn’t pay someone to put their name to a falsified report. They have deep pockets, and pretty much everyone has a price. This is just how they like to initiate a negotiation.’

He took a long drag on the cigarette, beginning to slow his walk just a little. ‘Besides, we have only ever acted in good faith – our conscience is clear, because we knowouracquisition was legal and fair. It’ll be for the lawyers to argue a debate on the statute of limitations for such matters. Almost none of the original victims are alive now, so the loss is no longer viscerally personal, but more of a principle and a compensation issue. It’s been almost eighty years since that sale, after all – where does the moral responsibility end?’

Darcy shrugged. ‘If the Elgin Marbles question is anything to go by, it doesn’t.’

‘Well, that’s a national heritage issue,’ he muttered. ‘Returning something to its rightful home. ButHer Childrenis already in its rightful home. It’s right here, in Copenhagen, in trust for the benefit of the Danish people. If the Fleishman heirs have struck a deal with Madsen before they’ve even filed for restitution, then their main interest in it is financial – and we cannot rule out the risk that they might change their minds on their deal with the Madsen. Someone else could well come in with a bigger offer to them. And then the painting could end up leaving Denmark for a private collection elsewhere.’

Darcy wondered what sort of numbers they were talking about. Fifty million? A hundred million? A sum like that could patch a lot of holes in the Culture budget.

Otto sighed. ‘As it stands,weare the rightful guardians of this national treasure and for all their big talk in there, the last thing the Madsen Foundation wants is for this to go to trial. Lorensen was doing what he does best and bullying us, buthe knows as well as we do that it would take years for the case to be heard; and if there’s one thing financial investors don’t like, it’s open-ended speculation where their money is concerned. And with the parent company looking to list publicly, they’ll want a swift outcome.’

‘So you think he’s bluffing?’

‘He’s just turning the screws. He’s good at it.’

They were walking along Nyhavn now, with its famous, brightly coloured harbour houses and tall rigged ships docked in the canal, tourists bundled in coats as they ate and drank in the waterside cafes.

‘Is there any chancewecould approach the Fleishmans and counter-offer the Madsens’ bid?’ Darcy asked.

He shook his head. ‘Madsen will have gone above market value to secure the deal. Plus, the heirs have probably bought into the idea they were sold of seeing it reunited with most of the rest of Trier’s body of work. It’ll help them persuade themselves that their intentions are altruistic.’

‘...Do you really think Helle would sabotage the retrospective?’

Otto glowered at the question. ‘I think that’s highly doubtful. If they followed through with that, it would threaten the viability of the entire show and that would make the press. You can imagine how bad they’d look if it got out that they were trying to blackmail us.’

‘Maybe it should get out, then,’ Darcy murmured.

‘Tempting,’ he agreed. ‘But far too messy. The last thing any of us need is sensation around this. No, Max and Helle were just flexing their muscles – but they play dirty and won’t back off, you can be sure of that. We’ll all need to keep our wits about us.’ He glanced at her. ‘Don’t let Max fool you, Darcy; he’s charming when it suits him, but I’m afraid you won’t beable to trust anyone associated with them. And that includes Rask, too.’

‘Viggo?’ she gasped. ‘But he would never—’

‘Oh, he would. He’s a nice old man and a very good archivist, but at the end of the day, he works for them, not us,’ Otto said firmly. ‘And after all these years of service, there’s no question his loyalty is to the Madsen Collection first.’

‘But I can’t hide from him what I’m doing. It’s just the two of us down there. He can see what I’m working on at any moment.’

‘And that’s fine – just don’t include him in your further speculations. If Helle and Max think Lilja Madsen, as the woman in portrait, strengthens their claim toHer Children, they’ll use any advantage they can get. You can be sure Helle will be briefing him as we speak.’

Darcy sighed, hating the idea of subterfuge. She was an academic, not a spy. Their collaboration, Viggo’s help, had been invaluable up to this point.

‘Don’t look so worried. I know Viggo helped you today with making the identification, but you would have got there sooner or later without him anyway,’ Otto said, as if reading her mind. ‘Trust your abilities, Darcy. You’re a brilliant researcher. You were the one who connected the necklace to the portrait.’

‘Doyouthink it’s Lilja Madsen in the painting?’

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