Page 8 of All I Want for Christmas

‘So they hold most of his source material, then? Not the National Gallery?’

‘Yes. They’ve got a very good archivist, Viggo Rask. He’sthe man to see. I’ve put a call in already. He’s expecting you there tomorrow.’

‘Wow. Thanks.’

‘Time is against us,’ Otto said simply.

Darcy looked again at the printout of the portrait. Her eye kept falling to an indistinct shape on the woman’s left shoulder. ‘What do you think that is?’

Otto reached for the sheet and studied it too.

‘Hmm...Possibly a fox stole? They were fashionable at the time.’

Darcy grimaced. The shape was rounded. ‘So that would be its head?’

He shrugged. ‘They kept everything on back then: paws, head—’

‘Ugh, please don’t.’

‘Different times, Darcy.’ He watched as she slipped the printout into the Trier file and went to hand it back to him. ‘You can keep that, it’s for you.’

‘Thanks. Well, I guess I’d better make a start, then—’ She started to get up but he shook his head.

‘Before you go, there’s something else. Margit’s hosting an event tonight at the National. I appreciate it’s short notice, but you really should attend now you’re on this special project. Do you have plans?’

She hesitated. Erik the Property Developer had wasted no time in being first off the starting blocks and had asked her out tonight; he had to go to Dubai on business on Thursday and wanted to meet her before he left. ‘...Nothing firm.’

‘Good. It’s a private Patrons and Friends benefit – just drinks, but it will be a useful networking opportunity. Some of the executive team from the Madsen Foundation will be there, so it’s a good opportunity to show your face.’

‘Okay.’ She began to move again, but once more Otto shook his head.

‘One more thing. You should be aware of the political landscape.’

She frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Things will appear friendlier than they actually are. Everyone will be all smiles tonight, but you should know there’s underlying friction. In any difficult economic climate, arts funding is always the first to be slashed, and the Ministry of Culture keeps announcing budget cuts. Margit’s under pressure to raise funds however she can.’

‘Hence the drinks party.’

‘Exactly. It keeps the benefactors sweet. But of course, the easiest and most effective way to raise a large sum of cash quickly is to sell assets, and Margit is under increasing pressure to compensate for the cuts in her budget. The Madsen Foundation is circling her.’

Darcy’s mouth opened a little as she realized where he was heading with this. ‘She’d sell themHerChildren?’

‘Not if there’s breath in her body – so she says.’

‘Well thank God. It’s a national treasure. It belongs to the Danish people.’

‘On that we all agree. But the Madsen Foundation sees anything and everything to do with Johan Trier as theirs, and this discovery of a new painting is really going to get their blood up.’ He inhaled slowly. ‘They’ve worked closely with us on the retrospective, providing access to their collection, but don’t think it’s out of the goodness of their hearts. The parent company, Madsen Holdings, is preparing to float on the stock exchange in the new year, and they want whatever good publicity they can get to boost their list price. When you’re dealing with them, just remember that self-interest liesat the heart of everything they do. Ostensibly we’re all on the same side, but that doesn’t mean we’re on the same team. So tread carefully, and watch what you say. Never forget we have something they want.’

‘God,’ she muttered. ‘I had no idea it was all so cut-throat.’

‘The fine art world is a sixty-eight-billion-dollar market. It’s not just pretty pictures and sipping on champagne. It’s big business.’

‘Noted.’ Suddenly tonight’s drinks reception seemed less appealing. ‘Talking of sipping champagne, what’s the form later? Can I bring a plus-one?’ She didn’t relish the prospect of walking in on her own. Perhaps this could be a good setting for a first date, with the safety of a hundred strangers all around them.

‘Best not. These events can be conservative. An old-money crowd. You know the type.’

She didn’t – not personally – but he clearly meant they were the sort that bankrolled retrospectives, bequeathed gifts to museums and had their own boxes at the opera house. Flirty first dates between Raya matches were not it.

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